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Received — 1 June 2026 NYT - Energy & Environment

Oil Prices Jump as Middle East Tensions Build

Some analysts said the main international oil price, which was up 6 percent on Monday, could climb much higher in the coming weeks if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t reopen.

© Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

An oil refinery in Carson, Calif. The possibility of continued fighting has raised concerns about how long the world’s stockpiles of oil and fuels will last if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen.

2025 Wildfires Were the Costliest Ever, Researchers Say

Severe, hard-to-control blazes in densely populated areas like Los Angeles drove the year’s record losses.

© Loren Elliott for The New York Times

Pacific Palisades, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2025. Fires in the Los Angeles area last year burned at least 90 square miles, killing at least 31 people and displacing more than 150,000.
Received — 31 May 2026 NYT - Energy & Environment

How NextEra Energy Wielded Political Power in Florida

29 May 2026 at 21:29
NextEra, which is seeking to buy Dominion Energy, has often butted heads with consumer groups, residents and journalists in its home state.

© Ulysse Bellier/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Dominion Energy power plant near Davis, W.Va. NextEra Energy’s political activities are expected to be scrutinized as it seeks approval of its purchase of Dominion.

A Clean Energy PAC Helped Beat Chip Roy, and Now It Has New Targets

29 May 2026 at 20:47
A PAC representing wind and solar energy interests spent $1.1 million to boost the Republican primary opponent of Chip Roy, an opponent of renewables. Now they are trying to save a Republican ally in Iowa.

© Michael A. McCoy for The New York Times

A group of renewable energy investors paid for this projection on the side of the Energy Department building in Washington gloating over Representative Chip Roy’s defeat in a Republican primary for Texas attorney general.

Greenpeace’s Long War With a Pipeline Titan Enters a Strange New Phase

29 May 2026 at 02:09
This month, a North Dakota court barred Greenpeace from saying what it wanted in a European court, an unusual move. The environmental group says it is forging ahead.

© Robin Utrecht/ANP, via Alamy

A court building in Amsterdam. The North Dakota Supreme Court this month barred Greenpeace International from making claims against Energy Transfer in a Dutch countersuit.

Scientists Ditched a Scary Climate Scenario. What Now?

While global warming is still a threat, the decision to back away from a worst-case outlook raises questions about whether some risks have been overstated.

© Apu Gomes/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A wildfire burning in the Simi Valley of California this month.

A Very Lonely Caterpillar, Possibly the Last of Its Kind, Has Died

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly hasn’t been seen in the wild since 2022. The caterpillar was the last individual in human care.

© Diana Cervantes for The New York Times

A Powerful El Niño Is Forming. If History Is a Guide, It Could Hit Hard.

21 May 2026 at 18:36
The biggest episodes of the past have altered the course of human events, according to researchers. An emerging one is drawing historic comparisons.

© Dea/Biblioteca Ambrosiana, via Getty Images

An illustration published in 1877 depicted a scene in southern India. Millions died from a famine that coincided with an El Niño that year.
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