"A day after California filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s emergency declaration on the border, the Transportation Department said it was exploring legal options to claw back $2.5 billion in federal funds it had already spent on the state’s high-speed rail network."
"Top Trump administration officials have pushed to build nuclear power plants throughout Saudi Arabia over the vigorous objections of White House lawyers who question the legality of the plan and the ethics of a venture that could enrich Trump allies, according to a new report by House Democrats released on Tuesday."
"The White House is working to assemble a panel to assess whether climate change poses a national security threat, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, a conclusion that federal intelligence agencies have affirmed several times since President Trump took office."
A rare bipartisan package of public lands measures now moving through Congress is big national news and will yield numerous regional and local stories. The bill permanently authorizes a major conservation fund, expands parks, designates wilderness areas, bars some mining, protects bird species and more. This week’s TipSheet explores why the lands bill matters so much, tracks the legislation’s likely passage and helps you prep your coverage with story ideas and more than half a dozen reporting resources.
"Small, shy, survivor of crippling depression, Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish girl skipping school to shame the world into addressing climate change, drew a parade of fans one Friday in February on a frozen square in Stockholm."
"Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) declared Monday that if elected president in 2020 she would immediately move to reinstate federal protections for the environment and work to tackle climate change in her first 100 days."
"A federal advisory panel that's supposed to provide scientific information to the National Flood Insurance Program is entering a five-month work stoppage, even as property losses mount against the backdrop of severe inundation related to climate change."
"Lyft is backing a legal challenge against a key part of the Trump administration’s plan to weaken fuel emissions standards for the auto industry."
"Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, yesterday rebuffed calls for mandatory cybersecurity standards for natural gas pipelines, citing improvement in the industry's effort to strengthen its defenses."
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to put Democratic presidential candidates in an uncomfortable position by forcing them to vote on the controversial Green New Deal being pitched by rising Democratic star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But he also wants to promote his own long-held support for not-so-green measures."
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