International: United States
Ex-fossil fuel workers convert old oil fields to solar farms
30 Jun 2022
A group of 15 trainees will be heading out into the field to begin converting two Alberta oilfield sites into solar farms, after graduating from a rapid upskilling program for fossil industry and Indigenous workers hosted by Iron & Earth and Medicine Hat College.
Harvard receives $200 million gift for new climate institute
23 Jun 2022
Harvard University announced yesterday that it had received a $200 million gift from Melanie and Jean Eric Salata, which it will use to establish the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, providing a campus hub for multidisciplinary research and education about climate and the environment.
US Navy holding climate change war games
22 Jun 2022
THE US Navy next week will host an open-source table-top wargame to experiment with how climate change could affect a future conflict, a service official said today.
Is moss a climate change superhero in disugise?
21 Jun 2022
Ask most gardeners what they think of moss and the chances are you will get a string of expletives in return.
New England Medical Journal weighs in climate change
17 Jun 2022
The New England Journal of Medicine kicks off a series of articles Thursday with an examination of the effects of air pollution on children’s health.
Carbon tariffs are coming. Here’s how the U.S. is preparing
17 Jun 2022
The world’s first carbon border fee was always expected to roil nations that export their emissions through polluting goods. Now it could go further than originally proposed.
This CRISPR pioneer wants to capture more carbon with crops
15 Jun 2022
Plants are the original carbon capture factories—and a new research program aims to make them better ones by using gene editing.
‘Aggressive’ policies needed to curb airline emissions and meet Paris goals: report
15 Jun 2022
One highly touted way of reducing one’s carbon footprint is to cut down on fossil fuel use in everyday life. For many Americans, this can mean finding transportation alternatives to air travel.
Industry-linked sustainability standard allows clothing giants to ramp up emissions
10 Jun 2022
More than a decade ago, the clothing world’s ultimate would-be do-gooder, Patagonia, partnered with Walmart to clean up the fashion industry’s environmental image. The reason was obvious: The garment industry is the second largest polluter in the world.
Prometheus Materials uses algae-based cement to make masonry blocks
10 Jun 2022
Colorado-based Prometheus Materials has developed masonry blocks from a low-carbon cement-like material grown from micro-algae.
US landfills are getting a second life as solar farms
9 Jun 2022
When landfills get capped and grassed over, they have the appearance of lush, rolling hills. Despite their green appearance, however, these sites are known as “brownfields”—a term for an environmentally hazardous site without a promising future. Indeed, landfills are typically unsuitable for development because the contents below the surface are both contaminated and physically unstable.
L.A. is banning most gas appliances in new homes
3 Jun 2022
Citing the climate crisis, the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to ban most gas appliances in new construction, a policy that’s expected to result in new homes and businesses coming equipped with electric stoves, clothes dryers, water heaters and furnaces.
The US has fallen way behind on climate goals
1 Jun 2022
The US is doing a pretty horrible job of following through on promises it’s made to tackle climate change, according to two separate new studies.
Yes, you can save lives by planting trees, a new study says
1 Jun 2022
It’s hard not to love trees. They provide us with shade during the scorching heat of summer, help clean the air and water, and improve our physical and mental well-being. Now, a recent study has found that boosting urban greenery — including trees, shrubs, and other plants — could also save tens of thousands of lives in cities across the USA.
How mass shootings, ecofascism and climate change got tied together
30 May 2022
Two recent mass shootings in communities of color are renewing fears among environmental groups and climate activists that a growing number of young men are adopting racist right-wing ideologies to explain the worsening climate crisis and justify extreme violence.
U.S. proposal could change the way oil companies report their carbon footprint
30 May 2022
The officially disclosed carbon footprints of Canada's largest oil companies could balloon in size if tough new climate rules proposed earlier this year by a U.S. regulator come into effect.
