"While the Trump administration offered a tepid vision for the future of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in its fiscal 2019 budget proposal — slashing the program's acquisition budget by 95 percent — the Interior Department insisted Secretary Ryan Zinke remains a steadfast supporter."
"Three environmental groups teamed up to sue the Trump administration on Tuesday for allowing oil companies to dump leftover waste from drilling and fracking into the Gulf of Mexico."
"As climate-change lawsuits against the oil industry mount, Exxon Mobil Corp. is taking a bare-knuckle approach rarely seen in legal disputes: It’s going after the lawyers who are suing it."
"Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday attributed his habit of taking taxpayer-funded, first-class flights to his personal security detail and chief of staff, saying he plays no role in his travel arrangements."
"The Department of Energy allowed millions of dollars slated for a Texas carbon capture project to be used improperly for lobbying, alcohol, travel and "social" expenses, the agency's inspector general said in an audit released today [Tuesday]."
"After a deadlocked 3-3 vote, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-2 Friday to elevate the marbled murrelet from a “threatened” species to “endangered.”"
"Sparsely populated, low-income communities across the country suffer from polluted water—an injustice expected to worsen under Trump."
"The Trump administration is violating federal law and circumventing the advice-and-consent role of the Senate by relying on temporary directors to head agencies such as the National Park Service, an environmental group alleged Monday."
"The Trump administration on Monday moved to repeal one of the last unchallenged climate-change regulations rushed into place in the waning days of the Obama presidency — a rule restricting the release of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere."
For decades, federal law has required environmental impact statements for big federal actions, like the building of dams, highways and more. Those impact statements, a valued reporting tool, may now be under threat. This week’s TipSheet explains how journalists can find them and use them, and why they could be at risk.
