Managers at the EPA tried to suppress employee concerns that the Seresto flea collars the agency had approved were linked to the deaths of thousands of pets.

Because of shortages brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions, President Joe Biden orders the release of 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months. He also invokes the Defense Production Act to speed domestic mining of minerals used in electric vehicle motors. The Sierra Club asks that labor and environmental standards not be sidestepped and that tribal nations and local communities be properly consulted.

In 2021, sales of electric vehicles hit new records. Sales of SUVs were five times higher. 

Washington State will ban the sale of new internal-combustion-powered vehicles starting in 2030.  

A Florida panther is killed by a car, the ninth so far this year. Only 230 remain in the wild. 

Antarctica’s 460-square-mile Conger Ice Shelf collapses in the midst of a continental heat wave.

A rare tornado warning is issued for the Washington, DC, area, and tornados may have briefly touched down at Centreville and Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Since the adoption of the Paris climate accords in 2016, when the world’s nations pledged to keep future warming below 1.5°C, the world’s 60 largest banks have provided $4.6 trillion in funding for fossil fuels. Leading the pack has been US-based JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, which together accounted for a quarter of that financing. 

ExxonMobil says it will use excess methane gas that would otherwise be burned off by flaring to power crypto-currency mining operations.

The Southwest Power Pool, a 14-state electric power grid in the central US, sets a record by sourcing 90 percent of its energy from renewable power sources. 

The Bureau of Land Management will allow the American Prairie Reserve to graze bison on public land adjoining its large holding in Montana and to remove 30 miles of fencing so the herd can graze more freely.  

A March wildfire in Colorado burned 190 acres and forced the evacuation of 19,000 people. It was dubbed the NCAR fire because it started near the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a leading research facility on climate change and wildfires.

In 2021, the US Forest Service conducted controlled burns on 1.8 million acres of public land, a new record. 

Work will begin next month on the world’s largest wildlife crossing, stretching over 10 lanes of US 101 in Agoura Hills north of Los Angeles.  

China launches the world’s largest electric cruise ship, the Yangtze River Three Gorges 1. It is 100 meters long, can carry 1,300 passengers, and can travel 100 kilometers on a single charge.

Flamingo 492, which escaped from a Kansas zoo during a storm 17 years ago, is spotted on the Gulf Coast of Texas.