International: United States
Biden win a pivotal moment for global climate action
9 Nov 2020
Joe Biden is heading to the White House with a promise to overturn four years of US retreat on climate action.
Biden could bring Paris goals 'within striking distance'
9 Nov 2020
The election of Joe Biden as president of the US could reduce global heating by about 0.1C, bringing the goals of the Paris agreement “within striking distance”, if his plans are fulfilled, according to a detailed analysis.
US election will determine the world's climate future
6 Nov 2020
The race for the White House could take days or weeks to settle, with big implications for prospects of tackling the climate crisis.
US is now out of the Paris Agreement
5 Nov 2020
The United States is now officially the only country in the world refusing to participate in global climate efforts, with the fate of the crisis hanging on the still uncalled presidential election.
Let's cool the ground and keep drilling, says Big Oil
21 Oct 2020
Oil company ConocoPhillips has a problem; it wants to pump 160,000 more barrels of oil each day from a new project on Alaska’s North Slope, but the fossil fuels it and others produce are leading to global heating, and the Arctic is melting.
Amy Coney Barrett equivocates over climate change
16 Oct 2020
United States supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett refused to say whether she accepts the science of climate change, under questioning from Kamala Harris, saying she lacked the expertise to know for sure and calling it a topic too controversial to get into.
‘God intended it as a disposable planet' - the pastor preaching denial
15 Oct 2020
Every so often you come across a piece of writing so extraordinary that you cannot help but share it. One such piece is a sermon on global warming by American pastor John MacArthur.
US could adopt carbon tax under a Biden presidency, ex-Fed chair says
9 Oct 2020
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said bipartisan concern over climate change could see the United States adopt a tax on carbon emissions, with the proceeds shared with households, if Democrat Joe Biden is elected president in November.
Where are US emissions after four years of Trump?
8 Oct 2020
In last week’s United States presidential election debate, Donald Trump claimed: “We have now the lowest carbon. If you look at our numbers right now, we are doing phenomenally.”
Second Trump term would be 'game over' for the climate, says scientist
5 Oct 2020
Michael Mann, one of the most eminent climate scientists in the world, believes averting climate catastrophe on a global scale would be “essentially impossible” if Donald Trump is re-elected.
NextEra overtakes Exxon as US' largest energy company
5 Oct 2020
If you had invested in Florida-based utility NextEra Energy a decade ago, your total return through this week, including dividends, would have been 600 per cent.
US wildfires could spark financial crisis
11 Sep 2020
The devastating wildfires now sweeping across the western United States are among the sparks from climate change that could ignite a financial crisis by damaging home values, state tourism and local government budgets, says an advisory panel to a US markets regulator.
Biden would push allies on climate, says adviser
8 Sep 2020
Joe Biden will not pull any punches with allies including Australia in seeking to build international momentum for stronger action on the climate crisis, an adviser to the United States presidential candidate has said.
City sues fossil-fuel companies over climate change
4 Sep 2020
The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from ExxonMobil and other major oil and gas companies for misleading the public about the harmful climate-related impacts such as sea level rise they knew would be caused by burning fossil fuels.
Rewilding the heart of New York
1 Sep 2020
Biodiversity and effects of climate change can be significantly affected by small-scale rewilding projects, argues designer and environmentalist Julia Watson, who has temporarily covered New York's Rockefeller Center plaza and ice rinks with native plants.
Batteries boost Californian hopes of cooler future
26 Aug 2020
Recent reports of record-breaking heat in the Golden State may be only part of the story: Californian hopes of cooler future days are strengthening with the entry into service of new technology that should promise a less torrid future for millions of people.
Soaring costs of extreme weather
26 Aug 2020
The costs of wildfire, hurricanes, floods and droughts have quadrupled since 1980, a new report shows.
More people will want air-con as the climate warms
24 Aug 2020
Demand in the United States or air conditioning is expected to increase 59 per cent by 2050.
Biden says he will ditch subsidies for fossil fuels
21 Aug 2020
United States presidential candidate Joe Biden says he is committed to ending fossil-fuel subsidies after a backlash from environmentalists over the removal of the issue from a Democratic Party policy document.
How the gas industry is waging war against climate action
21 Aug 2020
When progressive Seattle decided last year to wipe out its climate pollution within the decade, the city council vote in favour was unsurprisingly unanimous, and the easiest first step on that path was clear.
