public health
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Meat industry-backed PR campaign fueled backlash against plant-forward diet study
A public relations firm working with the meat and dairy industry orchestrated an aggressive media campaign to discredit the landmark 2019 EAT-Lancet report, documents reviewed by DeSmog reveal.
In short:
- The EAT-Lancet report, launched in 2019, urged a 50% cut in global red meat consumption to protect climate and health, but was quickly met with an orchestrated backlash.
- A confidential document reviewed by DeSmog shows PR firm Red Flag helped seed opposition by briefing journalists, influencers, and think tanks to portray the science as radical and elitist.
- Red Flag’s campaign was likely conducted on behalf of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, a coalition with ties to industry giants like Cargill and Smithfield, and involved high-reach social media and press strategies.
Key quote:
“Red Flag turned EAT-Lancet into a culture war issue. Instead of having nuanced conversations about the data, Red Flag takes us back to mud slinging.”
— Jennifer Jacquet, professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami
Why this matters:
The backlash against the EAT-Lancet report — a global call for a “planetary health diet” heavy on plants and light on red meat — shows how powerful industries can turn science into a political battleground. Though grounded in peer-reviewed research linking food systems to climate change and public health, the report was met with fierce resistance from meat and agribusiness interests. These groups used familiar tactics: discrediting scientists, framing dietary guidance as a threat to personal freedom, and promoting disinformation that painted the report as elitist or ideological. The meat industry, in particular, has relied on deep pockets and PR muscle to obscure its role in contributing over 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while sidestepping its impact on biodiversity loss, deforestation, and water pollution.
Learn more: Meat and dairy companies prioritize advertising over emissions reduction
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BLM nominee backs out after past criticism of Jan. 6 attack surfaces
Kathleen Sgamma withdrew her nomination to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just before her Senate confirmation hearing, following the resurfacing of her 2021 condemnation of the Capitol riot and Trump’s role in it.
In short:
- Sgamma, head of the Western Energy Alliance, had been nominated by President Trump to lead the BLM, which oversees roughly one-tenth of U.S. land.
- A 2021 letter obtained by Documented showed Sgamma was “disgusted” by Trump’s misinformation about the Jan. 6 attack and praised Biden’s call for moderation — positions that clashed with Trump’s current rhetoric.
- Critics, including conservation groups, praised Sgamma's withdrawal, questioning her lack of transparency about the WEA's membership and potential conflicts of interest.
Key quote:
“I will continue to support President Trump and fight for his agenda to Unleash American Energy in the private sector.”
— Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance
Why this matters:
The BLM controls more public land than any other federal agency, making its leadership critical to decisions about energy development, environmental protection, and tribal and recreational land use. Under Trump’s second term, the agency is expected to push for expanded fossil fuel extraction. Sgamma’s nomination — and abrupt withdrawal — highlight the administration’s insistence on ideological loyalty, even over past public condemnations of political violence. Her exit also draws attention to the oil and gas industry's influence on federal land policy. With public lands at the center of debates over climate policy and environmental justice, leadership at the BLM carries high stakes for health and the environment.
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Trump bets on coal as Kentucky’s power edge fades
President Donald Trump signed new executive orders to keep coal plants running, but experts say Kentucky’s rising power costs could hurt economic growth unless the state diversifies its energy sources.
In short:
- Kentucky once boasted the cheapest electricity in the U.S. thanks to coal, but now ranks 12th as aging coal plants and rising maintenance costs drive up power prices.
- President Trump signed orders to support coal-fired power, echoing a 2023 Kentucky law that makes it harder to shut down such plants, though energy analysts say the move is unlikely to reverse coal’s long-term decline.
- While other coal-heavy states like Wyoming and North Dakota have added wind and solar to reduce costs, Kentucky’s lack of diversification has left it vulnerable to market and regulatory pressures.
Key quote:
“Doubling down on coal is not going to help the situation.”
— Michelle Solomon, energy analyst at Energy Innovation Policy and Technology
Why this matters:
Kentucky built its modern economy on coal, drawing heavy industry with promises of abundant, low-cost power. For decades, that strategy paid off. But now, as coal becomes less competitive and more expensive to maintain, the very foundation of Kentucky’s energy economy is starting to crack. The state still leans heavily on coal, but aging infrastructure, environmental regulations, and market shifts mean that coal is no longer the bargain it once was. Other states have embraced natural gas and renewables, driving down costs while also curbing emissions. Kentucky’s resistance to change is leaving it with rising utility prices, which disproportionately impact low-income residents and make manufacturers question their future in the state.
Related: Trump moves to boost coal power despite industry decline
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Trump opens protected lands in Nevada and New Mexico to drilling and mining
The Trump administration has opened protected lands in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains and New Mexico’s Upper Pecos watershed to drilling and mining, reversing Biden-era rules enacted at the request of Native American communities.
In short:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has lifted protections on over 264,000 acres in Nevada and parts of New Mexico to promote oil, gas, geothermal, and hard-rock mineral extraction.