Carbon credit standards body Verra suspends blockchain, crypto tokenization
27 May 2022
Yesterday Verra, the Washington-based non-profit that sets voluntary carbon credit standards, said it is immediately stopping the practice of creating blockchain tokens or instruments based on retired credits
The U.S. has spent more than $2 billion on a plan to save salmon. The fish are vanishing anyway.
26 May 2022
The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries. Now, that system is falling apart.
Massachusetts climate change case against Exxon can proceed, court rules
26 May 2022
A lawsuit by the state of Massachusetts accusing ExxonMobil of misleading the public about climate change can go forward, the state's highest court has ruled. Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday rejected a bid by ExxonMobil to dismiss the lawsuit.
How San Francisco cracked the urban composting code
25 May 2022
California’s environmental achievements are something to behold. The state ranks first in the U.S. for growth in solar power generation and battery storage. It’s the national leader in cumulative electric vehicle sales and public EV charging stations. And it’s one of a growing number of states that aim to run entirely on carbon-free energy in the coming decades – a goal it briefly met, for about 15 minutes, on April 30.
HSBC suspends senior banker for dismissing 'nut job' climate change warnings
24 May 2022
Banking giant HSBC has reportedly suspended a senior banker after he dismissed climate change warnings as "unsubstantiated" and accused bankers of overstating global warming risks.
Biden commits $3.5 billion to carbon capture
23 May 2022
The US government is investing in machines that suck giant amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air in the hopes of reducing damage from climate change.
Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?
20 May 2022
Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse gas methane, which gets released when livestock operations pool manure in open-air lagoons.
Survey reveals costs and benefits of climate-related disclosure for companies and investors
18 May 2022
A new survey reveals what private sector US organisations are currently spending on measuring and managing key climate change data and disclosure activities
California $19Bn carbon market not good enough to curb emissions
16 May 2022
California’s carbon market was supposed to be a model for the US, harnessing the power of capitalism to fight climate change in the world’s fifth-biggest economy.
What remains of the U.S. Green New Deal?
9 May 2022
In November 2018, the Green New Deal became a rallying cry for climate activists when members of the Sunrise Movement occupied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and adopted the slogan as their unifying message.
Barclays and Standard Chartered shareholders reject climate plans
6 May 2022
The annual general meetings of banking giants Barclays and Standard Chartered were disrupted by climate activists calling for heightened climate targets, with shareholders failing to align with current efforts from the organisations to meet net-zero emissions.
California just shy of 100% powered by renewables for first time
5 May 2022
Renewable electricity provided just shy of 100% of California's electricity demand on Saturday, a record-breaker, officials said, much of it from large amounts of solar power now produced along Interstate 10, an hour east of the Coachella Valley.
US carbon border fee gains traction, but hurdles remain
5 May 2022
Sen. Joe Manchin’s bipartisan energy gang is trying to breathe life into a carbon border adjustment, but it is still struggling with the same political problems that have dogged past efforts to slap tariffs on carbon-intensive goods.
Supreme Court abortion ruling could have climate fallout
4 May 2022
The bombshell draft opinion signaling that the Supreme Court is about to overturn Roe v. Wade has implications that reach far beyond abortion access and could affect environmental law and climate policy for years to come.
US postal service sued over purchase of gas guzzling delivery trucks
2 May 2022
The US Postal Service is facing lawsuits from 16 states and several environmental groups challenging its decision to buy tens of thousands of gasoline-powered delivery vehicles instead of electric vehicles.
U.S. scraps incandescent bulbs, cuts 222 megatonnes of emissions over 30 years
28 Apr 2022
The Biden administration is scrapping old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs, speeding an ongoing trend toward more efficient lighting that officials say will save households, schools, and businesses billions of dollars a year.
Climate activist dies after setting himself on fire outside US Supreme Court
26 Apr 2022
The man who died after setting himself on fire outside the Supreme Court building on Friday sacrificed his life to protest climate change, according to friends posting on social media.
