International: United States
American climate refugees likely to flee inland
28 Apr 2017
The population of inland American cities will alter drastically if predictions of dramatic sea level rises by 2100 are correct, a new report suggests.
Ignore Trump, Bloomberg tells world leaders
26 Apr 2017
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged world leaders not to follow Donald Trump’s lead on climate change, and declared his own intention to stave off the “tragedy” that would be the collapse of the Paris climate deal.
Trump's people postpone Paris decision
21 Apr 2017
Trump administration officials have postponed a meeting scheduled for this week to discuss the US government’s position on the Paris climate change agreement.
White House showdown looms on Paris Agreement
18 Apr 2017
President Trump's most senior advisers will huddle this week to resolve long-simmering tensions over whether the United States should stay in the Paris climate change agreement.
US again shrinks electricity’s carbon footprint
12 Apr 2017
Carbon emissions from US electric power plants have fallen by about 5 per cent for the second year in a row.
SEE YOU IN COURT: Activists get ready to fight Trump
11 Apr 2017
Environmental campaigners have promised to wage fierce and protracted legal battles against “outrageous and wrong-headed” Trump administration moves.
States gang up to challenge Trump over climate actions
7 Apr 2017
A coalition of 17 US states has filed a legal challenge against efforts by President Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations.
Trump climate moves undermine Paris Agreement
29 Mar 2017
President Trump has launched an all-out assault on Barack Obama’s climate change legacy with a sweeping executive order that undermines America’s commitment to the Paris agreement.
Trump about to undo Obama's clean power plans
28 Mar 2017
President Trump is set to sign a sweeping executive order today aimed at promoting domestic oil, coal and natural gas by reversing much of his predecessor’s efforts to address climate change.
US budget aims broadside at climate change
22 Mar 2017
If anything, it’s worse than expected: sweeping cutbacks to environmental programmes; an abandonment of efforts aimed at cleaning up air and water pollution around the US; and, most worrying for the world in general, an end to multimillion-dollar funding for satellite launches and other science projects aimed at tackling climate change.
Yes, California can go 100 per cent green
16 Mar 2017
California's Senate leader wants the Golden State to shift to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2045, pushing it to lead the country in grabbing that green power goal.
Trump set to target vehicle emissions rules
15 Mar 2017
US President Donald Trump is set to formally announce a review of vehicle fuel efficiency rules locked in at the end of the Obama administration when he meets with automaker chiefs this week.
Pruitt stacks EPA with climate change sceptics
10 Mar 2017
The new head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has moved to stock many of the agency's top offices with climate sceptics.
City goes 100% ... deep in the heart of Texas oil country
10 Mar 2017
Georgetown, Texas, is a conservative town in a conservative state. But it's one of the first cities in the United States to be entirely powered by renewable energy.
Hawaii aims to be free of fossil fuels by 2045
9 Mar 2017
Hawaii is intent on going all-renewable by 2045, eliminating fossil fuels and using only electric cars.
White House wants to cut EPA staff by one-fifth
3 Mar 2017
The White House has proposed deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget that would reduce the agency’s staff by one-fifth in the first year and eliminate dozens of programmes.
Environment likely to pay for huge Trump defence spend
28 Feb 2017
As US president Donald Trump announces a $54bn increase in defence spending, environmental agencies and UN climate funds face the axe.
Groups sue EPA to protect salmon from climate
27 Feb 2017
US fishing and conservation groups have sued the Environmental Protection Agency, seeking to protect wild salmon threatened by rising water temperatures attributed in part to climate change.
Trump's wall would carry environmental costs
21 Feb 2017
The likely impact on human society of Donald Trump’s Mexico wall has been well-noted, but in the longer-term a barrier across an entire continent will also have severe ecological consequences.
Will blazing a low-carbon path pay off for California?
20 Feb 2017
President Trump has made it clear he intends to dismantle the Obama administration’s policies for reducing US greenhouse gas emissions.
Depleted aquifers get new life from floodwaters
20 Feb 2017
As dam managers were draining water from a Northern Californian reservoir to avert what could have been one of the worst flood disasters in the state’s history, a Southern California farmer was doing something different with the watery winter excess.
Trump man calls climate scientists 'glassy-eyed cult'
17 Feb 2017
The man tipped as frontrunner for the role of science adviser to Donald Trump has described climate scientists as “a glassy-eyed cult” in the throes of a form of collective madness.
Guess what Trudeau and Trump didn't discuss
16 Feb 2017
A year after Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama pledged cooperation on climate goals, the Canadian PM's first meeting with President Trump produced no mention of them.
Why politicians think they know better than scientists
15 Feb 2017
One of the most unexpected political developments in recent months has been the political awakening of scientists in the United States.
Air conditioning drains US power supply
14 Feb 2017
America’s power supply could one day falter just when customers need it most.
Russia and US could be buddies in climate inaction
9 Feb 2017
As president Donald Trump pushes the United States toward inaction on climate change, he is likely to find an ally in Russia.
