"The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil and agribusiness industries, as secretary of the interior. The confirmation of Mr. Bernhardt to his new post coincided with calls from more than a dozen Democrats and government watchdogs for formal investigations into his past conduct."
"Holding aloft a bottle of milky orange drinking water from his home state, Kentucky Democrat John Yarmuth reminded his House colleagues about the immediate action taken when lead contamination was found in Capitol Hill office buildings."
"Scientists and officials around the US have told the Guardian that the Trump administration has withdrawn funding for a large, successful conservation program – in direct contradiction of instructions from Congress."
"New Mexico lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bill to protect federal lands around the Chaco Canyon from drilling and mining, attempting to permanently shield the Native American cultural site from recurring attempts at oil and gas leasing."
"Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will introduce today bipartisan legislation to provide permanent, full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, his office confirmed last night."
"Sniped at for decades by health advocates, Russia’s doggedly defiant producer of asbestos — a substance banned as a killer by more than 60 countries — thinks it has perhaps finally found the perfect figure for a campaign to rehabilitate the product’s deeply stained image: President Trump."
"There’s good news for the Chesapeake Bay this year. Underwater grasses are at the highest level on record — an important sign of water quality. Blue crabs are being harvested at a sustainable level — meaning there are enough to feed hungry Marylanders while still leaving plenty in the water to reproduce. More than a million acres of land in the Chesapeake watershed have been permanently protected from development since 2010 — preventing the polluted runoff associated with building houses, roads and shopping centers."
"Utah’s politically contentious southeast corner is a living landscape of culture and civilization". ... For 11 months, the rich legacy of this region was federally protected. It’s not clear who will be its steward now."
President Trump's pick to head Interior faces a committee confirmation vote today. "Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has quadrupled its business since David Bernhardt joined the Interior Department in 2017." "The law and lobbying firm that previously employed President Trump’s pick to run the Interior Department saw a surge in revenue from clients hoping to influence the agency after he left for its upper ranks in 2017."
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