location: United States

location: United States

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Climate change parches Puerto Rico and Jamaica in rare early wet season drought
A severe drought that has parched the Caribbean since May 2026 was fueled by human-induced climate change, according to a recent study. The rapid analysis was released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers who analyze the influence of climate change in extreme weather events. In the Caribbean, the wet season runs […]
Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn’t become a carbon dump (commentary)
- Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, an ecosystem exists in water so salty and lacking in oxygen that its marine life is unique and virtually unstudied.
- Called the Orca Basin, it’s now the focus of a corporate effort to profit from fighting climate change by dumping tons of organic waste into its depths, a deep-sea biologist explains in a new op-ed.
- “The Orca Basin is not a waste repository waiting for a use. It is a living system that has been developing for thousands of years, hosting organisms we have barely begun to characterize, preserving a chemical and biological record we have barely begun to read,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Coastal Texas and Louisiana warned of tropical storm as a potential hurricane moves toward Hawaii
MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning on Monday for the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Galveston and Houston, Texas, area to the western parishes of Louisiana. As of late Monday morning, the potential tropical cyclone was centered about 120 miles (195 kilometers) south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 230 miles […]
US environmental groups plan to sue to relist gray whales under Endangered Species Act
A group of environmental organizations announced their intent to sue the United States National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) for failing to consider protections for Eastern Pacific gray whales under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation […]
US proposes rescinding Roadless Rule protections for national forests
Aug. 25 is a National Day of Action to support U.S. national parks and public lands. One focus of the event is the U.S. government’s intention to rescind a rule that bans road construction and industrial logging across more than 23 million hectares (57 million acres) of national forest land. The 2001 Roadless Rule, has […]
Move over bears. Fat Marmot Week puts a spotlight on the alpine rodents
GOTHIC, Colo. (AP) — Fat Marmot Week is coming soon. Last winter was tough for the groundhog-like rodents living in the Colorado mountains. Researchers say there wasn’t enough snow to keep marmots’ burrows warm while they hibernated, causing many of the animals to freeze to death. The marmots that survived are doing well. They’ve fattened […]
Criminal probe clears Sloth World of criminal neglect in deaths of 57 animals
Authorities in the U.S. state of Florida have cleared a controversial startup of criminal neglect after dozens of wild-caught sloths that it imported from South America for tourism purposes died. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) opened an investigation following the closure of the Sloth World facility in April this year. On Aug. 19, it […]
Cougars cut deadly vehicle-deer collisions in the US by up to 76%, study shows
- When cougars are present in a landscape, roads are safer, according to a new study.
- In area where the cats were highly active, the expected number of deer-vehicle collisions fell by 76% over five years, with the probability of a collision falling by 67%.
- Researchers found that fear changes deer behavior: Rather than simply reducing deer numbers by eating them, pumas appear to create a “landscape of fear” that pushes deer away from developed areas and shifts their active hours from nighttime into daylight.
- Large carnivores, including cougars, keep fast-reproducing prey species in check, while also reducing dangerous and costly wildlife collisions — another reason why coexistence with them is important, experts say.

Texas activist’s claims of Indigenous ancestry face scrutiny
A recent investigation from Grist, a U.S.-based nonprofit media organization, raises questions about environmental activist Juan Mancias’ Indigenous claim to the land he works to protect in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2017, Mancias traveled to France and helped pressure French banks to withdraw support for oil and gas projects that he said threatened […]
Lake Powell hits record low, threatening key water and electricity supply for millions
The water level at Lake Powell, the United States’ second-largest reservoir, has fallen to a record low, heightening concerns about the ongoing crisis in the Colorado River system. The alarming milestone at Lake Powell, reached Saturday, comes about a week after the river’s other major reservoir, Lake Mead, also hit a historic low. Plummeting water levels […]
Big Bear Valley’s beloved bald eagle Jackie is dead
- A popular bald eagle from California’s Big Bear Valley, watched by millions around the world through a livestream nest camera, has died.
- Jackie, as the bird was known, was admitted to the Ojai Raptor Center after rescuers found her grounded and fighting with two juvenile bald eagles in the Big Bear Valley.
- Dehydrated and anemic when she was found, Jackie developed blood clots in her wing and kidney, leading to her declining health and eventual death despite three weeks of intensive veterinary care.
- Jackie’s and her mate Shadow’s popularity spurred a $10 million donation for a land trust to purchase parts of their habitat slated for a luxury housing development.

