"The Senate voted to confirm a top lawyer for the Department of the Interior who was accused of lying to Congress. Daniel Jorjani, already the de facto top lawyer for the department, was confirmed with a 51-43 vote. He is the subject of an ongoing review by the Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General."
"Environment ministers from dozens of countries agreed this week to hasten their efforts to reduce a class of greenhouse gases that, until now, has been largely overlooked in international climate agreements but could play a crucial role in limiting the worst effects of climate change."
"Protesters were characterized as a threat to national security in what one calls an attempt to criminalize their actions".
"The political war between California and the Trump administration escalated Monday with a letter from Andrew Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, warning that Washington would withhold federal highway funds from the state if it did not rapidly address a decades-long backlog of state-level pollution control plans."
"The Trump administration is ratcheting up its threats against California with a letter warning the state faces sanctions – including cuts in federal highway funding – over its “failure” to submit complete reports on its implementation of the Clean Air Act."
The politics of federal appropriations is convoluted, but buried within are important local environmental stories. Heading into the upcoming fiscal year, the latest TipSheet explains how the process works and where to find the news. Plus, spotting environmental pork barrel, and what a “minibus” bill is and why it matters.
"Americans eat an average of 16 pounds of fish each year, and that number is growing. But how to meet our demand for fish is a controversial question, one that is entering a new chapter as the Environmental Protection Agency seeks to approve the nation's only aquaculture pen in federal waters."
"The Minnesota Court of Appeals has handed environmental groups a victory by suspending two key permits for a planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine ahead of a hearing next month."
"The Bureau of Land Management is moving its headquarters to a building that houses offices for several oil and gas companies operating in Western Colorado, including Chevron USA, Inc., and the local branch of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association."
"The Department of Interior’s internal watchdog confirmed in letters to two lawmakers that they will review the involvement of the agency’s top officials in crafting agency’s public records process which allows political appointees to review and potentially withhold documents from release."
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