A coalition of 15 states is suing over President Donald Trump’s efforts to fast-track energy-related projects, saying the administration is bypassing environmental protection laws and threatening endangered species, critical habitat and cultural resources. Trump issued an executive order declaring a “national energy emergency ” on the first day of his presidency. The order urges oil and gas expansion through federal use of eminent domain and the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to use private land and resources to produce goods deemed to be a national necessity. Those kinds of steps are supposed to be reserved for actual emergencies, such as projects needed in the aftermath of disasters like hurricanes, flooding or major oil spills, the attorneys general wrote in the lawsuit filed in Washington state on Friday. But now, Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown and the other plaintiffs said, agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior are bypassing required reviews under federal laws like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. “The President of the United States has the authority to determine what is a national emergency, not state attorneys or the courts,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote in an email. “President Trump recognizes that unleashing American energy is crucial to both our economic and national security.” Related Stories 19 states suing over cuts to US Health and Human Services agency States sue over Trump administration's sudden halt of pandemic relief aid for schools Trump's new energy order puts states' climate laws in the crosshairs of the Department of Justice The attorneys general said reliable and affordable electricity is of critical importance to the nation, but noted that U.S. energy production is already at an all-time high. “The Executive Order is unlawful, and its commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations to fast-track extensive categories of activities will result in damage to waters, wetlands, critical habitat, historic and cultural resources, endangered species, and the people and wildlife that rely on these precious resources,” they wrote in the lawsuit. “The shortcuts inherent in rushing through emergency processes fundamentally undermine the rights of States,” the attorneys general said, noting that the federal Clean Water Act grants states the right to protect water quality within their own borders. They want a federal judge to declare the executive order unlawful and bar the agencies from pursuing emergency permitting for non-emergency projects. Brown and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are leading the lawsuit, and the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin have signed on.

The Norwegian energy company Equinor said Friday it will be forced to terminate an offshore wind project for New York within days unless President Donald Trump ‘s administration relents on its order that stopped construction. Work on Empire Wind has been paused since April 16, when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction. Burgum said it needs further review because it appeared the Biden administration rushed the approval. Equinor went through a seven-year permitting process before starting to build Empire Wind last year, and the project is roughly a third complete. Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and has signed a spate of executive orders aimed at boosting oil, gas and coal. His first day in office, Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for all wind projects. Empire Wind is fully permitted and the developer has already invested more than $2.5 billion so far in the project, said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, in an interview Friday. Related Stories Trump administration issues order to stop construction on New York offshore wind project States sue Trump administration for blocking the development of wind energy Green energy supporters pushed for faster permitting. Trump is doing it, but not for solar or wind She said this is an “urgent, unsustainable situation” because each day of uncertainty is extremely expensive: Equinor spends up to $50 million per week on the project and has 11 vessels on standby. The developer has done a significant amount of onshore work already, where the cable from the wind farm will connect to the local grid. “If no material progress is made toward a resolution within days, Equinor will be forced to terminate the project,” she said. “This is about honoring contracts and financial investments made in the U.S. It could set a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution.” The Interior Department did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Equinor has over $60 billion in investments across the U.S., including substantial oil, gas and renewable projects. RWE, a German energy company, has stopped its offshore wind work in the United States, citing the political environment. French energy giant TotalEnergies paused the development of its offshore wind project in New York after Trump won reelection. Equinor is considering legal options, but rather than getting tied up in the courts, Morris said the best way forward is a quicker political resolution. The summer construction window for major offshore work began this month, and missing it would set the project back a year, she said. Morris and Equinor CEO Anders Opedal met with Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, on Wednesday. She said it was helpful, but they’ve asked to meet with Burgum and haven’t gotten a meeting. Equinor is building Empire Wind to start providing power in 2026 for more than 500,000 New York homes. Equinor finalized the federal lease for Empire Wind in March 2017, early in Trump’s first term. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the construction and operations plan in February 2024 and construction began that year. New York is leading a coalition of state attorneys general challenging the wind energy executive order in court. They say in the lawsuit filed Monday that Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally shut down the permitting process, and he’s jeopardizing development of a power source critical to the states’ economic vitality, energy mix, public health and climate goals. The White House says Democratic attorneys general are trying to stop the president’s popular energy agenda instead of working with him to restore America’s energy dominance. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

JEROME, Fla. (AP) — Lab results have connected one of three black bears killed by wildlife officers in southwest Florida to a fatal attack on a man and his dog a day earlier, officials said Friday. Necropsy results revealed that a 263-pound (119-kilogram) male bear contained the partial remains of 89-year-old Robert Markel, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. Testing showed that same bear’s DNA was present on Markel’s body, inside his home and on the dog’s body. Wildlife officials have not explicitly said that bear is the one that killed Markel, but a preliminary autopsy by the Collier County Medical Examiner found that Markel’s cause of death is consistent with a bear attack. Markel was attacked early Monday near his home in a rural area east of Naples, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area. Wildlife officers set several traps and cameras. They killed three black bears in the area and sent their remains to a Gainesville lab. None of the animals tested positive for rabies, officials said. Wildlife officials are still investigating the events that led to the attack. Florida’s black bears, which were once threatened, have increasingly wandered into neighborhoods and private property in recent years, especially in more rural areas of north and central Florida.

