Walmart aims high on lowering carbon footprint

Aug 1, 2017
Walmart among the businesses stepping up as government retreats on climate change.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Eggs cheap as overseas demand for U.S. produce falls

Aug 1, 2017
An oversupply of eggs is driving down prices to record low levels. But what cheers shoppers isn’t always good for farmers. Many producers are just recovering from a devastating bird flu outbreak that struck two years ago. And this is one more hassle to deal with. Click the audio player above to hear the full […]

Why the oil industry may be the most corrupt in the world

Jul 31, 2017
Two cases of illegal payments and bribery came to light recently. One is against the oil services company Halliburton in Angola. The other involves a mining subsidiary of Glencore doing business in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With government heavily involved and centralizing many so-called extractive industries, drilling and mining are more prone to corruption […]

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 […]

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

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

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The US still wants a say in how UN climate change money is spent

Jul 17, 2017
The U.S. has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, but it’s already put $1 billion into the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund. That’s meant to help poor and developing countries manage climate change. And while President Trump said he won’t commit any more money to the fund, the White House still wants American delegates […]

Auto racing goes electric

Jul 14, 2017
The Formula E circuit lets car makers test their electric vehicles and promote their products to buyers.
A race car for Formula E.
Courtesy of Formula E

California’s wildfires are only getting more risky — and expensive

Jul 11, 2017
California Gov. Jerry Brown has issued a state of emergency for two wildfires that have forced thousands of people along the state’s central coast to get out of harm’s way. Wildfire season has been extended by 70 to 80 days in the past decade, and California has increased its emergency fund to reflect new predictions. Local, […]