"A coalition of 17 states and New York City are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its decision not to tighten major air pollution standards."
"The Trump administration has cut designated critical habitat for the northern spotted owl by millions of acres in Oregon, Washington and California."
"EPA has finalized a rule that leaves untouched an Obama-era requirement that new coal plants partially capture their carbon dioxide emissions — walking away from its proposal more than two years ago to scrap that mandate in favor of laxer standards."
"The company behind the controversial Line 5 pipeline under part of the Great Lakes this morning said it would defy a Michigan order to halt operations by May."
"The Trump administration has completed a review of plans to ease protections for a struggling bird species in seven states in the U.S. West, but there’s little time to put the relaxed rules for industry into action before President-elect Joe Biden takes office."
Watch the Jan 27 recording of the Society of Environmental Journalists' 9th annual look ahead at the year's key energy and environmental issues. Hosted by National Geographic Society and co-sponsored by the Wilson Center, the event kicked off with a prerecorded interview with new White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, followed by a live interview with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, and SEJ's annual panel of leading journalists offering their predictions for the year ahead.
"When Scott Angelle, an oil drilling advocate-turned-industry regulator, finished a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee last March, lawmakers had some follow-up questions for him — a standard part of the congressional oversight process."
"Thousands of public housing residents live near the most polluted places in the nation — and the government has done little to protect them."
"Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and former health director Nick Lyon have been told they will face criminal charges resulting from Flint's water crisis, according to a source with knowledge of the situation."
"When the full story of the 6 January storming of the US Capitol building is told, historians will have to make sense of what might seem an odd footnote. The two most prominent rightwing militia groups that participated in the mob onslaught on Congress – the Three Percenters, based in Idaho, and the Oath Keepers, based in Nevada – cut their teeth in obscure corners of the American west, where for close to a decade they have threatened violence against federal employees and institutions that steward the nation’s public lands."
