(AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)
"New protections for endangered right whales in the North Atlantic would be postponed for nearly a decade under a plan that cleared a key hurdle in Washington last week with the full-throated support of the fishing and lobster industries."
"More than twice the amount of swimming pool chemicals as planned were improperly stored at a Georgia plant, setting conditions for a fire in 2024 that sent a huge plume of orange and black smoke into the sky and forced residents to shelter in place, a federal agency report concluded."
"Tropical Storm Bertha strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday but was expected to weaken as it chugs closer to the U.S., potentially bringing coastal flooding and heavy rain from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana."
"The state’s air monitors are often miles from its biggest polluters and residents have little way of knowing what they’re breathing. That’s no accident."
"For decades, fishers, swimmers and environmental groups have complained that mud and silt from dredging operations in the Mobile Bay shipping channel have been smothering seagrasses, choking out oysters and clouding water that was once pristine." "A measure to permanently ban the practice of “thin-layer disposal” of dredged sediment nationwide has advanced through a House committee with bipartisan support."
"Puerto Rico announced water rationing measures on Thursday as a drought grips the U.S. territory, worsening chronic water shortages that have forced the governor to declare a state of emergency."
"The largest solar and battery project in America broke ground this week, as Cypress Creek Renewables began construction of the Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas."
"The Trump administration is moving to approve a controversial program in Alabama that could allow millions of tons of toxic coal ash to remain buried in place alongside the state’s rivers, even though much of that material is sitting in groundwater where it can leach into the environment."
"Residents widely oppose the secrecy agreement signed by the city’s mayor and city attorney over Project Marvel, a proposed $14.5 billion hyperscale data center in Bessemer, Alabama."
"The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge over an emergency order keeping a Florida coal-fired power plant, which had been scheduled for retirement, in operation." "Advocacy groups said the order failed to establish an energy emergency. The Department of Energy partly attributed one to anticipated demand associated with data centers."
