Environment

Officials in western P.E.I. warn residents to expect more smoke from solar farm fire

The Canadian Press 1 minute read 11:23 AM CDT

SUMMERSIDE - A battery fire at a solar farm in western P.E.I. continues to smoulder, almost a week after the fire started and warnings were issued about toxic smoke.

City officials issued a statement advising residents they may see more smoke around the Sunbank solar farm in Summerside.

The statement says the smoke would be the result of battery cells that continue to burn off.

Officials say residents who are sensitive to smoke or have underlying respiratory conditions should consider reducing their outdoor activities.

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Where have all the Atlantic hurricanes gone? El Nino might bring record slow storm season

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Where have all the Atlantic hurricanes gone? El Nino might bring record slow storm season

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 10:40 AM CDT

The Atlantic is quiet — record quiet — this hurricane season thanks to an enormous El Nino that crushes storms before they get going.

No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year and none are likely to form for at least another week, even though this would normally be the peak of the season, according to the National Hurricane Center. Only five relatively weak and brief tropical storms have spun up this season.

On Saturday, 2026 set a record for the longest a season has begun without a storm that has reached winds of 74 mph (119 kph) to qualify as a hurricane — at least in the satellite era, said Nick Novella, a meteorologist at the government's Weather Prediction Center. Before the 1950s there were a few years where no hurricanes were recorded this late in the season, but meteorologists don't trust those records because ocean monitoring wasn't complete.

Overall hurricane activity using a measurement that factors in the number of storms, their strength and how long they last is also at a post-1950 record low, according to Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach. Storm activity in the Atlantic is only 7% of normal for this time of year.

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Updated: 10:40 AM CDT

In this photo taken with a smartphone, bikes are parked in the bike park at the Solheim Cup venue, Bernardus Golf in in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Saturday Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photos/Mike Corder)

Solheim Cup fans arrive the Dutch way, with thousands of bikes at Bernardus Golf

Mike Corder, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Solheim Cup fans arrive the Dutch way, with thousands of bikes at Bernardus Golf

Mike Corder, The Associated Press 3 minute read 5:57 AM CDT

DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) — How else would you get to a golf tournament in the Netherlands?

The Solheim Cup between the United States and Europe at the Bernardus Golf course in rural North Brabant province is encouraging the thousands of fans lining the fairways to arrive the Dutch way — on two wheels using pedal power.

Janet Metcalfe, a 58-year-old retiree from Cheshire in England, was happy to saddle up for a 30-minute ride from her hotel in nearby Vught to the course.

“It's just been a typically Dutch thing,” she said after parking her bike in the rows of racks provided for fans. “Absolutely brilliant.”

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5:57 AM CDT

Environment

A Calgary Fire Department crest is pictured in Calgary, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Smoke from stubborn, ongoing fire at Calgary landfill leads to air quality advisory

Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Smoke from stubborn, ongoing fire at Calgary landfill leads to air quality advisory

Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:48 PM CDT

CALGARY - A stubborn, smouldering landfill fire in southeast Calgary has now become a public health concern, with smoke drifting into nearby neighbourhoods.

The city’s fire department says smoke from ECCO Recycling landfill fire has worsened to the point that seniors and others at risk should go indoors if they see or smell smoke.

Others downwind of the blaze may feel eye, nose and throat irritation or coughing and headaches, the fire department said.

Crews were called to the fire Sunday and soon after it was declared under control.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:48 PM CDT

Environment

Homes and hotels damaged by Hurricane Lowell are seen Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Poipu on Kauai’s south shore, Hawaii. (Nathan Eagle/Honolulu Civil Beat via AP)

Radio Silence Amid Lowell Reveals Critical Gap In Emergency Plan

Kevin Dayton And Noelle Fujii-oride/honolulu Civil Beat, The Associated Press 8 minute read Preview

Radio Silence Amid Lowell Reveals Critical Gap In Emergency Plan

Kevin Dayton And Noelle Fujii-oride/honolulu Civil Beat, The Associated Press 8 minute read Yesterday at 3:12 PM CDT

For years it has been a mantra of emergency preparedness: Officials across the state urge Hawaiʻi residents to keep portable radios and extra batteries on hand whenever storms or other hazards pose a threat. The idea is those radios will convey urgent government warnings and updates when other systems fail.