PHOENIX (AP) — A U.S. district judge on Friday temporarily halted the federal government’s plans to transfer land in eastern Arizona for a massive copper mining project amid protest by Native American groups that consider the area sacred. Apache Stronghold and its supporters have been fighting for years to stop the transfer of Tonto National Forest land known as Oak Flat to Resolution Copper. Meanwhile, the company has touted the economic benefits for the region and says it’s worked with Native American tribes and others to shape the project. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said halting the land transfer would merely delay the production of copper and jobs and revenue to Arizona if it’s ultimately upheld. On the other hand, he said Apaches would lose legal access to an ancestral, sacred site if the transfer proceeded. He said the balance of equities “tips sharply” in favor of Apache Stronghold. He granted an injunction that will be in place until the U.S. Supreme Court resolves an appeal to reconsider a decision from a panel of judges that refused to block the land transfer for the mine. Logan, however, denied Apache Stronghold’s request to have the injunction extend beyond the Supreme Court’s resolution of the case. Related Stories US Forest Service issues notice on contested land transfer for a major copper mine in Arizona RFK Jr. wants to target chronic disease in US tribes, but key program was cut Indigenous people rally for missing and murdered “We are grateful the judge stopped this land grab in its tracks so that the Supreme Court has time to protect Oak Flat from destruction,” Wendsler Nosie Sr. of Apache Stronghold said in a statement Friday. A statement from Resolution Cooper said the ruling simply maintains the status quo and anticipates the U.S. Supreme Court will decide soon whether to take up the case. The fight over Oak Flat dates back about 20 years, when legislation proposing the land transfer was first introduced. It failed repeatedly in Congress before being included in a must-pass national defense spending bill in 2014. President Donald Trump in his first administration released an environmental review that would trigger the land transfer. Former President Joe Biden pulled it back so the federal government could consult further with tribes. Then, the U.S. Forest Service in April announced it would forge ahead with the land transfer, prompting Apache Stronghold’s emergency appeal. Apache Stronghold sued the U.S. government in 2021 under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to protect the place tribal members call Chi’chil Bildagoteel, an area dotted with ancient oak groves and traditional plants the Apaches consider essential to their religion.

SAO PAULO (AP) — The bishop sat quietly near the front row, hands folded, listening as Indigenous leaders and church workers spoke about the threats to Peru’s northern forests, a part of the Amazon rain forest. It was 2016, a year after Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. When he was up to speak, the bishop didn’t preach though he was in his city of Chiclayo as host of a regional gathering. Instead, he reflected on things he had seen. “It’s a very important encyclical,” he said. “It also represents something new in terms of this explicit expression of the church’s concern for all of creation.” That bishop, Robert Prevost, is now Pope Leo XIV. “He was always very welcoming, very close to the people,” Laura Vargas, secretary of the Interreligious Council of Peru, who helped organize the event, recalled in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “He had no problem saying yes when we proposed it — he was genuinely interested in social pastoral work.” Since then, Prevost deepened his ties with interfaith environmental networks like the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative and Indigenous organizations such as AIDESEP, which place forest protection and rights at the center of Church concern. Related Stories Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as Francis' successor Wordle, White Sox and more: Fast facts about Pope Leo XIV Advocates press for accounting of sex-abuse cases in new pope's past jurisdictions Such credentials have brought hope to clergymen and faithful in the Amazon region, a vast area with 48 million residents and 6.7 million square kilometers (2.6 million square miles) in South America. They see Chicago-born Prevost, who spent about two decades in Peru’s countryside, as a pontiff who protect the region and fight against climate change. NAVIGATING THE AMAZON Many Catholics have said they believe Prevost’s experience as bishop of Chiclayo, a city of 630,000 residents in Northern Peru and not too far from the Amazon, was one of the key reasons he was chosen. They also said the pontiff’s hands-on experience in an impoverished area far from major cities could also serve him well in dealing with the Amazon and navigating its challenges. The Amazon is a key regulator of the climate, as its dense forests absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that when released into the atmosphere heats the planet. But many parts of the Amazon are under threat from a wide range of illegal activities: farmers clearing trees to raise cows, gold miners dredging rivers and destroying local ecosystems and land-grabbers seizing territories. Wildfires and droughts, exacerbated by climate change, have also hit Amazon communities hard in recent years. Prevost is well acquainted with these issues, having presided over the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which helped him bond with colleagues of the nine countries