Nation Famous for Marine Conservation Is Bankrolling Its Own Destruction
"Costa Rica’s fuel subsidies are funding widespread poaching and overfishing in supposedly protected waters."
Source: Inside Climate News, 12/16/2025
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Wyo. Ranchers Wanting Solar Say Utilities and State Stand in Their Way
"Tim Teichert and Jason Thornock want the sun to help them survive as ranchers in Cokeville, Wyoming. On an overcast May day, the two drove around the one-restaurant town, lamenting high electricity prices and restrictive Wyoming laws that they say have thrown an unnecessary burden onto their broad shoulders."
Source: Inside Climate News, 12/16/2025"How the Pandemic Lockdowns Changed a Songbird’s Beak"
"For ecologists, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented a remarkable natural experiment in what can happen to wild animals when humans stay home."
Source: NYTimes, 12/16/2025Gaza Faces Another Catastrophic Winter as Devastation Mounts
"While Israel restricts lifesaving aid and multiple reports show it violating the ceasefire, Gazans suffer flooded tents, starvation, pollution and disease."
Source: Inside Climate News, 12/15/2025Trump EPA Adds Another Industry Lobbyist To Ranks Of Conflicted Regulators
"The nation’s main office for protecting Americans from harmful chemicals is welcoming its fourth prominent industry insider since President Trump took office, adding to an administration full of former lobbyists and corporate executives who are making environmental policy."
Source: The New Lede, 12/15/2025"Trump, Administration Heads Sued Over East Wing Demolition"
"President Donald Trump and several administration officials were hit with a lawsuit Friday over the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square foot ballroom."
Source: Bloomberg Environment, 12/15/2025"Hundreds Quarantined As South Carolina Measles Outbreak Accelerates"
"South Carolina’s measles outbreak is “accelerating” in the wake of Thanksgiving travel and a lack of vaccinations, an epidemiologist for the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) warned Wednesday, after authorities traced a sizable outbreak to a church in the state’s northwest."
Source: Washington Post, 12/15/2025Climate Change, New Mining May Push Alaska’s Arctic Past The Brink
"Ice blocks drift past Tristen Pattee’s boat as he scans the banks of Northwest Alaska’s Kobuk River for caribou. His great uncle Ernest steadies a rifle on his lap. It’s the last day of September, and by every measure of history and memory, thousands should have crossed by now. But the tundra is empty, save for the mountains looming on the horizon — the Gates of the Arctic National Park."
Source: AP, 12/15/2025Trump FWS Delays Decision On Federal Protections For Monarch Butterflies
"President Donald Trump’s administration has delayed a decision on whether to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies indefinitely despite years of warnings from conservationists that populations are shrinking."
Source: AP, 12/15/2025"Colorado River Water Is Too Cheap, Particularly for Agricultural Users"
"A new report from UCLA and the Natural Resources Defense Council found nearly a quarter of Colorado River water is basically provided for free by the federal government."
Source: Inside Climate News, 12/15/2025"FirstEnergy Bribery Scheme Sank Lake Erie Offshore Wind, Lawsuit Says"
"The corruption that led to Ohio’s infamous HB 6 also torpedoed what would have been the Great Lakes’ first wind farm, the suit alleges. FirstEnergy is pushing back."
Source: Canary Media, 12/15/2025"Green California’s Big Oil Problem"
"While Gov. Newsom touted the state’s environmental efforts at the UN climate summit, toxic spills and a new law speeding drilling tarnished its reputation at home."
Source: Inside Climate News, 12/15/2025"FDA Moves To Approve New Sunscreen Ingredient Used In Asia And Europe
"The FDA has proposed adding bemotrizinol, a new sunscreen ingredient, to the U.S. approval list, which could expand consumer options and help prevent skin cancer."
Source: Washington Post, 12/15/2025Tens Of Thousands Evacuated After Torrential Rain In Pacific Northwest
"Surging floodwaters turned farmland into vast pools, washed out bridges and prompted rescues of people stranded in cars and homes across Washington state on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people were under evacuation orders and authorities hoped levees would hold and prevent far worse damage."
Source: AP, 12/12/2025"Federal Judge Blocks FEMA From Canceling Climate Resiliency Grants"
"A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that the Trump administration could not unilaterally cancel a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program that states used for disaster preparation, imposing a potential hurdle in the administration’s efforts to tighten FEMA’s purse strings."
Source: NYTimes, 12/12/2025
