Climate
States beg insurers not to drop climate-threatened homes
In the coming years, climate change could force Americans from their homes, not just by raising sea levels, worsening wildfires and causing floods — but also by putting insurance coverage out of reach. In places including California, Florida and Louisiana, some homeowners are finding it nearly impossible to find an insurance company that will cover […]
Grim toll tallied again after weekend tornado tears through some places hit in 2021
Sitting on her front porch surrounded by tornado damage, Tabatha Adams never imagined being on the other side of disaster recovery.? As the former president of her local Rotary Club, she helped her neighbors when Dawson Springs grappled with the devastating aftermath of an EF-4 tornado in December 2021. The Western Kentucky city of about […]
Biden administration proposes ending future federal coal leasing in Powder River Basin
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday released plans to end future leasing of its managed coal resources in the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in a move that has angered Montana’s Republican political leaders but is being cheered by environmental groups who fought for changes to leasing plans over […]
USDA rubber-stamped Tyson’s ‘climate friendly’ beef, but no one has seen the data
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here.? About five miles south of Broken Bow, in the heart of central Nebraska, thousands of cattle stand in feedlots at Adams Land & Cattle […]
In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think
A little more than two years ago, a clean energy record was broken. For the first time, a regional transmission organization met more than 90% of its electric demand, called load, with renewable power. But if you don’t follow the electric industry closely, you might be surprised where it happened. On March 29, 2022, Southwest […]
Government transparency decisions await Kentucky lawmakers when they reconvene Friday
FRANKFORT — A bill that open government advocates warn would introduce loopholes into Kentucky’s open records law could make its way to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk when lawmakers return to Frankfort later this week.? The final two days of the 60-day regular session — Friday and Monday — are set aside to consider gubernatorial […]
U.S. judge sides with Kentucky attorney general in ruling against highway emissions rule
A federal judge has sided with Kentucky’s Republican attorney general in ruling that the Biden administration overstepped by requiring states to set goals for reducing heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from vehicle tailpipes and other sources on federal highways.? U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton, of Kentucky’s Western District, in a Monday order said the Federal Highway […]
Biden’s natural gas export pause fought over by U.S. House panel
Members of a U.S. House panel on climate and energy issues split along party lines Tuesday about the Biden administration’s recent move to pause new approvals of liquified natural gas exports. Republicans called a hearing to challenge the Energy Department’s announcement last month that it would indefinitely bar new LNG permits to non-free-trade partners as […]
Utilities plan onsite gas storage to improve reliability; critics warn of costs, safety concerns
As the U.S. electric power system has become more reliant on natural gas plants, it’s also become more vulnerable to gas system failures. During Winter Storm Elliott in 2022, about 18% of the anticipated power supply in the portion of the grid that serves the entire eastern half of the United States, called the Eastern […]
Floodplain buyouts in Kentucky are ‘the fastest in the program’s history’
When floodwaters rushed through the town of McRoberts in July 2022, Kimberly Sapp-Allen and her husband packed what they could in their vehicles, left their home that sat along the rising creek and headed for higher ground. The floods scoured several counties across Eastern Kentucky, including Letcher County — where Sapp-Allen lives. In the end, […]
Ahead of climate conference, U.S. House panel tussles over curbs on emissions
Republicans on a U.S. House panel argued Wednesday against aggressive moves to meet carbon reduction goals, saying U.S. fossil fuel companies are working to make their products cleaner. Democrats on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals countered that to achieve further reductions, federal policies should be continued […]
Kentucky among the most vulnerable states to climate change impacts, according to new research
A new index measuring 184 categories of public data across more than 70,000 census tracts in the country shows Kentucky communities, particularly Eastern Kentucky, among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.? The U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index, created in collaboration by researchers at Texas A&M University and the nonprofit advocacy group Environmental Defense […]