A (non-comprehensive) list of interesting and relevant climate change, climate policy, and environmental justice stories.
In a historic move, Vermont becomes 1st state to pass a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for climate change damages. Vermont has passed a first-in-the-nation law that will require “Big Oil” to pay for damage caused by climate change, the long-term shift in weather patterns that is heavily influenced by fossil fuel emissions. (read the full story here)
‘It’s all we have’: young climate activists on the state of politics around the world. With elections affecting half the world’s population this year, campaigners offer their views on the chances of real change. (read the full story here)
Climate, development and nature: three urgent priorities for next UK government. Revitalized global leadership from Britain can make a difference at a deeply troubling and fractured time for world affairs. (read the full story here)
Developing countries need support adapting to deadly heat. Many vulnerable people in South Asia are already struggling to protect themselves from unbearably high temperatures – which are set to worsen. (read the full story here)
Salt in the Womb: How Rising Seas Erode Reproductive Health. Women in Bangladesh are confronting the dangerous health effects of consuming salty water. They won’t be the last. (read the full story here)
Advocates Ask EPA to Investigate Baltimore City for Harming Disinvested Communities. A Title VI complaint alleges that the city’s latest waste management plan fails to devise a clear path away from trash incineration, further harming the adjacent communities. (read the full story here)
Is US Offshore Wind Dead in the Water—Or Just Poised for the Next Big Gust? The Biden Administration wants to boost offshore wind. But other forces, including cost, political opposition and disinformation, have slowed adoption. (read the full story here)
Congress Pushes Forward With Bill Expanding the Rights of Mining Companies on Federal Land
The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act passed the House with bipartisan support and awaits approval in the Senate. (read the full story here)
Our carbon capture experiment is the antithesis of environmental justice. In communities already suffering most from the harms of the fossil fuel industry — adverse health impacts and shortened lifespans, ravaged ecosystems and the empty promises of economic prosperity — residents are paying twice to support the pipe dream of carbon capture. (read the full story here)
Power outages linked to heat and storms are rising, and low-income communities are most at risk. Many Americans think of power outages as infrequent inconveniences, but that’s quickly changing. Nationwide, major power outages have increased tenfold since 1980, largely because of an aging electrical grid and damage sustained from severe storms as the planet warms. (read the full story here)