Most recent 40 articles: |
|
Organizations |
|
Organizations |
| Washington Post,Washington Post - Climate and Environment,Washington Post - Energy 202 |
|
|
'Biden-mobile’ or the future of transportation? How EVs got polarized. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 6) |
|
May 6 · Democrats say they are way more likely than Republicans to buy electric cars. Could that change? Electric cars have taken off across the United States. Even amid news of slowing sales, the country sold almost 1.2 million fully electric vehicles in 2023, more than quadruple the number in 2019. Grocery stores and rest stops are installing charging stations across the country; electric cars have moved beyond niche status and are being produced by Ford, GM, Hyundai and many others. Read more ... |
|
|
Why some corals are better off dead - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 5) |
|
May 5 · As scientists rush to save ailing corals elsewhere, in Venezuela locals are trying to kill off this stinky variety. VALLE SECO, Venezuela - Estrella Villamizar grabbed the soft red and white coral by its stem and hacked it off with a blow of her wooden knife before tossing it in a bucket with other pieces she’d already ripped out of the Caribbean waters lapping against this deserted beach. On the sea bed, stretching for a distance as far as the eye could see, a blanket of the dark coral swayed in the warm current. Read more ... |
|
|
Fish are shrinking around the world. Here’s why scientists are worried. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 4) |
|
May 4 · Figuring out the reason why has big implications, with billions of people depending on seafood for protein. There’s something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth’s oceans, fish are shrinking - and no one can agree why. It’s happening with salmon near the Arctic Circle and skate in the Atlantic. Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020, according to a recent analysis. Read more ... |
|
|
In photos: At least 39 dead as historic flooding hits southern Brazil - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 4) |
|
May 4 · Floods in southern Brazil killed at least 39 people as heavy rainfall brought historic amounts of water to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to local authorities. At least 68 others are missing. In the state capital, Porto Alegre, water levels rose to 4.88 meters (16 feet) - the highest observed since 1941, according to the prefectural government. The state’s civil defense agency also reported that a dam at a hydropower plant in the Cotiporã municipality had partially collapsed. Water from the dam completely overwhelmed nearby cities, the Associated Press reported. May 3 | Eldorado do Sul, Brazil Floodwaters overtake the streets. May 3 | Porto Alegre, ... Read more ... |
|
|
Tesla retreat from EV charging leaves growth of U.S. network in doubt - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 3) |
|
May 3 · Sudden layoffs this week left Tesla construction vendors uncertain whether to carry on with the charging projects they were building. Tesla’s abrupt decision to lay off its electric-vehicle charging team and reduce its investments in public charging is a blow to the U.S. network, which has long relied on Elon Musk to build the bulk of the country’s fast chargers. The sudden layoffs this week left Tesla construction vendors uncertain whether to carry on with the charging projects they were building, though one vendor said the company has since confirmed that existing projects should continue. Read more ... |
|
|
Why only 22 EV models now qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 3) |
|
May 3 · Electric vehicles made with Chinese materials will be ineligible for the tax credit under a final rule the Treasury Department released Friday. Americans buying electric vehicles will no longer be able to claim federal tax credits of up to $7,500 if their cars contain Chinese materials, the Biden administration announced Friday, the result of a landmark 2022 climate law that sought to reduce U.S. reliance on clean-energy components from China. The final rule from the Treasury Department codifies a draft rule from December that sharply limited the number of EVs that qualify for the credit. Only 22 of the more than 110 EV models on sale in the United States are eligible ... Read more ... |
|
|
Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 1) |
|
May 1 · Carrie Clark’s cat mysteriously went missing, causing her and her husband to panic. They posted on social media and distributed fliers in and around their neighborhood in Lehi, Utah. “We were frantically searching for her for a week,” said Clark, whose 6-year-old indoor shorthair cat, Galena, disappeared on April 10. “We tore our home up trying to find her.” Read more ... |
|
|
How climate policies can drive voters to the far right - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (May 1) |
|
May 1 · More than a decade ago, the Netherlands embarked on a straightforward plan to cut carbon emissions. Its legislature raised taxes on natural gas, using the money earned to help Dutch households install solar panels. By most measures, the program worked: By 2022, 20 percent of homes in the Netherlands had solar panels, up from about 2 percent in 2013. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, rose by almost 50 percent. Read more ... |