touched by the Amazon. Many of them are among the 105 bishops of an organization he openly supports, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, a Catholic Church network focused on the Amazon region. “I spoke to him a number times about the Amazon and the environment. He doesn’t need to be convinced of its importance,” said Cardinal Pedro Barreto, the president of the network, who has known Prevost since he became the bishop of Chiclayo in 2015. Brazilian Friar Paulo Xavier agrees. “Leo will follow Francis; we are going forward with environment protection,” Xavier said. “The Holy Spirit has acted on our behalf.” Xavier is based in Manaus, a city of 2 million residents in the Amazon which received its first-ever cardinal appointed by Francis in 2022: the now 74-year-old archbishop Leonardo Steiner, an enthusiast of Laudato Si. Steiner, Xavier and the Manaus archdiocese have invested to get the encyclical into the hands of locals, even when that means jumping on small, motorized canoes through the brown waters of the Negro River to reach isolated villages in journeys that can last days on a boat. POPE FOR ACTION In November 2024, the Vatican News reported that Prevost called for more action to tackle climate change and protect the environment during a seminar in Rome. He cited efforts the Vatican has taken such as installing solar panels and electric vehicles. On the social media platform X, Prevost has reposted messages about protecting the environment. One message he reposted on April 1, 2017, expressed concern about emissions of carbon dioxide, a planet-warming gas, during President Donald Trump’s his first term. Laura Vicuña, an Indigenous woman of the Kariri people and the vice president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon Region, said in a letter published on social media that she hopes the pope will be an ally in the fight against climate change. The conference was created by Francis in 2020 to promote discussion between clergymen and laypeople. “From our dear Amazon, we plead with you to be our ally in the defense of what is the most sacred for us; life, land and rights,” Vicuña wrote. Indigenous peoples like Vicuña’s Kariri are often regarded as key protectors of the Amazon, but for many years they have been forced out of their lands by criminals, deforestation and famine, as seen in the Yanomami lands in Northern Brazil in 2023. Spaniard Luis Ventura, the executive-secretary of Brazil’s Indigenous Missionary Council, said he prays for the new pope to keep his eyes close to the Amazon, with a special attention to the Indigenous. Founded in 1972, the council had rare occasions to meet with pontiffs until Francis rose in 2013. Its members hope Leo doesn’t change that. “Leo XIV will have a big impact on the Amazon,” said Ventura. “His life was always with the people in Peru, and that allows us to think the church will be deep into the territory.” CLIMATE URGENCY Francis showed great interest in the Amazon during his pontificate. Four years after Laudato Si, he hosted the Amazon Synod, which sought “new Paths for the Church and for an integral ecology.” Rose Bertoldo, one of the secretaries of the Manaus archdiocese, said she is hopeful for the region’s future under Leo, given it would build on Francis’ interest. She added the new pontiff will have a chance to visit Brazil, the nation with the most Catholics in the world, during this year’s U.N. climate summit, known as COP30, in the Amazonian city of Belem in November. “We know that the urgencies and the challenges in the Amazon will be bigger because of the global political context of division. We need him at COP,” Bertoldo said. Irish priest Peter Hughes, who spent most of his life in Peru, met Prevost shortly after he arrived in the Andean nation in 1985. They quickly became friends, and would see each other when the bishop of Chiclayo was in the capital Lima. “Back then, (Prevost) was worried about extractivism in the Amazon and the effect it had on the poor,” said Hughes, referring to the new pontiff. “Now it is a much more complex world, the urgency is evident.” ____ Grattan reported from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Associated Press writer Isabella O’Malley contributed from Philadelphia. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least seven people have died and major roads were cut off after heavy rains led to flooding in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on Friday night due to an overwhelmed drainage system and a growing urban population. The regional administration spokesperson, Abdinasir Hirsi Idle, told The Associated Press on Saturday that rescue efforts were ongoing. “The death toll could rise because the rains were heavy and lasted for several hours, causing nine houses to collapse across different neighborhoods, and at least six major roads to suffer severe damage,” he said. Somalia has in the past suffered extreme climate shocks that include prolonged dry seasons that have caused drought and heavy rains that have resulted in floods. Friday’s rains went on for about eight hours, leaving waist-high waters in neighborhoods where some residents were trapped and others were forced to move to higher ground. A resident, Mohamed Hassan, told the AP that some older people were still trapped. “We spent the night on rooftops, shivering from the cold, and I haven’t even had breakfast,” he said. Related Stories Al-Qaida-linked militants attack a strategic town in Somalia Somalia and Taiwan ban each others' citizens in apparent link to Taiwan recognizing Somaliland Heavy rainfall sets records and washes out roadway in rural Oklahoma Floodwaters also damaged key infrastructure, halting public transport and temporarily disrupting operations at the main airport, Aden Abdulle International Airport. Officials later confirmed flights had resumed operations. The Somali Disaster Management Agency has not yet released an official death toll but said assessment was underway to determine the extent of the damage. The country’s energy and water ministry in a statement on Saturday said, “a substantial amount of rainfall, exceeding 115 mm, was recorded in over 8 consecutive hours” and warned of flash floods in other regions outside the capital.