By JENNIFER McDERMOTT, Associated Press

For years, proponents of green energy have argued that a slow, inefficient permitting process in the United States hinders a transition to clean sources of electricity.

“Permitting reform,” as it’s called, is needed to unleash green energies like solar and wind, which don’t emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change, supporters have argued.

The Trump administration agrees on the need to speed up energy projects, but not for wind or for solar, which is the fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the U.S.

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The Interior Department said late Wednesday it’s adopting an alternative process for energy projects to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, shortening the reviews to about 28 days and 14 days respectively. It typically takes about two years for the federal government to approve a full environmental impact statement or up to one year to complete an environmental assessment. The 1970 environmental law, known as NEPA, is designed to ensure community safeguards during reviews for a wide range of federal proposals, including roads, bridges and energy projects.

The procedures apply to energy sources including oil, natural gas, petroleum, uranium, coal, biofuels and critical minerals. They’ll also apply to geothermal and hydropower, both which generate electricity without emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases.

President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office to speed up fossil fuel development.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said the department is cutting through unnecessary delays to fast-track resources that are essential to the nation’s economy, military readiness and global competitiveness.

The cumbersome process helped enable China to dominant in processing and refining critical minerals, said Rich Nolan, president and chief executive officer of the National Mining Association. Streamlining it will make the U.S. more competitive, he added.

Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen said the administration is using “a fake energy emergency” to strip away essential legal safeguards.

“It’s a blatantly illegal move, and we will see them in court,” she said in a statement.

The Sierra Club said it’s concerned the new approach effectively reduces environmental review and public input to a formality.

“These arbitrary time limits make a complete review of the risks of potentially hazardous projects impossible,” Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, said in a statement Thursday. “A shoddy review means the true hazards of a project may only be known when the air or water thousands of people rely on is dangerously polluted.”

Randi Spivak, at the Center for Biological Diversity, said Interior’s plan “proves that Trump’s fabricated energy emergency is a hoax designed to ram through new fracking and coal mining.” Spivak, the center’s public lands policy director, said it’s a “lose-lose deal” for everyone other than the fossil fuel executives who support Trump.

During the Biden administration, the Interior Department tried to move fast on energy projects but did so within the fairly comfortable confines of existing permitting processes, said Travis Annatoyn, who was then the department’s deputy solicitor for energy and mineral resources.

Burgum, on the other hand, is attempting to change the entire permitting process at a deep, structural level overnight, added Annatoyn, now counsel at the law firm Arnold & Porter.

By excluding solar and wind, the administration risks undercutting the asserted rationale for the energy emergency.

“In a real emergency, you would want to be pouring electrons onto the grid from any source you could find,” he said.

Last week, the Interior Department issued an order to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes. Burgum said he was doing so because it appeared the Biden administration rushed the approval. The Norwegian company Equinor went through a seven-year permitting process before starting to build Empire Wind last year.

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.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press

Most adults catching a flight in the U.S. starting May 7 will be required to present a passport or an upgraded state-issued identification card that meets federal REAL ID standards.

The requirement is 20 years in the making, but with just weeks to go, not everyone is ready for it.

Officials in at least one state have requested another extension before enforcement begins.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is REAL ID?

It’s a driver’s license or other state-issued ID that meets security requirements mandated in a 2005 law passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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Obtaining an ID with the designation — indicated by a white star in a yellow circle in most states — means taking more documents to the motor vehicle agency than most states require for regular IDs.

The program has already been delayed several times by states that weren’t prepared to offer the IDs, people being slow to update their documents and by the coronavirus pandemic. With those hurdles mostly passed, the government is set to require the new IDs rather than old state drivers licenses and IDs for commercial air travel starting May 7.

People will also be required to carry the new IDs or a passport to enter secure federal facilities such as military bases or to get into nuclear power plants.

Is the country ready?

It’s clear not everyone is. But it’s less clear whether the nation is prepared.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a report earlier this year that 56% of IDs in circulation nationally met the requirements as of January 2024. In 16 states, more than three in five IDs met the new standards, while the number was below two out of five in 22 states.

About 81% of people flying recently have shown ID that would work once the new requirements kick in, according to a recent statement by Homeland Security.

A group of state senators from Kentucky this week asked the agency to delay implementing the new requirements yet again. They said the state has limited appointments available to people seeking the new cards and that there has been a rush to meet the May 7 deadline.

Do you need a REAL ID, and if so, how do you get one?

People who don’t fly or visit military bases or other sites where the IDs are required may not need new identification. People who have photo IDs from federally recognized tribal nations don’t need anything new. Employment authorization green cards are already acceptable, as are some other less common identifying documents on the government’s list.

REAL ID is not required to drive, vote or receive state or federal services or benefits.

Still, a lot of people may need one.

The enhanced cards have been available for years from every U.S. state and territory’s motor vehicle agency. People who haven’t obtained one by May 7 can still apply after that.

The Department of Homeland Security website links to information in each state on scheduling appointments and lists the documents needed.

But appointments can be hard to come by. None of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission offices had REAL ID appointments available as of Thursday afternoon. The same was true for most Illinois Department of Motor Vehicle sites.