|
|
In photos: Flash floods kill over 100 people in Kenya - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 30) |
|
Apr 30 · Floods have killed 169 people in Kenya with 91 still missing, Kenya’s Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday, the day after a torrent of water swept away scores of people near the town of Mai Mahiu. April 29 | Mai Mahiu, Kenya Transit trucks drive along the Mai Mahiu-Naivasha highway after heavy flash floods wiped out several homes when a dam burst, following heavy rains in Kamuchiri village of Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County. April 29 | Mai Mahiu, Kenya Local residents look at the damages after Old Kijabe Dam burst its banks and caused flash floods through several villages in Mai Mahiu, in the Rift Valley region of Naivasha. April 29 | Mai Mahiu, ... Read more ... |
|
|
Kenya orders evacuation of all riverside dwellings amid deadly floods - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 30) |
|
Apr 30 · NAIROBI - Kenya’s president ordered Tuesday the evacuation of all homes along the nation’s rivers after floods killed at least 169 people in the past month, with dozens still missing. The announcement came a day after a torrent of water swept away scores of people near the town of Mai Mahiu, about 30 miles northwest of the capital, Nairobi. President William Ruto visited a school housing some of the many people displaced by the flooding. Read more ... |
|
|
What a years-long probe of Big Oil reveals about its climate strategy - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 30) |
|
Apr 30 · Some of the world’s largest oil companies have privately expressed skepticism of the Paris agreement, federal climate regulations and their own goals of reaching “net zero” emissions by mid-century, even as they publicly voiced support for these efforts, according to documents that congressional Democrats released Tuesday. The documents also detail industry efforts to fund university research into the environmental benefits of natural gas. They were obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Senate Budget Committee as part of a years-long investigation. Read more ... |
|
|
Alabama and the U.S. Gulf Coast region have seen a sudden burst of sea level rise, spurring flooding in low areas exacerbated by rainfall and high tides. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 29) |
|
Apr 29 · On June 19, southern Mobile County, Ala., experienced torrential rain and severe flooding. Roads and some homes near the Fowl River were submerged. But this was no ordinary flood. THEODORE, Ala. John Corideo drove the solitary two-lane highways of southern Alabama, eyeing the roadside ditches. It had been raining off and on for days and Corideo, chief of the Fowl River Fire District, knew that if it continued, his department could be outmatched by floodwaters. It kept raining. Water filled the ditches and climbed over roads, swallowing parts of a main highway. About 10 residents who needed to be rescued were brought back to the station in firetrucks. More ... Read more ... |
|
|
Where seas are rising at alarming speed - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 29) |
|
Apr 29 · One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found. Recent sea level rise 2010 to 2023 0 3 6 9 inches At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 - a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades. Recent sea level rise 2010 to 2023 0 3 6 9 inches Scientists are documenting a barrage of impacts - ones, they say, that will confront an even larger swath of U.S. ... Read more ... |
|
|
Finding space for wind farms might be easier than we thought - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 28) |
|
Apr 28 · Towering wind turbines dot landscapes across the country, stretching hundreds of feet into the sky. But the huge structures topped with massive rotating blades only take up five percent of the land where they’ve been built, new research shows. The rest of the space can be used for other purposes, such as agriculture, according to a study published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology. This means developers could fit turbines in places that are often perceived as unsuitable for a wind farm. To meet the Biden administration’s goal of weaning the electric grid off fossil fuels by 2035, the United States needs to add more wind ... Read more ... |
|
|
How groups execute the new plan could mean the difference between saving what’s left on Florida’s 360-mile-long coral reef and another summer of catastrophic loss. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 26) |
|
Apr 26 · In Florida, swaths of coral paint a colorful landscape across the ocean floor and serve a key role in its ecosystem. But last summer, amid the longest marine heat wave in decades, many were scorched - drained of color and their survival left in question. It’s a scenario becoming much more common. KEY LARGO, Fla. With milk crates of corals in hand and scuba tanks strapped to their backs, Sam Burrell and his team disappeared under the water’s choppy surface. Heavy, breaking waves crashed against the charter boat anchored miles off the coast. With each breath they let out, they descended beneath the surface and felt a sense of relief: On this November morning, ... Read more ... |
