Environmental Politics

"A federal auction undid a hard-won agreement to protect Alaska's North Slope. The Iñupiat community that fought for it is still waiting to be heard."

"María Pérez lost power for about three months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017. Her home in Salinas, on the island’s southern coast, sits near a river. As the hurricane knocked out the island’s grid and sent rainwaters surging down from the mountains, Perez’s house flooded with a swirling mix of muddy water and animal feces, rising 3 feet high and warping the hallways. For the next three months, she went without power as she cleaned out the home and began the long process of rebuilding."

"President Trump is once again proposing to eliminate a program that helps low-income people heat and cool their homes."

"The Interior Department is offering its staff another round of buyouts and early retirements in an effort to slim down the federal department that’s in charge of the nation’s natural resources."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has voted to no longer lead security drills at power plants, instead allowing companies to lead their own drills in the coming years."

"Across the country, Republican-led state legislatures are passing a slate of laws that effectively shield oil and gas companies from legal claims that they are responsible for the destruction and mounting toll caused by climate change. Fifteen laws have either been passed or are currently being debated in 11 states. Together, they threaten to remove long-standing tools for the public to hold corporations accountable."

"Prosecutors say Amit Forlit ran a global hacking operation on behalf of a Washington lobbying group that aimed to thwart environmental lawsuits against oil companies."

"A whiskered gray snout pokes above the surface of Haulover Canal, an inland waterway adjacent to Canaveral National Seashore in Florida. A handful of people are gathered on shore at the canal’s Manatee Observation Deck, waiting patiently for this very moment."

"A rapidly expanding certification scheme run by a UK nonprofit and used by major gas companies may be understating the actual methane emissions it purports to certify, a Guardian investigation has found."

"U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to target Iran’s energy infrastructure, including the country’s desalination plants. Such a move — and Iran’s possible targeting of the plants of its Gulf Arab neighbors — could have devastating impacts across the water-starved Middle East."