International: United States
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.
Fossil fuel giants set for virus bailout bonanza
13 May 2020
Fossil fuel companies and coal-powered utilities in the US are set for a potential bonanza under federal government plans for a bond bailout, part of the rescue package for the coronavirus crisis.
Trump reverses nearly 100 green rules
8 May 2020
After three years in office, the Trump administration has dismantled most of the major climate and environmental policies the president promised to undo.
Struggling farm workers face worsening heat
7 May 2020
Life is already bad enough for underpaid and overworked crop pickers in the US, but as lethal heat levels rise they will render outdoor labour in the harvest season increasingly impossible.
Trump-friendly fuel firms get millions in aid
5 May 2020
US fossil fuel companies have taken at least $50m in taxpayer money they probably won’t have to pay back, according to a review of coronavirus aid meant for struggling small businesses.
Warren Buffett dumps US airline stocks
4 May 2020
Legendary American investor Warren Buffett has sold his firm’s entire holdings in the four major US airlines, warning that the world has changed for the aviation industry because of the coronavirus crisis.
North America’s fracking boom flounders
1 May 2020
The shale industry made the US a major producer once again. But Covid-19 looks likely to ruin many prospectors.
Trump wants to mine Grand Canyon
29 Apr 2020
The Trump administration, seeking to restore America’s “competitive nuclear advantage,” wants to mine uranium on land bordering the Grand Canyon.
Big Plastic asks Congress for $1b bailout
29 Apr 2020
The plastics industry is asking Congress for $1 billion to bail out plastic recycling during the coronavirus crisis.
Climate fighter Gore throws weight behind Biden
24 Apr 2020
Climate champion and former US vice-president Al Gore has endorsed Joe Biden's presidential candidacy.
Everything points to a megadrought
20 Apr 2020
Climate change could be pushing the US west and northern Mexico towards the most severe and most extended period of drought observed in a thousand years of US history, a full-blown megadrought.
TEXAS OIL: We will disappear as an industry
16 Apr 2020
Texas just did something that only recently might have been unthinkable. The state whose name is synonymous with American oil took the unusual step of formally considering statewide production cuts.
Biden must convince climate voters he's a believer
14 Apr 2020
Bernie Sanders’ departure from the US presidential race left hardcore climate change activists in mourning—and wondering where former vice-president Joe Biden stands.
“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.
