At the annual gathering in Boston this week of one of America’s oldest scientific societies, the discussions touched on threats to humankind: runaway artificial intelligence, toxic “forever chemicals,” the eventual end of the universe. But the most urgent threats for many scientists were the ones aimed at them, as the Trump administration slashes the federal … Read more
A Texas county is taking steps to declare a state of emergency and seek federal assistance over farmland contaminated with harmful “forever chemicals,” as concerns grow over the safety of fertilizer made from sewage. Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, has been roiled since county investigators found high levels of chemicals called PFAS, or per- … Read more
As the Trump administration continues to withhold billions of dollars for climate and clean energy spending — despite two federal judges ordering the money released — concerns are growing that the United States government could skip out on its legal commitments. Typically, when the federal government spends money through a grant or a loan program … Read more
On Jan. 19, almost two weeks after the Eaton fire broke out near Altadena, Calif., technicians for Southern California Edison began testing electrical equipment near the origin of the blaze. They soon noticed small white flashes appearing on high-voltage transmission lines when power was being restored — signs that the system was functioning abnormally. The … Read more
When Andreas Fichtner unspooled a fiber-optic cable into a deep hole in Greenland’s ice, he wasn’t expecting to discover a whole new way that glaciers move. Even when the cable started sending back data, his first reaction was skeptical. “Rubbish,” Dr. Fichtner, a professor of seismology and wave physics at the Swiss university ETH … Read more
In less than three weeks, President Trump has thrown the U.S. clean energy industry into chaos, with much of the economic damage hitting Republican states and districts. In a quest to eliminate any funding linked to climate change, the Trump administration has frozen federal grants for everything from battery factories to electric school buses and … Read more
The draft was almost ready for submission, due in less than a month. More than 150 scientists and other experts had collectively spent thousands of hours working on the report, a first-of-its-kind assessment of nature across the United States. But President Trump ended the effort, started under the Biden administration, by executive order. So, on … Read more
The largest refinery in the Midwest will have an unpalatable choice if President Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian oil: Pay more for the crude that it transforms into gasoline and diesel, or slash production. Both options threaten to increase prices at the pump, albeit modestly if Mr. Trump sticks with the 10 percent rate he … Read more
Ford Motor could be forced to lay off employees if the Trump administration ends subsidies and other financial support for electric vehicle manufacturing, the company’s chief executive said on Tuesday. Ford has invested heavily in factories to produce batteries and electric vehicles in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, Jim Farley, the Ford chief executive, said … Read more
Federal electricity regulators on Tuesday approved a proposal from the nation’s largest electric grid operator that could effectively give new natural gas power plants priority in connecting to the grid over renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The decision, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, comes as the United States faces the prospect of … Read more