Some good climate news? "Anand Gopal, with the Energy Innovation Policy & Technology, says [that the Biden-passed Inflation Reduction Act] remains on track to meet his organization’s projection that the bill will cut [U.S.] emissions by 37 to 41 percent below 2005 levels by 2030." (Source: Grist, @grist 8/16/2023) --HPS

https://grist.org/article/inflation-reduction-act-anniversary-biden-climate-progress/

#ClimateCrisis #Environment #Biden #AnandGopal #Grist

As #Louisiana grapples with accelerating erosion, it has turned a blind eye to #LNG terminals cropping up along its coast. Not only are these facilities contributing to the problem, they are increasingly vulnerable to storm damage and pose a massive risk to the communities they’ve intruded upon. All in the name of an economic boos that is completely negated by tax exemptions.

From #TheLensNola in partnership with #Grist:
https://thelensnola.org/2023/08/06/death-stars-on-sinking-land-how-liquified-natural-gas-took-over-the-gulf-coast/

#environment #climate #fossilefuels

by #JakeBittle in @grist:

"More than 113 million people in the United States are suffering under extreme heat as another massive 'heat dome' expands from Texas westward toward California. Meteorologists expect the Southwest’s heat wave to intensify over the weekend, delivering some of the year’s highest temperatures and pushing California’s Death Valley near its all-time-record temperature of over 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The midday heat in cities like Phoenix, Arizona, has become so intense that ordinary surfaces such as streets and metal railings are too dangerous to touch without risking burns."

https://grist.org/extreme-weather/southwest-heat-wave-arizona-california-phoenix/

#HeatWave #heat #temperature #meteorology #southwest #Phoenix #Arizona #California #GlobalWarming #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #Grist

by #MaddieStone in @grist:

"This month, a small group of diplomats is meeting to hash out a plan that could affect the future of nearly half of Earth’s surface — including regions containing metals that are vital for the energy transition, like nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese.

"That group is the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, an autonomous international organization tasked with regulating mining on the ocean floor, in waters outside any nation’s jurisdiction. On July 9, the regulatory body missed an important legal deadline to finalize those rules. Now the ISA is scrambling to complete them, or agree to a fall-back plan, before companies start applying for deep-sea mining permits."

https://grist.org/regulation/international-negotiators-just-missed-a-deadline-to-regulate-deep-sea-mining-now-what/

#DeepSeaMining #DeepSea #mining #permits #ocean #regulations #InternationalSeabedAuthority #ISA #Grist

by #MaxGraham in @grist:

"A new study shows that cutting down trees for paper, furniture, and fuel emits three times more carbon than flying."

https://grist.org/economics/wood-climate-friendly-logging-emissions/

#wood #climate #logging #emissions #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #carbon #GlobalWarming #environment #Grist

by #AkiellyHu in @grist:

"The new Ocean Wind 1 project, developed by the Danish energy company Ørsted, will be built about 15 miles off the coast of New Jersey and generate 1,100 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 380,000 homes. It is the third proposal of its kind approved by the Biden administration, following Vineyard Wind off the coast of Massachusetts and South Fork Wind east of Long Island, New York."

https://grist.org/energy/offshore-wind-just-got-its-biggest-boost-yet/

#NewJersey #NJ #Ørsted #WindEnergy #offshore #wind #energy #sustainability #CleanEnergy #electricity #Grist

by #LyricAquino in @grist:

"Between 2016 and 2021, federal scientists tested tap water from public supply sites and private wells across the U.S., and in territories including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those tests revealed PFAS contamination in almost 45 percent of the faucets tested."

https://grist.org/food/here-are-the-chances-your-water-supply-is-contaminated-by-forever-chemicals/

#PFAS #water #pollution #ForeverChemicals #chemicals #3M #EPA #Grist

by @siri in @grist:

"As the climate crisis intensifies, unhoused people could be exposed to even more dangerous conditions with long-term effects. In a 2020 study from the University of Utah, researchers found that nearly 90 percent of people in Salt Lake County experiencing homelessness sought out medical attention for a condition associated with air pollution.

"If homeless people do have access to shelter, they are often dependent on a wide array of systems that may or may not be responsive to their needs. Shelters might only be open certain hours, or have certain requirements. Additionally, families might need to separate to be allowed into certain shelters — putting parents in a difficult situation."

https://grist.org/housing/homeless-people-air-quality-canadian-wildfires/

#unhoused #homeless #housing #pollution #wildfires #wildfire #smoke #AirQuality #Grist

by #ClaireEliseThompson in @grist:

"'I wish every climate activist understood one thing,' says Nathaniel Stinnett, founder and executive director of the Environmental Voter Project (who was featured on our 2016 Grist 50 list). 'Whether you vote or not is public record. So campaigns look up who votes, and then focus only on those voters' — and their stated priorities.

