"USDA inspectors documented 60 percent fewer violations at animal facilities in 2018 from the previous year, in what animal protection groups say is the latest sign of weakened enforcement by an agency charged with ensuring pet breeders, research labs, zoos and other exhibitors follow federal animal welfare laws."
"EPA enforcement chief Susan Bodine doggedly defended her office's record this morning against a drumbeat of questions from Democrats over data showing a decline in fines and staffing."
"The House of Representatives Tuesday overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at safeguarding nearly 2 million acres of public lands and permanently continuing a federal fund that supports conservation projects around the country."
"A $120 million court settlement from the nation’s largest-known natural gas leak was approved by a California judge Monday despite objections from local residents and criticism from environmentalists."
"The EPA’s bungled response to an air pollution crisis exposes a toxic racial divide".
"Hundreds of youth climate activists marched on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s Washington office and 42 of them were arrested by police, according to organizers."
"U.S. lawmakers will grill the Environmental Protection Agency’s top pollution enforcement official on Tuesday after the agency’s recent annual report showed a big decline in civil penalties and site inspections."
"Less than a month into his tenure as the top air-policy official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Bill Wehrum hopped into the EPA’s electric Chevy Volt and rode to the Pennsylvania Avenue offices of his former law firm."
The fierce contest over the Trump border wall has critical environmental implications, both local and regional, per the latest TipSheet. A key suit against the Trump emergency declaration was filed by environmental groups and plans for a border barrier may harm significant wildlife habitat, as well as numerous migrating species, including some that are endangered. Get the back story and why it matters, along with story ideas and reporting resources.
A scientist contracted to report on climate impacts for the National Park Service was caught up in a fracas over attempted censorship of her findings. Now she’s been fired. That, plus a FOIA case before the Supreme Court and an enviro group sues the Army Corps of Engineers over info on a permit for a new plastics plant in Louisiana. Read the latest on freedom-of-information issues in this month’s WatchDog TipSheet.
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