International: United States
US Supreme Court considers EPA’s power to set emissions limits
2 Nov 2021
The US Supreme Court will soon rule on whether the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
US carbon markets set for record year
21 Oct 2021
US carbon exchanges will easily hit record volumes this year, in part because of recent record highs but also due to new entrants into the market.
Beef industry tries to erase its emissions with fuzzy methane math
20 Oct 2021
Scientists with the world’s top climate organization made reducing meat consumption an official policy recommendation in 2019, echoing what environmentalists had urged for years: Eating less meat, in particular beef, reduces the large volume of emissions attributed to livestock.
Climate inaction could slash GDP by 3% per annum: Bank of America
19 Oct 2021
The cost of inaction over climate change could lead to the loss of 3 per cent of gross domestic product every year by 2030, ballooning to $69 trillion by the end of this century, Bank of America said in a report.
Biden administration considers carbon tax
19 Oct 2021
A US Democrat’s decision to oppose a key policy in Joe Biden’s climate plan could lead to a carbon tax on emissions-intensive industries and threaten Australian exports.
Indigenous climate activists arrested after ‘occupying’ US Department of Interior
18 Oct 2021
Dozens of Indigenous climate activists were arrested and removed from the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington on Thursday after taking over a lobby of the department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs for several hours.
Pentagon plans for warfare in hotter, harsher world
11 Oct 2021
A new Pentagon plan calls for incorporating the realities of a hotter, harsher Earth at every level in the U.S. military, from making worsening climate extremes a mandatory part of strategic planning to training troops how to secure their own water supplies and treat heat injury.
Biden's silent climate betrayal: Heated
7 Oct 2021
Emily Atkin, author of the Substack Heated, argues a decision by US president Joe Biden to allow a tar sands pipeline to go ahead could set off the largest civil disobedience campaign in decades.
Oil companies discourage climate action: study
30 Sep 2021
With the U.S. House of Representatives' Oversight Committee widening its inquiry into the oil industry's role in fostering doubt about the role of fossil fuels in causing climate change, Harvard University's The Gazette interviewed Geoffrey Supran, a leading expert on the topic.
Carbon offset market will grow 50 times to meet 2050 net-zero emissions goals: Bank of America
28 Sep 2021
The carbon offset market may grow by as much as 50 times if companies are going to meet their 2050 net zero greenhouse gas emissions goals, according to the Bank of America.
Increasing natural gas prices boosts both clean and dirty generation
24 Sep 2021
An increase in natural gas prices leads to price hikes across the US economy for home heating, fertilizer, chemicals—and wholesale electricity, because of the power sector’s heavy reliance on gas-fired power plants.
Report shows how native American nations respond to climate change
24 Sep 2021
Indigenous nations are at the frontlines of climate change, but they’re also leaders in how to adapt to changing weather conditions and transition to renewable energy.
Late night comedians team up to tackle climate crises
23 Sep 2021
Climate change, which is responsible for magnifying this summer's deadly heat waves, hurricanes, wildfires and floods, is typically no laughing matter. But for one night, seven popular late-night comedy shows hope they can change that.
L.A.’s new reflective streets bounce heat back into space
23 Sep 2021
When the scientists aboard the International Space Station direct their thermal camera at Los Angeles, standing out from the sweltering red and orange blob is a crescent of cool, blueish white deep in the San Fernando Valley.
Biden to announce ‘good news’ on $100bn UN climate fund
22 Sep 2021
United States President Joe Biden is expected to announce “good news” on addressing a shortfall in a $100bn global climate fund, a UN official said on Monday following a closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the general assembly.
Has methane-free vegan icecream arrived?
30 Aug 2021
Nothing hits quite so good as a cone full of ice cream on a sweltering summer day. Alas, that single serving of classic vanilla may cool you off, but it has the exact opposite effect on the Earth. The dairy industry accounts for a massive 3.5 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and the US's 8.8 million cows are a huge source of the planet-warming gas methane.
USA nears first major steps to control CO2 emissions
25 Aug 2021
The United States is preparing to adopt a raft of new energy policies that will for the first time put the US – the world’s second-worst polluter after China – on a path to meeting its pledge to cut greenhouse emissions in half by 2035.
Time for a cow tax?: Mother Jones
23 Aug 2021
During a debate about the Democrats’ new infrastructure bill in the Senate chamber on Tuesday night, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) took the floor, positioned next to a sign stating “No Cow Tax.”