"Simply by voting regularly, Stinnett says, you increase the visibility of the issues you care about, and the likelihood that politicians will act on them. On the flipside, not voting basically guarantees your priorities will be ignored."

https://grist.org/looking-forward/these-climate-advocates-dont-care-about-your-carbon-footprint-they-care-about-whether-you-vote/

#voting #elections #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #environment #GlobalWarming #Grist #EnvironmentalVoterProject

by #MaxGraham in @grist

"The world broke an all-time heat record this week — twice. For two days in a row, the planet’s daily temperature soared to the highest ever measured by humans, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Earth’s thermostat touched a record 62.62 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, then inched up to 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday."

https://grist.org/extreme-weather/july-4-earth-hottest-day-record/

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #GlobalWarming #ExtremeWeather #temperature #Grist

by #JuliaOMalley @grist:

"Some 330 people, most of them Indigenous, live in the village of St. Paul, about 800 miles west of Anchorage, where the local economy depends almost entirely on the commercial snow crab business. Over the last few years, 10 billion snow crabs have unexpectedly vanished from the Bering Sea. I was traveling there to find out what the villagers might do next."

https://grist.org/food/alaska-snow-crab-vanish-st-paul-island/

#Indigenous #StPaul #Alaska #food #SnowCrabs #sustainability #BeringSea #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #GlobalWarming #environment #Grist

by #AkiellyHu in @grist

"Last week, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed a law to prohibit the state’s investor-owned utilities from charging customers for lobbying expenses and other efforts to sway political outcomes. The new law marks the third comprehensive effort by a state to prevent utilities from using consumers’ monthly bills to fund political efforts, following a similar law passed in Colorado in May and a law that Maine Governor Janet Mills signed in late June."

https://grist.org/politics/connecticut-bans-utilities-from-billing-customers-for-lobbying-efforts/

#Connecticut #NedLamont #utilities #lobbying #Grist

by #NaveenaSadasivam in @grist:

"More than 30 years ago, the tiny island nation of Vanuatu off the coast of Australia proposed a radical idea: Wealthy, high-emitting nations should compensate poorer, less energy-intensive nations suffering the disastrous consequences of climate change. For Vanuatu, those consequences continue to wreak havoc. The 320,000-person country is more vulnerable to natural disasters than any other nation, according to the United Nations, and it has been devastated by a series of cyclones in recent years. The archipelago is also prone to earthquakes, and sea level rise has pushed residents to move to higher ground. As a result, Vanuatu has been a leader in advocating for climate justice on behalf of Pacific Island nations."

https://grist.org/international/vanuatu-ralph-regenvanu-international-court-loss-and-damage/

#Vanuatu #RalphRegenvanu #Australia #Pacific #cyclones #SeaLevel #ClimateReparations #ClimateJustice #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #GlobalWarming #environment #Grist

by #TikRoot in @grist:

"The Green certainly isn’t the first sports team to address climate change. Most franchises now have some sort of sustainability program and the Seattle Kraken play hockey in “Climate Pledge Arena.” But the Green is the only squad in the United States with climate justice as its driving principle, putting it at the vanguard of a burgeoning movement to make sports a platform for climate action."

https://grist.org/culture/how-one-soccer-team-makes-climate-progress-its-goooal/

#soccer #Vermont #Green #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #environment #sustainability #ClimateAction #Grist

by #LyricAquino in @grist:

"At the end of May, Brazilian lawmakers approved legislation that would invalidate Indigenous land claims and open protected Indigenous lands to mining, road-building, agriculture, and other extractive industries.

"The legislation was overwhelmingly endorsed in the nation’s conservative-dominated lower house and has now progressed to the Senate for approval."

https://grist.org/global-indigenous-affairs-desk/in-brazil-the-legal-theory-that-could-strip-indigenous-peoples-of-their-land/

#Brazil #IndigenousRights #Indigenous #land #mining #roads #agriculture #environment #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #Grist

by @jwinters in @grist:

"As in previous years, the largest tropical forest losses occurred in Brazil and Congo. Brazil alone contributed 43 percent of the world’s tropical forest loss — 4.4 million acres — in 2022. Non-fire-related forest loss in the country jumped to a 17-year high, largely thanks to increased land clearing for cattle farming and mining, and other incursions into Indigenous territories. Forest loss in Congo ticked up only slightly in 2022 but remained high at 1.3 million acres, largely due to land clearing near small-scale agricultural sites.

