Most recent 40 articles: Washington Post - Climate and Environment
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'A complete lobby fest’: Why the U.N. climate talks grew so big - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 6) |
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Dec 6 · When the United Nations began holding an annual climate summit in 1995, it was a small and sleepy affair that attracted fewer than 4,000 diplomats and scientists.
Today, the conference has ballooned into a gathering of corporate bigwigs and political power brokers. More than 84,000 people have swarmed this year’s climate talks in Dubai, which feature a dizzying array of panel discussions, corporate-sponsored happy hours and flashy pavilions handing out coffee and chocolate.
Once quick to dismiss the summits, many business lobbyists and C-suite executives now see the gatherings as imperative to attend, whether to meet with government officials, broker business deals or ... Read more ...
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Oil, gas and coal interests swarm global climate summit in Dubai - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 5) |
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Dec 5 · Fossil fuel interests are swarming this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference, possibly like never before, according to research released Tuesday by a coalition of advocacy groups.
More than 2,400 people with ties to companies that produce or consume oil, natural gas, and coal - or from trade groups that advocate for those industries - are registered to attend COP28 in Dubai, according to the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, which reviewed public registrations. That outnumbered nearly all the national and civil society delegations on hand to negotiate at the world’s biggest climate summit, according to the group.
The fossil fuel representation is rising even faster than ... Read more ...
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The surprisingly simple way to convince people to go green - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 5) |
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Dec 5 · Your decision to buy that heat pump or induction stove might feel like it came after much deliberation and research. You might want to thank your friends and family.
Your trusted inner circle is one of the most potent and overlooked weapons to stave off the worst of climate change. Our individual actions appear small, but they act as billboards for others looking for cues on what to do in their own lives. These social comparisons can add up.
The most powerful thing that gets people and politicians to support biking? Seeing other people ride their bikes, says Michael Brownstein, an associate professor of philosophy at the City University of New York. “It’s a shift of ... Read more ...
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How a single word could hold up global talks to save the planet - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 4) |
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Dec 4 · Daniel Reifsnyder still remembers the single word that nearly derailed the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Reifsnyder, then a State Department official negotiating the treaty on behalf of the United States, discovered a potentially deal-killing line buried deep in the draft text. It declared that wealthy countries “shall” set targets for cutting their planet-heating emissions.
That line may not seem problematic, but in global talks to save the planet, every word has the potential to sink an agreement to slow Earth’s catastrophic warming.
“'Shall’ is a legal obligation. 'Should’ is not,” said Reifsnyder, now an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia’s Batten ... Read more ...
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Renewables and EVs are soaring. It’s still not enough. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 4) |
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Dec 4 · The last year has been filled with energy news that seems hopeful. The world has now installed more than 1 terawatt of solar panel capacity - enough to power the entire European Union. Purchases of electric vehicles have been surging: Over 1 million vehicles have been sold in the United States this year, with an estimated 14 million sold worldwide. And, looking at the rapid growth in wind, batteries and technologies such as heat pumps, you could be excused for thinking that the fight against climate change might actually be going … well.
But a new analysis, released Tuesday morning local time as world leaders gather in Dubai to discuss the progress in cutting emissions, shows ... Read more ...
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A super solar storm rocked Earth in 1872. They’re more common than you think. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 3) |
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Dec 3 · Around 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 4, 1872, the sky above Jacobabad suddenly brightened, as if a portal to heaven had opened. A passerby watched in amazement and terror, while a pet dog became motionless, then trembled. The godly glow morphed, from red to bright blue to deep violet, until morning.
Electric communication cables mysteriously glitched in the Mediterranean, around Lisbon and Gibraltar, London and India. Confused telegraph operators in Cairo reported issues in sending messages to Khartoum. One incoming message asked what was the big red glow on the horizon - a fire or a faraway explosion?
The source was in fact 90 million miles away. A surge of particles from our ... Read more ...
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Companies made big climate pledges. Now they are balking on delivering. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 3) |
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Dec 3 · When the insurance giant AIG rattled the industry last year with an audacious plan to stop writing policies for some of the most heavily polluting fossil fuel projects, environmentalists and lawmakers showered the company with plaudits.
Now they are quickly losing patience with it.
