Weekend Reader:  Award Winners, Southern Delusions & Top News.

SEJ recognizes the year's best in environmental journalism; a few observations from our Weekend Editor on the Solid (and Trumpian) South; and more

The Society of Environmental Journalists annual awards shows the strength and depth of environmental journalism; talk of a Democratic overthrow in the midterm elections is hard to find in the American South.


Payback? A major past donor to Jeff Sessions's campaigns gets some alleged payback in a dispute with EPA.

From theory to in-your-face: Climate scientist Michael Mann says climate impacts are no longer subtle, they're in our faces. From WBUR's Here & Now.

Twp from Alaska on Oil damage: From Inside Climate News: Surrounded by oil fields,an Alaskan village fears for its health.

And from the NYT's Henry Fountain: How new oil projects cut scars across Alaskan wilderness.

Shocker! Green energy passes its first trillion-watt milestone as prices drop. (Bloomberg)

Stellar long-read from The Guardian and Keith Kahn-Harris on Denialism: What drives people to reject the truth.

From Wash Post's Capital Weather Gang: California's Carr Fire became one one the biggest fire tornadoes ever measured.

Essay from NPR's Scott Simon: Calling the press the "enemy of the people" is a menacing move.

Climate denial isn't the only anti-science push that won't die: In this NYT op-ed, Meliinda Winner Moyer says anti-vaxxers still have an impact on vaccine science.

Grist offers a level-headed assessment of the NYT Sunday Magazine's controversial "autopsy" on how the climate movement blew it in thie 1980's.






Coal-fired power station, Victoria, Australia

‘This is not normal’: Trump leans on MAGA organizer to revive coal

The Energy Department is giving millions to a company partially led by a far-right activist and telecom executive to build the nation’s first coal-fired power plant since 2013.

Wind farm on what appears to be high plains with cattle grazing and resting beneath turbines.

Pentagon foot-dragging blocks wind farms, lawsuit says

A coalition of renewable energy groups is suing Pentagon officials over their failure to complete national security reviews for new onshore wind farms on private lands.
Two divers investigating coral amidst schools of reef fish

As global warming threatens corals worldwide, Woods Hole scientists search for ‘super reefs’ that can take the heat

If protected, researchers say these coral strongholds may help repopulate more degraded reefs across the Central Pacific.
Solar panels deployed on roof of massive warehouses or data centers

In Alabama, opposition to renewable solar energy joins a data center battle

Tuesday’s runoff for a slot on the Alabama Public Service Commission has a familiar ring to it, with talk of data centers and electricity costs. But in a southern twist, solar power has joined the list of villains.
Rendered image representative of the internal electronics of a commercial data center

Sucked in. The gaping maw that feeds AI mania

Data centres gobble vast capital, land, water and energy while forcing locals to endure ‘heat islands.’ Who voted for this?
Outdoor air quality sensors
Credit: Pixel B/BigStock Photo ID: 211018819

Trump’s EPA unlawfully cancelled environmental justice grants, judge rules

The decision voided the EPA guidance to terminate the $2.8 billion grant program. But it stopped short of requiring the agency to resume administering it.
Large, white, flat-roofed data center or data warehouse

Most battleground House districts have data centers on the way

As politicians from city councils to Washington fight over data centers, campaigns are navigating the backlash.
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

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