"Federal scientists at EPA, the Interior Department and other agencies are reporting political interference with their work, requests to remove 'climate change' from research and declining staff levels, a new survey of government employees said."
"The US interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, has blamed environmentalists for California’s ferocious wildfires and claimed, contrary to scientific research, that climate change had “nothing to do” with them. Instead, he said the fires were worsened because of limits on logging."
"An influential conservative organization last week mirrored a broad debate within Republican circles over states' rights on environmental issues — it's OK sometimes, but not always."
"Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's legacy took another hit last week as a federal court ordered EPA to ban a heavily used farm chemical.
During the Obama administration, EPA said it would ban chlorpyrifos after health assessments showed current uses posed dietary and drinking water risks to humans, especially children. But Pruitt reversed the proposed ban in March 2017, declaring that the agency was returning to "sound science."
"Top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency pushed through a measure to review applications for using asbestos in consumer products, and did so over the objections of E.P.A.’s in-house scientists and lawyers, internal agency emails show."
"The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on Canadian newsprint is hastening the demise of local newspapers across the country, forcing already-struggling publications to cut staff, reduce the number of days they print and, in at least one case, shutter entirely."
"Bill Nelson, Rick Scott tangle over blame for the state’s toxic algae blooms and other water quality problems".
"A large number of voters are opposed to the Trump administration's plan to weaken vehicle emissions standards, a new poll released Thursday found."
"Ending a five-year moratorium, the Trump administration Wednesday took a first step toward opening 1.6 million acres of California public land to fracking and conventional oil drilling, triggering alarm bells among environmentalists."
"Trump administration officials pushed to highlight the value of coal-fired power plants in a government report on the “bomb cyclone” that plunged the Eastern U.S. into single-digit temperatures last January."