But when Hurricane Lowell battered Kauaʻi this week, electricity went out and radio communications to the public failed across much of the island. That left residents starved for information, such as which roads were safe for travel, where they could access food and aid and whether hospitals or other public facilities were open. Many were literally in the dark.

“I felt really isolated for about 24 hours, but there was no electricity, no internet,” said Gary Hooser, a former state senator and county councilman. “So even if the county was putting out notices, I wouldn’t have gotten them. So the only way would have been to drive around. I was trying to get in my car, turned the radio on, and nothing.”

Kauaʻi’s two designated emergency stations, KONG FM 93.5 and Kauaʻi Community Radio station — KKCR — both confronted power problems because of the storm, which limited or eliminated their reach. As of Thursday morning KKCR was using its low-powered station, 90.9, which only reaches from Kauaʻi’s North Shore to Kapa‘a.

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Yesterday at 3:12 PM CDT

Environment

FILE - A flare burns at Venture Global LNG in Cameron, La., on April 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine, File)

Lawsuit adds to allegations that Cameron Parish LNG terminals are hurting seafood industry

Cheree Franco/verite News, The Associated Press 13 minute read Preview

Lawsuit adds to allegations that Cameron Parish LNG terminals are hurting seafood industry

Cheree Franco/verite News, The Associated Press 13 minute read Yesterday at 1:57 PM CDT

A group of commercial fishers, fishing guides and seafood processors in southwest Louisiana is suing liquefied natural gas company Venture Global, claiming that dredging operations in preparation for the construction of a new terminal resulted in a sediment spill that killed millions of oysters and diminished catches of finfish, crabs and shrimp.

Venture Global, which already operates a nearly $10 billion LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish, is currently constructing a second, $30 billion terminal there. As part of the project, the company is enlarging a channel near Calcasieu Lake to allow tankers to access the planned terminal, called CP2.

The suit, filed on July 30 in the 38th Judicial District Court, adds to a growing list of legal actions alleging that the construction of CP2 is hurting the seafood industry in the area.

Anthony “Tad” Theriot, one of the 20 plaintiffs in the suit, estimates his immediate losses at over $450,000, and he doesn’t know when or if his fishing grounds will fully recover. “Best case scenario, they pay you for every year that they mess up and…then you get to go back fishing,” he said.

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Yesterday at 1:57 PM CDT

Environment

An aerial view of the Algoma Steel Inc. facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

Algoma Steel fined $1.2M for 2022 oil spill into St Marys River

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Algoma Steel fined $1.2M for 2022 oil spill into St Marys River

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Yesterday at 1:19 PM CDT

SAULT STE. MARIE - Algoma Steel has been fined $1.2 million for a 2022 spill into the St. Marys River along the Canada-United States border.

The Sault Ste. Marie steelmaker faces the fines after pleading guilty in an Ontario court this week to two federal environmental offences.

Officials say an estimated 1,000 to 1,250 litres of gear oil spilled from an overflowed tank into the river between June 8 and 9, 2022.

The spill prompted water quality concerns and led the downstream community of Echo Bay to shut off its intake.

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Yesterday at 1:19 PM CDT

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Environment

FILE - An aerial image of Consumer Energy's J.H. Campbell Generating Complex is seen in Ottawa County, Mich., Sept. 21, 2024. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP, File)

Federal court rejects Trump order keeping Michigan coal plant open

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Federal court rejects Trump order keeping Michigan coal plant open

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:57 PM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell Generating Plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region, and he used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states — Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota — went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the states and the groups, saying there was no real emergency under the law.

The section of the Federal Power Act that allows emergency orders “is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop," Appeals Court Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. Use of emergency authority “is triggered only when there is a need for immediate, essentially last-resort action and the circumstances require action by DOE in particular, as opposed to action by the state or states responsible for resource adequacy," she added.

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:57 PM CDT

Environment

A woman bikes along the waterfront in Toronto as wildfire smoke fills the city, on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

Canada won’t even hit 2030 emissions target by 2050, new study suggests

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Canada won’t even hit 2030 emissions target by 2050, new study suggests

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Yesterday at 3:00 AM CDT

OTTAWA - A new study released Friday suggests that Canada is on track to miss its 2030 emissions target under the Paris Agreement — and it won't even reach it by 2050, the year it was supposed to hit net-zero.

