"One of the main agencies that rates the creditworthiness of big borrowers, including cities and corporations, has brought on board a data firm specializing in climate risks. It's a signal that rating agencies are paying more attention to global warming and its impact in the financial markets."
"U.S. coastal cities face billions of dollars in costs for the extensive infrastructure projects needed to protect against rising seas and worsening storms. From Boston to Miami, government officials are only beginning to grasp the enormous expense of what will be required."
"A top climate scientist quit USDA, following others who say Trump has politicized science." "One of the nation’s leading climate change scientists is quitting the Agriculture Department in protest over the Trump administration’s efforts to bury his groundbreaking study about how rice is losing nutrients because of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."
The latest Inside Story column takes a look at how one reporter turned a series of complex policy stories on renewable energy and pollution into an accessible, localized narrative — and in the process won a Society of Environmental Journalists’ explanatory reporting award. A Q&A about the project with Baltimore Sun’s Scott Dance.
For environmental journalists covering this summer’s record-high temperatures, finding accurate data on local temperature extremes is key. Our latest Reporter’s Toolbox helps you locate the source of local data via the National Weather Service, then walks you through how to pinpoint your area’s numbers for high temperatures and for heat-related extremes.
"When election time comes next year, Will Galloway, a student and Republican youth leader at Clemson University, will look for candidates who are strong on the mainstream conservative causes he cares about most, including gun rights and opposing abortion. But there is another issue high on his list of urgent concerns that is not on his party’s agenda: climate change."
"A dozen states led by California and New York sued the Trump administration over its plan to roll back auto-industry regulations put in place by former President Barack Obama to improve fuel-efficiency."
"Last week, Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and 21 of her US Senate colleagues sent a letter to Dr. James Reilly, the director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to express their concern over recent reports that USGS will only utilize climate models that project the effects of climate change through 2040."
"Alaska Natives and environmental groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, accusing it of concealing information about the effects of oil development in the long-protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
"Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden (D) declared today he will block the confirmation of Daniel Jorjani to become the Interior Department's solicitor over concerns about how the agency handles Freedom of Information Act requests."
