Water & Oceans

Wisc. City Perfected Clean Water For Beer — Now It’s Fighting Nitrates

"CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc. — Ever since Jacob Leinenkugel discovered spring waters here that were pure enough to brew his famous beer, this small Wisconsin city’s devotion to clean water has been paramount. That’s why in 1997, when Chippewa Falls utility managers detected potentially dangerous concentrations of nitrates in a well supplying city water, officials acted."

Source: The New Lede, 08/25/2026

Bigger, Hotter Fires Are Slowly Erasing America’s Great Forests

"On a gentle slope on the western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where a towering green canopy of ponderosa pines had stood for centuries, wildfires have transformed roughly 1,700 acres into brown, bare shrubland. That forest is gone for good, scientists say."

Source: New York Times, 08/25/2026

Leaked Memo Shows US Aims To Weaken Global Limits On Plastic Pollution

"The United States has doubled down on its opposition to plastic production limits in global treaty talks, according to a diplomatic memo reviewed by The Washington Post, pushing to create a broad loophole to disregard the treaty on national security grounds."

Source: Washington Post, 08/25/2026

Tribes Push Back On Federal Plan For Colorado River Water Cuts

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The Interior Department Friday announced steep reductions in Coloradfo River water allocations for lower basin states. "When the plan was released in draft form last month, the tribes argued they were not sufficiently party to the decision making process and that the proposed use plan does not reflect their rights." 

Source: ICT, 08/24/2026

Despite Trump’s Attacks, Unions Fight For Good US Clean Energy Jobs

"Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean." "Two years ago, McElroen began being trained by his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, for a job in the emerging offshore wind industry."

Source: Guardian, 08/24/2026

La. Oil Disaster Leaves Black Parents Asking How to Keep Their Kids Safe

"As the Louisiana town recovers, residents wrestle with the increasingly difficult task of shielding children from a polluted future."

Source: Capital B, 08/24/2026

A Pizza-Sized Ocean Predator And A Tribe Are Trying To Protect Each Other

"On a spring morning so blustery that the National Weather Service issued a small craft advisory, a Samish Indian Nation research boat, called the Chinook (Yómech), set out from Anacortes, Washington, just east of the San Juan Islands."

Source: NPR, 08/21/2026

Great Waste In The Great Lakes: Plastic Pollution Is Clogging Our Waters

"More than 40 million people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water. Each glass of treated lake water is laden with tiny bits of plastic — microplastics — made of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases. Also contaminated are fish, staples of Midwestern fish fries and fish boils, and an important part of the diet of Indigenous tribes, certain immigrant populations and communities of color."

Source: Chicago Tribune, 08/21/2026

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