"A federal appeals court ruling on New Year’s Eve blocked Hawaii from enforcing a climate change tourist tax on cruise ships passengers, a levy that was set to go into effect at the start of 2026."
"Hundreds of Arctic rivers and streams are turning bright red-orange, not from chemical pollution, but from naturally occurring iron spilling from long-frozen ground as temperatures warm."
"Ice blocks drift past Tristen Pattee’s boat as he scans the banks of Northwest Alaska’s Kobuk River for caribou. His great uncle Ernest steadies a rifle on his lap. It’s the last day of September, and by every measure of history and memory, thousands should have crossed by now. But the tundra is empty, save for the mountains looming on the horizon — the Gates of the Arctic National Park."
"A federal lawsuit filed Thursday challenges an oil company’s new permit to explore for oil in a remote region of the Arctic in Alaska, arguing that such activity threatens the tundra’s ecosystem and the caribou herds that Native communities rely on for sustenance."
"Alaska’s Republican senators are splitting with the Trump administration over an expansive offshore lease plan that would open large swaths of the state’s waters to drilling."
Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here.
"Congressional lawmakers on Thursday voted to repeal a Biden-era policy that limited the amount of land in an Alaska wildlife refuge that could be leased for oil and gas development. The U.S. Senate voted 49-45 to approve a resolution that revokes the Interior Department's 2024 rule governing energy development on the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
"The Trump administration said Thursday it is rescinding federal rules that were aimed at protecting from future oil and gas leasing vast swaths of a petroleum reserve in Alaska that provide key habitat for migrating birds, caribou and other wildlife."
"As federal incentives for electric vehicles are drying up, will the state still expand its fledgling charging network?"
"Warmer waters in the Bering Sea caused snow crabs to crash. Now, scientists are racing to predict the future of the lucrative fishery"
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