Infrastructure

"In California's water-stressed Central Valley, farmers are fallowing land and installing solar, providing financial stability and saving water."

"Florida is poised to outlaw fluoride in drinking water under a bill approved Tuesday by the state legislature, adding the state to a growing backlash against a long-standing public health measure."

"Last week, the US Department of the Interior announced that it would speed up the approval process for certain fossil fuel projects, proclaiming that environmental analyses that previously would have taken years must now be taken down to, at maximum, a month. While the new procedures are seemingly a gift to the industry, this may actually be terrible news for pipeline developers, drillers, and miners."

"After years of attempts, Ohio lawmakers voted Wednesday to end the subsidy for two unprofitable Cold War-era coal plants that had cost Ohio ratepayers nearly $400,000 a day, after they were tucked into the tainted energy bill at the center of the largest corruption scandal in state history."

"Current regulations date back to the Carter administration, and a planned overhaul could help fast-track gas export projects."

"The Trump administration told scientists writing a congressionally mandated climate report that it was “releasing” them from their roles and that the report’s scope was being reevaluated, in an email sent Monday and seen by The Washington Post."

"In the 1930s, workers using explosives and machinery excavated a 13-mile tunnel beneath Mt. San Jacinto to bring Colorado River water to Southern California. The Metropolitan Water District recently offered visitors a look inside the tunnel, an engineering feat that is a key piece of the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct."

"Mongabay Latam and Data Crítica examined and compared official data of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, including satellite images by scientists studying oil spills and evidence compiled by fishing communities. Their analysis found that most oil spills are not reported."

"Why some U.S. cities are so much greener than others." Includes lookup map.

"A forthcoming Supreme Court decision is poised to weaken a bedrock law that requires federal agencies to study the potential environmental impacts of major projects."