National (U.S.)

"Across the country voters will weigh in on ballot measures to decide issues like wolf reintroduction, taxes on oil companies and renewable energy standards."

"Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, is decrying the political polarization that has led some Americans to question the science behind climate change and COVID-19."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mishandled the distribution of aid in Puerto Rico after two devastating 2017 hurricanes, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released Thursday."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday finalized a rule that could reclassify many “major” sources of pollution as minor ones, allowing facilities to abide by less-stringent emissions standards for dangerous substances such as mercury, lead and arsenic."

"The EPA has failed to regulate or review two fragrance ingredients considered to be among the most hazardous chemicals in production—and among those Congress directed the agency to address faster than any others."

"The Trump administration says it will comply, for now, with a federal court ruling that blocks William Perry Pendley from continuing to serve as the temporary head of the Bureau of Land Management."

"Robert E. Murray, the former CEO and president of the now-bankrupt Murray Energy, has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Labor for black lung benefits. For years, Murray and his company fought against federal mine safety regulations aimed at reducing the debilitating disease."

"A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about safety procedures at a meatpacking plant whose workers were falling ill at an alarming rate early on in the pandemic is raising new questions from Democrats about possible political interference at the agency."

"A top official at the Interior Department has delayed the release of a study that shows how oil and gas drilling in Alaska could encroach upon the territory of polar bears — which are already struggling for survival as a warming planet melts their habitat — according to documents obtained by The Washington Post."

"A new cocktail of enzymes that speeds up the degradation of plastic offers a step forward in finding a new form of recycling that is faster, is more affordable and works on a larger scale than current methods, British and American researchers said this week."