It was sunny and warm for the end of November on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in northern Montana. Joseph Eagleman was standing on a grassy hill looking at a 20-panel solar array in the backyard of a Chippewa Cree elder. It was built under the Solar for All program, a...
Offshore wind showed up big during the East Coast’s brutal cold
Bone-chilling cold and Arctic winds gripped the northeastern U.S. over the past few weeks, straining electricity systems and raising power prices as people cranked up their heat. Now, as the region finally starts to thaw, early data shows how America’s offshore wind farms helped keep electricity flowing during the extreme-weather stretch....
It just got harder for shareholders to push companies on climate
Five years ago, climate activists stunned corporate America by winning three seats on Exxon Mobil’s board. Similar revolts have forced some of the nation’s biggest companies to address climate change. Now, the federal regulator overseeing shareholder rights is making it harder for small investors to convey their concerns. In November,...
Poison at play: Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds
Sarah Hess started taking her toddler, Josie, to New Orleans’ Mickey Markey Playground in 2010 because she thought it would be a safe place to play after Josie had been diagnosed with lead poisoning. Hess had traced the problem to the crumbling paint in her family’s century-old home. While it...
Growing evidence points to link between autism and wildfire smoke
Two new studies have identified an alarming connection between exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and autism in young children. The unprecedented findings suggest the neurological consequences of breathing smoke are more profound than previously thought. The research builds on a robust body of evidence that shows wildfire smoke is...
Trump’s beef trade deal is a lose-lose gamble that won’t lower prices
Last week, President Donald Trump announced the United States would temporarily increase the amount of beef the nation imports from Argentina — by 80,000 more metric tons this calendar year. In an executive order, the president stated these beef imports would not be subject to tariffs, and that he came to...
The Olympics just saw its first ‘forever chemical’ disqualifications
Heading into the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics, skiers and snowboarders were already adjusting to a ban on fluorinated waxes long prized for making their equipment faster. This week, the Winter Games saw their first enforcement of that rule, which is aimed at protecting public health and the environment. South Korean cross-country...
Trump just killed the EPA’s ability to fight climate change. It may backfire.
President Donald Trump’s approach to climate change rests on one key premise: Greenhouse gases are not that bad. This is a simple argument — albeit one that flies in the face of the scientific consensus on climate change — but it could have profound consequences. If carbon dioxide and the...
Gwich’in fight to protect caribou from Alaska oil development
The Bureau of Land Management opened nominations last week for the first-ever oil and gas lease auction in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, setting the stage for development that three Gwich’in governments are now suing to stop. Raeann Garnett, 29, is Gwich’in and the tribal chief of the...
Geothermal could replace almost half of the EU’s fossil fuel power
If you’ve ever been to a hot spring or geyser or volcano, you’ve seen the future of energy. Earth’s innards are hot — really hot — and that heat sometimes bubbles to the surface. If engineers dig holes in these geologically active places, then pipe water through rock, they can...