Environmental Politics

"Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who has made climate change the focal point of his presidential campaign, called on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to hold a debate centered solely on the issue.

“Climate change is the biggest threat facing our nation. And it demands to be the sole focus of a nationally televised debate. Democrats must put this issue front and center,” he said in a petition to pressure the DNC to hold the debate.

"Backed by dramatic mountain peaks, Elizabeth Warren stopped in Utah on Wednesday to discuss her public-lands plan, including a promise to restore broader protections for two of the state’s high-profile national monuments if elected president."

"The new interior secretary, David Bernhardt, met with a lawyer for a Native American tribe that is linked to the political scandal haunting Bernhardt’s predecessor, according to internal agency records."

"The Interior Department’s top internal watchdog, who oversaw the multiple investigations that contributed to the resignation of former Secretary Ryan Zinke, will retire from the agency next month, even as her office opens an inquiry into newly confirmed Secretary David Bernhardt."

"Shalini Swaroop is general counsel for Marin Clean Energy, the first of a new breed of electricity providers in California known as community choice aggregators, or CCAs. When Marin Clean Energy launched in 2010, it gave San Francisco Bay Area residents a government-run alternative to Pacific Gas & Electric, the monopoly utility that recently filed for bankruptcy protection amid huge wildfire liabilities."

"President Donald Trump, heading into what may be his most consequential year for rolling back restrictions on companies, is counting on Paul Ray, a lawyer with a history of representing oil and gas interests among others, to lead his regulatory affairs office."

"EPA won't regulate any pollution to surface waters that passes through groundwater."

"Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is quickly parlaying his time in President Donald Trump’s cabinet into a lucrative private career."

"The Interior Department has acknowledged that Secretary David Bernhardt’s staff intentionally left controversial meetings with representatives of fossil fuel, timber and water interests off his public calendar, citing “internal protocol” governing his schedules."

"Attorneys general from 14 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday vehemently opposed the Trump administration’s proposal to roll back a regulation known as Waters of the United States, a move they said would end federal oversight of 15 percent of streams and more than half of the nation’s wetlands."