Chinese companies seek global carbon market for green hydrogen
A project that supplied green hydrogen for buses at the Winter Olympics could be the first of its kind to sell carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism
US-funded trees ‘not likely to survive’ in Haiti when project ends
A report commissioned by USAID found that the environmental and social benefits of a $39m five-year programme were unlikely to continue beyond this month
African climate diplomats reject African Union’s pro-gas stance for Cop27
Negotiators quashed a proposal to endorse gas for energy access at the next UN climate summit, arguing the controversy would distract from other priorities
India approves climate plan with increased ambition, clarifying energy goals
The cabinet has cemented a verbal pledge by prime minister Narendra Modi to aim for net zero emissions by 2070 and improve carbon efficiency this decade
US set to pass $369bn of climate spending after Manchin U-turn
Democrats called it the "single biggest climate investment in US history so far" and claimed it would do 80% of the work of meeting the US's 2030 climate target
South Africa turns to renewables, gas and batteries to end power cuts
President Cyril Ramaphosa promised to tackle the country's frequent electricity outages by mobilising private sector investment and international support
Russia’s war on Ukraine underscores the importance of curbing methane emissions
To avoid locking in new gas production in response to the energy crisis, world leaders must accelerate efforts to stop methane leakage, venting and flaring
Massachusetts set to enable citizens to give climate finance to vulnerable nations
In a world first, the American state is expected to adopt a bill that would let people contribute to the Least Developed Countries Fund when filing their tax return
Chinese court rules bitcoin mining harms the climate
A judge in Beijing quashed a bitcoin contract on the basis it was not in the public interest, citing incompatibility with China's carbon neutrality goal
Pacific islands welcome Australia’s renewed climate ambition – and ask for more
At this week's Pacific Island Forum the new Australian government got a warmer response from its smaller neighbours but was pressed to keep fossil fuels in the ground
As Xi Jinping seeks more power, the world’s window into China’s climate action narrows
At a critical moment for Chinese leadership, Beijing's "zero-Covid" policy is making it harder than ever for journalists and experts to access information
A Thai Community Treasures — and Defends — Its Woodlands
“We and the Woods,” the Second Runner-Up in the 2022 Yale Environment 360 Film Contest, tells the story of an ascetic community in western Thailand whose residents have a deep connection to the forest and have banded together to protect their woodlands from logging, tourism projects, and other development.
Parts of Great Barrier Reef See Most Extensive Coral Cover In 36 Years
In the northern and central stretches of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists have recorded the most extensive coral cover seen in 36 years of study, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
Typically Rainy Parts of Europe Facing Deepening Drought, Water Restrictions
The UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, three countries accustomed to regular rainfall, are seeing intense drought this summer, with unusually dry conditions expected to persist through September.
European Heat Waves Force Closure of Classic Climbing Routes in Alps
European mountain guides are cancelling climbs up some of the most iconic peaks in the Alps, including Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, as a series of heat waves and rapidly melting glaciers have made the routes too dangerous.
In Nebraska, Bighorn Sheep Reclaim Their Former High Plains Home
In “High Plains Wild” — the Third Runner-Up in the 2022 Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — filmmaker Mariah Lundgren tells the story of efforts by wildlife biologists, conservationists, and landowners to reintroduce and sustain the magnificent bighorn sheep in Nebraska.
Long a Climate Laggard, Ireland Lays Path to Cut Emissions in Half by 2030
Ireland, which has historically lagged behind other European nations in tackling climate change, has set a course to slash emissions by 51 percent by 2030.
More Energy on Less Land: The Drive to Shrink Solar’s Footprint
With the push for renewables leading to land-use conflicts, building highly efficient utility-scale solar farms on ever-smaller tracts of land has become a top priority. New approaches range from installing PV arrays that take up less space to growing crops between rows of panels.
Massachusetts Bill Would Allow Residents to Contribute to Climate-Vulnerable Countries When Filing Taxes
A bill working its way through the Massachusetts state legislature would allow residents to contribute to a UN fund for climate-vulnerable countries when filing their tax returns.
Biden Administration Touts Plans to Plant a Billion Trees, Restore Forests Scarred by Wildfires
The Biden administration has unveiled new plans to restore woodlands beset by drought, insect infestations, and wildfires, including planting more than 1 billion trees on federal lands.
Porsche Says Its EVs Will Soon Be More Profitable Than Its Gas-Powered Cars
Porsche expects that, within two years, its electric cars will be as profitable as its conventional cars, and that within five years, its electric cars will prove even more profitable.
Wild Tiger Numbers 40 Percent Higher Than Previously Estimated
The number of endangered tigers around the world is 40 percent higher than previously thought, according to new data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
How Preventing Unwanted Pregnancies Can Help on Climate
Voluntary family planning is too often ignored as a means to lower carbon emissions. But by making reproductive technologies more freely available, we can reduce global population — and human-caused emissions — in a manner that is consistent with personal liberties.
Brazilian Police Doing Little to Combat Destruction of Amazon's Unprotected Lands
In the past six years, Brazil's Federal Police have undertaken just a handful of operations to stem the destruction of unprotected lands in the Amazon Rainforest, according to a new report.
Proposed Coal Mine in Queensland Would Destroy More Than 2,000 Acres of Koala Habitat
A proposed coal mine in Queensland, Australia would eliminate more than 2,000 acres of koala habitat and more than 150 acres of greater glider habitat, two species that were recently listed as endangered.
Gone for Thousands of Years, Wild Bison Return to the UK
Wild bison, absent from the United Kingdom for thousands of years, are being reintroduced to a forest near Canterbury, England to help restore the woods to their natural state.
China Sees Rooftop Solar Take Off as New Policies Bolster Growth
China is expecting to install 108 gigawatts of solar capacity this year, almost double the 55 gigawatts installed in 2021, with much of the growth driven by rooftop solar.