The analysis, published by the Canadian Climate Institute, suggests recent climate policy rollbacks by the federal government have put Canada more than 20 years behind schedule on reducing emissions.

Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, Canada promised to bring Canada’s emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels.

In 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government increased that target to between 40 and 45 per cent and set a goal of hitting net-zero — where all emissions are captured by nature or technology — by mid-century.

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Yesterday at 3:00 AM CDT

Environment

Damage caused by Hurricane Lowell is seen on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026 in Poʻipū on Kauaʻi's south shore, in Hawaii. (Kevin Fujii/Honolulu Civil Beat via AP)

Tourists should skip Kauai for now as it recovers from Hurricane Lowell, officials say

Gene Johnson And Olga R. Rodriguez, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Tourists should skip Kauai for now as it recovers from Hurricane Lowell, officials say

Gene Johnson And Olga R. Rodriguez, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:39 PM CDT

Tourism officials are asking visitors to steer clear of one of Hawaii’s most picturesque islands as residents and businesses work to recover from the latest tropical storm to thrash the state.

Intense wind and surging waves from Hurricane Lowell damaged oceanfront resorts, ripped apart roads and knocked out power early this week on Kauai, known for its stunning tropical landscapes, waterfalls and dramatic cliffs.

Thousands of customers, including some resorts, remained without power Friday, as crews continued clearing streets of downed trees and utility poles. Extensive lines backed up at Kauai’s primary airport as people tried to leave the island; state officials said the airport was operating on a lone backup generator because a second generator was damaged by the storm. That reduced security screening to a single line with long delays.

“Our hope is that visitors will adjust their travel plans instead of canceling their trip to Hawai‘i altogether,” Caroline Anderson, interim president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, said in a written statement Thursday. “Adjusting your itinerary allows you to continue your Hawaiʻi vacation while supporting the state’s broader visitor economy as Kauaʻi recovers.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:39 PM CDT

Environment

California sues over Trump’s changes to Endangered Species Act, arguing they threaten habitat

Rachel Becker/calmatters, The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

California’s beloved condors and sea otters have rebounded from the brink of extinction thanks to the Endangered Species Act. Now the state is going to court to keep the 50-year-old law intact, filing two lawsuits Wednesday to block what Democratic leaders describe as the Trump administration’s rollback of its protections.

Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the suits with a coalition of 21 attorneys general, adding to dozens California has already filed to combat the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda.

The complaints target the Trump administration’s revisions to the Endangered Species Act, first enacted under Republican President (and Californian) Richard Nixon.

“Caring for our wildlife and our environment is part of caring for our future, yet President Trump seems to care only for himself and his industry friends,” Bonta said in a statement Wednesday.

Environment

A construction site in downtown Montreal on Oct. 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Advocates call on Quebec to adapt workplaces for extreme heat

Katrine Desautels, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Advocates call on Quebec to adapt workplaces for extreme heat

Katrine Desautels, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

MONTREAL - A new survey shows that most Quebec workers are suffering from a range of health problems such as dehydration and fatigue due to extreme heat at work.

According to the Léger survey, conducted in July at the request of a public health coalition, 72 per cent of employed individuals reported experiencing at least one effect related to extreme heat.

The organization that commissioned the survey, l'Association pour la santé publique du Québec, is calling on Quebec to adopt a cooling strategy in workplaces. The coalition said the strategy should include amending the building code to improve ventilation and shield employees from the sun.

They also want outdoor workers to have better access to places to cool off.

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Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

Environment

Volunteers move fallen branches out of the way in the Acushnet River on Aug. 22, 2026, in Acushnet, Mass. (Brooke Kushwaha/The New Bedford Light via AP)

To bring back historic herring populations, volunteers get down and dirty

Brooke Kushwaha/the New Bedford Light, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

To bring back historic herring populations, volunteers get down and dirty

Brooke Kushwaha/the New Bedford Light, The Associated Press 6 minute read Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

Submerged waist-deep in the Acushnet River, Marcus Hendricks let out a howl that echoed through the forest and brush. The Wampanoag tribal member and land manager had just sawed through a fallen tree 10 inches thick and stretched across the width of the waterway, spraying sawdust into the cloudy water. Two volunteers heaved the cut-up trunk aside, opening up the northern section of river to humans and fish for the first time in decades.

