Climate change

Climate change poses a “grave threat” and an “existential” menace over the long-term to all Americans, similar to acts of aggression by China and Russia and the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared Monday. While delivering a speech on the “climate crisis” from the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, Blinken said: I spend a great deal of my time focused on threats to America’s security and interests – aggressive actions by Russia or China, the spread of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease], the challenges facing democracies. But an equally grave threat to the American people – and an existential one over the long term – can be seen right here, on the Chesapeake Bay, where the costs of climate change are already manifesting themselves. Climate change would hit poor minority communities “the hardest,” Blinken proposed, adding that addressing the issue “offers one of the most powerful tools we have to fight inequity and systemic racism.” The top U.S. … [Read more...] about Antony Blinken: Addressing Climate Change a ‘Powerful Tool’ Against ‘Systemic Racism’

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff warned of factual and legal issues in a Trump administration joint vehicle climate rollback issued with a Department of Transportation agency, an internal government watchdog said. A report from the office of the EPA’s inspector general raised the concerns about the interagency collaboration between the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)  in a new report issued on Tuesday. The report said that EPA technical staff told leadership that they hadn’t seen about 650 pages of the 1,000-page rule before it was sent to the White House for review because of a “lack of interagency collaboration at the technical level.” ADVERTISEMENT The rule, which was primarily put together by NHTSA, had “numerous errors and inaccuracies” when it was submitted for interagency review, the inspector general said, citing comments by the EPA. The report said that then-EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler Andrew … [Read more...] about EPA staff warned of factual, legal issues in Trump vehicle climate rollback, watchdog says

In a recent study , we demonstrated for the first time with global observations that human activity is directly altering Earth’s energy balance and, as a result, warming the planet. Often the proof that humans are causing climate change is likened to evidence in a criminal trial. If the rising sea levels are fingerprints and increasing temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions are DNA evidence, our detection of an increase in the Earth’s radiative forcing — a measure of the energy change directly caused by human action — is like catching the culprit in the act on camera. It closes the door for good on the misguided argument that the unprecedented changes we’re observing are mostly natural. Not just new evidence in an already settled case, the real value of our measurements is as a tool for monitoring how efforts to mitigate climate change are performing. If we take the necessary action, they will be the first and most direct sign of hope that our efforts are working. At … [Read more...] about New proof we are changing the climate could also help save it

The downside of the boom. Photo: Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images Global carbon emissions are on track to surge by nearly 5 percent this year, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest forecast , a rebound that wipes out most of the decline caused last year by the pandemic. The IEA’s Global Energy Review 2021 predicted that carbon-dioxide emissions will rise to 33 billion tonnes this year, up 1.5 billion tonnes from 2020 levels, the largest single increase in more than a decade, as demand for coal, oil, and gasoline returns to pre-pandemic levels. That would reverse 80 percent of the decline seen in 2020 with emissions rebounding to just below 2019’s peak. “This is a dire warning that the economic recovery from the COVID crisis is currently anything but sustainable for our climate,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said in a statement . “Unless governments around the world move rapidly to start cutting emissions, we are likely to face an … [Read more...] about Global Recovery Wipes Out Most of 2020’s Decline in Carbon Emissions

House Republicans on Monday kicked off a three-day energy event they’re saying will promote “conservative solutions for a better climate,” ahead of a climate summit scheduled at the White House this week. Monday’s events were focused on innovation, one of three areas in which Republicans say they will address the issue. The party also says it will support clean energy infrastructure, as well as natural solutions and conservation, according to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Kevin McCarthy White House readies for Chauvin verdict McCarthy to introduce resolution to censure Waters House GOP's McClain responds to Pelosi calling her 'that woman' MORE ’s (R-Calif.) website. Only events that take place on Monday are currently listed on the site . They include promoting nuclear energy and a still-developing type of technology called carbon capture which aims to prevent carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. … [Read more...] about House Republicans kick off climate forum ahead of White House summit