International: United States
Biden vows net-zero farming emissions
23 Jul 2019
Joe Biden, frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for US president, has one of the more ambitious rural climate-related goals ... but could his plan actually achieve net-zero emissions?
US on path to extreme heat, warn scientists
22 Jul 2019
Widespread increases in extreme heat due to climate change could bring unprecedented risks to the US in coming decades, a new study has warned.
Alaska swelters in record temperatures
11 Jul 2019
Alaska, part of which lies inside the Arctic Circle, is sweltering under a heatwave, with record temperatures recorded.
US mayors pressure Congress on carbon pricing,
4 Jul 2019
The mayors of hundreds of US cities have called on Congress to pass legislation to put a price on carbon emissions.
Behind the Oregon walkout lies a sordid story
3 Jul 2019
For a brief moment, the standoff in Oregon over climate change legislation seemed like an amusing bit of Wild West political theatre.
US makes renewable energy breakthrough
28 Jun 2019
The US in April generated more electricity from renewable sources than coal for the first time,, new federal government data has shown.
Your coverage unacceptable, climate protesters tell media
26 Jun 2019
More than 70 protesters have been arrested outside the New York Times building as they called for more effective media coverage of the dangers of climate change.
Trump buries studies showing dangers to food supply
25 Jun 2019
The Trump administration has stopped promoting US government-funded research into how higher temperatures can damage crops and pose health risks.
Gas-guzzling US military one of the world's biggest emitters
24 Jun 2019
Scientists have identified the US military as one of the world’s great emitters of greenhouse gases, an agency which buys as much fuel as Portugal or Peru and emits more carbon dioxide than all of Romania.
US seawalls come with $416 billion price tag
21 Jun 2019
Defending against rising seas could cost US communities $416 billion in the next 20 years, according to a new report.
New York approves ambitious climate plan
20 Jun 2019
New York politicians have reached a deal to create one of the most ambitious climate bills in the US, putting the progressive state on the front lines of fight over the environment.
Floridians set record for underwater cleanup
20 Jun 2019
The Florida city of Deerfield has put 633 divers into the water in what it claims is the world’s largest underwater clean-up.
Bloomberg mission is to close all US coal plants
11 Jun 2019
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a new $500 million mission - to close every coal plant in the US by 2030.
Trump disses climate change after meeting Charles
10 Jun 2019
US President Donald Trump dismissed climate change as “a change in weather” just hours after holding talks on the issue with Prince Charles.
Lawmakers want to pay homeowners for bee gardens
6 Jun 2019
Minnesota aims to offer financial support to homeowners who want to transform their yards into bee-friendly gardens.
Florida creates office to take on climate crisis
31 May 2019
To say Dr Tom Frazer faces a daunting workload as he begins his new job as Florida’s first chief science officer would be an underestimation.
Amazon staff demand Bezos act on climate crisis
28 May 2019
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has refused to address employees demanding the company take action on the climate crisis.
Louisiana readies for resilience ... and retreat
22 May 2019
Louisiana has issued a blueprint for coping with the impacts of a warming planet, including a human migration that has already begun.
New York aims to create green union jobs
20 May 2019
Efforts to build offshore wind turbines to power up to sx million homes will create more than 10,000 jobs under Climate Jobs New York's plan.
California bans pesticide linked to brain damage
20 May 2019
California has banned a pesticide that has been proven to cause brain damage in children.
Clean up or pay up, New York warns Trump over buildings
16 May 2019
US President Donald Trump faces fines of more than $2 million a year unless he reduces carbon emissions from his New York buildings.
States fight rollback of Obama lightbulb rules
16 May 2019
US States are preparing to fight back as the Trump administration moves to erase Obama-era standards for lightbulbs.
Washington commits to 100% clean energy
13 May 2019
Washington has committed 100 per cent clean energy sources by 2045 - and six other US states are expected to follow suit.
Renewables pass coal in US for first time
8 May 2019
Renewable energy in April surpassed coal generation in the United States for the first time since records began.
Los Angeles reveals its own Green New Deal
1 May 2019
Mayor Eric Garcetti has unveiled a sweeping plan for a more sustainable Los Angeles, calling for dramatic changes to the car culture, buildings and air quality of America’s second-largest city.
New York sets ambitious climate rules
23 Apr 2019
New York City has set an ambitious new standard for combating greenhouse gas emissions, approving a package of climate policies designed to slash energy use in big buildings.
