Environmental News
Breaking environmental news, policy updates, and ecosystem changes worldwide
California Pays Farms to Make Biogas from Hog Waste in North Carolina, Where Locals Say It’s Fueling Pollution
Last year, six farms were the first in the Tar Heel State to get funding from California’s program offsetting its transportation emissions. Their permits to make biogas already have civil...
Tinsel to tidewall: discarded Christmas trees reused to protect Lancashire coastline
The trees morph into sand dunes to protect homes on the seafront against rising sea levels and serve as habitat for rare speciesBritain’s fight against climate breakdown may usually look...
Michigan Tries a New Legal Tactic Against Big Oil, Alleging Antitrust Violations Aimed at Hobbling EVs and Renewable Energy
The suit comes as the industry and its political allies escalate efforts to shut down liability laws and lawsuits. Republicans in Congress are currently crafting legislation to shield fossil fuel...
Texas to Study ‘Batch Zero’ of Data Centers by Late Summer
As ERCOT plans to reform how it evaluates data centers seeking grid connection, unknowns remain.By Arcelia MartinA month after the state’s grid operator said it would pull together data centers...
Climate Action in the Hands of the State
Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and reporter Kiley Bense as they discuss the push and pull of climate action in Pennsylvania.By Kiley BenseAs the Trump administration...
‘What do we want gardens to sound like?’ It began with a frog pond – then suburban rewilding became an obsession
Wild gardening is about shedding obsessions with tidiness, embracing a looser aesthetic and providing a home for ‘the most important creatures on the planet’On a wintry January day in Manchester,...
‘What’s more important, the electricity or food?’: extreme heat is driving up power bills in central Australia
Vanessa Napaltjari Davis puts $70 a week on her prepaid electricity card – but as Alice Springs swelters through ever-hotter summers, that credit lasts less than three daysFollow our Australia...
Democratic senators launch inquiry into EPA’s repeal of key air pollution enforcement measure
Senators said repeal was ‘particularly troubling’ and was counter to EPA’s mandate to protect human healthMore than three dozen Democratic senators have begun an independent inquiry into the US Environmental...
Offshore wind showed up big during the East Coast’s brutal cold
Bone-chilling cold and Arctic winds gripped the northeastern U.S. over the past few weeks, straining electricity systems and raising power prices as people cranked up their heat. Now, as the region...
For Maine’s Lakes, Shorter Ice Seasons Mean Loss of Water Quality, Winter Traditions
One lifelong resident remembers driving out onto lakes with his family as a boy without worrying about the thickness of the ice. Now, Maine’s lakes have 25 fewer ice days...
Mamdani’s New Chief Climate Officer Wants to Make New York a ‘Better Place to Live’
Louise Yeung hopes to bolster NYC’s response to climate change to better address safety, health and the city’s affordability crisis.By Lauren DalbanIn Louise Yeung’s decade of work in New York...
China Is Leaving America in the Dust on Clean Energy
There are enormous geopolitical, economic and climate ramifications to the U.S. abandoning leadership on the energy transition. If you live in America, basically none of them are good.Interview by Steve...
‘Seasons have become confused’: the people struggling in UK’s relentless rain
A thatcher, gardener and others on keeping their business afloat in the bad weather – and their fears for the futureWith 76 flood warnings still in force across the UK...
Trump Administration Dropped Controversial Climate Report From Its Decision to Rescind EPA Endangerment Finding
The final EPA rule explicitly omitted the report commissioned last year to justify revoking the endangerment finding, citing “concerns raised by some commenters.”By Dennis PillionWhen the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
The First Casualty of Trump’s Climate Action Repeal: The U.S. EV Transition
Tailpipe standards meant to hasten adoption of electric vehicles were slashed alongside the scientific basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions. That will come at a cost.By Marianne Lavelle, Dan GearinoWith...
DeBriefed 13 February 2026: Trump repeals landmark ‘endangerment finding’ | China’s emissions flatlining | UK’s ‘relentless rain’
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Landmark ruling repealed DANGER DANGER: The Trump administration formally repealed the US’s...
Türkiye prioritises cleaning up garbage emissions in COP31 ‘action agenda’
The Turkish government has chosen cutting emissions from the waste sector as its top priority for COP31’s action agenda, according to a draft seen by Climate Home News. The document,...
The more Europe relies on the US for energy, the more it’s vulnerable to pressure by Trump
Mads Christensen is Executive Director of Greenpeace International. As the military and diplomatic establishment gather for the annual Munich Security Conference, the air will be thick with talk of “strategic...
Trump’s repeal of landmark climate ruling ‘un-American’ and ‘Orwellian’, says John Kerry – US politics live
Former secretary of state condemns to decision revoke ruling that underpins ability to limit climate-heating pollutionHello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will...
Trump Says He Supports American Oil and Gas. Why Is His Administration Financing a French-Owned Project in Mozambique?
The gas export terminal would be one of Africa’s largest fossil fuel projects, in an area with an ongoing Islamist insurgency. The project has been plagued by delays and accusations...
Poison at play: Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds
Sarah Hess started taking her toddler, Josie, to New Orleans’ Mickey Markey Playground in 2010 because she thought it would be a safe place to play after Josie had been...
It just got harder for shareholders to push companies on climate
Five years ago, climate activists stunned corporate America by winning three seats on Exxon Mobil’s board. Similar revolts have forced some of the nation’s biggest companies to address climate change....
After disappointing COP30, EU mulls “less naive” strategy for climate talks
After failing to get some of their main asks at the COP30 climate summit in November, European Union environment ministers are considering a new strategy for international climate negotiations which...
