California re-evaluating its landmark climate strategy

[Source: CalMatters] California EPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld laid out plans for re-examining whether the program is likely to meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gases. It signals a shift in the administration’s attitude and reflects problems posed by the pandemic-caused recession. As the coronavirus pandemic and recession hits California, the governor’s top environmental official has Read More…

California’s budget cuts threaten environmental spending

[Source: Associated Press] California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget cuts include canceling billions of dollars in climate change spending, a blow to environmental advocates who look to the state as a stopgap for the Trump administration’s weakening of federal protections. In January, Newsom proposed a $12 billion “climate budget” that, over the next five years, Read More…

NEPA climate overhaul could unleash energy projects

[Source: E&E NEWS] The White House is poised to exclude climate considerations from its controversial rewrite of rules surrounding the nation’s core environmental law. The Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed changes to National Environmental Policy Act guidelines will likely emerge this week. NEPA, signed into law by President Nixon, gives communities input and allows them Read More…

Why renewables can’t save the climate

[Source: Forbes / Michael Shellenberger] Democratic presidential candidates may disagree on a lot, but they all agree that the solution to climate change is the expansion of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind. Some candidates see a role for nuclear. Sen. Cory Booker and businessman Andrew Yang have called for new plants, while former Vice Read More…

Measures to reduce air pollution could make heatwaves worse, study suggests

[Source: Evening Standard] Measures aimed at lowering air pollution could in turn make heatwaves more severe, a study has suggested. Researchers believe tiny man-made particles, such as those produced by car exhausts, could have an influence on the severity of future heatwaves. A computerised model was used by scientists from the University of Edinburgh to carry out Read More…

California solar jobs fall for second year

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle] Jobs in California’s once-steadily growing solar power sector fell for the second straight year in 2018, part of a nationwide decline amid uncertainty caused by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and challenges at the state level. While the state remains the largest source of solar industry employment, jobs fell 11 Read More…

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions spiked in 2018 — and it couldn’t happen at a worse time

[Source: The Washington Post] U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose an estimated 3.4 percent in 2018, according to new research — a jarring increase that comes as scientists say the world needs to be aggressively cutting its emissions to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change. The findings, published Tuesday by the independent economic research firm Read More…