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Iowa’s Cancer Crisis Linked to Pesticides, PFAS, Fertilizer and Radon, Report Says - Inside Climate News The state is one of a handful where cancer diagnoses are on the rise.

Pollution is making Iowans sick, a new report from the Harkin Institute and the Iowa Environmental Council finds.

Two Wildly Different Data Centers Reveal a ‘Fork in the Road’ on How to Meet Electricity Demand - Inside Climate News A Michigan data center would use renewables and flexibility to meet most demand. An Ohio project goes in a different direction.

A planned data center in Michigan would use renewables and flexibility to meet most of its demand, while a planned facility in Ohio could go in a different direction—highlighting a contrast in choices between emphasizing cleaner energy sources and relying on fossil fuels.

China’s Clean Energy Push Has Made It Less Vulnerable to Energy Shocks, Including the Iran War - Inside Climate News As countries scramble to secure oil, gas and fertilizer, China’s bets on clean energy and coal are cushioning its dependence on oil and gas imports.

China is highly dependent on Middle Eastern oil and gas. But its pivot to electrification and clean energy is helping protect the country from the fallout of the war in Iran.

EPA Hits 40-Year Lows in Staffing After Trump Targets Its Public Health Experts - Inside Climate News An Inside Climate News analysis of just-released federal workforce data shows more than 4,000 employees departed between January 2025 and January 2026, including a majority of team leaders.

New federal workforce figures show the radical change at EPA in the first year of the Trump administration Among the 4,000 employees who departed in 2025 were scientists responsible for breakthroughs in testing for health risks of biopersistent chemicals.

Former EPA Staff Detail Expanding Pollution Risks Under Trump - Inside Climate News The Trump administration’s relentless rollback of public health and environmental protections has allowed widespread toxic exposures to flourish, warn experts who helped implement safeguards now under...

Exposure to pollution is a choice, former EPA experts say in a new report. And Trump’s EPA is choosing to make Americans sicker.

Grassroots Resistance to Data Centers Rises in Pennsylvania - Inside Climate News As community protests grow, both Democratic and Republican officials are proposing more industry regulation.

“Everybody has pretty much had enough”: Why Pennsylvania residents are organizing to stop data center development.

Trump administration denies Illinois appeal for summer storms disaster relief

The Trump administration has officially denied an appeal from the state of Illinois for disaster relief funds for summer storms last year that affected 438,000 residents in five Illinois counties.

A California Climate Expert Is Working to Restore Climate Risk Scores Deleted by Zillow - Inside Climate News The real estate website scrubbed the data under pressure from California’s real estate brokers and agents who were concerned about its impact on home prices. Neil Matouka thinks prospective buyers hav...

Zillow scrubbed climate risk data under pressure from California’s real estate brokers and agents who were concerned about its impact on home prices. A plugin in development would restore that data.

Extreme weather has spurred national blood supply shortage — here’s how to help

The American Red Cross warned of a severe blood supply shortage on Jan. 20, ahead of extreme winter weather conditions across the country. Local health care specialists urge people to get out and donate.

Chicago health care workers honor Alex Pretti, call for abolition of ICE and general strike

A group of hundreds, many of them nurses still wearing badges after walking from their nearby hospitals, performed a Nightingale Tribute — a traditional send off for nurses — for Alex Pretti, who was killed Saturday by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, fellow cardinals are critical of Trump administration foreign policy U.S. foreign policy raises “basic questions” about the morality of war and peace, Cupich and two other U.S. Catholic leaders write in a rare admonishment of a sitting president. This month, Pope Leo d...

Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, along with Roman Catholic leaders in Newark and D.C., calls out Trump admin for actions in Venezuela, threats toward Greenland.
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Southeast Side residents face Friday deadline for lawsuit over horrible smells

Residents say the odors are so strong they feel ill and it’s impossible to spend time outdoors. They have until Friday to decide if they want to be included or opt out of a class action lawsuit.

