For the first time, Sundance Film Festival spotlighted a single theme, and it was climate change. Documentaries highlighting the issue including a sequel to Al Gore's blockbuster, as well as more than a dozen other films dealing with issues like coral reefs, recyling, changing landscapes and rainforest destruction.
The latest WatchDog TipSheet details an open-records case against U.S. EPA nominee Scott Pruitt (shown), the scoop on an Agriculture Department animal welfare database that vanished then returned, a reporter busted at Standing Rock, plus items on whistleblowers, coal-ash and more.
While resurrecting the declining U.S. coal industry, as promised by the new administration, is probably not possible, it may not stop a lifting of the moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands. TipSheet looks at how the issue moved front and center, and whether the move would help coal country.
"SAN CARLOS APACHE RESERVATION — The sound always came first, a low buzz that grew and grew until it roared through the valley. Then the olive-colored plane appeared overhead, flying low. In its wake was a thick shower of oily droplets making a long, slow fall to the forested gullies below."
"Underground pockets of boiling water and steam in a northern New Mexico national preserve that represent the heart of an ancient collapsed volcano could get extra federal protection under a proposal by the National Park Service to limit or prevent any negative effects from tapping geothermal energy on neighboring land."
"Competing against millions of acres of cotton, winegrowers fear federal approval of new herbicides to be used on genetically modified cotton seeds will wipe out the wine industry in the Texas High Plains."
Even if the incoming Trump Administration retreats from climate action, as many fear, state and local governments may fill the gap on climate policy. Our latest Issue Backgrounder takes a closer look, and offers sources and resources to help you cover the more localized climate stories that may result.
"Texas is among several states grappling with a surge of abandoned drilling sites and dwindling funds to clean them up."
Advertisement 