Shifting Sands: Carolina's Outer Banks Face a Precarious Future
Despite the risks of building on barrier islands, developers kept constructing homes on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Now, as sea level rises and storms become more frequent and powerful, the famed vacation spot is fighting an increasingly difficult battle to keep from washing away.
Heeding Calls from Environmentalists, South Sudan President Suspends Dredging of Sudd Wetland
Responding to opposition from activists and his own government, South Sudanese President Sava Kiir Mayardiit has said he is suspending dredging in the Sudd wetland until the environment ministry undertakes needed impact assessments.
Through the efforts of USGCRP, authors, NOAA’s Technical Support Unit, and support staff, the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) has moved from the planning phase to putting pen to paper. Here is a look back at recent accomplishments: Gathering a diverse team of authors. In the spring and summer of 2021, the NCA5 Federal Steering Committee...
Work on the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) is underway. The Congressionally mandated report is the U.S. Government’s premier assessment of the science of climate change and its impacts on the Nation. It is written by hundreds of experts from around the country, who help ensure that the findings are accessible and useful to the widest...
The U.S. Global Change Research Program is pleased to announce that Allison Crimmins will serve as Director of the FIfth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). She is detailed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation. As Director, Allison will oversee...
On May 19, 2021, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced that Dr. Mike Kuperberg is returning to USGCRP as Executive Director. This is his second stint in USGCRP leadership, having served previously as Executive Director from 2015 through November 2020. He is detailed from the Department of Energy’s Office of...
NASA, on behalf of USGCRP, issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) seeking author nominations and scientific/technical inputs for the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). The FRN, which opened October 15, 2020 and closed the following month on November 14, also served as a notice of planned public engagement opportunities. Prospective authors...
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the latest in a series of spacecraft designed to monitor our oceans, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B. Together, the pair is tasked with extending our nearly 30-year-long record of global sea...
The U.S. Global Change Research Program extends our condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Mike Freilich, a widely respected geoscientist and former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, and shares the loss of a longtime member of the USGCRP family.
Dr. Anthony Janetos, a longstanding member of the USGCRP community and Director of Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. He was 64 years old. Dr. Janetos dedicated his career to interdisciplinary, policy-relevant global change science. Prior to the Pardee...
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is pleased to announce the release of Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) and the 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2). NCA4 Vol II NCA4 Vol II, Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States , assesses a range of potential climate change-related impacts, with an...
The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) Vol. II remains on track for a December delivery in fulfillment of the Congressional mandate. NCA4 Vol. I, the Climate Science Special Report, is available at science2017.globalchange.gov. Final agency review and comment. Authors have been revising chapters and responding to comments submitted in the...
The July contiguous U.S. average temperature was 76.42 degress Fahrenheit, 2.81 degress Fahrenheit above the 20th century average. The precipitation total was 2.74 inches, 0.04 inches below average.
For July, 5,300 fires (least since 2000) burned 1,790,284 acres (9th most on record), which is 337.8 acres burned/fire (4th most on record). For January - July, 39,226 fires (10th most since 2000) burned 5,712,925 acres (3rd most on record), which is 145.6 acres burned/fire (2nd most on record).
The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for June was 0.87 degrees C (1.57 degress Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average of 15.5 degrees C (59.9 degress Fahrenheit).
According to data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during June, there were 124 preliminary tornado reports. This was about 51 percent of the 1991-2010 average of 243 tornadoes for the month of June. Tornadoes were reported on 25 of the 30 days during the month. Many of the days reported single digit tornado counts.
A strong ridge anchored near Texas dominated the North American climate in June. It was associated with hot and dry conditions for most of the U.S. The ridge was particularly dominant during June 7-13 when it was associated with record warmth from southern California to Texas. The warm anomalies from that period dominated the monthly mean. They also probably pre-conditioned the atmosphere for the unusually active onset to the Southwest Monsoon around June 18.
As of June 28th, 47.73% of the Contiguous U.S. was experiencing drought conditions, 32.86% was in severe drought, 17.57% extreme, and 3.87% exceptional.
Five named tropical storms occurred across the globe during June, which is near normal. Only one of those, Hurricane Blas, reached tropical cyclone strength (74 mph) during June, although two storms that formed in June later reached that strength in July. The global accumulated cyclone energy (ACE: an integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms) was near normal. The global activity for January through June also remains near normal by most metrics.
James Lovelock and the legacy of his Gaia hypothesis – podcast
James Lovelock, the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, died last Tuesday on his 103rd birthday. Known as something of a maverick, the scientist and inventor was one of the most influential thinkers of the past century. Our global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, tells Madeleine Finlay about spending time with Lovelock for his forthcoming biography, the impact of the scientist’s ideas and inventions on the modern world, and how his immense influence will continue to be felt in the critical decades ahead
Climate endgame: risk of human extinction ‘dangerously underexplored’
Scientists say there are ample reasons to suspect global heating could lead to catastrophe
The risk of global societal collapse or human extinction has been “dangerously underexplored”, climate scientists have warned in an analysis.
They call such a catastrophe the “climate endgame”. Though it had a small chance of occurring, given the uncertainties in future emissions and the climate system, cataclysmic scenarios could not be ruled out, they said.
Why you need to worry about the ‘wet-bulb temperature’
Scientists think we need to pay attention to a measure of heat and humidity – and it’s edging closer to the limits of human survivability
In March, April and May this year, India and its neighbours endured repeated heatwaves that exposed more than a billion people to dangerously hot conditions. India broke several temperature records. The warmest March in more than a century was recorded across the country and a new high of more than 49C was hit in Delhi in May.
Record-breaking heat has also been recorded elsewhere this year, including the UK, which smashed its previous record by an incredible 1.6C, reaching more than 40C. Portugal reached 47C on the 21st of this month, the hottest July day on record, while several places in France recorded new highs.
