"The Trump administration has completed a review of plans to ease protections for a struggling bird species in seven states in the U.S. West, but there’s little time to put the relaxed rules for industry into action before President-elect Joe Biden takes office."

"Two Trump administration officials have been reassigned over the posting of debunked papers, with the imprimatur of the White House, that questioned the scientific consensus on climate change."

"When Scott Angelle, an oil drilling advocate-turned-industry regulator, finished a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee last March, lawmakers had some follow-up questions for him — a standard part of the congressional oversight process."

"A group of Apaches who have tried for years to reverse a land swap in Arizona that will make way for one of the largest copper mines in the U.S. sued the federal government Tuesday."

"Thousands of public housing residents live near the most polluted places in the nation — and the government has done little to protect them."

"Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and former health director Nick Lyon have been told they will face criminal charges resulting from Flint's water crisis, according to a source with knowledge of the situation."

"When the full story of the 6 January storming of the US Capitol building is told, historians will have to make sense of what might seem an odd footnote. The two most prominent rightwing militia groups that participated in the mob onslaught on Congress – the Three Percenters, based in Idaho, and the Oath Keepers, based in Nevada – cut their teeth in obscure corners of the American west, where for close to a decade they have threatened violence against federal employees and institutions that steward the nation’s public lands."

"Joe Biden could mark his first day as president with one or more executive orders announcing plans to rejoin the Paris Agreement, submit a global deal on refrigerants for ratification and deliver on the sweeping climate pledges he made on the campaign trail."

"The Democratic takeover in the Senate increases the likelihood that lawmakers will seek to curb climate-related financial risks, according to observers. That has a lot to do with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a longtime Wall Street critic who is set to become chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee."

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt quietly signed a directive last month that could have significant impacts on how the Bureau of Land Management's law enforcement rangers protect federal lands."