Environmental Politics

"Environmental groups are pushing former Vice President Joe Biden to adopt a more aggressive platform on climate change after losing a big champion for their cause with the departure of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Climate change is emerging as a significant issue within the Democratic Party, pitting progressives like Sanders who have called for more aggressive environmental policies such as a total ban on fracking against others like Biden, who instead opposes new fracking on public lands.

"An examination reveals the president was warned about the potential for a pandemic but that internal divisions, lack of planning and his faith in his own instincts led to a halting response."

"This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that soybean farmers in 25 states are now able to spray a pesticide that the agency has determined is likely to cause cancer and drift hundreds of feet from where it is applied."

"OPEC and its allies locked in a historic oil supply accord Sunday after Saudi Arabia, under pressure from the US, agreed to give Mexico a looser production quota, ending a four-day stalemate that threatened to escalate a price war in the midst of the coronavirus crisis."

"Scientists say the Trump administration’s proposed program to cut down trees to gain an upper hand over wildfire and protect the sage-grouse bird may in fact do the opposite: increase the wildfire threat and risk ecosystem “collapse.”"

"After the fossil fuel industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars undermining climate science, it’s easy to see how epidemiology came next."

"The Trump administration has been rushing to finalize environmental rules by mid-May to bulletproof them from future Democratic overturn, but the COVID-19 pandemic may throw off that schedule."

"It’s a simple rule, designed to protect both homeowners and taxpayers: If you want publicly subsidized flood insurance, you can’t build a home that’s likely to flood. But local governments around the country, which are responsible for enforcing the rule, have flouted the requirements, accounting for as many as a quarter-million insurance policies in violation, according to data provided to The New York Times by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the flood insurance program."

"The largest dam removal project in U.S. history came one step closer to fruition this week, as California issued permits for breaching the four dams on the Klamath River."

"Russia and Saudi Arabia have called off their brutal price war and are now pushing dozens of major crude producers toward a deal that would slash production and help stabilize a market that's been rocked by the coronavirus pandemic."