International: United States
EPA wants to redefine the dangers of soot
8 Aug 2018
Against all prevailing science, the US Environmental Protection Agency is suggesting a “safe” threshold for particulate pollution.
GOP and Big Oil can't escape the blame for climate change
7 Aug 2018
The New York Times magazine has devoted an issue to a single story that explores how close we came to an international climate agreement in 1989 ... and why we failed.
California vows to fight as EPA acts to scrap car rules
3 Aug 2018
The Trump administration has moved to weaken US vehicle emissions standards and has set up a major confrontation with California by scrapping its ability to enact stricter pollution rules.
Experts fear the age of extreme fire has arrived
1 Aug 2018
California's increasingly ferocious wildfires are not an aberration – they are the new reality, experts believe.
US spends $20b a year on fossil fuel subsidies
31 Jul 2018
While most of the world recognises the need to leave fossil fuels in the ground, the US is giving the fossil fuel industry billions to extract more.
Feel free to ruin public land, Trump tells miners
27 Jul 2018
The Trump administration will no longer require oil drillers, miners and other industries to compensate for damage they cause to public lands.
Washington’s political lobbying shackles science
26 Jul 2018
Money talks, says a study of Washington’s political lobbying and its influence on climate change law. Most of the most vocal money comes from big energy.
Baltimore sues 26 fossil fuels companies ...
23 Jul 2018
Baltimore's waterfront revitalisation has become a model for urban development, but sea level rise and extreme weather are putting its future at risk.
... and judge pours cold water on New York hopes
23 Jul 2018
A federal judge has dismissed New York City's lawsuit against five of the world's largest oil companies, dealing a setback to local governments that are trying to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change.
California's mega farms display their dark side
20 Jul 2018
The floor of California's Central Valley is slumping, and there is arsenic in the tap water. It seems the two problems are connected.
SCIENCE UNDER SIEGE: Behind the scenes at the EPA
17 Jul 2018
Uncertainty, hostility and irrelevance are now part of daily life for scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Pence’s failed gas stations cost taxpayer $20M
17 Jul 2018
The gas station chain that was owned by US Vice-President Mike Pence's family has left more than $20 million worth of environmental remediation costs for Indiana taxpayers.
Heatwave could be making Americans think
13 Jul 2018
Record-breaking high temperatures across much of North America appear to be shaping people’s thinking, a survey finds.
Six ways Andrew Wheeler could reshape the EPA
11 Jul 2018
Former US coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler inherits some important decisions from Scott Pruitt at the EPA, including on the Clean Power Plan, auto standards, methane and use of science.
Oil powerhouse shows way with wind technology
9 Jul 2018
The vast plains of US oil state Texas are home to more then 12,000 wind turbines, making it one of the world’s powerhouses for the technology.
Pruitt quits as head of US environment agency
6 Jul 2018
Scandal-hit Scott Pruitt has resigned as head of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Rising seas could cost $27 trillion a year by 2100
5 Jul 2018
The cost of rising seas could be $27 trillion a year globally in 80 years, with the oceans possibly nearing two metres above their present levels.
US state to sue oil companies over climate change
5 Jul 2018
Rhode Island has become the first US state to sue a group of oil companies over their role in causing dangerous climate change.
US judge rejects lawsuit against oil majors
28 Jun 2018
A US judge has thrown out a case brought against major oil companies on climate change.
SEA CHANGE: 'Florida is about to be wiped off the map'
28 Jun 2018
Sea level rises are not some distant threat; for many Americans they are very real. An extract from a chilling new book, Rising, details how the US coastline will be radically transformed in the coming years.
US coastal property worth billions at risk
19 Jun 2018
More than 150,000 US homes and businesses could face frequent high-tide flooding within 15 years. That could double by 2045, a new report says.
Cities advance climate policies without saying so
12 Jun 2018
Leadership in addressing climate change in the United States has shifted away from the national capital Washington.
One Koch brother is calling it quits
8 Jun 2018
Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch is stepping away from his political and business interests because of declining health.
Hawaii signs to become carbon neutral by 2045
7 Jun 2018
Hawaii has set the most ambitious climate goal in the US by signing a bill to become carbon neutral by 2045.
Trump orders action to save power plants
6 Jun 2018
President Trump has ordered his energy secretary to take immediate action to stem US power plant closures, arguing that a decline in coal and nuclear electricity is putting the nation’s security at risk.
California strikes e-vehicle gold
6 Jun 2018
California has been given the go-ahead to expand electric vehicle infrastructure and rebate programmes with a total budget of more than $750 million.
Big US banks resume lending to coal companies
30 May 2018
An environmental group’s analysis shows the five largest United States banks have started lending to coal companies again now that they’re out of bankruptcy.
Changing climate might be killing off bees
28 May 2018
Beekeepers in the US have reported an increase in honeybee deaths over the past year, possibly the result of erratic weather patterns brought on by a changing climate.
EPA ‘secret science’ proposal alarms health experts
25 May 2018
The EPA this month could finalise a controversial rule to limit what scientific research the agency can use in writing US environmental regulations.
Proud Norfolk wants to remake itself as seas rise
23 May 2018
US Navy town Norfolk sees itself as a living lab for coastal resilience, one in desperate need of solutions as flooding worsens. Not every neighborhood will be saved.
