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Youngkin Pledges to Decouple Virginia from California Vehicle Emissions Standards by End of 2024
RICHMOND, Va.—Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has pledged to return Virginia to federal vehicle emissions standards, three years after the state’s Democratic-led legislature passed a law committing the state to follow more stringent emissions rules set by California. “The idea that government should be telling Virginians what kind of...
Lawsuits Targeting Plastic Pollution Pile Up as Frustrated Citizens and States Seek Accountability
The plastic pellets washing up on beaches and in marshes around Charleston, South Carolina, became very obvious about five years ago. Called nurdles, these pebble-sized particles that are the raw material for many plastic products floated, too, in the aquamarine waters of the harbor, many carried at high tide to Sullivan’s Island, known for its white sand and million-dollar homes, where they caused alarm.
Ohio and Pennsylvania Residents Affected by the East Palestine Train Derailment Say Their ‘Basic Needs’ Are Still Not Being Met
Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and nearby areas in Pennsylvania harmed by the Norfolk Southern train disaster say a new $310 million settlement announced by the Biden administration on May 23 will not meet their communities’ most urgent needs, like access to health care for chronic conditions that emerged after the derailment.
In Push to Meet Maryland’s Ambitious Climate Commitments, Moore Announces New Executive Actions
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore Tuesday issued a wide-ranging executive order on reducing climate pollution, directing the Maryland Department of the Environment and other agencies to develop a host of initiatives including a zero-emission heating equipment standard to reduce pollution and improve ambient air quality inside homes. Announcing his plan at...
First-in-the-Nation Geothermal Heating and Cooling System Comes to Massachusetts
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.—After years of planning and months of drilling, a first-in-the-nation, neighborhood-scale geothermal heating and cooling project came online here on Tuesday. Geothermal energy—using the steady temperature below ground—to heat and cool buildings is nothing new. What’s new in Framingham is the fact that climate advocates and a utility...
Biden’s Chinese Tariffs Could Hamper E-Bike Sales in the U.S.
In May, the Biden administration slapped new tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including a 100 percent levy on electric vehicles. Though few Chinese EVs are sold in the U.S., the decision reflects a tense trade war between the two countries, and the administration’s fear that China will soon bombard the market with cheap electric cars.
For Pregnant People, Heat Waves Bring An Increased Risk of Preterm and Early Term Babies, Study Finds
PHILADELPHIA—Jaquanna Lomax finished her training classes as a doula just last month, but as summer approaches and she awaits her first professional delivery, she’s already started thinking about one potential challenge for new moms that wasn’t covered much during her schooling—the heat. Lomax, a 36-year-old mother...
California Regulators Approve Community Solar Decision Opposed by Solar Advocates
In the last two years, California regulators have voted to cut incentives for home solar installations and slash them for apartment buildings and multi-tenant commercial buildings. Last week, the state’s Public Utilities Commission delivered another disappointment to solar advocates, voting 3-to-1 to approve changes to community solar programs that advocates fear will result in few new projects.
In New York, Attorney General Letitia James’ Narrow View of the State’s Green Amendment
ALBANY—Citizens who breathe air polluted by New York’s largest landfill have no legal right under the state’s Green Amendment to block that facility’s application for a permit to expand, lawyers for the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) argue. In a response filed Friday to a...
Armed Groups Use Deforestation as a Bargaining Chip in Colombia
Early this year Colombia was lauded by NGOs and journalists around the world for protecting its forests. Deforestation had dropped precipitously and it seemed that President Gustavo Petro had delivered on his commitment to make Colombia a “world power in life.”. But these hopes were punctured at a press...
Climate Change is Fueling the Loss of Indigenous Languages That Could Be Crucial to Combating It
There are roughly 7,000 languages spoken around the world. Indigenous groups speak more than 4,000 of them, despite making up less than 6 percent of the global population. These languages often hold secrets to the inner workings of the planet, from the best times to plant certain crops to the healing properties of critical medicinal plants. However, a growing body of research shows that climate change is driving the loss of native languages worldwide—in big ways and small.
A German Climate Activist Won’t End His Hunger Strike, Even With the Risk of Death Looming
Eighty-five days into a hunger strike, German environmental engineer and climate activist Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick had lost more than 61 pounds, his face and body were gaunt and his blood sugar was critically low. The physicians overseeing the health of the four remaining hunger strikers in Berlin, Germany have ceded responsibility...
Using Less of the Colorado River Takes a Willing Farmer and $45 million in Federal Funds
Wyoming native Leslie Hagenstein lives on the ranch where she grew up and remembers her grandmother and father delivering milk in glass bottles from the family’s Mount Airy Dairy. The cottonwood-lined property, at the foot of the Wind River Mountains south of Pinedale, is not only home to Hagenstein,...
Salt in the Womb: How Rising Seas Erode Reproductive Health
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. Today, 30-year-old garment factory worker Khadiza Akhter lives in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Her small concrete house is clean and organized. Green shutters frame the windows, and clothes hang on lines outside her front door. A water spigot sticks out of the concrete next to the drying laundry, and the turn of a white plastic knob is all it takes for clear, clean water to rush out. Akhter calls it “a blessing of God.”
New Law to Provide Florida Homebuyers With More Transparency on Flood History
ORLANDO, Fla.—For the first time, Florida home sellers will have to disclose certain aspects of a property’s flood history, under legislation Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law this week. The measure is seen as an important step toward addressing growth and development in risky areas, an issue that...
Toyota Opens a ‘Megasite’ for EV Batteries in a Struggling N.C. Community, Fueled by Biden’s IRA
GREENSBORO, N.C.— When Muhammud Abu-Kass’ high school teacher told him about an opportunity at a nearby community college to be trained to work for Toyota’s first and only electric vehicle battery plant and get paid for it, he paused his plans to pursue an engineering degree. “Getting...
Advocates Ask EPA to Investigate Baltimore City for Harming Disinvested Communities
Advocates for South Baltimore’s overburdened neighborhoods have called out Mayor Brandon Scott for broken promises and policy flip flops by lodging a federal civil rights complaint, known as a Title VI violation, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Baltimore City’s 10-year solid waste plan fails to commit resources...
Medical Schools Around the World Are Expanding Their ‘Climate Change Curriculums’
Three years ago, a group of eco-conscious students at Harvard Medical School conducted a poll with their fellow classmates and found that there was strong interest in ramping up climate health education in their courses. With support from faculty, the Students for Environmental Awareness in Medicine (SEAM) forged a path...
Congress Pushes Forward With Bill Expanding the Rights of Mining Companies on Federal Land
WASHINGTON—After the House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow mining companies more legal rights to federal lands by a bipartisan vote of 216-195 earlier this month, a bipartisan group of Senate sponsors are moving it through their chamber. “With the passage of the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, we’re...
Is US Offshore Wind Dead in the Water—Or Just Poised for the Next Big Gust?
This story was originally published by Floodlight. In the early 2000s, a long-time Louisiana engineer and entrepreneur thought it would be natural for the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico to expand into offshore wind. The industry could use the same workforce, the same shipyards and possibly even the same platforms to generate renewable power.
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