Inside Climate News

The budgets of the EPA, NOAA and FEMA would all be slashed, as would incentives for renewable energy.By Dylan BaddourPresident Trump’s annual budget request to Congress continues his administration’s defunding of climate change programs, environmental protection and renewable energy, slashing the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

In a Swiss forest lab, scientists tracked how beech and oak leaves cool themselves and pinpointed the moment heat and drought push them past their limits.By Bob BerwynIn spring and summer, the canopies of oak and beech forest gather into layers of green. Leaves flicker, shaping the flow of light and air. The effect is almost effortless, a shaded world held in balance. But as heatwaves and droughts intensify, that balance is starting to slip, and the first signs of stress often first appear in le

High costs, crowding and less-than-ideal land conditions make geothermal installations in downstate New York difficult—but not impossible.By Lauren DalbanThe Rev. Kurt Gerhard stood near the lectern in Christ Church Bronxville. Beneath him, a network of pipes stretched into a nearby parking lot, where boreholes have been drilled hundreds of feet into the ground. 

An Interior Department proposal would cancel BLM grazing leases for American Prairie's buffalo in Montana, but it could affect tribal and private herds across the West.By Blaine HardenPHILLIPS COUNTY, Mont.—The American buffalo—those ornery, hairy prairie beasts that reign as the official mammal of the United States—have joined wind turbines, electric cars and climate researchers in the cross hairs of the Trump administration.

The courts will decide if the first “climate superfund” law in the nation survives, a likely years-long battle. Vermont towns, meanwhile, must figure out how to pay for infrastructure that extreme weather won’t destroy.By Dana Drugmand, Nathaniel EisenRUTLAND, Vt.—Eighteen years after the first “climate tort” lawsuit was filed, no U.S. plaintiff has collected damages for the harms of global warming. Now, Vermont’s different legal strategy to make fossil fuel companies pay is facing its first rea

Go behind the scenes with managing editor Jamie Smith Hopkins and investigative reporter Katie Surma as they discuss how the Shuar people in Ecuador are combining ancestral knowledge and modern science to protect their forest from a Canadian mining giant.By Katie SurmaIn the copper-rich mountains of southeastern Ecuador, residents working as “paraecologists” are documenting the biodiversity of their territory – home to endangered species, waterfalls, and medicinal plants – not simply for the rec

Researchers studying the crustacean’s early life cycles find clues that can help the fishery that depends on them plan for a warmer future.By Nicole WilliamsCurt Brown spent his childhood harvesting lobsters along the coast of Maine. As an adult, he went on to earn a Master of Science from the University of Maine, observing the very waters where he spent years fishing for the crustaceans.  

“This idea that you can invoke a national security exemption when there is no threat to national security is not only brand new, it’s ridiculous.”Interview by Jenni Doering, Living on EarthFrom our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Jenni Doering with Pat Parenteau, an emeritus professor and senior fellow for climate policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Years of debate on electric vehicles in Virginia have slowed the transition, now under full Democratic control.By Charles PaullinRepublican state lawmakers want a temporary pause on Virginia’s 32 cent per gallon gas tax to help offset rising prices at the pump resulting from President Donald Trump’s ill-defined and unpopular war in Iran. 

Inclusion on the agency’s draft Contaminant Candidate List doesn’t require the EPA to monitor or set limits on microplastics in drinking water.By Anika Jane BeamerCiting the Trump administration’s promise to “Make America Healthy Again,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a draft list of contaminants maintained by the agency.

As Watts’ legal battle drags on, the Trump administration moves to delay a Biden-era rule designed to reform how farmers get paid.By Lisa SorgFAIRMONT, N.C.—Craig Watts unlocked a small room made of plywood, flipped on the lights and tapped the photos he had taped to the fuse box. 

Staff at a state-run clinic serving wildfire survivors in Hawaii have waited months for permanent jobs. Instead, they got another temporary contract.By Keerti GopalNancy Sidun has been counseling disaster survivors at a state-run mental health clinic in Lahaina, Hawaii, since just after the devastating wildfires in August 2023. Now, it’s her last week—and she wishes it hadn’t come to this. 

Utility profit margins are one reason why electricity bills are rising, the report says. Advocates say low-income communities are hardest-hit by the costs.By Amy GreenFlorida Power & Light’s profit margins consistently ranked among the highest in the nation over the past five years and topped other utilities’ in 2024 and 2025, with 27 cents of every dollar in revenue last year retained as profit, according to a new report.

The Trump administration says moving the Forest Service headquarters to Utah and shutting down 31 research stations will streamline operations and bring leaders west, where the forests are.By Marianne LavelleIn announcing one of the largest reorganizations in the 120-year history of the U.S. Forest Service, the Trump administration declared that there would be “no interruption or change” to the agency’s firefighting force.

In February, the Border Patrol requested access to Big Bend Ranch, Seminole Canyon and Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Parks. The access request included 14 parcels in Big Bend Ranch as first steps in a discussion of easement rights, leasing or purchasing the property.By Martha PskowskiFederal officials have already traced a path for a border barrier through multiple Texas state parks, according to documents obtained by Inside Climate News.

Texas can stake a claim as the new leader. California also has a strong case.By Dan GearinoOn a recent evening, batteries were the broad shoulders propping up California’s electricity grid.

The embattled resource had high-profile antagonists in Texas before Trump took office.By Arcelia MartinTexas state officials have led a successful and concerted effort to prevent offshore wind developments in the Gulf. Over the last few years, key leaders whose signatures and support are required to permit energy developments off the coast signaled to investors that such approvals would be unlikely. 

Alicia Johnson, the first Black woman ever elected to statewide office in Georgia, discusses rate hikes, transparency and her priorities for the Georgia Public Service Commission.By Ryan KrugmanThe Georgia Public Service Commission has approved six rate increases in three years and signed off on a sweeping expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, decisions that have reshaped Georgia’s energy landscape and contributed to rising electric bills for many households. Alicia Johnson, who holds a PhD i

Major reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are still on track, but procedural gridlock and a looming funding shortage hint at future problems.By Bob BerwynAt a time when cascading climate shocks are unfolding faster than scientists can track them, the UN’s scientific body that assesses global warming risks and response options is mired in procedural gridlock and staring at a potential budget crunch.

A national forecast underscored the elevated risk of wildfire across the West, which just experienced a climate change-fueled heatwave after a winter with little snow.By Jake BolsterOn the heels of one of the warmest and driest winters on record, parts of Wyoming show “significant fire potential” this spring and summer, according to a national forecast released on April 1.