Qld coalmine expansion approved by Albanese government will clear habitat and fuel climate crisis, scientists say
Conservationists estimate coal exported from expanded mine to release CO2 equivalent of about half Australia’s annual carbon footprintFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email,...
Tony Blair’s thinktank accuses Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices
Report by Tony Blair Institute urges government to drop some green policies amid criticism of decarbonisation goalTony Blair’s thinktank has accused Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices in his...
‘We Will See Them in Court’: Environmental Lawyers Vow to Challenge Trump’s Repeal of Key Climate Finding
The Trump administration repealed the EPA’s 2009 determination that greenhouse gases are a pollutant, an important legal foundation for their regulation.By Kiley BenseThe Trump administration moved today to overturn a...
The Olympics just saw its first ‘forever chemical’ disqualifications
Heading into the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics, skiers and snowboarders were already adjusting to a ban on fluorinated waxes long prized for making their equipment faster. This week, the Winter Games...
COP31 chief slams climate backsliding, but rejects priority focus on fossil fuels
Türkiye’s COP31 chief condemned the backsliding of global climate action as “unacceptable”, but said efforts to cut emissions in the coal-dependent nation should not come at the expense of economic...
Trump’s EPA repeals landmark climate finding in gift to ‘billionaire polluters’
Endangerment finding rollback will make families ‘sicker and less safe’, environmental advocate saysUS politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration has revoked the bedrock scientific determination which gives the government...
Trump just killed the EPA’s ability to fight climate change. It may backfire.
President Donald Trump’s approach to climate change rests on one key premise: Greenhouse gases are not that bad. This is a simple argument — albeit one that flies in the...
Five Years Into a Fishing Ban, the Yangtze River Is Teeming With Life
A doubling of fish biomass along Asia’s longest river shows hope for large-scale conservation efforts and a lifeline for the endangered finless porpoise.By Johnny SturgeonFlowing almost 4,000 miles from the...
Climate leaders condemn Trump EPA’s biggest rollback yet: ‘This is corruption’
Leaders promise to fight back with court challenges as Trump rescinds finding foundational to US climate rulesClimate leaders gathered outside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters on Wednesday to condemn...
Climate action is “weapon” for security in unstable world, UN climate chief says
In an increasingly unstable world of “strong arms and trade wars”, climate action is the “not-so-secret weapon” that can deliver security, the UN climate chief said in his first speech...
‘The Sky Isn’t Falling’: Providing Perspective on the Data Center Boom
States are well-equipped to deal with data centers, and a new forecast shows what will drive growth in global electricity demand.By Dan GearinoThe rise of AI data centers has sparked...
Portugal urged to adapt to climate emergency after series of deadly storms
Continuing extreme weather has caused deaths of 16 people, evacuation of thousands and destruction of homesEurope live – latest updatesPortugal is under pressure to draw up plans to adapt to...
Analysis: Trump has overseen more coal retirements than any other US president
Donald Trump has overseen more retirements of coal-fired power stations than any other US president, according to Carbon Brief analysis. His administration’s latest efforts to roll back US climate policy...
Why cutting climate journalism is a risk we can’t afford
Felix Horne is a senior expert with Climate Rights International. When The Washington Post laid off more than 300 staff last week, including journalists who covered climate and the environment,...
Maryland Environmentalists Face Awkward Choice: Support Moore’s Budget Raid or Fight for Climate Goals
Budget pressures are forcing climate groups into uncomfortable compromises even as Maryland falls further behind on its climate targets.By Aman AzharMaryland environmental groups are backing Gov. Wes Moore’s plan to...
Trump’s beef trade deal is a lose-lose gamble that won’t lower prices
Last week, President Donald Trump announced the United States would temporarily increase the amount of beef the nation imports from Argentina — by 80,000 more metric tons this calendar year. In...
Growing evidence points to link between autism and wildfire smoke
Two new studies have identified an alarming connection between exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and autism in young children. The unprecedented findings suggest the neurological consequences of breathing smoke...
Economics has failed on the climate crisis. This complexity scientist has a plan to fix that
Doyne Farmer says a super-simulator of the global economy would accelerate the transition to a green, clean worldIt’s a mind-blowing idea: an economic model of the world in which every...
Thursday briefing: Britain is flooding, so why is support for net zero drying up?
In today’s newsletter: Misinformation, rising bills and shifting party lines have reshaped attitudes toward green policies at a time when the UK has experienced unprecedented weather eventsGood morning. It has...
Labor will never have a better time to revisit carbon pricing – but does it have the stomach to make polluters pay? | Clear Air
The government has not made enough of a dent in emissions, but global trends and a shambolic opposition offer a rare opportunity to actWant to get this in your inbox...
China Could Reach Peak Greenhouse Gas Emissions Sooner Than Beijing Planned, New Report Suggests
Falling emissions from the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter could mean a global turning point.By Georgina GustinPlanet-warming emissions from China, currently the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter, have continued to...
Analysis: China’s CO2 emissions have now been ‘flat or falling’ for 21 months
China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 1% in the final quarter of 2025, likely securing a decline of 0.3% for the full year as a whole. This extends a...
Citing National Security, Trump Has Abandoned Fenceline Monitoring at Coke Ovens
The administration ended a program that documented excessive levels of a carcinogen at industrial facilities across the country. Environmental groups who say the move leaves polluted communities behind have filed...
N.C. Judge Upholds the State’s Limits on 1,4-Dioxane Pollution in Utilities’ Wastewater
The chemical, used in solvents, degreasers and some consumer products, is a likely carcinogen that can harm the liver and kidneys.By Lisa SorgA Wake County Superior Court judge has ruled...
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware The world is closer than thought to a “point of no return” after which...