Good news has been in short supply this year. Trump’s second term has proven to be as terrible as we imagined, maybe even more. 

That’s why the progress we’ve made this year to protect our food, water, and climate is even more impressive. And YOU made it possible. 

While we’re living through extreme threats to our most precious resources and our government, supporters like you all across this country rose up and took action — because you know what’s at stake.

By protecting our food, water, climate, and democracy, you’re saving our chance at securing a livable future for all. 

Thank you for all you do to create a world where everyone has access to safe food, clean water, and a healthy climate. 

Here Are 10 Featured Victories From 2025:

1. Pressured the EPA to fight for corporations to clean up PFAS

In a big win for safer water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in September that it will maintain and defend the PFAS Polluter Pay rule that holds chemical manufacturers accountable for cleaning up these toxic “forever chemicals.” It’s only fair that PFAS polluters pay to clean up their own messes, including contamination of our drinking water.

PFAS are lab-made chemicals that have been linked to a staggering range of health problems, including various cancers, altered hormone levels, decreased birth weights, digestive inflammation, and reduced vaccine response. No amount of PFAS in our water is safe.

This win wouldn’t have been possible without you. Food & Water Watch members sent over 20,000 messages to Trump’s EPA to fight for safe water. 

2. Stopped an AI data center in Hampden Township, Pennsylvania

In response to strong opposition led by Food & Water Watch’s Pennsylvania team, the Hampden Township Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected a zoning ordinance that would have allowed water- and energy-intensive AI data centers to be built near people’s homes and community spaces.

Residents of Hampden Township, a part of the Harrisburg metro area, were concerned about the negative impacts of data centers, including energy consumption, water usage, and noise pollution. They armed themselves with 300+ petition signatures and voiced their opposition at a township council meeting for a standing room-only public comment period. This strong show of people power convinced the township board to vote no!

Across the country, communities like Hampden Township are fighting planned data centers and the dirty energy projects proposed to power them. Because of you, we’re making sure people have the information they need. 

You can watch the recording of our September Livable Future LIVE event, where we explored what the AI data center boom means for our water and climate, and check out Senior Researcher Ben Murray’s research on Big Tech’s water and energy footprint.

3. Ended a costly ratepayer subsidy for new gas hookups in New York

In a significant victory for New Yorkers, the State Assembly voted to repeal the outdated 100-foot rule — a long-standing policy that forced ratepayers to subsidize costly gas hookups for new customers. Eliminating the rule will end a $200 million-per-year subsidy that has fueled fossil fuel expansion and left New Yorkers footing the bill. 

The repeal follows years of advocacy powered by supporters like you to eliminate policies that prop up the fossil fuel industry at the public’s expense. 

And there’s more to do! Together, we’re urging Governor Huchul to sign this bill into law before the end of the year.

4. Won a motion to intervene to get factory farm waste out of Lake Erie

A federal judge approved Food & Water Watch and our allies to intervene in a lawsuit challenging a grievously inadequate cleanup plan for Lake Erie’s serious pollution problem. We will argue that the EPA’s approval of the Western Lake Erie Total Maximum Daily Load is unlawful because it fails to hold factory farms accountable for their major role in polluting the Great Lake. In a second win, the court denied factory farm industry groups’ motions to intervene. 

Thanks to supporters like you powering our legal work, Food & Water Watch has a long history of enforcing the Clean Water Act and fighting industry attempts to weaken this vital protection. 

5. Exposed the corporate price gouging behind higher egg prices

This spring, Food & Water Watch released a report, The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies: The Rotten Egg Oligarchy, showing that higher egg prices are not just due to bird flu, but also to corporate greed. 

Our research uncovered how Cal-Maine, the country’s leading egg producer, raised egg prices even while its facilities were bird flu-free. Their price gouging led to $1 billion in windfall profits in a single year. 

While food giants like Cal-Maine profiteer off the bird flu pandemic, they’re also worsening it. The factory farm model creates hotbeds of disease by stuffing millions of animals into small spaces. 

Because of you, we were able to spread the word. Several media outlets, including The Guardian, BBC, and Bloomberg News, featured Food & Water Watch Research Director Amanda Starbuck and our report. 

You can learn more about corporate profiteering in the food industry at our November 19 Livable Future LIVE! Event, “Get Rich or Don’t Eat: Profiteering Off the Nation’s Food Crisis.”

6. Won a legal victory that protects our oceans from industrial fish farming 

Food & Water Watch and a coalition of allies solidified a legal win from late last year when a federal judge invalidated a nationwide factory fish farming permit, Nationwide Permit 56, which threatened to pave the way for dirty offshore aquaculture projects. 