"Other countries hit new and concerning highs for forest loss. Bolivia — one of the few countries that didn’t sign the Glasgow forests pledge — set a new record for primary tropical forest loss in 2022, coming in third place globally with a net loss of 1 million acres. Ghana lost less — 44,000 acres — but this number represents a greater fraction of its tropical forest than any other country and is a 70 percent increase from its 2021 losses."

https://grist.org/climate/tropical-forest-loss-sped-up-in-2022-despite-global-pledge-to-halt-deforestation/

#tropical #forest #deforestation #environment #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #climate #Glasgow #Brazil #Congo #Bolivia #Grist

by @jacobresneck #EricStone #EdwardBoyda & #ClaytonAldern in @grist:

"The world depends on the Tongass, seen by many as 'the lungs of North America,' a vital resource for sequestering carbon. The Tongass currently holds 44 percent of all the carbon stored by U.S. national forests. While other forests often burn in wildfires, releasing the carbon sequestered by photosynthesis right back into the atmosphere, the rainforest of Southeast Alaska is different. Forest fires are relatively rare here. In fact, climatologists believe this part of the world will generally get wetter as global temperatures rise. So the Tongass isn’t just a carbon sink, it is a steady one — vital to the long-term fight against climate change. The Tongass 'is some of the most carbon-dense, old-growth rainforest in the world,' said Dominick DellaSala, an ecologist and chief scientist at the nonprofit Wild Heritage. 'Even more dense in carbon storage [per acre] than the tropical rainforest … What it comes down to is really abusive use of the rainforest. When you come in and you clear-cut — and you take out all the trees over an area as large as 40 acres, in some cases, private lands, it’s even larger — that just takes out all of the value of the forest. You lose most of the carbon, which goes up into the atmosphere.'”

https://grist.org/project/accountability/tongass-national-forest-roadless-rule-loophole/

#Tongass #Alaska #logging #trees #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #climate #environment #Grist

by #NaveenaSadasivam & #ClaytonAldern in @grist:

"According to the latest public data, Oxbow still emits more sulfur dioxide than any facility in Texas aside from five coal- and gas-fired power plants. One simple but pricey solution is to install sulfur dioxide scrubbers, which run emissions through a slurry of chemicals to mitigate their toxicity. But for at least three decades, in four different states, Oxbow has been trying to outrun environmental regulations that might require this expensive step. Oxbow’s creative use of real-time official regulatory data has not only helped it stay in business — it’s also helped the company rake in an estimated $80 million in sales a year."

https://grist.org/project/accountability/koch-oxbow-port-arthur-texas-clean-air-act-pollution/

#Koch #Oxbow #PortArthur #Texas #CleanAir #AirQuality #pollution #environment #regulations #Grist

by #JakeBittle in @grist:

"Phoenix, Arizona, is facing not one but two water crises. Around a third of the desert city’s water comes from the beleaguered Colorado River. Thanks to a decades-long megadrought fueled by climate change, the city stands to lose much of that supply in coming years as the river dries up and the state faces water cuts.

"Another third of the metro’s water comes from underground aquifers — and that water is running out, too. Earlier this month, Arizona’s water department published a new report assessing how much water remains in the aquifers below Phoenix. The data was alarming: The state found that it has allocated more groundwater to cities and farms over the next hundred years than is actually present in the aquifers. If the Phoenix area keeps pumping water at its current rate, those aquifers will tap out over the next century, according to the department. The total shortfall amounts to almost 5 million-acre feet, or around 1.6 trillion gallons, that were permitted for use over the next hundred years but may not exist at all."

https://grist.org/cities/phoenix-arizona-groundwater-shortage-development-agriculture/

#Phoenix #Arizona #groundwater #water #ColoradoRiver #megadrought #drought #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #climate #Grist

by #ZoyaTeirstein in @grist:

"It has been a chaotic start to the Northern Hemisphere’s 'danger season,' those few months of the year that are accompanied by a parade of disasters. This year’s danger season already includes abnormally high sea-surface temperatures in the world’s oceans, catastrophic wildfires in Canada, and unusual flooding in California.

"Experts say recent extremes are being influenced by a hodgepodge of distinct factors. Climate change is involved, but natural variations in global weather, and an unfortunate dose of serendipity, are also at play."

https://grist.org/climate/why-is-the-summer-off-to-such-an-extreme-start/

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #climate #weather #wildfires #flooding #Grist