Like so many other large companies pledging to help the world avert climate catastrophe, AIG is finding that making such vows is easier than making good on them. The company is now a target of a Senate investigation into the insurance industry, led by lawmakers who warn that AIG and other companies continue to play a pivotal role in underwriting some of the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel ... Read more ...
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There’s a crisis in the Yukon River - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 3) |
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Dec 3 · EAGLE VILLAGE, Alaska - When Jody Potts-Joseph was growing up, her family mushed sled dogs during the harsh Alaskan winters to hunt and trap, feeding them salmon caught from the Yukon River by the thousands.
But after rebuilding her sled dog team as an adult, Potts-Joseph, a member of the Han Gwich’in tribe, had to turn to store-bought dog food. The river that was once renowned for its salmon doesn’t have enough to offer anymore.
“We haven’t been able to fish for a number of years,” she said as her dogs yelped outside her home in Eagle Village, close to the Yukon near the border with Canada.
Flowing from British Columbia through Alaska to the Bering Sea, the nearly ... Read more ...
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COP28 live updates: A potent greenhouse gas takes center stage at global climate talks - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 2) |
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Dec 2 · The issue of methane - a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s warming - is taking center stage in Dubai on the third day of global climate talks, known as COP28.
At a news conference in Dubai, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules for reducing oil- and gas-related methane emissions domestically, a step that President Biden’s climate adviser said could eventually lead to a two percent reduction in national emissions.
Understanding our climate: Global warming is a real phenomenon, and weather disasters are undeniably linked to it. As temperatures rise, heat waves are more often sweeping the globe - and parts of the ... Read more ...
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Farmers race to innovate as climate change threatens African food supply - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 2) |
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Dec 2 · ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Scientists, government officials and farmers are reviving neglected crops and boosting agricultural productivity in a race to cushion Africa from growing food shortages exacerbated by climate change. But only a trickle of donor funds and almost no private capital are directed to the small farmers who produce the vast majority of the continent’s food.
Rising temperatures mean large chunks of Africa are whipsawing between increasingly severe droughts and more frequent and intense cyclones, threatening staple foods for hundreds of millions of people. The International Monetary Fund says each increase of 1 degree Celsius correlates to a 3 percent reduction ... Read more ...
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Oil companies at center of giant push to cut a potent greenhouse gas - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 2) |
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Dec 2 · The world’s leading oil producers, including those in the United States, are rolling out new plans in Dubai on Saturday to significantly reduce methane from their operations - potentially the most consequential action resulting from the first week of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28.
The effort comes as countries and companies face increasing pressure to act on a greenhouse gas that once was largely ignored but which is actually more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Negotiations in recent weeks have involved some of the world’s largest oil and industrial companies, banks, and top government officials from the United States and the Middle East ... Read more ...
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Why you should think twice about cranking up your thermostat as it gets cold - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 2) |
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Dec 2 · If you’re trying to ward off the chill this winter, don’t crank up the thermostat.
“People shouldn’t be keeping their home at 80 degrees during the wintertime,” said Jennifer Amann, senior fellow in the buildings program at the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
Having your thermostat consistently set to a high temperature wastes energy, especially when there isn’t a need to keep your home warm, experts say. Heating uses more energy and costs more money than any other system in the average home, typically accounting for about 29 percent of utility bills, according to the Energy Department.
While major energy savings will come from plugging ... Read more ...
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Before China’s coal is even burned, its mines are warming the planet - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 1) |
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Dec 1 · To get a sense of the scale and severity of China’s addiction to coal, look no further than the scores of deep industrial mines and uncounted smaller pits dotted across the country’s north-central region, churning out more of the black rock than the rest of the world combined.
Scrutiny of China’s coal industry tends to focus on the network of power plants that burn the fossil fuel for energy and release huge amounts of atmosphere-heating carbon dioxide. But the methane seeping from its mines has hampered global efforts to keep planetary warming from reaching even more dangerous levels.
And it helps explain why China - the world’s largest emitter - remains reluctant to ... Read more ...
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U.N. chief says 'Earth’s vital signs are failing’ as leaders meet at COP28 - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 1) |
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Dec 1 · U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said Friday the world is “minutes to midnight” in its goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and he called on leaders at the U.N. climate change conference in Dubai, known as COP28, to prevent a “planetary crash and burn.”
