"Senate appropriators on Thursday approved a $41.5 billion spending bill to fund the Interior Department and EPA, setting up a showdown with the House and President Donald Trump. The bill represents a bipartisan compromise on the agency budgets, a necessity given the need to attract 60 votes on appropriations measures in the Senate."
"The residents of Westernport, Maryland, overwhelmingly voted for Trump. But after FEMA denied its aid request, the town feels like the president has turned his back on them."
"Tyler Hassen, a former Texas oil executive from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team who was given sweeping powers to overhaul the Department of the Interior, is leaving the agency, he confirmed on Friday."
"The Trump administration has unveiled plans to speed the development of the highly polluting artificial intelligence sector, sparking outrage from climate advocates. Rolled out on Wednesday, the 28-page scheme pledges to remove so-called “bureaucratic red tape” and streamline permitting for datacenters, semiconductor manufacturing facilities and fossil fuel infrastructure."
"The Interior Department is expanding its targets for layoffs to include more than 1,400 “competitive areas” — an increase of hundreds of categories since its first notice this spring — including new units within the Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and Office of the Secretary, according to an internal document."
"As the climate warms, new data shows huge swaths of land across the globe are quickly drying, threatening humanity’s supply of fresh water."
"Endangered aquatic species remain vulnerable nearly a year after the storm moved through Appalachia and the lower Midwest."
"Many ‘dark vessels’ fish illegally in oceans worldwide. New studies show how often they go into Marine Protected Areas."
"Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet"
"There has been evidence for a few years that levels in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence were higher than the national average, but not high enough to cause immediate alarm. But what is considered safe is evolving, as research increasingly links forever chemicals to an array of potential health risks, such as cancer and reproductive issues."
