"California’s Salton Sea is a complicated place that’s not well known outside the Golden State, but its imperiled status has helped clog progress negotiating drought protection measures with water users along the Colorado River."
"Ford Motor Company said on Thursday that it was investigating how it tested the emissions and fuel efficiency of its vehicles after employees reported possible flaws with the company’s computer models."
"A new super PAC launching on Thursday will back Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s (D) potential run for president."
"Federal grazing fees for 2019 have been lowered, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Fees for 2019 were set at $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM), down from $1.41. The new AUM fee is for both BLM and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands."
"President Trump derided the Green New Deal as a “high school term paper that got a low mark.” ... Yet, despite that disdain, the goals of the far-reaching plan to tackle climate change and economic inequality are within the realm of technological possibility."
"The Trump administration has broken off talks with the California Air Resources Board over vehicle fuel-efficiency standards and is on track to roll back standards set by President Barack Obama, the White House said in a statement Thursday."
February 20, 2019 — After years of feeling isolated from national journalism here in Phoenix, and hearing crickets in response to pitches that took me days to craft, I decided I needed more in-person contact with editors. So I declared 2018 "The Year of the Conference." I attended five.
"The Australian government has confirmed the extinction of a small rodent native to a tiny spit of sand in the northernmost part of the Great Barrier Reef ― the first known mammal lost to human-caused climate change."
"Carrizo cane is the border wall no one wants. A pernicious plant on the banks of the Rio Grande along the U.S.-Mexico border, carrizo cane (Arundo donax) grows as much as 30 feet tall and so thick that people entering the country illegally can easily hide in it. Border patrol officers can’t see into it. Infrared signals can’t penetrate it."
"Conservation groups fighting the Trump administration’s bid to open the Atlantic Ocean to offshore drilling asked a federal court Wednesday to block companies from conducting seismic tests to determine the location of oil and gas deposits."
