Environment

Biden Is Pushing For A Major Expansion Of Offshore Wind Energy

4:23pm March 29, 2021

by Jeff Brady

The Biden administration is pushing a major expansion of offshore wind energy. Officials say it will mean tens of thousands of jobs, and help make the overall electricity system carbon neutral.

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Environment

Massachusetts Is Modifying Triple-Deckers To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

4:23pm March 29, 2021

by Simón Rios

Buildings account for about 12% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Massachusetts is trying to reduce that by retrofitting the state's iconic triple-deckers.

Three of Deepwater Wind's turbines stand off Block Island, R.I., in 2016. The Biden administration is pushing for a sharp increase in offshore wind energy development along the East Coast.

Biden Administration Pushes Major Expansion For Offshore Wind Energy

2:47pm March 29, 2021

by Jeff Brady

Officials say expanding offshore wind will create tens of thousands of jobs and help reduce climate warming emissions. Multiple departments will coordinate to sell new leases and approve permits.

Marine biology student Ranim Tahhan, 21, pictured left, and another volunteer work to clean Tyre beach from the pollution caused by an oil spill in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Amid Myriad Crises, Lebanon Now Confronts An Ecological Disaster On Its Shores

2:43pm March 28, 2021

by Ruth Sherlock

Some of the country's last beaches spared from development are now carpeted in globs of tar from an oil spill in the Mediterranean, damaging beaches that are nesting grounds for endangered turtles.

Lava flows down from the crater of Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, as seen from Tunggul Arum in the city of Turi near Yogyakarta early Saturday.

Indonesian 'Mountain of Fire' Erupts Again

5:18pm March 27, 2021

by Matthew S. Schwartz

Mount Merapi on the Indonesian island of Java has been erupting regularly and is considered a highly active volcano. No injuries were reported after Saturday's eruptions, but officials advise caution.

Environment

Metal Shredding Company Move Sparks Protests

5:39am March 26, 2021

by Linda Lutton

In Chicago, a metal shredder plant is trying to move from a predominantly white neighborhood to a working-class, majority Latinx one that already suffers some of the worst air quality in Illinois.

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U.S. bald eagle populations have more than quadrupled in the lower 48 states since 2009, according to a new survey from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Once Imperiled, America's Bald Eagle Populations Are Soaring

3:11pm March 25, 2021

by Nathan Rott

The number of bald eagles in the lower 48 states has quadrupled since 2009, according to a new survey. The findings are a bright spot in an otherwise troubling picture for American birds.

Authorities Have Forced Anti-Pipeline Protesters Out Of The Blue Ridge Mountains

4:29pm March 24, 2021

by Robbie Harris

For more than two years, protesters from across the country have lived in trees in the Blue Ridge Mountains to protest construction of a gas pipeline. This March, authorities forced them to leave.

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Eastern Australia Is Facing Worst Floods In Decades 2 Years After Bush Fires

4:25pm March 23, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with reporter Laura Chung of the Sydney Morning Herald on how eastern Australia is coping with the worst flooding in decades less than two years after devastating bush fires.

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Volunteers In Lebanon Try To Save A Beach And Its Endangered Turtles After Oil Spill

4:25pm March 23, 2021

by Ruth Sherlock

Lebanese volunteers are trying to save one of the country's favorite beaches and the nesting places it provides for endangered sea turtles after a February oil spill from an oil tanker.