National (U.S.)

"As the risks of climate grow increasingly clear and the damage rises, communities around the country are fighting back in their own ways."

"Set to run out of carryover funds tonight [Friday], EPA will soon close and send thousands of employees home without pay."

"In just two years, President Trump has unleashed a regulatory rollback, lobbied for and cheered on by industry, with little parallel in the past half-century. ... The trade-offs, while often out of public view, are real — frighteningly so, for some people — imperiling progress in cleaning up the air we breathe and the water we drink, and in some cases upending the very relationship with the environment around us."

"Trump administration officials took steps on Friday to crack down on transparency at one of the largest US federal agencies, proposing a slew of changes that could make it harder for the public and media to obtain records of agency dealings."

"The Trump administration proposed on Friday major changes to the way the federal government calculates the benefits, in human health and safety, of restricting mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants."

"Cities and states would get more credit from the EPA for installing natural stormwater runoff systems under legislation that’s been cleared for President Donald Trump’s signature."

"The House passed a last-minute bill Dec. 21 to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through May."

"Rep. Lamar Smith's cattle brand is shaped like the number 2, with a check mark in the top right corner. It's supposed to be burned in the right hip of an animal."

"With a government shutdown looming, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to boost logging and forest thinning on more than 4 million acres of federal lands to combat extreme wildfires."

"As the hours tick down toward a potential government shutdown, the National Park Service (NPS) is gearing up to clear out its staff across all national parks, but the parks will keep their gates open."