Major chemical producers have agreed to pay billions of dollars to settle claims from U.S. water providers over toxic "forever chemicals" pollution.
Why it matters: The settlements are a significant step forward in the effort to reduce potentially dangerous chemicals in water systems across the country.
Tropical Storm Arlene became the first named storm of the 2023 hurricane season after forming Friday in the east-central Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The big picture: NOAA's forecast for the season remains uncertain due to elevated temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and a developing El Niño in the equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean.
Threats from the still-emerging Atlantic hurricane season are converging as oceanic and atmospheric trends underscore how climate change is creating unprecedented storm conditions.
The big picture: The tropical Atlantic is especially toasty, particularly temperatures in a crucial swath of the sea known as the "Main Development Region," where many tropical storms and hurricanes form and intensify.
Next-generation radar technology capable of taking 3D slices of hurricanes and other storms is poised to move ahead, after years of fits and starts.
Driving the news: The National Science Foundation announced $91.8 million in funding this morning — the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season — for the National Center for Atmospheric Research to design, build and test an airborne phased array radar.
Exxon just announced a deal with steel giant Nucor to trap, transport and store carbon dioxide emissions from a Louisiana plant.
Why it matters: Metals production spews lots of CO2, and it's a very tough to decarbonize industry due to high heat requirements.
Driving the news: Exxon said beginning in 2026, it will capture up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 annually from a Convent, Louisiana plant that produces a steel input called "direct reduced iron."
The financial terms and duration were not disclosed.
State of play: It's the third CO2 capture deal Exxon has reached over the last seven months, following tie-ups with industrial gas giant Linde and fertilizer maker CF Industries.
The deals together commit the company to transporting and storing 5 million metric tons annually, Exxon said.
That's akin to replacing 2 million gasoline-powered cars with electric models, it added.
What they're saying: "Momentum is building as customers recognize our ability to solve emission challenges at scale," Dan Ammann, head of Exxon's low-carbon business, said in a statement.
The big picture: Withoil sector investments in climate-friendly energy have been growing, Exxon plans to spend roughly $7 billion through 2027 on projects with industrial partners, and $10 billion to cut emissions from its own operations.
Yes, but: The International Energy Agency last week called out the oil and gas industry for not investing more in low-carbon projects, given its massive oil profits and global emissions-cutting needs.
Flashback: Ammann recently told Axios the "limiting factor" in scaling low-carbon ventures is not capital, but finding viable projects and customers.
The power of resilience in the face of catastrophic disaster is the enduring focus of an Adam McKay-backed film premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival next week.
Driving the news: "ASOG" pays homage to the real-life stories of LGBTQ-identifying Filipinos, as its global release commences with America's annual celebration of Pride.
Washington, D.C., Minnesota's Twin Cities and Irvine, California, are among the country's best cities for public parks, per the latest rankings from the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a pro-parks nonprofit.
The group rates cities on a variety of metrics, including the percentage of residents who live near a park, the share of city land reserved for parks, parks investment and more; cities are then awarded a "ParkScore."
A California judge on Wednesday dismissed all criminal charges against Pacific Gas & Electric in the deadly Zogg Fire and PG&E agreed to a $50 million civil settlement with Shasta County officials over the matter.
The big picture: The utility was charged with manslaughter and other crimes in connection with the Northern California wildfire that killed four people, including an 8-year-old girl, and burned hundreds of homes in 2020 after investigators found the blaze was sparked by a tree that fell onto a PG&E transmission line.
Hundreds of corporate Amazon workers protested Wednesday against the company's progress on its climate goals and over its mandatory return to in-person work.
Driving the news: The movement was organized by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a climate change advocacy group founded by the company's workers, along with an informal group of workers who oppose the changes in remote work rules, per the Washington Post.