“Earth’s vital signs are failing,” Guterres said.
His message came at the opening of two days of talks among global leaders, an early part of the two-week climate negotiations. Several notable leaders - including President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, representing the two largest historical emitters - are skipping the event.
The summit is an opportunity for leaders to assess their ... Read more ...
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UAE looks to burnish its climate credentials with $30 billion pledge - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Dec 1) |
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Dec 1 · The United Arab Emirates has set up a $30 billion fund to invest in clean energy and other climate projects worldwide - with a particular emphasis on financing infrastructure in the Global South - as the Middle Eastern nation tries to quell doubts that it is committed to moving the planet away from fossil fuels.
The plan, announced Friday at opening proceedings of the annual U.N. Climate Change Conference, which the UAE is hosting this year in Dubai, comes as the petrostate tries to burnish its credentials as a leader in the clean energy transition, even as it continues the oil investments that have brought Emiratis tremendous wealth. The money to fund the projects will come ... Read more ...
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COP28 is off to a fast start, and a showdown on fossil fuels looms - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · DUBAI - In a quick start to a summit that usually starts slowly, nations at the U.N. Climate Change Conference on Thursday struck an agreement on an unprecedented fund aimed at helping vulnerable nations hit by climate emergencies.
The decision, coming after years of contention, provided a much-needed, best-case example of how the summit, known as COP28, can work when facing a narrowing window to divert the planet from its disastrous path.
“We have delivered history today,” said Sultan Al Jaber, the president of this year’s conference, known as COP28, adding that never before had countries adopted a decision on the first day.
But for all the early momentum, there ... Read more ...
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COP28 live updates: U.N. climate summit begins in Dubai - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · Annual global climate talks are beginning Thursday in Dubai with the backdrop of fractured global unity and concern about the influence of the fossil fuel industry as countries face a narrowing window to divert the planet from its disastrous path.
For the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known this year as COP28, the stakes are high - and so is the controversy, given that the oil-rich United Arab Emirates is serving as host.
Dueling worldviews about the future of fossil fuels came quickly into view Thursday, as COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber - an oil CEO - said he considered the oil and gas industry a partner that can “lead the way” in the energy transition. Moments ... Read more ...
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Extreme weather helped fuel surge in malaria cases last year - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · The number of malaria cases worldwide surged by millions last year, the World Health Organization said Thursday - a change driven by extreme weather events such as catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, as well as other conflicts and humanitarian crises that allowed the deadly disease to proliferate.
The WHO said the spike came after a two-decade stretch beginning in 2000 that saw global cases of malaria fall from 243 million to 233 million, despite population booms in many parts of the developing world.
But in recent years, the agency said, the global case count “was significantly higher than before the pandemic.” There were an additional 11 million recorded cases in 2020, ... Read more ...
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How to get cash for clean energy before the end of the year - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · Since the beginning of this year, Americans hoping to switch to more climate-friendly heating systems, cars or stoves have been able to claim thousands of dollars from the U.S. government. Buy an electric car, and that’s $7,500 off your taxes - provided the car’s minerals and battery come from the right places. A heat pump, and that’s $2,000 off.
But in 2024, rebates for clean appliances will start coming down the pipe for lower-income individuals - meaning immediate cash back, with no need to wait until April to file taxes. And changes to the electric vehicle tax credit are also in the works, with the option of getting $7,500 off right at the dealership.
Those ... Read more ...
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This year will be Earth’s hottest in human history, report confirms - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · As COP28 began, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed what appeared to be a foregone conclusion: that 2023 is assured to end up as Earth’s hottest year in human history.
It will break a record set in 2016, underscoring that the world is closer than ever to the global warming thresholds that global leaders are seeking to avoid. Data from January through October shows the planet is likely to average 1.3 degrees Celsius to 1.5 degrees Celsius above a preindustrial norm this year, the WMO said.
Constraining global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels is the world’s most important climate goal. Scientists say it is becoming increasingly out of ... Read more ...
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The UAE has big plans for a 'success story’ at the COP28 climate talks - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 29) |
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Nov 29 · The United Arab Emirates, battling low expectations ahead of a global climate conference it is hosting with some controversy, plans to launch COP28 this week with what it hopes is a headline-grabbing agreement on one of the summit’s thorniest issues.
