California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 54 into law in 2022, with an aim of using less plastic and increasing circularity for plastic packaging and food ware. Draft regulations designed to implement the law were shared a year ago, followed by public input. But now, Newsom has flipped the script, returning the regulations to CalRecycle for a restart. Environmental groups said they feel that the governor has caved to business pressures.
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Former Gov. Christie Whitman, who once led the federal Environmental Protection Agency, has termed President Donald Trump’s sweeping plan to roll back environmental regulation “unconscionable.”
“I mean people are dying because of air and water pollution,” Whitman said. “If we start stopping regulation and controlling some of these emissions, we’re going to be in a much, much worse place.”
Trump’s EPA chief, Lee Zeldin, on Thursday announced plans to reconsider such regulations as those covering coal-burning power plants and the petroleum industry.
The former Long Island congressman and staunch Trump supporter hailed the changes as “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”
Whitman, a frequent critic of Trump, cautioned that the changes would be subject to review in the courts and would not be implemented immediately.
She acknowledged, however, that staff cuts at the federal agency would significantly impair the agency’s enforcement power.
Whitman made the comments in an interview with NJ Spotlight News Anchor Briana Vannozzi (below).
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Several lawmakers are raising questions about the state’s new $1.73 billion E-ZPass deal, after a recent news report revealed the contract was awarded through a mostly closed-door process with virtually no public disclosure.
The report by investigative journalist Jeff Pillets of The Jersey Vindicator found the New Jersey Turnpike Authority selected a company named TransCore LP to run NJ E-ZPass operations, despite its bid being $250 million higher than the next-lowest qualified bidder and the company having alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The new contract comes as tolls on the Turnpike have shot up more than 40% over the past few years and amid broader concerns about government transparency.
“The Turnpike Authority said that they were chosen because they had the best experience and that they offered the best solutions to customer service that have plagued the Turnpike and E-ZPass for a long time now,” said Pillets in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “But we found that there were questions about the background of this company, connecting it to security issues, connecting it to foreign governments, China in particular.
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The ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel production facility in Hamilton, Ontario. Canada is the United States’ biggest supplier of aluminum and steel.Credit…Carlos Osorio/Reuters
From the New York Times
President Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday morning that he would impose an additional 25 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, doubling the levies he planned to put in place on Wednesday, and reiterated his notion that Canada should be part of the United States. He framed such an outcome as inevitable: “The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear,” he wrote.
Market uncertainty: Investors were struggling to understand Mr. Trump’s trade policies as he announced the heavier tariffs, which he described as a response to surcharges on electricity generated in Canada and used by U.S. customers. The S&P 500 was down again a day after Wall Street turned in its worst performance of 2025, spooked by Mr. Trump’s refusal to rule out the possibility his policies could trigger a recession.
This is a developing story. Expect updates
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Two conservative justices said they would have allowed Republican state attorneys general to sue their Democratic counterparts for pursuing climate lawsuits against oil companies.
By Lesley Clark, E&E News
The Supreme Court has blocked an attempt by 19 red states to end a set of climate lawsuits against the oil and gas industry.
In an order issued Monday, the justices rejected a request by Republican state attorneys general to challenge five of their Democratic counterparts who have sued oil companies for compensation for the costs of rising tides, intensifying storms and other disasters worsened by climate change.
The Supreme Court is the first — and only — court to hear legal battles among states, although the justices are not obligated to take up such cases.
Justice Clarence Thomas, who has taken a more expansive view of the court’s obligation to look at state disputes, wrote a dissent from Monday’s order, which Justice Samuel Alito joined.
Thomas wrote that the red states allege that the climate liability lawsuits against oil companies violate the separation of powers and the federal government’s “exclusive authority over interstate emissions.” He said he would grant the states the right to proceed with their case.
He said the court’s assumption that it has the discretion to decline to review lawsuits between the states is “suspect at best” and a “modern invention that the Court has never persuasively justified.”
Thomas said the Supreme Court’s reluctance to accept jurisdiction in lawsuits between states is troubling because the court is the only one that can hear such cases.
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Off the East Yorkshire coast, a grave incident is unfolding where the U.S.-flagged oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate loaded with jet fuel, a ship designated critical to US national security in the Department of Transportation’s Tanker Security Program (TSP), was struck while at anchor by the Portuguese-flagged containership MV Solong.
The collision has set both vessels ablaze, triggering extensive search and rescue operations. The crews have abandoned both ships. While initial reports suggest all U.S. Merchant Mariners are reportedly safe in lifeboats, one crew member from the Solong remains unaccounted for.
“It appears that Solong did not slow down or maneuver. It rammed straight into the side of Stena Immaculate,” said maritime historian Sal Mercogliano in a video analyzing the AIS ship tracks.
The Stena Immaculate is one of only ten vessels enrolled in the DOT’s TSP, which provides essential ships for the Department of Defense. Neither Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy nor Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has issued a statement. The vessel is one of three tankers operated in the TSP by Crowley-Stena Marine Solutions, a joint venture between US-based Crowley, which manages the vessel, and Stena Bulk USA.
The Stena Immaculate was anchored off the Humber Estuary when the Solong struck it at 9:48 a.m. on Monday. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency is coordinating the emergency response with search and rescue helicopters from Humberside and lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Mablethorpe, and Cleethorpes. A fixed-wing aircraft and nearby vessels with firefighting capabilities are also supporting the operation.
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