Curtailment has a special meaning in electric power systems. It describes any action that reduces the amount of electricity generated to maintain the balance between supply and demand – which is critical for avoiding blackouts.

Recently, curtailment has made news in states like California and Texas that are adding a lot of wind and ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The EPA has issued a final rule that will list the two most widely used forms of PFAS chemicals under the law governing Superfund sites, spurring worries in Congress over the liability for industries that merely received products that contained them.

The agency’s final rule designates perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and ...Read more

SEATTLE —Over the past couple of years, Washington lawmakers have wrestled with a daunting task.

The problem: The state's largest utility, Puget Sound Energy, sells natural gas to nearly 1 million customers and burns gas and coal to electrify cities. That contributes millions of metric tons of planet-warming gases to the atmosphere.

It makes...Read more

Fishing for lake sturgeon in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan is not a threat to the ancient species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in its decision not to list the giant fish under the Endangered Species Act.

Monday's ruling after a yearlong review ends the possibility the largest freshwater fish in North America will be put off...Read more

Fishing for lake sturgeon in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan is not a threat to the ancient species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in its decision not to list the giant fish under the Endangered Species Act.

Monday's ruling after a yearlong review ends the possibility the largest freshwater fish in North America will be put off...Read more

BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore issued an executive order Monday establishing an environmental literacy program in an effort to empower Maryland youth to conserve and restore the state’s natural resources in the face of climate change.

“We owe it to the people of Maryland to keep our drinking water clean, keep our air safe, and preserve our ...Read more

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida officials and environmental advocates on Monday touted major progress toward Everglades restoration, which has been advanced by dozens of state-funded projects.

The state has pumped billions of dollars into the effort, as the gusher of tax money flowing into state government in recent years has helped fund a ...Read more

SACRAMENTO — A group of Nevada County residents are facing charges in what hunting experts are calling one California’s largest deer poaching cases in years. Brought by District Attorney Jesse Wilson, six individuals allegedly conspired to commit several hunting crimes.

Led by one man, the complaint alleges that the group drove around at ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why don’t female crickets chirp? – Avery, age 8, Los Angeles

Insects communicate in lots of different ways, for many reasons. Some, such as butterflies and beetles, use ...Read more

Ninety miles west of Chicago, the corn and soybean fields stretch to the sky, and dreams of the clean energy future dangle — just out of reach.

To the east of Route 52, there’s the first phase of the 9,500-acre Steward Creek solar farm, in the works since 2019.

To the west, there’s South Dixon Solar, which once hoped to begin ...Read more

As Southcentral Alaska electric utilities push forward with a much-contested plan to reduce the impacts of a hydroelectric project on fish and wildlife, the Native Village of Eklutna is proposing an alternative option to restore water to the full length of Eklutna River.

The Chugach and Matanuska electric associations and Anchorage's hydropower...Read more

Minnesota would tax farmers $0.40 per ton of fertilizer to help test and clean up thousands of private wells contaminated with agricultural runoff under a bill that cleared the House's main agricultural committee.

The proposed tax is smaller than earlier versions that had called for charging up to $0.99 per ton in the first year and escalating ...Read more

One of the oldest known meteor showers is streaking through the sky above California.

The Lyrid meteor shower was first recorded in 687 B.C. and has been studied for more than 2,000 years, according to NASA.

The meteor shower occurs every April, peaking this year on Monday.

Here’s the best way to catch a glimpse of this celestial event.

...Read more

The California Fish and Game Commission has formally recognized the Mojave desert tortoise as endangered.

The designation, granted Thursday, is the latest in a long series of steps to try to protect the dwindling population of the desert creature, which biologists say is heading toward extinction.

The tortoise was designated as threatened ...Read more

Birdsong is a welcome sign of spring, but robins and cardinals aren’t the only birds showing off for breeding season. In many parts of North America, you’re likely to encounter male wild turkeys, puffed up like beach balls and with their tails fanned out, aggressively strutting through woods and parks or stopping traffic on your street....Read more

DENVER — Wolves killed several yearling cattle in north-central Colorado this week, bringing the total number of wolf kills of livestock this month to six.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Thursday confirmed that wolves killed three yearlings on a Grand County ranch between Monday night and Tuesday morning. The carcasses were discovered ...Read more

Astronomers have discovered the largest known stellar black hole in the Milky Way, according to a European Space Agency news release.

Named Gaia BH3, it was found by chance when the space agency’s Gaia mission team was combing through data. With a mass 33 times that of the sun, BH3 surpasses the previous record holder, Cyg X-1, which is about...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Tears, shouts and interruptions marked residents’ comments Wednesday night over a proposal to exterminate geese in Bristol, Conn., parks.

As the city’s Board of Parks considered a proposal to kill resident geese that are causing excessive waste that is marring Veterans Memorial Park, dozens of residents shared ...Read more

In the wake of North America’s recent solar eclipse, another historic natural event is on the horizon. From late April through June 2024, the largest brood of 13-year cicadas, known as Brood XIX, will co-emerge with a midwestern brood of 17-year cicadas, Brood XIII.

This event will affect 17 states, from Maryland west to Iowa and ...Read more