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Trump to Attempt to Greenhouse Gaslight Public on His Record of Dirtier Air and Dirtier Water
WASHINGTON
Today, Donald Trump will reportedly try to defy reality by attempting to greenwash his toxic record on air and water issues. Elected as the only head of state in the world to refuse to accept climate science, Donald Trump has quickly established the worst record on the environment and climate action of any president in the history of the country. Following considerable progress under the previous Administration curbing pollution and tackling the climate crisis, Trump has attempted to throw out, roll back, undermine and scrap nearly every clean air, clean water, and climate safeguard on the books, rolled out deadly new policies to help corporate polluters, and remains the only world leader to attempt to withdraw from the historic Paris Climate Agreement.
In response to the news of Trump's speech, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"Donald Trump is resorting to greenhouse gaslighting the public to try and cover-up the fact that he is the worst president in history for the environment, climate and public health. Trump's relentless attacks on our clean air, clean water, climate and public lands threaten the health and safety of millions of Americans and no speech he gives can ever change the reality of his actions."
In a nod to the dirtier air, dirtier water, and dirtier politics that would result from Trump Administration proposals, today's speech is coming just days after the one-year anniversary of the disgraceful resignation of Trump's EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who Trump ultimately replaced with beleaguered coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler. As Trump seeks to greenhouse gaslight the nation on his environmental and climate record, here's just a few of the deadly lowlights from his Administration on these key issues:
Dirtier Air
Trump...
- Saw U.S. air quality drop "after years of improvement," with more polluted air days each year in Trump's first two years in office than in the previous four years, according to Associated Press analysis.
- Scrapped landmark protections from methane pollution, seeking to allow the dangerous pollutant to contaminate our air without limit.
- Weakend policies to protect vulnerable Americans from deadly smog pollution that contributes to dirtier air and leads to asthma attacks and heart attacks.
- Threw out the Clean Power Plan and replaced it with a rollback that would result in air pollution causing the death of 1,400 Americans per year and spur 120,000 additional asthma attacks.
- Attempted to undermine Clean Car Standards, putting more than 43% percent of the population -- those who already live in counties that have monitored unhealthy ozone and/or particle pollution -- at increased health risk because of dirtier air.
Dirtier Water
Trump...
- Attacked the Clean Water Rule, sacrificing drinking water sources for one-third of Americans to the pollution from the fossil fuel industry and other sources.
- Rolled back safeguards on coal ash pollution, threatening drinking water sources with toxic coal waste leaks and spills.
- Attempted to approve the widely-opposed Keystone XL -- which still faces significant legal obstacles -- and Dakota Access fossil fuel pipelines, threatening water sources across the country.
- Threw out National Environmental Policy Act provisions that ensure fossil fuel projects and infrastructure plans do not threaten clean air, clean water, and a stable climate.
Endangered Public Lands and Waters
Trump...
- Is the only president ever to shrink the amount of federally protected public lands when he sought to rescind protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments
- Pushed to open up nearly all American coastal waters to dangerous oil and gas drilling.
- After seeking to slash funding for our national parks, stole funds appropriated for addressing the $12 billion backlog for his July 4th circus event.
Dirtier Politics
Trump...
- Appointed Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator. Pruitt resigned amid numerous scandals tied to abuse of authority, waste of taxpayer dollars, and cozy relations with corporate polluter lobbyists.
- Appointed Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior. Zinke resigned amid numerous scandals tied to abuse of authority, waste of taxpayer dollars, and cozy relations with corporate polluter lobbyists.
- Appointed Andrew Wheeler as EPA Administrator who in his first 100 days as acting Administrator harmed the environment and public health on average every three days.
- Appointed David Bernhardt as Director of the Department of Interior who has continued selling out our public lands to polluters while seeking to re-write FOIA rules to conceal his actions
- Attempted to provide billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts to coal executives.
Deadly Policies and a Dangerous Climate
Trump...
- Threw out the Clean Power Plan's first ever limits on climate-crisis fuelling carbon pollution from power plants.
- Announced plans to remove the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.
- Targeted Clean Cars Standards for rollback, undermining one of the most significant climate action policies in history and undoing plans to double fuel economy by 2025.
- Attempted to change the way federal agencies count the deaths and health effects of his policy rollbacks.
- Continuously refused to acknowledge the climate crisis and oversaw the creation of a panel on climate science led by a man who compared previously said that "the demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler."
The public won't be fooled by Trump's attempts to greenlight gaslight the world. His deadly record speaks far louder than his rhetoric ever will:
- He entered office as the only leader in the world who denies the climate crisis.
- He is the only president ever to decrease the amount of federally protected lands and waters.
- He is the only world leader to seek to leave the landmark Paris Climate Agreement.
- He is the worst President for our environment and our climate in the history of the United States.