James Lovelock, creator of Gaia hypothesis, dies on 103rd birthday
The scientist was best known for his theory that the Earth is a self-regulating community of organisms
James Lovelock, the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, has died on his 103rd birthday. The climate scientist died at home on Tuesday surrounded by loved ones, his family said.
Lovelock, who was one of the UK’s most respected independent scientists, had been in good health until six months ago, when he had a bad fall.
How will Labor tackle climate change and cost of living as parliament returns?
Guardian Australia’s political editor, Katharine Murphy, is joined by the executive director of Essential Media, Peter Lewis, and deputy director of the Australia Institute, Ebony Bennett, for analysis of the latest Guardian Essential poll and a discussion on voters’ expectations for the new Labor government.
Party politics won’t solve the climate crisis | Letters
The UK needs an emergency cross-party government to address the reality of ecological collapse
Alok Sharma is one of the few in our parliament who is aware that global ecological collapse is now well under way (“As Europe burns, climate chief warns: I may quit if new PM dumps net zero plan”, News). Showing his emotion at Cop26 revealed that his motivations are more profound than the usual desire for profit and personal status.
A recent paper by the UN Commons Cluster is urging that we need to rise above petty party political differences to fully address the escalating climate and ecological collapse. These existential crises are a global threat: if we cannot cooperate within our own borders, how can we provide worthy leadership to the rest of the world? I would like to see an emergency cross-party government established in the UK to begin to address the reality of ecological collapse. Tragically, our pursuit of GDP growth encourages us to increase all three of the key drivers of environmental damage: population, affluence and technology. We urgently need a new direction. Barbara Williams Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire
Unless we act soon, this heatwave is just a taste of things to come | Andrea Dutton
It’s not too late to avert the climate crisis from becoming even more deadly – but the window is closing
High temperature records are being obliterated across western Europe, some of which had been previously set during the heatwave in 2003 that is estimated to have left tens of thousands dead. Raging wildfires are displacing thousands of people, one of the many compounding impacts of the climate crisis. This heatwave is another reminder that we have already breached unsafe levels of global heating.
As our planet warms, these lethal heatwaves will become more frequent and more intense. In fact, we may look back on these years as some of the coolest, compared with what will come if we do not act now. Human life will encounter life-threatening impacts with increasing frequency and mounting consequences. Countless scientific reports have been conveying this reality for decades.
Andrea Dutton is an international expert on climate change and sea level rise who is a MacArthur Fellow and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Australia’s ecosystems are on the verge of collapsing. Can the government change this?
A new scientific report says Australia’s environment has deteriorated at an alarming rate over the last five years, with more than a dozen ecosystems showing signs of collapse, and hundreds of threatened species in dramatic decline.
Environment editor Adam Morton explains to Jane Lee how the report’s findings present Labor with a real opportunity to end Australian politics’ longstanding indifference to the decline of our land and wildlife
Yes, Britain had a heatwave in 1976. No, it was nothing like the crisis we’re in now | Ella Gilbert
As a climate scientist, I’m tired of hearing about that summer. The extreme heat we’re experiencing globally has no precedent
I’m too young to remember the 1976 heatwave. But as a climate scientist, I’m tired of hearing about why it means we shouldn’t take the climate crisis seriously. 1976 was undeniably a hot summer. A really hot summer, in fact. Temperatures topped 32C (89.6F) somewhere in the UK for 15 days on the trot, climbing to a maximum of 35.9C on 3 July. But in many ways it was nothing like the heatwave we’re enduring right now.
In 1976, the UK was an anomalous red blob of unusual heat on a map of distinctly normal summer temperatures. Contrast that to July 2022, and there are few places on Earth where temperatures are not considerably above average. What makes 2022 a lot worse than 1976 is not just the temperature itself – which will be 4-5C higher than in 1976 if the forecasts are accurate – but how large an area is currently feeling the heat. Parts of Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have been baking in 40C-plus heat for days on end. Combined with extremely dry conditions, the heat has triggered wildfires and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
Dr Ella Gilbert is a climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey
The UK is no longer a cold country, scientists have said, as climate breakdown means “previously impossible heatwaves are killing people”.
This week temperatures of 40C (104F) have been predicted for the first time by the Met Office, but climate models show these weather events are expected to become more common.
Sir Patrick Vallance gives emergency climate briefing to UK MPs
Chief scientific adviser showed similar slides to those Boris Johnson said gave him ‘road to Damascus moment’ on climate
Patrick Vallance has warned MPs that the world is about to be plunged into even deeper turmoil than it was during the Covid pandemic because of the impact of climate change.
The government’s chief scientific adviser gave an emergency briefing to 70 parliamentarians this week, warning of the dangers of the climate crisis and urging them to act.
Small minority of UK parliamentarians attend emergency climate briefing
Just 70 MPs and peers saw Sir Patrick Vallance showcase data that converted Boris Johnson to climate cause before Cop26
Only 70 MPs and peers attended an emergency climate briefing by the UK government’s chief scientific adviser in parliament on Monday, the Guardian has learned.
The briefing, organised by the climate change all-party parliamentary group, was an updated version of the slides that the chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, showed Boris Johnson before the UN climate summit Cop26 in Glasgow in November.
The Playbook by Jennifer Jacquet review – a machiavellian guide to corporate deception
The author brilliantly unmasks the devious strategies large companies use to deflect, neutralise and counter any science that threatens profits, but offers no remedy for the problem
When evidence emerged that smoking was linked to lung cancer, tobacco companies formulated a clear strategy. By investing in doubt and even denial, as Jennifer Jacquet puts it, they delivered delay. So they suggested that the case was not yet watertight, that factors other than smoking were involved or that we needed more research. And that put off the day when governments insisted on warning labels, consumers changed their buying habits and companies faced legal challenges. In the same way, eye-wateringly expensive efforts to deny – or cast severe doubt on – the clear conclusions of climate science have delivered huge “payoffs” for interested parties such as oil companies, including what the book describes as “effectively zero legally binding international policy”.
