Public

"A growing population, leaking pipes and changing climate threaten the state’s water supply. Texas lawmakers hope a $20 billion investment will help."

"In the most remote parts of Alaska, staying in touch can involve a bit more effort than sending a text. Cell service is spotty, highways are nonexistent, and the postal service remains a vital lifeline, delivering supplies and mail by plane. But for anyone who wants to broadcast a different kind of message — a reminder to pick up milk, for example, or birthday wishes — there’s always the Muktuk Telegram."

"USDA’s staffing cuts, scuttled conservation programs, and misdirected crop insurance are hitting farmers hard."

"A group of experts says Western states urgently need to cut water use to avert a deepening crisis on the Colorado River. The river’s major reservoirs are less than one-third full, and another dry winter would push reservoirs toward critically low levels."

"Both House and Senate lawmakers have advanced bills rejecting the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate climate research at the weather agency."

"FDA leaders under President Donald Trump are moving to abandon a decades-old policy of asking outside experts to review drug applications, a move critics say would shield the agency’s decisions from public scrutiny."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed doing away with a program that has required large, mostly industrial polluters to report their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to the government."

"Deep in the Amazon, sound designer Eric Terena has been capturing the sounds of the rainforest while sitting silently beneath the dense, towering treetops with his recording equipment. He has noticed some huge changes."

"Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Democratic Sen. Patty Murray that he’s looking to delay operations at a multibillion-dollar vitrification plant at the Hanford nuclear cleanup site in Washington state, despite public statements signaling otherwise, the senator said."

"California legislative leaders in the wee hours of Wednesday morning reached an agreement with Gov. Gavin Newsom to extend the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction program, known as cap and trade, through 2045 — a contentious expansion that for weeks stewed in backroom discussions, held up other critical legislation and roiled insiders."