"Despite an injection of funding, the agency still has not recovered from an exodus of scientists and policy experts, both insiders and critics say."

"WASHINGTON — The nation’s top environmental agency is still reeling from the exodus of more than 1,200 scientists and policy experts during the Trump administration. The chemicals chief said her staff can’t keep up with a mounting workload. The enforcement unit is prosecuting fewer polluters than at any time in the past two decades.

"You may have come across news headlines about coffee this week, like this one from the BBC: "Coffee pod carbon footprint better for planet than filtered brew." ... The problem is, the positive take on coffee pods and the climate might not be true."

"This week, the period underwear brand Thinx made public that it had reached a settlement in a 3-year-long class action lawsuit claiming its products contain harmful chemicals. The news of the settlement brought renewed focus on the chemical compounds at the center of the lawsuit — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” — and highlighted the broader issue of toxic ingredients in period products as a whole."

"A chaotic start to the new Republican-led House may spell trouble for the 2023 farm bill."

"For centuries, a Native American tribe considered a large swath of land with cliffs jutting out along the Rappahannock River in Virginia’s Northern Neck as their ancestral heart and homelands."

"Turf wars between microbes dictate how much carbon salt marshes store and how much methane they pump into the air."

"The EPA will begin a rulemaking aiming to reduce PFAS in landfill leachate discharges and will expand or begin studies on PFAS pollution from textile manufacturers and sewage treatment plants, the agency said."

"There’s now more than just smoke hanging around the site of an underground landfill fire near Birmingham. In the two days since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed up to take control of the scene, the area has been abuzz with EPA trucks, bulldozers and excavators moving in to begin putting out the fire."

"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified the design for what will be the United States’ first small modular nuclear reactor."

"Georgia regulators released detailed plans Thursday for a titanium mine near the fabled Okefenokee swamp, a project that’s drawn the ire of environmental groups and the head of the Interior Department."