Gas

On a glorious September morning, a scientist emerged cheerfully from the depths of a corrugated metal tunnel under a remote stretch of Highway 395 north of the town of Bridgeport.

It wasn’t a planned encounter. I happened upon Ben Carter, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, as I toured the area with a couple of Caltrans employees.

Carter was switching out the SD cards from cameras installed to document animals that might be using two wildlife crossings recently constructed under the highway near Sonora Junction.

“We’ve got some deer sign coming through here, which is great,” he said, referring to cloven hoof prints pressed into the soft earth. He’d looked through a few photos at the other culvert and saw deer there, too, and perhaps a coyote.

The effort comes at a critical moment. Mule deer in the region have declined in recent years, sparking concern among hunters. Getting hit by cars or trucks is the second biggest cause of deer death, not counting unknown causes.

Some hunters would like the state to control the population of mountain lions in the area to help the deer, which the cougars eat. But state wildlife officials aren’t allowed to do that.

The big, charismatic cats are a “specially protected species” in the Golden State. (Officials are permitted to kill mountain lions in limited circumstances, including to protect endangered bighorn sheep. They recently began doing that again after a long hiatus, which I wrote about in a story this week.)

So wildlife crossings could be a win-win solution. Both hunters and conservationists are especially keen to see one rise along a stretch of the 395 that runs past the Mammoth Yosemite Airport — the top roadkill hot spot in the Eastern Sierra.

There are plans to put one there, but getting it off the ground is estimated to cost more than $65 million, according to Caltrans, which is leading the project.

Brian Tillemans, a hunter and former watershed resource manager for the L.A. Department of Water and Power, who has called on the state to help deer, said the crossing can’t come too soon.

“If there’s ever a spot for a deer crossing, it’s up here,” he added, driving near the proposed site.

Ben Carter, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, checks a trail camera at a wildlife undercrossing recently installed near the town of Bridgeport.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

At the other crossing, about 70 miles to the north, Carter expressed both hope and concern.

It’s among the top three roadkill hot spots in the region because deer migrate across the highway. But the project area didn’t perfectly align with their route, according to Carter. That’s because the undercrossings were put in opportunistically, as part of a shoulder-widening endeavor spearheaded by Caltrans.

Beth Pratt, of the National Wildlife Federation, who joined a tour of the crossing, was optimistic the animals would use it.

“I feel like word’s gonna get out,” she said. “I know they are really loyal to their migration sites. On the other hand, they can start being loyal to this.”

The trail cameras will determine if she’s right.

More recent animal news

It’s been a sad few weeks for real-life animal mascots in the northern part of the state.

Last week, Claude, a striking albino alligator living in San Francisco’s California Academy of the Sciences — where he served as unofficial mascot — passed away from liver cancer at the age of 30, my fellow Times reporter Hailey Branson-Potts reported. During his 17 years at the science museum, the ghostly white reptile became a cultural icon, appearing in children’s books, city advertisements and a 24/7 livestream. “Claude represented that core San Francisco value of seeing the beauty & value in everyone, including those who are a bit different from the norm. Rest in peace, buddy,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) tweeted.

A month earlier, a beloved bald eagle named Hope was fatally electrocuted on power lines near a Milpitas elementary school where she and her mate presided as mascots. The feathered local celebrity’s unceremonious end — covered by my colleague Susanne Rust — is not a one-off. Every year, as many as 11.6 million birds perish on wires that juice our TVs and blow dryers, according to a 2014 analysis. PG&E, which operates the power lines that killed Hope, said it took measures to make lines and poles around the eagle’s nesting area safe for raptors. (As for Hope’s widower, he may already have a new girlfriend.)

It’s not all doom and gloom for animals in the Golden State — and around the world.

The Los Angeles Zoo recently welcomed the birth of a baby gorilla, the fifth and latest addition in a baby boom of adorable great apes that includes three chimpanzees and an orangutan, writes Times staffer Andrea Flores.

Meanwhile, a global treaty has extended trade protections to more than 70 shark and ray species who have seen sharp declines, according to the New York Times’ Alexa Robles-Gil. She writes that the agreement includes a full international commercial trade ban for oceanic whitetip sharks, manta and devil rays, and whale sharks.

A few last things in climate news

Soon, the country’s largest all-electric hospital will open in Orange County, my editor Ingrid Lobet reports. It’s only the second facility of its kind in the U.S., and offers an alternative to the way that buildings contribute to climate change: burning natural gas.

