"America’s first experiment with high-speed rail has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare. Political compromises created a project so expensive that almost no one knows how it can be built as originally envisioned."

"After almost a decade of talks, the nations of the world committed Friday to drastically lower emissions of planet-warming gases from the world’s airplanes by 2050, a milestone in efforts to ease the climate effects of a fast-growing sector."

"Efforts to speed a long-delayed, overbudget natural gas project in Sen. Joe Manchin’s home state by revamping federal permitting rules will play out in agencies and courts for now, after Congress balked last month."

"Before the Dixie fire came barreling through the Sierra Nevada last year, leveling everything here but a few houses, businesses and a school, this was a charming — if dying — Gold Rush-era town that about 800 people called home. Now, much of the charm is gone along with most of the residents, replaced by the skeletal remains of conifer trees and the deathly silence of block after empty block."

"President Biden on Thursday defended his visit to Saudi Arabia this summer, in the wake of Wednesday’s decision by the Saudi-led cartel of oil-producing nations to cut production, which will likely raise gasoline prices in the United States."

"Hurricane Ian’s wrath made clear that Florida faces some of the most severe consequences of climate change anywhere in the country. But the state’s top elected leaders opposed the most significant climate legislation to pass Congress — laws to help fortify states against, and recover from, climate disasters, and confront their underlying cause: the burning of fossil fuels."

"A new report suggests that the Inflation Reduction Act could be even bigger than Congress thinks."

"The OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries decided Wednesday to sharply cut production to support sagging oil prices, a move that could deal the struggling global economy another blow and raise politically sensitive pump prices for U.S. drivers just ahead of key national elections."

"There are few books, shows or other tools to help parents and teachers talk to preschoolers about global warming. “Octonauts: Above and Beyond” is one of the first to try." ... "Climate scientists say its depictions are largely accurate, with one striking omission. The program says nothing about why the Earth is heating up: the burning of oil, gas and coal."

"The snail darter, a tiny Southeastern fish that derailed a federal dam during an epic battle over Endangered Species Act protection in the 1970s, is no longer considered imperiled, officials announced Tuesday."