The UAE’s leaders are pushing government delegations to swiftly accept a deal on the next steps for a fund to help vulnerable countries cover the costs of climate-related disasters, according to five people familiar with the effort.
The gambit demonstrates that United Nations Climate Change Conference is increasingly about money, rather than emissions targets, as the closely-watched negotiations near the end of their third ... Read more ...
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The house you can pick up and move when the flood comes - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 28) |
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Nov 28 · Blueprints for a more resilient planet
Yasmeen Lari spent a four-decade career designing award-winning structures out of concrete, glass and steel before stumbling into her ideal material.
It was at a camp for refugees from military conflict in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat Valley. Residents there were struggling to secure bricks and wood to build communal kitchens - until she spotted a nearby bamboo grove.
“Let’s use it,” recalls Lari, who by that time had shuttered her architecture practice to focus on humanitarian work. “I’d never thought of using bamboo in my life.”
The material worked so well that over the last decade, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, the ... Read more ...
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A plane fueled by fat and sugar has crossed the Atlantic Ocean - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 28) |
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Nov 28 · For the first time ever, a commercial plane flew across the Atlantic Ocean without using fossil fuels.
Virgin Atlantic said the test flight Tuesday from London to New York was powered only by sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, a broad category of jet fuel that creates fewer carbon emissions than standard kerosene blends. The fuel on this flight was made from waste fats and plant sugars and emits 70% less carbon than petroleum-based jet fuel, according to a press release. It landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
Experts say sustainable aviation fuels may one day play a big role in shrinking the aviation industry’s carbon footprint - even ... Read more ...
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In a 'sacred’ desert, the U.S. turns away from drilling and mining - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 28) |
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Nov 28 · SWEETWATER COUNTY, Wyo. - From near the 8,700 foot peak of Steamboat Mountain here, Mark Kot looks down on the sandy and brush-covered Red Desert - home to some of the largest desert elk, pronghorn and sage grouse populations in North America.
For decades, the U.S. government made resource extraction - mining, grazing, and oil and gas development - a priority on public lands such as these in southwest Wyoming. Environmental protections often came second. That would change under a sweeping Biden administration plan to place hundreds of thousands of acres of the Red Desert and the surrounding sagebrush steppe off limits to development.
It represents a big shift for the ... Read more ...
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Why an oil kingdom is hosting the COP28 climate summit and other questions answered - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 27) |
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Nov 27 · Tens of thousands of people from around the world will descend on Dubai this week for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer, is hosting this year’s summit, known as COP28. It comes as top scientists warn the world is far off track from meeting its climate goals.
Here’s what to know, and why it matters:
COP stands for “Conference of the Parties,” with the word “parties” referring to the nearly 200 countries that agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992.
Diplomats from these nations have been meeting every year since 1995. This marks the 28th time they have met, ... Read more ...
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Biden to skip world leaders’ summit at COP28 climate talks in Dubai - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 26) |
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Nov 26 · President Biden will not attend a world leaders’ summit Friday and Saturday at the outset of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai, according to the official White House schedule released Sunday.
It was not immediately clear Sunday why the president had decided to skip the gathering this year. Biden has attended the past two annual U.N. climate conferences, and the U.S. climate envoy and other top officials are scheduled to attend this one in the United Arab Emirates.
The decision means the United States will probably face heightened criticism from developing countries that have done the least to cause climate change but are most vulnerable to its consequences, ... Read more ...
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Pollution fueling a sex imbalance among endangered green sea turtles - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 26) |
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Nov 26 · Green sea turtles are producing more females in response to a warming climate - and human-caused pollution is helping fuel the surge, a recent analysis suggests.
Writing in Frontiers in Marine Science, researchers say ocean contaminants are contributing to a surge of female green sea turtles.
Like many other reptiles, sea turtles’ sex development is influenced by the temperature of their nests. Green sea turtles incubate in large clutches of eggs their migratory mothers bury in the sand on nesting beaches. Over the course of about two months, they develop from embryos into tiny turtles, with warmer sands producing more females and cooler sands producing more ... Read more ...
