EPA turns to environmental cleanup, away from climate change

Jul 31, 2017
Tomorrow , the Senate subcommittee that oversees the EPA’s Superfund program is scheduled to hold a hearing on the program’s work. That’s the initiative, begun in 1980, that cleans up sites contaminated with hazardous materials. Under EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency is refocusing its attention toward environmental cleanups. But that doesn’t necessarily mean many […]

A big bank bets on sustainability

Jul 28, 2017
JPMorgan Chase announced today a $200 billion commitment to financing clean energy. On top of that, divisions across the firm, from retail to real estate, are working to switch all Chase properties around the world to 100 percent renewable power by the year 2020. That’s more than 5,000 properties in some 60 countries. Here’s why […]

Moving wind power further offshore could change the renewable equation

Jul 27, 2017
Wind energy provides more than 5 percent of the nation’s power, but the U.S. still lags behind other countries when it comes to offshore wind. Efforts to build it up face opposition from people who fear wind turbines will mar their ocean view and drive down property values or tourism. A bill now in Congress […]

How POTUS could get his WOTUS repeal fast tracked

Jul 27, 2017
A House energy and water spending bill has a provision that would help the Trump administration get its desired repeal of the Waters of the U.S. rule, the rule by which the federal government regulates land use in the name of water quality. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

A scientist worries about a climate "hostile to science and the truth"

Government funding has been pretty reliable — up until now, the Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher says.
ANGELIKA WARMUTH/AFP/GettyImages

In Congress, a move to save an earthquake early warning system from budget cuts

Jul 21, 2017
Efforts to build a warning system have been going on for years. Now they face possible demise.
A screen shows the countdown to a simulated 7.8 magnitude earthquake during a drill for first responders at the Office of Emergency Management in Los Angeles in 2013.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

When a big carbon emitter is the main economic driver in town

Jul 20, 2017
For local residents, the Miller power plant is the economic center of the city.
The James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant is a massive coal-fired plant that also is the nation’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.
Gigi Douban/for Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

"The grid is in good shape," an Energy Department study draft says

Jul 18, 2017
Are renewable sources reliable? Come down the energy rabbit hole with us.
President Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry at an "Unleashing American Energy" event in June. The Trump administration believes in fossil fuel "dominance."
Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images

Climate alliance states have significant leverage

Jul 18, 2017
Following withdrawal from Paris accord, states take the lead on emissions targets.
California Gov. Jerry Brown speaks during an energy policy conference in Beijing in June.
FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Rooftop solar has a good decade but a bad year

Jul 17, 2017
Solar energy has grown prodigiously over the last eight years. But 2017 has been tough, especially for rooftop solar companies.
Developers of the Table Rock Ridge subdivision outside Golden, Colorado, require all homes be sold with rooftop solar panels already installed.
Dan Boyce/ for Marketplace