2025 Wrapped: Not a great year for the environment, really! But there are bright spots–maybe even more than usual in one of my roundups, in spite of everything.
2025 Was Another Exceptionally Hot Year (Yale Environment 360, December 30, 2025)
How the planet fared in 2025 — the good, the bad, and the ugly (Grist, December 15, 2025)
What the White House is up to
The US rang in the new year–and the 250th anniversary of our country–by ousting the president of Venezeula and “running” that country in the meantime. No one pretended this maneuver had anything to do with anything but oil…. and laying the grounds for future takeovers.
Trump Wants Venezuela’s Oil. Getting It Might Not Be So Simple (Wired, January 4, 2026)
After Venezuela, Trump eyes other countries (News Nation, January 5, 2026)
Call Trump’s power grab in Venezuela what it is (The Handbasket, January 5, 2026)
Otherwise, it’s been business as usual for this administration. That is to say, chipping away at environmental protections….
Trump Administration Moves to Weaken Federal Protections for Waterways and Wetlands (Inside Climate News, November 17, 2025)
…and dismantling the agencies and organizations that conduct environmental research….
We’re all at risk if Trump dismantles this legendary lab (Grist, December 18, 2025)
‘The perfect storm’: Trump has left the US less prepared for natural disasters, experts say (The Guardian, January 4, 2026)
…and turning senile word salad into anti-environmental policy.
From ‘global cooling’ to ‘beautiful coal’: Trump’s startling climate claims of 2025 (The Guardian, December 29, 2025)
Propublica actually tried to tally up the impacts of the US government’s “America First” policy, and put some numbers to what experts have already warned:
Trump’s Anti-Green Agenda Could Lead to 1.3 Million More Climate Deaths. The Poorest Countries Will Be Impacted Most. (Propublica, November 19, 2025)
Elsewhere in climate politics
End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff (The Guardian, November 22, 2025)
COP-tastrophe: How the COP of Implementation, Truth, Forests, and Indigenous Peoples Failed on All Counts (Drilled, November 22, 2025)
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens (Iran International, November 20, 2025)
AI and the environment
The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived (WIRED, November 14, 2025)
AI’s water problem is worse than we thought (HEATED, November 25, 2025)
To Feed Data Centers, Pennsylvania Faces a New Fracking Surge (Yale Environment 360, December 11, 2025)
What Ireland’s Data Center Crisis Means for the EU’s AI Sovereignty Plans (Tech Policy Press, December 18, 2025)
‘Just an unbelievable amount of pollution’: how big a threat is AI to the climate? (The Guardian, January 3, 2026)
Climate and culture
‘An incredible privilege and a daunting task’: Oregon tribe harvests beached whale for the first time in generations (The Oregonian, November 21, 2025)
The hottest clubs in NYC these days are volunteer trash pickup groups (Gothamist, November 25, 2025)
We’ll Be Dumping a Garbage Truck of Plastic Every Second by 2040, Report Warns (Gizmodo, December 6, 2025)
Bring in the new year with these local hikes, from Marsh Creek to the Pine Barrens (Philadelphia Inquirer, December 22, 2025)
Cars are essential to American life. They’re also toxic for the environment, humans, and society, these authors say. (Philadelphia Inquirer, January 3, 2026)
Obligatory notes of hope
2025 Breakthrough of the year: Good morning, sunshine (Science, December 18, 2025)
Imported Solar Panels Save U.S. Lives and Cut Billions in Climate Costs, Study Finds (CUNY Graduate Center, October 9, 2025)
As Trump Rolls Back Protections For Wetlands, New Jersey Maintains a Higher Standard (Inside Climate News, December 31, 2025)
Make Your Own Micro Forest (Offrange, November 14, 2025)
Al Gore’s case for optimism (HEATED, December 4, 2025)
It’s easy to feel powerless about climate chaos. Here’s what gives me hope (The Guardian, December 31, 2026)
Sara Davis 