"The EPA’s science advisers on Tuesday debated toning down the language of a draft report to agency chief Andrew Wheeler that finds flaws in the EPA’s proposed “secret science” rule."
"For more than six months, twin brothers Ronald and Donald Schweitzer have watched large amounts of salty wastewater bubble up from the ground in their wheat field. The “saltwater purge” has killed three trees and several acres of crops on their northwest Oklahoma farm."
"The Trump administration on Thursday will finalize a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and other water bodies, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens."
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for water crisis victims to sue state and local government officials in Flint, Mich."
"The Trump administration has put one of the largest new water projects on the Colorado River on the fast track, raising concerns among environmentalists."
"An American journalist whose work for a conservation website exposed environmental degradation and corporate malfeasance in Indonesia has been jailed by the country’s immigration authorities on suspicion that he violated the conditions of his visa, his attorney said on Wednesday."
As part of our “2020 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment” to help reporters track the stories coming their way this year, SEJournal Online looks ahead to major developments on the beat — from Washington, D.C. to the Arctic, from public lands to fossil fuels. We also explore pending news on transportation, agriculture, nukes, federal funding, freedom of information and even algae. Also under our gaze, key facets of the climate story. Read our overview analysis and then dive deep into the full offering of special Backgrounders, TipSheets and WatchDogs.
"Just after sunrise, elk are grazing in a misty field in Washington's Skagit Valley, an hour and a half north of Seattle. ... These elk are at the center of a conflict that's unfolding between Native Americans and farmers in northwest Washington."
"The 2020 election could be a pivotal moment for the oil industry in Texas, and thus the rest of the U.S. energy sector."
"The plastic shopping bag has long been hunted by state and local policymakers pushing for its extinction. But still it thrives, thanks to the deep-pocketed chemical industry that birthed it and the political influence of retailers and restaurants. Only eight states ban single-use plastic bags. Nearly twice as many have laws protecting them."
