"President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has selected Xavier Becerra, the Democratic attorney general of California, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services, tapping a former congressman who would be the first Latino to run the department as it battles the surging coronavirus pandemic."

"The Department of Energy has issued a final rule rolling back liquefied natural gas project reviews under a landmark environmental law, the latest in a string of Trump administration actions aimed at overhauling the federal approach to the National Environmental Policy Act.

The rule would exempt liquefied natural gas facilities from NEPA review at DOE through so-called categorical exclusions and is aimed at boosting an industry that has faced headwinds amid a slump in global energy demand brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

"President Trump signed a big public lands conservation bill this summer. But so far the White House’s implementation of the new law has been scattershot and controversial."

"President Trump’s quest to build as much of his border wall as possible before leaving office is newly angering landowners and authorities in the American southwest."

"President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s environment and energy team — facing a narrowly divided Congress and a hostile Republican leadership — will need creativity and perseverance if Mr. Biden is to follow through on his ambitious promises to address climate change."

"The Bureau of Land Management announced on Thursday that the administration plans to hold an oil leasing sale for the refuge on Jan. 6."

"EPA has greenlit a flood project halted by the Bush administration, saying the new version of the Yazoo Backwater Pumps would not be covered by its 2008 veto of the project."

"President-elect Joe Biden's short list of candidates to serve as his domestic climate adviser is beginning to narrow, with three names coming up the most, according to multiple sources."

"United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that humanity is waging a suicidal war on nature and that there is no way to address the climate emergency without global leadership from the United States."

"Two nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) were confirmed to the panel by voice votes on Monday."