Environment

Amid the intertwining crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, a 2-century-old Catholic convent outside Loretto, Ky. has signed a conservation easement to protect more than 650 acres of natural lands.

Later this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will re-classify the northern long-eared bat as an endangered species. WFPL’s Ryan Van Velzer reports on bat habitat in Kentucky under threat from a proposed natural gas pipeline in Bullitt County, the state’s biodiversity loss and what can be done to stop it.

Thanks to a new federal law, cities will get better forecasts about how climate change intensifies rainstorms. Still, it won't be in time for billions of dollars of federal infrastructure spending.

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest and Louisville Gas and Electric offered closing arguments Wednesday in a hearing that will decide the utility’s right to take conservation lands to build a natural gas pipeline.

Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities are going to trial to take lands from Bernheim Research Forest and Arboretum to build a natural gas pipeline in northern Bullitt County.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear recently announced the state is partnering with Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to support the buildout of hydrogen infrastructure across Appalachia.

Logan Sizemore, 16, will be one of the youngest elected officials ever in the state when he takes office in January.

Improving your energy efficiency is one of the simplest ways to reduce your carbon footprint and save money on utilities. WFPL’s Ryan Van Velzer reports one local climate action group is helping a church save thousands, and plans to help other local nonprofits serving primarily Louisville’s Black and Brown communities in 2023.

The urban design team at the University of Louisville’s Envirome Institute has plans to transform a downtown park into a “microforest.” The team aspires to make it a small urban oasis.

Christmas has come and gone, but the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources wants your Christmas tree to create fish habitats. Here's how you can donate your tree to end up in one of 19 lakes across the state.