Environmental news from mainstream news sources Reuters, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press USA Today and BBC America.
- Energy Bills Have Soared Recently. How Can States Bring Costs Down?Energy experts said that governors and legislatures have tools to keep electricity prices from rising further, and might even be able to lower them.
- Lukoil Gas Station Franchisees Caught in a Fight Between US and RussiaAfter the United States imposed sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil producers, the ripple effects wreaked havoc on business for local franchisees.
- Why the Power May Not Go Out Until After the Storm Has PassedThe steady accumulation of snow and freezing rain and a rise in demand for electricity can cause problems long after the sky clears, energy experts said.
- Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S.Managers of electric grids say freezing temperatures and ice and snow could lead to power outages in many places, potentially leaving millions in the dark.
- What’s a Human Life Worth? The E.P.A. Says Zero Dollars.The Environmental Protection Agency has stopped estimating the dollar value of lives saved in the cost-benefit analyses for new pollution rules.
- Edison Files Claims Against Los Angeles County and Others on Eaton FireSouthern California Edison said its equipment most likely started the Eaton fire but asserted that government agencies and other businesses shared liability for the devastation.
- U.S. Refiners to Profit as Trump Asserts Control Over Venezuelan OilThe companies that turn oil into gasoline and diesel are likely to benefit more, right away, than the businesses that pump oil out of the ground.
- Supreme Court to Hear Case on Louisiana’s Eroding CoastLocal governments are suing oil companies over environmental damage. The companies want the suits moved out of state courts, to friendlier venues.
- Trump’s $100 Billion Venezuela Oil Plan Gets a Cool ReceptionPresident Trump met with oil and gas executives on Friday in an effort to push them to invest money in Venezuela, a plan many of them are reluctant to embrace.
- Wary of Investing in Venezuela, Big Oil Heads to the White HouseThe amounts of money, time and political uncertainty trouble executives at large Western oil companies, who plan to meet with President Trump on Friday.
- Oil Firms Say Venezuela Owes Them Billions Over Earlier InvestmentsCompanies like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips say that Venezuela owes them billions of dollars for confiscating their assets two decades ago.
- U.S. Details Plan for Venezuela’s Oil Sales After Trump Claims Millions of BarrelsThe Trump administration said it had an agreement with Venezuela’s government, but the country’s state-owned oil company said negotiations were underway.
- Optimism About Nuclear Energy Is Rising Again. Will It Last?Companies like Kairos Power are building new types of reactors with the encouragement of the Trump administration, but their success is far from assured.
- Trump’s Goals for Reviving Venezuela’s Oil Industry Will Not Come Easily or CheaplyIt will take years and billions in investment to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry, and energy producers will likely be cautious before stepping in.
- Tatiana Schlossberg, Kennedy Daughter Who Wrote of Her Cancer, Dies at 35An environmental journalist and child of Caroline Kennedy, she wrote of her struggle with leukemia in The New Yorker in November, drawing worldwide sympathy.
- Meet a U.S. Start-Up Trying to Break China’s Rare-Earth MonopolyCompanies like Phoenix Tailings, which recently began producing metal in New Hampshire, are using new processing methods to compete with Chinese suppliers.
- How a Left-Right Social Media Tiff Pushed Texas to Fund ParksAn unusual partnership between an environmentalist and a Republican megadonor began with a fight on Twitter. It ended up in the creation of a $1 billion state fund to expand Texas park land.
- Trump Tosses Lifelines to the Struggling Coal IndustryThe Energy Department ordered two coal-burning power plants to remain open, and the Environmental Protection Agency gave utilities more time to tackle toxic coal ash.
- Heating Costs Expected to Rise 9.2% This WinterColder weather and rising electricity and fuel costs will lead to a big jump in costs for individuals, according to estimates from a group representing state energy officials.
- How Philadelphia is Addressing Crime and Safety Through Environmental DesignEnvironmental design interventions play a subtle role in helping the city reduce gun violence.
- A Seized Oil Tanker Off Venezuela and the Big Business of Dark Fleet SmugglingThe U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela is likely to squeeze the country’s government, but do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.
- Harold Hamm, Oklahoma Oil Tycoon, Allies With Trump to Reshape U.S. EnergyHarold Hamm, an Oklahoma oil tycoon, has played a central role in reshaping energy policy by allying himself with President Trump.
- U.S. Helped to Weaken Report at U.N. Environment Talks, Participants SayAmerican officials joined Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran in objecting to language on fossils fuels, biodiversity and plastics in a report that was three years in the making.
- New York’s Environmental Agenda Stalls Under Kathy HochulFaced with an affordability crisis and rising energy demands, Gov. Kathy Hochul has slowed progress on New York’s efforts to fight climate change.
- UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist saysThe US and other governments derailed an agreement on a global environment study, its co-chair says.
- UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist saysThe US and other governments derailed an agreement on a global environment study, its co-chair says.
- Lots of Oil, Little Production: What to Know About Venezuelan EnergyThe South American country increasingly at odds with the Trump administration has the world’s largest oil reserves.
- How Batteries Got Cheaper and Made the Electric Grid More ReliableAn early grid battery was installed in the Atacama Desert in Chile 15 years ago. Now, as prices have tumbled, they are increasingly being used around the world.
- Trump administration to roll back fuel economy rules set under BidenCarmakers hailed the change as a victory for "common sense", while environmental groups criticised the plan.
- Carney's new Alberta oil pipeline deal already faces oppositionThe deal comes as Canada seeks to diversify oil exports away from the US but has led to the resignation of a minister and environmentalist from Carney's cabinet.
- Carney's new Alberta oil pipeline deal already faces oppositionThe deal comes as Canada seeks to diversify oil exports away from the US but has led to the resignation of a minister and environmentalist from Carney's cabinet.
- In One Week, Trump Moves to Reshape U.S. Environmental PolicyThe Trump administration this week moved to weaken the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, two bedrock laws, among other deregulatory moves.
- Stopping the Greatest Threat to the Amazon, One Fire at a TimeAfter four decades of research, a scientist returns to the Amazon in an effort to change the behavior that has lead to years of environmental crisis.
- Tennessee House Race Rivets Democrats and Worries RepublicansStill the favorites, Republicans have grown nervous about a House special election that could show whether the political environment continues to shift leftward.
- Hydropower Is Getting Less Reliable as the World Needs More EnergyDemand for power is growing fast, but hydro plants, the oldest source of clean energy, are struggling because of droughts, floods and other extreme weather linked to climate change.
- Carney Accelerates Economic Plan for Canada to Rely Less on U.S. Amid Trade WarPrime Minister Mark Carney fast-tracked mines and other natural resource projects to the dismay of some Indigenous groups and many environmentalists.
- Catholic Bishops Rebuke Trump’s Immigration Tactics in Rare StatementIn a rare statement, the bishops framed the immigration crisis in starkly moral terms. “We feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,” they said.