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The easy way to save up to 20 percent on your heating bill this winter - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 24) |
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Nov 24 · With temperatures dipping in many parts of the country, people are probably bracing for their utility bills to climb as they crank up the heat in their homes.
Experts say a drafty building can be one of the main reasons it costs more to keep your home comfortable during the winter. While major energy savings will come from upgrading windows and doors, improving insulation and ambitious retrofits to replace outdated HVAC systems and ducts, there are simple steps you can take to plug up the leaks in your home.
Buildings lose a significant amount of energy from air traveling in or out through cracks in walls, poorly sealed or underperforming windows and doors, and aging ... Read more ...
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After the pandemic, Americans are flying again in force. Here’s why that’s a problem. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · In the spring of 2020, as the coronavirus swept over the globe, air travel disappeared. Airlines flew empty “ghost flights” to retain airport slots. Airport terminals were deserted. And the planet-warming emissions from aviation also plummeted - to less than half their 2019 levels.
As the pandemic wore on, workers grew accustomed to Zoom meetings and virtual conferences; families opted to take driving trips instead of getting on cross-country flights. Some climate experts and activists wondered if the shift in transportation would have long-term effects - transforming the way Americans travel for work and vacation.
But now, 3½ years on, Americans’ love of flying has ... Read more ...
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States must target transportation carbon emission cuts under new federal rule - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 22) |
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Nov 22 · States and urban areas will be required to set goals to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks on their roads under a new federal rule issued Wednesday, part of the Biden administration’s efforts to link tens of billions of dollars in highway funding from the infrastructure law to its environmental priorities.
The rule, issued by the Federal Highway Administration, has the backing of environmentalists and some Democratic-led states, which say it’s an important recognition of how funding road construction tends to encourage more driving and higher emissions. But the proposal has faced fierce opposition from many state transportation agencies, which argue they have limited ... Read more ...
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The single best way to reduce food waste on Thanksgiving - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 22) |
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Nov 22 · This Thanksgiving, Americans will throw out about 312 million pounds of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, their aunts’ weird casseroles and other festive foods, according to ReFED, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste.
“That’s not surprising because this is the largest meal that most of us probably will eat all year,” said Jeffrey Constantino, ReFED’s communications director. “The whole holiday season, and Thanksgiving in particular, is really defined by abundance.”
But Americans’ abundant holiday food waste comes with excessive economic and environmental costs. The energy and resources that go into farming, packaging and transporting uneaten food are ... Read more ...
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Here’s how many fossil fuel lobbyists have attended U.N. climate talks - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 21) |
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Nov 21 · Representatives of the fossil fuel industry have attended U.N. climate talks more than 7,200 times over the past two decades, according to research released Tuesday by a coalition of advocacy groups.
The analysis underscores how the fossil fuel industry has increased its presence at summits focused on a climate crisis it helped create. It comes less than two weeks before the United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer, is set to host the next summit, with the head of its state-owned oil company serving as president of the Dubai gathering.
Many oil and gas companies argue that they need to participate in these summits if they are to help develop solutions to climate ... Read more ...
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How to feng shui your fridge and eat more of your food - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 21) |
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Nov 21 · Your fridge is probably a pretty modern, efficient, carefully engineered machine. But Jiaying Zhao, a behavioral scientist at the University of British Columbia, says it has one glaring flaw.
If you organize your fridge the way its designers intended, you tuck your fruits and vegetables into crisper drawers and place your most perishable items at the back of the bottom shelf where temperatures are coolest. But that makes you more likely to forget about these quick-to-spoil foods until it’s too late.
“The fridge is not designed with human behavior in mind,” she said. “The human mind is limited in terms of capacity, and one limitation is 'out of sight, out of mind.’ So if ... Read more ...
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Oil spill tops 1 million gallons, threatens Gulf of Mexico wildlife - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 21) |
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Nov 21 · Skimming vessels are working to contain and recover oil from a spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, which the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday estimated to be at least 1.1 million gallons.
The spill was discovered Thursday near a 67-mile pipeline operated by the Main Pass Oil Gathering Co., owned by Houston-based Third Coast Infrastructure, and the Coast Guard said it was still reviewing whether that pipeline was the source of the contamination.
