"South Carolina regulators on Tuesday rejected an effort by the Trump Organization to limit its environmental cleanup liabilities at an industrial site once owned by President Trump’s eldest son."
"Qayyarah, Iraq - Six months after ISIL fighters torched oil wells in Qayyarah, Iraqi fire crews are still battling the flames. Like a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster, a vast and pervasive darkness hangs over Qayyarah, as toxic black smoke billows from the burning wells.
Oil has been a key source of income for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, making Qayyarah an important strategic town. Its recapture last August by Iraqi forces was a significant gain in their advance towards Mosul.
"The wildlife refuge system is more vulnerable than ever."
"When engineers faced resistance from residents in Denmark over plans to build wind turbines on the Nordic country’s flat farmland, they found a better locale: the sea. The offshore wind farm, the world’s first, had just 11 turbines and could power about 3,000 homes. That project now looks like a minnow compared with the whales that sprawl for miles across the seas of Northern Europe."
"Doug Ericksen is trying to hold down two jobs in two different Washingtons. And it’s not going terribly well."
The National Response Center, run by the Coast Guard, takes reports of toxic spills and is supposed to keep a database on spill incidents. But a new study shows that it does nothing of the sort -- putting the public at risk by keeping them in the dark.
"Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, is drawing up plans to move forward on the president’s campaign promise to 'get rid of' the agency he hopes to head. He has a blueprint to repeal climate change rules, cut staffing levels, close regional offices and permanently weaken the agency’s regulatory authority."
"A media watchdog group is suing to force U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency to release records detailing his communications with energy companies ahead of a Senate vote to confirm his nomination."
"The U.S. Army will grant the final permit for the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline after an order from President Donald Trump to expedite the project despite opposition from Native American tribes and climate activists."
Dozens of renegade government Twitter accounts have sprung up, with claims they're run anonymously by employees of various agencies whose missions appear threatened by the Trump administration. TipSheet has the story, plus a list of more than 40 accounts of interest to environmental reporters.