“I’m trying not to get emotional,” Hendricks said, taking a step back.

This summer, Hendricks began leading cleanups of the Acushnet River, to clear the way for herring to swim upstream to their spawning grounds at the old New Bedford Reservoir.

Since 2002, state and local scientists have been working to restore the Acushnet River’s herring population to historic levels. They’ve cleared overgrowth and debris and built infrastructure to help the tiny bait fish migrate upriver and spawn. Their efforts led to an early uptick — local herring numbers rose to nearly 15,000 a decade ago — but they’ve stagnated since then.

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Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

Environment

FILE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Whitmer rethinks Line 5 tunnel permits, ramps up shutdown pleas after court ruling

Kelly House/bridge Michigan, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Whitmer rethinks Line 5 tunnel permits, ramps up shutdown pleas after court ruling

Kelly House/bridge Michigan, The Associated Press 5 minute read Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

State environmental regulators are reviewing permits they recently granted for the Line 5 tunnel project, in light of a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that raised the bar for environmental reviews.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Phil Roos, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, announced the development Wednesday in a press release.

Calling the Line 5 pipeline “a ticking time bomb in the heart of the Great Lakes,” Whitmer also wrote a letter Wednesday urging outgoing Enbridge CEO Gregory Ebel to shut it down “within months.”

“The Michigan Supreme Court has made clear that the state must more thoroughly scrutinize the environmental consequences of the proposed tunnel and the alternatives to it,” Whitmer said in a statement. “At the same time, Enbridge needs to stop asking Michigan to wait for a tunnel that could be a decade or longer away and start pursuing alternatives now that can get oil out of the Straits within months.”

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Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

Environment

Workers install a copper pipe to replace a lead service line that brings drinking water to homes Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

The push to remove lead pipes is on. Thousands of water systems still don’t know where theirs are

By M.k. Wildeman, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

The push to remove lead pipes is on. Thousands of water systems still don’t know where theirs are

By M.k. Wildeman, The Associated Press 7 minute read Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

Kathryn Pilgrim knew the century-old Victorian she bought in Dunkirk, New York, came with old plumbing. She replaced pipes she suspected of containing lead and later installed a kitchen filter designed to remove heavy metals.

But six years after buying the house, she still can’t be sure that her tap water is lead-free because she doesn't know what material was used for the pipe that runs under her front yard and connects to the city water supply. Dunkirk is nearly two years behind schedule on an inventory that would give Pilgrim and other residents that information.

Dunkirk, which supplies water to about 5,000 homes and businesses, is one of more than 1,300 public water systems cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to meet an October 2024 deadline to hand in an inventory of the water lines that could be leaching the heavy metal into Americans' drinking water, an Associated Press analysis of the agency’s enforcement data shows.

Roughly 6,300 water systems serving 3.8 million Americans have still not submitted a required list of how many lead service lines remain in use.

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Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

Environment

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, right, talks with his brother and farm manager, Cesar Marroquin, in a small field of vegetables growing on his farm, Salvatierra Farms, in Northfield, Minn., Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

For these Midwest farmers, regenerative agriculture is about more than soil health. It’s spiritual

Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

For these Midwest farmers, regenerative agriculture is about more than soil health. It’s spiritual

Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press 7 minute read Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — The towering maple trees and native hazelnut bushes on Salvatierra Farms break up the surrounding corn and soybean fields that sprawl across southern Minnesota.

Small compared with its neighbors, the 63 acres (25 hectares) of land was once a conventional row crop farm. Transformed by Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, an agronomist and regenerative farmer who grew up in the northern Guatemalan rainforest, Salvatierra Farms embraces crop diversity and natural solutions — no herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers — for its poultry or other operations. He wants it to be a model for others.

Drawing on his formal agricultural education and the wisdom of his Indigenous elders, Haslett-Marroquin's approach to farming has brought together an unlikely network of Midwesterners dedicated to caring for the Earth for spiritual reasons. They include Lakota tribal members, former large-scale farmers and Catholic sisters.

Their shared motivation comes amid rising interest in nature-based spirituality and related societal shifts: a rethinking of modern agriculture, growing secularization, climate change anxiety and intensifying interest in health and wellness.

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Thursday, Sep. 10, 2026

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