"A controversial Interior Department pro-hunting panel has ended with a whimper instead of a bang. In a remarkably anti-climactic conclusion to a heated clash over the costs and benefits of trophy hunting, the Justice Department disclosed in a legal filing Friday that Interior had let the International Wildlife Conservation Council expire."
"President Trump's $4.8 trillion fiscal 2021 budget proposal released today once again seeks to slash many energy and environmental programs to help shore up national security spending."
This special report is designed to help journalists in the Pacific Northwest cover the impacts of climate change, as well as the actions taken to mitigate its worst effects and to adapt to what can’t be stopped. The report includes a wide-ranging issue backgrounder and tipsheets on climate impacts, mitigation and adaptation, plus a toolbox of sources. Read on for a wealth of story ideas for right now, and over the coming decade. We hope this is the first in a series of regional climate special reports, and welcome your suggestions and ideas for future editions of "Covering Your Climate."
"Every summer for the past three years, the phones have been ringing like crazy in the Office of the Indiana State Chemist. Farmers and homeowners were calling, complaining that their soybean fields or tomato plants looked sick, with curled-up leaves. They suspected pesticides from nearby farms — a kind of chemical hit-and-run."
"Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Friday announced a $64 million dollar initiative to fund research and development for coal, giving an assist to an industry that appears to be on the decline."
"Lynn Cameron inspected the layers of mountain ridges from an overlook on the Appalachian Trail, and imagined how the scenery might change. Her gloved hand drew an imaginary line across the distant landscape to show the proposed path of the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline."
"The House this week will vote on legislation that would create nearly 1.4 million acres of new wilderness in the West. The six-bill package would designate large swaths of land in California, Colorado and Washington state as wilderness or potential wilderness intended for further study."
"The White House will propose deep spending cuts to domestic programs, including on energy and the environment, when it releases its fiscal 2021 budget today."
"The Environmental Protection Agency abruptly pushed out its top regional official for California and other points West, touching off an unusual public dispute between the two over the reason why."
"The Justice Department has dropped its antitrust inquiry into four automakers that had sided with California in its dispute with the Trump administration over reducing climate-warming vehicle pollution, deciding that the companies had violated no laws, according to people familiar with the matter."
