Environmental Politics

"One is a senior-level retiree from a power company that has battled stricter environmental regulations for decades. Two are industry consultants who helped co-author a 2015 paper questioning the approach that led EPA to tighten its national ozone standards later that year. A fourth, on the advisory board of a conservative nonprofit, questions evidence of the long-term health risks posed by exposure to fine particulates."

"A judge on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of South Dakota’s new “riot-boosting” law, which passed earlier this year to deter pipeline protests. The law threatens heavy penalties for any person or group that encourages a “riot,” which is defined broadly enough to include many forms of public protest."

"When career EPA enforcement staffers accused an Indiana whiskey distillery of emitting massive quantities of smog-forming pollution, Patrice Douglas knew just who to call."

"Oil and gas executives are holding an exclusive invitation-only forum with environmentalists and government representatives on the sidelines of the UN climate summit, in what critics have condemned as an attempt to influence negotiations in favour of fossil fuel companies."

"At a meeting of the Senate climate crisis task force on Tuesday, lawmakers praised a group of young activists for their leadership, their gumption and their display of wisdom far beyond their years. They then asked the teens for advice on how Congress might combat one of the most urgent and politically contentious threats confronting world leaders: climate change."

"An environmental group is suing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request about Freedom of Information Act requests."

"Of all the conservative efforts to persuade the Trump administration to weaken the nation’s environmental rules, the dishwasher lobby might be the most peculiar."

"Bulldozers and excavators rushing to install President Trump’s border barrier could damage or destroy up to 22 archaeological sites within Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in coming months, according to an internal National Park Service report obtained by The Washington Post."

"The Trump administration is expected on Wednesday to formally revoke California’s authority to set auto emissions rules that are stricter than federal standards, taking a major step forward in its wide-ranging attack on government efforts to fight climate change."