These Republicans have a climate change plan
9 Feb 2017
A group of Republican statesmen led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker have introduced a carbon tax plan intended to strengthen the economy, promote national security and “protect our natural heritage”.
Republicans back off bill to sell public land
7 Feb 2017
US congressman Jason Chaffetz has announced that he will withdraw a bill he introduced last week that would have ordered the incoming secretary of the interior to immediately sell off 3.3m acres of national land.
What Trump can (and can't) do to wreck climate rules
31 Jan 2017
Although US President Donald Trump could dismantle Barack Obama’s most far-reaching climate regulations, it will take legal acumen and a lot of time – perhaps longer than a single presidential term.
Trump silences government scientists
26 Jan 2017
Scientists in two US government agencies have been told they can no longer discuss research or departmental restrictions with anyone outside their offices - including news media.
Canadian scientists race to back up worried Americans
25 Jan 2017
The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States has touched off a mad scramble by some scientists to back up critical scientific data as government researchers reckon with the new administration’s threats to scrub climate data and strip funding for ongoing climate research.
Las Vegas reaches energy milestone
21 Dec 2016
Ten years of effort finally paid off for Las Vegas this week when officials announced the city government will now be powered entirely by renewable energy.
Gates suggests Trump will support green energy
20 Dec 2016
Federal support for research and development into clean tech should appeal to incoming president, says Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.
States urge Trump to kill clean-power plan
19 Dec 2016
Officials in 24 states have urged US president-elect Donald Trump to kill the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's strategy to combat climate change and shut down coal-fired power plants.
Obama makes final climate-change push
19 Dec 2016
With little more than a month left in office, the Barack Obama administration is quietly trying to accomplish one last big thing on climate change: creating a policy for relocating entire towns threatened by extreme weather and rising seas.
Trump gives Musk advisory job
16 Dec 2016
US president-elect Donald Trump has appointed Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to his Strategic and Policy Forum.
Scientists frantically copying US climate data
16 Dec 2016
Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data on to independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference.
TRUMP TEAM 1: Exxon's Tillerson gets state job
14 Dec 2016
Donald Trump has officially tapped Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to run the State Department, raising concerns over how the US will approach international climate negotiations.
TRUMP TEAM 2: Perry heads outfit he pledged to scrap
14 Dec 2016
Donald Trump has chosen former Texas governor Rick Perry to head the US Department of Energy, putting him in charge of the agency he once proposed eliminating.
US solar power smashes records in 2016
14 Dec 2016
US solar power has just had its biggest quarter in history, and it’s about to get even bigger, according to a new report.
Trump lines up ardent climate denier for key green post
12 Dec 2016
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a sixth-term Republican from Washington State who is a climate change denier and an ardent opponent of regulations for greenhouse gas emissions, has been nominated by US President-elect Donald Trump for Secretary of Interior.
Labor accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on climate crisis as fossil fuel projects keep getting approved
9 Jun 2025
‘They offer sympathy and then just go and approve massive fossil fuel projects anyway,’ one advocate says.
China's approvals of coal power plants grow after 2024 decline
Wed 11 Jun 2025
China approved 11.29 gigawatts of new coal power plants in the first three months of 2025, already exceeding the 10.34 GW approved in the first half of 2024.
Ocean current ‘collapse’ could trigger ‘profound cooling’ in northern Europe – even with global warming
Fri 13 Jun 2025
A “collapse” of key Atlantic ocean currents would cause winter temperatures to plunge across northern Europe, overriding the warming driven by human activity.
Oil giant funds computer game that promotes fossil fuels to schoolchildren
9 Jun 2025
Equinor, the company looking to develop the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea, has funded a computer game aimed at UK school children, promoting the idea that fossil fuels are part of a green energy mix.
'This is classic climate change': Canada's Saskatchewan faces worst wildfire season in decades
4 Jun 2025
There have been 207 wildfires this year as of Friday – 40 more than in the same period last year.
Carbon capture projects promise a climate fix – and a fossil fuel lifeline
Wed 11 Jun 2025
Governments across Southeast Asia are looking at carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) as a way to meet climate targets.
Vanuatu criticises Australia for extending gas project while making COP31 bid
4 Jun 2025
Vanuatu’s climate minister has expressed disappointment over Australia’s decision to extend one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas projects and said it raises questions over its bid to co-host the COP31 summit with Pacific nations.
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?
Death toll from Nigeria flash floods rises to 151
3 Jun 2025
At least 151 people in central Nigeria are now known to have died following flash floods that destroyed homes and displaced thousands of residents earlier this week.
Pará’s Amazon forest carbon deal in doubt as prosecutors move to block it
Fri 13 Jun 2025
The Brazilian state’s contract with foreign governments and companies has run into trouble over concerns it was premature and agreed without consulting Indigenous communities.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
Fri 13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
