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The Obama Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers officially denied the easement to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota after a many months-long campaign by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and allies against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Army Corps will undertake an environmental impact statement (EIS) to look at potential alternative routes for the pipeline.

Texas ranchers have forged an unlikely partnership with environmental activists to protest the 143-mile Trans-Pecos pipeline, which if completed would carry natural gas from West Texas to the Mexican border. "We all agree that the land needs to be regarded a little more highly," said Joel Nelson, manager of the Anchor cattle ranch

The U.S. Senate rejected by a one-vote margin a bill passed by the House to allow construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to Gulf of Mexico refineries. The measure needed 60 votes to go forward but received 59. White House advisers have suggested that President Barack Obama might eventually let the project proceed.

The House passed legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline. President Barack Obama has vowed to veto the bill.The legislation, approved 270-152 by the GOP-controlled House, authorizes TransCanada Corp. , to construct the 1,179-mile pipeline, which has been under review by the Obama administration for more than six years. The Senate, also in Republicans' hands, passed the legislation late last month.

In recent weeks, the large multinational Dutch bank ING and Norwegian bank DNB announced plans to sell off their stakes in loans funding the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. The divestments came as activist investors stepped up their calls for banks and other financial institutions to stop financing projects related to fossil fuels development.

Answers to the question, "Why is the Keystone Pipeline such a focal battle in the war on climate legislation?"

Communities on the frontlines of fossil fuel development are taking a stand against dangerous fossil fuel projects. Take a look at the big fight in the small town of Kalama, Washington. The Chinese government is planning to build the world's largest methanol refinery to convert fracked natural gas to liquid methanol for export to China to make plastics. From a greenhouse gas perspective, this fight is a big deal. The methanol refinery alone would use more natural gas than all industry in Washington combined. Flip it around: If we win this one battle and stop the methanol refinery, we stop the equivalent of doubling industrial natural gas usage in Washington State. While the gas industry tries to spin natural gas as clean, new science shows just the opposite. The bulk of natural gas is methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane leakage from gas wells and pipelines led scientists to conclude that fracked gas can be as bad coal for our climate. And it gets worse. Gas production in North America relies heavily on fracking, a process famous for polluting air and water, endangering the health of nearby residents.

2016 saw several powerful environmental movements and projects, from the Dakota Access Pipeline protestors to celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio's "Before the Flood" documentary. World leaders also passed the Kigali Amendment, which reduced hydrofluorocarbons in the environment.

In less than 15 years, at least 20% of the nation's electricity likely will be provided by wind, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The US had 18.2 gigawatts of installed wind capacity either under construction or in the pipeline during the second quarter of the year.

In a dystopian portrayal of the future, the landscape is rife with fires, rising seas, and thick clouds billowing from power plant smokestacks; humans must wear gas masks for their own survival. This apocalyptic vision is captured in a series of photos featuring 8 popular Vietnamese singers, actors and dance artists as part of a new anti-coal campaign. Pollution from coal-fired power plants already causes an estimated 4,300 premature deaths in Vietnam annually, yet the country has the third largest pipeline of new coal plants in the world - behind only China and India.

Offshore wind has the potential to become cost-competitive with coal and gas in Europe by 2025, according to a letter released by General Electric, E.ON, Siemens and eight other energy firms. "This commitment is only possible with a stable, long-term market for renewables in Europe. If the offshore industry is to realize its cost reduction goals, a strong pipeline of projects is needed," they wrote.

With the Keystone XL and other pipeline projects running into stiff opposition, Alberta's tar sands industry is facing growing pressure to find ways to get its oil to market. One option under consideration would be to ship the oil via an increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean.

Building the Keystone XL pipeline could lead to as much as four times more greenhouse gas emissions than the State Department has estimated for the controversial project, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change that relies on different calculations about oil consumption. 

President Obama rejected a presidential permit Friday for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, citing concerns about its impact on the climate.

TransCanada wants the US to pay it $15 billion to recoup costs and damages related to President Barack Obama's refusal to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline. In addition to planning the claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the company sued the US government in federal court in Texas, claiming Obama's November decision exceeded his constitutional authority.