This permit would have allowed for the construction of industrial fish farms in U.S. federal ocean waters. These farms place net pens and cages in the open ocean to produce massive quantities of finfish such as salmon, trout, and bass — along with massive amounts of pollution. 

Fish farming threatens marine ecosystems as well as endangered whales, salmon, sea turtles, and many other imperiled species. It also threatens traditional fishing economies, Tribal Nations’ food security, and public health.

Thank you for powering yet another major legal rebuke to industrial fish farms in our oceans.

7. Defeated the Cancer Gag Act in Iowa

Earlier this year, you powered our Iowa organizing team to mobilize a broad coalition of Iowans to block the Cancer Gag Act, a pesticide immunity bill that would have shielded chemical companies from health-related lawsuits. Copycat bills were introduced in twelve other states to robust opposition, failing in nine and passing in two. Thank you for defending the rights of farmers and families to hold chemical companies accountable for their dangerous products.

Our research revealed that Bayer, the maker of Roundup, spent big money pushing for these terrible bills. And it’s also lobbying hard for a federal version called the Agricultural Uniformity Labeling Act, which would hamstring state and local governments’ ability to protect their people from pesticides. 

Together, we’ll continue demanding that our elected officials put the health of our communities above corporate profits. You can read the powerful story of Iowan Nick Schutt, who is fighting with us to protect the health of his family and community from Big Ag pollution, in the summer issue of Livable Future NOW. 

8. Drove support for the Climate Change Superfund Act in states coast to coast

Together, we’re working to pass Climate Change Superfund Acts in Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, and Maryland. These bills would empower states to collect financial damages for the costs of climate change caused by fossil fuel companies that do business in their state. They’re modeled after similar laws passed in New York and Vermont. 

You powered campaigns that drove over 50 New Jersey municipalities — and counting! — to support its version of the bill. And in September, the Oxnard City Council in California passed a resolution in support of its bill. Oxnard is the largest city in Ventura County to pass a resolution in support of the Superfund. 

The message is clear: People are ready for bold action to protect our communities — and to ensure the fossil fuel industry, not taxpayers, foots the bill for infrastructure projects to help states become more resilient to flooding, severe storms, and other climate impacts.

9. Won a legal decision in our fight to clean up industrial wastewater

In a lawsuit brought by Food & Water Watch and allied groups, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the EPA’s decision not to update water pollution standards for several major industrial sectors was unlawful.

The EPA must now reconsider its pollution standards for petroleum refineries, plastics manufacturers, and fertilizer plants, and properly account for improvements in pollution control technology when setting limits for discharges into waterways. 

This victory stands to benefit the health of our waterways across the country and strengthen the EPA’s standards-setting process for all industrial polluters. Thank you for investing in this critical legal work!

10. Protected a key water safety rule for lead-free water

Intense grassroots pressure around the country, led by Food & Water Watch, stopped a dangerous attempt by House Republicans to strip away a key water safety rule. Lawmakers worked to repeal the Biden-era Lead Out of Water Rule, officially called Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), which mandates the elimination of toxic lead service lines in most communities across the country over the next decade.

You powered rallies at the offices of key Republican Congress members in the Northeast and Midwest, calling on them to publicly denounce this terrible plan. And we influenced two of these members to commit to opposing the LCRI rollback.

But the LCRI isn’t safe yet. It faces an industry lawsuit that the EPA must defend against. We’re now demanding that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin carry out his responsibility to protect drinking water. He needs to reject all attempts to roll back the regulation or delay it from going into effect. Every person deserves safe, lead-free water.

Bonus: Gathered to celebrate 20 years of grassroots power!

Food & Water Watch turned 20 this year! Thank you for making this milestone year unforgettable by celebrating with us at a reception in New York City and a virtual conference — we were delighted to welcome more than 350 people to these events! 

The past two decades have shown us that when dedicated people like you come together, when we push for what we know is right and hold power to account, we can achieve great things. Together, we’ve won over 50 campaigns against water privatization, won billions of dollars for public water infrastructure, won critical regulations of factory farms, and blocked dozens of fossil fuel projects that threaten people’s health and environment. 

Visit our 20th Anniversary Timeline to see some of our biggest victories from the last 20 years. It’s a great reminder that your support has and continues to improve lives in meaningful ways, and by sticking together as a community, we can and will get through whatever the future brings.

Thank You for Fighting Safe Food, Clean Water, and a Livable Climate!

Each campaign we won this year, each community we protected, each policy we influenced for the better, happened because people like you stepped up and took action.

Whether you joined a rally, made phone calls to your elected officials, gathered petition signatures, invited friends and neighbors to join our movement, or made a donation, our work together matters so much — and we can’t stop now.

We’re facing a dangerous time. But because of you, we’re ready to meet the moment. Thank you!