International: United States
Trump's next climate act is a bit of a mystery
2 Oct 2017
President Trump is preparing to repeal Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan. But what would take its place remains a mystery.
Ontario joins California-Quebec carbon market
26 Sep 2017
Ontario has signed an agreement with California to enter its joint carbon cap and trade market with Quebec, from next January 1.
Can the United States afford another hurricane?
25 Sep 2017
The 2017 North Atlantic hurricane season still has about five weeks to go, but it’s already one of the most expensive on record. Repeated storms are stretching the public and private sectors thin.
Trump told Paris Agreement is non-negotiable
19 Sep 2017
The terms of the Paris Agreement are set in stone, the EU, China and Canada agreed at a summit in Montreal at thge weekend, while Washington was forced to deny that the US is planning to stay in the accord.
Jerry Brown’s climate coalition spreads the word
19 Sep 2017
California governor Jerry Brown's climate coalition list of city, state and national governments nears 200 and is shifting climate diplomacy beyond the caprices of national leaders.
Trump might replace Obama's big climate rule
18 Sep 2017
The Trump administration is opening the door to offering its own replacement for former President Barack Obama's landmark climate regulation — rather than just erasing it altogether.
TRAGEDY TOWN: Community that took on the Kochs
12 Sep 2017
A new film tells the story of Crossett, Arkansas – a small town dominated by a Koch brothers-owned paper mill, blamed for dumping cancer-causing chemicals.
Storms lay costs of climate denial at Trump’s door
11 Sep 2017
The US president’s dismissal of scientific research is doing nothing to protect the livelihoods of ordinary Americans.
Mars (the bars kind) counters Trump's climate craziness
8 Sep 2017
The corporate backlash is growing against Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, with Mars launching a $1bn sustainability plan and an M&M’s campaign centred on renewable energy.
BLOOM AND BUST: Sick seas hurt the housing market
8 Sep 2017
In the real estate business, it’s all about location, location, location. Except when it’s about water quality. And large algal outbreaks are a great way to dampen the value of waterfront property.
Trump wants climate science denier to run NASA
6 Sep 2017
The White House has announced that President Donald Trump plans to nominate Republican Jim Bridenstine, a climate science denier, to be administrator of NASA.
Insurance industry eyes Hurricane Harvey cost
6 Sep 2017
Because US infrastructure is not built to withstand climate change the cost of the Hurrican Harvey disaster will be relatively high.
Faded favourite jeans might be causing a health threat
5 Sep 2017
The faded, “distressed look” of a favorite pair of blue jeans, might come with a hidden price.
California wants law setting 100% renewable power goal
4 Sep 2017
California, the world’s sixth-largest economy, is aiming for an entirely clean power grid by 2045 with legislation that pits technology start-ups against utilities.
Invasive insect chewing through Mississippi delta
1 Sep 2017
An invasion of tiny insects is killing swaths of coastal marsh at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and has turned an already unraveling landscape into open water in a matter of months.
US to abolish job of climate change envoy
31 Aug 2017
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has informed Congress that the US will no longer have a special envoy for climate change, the official that has led delegations to UN climate talks since 2009.
How did climate change make Hurricane Harvey much worse?
30 Aug 2017
At least 14 people have died and tens of thousands evacuated as Houston continues to be battered by catastrophic rainfall. Can we decode the disaster?
I was an Exxon-funded climate scientist
28 Aug 2017
ExxonMobil’s deliberate attempts to sow doubt on the reality and urgency of climate change and their donations to front groups to disseminate false information about climate change have been public knowledge for a long time, now.
California pollution permits sell at highest price ever
25 Aug 2017
California has raised more than $640 million auctioning off permits for businesses to emit greenhouse gases as part of a program aimed at fighting climate change.
WALL WARS: Stop fighting and make Rio Grande grand again
25 Aug 2017
Rather than spending billions of dollars and squabbling about a border wall, the US and Mexico could adopt an alternative vision: regenerating the Rio Grande.
There’s no saving the world without business
24 Aug 2017
The “We Are Still In” movement launched to send a message to US president Donald Trump over his Paris Agreement threat has grown to include more than 1500 businesses and investors, as well as nine states, more than 200 cities and counties, and more than 300 colleges and universities.
Denmark just generated 140% of its power demand from wind
23 Aug 2017
On a particularly windy day recently, Denmark’s wind farms produced between 116 per cent and 140 per cent of the national electricity requirements ... and they weren’t even trying.
Will the US ever build another big coal plant?
23 Aug 2017
About 16 per cent of the US coal fleet has retired in the past five years, but don't expect major new coal-fired plants to fill that void.
Doomed by climate – but they still don't get it
21 Aug 2017
The Louisiana town of Cameron could be the first in the US to be fully submerged by rising sea levels – and yet locals, 90 per cent of whom voted for Trump, still aren’t convinced about climate change.