Wildlife in the eastern US are making a comeback
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The best-known wildlife recoveries in the U.S. are often associated with the West. Yet some important gains have occurred east of the Mississippi, among cities, roads, farms, and landscapes altered over several centuries. Andrew Moore’s new book, Beasts […]
As Canada’s captive belugas arrive in the US, questions linger about their future
- Thirteen beluga whales from a pod of about 30 languishing in the shuttered Canadian marine park Marineland arrived in the U.S., six of them on July 21, and seven on August 3, as part of an emergency rescue of these captive cetaceans.
- The transfers come after nearly a year of jostling between the Canadian government and Marineland about the belugas’ future, amid threats of euthanasia and disagreements over where the cetaceans should be housed.
- Earlier this year, several U.S. aquariums drew up an emergency rescue plan to transfer these cetaceans to four U.S. facilities.
- Conservationists say the U.S. move leaves questions unanswered about the cetaceans’ future, including if they would be used for entertainment or bred in captivity — both outlawed in Canada since 2019.

Some free-roaming cats in New York City are parasite ‘super-shedders,’ study shows
- New York City has a large population of free-roaming cats, which can harbor and transmit zoonotic parasites.
- Some parasites shed by cats remain in the environment for long periods and infect pets, wildlife and humans.
- Researchers recently tested cats that were captured during a trap-neuter-return program in New York City and found that more than half were infected with at least one type of parasite; young male cats shed large numbers of parasite eggs into the environment.
- The study’s authors suggest that trap-neuter-return programs incorporate disease management and surveillance to better monitor and mitigate zoonotic health risks.

David Page wrote about the mountains and worked to protect them
- David Page, executive director of Winter Wildlands Alliance, died at 57 when a dump truck whose brakes had failed struck his car on Teton Pass; his dog, Rio, also died in the crash.
- An award-winning writer and longtime POWDER contributor, Page wrote closely reported stories about avalanche risk, immigrant workers in ski towns, mountain communities, and the landscapes of the American West.
- He joined Winter Wildlands Alliance in 2016 and became executive director in 2022, working on national forest planning, winter travel rules, conservation funding, and public participation in land-management decisions.
- Page lived in Mammoth Lakes with his wife, Allison, and built his life around family, skiing, music, dogs, and the Sierra Nevada; fuller accounts of his life appear in “Remembering David Page” and “Remembering David Page: A Writer Who Helped Define POWDER.”

US declines to protect endangered monkeys used in medical research
Long-tailed macaques, monkeys native to Southeast Asia, have been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2022 after their populations declined by at least 50% over 30 years. Yet, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has twice now declined to consider protecting the species under the domestic Endangered Species Act. The most […]
David Johnson, the owl man of Umatilla
- Burrowing owl numbers at Oregon’s former Umatilla Chemical Depot had fallen to only a few breeding pairs after badgers disappeared and suitable burrows became scarce.
- David H. Johnson and his collaborators built artificial burrows from plastic barrels and pipes, helping the population recover and creating a major long-term research site.
- Johnson founded the Global Owl Project, connected researchers across dozens of countries, mentored younger scientists, and studied both owl biology and their place in human cultures.
- After being diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2022, he continued working through treatment. The Umatilla project now continues under other researchers, public agencies, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Proposed mine expansion raising pollution concerns in Canada and US
- A proposed expansion of an Elk Valley Resources’ coal mine in southeast British Columbia is moving through the environmental assessment process despite concerns over pollution.
- Decades of coal mining in the valley has led to harmful selenium concentrations and loads downstream, in British Columbia and the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho.
- While EVR is making progress in line with the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan, current actions are inadequate to mitigate the selenium pollution crisis, according to researchers and experts from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and BC nonprofit Wildsight.
- Proponents of the mine expansion point to the substantial contribution the mines make to federal, provincial and regional economies.

Study suggests the threat of mold-associated illnesses may be underappreciated
NEW YORK (AP) — A first-of-its-kind U.S. study suggests invasive mold infections may be an underappreciated — and potentially deadly — threat. The researchers detected about 450 cases in Atlanta-area hospitals over five years. About a third of the patients died in the hospital. The findings, published this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and […]
Listening to birdsong in a forest lowered a person’s stress during experiment
- A new experiment found that sitting in a restored urban forest while listening to birdsong lowered people’s stress and improved their mood more than any other setting tested.
- Researchers had 106 students at North Carolina State University in the U.S. sit in either a restored forest or a paved plaza while hearing birdsong or traffic noise, isolating the effects of place and sound.
- Both the natural setting and the birdsong helped independently, and the benefits were largest when combined.
- The forest was a human-made restoration completed in 2006, suggesting cities could build mental-health benefits into parks rather than relying on remote wilderness.

