Obama Legacy: Quiet but big changes in energy, pollution

Mostly unnoticed amid the political brawl over climate change, the United States has undergone a quiet transformation in how and where it gets its energy during Barack Obama's presidency, slicing the nation's output of polluting gases that are warming Earth. As politicians tangled in the U.S. and on the world stage, the U.S. slowly but surely moved away from emissions-spewing coal and toward cleaner fuels like natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar.

Obama Seeks To Cement A Climate Legacy With China Before The U.S. Election

US President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the start of the two-week climate summit in Paris on Nov. 30, 2015. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping just made an eagerly awaited announcement: The United States and China are formally committing to the Paris climate change agreement.

China, US Face Off In New Space Race: Mars 2020

China and the U.S. recently announced plans to send rovers to Mars in 2020, signaling the start of a new space race. China's plans to land a solar-powered rover on Mars in July or August of 2020 while NASA intends to launch its own $2.1 billion dollar nuclear isotope powered Mars 2020 rover the same month.

Global warming divides Americans more than abortion

In this Sunday, July 24, 2016, file photo, climate change activists carry signs as they march during a protest in downtown in Philadelphia a day before the start of the Democratic National Convention. Matthew Nisbet, a communications professor at Northeastern University, says the split with science is most visible and strident when it comes to climate change because the nature of the global problem requires communal joint action, and “for conservatives that's especially difficult to accept.” He and other experts say climate change is more about tribalism, or who we identify with politically and socially.

Cold-War-Era Toxic Waste Could Be Released by Greenland’s Melting Ice

It may sound like a storyline straight out of a Godzilla movie, but researchers are warning that toxic waste from a long-abandoned Cold War-era camp could leach into nearby ecosystems as a result of warming temperatures in Greenland. It was thought that the hazardous waste would stay buried and frozen forever beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet , but climate change is warming the Arctic and causing portions of the ice sheet to melt, the researchers reported in a new study.

Baby Teeth of Iraqi Children Tell Troubling Tale of War’s Toxic Impacts

Iraqi children watch U.S. Army soldiers climb to the roof of their school to get a high vantage point in Baghdad on April 15, 2007. In an effort to learn more about the impacts of long-term exposure to heavy metals and other toxins associated with warzone bombardments and military installations, a new study released Friday examined a sample of donated teeth and discovered that the children of Iraq are suffering from alarming levels of such substances, specfically lead.

Long Island Sound dump plans puts NY, Connecticut at odds

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at an event on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park, N.Y. Cuomo said Thursday the state would consider legal action if federal officials proceed with plans to expand dumping sites. . less New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at an event on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park, N.Y. Cuomo said Thursday the state would consider legal action if federal officials proceed ... more New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at an event on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park, N.Y. Cuomo said Thursday the state would consider legal action if federal officials proceed with plans to expand dumping sites.

Sen Inhofe: Global Warming Alarmists Are Brainwashing Our Kids

U.S. Senator James Inhofe joins Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders to address federal highway funding legislation, during a news conference following the weekly Republican caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Hill in Washington July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Global warming skeptic Sen. James Inhofe said Tuesday afternoon that parents must "un-brainwash" kids indoctrinated by schools pushing the man-made global warming mantra.

5 Years After Space Shuttle, Obama’s NASA Still Can’t Put A Man Into Space

The last Space Shuttle launched 5 years ago Thursday, but NASA still cannot put men into space without Russian cooperation due to President Obama's cuts to the agency's exploration and spaceflight capability. NASA plans to return to Earth's orbit are entirely dependent on private companies, some of which are scheduled to launch by the end of next year.

Tibet figured in Obama-Dalai Lama talks: Tibetan government

Dharamsala, July 6 The situation in Tibet and the implications of environmental degradation on the Tibetan plateau were among the issues which figured in the talks between US President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, the central Tibetan Administration said on Wednesday. "Obama in his meeting with His Holiness at the White House on June 15, discussed the critical political situation of Tibetans inside Tibet and the implications of environmental degradation on the plateau," said a statement by the Tibetan Cabinet to mark the pontiff's 81st birthday.

The Latest: Obama arrives for Canada-US-Mexico summit-Image1

The Latest on U.S. President Barack Obama's summit Wednesday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto : President Barack Obama says he'll keep working for a trans-Pacific trade deal that is stuck in the U.S. Congress and opposed by both of the candidates who are vying to succeed him. Addressing a news conference, Obama says the goal in an integrated global economy is not for countries to shut themselves off from the world.

The Latest: Obama arrives for Canada-US-Mexico summit

Obama is traveling to Ottawa, Canada for the North America Leaders' Summit with Canadian Prime Minist... . President Barack Obama walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 29, 2016, to board Marine One for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., than onto Ottawa, Canada.

EPA gets new powers to regulate toxic chemicals, but progress takes time

The Environmental Protection Agency, led by Gina McCarthy, will have more authority to order safety tests for chemicals and set deadlines for the agency to determine whether dangerous compounds should be restricted or forced off the market. The Environmental Protection Agency, led by Gina McCarthy, will have more authority to order safety tests for chemicals and set deadlines for the agency to determine whether dangerous compounds should be restricted or forced off the market.

Scientists: Drop Arctic from plans for offshore drilling

Nearly 400 scientists have signed a letter urging President Obama to eliminate the possibility of Arctic offshore drilling in the near future by taking the Arctic Ocean out of the next federal offshore lease sale plan. The scientists include Jane Lubchenco, Obama's former administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, now a researcher and teacher at Oregon State University.