|
|
Heavy rains and flooding kill dozens as extreme weather racks Kenya - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 25) |
|
Apr 25 · NAIROBI - Devastating floods during Kenya’s rainy season, aggravated by climate change, have killed at least 38 people and displaced thousands as rivers burst their banks and inundated low-income neighborhoods. Social media sites were awash Thursday with images and videos of people on rooftops of submerged houses. Residents across Nairobi neighborhoods used boats to rescue those stranded by the rising floodwaters. Venant Ndighila, the emergency response manager of the Kenya Red Cross, said 38 deaths and 11,275 displaced people have been reported across the country. He warned about accompanying risks, including disease outbreaks and the disruption of goods and ... | By Thursday evening, Kwamboka said, the volunteers had managed to get some clothes and blankets for most of the displaced in her area. “Now we have to see how the women and children will have dinner as we wait for tomorrow,” she said. Read more ... |
|
|
New rules will slash air, water and climate pollution from U.S. power plants - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 25) |
|
Apr 25 · The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized an ambitious set of rules aimed at slashing air pollution, water pollution and planet-warming emissions spewing from the nation’s power plants. If fully implemented, the rules will have enormous consequences for U.S. climate goals, the air Americans breathe and the ways they get their electricity. The power sector ranks as the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change, and it is a major source of toxic air pollutants tied to health problems. Before the restrictions take effect, however, they will have to survive near-certain legal challenges from Republican attorneys general, who have been emboldened ... Read more ... |
|
|
Nearly 2 in 5 Americans breathe unhealthy air. Why it’s getting worse. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 24) |
|
Apr 24 · A rising number of Americans - nearly 2 in 5 - has been living with unhealthy levels of air pollution, while the United States experienced a record number of days between 2020 and 2022 with very unhealthy or hazardous air, according to a new report. More than 90 million people are living in places where the air quality is worse than a new U.S. standard, the American Lung Association reported Wednesday in its annual State of the Air assessment, which detailed a significant increase based on the stricter national particle pollution standard. The total includes 72 million people who would not have been counted under the looser federal standard - reflecting the dramatic ... Read more ... |
|
|
U.S. solar companies, imperiled by price collapse, demand protection - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 24) |
|
Apr 24 · Several of the biggest American solar manufacturing companies are demanding aggressive action against cheap imports, arguing in a petition filed Wednesday with the Commerce Department that firms in four Asian countries are illegally flooding the U.S. market with Chinese-subsidized panels. Though the panels are not produced in China, the petitioners allege many are made in factories linked to Chinese-based companies that benefit from massive price supports. The complaint comes amid a glut of solar panels on the global market that has driven prices down by 50 percent over the past year, with the International Energy Agency projecting prices will fall even further. ... Read more ... |
|
|
California has so much solar power it’s throwing it away - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 22) |
|
Apr 22 · In sunny California, solar panels are everywhere. They sit in dry, desert landscapes in the Central Valley and are scattered over rooftops in Los Angeles’s urban center. By last count, the state had nearly 47 gigawatts of solar power installed - enough to power 13.9 million homes and provide over a quarter of the Golden State’s electricity. But now, the state and its grid operator are grappling with a strange reality: There is so much solar on the grid that, on sunny spring days when there’s not as much demand, electricity prices go negative. Gigawatts of solar are “curtailed” - essentially, thrown away. In response, California has cut back incentives for rooftop solar ... Read more ... |
|
|
Chinese province of Guangdong hit by historic floods - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 22) |
|
Apr 22 · Heavy rains continued to batter southern China on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes as rescuers raced to evacuate those trapped by flooding and locate at least 11 missing residents. The historic levels of rain across Guangdong province have come earlier than the region’s usual flood season, between May and June, prompting concerns about the effects of climate change on the country. Extreme weather events have become more frequent and severe in China, testing the top-down and increasingly centralized leadership under Xi Jinping that may be weakening local governments’ responses to such disasters. The floods also threaten the country’s ... Read more ... |
