Donald Trump’s administration is considering invoking sweeping wartime powers to pump up coal and nuclear power plants that are losing out against competitors in the natural gas industry.
The world continued to double down on renewable power in 2017. Or at least, China did. Certain wealthy nations (ahem, U.S.) could stand to step up their game.
Canada has always been defined by the vastness of its territory and its wealth of natural resources, especially in comparison to the small population. But today, the nation is in the first stages of a scramble for a new kind of digital resource. Drawn by Canada’s low electricity prices, cryptocurrency miners are…
House Science, Space and Technology Committee chairman and man who calls hearings to challenge basic climate science Lamar Smith struck an unusual tune in a hearing that garnered little attention earlier this week. Apparently, despite all evidence to the contrary, Smith is concerned about reducing carbon emissions and…
Nuclear fusion is like a way-more-efficient version of solar power—except instead of harnessing energy from the rays of a distant sun, scientists create miniature suns in power plants here on Earth. It would be vastly more efficient, and more importantly, much cleaner, than current methods of energy production. The…
The cloud of radiation that swept through Europe in recent weeks originated at a nuclear facility in either Russia or Kazakhstan, according to a report put out France’s nuclear safety institute. The levels of radiation were never dangerous—at least for Europeans living outside of the immediate area affected—but the…
Alina Saenz’s house on the outskirts of San Juan glows warmly in the pitch black nights that have plagued Puerto Rico in the two weeks since Category 4 Hurricane Maria devastated the island. The imperceptible hum of the refrigerator, fans to circulate the humid tropical air and nightly news on the television were all…
Each day, our Sun pours its energy down onto the Earth’s surface, turning vast expanses of open water into vapor. New research shows the surprising degree to which this clean and renewable process could be used to produce electricity—enough, perhaps, to meet 70 percent of US energy needs. But before this energy…
In August 2016, fewer coal miners were employed in the US than anytime in modern history: just 48,600. A year later, little more than 50,000 miners are working, but the industry is still in dire straits—layoffs and mine shutdowns have led to rampant unemployment in West Virginia, Kentucky and Montana. President Trump…
Contrary to what conventional beauty standards may lead us to believe, naked mole rats are good. They’re highly social animals who live communally. They’re ruled by a loyal queen. They’re also seemingly impervious to cancer and don’t age. But still, these little subterraneans get a bad rap for not looking like puppies…
On Thursday, EPA head Scott Pruitt visited the Harvey Mine, a coal mine in western Pennsylvania, to regurgitate some of his favorite talking points—that the EPA is an unhinged, anti-coal agency that he’s reining in through systematic self-destruction. Pruitt promised the “regulatory assault” on coal was over, saying…
On Tuesday, President Trump is expected to begin the process of dismantling Obama’s environmental legacy, including his signature climate action policy, the Clean Power Plan. According to Reuters, Trump will sign an executive order compelling the Environmental Protection Agency to review and rewrite the plan, which…
As expected, President Trump’s proposed budget is a nightmare for science, the environment, and parts of the technology industry. Welcome to the future, where our long national nightmare may not even have the funds to keep chugging along.
America’s coal mining industry has cooled down in recent years. It lost over 200,000 jobs between 2014 and 2016; the latest sorry statistic to cap what’s been a massive downward trend for decades. Expounding on his plan to restore the industry in the “America First Energy Plan,” Trump has promised increased fossil…
An alarming new study has identified 6,600 chemical spills related to hydraulic fracturing in just four US states over a ten year period. The finding shows that fracking is far messier than previously assumed, and that stricter safety measures need to be established and enforced.
On Thursday, President Trump signed legislation blocking the Stream Protection Rule, a key Obama regulation that limited mining companies from dumping excess spoil into waterways. Waste from mining operations can contain sulfur-bearing minerals which, mixed with water, create what the EPA calls “acid mine drainage.”…
A remotely-controlled robot sent to inspect and clean a damaged reactor at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant had to be pulled early when its onboard camera went dark, the result of excess radiation. The abbreviated mission suggests that radiation levels inside the reactor are even higher than was reported last week—and…
Radiation levels inside a damaged reactor at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant have hit a record high, and are the worst since the plant suffered a triple meltdown nearly six years ago. The latest readings now pose a serious challenge as officials prepare to dismantle the stricken facility.
A 720-foot-tall wind turbine featuring 35 ton blades has just set a new world record, producing a whopping 216,000 kWh of energy over a span of 24 hours. That’s enough to power an average American household for twenty years.
It’s been a rough week for environmentalists in America, but buried amidst a torrent of reports detailing the Trump administration’s war on climate science, one uplifting energy story has garnered comparably little attention: the United States may be getting a second offshore wind farm.
