Thought to have been eradicated from California more than 50 years ago, nutria—invasive, 20-pound rodents originally from South America—have mysteriously reappeared.

Officials in Trenton, New Jersey, deploy fireworks, lasers, spotlights, and amplified recordings of crows in distress in an effort to drive away 30,000 crows that have taken up residence there.

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would cut EPA funding by 23 percent and restoration programs for the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay by 90 percent, eliminate the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, and fund maintenance projects in the national parks through expanded oil and gas drilling in public lands and waters.

A Russian ship bearing liquefied natural gas becomes the first vessel to cross the Arctic in winter without an icebreaker escort. 

A leaked copy of a forthcoming UN climate report says that there is a “very high risk” that Earth will not be able to avoid warming by 1.5°C (2.7°F) by mid-century. Should temperatures rise above 1.5°C, the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets may become irreversible.

George David Banks, the White House’s top energy advisor and a proponent of the United States remaining in the Paris climate accord, resigns after failing to obtain a security clearance because he smoked marijuana in 2013. 

An Energy Department audit of a $38 million “clean coal” project in Texas finds that several millions of it were spent on illegal lobbying, liquor, limousines, spa services, and first-class travel. The project was never built. 

EPA administrator Scott Pruitt admits that he flies first class in order to avoid unpleasant interactions with travelers in coach.

Trump advocates raising the federal gasoline tax by 25 cents a gallon in order to pay for his $200 billion infrastructure plan, which ignores climate change.   

Germany considers making public transportation free. 

A suspected poacher in South Africa is killed and eaten by lions.