- The change was announced alongside an emergency order permitting logging on more than half of U.S. national forest lands, with officials calling prior regulations “burdensome.”
- State lawmakers, tribal leaders, and environmental groups oppose the decision, citing threats to recreation economies, water resources, and local self-determination.
Key quote:
“No one in this community wants any extractive industries or any threats to our watershed.”
— Ralph Vigil, organizer for the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
Why this matters:
The Trump administration’s renewed push to open protected public lands to fossil fuel and mineral extraction has reignited tensions in environmentally sensitive regions that serve as crucial reservoirs of biodiversity, cultural heritage, and clean water. Local residents and tribal communities have long worked to fend off extractive projects that threaten to undo decades of conservation progress. Now, under the banner of energy dominance and deregulation, federal agencies are fast-tracking leases and weakening protections despite local and state opposition. Critics warn that this top-down strategy not only risks new contamination and habitat loss but also weakens the very public input mechanisms that once safeguarded these lands.
Learn more: Republican budget talks spark backlash over proposed sale of public lands
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Credit: Douglas Fischer
One lawyer's groundbreaking work in shaping climate law
As governments stall and emissions climb, human rights lawyers like Monica Feria-Tinta are turning to the courts to force climate action — one tree, island, or river at a time.
Samira Shackle reports for The Guardian.
In short:
- Feria-Tinta is pioneering legal strategies that argue climate inaction violates human rights, helping Indigenous and vulnerable communities take their cases to global courts.
- Her work includes landmark victories like the Torres Strait case, where the United Nations ruled Australia failed to protect islanders from climate harm, and Ecuador’s Los Cedros forest, which won legal rights as a living entity.
- While legal wins are often slow and hard-fought, they’re shifting the global legal landscape, transforming courts into battlegrounds where climate justice and biodiversity now have a voice.
Key quote:
“Whether it’s a single tree, or a whole community depending on a river, what is at stake is the future of humanity.”
— Monica Feria-Tinta
Why this matters:
As heat, floods, and displacement intensify, the courtroom has become a potent line of defense. Climate litigation can hold powerful players accountable, push policy change, and help protect the ecosystems our health depends on — even when other systems fail. These legal wins are slow, complex, and anything but guaranteed. But they’re a signal that the courtroom is becoming one of the last places where the planet still stands a fighting chance.
Read more: Youth v. Montana — Young adults speak up
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Electric vehicles are helping Nepal clean up its deadly air
As Kathmandu fights to breathe through some of the world’s worst air pollution, Nepal’s rapid embrace of electric vehicles is bringing cleaner skies and contributing to greater longevity.
In short:
- Nepal now imports more electric passenger vehicles than gas-powered ones, a huge leap from just a few years ago, thanks to tax breaks, cheap electricity, and new financing options.
- Kathmandu’s deadly air pollution — caused in large part by vehicle emissions — contributes to nearly a fifth of the country’s deaths, and experts say reducing fine particles could add over two years to the average lifespan.
- While small EVs are booming, electric buses and trucks are slower to take off due to high costs, weak infrastructure, and a chaotic public transit system, though some co-ops and individuals are trying to change that.
Key quote:
“Motorists switching to EVs is an important part of getting towards cleaner skies and improved health.”
— David Sislen, World Bank country director for Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka
Why this matters:
For years, Kathmandu's streets have doubled as corridors of toxic exhaust, with diesel-belching buses and cars choking the valley in a thick, gray soup. But now, something remarkable is happening. In a country better known for its Himalayan peaks than its tech revolutions, Nepal is pulling off an electric vehicle shift that’s putting many wealthier nations to shame.
Read more: The role of electric vehicles in the push for environmental justice
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EPA stalls civil rights enforcement as pollution complaints pile up
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ability to investigate environmental discrimination has ground to a halt under Trump, leaving dozens of communities of color without recourse as pollution complaints sit unresolved.
In short:
- The Trump administration has quietly blocked the EPA from opening new civil rights investigations or issuing findings of discrimination, effectively sidelining Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
- The Office of Environmental Justice was shuttered, and the civil rights division has been largely frozen, unable to act on pollution complaints from mostly Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic communities.
- This rollback coincides with a broader federal effort to defang civil rights enforcement, including staff layoffs at the Departments of Education and Homeland Security.
Key quote:
“Especially with this spate of actions targeting unexpected entities like law firms and universities, I can see a world where complaints against state agencies that are let’s say ‘friendly’ to the administration would be rejected but complaints against agencies that are ‘unfriendly’ to the administration might be allowed to go forward.”
— Former EPA staffer
Why this matters:
The erosion of civil rights enforcement at the EPA blocks a crucial tool for protecting vulnerable communities from environmental harm. What’s at stake includes everything from drinking water safety to lung disease, from childhood asthma to intergenerational harm. Communities already dealing with racism and economic disinvestment are being left exposed to toxic air, soil, and water — all while the federal agency meant to protect them stays silent.
Related coverage from EHN:
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