climate change
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We often speak of methods and technologies we can employ as a society to curb climate change, either by reducing carbon emissions or through other means. But less frequently do we talk about them in real terms, including how much excess carbon these methods and technologies can pratically remove from the atmosphere. That's where Drawdown, a climate action plan detailing 80 different possibilities, comes into play. DON'T MISS: Most-accurate climate-change models suggest worst effects on global weather Based on a book of the same name, the Drawdown website is a venerable resource that takes a...
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What topic should we have covered less in 2017? Twitter poll results
Over the nine years this site has published daily news about green cars, the focus of our coverage has shifted significantly. In February 2009, when we started daily coverage, our most popular topics were hybrid cars and the Toyota Prius. With Prius sales in 2017 less than half what they were just...
John Voelcker -
Fossil fuels only part of human carbon emissions; land use, deforestation matter too
In discussions of climate change, much of the focus has been on the combustion of fossil fuels: coal, oil and its gasoline and diesel-fuel derivatives, and natural gas. Collectively, the trillions of tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by man since the start of the industrial...
John Voelcker -
2017's most important green car story: internal-combustion engine ban in China
The most important green-car story of 2017 came on September 10, in a report by the Associated Press that covered articles in two Chinese state media outlets on a statement by a deputy industry minister. Speaking at "an auto industry forum," the AP wrote, Xin Guobin said his ministry has begun...
John Voelcker -
What topic should we have covered less in 2017? Take our Twitter poll
No single definition exists for the idea of "green car," and very few shoppers set out to go buy a green car. Instead, car buyers look for vehicles that meet their needs—with fuel economy or energy efficiency somewhere in that list of needs, whether higher or lower. Certainly the definition...
John Voelcker -
China's aggressive plan to counter climate change leaves US government in the dust
As the Trump administration abandons numerous U.S. efforts to rein in emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide over time, another large polluter is pushing ahead with an aggressive plan to slash pollution from energy producers. China, currently the top carbon emitter and largest consumer...
Mark Stevenson -
The denial of accepted climate science by the Trump Administration has now put the U.S. at odds with essentially every other nation in the world. Meanwhile, the news on the effects of higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is, if anything, getting worse. A recent analysis of studies and models of those effects seems to indicate that climate models that are the most accurate in predicting recent events suggest the most dire effects of future changes. DON'T MISS: Global carbon emissions to rise after staying flat for three years: report The study by the Carnegie Institution...
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World Bank will stop funding oil, gas exploration in 2019
It's not just the world automotive industry that's grappling with rapid changes brought about by the need to reduce the effects of climate change. The world's fossil-fuel extraction, refining, and delivery industries are also faced with the reality that two centuries of burning their core products...
John Voelcker -
Effect of Trump's attempts to end U.S. climate-change efforts: Twitter poll results
By now it's clear that the Trump Administration is doing everything it can to end U.S. government efforts to address climate change. Climate-science deniers sit in powerful government positions, language on climate change has been eradicated from websites, and the U.S. is now the sole nation in the...
John Voelcker -
U.S. energy sources and uses: everything you need to know in one lovely chart
One of the interesting side effects of plug-in electric cars turns out to be a greater awareness of energy sources and uses. A 2012 California study, for instance, showed roughly four out of 10 electric-car drivers either had or were considering solar panels to provide electricity to their home...
John Voelcker -
US governors release own plans to cut carbon at climate-change summit
While President Trump has announced the U.S. will pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, the United States cannot formally exit the agreement until November 5, 2020. Despite the administration's stance and its many efforts to end U.S. action to reduce carbon emissions, numerous U.S. governors...
Sean Szymkowski -
EPA head: new report that climate change is manmade has 'no bearing' on plans to end climate action
When top U.S. scientists released the fourth National Climate Assessment, it spelled out one blunt conclusion: human activity in releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere caused the climate change that has warmed the globe. Mandated for release every four years, the report will apparently have...
Sean Szymkowski -
Following President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States from the Paris Climate Accord—a global pact to reduce carbon output and curb climate change—only two other nations had not signed the treaty. Now, the U.S. sits alone and isolated internationally on climate policy. This week Syria, the final nation invited to join, announced its intention to sign the Paris climate agreement. DON'T MISS: U.S. to pull out of Paris climate-change agreement under Trump Nicaragua had been the only other holdout on the agreement, for very different reasons—the country felt the...
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Electric cars emit less carbon than average U.S. new car, everywhere in the world
When electric cars first arrived in 2011, it was a reasonable question: Aren't you just shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack? The answer is yes, but the carbon emissions per mile of an electric car—properly measured on a wells-to-wheels basis—are virtually always lower...
John Voelcker -
Climate change all manmade, say actual scientists: awkward for Trump science deniers
When the Environmental Protection Agency quietly issued its new four-year plan in mid-October, the phrase "climate change" did not appear anywhere in the 38-page document. It is now clear the Trump Administration intends to delay, halt, or erase government efforts to limit U.S. emissions of carbon...
John Voelcker -
EPA to roll back Obama-era greenhouse gas policies on coal power plants
EPA head Scott Pruitt told miners in Kentucky on Monday that he intends to begin dismantling former President Barack Obama's signature climate-change agenda effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants. Standing alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pruitt told...
Andrew Ganz -
Head of EPA ignores environmental groups, meets only with corporations
Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has had a very busy schedule since being confirmed to lead the agency set up to protect America's air, water, and land from pollution. Unlike his predecessors, Pruitt—a climate-science denier and aggressive advocate of fossil...
Sean Szymkowski -
Comment period ends tomorrow on EPA proposal to loosen emission limits on cars
The period for public comments on the EPA's proposed reconsideration of finalized rules to cut emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide from light-duty vehicles will end on Thursday, October 5. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on August 10 it would reopen the Comment...
John Voelcker -
Donald Trump's White House appears to be readying another of its next big climate change overhauls, and like many of the administration's plans, it will weaken or eliminate regulations on industry. Specifically, President Trump touted the undoing of the Clean Power Plan at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, which foreshadowed a formal announcement coming this week. The Clean Power Act was former President Obama's landmark plan for climate change, which aimed to cut emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide from utilities' electric generation by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030...
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California mulls ban on new cars with engines, joining China in climate action
With China mulling an eventual ban on sales of cars with gasoline or diesel engines, the world's largest car market made it clear earlier this month that it intends to force a conversion to zero-emission vehicles. Now California, which has led the U.S. in environmental awareness and emission...
John Voelcker -
Shell bashes bans on gasoline cars, proposes carbon pricing instead
The prospect of bans on gasoline and diesel new-car sales have become a much greater threat not only to automakers but to oil companies as well, now that China has said it is studying such a move. The world's largest car market has not announced any timetables for such a ban, which will likely be...
John Voelcker -
China wants all electric cars: will it work? Reasons and reactions
It was quaint and adorable when Norway did it, saying it would end sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025. The Netherlands followed suit, with little fanfare. More recently, France and the U.K. have enacted various forms of bans on non-electrified vehicles, on varying schedules. Now...
John Voelcker -
India actually beat China to all-electric new-car pledge, targets 2030
China made headlines around the world on Sunday when state media reported that the country is developing a timetable to end production and sales of new vehicles with gasoline engines. While Norway, The Netherlands, France, and the U.K. have adopted different timetables for various versions of such...
John Voelcker -
Texas fossil-fuel industry made state more vulnerable to hurricane
Hurricane Harvey will go down as one of the most destructive and costliest natural disasters in the United States. While the storm has dissipated, with this week's attention focused on Hurricane Irma, the effects and damage tolls will last for years—and one thing already seems clear: Texas'...
Sean Szymkowski