"Lengthy delays. Staffing shortages. Byzantine regulations. These are trying times for Maryland’s well and septic permitting program. State officials can’t even quantify the overall extent of the permitting delays because the system lacks a centralized database."

"Johnson & Johnson said it has agreed to pay $8.9 billion to settle claims that talc in its popular baby powder caused cancer."

"Starting in August, Americans will only be able to purchase LED lights from retailers across the nation as an official ban on incandescent lightbulbs will be in full effect."

"Oil prices soared nearly 6% on Monday after Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers said they will cut production by 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year. Shares in Asia were mixed."

"The Biden administration hopes its guidelines for up to $7,500 in tax credits will encourage automakers to reduce their reliance on China for batteries and raw materials."

"Plastics are responsible for wide-ranging health impacts including cancers, lung disease and birth defects, according to the first analysis of the health hazards of plastics across their entire life cycle – from extraction for manufacturing, through to dumping into landfill and oceans."

"California lawmakers on Monday approved the nation’s first penalty for price gouging at the pump, voting to give regulators the power to punish oil companies for profiting from the type of gas price spikes that plagued the nation’s most populous state last summer."

"A small South Carolina law firm angling to be the lead litigator in the Camp Lejeune toxic water cases spent $1.9 million lobbying US lawmakers in the last two years, as Congress approved a multibillion-dollar payout to sickened veterans that dropped a provision to limit the fees their lawyers could charge."

"Millions of people in Mexico don't have access to clean water. Extreme heat and drought brought on by climate change are partly to blame, but so is the aging infrastructure and years of mismanaging water."