National (U.S.)

"According to promotional materials from America’s plastics industry, it is whisked off to a factory where it is seamlessly transformed into something new. This is not the experience of Nguyễn Thị Hồng Thắm, a 60-year-old Vietnamese mother of seven, living amid piles of grimy American plastic on the outskirts of Hanoi."

"More than half of EPA's science advisory committees could be vulnerable to repeal by the end of the fiscal year under an executive order released Friday."

"Virginia's longtime ban on uranium mining will remain in place after the Supreme Court issued a splintered decision upholding the policy."

"A number of conservation groups are asking the Interior Department’s internal watchdog to investigate reports that political appointees are improperly interfering in the release of public records."

"For the first time in nearly 40 years, the National Weather Service’s flagship computer prediction model has received a major makeover, which its leadership says will pave the way for improved forecasts."

"At a crucial moment in ethanol policy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is doubling down on its argument that ethanol is better than conventional fuel."

"A top Environmental Protection Agency official gave a presentation last year at a gathering of some of the most zealous deniers of climate science, highlighting the influence a small, fringe movement hawking crank theories now wields in Washington."

"The United States is stepping up digital incursions into Russia’s electric power grid in a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin and a demonstration of how the Trump administration is using new authorities to deploy cybertools more aggressively, current and former government officials said."

"Climate change has become a defining issue in the early Democratic presidential primary. But the Democratic National Committee has rebuffed calls to hold a dedicated debate on the topic, raising concerns that the issue will once more remain siloed during an election cycle."

"Once a skeptic about climate change, Jim Bridenstine came around to the prevailing view of scientists before he took over as NASA administrator. That evolution did not sit well with a Trump environmental adviser, nor a think-tank analyst he was consulting, according to newly disclosed emails that illustrate how skepticism of global warming has found a beachhead in the Trump White House."