"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."

"At an industry conference, top executives lamented they had “lost the narrative” on natural gas, and outlined an effort to sell their product as the “cleanest energy in the world.”"

"Tom Brundy, an alfalfa grower in California's Imperial Valley, thinks farmers reliant on the shrinking Colorado River can do more to save water and use it more efficiently. That's why he's installed water sensors and monitors to prevent waste on nearly two-thirds of his 3,000 acres."

"The automobile has been a fixture of urban life for more than a century. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. Congested streets turned into pedestrian safe havens. Now many want to make those changes permanent — but it won’t happen without a fight."