Environment

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference at the International Hotel Manilatown Center in San Francisco on March 24, 2021.

In California, Newsom runs for reelection 9 months after defeating a recall attempt

7:32pm June 07, 2022

by Scott Shafer

In 2021, the GOP forced Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom into a recall election. After a decisive victory, he's seeking another four years in office while facing high inflation and chronic homelessness.

Members of a landowner-led prescribed burn association work together in south-central Nebraska to complete a 945-acre prescribed burn. Everyone on the burn performs an essential role, from the four-wheeler riding internal ignition team to the mop-up crew

How these neighbors use fire to revitalize their communities, and land

3:26pm June 07, 2022

by Andria Hautamaki

Trees have been encroaching on the Great Plains, shrinking grazing acres and contributing to an increase in wildfires. But private landowners are working to restore grasslands with controlled burns.

A new bill would block the hunting of black bears in North Carolina sanctuaries

11:12am June 06, 2022

by Neal Charnoff

A Greensboro lawmaker has co-sponsored a bill seeking to block bear hunting in North Carolina sanctuaries.

Zoe, second from left, walks onto the field with her fellow graduates. Zoey was one of eight Valedictorians and told her classmates, "Do not think about the unknown stresses of the future or the treasured memories of the past, but think about the present

Environment

A high school senior reflects on her community's resilience after a devastating flood

9:52am June 05, 2022

by Damon Mitchell

Zoe Turner survived a flood that killed 20 neighbors. But now that she's graduated high school, she's trying to leave behind the lingering damage and move on to the next phase of her life.

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Southern Californians have to cut back on watering their yards due to severe drought

4:55pm June 02, 2022

by Erin Stone

Use less water: That's a direct order to some people in Southern California starting Wednesday. Faced with extreme drought, people there will be allowed to water twice a week for eight minutes.

A small stream runs through the dried, cracked earth of a former wetland near Tulelake, Calif., on June 9, 2021. Southern California's gigantic water supplier has taken the unprecedented step of requiring some 6 million people to cut their outdoor waterin

California cracks down on water use as it sees its most severe drought ever

3:44am June 02, 2022

by Ayana Archie

Water departments had the option to choose between an outdoor watering limit of one day per week or by volume of water used.

Environment

A missing Ukrainian woman's family wants to know if she was forcibly taken to Russia

5:01am May 30, 2022

NPR spoke to five Ukrainian civilians who were detained, deported and subject to what human rights advocates call enforced disappearance.

A worker carries used drink bottles and cans for recycling at a collection point in Brooklyn, New York. Three decades of recycling have so far failed to reduce what we throw away, especially plastics.

We never got good at recycling plastic. Some states are trying a new approach

1:32pm May 27, 2022

by Matthew Schuerman

New York is the latest, and largest, state to consider charging product-makers to dispose of their packaging. But lawmakers are clashing over how much to involve industry in creating a new system.

Black or brown hydrogen is extracted from coal. Gray hydrogen is made by heating natural gas. Both create carbon dioxide. Blue hydrogen captures about 90% of that carbon dioxide and stores it, usually underground. Green hydrogen uses renewable energy to s

Hydrogen may be a climate solution. There's debate over how clean it will truly be

10:18am May 27, 2022

by Reid Frazier

The federal government plans to build several hydrogen hubs around the country. The goal is to find a cleaner replacement for fossil fuels. But there are challenges in how hydrogen is produced.

A herd of bison graze near the trail inside the bison range.

Environment

Native tribes celebrate Montana land ownership and bison range restoration

8:28am May 25, 2022

by Freddy Monares

The 18,000-acre bison range is located on land taken away by the U.S. government 100 years ago. Congress passed a law in 2020 giving the land back to the local native tribes.

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