"A Powerhouse El Niño Event Appears To Be Brewing For 2026-27"
"Triplet tropical cyclones astride the equator could help it develop."
Source: Yale Climate Connections, 04/08/2026
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"Suspect in Hacking of Climate Activists Is Extradited to New York"
"Prosecutors say Amit Forlit ran a global hacking operation on behalf of a Washington lobbying group that aimed to thwart environmental lawsuits against oil companies."
Source: NYTimes, 04/08/2026"States Push Laws to Shield Oil and Gas Companies From Accountability"
"Across the country, Republican-led state legislatures are passing a slate of laws that effectively shield oil and gas companies from legal claims that they are responsible for the destruction and mounting toll caused by climate change. Fifteen laws have either been passed or are currently being debated in 11 states. Together, they threaten to remove long-standing tools for the public to hold corporations accountable."
Source: ProPublica, 04/08/2026"Nuclear Energy Regulators Roll Back Security Drill Requirements"
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has voted to no longer lead security drills at power plants, instead allowing companies to lead their own drills in the coming years."
Source: The Hill, 04/08/2026"Interior Department Offering Another Round Of Staff Buyouts"
"The Interior Department is offering its staff another round of buyouts and early retirements in an effort to slim down the federal department that’s in charge of the nation’s natural resources."
Source: The Hill, 04/08/2026Trump Re-Ups Push To Kill Low-Income Heating Assistance Program LIHEAP
"President Trump is once again proposing to eliminate a program that helps low-income people heat and cool their homes."
Source: The Hill, 04/08/2026American Journalist Shelly Kittleson Has Been Released, Iraq Says
"American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad streetcorner last week, has been released, two Iraqi officials with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday."
Source: AP, 04/08/2026Solar Was Poised To Help Puerto Ricans Survive Blackouts — But Trump Axed It
"María Pérez lost power for about three months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017. Her home in Salinas, on the island’s southern coast, sits near a river. As the hurricane knocked out the island’s grid and sent rainwaters surging down from the mountains, Perez’s house flooded with a swirling mix of muddy water and animal feces, rising 3 feet high and warping the hallways. For the next three months, she went without power as she cleaned out the home and began the long process of rebuilding."
Source: Grist, 04/08/2026"What Does $164M Buy Big Oil? Inupiat Land And A Broken Promise."
"A federal auction undid a hard-won agreement to protect Alaska's North Slope. The Iñupiat community that fought for it is still waiting to be heard."
Source: Grist, 04/08/2026"Forest Service Will Close Research Stations That Study Wildfire Risk"
"Scientists say their work on fires and climate change could be lost as the agency moves its headquarters to Utah from Washington and shuts 57 research stations."
Source: NYTimes, 04/07/2026"These Maps Show Exactly Where The West Might Burn This Summer"
"Amid drought and heat waves, April’s national wildfire forecast shows that nearly the entire Western U.S. will face an above-normal risk of wildfires at some point in the next four months."
Source: Grist, 04/07/2026"Yes, You Can Make Friends With Trees. Here’s Why It’s A Good Idea."
"RJ Laverne’s childhood home in Detroit had a big elm out front. In fact, the whole neighborhood was lined with them: great, graceful trees whose branches spread across the street to create a shady canopy. Elms were so widely planted in cities and suburbs in the 19th and 20th centuries that they became known as the “Main Street tree.” Then, in the 1930s, Dutch elm disease began to ravage them, and by 1989, most of America’s 77 million mature elms were dead."
Source: Washington Post, 04/07/2026Surprising Links Between Autism, Alzheimer’s Could Change How We Treat Both
"The idea that two conditions at opposite ends of life might be biologically linked is beginning to upend long-standing assumptions in brain science, blurring a divide that has shaped the field."
Source: Washington Post, 04/07/2026"EPA Takes Early Step In Methane Rule Rollback"
"The Trump administration undertook an early step Monday in what is expected to be a significant rollback of a Biden-era rule restricting methane emissions from oil and gas production."
Source: The Hill, 04/07/2026Trump Threatens To Destroy Iran’s Desalination Plants: Mideast Impacts
"U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to target Iran’s energy infrastructure, including the country’s desalination plants. Such a move — and Iran’s possible targeting of the plants of its Gulf Arab neighbors — could have devastating impacts across the water-starved Middle East."
Source: AP, 04/07/2026
