"The U.S. Energy Secretary said allowing tribes to weigh in on energy projects on their land creates "unnecessary burdens to the development of critical infrastructure.""
"Officials in this Phoenix suburb on Thursday rejected a proposed artificial intelligence data center despite pressure from a former U.S. senator and the tech industry — capping a fight over local control that has captured national attention."
"The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn from an agreement with the city of Houston to curb illegal dumping in Black and Latino neighborhoods, part of the Trump administration’s broad dismantling of environmental justice initiatives."
"A proposed critical minerals mine in southern Arizona that was the first added to a federal permitting process designed to be quicker and more transparent has reported water with levels exceeding the state’s regulatory limits of a mineral that can damage the heart, lungs, stomach and eyes."
Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here.
"Exxon Mobil has pulled the plug on what would have been one of the world’s largest hydrogen plants, the latest setback for the effort to scale production of low-carbon versions of the fuel."
For more than a century, oil and gas companies have been drilling — and abandoning — wells across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands to potentially leak pollutants into the air, water and soil. Climate and environment reporter Martha Pskowski looks at how funding and regulatory issues are impacting efforts to identify and plug these wells, and offers resources for drilling into their story.
"Two captive whitetails tied to the Texas “ghost deer” investigation tested positive for chronic wasting disease at a Tom Green County facility owned by breeder Ken Schlaudt, according to records obtained by Public Domain."