Finning the High Seas
This investigative series uncovered a massive illegal shark-finning scheme and widespread labor abuses across the fleet of Dalian Ocean Fishing (DOF), a major Chinese tuna company with dozens of boats operating in international waters. Reporters tracked down and interviewed some two dozen Indonesian deckhands who worked aboard the company’s vessels, documenting their experiences with excessive […]
California solar project threatens Mojave wildlife corridor, scientists say
- The state of California has approved a solar project in the Mojave Desert on land that serves as a migration corridor for desert bighorn sheep and habitat for the desert tortoise.
- Scientists and conservation advocates say the approval threatens one of the last intact desert ecosystems in California, but the California Energy Commission says ecological mitigation will reduce the impacts on wildlife and that the project will bring more renewable energy to the state.
- The Mojave is already fragmented by Interstate 15, and solar projects add further threats; the ability to move between mountains is what keeps the bighorn sheep population from collapsing.

Beavers restored a volcano-scarred river. Now it’s at risk again
More than 40 years after sediment from a volcanic eruption filled up a stretch of the North Fork Toutle River in the U.S. state of Washington, beavers are turning the smothered waterway into a thriving wetland. However, a planned infrastructure project now threatens to undo five years of restoration progress, reports contributor Isabel Gil for […]
Why a New England city is building tunnels to protect an imperiled salamander
- In the small U.S. city of Keene, New Hampshire, plans are underway to build small underpasses to help amphibians safely cross a road, including hybrid Jefferson/blue-spotted salamanders, an imperiled species complex.
- In the neighboring state of Vermont, salamander crossings constructed in 2015 have reduced the number of amphibian deaths at that site by 80%.
- Habitat connectivity is crucial: Animals need to move to find water and food, to mate or to escape extreme, climate-change-driven weather events.
- With growing human populations, wild lands are increasingly fragmented and relinking habitat with wildlife crossings has become an important conservation tool.

Smithsonian ornithologist John Rappole reconsidered why birds migrate
- John Hilton Rappole helped reshape the study of bird migration by showing that migratory songbirds were established members of tropical ecosystems during winter.
- His dispersal theory argued that migration may have developed as tropical birds expanded into seasonal northern habitats, challenging a long-standing scientific explanation.
- Across five decades of fieldwork, he studied birds in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Myanmar, and spent 20 years at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
- Colleagues knew him as a rigorous, generous, and modest scientist who trusted sustained observation, questioned established assumptions, and revised his conclusions when the evidence required it.

How to stitch a massive wildlife corridor through the Rocky Mountains
- Across the world, roads, railways, towns and farms sever habitat, preventing wildlife from moving across the landscape. Cutting off animals’ ability to connect can limit genetic exchange and cause entire populations to decline — and ultimately, collapse.
- The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, or Y2Y, is trying to create a giant connected area stretching across the Rocky Mountains from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem in the U.S. to Canada’s Yukon Territory. It will allow animals to move, meet and mate.
- Across Canada, the U.S. and the world, countries are building wildlife crossings that reconnect habitat and keep motorists safe from costly, potentially deadly collisions with animals.

Oystercatchers, known for sharp bills and beady eyes, are making a comeback thanks to conservation
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — A shorebird known for its sharp, orange bill and beady eyes is making a comeback in North America thanks to a yearslong conservation effort. The American Oystercatcher was nearly wiped out on the East Coast at the turn of the 20th century due to hunting and egg collecting. But the […]
America’s retreat from wildlife protection will be felt far beyond its borders
- The Trump administration has removed habitat destruction from the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act.
- The change could make it easier for farming, drilling, mining, logging, and development to proceed in places where endangered species live.
- Because habitat loss is one of the main drivers of extinction, protecting animals while allowing the destruction of the places they need offers limited protection in practice.
- The decision also weakens the United States’ standing when it asks other countries to conserve forests, wetlands, rivers, and other important habitats.

Ancient rock structures help restore biodiversity on the US-Mexico border
- On the border between the United States and Mexico, ranchers are struggling under shifting climatic conditions, including extreme drought and intense flooding.
- Small rock structures known as trincheras are an ancient method of slowing water flow, reducing erosion and improving subsoil quality, allowing life to rebound in degraded rangelands.
- A growing body of research indicates that rock detention structures like trincheras help improve drought resilience, increase biodiversity and water yields.
- In Sonora, a state dominated by private rangelands, momentum is growing to build these structures and adopt a wider range of “regenerative ranching” practices, as conservationists and ranchers work together.

