Environment

The dyeing of the Chicago River began on Saturday in Chicago.

Dyeing the Chicago River green is a St. Patrick's Day tradition. How did it start?

4:24pm March 16, 2022

by Jeff Dean

For 60 years, Chicago has turned its downtown river green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The annual tradition actually has its roots in a big problem for the city: sewage.

A pump jack operating in an oil field in Midland, Texas, July 29, 2020. A Texas law aims to punish investment firms that divest from fossil fuels.

Texas and other states want to punish fossil fuel divestment

4:03pm March 16, 2022

by Mose Buchele

A Texas model law was written by the head of a group that opposes climate action and takes money from fossil fuel interests. It could shift billions away from major investment firms.

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For same Asian Americans, it was the first time in Nashville they saw so many Asian Americans gathered in one place. This was a vigil last March for the victims of the Atlanta spa shooting.

A year after the Atlanta spa deaths, Asian American communities build stronger ties

3:35pm March 16, 2022

by Juliana Kim

After the slaying of six Asian American women in Atlanta last year, many Asian American are trying to build the infrastructure and resources for their communities to feel safe and supported.

Customers at Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada will be able to provide a reusable cup for their drink by the end of next year, the company announced Tuesday.

Starbucks plans to phase out paper cups in the U.S. and Canada

3:11pm March 16, 2022

by Deepa Shivaram

As part of the company's goal to reduce waste by 50% by 2030, customers will be able to bring a reusable cup to get their drinks by the end of next year.

Companies that divest from fossil fuel could face a state boycott in Texas

4:26pm March 15, 2022

by Mose Buchele

As threats from climate change grow, big financial firms are betting on the energy transition. But that's provoked a conservative backlash, with Texas leading states aiming to boycott such funds.

You now have to compost food scraps and yard cuttings if you live in California

5:14pm March 14, 2022

by Raquel Dillon

New rules in California require the composting of food scraps and yard cuttings. Commercial composting facilities are gearing up to cash in as they turn food scraps into fertilizer and other products.

Gretchen Turner looks toward her home before making her way to Halloween festivities in downtown Waverly, Tenn.

Rebuild or leave? In a flood-prone Tennessee town, one family must decide

5:00am March 14, 2022

by Damon Mitchell

Weather disasters displaced thousands of Americans in 2021. In one Tennessee town, a family decides whether to rebuild or leave for good after a deadly flood sparked by a catastrophic rainfall.

Environment

Farmers' livelihoods are at risk as some discover 'forever chemicals' in the soil

8:03am March 13, 2022

by Kevin Miller

The owners of Songbird Farm in Maine can't sell their crops because a so-called "forever chemical" turned up in their land and water. Other farmers in the U.S. have the same problem.

A worker assembles Volkswagen electric cars at the company's plant in Zwickau, Germany on Jan. 27. Automakers like Volkswagen are racing to secure enough metals to power the batteries needed to make electric vehicles.

Environment

How a handful of metals could determine the future of the electric car industry

5:00am March 13, 2022

by Camila Domonoske

Automakers want to sell you an electric vehicle, but to do that, they'll need the world to dig a lot more minerals out of the ground. The challenge is transforming both mining and the auto industries.

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Environment

Jill Heinerth: What can we learn from our planet's hidden waterways?

9:47am March 11, 2022

Underneath the surface, there lies a vast network of natural and manmade waterways. Cave diver Jill Heinerth shares her adventures through our planet's plumbing and the ways it secretly connects us.

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