Explore the rise of water as a geopolitical weapon influencing global security, economics, and environmental stability in 2026.
Politics
Lawmakers table bill to expand the use of oilfield wastewater and shoot down another that would restrict drone use around “critical” infrastructure.
The “Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence” — updated for the first time in 15 years — eliminates some 90 pages about climate science and comes just as numerous climate cases make their way through state and federal courts.
With its plans to revoke the endangerment finding, the administration is gambling that the U.S. Supreme Court will allow it to completely avoid regulating the nation’s top greenhouse gas sources.
Climate and security experts say the plan is outdated and could place the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage.
Emissions have plunged 75% since communist times in the birthplace of big oil – but for some the transition has been brutal.
Melissa Hoffer set out to put a price tag on the state’s net-zero climate commitment and develop a menu of options for how to pay for it. That price is still not yet known more than a year after the report was due.
A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off.
Attorneys from the law firm Paul, Weiss are no longer representing the oil company in at least four lawsuits that ask the fossil fuel industry to pay for climate impacts.
Russia continues to bomb Ukraine’s fossil-fueled power plants, leaving much of the nation shivering during a brutal winter. But Ukraine’s new emphasis on developing decentralized power — from solar panels to wind turbines — is advancing an unexpected green energy transition.
Stockpiles at coal-burning utilities are flush following a mild winter and increasing competition from renewables and natural gas.

Trump team: EPA pushback fueled fed-firing rule
10 February
The regulation is designed to swiftly remove policymaking civil servants who undermine the president’s directives.
A new report suggests Illinois could be on the hook for plugging and cleaning up thousands of inactive and abandoned oil and gas wells scattered across the state.
The Clear Horizons Act would enshrine the climate goals enacted by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2019 executive order to lower New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions to a 2005 target level.
Lack of a state floodplain policy enabled oil companies to build in parts of Texas hit by an epic inundation less than 30 years ago.
Energy Star, the program that helps guide consumers to more energy-efficient appliances and electronics, has survived President Donald Trump’s attempt to kill it.
Rising GDP continues to mean more carbon emissions and wider damage to the planet. Can the two be decoupled?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said its initial proposal for 15 extra months wasn't enough and instead is giving companies 33 additional months beyond deadlines set by the Biden.
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Copyright © 2017 Environmental Health Sciences. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2017 Environmental Health Sciences. All rights reserved.

