Soaring fuel prices test Biden on climate change
26 Apr 2022
President Joe Biden’s ambitions to finally put the U.S. on the path to confront climate change are crashing into an election-year scramble to lower gas prices and demonstrate tangible economic progress to voters.
Giant global asset managers have $82 billion in coal projects, $468 billion in oil and gas
22 Apr 2022
Giant global asset managers are still dumping tens of billions of dollars into new coal projects and hundreds of billions of dollars into major oil and gas companies.
Florida company wants to use your dead body to fight climate change
22 Apr 2022
A nonprofit in Florida has a unique, eco-friendly way to restore coral reefs while simultaneously providing an eternal resting place to those whose final wish is to use their remains to benefit marine habitats impacted by climate change.
Good Energy releases a Hollywood climate change resource guide
20 Apr 2022
Nonprofit Good Energy has published a resource guide to assist the TV and film industries in their coverage of climate change in projects.
They derailed climate action for a decade. And bragged about it
19 Apr 2022
In 1989, just as leaders around the world were starting to think seriously about tackling global warming, the National Association of Manufacturers assembled a group of corporations — utilities, oil companies, automakers, and more — united by one thing: They wanted to stop climate action. It was called, in Orwellian fashion, the Global Climate Coalition.
US EV tax credits might increase emissions
19 Apr 2022
The US approach to incentivising electric vehicle adoption may actually increase emissions in the long run, a new study finds — because the wealthy people who are among the only ones able to take advantage of EV tax credits don’t drive their green cars enough to make up for the heavy emissions impact of manufacturing them in the first place.
Native Americans embrace renewable energy
14 Apr 2022
The job market in Indian Country is tough. Edmond Salt knows that as well as anybody.
NASA's upcoming battery tech could recharge EV in 15 minutes
14 Apr 2022
NASA is reportedly building a groundbreaking electric car battery that is able to charge in just 15 minutes. For the development of this game-changing tech, NASA has teamed up with Japan's Nissan.
Big tech launches $925 million fund for carbon removal
13 Apr 2022
A supergroup of big-name companies — Alphabet, McKinsey, Meta, Shopify and Stripe — has launched an advance market commitment to fund the development of permanent carbon-removal tech.
Meet a climate scientist who just risked arrest to save the planet
13 Apr 2022
On a typical day, Peter Kalmus goes to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles, where he studies biological systems and climate change
Mattel releases its first carbon-neutral toys
11 Apr 2022
Mattel has released its first-ever carbon neutral toys, including a Matchbox Tesla model made from recycled materials.
Climate change could cost U.S. budget $2 trillion a year by the end of the century
5 Apr 2022
Flood, fire, and drought fueled by climate change could take a massive bite out of the U.S. federal budget per year by the end of the century, the White House said in its first ever such assessment.
US battery storage soared in 2021
1 Apr 2022
Battery storage is quickly moving from the margins to near the center of the U.S. energy system.
Stanford transitions to 100% renewable electricity as second solar plant goes online
30 Mar 2022
Stanford’s second solar generating plant went online this month, completing the university’s years-long transition to 100% renewable electricity and marking a major milestone in its larger journey to reach net zero carbon emissions on campus.
Biden wants record $11 billion in climate aid to poor nations
29 Mar 2022
President Joe Biden is asking Congress to dedicate $11 billion in taxpayer dollars to help other nations deploy clean energy and withstand the growing consequences of climate change -- more than 10 times the amount lawmakers doled out to the effort in fiscal 2022.
Appeal Court allows White House to calculate social cost of carbon
24 Mar 2022
The Biden administration’s climate plans have one less constraint after a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stayed a Louisiana District Court’s order preventing agencies from considering the social cost of carbon.
Proposed SEC climate rules sparks fight over indirect emissions
23 Mar 2022
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission broke new ground yesterday when it unveiled a 510-page rulebook that, if finalized, would force companies to provide investors with more information to help them better account for the economic realities of a warming world.
“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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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.
