"Ad campaigns from controversial quasi-government programs for pork, dairy, and beef are raising new questions around the checkoff program’s foray into social media."

"A federal worker safety enforcement directive for refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities with large amounts of chemicals has received an overhaul for the first time in 30 years."

"Nine species could soon find themselves on federal threatened or endangered species list, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says."

"The Department of Energy unveiled a heavily anticipated, scaled-back regulation Monday to cut greenhouse gas emissions from stovetop cooking in the U.S., going with a compromise that pleased gas stove producers and environmentalists alike."

"Envision, for a moment, a multiyear period of extreme weather, including heat waves, freezes, droughts, floods, and windstorms, topped off by extreme weather during an El Niño event, leading to major crop failures in the U.S. A disruption of the global agricultural and food supply chain results, leading to panic buying and price shocks."

"Last month, Mike Weber got the news every poultry farmer fears: His chickens tested positive for avian flu. Following government rules, Weber’s company, Sunrise Farms, had to slaughter its entire flock of egg-laying hens — 550,000 birds — to prevent the disease from infecting other farms in Sonoma County north of San Francisco."

"The total number of accidents for the top five freight railroads increased, and Congress still hasn’t passed legislation to prevent similar disasters."

"Frigid weather this month caused industrial facilities across Texas to release unplanned air pollution as machinery froze, power went out and icy conditions blocked service crews."