Virginia Fails to Pass Data Center Clean Energy Requirements
"The state will tax data center electricity but plans to reduce emissions at the facilities and secure environmental protections went nowhere."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/20/2026
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As Data Centers Flood Wyoming, Water Pollution Fouls Good Faith
"The contamination of a Cheyenne water system by a Meta data center underscores the worries residents have about more than two-dozen data centers that are and could be consuming Wyoming’s energy, water and landscape."
Source: WyoFile, 07/20/2026Environmental Groups Press To Halt Imperial Valley Lithium Venture
"In a case that has become a local flashpoint, environmental groups seeking to halt a lithium operation in Imperial County until it gets further review argued before a state appeals court in San Diego on Thursday."
Source: Los Angeles Times, 07/20/2026Colo. Cut $11.4M in Penalties for Oil Firms Filing Fake Cleanup Data
"After a nearly two-year inquiry, Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) approved deals allowing firms owned by its largest oil and gas companies to avoid the majority of assessed penalties for falsified data submitted by their contractors."
Source: DeSmog, 07/20/2026"Will Congress Ban ‘Mud Dumping’ in Mobile Bay?"
"For decades, fishers, swimmers and environmental groups have complained that mud and silt from dredging operations in the Mobile Bay shipping channel have been smothering seagrasses, choking out oysters and clouding water that was once pristine." "A measure to permanently ban the practice of “thin-layer disposal” of dredged sediment nationwide has advanced through a House committee with bipartisan support."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/20/2026Trump Threatens Tariffs On Canada In Retaliation For Wildfire Smoke
"President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on Canada in retaliation for wildfire smoke, but it was not clear that he has the legal authority to impose such a levy."
Source: Washington Post, 07/20/2026Wildfire Smoke Blankets Midwest And Northeast, Prompts Evacuations
"Thousands of visitors were told to evacuate a remote Minnesota wilderness area accessible only by boat as wildfires send dangerously heavy smoke over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this week."
Source: AP, 07/17/2026As Climate Extremes Collide, Attribution Science Evolves
"A National Academy of Sciences report on extreme climate event attribution confronts political climate denialism with scientific evidence."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/17/2026As Climate Expands Mosquito Ranges, Monitoring Helps Prevent Disease
"Monitoring is expensive and labor intensive. But it helps public health officials stop outbreaks."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/17/2026Michigan Issues Line 5 Tunnel Permits Despite ‘Significant Impacts’
"State agencies on Wednesday issued key permits for the controversial Line 5 tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac, concluding the project’s benefits outweigh drawbacks that include disruption to Native American burial sites and harm to wetlands and rare species."
Source: Bridge Michigan, 07/17/2026Google’s $3.5B Solar Project Pushes US Into New Territory
"The largest solar and battery project in America broke ground this week, as Cypress Creek Renewables began construction of the Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas."
Source: E&E News, 07/17/2026Analysis: Andy Burnham, Next British PM, Faces Tough Climate Decisions
"Wildfires cast a pall of smoke this week over Greater Manchester, whose former mayor Andy Burnham stands on the threshold of No 10. Amid three UK heatwaves so far this year, which have killed thousands of people in England and Wales, damaged harvests and left children crying in classrooms, the new prime minister’s plans for the climate crisis remain as shrouded as his city."
Source: Guardian, 07/17/2026US Trial Could Reveal Who Paid Hackers To Target Exxon Climate Critics
"A group of American climate activists are closely watching a US court case that could reveal who hired hackers to target their inboxes a decade ago."
Source: Guardian, 07/17/2026Puerto Rico Announces Emergency Water Rationing As Drought Worsens
"Puerto Rico announced water rationing measures on Thursday as a drought grips the U.S. territory, worsening chronic water shortages that have forced the governor to declare a state of emergency."
Source: AP, 07/17/2026"The Mysterious Case Of Disappearing Chesapeake Ospreys"
"It was a glorious spring here on the lower Potomac River in 2023 for ospreys and for the townsfolk like Joanie and Barry Millward who applaud their annual return from the tropics and thrill to watch them dive for fish." "Then, a sudden and mysterious population crash: Only five chicks reached adulthood in 2024, eight in 2025."
Source: Bay Journal, 07/17/2026