Not far away, the city of Los Angeles is shifting away from the power source most harmful to the environment. Times staffer Hayley Smith writes that the L.A. Department of Water and Power has stopped receiving any coal-fired power. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass called it a “defining moment” for the city.

There are plans by the Trump administration to pump more water to farmlands in the Central Valley from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, per my colleague Ian James. California officials said the move could threaten fish and reduce the amount of water available for millions of people in other parts of California.

A nonprofit is trying to create a 1.2 million-acre national monument centered on the Amargosa River, which runs through the bone-dry Mojave Desert, according to Kurtis Alexander of the San Francisco Chronicle. Early this year, former president Joe Biden designated two massive national monuments in the Golden State, including one covering a large swath of the desert.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

For more wildlife and outdoors news, follow Lila Seidman at @lilaseidman.bsky.social on Bluesky and @lila_seidman on X.

As I’ve followed the long-running negotiations over the Colorado River the last couple of years, very little progress has been made in transforming the century-old system of managing the river’s dwindling water. The Colorado’s giant reservoirs have dropped because of heavy water use and a quarter-century of drought, worsened by climate change, yet seven Western states have remained deadlocked on how to take less water and live within the river’s limits.

In the last month, though, leaders of a tribal nation on the California-Arizona border offered a concept that might help transform the discussions — or at least ensure that the health of the river itself isn’t completely ignored.

The Tribal Council of the Colorado River Indian Tribes decided to recognize the river as a legal person under tribal law. It’s the second time a Native tribe has declared legal personhood for a river in the United States. The Yurok Tribe in Northern California in 2019 declared the Klamath River a legal person.

I was interested to learn more about why the leaders of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, or CRIT, wanted to take this step, and Chairwoman Amelia Flores agreed to talk with me.

She said they reached the decision after discussing the idea for a year, holding community meetings to hear input from the more than 4,000 tribal members.

“It just reaffirms what our tribal members already know and what we believe,” Flores said. “This river is alive, and has taken care of us for many, many, many years.”

“This river is a part of us,” she added. “It’s who we are.”

When Flores was growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, she and her family swam, fished and camped at the river on summer weekends.

The reservation, established in 1865, encompasses nearly 300,000 acres straddling the river in Arizona and California, a patchwork of lush farm fields across a wide plain bordered by desert mountains.

The Mojave people, one of the tribes that make up CRIT, have lived along the river for thousands of years. Their traditional name is Aha Makav, meaning the People of the River.

Flores noted it’s a central part of their creation story, and features prominently in traditional songs.

“We always say we’re stewards of the river from our Creator, who gave us our resources, our land and our water,” she said.

“It’s ingrained in us by our ancestors to protect the river,” she said. “And we carry that on from one generation to the next.”

In the Colorado River Basin, there are 30 tribal nations. They have rights to roughly one-fourth of the river water. Indigenous leaders have long been largely excluded from the states’ negotiations, but tribes have volunteered to take part in previous water conservation deals.

CRIT and other tribes have said they are willing to help reduce water use as the states try to hash out a plan to keep reservoirs from falling to critically low levels.

The personhood decision was to “acknowledge that the river itself has needs,” said John Bezdek, a water attorney for CRIT, and to affirm tribal leaders’ commitment to addressing those needs.

The river ecosystem has been largely an afterthought in talks about managing its water. For decades, so much water has been taken out for farms and cities that the river has seldom met the sea.

The decision means that future leaders will have to account for the river’s welfare when, for example, they agree to lease out some of the reservation’s water, Bezdek said.

Flores said she knows of at least two other tribes that are interested in taking the same step. The more that follow suit, she said, “the better it’s going to be in protecting the river.”

More recent water news

For more about the personhood decision, read this great article by Debra Utacia Krol of the Arizona Republic. Alex Hager of the public radio station KUNC also visited the reservation for a story earlier this year. Tribal Chairwoman Amelia Flores wrote in an op-ed in the Republic that she and others see a sacred obligation to protect the river ecosystem “at a time when, more than ever, it is needed.”

A year after the removal of four dams on the Klamath River, salmon can once again reach spawning habitats far upriver near the California-Oregon border. Michael Harris, an environmental program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said “there are salmon everywhere” and their quick reappearance in their ancestral habitats is “both remarkable and thrilling.” Barry McCovey Jr., fisheries director for the Yurok Tribe, said he was also surprised by how quickly the salmon returned. “I don’t think anyone really expected how well the fish would respond to dam removal.”

