Environment

WASHINGTON — The Wind Energy Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy is seeking information that could lead to future funding for better technologies to keep bats from flying into wind energy turbines. The potential impacts on bats are... Read More

WASHINGTON — Environmentalists are pressing their case that natural gas is not clean energy with a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., and a petition to the Biden administration. In one example, Washington Gas Light Co. is defending itself against a first-of-its-kind... Read More

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's 1,400 glaciers have lost more than half their total volume since the early 1930s, a new study has found, and researchers say the ice retreat is accelerating at a time of growing concerns about climate change.... Read More

HOUSTON — 1PointFive and Manulife Investment Management have entered into a lease agreement for approximately 27,000 acres of timberland in western Louisiana for a carbon capture and sequestration project. The agreement provides 1PointFive with access to subsurface pore space and... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled a new phase in its push to expand offshore wind energy development, publishing not one but two requests for comment from anyone interested in the concept of building floating wind farms along... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new online tool to help communities gauge the extent pollution is contributing to health risks for their residents. It is intended primarily to benefit residents of disadvantaged communities.... Read More

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The federal government on Tuesday is expected to announce water cuts to states that rely on the Colorado River as drought and climate change leave less water flowing through the river and deplete the reservoirs... Read More

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Vermont farmer Brian Kemp is used to seeing the pastures at Mountain Meadows Farm grow slower in the hot, late summer, but this year the grass is at a standstill. That's “very nerve-wracking” when you're grazing... Read More

FLINT, Mich. — A federal judge declared a mistrial Thursday in a lawsuit over contamination of the Flint, Michigan, water supply after jurors who were unable to reach a verdict told him they were too stressed to continue. After nearly... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a moment when hopes dimmed that the United States could become an international leader on climate change, legislation that Congress is poised to approve could rejuvenate the country’s reputation and bolster its efforts to push other... Read More

CLEVELAND (AP) — In a world increasingly troubled by the persistent harm that plastic — manufactured in petrochemical plants — has had on the environment, companies are investing billions of dollars to ramp up production of plastics made from natural,... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Carbon released during an epic series of wildfire seasons in California has effectively wiped out most of the 100-year buffer that had been built into the state’s carbon trading system, a new study has found. According to... Read More

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, is taking new actions to hold Michigan polluters accountable for contaminating the environment with per- and polyfluoroalkyl... Read More

WASHINGTON — The heat wave hanging over Western states during the weekend turned a northern California wildfire into the state’s biggest of the year while firefighters continued battling it Monday. The raging McKinney Fire also is giving political momentum to... Read More

HOUSTON — Pioneer, ConocoPhillips and Devon Energy Group, three of the nation’s largest producers of oil and natural gas, have joined an initiative aimed at improving the industry’s transparency when it comes to methane emissions and to make greater progress... Read More

HONOLULU — Hawaiian Airlines and Par Pacific Holdings, Hawaii’s largest supplier of fuel products, have embarked on a joint study of the commercial viability of locally produced, sustainable aviation fuels.Under the terms of the partnership, two of Par Pacific’s refinery... Read More

WASHINGTON — What may seem like a minor initiative was passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week, but a proposed bill to create a pilot program promoting the use of native plants at the National... Read More

WASHINGTON — The desperation wrought this summer by record heat and drought across parts of the United States were obvious during a Senate hearing Wednesday on how to capture and reuse greenhouse gases. Only a few years ago, carbon capture... Read More

PLANO, Texas — Denbury Inc., an independent energy company active along the Gulf Coast and in the Rocky Mountain region, has signed a lease for roughly 18,000 acres near Donaldsonville, Louisiana, for use as a carbon sequestration site. The site... Read More

WASHINGTON —The summer of 2022 has shaped up to be a season of discontent for those who consider themselves climate activists and fans of the environment. It began three weeks ago, when a majority of justices in the U.S. Supreme... Read More

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park remained closed Saturday, a day after hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire burning through dense forest became the latest to... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Global rice production contributes at least 10% of agricultural greenhouse gas annually, but one Nashville-based sustainable land use management company is incentivizing farmers to produce carbon-neutral rice in the American southwest. AgriCapture is working with rice farmers... Read More

WASHINGTON —The Biden administration won another court victory on July 5 in its efforts to roll back Trump-era environmental policies that limited protections for wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.  A federal judge in California threw out an interpretation that... Read More

IRVING, Texas — ExxonMobil and Shell are partnering with two Chinese entities — the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission — to evaluate the potential for a world-scale carbon capture and storage project in... Read More

WASHINGTON — A congressional panel tried to move forward Thursday with a more aggressive effort to recycle the nation’s wastes on the same day the Supreme Court dealt the Biden administration’s environmental agenda a severe setback. A House Energy and... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday dramatically limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a major blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to address climate change. The 6-3 ruling written by Chief... Read More

ATLANTA — Georgia Power on Wednesday unveiled a new project with a leading U.S. producer of sustainable cement alternatives. The project calls for millions of tons of stored coal ash to be excavated for use in concrete to construct bridges,... Read More

WASHINGTON — What does a threat sound like? In rainforests across the world it can sound like a chainsaw or a gunshot. Thanks to the nonprofit Rainforest Connection, recording devices around the world are listening for these sounds to alert... Read More

HONG KONG — A business in Asia making sustainable construction materials out of plastic waste is now keeping unrecyclable plastic out of landfills by using ecobricks in construction projects in Hong Kong.  The concept of an ecobrick is not entirely... Read More

WASHINGTON — The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided funding not only for roads, bridges, and efforts to curb future pollution, but the bill also made money available for lesser-known innovative technology projects that speak to the harm humans... Read More