US President Donald Trump has signed executive orders backing the construction of two controversial oil pipelines – the Keystone XL and Dakota Access projects. Keystone was previously halted by the Obama administration, while alternative routes are currently being explored for the Dakota pipeline amid protests by Native Americans. Trump said both projects would be subject to renegotiated terms and conditions – including that American steel is used: “From now on we’re going to start making pipelines in the United States… like we used to do in the old days.” However, it’s not yet clear how the executive orders will speed up construction of the pipelines, notes the Washington Post. For example, on the Dakota Access, the order directs the Army Corps of Engineers to “review and approve in an expedited manner, to the extent permitted by law.” The Hill says the orders “do not grant the final permits needed for the oil pipelines but will move both projects toward approval”. Opponents of the two oil pipelines face a long and difficult legal path to stop them if the US government approves their construction, experts told Reuters. The Guardian, the Financial Times, the Sun, the Times, and Climate Home all cover the story, while the Guardian also covers a video clip of the signing. Earlier in the day at a meeting with US car manufacturers, President Trump had declared that “environmentalism is out of control,” reports the Independent. The news on the pipelines boosted the share price of TransCanada – the company behind Keystone XL – and Canada’s main stock index, says another Reuters article. Meanwhile, a third Reuters article covers the news that an existing pipeline in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan has leaked 200,000 litres of oil in an aboriginal community.

A US national park has posted a series of tweets about climate change that were later deleted. The four tweets, all communicating basic facts about climate change, were posted yesterday and were widely shared before being deleted later in the day. The tweets came and went amid against a backdrop of Trump administration directives blocking climate pronouncements from agencies within the federal government, says the The Hill. As “Badlands went rogue,” Twitter was full of admiration, says the Washington Post, creating the hashtag #Badasslands and boosting the National Park’s followers from 7,000 to 69,000. According to a National Park Service official, the tweets were apparently posted by a former employee who still had access to the account. “The park was not told to remove the tweets but chose to do so when they realised that their account had been compromised,” the official said. USA Today also cover the story. Meanwhile, the Trump’s administration has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the climate change page from its website, two agency employees told Reuters. The page, which contains links to scientific global warming research as well as detailed data on emissions, could go down as early as today, the sources said. “If the website goes dark, years of work we have done on climate change will disappear,” they added.

Scores of small power plants planned for the UK are at risk of being scrapped because of an overhaul of energy subsidies, reports the FT, which would be “an outcome that threatens to increase electricity shortages in coming winters”. It adds: “More than 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity — the equivalent of two nuclear reactors — could be thrown into doubt if the subsidies which incentivised them are withdrawn, according to investors behind some of the projects.” The research was conducted by KPMG and commissioned by UK Power Reserve.

Europe’s Atlantic-facing countries will suffer heavier rainfalls, greater flood risk, more severe storm damage and an increase in “multiple climatic hazards”, according to the most comprehensive study of Europe’s vulnerability to climate change yet. The report, by the European Environment Agency, says that Europe and the entire northern hemisphere are warming at a quicker pace than elsewhere. The scientific evidence is pointing increasingly to a speeding up in the pace of climate change, says lead author Hans-Martin Fuller.

The Scottish government has taken the first steps to heavily cutting the country’s reliance on North Sea oil and gas after calling for 50% of Scotland’s entire energy needs to come from renewables. In a “subtle but significant shift of emphasis for the Scottish National party,” ministers unveiled a new energy strategy intended to push motorists, homeowners and businesses into using low- or zero-carbon green energy sources for half their energy needs by 2030. Currently, 47% of Scotland’s total energy use comes from petroleum products largely extracted from Scotland’s North Sea oil platforms, and 27% from domestic and imported natural gas needed for home heating.

President Trump has been “dealt a very good hand” to tackle climate change – “if he is willing to play it,” says Todd Stern. Writing in the Washington Post, the former US special envoy for climate change describes these cards, which include the Paris Agreement (“It is built to work both for the United States and for others”), a period of explosive growth in clean energy (“led by the genius of US innovation both in technology and in business models”), and job creation (there are “more solar jobs now in the United States than in the oil, gas and coal extraction industries combined”). “Is it plausible that Trump could recognise the climate challenge and embrace this opportunity?” asks Stern: “With an open mind, Trump can make history.”

“Setting targets is an unavoidable aspect of modern government, especially in the area of energy and the environment”, says an editorial in the Scottish edition of the Times. It adds that some targets in these sector have been “far too cautious” from the Scottish government, as a 2020 target to cut emissions by 42% was reached six years early. Yet a new target to get half of Scotland’s energy from renewables by 2030 is “unduly optimistic”. The editorial concludes: “Ambition in politicians is a good thing, but not when it crosses the line into delusion.”

The growth in wheat yields in Australia have stalled since 1990 and this is caused by reduced rainfall and to rising temperatures, a new study finds. Using model simulations for 50 sites across Australia, the researchers show that “water-limited yield potential” declined by 27% over a 26 year period from 1990 to 2015. “We attribute this decline to reduced rainfall and to rising temperatures,” the researchers say, “while the positive effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations prevented a further 4% loss relative to 1990 yields.”