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
(415) 977-5500LATEST NEWS
Ben-Gvir Says Israel ‘Will Not Allow’ Trump to Make a Peace Deal With Iran as IDF Kills Dozens in Lebanon
An ex-Israeli diplomat said Israel was "moving to bury not only the supposed ceasefire in Lebanon but also talks on Iran" because its policy "is an endless and wide regional war."
May 27, 2026
As Israel launched a new bombardment of Lebanon on Tuesday, its far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, suggested that it was trying to derail ongoing peace negotiations between US President Donald Trump and Iran.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, the influential settler politician railed against the possibility of a deal to end the war as it neared the three-month mark and said the whole Israeli Cabinet was in agreement.
"I know that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and all of us members of the Cabinet... as the government of Israel, cannot allow this to happen," Ben-Gvir said in Hebrew. "This is an agreement that can harm the state of Israel, and we will not allow this to happen."
Ben-Gvir's remarks came as Trump engaged in what he has suggested was another promising round of ceasefire talks with the Iranians—talks that did not include Israel.
Despite its foreign ministry condemning recent US attacks as signs of "bad faith" and "definitive violations" of the ceasefire on Tuesday, Iran has not yet pulled away from the table.
Citing Iranian state TV, Reuters reported on Wednesday that Tehran has received an unofficial framework from the US that would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels for a month in exchange for the US withdrawing troops from Iran's vicinity and lifting its naval blockade. The US has disputed this account.
Trump has previously attempted to force Iran to accept major concessions on its nuclear program upfront, but nuclear-related talks appear to have been shifted to future negotiations.
While it has not been at the center of the latest round of negotiations, Iran still considers ending Israel’s assault on Lebanon to be an essential part of a durable peace.
As it has during previous peace negotiations between Iran and the US, Israel launched another major bombardment against Lebanon on Tuesday, violating the 45-day ceasefire that went into effect last month.
Israeli forces conducted more than 120 airstrikes across southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley against what they said were Hezbollah targets, according to The Guardian, as Netanyahu said Israel would "intensify" its military campaign.
According to Lebanon's health ministry, 31 people were killed, and 40 were wounded. In the southern town of Burj al-Shamali, 14 people were killed, including two children and three women, the ministry said.
Since Israel's offensive began in early March, more than 3,200 people have been killed and over 9,700 wounded, according to the ministry. More than 600 people have been killed since the April truce began.
Sources also told Reuters that Israel had expanded its occupation of southern Lebanon, past its so-called "security zone." Israeli forces ordered the residents of dozens of Lebanese villages not to return to their homes in the occupation zone, which Israel is trying to expand to between 5 and 10 kilometers inside Lebanon.
In what Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has described as a renewal of its "Gaza model," Israel had demolished or damaged more than 40,000 homes in southern Lebanon before last month's truce went into effect, though destruction has continued since then. More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced as a result of forced evacuation orders and bombardments by Israel.
Hezbollah has responded on Tuesday with drone attacks on Israel, which it had already been launching for weeks in response to what it said were persistent ceasefire violations.
Another far-right Israeli Cabinet member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said Israel should respond to each drone by destroying 10 buildings in Beirut. If there are no buildings left in Beirut, he said, Israel should expand the demolitions to other areas such as Tyre, Sidon, and the Bekaa Valley.
Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that Israel should "cut off the electricity in Lebanon," "occupy" the area up to the Zahrani River, and "return to a massive war."
The timing of Israel's renewed assault on Lebanon has been met with accusations that it is attempting to sabotage ceasefire talks between the US and Iran.
Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, a former diplomat with the Israeli Foreign Ministry who has since become a prominent critic of the country, said that by moving deeper into Lebanon, Israel was "moving to bury not only the supposed ceasefire in Lebanon but also talks on Iran" because its policy "is an endless and wide regional war."
Responding to Ben-Gvir's remarks, he said, "Israel forced the US into war and won’t let us end it."
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'How the Corruption Works': Trump Boosts Prediction Markets as His Family Profits
"Trump and his family are making tons of money off these new prediction markets—and so of course he is leading the charge against consumer protections," said one Democratic senator.
May 27, 2026
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday used his social media platform to boost prediction markets—a burgeoning industry from which Trump's family stands to profit—and lashed out at state leaders working to regulate them, singling out officials in Illinois, New York, and elsewhere as "scum."
Trump, whose administration is considered the most brazenly corrupt in US history, argued that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) must have "exclusive authority" over prediction market regulations, declaring that "it is a major industry, and we must protect it." The president's message echoed that of his CFTC chief, Mike Selig, who said earlier this year that the agency would fight any state-level efforts to restrict prediction markets.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who is co-leading legislation that would ban online prediction markets from allowing bets on government actions, said Trump's post on Tuesday amounts to "more evidence of how the corruption works."
"Trump and his family are making tons of money off these new prediction markets—and so of course he is leading the charge against consumer protections and for preferential regulatory treatment of his companies," said Murphy, alluding to Donald Trump Jr.'s role on the advisory board of Polymarket—the world's largest prediction market platform.
