"Months before hosting the U.N.'s first climate talks held in the Amazon, Brazil is fast-tracking a series of controversial decisions that undercut President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s lofty environmental rhetoric and show widening divisions within his cabinet."

"Eighteen countries ratified the High Seas Treaty on Monday, bringing the total to 49 — just 11 short of the 60 needed for the ocean agreement to enter into force. The surge in support, occurring during the U.N. Ocean Conference in Nice, France, adds momentum to what could become a historic shift in how the world governs the open ocean."

"The Environmental Protection Agency extended the deadline for reporting health and safety data for 16 toxic chemicals, including benzene, BPA and vinyl chloride."

"In a week when the Trump administration moved forward on multiple fronts to repeal U.S. climate policies, a new analysis quantified the potential costs for public health, households and the economy—including a stunning $1.1 trillion reduction in U.S. gross domestic product by 2035."

"The state’s latest lawsuit charges the administration with illegally targeting its authority to set tougher vehicle-emission standards. Ten attorneys general from states that follow those rules joined the suit."

"At the U.N. Ocean Conference, Tonga’s princess called for recognition of whales’ legal rights. The move is one of several rights of nature initiatives happening at the conference."

"A former worker who leaked information about plans by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to build golf courses and hotels in Florida state parks has filed a whistleblower lawsuit."

"The Trump administration will begin dismantling the Federal Emergency Management Agency later this year, the president announced on Tuesday, setting a tight timeframe for a breakup that many experts warned would likely harm the nation’s ability to respond to disasters."

"Companies plan to build more than 100 new gas-fired power plants in Texas in the next few years amid a race to meet enormous electrical demand from energy-hungry industries, according to a report released Wednesday by the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit."

"Federal tax breaks have fueled a boom. The House bill would end that immediately."