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First-of-a-Kind US Class-Action Lawsuit Could Force EPA to Reinstate $3B Climate Program (Maria)

The author writes, “A coalition of nonprofits, tribes and local governments is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the agency’s administrator, Lee Zeldin, for terminating the entire Environmental and Climate Justice block grant program — despite a legally binding mandate from Congress to fund the Biden-era initiative. It’s a first-of-a-kind proposed class-action lawsuit that could force the EPA to reinstate the program and each individual grant.”

America Will Suffer From Trump’s Assault on Facts (Dana)

The authors write, “President Trump treats facts in the same way that he treats people: He expects them to line up in support of his goals, and if they don’t, he seeks to get rid of them. Last week Mr. Trump was confronted by the inconvenient truth that job growth has been in a three-month slump. A more grounded president might have considered whether the data raised questions about his agenda. Mr. Trump characteristically insisted that the questions were about the data. He charged that the beige functionaries of the Bureau of Labor Statistics were engaged in a conspiracy to discredit his administration, and he fired the head of the bureau. The firing is so clearly damaging to the credibility of the federal government that it drew objections from some Senate Republicans.”

‘We Don’t Want Contact Because You Are Bad’: Loggers Close In on Uncontacted People in Peruvian Amazon (Laura)

From The Guardian: “The Mashco Piro, the world’s largest uncontacted Indigenous group, face growing threats from logging, drug trafficking and the climate crisis in the Brazil-Peru borderlands. Recent raids in Brazil highlight their struggle for territory and resources, worsened by environmental changes and criminal activity. Despite legal protection and international agreements, cooperation between Brazil and Peru remains inadequate, putting the Mashco Piro at risk.”

Governor of Deep Red State Sues Trump After ‘Whim’ Leaves Residents Reeling (DonkeyHotey)

From Raw Story: “Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly joined 22 other states and Washington, D.C., in suing the Trump administration for terminating federal funding, which she said has led to cuts to state agriculture, health and safety programs ‘on a whim.’ The federal lawsuit, initially filed in June in Massachusetts, targets decisions from President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency that are rooted in a regulation allowing the administration to eliminate funding if it ‘no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.’ Kelly said in a news release that the decisions have made ‘no sense.’”

Duffy To Announce Nuclear Reactor on the Moon (Sean)

From POLITICO: “Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator. NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by POLITICO — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut. The move also underscores how Duffy, who faced pushback from lawmakers about handling two jobs, wants to play a role in NASA policymaking. ‘It is about winning the second space race,’ said a NASA senior official.”

When Your Power Meter Becomes a Tool of Mass Surveillance (Al)

The authors write, “Simply using extra electricity to power some Christmas lights or a big fish tank shouldn’t bring the police to your door. In fact, in California, the law explicitly protects the privacy of power customers, prohibiting public utilities from disclosing precise “smart” meter data in most cases. Despite this, Sacramento’s power company and law enforcement agencies have been running an illegal mass surveillance scheme for years, using our power meters as home-mounted spies. … For a decade, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) has been searching through all of its customers’ energy data, and passed on more than 33,000 tips about supposedly ‘high’ usage households to police.”

Cancer Cells Go Up in Flames — Thanks to This Deep-Sea Sugar (Mili)

The author writes, “Scientists have discovered a sugar compound from deep-sea bacteria that can destroy cancer cells in a dramatic way. This natural substance, produced by microbes living in the ocean, causes cancer cells to undergo a fiery form of cell death, essentially making them self-destruct. In lab tests and in mice with liver cancer, the compound not only stopped tumors from growing, but also activated the immune system to fight back. This finding could pave the way for entirely new cancer treatments based on sugars from marine organisms.”