"Surging floodwaters turned farmland into vast pools, washed out bridges and prompted rescues of people stranded in cars and homes across Washington state on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people were under evacuation orders and authorities hoped levees would hold and prevent far worse damage."
Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here.
"Despite the Makah Tribe’s success in getting a waiver to carry out their exclusive treaty right for whaling, the permitting process that had dragged on for over 20 years has now been effectively delayed another year and a half – because of bogged-down federal bureaucracy. The Makah Tribe is the only one in the Lower 48 that has an exclusive treaty right to whaling."
"The Washington Supreme Court this week restored a $185 million verdict against the former Monsanto company, now owned by Bayer, over toxic chemicals in a state school building that allegedly poisoned three teachers."
"The fish had been missing from the headwaters of the Klamath River for more than a century. Just a year after the removal of a final dam, they’ve returned."
"As dawn broke over San Juan Island, a team of scientists stood on the deck of a barge and unspooled over a mile of fiber-optic cable into the frigid waters of the Salish Sea. Working by headlamp, they fed the line from the rocky shore down to the seafloor — home to the region’s orcas."
"The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists."
"For much of the 20th century, a sprawling complex in the desert of southeastern Washington state turned out most of the plutonium used in the nation’s nuclear arsenal, from the first atomic bomb to the arms race that fueled the Cold War. Now, after decades of planning and billions of dollars of investment, the site is turning liquid nuclear and chemical waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation into a much safer substance: glass."
"Hanford vitrification plant set to open but some fear Trump officials are pushing for a cheaper alternative"
"Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Democratic Sen. Patty Murray that he’s looking to delay operations at a multibillion-dollar vitrification plant at the Hanford nuclear cleanup site in Washington state, despite public statements signaling otherwise, the senator said."
