Environment

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

OTTAWA, Ontario — After several years of work toward the goal, Canada is officially moving forward on a plan to ban the use, manufacture, import, and eventual export of single-use plastics. "We promised Canadians we would deliver a ban on... Read More

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — The industrial hub of Monterrey has long been one of Mexico’s most prosperous cities, so its almost 5 million residents were shocked when they lost the most basic of services: water. A combination of an intense... Read More

WASHINGTON — With the passage of a historic conservation bill this week, the U.S. House committed over $2 billion to restoring habitats and potentially saving scores of species from extinction. In addition to being a watershed moment for the conservation... Read More

RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — The forces of fire and ice shaped Yellowstone National Park over thousands of years. It took decades longer for humans to tame it enough for tourists to visit, often from the comfort of their cars.... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Pacific Gas & Electric pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony involuntary manslaughter charges after a Northern California fire caused by its electrical transmission lines burned 87 square miles of land and killed four residents. Prosecutors acknowledge criminal... Read More

WASHINGTON — Calls to protect forests and farmland as fresh water supplies dwindle were repeated Tuesday in Congress and internationally amid increasingly dire predictions about climate change. “The West has not been this dry in 1,200 years,” said Sen. Michael... Read More

HOUSTON — Chevron U.S.A. Inc. has launched a carbon capture and storage project it says will greatly reduce the harmful carbon emissions from its operations in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The project, part of the company’s expanding effort... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to return authority to the states to cancel pipeline, coal and other infrastructure projects that risk polluting waterways. The Trump administration removed the authority in 2020 under what environmentalists said was an incorrect... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block a Biden administration policy that directs federal agencies to assess the societal costs of greenhouse gases as part of their decision-making processes. As is their custom, the justices did not... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office is calling for parity on federal methane emission requirements for oil and gas companies. The GAO issued recommendations on Friday for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Land Management to cut down... Read More

WASHINGTON — Though its primary mission remains warfighting, the U.S. Army is playing a leading role in an entirely different battle — the nation’s response to the challenges of climate change. The scope of this mission is laid out in... Read More

OVID, Colo. (AP) — Shortly after daybreak on the high plains of northeastern Colorado, Don Schneider tinkers with seed-dispensing gear on a mammoth corn planter. The day’s task: Carefully sowing hundreds of acres of seed between long rows of last... Read More

WASHINGTON — Countries have been negotiating limits on plastic use for years, but China’s 2018 announcement that it would stop accepting 24 kinds of plastic scrap import waste from foreign countries was undoubtedly a spark that ignited 175 countries of... Read More

WASHINGTON — Hydropower offers a promising clean energy option for producing electricity but only if the current regulatory obstacles can be overcome, according to energy industry and environmental officials who testified to Congress Thursday. Last year, hydroelectricity generation produced about... Read More

NEW YORK —The District of Columbia is hands down the most accessible metro in the DMV when it comes to charging your electric vehicle, a new study by the financial comparison site Forbes Advisor has found. The study, based on... Read More

WASHINGTON — While manufacturing and industry processes are cited as responsible for emitting the most greenhouse gases, food systems also account for a hefty portion — 31% — of global emissions, and the U.S. and China, as food superpowers, are... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Trust for Public Land, a park service nonprofit, recently released its 2022 ParkScore Index, and two major cities near the nation’s capital rank in the top — at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively — for their... Read More

MIAMI (AP) — Humans don't know what they're missing under the surface of a busy shipping channel in the “cruise capital of the world.” Just below the keels of massive ships, an underwater camera provides a live feed from another... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Thursday it was opening a new Office of Environmental Justice to crack down on industrial polluters. Top priorities of the new program are reducing climate change and protecting low-income or disadvantaged communities, according to... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s attorney general announced Thursday he is beginning an investigation into the oil industry for allegedly causing and then covering up the harm from plastic waste. The oil industry promoted development of plastic products and then deceived... Read More

WASHINGTON — April 29 is the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day, a day that reflects appreciation of all trees, founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska in 1872. Arbor Day is now celebrated on the last Friday of April across... Read More

WASHINGTON — Animal disease experts at a congressional hearing Thursday described a bleak future for preventing wildlife viruses from jumping to humans before ballooning into pandemics without stronger government intervention. Human encroachment into the habitats of wild animals along with... Read More

WASHINGTON — Late last year Delaware Gov. John Carney unveiled a state climate action plan that was two years in the making, and he made strides recently toward partnering with higher education to help reach communities that may be adversely... Read More

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — For the past year a company that “mines” cryptocurrency had what seemed the ideal location for its thousands of power-thirsty computers working around the clock to verify bitcoin transactions: the grounds of a coal-fired power plant... Read More

OLIVE, N.Y. (AP) — As western regions contend with drier conditions, New York City is under fire for sometimes releasing hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day from a key reservoir in the Catskill Mountains. The occasional releases,... Read More

WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday announced it is restoring provisions of a 1970 law that requires formal review of projects for their environmental impact before they can go forward. The Trump administration had abolished the need for the... Read More

WASHINGTON — American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental organization, published its annual Most Endangered Rivers list of the 10 most-threatened rivers in America. The organization contends that climate change and adverse industrial and human activity has caused the rivers’ situation to... Read More