"Environmental groups launched their legal assault on the Trump administration's Clean Water Act rule today, filing a lawsuit that claims it would have 'devastating consequences on water quality across the country.'"

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) independent board of science advisers had harsh words for an agency plan to limit the types of studies it considers when crafting regulations, saying the EPA had failed to justify the need for the policy."

"Last Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China to shut down wet markets where illegal wildlife are sold. Pompeo’s call was echoed by the Australian government, which on the same day urged G20 countries to take action on wildlife markets in order to reduce the risk of new diseases like COVID-19 spilling over into humans in the future. Lost in both statements was a recognition of the complexity of China’s wildlife trade or the scale of the challenge it now faces."

"Two advocacy groups are threatening to sue Interior Secretary David Bernhardt if he allows the acting directors of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service to remain in place after their terms expire next week."

"The Trump administration abruptly cut off funding for a project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people after reports linked the work to a lab in Wuhan, China, at the center of conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 pandemic’s origins."

"The president’s Covid-19 response has extended the administration’s longstanding practice of undermining scientific expertise for political purposes."

"The plastic industry is asking Congress for $1 billion to bail out plastic recycling during the coronavirus crisis."

"The coronavirus pandemic is forcing livestock farms and grocery stores to consider whether the meat industry is primed for a new way of doing business."

"Many are criticizing the industry’s response for waiting too long to implement safety precautions and close processing plants as thousands have tested positive for coronavirus."

"Property rights advocates today filed one of the first lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's Clean Water Act rule, arguing that the regulation does not go far enough in limiting the law's reach."