And in some states, the May 7 deadline might not be a big deal. In Florida and Texas, for instance, all drivers licenses are REAL ID compliant, so anyone who has a current one can use it to fly domestically.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press

Most adults catching a flight in the U.S. starting May 7 will be required to present a passport or an upgraded state-issued identification card that meets federal REAL ID standards.

The requirement is 20 years in the making, but with just weeks to go, not everyone is ready for it.

Officials in at least one state have requested another extension before enforcement begins.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is REAL ID?

It’s a driver’s license or other state-issued ID that meets security requirements mandated in a 2005 law passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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Obtaining an ID with the designation — indicated by a white star in a yellow circle in most states — means taking more documents to the motor vehicle agency than most states require for regular IDs.

The program has already been delayed several times by states that weren’t prepared to offer the IDs, people being slow to update their documents and by the coronavirus pandemic. With those hurdles mostly passed, the government is set to require the new IDs rather than old state drivers licenses and IDs for commercial air travel starting May 7.

People will also be required to carry the new IDs or a passport to enter secure federal facilities such as military bases or to get into nuclear power plants.

Is the country ready?

It’s clear not everyone is. But it’s less clear whether the nation is prepared.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a report earlier this year that 56% of IDs in circulation nationally met the requirements as of January 2024. In 16 states, more than three in five IDs met the new standards, while the number was below two out of five in 22 states.

About 81% of people flying recently have shown ID that would work once the new requirements kick in, according to a recent statement by Homeland Security.

A group of state senators from Kentucky this week asked the agency to delay implementing the new requirements yet again. They said the state has limited appointments available to people seeking the new cards and that there has been a rush to meet the May 7 deadline.

Do you need a REAL ID, and if so, how do you get one?

People who don’t fly or visit military bases or other sites where the IDs are required may not need new identification. People who have photo IDs from federally recognized tribal nations don’t need anything new. Employment authorization green cards are already acceptable, as are some other less common identifying documents on the government’s list.

REAL ID is not required to drive, vote or receive state or federal services or benefits.

Still, a lot of people may need one.

The enhanced cards have been available for years from every U.S. state and territory’s motor vehicle agency. People who haven’t obtained one by May 7 can still apply after that.

The Department of Homeland Security website links to information in each state on scheduling appointments and lists the documents needed.

But appointments can be hard to come by. None of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission offices had REAL ID appointments available as of Thursday afternoon. The same was true for most Illinois Department of Motor Vehicle sites.

And in some states, the May 7 deadline might not be a big deal. In Florida and Texas, for instance, all drivers licenses are REAL ID compliant, so anyone who has a current one can use it to fly domestically.

By DEVNA BOSE, Associated Press

Whooping cough cases are rising, and doctors are bracing for yet another tough year.

There have been 8,485 cases reported in 2025, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s twice as many cases as this time last year, based on the CDC’s final tally.

Rates of whooping cough, or pertussis, soared last year, which experts said wasn’t unexpected. The number of cases fell during COVID-19 because of masking and social distancing. Plus, experts said, the illness peaks every two to five years.

But experts say the outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses, like measles and whooping cough, could be indicative of changing attitudes toward vaccines. U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates fell last year, and the number of children with vaccine exemptions hit an all-time high.

“There’s unfortunately been increasing anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States,” said Dr. Ericka Hayes at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Our recovery is not nearly as quick as we expected it to be and we needed it to be. And again, when you fall below 95% for vaccinations, you lose that herd immunity protection.”

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Whooping cough tends to peak around this time of year and in the fall. It’s usually spread through respiratory droplets in the air, when people with pertussis cough, sneeze or breathe close to others. The symptoms are similar to a cold but the cough becomes increasingly severe with a distinctive sound — a “whoop” as the person tries to take in air. It is treated with antibiotics.

In the past six months, two babies in Louisiana and a 5-year-old in Washington state have died from whooping cough.

The pertussis vaccine, which also protects against diphtheria and tetanus, is given at two months, four months and six months. The CDC recommends adults get follow-up doses every 10 years.

The illness is most dangerous for infants, especially before they receive their first round of vaccinations. That’s why the vaccine is also recommended for expecting mothers — it can protect newborns. But not enough people are getting the vaccine during pregnancy, said Hayes, who is the hospital’s senior medical director of infection prevention and control.

“The uptake of the vaccine for pregnant mothers is not where we need to be at all,” she said.

Pennsylvania, one of the states hit hardest by the illness last year, has recorded 207 whooping cough cases in 2025.

Neil Ruhland, a state health department spokesman, said the biggest increases are in populated areas like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and in middle and high schools and colleges. He said 94.6% of the state’s kindergarteners are vaccinated.

Michigan is on track for a similar pertussis season to last year’s, said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive. The state has recorded 516 cases thus far, mostly among children aged 5 to 17, and saw a total of 2,081 cases in 2024.

Bagdasarian said vaccination rates vary from county to county. Some schools have rates as low as 30%, creating pockets of vulnerable communities to vaccine-preventable diseases like pertussis and measles, she said.

“We’re watching pertussis numbers very carefully, but a lot of our resources are going into contact tracing our measles cases right now,” she said. “And public health is doing much more with fewer resources in 2025 than we’ve had to do before.”

AP data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.