Environment

Environment

Drivers are facing rising fuel costs as conflict in Iran sends oil prices soaring. Photograph: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty $30m an hour: that's the pure, unearned profits banked by the world's top 100 oil and gas companies in the first month of the conflict in Iran, purely due to the spike in the oil price. I revealed this exclusive analysis, commissioned by the Guardian, in April while it was based on the best data in the industry, it was an estimate. Now the first numbers are in, and that $30m may have been a major underestimate.

When 53-year-old Agbar Mohammad pulled into a petrol station in Fiji in May, he was expecting a queue. Instead, it was almost empty. I could only see one or two cars at the service station, which was very unusual, Mohammad says. The reason became clear very quickly: as Mohammad filled his car, the numbers on the fuel pump climbed so much faster than the needle on his dashboard. Normally he would put in about $40 of fuel, but this time $100 barely got his 60-litre tank halfway full.

Plug-in solar systems, also known as balcony solar, are easy, plug-and-play solar panels that include an inverter and small battery. The system connects to a home's standard 120-volt outlet and automatically flows the electricity from the battery to the nearest running appliance. These systems are small and portable, and aren't meant to replace grid electricity or dependency on utility companies. Instead, they generate anywhere between 200W and 1,800W, but are an easy solution to reduce energy costs with an affordable investment.

The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) Diaper Check 2024 found that 46 percent of U.S. families with children under four reported diaper insecurity, meaning they could not always afford enough diapers to keep a child clean and dry. That share has climbed from roughly one-third a decade earlier. The Urban Institute estimates nearly 8 million American children live in households that struggle to afford diapers. Diapers are not covered by SNAP or WIC, and in 23 states, they are still taxed at rates as high as 7 percent, though Missouri, Nevada, and Alabama all eliminated or paused their diaper taxes in 2025.

The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs. Trump, at a White House ceremony, said the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would "substantially lower costs for consumers" by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

141 UN member states voted in support of the ICJ's finding climate change is an existential threat'. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted to support a landmark ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found states have a legal responsibility to act to prevent the climate crisis from worsening. More than two-thirds of UN member states, 141, voted in favour of the resolution on Wednesday, with eight voting no and 28 abstaining.

Current and former World Cup soccer players have penned an open letter to FIFA, urging the sports governing body to address the heat stress that is expected to be felt by competitors during this summer's games in North America and to take action to tackle the global climate crisis.

Microsoft is purchasing 650,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits from startup BioCirc, the company said today. As carbon removal deals go, it's not a big buy. But this one is notable because last month, two reports said the tech giant was pausing its carbon removal deals. BioCirc confirmed for TechCrunch that the purchase agreement was signed in May, weeks after Microsoft reportedly paused new deals.

HUD's new State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction report offers a set of recommended policy changes that target permitting fees, building codes, land-use limits and inspection timelines that add costs and risks to new-home projects.

Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world's shorelines, a study has found. Researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 surveys of coastal litter to produce the first global analysis of its kind. They found the data in 355 existing studies on the subject. It's the everyday stuff that we're using, said Richard Thompson, the founder of the University of Plymouth's international marine litter research unit.

Plans to build 13 turbines with a capacity of 86 megawatts have been submitted by RWE Renewables Ireland Limited to An Coimisiún Pleanála. RWE has identified a study area for the Muingmore Onshore Windfarm, which is located approximately 11km west of Bangor, Erris, and 4km north of Geesala. The development would include 13 turbines, associated internal roads, an electrical substation, underground cabling, a battery storage facility and ancillary works.

Solar will become the largest source of power in the next decade, surpassing coal, oil and natural gas, according to a new report from BloombergNEF. The tectonic shift will occur alongside a historic rise in the use of energy driven by AI and the electrification of entire industries.

The average American household uses about 150 pounds of glass containers each year, but more than two-thirds of that glass never gets recycled into new bottles. This isn't because people aren't trying. Glass is now the only common packaging material that costs recycling facilities more to process than they make from selling it, and the U.S. recycling system has been adapting to this problem for the past twenty years.

The proposal, announced Monday morning and contingent on state and federal regulatory approval, would result in a company that leads in nearly every aspect of the US power and utility industry, including overall electricity generation, natural gas generation, and renewables. The $67 billion deal combines NextEra's size and reach with Dominion's positioning as the local utility for the world's largest concentration of data centers in northern Virginia. But the results are likely bad for consumers and the environment, creating a company with enormous financial and political strength that will be difficult to effectively regulate, according to consumer advocates and analysts.

“The UK just doesn't have many district heat networks. A lot of infrastructure is required that is done best as public infrastructure,” says Peter Judge, senior research analyst at Uptime Intelligence.

“What's at risk here is an extremely ecologically sensitive area,” said Wendy Schneider, the executive director of local environmental nonprofit Friends of the Inyo. “Hot Creek is not only beautiful, it's sort of the gateway to Mammoth Lakes. So you'd be able to see the mine when you get off the 395 and head into town. There will be noise and lights 24/7 and big trucks rumbling around, just messing up our public lands.”

Dozens of wind projects in Texas are in limbo after the U.S. Department of Defense paused issuing routine federal permits citing national security concerns, a move that experts say expands the Trump administration's crusade against wind energy. According to data collected by the American Clean Power Association, 54 Texas wind projects are waiting for the department to review development plans to ensure that turbines don't interfere with military operations. It's part of a broader nationwide logjam that has ensnared 165 onshore wind projects, a figure first reported by the Financial Times.

Houses, even in the countryside, can be as harmful to migrating wildlife as energy development, highway crossings and fences, according to conservationists and researchers. But while highway dangers can be mitigated with over- and underpasses and fences can be retrofitted to be more wildlife-friendly, researchers didn't know how much space big game animals require when weaving through rural housing.

Australia ordered the shareholders linked to China to sell their stakes in Northern Minerals, a company that is developing a rare earth mine. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he had issued orders on Monday following concerns that Chinese investors had tried to take control of Northern Minerals. The Australia-based mining company is developing its Browns Range project in the far north of the state of Western Australia to mine significant reserves of dysprosium and terbium. The six companies are to sell their stake within two weeks.

The 2026 World Cup is not only the most politically combustible tournament in modern history, but it is also on track to be the most polluting World Cup ever, with total greenhouse gas emissions hitting nearly two times the historical average. Scientists conservatively project that the tournament will generate around 9m tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Air travel comprises approximately 7.7m tons of this carbon budget, and more than four times that of the average for tournaments held between 2010 and 2022. The researchers note that the worst-case upper estimate for air transport is about 13.7m tons of CO2.

The 500-kilovolt transmission line would run some 140 miles from an important substation in southeastern Imperial County, near the Mexican border, to a new one on the border of Orange and San Diego counties near the Pacific Ocean - carving a steel-towered path through Anza-Borrego to get there.