New York wants to end coal-fired power
23 May 2018
New York State has proposed telling coal plants to change the way they operate, or close down.
Oil-rich Alaska plans to tackle climate change
21 May 2018
Alaska, a major oil and gas producer, is crafting a plan to address climate change.
The world according to GOP ...
21 May 2018
The Earth is not warming. The White Cliffs of Dover are tumbling into the sea and causing sea levels to rise. Global warming is helping grow the Antarctic ice sheet. Those are some of the skeptical assertions echoed by Republicans in the US House of Representatives last week.
Investors urge oil firms to shun Trump's Arctic plan
16 May 2018
Investors managing more than $2.5 trillion have warned oil firms and banks to shun moves by US president Donald Trump to open an Arctic national wildlife refuge to drilling.
California turns farms into carbon-sucking factories
15 May 2018
In a grand experiment, California switched on a fleet of high-tech greenhouse gas removal machines last month.
California faces long road to reach e-car target
11 May 2018
California continues to lead the US in electric car sales but it faces a long, hard road before it can achieve its goal of getting five million emissions-free vehicles on the road in 12 years.
Why you can’t have free trade and save the planet
9 May 2018
Donald Trump is simultaneously chided for refusing to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and for promoting a trade policy that reduces the causes of such emissions.
E-waste innovator is going to prison
4 May 2018
A Southern California man who built a sizable business out of recycling electronic waste is headed to federal prison for 15 months.
DIVIDED COUNTRY: Border gets the creeps
1 May 2018
The stark climatic border in the US separating the sultry east from the dry west is rapidly shifting - a change that could have a significant future impact.
Hands up those companies making an effort
26 Apr 2018
An analysis of more than 600 top US companies has found that those seeing the effects of global warming first-hand are taking the most concrete actions.
Bloomberg vows to pay America's Paris dues
24 Apr 2018
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he will write a $4.5m cheque to cover this year’s US commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.
California must live with whiplash events
24 Apr 2018
California is likely to swing from drought to extreme rainfall and flooding more often in the future, a new report says.
Miami mans the pumps to beat sea level
23 Apr 2018
Miami Beach's $500 million attempt to elevate and pump itself out of sea level rise's path has drawn criticism, but an expert panel says the city's doing what it needs to survive.
Carbon markets pay off for US states
18 Apr 2018
Nine years after its launch, the US's first mandatory carbon-trading programme is still boosting the economy and creating jobs in its nine-state region.
Nature best weapon against flood damage
18 Apr 2018
Scientists have found nature is the most cost-effective way of reducing the impacts of extreme weather events.
Coal lobbyist becomes No2 official at EPA
16 Apr 2018
Former coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler has been confirmed as second in command at the the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Seas rising too fast to save much of Mississippi Delta
16 Apr 2018
Louisiana is proceeding with ambitious plans to redirect the Mississippi River — but even this massive intervention might not be enough to save the most threatened lands from fast-rising seas.
Seattle wants to charge city drivers
9 Apr 2018
A Seattle proposal to make drivers pay a fee for coming downtown is a linchpin in a list of initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the city’s transportation sector.
US to ease car and truck emissions standards
5 Apr 2018
US environmental regulators will ease emissions standards for cars and trucks, saying that a timeline put in place by President Obama was not appropriate and set standards “too high”.
Walden Pond pilgrims pollute one of nature's sacred sites
5 Apr 2018
Even the waters of Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau famously retreated to try to understand nature, are not safe from climate change and human pollution.
Aus power prices to fall for most customers, with bigger drops for businesses
Thu 28 May 2026
Surging levels of renewable energy and better reliability from coal-fired generators are set to give consumers a break, with benchmark power prices to fall up to 10 per cent for consumers and more for small businesses.
Can China turn hydrogen into its next clean-energy industry?
Fri 29 May 2026
China has said that hydrogen is a key “future industry”, important to both its energy transition and its industrial policy.
Europe heatwave 'brutal reminder' of climate change: UN
Thu 28 May 2026
The UN climate chief said Wednesday that a record-breaking early heatwave scorching a swathe of western Europe was "a brutal reminder of the spiraling impacts of the climate crisis".
Britain ‘sleepwalking into a food crisis’ without urgent action, experts say
Fri 29 May 2026
Industry figures warn of national security risk and call for ministers to address the impact of extreme weather, inflation and Iran war.
Canada signs landmark LNG energy deal with Germany
Fri 29 May 2026
Canada has announced a landmark energy agreement with Germany that will see the first-ever long-term shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to Europe in the coming years.
Indian city records 48.2C temperature as sizzling heatwave empties roads
Tue 26 May 2026
The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures Thursday of around 45 degrees Celsius in the capital, Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope.
The nation holding back the sea
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.
Aid cuts and climate change drive deadly malaria surge in Zimbabwe
Fri 29 May 2026
A surge in malaria cases in Zimbabwe is exposing fragile health systems and growing treatment shortages in rural areas.
Colombia’s climate crossroads: Trumpism casts shadow over presidential battle
Tue 26 May 2026
Colombia is a global leader in climate activism. Could US influence drag country to a future of mining and fracking?
UN backs historic climate crisis ruling, despite US attempts to stop resolution
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.