The basic story may be broadly familiar, but Jacquet has found a brilliantly effective way of revealing just how extensive and systematic such corporate strategies are – by creating a machiavellian secret guide for executives worried about what the latest science might mean for their business. The Playbook claims to “contain sensitive information” and to be “not meant for distribution”. Countless examples of corporate deviousness are presented as success stories. Whenever research “implicates a product in a problem”, we read, companies and other interested parties should rely on a tried-and-tested, four-stage “arsenal” of responses.
Plant-based meat by far the best climate investment, report finds
Exclusive: Non-animal proteins can play critical role tackling climate crisis, says Boston Consulting Group
Investments in plant-based alternatives to meat lead to far greater cuts in climate-heating emissions than other green investments, according to one of the world’s biggest consultancy firms.
The report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that, for each dollar, investment in improving and scaling up the production of meat and dairy alternatives resulted in three times more greenhouse gas reductions compared with investment in green cement technology, seven times more than green buildings and 11 times more than zero-emission cars.
Climate change role clear in many extreme events but social factors also key, study finds
Professor says link to extreme weather sometimes overestimated but climate costs underestimated
Climate change is to blame for the majority of the heatwaves being recorded around the planet but the relation to other extreme events and their impacts on society is less clear, according to a study.
“I think on the one hand we overestimate climate change because it’s now quite common that every time an extreme event happens, there is a big assumption that climate change is playing a big role, which is not always the case,” said Friederike Otto, a climate change and environment professor at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, who was one of the lead authors of the research.
Truthful climate reporting shifts viewpoints, but only briefly, study finds
Researchers gauged responses to climate science versus scepticism and suggest facts bear repeating
People’s views of the climate crisis can be influenced by the media, according to new research. But accurate scientific reporting only has limited impact on people who already have a fixed political viewpoint, particularly if it is opposed to climate action.
Researchers who ran an experiment in the US to find out how people responded to media reporting on the climate found that people’s views of climate science really were shifted by reading reporting that accurately reflected scientific findings. They were also more willing to back policies that would tackle the problem.
Thirty years of climate summits: where have they got us?
Highlights and lowlights of Cop since Rio 1992, when countries set up a system to tackle climate crisis
It has been 30 years since the Rio summit, when a global system was set up that would bring countries together on a regular basis to try to solve the climate crisis. Here are the highlights and lowlights since then.
It’s not your imagination, US summers are hotter than ever before
An alarming trend shows average temperatures have increased by at least 2F since 1970, with even higher spikes in the west and south-west
From Texas to California, most of the US south-west is experiencing scorching heat this week, with temperatures soaring above 100F (38C) in dozens of locations, putting millions of people at risk of “dangerously hot conditions”.
This is part of an alarming trend. American summers are hotter than ever, according to new research, with most of the country experiencing increased summer averages over the last half century.
Australia’s east coast could be hit by a rare “triple La Niña” that brings flooding rains and cooler weather for the third summer in a row, a senior US government scientist says.
Experts say the prospect of a triple La Niña is real, but there is disagreement between different computer models and Australia could yet avoid a return of summer floods.
Global heating is turning white Alps green, study finds
Vegetated areas above treeline have increased by 77% since 1984, satellite data shows
The impact of global heating on the Alps is visible from space, with the snow-white mountains increasingly colonised by green plants, according to a study of high-resolution satellite data.
Vegetated areas above the treeline in the Alps have increased by 77% since 1984, the study says. While retreating glaciers have symbolised the speed of global heating in the Alpine region, researchers described the increases in plant biomass as an “absolutely massive” change.
The oil company’s tax break applications include new details about its carbon removal plans, which some experts see as important to countering climate change. Some environmentalists say the technology is unproven, expensive and only marginally useful, at best.
By Nicholas Kusnetz
Pipe Dreams: Fifth of a continuing series on whether capturing carbon is a climate solution or a dangerous distraction.
Kentucky’s historic floods, amid rising extreme weather in the U.S., have fueled fears in one of America’s most vulnerable regions. Poverty, dispersed housing in remote valleys and strip-mined mountains that accelerate floods make climate adaptation an extreme challenge.
By Chris Kenning, Connor Giffin and James Bruggers
JACKSON, Ky. — Teresa Watkins worked to salvage a few mud-caked belongings from her home on a Breathitt County branch of the Kentucky River after July 28 floods slammed her neighborhood for the second time in 17 months.
In past flooding, hydrologists have calculated runoff 1,000 times greater than without mining. Scientists say climate change will intensify heavy rains.
By James Bruggers
Two former state and federal mining regulators say state and federal authorities should investigate the role strip mining played in last week’s devastating and deadly flooding in eastern Kentucky and the condition of the mines after the torrential rainfall.
A historic church in Atlanta’s Vine City community is helping build residents’ trust and bring attention to the environmental health concerns in the area. The historically Black neighborhood is part of a new Superfund site contaminated with lead-tainted soil.
By Aydali Campa
The Superfund Next Door: Third in a series on the effort to clean up a Superfund site in two historically Black communities on Atlanta’s west side.
“The numbers really are very, very clear here. This is a very good deal for the climate.” That’s how Anand Gopal, executive director of strategy and policy for Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan progressive think tank, described the Democrats’ latest climate and tax spending package in an interview with ICN’s political reporter, Marianne Lavelle. Her story with three other Inside Climate News reporters digs deep into the bill to find out why so many experts, like Gopal, are saying passing the measure is well worth the handouts it gives the fossil fuel industry—a sacrifice Democrats made to win the approval of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
Plus, a team of international researchers said in a new paper that it’s time to start paying more attention to the most extreme, worst-case outcomes of the climate crisis, including the potential for widespread extinctions, mass climate migration and the disintegration of social and political systems. Fearing looming environmental tipping points, the scientists say not doing so would be “fatally foolish.”
