"The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills banning new offshore oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and Florida and was set to vote on a third banning drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve."

"Two FEMA officials assigned to help manage restoration efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria have been charged with fraud and bribery for trying to enrich themselves by helping a company that received $1.8 billion in government contracts, the Justice Department announced Tuesday."

"The House Ways and Means Committee is likely to start negotiations in the coming weeks on a clean energy tax package that would likely focus on extending and expanding breaks like the one for electric vehicles."

"Dozens of cities in liberal-leaning states such as California, Washington, and Massachusetts are studying proposals to ban or limit the use of natural gas in commercial and residential buildings. The movement opens a new front in the fight against climate change that could affect everything from heating systems in skyscrapers to stoves in suburban homes."

"The Justice Department has opened an antitrust inquiry into the four major automakers that struck a deal with California this year to reduce automobile emissions, according to people familiar with the matter, escalating a standoff over one of the president’s most significant rollbacks of climate regulations."

"Air quality regulators on Friday killed a years-long push for stronger regulation of a dangerous acid used at two South Bay refineries that has frightened many neighbors, voting instead to accept a voluntary, oil industry pledge to enhance safety measures."

"A top Senate appropriator is seeking federal ethics information for former Interior Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash, who recently left the department for a job with a foreign oil and gas company."

"The plastics industry is responsible for nearly a fourth of the industrial air pollution in the Houston area, a share that is expected to rise as the number of new plants and expansions doubles in the next few years, a new study found."

"Standing at an overlook on the top of Black Mountain — the tallest point in Kentucky —  the wooded Appalachian mountains stretch on like a sea of green for miles."

"Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said at CNN’s marathon forum on climate change Wednesday night that he was unaware that a fundraiser he’s slated to attend on Thursday is being co-hosted by a founder of a fossil fuel company."