climate change
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The Industrial Revolution that started around 1750 in England was powered largely by coal. With Watt's invention of the steam engine and the emergence of railways in the mid-nineteenth century, the carbon-dense fuel was central to the change from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. Last Friday, however, marked a watershed moment for Britain and its relationship to coal. DON'T MISS: Coal industry hopes to don disguise as clean-power player via carbon capture That day—April 21, 2017—was the first in 135 years in which no coal was burned in Britain to generate electricity...
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U.S. exit from Paris Climate Agreement unclear; Trump team clashes on policy
As the Trump Administration nears its 100th day, it seems fair to say that it is still emitting mixed messages on multiple issues, from foreign policy to climate change. On that latter, it's important to reiterate that the president and many of his appointed agency and department heads deny the...
John Voelcker -
Is the science of climate change open to debate? Poll results
It's mixed news these days for those concerned about continuing manmade climate change. On the one hand, global carbon emissions were flat for the third year in a row, increasing numbers of global corporations have lined up to support climate-change reduction efforts, and electric power is getting...
John Voelcker -
Clean Power Plan carbon cuts may survive, even if Trump EPA kills rule
The Clean Power Plan’s future looks uncertain at best under President Donald Trump. The commander-in-chief appears to be urging American utility companies to pivot back towards burning coal to produce electricity. Ending the so-called “war on coal” is intended to create jobs in...
Green Car Reports -
Trump can't affect global climate-change progress, says Mayor Bloomberg
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has gone on record saying publicly what most analysts have discussed privately: the notion that Washington can direct the energy market back towards coal is wrong. In fact, Bloomberg is willing to go further: he believes that the U.S. can still meet the...
Green Car Reports -
Green groups gird for battle with White House: is it 'war'?
Last Wednesday, a broad coalition of environmental groups sued the Trump Administration over an executive order that lifted a moratorium on issuing new leases for coal mining on federal lands. That order would have eliminated the requirement for an environmental impact study on the impacts of any...
John Voelcker -
The new U.S. president, Donald Trump, is working to eradicate every Obama policy to limit the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Having variously called the science behind climate change a "Chinese plot" to hurt the U.S. and referred to it using an expletive for bovine excrement, this shouldn't come as a surprise. He pledged to do that, and he is doing exactly what he said he would. DON'T MISS: Trump Administration goal: undo every climate-change effort A substantial number of U.S. corporations, however, are not following suit. Instead, they are retaining policies that commit...
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Trump's climate-change order: now what happens?
These do not appear to be the best of times for President Donald J. Trump, but his agenda of eliminating regulations and promoting fossil fuels continues to roll out. This week, Trump appeared at the EPA to sign an executive order that directed the agency to reopen and reassess its Clean Power Plan...
John Voelcker -
How to curb climate change yourself: drive a more efficient car
Given the current political landscape in Washington, it's not unreasonable to worry about the future of U.S. efforts to combat climate change. The Trump Administration has embarked on an explicit mission to undo all Obama Administration efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Climate-science deniers in...
Stephen Edelstein -
Clean energy provides far more U.S. jobs than fossil fuels: analysis
Yesterday, U.S. president Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of rolling back pretty much every vestige of U.S. efforts to address climate change. In both his campaigning and since his inauguration, Trump has claimed that his government and its actions focus on creating...
John Voelcker -
Natural-gas plants cut carbon, but methane emissions can be 100 times higher than expected
While renewable energy gets significant press as an alternative to coal in electricity generation, it isn't the main factor in decreasing the use of that carbon-intensive fuel. Thanks to its generally lower cost, natural gas is quickly displacing other fuels in the nation's power plants. In...
Stephen Edelstein -
Trump Administration goal: undo every climate-change effort
It was clear well before November's election that candidate Donald Trump did not believe in the accepted science of climate change. He referred to it using an excremental epithet, and also claimed that it was a Chinese hoax created to hurt the U.S. Scientists around the world and the majority of...