Colorado wildfires - climate change 'in the here-and-now’
21 Aug 2020
Despite the intense heat and smoky air, John Omstead decided to spend one of his days off fly fishing. He traveled from his home town of Vail to a spot on the Eagle River near Dotsero, just a few miles away from the Grizzly Creek fire raging in Glenwood Canyon.
Death valley hits world-record temperature
18 Aug 2020
What could be the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth - 130F (54.4C) - may have been reached in Death Valley National Park, California.
Trump rolls back methane climate standards for oil and gas industry
14 Aug 2020
The Trump administration is revoking rules that require oil and gas drillers to detect and fix leaks of methane, a greenhouse gas that heats the planet far faster than carbon dioxide.
Can Kamala Harris shift US position on climate?
13 Aug 2020
Joe Biden’s pick of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate for the United States presidency could reinvigorate stalled world action on climate change in a “night and day” switch if the Democrats defeat Donald Trump, climate policy experts say.
Trump man has a plan for coal...in phones
13 Aug 2020
Coal is on it's way out when it comes to electricity generation, but at least one Trump administration official has some creative ideas for how to keep it in our lives.
Carbon tax back before US lawmakers
12 Aug 2020
For years, the idea of putting a price on carbon emissions seemed like a no-brainer — economists claimed that it would cut fossil fuel pollution quickly and efficiently, and at the same time, could even give money back to the American public. Over the past few months, as Democrats have rolled out multiple comprehensive plans to slow down climate change and turbocharge renewable energy, the idea of a “carbon tax” has been notably absent.
RGGI cuts carbon and helps kids to breath
4 Aug 2020
With Virginia and Pennsylvania clamoring to join, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, affectionately known as RGGI (pronounced “Reggie”), is becoming the coolest climate club on the United States East Coast.
Big Oil helps fund powerful police groups in US cities
29 Jul 2020
Big corporations accused of driving environmental and health inequalities in black and brown communities through toxic and climate-changing pollution are also funding powerful police groups in major US cities, according to a new investigation.
OPINION: I’m bewildered that Trump would imperil America by abandoning the Paris Agreement
28 Jul 2020
By BAN KI-MOON | The Paris agreement to tackle climate change is an extraordinary opportunity. In a remarkable display of unity, almost every nation on Earth has agreed to make critical changes that will help humanity avoid disaster. But Donald Trump is walking away.
Campaigners want to break up Big Tech and Big Oil
28 Jul 2020
When Sam Kern started working at Google four years ago, she believed she could drive change as an insider. If she could just get the ear of the right executives, Kern thought, she could convince them to move the company in a new direction on climate and sustainability.
Telework helps affluent and has few climate benefits
27 Jul 2020
Back in 2018 – in the pre-pandemic world – about 5 per cent of the US workforce teleworked from home. That changed dramatically with the onset of the covid-19 pandemic; by May 2020 that number had jumped to about 35 per cent.
Morgan Stanley tallying its climate impact
21 Jul 2020
Morgan Stanley will become the first major United States bank to publicly disclose how much its loans and investments contribute to climate change.
Climate-science denial is feeding the covid-19 pandemic
21 Jul 2020
After the fossil fuel industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars undermining climate science, it’s easy to see how epidemiology came next.
US eyes climate disaster, but Biden plan might just work
17 Jul 2020
The world’s food supply is imperiled by a climate crisis already upon us, and Joe Biden this week put forward an agenda to address it that’s as bold as you could hope from a man who actually intends to get elected.
Buffett coal-country utility wants to cut coal
17 Jul 2020
PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is a company aiming to ramp up its use of renewable energy at the same time as it navigates some extreme differences of opinion about what the energy future should look like.
The plan to unite Biden and Bernie is finally here
13 Jul 2020
Once upon a time, many moons ago — ie back in April — Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders agreed to exit the race and join forces with his mortal frenemy Joe Biden to help the former vice-president take the White House.
Climate activists see ‘new era’ after pipeline victories
9 Jul 2020
Climate activists sense a turning point in their war against the Trump administration's effort to cement a fossil-fueled future for the United States, with three major defeats for high-profile oil and gas pipeline projects.
Proud California dairy farmer takes it on the chin
6 Jul 2020
Californian dairyman Scott Magneson just keeps on farming, despite the economic fallout from a pandemic and the extreme weather — floods, drought, wildfires — linked to climate change.
Green recovery was the great hope of 2009
25 Jun 2020
When the Obama administration entered the White House in January 2009, the first hope was to put people back to work and also accelerate transition to a clean-energy economy.
