EL PASO—Federal Judge Kathleen Cardone granted a preliminary injunction Friday to halt construction on the border wall in Texas’ expansive Big Bend sector, including the national and state parks. Cardone read a brief order from the bench after hearing more than four hours of testimony from conservation groups and residents of the Big Bend region, […]
During this past summer of climate extremes, more than half of Europe experienced dangerous levels of heat stress, the combined effect of temperature, humidity, wind and sunshine on the body’s ability to cool itself. In some places, that amounted to a “feels like” temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The heat stress spread across […]
The so-called “lame duck” session of Congress after November’s midterm elections could be momentous for clean energy as lawmakers are set to consider a long-sought bipartisan deal to speed permitting of large energy and infrastructure projects. Clean energy advocates and policy experts view the bill as a rare opportunity to deal with a major clean […]
More than 20 states, including North Carolina, New York, California and Pennsylvania, as well as several cities, are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its repeal of most greenhouse gas emissions standards for coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. The agency’s proposal would also thwart future administrations from reinstating the rule. The state attorneys […]
A New Jersey county has become the latest local government to sue major oil and gas companies, seeking to recover costs from damage caused by worsening flooding and other climate change impacts. The filing comes just days before the U.S. Supreme Court takes up Boulder, Colorado’s climate case against Big Oil in a proceeding whose […]
As nations met this week in Bangkok for informal meetings on a United Nations plastics treaty, more than 70 developing countries supported addressing all causes and drivers of plastic pollution, environmental advocates said. Countries that comprise more than a quarter of the global plastics demand support strong measures to fight plastic pollution, said Giulia Carlini, […]
Drive the Pacific Coast Highway, spearfish alongside Great White sharks, surf in Santa Cruz, dive for lobster, cast a line or set a crab pot: California is defined by its 840-mile coastline. Managing the miles of beach, reef and cliffsides that define the state is a complicated and controversial process and has long left out […]
Two major challenges could complicate efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. First, a new executive order from President Donald Trump revoked the longstanding framework for coordinating federal efforts to protect the bay. Second, seven Virginia tribes withdrew from formal participation after the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership denied them the signatory status they sought. The new […]
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—It’s time to act. It’s long past time. That was the case made by lawyers for the Southern Environmental Law Center, who filed a petition Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court asking a judge to force local health officials to act on a 2023 air permit renewal application for ABC Coke, the nation’s largest […]
If one form of energy becomes the cheapest, most secure and cleanest, you’d probably adjust your economy to use more of it, right? That’s one of the ideas underpinning a report the International Energy Agency issued last week about the global move toward electrification. Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, discussed some of the concepts […]
For Europe’s fishing industry, it turns out size does matter. Of 60,000 European-flagged fishing boats, just 638 are responsible for most of the harm, according to a new report by French non-profit BLOOM. The largest in the fleet, at 108 feet or longer, pose the greatest threat to food security, cost taxpayers the most and […]
PLYMOUTH, N.C.—Fall had just arrived when a nor’easter began stewing in the Atlantic Ocean, its gale-force winds carrying the pungent smell of chlorine westward, away from downtown. Against the backdrop of dingy stratus clouds, the Domtar pulp mill loomed. The plant occupies 2,400 acres at the confluence of Welch Creek and the Roanoke River, where […]
Amid political pressure and rising energy prices, the European Commission is considering pausing a part of its landmark methane regulation, which is set to take effect in January. The move comes after French President Emmanuel Macron urged the Commission in a September 18 letter to postpone new methane reporting requirements and ease other fuel-related rules […]
As governments and global funds pour billions into oil, gas, renewable energy, digital infrastructure and mining, the future of cross-border investment is becoming a defining issue for environmental protection and climate action. China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been central to this trend, with more than a trillion dollars deployed since the early 2000s and […]
Apex Clean Energy and Meta have entered into a power purchase agreement that allows the technology company to financially benefit from energy generated from a solar project in Gonzales County, Texas. The 144-megawatt project wouldn’t have been built without Meta’s backing, the energy developer said. But the partnership comes after the parent company of Facebook […]
A series of deadly heat waves from May to August overwhelmed Germany’s healthcare and emergency response systems and led to an estimated 16,000 heat-related deaths during the summer, the most heat mortalities ever recorded in the highly developed country. At the 2026 Extreme Weather Congress in Hamburg this month, experts from local and regional governments, […]
Testing in a limited number of shallow aquifers near fracking sites in southwestern Pennsylvania found low levels of radium overall, but there aren’t yet enough samples to draw firm conclusions about the region as a whole, according to a new report from researchers at Penn State University. Researchers were looking for evidence that fracking has […]
In the foothills of southern Arizona’s Patagonia Mountains, atop so-called critical minerals such as zinc, is South32’s Hermosa project. The first mine added to a federal program designed to speed up permitting, it “set the standard for what the modern federal permitting process should look like” with “clear timelines, real transparency, and comprehensive interagency coordination,” […]
After three years helping Maui wildfire survivors track their health progress, Dr. Martina L. Kamaka is used to seeing high levels of heavy metals in their bodies. A family medicine doctor, Kamaka is one of the physicians helping with the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study, a multi-year effort from the University of Hawai‘i to chronicle the […]
Daniel Swain has made a name for himself studying the extremes of a warming planet. Fires, floods, droughts, heat, storms: if it’s a record breaker, Swain has probably studied it. As a climate scientist at the California Institute for Water Resources of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources program, a division of the […]
By Nina Dietz
2 hours 12 minutes ago
Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet.
