"Before Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt could install a secure, soundproof phone booth in his office last fall, officials had to create space for the addition in a nearby closet area. Those preparations didn’t come cheap."
"The federal government censored, withheld or said it couldn’t find records sought by citizens, journalists and others more often last year than at any point in the past decade, according to an Associated Press analysis of new data."
"President Trump, fresh off replacing his secretary of state and C.I.A. director, is considering firing his secretary of veterans affairs and installing Energy Secretary Rick Perry in the post, according to two people close to the White House."
While environmental themes were less prominent at the Sundance Film Festival this year, our correspondent JoAnn Valenti unearthed ecological messages from documentaries that explore the emergence of climate change refugees in the face of sea level rise, the escape from modernity into wilderness and the confrontation of environmental threats by young innovators.
Coal ash can contaminate surface and ground water with toxic heavy metals. But as this week’s TipSheet reports, Trump deregulation aims to loosen EPA rules on its disposal. That may mean a big local pollution story. If journalists can find the data, that is. The latest on the new rules, plus resources for coverage.
"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has failed to meet a key deadline in his ongoing first-class travel saga."
"The Trump administration named a new interim U.S. Forest Service chief on Thursday, just days after the prior head of the agency stepped down due to sexual misconduct allegations."
"Months before U.S. Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke abruptly resigned, his superiors at the Agriculture Department were made aware of the scandal that brought an end to Tooke’s 30-year career."
"The Interior Department is spending nearly $139,000 to upgrade three sets of double doors in the office of Secretary Ryan Zinke."
"A U.S. Geological Survey study documenting how climate change has “dramatically reduced” glaciers in Montana came under fire from high-level Interior Department government officials in May, according to a batch of newly released records under the Freedom of Information Act, as they questioned federal scientists’ description of the decline. "
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