National (U.S.)

"Newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is giving climate change a prominent role in her talks with her counterparts around the world, signaling a significant shift by the Biden administration to prioritize addressing climate change not just from the White House but also at the agency."

"Toyota Motor Corp, Fiat Chrysler and other major automakers said on Tuesday they were joining General Motors in abandoning support for former President Donald Trump’s effort to bar California from setting its own zero emission vehicle rules."

"In a unanimous vote, the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday afternoon advanced Tom Vilsack’s nomination as agriculture secretary, setting him up for a swift confirmation by the U.S. Senate." "If confirmed, he will reprise the role he held for eight years during the Obama administration, this time focusing on supporting and incentivizing farmers, ranchers and foresters to adopt climate-friendly practices".

"Pete Buttigieg, confirmed by the Senate Tuesday as transportation secretary, will take office with a funding crisis confronting the nation’s highway system."

"The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in a letter to environmental groups signaled it may not put the gray wolf back on the endangered species list after it was removed under the Trump administration."

"Two environmental groups on Monday petitioned the Biden administration to protect the bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act to prevent the pollinator’s further decline."

"Environmentalists and labor unions that threw their support behind U.S. President Joseph Biden now find themselves on the opposite sides of a battle over the construction of big pipeline projects between Canada and the United States."

"It's one of the last hurrahs in the battle between the Trump administration and career scientists. More than a dozen high-level managers at one of the nation's top science agencies filed a complaint against a Trump administration official for trying to dictate how scientists there study climate change."

"During his presidential campaign, Joseph R. Biden Jr. said the United States should mobilize $20 billion to stop the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and impose “significant economic consequences” if deforestation continued."

"The number of heat-related deaths in Arizona soared to a new high last year as people endured the hottest summer on record and the complications of the pandemic."