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Electric Flight is the Future of Air Travel
This fall, teen Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will be touring the United States, attending two different climate summits in New York and Brazil to speak with world leaders. But the hardest part of the trip may not be wrangling foreign dignitaries, motivating crowds, or making high-profile TV appearances. Thunberg has sworn off flying, making herREAD MORE
GE’s Investment Mistake Could Cost Billions
Last week, General Electric announced it would close a California gas plant 20 years ahead of schedule. The Inland Empire Energy Center in California, the company said, was “uneconomical to support further” in part because of outdated technology. But California’s aggressive clean energy goals and commitment to using renewable energy was also a key determinant in GE’sREAD MORE
How to Make More Electric Cars Without More Destructive Mining
Climate warriors like to imagine a future where electric cars put oil companies out of business. Firms would stop injecting known carcinogens into the ground to break up the layer of hard, shale rock hiding stores of fuel, and they would no longer plumb the ocean depths for oil, letting sticky black goo leak into theREAD MORE
The Legacy of East Chicago’s Lead Crisis and Environmental Justice
Akeeshea Daniels once lived in the West Calumet public housing complex in the shadow of a former lead smelter in East Chicago, Indiana. She worried about the pervasive lead pollution in the area and hoped that the government would fix the problem. Officials tried — and are still trying — to clean up the mess, but in many ways theirREAD MORE
Plastics Are Sealing The Planet’s Fate
It’s impossible to imagine modern life without plastics. From the moment the day begins, we are using plastic. It’s in our toothbrushes, our shower curtains and our phones. We use it on on the way to work in bus seats, car dashboards and bicycle helmets. We see it at lunch in takeout containers and disposable utensils.READ MORE
Students Are Terrified of Climate Change. Some School Boards Say It’s Too Political to Talk About.
Burning book pages aren’t supposed to rain from the sky. But for students growing up in the age of climate change, it’s now a familiar sight. “Sonoma County kids know that when there’s a big wildfire, there are pieces of paper that fall out of the sky,” said Park Guthrie, who teaches sixth grade at aREAD MORE
Big Automakers Grudgingly Buy Into EVs. Oil Majors Still Lag Behind.
In just three years, many electric cars will sport the same sticker price as their gas-powered counterparts, according to a recent analysis. Electrification, as well as other advances like ride-sharing and driverless cars, will radically overhaul the transportation sector. The next decade will see sweeping changes to the way we get around, and everyone is copingREAD MORE
Helping Flint Cope With Lead Pollution
The poisoning of Flint is a tragedy without end. Five years after learning their water supply was laced with lead, the residents of this Michigan town 66 miles northwest of Detroit still are reeling. And they may be doing so for a long time. “We were and remain in deep trauma… grasping for hope,” said BobREAD MORE
The Power of Beauty
Alexis Frasz believes we use art to create meaning, and to define what we think is possible — or impossible. This is one of the reasons she’s exploring its role in addressing climate change. Frasz, a writer and researcher, wants to build public support for tackling environmental challenges using art. She thinks that art can help people copeREAD MORE
Climate Change May Be Fueling Cold Winter Spells in the Northeast
Early this week, record cold blasted the Northeast, as Boston, Massachusetts saw a high of 10 degrees F, and nearby Worcester saw the temperature top out at just 1 degree F. Meteorologists say this is just the beginning of a lengthy stretch of freezing weather. Paradoxically, frosty winter temperatures in some areas have been linked toREAD MORE
This Map Shows Which Communities Need the Most Help in a Disaster
Armed with howling winds and punishing rain, Hurricane Florence laid siege to Lumberton, North Carolina earlier this month. To a town where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line, the storm brought all manner of mayhem. It made quick work of a temporary dam, sending floodwaters rushing into the poorest neighborhoods, low-lyingREAD MORE
Katrina Survivors Call for Reproductive Rights (VIDEO)
Thirteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina stole the lives of more than 1,800 Americans and plunged New Orleans into pandemonium. Locals marked the storm’s anniversary by looking to the past, reflecting on its legacy and honoring those who were lost. Some, however, also looked to the years ahead with the knowledge that rising temperatures will only makeREAD MORE
Atomic Weapons and Nuclear Power Spark Outrage in Georgia (VIDEO)
You could be forgiven for taking a Geiger counter on a visit to Shell Bluff, Georgia. The town lies just across the Savannah River from a nuclear weapons facility and just down the road from an aging nuclear power plant. The river is one of the most toxic waterways in the country. The weapons facility isREAD MORE
Uncovering the Mental Health Crisis of Climate Change
The young man believed he only had five years to live. “Not because he was sick,” said Kate Schapira, “not because anything was wrong with him, but because he believed that life on Earth would be impossible for humans.” The sign on Schapira’s booth read: CLIMATE ANXIETY COUNSELING 5¢ THE DOCTOR IS IN. Time to earnREAD MORE
States Promised to Fulfill the Paris Agreement. Here’s How They’re Going to Do It.
