Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 15, 2023

Information spreads around the world faster than it ever has in human history due to innovations in technology. Ensuring that people have access to accurate information to make science-based and informed decisions is crucial for public health and safety. Because those who spread disinformation try to create the chaos of division, distraction, delays, and demoralization in order to disrupt democratic processes that can result in science-based solutions, underestimating the intent of false informa

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Technology Technology Climate Change 2020 237

Legal Planet

MARCH 13, 2023

On Thursday, March 2, 2023, California’s principal energy agencies – the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) – held a first-of-its-kind, joint en banc hearing at Cal Poly Humboldt with Tribal government leaders and all 10 commissioners of the CEC and CPUC. In a world where on-the-ground collaboration between governments to address essential questions like climate change and energy security seem too few and far between, this hearing represented

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Government 2011 Climate Change Renewable Energy 204

Circle of Blue

MARCH 15, 2023

Avoiding four common pitfalls for water-sector partnerships. The collaboration message was clear at COP27, the UN climate conference held in November 2022, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue By Lesley Pories, Global Water Partnership – March 15, 2022 Imagine this: you organize a large potluck dinner. You take great pains to get people to sign up for a dish – in some cases times telling your colleague which dish to bring, because they do it so well – and you ensure t

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2030 Politics Sustainable Development 2022 246

Circle of Blue

MARCH 15, 2023

Global public opinion poll measures views on freshwater challenges. A woman reaches for a hose from a water tanker in Rajasthan, India. Temperatures on this day in 2016 exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – March 15, 2023 As the world’s weather flips more rapidly between the poles of too wet and too dry, the general public is taking notice.

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Air Pollution 2016 Climate Change 2022 299

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets.

2024

Yale E360

MARCH 14, 2023

The Guarani Mbya people are working to restore the once-vast Atlantic Forest, which has been largely lost to development. Gaining official tenure of their lands, they hope, will boost their efforts, which range from planting native trees to reintroducing pollinators.

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Real Climate

MARCH 16, 2023

We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update , I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what we have shown for CMIP5 in that the diagnostic is the tropical corrected-TMT (following Fu et al., 2004 ) which is a better representation of the mid-troposphere than the classic TMT diagnostic through an adjustment usin

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Legal Planet

MARCH 15, 2023

Photo by Desolation Hiker via Flickr (CC-BY-NC 2.0) Creator: Christian Arballo Air quality officials in the San Francisco Bay Area just made history by moving to adopt the nation’s first rules phasing out new gas-fueled water heaters and furnaces in homes and businesses within about eight years. This action serves as a major step in the effort to curb health-harming and planet-warming emissions from buildings.

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Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution Ozone 2029 240

Yale E360

MARCH 16, 2023

Faced with embargoes of Russian oil and gas, Europe ramped up production of solar and wind power, got serious about energy conservation, and tweaked policies to speed its green transition. Despite fears of increased emissions, the EU remained on track to meet its climate goals.

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Law and Environment

MARCH 17, 2023

On February 10, 2023, the Public Land Preservation Act (PLPA), Chapter 274 of the Acts of 2022 , ( M.G.L. Ch. 3 §5A ), went into effect. It both codifies existing practices and creates new obligations that public entities in the Commonwealth must follow to dispose or change the use of interests in land protected by Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution.

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Conservation Natural Resources Law 2024 130

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 14, 2023

Late last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked the public to provide oral comments on a major rule that will determine how much soot pollution you are exposed to. Among the commenters was my colleague Sam Wilson , who passionately and effectively called on the EPA to follow the science and enact the strongest air pollution standards to protect people’s health.

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Clean Air Act Fossil Fuels Air Pollution 2001 217

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

Clean Energy

Legal Planet

MARCH 16, 2023

Beginning today, California’s “Little Hoover Commission” will convene a series of three public hearings to consider how well–or poorly–the state’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is currently working. A special focus of the Commission’s deliberations will be whether and to what extent California’s most important and overarching environmental law is impeding efforts by the Legislature and Governor Newsom to address the state’s chr

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Politics Law Government Regulations 210

Yale E360

MARCH 15, 2023

As the planet rapidly approaches 1.5 degrees C of warming, scientists warn that rising temperatures are degrading the Earth's ability to soak up carbon dioxide, threatening to further exacerbate climate change. To keep warming in check, they stress, countries must make steep cuts to emissions in the next few years.

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Energy & the Law

MARCH 16, 2023

In Devon Energy Production Company, LP et al v. Sheppard et al, the Supreme Court of Texas construed what it referred to as a “bespoke” and “highly unique” royalty clause in several oil and gas leases to prohibit the producers from deducting out of the lessor’s royalty post-production costs incurred downstream of the point of sale to unaffiliated third parties.

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Law 130

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 14, 2023

Regardless of where we live, we should all have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits provided by electric vehicles. These benefits range from the reduced cost of operation , the reduced need for maintenance and the improved performance, to the fact that electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions. Everybody’s health stands to gain from reducing local air pollution from tailpipes: communities located near roads, families getting into a car in their garage, children boarding a school bus, and an

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Electricity 2020 Air Pollution Technology 201

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

2022

Legal Planet

MARCH 15, 2023

This past year has been big for cap-and-trade-style systems, and that momentum looks like it’s continuing in 2023. Recently, we’ve seen new programs start up in Oregon and Washington, a proposal in New York State for new carbon markets, and sustained high prices in existing programs in California and the Northeast. Although these programs differ in their details, they all attempt to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions cost-effectively by creating a market for permissions to emit—called “allowances”—

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Greenhouse Air Pollution Regulations 2021 195

Yale E360

MARCH 17, 2023

A Swiss start-up will install solar panels on a railway in western Switzerland, pending approval from transportation officials.

