"California's reign as the U.S. state with the worst air pollution continues, with Los Angeles again the nation's smoggiest metro area, according to a new report released Wednesday."

"A bipartisan group of Florida legislators introduced a bill Monday that would ban offshore drilling along Florida’s coast."

"Six-year-old Madelina DeLuca was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just 23 months old."

"Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that she’s open to allowing construction of an oil transport tunnel beneath the channel where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet, despite previously halting work on a tunnel plan developed by her predecessor."

"A lawsuit by Flint residents against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can move forward. U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker ruled the plaintiffs can sue the EPA. Nearly 5,000 Flint residents are part of the lawsuit. It was filed in 2017. The lawsuit alleges the EPA failed to utilize its authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act."

"Multiple coal ash sites in Illinois sit within or adjacent to flood plains, according to environmental watchdogs."

"With countless acres of flat, fertile farmland traversed by major rivers, Illinois is familiar with major flooding.

Just as towns were built along rivers in decades past, so were coal-fired power plants that relied on the water for cooling and transporting coal. Now, those plants — some defunct and some still operating — are also repositories for toxic coal ash that could pose a risk of contamination when floodwaters rise.

"South Carolina’s Republican-majority Senate advanced a measure on Wednesday that would require the state to block new infrastructure to transport or process offshore oil and gas as state lawmakers fear the Interior Department will open the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling."

"The Trump administration on Wednesday issued a regulation it said would impose new restrictions on asbestos, a deadly substance once commonly found in insulation materials. The final Environmental Protection Agency rule goes somewhat further than the initial version the agency had proposed, but public health advocates said it still fell short of the protections needed."

"Environmental group American Rivers released its annual list of the USA's top 10 "most endangered" rivers Tuesday, and this year, the top "dishonor" goes to New Mexico’s Gila River. The river got the top spot due to the grave threat that climate change and a proposed diversion project pose to New Mexico’s last free-flowing river."