Here is a completely normal and totally not-nefarious thing that is happening: Scientists from the Pentagon sent a solar panel about the size of a pizza box up to space to test if it’s possible to send extraterrestrial electricity back to Earth.
Winter has receded in Europe this week. Temperature records are falling as unseasonably warm weather sweeps across the continent delivering an early spring thaw, even while neighboring Russia is simultaneously going through a deep freeze.
“Shadow flicker” from wind turbines, concerns about sparrow habitat on landfills, and worries about “toxic chemicals” from solar panels are just some of the ways municipalities are slowing down renewables installation.
According to the best available climate science, the U.S. needs to completely zero out its carbon pollution by 2050 to secure a livable future. A new analysis from the nonprofit Energy Innovation lays out a plan to get there, which also would just happen to add a cool $1 trillion dollars to the national economy.
In India, agriculture employs more than 50% of the country. It’s also in crisis due to climate change and groundwater loss. A new study shows how these two factors are putting the country’s farmers at risk.
Glaciers in Antarctica are turning the concept of “glacial pace” on its head. A new study of a little-observed area on the continent finds that rising heat is making ice streams flow faster, which has worrisome consequences for sea level rise.
Rep. Deb Haaland just finished a historic confirmation hearing to run the Department of Interior. If her nomination is pushed through committee, she will in all likelihood be confirmed as the first Indigenous person to ever serve on a presidential cabinet.
Texas has a utility market unlike any other in the U.S., and in the wake of last week’s grid failure there that left millions of people in the dark, it’s come under scrutiny. Ninety percent of Texas’ electricity is generated on its own grid, and that grid is very lightly regulated.
Right now, Texas is in the balmy mid-50s. Yet just a week ago, it was colder than Alaska, and we all know what happened next. Much of the state’s energy capacity got knocked offline, leaving millions of people without power, heat, and water for days.
The costs of the Texas blackouts is still mounting, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Texans could be saddled with energy bills they’ll be paying for decades absent government intervention.
Where I live in Baltimore, utility bills can be a crushing burden. That’s especially true for the city’s low-income residents, most of whom are Black. A 2020 study found that a quarter of low-income households here spent more than 21.7% of their 2017 income on energy, which is more than seven times higher than the…
The ocean may have less time than we thought before massive, irreversible shifts take place. A new study finds that a crucial ocean system may reach its “tipping point” sooner than predicted if the rate of climate change continues at a breakneck pace.
Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman shot to viral fame this fall as a (often hilarious) voice of reason during former President Donald Trump’s lie-filled campaign to undermine election results in the state. Now, he’s gearing up for new challenge: running for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat…
Have you seen those viral videos on TikTok and Twitter where users are burning snow to “prove” that it’s actually fake? Needless to say, the snow is real. The viral videos actually show a perfectly normal reaction to placing the flame of a lighter or match against a snowball. But that hasn’t stopped these videos from…
Every day, the Arctic slips further into an unstable state. The latest sign: A Russian icebreaker and liquid natural gas ship have traversed the Northern Sea Route in February for the first time due to exceptionally low and weak sea ice cover.
Folks across Texas are receiving outrageous energy bills in the wake of widespread utility shutoffs during last week’s cold snap. Thankfully, state officials issued some stopgap measures on Sunday to protect them from those ridiculous financial burdens.
Israel is scrambling to clean up black tar that has washed ashore on its beaches following an oil spill that officials are calling one of the worst environmental disasters in years.
As if freezing for days and living with power outrages weren’t bad enough, some Texans now have to deal with the steep financial consequences from the storm. The latest blow came via the electricity bills, some of which have reached outrageous sums that can reach $5,000 or even $17,000 for just a few days.

On Monday night, the temperature in Lake Charles, Louisiana dipped to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-10 degrees Celsius), more than 30 degrees Fahrenheit (16.7 degrees Celsius) below average. Hours later, just before the sun rose on Tuesday morning, the city’s power supply abruptly shut off, taking the six local water…
Almost exactly a month before Texas plunged into darkness, a panel convened in Austin to host a discussion about the superiority of the Texan electric grid. Called “Keep the Lights and Ventilators On: The Future of Texas’ Grid Reliability,” the panel was part of an annual conference held by the Texas Public Policy…
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