Energy & Environment
The latest updates on energy and environment news, analysis and opinion covering energy policy and its impact on resources and climate.
Parts of Cunningham Falls State Park closed after rabid beaver attacks
Maryland officials are waiting to be certain that the threat of rabid beaver attacks has passed before opening closed parts of Cunningham Falls State Park.
Tax hawks warn farm bill threatens to raise price at the pump
Americans for Tax Reform calculated that the Agricultural Act provision allowing for year-round high-ethanol gasoline would increase fuel costs for Americans.
Yemen’s Houthis strike Saudi-flagged oil tanker in Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility Wednesday for a missile strike on a Saudi-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Rising temperatures could keep more flights from taking off on time
Airline passengers know to expect possible flight delays when weather forecasts call for thunderstorms, heavy snow or strong wind. The omens are less obvious on a hot summer day with clear skies.
Arson suspect arrested as Spokane, Washington, battles devastating wildfires
A man from Spokane, Washington, was arrested Monday and charged with setting one of the three devastating wildfires that are burning through the region.
Argentina court declares goldfish as ‘sentient beings,’ not just property, in landmark case
Goldfish, long plagued by the notion that they are fine living in a glass bowl until they’re discarded in a toilet drain, can now boast about being animal rights trailblazers.
Washington state fires destroy hundreds of structures and force Spokane-area residents to evacuate
Light winds and lower temperatures were in the forecast Monday to help firefighters with wildfires in eastern Washington state that forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area while destroying at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures.
U.S. faces new pressure to build weapons without China’s rare-earth magnets
A giant American flag hanging on the wall of a warehouse in New Hampshire hints at the national importance of the elements bound inside the mining waste stored in 1-ton bags. The company uses electrolysis to separate the key critical elements President Trump’s administration desperately wants to produce domestically from the powder left behind at traditional mines.
Iceland seizes Paul Watson Foundation’s anti-whaling ship and detains its crew
Icelandic coast guards and special forces seized a ship operated by a group founded by anti-whaling activist Paul Watson and detained its crew, officials in the Arctic island nation said Saturday.
Fishing closures are becoming routine as record heat warms rivers in the U.S. West
Trout need cool water to survive, but record heat this summer has driven water temperatures to lethal levels for fish.
Drought and heat grip Central Europe, record-low Danube River affects tourism and industry
As wildfires rage in France and Spain and a renewed heat wave is bearing down on Western Europe, a prolonged drought half a continent away is setting record low water levels on one of Europe’s largest rivers, disrupting tourism and industry and confronting residents with the realities of climate change.
Firefighters battle the last hot spots of a monster wildfire in France’s southwest
Firefighters in southwestern France were working to control the last hot spots of a massive wildfire on Friday that has burned an area four times the size of Paris and forced thousands out of their homes.
Major oil companies reap massive profits as U.S. and Iran fighting drives energy prices higher
American oil and gas giants raked in massive spring profits while fighting between Iran and the U.S. impeded petroleum shipments and consumers around the world paid more for fuel and confronted shortages.
Search resumes for 25-year-old man who went missing in Potomac River
Efforts resumed Wednesday to find a 25-year-old man who went missing while swimming in the Potomac River.
Coyote pack takes over inactive Los Angeles construction site
Residents of Los Angeles have mixed opinions after a pack of coyotes moved into an abandoned construction site.
Businesses want packaging label mandate to ID what is recyclable, compostable or reusable
Manufacturing and packaging businesses are calling on Congress to pass legislation that would keep consumers informed about what types of product packaging are recyclable, compostable and reusable while avoiding a harmful patchwork of state regulations.
Markets take a sigh of relief alongside a pause in U.S.-Iran strikes
Oil prices dropped and stocks rose Monday as the U.S. and Iran entered a significant, if tenuous, pause in fighting in the Middle East.
Macron holds crisis meeting as monster wildfires drive 250,000 from their homes
French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting Monday focusing on monster, uncontrolled wildfires that have forced more than 250,000 people to flee their homes, amid a first glimmer of hope that the spread of the largest blaze may have slowed.
Sweltering heat wave grips central and southern U.S. for a second straight day
Tens of millions of people are under extreme heat warnings across central and southern parts of the United States on Sunday as high temperatures and severe humidity grip large swaths of the country for a second straight day.
Trump praises four companies for reaching milestone in rebuilding U.S. nuclear energy
President Trump is hailing four companies for meeting his July Fourth deadline to usher in a “nuclear renaissance” in the U.S.
Wildfires near Madrid and in southwestern France force over 80,000 to evacuate
Spain’s government declared a national emergency Friday after wildfires forced the evacuation of some 20,000 people from villages near Madrid, while in southern France more than 60,000 residents fled their homes, including by boat, to escape two major blazes.
Trump plugs states, utilities into pledge for Big Tech to pay for data centers’ energy bills
President Trump on Thursday expanded his Ratepayer Protection Pledge to a sweeping coalition of governors, state legislatures, utilities and data center developers — demanding that tech giants foot the energy bills for their power-hungry data centers rather than passing those costs onto American families.
Brent oil’s price briefly tops $100 per barrel, as Tesla and Alphabet drag Wall Street lower
Oil prices are jumping again Thursday as increased fighting in the Middle East threatens to slow the global flow of crude. Wall Street, meanwhile, is sinking with sharp drops for two of its most influential stocks, Alphabet and Tesla.
‘Hoot and shoot’: U.S. destroying thousands of barred owls in scheme to save spotted owls
It’s hard to imagine the federal government paying hunters to shoot and kill owls, but that’s exactly what has begun in the Pacific Northwest and California, where the destruction of up to 450,000 barred owls is underway in a desperate bid to save spotted owls.