International: United States
World Bank’s president survives climate gaff, but its fossil fuel policy may not
17 Oct 2022
WASHINGTON — David Malpass' job as president of the World Bank appears safe despite calls for his ouster by climate advocates, but the recent controversy over his climate views may have helped ram through changes to help clean energy despite his resistance.
Permafrost slumps spew carbon into streams, study shows
10 Oct 2022
Streams affected by permafrost slumps carry substantially more carbon than typically found in other streams flowing through permafrost landscapes, according to a new study.
The US ban on hydrofluorocarbons is a climate game-changer
3 Oct 2022
A lot of climate change-fighting strategies focus on removing air pollutants, or preventing them from reaching the atmosphere at all. While pretty much everybody these days can recognize carbon dioxide and methane as two of them, the US just joined around 130 other nations to take a big step in knocking out a third: hydrofluorocarbons, also known as HFCs.
The world’s largest carbon removal project will break ground in Wyoming
3 Oct 2022
A pair of climate tech companies is set to break ground on what will become the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project to help industries meet their net-zero goals and slow down the Earth’s rapidly warming climate.
Hurricane Ian: When the power grid goes out, could solar and batteries power your home?
30 Sep 2022
Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic winds and flooding are likely to bring long-lasting power outages to large parts of Florida. The storm is the latest in a line of hurricanes and extreme heat and cold events that have knocked out power to millions of Americans in recent years for days at a time.
As carbon dioxide grows more abundant, trees are growing bigger, study finds
30 Sep 2022
Trees are feasting on decades of carbon dioxide emissions and growing bigger as a result, according to a new study of U.S. forests.
How carbon calculators can help rail customers
27 Sep 2022
Among the freight transportation modes, the railroads are considered to be a more environmentally friendly option for shippers or customers seeking to transport higher volumes of goods while emitting fewer carbon emissions.
New report reveals organic dairy farming stores carbon, reduces greenhouse gas emissions
27 Sep 2022
A recent study published in the Journal of Cleaner Productions finds greenhouse gas emissions to be 24% lower on organic dairy farms when compared to conventional dairy farms in the United States.
What many progressives misunderstand about fighting climate change
27 Sep 2022
Since the 1960s, fighting for the environment has frequently meant fighting against corporations. To curb pollution, activists have worked to thwart new oil drilling, coal-fired power plants, fracking for natural gas, and fuel pipelines. But today, Americans face a climate challenge that can’t be solved by just saying no again and again.
Offsets aflame: The risk of wildfires to tree-planting carbon credits
23 Sep 2022
Recent fires at reforestation projects raise the question, can the carbon-capture claims of a booming offset industry hold up?
Vultures prevent tens of millions of metric tons of carbon emissions each year
22 Sep 2022
New research shows vultures are 'nature’s flying sanitation crew' and play an important part in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
World’s biggest carbon capture plant set for Wyoming
20 Sep 2022
The US state of Wyoming is set to welcome the world’s largest direct air capture plant for the removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
How to make kelp aquaculture a better - and more economical - carbon sink
15 Sep 2022
Researchers claim to have developed a kelp aquaculture model for the Gulf of Maine that maximises carbon sequestration and cost-effectiveness of this natural carbon sink.
How climate change is tweaking the taste of wine
13 Sep 2022
Warming, wildfires and unpredictable weather threaten to disrupt the delicate processes that underlie treasured wines, putting the fine distinctions between grapes at risk.
How waves could power a clean energy future
9 Sep 2022
Waves off the coast of the U.S. could generate 2.64 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity per year — that’s about 64% of last year’s total utility-scale electricity generation in America.
New Fed banking chief targeting crypto and climate change as top priorities
8 Sep 2022
The Federal Reserve’s new banking regulator outlined a broad agenda in a speech Wednesday that pushed for action on stablecoins, climate change preparations and both the safety and fairness of the finance industry.
When it comes to fighting climate change, California turns to beavers
8 Sep 2022
As California grapples with drought, a record heat wave and persistent wildfires, one state agency is turning to the beaver in its battle against climate change.
Costs associated with carbon emissions three times US govt estimate: study
6 Sep 2022
The social cost of carbon is significantly higher than the federal estimate, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Nature.
Mapping US coastlines may ‘drive more equality’ in climate adaptation policy
2 Sep 2022
A Canadian technology company is building aerial imagery of US shorelines which could be used to help coastal communities mitigate climate change.
The Inflation Reduction Act could change the world in at least five ways.
1 Sep 2022
Nearly seven years ago, a single mischosen word nearly killed the Paris Agreement.
