Environmental News
Breaking environmental news, policy updates, and ecosystem changes worldwide
Texas Data Center Developers Play Offense on Water, Claiming Huge Cuts in Usage
Ahead of next yearâs legislative session, lawmakers probe regulators and industry leaders about how data centers operate.By Arcelia MartinAs Texas confronts decades of water mismanagement and growing demands for electricity...
As the Alabama Legislature Adjourns, Environmentalists See a Silver Lining
Lawmakers failed to bring back formal public hearings in electric rate cases and constrained state environmental regulators. But citizen opposition helped kill a move to end PSC elections.By Lee HedgepethMONTGOMERY,...
After a Slow Start on Climate, Zohran Mamdani Faces Scrutiny Over Parks Budget and Environmental Promises
Climate-conscious New Yorkers hope the mayor hasnât forgotten them.By Lauren DalbanDuring his New York City mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani courted votes from environmentalists. He promised to expand green spaces in...
Minneapolis Activists Launch Hunger Strike to Protest Polluting Trash Incinerator
County officials have said they will eventually close the incinerator, located in a predominantly Black community. Advocates want a concrete plan.By Keerti GopalMinneapolis activists are escalating a decades-long fight by...
GEF raises $3.9bn ahead of funding deadline, $1bn below previous budget
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), a multilateral fund that provides climate and nature finance to developing countries, has raised $3.9 billion from donor governments in its last pledging session ahead...
Marine heatwaves 'nearly double' the economic damage caused by tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclones that rapidly intensify when passing over marine heatwaves can become âsuperchargedâ, increasing the likelihood of high economic losses, a new study finds. Such storms also have higher rates...
What Is the Economic Impact of Data Centers? It's a Secret.
N.C. Gov. Josh Stein wants state lawmakers to rethink tax breaks for data centers. The industryâs opacity makes it difficult to evaluate costs and benefits.By Lisa SorgTax breaks for data...
Britain's Most Iconic Fish Nears Breaking Point
Rising temperatures and overfishing have seen the U.K.âs iconic cod decline for over a decade. Now, consumers are warned to âcompletely avoidâ eating the fish.By Johnny SturgeonThe days of Britainâs...
DeBriefed 10 April 2026: Worst energy crisis 'ever' | India withdraws COP33 bid | Drag artists and climate change
Welcome to Carbon Briefâs DeBriefed. An essential guide to the weekâs key developments relating to climate change. This week Ceasefire causes oil price drop CEASEFIRE SLUMP: Following the announcement on...
How a Brazil-led roadmap can rescue global pledge to halt deforestation
Marcelo Behar is the COP30 Special Envoy for Bioeconomy and co-founder of Ambition Loop Brazil. Can we be the generation to end the rampant deforestation that is harming the planetâs...
Utility Accountability Bills Divide Maryland's Democratic Leadership
The state Senateâs version of the bill offers more opportunities for utilities to profit, leading some observers to question whether the legislation will substantively lower costs for customers.By Aman AzharIn...
How the Trump administration's climate math doesn't add up
When President Donald Trump talks about climate change, he often recycles one well-known, shaky argument: that doing anything about it will be a financial disaster. After pulling out of the...
The skylines of the future will be made of wood
Picture yourself in a wind-swept forest. Leaves are rustling and trunks are creaking as trees sway to and fro. This oscillation might seem precarious, but itâs actually an ancient adaptation:...
UK imports of 'green' jet fuel linked to Amazon deforestation
A US biofuels producer that exports âgreenâ aviation fuel to Britain and the European Union has purchased beef tallow from a Brazilian supply chain tied to illegal deforestation in the...
Is the Keystone XL Pipeline Back?
A company has proposed to build a crude oil pipeline crossing the Canadian border near where the long-contested project would have entered the United States.By Nicholas KusnetzNo project better embodies...
Meeting Climate Targets Requires Humanity to Reorient Its Relationship With Nature, New Study Says
A team including scientists, Indigenous people and conservationists point to the ecosystem connecting Yellowstone and the Yukon as an example of a region where humans and nature are flourishing together.By...
Severe Exposure to 'Forever Chemicals' During Pregnancy Could Lead to Childhood Asthma
A new Swedish study focuses on very high levels of PFAS exposure in drinking water.By Keerti GopalExposure to âforever chemicalsâ during pregnancy could increase the risk of childhood asthma, according...
Iran Energy Shock Tests Limits of Trump's Vision of US Energy Dominance
Consumers remain vulnerable to price spikes despite record domestic oil and gas production. But experts doubt the crisis will boost clean energy, absent strong policy.By Marianne LavelleIn President Donald Trumpâs...
US had hottest March on record as nation faced 'unprecedented' heat
The continental US registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to Noaa data Marchâs persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States...
'The danger and value of water are in my blood': how rain fences are making Dutch homes more climate resilient
Housing corporations are adopting rainwater storage in garden fences, reducing pressure during downpours and preserving water for times of droughtGood fences make good neighbours â but rain fences could make...
Unpacking Trump's Use of Emergency Powers to Prop Up Coal
A World War II-era policy is stopping old coal plants from closing, despite high costs and the wishes of their owners.By Dan GearinoAt one time, the U.S. electricity grid ran...
Bitten by snakes 200 times â on purpose: US man's quest to help deliver new antivenom
Tim Friede put his âass on the lineâ to help stop snakebite deaths â whose numbers appear to be rising amid the climate crisisAs we overheat and degrade our planet,...
Mass drowning of chicks puts emperor penguins at risk of extinction
Record low levels of Antarctic sea ice is having grim consequences for penguins yet to grow waterproof feathersThe mass drowning of emperor penguin chicks as sea ice is melted by...
