Big Oil’s deep injection wells are a pending large-scale disaster

Government agencies have long been complicit.

A cache of government documents dating back nearly a century casts serious doubt on the safety of the oil and gas industry’s most common method for disposing of its annual trillion gallons of toxic wastewater: injecting it deep underground.

Despite knowing by the early 1970s that injection wells were at best a makeshift solution, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) never followed its own determination that they should be “a temporary means of disposal,” used only until “a more environmentally acceptable means of disposal [becomes] available.”

…The documents show there may be little scientific merit to industry and government claims that injection wells are a safe means of disposal — putting drinking water and other mineral resources in communities across the country at risk of contamination, and jeopardizing local economies and public health.

The U.S. oil and gas industry produces 25.9 billion barrels of wastewater each year (or 1.0878 trillion gallons), according to the most recent data available, a 2022 report from Groundwater Protection Council that relies on 2021 data. That’s enough to form a line of waste barrels to the moon and back 28 times. - DeSmog

Crypto was the biggest fraud enabler in 2025

Entirely unsurprising, especially given the kind of people who pimp crypto.

Americans lost $7.2 billion to crypto investment scams in 2025, according to a new report from the FBI, making it the top source of financial losses from fraud reported to the agency last year. Many people don’t call the FBI after getting scammed, which means the real total is likely far larger.

The news comes from the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual report, released (April 6), which tracks not just crypto investment fraud, but online scams targeting the elderly, and ransomware attacks, among others. The agency received 1,008,597 total complaints in 2025, up from 859,532 complaints in 2024. The total amount lost was over $20 billion last year. - Gizmodo

Millions are losing SNAP benefits

But who cares if poor people, and their kids, go hungry, right? We’re exulting in the glories of Trump’s America!

Millions of low-income Americans have already lost access to federal food assistance following enactment of the Republican budget law signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025, according to new analysis examining changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Data published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows SNAP participation fell by 6 percent between July 2025 and December 2025, representing 2.5 million fewer people receiving benefits nationwide. The decline occurred shortly after Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also identified as H.R. 1, into law.

Researchers say participation may continue to fall as states modify eligibility procedures and administrative policies in response to the law’s funding changes and program requirements. According to CBPP, “we estimate that 4 million people in a typical month will lose out” on SNAP benefits once the law’s provisions are fully implemented. - Nation of Change

The worst president ever for veterans

If Trump's not already there it's just a matter of time. And not much time at that. This is on top of what's happening with VA health care.

Just as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress were warned would happen, close to 100,000 US veterans are currently behind on their mortgage payments or are in the process of foreclosure as a result of the White House’s decision to shut down a Department of Veterans Affairs program that helped people with VA-backed home loans when they were behind on their monthly payments.

As NPR reported (April 2), more than 10,000 have already lost their homes, nearly a year after the Trump administration abruptly did away with the VA Servicing Purchase (VASP) program. - Common Dreams

The real costs, for most, of Trump tax policy

This has graphs and other more specific information.

Taking all the policies of President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress into account, all but the richest Americans are paying higher taxes on average in 2026 than they did last year. These policies include:

- Dramatically increased tariffs on goods from abroad, a tax that economists widely agree is mostly borne by American consumers.

- The termination of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit (EPTC), which had made health care more affordable for millions of people.

- The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which overwhelmingly benefits the rich and corporations. - ITEP

The Trump administration keeps failing farmers

Their motives are always suspect, certainly, but mostly it’s just sheer incompetence. There are likely still plenty of people in the Labor Department who could get this done, but that’s not being allowed to happen.

In June, as the Trump administration faced backlash from farmers and agriculture officials over its mass deportation effort stripping farms of employees, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer presented a solution: the new Office of Immigration Policy.

The office would slash red tape, including easing the process for farmers to access workers on temporary labor visas. Instead of jumping through hoops with three government agencies, employers would apply through a single portal, Chavez-DeRemer promised…

But about eight months after the new office was created, the Labor Department is struggling to deliver on its stated goals, according to internal emails obtained by Investigate Midwest through a public records request. - Investigate Midwest

Insane desperation while trying to save Big Coal

Coal is an enemy of humanity. That's a simple statement of fact.

Almost all coal-fired power plants in the US had the ability to comply with rules limiting their emission of dangerous pollutants such as mercury that can cause brain damage in children. Despite this, Donald Trump’s administration decided to demolish the standards anyway.

Last week, the Trump administration said it is loosening restrictions on air toxins from mercury, lead and other heavy metals that are released by coal plants. Such pollution is known to be neurotoxic and has been linked to irreversible brain damage in children and infants, as well as heart disease and cancer in adults…

However, the EPA’s own previous analysis shows that only 27 coal plants across the US, out of around 219 total coal facilities, would have to adopt any sort of technological upgrade, such as filters in their smokestacks, to meet the stronger standards. - The Guardian