The waters off the U.S. Pacific Coast are suffering from ocean acidification “hot spots,” says a new study of 600 miles of coastline. The study recorded some of the lowest pH levels ever found in surface water.

Billionaire Carl Icahn has been an informal White House adviser on regulatory issues since the early days of the Trump administration. Five Democratic senators asked EPA chief Scott Pruitt for all documents involving any communications involving Icahn and his businesses and the EPA, which regulates air pollution laws and biofuel usage.

In August 2015, U.S. district judge Ralph Erickson blocked the Obama administration's Waters of the United States rule from taking effect, the first injunction against the clean water rule. Now the North Dakota judge would be elevated to the U.S. appellate court under a nomination announced by the White House.

In August 2015, U.S. district judge Ralph Erickson blocked the Obama administration's Waters of the United States rule from taking effect, the first injunction against the clean water rule. Now the North Dakota judge would be elevated to the U.S. appellate court under a nomination announced by the White House.

Brazil is the Goliath of orange juice, producing half of the juice in the world, says Quartz, so a worldwide slowdown in consumption is a big problem. Orange production is down sharply to 242 million boxes last year, compared to 400 million in 2014.

Last month, the FDA gave restaurants, fast food companies and convenience stores an additional year, until May 2018, to include on their menus the caloric content of the food and beverages that they sell. Now, the decision is being challenged in U.S. district court by two consumer groups who say the agency is "randomly sowing chaos" with its delay of useful information.

Under an order signed by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the government will review 2015 sage grouse conservation plans, seeking closer coordination with state governments in conserving the greater sage-grouse and its habitat while allowing for economic growth through activities such as energy development. The Fish and Wildlife Service cited the conservation plans in deciding in 2015 not to list the grouse as a threatened or endangered species.

House Republicans voted repeatedly in recent years to slash food-stamp spending through approaches such as converting the program to a block grant for states to run or restricting eligibility. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he expects those ideas will be offered in coming weeks as the Republican-controlled House writes its budget resolution, given President Trump's proposal for a 25-percent cut in the program.

In 2010, the contraction of stressed eel fisheries in Europe and Japan touched off a gold rush for U.S. eels, and led to a multi-state smuggling effort that has produced 11 guilty pleas and is still unwinding in the courts, according to the latest story from The Food & Environment Reporting Network, in partnership with National Geographic.

U.S. river traffic, key to farm exports, relies "on a dilapidated system of locks and dams that is more than half a century old" and needs a 21st-century update, said President Trump in pushing for a massive public works program. By coincidence, Trump spoke in the same city — Cincinnati — and used the same backdrop — barges on the Ohio River — that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue did a month ago when he announced a reorganization of USDA.

Months after suspending work, the Food and Drug Administration "has resumed its first-ever endeavor to evaluate how much of a controversial chemical is making its way into the U.S. food supply," says a blog post by Carey Gillam of U.S. Right to Know. The FDA began the "special assignment" last year but stopped the work because of a disagreement over a standard methodology for the agency's laboratories to use.

The maker of a vegan mayonnaise, Hampton Creek, accused three top employees of planning a coup and fired them. The company said the employees — two vice presidents and the chief technology officer — intended to change the governance structure of the Silicon Valley company so that new investors would have a greater voice in company operations.

There are still details to work out but the commerce ministers of Mexico and the United States announced an agreement in principal on sweetener trade after negotiations stretched a day past the U.S. deadline for a deal. The tentative agreement takes off the table a long-running dispute as the Trump administration prepares its proposals for revising the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In the face of industry complaints, the Food and Drug Administration said it would extend the date, now set for January 2018, to comply with agricultural water standards for produce. In an announcement, the agency said "the length of the extension is under consideration" and will be determined "using appropriate procedures at a later time." The extension does not apply to sprouts.

A coalition of seven states from California to New York states filed a challenge that asks the EPA to end the use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos, widely used in agriculture but criticized as a risk to children and farm workers. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt denied in March a petition by environmental groups to ban the chemical and said his decision was based on sound science.