National (U.S.)

Trump has repeatedly said eliminating barriers to drilling will unlock vast untapped reserves of “liquid gold” and ignite a new era of national prosperity. But most of the drilling leases already granted to companies in the oil-rich Gulf are idle and unused, and they’ll stay that way until the United States’ record-breaking production rates wane and the high costs of drilling offshore drop precipitously.

"The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and climate change take their toll on the beloved pollinator."

"Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC filed with regulators Monday official requests to build its revised Southgate extension project from Southwest Virginia into North Carolina." "The company’s proposal to build more than 30 miles of natural gas pipeline has worried environmental advocates, who believe it could harm nearby residents."

"Brandon Russell, the founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group, was convicted Monday of conspiring to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid."

"The Environmental Protection Agency is demoting career employees who oversee scientific research, the enforcement of pollution laws, hazardous waste cleanup and the agency’s human resources department and will replace them with political appointees, according to two people familiar with the approach."

"The Interior secretary signed orders to increase energy production, review Biden public lands efforts and slash regulations."

"President Donald Trump has named Neil Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist who was found to have violated scientific integrity policies during the “Sharpiegate” scandal of the first Trump administration, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

"Top advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are asking the agency’s acting director to explain the abrupt removal of information and data from CDC websites, and say when it will be restored." "Agencies took down info on topics including gender, vaccines, and climate change"

"Rat infestation in many world cities appears to be soaring, especially in Washington, and a new study blames warming temperatures, urbanization and other human actions."

"Nearly five years ago, the United States Department of Energy, or DOE, began an unusual partnership with the country’s largest lobbying group for the plastics industry." "Critics argue that the agency’s work with a lobbying group is a conflict of interest."