The Trump administration recently notified California agencies that it plans to weaken environmental protections and pump more water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into the southbound aqueducts of the Central Valley Project. The proposal has drawn strong opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, as shown in letters to the federal government. I wrote about the debate over the plan, which state officials warn would threaten native fish and could reduce water to millions of Southern Californians.

More climate and environment news

President Trump announced a proposal this week to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry that limit air pollution. My L.A. Times colleagues Tony Briscoe and Hayley Smith report that the plan is expected to be finalized next year and would significantly reduce fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles in model year 2031. Trump said the government is terminating what he called “ridiculously burdensome, horrible” standards. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the president is helping his “Big Oil campaign donors” and it will “poison our air.”

A California environmental oversight board has taken another step toward improving how it deals with hazardous waste. But Briscoe reports for The Times that environmental groups fear the plan could weaken protections by potentially redefining what counts as hazardous.

Searching for economical strategies to prevent wildfires, power utilities are working with a handful of artificial intelligence startups to map fire risks along thousands of miles of power lines. Lauren Rosenthal and Joe Wertz report for Bloomberg that utilities including PG&E are contracting AI startups to analyze satellite images and identify where trees are most likely to topple onto power lines and spark fires, enabling them to select individual trees to cut and poles to replace.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

For more water and climate news, follow Ian James @ianjames.bsky.social on Bluesky and @ByIanJames on X.

European natural gas prices have fallen sharply in recent days, with the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark dropping below €28 per megawatt hour on Tuesday — a level not seen since April 2024.

This comes despite a relatively early and cold start to winter across much of continental Europe.

Since January, European gas prices are down more than 45%, and over 90% from their record highs during the 2022 energy crisis.

At first glance, this drop appears counterintuitive as temperatures drop and gas storage levels remain relatively low. As of November 30, European inventories were 75% full, roughly 10% below the five-year average.

In Germany, Europe’s largest gas market, storage levels are even weaker at just 67%, more than 20% below seasonal norms.

US gas reshapes the European market

The main driver behind the falling prices lies across the Atlantic.

The United States has ramped up exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, offsetting reduced Russian supplies and reshaping the global energy balance.

According to Kpler data, US cargoes have accounted for around 56% of Europe’s LNG imports this year.

With Asian demand relatively weak and US export capacity strong, Europe has become the primary destination for American LNG.

This consistent inflow is exerting downward pressure on the TTF, narrowing the spread – or the price differential – between European and US natural gas prices.

TTF-Henry Hub spread narrows sharply

Historically, US gas — priced at the Henry Hub facility — trades at a discount to the European TTF due to abundant domestic production in North America.

However, that spread has shrunk dramatically in 2025, falling from about $12 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) at the start of the year to just $4.8, the lowest since May 2021.

Currently, TTF gas trades at just under $10/MMBtu, only twice the price of Henry Hub gas, which averaged $5.045 this week.

For context, during the 2022 energy crisis, TTF prices surged to €350/MWh (around $100/MMBtu), while Henry Hub was near $10, creating a record transatlantic spread of nearly $90/MMBtu.

The shrinking price gap reflects a broader realignment in global energy flows.

US LNG has become Europe’s safety valve, easing fears of shortages and bringing a sense of normality back to markets.

The more LNG the US can export, the more it can relieve price pressure in Europe.

Long-term natural gas forecasts

Looking ahead, analysts at Goldman Sachs foresee this rebalancing trend continuing through the decade.

Samantha Dart, head of commodities research at the bank, expects rising global supply — particularly from the US — to lift European storage levels and gradually push TTF and prices lower, forecasting TTF at €29/MWh in 2026 and €20/MWh in 2027.

By 2028–2029, storage congestion in Northwest Europe could drive TTF as low as €12/MWh, closing the US LNG export arbitrage and forcing cancellations of American cargoes.

This would in turn depress US prices, with Henry Hub potentially falling to $2.70/MMBtu.

Post-2030, however, Goldman sees the potential for renewed LNG tightness, led by China’s decarbonisation policies and rising Asian infrastructure investment. That shift could restore the transatlantic arbitrage, lifting Henry Hub back above $4 and TTF above €30/MWh from 2033.

A Delaware judge has ordered the sale to settle debts, as Venezuela says US military buildup is targeting its oil reserves.

Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodriguez has condemned a US court’s decision to authorise the “fraudulent” and “forced” sale of Venezuelan oil company Citgo in the United States to pay off billions of dollars in debts.

“We energetically reject the decision adopted in the judicial process”, Rodriguez said in a statement read on state television about the sale, which the Venezuelan government has always opposed.

Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week ordered the sale of Citgo’s parent company to Amber Energy, an affiliate of the hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, for $5.9bn. Elliott Investment Management said in a press release that the court order was “backed by a group of strategic US energy investors”.

Citgo, a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, SA), a state-owned oil company, has been facing claims that it owes more than $20bn to creditors, reflecting the broader financial woes of the South American country under US sanctions, which have targeted its once profitable oil industry.

The company’s creditors include the Canadian firm Crystallex, which another US court said was owed $1.2bn by the Venezuelan government in 2019 over Caracas’s 2008 seizure and nationalisation of the Las Cristinas mine, which is rich with gold, diamonds, iron and other minerals.

The sale of Citgo comes as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims that the US’s recent military build-up in the Caribbean Sea surrounding his country is aimed at seizing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

While Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels as of 2023, it exported just $4.05bn worth of crude oil in 2023, far below other major oil-producing countries, in part due to US sanctions imposed during US President Donald Trump’s first term.

Last week, Maduro called on fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to help his country counter “growing and illegal threats” from the US and its president.

However, Paolo von Schirach, the president of the Global Policy Institute, said that he doubted that Venezuela’s plea would elicit much support “within OPEC itself”.

The Trump administration has claimed that its military actions in the region are focused on tackling drug trafficking.

Venezuela was historically one of the largest exporters of oil to the United States, but sales declined sharply after Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998.

Then, facing strict sanctions under the first Trump administration, Venezuela shifted its exports to countries including China, India and Cuba.

A slight easing of the trade tensions under former US President Joe Biden’s administration saw US multinational company Chevron granted a limited oil production licence, before sanctions were again tightened at the beginning of the second Trump administration in March this year.

PDVSA, the state-owned oil company that has dominated Venezuela’s exploitation of its vast oil reserves, has faced other challenges, including ageing infrastructure, underinvestment and mismanagement, as well as the effects of international sanctions.

Maduro asks oil-producing bloc to help protect Venezuela’s oil reserves from US ‘aggression’.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to help his country counter “growing and illegal threats” from the United States and its president, Donald Trump.

In a letter to fellow members of the bloc of major oil-producing countries on Sunday, Maduro accused the US of trying to “seize” Venezuela’s oil reserves, the world’s largest.

“I hope to count on your best efforts to help stop this aggression, which is growing stronger and seriously threatens the balance of the international energy market, both for producing and consuming countries,” Maduro said, according to a copy of the letter published by state broadcaster TeleSUR.

Maduro also “formally denounced” the “use of lethal military force against the country’s territory, people and institutions”, both to OPEC and the larger group of OPEC+ countries.

While Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels as of 2023, it exported just $4.05bn worth of crude oil in 2023, far below other major-oil producing countries, in part due to US sanctions imposed during the first Trump presidency.

Along with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the Latin American country was a founding member of OPEC in 1960, with its members cooperating to control oil supply and influence the price of oil in the decades that followed.

Military buildup

Maduro’s letter comes a day after Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Venezuela’s airspace was closed, without explaining further.

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” Trump wrote.

Caracas called Trump’s statement a “colonialist threat”.

Maduro’s government has maintained for months that the Trump administration’s significantly escalating military presence in the Caribbean is directed at gaining access to the country’s oil and gas reserves.

The White House has claimed that it is focused on combating drug trafficking, though critics have pointed out that Washington’s own data shows that Venezuela is not a significant source of drugs arriving in the US.

At least 83 people have been killed in US strikes on vessels that Trump claims were carrying drugs. Human rights advocates have decried the attacks as extrajudicial killings that violate international law.

The US has also deployed a considerable military presence to the Caribbean region, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, other warships, thousands of troops and F-35 fighter jets.

‘Drill, baby drill’

As president, Trump has promised to significantly ramp up oil production, fulfilling a promise from his 2023 re-election campaign to “drill, baby drill”.

In late November, the Trump administration announced new plans to drill for oil off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades.

By contrast, many of the island countries in the Caribbean region are calling on fossil-fuel dependent countries to transition to other sources of energy, as they struggle to respond to tropical storms and other disasters, which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change.