Environmental Politics

"The lawsuit asks a federal judge to order Trump administration officials to restore VOA."

"Six Voice of America journalists — including its former White House bureau chief — sued members of the Trump administration Friday, accusing officials of unlawfully shuttering a federally funded media outlet that has delivered news coverage to millions across the globe since its founding during World War II.

"The agency will no longer shut down “any stage of energy production,” absent an imminent threat, a new memo says, and will curtail efforts to cut pollution in poorer areas."

"Federal agencies will need fully-staffed teams to implement President Donald Trump’s order for the Interior Department and other agencies to expedite mining on federal lands, natural resources lawyers say. But massive staffing cuts could get in the way of Trump’s demand to mine more minerals domestically, and it could take years for agencies and companies to mobilize and begin digging rock."

"Hundreds of bicycle advocates were at an annual summit this month in Washington, D.C., when their cellphones lit up over breakfast with an urgent email warning that President Donald Trump’s transportation department had just halted federal grant funding for bike lanes."

"Styrofoam coffee cups, plates, clamshell takeout containers and other food service items made with expanded polystyrene plastic can still be found in restaurants and on store shelves, despite a ban that went into effect on Jan. 1."

"With massive job cuts, the National Weather Service is eliminating or reducing vital weather balloon launches in eight northern locations, which meteorologists and former agency leaders said will degrade the accuracy of forecasts just as severe weather season kicks in."

"French officials have expressed their dismay after a French scientist was denied entry into the United States because immigration officers found text messages containing a "personal opinion" about the Trump administration and its policies on scientific research."

"Academic research paid for by BP and Exxon is being used to combat workers’ claims that exposure to oil and chemical dispersants made them ill."

"Jackson Voss loves his alma mater, Louisiana State University. He appreciates that his undergraduate education was paid for by a program dreamed up by an oil magnate and that he received additional scholarships from ExxonMobil and Shell. But the socially conscious Louisiana native was also aware of what the support of those companies seemed to buy — silence."