All Environment
- Obama seeks to create world's largest marine sanctuary
With the aim of protecting marine wildlife, President Obama is considering greatly expanding the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, an ocean preserve that lies between Hawaii and Samoa.
- World Cup 2014: How much energy does it take?
The World Cup 2014 could be the most-watched and most expensive tournament in soccer history. But, it could also be the most-energy consuming World Cup in history.
- Iraq crisis: Oil-rich Kurdistan capitalizes on chaos
As Iraq continues to deal with the militant Sunni group ISIS, Kurdistan's leaders are using the situation for leverage against Iraq's government. Kurdistan's oil prospects, however, remain in question.
- EPA emissions limits? Brazil sees potential gains.
Brazil's state of Acre, preserving the Amazonian rain forest, expects demand for its carbon credits to increase because of new US EPA limits on greenhouse gases. But any boost will be indirect.
- Can an open-source Tesla Motors spur electric car growth?
Tesla Motors' Elon Musk has opened up his company's patents, hoping automakers will start putting more electric cars on the road. But electric cars have a long road ahead before going mainstream.
- Crude oil prices hit 10-month highs on Iraq crisis
Crude oil prices continued their rise Friday as investors feared a spreading insurgency in Iraq would disrupt production. The violence in Iraq is centered away from major oil-producing regions, but it is still putting upward pressure on crude oil prices.
- Carbon pricing won't solve climate change. Innovation will.
Putting a price on carbon doesn't work because no one wants to pay the real cost of using fossil fuels. But funding R&D and demonstration projects that lower clean-energy costs will create real economic incentives to fight climate change.
- ISIS advances put Iraq oil rebound on hold
ISIS attacks in Iraq have sent oil prices soaring and cast further doubt on long-term growth in Iraq's oil sector. As recently as February, oil production in Iraq was booming – a sign of economic progress that traders worry will be reversed.
- Is the nation’s 'greenest' utility green enough? Boulder says no.
Boulder, Colo., wants to take over generating its electric power from Xcel Energy it says the utility relies too much on fossil fuels. Xcel, a leader in renewables, has gone to court to stop the takeover.
- Oil prices rise as Iraq crisis threatens OPEC oil balance
Oil prices jumped Thursday morning on fears that violence in Iraq could disrupt output. The unrest could send oil prices even higher and undermine the balanced oil supply and demand OPEC has enjoyed in recent years.
- Ukraine-Russia gas talks stall. Why they won't fail.
Gas talks between Russia and Ukraine threaten to fall apart as European officials fail to broker an agreement between the two over a longstanding gas price dispute. Ultimately, Russia and Europe have too much to lose to let them fail.
- Iraq crisis: What the Mosul siege means for OPEC
Sunni militants attacked Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, while Iraq and other OPEC countries meet in Vienna. The world has come to take Iraqi oil for granted, Cunningham writes, and a significant loss of oil production would send prices skyrocketing.
- Are we throwing away an energy solution?
Burning all the US's landfill waste would provide an extra 33 gigawatts – the equivalent of 33 large electricity generating plants, says Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann, founder of Zero Landfill Initiative. Could trash help power the future?
- OPEC meeting: How the oil landscape has changed
OPEC will meet on June 11 in Vienna with world oil demand rising and production slowing down. Six months ago, it seemed like the oil industry reached 'the age of abundance,' but why did it change?
- How dust in the wind may be quickening Greenland's ice melt
Greenland's massive ice sheet is losing between 200 billion and 450 billion tons a year. The dust effect is adding another 27 billion tons a year to these losses, a new study estimates.
- Miami channel dredge to lay waste to coral, say researchers
Despite researchers' petitions for time to rescue a field of coral, the US Army Corp of Engineers refused to wait any longer on Friday to begin deepening a Miami channel.
- Jamestown: Could rising seas reclaim America's history?
Rising sea levels in Jamestown Island, Va., threaten America's first permanent European settlement.
- Ukraine crisis creates new rifts in Europe as G7 shuns Russia
G7 leaders condemned Russia's use of energy as a weapon, and reaffirmed European efforts to secure and diversify their own supplies. Russia-Europe energy partnerships won't fade anytime soon, but the Ukraine crisis is pushing Western Europe to look inward for new energy supply while Southeast Europe charts its own course.
- Monitor BreakfastObama's clean-energy push, new EPA rule will prevail, predicts Podesta
'We're committed to getting this done,' the White House's John Podesta said Friday of a new EPA proposal to limit carbon emissions from power plants. A business report showing a hit to the US economy contained 'fantasy job loss numbers,' he said.
- What’s powering cleaner air? Natural gas.
America's development of new natural gas supplies has helped reduce per capita emissions to their lowest level since 1961. But to take full advantage of abundant supplies, the US needs to expand gas-delivery infrastructure for the Northeast and elsewhere and set market rules that encourage the expanded use of natural gas.