"Two California coastal counties and one beach-side city touched off a possible new legal front in the climate change battle this week, suing dozens of major oil, coal, and other fossil fuel companies for the damages they say they will incur due to rising seas."

"The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $38.4 billion spending bill for the Department of Energy and water programs. The 30-1 vote rejected numerous proposals by President Trump that would have slashed programs that have bipartisan support. The $38.4 billion total passed by the committee is $4 billion more than Trump’s budget proposal."

"The House [Thursday] approved a land exchange that paves the way for a long-contested road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, rejecting arguments by Democrats that the road will harm sensitive wildlife and open other refuges to development."

"North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday that his administration will oppose opening up Atlantic Ocean waters to offshore oil-and-gas drilling. Cooper’s decision reverses the state’s policy under former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who urged federal officials to promote energy exploration in ocean waters to help the nation achieve energy independence."

"A senior Interior Department official has filed a whistleblower complaint against Trump administration political appointees, claiming he was reassigned within Interior because of his work on climate change."

"A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday denied a petition by environmental groups to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban the agricultural pesticide chlorpyrifos, ending one of three parallel attempts to bring about the ban, court filings show."

"The top Democrats on the Senate and House energy panels are seeking an assessment of the cyber and physical security protections for natural gas, oil and other hazardous pipeline infrastructure, warning of increased cyberthreats from foreign state-backed and criminal hacking organizations."

"The House voted Wednesday to streamline the federal permitting process for a variety of oil and natural gas pipelines."

"Congressional Republicans launched efforts Wednesday aimed at reforming the Endangered Species Act to make it more friendly for states, landowners, industry and others."

"A House panel has approved a bill to cut the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) funding by $528 million but reject several deep cuts sought by President Trump."