National (U.S.)

"The United States is using more plastic than ever, and waste exported for recycling is often mishandled, according to a new study."

"Climate change has emerged as a major issue for voters this year, both nationally and in crucial battleground states like Arizona and Florida, new polls from The New York Times and Siena College suggest.

Nationwide, 58 percent of Americans said they were either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about their communities being harmed by climate change, according to a survey conducted in mid-October, with 39 percent saying they were “not too concerned” or “not at all concerned.”

"Ryan Maue purged his Twitter account of tweets insulting climate scientists, journalists, and activists before taking the position of chief scientist at NOAA."

"Democrats mount strong challenges to Republican incumbents in Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Carolina and South Carolina."

"From his lab in Toulouse, France, Benjamin Sanderson models the range of extreme risks to humans from climate change, research he hopes can inform policymakers planning for worsening wildfires and floods. It is the kind of work he once performed in the United States - and hopes to again soon."

"Some of the most popular products of biotechnology — corn and cotton plants that have been genetically modified to fend off insects — are no longer offering the same protection from those bugs. Scientists say that the problem results from farmers overusing the crops, and are pushing for new regulations.

These crops were the original genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. They weren't the first ones invented, but they were the first to be widely embraced by farmers, starting in the late 1990s.

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday finalized a rule that narrows the areas where farmers are required to limit human presence during the application of pesticides."

"The recent lawsuits filed against Corteva Inc. and Dow Chemical Co. in California are the beginning of an expected wave of toxic tort cases in the Golden State that take aim at the widely-used insecticide chlorpyrifos."

"The head of the U.S. Geological Survey violated the federal whistleblower protection law when he retaliated against an agency employee who had filed a complaint about his conduct, according to a new report from the Interior Department’s internal watchdog."

"Weeks after the Interior Department halted diversity training to comply with an executive order from President Trump, a top assistant at the agency is under scrutiny for defending Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of fatally shooting two people and injuring a third during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wis."