"The Trump administration on Thursday confirmed that it will likely delay the release of a long-awaited plan that had been expected to open most of the nation’s coastline for offshore oil drilling, pending the final outcome of a recent court decision that blocks drilling off the Alaskan coast."
"This time last year, most of Iraq’s historic marshlands were dry, desiccated by upstream damming and a chronic lack of rainfall."
"Minnesota House members revealed Wednesday whether they believe humans are causing climate change. It broke largely along party lines: 79 lawmakers, including all 75 Democrats, voted yes, and 50 Republicans voted no. Five Republicans did not vote."
"A grand duel is taking place out West, but no cowboys are involved. It’s between the native sagebrush, which has dominated the Western landscape for more 12,000 years, and a newer, highly invasive and flammable species called cheatgrass."
"When you're an embattled EPA administrator, it helps to have a well-connected lawyer. Last year, former EPA chief Scott Pruitt's legal defense fund received a $50,000 contribution from Diane Hendricks, a billionaire businesswoman and Republican donor."
"A California court has sided with a Southern California water district in a high-stakes case with a Native American tribe over access to groundwater."
"U.S. senators are fighting over the details of an approximately $13 billion disaster aid package to help these states and Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. But congressional feuding over disaster aid is unlikely to stop even after the current impasse is resolved. In a typical year, taxpayer spending on the federal disaster relief fund is almost 10 times higher than it was three decades ago, even after adjusting for inflation, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data."
"A federal appeals court has overturned a U.S. District Court's dismissal of a lawsuit by environmental groups challenging a federal agency's killing of wolves in Idaho."
"The new Starbucks coffee cup lid, which is being rolled out with great green fanfare in six cities this summer, was supposed be an environmental milestone. Starbucks promised that its latest design innovation, a “clear, recyclable” plastic drink cap that funnels liquid through a slightly raised area, would soon replace more than a billion plastic straws each year."
"AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said yesterday that the largest group of U.S. unions does not support the Green New Deal in its current form, a potential blow for activists hoping to get labor on board with the progressive climate plan."
