"Bessent Questions the Cause of Climate Change and Its Economic Toll"
"The Treasury secretary said it is “difficult to deconstruct” the reasons for global warming, which he described as a belief of the “elite.”"
Source: NYTimes, 04/15/2026
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Indonesia's Prabowo Urges Charges Against Firms Resisting Forest Crackdown
"Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto ordered prosecutors on Friday to file criminal charges against companies that refuse to cooperate with a task force he launched to crack down on illegal activities in the country's forests."
Source: Reuters, 04/15/2026Michigan Updates Air Quality Alert System As Wildfire Smoke Season Nears
"After Canadian wildfires brought extremely poor air quality to Detroit in the summers of 2023 and 2025, Michigan is updating how it communicates air quality risks to residents this year."
Source: Planet Detroit, 04/15/2026Judge Tosses Trump’s Wall Street Journal Defamation Lawsuit, For Now
"A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump’s name."
Source: CNN, 04/14/2026Trump Admin Agrees To Keep Pride Flag At Stonewall National Monument
"The Trump administration has announced it will keep flying a rainbow Pride flag at Stonewall National Monument in New York City, according to Associated Press. The announcement was made as the administration agrees to settle a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ and historic preservation groups seeking to block the flag’s removal, which occurred in February."
Source: National Parks Traveler, 04/14/2026"Trump Worker Heat Program Removes Inspection Goals"
"The Trump administration has removed specific goals for increasing workplace inspections from a Department of Labor program aimed to keep workers safe from extreme heat."
Source: E&E News, 04/14/2026Hungary Election Promises Renewable Energy Investment, Pollution Crackdowns
"Hungary’s landslide election today saw Viktor Orbán ousted after 16 years as Prime Minister. Having once described EU climate ambitions as a “utopian fantasy” – blaming them for pushing up energy costs and destroying the middle class – Orbán frequently backed policies that were at odds with the net-zero goals set by his government."
Source: Euronews, 04/14/2026Burned Before By ‘Pesticide Drift,’ Vineyard Owners Bracing For Worst
"For two decades, Nick Pehle's grapes, pressed and distilled, have filled glasses at wineries across Missouri. ... Last year was different. In May, before the vines could bloom, their leaves started curling into the shape of small bowls."
Source: Wisc. Farmer, 04/14/2026"In A First, Renewables Beat Natural Gas On Us Grid Last Month"
"Over the course of March, the nation got more electricity from renewables than it did from natural gas, which is typically the single-largest source of energy on the U.S. grid."
Source: Canary Media, 04/14/2026Mamdani Faces Scrutiny on Climate, Parks Budget and Environmental Promises
"During his New York City mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani courted votes from environmentalists. He promised to expand green spaces in public schools and equip them with renewable energy, to meet the demands of the city’s building electrification laws and to increase investments in city parks."
Source: Inside Climate News, 04/14/2026Commercial Salmon Fishing To Open In Calif.For The First Time Since 2022
"Federal fishery managers voted Sunday to open waters off the coast of California to commercial salmon fishing for the first time since 2022, with the population rebounding after wet winters ended a long drought."
Source: AP, 04/14/2026"Iran War’s Global Energy Crisis Sharpens China’s Advantage In Clean Tech"
"China is poised to benefit from the Iran war as global energy disruptions accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean technologies and renewable power, industries that China dominates, experts say."
Source: AP, 04/14/2026Climate Change Is Outpacing Evolution. Scientists Using DNA To Catch Up
"Evolution works over millennia. Climate change is moving far faster. That mismatch is killing some of the planet’s most vital ecosystems, from California’s towering redwoods to the seagrass meadows along its coast, both of which store vast amounts of carbon and support complex webs of life."
Source: AP, 04/14/2026"How Lee Zeldin Shifted the Mission — And the Message — of the E.P.A."
The job of the E.P.A. chief is to protect human health by safeguarding “the air we breathe, the water we drink and land that grows our food,” as the agency’s founding charter puts it, and most administrators have talked about their work in those terms. Mr. Zeldin, though, speaks more about supporting industry and exporting fossil fuels than about protecting the environment."
Source: NYTimes, 04/13/2026Forecasters Predict Slightly Below-Average 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season
"Colorado State University’s hurricane forecasting team is expecting El Niño to bring a slightly below-average season with 13 named storms, six hurricanes, and two major hurricanes."
Source: Yale Climate Connections, 04/13/2026
