Heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer worldwide. The International Labour Organization — a UN agency —estimated that more than 2.4 billion workers were exposed to excessive heat globally in 2020. Local and national governments have failed to catch up to the risk, which climate change is worsening.

In 2024, the Siletz Tribe and its partners got a major boost in the effort to reintroduce sea otters: through the Biden administration’s America the Beautiful grants they received a $1.56 million grant over three years to reintroduce the species to Oregon and Northern California. The return of sea otters (xvlh-t'vsh in the native Siltz language) to the coast of Oregon will not only impact the broader ecosystem of animal and kelp forest life, it will also affect

Tule elk are once again roaming the Sierra Nevada foothills southwest of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks after a historic land return that Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling the largest of its kind in the region’s history. The 17,030 acres made up of two former ranch properties were recently returned to the Tule River Indian Tribe.

Recent election results and evidence from states show misgivings about the growth of AI and the ramifications for energy costs and the environment. For people who live near proposed data centers, there is a sense of powerlessness, which Inside Climate News has documented across the country, including the backlash to a plan for a huge data center in Bessemer, Alabama.

Brazil, a country at the heart of the world’s climate future, has taken a major step by creating 10 newly recognized Indigenous territories. The announcement came at a moment of heightened emotions and protests both inside and outside the COP30 conference, underscoring how deeply land rights and climate justice are intertwined.

A broad coalition of EJ, environmental, and labor advocates, as well as port and industry representatives, honored Senator Lena Gonzalez (CA-33) as the 2025 Offshore Wind Champion, recognizing her steadfast commitment to advancing California’s clean energy goals through responsible offshore wind development. The coalition praised Senator Gonzalez’s pivotal role in securing Proposition 4 funding to modernize and electrify California’s ports, investments that will position the state as a national hub for offshore wind. More of this STORY.

Nov 17 - The Environmental Working Group has reached a settlement in its lawsuit alleging that Tyson Foods’ promises to reach “net-zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and sell “climate-smart” beef were not backed by sufficient actions to make those goals credible. Under the settlement, Tyson will refrain from making these environmental claims for five years..

The National Marine Fisheries Service finally announced Oct 31 that it will form a federal task force to curb Pacific humpback whale entanglements in fishing gear. Dozens of humpbacks are entangled off the Pacific Coast every year.

Nov 18 - Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a rule that would end federal protections for many wetlands and streams in the U.S., imperiling critical habitats and the clean drinking water of millions of Americans. The new rule could strip safeguards from more than 80% of all wetlands nationwide.

On November 5, Washington voters made an important decision for the future of climate action by deciding to uphold the state’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA), one of the nation’s most ambitious climate laws. This vote marked a huge loss for Republican efforts to dismantle the act, which Governor Jay Inslee signed into law in 2021.

Surging electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence is putting humanity’s climate goals out of reach, extending the life of fossil fuels and driving up emissions in the U.S. power sector while contributing to deadly extreme weather, according to two new reports. With power- and water-hungry data centers forecasted to come online at staggering speeds to serve big tech companies’ seemingly bottomless appetite for AI infrastructure..

Nov 12 - To answer the donors and funders question of how to identify effective reforestation organizations, Prof Karen Holl's lab at UCSC evaluated groups across four categories: permanence, ecological, social and financial, each backed by scientific literature on best practices. Holl and UCSC postdoctoral researcher Spencer Schubert spent more than a year evaluating “intermediary organizations,” the major groups that channel funding and resources to local tree-planting projects around the world.

California is pulling funds from the wildly popular e-bike program? The California Air Resources Board (CARB) just pulled the plug on the E-Bike Incentive Project, folding what’s left of the funding into Clean Cars 4 All, a car trade-in program. Instead of helping people replace car trips, the state is rewarding people who already own one.

We're proud to announce the relaunch of our Native Stewardship Corps (NSC). Through the NSC, we are not just caring for the land; we are cultivating the next generation of land stewards and creating sustainable pathways towards a bright future for young tribal members who have been displaced from their ancestral territory and traditions.

Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are proliferating globally. The submerged parts of their structures act as artificial reefs, providing new habitats and likely affecting fisheries resources. While acknowledging that the footprints of these structures may result in loss of habitat, usually soft sediment, we focus on how the artificial reefs established by OWFs affect ecosystem structure and functioning.

Jennifer Geerlings-Simons made history in July 2025 as Suriname's first female president. Within days of taking office, she signaled a sharp stance toward environmental protection and Indigenous rights—a timely shift for one of only three countries in the world that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it releases.

At the COP30 Leader’s Summit, in Belém, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility was officially launched during a high-level event with leaders of more than thirty countries – both tropical forest nations and sponsor countries – and the UN Secretary-General to mark this milestone in global environmental finance.

Australia launched a new plan to force energy companies to offer free electricity to households during the day to use excess solar power and push the grid away from coal and gas. The policy, called the “Solar Sharer” plan, aims to take advantage of the country’s vast rooftop solar panels. More than 4 million of Australia’s 10.9 million households have panels.