The 3,122-megawatt Civaux Nuclear Power Plant in France, which opened in 1997.

Opinion

Why Nuclear Power Must Be Part of the Energy Solution

Many environmentalists have opposed nuclear power, citing its dangers and the difficulty of disposing of its radioactive waste. But a Pulitzer Prize-winning author argues that nuclear is safer than most energy sources and is needed if the world hopes to radically decrease its carbon emissions.

By Richard Rhodes

Biodiversity

After a 400-Year Absence, A Rare Ibis Returns to European Skies

The northern bald ibis is critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 existing in the wild. But a German group is reintroducing these birds in Europe, where they once thrived, and is using ultralight aircraft to lead them on migrations south toward the Mediterranean.

By Christian Schwägerl
Climate

Why This U.S. Climate Scientist Is Leaving Trump’s America for France

With the Trump administration spurning efforts to combat global warming, the French government has invited U.S. scientists to bring their climate research to France. In an interview with Yale e360, scientist Ben Sanderson talks about why he is taking France up on its offer.

By Diane Toomey
Opinion

Is the Global Era of Massive Infrastructure Projects Coming to an End?

The world’s wild places have been badly carved up by decades of roadbuilding, dam construction, energy exploitation, and other megaprojects. Now, as the financial community, environmental groups, and local citizens increasingly oppose big infrastructure development, the tide of environmental destruction may be turning.

By William Laurance

Holstein cows feeding at a dairy farm in Merced, California.

Solutions

How Eating Seaweed Can Help Cows to Belch Less Methane

Emissions from the world's nearly 1.5 billion cattle are a major source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Now, researchers in California and elsewhere are experimenting with seaweed as a dietary additive for cows that can dramatically cut their methane production.

By Judith Lewis Mernit

E360 Digest

Digest Archive →

Investment in Renewables Dropped 7 Percent Globally in 2017

Global investment in renewable energy fell 7 percent last year to $318 billion and is expected to drop again in 2018, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based energy data and research group. Meanwhile, investment in fossil fuels increased for the first time since 2014, reaching $790 billion. More about Investment in Renewables Dropped 7 Percent Globally in 2017 →
Fossil Fuel Interests Have Outspent Environmental Advocates 10:1 on Climate Lobbying

More than $2 billion was spent on lobbying climate change legislation in the United States from 2000 to 2016, with the fossil fuel industry, transportation companies, and utilities outspending environmental groups and the renewable energy industry 10 to 1, according to a new analysis published in the journal Climatic Change.
More about Fossil Fuel Interests Have Outspent Environmental Advocates 10:1 on Climate Lobbying →
How Rising Seas Could Threaten the Internet

Climate change poses a serious threat to the United States’ internet infrastructure, with more than 4,000 miles of fiber optic cable expected to be under water within 15 years from just 1 foot of sea level rise, according to a new analysis by scientists at the University of Oregon and University of Wisconsin-Madison. More about How Rising Seas Could Threaten the Internet →

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interview

“If environmental organizations continue to ignore 35 to 40 percent of the population, they’re going to be in a world of hurt…”

How Green Groups Became So White and What to Do About It

If environmental organizations want to become racially diverse, says sociologist Dorceta Taylor, they need to change the way they perceive people of color. In an e360 interview, she talks about how the conservation movement must transform itself to become more inclusive and effective.

By Diane Toomey

Fish tanks in the basement of a home in Erie, Colorado containing dozens of threatened species, including some that are extinct in the wild.

Biodiversity

Basement Preservationists: Can Hobbyists Save Rare Fish from Extinction?

Freshwater fish are the most endangered group of vertebrates on earth. Now, networks of home-based aquarists are trying to save some of the most threatened species, keeping them alive in basement aquariums in the hope they might someday be reintroduced into the wild.

By Adam Welz

Policy

At Last, the Shipping Industry Begins Cleaning Up Its Dirty Fuels

By 2020, the global shipping fleet will be required to slash the noxious emissions from thick, sulfur-laden “bunker” fuel, a move that is expected to sharply reduce air pollution and prevent millions of cases of childhood asthma and other respiratory ailments.

By Maria Gallucci
Oceans

As North Sea Oil Wanes, Removing Abandoned Rigs Stirs Controversy

With thousands of North Sea oil wells soon to be shut down, ecologists are warning that removing the gargantuan platforms could be more environmentally harmful than leaving them in place. The rigs, it turns out, have nurtured cold-water corals and other marine life.

By Fred Pearce
Forests

Does a Fire-Ravaged Forest Need Human Help to Recover?

Rising temperatures and more frequent forest fires have reignited a longstanding debate among foresters, ecologists, and conservationists: Is logging and other human intervention needed to regenerate severely burned woodlands, or should these charred lands be left to revive on their own?

By Ed Struzik