Environment
Public health risks of urban wildfire smoke prompt push for more monitoring
In February, nearly a dozen lawmakers from California called on the EPA to create a task force of local and federal authorities to better monitor what’s in the air and inform the public.
Washington governor orders team to study data centers’ impact on energy use, job creation and tax revenue
Data centers receive some of Washington’s largest corporate tax breaks and require enormous amounts of electricity, a need that is only expected to grow with increasing reliance on artificial intelligence.
Feds offer new data, research to refresh states’ water woes
A new report and data tool from the U.S. Geological Survey can help policymakers better understand where water supply risks exist in the U.S. to inform efforts to better manage the critical resource.
As climate change intensifies, Arizona bill would bar ‘geoengineering’ to combat it
The emerging field has caused fierce debate among scientists, some of whom see it as a way to combat people’s impact on the planet, while others see it as another way to create climate chaos.
As data center boom continues, Va. legislators broach new regulations
A bipartisan coalition of Virginia lawmakers seeks to balance economic growth with energy fairness and environmental protections.
Effort to block Reno data center offers glimpse of increasingly thorny issue in Nevada
Data centers are “unique in their impact to residential communities, the electric grid, and natural resources use, and therefore need to be considered under an ordinance that caters to their unique impacts,” say critics of Reno’s approval process.
AI air pollution takes deadly health toll
COMMENTARY | Air pollution from AI is expected to result in as many as 1,300 premature deaths a year by 2030 in the United States, researchers say.
Can you improve indoor air quality? These Utahns let sensors track their every move
Reaching for Air: Four Utahns installed sensors built by Columbia University’s Brown Institute in their homes. Here’s what they found.
Under pressure from the SCC, Dominion reveals the true cost of data centers
COMMENTARY | With state leaders avidly chasing more data centers in the name of economic development, ordinary Virginians are left to watch the assault on their energy supply, their water and their environment.
Data centers, which require massive amounts of energy and few jobs, have downsides for Alaska
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has invited big tech companies, including affiliates of Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon, to build data centers in Alaska.
Featured eBooks
How social media is influencing our interactions with public lands
Getting the perfect online photo is drawing more people into nature. Land managers are trying to mitigate risks and damage to wild places.
Will Washington voters buy into Inslee’s vision on climate policy?
Voters are set to weigh in on the governor’s “proudest accomplishment.” The state’s cap-and-trade law that some say is key to the third-term Democrat’s legacy is on the ballot this fall.
More states ban PFAS, or forever chemicals, in more products
In total this year, at least 16 states adopted 22 PFAS-related measures.
Nuclear power could solve US electricity needs. But at what cost?
State lawmakers are increasingly eyeing nuclear power to boost clean energy. But as Three Mile Island and a Michigan reactor aim to restart, critics question whether the cost makes sense.
Want your community to be climate resilient? Put someone in charge.
COMMENTARY | As billions of federal climate dollars flood state and local coffers, governments need people in place who have the authority to coordinate, fund and carry out a plan to build resilience.
California AG says ExxonMobil misled public on plastic recycling
Attorney General Rob Bonta says the oil giant promoted recycling as a way to bolster its sales of the environmentally fraught products, even though only about 5% of all plastic is actually recycled.
Why people aren’t buying heat pumps—and what states can do about it
COMMENTARY | New research from the coldest part of the country finds we need to tell people what heat pumps are before telling them why they should buy them.
As deadly bird collisions with buildings mount, cities look for solutions
Big buildings with glass facades are becoming notorious for deadly crashes, claiming a billion birds a year. Some want to do something about it.
Trees aren't just pretty to look at. They're also good for yew.
More U.S. cities are planting trees as a way to improve public health and reduce climate threats. New data shows they might be on the right track.
In an era of dam removal, California is building more
Project boosters claim the dams will be the most environmentally focused dams in California’s history, with water earmarked for environmental purposes and minimum flow requirements for the Sacramento River.