BY AYDALI CAMPA The EPA says it is working hard to allay communities fears as it works to clean up 2,000 properties on a new Superfund site. But suspicions run deep in a city with a history of displacing Black communities in the name of urban redevelopment.
Drought Emergency in Mexico Rekindles Demand for Water Law Reform BY MYRIAM VIDAL VALERO The nation added a right to water to its constitution a decade ago, but has never created the policies that would ensure it’s met, leaving twice as many people thirsty today.
It’s not just about lung damage: From IQ scores to behavioral problems, researchers chart the effects of exposure to contaminants in utero and in toddlerhood.
By Victoria St. Martin
For years, researchers have known that air pollution can worsen such respiratory conditions as asthma in children. But a recently released study has shed new light on how exposure to airborne pollutants can also affect the developing brains of the very young.
Today's Climate - How a Summer of Disasters Shows the US Isn’t Prepared for Climate Migration
Today's Climate - How a Summer of Disasters Shows the US Isn’t Prepared for Climate Migration
A twice-weekly digest of the most pressing climate-related news, released every Tuesday and Friday, written by Kristoffer Tigue.
How a Summer of Disasters Shows the US Isn’t Prepared for Climate Migration
From hurricanes to flash floods, to increasingly destructive wildfires, climate-driven natural disasters are forcing more Americans out of their homes and triggering waves of relocations as some regions of the country become too burdensome or dangerous for many people to continue living in them.
Known as climate migration, it’s a situation that scientists have been sounding an alarm on for years. Yet a growing body of evidence, including another summer marred by deadly extreme weather, suggests that the United States is still not prepared to handle it.
For the Holden family, who narrowly escaped one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California’s history, rebuilding in their hometown of Paradise simply proved too difficult. The 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed 19,000 structures in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, took nearly everything from the family of seven and reduced their home to a “pile of ash and the chimney.”
After several months of living in a trailer, drinking rainwater, trucking in water when drought conditions worsened, relying on mobile hotspots for internet access and dealing with their children being “filthy constantly” from ash, the Holdens decided to leave California altogether and move to Vermont. At least there, they told The Associated Press, the impacts of climate change aren’t being felt as dramatically.
“When you are left with nothing, you start thinking I don’t want to go through anything like this again,” the family’s mother, Ellie Holden, told the AP. “I don’t want a tornado. I don’t want a hurricane. I don’t want a flood. I don’t want a fire.”
Thousands of other Paradise residents made the same choice to leave and live elsewhere. Similarly, a 2020 wildfire in Oregon drove another family to relocate across the country, as well. And along the Gulf Coast, in states like Louisiana and Texas, hundreds to thousands of families have moved further inland in recent decades in reaction to worsening storms, flooding and rising sea levels. Climate change is even forcing some communities in the frozen Tundra of Alaska to leave their homes, as thawing permafrost and erosion has increased flooding risk and caused the land around their homes to crumble and sink.
Scientists have long warned that climate change would become a key driver in migration patterns in the coming decades—especially for poorer nations that are far more vulnerable to the impacts of global warming and have fewer resources to adapt. But as more stories like that of the Holden family emerge, it’s becoming increasingly clear that even wealthy nations like the United States aren’t properly prepared to handle the demographic shifts already playing out in their own backyards, largely because of climate change.
The federal government’s 2018 National Climate Assessment warned that more than 13 million people across the country may need to move by the end of the century due to sea level rise alone. On top of that, the toll of climate-driven disasters on the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years. Last year, 20 “billion-dollar” natural disasters in the U.S. inflicted an estimated $145 billion in damage and killed nearly 700 people—the most disaster-related fatalities in the contiguous U.S. since 2011 and more than double the number seen in 2020.
“They are not slowing down,” Adam Smith, the U.S. government’s lead scientist for analyzing billion-dollar disasters, told The Washington Post. “The frequency and the cost of U.S. weather and climate disasters is increasing.”
The U.S. has seen an annual average of 7.7 disasters that cause at least $1 billion in damage over the past four decades, Smith added, but in the last five years alone that average has leaped to 18 events every year—with 2020 and 2021 seeing the highest number of billion-dollar climate disasters on record, at 22 and 20, respectively.
And it’s not just the cost of rebuilding homes and replacing damaged and lost goods. Insuring homes is also getting increasingly expensive, to the point where some people are moving from areas simply because the built-in costs of owning homes there have become too burdensome. One report from an insurance analytics firm found that the overall premium that Americans paid for homeowners’ insurance rose by 8.4 percent between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021. Another report from a different analytics firm found that in 2020, nearly 40 percent of all insurance claims were for weather-related damage—the highest percentage since the company started recording weather-related insurance trends six years ago.
But despite those grim data points, and multiple calls from government staffers to more proactively and holistically address the issue, the U.S. is still largely unprepared for a likely surge in relocations in the coming decades, according to an investigation published this week by the Center for Public Integrity, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Type Investigations.
That report found that there is little organized government assistance to prevent the loss of homes and lives before a disaster, nor is there a comprehensive focus on helping people escape untenable situations. Instead, the investigation says, those who are attempting to relocate due to losing their homes to fire or because of chronic damage from floods and storms must often cobble together aid from across different federal agencies, navigating complicated programs that were never designed with climate change in mind. As always, those most affected by the issue are low-income households and communities of color.
Complicating the situation further is the fact that more Americans continue to move to the areas of the country that are most at risk from climate change. It’s a trend that has been confirmed by both independent analyses and U.S. census data. That means that even as some residents leave their homes to seek haven from storms, fires and floods, they’re often being replaced by those coming from other states who will inevitably run into the same issues and likely require government assistance at some point—an endless money suck.
