"The Nicaraguan government is preparing to join the Paris climate agreement, making Syria the only country not to be a party to the deal and the United States the only nation determined to pull out of it."

"More than a decade after agreeing to keep tabs on emissions from large-scale animal feedlots, U.S. EPA isn't close to getting the job done, the agency's inspector general said in a new report, which found the delay is undercutting the broader effort to regulate pollution from that sector."

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted Wednesday to immediately warn the public about the dangers of chemicals known as organohalogens in baby and toddler products, mattresses, upholstered furniture and electronics enclosures. The commission also set in motion what promises to be a contentious debate about new regulations prohibiting manufacturers from adding any halogenated flame retardants to products covered by the ban."

"Opening a new front in its broad legal battle against policies of President Trump, California filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the administration has overstepped its powers in expediting construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border."

"Scott Pruitt’s round-the-clock personal security detail, which demands triple the manpower of his predecessors at the Environmental Protection Agency, has prompted officials to rotate in special agents from around the country who otherwise would be investigating environmental crimes."

"Cleanups at some U.S. hazardous waste sites have stopped or slowed down because the Environmental Protection Agency does not manage its Superfund staff effectively to match its workload, an internal government watchdog said Tuesday."

"The scientist nominated to head the federal government’s chemical regulatory program has spent much of his career helping businesses fight restrictions on the use of potentially toxic compounds in consumer goods."

"Each spring for 12 years, Paula Wang began a temporary position at a government lab in a suburb north of Washington. She was required to remain silent while working and to wear a white suit and hood. The mission was not top-secret, but Wang felt it was urgent all the same; she had to save an endangered species."

"Wetlands are some of the world’s greatest carbon sinks, and they're starting to rot: from Maine, an investigation of an ecosystem on the brink."

"The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week overruled New York's decision on a natural gas pipeline, clearing the way for construction of a project that state regulators rejected."