Articles by Laila Kearney and Jarrett Renshaw

Philadelphia Energy Solutions Files for Bankruptcy After Refinery Fire

Philadelphia Energy Solutions filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said on Monday, its second such filing in less than two years, after a fire last month prompted it to close the largest refinery on the U.S. East Coast. …

City of Atlanta Struggles to Recover from Cyber Attack

Atlanta’s top officials holed up in their offices on Saturday as they worked to restore critical systems knocked out by a nine-day-old cyber attack that plunged the Southeastern U.S. metropolis into technological chaos and forced some city workers to revert …

Gone With The Wind: Storms Deepen Florida’s Beach Sand Crunch

Down the palm tree-lined roads of northeast Florida’s Flagler County, a half-dozen dump trucks are shuttling back and forth along the Atlantic coast pouring thousands of tons of sand onto the local beach. Replacing sand swept away by waves and …

New York Sues Fossil Fuel Majors, Plans Divestment from Pension Funds

New York City announced on Wednesday that it filed a multibillion dollar lawsuit against five top oil companies, citing their “contributions to global warming,” as it said it would divest fossil fuel investments from its $189 billion public pension funds …

Judge Approves $265M Settlement in 2015 Pennsylvania Amtrak Derailment

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday approved a $265 million settlement over an Amtrak passenger train crash in Philadelphia in 2015 that killed eight people and injured about 200 others, court records showed. The settlement ordered by U.S. District Court …

Northeast Coast Spared Hermine’s Worst

Atlantic storm Hermine drifted north on Monday off the U.S. East Coast, still packing near-hurricane strength winds but far enough from land to spare the Middle Atlantic states. Forecasters warned swimmers and boaters along the Eastern Seaboard to stay out …

New York Set to Expand Medical Marijuana Program

New York state will loosen rules on marijuana prescribing, allow home delivery of the drug and take other steps to expand its medical cannabis program, health officials announced on Tuesday. The announcement follows a report issued earlier this month by …

Blizzard Sweeps Northeast U.S., New York Spared Its Brunt

A blizzard swept across the northeastern United States on Tuesday, dropping as much as 2 feet (60 cm) of snow across Massachusetts and Connecticut even as its impact on New York City fell short of dire predictions. The governors of …

Not Guilty Plea Entered by PG&E In Deadly California Blast

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has pleaded not guilty to federal charges stemming from a natural gas pipeline explosion in California that killed eight people and injured 58 others in 2010, according to court filings. The utility was indicted by …

Scientists Report Solar Blasts Narrowly Missed Earth in 2012

Fierce solar blasts that could have badly damaged electrical grids and disabled satellites in space narrowly missed Earth in 2012, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. The bursts would have wreaked havoc on the Earth’s magnetic field, matching the severity of …