Worried property dealers size up climate threat
12 Apr 2019
Big real estate firms are pouring resources into calculating climate risk and its likely effect on property portfolios — everything from increasingly extreme weather to sea-level rise.
DC dawdles, so powerco chiefs go for green
10 Apr 2019
Patti Poppe used to drive around with an "I Love Coal" bumper sticker, but now the CEO of Michigan-based CMS Energy Corp. is eager to talk about phasing out the fossil fuel.
New York to make drivers pay for pollution
5 Apr 2019
New York is set to become the first US city to charge drivers a fee for releasing planet-warming pollution from their cars.
Judge blocks Trump's Arctic drilling plans
2 Apr 2019
A judge's ruling restores former president Barack Obama’s orders putting large parts of the Arctic off-limits to offshore drilling and throws Donald Trump’s oil and gas lease sale plans into question.
Corporate giants join green-energy alliance
1 Apr 2019
Hundreds of US corporate companies have joined together for a renewable-energy alliance.
Senate defeats Green New Deal proposal
28 Mar 2019
The US Senate has defeated a motion to take up the Green New Deal, the non-binding proposal spearheaded by progressive Democratic lawmakers.
Fossil fuel now costs more, says study
28 Mar 2019
Around three-quarters of US coal production is now more expensive than solar and wind energy in providing electricity to American households, according to a new study.
US judge halts hundreds of drilling projects
22 Mar 2019
In the first significant check on the Trump administration’s “energy-first” agenda, a US judge has temporarily halted hundreds of drilling projects for failing to take climate change into account.
Most US produce has pesticide residues - even after washing
22 Mar 2019
About 70 per cent of fresh produce sold in the US has pesticide residues on it even after it is washed, according to a health advocacy group.
America cares about climate change again
20 Mar 2019
For the first time in years, a broad spectrum of US climate advocates is going on the offensive.
We'll just make Manhattan bigger, says New York
19 Mar 2019
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to protect Manhattan from climate change by expanding the island’s southern shore to keep rising seas at bay.
Trump budget slashes clean energy spending - again
13 Mar 2019
The Trump administration's latest budget proposal would radically reduce new spending on federal programs for advancing clean energy.
How America’s food giants swallowed the family farms
11 Mar 2019
Across the US midwest, the rise of factory farming is destroying rural communities. And the massive corporations behind this devastation are now eyeing a post-Brexit UK market.
How Trump rollbacks hurt health and emissions
7 Mar 2019
The Trump administration's efforts to undo rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gases would lead to a rise in annual emissions and to thousands more American deaths, says a new report.
Ex-coal industry lobbyist new EPA chief
7 Mar 2019
Former US coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler is taking over the reigns as the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Carbon tax v Green New Deal battle has begun
5 Mar 2019
For the first time, US lawmakers face competing approaches to reviving climate action. And despite hostility from the White House, each approach has significant support and the potential to shape the 2020 elections.
Green New Deal is already changing the climate debate
4 Mar 2019
What a splendid irony it would be if the enduring legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency was the Green New Deal – a radical, government-directed plan to transition the US to a socially just society with a zero-carbon economy.
Coastal flooding erasing billions in property values
1 Mar 2019
Rising seas have eroded coastal property values from Maine to Mississippi by billions of dollars as buyers pay less for homes in neighborhoods where high-tide flooding is creeping in.
Plastics the new coal in Appalachia
27 Feb 2019
Thousands of workers are assembling an ethane cracker plant in the Ohio River Valley - conspicuous symbol of a petrochemical and plastics future looming across the Appalachian region.
US cities will see their climate heading south
22 Feb 2019
Climate change means a big shift for city dwellers worldwide. Americans can look ahead to very different cities as the US climate heads south.
Florida is drowning ... but they're still building condos
20 Feb 2019
People tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences – and Florida’s coastal real estate might be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call.
Trump’s wall violates conservation laws
18 Feb 2019
US President Donald Trump (https://inhabitat.com/tag/trump) is moving forward with the construction of his Mexican border wall, even if it means sidestepping important environmental laws.
Race is on to define Green New Deal
14 Feb 2019
The decision by US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) to bring up the Green New Deal for a Senate vote is prompting a rush to define the terms of progressive Democrats' ambitious proposal to tackle climate change.
Green New Deal claims bold plan to fight change
8 Feb 2019
New US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is releasing a broad outline of a vision for the Green New Deal, a plan to battle economic and racial injustice while also fighting 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
Mon 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.
