The Guardian

• Pesticide industry ‘immunity shield’ stripped from US appropriations bill

  Democrats and ‘make America healthy again’ movement pushed back on the rider in a funding bill led by Bayer

  In a setback for the pesticide industry, Democrats have succeeded in removing a rider from a congressional appropriations bill that would have helped protect pesticide makers from being sued and could have hindered state efforts to warn about pesticide risks.

  Chellie Pingree, a Democratic representative from Maine and ranking member of the House appropriations interior, environment, and related agencies subcommittee, said Monday that the controversial measure pushed by the agrochemical giant Bayer and industry allies has been stripped from the 2026 funding bill.

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• Trump taking ‘drill, baby, drill’ plan to Venezuela ‘terrible’ for climate, experts warn

  ‘Everybody loses’ if production supercharged in country with largest known oil reserves, critics say

  Donald Trump, by dramatically seizing Nicolás Maduro and claiming dominion over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, has taken his “drill, baby, drill” mantra global. Achieving the president’s dream of supercharging the country’s oil production would be financially challenging – and if fulfilled, would be “terrible for the climate”, experts say.

  Trump has aggressively sought to boost oil and gas production within the US. Now, after the capture and arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, he is seeking to orchestrate a ramp-up of drilling in Venezuela, which has the largest known reserves of oil in the world – equivalent to about 300bn barrels, according to research firm the Energy Institute.

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• Trump officials sue California cities over laws to restrict fossil fuels

  Suit against San Francisco-area cities Petaluma and Morgan Hill latest attack on policies that seek to rein in oil and gas

  The Trump administration sued two California cities on Monday, seeking to block local laws that restrict natural gas infrastructure and appliances in new construction.

  The lawsuit is the administration’s latest attack on energy policies that seek to rein in the use of fossil fuels to combat the climate crisis. California, a Democratic stronghold, has among the most aggressive climate change policies in the world.

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• Monarch butterflies could disappear. Butterfly Town USA is scrambling to save them

  Pacific Grove is known as ‘Butterfly Town USA’ for its role as an overwintering spot. As the insect’s population plummets, residents are coming to its rescue

  In the tiny seaside village of Pacific Grove, California, there’s no escaping the monarch butterfly.

  Here, butterfly murals abound: one splashes across the side of a hotel, another adorns a school. As for local businesses, there’s the Monarch Pub, the Butterfly Grove Inn, even Monarch Knitting (a local yarn shop). And every fall, the small city hosts a butterfly parade, where local elementary school children dress up in butterfly costumes. The city’s municipal code even declares it an unlawful act to “molest or interfere” with monarchs in any way, with a possible fine of $1,000.

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• ‘The perfect storm’: Trump has left the US less prepared for natural disasters, experts say

  Emergency managers say the US president has presided over a dangerous erosion in US capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters

  Donald Trump has presided over a dangerous erosion in US capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, according to emergency management experts.

  The first year of his second term was marked by crackdowns on climate science that produced world-class weather forecasts and the gutting of frontline federal agencies - policies that have left the country, already struggling to keep pace with severe storms, even more at risk.

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