The federal government has long been aware of these issues, and the Biden administration has taken some steps to better prepare the country for “managed retreat,” the term officials use for assisting people to relocate away from areas as they become less habitable. Last October, the White House issued its first “Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration,” which delves into the issues and potential solutions regarding both migration from other countries and relocations within the U.S.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed last year also provides the Bureau of Indian Affairs with $130 million for “community relocation” and $86 million for “tribal climate resilience and adaptation projects.”
Additionally, existing federal and state-level programs are currently helping many families to relocate in the wake of disaster, though those processes can be difficult to navigate and are often not well known.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is also in the process of overhauling the government’s flood insurance program so that it factors in the impacts of climate change. Experts have long complained about the program’s outdated flood maps, just one factor contributing to the ongoing trend of people moving to flood-prone cities despite the risks.
Still, climate advocates say not nearly enough is being done to adapt. The administration’s climate migration report was received with general disappointment from the activist community, who said it fell flat on ambition. And experts and climate hawks are still urging the Biden administration to make a more concerted and comprehensive effort to handle the problem, including by designating one federal agency to coordinate relocation initiatives across all the different government programs.
It’s a call to action that could be seen all the more urgent as the U.S. continues its summer of deadly and destructive disasters. That includes last week’s Kentucky floods that killed at least 37 people, the ongoing blazes in California that have claimed several lives and burned down yet another town this week and another wildfire in Montana that, as of Wednesday, had torched four homes to the ground and threatened to displace another 150 residents.
That’s it this week for Today’s Climate. Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday.
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist Democrat whose support is key to advancing the party’s climate, tax and health care spending package, has said she would support a slightly modified version of the measure, potentially greenlighting the passage of the historic bill in the coming days.
In response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, China declared Friday it was stopping all dialogue with the United States on major issues, including crucial climate cooperation between the two nations that led to the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord.
Part of the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its highest coral cover on record, according to an annual report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, though the reef still faces risks. It’s a rare moment of good news, as climate change threatens reefs and other key ecosystems in the coming decades.
The nation added a right to water to its constitution a decade ago, but has never created the policies that would ensure it’s met, leaving twice as many people thirsty today.
By Myriam Vidal Valero
Norma Ortiz, 41, of Mexico’s Nuevo León State, has to make tough decisions about water. Does she use the little clean water her family has for bathing or laundry? Is it better to buy increasingly expensive food or overpriced bottled water to cook it?
A wave of revelations about Florida Power & Light begs a question of parent company NextEra Energy: Will a sullied reputation seep into its clean-energy efforts?
By Dan Gearino
Florida’s largest utility has a lot of explaining to do after news organizations revealed some unseemly conduct.
Clean energy stories behind the headlines reported by Dan Gearino
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Florida’s largest utility has a lot of explaining to do after news organizations revealed some unseemly conduct.
The reports show that Florida Power & Light hired a political consulting firm that engaged in dirty tricks to harm or otherwise neutralize the company’s perceived opponents, including elected officials and journalists.
FPL has said it was not fully aware of what its consultant was doing, and it has cast doubt on some of the reporting. But the company is limited in what it can do to defend itself because of reams of evidence, in leaked emails and texts, showing that company executives were aware of at least some of what was happening.
I’m interested in what happened with FPL, but I’m also looking at whether this cascade of revelations could harm the utility’s parent company, NextEra Energy, which happens to be the largest generator of renewable energy in the United States, and maybe the world.
NextEra, also based in Florida, has become a giant by racking up profits from its regulated utility business at FPL and using that as a foundation to build wind, solar and battery projects across the United States and Canada. Other utilities have tried similar strategies, but none have done it on the scale of NextEra.
Last month, I attended a public hearing for a NextEra solar proposal in central Ohio, and I saw how several backers of the project talked about the company’s involvement as a good thing. (Here’s the hearing transcript.)
“I believe that NextEra is a respectable developer,” said Jeremy Welch, testifying at the hearing on behalf of a union that supports the project.
I also saw how opponents of renewable energy development rarely miss an opportunity to sow distrust in the developer, with talk of how wind or solar would be an eyesore and potentially harm property values. But nobody brought up FPL’s alleged skulduggery during the hearing.
I wonder if NextEra’s problems in Florida may eventually affect the perception of the company in other places. To help figure this out, I reached out to David Pomerantz, who makes a living investigating utility companies as executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a nonprofit watchdog organization.
He started by questioning my premise that NextEra has a good reputation while its subsidiary, FPL, has taken some serious hits. He pointed to some of NextEra’s conduct outside of Florida, like its opposition to a power line in Maine that would have delivered renewable energy from Canada and harmed the market for a nuclear plant co-owned by the company.
That said, he acknowledges there is a “cognitive dissonance” between NextEra’s status as a major player in the transition to renewable energy and FPL’s status as a utility that relies heavily on fossil fuels, with a reputation for fighting dirty in defending its interests.
FPL this year announced a plan it calls “Real Zero” to completely eliminate carbon emissions from its operations by 2045. One part of that is to convert gas-fired power plants to run on hydrogen. Pomerantz said the goal of moving to zero emissions is a very good one, but he questions the feasibility of using hydrogen as a major part of generating electricity.
To the larger question of NextEra’s public image, Pomerantz answers with a question:
“What happens when the company’s reputation as an unethical actor … extends to their clean energy efforts?” he asked. “If you are somebody who maybe is on the fence about whether a wind farm should come to your community, and you see all this about what NextEra has done—and it’s true, (the company) really has behaved terribly—then, does that make you more or less trustworthy of them?”
NextEra’s executives and shareholders have reason to worry, but it’s too soon to know how much. A lot will depend on how FPL conducts itself moving forward.
