America’s aging dams need a refresh

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America’s hydropower systems are in hot water — but the federal government may soon unclog a stream of funding to help them out.


By Katherine Krawczyk, Canary Media

We’ve been using water to generate electricity in the U.S. since the 1880s, expanding from projects harvesting Niagara Falls for power to a whole network of systems that span the rivers of the West. America’s dams have since become a reliable, round-the-clock source of clean energy, generating nearly 6% of the nation’s power in 2025 even as drought in the West limited many projects’ capacity.

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That long history is exactly why hydroelectricity is now in trouble. Hundreds of dams across the U.S. representing nearly 16 GW of capacity will have to be relicensed by the federal government in the coming years, as Alexander C. Kaufman previously reported for Canary Media. But the average dam in the U.S. is 65 years old, and many were built without the infrastructure they’d need to be licensed today, like passages for fish and other wildlife. Many operators will have to choose between spending millions of dollars on infrastructure upgrades or simply shutting down — and some are already choosing the latter.

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House strikes pesticide language from farm bill

The vote notched a major win for the MAHA movement on their highest-profile agriculture priority.

By Grace Yarrow and Rachel Shin, Politico

The House voted 280-142 to remove controversial pesticide-labeling language from the farm bill Thursday morning after a revolt by Make America Healthy Again activists.

The vote is a major win for MAHA-aligned Republicans and Democrats who argued that the provisions would protect pesticide makers that have faced hundreds of thousands of lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging they weren’t informed about health risks associated with the products.

Rep. Anna Palina (R-Fl)

The amendment, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), was the subject of contention within the GOP after she threatened to “BLOW UP the farm bill” over the issue. House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and other Republicans pressured GOP colleagues to reject Luna’s move.

“It would prevent frivolous lawsuits if it’s in compliance with the science that the EPA has put forward,” Thompson told POLITICO. “I think this is a tool that’s really important for food affordability, because these are tools are important for yield, to be able to feed the nation, feed the world.”

Six Democrats voted to keep the pesticide language: Reps. Sanford Bishop (Ga.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Adam Gray (Calif.) and Hank Johnson (Ga.).

And 73 Republicans voted with Luna to deliver MAHA a victory in an ongoing fight over pesticide use.

Luna said during the debate that she’d faced fierce opposition from her own party, saying on the House floor Wednesday night that one of her colleagues called her a “damn liar.”

“I never thought I’d have to be debating liability protections for pesticide companies,” Luna said. “Yet here I am today.”

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Supreme Court gives Bayer a mixed reception on Roundup herbicide


By Greg Stohrm, Bloomberg News

The US Supreme Court gave Bayer AG a mixed reception on its bid to stop tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its Roundup herbicide should have been labeled as a cancer risk.

Hearing arguments in Washington on Monday, the justices weighed a $1.25 million jury verdict won by a Missouri man who blamed Roundup for his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The company contends that because US regulators didn’t require a cancer warning, federal law bars the Missouri suit and similar suits.

Bayer drew supportive comments from Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who questioned whether lawsuits alleging a failure to warn could be squared with a provision in federal law requiring “uniformity” in herbicide labels. But Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that states considering new evidence that a product is risky should be allowed to “call this danger to the attention of the people.”

Bayer shares slumped as much as 6.5% in early trading on Tuesday in Frankfurt. The stock had gained 67% over the past year through Monday’s close on optimism about containing the Roundup fallout and progress in its pharmaceutical pipeline.

Bank of America Corp. analysts, including Sachin Jain, said the hearing was less clear-cut in Bayer’s favor than expected. They cited feedback from a call with a legal expert, who still expects the ruling to favor Bayer with 70% probability.

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Yale is drilling 263 new wells for geothermal energy

By Michelle So, Staff Reporter, Yale Daily News

Maia Wilson, Staff Illustrator

Natural gas provides roughly half of Connecticut’s energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While burning natural gas produces half as many emissions as burning coal, it is not as green as one might think.

Any carbon-based fuel produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases when burned. Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.

Yale has committed to achieving zero emissions by 2050, a goal the University has been slowly advancing towards. Alternative energy sources, including geothermal technologies, may be the ticket there.

“Yale is moving toward geothermal energy as part of the university’s commitment to achieve a zero‑emissions (zero‑carbon) campus by 2050,” Andy Bromage, the sustainability communications officer for the Yale Office of Facilities, wrote in an email to the News.

To achieve that goal, Bromage said drilling is underway to install 263 geothermal wells on Upper Science Hill. The new plant will support buildings including the Yale Science Building, the Sloane Physics Laboratory, the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, the Kline Chemistry Laboratory, the Chemistry Research Building, and the Bass Center. 

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Another offshore wind firm is seeking a Trump payout

Engie is talking to the Trump administration about canceling its U.S. offshore wind leases, even as a similar $1 billion deal with TotalEnergies sparks legal concerns.

A woman in a white jacket holds her hand against her face and stares into the distance.
Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor (Laurent Coust/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

By Maria Gallucci, Canary Media, 24 April 2026

A second French energy firm is pursuing a refund on its U.S. offshore wind leases — and analysts say the trend could spread further, despite major legal questions about the Trump administration’s approach.

Engie, which had been planning three U.S. projects, is in talks with the administration about forfeiting the company’s offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursement. Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor disclosed the development on April 21, a month after the French oil giant TotalEnergies struck a similar deal with the U.S. Department of the Interior for nearly $1 billion.

“Discussions are ongoing, and we’ll see if an agreement is possible,” MacGregor told reporters at a press meeting in Paris.

“Economically and also in terms of public acceptance, I strongly believe in offshore wind power,” she added. However, ​“One must be able to say that energy policy is stable enough, whatever the political color of the government,” to continue investing in the clean energy resource.

Engie builds offshore wind farms through Ocean Winds, its joint venture with the Portuguese developer EDP Renewables. The entity previously bid roughly $1 billion for three lease areas off the coasts of California, Massachusetts, and New York, where it planned to build projects totaling 6.8 gigawatts. That power capacity would go a long way in helping those regions cut planet-warming pollution and meet rising electricity demand.

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Supreme Court to Hear Arguments today in Landmark Roundup Weedkiller Case

A victory for the manufacturer, Bayer, could end thousands of lawsuits against the company claiming that the herbicide causes cancer.

The front facade of the Supreme Court Building against a blue sky, with a cherry blossom tree blooming in the foreground.
The Supreme Court in Washington. The Trump administration has formally backed Bayer in the case. Credit…Eric Lee for The New York Times

By Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today in a case that could lead to the dismissal of tens of thousands of lawsuits against Bayer, the pharmaceutical and biotech giant, that claim the weedkiller Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Developed by Monsanto in the 1970s, Roundup is one of the best-selling weedkillers in the world, but it has been dogged by controversy over its effects on human health. The company, which was acquired by the German conglomerate Bayer in 2018, has faced thousands of lawsuits, amounting to one of the largest waves of such litigation in U.S. history.

Evidence in lab animals, and more limited evidence in humans, has indicated a link between Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, and cancer. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

The Environmental Protection Agency considers the herbicide to be safe. The E.P.A. is responsible for pesticide labeling nationwide, and Bayer argues that the federal agency’s decision overrides state-level legal claims, effectively insulating it from lawsuits. The federal government faces an Oct. 1 deadline to re-examine the effects of glyphosate.

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