Decarbonization
Corn’s clean-energy promise is clashing with its climate footprint
Corn dominates U.S. farmland and fuels the ethanol industry. But the fertilizer it relies on drives emissions and fouls drinking water.
Ames Alexander/Floodlight
Ames is an investigative reporter at Floodlight.
Weather
Pentagon retreats from climate fight even as heat and storms slam troops
For decades, the military treated climate change as a threat. Now it’s backing away from plans to protect people and bases from extreme weather.
Leaving Home
Building toward disaster: Growth collides with rising seas in Charleston
A billion-dollar seawall may shield the city’s wealthy core — but not the vulnerable communities beyond it. Who will be forced to move?
Electric Vehicles
EV factory plans still alive in Georgia, backers insist, but big hurdles remain
A proposed plant in Fort Valley, Ga., is moving ahead, a Florida businessman said, but electric vehicle factories in Oklahoma and Arkansas appear dead.
Decarbonization
A startup promised 45,000 EV jobs to struggling towns. They’re still waiting.
Desperate for jobs, three communities embraced a bold electric vehicle promise. Now, they’re left with questions—and no jobs.
Inflation Reduction Act
Floods are swallowing their village. But for them and others, the EPA has cut the lifeline.
The Trump administration has pulled more than $2.7 billion in climate grants, hitting vulnerable communities the hardest.
Sustainable Building
This little-known ‘dark roof’ lobby may be making your city hotter
As cities heat up, reflective roofs could lower energy bills and help the climate. But dark roofing manufacturers are waging a quiet campaign to block new rules.
Inflation Reduction Act
Trump’s USDA resurrects one climate grant program, kills another
Many farmers who spent big on solar are finally getting reimbursed. But another climate program for agriculture is headed for the morgue.
Renewables
Even in red America, clean energy is booming. But now, huge renewable projects are dead.
Political uncertainty under Trump has dampened the market, with nearly $8 billion in clean energy projects scrapped or cut back already this year.
Decarbonization
Cement is a climate menace. Under Trump, fixing it just got harder.
The cement industry has set ambitious goals to cut its carbon footprint. But as federal funding dries up, its path to a greener future is less clear.
Inflation Reduction Act
Farmers in Trump country were counting on clean energy grants. Then the government moved the goalposts.
Thousands of farmers and small rural businesses remain in limbo as USDA demands grant rewrites favoring fossil fuels over renewables.