Environment

A law that eliminated North Carolina’s interim climate target accounted for 17% of Duke Energy earnings per share increase in 2026, according to Duke’s most recent earnings report. But Duke says the difference comes from a different part of the law — and that the effect on earnings will be “neutral” in the long run.

Charlotte has a moratorium on new data centers, but it doesn’t apply to some huge projects that are already underway. The window for residents to comment on one of two Charlotte hyperscale data center projects closes Tuesday.

Atrium Health’s Mercy Hospital spilled hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel into a creek — much of which drifted downstream to a neighborhood in Elizabeth.

Last week, the Old Growth Forest Network added the Chestnut Loop Trail in McDowell Nature Preserve to its map of the country’s oldest forests.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Climate Leaders are a volunteer group working to raise climate awareness in the city. They’re taking aim at one of environmentalists’ biggest boogeymen: data centers. They hosted a data center-themed trivia night Tuesday evening at Patagonia Charlotte in South End.

Old-growth forests are increasingly rare in the Carolinas. But in Mecklenburg County, you don’t have to travel far to find a mature, biodiverse forest.

If you drove west on Independence Boulevard a week ago, you might have noticed a Charlotte FC billboard flash by. Now, the advertising company that owns the sign has cut down the trees in front of it, and local business owners are paying for the extra visibility.

City Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium until October 18, 2027. District 6 representative Kimberly Owens said they had no other option.

The show’s reporters travel the state — even rappelling into the depths of Hickory Nut Gorge — to bring us stories about the science happening all around us.

The Lake Wylie Marine Commission withdrew its support for Charlotte’s proposed Interbasin Transfer Certificate, citing concerns that the lake would soon reach capacity.