National (U.S.)

"The impending power shift in the Senate means Congress will once again turn to the Congressional Review Act to scrap a bevy of regulations."

"In a blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to fossil fuel development, only half of the oil and gas leases offered for sale Wednesday received bids, and all but two of those came from the state of Alaska itself."

"Democrats improved their chances to legislate on climate change and an array of other progressive priorities last night, as they looked poised to win both Georgia runoff elections."

"The Trump administration gutted protections for migratory birds on Tuesday, delivering the second of two parting gifts to the oil and gas industry, which has long sought to be shielded from liability for killing birds unintentionally in oil spills, toxic waste ponds and other environmental disasters."

"The world’s grasslands are an essential carbon sink, and may even be more efficient at capturing atmospheric carbon than trees. But thanks to animal agriculture and fertilizer use, they’re now producing as much greenhouse gas pollution as they sequester, according to a new study published in Nature Communications on Tuesday."

"A federal judge in Alaska ruled late on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s planned auction of oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) could proceed as planned on Wednesday morning."

With razor-thin margins and the last votes still being counted, Democrats appear to have taken control of the U.S. Senate. This would enable the incoming Biden administration to pass aggressive climate legislation and reverse many environmental deregulatory actions of the Trump administration.

"The Trump administration on Monday finalized plans to open more than 80 percent of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPRA) to oil drilling, pushing ahead over objections from environmentalists who have already challenged the plans in court."

Some of last year's top water stories are likely to stay in the news for 2021. They will include water scarcity in the drying colorado river basin, the Biden administration's infrastructure and social justice agenda, the growing burden of customer water debt, and PFAS lawsuits.