John Voelcker -
Since the election of Donald Trump, considerable attention has focused on how a candidate who campaigned on promoting fossil fuels would treat the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies charged with regulating those industries. But potential changes to the EPA do not come solely from the Executive Branch. Over the past few weeks, a bill that may give fossil-fuel producers undue influence on the EPA's Science Advisory Board has gained new momentum in Congress. DON'T MISS: Trump's EPA deletes 'science' from Science Office mission statement HR 1431—also known as the EPA...
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Carbon emissions from making electricity could vanish by 2060: study
One of the major sources of carbon emissions is electricity generation. It's an issue that is becoming increasingly important in the automotive sphere, due to the slow rise of plug-in electric cars. So what would it take to eliminate carbon emissions entirely from making electricity? DON'T MISS...
Stephen Edelstein -
Bipartisan governors' group urges Trump to back solar, wind power
The new presidential administration seems poised to take a radically different approach to energy policy than its predecessor. That approach is founded on denial of accepted climate science, and an expressed desire to promote the fossil-fuel industry, including the so-called revival of coal. But...
Stephen Edelstein -
EPA to reopen emission-rule review; how important is this step?
Tomorrow is expected to be the day when President Donald Trump announces the EPA will reopen the comment period for the vehicle emissions standards it finalized in the waning days of the Obama Administration. The event will likely be accompanied by predictable language: Trump will be...
John Voelcker -
Photos reveal how polluted the U.S. was before EPA was founded
It can be argued that the current presidential administration appears to lack interest in the traditional mission of the Environmental Protection Agency. As a candidate, Donald Trump advocated wholesale repeal of environmental regulations and increased production of fossil fuels. He has also called...
Stephen Edelstein -
China happy to become world's climate-change leader if U.S. lags
Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the U.S. joined the rest of the world and took a leading role in global efforts to avert irreversible climate change. But that seems unlikely to continue under the Trump administration, which has nominated climate-science deniers to numerous key...
Stephen Edelstein -
As seemed likely from the day Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, the country will pull out of the global Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The move had been signaled even before the election by the new president's choice of noted climate-science denier Myron Ebell as head of his EPA transition team. Indeed, yesterday, Ebell confirmed that the U.S. would pull out of the global pact under which China, the U.S., Europe, and India all agreed to slash carbon-dioxide emissions over the next two decades. DON'T MISS: Ebell, proud climate-science denier...
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Trump EPA: climate science still live, gag order remains, grants unfrozen (updated)
Following the removal of all mentions of climate change from the White House website, the new administration has apparently trained its sights on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA and a handful of other government agencies are now reportedly under gag orders: employees are forbidden...
John Voelcker -
More than two-thirds of Americans accept climate science, regardless of Trump
The new U.S. administration has made it clear that it does not accept the scientific consensus on climate change. From President Donald Trump down through his nominees for key roles—Scott Pruitt for EPA adminstrator, Rick Perry for Department of Energy head, and others—key elected and...
John Voelcker -
China axes 103 coal-fired power plants, citing smog, overcapacity
During negotiations for the Paris Climate Treaty signed last fall, a major concern among critics was whether the carbon emissions of China's sprawling and inefficient energy sector could be reined in. With China, the U.S., and dozens of other countries signing the agreement, the world's most...
John Voelcker -
Action on climate change 'harmful, unnecessary': Trump White House
If there were any doubt that U.S. policy on climate change would change drastically under President Donald Trump, it should have been laid to rest shortly after noon yesterday. Following inauguration ceremonies for the 45th president of the United States, the Obama White House website was replaced...
John Voelcker -
2016 was planet's hottest year on record, third new high in a row
Despite scientists having reached a consensus years ago, considerable debate still appears to be raging over the reality of climate change. Climate-science deniers can count several people appointed to key environmental-regulatory positions in the incoming presidential administration among their...
Stephen Edelstein