"If the words “public utilities commission” put you to sleep, you’re not alone. These are the government agencies that regulate utilities — companies that supply us with electricity, gas, water and more. All 50 states have them — and as boring as they sound, their work affects our daily lives."

"Reporting from six Black cities highlights that while the country’s water woes are widespread, blanket solutions fail to address communities’ distinct issues."

"As wildfires in Canada have sent masses of smoke over the United States this week, engulfing much of the Northeast in a yellow haze of hazardous air pollution, scientists are clear that we are seeing the effects of climate change. But the Republicans campaigning for the presidency have largely downplayed the issue and rejected policies that would slow rising temperatures."

"As we march into what climate scientists predict could be one of the hottest years on record, plenty of us will be cranking up the air conditioning, sitting in front of a fan, or sweating on our front porches. But imagine the torment of trying to find relief by lying on a cold prison floor or cooling off with toilet water."

"EPA proposed a ban on all consumer and many commercial uses of a cancer-causing chemical used widely for dry cleaning."

"A bipartisan group of senators Wednesday unveiled a proposal aimed at addressing the spread of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species they warn poses “a significant threat” to the U.S. agricultural economy."

"Lovers often carve their initials in the smooth gray bark of beech trees. Now those beloved trees—which can reach nearly 40 meters tall, live up to 400 years and are among the most abundant forest trees in the Northeast and Midwestern U.S.—are increasingly threatened by beech leaf disease."

"Down beneath the tourist lodges and shops selling keychains and incense, past windswept arroyos and brown valleys speckled with agave, juniper and sagebrush, the rocks of the Grand Canyon seem untethered from time. The oldest ones date back 1.8 billion years, not just eons before humans laid eyes on them, but eons before evolution endowed any organism on this planet with eyes."

"The release of cancer-causing benzene and other toxic gases from sites in Pennsylvania raises concerns about millions of other abandoned wells across the U.S."

"Like the tobacco industry before it, the chemical industry managed to keep PFAS’s health risks hidden from the public for decades. A new peer-reviewed study dissecting PFAS producers’ public relations strategies provides a smoking gun timeline composed of industry studies and comments from DuPont and 3M officials showing they knew the dangers, but publicly insisted the chemicals were safe."