We’re still in

The coalition of U.S. states, cities, counties, institutions and businesses still determined to meet the goals of the Paris agreement represents 51 percent of U.S. emissions, 65 percent of the U.S. population and 68 percent of the national GDP, according to the America’s Pledge on Climate Change. [ read more … ]

Democratic presidential candidate Warren proposes ‘Blue New Deal’ to protect oceans

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday proposed a “Blue New Deal” to revitalize and protect the world’s oceans, including phasing out all offshore drilling and investing in renewable energy projects like wind turbines. “Our oceans can underpin a sustainable food system, be a source of renewable energy and defend against the worst of climate change,” Warren wrote in a post on the website Medium. “The future of our planet depends on a healthy ocean, and we have no more time to waste.” [ read more … ]

Can Calif.’s smart grid double as wildfire defense?

California, the tragic ground zero for ruinous wildfires in the United States, has also led the nation in pushing its power grid into a lower-carbon future, hoping to counteract climate change that feeds the wildfire menace. Could the growing population of smart meters, rooftop solar units, backup batteries and automated grid controls in the Golden State become a technology foundation for future wildfire defenses?

From a research standpoint, Calif [ read more … ]

N.Y. loses ’round one,’ but fight against Big Oil isn’t over

New York’s top lawyer suffered a major defeat yesterday when a state court decided that prosecutors for Attorney General Letitia James (D) did not present enough evidence that Exxon Mobil Corp. misled investors about the threat of climate change to the oil giant’s operations. But state Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager’s ruling in People of the State of New York v. Exxon isn’t likely to chill other battles over the financial risks of climate change, including the lawsuit Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) launched against Exxon during the thick of the Empire State’s three-week trial. [ read more … ]

ExxonMobil just won a big climate court case in New York. But it’s not in the clear yet.

ExxonMobil just beat the state of New York in a closely-watched climate fraud case. But other state and local governments suing the oil and natural gas company say they remain confident they can still prevail in their own legal fights. The nation’s largest energy company successfully fended off claims Tuesday by New York that it misled investors for years in how it calculated the financial risks of climate change. The high-profile trial marked the culmination of a four-year-old probe under three top prosecutors in New York. [ read more … ]

Emails: Trump aide had blueprint to unravel climate science

A former adviser to President Trump wanted to launch a White House review of the climate science behind EPA regulations to help spur a broader challenge of government research into climate change, newly released emails show. William Happer, who left his position as a senior director at the National Security Council in September, worked with EPA in 2017 to draft ideas for a “red team” review of climate science. Its proposed mission: Question the broad scientific consensus on climate change, the emails revealed. [ read more … ]

Vietnam’s richest man bets $2B to sell cars to Americans

The billionaire behind six-month-old Vietnamese auto startup VinFast plans a feat even Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. couldn’t pull off during their early days: sell a car in the U.S. Pham Nhat Vuong, the Southeast Asian country’s richest man and now in charge of the new automaker, is so intent on exporting electric vehicles to the lucrative American market in 2021 that he’s plowing as much as $2 billion of his own fortune to reach that goal. His cash would account for half the capital investment of VinFast, which began delivering cars to Vietnamese consumers with BMW-licensed engines earlier this year and aims to expand into electric vehicles. [ read more … ]

Study finds enough geologic storage to meet U.N. climate goals

There’s room underground for storing enough carbon dioxide to allow the world to hit key critical climate targets, an international research team said in a study published recently in Scientific Reports. The study says as many as 14,000 injection wells will be needed worldwide by 2050 to store up to 7,000 million tons of CO2 a year — large-scale geologic disposal of industrial emissions that researchers call “essential” to significantly reducing heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. [ read more … ]