Conflict is brewing over the leasing of oil and gas drilling rights on millions of acres of federal land, now that the pro-oil-and-gas GOP controls Congress and the White House. And one especially big battle to come? The one over opening for drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a dispute that raged for decades.

President Trump's characterization of climate change as a Chinese "hoax" and flirtations with the anti-vaccine movement have led many to conclude that he and his GOP allies are anti-science. A look at scientific integrity and funding in the new administration.

Democrats and Republications may agree on a vast federal program to build and repair the nation's crumbling infrastructure, but still uncertain is what will be built, how it will be paid for and who will vote for it. TipSheet looks at the politics of public works (what journalists used to call "pork").

President Trump said on the campaign trail that he would "cancel" the Paris climate agreement. But could he really wreck the treaty? Or are other nations — and our own — already too far down the road to fully undermine the international pact? TipSheet takes a closer look.

At a time when government information may be harder than ever to access, WatchDog offers a unique guide to leaks that reporters can offer potential whistleblowers. Also in the latest column, sealed records on a weedkiller-cancer connection, secret talks on coal-ash regs and more. 

This week's TipSheet looks at the murky legal and regulatory prospects for the Clean Power Plan, an EPA effort to cut carbon emissions now being challenged by the Trump administration. Will it be revoked in presidential action, or is more likely to get drawn into a murky court proceeding?