National (U.S.)

"NEW YORK -- Gasoline prices are at a seven-year high, just in time for travelers to hit the road for Memorial Day.

A gallon of regular gas costs just under $3.05 on average across the United States, according to AAA. That's up from $2.89 a month ago and $1.97 a year ago.

But some Americans are feeling more pain at the pump than others.

California has by far America's highest gas prices -- $4.20 a gallon. Hawaii's the only other state in the same ballpark, with regular gas prices averaging $3.93 a gallon."

"The Senate Finance Committee late Wednesday deadlocked on legislation that would overhaul energy tax breaks in an effort to address climate change."

"As hurricane season approaches, experts say the country is still not adequately prepared."

"The true number of people killed by the disastrous winter storm and power outages that devastated Texas in February is likely four or five times what the state has acknowledged so far. A BuzzFeed News data analysis reveals the hidden scale of a catastrophe that trapped millions of people in freezing darkness, cut off access to running water, and overwhelmed emergency services for days."

"President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget lays out a 24.1% boost to the EPA’s core rule-writing and enforcement programs and a 7.5% increase in staffing to get the work done, according to a detailed blueprint released on Friday."

"U.S. commercial fishing practices must change to prevent the extinction of North Atlantic right whales, the administration of President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as it prepares a list of new regulations to prevent whale entanglements in lobster and crab gear."

"Exxon Mobil’s U.S. oil refineries pump out far more lung-damaging soot than similarly-sized facilities operated by rivals, according to regulatory documents and a Reuters analysis of pollution test results."

"Joe Biden’s administration is facing an onslaught of criticism from environmentalists after opting to defend the approval of a massive oil and gas drilling project in the frigid northern reaches of Alaska."

"Hoover Dam has helped store Colorado River water since 1935, but reservoir levels are nearing the lowest point since Lake Mead was filled."

"Wearing soot-smudged, fire-resistant clothing and helmets, several wildland firefighters armed with hoes moved through a stand of ponderosa pines as flames tore through the underbrush. The firefighters weren’t there to extinguish the fire. They had started it."