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A fire at a chemical factory in northeastern Spain forced emergency services to issue health warnings to 150,000 local residents and stay-indoors orders for five nearby towns, authorities said Saturday. Health services said that medics attended to four people who had reported breathing problems. The fire broke out early on Saturday inside a warehouse at the plant near the town of Vilanova i la Geltrú. The warehouse housed 70 tons of chlorine for use in swimming pools, firefighters said. The stay-indoors order stayed in effect for seven hours for the nearest municipalities in the area between Barcelona and Tarragona on the Mediterranean coast. Firefighters said that by Saturday afternoon that the fire was under control.

SAO PAULO (AP) — The head of Brazil’s state-run gas and oil giant Petrobras was facing criticism on Friday after a video emerged of her saying “Drill, baby, drill!” when speaking about controversial oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River. Magda Chambriard made the remarks Tuesday during the Offshore Technology Conference, in Houston. In a video obtained by the Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico and published Friday, Chambriard is seen addressing Clécio Luís, governor of the Amazonian state of Amapa, who was in the audience. “We do believe we will have very good surprises once we have the (environmental) license to drill. So what one wants to say to Amapa is, ‘Let’s drill, baby, drill!’” Her comments prompted a round of applause, including from Luís. Petrobras did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. The company confirmed the authenticity of the video, according to Valor Economico. Fuel reservoirs sit at a distribution center for state-run oil company Petrobras, in Brasilia, Brazil, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File) Read More Fuel reservoirs sit at a distribution center for state-run oil company Petrobras, in Brasilia, Brazil, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More U.S. President Donald Trump has long used the phrase “Drill, baby, drill!” in expressing support for increased oil exploration and production. “The ‘let’s drill, baby’ rhetoric may comfort industry leaders and short-sighted policymakers, but history will remember them as the ones who buried the 1.5 C goal,” said Natalie Unterstell, president of Talanoa, a climate policy think tank, referring to the internationally adopted aim to keep warming under 1.5 C since pre-industrial times. Related Stories The construction of a road in Brazil draws criticism before first-ever climate talks in the Amazon Major nations agree on first-ever global fee on greenhouse gases with plan that targets shipping Could Trump's tariffs slow emissions? Sure, experts say, but at great cost overall Climate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Oil, from exploration to its various uses, is a central driver of climate change. Chambriard was appointed by Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose environmental record in the Amazon is mixed. While he has curbed deforestation and championed the Amazonian city of Belem as the host of the U.N.'s COP30 climate summit in November, he also supports Petrobras’s push to drill for offshore oil at the ecologically sensitive mouth of the Amazon River and other big projects that bring environmental impact to the world´s largest tropical forest. Exploratory offshore drilling near the Amazon, whose reserves are unknown, is expected to draw scrutiny during the COP30 summit. A central push of the annual climate talks has been to reduce the use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia this week took a leading position in Latin America for Indigenous rights and forest protection by formalizing Indigenous local governments across swaths of the Amazon, raising hopes that other countries in the region will follow its lead. Activists say Monday’s decision gives Indigenous communities not just land titles, but actual self-governing authority — complete with public budgets and administrative power. The process, underway since 2018, now has a legal framework enabling Indigenous councils to function as official local governments. “This puts Colombia in the lead when it comes to recognizing Indigenous rights — not just to land, but to identity, autonomy, and decision-making over their own development,” said Mayu Velasco Anderson, head of the Peru and Colombia program at nongovernmental organization Rainforest Foundation Norway. Patricia Suárez, Indigenous leader and adviser to the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon, called the presidential decree “historic.” “We have been seeking recognition of our autonomy and self-determination as Indigenous Territorial Entities for over 30 years,” Suárez said. “This progress is a milestone in the consolidation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples as autonomous governments.” Related Stories Amendment to Peru law raises fears of Amazon rainforest