On the hunt for climate killing gas
23 Aug 2021
After finding a rusty gas canister near his midwest US home, Rick Karas checked online if it was worth anything. Incredibly, it turned out to be a coveted commodity in the battle against climate change.
Judge overturns U.S. approval of Alaska oil project
20 Aug 2021
A federal judge has reversed the U.S. government's approval of ConocoPhillips' planned $6 billion Willow oil development in Alaska, citing problems with its environmental analysis, according to court documents.
Solar-powered trucks cut refrigeration emissions
17 Aug 2021
A solar energy provider, XL Fleet, is partnering with eNow to fit a thousand refrigeration trucks with solar panel roofs in a bid to help cut emissions of the power-intensive vehicles.
'Final warning': US lawmakers
10 Aug 2021
Lawmakers and top climate officials in President Joe Biden's administration sounded the alarm on Monday in response to a new report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, urging nations to swiftly limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Half US cars to be zero-emission by 2030 - Biden
6 Aug 2021
President Biden wants half of cars sold in the US by 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles, the White House says.
US forest fires threaten carbon offsets
5 Aug 2021
Forests in the United States that generate the carbon offsets bought by companies including BP and Microsoft are on fire as summer blazes rage in North America.
Promising battery technology revealed
3 Aug 2021
Startup Form Energy has finally made public the battery chemistry behind a technology that the company claims could make challenges of integrating renewable energy a thing of the past and outcompete fossil fuels.
Growing calls for Climate Change Corps
29 Jul 2021
Rolling Stone's Dililah Friedler argues that the crises facing the Gulf Coast communities of Louisiana is proof of the need for a Climate Change Corps, like the one being promoted in the US Congress.
Cars in US now as big as WWII tanks
26 Jul 2021
American cars are now almost as big as the tanks that won the second world war.
The huge sequestration potential of regenerative farming
23 Jul 2021
By some estimates, if the 1.2 billion acres of American agricultural land (more than half of the U.S. land base) transitioned towards regenerative farming practices, it could sequester up to 20 percent of the carbon required to reach the Biden administration's goal of fully offsetting America's carbon emissions by 2050.
Bezos coverage eclipses climate change
22 Jul 2021
Jeff Bezos got as much morning show coverage in a day as climate change got all last year
All pua to California's abalone rescuers
21 Jul 2021
In Big Sur, scientists are rescuing the abalone from landslides caused by the Dolan Fire, and moving them to safety in new neighborhoods where “resident abalone” already thrive
Co-sponsor of US New Green Deal new ambassador to Aotearoa
20 Jul 2021
Former US Senator Tom Udall, a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, has been named US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.
US drawing up carbon tax plans
16 Jul 2021
US legislators are drawing up plans for a tax on imports from carbon-polluting countries to help pay for a $US3.5 trillion ($4.7 trillion) package in new government spending on everything from universal childcare to an expansion of public healthcare benefits.
Bringing marine ecosystems back to life
8 Jul 2021
A “game changing” 20-year effort suggests that even severely depleted marine ecosystems can be brought back to life.
Hottest June on record for North America
8 Jul 2021
North America witnessed its hottest June on record battered by a deadly heatwave searing parts of the region, according to the European Union’s climate monitoring service.
Glacier meltwater causing flooding
7 Jul 2021
Scientists say meltwater flooding will increase as the ice continues to retreat, but will eventually stop—when all the ice is melted and the glaciers are no more.
US heatwave is climate change: scientists
30 Jun 2021
Is climate change amping up the US Pacific Northwest heat wave? Yes — and it’s time to stop asking.
US farmers banking carbon
24 Jun 2021
Some U.S. farmers are hoping to invest in a new cash crop, deep within the soil: Carbon
Solar replaces coal in Florida
22 Jun 2021
The Florida Power and Light Company announced the building of a new solar power plant moments after blowing its last remaining coal-fired power plant.
Turning carbon dioxide into diamonds
18 Jun 2021
Aether Diamonds claims that for every one-carat diamond it makes it removes about 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Combating fake climate news with a bot
17 Jun 2021
Two New York City-based artist-engineers have created a bot to highlight real news about climate change in a creative response to algorithm-driven social media newsfeeds that all too often prioritise fake news.
Biden's climate ambitions hit headwinds
10 Jun 2021
President Joe Biden's National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy has said some of the administration's more ambitious proposals to fight climate change are likely to be dropped.
Is the Growing Climate Solutions Act the solution?
