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Does More Energy Reporting = Less Climate Reporting?

Two women sit on stage having a discussion at the POLITICO The California Agenda event in Los Angeles. The stage has a blue backdrop with event branding and sponsor logos. Both are seated on white chairs.

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

  If you are one of the many loyal readers of E&E News, big change is coming to your daily routine. POLITICO announced it is shuttering E&E, the standalone, subscription-based reporting outfit that it bought in 2020. “Beginning in September, we are modernizing how we deliver our energy and environmental policy journalism and launching a …

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Is Climate Journalism Up to the Task in 2026?

Multiple TVs stacked over and beside one another all display a red static image.

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

We need strong climate journalism now more than ever and there’s some good news to report on that front. Important voices on the climate beat are cranking up the volume, especially via new digital platforms. But first, the bad news. We now know that 2025 was Earth’s third warmest year on record — featuring firestorms …

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Why Do Heat Pumps Have a Bad Rap? Lies

The Drain

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

I just listened to dozens of people tell me that heat pumps don’t work, may cause homelessness, and can bankrupt small businesses. This was shocking news to me, in no small part because I’m currently in the process of installing a heat pump in my condo. Obviously, I don’t want to waste money, sleep on …

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Is Brazil Ready for COP30? No One Is Ready for COP30

The Drain

The Drain is a weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

It’s officially less than 6 months until COP30 — when tens of thousands of people will descend on the Brazilian city of Belém for the annual UN climate conference — and no one is ready. For one thing, Belém is an impoverished city of 2.5 million that can’t build enough hotels for the 50,000 expected delegates …

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The Good, the Bad and the Utter Contempt

The Drain

The Drain is a weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

The news this week has me remembering my grandpa teaching a young me to turn off the tap while brushing my teeth. (Hey, I was an ignorant East Coast kid.) This was in California’s Central Valley around 1990 when drought conditions flared and the federal government cut water deliveries.  What was the news story? What …

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MAGA vs NOAA, Executive Orders, and Growing IRA Support

The Drain

The Drain is a new weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

Trump wants to “Make Weather a Mystery Again.” The news that started leaking last Friday is that the Trump administration wants to break up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and essentially end NOAA’s climate work by abolishing its primary research office and forcing the agency to instead help boost U.S. fossil fuel production, according …

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