destruction Colombia's capital ends drought-related water rationing. Its case is a warning to other cities Researchers rescue, rehabilitate and hope to release orphaned manatees into the Amazon In contrast, other Latin American countries typically only grant land titles. Brazil, for example, has extensive Indigenous territories that frequently intersect multiple municipalities, forcing communities to navigate conflicting public systems and undermining their self-governance. “In Brazil, even demarcated and regularized Indigenous lands fall under the administrative boundaries of states and municipalities, and communities depend on these governments to access public policies,” said Inés Luna Maira, head of institutional partnerships at Rainforest Foundation Norway. “They have to deal with a patchwork of public systems and elected officials that don’t reflect Indigenous governance.” Suriname, home to some of the most intact forests and Indigenous and Maroon communities, lags furthest behind other nations in the region on this issue. Colombia’s new framework gives Indigenous groups direct authority over their territories, streamlining governance and boosting protections for forests that are critical to combating climate change. Julia Urrunaga, director of Peru Programs at the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency welcomed the move and expressed hope that her country would follow Colombia’s example. “We celebrate this victory for the Indigenous Peoples of Colombia,” she said. “Sadly, the Peruvian government has been walking in the opposite direction — passing laws that affect Indigenous rights without prior consultation, which goes against Peru’s own constitution.” Urrunaga pointed to what environmental activists have dubbed Peru´s “Anti-Forest Law,” which activists say legalizes illegal deforestation in Indigenous territories, and to the government’s promotion of palm oil plantations over Amazonian forest. “Peru’s Indigenous Peoples are still struggling to receive recognition of their ancestral territories,” she said. “And even when they obtain it, they don’t get the support they deserve from the state to protect their land and forests for the benefit of all humanity.” ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Ontario has begun building the first of four new, small nuclear reactors, as Canada seeks to lead the Group of Seven industrialized nations in developing next-generation nuclear technology. Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce announced Thursday at the site that the government approved Ontario Power Generation’s plan to begin construction. Behind Lecce, workers were already excavating the land for the first reactor and grading the site for the others. “We are protecting Ontario by building the most resilient energy future any country has ever seen,” Lecce said. “We are taking our true place as a global clean energy superpower and a leader in nuclear innovation and technology.” A number of countries are speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of nuclear reactors to meet a surging demand for electricity and supply it carbon-free. Canada’s first commercial small modular reactor should be connected to the electrical grid by the end of 2030, Lecce said, putting them ahead of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. In the U.S., Bill Gates’ energy company is preparing a site in Wyoming for a next-generation nuclear power plant while the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews its application for a construction permit. Kairos Power is building a low-power demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Russia and China are the only countries that are already operating advanced reactors. Related Stories After Spain's blackout, questions about renewable energy are back Green energy supporters pushed for faster permitting. Trump is doing it, but not for solar or wind With Trump’s zigzag actions on trade, March came in like a lion and won’t be going out like a lamb Electricity demand in Ontario is expected to soar by 75% by 2050, primarily due to demand from industry and large data centers. Ontario Power Generation picked a boiling water reactor design from GE Vernova for the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Clarington, Ontario. When constructed, each reactor will provide enough electricity to power 300,000 Toronto homes, at 10% the size and complexity of a traditional boiling water reactor, according to GE Vernova. The first will cost $6.1 billion, along with $1.6 billion in costs for systems and services common to all four, Lecce said. The cost is expected to decline with each subsequent reactor. Canada has historically been a net exporter of electricity, sending significant amounts of hydropower to the United States. In the fall of 2023, the electricity trade between the two countries became more balanced because of drought conditions that reduced the amount of hydropower available and lower natural gas prices in the United States that made U.S. electricity more competitive, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Now with a trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly saying that Canada should be the 51st U.S. state, Canadians are feeling like the alliance is broken. Ontario’s Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy alluded to that at Thursday’s nuclear announcement, saying their traditional relationship with the United States isn’t going to be the same and Canada needs new, clean energy. “The world economy is changing,” he said, “and it’s important that Canada be self-reliant.” ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.