"Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday defended his frequent taxpayer-funded travel and his purchase of a custom soundproof communications booth for his office, saying both were justified."
"Gusty Santa Ana winds and bone-dry conditions continued to stoke major wildfires in Southern California on Thursday as Ventura County fire officials said the battle there could last well over a week."
"A new staff analysis by Georgia's Public Service Commission suggests construction of America's first totally new nuclear power reactor of the 21st century should be scrapped unless Georgia Power agrees to absorb a bigger share of the project's cost overruns."
"Much of the attention to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's review of national monuments has focused on sites across the West, but recommendations he made to President Trump show that a trio of marine monuments could also see significant changes. In a report Interior released yesterday, Zinke advised that commercial fishing be introduced to three ocean sites: Rose Atoll, Pacific Remote Islands, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts marine national monuments."
"The Fish and Wildlife Service could be thinking twice about how it removed Endangered Species Act protections from Yellowstone-area grizzly bears, thanks to a critical court ruling on wolves."
"The Trump administration is rolling back a requirement for trains carrying highly explosive liquids — like the oil trains that run through the Columbia River Gorge en route to Northwest refineries."
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) inspector general said this week it will investigate Administrator Scott Pruitt’s April meeting with a coal mining industry group."
"New research says we should pay more attention to climate models that point to a hotter future and toss out projections that point to less warming. "
"More than 200 countries signed a U.N. resolution in Nairobi on Wednesday to eliminate plastic pollution in the sea, a move some delegates hoped would pave the way to a legally binding treaty."
"Republicans have little room for dissension as they debate a plan to overhaul the nation’s tax system, and the Senate wooed Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski by including a provision that allows oil exploration in a portion of Alaska’s North Slope. That doesn’t sit well with some moderate House Republicans, including Miami Rep. Carlos Curbelo."
