"The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved David Bernhardt as Interior deputy secretary in a 14-9 vote, paving the way for his confirmation by the full Senate."
"TOMS RIVER, N.J. — In one of the largest beach repair projects in U.S. history, the federal government has begun dumping so much sand on a stretch of the New Jersey shore that it could fill a football stadium more than five times over."
"In the coming years, a new gold rush will begin. Deep beneath the ocean’s waves, from scalding hydrothermal vents to the frigid stretches of the abyssal plain, ocean processes have deposited vast quantities of valuable minerals on the seafloor. Now, the convergence of technological development and political will has placed this ore within reach. But like the gold rushes of old, the deep-sea-mining industry is emerging on the frontiers of society, far from legislatures and law enforcement."
"Federal appeals judges denied the Trump administration's motion yesterday to halt a lower-court order requiring U.S. EPA to address water pollution linked to coal mining in West Virginia."
"A federal judge in Montana has blocked the development of a contested mine next to a wilderness area in the northwestern part of the state, handing a victory to environmental activists who had argued the project could endanger grizzly bears and bull trout."
"With a series of actions – including proposals to de-authorize recently created national monuments and open environmentally sensitive lands to fossil-fuel development – the Trump administration is moving to overturn long-standing U.S. policies on protecting the nation’s public lands."
"RALEIGH COUNTY, W.Va. — Environmentalists have turned a hobbyist drone into a weapon in their long, bitter battle against strip mining."
"It’s one of our most widely used natural resources, but it’s scarcer than you think."
"it's understandable that environmentalists are worried that the Obama administration's moratorium on uranium mining in the area surrounding the Grand Canyon could be up next on the chopping block. That moratorium was announced by the Department of the Interior in 2012, and banned new uranium claims until 2032. Existing claims and mines were unaffected."
"Many Texans who live along the U.S.-Mexico border support President Donald Trump, but their affection for the New York real estate mogul-turned-politician comes with a caveat: They do not want a wall."