The New York Times reported last month that Trump's "publicly traded media company unveiled its own prediction market product last year. And the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has ties to two of the industry’s top firms, including Polymarket, the platform that prosecutors say was used by the soldier for well-timed bets."
"The most corrupt president in our nation’s history wants to make sure states like ours can’t regulate prediction markets so his family and administration can keep profiting."
The president's attack on state efforts to regulate prediction markets drew swift pushback from state leaders who have supported cracking down on the platforms, warning they are avenues for insider trading and corruption.
"Illinois took action to prevent and ban insider trading with online prediction markets in our state," Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on social media in response to Trump's post. "The most corrupt president in our nation’s history wants to make sure states like ours can’t regulate prediction markets so his family and administration can keep profiting."
The Trump administration, which has steamrolled federal regulators who have raised questions about prediction markets, is currently suing Illinois and other states over their efforts to regulate the platforms. Critics argue that prediction markets are illegal sportsbooks masquerading as financial exchanges in an attempt to skirt gambling restrictions.
Dominick Freda, legal director of Better Markets, said Tuesday that "Congress never intended to unleash nationwide gambling and certainly did not envision having the tiny and ill-equipped CFTC adopt the role of nationwide gambling czar." Better Markets on Tuesday filed an amicus brief in support of Tennessee's effort to rein in Kalshi and other prediction market platforms.
“The CFTC continues to waste its resources and focus on cheerleading these unpoliced, unregulated casinos when it should focus on its real job: regulating the multi-trillion-dollar commodities and derivatives markets," said Freda. "It is more important than ever for the CFTC to regulate and police those markets so that Americans can count on stable prices for the many goods they rely on, from gas to groceries. The CFTC should leave gambling regulation to Tennessee and the other states whose laws and regulations have protected the American public for decades, and must be allowed to continue to do so."
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2,315 Meters Under the Sea, Greenpeace Stages Deepest Protest in World History
“By safeguarding these deep-sea ecosystems within a global network of ocean sanctuaries and establishing a moratorium on deep sea mining, we can create a resilient safety net for marine life, and protect the health of our global oceans for generations to come."
May 27, 2026
Aided by a sophisticated underwater submersible, activists with Greenpeace on Wednesday set a world record for the deepest protest ever by displaying a banner 1.4 miles beneath the surface of the Arctic Ocean to oppose industrial deep-sea mining and urging protection of the world's oceans.
According to the international environmental group, the message "LISTEN TO THE SCIENCE!" was displayed 2,315 meters below sea level using a remotely operated vehicle called ‘ROV Holly.’
Executed during a deep-water survey expedition between Iceland and the island of Svalbard, the robotic hand of the submersible held up the sign in front of a hydrothermal vent field known as Loki’s Castle, which is located along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge that separates the Arctic Ocean's Greenland Sea from the Norwegian Sea.
"This marks the deepest banner protest in history, to speak for ecosystems that have no voice of their own," said Dr. Sandra Schöttner, chief scientist for the Deep Arctic Expedition at Greenpeace International. "World leaders have already promised to protect 30 percent of the oceans, now they must listen to the science and actually do it. We cannot meet our global goals if we also allow industrial exploitation of unexplored and vulnerable ecosystems in the deep sea. It is high time that leaders keep their promises and give the oceans a chance to recover.”
The Arctic Mid Ocean Arctic Ridge—which the group characterized as "one of Earth's least known wildernesses"—goes down to depths of up to 3000 meters. The expedition and historic protest is part of a Greenpeace campaign that is calling for the deep-sea world of hydrothermal vents like Loki's Castle and others, as well as seamounts and the "extraordinary creatures" that live in such ecosystems to be protected with the establishment of a network of marine sanctuaries.
“By safeguarding these deep-sea ecosystems within a global network of ocean sanctuaries and establishing a moratorium on deep sea mining," said Dr. Schöttner, "we can create a resilient safety net for marine life, and protect the health of our global oceans for generations to come."
Efforts to ban deep-sea mining by environmentalists, ocean stewards, and conservationists were stymied in the US with an executive order last year issued by President Donald Trump which seeks to bolster and expand the practice by the mining industry.
Trump was condemned for the move, which Greenpeace at the time called "an insult to multilateralism" due to its sidestepping of a UN-backed process designed to protect the oceans, and "a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry.”
Trump's failures, however, have been counteracted at some level by other nations who have paused or put stronger protections in place when it comes to deep-sea mining. In December, Norway paused controversial plans to issue a fresh round of drilling and mining license beneath undersea areas it controls.
As part of its ongoing campaign to curb the destructive practice, Greenpeace is calling on world leaders to honor existing global climate targets, implement the UN Ocean Treaty to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030, and establish an immediate moratorium on deep-sea mining.
“There is no version of seabed mining that is sustainable or safe,” Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Juressa Lee said last year. “Alongside our allies who want to protect the ocean for future generations, we will continue to say a loud and bold no to miners who want to strip the seafloor for their profit.”
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