"A House Republican wants to cut 13 programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including all of its grants and its ability to regulate ground-level ozone and carbon dioxide."

"On Tuesday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee chaired by Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced a new spending bill that would slash NASA’s earth science programs by over $300 million dollars. Advocates for earth science monitoring and research have voiced strong objections to this proposal."

"The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board said they have divested 12 million pounds ($18.42 million) from their investments in thermal coal and tar sands companies as part of an initiative aimed at promoting transition to a low carbon economy."

"The White House has threatened to veto a Republican bill that would repeal a controversial Environmental Protection Agency clean water rule."

"Following a closely watched Vatican climate change meeting Tuesday at the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, the attendees — including not only scientific leaders but also religious and political luminaries — have released a statement suggesting that a 2015 climate accord may be the last chance to keep global warming within a range deemed “safe” for the world, its people and its ecosystems."

"Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, announced Thursday that he was running for president as a Democrat, injecting a progressive voice into the contest and providing Hillary Rodham Clinton with her first official challenger for the party’s nomination." While unlikely to win the nomination, Sanders may pull the party leftward and inject environmental issues into the campaign.

"A Senate committee voted Tuesday to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using ‘secret science’ to back its regulations."

The White House Tuesday issued veto threats for two GOP-sponsored 2016 appropriations bills likely to be taken up by the House this week. One is the Energy and Water appropriation, which the White House says underfunds clean energy jobs programs and contains "ideological riders" such as one that would thwart efforts to protect clean water.

"A Senate committee passed a bill Tuesday that would reform the federal government’s regulation of toxic chemicals for the first time in decades."

"Since his first homily in 2013, Pope Francis has preached about the need to protect the earth and all of creation as part of a broad message on the environment. It has caused little controversy so far."