On Friday, pilots on reconnaissance flights saw oil moving southwest from Plaquemines Parish. Under the surface, “remotely operated vehicles, deployed Friday morning, continue to survey the pipeline with no findings of ... Read more ...
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The many contrasts of oil-rich UAE, host of the global climate talks - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 21) |
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Nov 21 · ABU DHABI - Even before visitors leave the baggage claim here, they have a sense of the vision the United Arab Emirates wants to project: A billboard-sized image shows rows of solar panels extending across the desert. The country’s leaders tout a “groundbreaking” transition to a green economy. Even the UAE’s oil company frames itself as a climate-conscious pioneer, with a plan to be net zero by 2045.
But in the nation hosting this year’s global climate talks, the definition of what it means to be green comes with some caveats.
That’s because this Gulf state, in waters miles offshore, is ramping up its oil capacity like never before. It is building artificial islands, ... Read more ...
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These baby turtle eggs were going to be 'bar snacks.’ Watch the hatchlings return to the sea. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 21) |
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Nov 21 · A mass abduction on an idyllic beach in Costa Rica has concluded with happy endings - 736 of them.
Poachers snatched hundreds of sea turtle eggs from nests along Costa Rica’s southern coast, a crucial refuge for olive ridley, green and hawksbill and other critically endangered sea turtles. The nest raiders planned to sell them as “bar snacks” before the eggs were recovered by Costa Rica’s National Coast Guard, according to the country’s Ministry of Public Security. Turtles eggs are often (and erroneously) regarded as aphrodisiacs.
Nearly 200 eggs were returned to nests along the black sand beaches of Punta Banco, and more than half the eggs had already hatched, according ... Read more ...
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A fading coal town hitches its hopes to Bill Gates’s clean-energy dream - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 20) |
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Nov 20 · KEMMERER, Wyo. - Mayor Bill Thek took office in 2020 with a mission to save this small coal town in southwest Wyoming, where high desert hills are rich in fossils and the fuels derived from them. The local power plant was scheduled to stop burning the carbon-emitting rock that had provided jobs for more than a century. The mine seemed likely to close along with it.
“We’re going to dry up and blow away,” Thek recalled thinking at the time. “I had no idea how the heck I was going to save it.”
Three years later, he and many others in this deep-red corner of the nation’s top coal-producing state have pinned hopes on unlikely saviors: tech mogul Bill Gates and the Biden ... Read more ...
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How the World Bank’s new boss is navigating a clash over climate change - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 20) |
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Nov 20 · Fighting climate change increasingly comes down to money - who has it, who doesn’t and who has the levers to help the world’s developing countries withstand the ravages of climate change.
Ajay Banga controls some of those levers. In June, after decades as a corporate executive, he became the first person born in the Global South to lead the World Bank Group, a powerful set of institutions that last year issued $128 billion in loans, grants, investments and guarantees.
But while the Indian-born Banga may appear to have the credentials to bridge the divide between rich and poor countries, he faces multiple challenges just five months into the job.
Climate activists ... Read more ...
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World’s richest 1% pollute more than the poorest two-thirds, Oxfam says - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 20) |
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Nov 20 · The world’s richest 1 percent generated as much carbon emissions as the poorest two-thirds in 2019, according to a new Oxfam report that examines the uber-wealthy’s lavish lifestyles and investments in heavily polluting industries.
The report paints a grave portrait as climate experts and activists scramble to curtail global warming that is devastating vulnerable and often poor communities in Southeast Asia, East Africa and elsewhere. This month marked a long-dreaded milestone for the planet, when scientists recorded an average global temperature that was more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels on Friday.
Earth passed a feared global warming milestone, at ... Read more ...
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Earth passed a feared global warming milestone Friday, at least briefly - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Nov 19) |
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Nov 19 · The planet marked an ominous milestone Friday: The first day global warmth crossed a threshold, if only briefly, that climate scientists have warned could have calamitous consequences.
Preliminary data show global temperatures averaged more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above a historic norm, from a time before humans started consuming fossil fuels and emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases.
That does not mean efforts to limit global warming have failed - yet. Temperatures would have to surpass the 2-degree benchmark for months and years at a time before scientists consider it breached.
But it’s a striking reminder that the climate is moving ... Read more ...
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