50 States, 50 Fixes Nearly 500 buildings in the state capital get their heat from a clean, renewable source located deep in the ground. It’s pretty easy to get into hot water in Boise. After all, it’s in Idaho, a state filled with hundreds of hot springs. The city has tapped into that naturally hot … Read more
Last year, when Andre Rouhani and Gabriela Reyes toured Culdesac Tempe, a rental development outside of Phoenix, the place looked pretty sweet. It had winsome walkways, boutique shops and low-slung white stucco buildings clustered around shaded courtyards. The only surprise came when Mr. Rouhani, 33, a doctoral student at Arizona State University, asked about resident … Read more
America has a food waste problem: Rotten tomatoes and pizza boxes end up in trash dumps and produce a potent planet-heating gas called methane. Massachusetts has a fix: A state regulation requires businesses to keep food out of dumpsters. To help them comply, the state offers a carrot, in the form of a chatty, practical, … Read more
The steep trail near the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was covered in inches of spongy fallen needles and peppered with ankle-twisting pine cones. It was also shady, which felt remarkable after the first seven miles of the grueling Cactus to Clouds hike offered little more than a brittlebush leaf’s worth of relief. … Read more
Just hours after opening its new program for American researchers called Safe Place For Science in reaction to Trump administration policies, Aix Marseille University received its first application. Since then, the university in the south of France known for its science programs, has received about a dozen applications per day from what the school considers … Read more
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal in a landmark climate case brought by 21 young people against the federal government, ending its 10-year journey through the courts. But the case provided a blueprint for numerous other climate-related lawsuits that have had greater success. Juliana v. United States argued that the government … Read more
Last year was the hottest on record, and global average temperatures passed the benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times for the first time. Simultaneously, the growth rate of the world’s energy demand rose sharply, nearly doubling over the previous 10-year average. As it turns out, the record heat and rapidly rising energy demand … Read more
With more cities, states and countries banning single-use plastic bags, paper has become a popular alternative at the grocery checkout. At first glance, this seems like an obvious win for the environment. Plastic bags, after all, are made from fossil fuels and a major source of pollution. Paper bags, however, are not necessarily a better … Read more
A refinery in New Mexico that the federal government has accused of some of the worst air pollution in the country. A chemical plant in Louisiana being investigated for leaking gas from storage tanks. Idaho ranchers accused of polluting wetlands. Under President Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency took a tough approach on environmental enforcement by … Read more
The three bundled up figures, puny against the vastness of miles of snow, trudged toward a hole they had cut into the ice. Their sled was parked nearby, and the woolly dogs that pulled it were huddled on the frozen ground, barking for food. Man and dog had to move carefully out here. In some … Read more