National (U.S.)

"Real, visible and consequential ecological catastrophes are playing out all around us."

"Wander into the woods in most places in the eastern United States and you’re likely to come across a towering trunk with sandy-colored, diamond-shaped ridges rising to bare forking branches and little holes peppering the bark, signaling where small, green beetles have crawled out and flown away after doing their dirty work. This decaying monument is — or rather, was — an ash tree. Its kind will not be back in your lifetime, perhaps ever.

"They came from states like Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee to rally around coal as U.S. coal use continues to tumble."

"If you had a choice between a better, faster cell phone signal and an accurate weather forecast, which would you pick? That’s the question facing federal officials as they decide whether to auction off more of the wireless spectrum or heed meteorologists who say that such a move could throw US weather forecasting into chaos."

"The Council on Environmental Quality is banking on a fast White House review process as it prepares to release new rules on how the federal government should implement the National Environmental Policy Act."

"This year’s Atlantic hurricane season should be “near normal,” government forecasters announced on Thursday, with the likelihood of nine to 15 named storms, and two to four major Category 3 hurricanes with winds of 111 miles per hour or greater."

"After a White House meeting on infrastructure fell apart yesterday, lawmakers were left picking up the pieces, with the odds of Congress passing a broad package looking slimmer than ever. Instead, it seems likely Congress will pursue a narrower surface transportation bill."

"Citing a number of recent incidents, including one in Pennsylvania, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, sent a warning to natural gas and hazardous liquids pipeline operators earlier this month detailing the dangers of flooding and heavy rain events."

" U.S. House of Representatives and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill that has President Donald Trump’s support, lawmakers from both parties said on Thursday."

"Democrats are asking Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Andrew Wheeler to turn over documents tied to the agency’s proposal to roll back emissions standards for vehicles, suggesting he made misleading statements on the topic."

"In early 2016, the US Environmental Protection Agency set an immediate goal to reduce the number of animals used to test the toxicity of pesticides. The agency claims that it is making significant progress toward meeting that goal, but manufacturers are still using tens of thousands of laboratory animals each year to demonstrate that new pesticides entering the US marketplace meet safety standards."