Environmental

EPA head Scott Pruitt will likely go down as one of the most controversial agency chiefs in that agency's history of almost 50 years. The former Oklahoma attorney general, who sued the EPA 14 times on behalf of fossil-fuel interests during the Obama administration, has a radically different view of...

EPA head Scott Pruitt told miners in Kentucky on Monday that he intends to begin dismantling former President Barack Obama's signature climate-change agenda effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants. Standing alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pruitt told...

Much of the news out of Washington, D.C., these days has to do with the possibility of political scandal. But the wheels of government keep turning, and significant changes are happening at numerous agencies charged with missions as diverse as collecting intelligence, supporting education, and...

Last Wednesday, a broad coalition of environmental groups sued the Trump Administration over an executive order that lifted a moratorium on issuing new leases for coal mining on federal lands. That order would have eliminated the requirement for an environmental impact study on the impacts of any...

Given the current political landscape in Washington, it's not unreasonable to worry about the future of U.S. efforts to combat climate change. The Trump Administration has embarked on an explicit mission to undo all Obama Administration efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Climate-science deniers in...

It was clear well before November's election that candidate Donald Trump did not believe in the accepted science of climate change. He referred to it using an excremental epithet, and also claimed that it was a Chinese hoax created to hurt the U.S. Scientists around the world and the majority of...

Since the election of Donald Trump, considerable attention has focused on how a candidate who campaigned on promoting fossil fuels would treat the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies charged with regulating those industries. But potential changes to the EPA do not come solely...

Even with a new leader apparently at odds with its mission, the Environmental Protection Agency continues to function on some level. On Thursday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said carbon dioxide released by human activity is not a major cause of climate change, directly contradicting the...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is emerging as one of the government entities most targeted by the new Trump Administration for change. In this case, if reports of the administration's draft budget proposal are accurate, change means wholesale elimination of staff, funding, and programs...

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump vowed to "bring back coal" as part of a larger program to encourage greater production of fossil fuels. But the coal industry believes it needs more than an ostensibly friendly administration in Washington to survive. With coal production down and electric...

Despite scientists having reached a consensus years ago, considerable debate still appears to be raging over the reality of climate change. Climate-science deniers can count several people appointed to key environmental-regulatory positions in the incoming presidential administration among their...

If you're planning on buying a green car, have you ever wondered if you'll be making the purchase at a green dealership? As cars get more efficient, the carbon emissions related to the infrastructure for manufacturing and selling them should be considered as well. Honda has made some efforts in...

Seven days before the advent of a new presidential administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has locked in planned auto-emission standards through 2025. The emission limits tie directly to fuel-efficiency rules issued by the NHTSA, effectively requiring those rules to stay the same...

Methane emissions may rival carbon dioxide as a climate-change instigator, new research suggests.

A new study estimates global carbon emissions did not increase dramatically in 2016.

If there were any doubt that president-elect Donald Trump supports fossil fuels and does not believe in the scientific consensus of climate change, his pick to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should put it to rest. Yesterday, he named Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, a...

All countries have to deal with emissions from diesel vehicles, but African nations have it worse than most. They often have few emissions regulations, something Swiss trading firms take advantage of by importing fuel that's too dirty for sale in other regions. These firms often serve as both...

A pact among state attorneys general investigating ExxonMobil mandates confidentiality.

The preliminary Volkswagen diesel settlement includes not only provisions for buybacks and vehicle modifications, but also funding for mitigation of the environmental damage caused by excess pollution from the affected TDI cars. A public comment period for the settlement—which received...

The G20 nations will not commit to a deadline for phasing out fossil-fuel subsidies.