"A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked the Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, in the first major legal roadblock for President Biden’s quest to cut fossil fuel pollution and conserve public lands."
"Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says he will convene a meeting with all 11 Democratic members of the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday to begin the process for passing a budget resolution, paving the way for Democrats to pass a major infrastructure bill on a party-line vote."
"The American West contains 620,000 miles of fencing, threatening the migration of pronghorn, mule deer and other species."
"In Houston and Corpus Christi, the impacted communities are predominantly Black and Latino. Scientists say the dangers of benzene, a carcinogen, are not well understood."
"A heatwave already punishing parts of the U.S. Southwest on Monday was expected to move into California this week, prompting the forecasters to warn of health and fire dangers."
"Attorney General Merrick Garland held a closed-door meeting on Monday with news media representatives who’ve expressed outrage about Justice Department leak investigations that used subpoenas aimed at reporters’ phone and email records."
"Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has recommended in a confidential report that President Biden restore full protections to three national monuments diminished by President Donald Trump, including Utah’s Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and a huge marine reserve off New England."
For a clean energy transition to succeed, it almost certainly will have to bring along displaced workers and communities. To help journalists understand the challenges underlying that shift, BookShelf’s Jenny Weeks reviews two volumes. The first is a new memoir of working in North Dakota’s booming Bakken oil fields, the second an earlier account of decline in a working-class community in Oregon.
Journalist Lyndsie Bourgon had covered timber poaching in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade when she decided to expand her scope, heading to the Peruvian Amazon to explore old-growth poaching there. In FEJ StoryLog, she shares the ups and downs of that project, made possible in part by a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism.
With megadrought a growing reality, one way into the story is through ubiquitous water management agencies. TipSheet surveys the “waterscape” of these governmental bodies — from local irrigation districts to multi-state regional water compacts — and how focusing on them can yield vital insights for drought stories. Plus, questions to ask and links to reporting resources.