Despite conservative outcry, reducing fertiliser emissions won’t lead to famine
31 Aug 2022
The US government’s plan to cut fertilizer emissions by 30% by 2030 has garnered significant attention from farmers, agriculture organizations and other industry stakeholders.
University of Michigan explores low-carbon construction with robot-built pavilion
29 Aug 2022
A team of students and researchers has shown how, with the help of robots, it's possible to build an intricate pavilion using only small pieces of timber.
Inflation Reduction Act could curb climate damages by up to $1.9 trillion, White House says
25 Aug 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act, the most aggressive climate investment ever taken by Congress, could cut the social costs of climate change by up to $1.9 trillion by 2050, the White House says.
“This is total, total greenwash”: Santos claims massive Alaska oil project will be carbon neutral
22 Aug 2022
Last week, at the same time as reporting a huge profit windfall, Australian gas giant Santos gave the final investment green light to its $US2.6 billion ($A3.7 billion) Pikka oil venture off the coast of Alaska, citing a need to boost global energy supplies amid the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kansas made transit safer by making it free
22 Aug 2022
Kansas City, Missouri, made national headlines in the fall of 2019 when its city council voted unanimously to become America’s first large city to make public transportation free citywide. Now, two and a half years later, anyone living anywhere in the city can ride buses without paying a fare.
China, US spar over climate on Twitter
19 Aug 2022
The world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are sparring on Twitter over climate policy, with China questioning whether the U.S. can deliver on the landmark climate legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden this week.
Amid severe weather, poll finds fewer Americans are concerned about climate change
19 Aug 2022
A new survey conducted by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center shows 35% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about how climate change will impact the
Leaving the island: The messy, contentious reality of climate relocation
19 Aug 2022
ISLE DE JEAN CHARLES, Louisiana — A sliver is all of this islet that remains above water. What hasn’t slipped into the Gulf of Mexico shows the punishing effects of disastrous climate change: trees killed by saltwater, grasslands overtaken by bayous, empty wrecks that were once homes.
Organic dairy farming can store carbon and reduce GHG emissions: study
19 Aug 2022
A new study in the August issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production reveals that it is possible for farms to sequester carbon and reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. A University of Wisconsin Madison research group unveiled a dairy lifecycle assessment conducted on Organic Valley farms that shows small organic dairy farms, which focus on grazing and organic production techniques, are low greenhouse gas champions.
Massachusetts’ Republican governor signs far-reaching climate bill into law
16 Aug 2022
Massachusetts’ Republican governor, Charlie Baker, signed a sweeping climate and energy bill into law last week, approving an array of policies intended to advance the state’s goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Democrats jettison carbon pricing in favor of incentives to counter climate change
15 Aug 2022
The US's first comprehensive climate law, expected to be sealed with a vote in the House of Representatives on Friday, will not look anything like the program imagined by either climate economists or those in Washington and the environmental movement who had faith in bipartisan action
What is the Kigali Amendment? The Senate’s next big climate win is within its grasp
12 Aug 2022
The Senate just took its biggest climate action ever with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, but there’s another major climate win lurking on its to-do list.
5 ways the Inflation Reduction Act will fight climate change
10 Aug 2022
More clean energy, less dirty energy, new punishments for methane leaks and billions of dollars for communities most in need of climate-related help — those are the provisions that have environmentalists celebrating what they see as a monumental step for U.S. climate action.
Scientists urge global action after ‘historic’ US climate bill
9 Aug 2022
Scientists welcomed the passing of US President Joe Biden’s “historic” climate bill while calling for other major emitters – namely the European Union – to follow suit and implement ambitious plans to slash emissions.
The end of snow threatens to upend 76 million American lives
5 Aug 2022
The Western US is an empire built on snow. And that snow is vanishing.
How the climate deal would help farmers aid the environment
4 Aug 2022
The climate deal reached last week by Senate Democrats could reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that American farmers produce by expanding programs that help accumulate carbon in soil, fund climate-focused research and lower the abundant methane emissions that come from cows.
A $7.3B pot of money to prepare US infrastructure for climate change
3 Aug 2022
The Biden administration is providing states with more detail about how they can use money from the federal infrastructure law to protect people and structures from the perils of climate change, a move that’s drawing cheers from both political parties.
Amazon strayed further from its climate pledge in 2021
3 Aug 2022
Since Seattle-based Amazon pledged to cut its carbon output in 2018, the company has strayed further from its climate pledge. Amazon's companywide emissions increased by 18% in 2021 alone, according to its own sustainability report.
Vermont moves to become first state to phase out linear fluorescent lights
2 Aug 2022
Aiming to reduce mercury hazards and boost energy efficiency, Vermont will prohibit the sale of the long, tube-shaped fluorescent lamps that light up supermarkets, office buildings and classrooms as of Jan. 1, 2024.
