Oil spills from the Iran war are visible from space | CNN Satellite images show oil swirling in the water after Iranian and US-Israeli strikes on oil facilities and ships. Experts fear an environmental catastrophe

Oil spills threaten environment and ocean species in the Persian Gulf: "these oils spills could have consequences for thousands of people, especially those living along the coast of Iran, including contaminating the fish they rely on for income and food" www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/c... @CNN

Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas

New data shows critical ocean current likely to collapse: "It shows that the ‘pessimistic’ models, which show a strong weakening of the Amoc by 2100, are, unfortunately, the realistic ones" @dpcarrington @Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“Economic Civil War”: States Push Laws to Shield Oil and Gas Companies From Accountability Most of the 15 bills being considered are part of a coordinated effort by groups linked to right-wing activist Leonard Leo.

Great reporting on the national effort to protect oil and gas companies in state courts: “Together, they threaten to remove long-standing tools for the public to hold corporations accountable.” ⁦@AbrahmL @propublica www.propublica.org/article/clim... ⁩

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Saved From Closure by Nonprofit

In Pittsburgh a nonprofit rescues a newspaper: “We want to provide high-quality independent journalism to communities that need it the most, and in doing that build a sustainable business model for local news at scale that can be replicated" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/b... @katie_robertson @nytimes

EPA scales back oversight on how toxic coal waste is stored Environmental advocates condemned the proposals as an affront to public health and the communities that could be exposed to pollution from nearby ash pits.

Protecting industry, not the environment: "The proposal, which would unravel protections put in place under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, would also make it easier to reuse coal ash for things like cement manufacturing and the production of drywall." www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Earthquake in Hungary: Orbán defeated after 16 years in power It's a stunning rebuke to one of the Western world's most entrenched populist leaders.

The pendulum of democracy swings against a dictator and Trump ally: “Hungarian voters have ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, delivering a stunning rebuke to one of the Western world's most entrenched populist leaders.” @axios
www.axios.com/2026/04/12/h...

Scientists discover new climate impacts: "New research shows that stalled atmospheric events linked to heatwaves, floods, and wildfires—driven by a phenomenon called quasi-resonant amplification (QRA)—have nearly tripled since the 1950s." @MichaelEMann penntoday.upenn.edu/news/extreme...

Microplastics are everywhere — even in the labs studying them. That's a problem for research Microplastics scientists are finding the tiny particles everywhere, even in their own research laboratories. So how do they know if what they're finding is in the sample or contamination from plastic fibers floating in the air?

“Plastic never goes away; it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces…the world has produced more than 9.2 billion tons of plastic since 1950" https://
latimes.com/science/story/2026-04-05/microplastics-have-been-found-everywhere-thats-problem-for-research @suzannerust @latimes

Coal's fortunes shift as Trump uses orders and taxpayer money to keep plants operating The Trump administration is using emergency powers and subsidies to keep U.S. coal plants running. Market analysts believe no coal plant closures are likely during President Donald Trump's term.

Dirty lifeline for coal: “Dozens of coal plants — emitting as much planet-warming pollution as 27 million cars — were expected to be retired…Now there may not be any more coal plants closing until after Trump leaves office” @matthewbrownap @mjphillis @AP apnews.com/article/trum...

Anthropic's latest Mythos model sends security shockwaves through Wall Street and the government: "Anthropic’s new powerful Claude Mythos model has significantly escalated AI disruption fears" ft.com/content/f120... via @ft

Scientists use genomics to save species. But better to cut carbon emissions: “Can you genetically engineer a few species that would be more tolerant? Absolutely. But that’s not an ecosystem...We’re not going to engineer our way out of climate change.” @a_hammerschlag @AP apnews.com/article/clim...

ProPublica journalists go on strike partly over use of AI Newsrooms around the country have struggled to set rules for AI. At ProPublica, which specializes in investigative journalism, the issue is especially fraught.

Propublica journalists on strike over AI: “An unexpected issue is at the heart of the dispute: How much of ProPublica’s work can be off-loaded to artificial intelligence.” @liamjscott @washingtonpost www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Judge admonishes the Pentagon: “The curtailment of First Amendment rights is dangerous at any time…Suppression of political speech is the mark of an autocracy, not a democracy — as the Framers recognized when they drafted the First Amendment.” @scottnover wapo.st/4dzKtn2

Emperor penguins have just been declared endangered New projections suggest the population of adult emperor penguins left in the wild, which stands at less than 600,000, could fall to half that by the 2080s.

Sad. Penguins threatened by a shifting climate: “Early ice breakup can lead to colonies falling into the ocean before chicks grow their waterproof feathers, causing the hatchlings to drown.”www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026...

Shifting away from civil rights: “Since the three Trump appointees joined the court, the share of cases won by the side advocating an expansion of civil rights fell to 44 percent.”
@jjouvenal @washingtonpost www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Live updates: Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon After Iran, the U.S. and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz due to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, per state media.