8 Jun 2021
The Growing Climate Solutions Act is garnering support on both sides of the US Senate and has the support of Big Ag and some environmental groups. Mother Jones asks whether it will really make a dent in emissions?
Marijuana's carbon problem
8 Jun 2021
Location, location, location: That’s the deciding factor when it comes to the size of marijuana cultivation’s carbon footprint, according to a new study out of Colorado State University.
Investors piling into carbon market
4 Jun 2021
Investors have piled into new carbon-credit-trading funds, helping make the upstart market one of the best-performing commodities-related investments of the past year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
First nation-led biomass revolution
1 Jun 2021
When Eva Dawn Burk first saw the Calypso Farm and Ecology Center, tucked away in a boreal forest in Ester, Alaska, near Fairbanks, she was enchanted by what looked like a subarctic Eden.
Is this the future of double cab utes?
1 Jun 2021
Accompanied by throbbing electronic music and the requisite fog machines, the electric Ford F-150 Lightning made its debut last week in Dearborn, Michigan, a potential turning point in the growth of the electric vehicle market
Activists win places on ExxonMobil board
27 May 2021
Activist firm Engine No. 1 won at least two board seats at Exxon following a historic battle over the oil giant’s board of directors, signaling investors’ support for greater disclosure from the company as the world shifts away from fossil fuels.
Ambitious action on climate change could be Biden’s ‘moon shot'
26 May 2021
President Biden’s climate plan calls for ambitious action, achieved quickly, like JFK’s 1961 commitment to land Americans on the moon.
Climate agenda for Black Lives Matter
26 May 2021
One year after the murder of George Floyd, Al Jazeera examines the intersection of racial and climate justice taking shape in the form of the Red Black and Green New Deal.
Climate battle reaches ExxonMobil boardroom
25 May 2021
EXXONMOBILE, a titan of corporate America, faces a pivotal moment this week as restive shareholders have their say on what critics call an inadequate response to seismic shifts brought on by climate change.
Australia lets biggest LNG plant run to 2070 in climate blow
Thu 29 May 2025
Australia gave preliminary approval to extend the life of its biggest and oldest liquefied natural gas plant for decades, potentially creating billions of dollars in new drilling opportunities but raising questions about the nation’s climate agenda.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
Thu 29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
Brussels to propose ‘pragmatic’ 90% climate target for 2040
Fri 30 May 2025
The European Commission will tell countries to cut 90 percent of their planet-warming emissions by 2040, but offer “flexibilities” to make the goal politically palatable, according to EU climate chief Teresa Ribera.
Why expensive gas – not net-zero – is keeping UK electricity prices so high
Wed 28 May 2025
The UK’s high electricity prices have become intensely political, with competing claims over the cause of rocketing bills and how best to get them down.
Engineer explains why Alberta’s hydrogen strategy is money-losing climate failure
26 May 2025
Desperation, bad advice and lobbying likely underpinning the province’s plan to blend hydrogen with natural gas for home heating.
Indonesia backtracks on coal phase-out in new 2034 power supply plan
Thu 29 May 2025
Indonesia plans to add 69.5 gigawatts (GW) of power capacity by the end of 2034, much of it from renewable sources, but it still expects to add new coal-fired power plants.
Pacific Island nations support China's Taiwan claims at high-profile foreign ministers' meeting
Fri 30 May 2025
Pacific nations have backed China's claim over Taiwan during a high-profile meeting, but have shied away from directly endorsing Beijing's push to "reunify" the democratically ruled island with the mainland.
I just returned from Antarctica: climate change isn’t some far-off problem – it’s here and hitting hard
13 May 2025
Antarctica is often viewed as the last truly remote place on Earth – frozen, wild and untouched. But is it really as untouched as it seems?
TotalEnergies abandons its carbon plantations in the Republic of Congo
Thu 29 May 2025
TotalEnergies has quietly abandoned the Batéké Carbon Sink project in the Republic of Congo, with only 12.5% of the proposed trees planted.
South America sets historic benchmark: Zero new coal plants planned
Wed 28 May 2025
South America just achieved a remarkable energy milestone, quietly setting a global benchmark: for the first time in history, the entire continent now has zero new coal-fired power plants planned.
Nations agree on carbon-pricing system to steer shipping towards net-zero
14 Apr 2025
Nations have agreed to introduce a worldwide carbon-pricing system for international shipping to drive the sector towards net-zero emissions by 2050.
