"A decades-long battle to transform a Southeast Chicago lakefront property into a public park is starting to bear fruit. But where the new toxic sludge will go has yet to be determined."
"Public comments show that a crackdown on signs ‘disparaging’ Americans is not popular"
"A gold rush brought settlers to South Dakota’s Black Hills roughly 150 years ago, chasing the dream of wealth and displacing Native Americans in the process. Now, a new crop of miners driven by gold prices at more than $3,000 an ounce are seeking to return to the treasured landscape, promising an economic boost while raising fears of how modern gold extraction could forever change the region."
"A U.S. appeals court has temporarily blocked the transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America. ... The land includes Oak Flat — an area used for centuries for religious ceremonies, prayer and gathering of medicinal plants by the San Carlos Apache people and other Native American tribes."
"The medical world relies on horseshoe crab blood in the production of vaccines and equipment. A synthetic is available, but companies have been slow to adopt it."
"Coastal communities nationwide are ramping up efforts to fend off rising seas, higher tides and stronger storm surges that are chewing away at coastlines, pushing saltwater farther inland and threatening ecosystems and communities."
"The Trump administration is quietly taking steps to circumvent federal laws in its quest to bolster U.S. mineral production." "The Pentagon used a little-known legal provision to shield a multibillion-dollar rare earths deal from procurement and contracting laws."
"A Texas-based federal judge assented to a Trump administration request Tuesday and ended Endangered Species Act protections for the lesser prairie chicken."
"Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecology"
"The Trump administration is also looking to revive mining in the popular wilderness area"