The Biden-Manchin Climate Bill isn’t very good, but It’s all we’ve got
1 Aug 2022
Biden’s climate bill is better than nothing — but just barely. “It’s a renewable energy revolution on top of a fossil fuel build-out,” says one climate advocate: in other words, a historic clean energy investment chained to a fossil fuel giveaway.
Schumer-Manchin reconciliation bill has $369 billion to fight climate change — here are the details
29 Jul 2022
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., on Wednesday unveiled a long-anticipated reconciliation package that would invest hundreds of billions of dollars to combat climate change and advance clean energy programs.
US to plant a billion trees
27 Jul 2022
The Biden administration says the government will plant more than one billion trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodlands in the U.S. West, as officials struggle to counter the increasing toll on the nation's forests from wildfires, insects and other manifestations of climate change.
Without Congress, what can Biden do to stem the climate crisis?
20 Jul 2022
The White House is scrambling to reassure Democratic voters that President Joe Biden can still take action on climate change after another blow to proposed climate legislation from Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
White House economic adviser says Biden will pursue climate agenda 'with or without Congress'
18 Jul 2022
White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein told CNN on Sunday that President Joe Biden will pursue his climate agenda "with or without Congress," following the news Thursday that West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin wouldn't back climate or tax provisions in his party's budget reconciliation package.
US energy secretary says switch to wind and solar “could be greatest peace plan of all”
13 Jul 2022
A global transition to cleaner energy sources could be the world’s best opportunity to minimise the chance of global conflicts, the US energy secretary has told a major energy forum in Sydney.
As temperatures rise, farms are sprouting in Alaska
13 Jul 2022
Even as farms decline across the US, a longer growing season is bringing food security to a state that has long relied on sustenance from afar.
Major Arctic drilling project seen as ultimate test for Biden's climate legacy
11 Jul 2022
Climate groups raised the alarm and put President Joe Biden on notice after the Bureau of Land Management opened the public comment period Friday for a proposed drilling project in the Alaskan Arctic that critics warn would unleash a dangerous "carbon bomb" and threaten pristine ecosystems if given approval by the federal government.
The downside of corporate reforestation pledges
7 Jul 2022
Many big companies have pledged to offset some of their carbon pollution by investing in tree planting project
US Supreme Court limits ways to curb emissions
1 Jul 2022
For two decades, Congress has failed to pass standalone climate change legislation.
The US city where all buses are free
1 Jul 2022
Ever since Canek Aguirre got elected to the Alexandria City Council, he wanted to make the city’s bus transit service, known as DASH, free.
“Dirty and expensive:” City of Sydney bans gas as it votes to electrify all new big buildings
Thu 6 Nov 2025
The City of Sydney has followed the example of the ACT and Victoria governments and voted unanimously to require all newly built residential buildings, medium to large commercial buildings, hotels, and serviced apartment buildings, to be all-electric.
Why climate change now threatens China’s future
Tue 4 Nov 2025
Extreme weather is hurting its economy and worrying its leaders.
EU ministers agree to 90% emissions reduction target
Fri 7 Nov 2025
European environment ministers have reached an agreement on a contentious plan to cut the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions but with caveats.
How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods
Thu 6 Nov 2025
Many extreme weather events are becoming more common and more intense around the world, fuelled by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
Canada could eliminate oil and gas emissions cap, budget plan says
Thu 6 Nov 2025
Canada could scrap a cap on oil and gas emissions in favor of other measures like strengthened industrial carbon pricing and the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, the government said in a budget plan unveiled on Tuesday.
From mapping high-risk areas to building ‘sponge cities’: How Vietnam is adapting to climate extremes
Thu 6 Nov 2025
Vietnam is rethinking how it copes with floods after a year of relentless storms has collapsed hillsides and turned streets into rivers.
Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record
21 Oct 2025
The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
Nigerian billionaire plans expansion of Africa’s biggest oil refinery
31 Oct 2025
The billionaire owner of Africa’s largest refinery plans to expand its capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day to meet growing fuel needs in the continent and beyond.
Brazil’s Lula puts forward new vision for protecting the Amazon rainforest
Fri 7 Nov 2025
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva put forward his vision for how the Amazon rainforest should be protected, a future that didn’t depend on donations from wealthy nations and large philanthropies but instead included a major fund that paid countries to keep forests standing.
UN chief scolds nations for failing climate goals ahead of COP30 summit
Fri 7 Nov 2025
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tore into nations for their failure to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as Brazil hosted world leaders for a summit ahead of the COP30 climate conference in the rainforest city of Belem.
