Environment

Energy secretary on the Biden administration's pause of future natural gas exports

4:56pm January 26, 2024

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about the Biden administration's decision to delay some key natural gas exports.

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Hotter than normal temperatures are exacerbating the megadrought that's depleted Western water reserves, like Elephant Butte Reservoir in southern New Mexico, new research finds.

'Hot droughts' are becoming more common in the arid West, new study finds

12:51pm January 26, 2024

by Nathan Rott

Scientists looked at trees to better understand the interplay between temperatures and droughts in the Western U.S. Human-caused climate change is exacerbating both.

Environment

An N.C. salamander could get endangered species protection, but not the hellbender

5:08pm January 25, 2024

by Paul Garber

In somewhat of a split decision, the U.S.

Demand for minerals sparks fear of mining abuses on Indigenous peoples' lands

4:44pm January 25, 2024

by Julia Simon

Many deposits for minerals used in EV batteries and solar panels are on or near lands of Indigenous groups. Native communities worry about repeats of past mining abuses, but there may be solutions.

Catawba College to host community conversation on climate justice

3:56pm January 25, 2024

by Amy Diaz

Catawba College’s Center for the Environment is hosting a community conversation next week. The event is the result of a partnership between the college, the local NAACP chapter, and the Reimagining America Project, a nonprofit looking to enact systemic changes to end racism.

Chairs stand at the local post office in the aftermath of a fire in Gates, Ore., on Sept 9, 2020. An Oregon jury on Tuesday awarded $85 million to nine victims of wildfires that ravaged the state in 2020, in the latest trial faced by utility PacifiCorp over its liability in the deadly blazes.

Oregon jury awards $85 million to 9 victims of deadly 2020 wildfires

2:47pm January 24, 2024

by The Associated Press

The verdict comes in a series of legal proceedings that are expected to put the utility PacifiCorp on the hook for billions of dollars over its liability for the blazes.

White House announces funding to help schools replace buses with cleaner choices

9:59am January 24, 2024

by Marlon Hyde

Electric school buses are expensive but federal dollars are helping school boards across the country switch out some old diesel buses for clean energy buses. Georgia will get $60 million in funding.

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N.C. A&T students will design an 'outdoor experience' at Toyota megasite

9:48am January 24, 2024

by Neal Charnoff

The Toyota manufacturing megasite under construction in the Triad will also be a destination for nature lovers, thanks in part to students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

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New kelp fossils may help explain the Pacific Ocean's underwater jungles

4:41pm January 22, 2024

by Ari Daniel

Newly discovered kelp fossils peg their existence to 32 million years ago. These fossils may help explain how the Pacific Ocean's underwater 'forests' came to be.

Scientists map world's largest known deep-sea coral habitat

5:53pm January 21, 2024

NPR's Scott Detrow talks with Temple University biology professor Erik Cordes about the discovery of the world's largest known deep-sea coral habitat.

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