"Brendan Cummings doesn’t need to go far to find a dying signature of Southern California’s desert landscape: He stands on his porch and eyes whole forests of Joshua trees that haven’t produced seedlings in decades."

"The Trump administration, in an effort to mend fences with the powerful corn lobby, proposed a new formula on Tuesday to boost biofuels demand, but the proposal instead only provoked more consternation from the industry."

"The White House has begun reviewing a plan to change the way it issues environmental permits for infrastructure projects. If the proposal is finalized, it could speed up National Environmental Policy Act reviews for roads, bridges, ports, pipelines, power lines, Internet trunks, and water systems."

"The Trump administration Tuesday proposed allowing logging on more than half of Alaska’s 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest in North America."

"Louisiana's multiyear brawl over rooftop solar policy finally has a winner — regulated utilities, much to the dismay of renewable energy advocates in the United States."

"A federal judge on Friday smacked down President Trump's plan to divert military funds to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border."

"EPA has changed some of its Freedom of Information Act practices and will now provide requesters more time to clarify their inquiries."

"The team that assesses the environmental impacts of major projects on the nation’s public lands will be split up and spread across seven states, according to new internal documents breaking down the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) plans to relocate most of its Washington-based employees out west."

"After two days of deliberations, an unofficial panel of air quality experts has tentatively concluded that EPA's fine particulate matter standards need significant tightening. Though agency leaders may not pay heed to their findings, the panel members are optimistic that federal judges will listen."

"California will be the first state to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products and the third to bar most animals from circus performances under a pair of bills signed Saturday by Gov. Gavin Newsom."