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The World’s Happiest People already Have a Green New Deal, and they Love it

The World’s Happiest People already Have a Green N...

According to the latest report from the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Nordics are once again in the top tier of the World’s Happiest People. This year’s report, which came out March 20, pulled together the scores from the last three years to build a composite score, revealing that the four happiest countries from 2016-2018 are Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, with Sweden coming in...
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EPA Chief: Climate Change Is Not Top Priority

EPA Chief: Climate Change Is Not Top Priority

In an in-depth interview with Reuters Thursday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Andrew Wheeler repeated claims that climate change is not the biggest environmental threat facing the world and shed some light on the agency’s plans to help the Trump administration boost fossil fuel development. The interview came a day after President Donald Trump signed two executive orders designed to speed up pipeline...
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What a Real Coal Ash Cleanup Looks Like

What a Real Coal Ash Cleanup Looks Like

The toxic mess left behind from burning coal is a growing, nationwide problem. But we’re seeing that state governments can be convinced to do the right thing and clean it up. Recently, North Carolina joined its neighboring state to become a trendsetter in the proper disposal of coal ash waste. Following on the heels of similar news in Virginia, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on April 1...
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After a decade of research, here’s what scientists know about the health impacts of fracking

After a decade of research, here’s what scientists...

“This should be of serious concern to policymakers interested in protecting public health.” Fracking has been linked to preterm births, high-risk pregnancies, asthma, migraine headaches, fatigue, nasal and sinus symptoms, and skin disorders over the last 10 years, according to a new study. Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is a process of extracting oil and gas from the Earth by drilling deep wells...
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How this (Iowa) bill pits utilities against solar businesses and pork producers at Iowa Capitol

How this (Iowa) bill pits utilities against solar ...

Todd Miller gets the question at random times, day and night. It’s usually some variation of the same basic inquiry, said Miller, the co-owner of a solar installation company in Ankeny: “Any update?” The curious ones — other solar business owners, clients and Miller’s own employees — are asking about a bill moving through the Iowa Capitol that some believe will squash a small but growing industry in the state....
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Revised Ohio nuclear ‘bailout’ bill raises more questions

Revised Ohio nuclear ‘bailout’ bill raises more qu...

An updated version of the bill would still exclude most wind and solar from clean air credits, while allowing payments to unspecified “reduced emissions resources” that could include gas and coal. COLUMBUS — Republican lawmakers in the Ohio House introduced legislation Friday that would provide subsidies for two Ohio nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, while at the same time defunding decade-old renewable...
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One thing you can do: Reduce Your Lawn

One thing you can do: Reduce Your Lawn

Spring is here, and that means millions of Americans will soon be seeding, fertilizing and mowing their grass. America has a lot of lawns. Add them all together, and they’d cover an area roughly the size of Florida, making grass the most common irrigated plant in the country. And all that grass comes with an environmental cost. To keep weeds at bay, homeowners dumped around 59 million pounds of pesticides onto their...
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Midwest Renewables Surge Forward: But Where Is Ohio?

Midwest Renewables Surge Forward: But Where Is Ohi...

The renewable energy boom that has been gaining momentum over the last few years was confirmed by new data released this month showing that wind and solar generation has nearly doubled in the U.S. over the last decade. Clean energy now provides 17.6 percent of our nation’s electric power. This impressive trend is also demonstrated in the Midwest. A surge of wind and solar development has taken place in our region since 2008,...
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One Thing you can do: Your tips for going plastic-free

One Thing you can do: Your tips for going plastic-...

” src=”https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/03/06/climate/cli-newsletter-headers-march/cli-newsletter-headers-march-custom5-v3.png” border=”0″> After Eduardo Garcia shopped plastic-free for a week, we asked our readers for other tips on avoiding plastics. Hundreds of you responded, with suggestions for toothpaste, sunscreen and many other products. Here are some of your ideas (we plan to use...
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NAACP Reveals Tactics Fossil Fuel Industry Uses to Manipulate Communities of Color

NAACP Reveals Tactics Fossil Fuel Industry Uses to...

The fossil fuel industry regularly deploys manipulative and dishonest tactics when engaging with communities of color, often working to co-opt the respect and authority of minority-led groups to serve corporate goals. That is according to a new report, “Fossil Fueled Foolery,” published today by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which outlines the top 10 manipulation tactics that the...
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House Democrats roll out energy storage tax credit while pushing broader clean energy incentives

House Democrats roll out energy storage tax credit...

Dive Brief: Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., on Thursday introduced legislation long awaited by clean energy advocates: a tax credit for energy storage technologies. H.R. 2096 aims to make energy storage technologies fully eligible for the investment tax credit (ITC) that is currently available to solar and some solar-plus-storage projects. The solar ITC is set to phase down from 30% in 2019 to 26% for projects that start in 2020,...
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Are you biased against nuclear power? Yup, say scientists

Are you biased against nuclear power? Yup, say sci...

In the 1970s, you couldn’t escape the Pepsi Challenge on TV. Blindfolded men and women took sips of Pepsi and its better-known archrival without knowing which was which and — surprise, surprise — more people preferred Pepsi Cola. The message was clear: Judge the soda on its merits not its reputation. Scientists at Carnegie Mellon and the University of California, San Diego recently did something like this but not with soda....
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Early Pesticide Exposure Linked to Increased Autism Risk

Early Pesticide Exposure Linked to Increased Autis...

Environmental exposure to pesticides, both before birth and during the first year of life, has been linked to an increased risk of developing autism spectrum disorder, according to the largest epidemiological study to date on the connection. The study, published Wednesday in BMJ, found that pregnant women who lived within 2,000 meters (approximately 1.2 miles) of a highly-sprayed agricultural area in California had children...
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EPA Announces 20 Toxic Chemicals It Won’t Protect Us From

EPA Announces 20 Toxic Chemicals It Won’t Protect ...

On Wednesday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first 20 chemicals it plans to prioritize as “high priority” for assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Given the EPA’s record of malfeasance on chemicals policy over the past two years, it is clear that these are chemicals that EPA is prioritizing to ensure that they are not properly evaluated or regulated. Of the 20...
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The problem with ignoring people’s emotions about climate change

The problem with ignoring people’s emotions ...

Many people feel helplessness, hopelessness, anger, and fear when they hear about the topic. About 20 years ago, while presenting the science of climate change to a large public group, I stopped in the middle of my talk. Up until this time, my presentations had been filled with 50 minutes of scientific information. However, during my graduate work in psychology, I had become more attuned to the importance of affect in how we...
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