Not good. The cease fire is operating on fumes.
@AP
apnews.com/live/iran-wa... #IranWar‌

UK Electric Vehicle Sales Rise to Record High Amid Fuel Price Rise High gas prices are sparking more interest, but it remains to be seen whether EV sales will continue to surge.

Inevitable as the oil shock continues: “These figures come against the backdrop of the Iran war and rapidly rising petrol and diesel prices, fueling a surge of interest in electric vehicles”
@JamieNimmo63 @business www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Trump threatens to jail reporters if they don’t turn over Iran source President Donald Trump said in a Monday press briefing that he might force a news outlet he didn’t identify to reveal a source tied to the rescue of a U.S. airman.

“This is the same Trump administration…to seize the work and personal devices of…Hannah Natanson. It’s the same administration that arrested and charged Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for reporting in Minnesota. This administration thinks journalism is a crime.” wapo.st/4vf17ib @ScottNover

A massive arctic thaw is unleashing carbon frozen for thousands of years A sweeping new study reveals that as Arctic permafrost thaws, it is dramatically reshaping rivers and releasing vast amounts of ancient carbon that had been locked away for thousands of years. By anal...

Study: permafrost meltdown in the frozen north has global implications. "A sweeping new study reveals that as Arctic permafrost thaws, it is dramatically reshaping rivers and releasing vast amounts of ancient carbon..." www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... @ScienceDaily

Forest Service Will Close Research Stations That Study Wildfire Risk

This will be devastating to programs in the fire-prone west: "The agency is closing six research and development facilities in California, five in Mississippi, four in Michigan and three in Utah...it will also close all of its nine regional offices" @eniiler @nytimes www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/c...

The Trump EPA Official in Charge of Methane Regulations Helped Write Oil Industry Argument Against Those Rules Before becoming a top official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Aaron Szabo was a lobbyist for the oil and gas industry. Metadata shows he helped draft a trade group’s 2022 letter to the EPA ob...

Methane's inside man: a former oil and gas lobbyist now works with industry inside EPA to slash greenhouse gas rules. “Mr. Szabo assured us that the EPA is focused on these [methane] rules and doing everything that can be done to limit the damage..." www.propublica.org/article/trum... @alexcuadros

Republicans Seek Protections for Oil Giants Against Climate Lawsuits

Using the gun industry playbook, the oil industry-funded GOP pushes a “liability shield” to protect the fossil fuel industry from lawsuits. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/b... @dgelles @karenzraick @nytimes

My story on Substack's Money Trail: deadly black lung disease is on the rise. The Trump admin and the mining industry claim coal mines are safe and have blocked rules to cut black lung cases. “It’s safer to work in a U.S. coal mine than to work in a shopping mall ” open.substack.com/pub/themoney...

“Beautiful Clean Coal” Is Not Only Destroying the Planet, But It Is Also Killing Miners The number of coal miners has dropped precipitously, but they are still suffering from black lung disease at an alarming rate

My story on Substack's Money Trail: Trump pushes "beautiful clean coal" coal as miners suffer rising rates of deadly black lung disease. “Companies are not thinking about the coal miners. They’re thinking about coal.” substack.com/home/post/p-... @therockyfiles

Environmental groups accuse Mexico of lying about origins of oil spill in the Gulf Environmentalist groups say Mexico’s government lied about the origins of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, accusations authorities promptly denied.

Groups say oil pipeline causing major oil spill near Mexican coast: “All this lack of information is causing massive economic and environmental damage. So far no one has been held accountable” apnews.com/article/gulf...
@meganjanetsky @AP

Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers The vast data centers that power artificial intelligence are so energy hungry that they’re heating up their surroundings, according to new research. It’s an alarming finding given the number of data c...

Study: "surface temperatures increased by an average of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit after a data center started operations. In extreme cases, nearby temperatures increase by up to 16.4 degrees Fahrenheit." www.aol.com/articles/sci... @laurapaddison @CNN

Woah! The scientist who first warned Congress about the threat of climate change says this year's global heat will reach a stunning record of 1.7C. Scary if that comes true. Even scarier to think about what comes next.

U.S. panel votes to exempt Gulf of Mexico drilling from Endangered Species Act In its first meeting in three decades, the Endangered Species Committee voted to revoke protections for the endangered Rice’s whales and sea turtles.

Worse than Congress passing a 2018 MMPA waiver allowing dolphins to be killed for a huge river diversion. It was stopped. This should be too: “I don’t think anyone honestly thinks that there’s a legitimate national security issue here” www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Trump to revoke protections for endangered species in Gulf of Mexico President is convening so-called ‘God squad’ to override provisions of Endangered Species Act for ‘national security’

Endangered species survived the BP oil disaster, but maybe not Trump's "God squad" "...the administration may kill off dozens of protected species – from Rice’s whales and whooping cranes to sea turtles." @PomTerkins www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Prominent Climate Scientist Resigns From NASA, Citing Trump’s Attack on Science

The assault on science costs tens of thousands of jobs: "What I was completely unprepared for was an attack on science, because it is a means of finding out and telling the truth.”nytimes.com/2026/03/25/climate/kate-... www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/c...