Trump cans no-sales rule on plastic bottles in parks
21 Aug 2017
The Trump administration's reversal of ban on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks shows ‘the corporate agenda is king and people and environment are left behind’, say campaigners
Not burning fossil fuels saves thousands of US lives
18 Aug 2017
Fossil fuel not burnt because of wind and solar energy helped to avoid between 3000 and 12,700 premature deaths in the US between 2007 and 2015, says a new report.
California eyes massive climate research move
18 Aug 2017
California scientists are sketching plans for a home-grown climate-research institute - to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Alaska lists 30 towns at risk from coastal erosion
17 Aug 2017
At least 31 Alaskan communities face “imminent” existential threats from coastline erosion, flooding and other consequences of changing temperatures.
Gulf of Mexico dead zone could get worse
16 Aug 2017
Each summer, a large part of the Gulf of Mexico “dies”. This year, the “dead zone” is the largest on record, stretching hundreds of miles from the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of Louisiana to waters off Texas.
AL GORE: Trump has failed to knock Paris off course
14 Aug 2017
Donald Trump has failed to knock the Paris climate agreement off course, says former US vice-president Al Gore.
California's climate policies create economic boon
11 Aug 2017
California’s Inland Empire counties can thank the state's climate change programmes forma net benefit of $9.1 billion in direct economic activity and 41,000 jobs from 2010 through to 2016.
Court scuttles rule cutting potent greenhouse gas
11 Aug 2017
A federal appeals court in Washington has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has overstepped its authority in regulating HFCs under the Clean Air Act.
Scientists fear Trump will dismiss blunt climate report
10 Aug 2017
The average temperature in the United States has risen rapidly and drastically since 1980, and recent decades have been the warmest of the past 1500 years, according to a sweeping federal climate change report awaiting approval by the Trump administration.
Don't call it climate change, says US federal department
8 Aug 2017
Staff at the US Department of Agriculture have been told to avoid using the term climate change in their work.
Changing climate fuels Arizona’s monstrous monsoons
8 Aug 2017
Summer in Arizona and throughout the US southwest is monsoon season, which means a daily pattern of afternoon thunderstorms, flash floods, dramatic dust clouds and spectacular displays of lightning over the desert.
Hawaii wants hydrogen vehicles on road next year
7 Aug 2017
Hawaii has started the construction of its first public fuelling station for hydrogen vehicles, and aims to start selling hydrogen-fuelled cars next year.
Fears rise for future of US climate report
3 Aug 2017
A sweeping US government report on the state of climate-change science is nearing the finish line, but faces one big hurdle - final sign-off by top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Meat industry gets blame for gulf 'dead zone'
3 Aug 2017
The global meat industry, already implicated in driving global warming and deforestation, has now been blamed for fueling what is expected to be the worst “dead zone” on record in the Gulf of Mexico.
Climate lab sits empty, waiting for its mighty machine
3 Aug 2017
Behind a locked door at a Colorado university, a laboratory sits dark and empty, like a dining room set for a guest who never arrived. In this case, the no-show is a $2 million, 12 tonne machine that is vital to addressing global warming.
Carbon-free city being built from scratch
31 Jul 2017
Can a city built from scratch be profitable to developers and enjoyable to residents as it tries to be carbon-free?
US powercos knew of climate threat decades ago
28 Jul 2017
The US electric industry knew as far back as 1968 that burning fossil fuels might cause global warming, but cast doubt on the science of climate change.
Climate science meets a stubborn obstacle: Students
28 Jul 2017
To Gwen Beatty, a junior at the high school in a proud, struggling, Trump-supporting town, the new science teacher’s lessons on climate change seemed explicitly designed to provoke her. So she provoked him back.
Exxon, Shell face action over US sea level rises
27 Jul 2017
As a trio of lawsuits in California claim compensation for sea rises resulting from fossil fuel emissions, campaigners say carbon majors must change their business models.
Rising seas spark tobacco-style lawsuits in California
21 Jul 2017
Several flood-prone municipalities in California filed first-of-their-kind lawsuits against fossil fuel companies this week as they attempt to recoup the cost of coping with rising seas.
California extends cap-and-trade to 2030
19 Jul 2017
California lawmakers have voted to extend the state's signature programme for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
GROW FOOD ON MARS: Los Angeles startups get inventive
19 Jul 2017
Geeks are inventing ways to keep Los Angeles cool with products and services that aim to avert environmental disaster – and make a profit.
Bloomberg and California launch climate action plan
18 Jul 2017
California Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg have announced the launch of America’s Pledge, which will allow US states, cities and businesses to stay aligned with the Paris Agreement.
US approves oil drilling off Alaska
18 Jul 2017
An Italian multinational oil and gas company has received permission to move ahead with drilling plans in federal waters off Alaska.
California about to vote on emissions trading scheme
14 Jul 2017
California lawmakers are expected to vote next week on legislation to extend the state's landmark cap-and-trade programme, the country's most progressive, statewide attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
DIZZY DAYS: What Trump has scrapped since January
5 Jul 2017
Since January, the White House, Congress and EPA have engineered a dizzying reversal of regulations designed to protect the environment and public health.
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.
