"Federal scientists pulled no punches in their report: The Trump administration’s plan to send more water to San Joaquin Valley farmers would force critically endangered California salmon even closer to extinction, and starve a struggling population of West Coast killer whales. But the scientists’ findings weren’t adopted, nor were they released to the public."
"What should communities do as climate change escalates threats like sea-level rise? Until now, much of the focus has been on disaster response, with very little discussion of orderly, strategic retreat from areas at risk. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, for example, the New York State governor’s office ran a public service announcement that made clear the focus would be on rebuilding."
"Three senior administration officials told McClatchy that President Donald Trump plans to skip the U.N. Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23 hosted by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler will lead the U.S. delegation."
"The US interior secretary, David Bernhardt, is promoting a fossil fuel project for which his former employer, a lobbying firm, is a paid advocate, e-mails obtained by the Guardian suggest."
"Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday released a $16.3 trillion blueprint to fight climate change, the latest and most expensive proposal from the field of Democratic presidential candidates aimed at reining in planet-warming greenhouse gases."
"SAN FRANCISCO — A Democratic National Committee meeting erupted into a bitter battle Thursday morning over the question of holding a climate-specific presidential debate, with party officials stamping down a resolution calling for a such an event in the face of raucous opposition from activists."
"Joe Balash, the Alaskan leading the Interior Department's plans to auction the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain for oil development, has resigned, effective at the end of the month."
EPA's internal watchdog released a report this morning that found President Trump's first EPA chief made the most appointments to "administratively determined" positions under the Safe Drinking Water Act compared with his recent predecessors."
"When the Trump administration first pushed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration, it predicted that drilling would generate a windfall for the federal Treasury: $1.8 billion, by a White House estimate. But two years later, with the expected sale of the first oil and gas leases just months away, a New York Times analysis of prior lease sales suggests that the new activity may yield as little as $45 million over the next decade."
"Environmental groups flocked to court today to fight the Trump administration's new Endangered Species Act regulations, kicking off a high-stakes legal debate over the government's authority to make sweeping changes to how agencies protect rare animals and plants."
