Disasters

"Japan adopted a plan on Thursday to extend the lifespan of nuclear reactors, replace the old and even build new ones, a major shift in a country scarred by the Fukushima disaster that once planned to phase out atomic power."

"Flying over Oregon's woodlands, tree health specialist Danny DePinte was stunned by what he saw: a stretch of dead fir that seemed to go on and on."

"Dangerously cold Arctic air is blasting to the southeast across the central states ahead of the development of an intense winter storm poised to unleash blizzard conditions in portions of the Midwest, Great Lakes and interior Northeast. Temperatures are plummeting as the Arctic front plunges south, by as much as 40 degrees in an hour."

"In 2022, Associated Press photographers captured signs of a planet in distress as climate change reshaped many lives."

"The Colorado River’s largest reservoirs stand nearly three-quarters empty, and federal officials now say there is a real danger the reservoirs could drop so low that water would no longer flow past Hoover Dam in two years."

"The Federal Trade Commission kicked off a review of its “Green Guides” aimed at helping companies avoid misleading and deceptive environmental claims about their products and services.

The FTC’ voted 4-0 on Wednesday to start a regulatory review of its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. The public will be able to comment on the 2012 version of the guides and recommend potential updates.

"Hundreds of thousands of Florida property owners face requirements to buy flood insurance under a precedent-setting bill approved Wednesday by the state Legislature. It’s the first mandate of its kind in the country."

"As California faces the prospect of a fourth consecutive dry year, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have declared a regional drought emergency and called on water agencies to immediately reduce their use of all imported supplies."

"Federal regulators have issued warnings repeatedly over the life of the Keystone pipeline that operators aren’t doing enough to prevent corrosion and don’t follow proper construction procedures."

"A shuttered Alabama coal products company with ties to Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice would pay a $925,000 fine as part of a settlement to resolve a Clean Air Act lawsuit brought last year by local regulators."