Alaska and Hawaii

"The owner of a pipeline leaking natural gas into Alaska's Cook Inlet is dealing with another potential gas leak on a different line. It is the third such incident this year for Hilcorp Alaska in an area that has been declared a "critical habitat" for endangered beluga whales."

"For decades, Alaska has struggled to get running water and sewer systems to its rural communities. An estimated 3,000 households — or about 10,000 people — still lack both. Now, that job may be getting harder, as climate change exacerbates old problems and creates new ones."

President Trump signed a Congressional override of a Fish & Wildlife Service rule prohibiting Alaska from killing predators to support moose and caribou populations on federal wildlife refuges.

"The Senate voted Tuesday to abolish a rule restricting specific hunting practices on national wildlife refuges in Alaska — including trapping, baiting and aerial shooting — on the grounds that state officials should be able to set the terms for wildlife conservation on public land within their own borders.

"As the underwater methane leak in Cook Inlet, Alaska continues well into its third month, even basic environmental monitoring has been impossible because of ice cover. The ice also prevents any repair to the pipeline or response to the leak."

"Federal regulators have given oil and gas operator Hilcorp until May 1 to permanently repair a pipeline spewing more than 200,000 cubic feet of gas a day into Alaska's Cook Inlet or shut it down, citing public safety and environmental risks. The line has been leaking since late December, the regulator disclosed, longer than reported by the company."

"A natural gas pipeline has been leaking since at least Feb. 7 and the company says it can't safely stop the flow of gas." "Natural gas from a 52-year-old underwater pipeline has been leaking for at least two weeks into Cook Inlet in Alaska, home to a number of endangered species, including beluga whales."

"As the global climate heats up, so do the ocean waters off Alaska, meaning big changes for marine ecosystems and bad news for some species."