Why Americans can't afford to turn on the taps
25 Jun 2020
Millions of ordinary Americans are facing rising and unaffordable bills for running water, and risk being disconnected or losing their homes if they cannot pay, a landmark Guardian investigation has found.
Five communities go in search of green justice
24 Jun 2020
From New York to Los Angeles, Minneapolis to the Gulf Coast, people of colour suffer disproportionately from climate change, pollution and callous government.
Fewer blizzards for North America as snow lessens
15 Jun 2020
It could soon be safe to think with nostalgia of the snows of yesteryear. Snowstorms in the future in the US could happen less often, with less intensity. And they would be of a smaller size.
Residents fght to keep compost getting trashed
15 Jun 2020
Just this past March, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson proposed making composting mandatory for city residents to help combat climate change. Now, with the coronavirus taking an immense financial toll on New York, even food waste recycling programs that existed before that proposition have become casualties of covid-19.
Climate change threatens mortgage market
9 Jun 2020
US taxpayers could be on the hook for billions of dollars in climate-related property losses as the government backs a growing number of mortgages on homes in the path of floods, fires and extreme weather.
US renewables take the 2019 top spot
2 Jun 2020
Renewable energy consumption in the US topped coal consumption in 2019, the first time this has occurred in more than 130 years.
How a contrarian scientist helped Trump's EPA
29 May 2020
In March 2017, a scientist named James Enstrom rattled many public health experts by publishing a study concluding that there was no link between fine soot air pollution and premature death.
Alaska patiently awaits ice-melt tsunami
18 May 2020
A melting glacier in Alaska might trigger a landslide that would cause a major tsunami, scientists have warned.
Could New York's youth convince the State to divest?
18 May 2020
One analyst says oil, gas and coal were the biggest pension contributors for 30 years, but now are the worst performing sector—and there are no signs of improvement.
Trump buying one million barrels of oil
15 May 2020
The Trump Administration is planning to buy one million barrels of oil from US companies after funding to make a larger purchase failed to pass Congress.
Biden taps Ocasio-Cortez and Kerry to fight climate
15 May 2020
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden has appointed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the avatar of the Green New Deal, and former Secretary of State John Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate agreement, to his climate team.
Rising seas will threaten 1.5 million Australians by 2050 – report
Today 11:15am
One and a half million Australians living in coastal areas are at risk from rising sea levels by 2050, a landmark climate report has warned.
China aims to nearly double battery storage by 2027 in $35 billion plan
Today 11:15am
China is looking to almost double its so-called new energy storage capacity to 180 gigawatts (GW) by 2027, according to an industry plan announced by authorities on Friday.
EU considers faster Russian oil and gas exit after US pressure
Mon 15 Sep 2025
The European Union is considering a faster phase-out of Russian fossil fuels as part of new sanctions.
UK foreign aid for nature hits £800m record due to cash for carbon credits
Today 11:15am
The UK’s climate-aid spending on “nature protection and restoration” reached record levels of nearly £800m last year, according to government figures obtained by Carbon Brief.
Carney government noncommittal about Canada meeting 2030 climate goals
9 Sep 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney would not say Monday whether Canada will meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement by 2030, as his government faces criticism over his emission-reduction plans.
Tax rebalancing in Indian energy sector: Renewables cheaper, coal costlier
Fri 12 Sep 2025
Industry experts and developers have hail GST cuts on clean energy equipment, saying it will be a major enabler for India’s ambitious climate goals.
China, climate crisis and COP31: Five takeaways from the Pacific Islands Forum
Today 11:15am
A key climate crisis funding treaty struck as Pacific leaders backed Australia’s bid for Cop31 despite some criticism of its environmental credentials.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Second Africa Climate Summit seeks to jump hurdles to green industrialisation
Wed 10 Sep 2025
A report on progress since the first summit in 2023 says financial, infrastructure and trade obstacles are hampering “climate-positive growth” on the continent.
Brazil implores businesses to attend COP30 climate summit, despite 'second thoughts' amid Trump backlash
5 Sep 2025
November's COP30 summit comes at a precarious time for climate action, as companies back away from environmental initiatives, and attacks on green energy by President Trump.
UN pushes countries for new climate targets this month
9 Sep 2025
The United Nations urged countries on Wednesday to set more ambitious climate plans during this month, seeking to pressure major economies including the EU and China ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit.
