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The ‘Green New Deal’: Six things to know

The ‘Green New Deal’: Six things to kn...

The ‘Green New Deal’ has inspired lots of conversation in the climate world. Here are a few key points to consider. When the decks seem stacked against a nation – whether it’s extreme weather or soaring asthma rates, dismal job prospects, or plummeting stocks – there may be an opportunity to reshuffle the cards. History offers precedent. “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,”...
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The most dangerous climate feedback loop is speeding up

The most dangerous climate feedback loop is speedi...

The carbon-rich permafrost warmed “in all permafrost zones on Earth” from 2007 to 2016, according to a new study. Most ominously, Siberian permafrost at depths of up to 30 feet warmed a remarkable 1.6°F (0.9°C) in those 10 years, the researchers found. The permafrost, or tundra, is soil that stays below freezing (32°F) for at least two years. Permafrost warming can “amplify global climate change, because when frozen...
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We broke down what climate change will do, region by region

We broke down what climate change will do, region ...

AH, FREAK OUT Yeah, we read each chapter of the report so you don’t have to. Look, at this point, even the most stubborn among us know that climate change is coming for our asses. We really don’t have much time until the climate plagues we’re already getting previews of — mega-wildfires, rising sea-levels, superstorm after superstorm — start increasing in frequency. The 4th National Climate Assessment says all that and...
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Impact of climate change on central Ohio detailed in new report

Impact of climate change on central Ohio detailed ...

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Soggy fields and lawns are still the rule in early January, following the wettest year in Columbus’ history, with official records back to 1879. During 2018, John Glenn Columbus International Airport received 55.18 inches, eclipsing 2011 (54.96 inches). Other parts of the city had even more, including 57.91 inches on the northwest side of town. In Hocking County, an observer in Rockbridge...
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How we can combat climate change

How we can combat climate change

Last year’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sounded the alarm: The world has until 2030 to implement “rapid and far-reaching” changes to our energy, infrastructure and industrial systems to avoid 2 degrees Celsius of warming, which could be catastrophic. But the scale of the challenge can appear so overwhelming that it’s hard to know where to start. The Post asked activists, politicians and...
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New Zero-Energy Homes Almost to Cost Parity

New Zero-Energy Homes Almost to Cost Parity

A new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute finds cost parity is nearly a reality in some locations in the U.S. If you had a choice between building new homes that meet basic standards and building comfortable, healthy homes that dramatically cut energy bills, which would you prefer? How about if the low-energy homes cost the same (or nearly the same) as a standard home to build? If the cost is relatively equal, shouldn’t...
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Feeling Blue About Climate Change? You’re Not Alone

Feeling Blue About Climate Change? You’re Not Alon...

It’s been a tough year for those of us in the climate change community. Each week has seemed to bring either a fresh report reminding us of how precious little time we have left to try to turn this ship around or a disaster that has climate change’s fingerprints all over it. Friends, family, colleagues and reporters have all asked whether I’m optimistic or hopeful about our ability to limit the severity of...
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With More Electric and Hybrid Cars on the Road, States Increase Fees

With More Electric and Hybrid Cars on the Road, St...

Critics argue that the revenue raised isn’t worth weakening the incentives to buy more environmentally friendly vehicles. General Motors may have pulled the plug in late November on its award-winning hybrid, the Chevy Volt, but electric vehicles (EVs) are far from dead. While they may only account for little more than 1 percent of all light-duty cars sold in the U.S. today, their share is quickly growing. EV sales were...
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50-million-year cooling trend is reversed

50-million-year cooling trend is reversed

Yet again, scientists have studied the deep past to find warning of a dangerous future: the reversal of a 50-million-year cooling trend. LONDON, 31 December, 2018 − Humankind, in two centuries, has transformed the climate. It has succeeded in reversing a 50-million-year cooling trend. Scientists conclude that the profligate combustion of fossil fuels could within three decades take planet Earth back to conditions that...
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9 Renewable Energy Highlights of 2018

9 Renewable Energy Highlights of 2018

Despite the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to prop up coal and undermine renewables—at FERC, EPA and through tariffs and the budget process—2018 should instead be remembered for the surge in momentum toward a clean energy economy. Here are nine storylines that caught my attention this past year and help illustrate the unstoppable advancement of renewable energy and other modern grid technologies. 1. California...
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7 things to watch in 2019 as Trump goes to war with Democrats over the environment

7 things to watch in 2019 as Trump goes to war wit...

Buckle up, folks, it’s going to be a long one. Next year will see a dramatic acceleration in environmental regulation rollbacks, as a number of Trump administration proposals gain traction and take effect, with fossil fuel restrictions, public health, and scientific studies all set to be impacted. There has already been an onslaught of environmental regulatory rollbacks so vast it can be hard to keep track of those...
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The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy

The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting...

While big oil and gas companies provided the cash for anti-regulation campaigns, the farm lobby offered up a sympathetic face: the American farmer. When Republican Rep. Steve Scalise stepped to the dais in the U.S. House of Representatives in July and implored his colleagues to denounce a carbon tax, he didn’t reach for dire predictions made by the fossil fuel titans that pushed for the resolution. Instead, he talked...
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How to sort out good-faith questions about climate change

How to sort out good-faith questions about climate...

Sure, there are trolls out there – but don’t rule out productive conversations with others because of them. The comment haunted me in its wrongness: “One volcanic eruption dwarfs human CO2.” I jumped in. “No, not even close, Don. Humans emit 100 times the CO2 that volcanoes do, every single year. Your willingness to spread false information doesn’t speak too highly of your judgment.” My finger hovered over the...
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81% of Voters Support a Green New Deal, Survey Finds

81% of Voters Support a Green New Deal, Survey Fin...

It’s been little over a month since newly-elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez joined some 200 young climate activists for a sit-in in soon-to-be House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office to demand that Democrats back a Green New Deal, a plan to transform the U.S. energy economy in order to stave off climate change and promote greater equality. Since then, support has ballooned for the revolutionary...
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Germany’s green transition has hit a brick wall

Germany’s green transition has hit a brick wall

More people are finally beginning to realize that supplying the world with sufficient, stable energy solely from sun and wind power will be impossible. Germany took on that challenge, to show the world how to build a society based entirely on “green, renewable” energy. It has now hit a brick wall. Despite huge investments in wind, solar and biofuel energy production capacity, Germany has not reduced CO2 emissions over the...
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