"California has sharply cut its enforcement of heat-protection laws for outdoor laborers while extreme heat has intensified in recent years — endangering farmworkers, construction workers and others who toil in scorching temperatures — an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and Capital & Main has found."

"The Mobile-Tensaw Delta — a lush, vibrant and surprisingly intact over 400-square-mile (1,036-square-kilometer) expanse of cypress swamps, oxbow lakes, marshland, hardwood stands and rivers — is teeming with more aquatic species than almost anywhere in North America."

"British energy giant Drax Global, already under scrutiny for running afoul of environmental laws in multiple states, has disclosed to the state of Louisiana that its wood pellet production facilities emit hazardous air pollutants above their permitted limits."

"President Biden will designate a national monument this week at the site of racist mob violence in 1908 in Springfield, Ill., the White House confirmed Wednesday."

"White House climate adviser John Podesta raised concerns about some elements of a bipartisan bill aimed at speeding up the nation’s energy projects Tuesday — and declined to say whether President Biden would sign it."

"Deaths from heat are notoriously difficult to quantify because of how complex and subjective the process is. It leaves officials with an incomplete picture of who heat kills."

"New York and Wisconsin are the first to launch their long-awaited Inflation Reduction Act programs meant to deploy everything from heat pumps to insulation."

"Hurricane Debby left billions of dollars of damage in its wake as it moved across the southeastern U.S. last week — losses made all the more devastating because so many of them may have been uninsured."

"The United States, one of the world's biggest plastic makers, will support a global treaty calling for a reduction in how much new plastic is produced each year in a major policy shift, a source close to U.S. negotiators told Reuters on Wednesday."

"Vice President Kamala Harris has spent more than a decade advocating for Black, Hispanic and impoverished communities struggling with pollution — an insurgent segment of the environmental movement that never entirely warmed up to President Joe Biden."