Protesters march in Little Village after ICE killing in Minneapolis

More than 100 people gathered under the Little Village arch Wednesday night for a vigil in solidarity with Minneapolis, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a driver earlier in the day.

There's a playlist at the end!

All the Young Punks’ best albums of 2025 Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override It takes guts to put out an album with 30 songs stretching almost two hours. Even as a longtime fan of Wilco’s frontman, it requires much more time than …

alltheyoungpunks.com/2025/12/30/a...

Jeff Tweedy's 30-song release Twilight Override was my favorite album of 2025. Check out the full list in comments.

From the Capitol to the clubhouse, a Sun-Times politics reporter took a swing at covering baseball

A Chicago Sun-Times political reporter fulfills a teenage dream by joining the White Sox beat, drawing parallels between sports and government coverage.

Re-remembering 11 Chicagoans who died in 2025

Chicago lost notable figures in 2025 — a larger-than-life artist, a basketball devotee nun, an Italian beef evangelist and a barkeep from Bridgeport among them.

An Obama quote gets installed atop presidential center

Construction workers at the Obama Presidential Center have begun installing 5-foot letters from a speech the former president delivered in 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights marches.

Suburban business cited for big oily asphalt spill in Chicago canal

The state accused a suburban business of breaking environmental laws after even more asphalt was found in the Sanitary and Ship Canal more than 10 months after a spill of almost a half million gallons of the hot liquid substance.

Propietario de planta del lado sureste pagará al estado de Illinois $125,000 por emisiones de gas dañino El productor de acero también acordó agregar nuevos controles de contaminación. Se le acusó de no controlar la cantidad de esas emisiones entre finales de 2021 y principios de 2022.

Propietario de planta del lado sureste pagará al estado de Illinois $125,000 por emisiones de gas dañino chicago.suntimes.com/la-voz/2025/...

The most pivotal moments of Operation Midway Blitz, captured by Sun-Times photographers

Raids, protests, shootings, arrests, the use of tear gas — Sun-Times photojournalists captured these moments in hundreds of photos over the last several months.

Illinois running low on power as AI data centers spike electricity demand

Illinois is running out of power. The news is a blow to Gov. JB Pritzker’s climate change-fighting goals too, as demand from AI data centers soars while wind and solar development stalls.

A. Finkl & Sons to pay state $125,000 over emissions of harmful nitrous oxide at Far Southeast Side plant

A. Finkl & Sons, a Chicago steelmaker, agreed to add pollution controls and pay Illinois $125,000 to settle accusations of releasing excessive harmful gas in violation of environmental laws.

Architect Frank Gehry who designed Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion and foot bridge dies at 96 The visionary West Coast architect had deeply rooted Chicago connections and friendships.

Latest column. In addition to his Millennium Park and other work, Gehry traveled the world with the Pritzkers, briefly held an ownership stake in the Inland Steel Building, was nicknamed 'Frankgooch' by Stanley Tigerman & appeared on The Simpsons.

Chicago, suburbs to get millions from PCB pollution settlement with Monsanto

Monsanto, once the largest makers of a now-banned class of chemicals, agreed to pay the state $120 million and potentially more, under a settlement announced by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Monday.

Pritzker pide ayuda federal por desastre de inundaciones tras tormentas de verano El gobernador solicita a la administración de Trump que proporcione dinero para ayudar a los sobrevivientes de inundaciones en Chicago, el Condado de Cook e Illinois.

Pritzker pide ayuda federal por desastre de inundaciones tras tormentas de verano chicago.suntimes.com/la-voz/2025/...

State official accuses Trump’s EPA of abandoning oily cleanup in Chicago canal

The state’s top environmental official says the feds stopped oversight of the cleanup of an oily mess in a Chicago waterway before the job was done.

PHOTOS: A pair of snowy owls have taken roost of Montrose Harbor Beacon Pier, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times