Infrastructure

"The former island prison is both a National Historic Landmark and a national park site that draws more than a million visitors each year."

"Driving an electric vehicle could get more expensive if congressional Republicans have their way." "House Republicans want to impose an annual $250 fee on electric vehicle drivers, who don’t pay the gas tax. Critics say the fee is too high."

"For the first time, scientists have mapped groundwater variables nationally to understand which aquifers are most vulnerable to contamination from orphan wells." "A new study from the U.S. Geological Survey finds that groundwater in Appalachia, the Gulf Coast and California is susceptible to contamination from orphaned oil and gas wells."

"In DePue, Ill., sewage will keep backing up into people's basements when there's heavy rain. In Rising Sun, Md., a mobile home park that has already flooded six times will remain in harm's way. And in Kamiah, Idaho, houses won't get upgrades that would protect them from wildfires"

"In California's water-stressed Central Valley, farmers are fallowing land and installing solar, providing financial stability and saving water."

"Florida is poised to outlaw fluoride in drinking water under a bill approved Tuesday by the state legislature, adding the state to a growing backlash against a long-standing public health measure."

"Last week, the US Department of the Interior announced that it would speed up the approval process for certain fossil fuel projects, proclaiming that environmental analyses that previously would have taken years must now be taken down to, at maximum, a month. While the new procedures are seemingly a gift to the industry, this may actually be terrible news for pipeline developers, drillers, and miners."

"After years of attempts, Ohio lawmakers voted Wednesday to end the subsidy for two unprofitable Cold War-era coal plants that had cost Ohio ratepayers nearly $400,000 a day, after they were tucked into the tainted energy bill at the center of the largest corruption scandal in state history."

"Current regulations date back to the Carter administration, and a planned overhaul could help fast-track gas export projects."

"The Trump administration told scientists writing a congressionally mandated climate report that it was “releasing” them from their roles and that the report’s scope was being reevaluated, in an email sent Monday and seen by The Washington Post."