Opinion: Trump’s Attack on Science Drowns Common Sense

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February 26, 2025

Blocking research funds challenges president’s promise of a “proud, prosperous, and free” nation.

Republican Attack on Science Targets Water Research that Benefits All

February 22, 2025

National Science Foundation grants have been reviewed for ideological influence.

Opinion: The President’s Plastic Trigger

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February 14, 2025

President Trump delights in alarming opponents and aiding friends in polluting industries

Have You Seen This Fish Thief?

February 7, 2025

A new film spotlights the sea lamprey, also known as "Dracula of the Lakes," a species which pushed Great Lakes fisheries to the brink in the 20th century.

PERSPECTIVE | Freshwater Crises Rise on World Economic Forum Agenda

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February 6, 2025

Program highlights high costs of inaction.

Republican Attack on Science Targets Water Research that Benefits All

Opinion: The President’s Plastic Trigger

Have You Seen This Fish Thief?

PERSPECTIVE | Freshwater Crises Rise on World Economic Forum Agenda

Editor’s Corner

Headlines

What We’re Reading

President Trump’s plan to develop more carbon-based energy sources, particularly natural gas, is driven by the tech industry’s rising demand for electricity to power new data centers, which also are giant users of fresh water for cooling.

The number of data centers either built or in development around the world has nearly doubled since 2015, with the current global count at over 7,000.

Data centers in America currently operate with 32 gigawatts of electricity annually, less than 3 percent of the total 1,250 gigawatts of U.S. generation. A new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies projects electricity demand by data centers could require 90 gigawatts more by 2030.

The huge demand for water, and concern about other harm to the environment and quality of life, is driving public resistance to data center development. In Rochester, N.Y., business development officials are weighing a disputed data center.

The Legislature in Virginia, where more data centers have been built than in any other state, is weighing the state’s first regulations on data center development.

Because data centers typically require 5 million or more gallons of water daily for cooling, technologists are developing alternatives that could dramatically reduce water demand.

In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the EPA’s ability to limit sewage discharge by wastewater permit holders.
El Paso, Texas, has broken ground on a new purification facility that aims to convert 10 million gallons of wastewater into drinking water, each day.
Nine-foot floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, have sparked emergency action — including shooting salt flares at clouds so that rain falls on the sea, not land.
A legacy of mining and water pollution in Kwabe, Zambia, has given almost all of the community’s children lead poisoning.

The Rundown

Health agency publishes a final report on the impact of the first-ever federal water bill assistance program.
EPA head wants to toss agency’s basis for regulating carbon pollution.
Supreme Court temporarily suspends lower court’s order to resume USAID foreign aid payments.
Reclamation sets initial water supply allocations for California’s Central Valley Project, aligning them with the president’s executive order.

And lastly, staff reductions continue at federal agencies, as do legal challenges to the administration’s orders.

USAID Shutdown Causes Global Alarm in International Water and Climate Programs

At Phoenix’s Far Edge, a Housing Boom Grasps for Water

Opinion: Trump’s “Thrilling New Era” Is a Gas

Opinion: Halt the Oil Flow Across Straits of Mackinac

In The News: World Economic Forum Appoints Circle of Blue Managing Director to its Global Future Council on the Future of the Energy Nexus

Fertilizer from Sewage, a Utility Money Maker, Faces Uncertain Future

OPINION: Spreading Like Wildfire — How Misinformation About Water and Fire in Los Angeles Inflames the Situation

Regulators Battle Oregon and Washington Farmers Over Limits to Farm Contamination

New EPA Federal Water Rules Put Chicago on Track to Replace All Lead Pipes Within 20 Years

Safe Drinking Water Act Turns 50

More WaterNews

Toxic Terrain

Fertilizer and manure in the U.S. Corn Belt contaminate water and ruin the quality of life.

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Editor’s Corner

The Rundown

Toxic Terrain

ChokePoint:

The conflicting demand for water, food, and energy is the defining challenge of our century. Global Choke Point, a collaboration between Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center, explores the peril and promise with frontline reporting, data, and policy expertise.