From Mardi Gras to marsh: Glass Half Full turns party glass into Louisiana coastline
- A New Orleans based business, Glass Half Full, collects glass from bars, restaurants, and drop-off sites, recycling it into new bottles and fine silica sand.
- The recycled sand is used by ReCoast, the nonprofit’s restoration arm, to restore land by building small experimental islands and berms.
- Louisiana loses roughly a football field of land to the sea every hour, a crisis that Glass Half Full’s young founder, Franziska Trautmann, describes as a looming threat.
- Early results from the glass sand restoration is promising: vegetation is returning, sediment is sticking, and wildlife is moving in; but the work is constrained by two bottlenecks: not enough glass, and not enough funding.

‘Beasts of the East’ chronicles the unheralded restoration successes of America’s eastern wildlife
- The new book “Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness” chronicles how the U.S. East Coast has seen an inspiring resurgence of wildlife in recent decades.
- From elk to moose, sandhill cranes to bear and bison, author Andrew Moore answers Mongabay’s questions about the findings contained in his engaging new read timed perfectly for “beach read” season in the U.S.

Meat giant JBS silently ditches bolder environmental targets in latest review
The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July […]
The US government says habitat destruction no longer counts as ‘harm’ to endangered species
The U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently finalized a rule that narrows what qualifies as “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. Under the new definition of harm, only actions that directly harm or kill endangered species will be prohibited. Until recently, the definition of harm also included damaging the habitat endangered wildlife depend on for […]
Trump reduces size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management
President Donald Trump is sharply reducing the size of two national monuments in Utah. The move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by about 90% unravels protections established by former presidents for areas with unique archaeological and historical features. It comes as Republicans under Trump have sought to drastically reshape the management […]
Official tied to commercial breeding to represent US at global wildlife trade meeting
- Jennifer Chatfield, a top regulator at the U.S. Interior Department, will reportedly head the country’s delegation at the upcoming meeting of CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty, sources told Mongabay.
- The Animals Committee, a scientific body that influences regulations on wildlife trade, is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 13-17. Delegations from 184 signatory nations and the EU will attend, along with NGOs and pro-trade organizations.
- Chatfield, a political appointee, has deep links to the commercial wildlife breeding industry: Her family owns and operates 4J Conservation Center in Florida, a facility that breeds two critically endangered species of lemurs, and she is listed as the facility’s veterinarian in documents obtained by Mongabay.
- The Interior Department’s ethics committee has been asked to investigate Chatfield for potential ethics violations and favoring family business related to permitting and proposed rulemaking that weakens the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Scientists use AI to produce first high-resolution map of global seagrass extent
- Scientists have produced the first high-resolution map of seagrass ecosystems around the world.
- Data from the map reveal that 70% of global seagrass cover is concentrated off the coasts of just five countries.
- The map also found that nearly 80% of seagrass loss happened outside marine protected areas, emphasizing the importance of targeted conservation action.
- Seagrass ecosystems play an important role in protecting coastlines and carbon sequestration; however, they face threats from hurricanes, coastal development, and marine heat waves.