|
|
In photos: Heavy rains cause massive flooding in China’s Guangdong province - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 22) |
|
Apr 22 · Heavy rains continued to batter southern China on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes as rescuers raced to evacuate those trapped by flooding and locate at least 11 missing residents. The historical levels of rain across Guangdong province have come earlier than the region’s usual flood season, between May and June, prompting concerns about the effects of climate change on the country. April 22 | Qingyuan, Guangdong province The region has been pummeled by heavy rain since Thursday, triggering landslides that buried buildings and floods covering villages and cities. April 22 | Qingyuan, Guangdong province Residents row a boat on ... Read more ... |
|
|
Nine practices from Native American culture that could help the environment - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 22) |
|
Apr 22 · Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the world has experienced profound ecological changes. Wildlife populations have decreased by 69 percent, the result of habitat loss caused by rapid industrialization and changing temperatures. 2023 was the hottest year on record. Certain ancient practices could mitigate the deleterious effects of global warming. From building seaside gardens to water management in desert terrain, these time-honored practices work with the natural world’s rhythms. Some might even hold the key to a more resilient future and a means of building security for both Indigenous communities and other groups disproportionately impacted by climate change. Jim ... Read more ... |
|
|
These 150-foot-high sails could help solve shipping’s climate problem - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 22) |
|
Apr 22 · To cut costs and carbon emissions, cargo ships are putting a new spin on an ancient technology: the sail. These aren’t the sailboats of yore. Modern sails look more like airplane wings, smokestacks or balloons, and they use artificial intelligence to catch the wind with little help from mariners who long ago forgot the art of hoisting a mainsail. Sails can reduce an existing ship’s fuel consumption - and greenhouse emissions - by something like 10 or 20 percent, according to maritime experts, making them an attractive option for ship owners looking to cut costs or comply with environmental regulations. Ships burn some of the world’s dirtiest fuels and generate ... Read more ... |
|
|
Why this summer may be especially hot in the United States - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 22) |
|
Apr 22 · A new outlook for summer from the National Weather Service is a toasty one: Hotter-than-normal conditions are favored almost everywhere, except for a small portion of the northern Plains. The highest odds for a hot summer stretch from Texas into the Pacific Northwest, as well as much of the Northeast. This forecast sets the stage for bouts of record-challenging high temperatures throughout the nation and the possibility of the hottest summer ever observed. In the central states and Rocky Mountains, the combination of heat and an expectation for drier-than-normal weather will increase drought potential. It will also raise the fire threat in some areas. Weather Service ... Read more ... |
|
|
Scientists unlocked solar patterns that could help understand space weather - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 21) |
|
Apr 21 · The sun is more than a heat lamp for Earth. It is constantly spitting streams of solar particles our way and, sometimes, powerful pockets of solar material that can jolt our planet. Now, scientists are unlocking another puzzle piece on what may drive extreme solar activity, which could bombard Earth and disrupt our technology. The missing piece could be linked to unusual patterns of high energy bursting from the sun’s surface, according to recent research. We’re used to hearing about the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which we protect ourselves against with sunscreen. The sun also emits much more powerful gamma rays, which are the most energetic waves on an electromagnetic ... Read more ... |
|
|
Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arctic - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 19) |
|
Apr 19 · Future oil and gas drilling will be limited across more than 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the nation’s largest expanse of public land, under a sweeping Biden administration plan aimed at protecting sensitive ecosystems and wildlife. The Interior Department’s final rule represents one of President Biden’s most significant steps to curb fossil fuel development on federal lands. It could help the president’s reelection campaign court young voters, a key Democratic constituency, after many youth climate activists criticized the administration’s approval of a massive drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope last year. In a separate move, Interior ... Read more ... |
|
|
Earth’s record hot streak might be a sign of a new climate era - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 19) |
|
