Now that the White House has released more detail on the development of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which will require future votes of approval by the U.S. Congress as well as approval from the participating nations, it has become clearer that the basic goal and direction is sound: eliminating tariffs in some industries, reducing non-tariff barriers in others.

Environmental advocates are holding out hope that 150 world leaders and 40,000 delegates at climate talks—held in Paris on Nov. 30- Dec. 11—can reach a binding agreement to hold average global temperatures to an increase of less than 2° C, the level scientists say is necessary to prevent irreversible changes to the earth’s ecosystems.

States’ fiscal year 2015 expenditures on capital projects, including construction, rose 3%, to an estimated $98.2 billion, the National Association of State Budget Officers has reported.

Two construction workers at Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass LNG expansion project were killed in separate accidents in less than a month.

In November, the U.S. Resiliency Council launched its voluntary rating system for a building’s expected performance in an earthquake.

Four engineering and construction consortiums have submitted technical proposals for the new $2.16-billion Purple Line light-rail project, which will span Washington, D.C.’s northern suburbs in Maryland.