Pollution

"The Biden administration hopes its new rules will withstand an onslaught of legal and political opposition."

"Federal regulators have discovered fragments of bird flu virus in roughly 20 percent of retail milk samples tested in a nationally representative study, the Food and Drug Administration said in an online update on Thursday." "There is no evidence that the milk is unsafe to drink, scientists say. But the survey result strongly hints that the outbreak may be widespread."

"Nearly 200 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists plan to join this week's United Nations negotiations on the first global treaty to curb plastic pollution — a 37% jump from the previous gathering in November, an analysis released on Thursday showed."

"Coca-Cola and PepsiCo came in at the top of a global audit of plastic waste". "A new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances has pinpointed some of the major brands responsible for plastic pollution across six continents."

"California will conclude a two-year investigation into Exxon and the fossil fuel industry's role in causing global plastic pollution by summer and decide if it will file a lawsuit against oil giant, its attorney general told Reuters on Monday."

"The Environmental Protection Agency may have wasted or risked millions of dollars by failing to prevent the spread of contamination hazardous to human health at a Superfund site in Pensacola, Florida, an agency watchdog report found."

"Against the guidance of scientific advisory panels, the EPA is relying on industry-backed tests to relax regulations on acephate, which has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. “It’s exactly what we recommended against,” one panelist said."

"Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency."

"About 44 million Americans live in cities or counties that received a failing grade for air quality, which has deteriorated to its worst in 25 years across a swath of the U.S., in part because of wildfires, a report released on Wednesday found."

"A federal jury on Monday said BNSF Railway contributed to the deaths of two people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago when tainted mining material was shipped through a Montana town where thousands have been sickened."