A year ago today, President Trump announced the United States would exit the Paris Climate Agreement. His decision drew harsh criticism from world leaders, CEOs and U.S. elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans. In the days that followed, hundreds of cities, states, businesses and universities pledged to do their part to uphold the Paris Agreement. Now,READ MORE
Third Nor’easter in 10 Days Bears Down on New England (VIDEO)
The Eastern Seaboard is enduring its third nor’easter in 10 days. Winter Storm Skylar is expected to blanket New England in more than a foot of snow. The National Weather Service has warned of “near-blizzard conditions.” The rapid succession of storms may seem unusual, but mounting evidence suggests that climate change is making nor’easters more frequentREAD MORE
Stories from Six Bangladeshi Women on the Front Lines of Climate Change
We already know that climate change affects women disproportionately, but it is especially dramatic in Bangladesh. Caught between erratic rainfall and rising sea levels, women are struggling to guard their lives and livelihoods. During an especially severe tropical cyclone in 1991, for example, 90 percent of the 140,000 people who died in the country were women.READ MORE
It’s February, So Why Is It So Damn Hot on the East Coast?
Summer came early to New York City on Wednesday, as temperatures soared to a record 76 degrees F — more than 30 degrees warmer than the average February high. Up and down the the East Coast, from Atlanta to Baltimore to Cleveland to Boston, an unusual warm spell broke temperature records. While everyone enjoys t-shirt weather in February,READ MORE
No Country for Snow Men
Imagine that Steph Curry, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant went to the same summer camp growing up. Every June, they showed up the same gym, trained on the same court and drank from the same cooler of Gatorade. ESPN would make documentaries about that camp. Curry would wax poetic about his bygone summers inREAD MORE
Healthcare Institutions Across U.S. Treating Climate Change as a Top Priority
The Cleveland Clinic started thinking “green” more than a decade ago, as sustainability and energy efficiency were just starting to gain traction in serious conversations about climate change. Since then, the Ohio medical center’s environmentally conscious practices have become part of its culture, with everyone getting involved. They are recycling, turning off lights and computers, plantingREAD MORE
Displaced Coal Miners Turn to Beekeeping
Mark Lilly, 59, grew up and still lives in West Virginia. He spent three decades as an insurance adjuster, often talking to people struggling through the decline of coal. At the end of some very long days, he would escape to his bee hives. “It was therapeutic,” he said. Life in coal country may no longerREAD MORE
Game 1 of the World Series Breaks Heat Record
Game 1 of the World Series clocked in as the hottest on record as evening temperatures at Dodger Stadium reached 103 degrees F — the average October high in Los Angeles is 75 degrees. The Astros should be none too pleased. Dodgers slugger Justin Turner said the unusual heat made the air thinner, helping his sixth-inning home runREAD MORE
Betting on Climate Change
In an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson challenged former GM executive — and ardent climate denier — Bill Lutz to a bet. “You take all the scientists who author these papers, get them to pool their money and invest in companies that would benefit from global warming,” said Tyson. “And take all the peopleREAD MORE
Hurricane Harvey Hit Low-Income Communities Hardest
Hurricanes don’t care if you’re rich, poor, white or black — but that doesn’t mean that every person is equally vulnerable to a storm. Low-income families are more likely to live in flood-prone areas with deficient infrastructure. Hurricane Harvey is yet another example of this pattern. While large parts of Houston flooded, low-income neighborhoods fared worse than wealthierREAD MORE
The Things Some Utilities Will Do
Rooftop solar power is getting cheaper and cheaper, and nowhere does that scare utilities more than in Arizona, where abundant sunshine makes solar an attractive option for many homeowners. Over the last several years, the Arizona Public Service Company (APS), the largest power provider in the state, has tried thwarting rooftop solar by getting utility-friendly candidatesREAD MORE
Antarctica Just Shed an Iceberg the Size of Delaware
In a harbinger of future sea-level rise that could pose a serious threat to coastal communities, an iceberg the size of Delaware has broken free from an Antarctic ice shelf, leaving the rest of the shelf vulnerable to collapse. The break in the Larsen C ice shelf — the most northern major ice shelf in the region occurredREAD MORE
Heat Wave Delivers Record-Breaking Highs to the Midwest and Northeast
An early summer heat wave delivered record temperatures from Nebraska to Maine this week. On Tuesday, some parts of the Midwest and Northeast saw temperatures 20 degrees above the historical average. And this is just the beginning of what is expected to be a very hot summer. In case you were wondering — yes, this is what climateREAD MORE