Apr 19 · The heat fell upon Mali’s capital like a thick, smothering blanket - chasing people from the streets, stifling them inside their homes. For nearly a week at the beginning of April, the temperature in Bamako hovered above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The cost of ice spiked to ten times its normal price, an overtaxed electrical grid sputtered and shut down. With much of the majority-Muslim country fasting for the holy month of Ramadan, dehydration and heat stroke became epidemic. As their body temperatures climbed, people’s blood pressure lowered. Their vision went fuzzy, their kidneys and livers malfunctioned, their brains began to swell. At the city’s main hospital, doctors ... Read more ... |
|
|
Has the U.S. really conserved a third of its waters? Here’s the math. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 19) |
|
Apr 19 · Almost everyone loves the ocean. But not everyone agrees on what it means to protect it. The United States is conserving approximately one-third of the country’s ocean areas, according to an early analysis released Friday by the Biden administration - suggesting the president is meeting a key environmental goal laid out at the beginning of his term. But others say that’s not the case. Some of those areas still allow for commercial fishing, advocates say, and fall short of protections needed to save marine ecosystems facing dire threats. “It’s padding the numbers,” said Brad Sewell, oceans director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The ... Read more ... |
|
|
Great Barrier Reef experiencing one of its worst coral bleaching events - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 18) |
|
Apr 18 · Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing one of its worst bleaching events since monitoring began nearly four decades ago, authorities say, with much of the famed reef showing signs of damage as warming ocean temperatures blight reefs worldwide. Bleaching occurs when heat-stressed coral turn white after expelling symbiotic algae that provide food and color. It’s a result of abnormal ocean temperatures in the past year that scientists worry could represent a major change to Earth systems. In the Great Barrier Reef marine park, 73 percent of the reefs surveyed have prevalent bleaching - which means that more than 10 percent of the coral cover is bleached, the Great ... Read more ... |
|
|
The U.S. just changed how it manages a tenth of its land - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 18) |
|
Apr 18 · For decades, the federal government has prioritized oil and gas drilling, hardrock mining and livestock grazing on public lands across the country. That could soon change under a far-reaching Interior Department rule that puts conservation, recreation and renewable energy development on equal footing with resource extraction. The final rule released Thursday represents a seismic shift in the management of roughly 245 million acres of public property - about one-tenth of the nation’s land mass. It is expected to draw praise from conservationists and legal challenges from fossil fuel industry groups and Republican officials, some of whom have lambasted the move as a “land grab.” Read more ... |
|
|
Where drought looms in Kenya, camels are the new cows - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · The camels had thump-thumped for seven days across northern Kenya, ushered by police reservists, winding at last toward their destination: less a village than a dusty clearing in the scrub, a place where something big was happening. People had walked for miles to be there. Soon the governor pulled up in his SUV. Women danced, and an emcee raised his hands to the sky. When the crowd gathered around an enclosure holding the camels, one man said he was looking at “the future.” The camels had arrived to replace the cows. Samburu County’s governor says that the climate patterns have become “abnormal.” The reduction in rainfall is so obvious, he said, that anybody can see it. ... Read more ... |
|
|
If you’ve got an EV, Google Maps is about to become much more valuable - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · Google has announced new features in its Maps app designed to help electric car drivers find a charge. The updates include a tool to help drivers find nearby chargers with real-time information about availability and charging speed, the ability to find charging stops on longer road trips and more detailed instructions about how to find chargers within parking lots and garages. Google expects to start rolling out these features “in the coming months,” according to a blog post. Some will come first to people who drive a car that comes with “Google Built-in,” the company’s driver-assistance software. Google updated its other route-finding app, Waze, with information on EV ... Read more ... |
|
|
This technology didn’t cause Dubai’s floods, scientists say. Here’s why. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · After nearly two years’ worth of rain flooded the Dubai region Tuesday, attention quickly shifted to cloud seeding and whether it could have been a factor in the deluge. The geoengineering technology has successfully produced rainfall over the arid United Arab Emirates in the past. But scientists said the downpour was a product of weather patterns that meteorological models predicted as much as a week earlier. Climate research has shown that such intense precipitation across the Arabian Peninsula could become more frequent and extreme because of warming global temperatures. The UAE National Center of Meteorology told CNBC it did not conduct any cloud-seeding operations ... Read more ... |
