"The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants to change a key step in the review process determining which research it funds, raising concerns about transparency and political interference."

"The Department of the Interior spent more than $150 million on administrative leave for employees working in the secretary’s office last year."

"The Trump administration is ending summertime smog restrictions on gasoline early this year in a bid to offer relief for high prices at the pump."

"The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels."

"More than 40 million people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water. Each glass of treated lake water is laden with tiny bits of plastic — microplastics — made of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases. Also contaminated are fish, staples of Midwestern fish fries and fish boils, and an important part of the diet of Indigenous tribes, certain immigrant populations and communities of color."

"More governors are shifting their stances or taking more steps to squeeze data centers as the midterm elections near and public opinion sours on the energy-hungry behemoths that tech giants and developers are building to fuel artificial intelligence products and cloud computing. The backlash to the massive server warehouses is enveloping races for governor in some of the nation’s biggest states and presidential battlegrounds."

"The Trump administration has hit the brakes on its plan to roll back a Fish and Wildlife Service wetland conservation policy following pushback from prominent Republicans and tens of thousands of duck hunters."

"Publishers acceded to state requests watering down information on climate change’s impact, WUSF/Hechinger Report investigation finds. Now the state has turned to updating its science standards"

"President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will nominate Heidi Overton, a top aide at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, to serve as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration."