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Acting administrator said the ease of Obama-era rules, which pushes back deadline to close ash dumps, saves $30m annually

The Trump administration on Wednesday eased rules for handling toxic coal ash from more than 400 US coal-fired power plants after utilities pushed back against regulations adopted under former president Barack Obama.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acting administrator Andrew Wheeler said the changes would save utilities roughly $30m annually.

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Would you pay to see rhinos in Australia's savannas or forests? It's not as crazy as it sounds – and could help save collapsing rhino populations. Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Australians tried to do the right thing by recycling but then we discovered we’d been played for mugs

The announcement by China earlier this year that they would no longer purchase Australia’s contaminated waste plunged the local recycling industry into a crisis from which it has yet to recover.

But the consequences for public trust might be even more severe.

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In central-western New South Wales, farmers are facing a crippling drought many are calling the worst since 1902

“It’s a pretty tough old time,” says Coonabarabran farmer Ambrose Doolan. “But if you’re working with your family and everyone is looking out for each other, you count your blessings.” In the central-west region of New South Wales, farmers continue to battle a crippling drought that many locals are calling the worst since 1902. In Warrumbungle shire, where sharp peaks fall away to once fertile farmland, the small town of Coonabarabran is running out of water. The town dam has fallen to 23% of its capacity and residents are living with level-six water restrictions. There are real fears the town will run dry.

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EU carbon rose steadily on Wednesday to close at their highest in seven years, as a stronger auction boosted confidence that prices would extend recent highs.

Activist group Shoot’em with a Camera seeks to infiltrate a bear hunt by acquiring licenses they don’t intend to use

Jane Goodall, the renowned conservationist, and a group of wildlife activists are some of the unexpected entrants in a lottery to hunt up to 22 grizzly bears near Yellowstone national park.

Related: Alarmed conservationists call for urgent action to fix 'America's wildlife crisis'

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Doctors urge ministers to act as 1,320 killed by asthma in England and Wales last year

A record number of people are dying of asthma, and experts have warned growing air pollution and a lack of basic care could be to blame.

In England and Wales 1,320 people died of asthma last year, a sharp rise of more than 25% over a decade, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

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A successful effort to introduce a carbon charge in New York’s wholesale electricity markets separate to RGGI would take nearly three years to take effect, according to the state’s grid operator NYISO.

The EU will from Thursday impose measures aimed at curbing a surge of steel imports diverted from the tariff-setting US, quelling fears that ETS-covered domestic production could be affected.

Government-owned company has back-pedalled on its pledge to cycle-proof the line, say campaigners, locking out cyclists for generations to come

The company building the HS2 high speed rail line is accused of watering down commitments on cycle crossings along the route, in a move campaigners say will endanger lives and lock out cycling for generations to come.

The government-owned company, HS2 Ltd, was accused of back-pedalling on its legally-binding assurance that it would “cycle-proof” phase 1 of HS2, from London to the West Midlands, earlier this year by Cycling UK, the national cycling charity. The assurances, which became legally binding when they were incorporated into the High Speed Rail Act, stated HS2 Ltd would have a dialogue with the Cycle Proofing Working Group (CPWG), a government advisory body, with the assumption that they would include high quality design standards.

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New research has identified the species of shark currently found in hotter parts of the world that could migrate to UK waters by 2050 as the oceans warm

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The impact of European settlers on the country is preserved in a detailed soil record, researchers have found.

A Netherlands carbon price floor would have a minimal impact on cutting emissions, a study commissioned by the Dutch government found, while rapidly-increasing EU Allowance prices suggest the effect of the floor, as it is currently designed, may never be felt.

Algae is the new ‘green gold'. On Big Ideas, an expert panel describes the potential of algae as a game-changing sustainable resource for numerous industries.

The floor of the Central Valley is slumping, and there is arsenic in the tap water. Now it seems the two problems are connected

Isabel Solorio can see the water treatment plant from her garden across the street. Built to filter out the arsenic in drinking water, it hasn’t been active since 2007 – it shut down six months after opening when the California town of Lanare went into debt trying to keep up with maintenance costs.

Related: ‘Nothing to worry about. The water is fine’: how Flint poisoned its people

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The Cornwall community achieved this status last December, by uniting against straws, bottles, takeaway boxes and disposable forks. Now 330 other towns aim to follow them

Emily Kavanaugh is standing in her skincare-product shop, Pure Nuff Stuff, on Chapel Street. The narrow lane leads down towards the Jubilee pool, the triangular lido that juts like a ship’s prow into the sea from Penzance. “Here, try one,” Kavanaugh says, handing me a piece of packing material. The little white cloud looks and feels like a polystyrene packing “peanut”, but, Kavanaugh assures me, “it tastes exactly like a communion wafer”. After a wary nibble, I pop the whole thing in and notch it up as a snack.

Kavanaugh’s packaging is made not of plastic but corn starch. If eating it feels like an act of faith, it is because there is a growing fervour in this Cornish seaside town. Last year, Penzance became the first town in Britain to receive “plastic-free” status from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS). The former single-issue movement, founded in Cornwall in 1990, has become a national marine conservation charity with plastics in its sights. But, rather than target shopping bags or plastic-lined coffee cups, SAS is attempting to unite whole communities against single-use plastic of all types, including straws, bottles, packaging, takeaway boxes, cotton buds, clingfilm and forks.

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The overall purpose of the assignment to develop a policy brief on climate change in the light of development planning; Moving from integration to implementation. The assignment will be undertaken through consultancy services under the direct supervision of the National Planning Authority.

New Zealand carbon allowances rose to record highs again on Wednesday as emitters continued to lift every available offer.

New Zealand is home to more seabirds than any other country, and many species are already under pressure from climate change and over-fishing. Plastic pollution could push some closer to the brink. Stephanie B. Borrelle, Conservation Ecologist, Auckland University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Despite a cold blast and gas shortages, the UK has gone without coal for 1,000 hours – and only midway through the year.