|
|
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago fundraising pitch to oil executives: I will kill wind - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · Former president Donald Trump repeatedly ranted about wind power during a fundraising dinner with oil and gas industry executives last week, falsely claiming that the renewable-energy source is unreliable, unattractive and bad for the environment. “I hate wind,” Trump told the executives over a meal of chopped steak at his Mar-a-Lago Club and resort in Florida, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation. Trump’s comments reveal how he is wooing potential donors with his long-standing hostility to wind farms and pledges to halt this form of renewable energy if he returns to office. His ... Read more ... |
|
|
Biden set to block Alaska road key to accessing planned mine - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 16) |
|
Apr 16 · The Biden administration is set to block a controversial road crucial to operating a planned copper and zinc mine in northern Alaska, saying it would threaten Indigenous communities and fragment wildlife habitat, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The expected decision on Ambler Road reflects the administration’s selective approach toward boosting domestic mining of minerals used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean-energy technologies. It underscores the challenges facing President Biden as he balances an ambitious climate agenda with the need to protect ... Read more ... |
|
|
At this climate fair, heat pumps, e-bikes and induction stoves take center stage - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 13) |
|
Apr 13 · WASHINGTON - A loose line of people snaked from a doorway in the side of a cargo truck. One young boy wandered over to examine several bales of hay stacked nearby while others waiting craned their necks to get a peek inside. A small sign in the shape of a barn stuck over the open door read, “Petting Zoo.” But the queuing visitors weren’t there to meet pigs, goats or sheep. What they wanted was hands-on experience with a different kind of beast: heat pumps. “We have heat pump everything,” said Vanessa Bertelli, head of the nonprofit Electrify DC, as she walked through the D.C. Armory, an indoor arena, on a recent Saturday. To her right, a showcase of two brands of ... Read more ... |
|
|
Missouri could crack down on water exports to drought-weary West - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 13) |
|
Apr 13 · Missouri lawmakers say water has almost always been plentiful in their state, giving no reason to think twice about a concept known as riparian rights - the idea that, if you own the land, you have broad freedoms to use its water. But that could change under a bill advancing quickly in a state legislature that is normally sharply divided. The measure would largely forbid the export of water across state lines without a permit, even though there is no evidence that is happening on any large scale. Just the specter of water scarcity is inspiring bipartisan support. Besides persistent drought in parts of the state and plummeting Mississippi River levels in recent months and ... Read more ... |
|
|
Biden hikes cost of drilling on federal lands as Trump courts oil donors - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 12) |
|
Apr 12 · President Biden and Donald Trump this week outlined clashing visions for the future of fossil fuel production across the country, underscoring how the nation’s energy policies hinge on the outcome of the 2024 election. The Biden administration on Friday finalized a landmark rule that will require oil companies to pay at least 10 times more to drill on federal lands. The rule from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management represents the first comprehensive update to the federal oil and gas leasing program in more than 30 years, and is intended to generate more money for taxpayers. On Thursday, Trump held a private dinner at his Mar-a-Lago Club and resort with ... Read more ... |
|
|
Paris says the Olympics will be climate-friendly. Is that possible? - Washington Post - Climate and Environment  (Apr 11) |
|
Apr 11 · Organizers of the Paris Olympics have pledged that the event will be “historic for the climate,” setting a goal of generating no more than half the planet-warming emissions produced by recent Summer Games in London and Rio. But putting on an event that attracts nearly 13 million spectators, athletes and officials from over 200 countries is, by definition, a carbon-heavy enterprise. A 2021 analysis of past Olympic Games found that the events have never been very environmentally sustainable, and they’ve tended to get worse over time, despite organizers touting the Games’ green credentials. “What you can see in the Olympics in general is a difference between the rhetoric ... Read more ... |
|
|