"A top Interior Department official broke a federal ethics rule by improperly meeting with his former employer, a conservative research organization, to discuss the rollback of endangered species protections that the group had been pushing, the department’s internal watchdog said in a report published Tuesday."

"A New York state judge on Tuesday handed Exxon Mobil a victory in the civil case brought by the state’s attorney general that argued the company had engaged in fraud through its statements about how it accounted for the costs of climate change regulation."

"Federal officials will review whether enough is being done to protect grizzly bears in the contiguous U.S. states after environmentalists sued the government to try to restore the fearsome animals to more areas, according to a court settlement approved Monday."

"Children and young people must be at the heart of dealing with the climate crisis, the UN and campaigners have said as climate talks in Madrid enter their second week with little concrete progress."

"France’s health and environment agency said on Monday it was banning dozens of glyphosate-based weedkillers, most of the volume of such products sold in France, ruling there was insufficient data to exclude health risks."

"A flash of red streaked through the trees: a vermilion flycatcher. The brightly colored bird chirped and trilled, adding to a chorus that rang from the towering trees. ... The ecosystem depends on the river, and the river itself depends on an unseen source. Much of its flow is fed by groundwater, emerging from the aquifer in springs and seeps, sustaining the river."

"The Democratic presidential candidates who promise to ban fracking are keeping a secret: The president can't do that."

"EPA has hired another political appointee in its air regulatory office who has a long history of suing the agency."

"The House is poised to take up major climate change legislation before next year's elections, once the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis submits its policy recommendations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters this morning [Friday]."

"The rate of listing new endangered and threatened species has slowed under the Trump administration, a trend that highlights an administrative push to shrink the number of animals ultimately placed on the endangered species list."