"California has moved a step closer to banning the controversial weed killing chemical paraquat after a key state legislative committee on Thursday [May 16] allowed the measure to proceed."

"The Navajo Nation Council has signed off on a proposed settlement that would ensure water rights for its tribe and two others in the drought-stricken Southwest -- a deal that could become the most expensive enacted by Congress."

"A coalition of mostly red states launched the first legal challenge against the Biden administration’s recent environmental permitting rule on Tuesday."

"The amount of air pollution coming from Canada’s oil sands extraction is between 20 to 64 times higher than industry-reported figures, according to a groundbreaking study. Researchers found that the total amount of air pollution released from the oil sands is equal to all other human-caused air pollution sources in Canada combined."

"Jade Stevens stands at the edge of a snowy cliff and takes in the jaw-dropping panorama of the Sierra. Peaks reaching more than a mile high form the backdrop to Bear Valley, a kaleidoscope of green pastures mixed with ponderosa pines, firs, cedars and oak trees."

"Kathleen Tsosie remembers seeing her dad come home every evening with his clothes covered in dirt. ... Tsosie’s father, grandfather, and uncles all worked as uranium miners on the Navajo Nation near Cove, Arizona, from the 1940s to the 1960s. The dirt Tsosie’s father was caked in when he arrived home came from the mines, and the cold water he brought back was from the nearby springs."

"The number of U.S. oil refineries exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level for benzene in 2023 was cut in half compared to 2020, according to a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project."