International: United States
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.
Trump fails to mention climate change
7 Feb 2019
Top scientists have condemned US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address and say future presidents must confront climate change as an urgent priority.
How the polar vortex is linked to climate change
1 Feb 2019
The polar vortex has broken into ‘two swirling blobs of cold air’, bringing the most frigid conditions in decades to the United States midwest.
Intelligence chiefs warn of climate threats
1 Feb 2019
The US intelligence community has warned in its annual assessment of worldwide threats that climate change and other kinds of environmental degradation pose risks to global stability.
Big farms a growing driver of climate change
30 Jan 2019
Industrial farming encourages practices that degrade the soil and increase emissions, while leaving farmers more vulnerable to damage as the planet warms.
Americans are getting the message
24 Jan 2019
Nearly half of Americans say people in the US are being harmed by global warming "right now" - the highest point ever in a decade-long national survey called Climate Change in the American Mind.
Scores of US military bases under threat
23 Jan 2019
A new Pentagon report identifies significant risks from climate change at scores of military bases and says the Defense Department is taking protective measures against the looming threat.
Troubled Tesla cuts 7% of workforce
22 Jan 2019
Tesla is cutting its full-time staff headcount by about 7 per cent, as it tries to reduce the price of its cars and boost margins, CEO Elon Musk has announced
‘Foolish’ CSIRO job cuts will mean Australia unable to provide climate projections to global reports, scientists warn
Thu 21 May 2026
Job cuts at the national science agency mean Australia will no longer be able to submit climate projections to form part of global reports and will have significantly reduced ability to forecast future damage to the country, leading researchers have warned.
At least 21 killed as heavy rains drench southern, central China
Thu 21 May 2026
Torrential rain continued across southern and central China on Tuesday with at least 21 people killed in widespread flooding that also closed schools and businesses, and disrupted transport and power supplies, authorities said.
EU keeps carbon border tax unchanged despite fertiliser price crisis
Thu 21 May 2026
Fertiliser producers argue that the EU's carbon pricing rules at the border protect the European industry from cheaper imports produced under weaker environmental rules. But farmers fear they are indirectly paying the bill through higher fertiliser costs.
The UK faces growing climate threats – where is the response to match?
Tue 19 May 2026
COMMENT: UK voters’ dissatisfaction with business as usual must be harnessed to address public concerns and build a country that is resilient to climate change impacts.
Natural gas to play key role in strategy to double Canada’s electricity grid by 2050
Mon 18 May 2026
A new national strategy will double the capacity of the country’s electricity grid by 2050, Prime Minister Mark Carney said as he announced the plan last week.
While the world hesitates, India must continue leading on climate
14 May 2026
India’s updated climate targets must translate into systems that secure growth, resilience, and autonomy.
The nation holding back the sea
Fri 22 May 2026
A Pacific island nation on the front line of the climate change threat is building land to try to hold back rising sea levels. But as the majority of Tuvalu’s population applies to relocate to Australia, a haunting question is being confronted: what happens to a country if the people have to leave?
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
Africa secures major clean energy deals as France deepens investment push
15 May 2026
French and African leaders have announced more than $11 billion in renewable energy investments across Africa, underscoring the continent’s growing importance in the global push for cleaner energy and industrial development.
Amazon deforestation at eight-year low, report shows
Wed 20 May 2026
Despite a drop in the size of deforested areas, the number of wildfires in the region increased by more than 30 percent.
UN backs historic climate crisis ruling, despite US attempts to stop resolution
Fri 22 May 2026
The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.
