"A new water rule that will strip federal protections from an estimated 60-90 percent of U.S. waterways will dramatically ease restrictions on how polluting industries do business. ... But oil and gas transport companies may benefit most from the imminent shift."

"The Trump administration’s proposal to roll back fuel economy standards relies on an error-ridden and misleading analysis that overestimates the costs and understates the benefits of tighter regulation, an independent study by leading economists, engineers and other experts has found."

"Democratic congressional leaders are insisting that any deal cut with President Trump on legislation to rebuild the nation’s ailing infrastructure include provisions intended to promote clean energy and combat climate change."

"Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has resurrected a federally chartered board that advises the National Park Service with his own appointees, nearly a year after most of its former members resigned in frustration." ... "The new members are either all registered Republicans or have voted in GOP primaries."

"A federal judge has lifted a gag order on the Anaconda Superfund cleanup. That means that after more than a decade of secrecy, Anaconda residents will soon be able to learn some details about the Superfund cleanup deal in the works for the Smelter City."

"Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has disclosed a single donor to his legal defense fund. Diane Hendricks of Beloit, Wis., gave $50,000 to Pruitt's fund, according to the last financial disclosure report filed by the ex-agency head, which EPA released today."

"During his first run for the Senate in 2010, Joe Manchin III, the Democrat from West Virginia, took aim — literally — at a climate change bill, shooting a bullet through it in a television ad. Now some Democrats are taking aim at Mr. Manchin, declaring him unfit to be the top Democrat on the committee that handles climate change."

"The Senate confirmed President Trump’s pick for a key energy agency Thursday over Democrats' objections that he is too biased for the job. The 50-49 vote along party lines means Bernard McNamee, a Republican and former high-ranking political official at the Energy Department under Trump, can take his spot on the five-person Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)."

"Environmentalists are already lining up to slam the Trump administration's definition of which waters are covered by the Clean Water Act, signaling a protracted battle over the proposal that's expected next week."

"The Trump administration on Thursday published documents detailing its plan to roll back Obama-era protections for the vast habitat of the greater sage grouse, a chickenlike bird that roams across nearly 11 million acres in 10 oil-rich Western states."