A win-win, animal crossings make roads safer for wildlife and people
Worldwide, roads act as both death traps and barriers for wildlife, fragmenting the landscapes animals need to survive. However, ecologists and engineers are working to “reconnect the wild” through the strategic construction of wildlife crossings. As Mongabay contributor Ben Goldfarb reports, structures, including underpasses and massive overpasses paired with roadside fencing, have proved highly effective […]
Like wolves, non-native lake trout have radically altered Yellowstone ecosystems (commentary)
- The 1995 reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park is a well-known conservation story, where the native predators were observed to return balance to the ecosystem.
- In opposite fashion, non-native lake trout that have become established in Yellowstone Lake are now outcompeting native cutthroat trout and seriously altering the overall ecosystem, both in and beyond the lake, and largely unseen.
- “We see animals moving through valleys [but] do not see connections breaking between lakes, streams, and the surrounding landscape,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Rare fungi help restore Palmyra Atoll rainforests, new study finds. Here’s how
Palmyra Atoll in the North Pacific is one of the most remote island systems on Earth. A native rainforest tree on the island performs a critical ecological service by providing nesting sites for thousands of seabirds, whose guano fuels the surrounding coral reefs. But a new study revealed that this entire cycle depends on an […]
A marine heat wave caused seabird deaths off California. El Nino could worsen the die-off
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Many seabirds are starving to death as a marine heat wave lingers off California and fish seek deeper, cooler waters. That’s according to scientists who say a persistent marine heat wave has shrunk the band of cold, nutrient-rich surface water where krill, anchovies and sardines thrive near the shore. Scientists fear […]
Fossils reveal a prehistoric crocodile relative that walked on two legs
Dinosaurs like tyrannosaurs and velociraptors famously walked on two legs. But they weren’t the only bipedal prehistoric creatures to exist. In a study published in June, paleontologists shared the discovery of a new bipedal shuvosaurid, an ancient, distant relative of crocodiles, that lived 212 million years ago in what is now the U.S. state of […]
One mountain lion changed the food web in a California suburb, study finds
- The presence of a mountain lion in a small biological preserve near Stanford University in California transformed the local food web.
- A recent study drew on nine years of camera trap data from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and found that when a puma began to visit, coyotes, deer, gray foxes and brush rabbits changed their behavior and native plant density increased.
- About 82% of protected areas in the United States are smaller than 5 square kilometers, roughly 2 square miles, making small suburban preserves increasingly important for wildlife as urban development expands.
- Jasper Ridge is far too small to support its own population of mountain lions, but is linked to the Santa Cruz Mountains, underscoring the importance of wilderness corridors in supporting wildlife.

Mel Sunquist, field biologist and mentor to generations of conservationists
- Mel Sunquist helped pioneer the use of radio telemetry to study wild tigers, jaguars, and other elusive carnivores, transforming how scientists understood their behavior and ecology.
- His research in Nepal provided some of the first detailed evidence of tiger movements, territories, and social organization, laying foundations for modern tiger conservation.
- As a professor at the University of Florida, he trained generations of wildlife biologists, many of whom went on to lead conservation programs and research around the world.
- Remembered for his humility, patience, and deep respect for animals, Sunquist taught that careful observation, sound science, and thoughtful mentorship were as important to conservation as the discoveries themselves.

Trump admin persists in quixotic quest against wind power despite legal defeat
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is continuing its campaign to end wind energy development through a series of executive orders, lawsuits, and lease buybacks. This is despite a recent court defeat and its own Department of Energy estimating the country could be powered by wind alone. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for […]
Rodent-killing baits threaten small wild cats and other wildlife
- Anticoagulant rodenticides — used to control rodent populations — pose a little-recognized threat to a host of wildlife species, including wild cats.
- Many small cat species hunt rodents and live in areas where rat poison is commonly used, including agricultural lands. These anticoagulant poisons accumulate in the liver and can prove lethal: It takes days for animals to die from internal bleeding.
- Widespread exposure in bobcats and caracals is well-documented, however research on other small cat species is limited — but concerning.
- Wildlife biologists say that greater controls limiting the use and availability of rodenticides are needed to protect wildlife.

Trump administration repeals rule that allowed bison to graze on public lands
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently repealed the 2024 Public Lands Rule, which established that conservation should have equal priority with industry when it comes to accessing leases for U.S. public land. That shift in priorities will apply to 245 million acres (99 million hectares) of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management […]
Eastern Washington wildfire forces evacuations and destroys homes
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — High winds drove a wildfire into an eastern Washington neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people and destroying some homes, fire officials said Wednesday. It’s unclear how many homes were lost in Spokane. Fire officials were working Wednesday to determine the number and the full extent of the damage, said […]
Rain along the Gulf Coast could become the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season
MIAMI (AP) — A cluster of storms along the Gulf Coast could become the first named tropical storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said. The storms threatened to bring heavy downpours that could lead to dangerous floods across southern states including Texas and Louisiana. The system was centered Tuesday afternoon about […]
Peter Klopfer, the scientist whose civil-rights case helped bring lemurs to Duke
- Peter Klopfer, a Duke zoologist and co-founder of the Duke Lemur Center, died on June 5 at 95.
- A Quaker pacifist and civil-rights activist, he refused the Korean War draft, supported student protesters in North Carolina, and was arrested during a 1963 integration protest.
- His Supreme Court case, Klopfer v. North Carolina, extended the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial to state courts.
- The legal-defense fund created after his arrest helped connect him with John Buettner-Janusch, leading to the arrival of lemurs at Duke and the creation of what became the Duke Lemur Center.

Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project
SEATTLE (AP) — Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under President Donald Trump’s administration. House Democrats on two committees call the action illegal. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley says he’s drafting legislation to freeze the removal of instruments until a […]
The bats that pollinate for tequila: Photo of the week
A Mexican long-tongued bat, featured above, flies into the blooms of an agave plant, a feeding and pollination technique used to reach nectar. The bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) have unusually long tongues to access nectar while their impact spreads pollen grains everywhere to pollinate nearby agave. Peter Hudson, a professor of biology at Penn State University, […]
How an activist network built pressure without political power
- David Benac’s Rainforest Radicals traces how Rainforest Action Network grew from a small San Francisco-based activist group into an influential force in rainforest protection, Indigenous rights and corporate accountability.
- The book follows RAN’s early campaigns against Burger King, True Geothermal, the World Bank and Mitsubishi to show how the group linked distant forest destruction to everyday choices, public pressure and corporate reputation.
- Benac shows how RAN combined decentralized organizing, nonviolent direct action, media spectacle, boycotts and long-term support for local and Indigenous-led campaigns.
- The interview explores what RAN’s history can teach today’s environmental movements about leverage, persistence, outside solidarity and the challenges that come when a radical network begins to win.

Solar power hits new milestones in the US even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy
Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power. New reports released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember and the Solar Energy Industries Association show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the […]
U.S. defense spending on critical minerals surges in the last decade
- U.S. Department of Defense grants for critical minerals between 2021 and 2025 was nearly $550 million, up from just $31.3 million in the previous five-year period, an investigation has found.
- Lithium projects received the largest share of U.S. defense grants, followed by neodymium and boron combined projects, graphite and aluminum.
- Members of communities affected by some of these projects told Mongabay that U.S. state backing has meant projects are being fast-tracked without the necessary social and environmental checks or meaningful consultation.
- Experts say that increasing geopolitical pressure is transforming mineral supply chains, as well as trade patterns and relationships between countries, and could decrease the availability of minerals needed for the green energy transition.

Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry
- As the U.S. government prepares to auction off slices of the seabed in federal waters, experts, including the former director of the federal agency overseeing deep-sea mining, say the regulations that would govern this activity are outdated and lack important oversight provisions.
- The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently proposed revisions to its rules to streamline leasing and permitting, but critics argue these revisions would weaken oversight by reducing environmental review requirements and limiting opportunities for public input.
- One expert also warned that the U.S. government’s classification of seabed resources as a source of critical minerals may increase the likelihood of exemptions from environmental protections.

US set to hold latest oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday. That’s when the latest lease sale is set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to oil company leaders ahead of the sale, urging them to stay […]
Pilot project in San Francisco Bay aims to help ships avoid gray whales
Starting in 2018, gray whales began regularly stopping in California’s San Francisco Bay, where they are vulnerable to ship strikes in one of the busiest ports in the United States. In response, researchers have deployed a monitoring network of thermal cameras and AI software to alert ships when whales are present in the bay to […]
Scientists warn of climate blind spot as U.S. dismantles ocean sensors
Over the next 15 months, major sensor arrays that have provided crucial, decade-long observations of the ocean, marine ecosystems and climate change will be dismantled. These sensors are part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $386 million network of more than 900 instruments funded by the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation (NSF), which has […]
Can deforestation predict Ebola outbreaks? Q&A with CDC’s Carson Telford
- In 2024, a group of researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) used machine learning to analyze 24 Ebola outbreaks between 2001 and 2022 to isolate which geographic and other variables they shared in common.
- They found that forest loss and fragmentation are among the most important predictive factors for where Ebola outbreaks occur.
- Carson Telford, who led the research, told Mongabay modeling like this can strengthen communication and readiness for outbreaks like the one taking place in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

New book offers tips to translate climate science into political gains
- The scientific evidence linking human activities to climate change is now well established.
- Even in the United States, where the Trump administration has pulled out of the Paris Agreement twice and often dismisses the science of climate change, federal scientific agencies such as NASA continue to maintain that the evidence is clear: human activities are driving climate change.
- Yet translating climate science into meaningful policy action and political gains has proven frustratingly slow for many climate advocates and campaigners. At the same time, misinformation and disinformation have further complicated public understanding of the issue.
- In his book, “Radically Reframing Climate Change: A Guide to Saving Ourselves,” Will Hackman contends that many climate communicators are approaching the issue the wrong way. Rather than speaking the language of the audiences they hope to reach, he says, they often rely on language that resonates only with those who already agree with them.

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