Bills to Protect Ratepayers From Data Centers Fail in Georgia Legislature
Lawmakers adjourned without passing a single measure addressing data center expansion, tax breaks or consumer protections.By Ryan KrugmanWhen the final gavel fell on Georgiaâs legislative session, Big Tech and Georgia...
In Nebraska, wildfires are turning cattle ranching into a tricky business
For 21 years, Mike Wintz and his wife, Kayla, have worked to maintain their nearly 11,000-acre ranch near Bingham, Nebraska. The couple took over the cow-calf operations from Kaylaâs parents,...
Georgia's forestry industry is in crisis. One solution could be in your medicine cabinet.
Georgia is one of the leading states for forestry, ranking first in annual harvest volume and the export of forest products. The stateâs forests that are managed for a commercial...
California Bill Aims to Keep Toxic PFAS off Its Crops
The nationâs top agricultural producer could ban pesticides with PFAS after researchers found the âforever chemicalsâ on 40 percent of the conventional produce grown in the state.By Liza GrossCalifornia Assemblymember...
Zeldin Celebrates Endangerment Finding Repeal With Climate Skeptics
Casting doubt on the determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare, he said, âweâre not accepting all of the narrative of the left without any question or...
Trump's EPA chief Zeldin gives keynote speech at climate-denying group's event
Lee Zeldin opens conference for Heartland Institute, which once compared climate advocates to the UnabomberSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxLee Zeldin,...
'Non-survivable': heatwaves are already breaching human limits, with worse to come, study finds
Analysis of six extreme heatwaves found when temperature and humidity were accounted for, all were potentially deadly for older peopleExtreme heat is already creating ânon-survivableâ conditions for humans in heatwaves...
Iran war analysis: How 60 nations have responded to the global energy crisis
One month into the US and Israelâs war on Iran, at least 60 countries have taken emergency measures in response to the subsequent global energy crisis, according to analysis by...
Are OnlyFans models the best way to explain the climate crisis?
Actor Megan Prescott has joined with Adam McKay in the hope that showing bite-size web videos of women undressing will persuade us to save the world. Will it work?The world,...
Cropped 8 April 2026: Iran war drives up food prices | Two nature talks conclude | Return of UK's tallest bird
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight. This is an online version of Carbon Briefâs fortnightly...
Under Trump, the Department of Agriculture Has Ditched Conservation and Climate Efforts
An Inside Climate News analysis found the department lost 21 percent of its workforce in 2025. Those cuts have thrown it into disarray.By Georgina Gustin, Peter AldhousAmanda Koehler has spent...
What to expect when you're expecting the end of the world
Jem Bendell had postponed his personal crisis long enough. For years, heâd been setting aside the worrying news about climate change he came across in a folder on his computer,...
There's hope for the offshore wind industry â yes, really
After taking a beating for the first year of the Trump administration, the beleaguered wind energy industry may finally see a glimmer of hope. Trump and Interior Department chief Doug...
Turkey to race ahead of EU on battery storage amid fossil fuel crisis
More than 33GW of battery capacity approved for Turkish grid since 2022 compared with 12-13GW in GermanyTurkey has given the green light to more batteries to buffer its electricity grid...
The Global Energy Supply in a Decade âIs Not a World Weâre Going to Recognizeâ
With the U.S. bombing Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closed, energy experts say countries transitioning to renewables will be more resilient in the âface of the shock.âBy Lisa SorgThe...
World held hostage by reliance on fossil fuels, Christiana Figueres warns â and climate health impacts are âmother of all injusticesâ
Exclusive: Former UN climate chief to co-chair Lancet Commission examining how sea-level rise is reshaping health, wellbeing and inequalityCountries are being âheld hostageâ by their reliance on fossil fuels, a...
Sea-level rise is a health crisis and we must hold polluters accountable | Christiana Figueres
Those facing the earliest and harshest consequences are, overwhelmingly, those who did the least to create themThere are moments in history when a crisis long treated as distant reveals itself...
US Senators Investigate $370 Million IRS Payout to Cheniere Energy
Seven Senate Democrats launched the probe over controversial tax credits to the countryâs largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.By Phil McKennaSeven Democratic U.S. senators have launched a probe into a...
Alabamaâs Governor Signed a Landmark Utility Regulation Bill Into Law. Many Say Itâs a Win For Alabama Power.
The legislation was weakened so significantly its original sponsor ultimately voted against it. Alabamians say theyâll continue to push for real reform.By Lee HedgepethBIRMINGHAM, Ala.âAlabama Power customers arenât giving up...
DHS secretary calls for US states to lead disaster response instead of Fema
Markwayne Mullin visits Asheville to survey Hurricane Helene recovery in first big trip since Kristi Noemâs ousterMarkwayne Mullin, the US homeland security secretary, used a visit to Asheville, North Carolina...
Analysis: How Chinese media is covering the Iran energy crisis
As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz wreaks havoc on fossil-fuel supplies across the world, a prominent narrative in western media has been that low-carbon energy has helped mitigate...
The Hidden Culprit Behind Rising Gas Utility Bills
Utility spending on infrastructure has more than tripled in the last decade, making up the bulk of customer costs, according to a new report by the Building Decarbonization Coalition.By Carrie...
Behind the Scenes: How Climate Change Is Reshaping Forests
Recent research found climate-fueled disturbances in European forests could more than double by the end of the century. By Kiley PriceThe worldâs forests are simultaneously climate powerhouses and victims, sucking...
A new economic superpower could spark a global retreat from fossil fuels | Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope
Eighty-five countries have sought a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels. A conference this month offers hope they could uniteThis article is published as part of the global journalism collaboration...
Introducing Carbon Briefâs 2026 cohort of contributing editors
Carbon Briefâs editorial team is supported by an international group of academics, each specialising in various areas of climate science, biodiversity, energy and policy. As contributing editors, they help to...