Last week, Seaport Global Securities downgraded NextEra’s stock from “buy” to “neutral,” citing concerns “about growing media scrutiny of FPL’s lobbying practices.” But NextEra’s stock price has risen since then, largely in reaction to Sen. Joe Manchin’s announcement he is supporting clean energy legislation, which is good news for companies developing wind, solar and batteries.
Contacted for a response, a NextEra spokesman did not address the issues at FPL or the potential for blowback for the parent company, but he did point to recent comments from Kirk Crews, NextEra’s chief financial officer. Crews said last month in a call with analysts that he is confident in the company’s long-term plan to continue increasing development of wind, solar and batteries.
We know about FPL’s actions thanks to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald and The Florida Times-Union, some of it in partnership with the nonprofit Floodlight News. I’m eager to see what’s yet to come, and whether it leads to changes in the way FPL does business.
Photo Credit: Michele Eve Sandberg/Corbis via Getty Images
Other stories about the energy transition to take note of this week:
Deep in the Democrats’ Climate Bill, Analysts See More Wins for Clean Energy Than Gifts for Fossil Fuel Business: U.S. Senate leaders have included plenty of favors for the fossil fuel industry in the big climate package they hope to advance this week, but most analysts have concluded these concessions amount to consolation prizes in a deal where clean energy is the clear winner. A team of ICN reporters led by Marianne Lavelle examined the bill and spoke with outside experts to get an idea of its implications. “The numbers really are very, very clear here,” said Anand Gopal, executive director of strategy and policy for the think tank Energy Innovation. “This is a very good deal for the climate.”
Resistance to Renewable Energy Is Growing in America’s Farm Country: The need to build vast amounts of solar power is colliding with local concerns about how the projects will affect the look and feel of home. I’ve been spending time in Williamsport, Ohio, to look at the debate over the solar proposal. In this first story in a series, I look at how the plan has divided the community and strained relationships between longtime friends and neighbors. “I don’t have very many neighbors talk to me anymore,” said Mark Schein, a retired farmer who upset people by leasing his property for the project, along with about a dozen others in the community. I reported this story with Tracy Wholf, coordinating climate producer for ABC News, and we also worked together on a special episode of ABC’s podcast Start Here that delves into the nuanced concerns on both sides of the conflict.
Siemens Gamesa, a Leading Maker of Wind Turbines, Is Struggling: Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa lowered its financial outlook for 2022 and said it expects to lose money this year and next as it deals with high costs of raw materials and tough competition. The company, which has its main office in Spain, is hinting at job cuts, as Isla Binnie reports for Reuters. “In some parts of our organization there are capacities way beyond their need and that needs to be rectified,” CEO Jochen Eickholt said in a conference call with analysts.
In California, Wait Lists for EV Rebates Are Long and Some Programs Have Shut Down: California needs to ramp up sales of electric vehicles to take on climate change and reduce air pollution, but consumers are having trouble navigating the state’s incentives and rebates, as Nadia Lopez reports for CalMatters. “We got into this program and it’s not helping like it’s supposed to,” said Quintin Nelms, who has faced a long wait for his rebate. “It’s useless at this time because there’s nothing out there and the cars that you do find, everything’s gone up in price.”
Inside Clean Energy is ICN’s weekly bulletin of news and analysis about the energy transition. Send news tips and questions to dan.gearino@insideclimatenews.org.
The Inflation Reduction Act's provisions on electric vehicles, methane, industrial and agriculture policy add up to big greenhouse gas emissions cuts—if the bill can make it through Congress, experts say.
By Marianne Lavelle, Dan Gearino, Georgina Gustin, Phil McKenna
Although Senate leaders have included plenty of favors for the fossil fuel industry in the big climate package they hope to advance this week, most analysts have concluded these concessions amount to consolation prizes in a deal where clean energy is the clear winner.
A decision is due this week from a state utility commission on an appeal from a cryptocurrency company, GeoBitmine, which promises to harness energy waste for the benefit of the local food supply.
By Katelyn Weisbrod
Jay Jorgensen is a believer in bitcoin—and, he contends, in solving the problems that give the cryptocurrency mining industry a bad climate reputation.
Today's Climate - Could Environmental Justice Concerns Derail the Democrats’ Climate Bill?
Today's Climate - Could Environmental Justice Concerns Derail the Democrats’ Climate Bill?
A twice-weekly digest of the most pressing climate-related news, released every Tuesday and Friday, written by Kristoffer Tigue.
Could Environmental Justice Concerns Derail the Democrats’ Climate Bill?
The environmental justice movement is up in arms over key fossil fuel provisions included in the Democrats’ landmark climate and energy spending bill, foreshadowing potentially ugly fights in the days ahead as lawmakers race to secure what many now see as the party’s best chance to pass meaningful federal climate legislation during President Biden’s first term. While advocacy groups ramped up pressure on lawmakers Monday to strip those provisions, it’s unclear if their opposition will derail the bill, which depends almost entirely on maintaining the approval of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
The Inflation Reduction Act, a surprise deal struck last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Manchin, dedicates nearly $370 billion to climate and energy spending, representing an unprecedented federal investment in the fight against global warming. More than $60 billion of that total is earmarked for projects that in some way advance environmental justice and reduce the nation’s long standing environmental and health inequities.
Three separate analyses by think tanks and academic institutions estimate that the climate provisions of the bill could slash U.S. emissions in the ballpark of 40 percent by 2030—just short of President Biden’s goal of cutting them 50 to 52 percent in that time frame. Without the bill, analysts believe the U.S. would lower greenhouse gas emissions by just a quarter over the next 8 years.
