Trump Orders Defense Department to Buy Coal Power While UK Records Wettest January in Century — Today’s Environmental Briefing for Wed, Feb 11 2026

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Across the stories today, a common thread emerges: the growing tension between scientific progress and political resistance as communities worldwide grapple with environmental realities that refuse to wait for consensus.

The day’s coverage points to growing momentum around local action, even as federal policies shift dramatically. While the Trump administration moves to dismantle core climate regulations and redirect military energy purchases toward coal, federal courts are pushing back, blocking attempts to halt offshore wind projects. It’s a reminder that progress and pressure often arrive together—and that the real work of environmental protection increasingly happens at the community level.

This pattern plays out vividly in Pennsylvania, where Montour County commissioners unanimously rejected a massive data center development, citing energy concerns. Their decision reflects a broader awakening among communities about the hidden environmental costs of our digital infrastructure. Similarly, across the Southeast, utilities may be overbuilding gas infrastructure for AI data centers that may never materialize—a costly bet on a future that technology may not actually require.

Meanwhile, nature itself continues writing headlines that underscore the urgency. The UK just recorded its wettest January in over a century, while Patagonian wildfires—now proven three times more likely due to climate change—claimed 23 lives and destroyed ancient forests. Southern right whales, after decades of recovery, are seeing birth rates plummet as warming waters disrupt their Antarctic feeding grounds.

Yet among these sobering developments, we’re also witnessing remarkable conservation victories and scientific breakthroughs. A gray wolf entered Los Angeles County for the first time in over a century, marking a stunning milestone for California wildlife recovery. In Chile, astronomers celebrated the cancellation of a $10 billion industrial project that threatened some of the world’s clearest skies. Indigenous groups in Brazil forced the government to suspend Amazon river dredging after weeks of protests, while Gwich’in tribes continue their legal fight to protect sacred caribou calving grounds in Alaska’s Arctic refuge.

Behind the numbers are real communities adapting in real time. Homebuyers now weigh flood zones and wildfire risks alongside mortgage rates. In Montreal, hundreds of birdwatchers braved bitter cold to glimpse a European robin—the first ever recorded in Canada, a tiny ambassador from a changing world. Even restaurant owners find themselves on environmental frontlines, facing backlash for opposing immigration enforcement that disrupts food systems.

The scientific community, too, is evolving rapidly. Researchers are developing ethical frameworks for AI-powered animal communication studies, racing to map underground fungal networks that store billions of tons of carbon, and working to preserve six decades of conservation data that the previous administration nearly erased. Companies are beginning to recognize that environmental destruction poses existential business risks, not just regulatory headaches.

Perhaps most tellingly, we’re seeing the power of information itself. A new analysis suggests that access to reliable environmental data drives real change more than any single hero or organization—underscoring why fights over scientific findings and public access to research matter so deeply.

As the week unfolds, all eyes will be on how these parallel tracks—policy rollbacks and community resilience, scientific discovery and political resistance—continue to intersect. The question isn’t whether environmental pressures will intensify, but how effectively we’ll respond when federal leadership and local needs diverge so dramatically.