National (U.S.)

"The 39th U.S. president led the fight to preserve vast swaths of Alaskan wilderness. It forever changed the state and the National Park Service."

"The agency obtained research from 3M in 2003 revealing that sewage sludge, the raw material for the fertilizer, carried toxic “forever chemicals.”"

"Oil executive Tom Ragsdale walked away from his old wells, making the pollution left behind the state of New Mexico’s problem. His tactics, however, are ubiquitous in the industry."

"People around the world suffered an average of 41 extra days of dangerous heat this year because of human-caused climate change, according to a group of scientists who also said that climate change worsened much of the world’s damaging weather throughout 2024.

The analysis from World Weather Attribution and Climate Central researchers comes at the end of a year that shattered climate record after climate record as heat across the globe made 2024 likely to be its hottest ever measured and a slew of other fatal weather events spared few.

"U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday he will rename Denali, Alaska natives' name for North America's tallest mountain, after William McKinley, the 25th U.S. president who was assassinated in 1901."

"Melissa Ostroff finds gas leaks for a living, so it was surprising to hear someone say they smelled gas in her own home."

"In a first for the country, solar and wind generated more electricity than coal over most of 2024. The two renewable energy sources provided a record 17 percent of U.S. electricity from January to November, while coal contributed 15 percent, according to data from think tank Ember."

"Even as groundwater levels have rapidly declined in farming regions from California’s Central Valley to the High Plains, the federal government has mostly taken a hands-off approach to the chronic depletion of the nation’s aquifers. But in a new report for the White House, scientists say the country is facing serious and unprecedented groundwater challenges that call for the federal government to play a larger role."

"Maryland is suing Cecil County-based manufacturing giant W.L. Gore & Associates for knowingly polluting the air and surrounding water with toxic Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)."

"Citing a recent ProPublica investigation, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged the Environmental Protection Agency in a letter this week to issue a final report on the health risks of formaldehyde that is “science-based” and “as strong as possible,” adding that “the agency has an obligation to protect the public from the chemical.”"