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Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Denver waterway improvements on one gulch could mean taking dozens of homes -- but plans are still in flux

DENVER — A federally backed project that aims to restore wildlife habitat and reduce flood risks along the South Platte River and two tributaries could displace dozens of residents in some of the west Denver neighborhoods most prone to flooding.

Draft plans for Weir Gulch — which envision the acquisition of up to 70 residential properties �...Read more

US oil and gas production surged to record highs under both Trump and Biden-Harris, despite very different energy goals

The United States is producing more oil and natural gas today than ever before, and far more than any other country. So, what roles did the Trump-Pence and Biden-Harris administrations play in this surge?

The answer might surprise you, given the way each has talked publicly about fossil fuels: former President Donald Trump embracing ...Read more

Andy Cross/The Denver Post/TNS

If Colorado voters ban mountain lion hunting, would the feline's population explode -- or stabilize on its own?

For decades, licensed hunters have killed hundreds of Colorado mountain lions every year to control the state’s population of the elusive feline.

Voters in November will decide whether to ban the practice, along with the trapping of bobcats. That prospect has set off a deluge of competing claims about what will happen if big-cat hunting ...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Silver State may become solar state under new federal plan

The U.S. is preparing for a gargantuan spike in the amount of energy it harnesses from the sun, and vastly changing the desert landscape of the Silver State’s public lands is a major component of that vision.

Within the Bureau of Land Management’s controversial plan that updates preferred solar zones for the first time in 12 years, Nevada ...Read more

Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News/TNS

Anchorage and tribe push for more studies on Eklutna River restoration as governor moves toward decision

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy will soon make a historic decision that could restore water to the long-dammed Eklutna River.

The decision could mark a turning point in a dispute between two electric utilities on one side, and the municipality of Anchorage and Native Village of Eklutna on the other.

The Chugach and Matanuska electric associations ...Read more

John Meyer/The Denver Post/TNS

How Front Range cow waste and car exhaust are hurting Rocky Mountain National Park's ecosystem

For decades, gases from car exhaust and cow waste have drifted from Colorado’s Front Range to harm plants, fish and wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park, and while a decades-long effort to slow the damage is working, it’s not moving as quickly as environmentalists hoped.

Nitrogen and ammonia, largely generated by heavy traffic along the...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Strawberry disease could threaten Virginia's spring harvest

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In a few weeks, strawberry growers in southeast Virginia will plant their crop to be harvested in May. But many are concerned about a disease that could drastically reduce next year’s yield.

Neopestalotiopsis disease, which first appeared several years ago in Florida, can cause light to dark brown spots on plant leaves...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Strawberry disease could threaten Hampton Roads' spring harvest

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In a few weeks, strawberry growers in southeast Virginia will plant their crop to be harvested in May. But many are concerned about a disease that could drastically reduce next year’s yield.

Neopestalotiopsis disease, which first appeared several years ago in Florida, can cause light to dark brown spots on plant leaves...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Boeing's beleaguered Starliner makes crewless return to Earth

Boeing’s Starliner completed its Crew Flight Test without its crew undocking Friday evening from the International Space Station and making the trip back to Earth.

The spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V back on June 5 with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams docking with the ISS the next ...Read more

Robert Schwemmer/NOAA/TNS

California to get first new national marine sanctuary in 32 years, banning offshore oil drilling along 116 miles of coast

A long-running effort by native tribes and environmentalists to establish the first new national marine sanctuary along California’s coastline in 32 years — the aquatic version of a new national park — where offshore oil drilling would be prohibited forever, reached a key milestone Friday.

The Biden administration published the final ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Boeing's beleaguered Starliner set for crewless trip home tonight

Boeing’s Starliner is set to complete its Crew Flight Test without its crew with an undocking planned for Friday evening from the International Space Station and a trip back to Earth.

The spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V back on June 5 with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams docking ...Read more

Daniel Jacobi II/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Death Valley, the Earth's hottest place, just had its hottest summer ever

The hottest place on Earth has officially made it through its hottest summer ever, Death Valley National Park rangers said on Thursday.

Death Valley, a popular national park across the California state line, experienced an average 24-hour temperature of 104.5 degrees, besting its previous record of 104.2 degrees, which was set in 2021 and 2018....Read more

Steven Oehlenschlager/Dreamstime/TNS

Anthrax outbreak kills 50 cattle and a moose in Wyoming, officials say. What to know

Dozens of cattle and a moose dropped dead amid an anthrax outbreak in southeastern Wyoming, officials say.

The bacterial disease was detected in multiple beef herds for the first time since the 1970s and in a moose for the first time since 1956, state livestock and wildlife officials said in news releases.

The Wyoming State Veterinary ...Read more

Utilities rely on dirty ‘peaker’ plants when power demand surges, but there are alternatives

The U.S. is nearing the end of one of its hottest summers on record. Across the nation, heat waves have driven peak electricity demand on some days to levels far exceeding seasonal averages.

Grid operators rely on so-called “peaker” plants to ensure they will have enough supply to meet these demand surges. Peaker units can start ...Read more

Oil and gas communities are a blind spot in America’s climate and economic policies

On a recent visit to Rangely, a small town in northwest Colorado, my colleagues and I met with the administrators of a highly regarded community college to discuss the town’s economy. Leaving the scenic campus, we saw families driving into the mountains in off-road vehicles, a favorite activity for this outdoors-loving community. With a ...Read more

Tina Rowden/Netflix/TNS/TNS

Netflix wants to shrink your favorite TV show's carbon footprint

There’s a soft, afternoon glow suffusing an intimate scene between the plucky protagonist and her wood-chopping, flannel-shirted love interest’s mother on the Vancouver set of the Netflix Inc. show, "Virgin River." A soapy drama centered on a nurse practitioner in a small, northern California town, "Virgin River" is the kind of show that ...Read more

Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office/TNS/TNS

Why do the flaming carcasses of electrocuted birds keep starting Colorado wildfires?

DENVER — In the past two months alone, the flaming carcasses of electrocuted birds have ignited at least three wildfires in Colorado.

While the phenomenon sounds straight out of a cartoon, it’s actually more common than you’d think, experts said. It’s a big enough problem that electric utility companies brainstorm efforts to mitigate ...Read more

David McNew/Getty Images North America/TNS

Critically endangered California condor shot and killed in Colorado

A rare California condor passing through southwestern Colorado was shot and killed this year, and state and federal authorities on Wednesday asked the public to help track down those responsible.

A critically endangered species, condors flying in the wild and rugged canyons of northern Arizona and southern Utah number only 85 – a population ...Read more

Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Fish kill results in about 24,000 dead fish in Baltimore's Inner Harbor

Maryland officials investigated a fish kill Wednesday in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, after about 24,000 dead fish were observed between the Rusty Scupper and the Maryland Science Center, as well as near Piers 5 and 6.

The dead were almost exclusively Atlantic menhaden, though Maryland Department of the Environment investigators also observed ...Read more

Blue Origin/Blue Origin/TNS

Blue Origin set to test fire New Glenn stage at Canaveral launch pad

ORLANDO, Fla. — Blue Origin has only 40 days to go to be ready for its first launch of its heavy lift New Glenn rocket, but has a lot of boxes to tick before liftoff.

That includes a test fire in the coming days of the rocket’s second stage, which the company rolled out to the pad Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch ...Read more