And a breakdown of the bill’s environmental justice spending shows a broad scope of different programs that supporters say would greatly improve the lives and health outcomes of many of the nation’s disadvantaged communities. That includes $11 billion to revitalize the long-depleted Superfund cleanup program; $4.75 billion to help states reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in disadvantaged communities; over $3 billion for programs to improve and expand transportation access in low-income areas and reduce the negative impacts of transportation hubs; $1 billion to improve the climate resilience and electrification projects in public housing; and $1 billion to help federal agencies better implement the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental law with major environmental justice implications.
But despite those potential benefits, many in the environmental justice community have come out against the bill in recent days, pointing to provisions in it that they say will harm the nation’s most vulnerable populations.
That’s because in order to get the support of Joe Manchin—the party’s most conservative member, who has made his fortune on fossil fuels and has been the biggest obstacle to President Biden’s environmental agenda—Democrats were forced to include several major concessions to the fossil fuel industry in the package.
Those concessions include opening up more federal land and waters to oil and gas drilling, ensuring fossil fuel and clean energy projects get equal access to public land auctions over the next decade, massive investments in controversial carbon removal technologies and clean hydrogen hubs and a commitment from Democratic Senate leadership to streamline the permitting process for energy infrastructure projects, including fossil fuel pipelines.
Those provisions would be detrimental to environmental justice communities, Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director at the environmental justice nonprofit UPROSE and board co-chair for the Climate Justice Alliance, told me in an interview. Namely, she said, they would encourage further development of pipelines, gas-fired power plants and other fossil fuel infrastructure, which is already disproportionately located in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
“You can’t give with one hand and take away with the other,” Yeampierre said. “While it is great that resources have been allocated for frontline communities, there’s also a lot in there that turns our communities into sacrifice zones.”
Research shows that low-income families and communities of color have benefited least from environmental regulations and are disproportionately exposed to industrial pollution, which primarily comes from the burning of fossil fuels in buildings, power plants and vehicles. And for decades, environmental justice activists, including Yeampierre, have said any expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure will further exacerbate those disparities—largely because historically racist housing and zoning practices have made it far more common for polluting industries to be located near environmental justice communities.
Activists are also criticizing the money going toward carbon removal technologies and hydrogen gas development, which they say has allowed polluting industries to continue expanding fossil fuel use on dubious promises to reduce their emissions with unproven technologies.
For Indigenous activists, who for years have been at the forefront of the fight against new fossil fuel pipelines, the Inflation Reduction Act would also bolster projects that they say infringe on their tribal rights, threaten to pollute their ancestral lands and even jeopardize their livelihoods.
As part of the deal with Manchin, Democrats also agreed to reform federal permitting for infrastructure in a way that streamlines the process and makes it easier for fossil fuel projects like pipelines to get approved. Manchin was also specifically given assurances that the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a nearly completed 303-mile natural gas pipeline that runs through Manchin’s home state of West Virginia, would get federal approval, according to several news reports.
That pipeline is entangled in numerous lawsuits from Indegnous and environmental justice groups, and for years its developers have struggled to obtain key permits, including a federal permit that would allow the pipeline to cross through the Jefferson National Forest.
If the Inflation Reduction Act gets signed into law, “this administration locks in the violence of the climate crisis and consequences to Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous nations and frontline communities for decades to come,” Tom BK Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network said in a press release.
Many activists also worry the total amount of funding in the package, currently proposed at a bit more than $60 billion, isn’t enough to tackle the whole-of-government approach the Biden administration has promised to take to reduce the nation’s long standing environmental and health inequities.
In Build Back Better, Democrats proposed around $160 billion that would in some way go toward projects that benefit environmental justice communities, said Lew Daly, deputy director of climate policy for the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank. That means the Inflation Reduction Act has shrunk that funding by roughly two-thirds, he said.
Daly also said that the environmental justice funding in the Inflation Reduction Act is out of line with the standards set by Justice40, Biden’s cornerstone environmental justice program, which directs 40 percent of the “overall benefits” of federal environmental and clean energy spending to go to “disadvantaged communities.”
“So, if you just do the basic math, $60 billion out of $369 billion, which is the value of the total package, that’s 16 percent for disadvantaged communities,” he said. “That falls well short of the Justice40 standard of 40 percent.”
Still, it’s unclear if the environmental justice community’s objections to the bill will necessarily derail it. With midterm elections threatening the Democrat’s narrow Congressional majority, Democrats may see this as their last opportunity to pass meaningful climate legislation before potentially losing control of one or both chambers in November. That pressure was evident on Monday as lawmakers scrambled to shore up their ranks, with hopes of passing the bill before summer recess begins as early as next week.
For Yeampierre, the situation has left a “hard choice” for her and others working across the nation to build a more equitable society. That includes lawmakers like New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, she said, a key architect of the Inflation Reduction Act.
“I sympathize with Sen. Schumer, and I know that he is working diligently to look out for the most vulnerable communities,” she said. But “there’s something really profoundly unfair to ask us to choose between those two realities, to basically say we have to compromise lives” in order to pass this bill.
Thanks for reading Today’s Climate, and I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday.
Today’s Indicator
That’s the amount of carbon emissions that the Inflation Reduction Act will prevent from going into the atmosphere for every ton of increased emissions caused by the bill’s “oil and gas provisions,” according to a new analysis by the progressive think tank Energy Innovation.
The McKinney Fire, which over the weekend grew into California’s largest wildfire this year, has so far claimed the lives of four people, authorities said Tuesday after discovering two more bodies in the charred remains of a car. The blaze has so far torched nearly 88 square miles.
Global warming could push many Americans into entirely new climatic realities by the end of the century, with at least 16 U.S. cities at risk of having summer temperatures on a par with locations in the Middle East, a new report warns.
Vice President Kamala Harris called climate change an “immediate” and “urgent” crisis Monday as she detailed more than $1 billion in federal spending to respond to disasters, such as deadly flooding in Kentucky and wildfires ravaging her home state of California.
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