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Shift to a Not-So-Frozen North Is Well Underway, Scientists Warn
The Arctic continued its unwavering shift toward a new climate in 2020, as the effects of near-record warming surged across the region, shrinking ice and snow cover and fueling extreme wildfires, scientists said Tuesday in an annual assessment of the region. Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska and one of the editors of the assessment, said it “describes an Arctic region that continues along a path that is warmer, less frozen and biologically changed in ways that were scarcely imaginable even a generation ago.”
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Wind Energy
Wind-Turbine Blades Once Doomed for Landfill Can Now Be Recycled
Veolia Environnement SA agreed to recycle General Electric Co. wind-turbine blades into a raw material that can be used to make cement. The multiyear agreement involves most of the massive blades GE’s renewable-energy unit removes when replacing its onshore turbines in the U.S., according to a statement Tuesday. Terms weren’t disclosed. [ read more … ]
Emissions
Analysis: Liberal states off course for emission targets
Liberal states aren’t on track to meet the emission reductions targeted by the Paris climate accord, and they’re nowhere close to reducing emissions at the rates needed to limit the rise of global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So the Environmental Defense Fund says in a report released today that examines 25 states participating in the U.S. Climate Alliance, along with Puerto Rico and Louisiana, which has set emission targets consistent with the Paris climate accord.
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Major journal ties public health, climate change
A leading health journal is devoting an entire issue to climate change — with articles addressing pollution, health effects of climate change, how health care systems can adapt to climate change and policy actions that should be taken to address those issues. The December issue of Health Affairs — once described as the “bible of health policy” in The Washington Post — includes more than 10 articles related to climate change, marking the journal’s first-ever issue devoted to the intersection of climate and health. [ read more … ]
The Transition
Needed for Biden EPA: ‘Political valor,’ ‘smelling salts’
Former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck recently spoke with her old staffers for a postelection celebration of EPA’s golden anniversary. She came away with a dour forecast. “The new administrator is going to have to arrive with a 55-gallon drum of smelling salts to bring the agency back to life,” said Enck, who oversaw the New York-based Region 2 during the Obama administration and is now president of Beyond Plastics. “This was a very challenging four years for environmental professionals,” she said. “And a bunch left.” [ read more … ]
Markets
Exxon pressured to shake up board, shift to clean energy
A new activist investor fund is pushing Exxon Mobil Corp. to shuffle its board of directors, set long-term emissions reduction goals and invest in clean energy. Exxon, the second-biggest U.S. oil company behind Chevron Corp., has staked its future on increasing its oil and gas production, despite record-low prices and the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic. Its CEO, Darren Woods, said in March that he won’t get in a “beauty contest” with other companies that have announced plans to cut their emissions. [ read more … ]
EVs
Electric Cars Could Save California’s Power Grid
Climate change ramped up its attacks on California this year, serving up massive wildfires and blistering heat waves, which led to widespread power outages. To fight back, Governor Gavin Newsom took aim at heat-trapping carbon pollution from cars. In September, he signed an order to phase out the sale of new gas-powered cars in California by 2035. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.