HEADLINESAll Stories by Norm Holy

Toppled trees can tell the story of a windswept landscape, if only people know how to tune in. Now, researchers are reading the roughness of hillsides to learn about winds blasting in the past.

Unlike Indiana, some states have plans on how to become carbon-free by 2050. According to Inside Climate Change, this is happening with remarkable speed. Most recently, Minnesota lawmakers have passed a bill requiring 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040.

Environmental Action reports the plastics industry and the American Chemistry Council are pushing legislation in Congress that would reclassify incineration as “advanced recycling.” Classifying plastic incinerators as “advanced recycling” would allow them to avoid Clean Air Act requirements, taking an insidious part of our waste disposal and sweeping it under the rug.”

The Audubon Society reports on a recent assessment of bird populations by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. They have tracked the health of breeding birds in habitats across the nation over the past five decades.

The New York Times reports many American consumers are now eligible to save thousands of dollars when they buy an electric car, heat pump, solar panels or energy-efficient appliances. Those savings kicked in this year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, major legislation that aims to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.