A (non-comprehensive) list of interesting and relevant climate change, climate policy, and environmental justice stories.
‘How to greenwash’: propane industry tries to rebrand fuel as renewable. Lobbying group spent nearly $30m on ads touting the ‘clean energy’ potential of propane – and downplaying its full climate impacts. (read the full story here)
Devastating drought in Amazon result of climate crisis, study shows. Extreme weather threatens world’s biggest carbon store as the rainforest is already close to tipping point. (read the full story here)
Owner’s Withdrawal From Offshore Wind Project Hobbles Maryland’s Clean Energy Plans. The state is already dealing with the ramifications of fewer lease areas needed to develop offshore wind farms. (read the full story here)
Canada’s Tar Sands Are a Much Larger Source of Air Pollution Than Previously Thought, Study Says. The research, published in Science, found the oil operations are releasing vast quantities of compounds that can cause localized air pollution and form damaging particles that can travel across the continent. (read the full story here)
Environmentalists Rattled by Radioactive Risks of Toxic Coal Ash. The EPA now recognizes the risks of gamma radiation from radium in coal ash, but many states aren’t even sure where the toxic waste has been used. In Alabama, environmental regulators say they do not track so-called ‘beneficial’ uses of coal ash. (read the full story here)
Advocates Celebrate a Legal Win Against US Navy’s Staggering Pollution in the Potomac River. A Lack of Effective Regulation Could Dampen the Spirit. Petitioners want strong regulatory safeguards built into the pollution discharge permit, which the Navy has agreed to obtain after more than a century of unchecked weapons testing in the Potomac River, in violation of the Clean Water Act. (read the full story here)
From urchin crushing to lab-grown kelp, efforts to save California’s kelp forests show promise. (read the full story here)
U.S. pauses build-out of natural gas export terminals to weigh climate impacts. The Biden administration has temporarily frozen consideration of new natural gas export facilities. The Department of Energy will now review the long-term implications of the facilities on climate change, and ultimately decide if they serve the public interest. (read the full story here)
Top business leaders bemoan archaic systems in Europe that are curbing climate solutions. (read the full story here)