Water & Oceans

"Exactly where Brooke Rollins stands on agricultural policy is unclear, but her positions on fossil fuels and climate change are explicit."

"Animals across the spectrum of life are eating, breathing and ingesting plastics that leach toxic chemicals and have been shown to alter the function of organs and even cells in humans. Petroleum products — mostly oil and natural gas — are plastic’s base ingredient."

"A trove of documents leaked from an influential industry group shows how some of the world’s largest petrochemical and plastics companies have been waging a campaign to push back against a “tide of anti-plastic sentiment” — especially among young people concerned about the environment."

"Negotiations over the first legally binding UN treaty on plastic pollution collapsed in the final stage of discussions, after oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia blocked efforts by 100 countries to place limits on new production."

"The Chesapeake Bay’s oxygen-starved “dead zone,” a closely watched indicator of the estuary’s health, started early this summer with worse than normal conditions before dramatically improving by early August, scientists recently reported."

"President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to kill offshore wind energy development “on day one” of his second term is already triggering project slowdowns on the East Coast, but the biggest wind farm proposed in the Gulf of Mexico will likely stay on track."

"Plastics can contain thousands of different chemicals, many of them linked to cancer and reproductive harm, and many never tested for safety. Multiple studies are now finding these chemicals, along with microplastics, throughout the human body, raising alarm among scientists about widespread health effects, including reduced fertility and increased obesity."

"Mexico is a leading international pork producer, but Yucatán residents say the waste oozing from hundreds of enormous hog farms is destroying the environment"

"House Republicans rejected a farm bill proposal by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) this week, increasing the likelihood that lawmakers will pass another one-year extension of the massive legislation by the end of the year rather than a new, longer-term measure."

"Until earlier this week, most residents of this town east of Asheville had no drinkable tap water for 52 days. After the storm damaged infrastructure around the region, water had been partly restored in mid-October. It was good for flushing toilets but not safe for consumption. In some places, sediment left the water inky like black tea."