Rising Seas Will Send Millions of Refugees to Inland Cities
When rising waters from superstorms like Katrina or Sandy inundate heavily populated coastal communities, vast numbers of people will abandon their destroyed homes and flee for safety and shelter elsewhere. Where will they go — and how will their destination cities cope with them? That’s the focus of a new study that projects as many as 13.1 millionREAD MORE
Frustrated by High Power Bills, Colorado City Turns to Clean Energy
Working-class homeowners in Pueblo, Colorado have struggled to keep up with their sky-high electric bills. Locals said rampant shutoffs have plunged entire city blocks into darkness and sent power-starved families to motels and homeless shelters. Senior citizens have given up television and unscrewed refrigerator lights in an attempt to save money. And local businesses have grappledREAD MORE
Wind Promised Power, Light and Knowledge, but No More
Superintendent Ken Amstutz dreamed of propelling his rural Ohio school district into a high-tech future with nearly a million dollars in annual revenue from a single wind farm set to go online this year. That was until the state legislature blocked wind development across Ohio, halting construction of the Long Prairie Wind Farm and leaving Amstutz’sREAD MORE
Climate Change to Deliver Regular Flooding to Europe
The kind of devastating flooding that occurs once every century along Europe’s northern coastline could become an annual event if greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb, according to a recent study published in the journal Earth’s Future. New analysis takes into account changes in sea-level rise, tides, waves and storm surge over the 21st century andREAD MORE
Hoosiers Fight to Protect Indiana’s Forests
When Todd Stewart, a resident of Scottsburg, Indiana, went hiking on the Knobstone Trail in Washington-Jackson State Forest last spring, he expected to find a lush canopy deep in the woods. Instead, he found clear-cut stumps and felled timber stacked up along the trail. “It was like walking through a field with trees in it,” heREAD MORE
Wyoming’s Winds of Change
Climate action on the federal level is unlikely for the next four years, but states can do a lot on their own to reduce emissions and grow clean energy. Recent bipartisan compromises to advance clean energy in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan show that state leaders see the writing on the wall: renewables are becoming cheaper byREAD MORE
New York Aims to Replace Nuclear Power With Clean Energy
New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans this week to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant, which supplies electricity to New York City and surrounding areas. The plant’s two working reactors — which account for roughly 10 percent of the state’s power generation — are slated to go offline in 2020 and 2021, more than a decade ahead ofREAD MORE
Food — and Families — in Need of Rescue
During this season of charitable giving and holiday cooking, the amount of food we throw in the trash can deserves a moment of our attention. Fifty-two million tons of food are wasted by consumers and consumer-facing businesses annually — more than 80 percent of all U.S. food waste. Currently, less than 10 percent of that food finds itsREAD MORE
New York Is Driving the Growth of Community Solar
Americans love, love solar energy, but not everyone can wrangle a set of rooftop solar panels. Some roofs are too small or too shady, or they face the wrong direction. Some people are renters. Others own their home, but they can’t afford the up-front installation costs. These barriers, say experts, don’t have to keep Americans fromREAD MORE
What Is the Right Vehicle for Change?
Most people want cleaner air and lower fuel costs, even if it means paying extra for a car. A recent study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, for instance, found that more than half of Americans would shell out a little more for an electric vehicle. That’s good to hear, but as at it turns out,READ MORE
Scientists Have Gotten Really Good at Linking Climate and Weather
We used to say that global warming was like the steroid era in baseball: You couldn’t say that any single hit was the product of steroids, but the home-run boom looked awfully suspicious. Likewise, the surge in extreme weather lined up neatly with the rise in carbon pollution, even if people couldn’t say that any oneREAD MORE
The Northeast Sees Trend Toward Clean Energy
When Vermont resident Bill Laberge decided he wanted to try a new career after 26 years as a custom furniture maker, he turned toward the sun. A longtime volunteer at his state’s annual clean energy festival, Laberge, who lives in Dorset, earned his certification to perform solar installations, and eventually started his own business, Grassroots Solar.READ MORE
Virginia Apple Growers Cope With Rising Temperatures (VIDEO)
It’s October, and that means crisp air, apple-picking and World Food Day, a United Nations-sponsored day of action against global hunger. This year’s theme? Climate change. When we talk about climate and food, our gaze tends to drift overseas, where heat and drought are punishing subsistence farmers. But the carbon crisis is hurting American farmers, too.READ MORE