"Thanks to $500 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, a new initiative called the Green Bank for Rural America could help channel money to nonprofit lenders like the Mountain Association to support community solar arrays, apprenticeships in renewable energy fields, electrified public transit, and other projects."

"US lawmakers and the military are pushing for a new definition of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that would exclude a subclass of toxic compounds increasingly used across the economy and considered to be potent greenhouse gases."

"Texas is inching closer to adopting revised oil and gas waste management rules for the first time in four decades." "While environmentalists say the new rule doesn’t do enough to protect groundwater, oil and gas operators are contesting stricter requirements for waste pits near wells."

"US regulators claim they are not legally required to regulate toxic PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge spread on farmland across the country, according to a court filing the government made this week in response to a lawsuit from an environmental watchdog group."

"Twenty-one young people on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive a novel lawsuit claiming the U.S. government's energy policies violate their rights to be protected from climate change."

"Girls exposed to certain chemicals that are common ingredients in household products may be starting puberty comparatively early, a new study has found."

"From heat protections for workers to restrictions on toxic chemicals, the Biden administration is set to leave several of the significant environmental and health protections it has floated unfinished. The fate of many of these regulations likely depends on the outcome of November’s election, as a Harris administration would probably continue them, while a Trump administration likely would not."

"Drinking water contamination is a chronic, insidious threat in California’s rural communities. Some have been waiting for clean water for years."

"Concern about the fossil fuel and plastics industries’ alleged deception about recycling is growing, with new polling showing a majority of American voters, including 54% of Republicans, support legal efforts to hold the sectors accountable."

"Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin of Maryland is calling on Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and his government to release multiple political prisoners before COP29 gets underway this November in the city of Baku."