The new figures quantify what scientists, officials and activists have long called the inequity in national climate histories with the rich nations benefiting and the poor ones hurting from the production of greenhouse gas emissions.

The 6-3 ruling declared that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate emissions from plants that contribute to global warming. The decision also could have a broader effect on other agencies’ regulatory efforts, from education to transportation and food.

Illinois environmental groups were quick to condemn the Supreme Court’s limits on the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and placed the state in opposition to the justices’ stance. 

By a 6-3 vote, with conservatives in the majority, the court said that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.

In 2021, worldwide emissions from making cement for buildings, roads and other infrastructure hit nearly 2.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide, which is more than 7% of the global carbon emissions. Twenty years ago, in 2002, cement emissions were some 1.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide.

The National Weather Service maintained an excessive heat warning through Wednesday evening for most of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, which have been dealing with the sticky humidity and soaring temperatures since Tuesday. 

The nature conservation group Openlands and search engine Ecosia are hoping to boost the number of trees in underserved areas through their TreePlanters Grant Program. 

A new study concludes that Cook County has become one of the most desirable places for those escaping the extreme effects of climate change. Climate refugees seeking more stable environments look to cities across the Midwest. But is the Midwest really a safe haven? 

Chicago’s beaches are seeing fluctuating lake levels and worsening erosion. This, as Lake Michigan levels drop, following two years of record highs.

A legal brawl between Fifth Third Bank and federal regulators is underway; Walmart is hiring big time; and a new study says Cook County has earned itself a new title: climate change refuge. 

Power operators in the Central US, in their summer readiness report, have already predicted “insufficient firm resources to cover summer peak forecasts.” That assessment accounted for historical weather and the latest NOAA outlook that projects for more extreme weather this summer.

The federal lawsuit Illinois joined charges the Postal Service with botching its review of a plan to buy as many as 165,000 new delivery trucks in an effort to modernize its fleet. The contract calls for just 10% of those trucks to be electric vehicles.

More than 1 in 5 species of reptiles worldwide are threatened with extinction, according to a comprehensive new assessment of thousands of species published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Work on the reptile study – which involved nearly 1,000 scientists and 52 co-authors – started in 2005.

"Energy Revolution," a new exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Center, looks at climate change through the lens of architecture, with an emphasis on energy consumption. When it comes to energy efficient insulation, less is not more.

Pennsylvania on Saturday becomes the first major fossil fuel-producing state in the U.S. to adopt a carbon pricing policy to address climate change. It joins 11 states where coal, oil and natural gas power plants must buy credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

Joe Biden’s most sweeping proposals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions remain stalled on Capitol Hill despite renewed warnings from scientists that the world is hurtling toward a dangerous future marked by extreme heat, drought and weather.