"U.S. crude oil stockpiles jumped last week, while gasoline inventories posted a surprise draw as refineries picked up runs amid seasonally strong demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday."
"Prescribed fires are a positive land management method, but when the flames occasionally escape control, the resulting damage to land and private property also hurts this conservation tool’s reputation. U.S. insurance companies are thus charging increasingly unaffordable premiums for coverage of this activity or are dropping the service altogether in the wake of some particularly large recent accidents."
"A new report from the nonprofit Global Witness validates civil society groups’ concerns about exploitative labor practices and environmental destruction associated with lithium mining. The report, released Tuesday, identifies multiple alleged incidents of corruption, unsafe working conditions, forced evictions, child labor and harmful environmental practices tied to lithium mining in Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo."
"The world is losing almost 1 million square kilometres (386,000 square miles) of productive land a year to sand and dust storms made worse by human activities, the United Nations body in charge of fighting desertification warned on Wednesday."
"Scientists say deforestation is compounding the effects of climate change, threatening to turn parts of the forest into savannah".
"An American lawyer has been arrested after being accused of shooting and killing two environmental protesters in Panama earlier this week, according to several media outlets including local networks."
"The state oil company of the United Arab Emirates, whose CEO will preside over imminent UN climate negotiations, has the largest net-zero-busting expansion plans of any company in the world, according to new data."
"A flesh-eating fungus is expanding its range in the American West - and scientists suspect climate change is driving the spread."
"The United States and China, the world’s two largest climate polluters, have agreed to jointly tackle global warming by ramping up wind, solar and other renewable energy with the goal of displacing fossil fuels."
The Collier Prize at the University of Florida is designed to encourage coverage of state-level government in every state, focusing on investigative and political reporting, in any medium or on any platform. It's open to any news organization. Cash prizes: $25,000, $5,000 and $2,500. Deadline: Jan 31, 2026.