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Law and Environment

MARCH 15, 2023

Yesterday, EPA proposed to regulate certain PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA proposed Maximum Contaminant Level Goals for PFOA and PFOS of zero. It proposed Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFOA and PFOS of 4.0 parts per trillion. EPA also proposed MCLGs and MCLs for PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and HFPO-DA (“GenX Chemicals”) based on a novel hazard index approach to these compounds as a group.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2023

For many of us, spring can’t come soon enough–birds singing, flowers blooming, and longer days are ahead. However, getting ready for spring means thinking about what the risk of flooding might be in our region. Today the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the US Spring Outlook. Here are a few key takeaways. First the good news: The “abnormally” wet winter has improved the extensive drought conditions across the country and helped to replenish many of the

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Climate Change Atmosphere Ocean 2022 181

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Sustainable Development

Legal Planet

MARCH 16, 2023

As California continues to develop plans for floating offshore wind (OSW) implementation, state leaders have an opportunity to forge a national example on stakeholder engagement and energy justice. California can achieve this, not just by (for example) incorporating environmental justice (EJ) principles into agency analysis and planning or by increasing consultation with tribal entities, but by ensuring — and ensuring funding for — a seat at planning and implementation tables for communities (in

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy 2022 2018 130

Yale E360

MARCH 13, 2023

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has announced plans to plant 5 million trees to help the country cope with climate change.

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Climate Change 152

Law and Environment

MARCH 14, 2023

Four New England States – Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island – recently submitted a concept paper to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposing to build up to three new high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines and related onshore system upgrades to support the injection of new offshore wind resources in New England.

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Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Carbon Emissions Technology 130

NRDC

MARCH 16, 2023

Manicured turf grass lawns cover up to 50 million acres of land in America. But a new, no-mow movement is challenging this conformity—and helping the environment.

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New Scientist

MARCH 14, 2023

Brain organoids grown in a lab can be used to perform basic computation tasks, but there are big unanswered questions about how far this approach should be taken

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Cool Green Science

MARCH 12, 2023

Many invasive fish are well known and well publicized. But you might not have heard about rudd. The post 50 Fish, 50 States: Rudd of South Dakota appeared first on Cool Green Science.

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Cooling 129

Enviromental Defense

MARCH 15, 2023

15 environmental groups signed an open letter calling on Minister Freeland for federal funding to save public transit systems Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Today, a coalition of 15 environmental groups, including Environmental Defence, Équiterre, Greenpeace Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation and Climate Action Network Canada, signed an open letter calling on Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to intervene once again to save public transit systems

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Carbon Emissions Government 2023 2024 118

Scientific American

MARCH 13, 2023

A social psychologist found that showing people how manipulative techniques work can create resilience against misinformation

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Washington Nature

MARCH 17, 2023

Legislative Half-time Report: Progress on our Priorities so far Speak up for nature this session Learn what it means to “Sign in Pro” — one of the quickest, easiest ways to show your support for a bill moving through the Legislature. March 8th marked the halfway point for the 2023 state legislative session, and with it came an important deadline. Policy bills had to be voted out of their chamber of origin (either the House or Senate) to continue in the legislative process - unless it is consider

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Clean Energy Climate Change 2023 Electricity 119

New Scientist

MARCH 15, 2023

Palaeolithic hand stencils with missing fingers could indicate ritual mutilation or frostbite – but new research suggests they might be trying to tell us something

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PA Environment Daily

MARCH 13, 2023

The Allegheny County Conservation District recently awarded $220,000 to the City of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to stabilize a landslide and repair a degraded road in Homewood through the Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Road (DGLVR) Program. Spring seeps and unmanaged stormwater caused a significant landslide on Haverhill Street in 2018 and released a substantial amount of sediment on the roadway.

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Conservation 2018 Environmental Protection 2023 118

Frontiers

MARCH 13, 2023

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Compostable plastics are on the rise. Despite their merits, these products, including wrappers and packaging, can contaminate conventional plastic waste in the recycling process. Now, scientists used highly sensitive imaging techniques and developed machine learning methods that can identify compostable plastics among conventional types.

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Waste Biodegradable Recycling Technology 110

NRDC

MARCH 16, 2023

Here’s why follow-through on a $100 billion–per–year climate finance promise, from collecting data to determining success, remains complex but critical.

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New Scientist

MARCH 16, 2023

Tens of thousands of living brain cells have been used to build a simple computer that can recognise patterns of light and electricity.

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Electricity 127

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 16, 2023

The Berks County-based Hawk Mountain Sanctuary invites visitors to the Mountain for the annual spring migration watch and weekend programs. Beginner and expert birders are welcome to join the official counter looking for returning raptors and other spring migrants from April 1 through May 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at the Sanctuary’s beautiful North Lookout.

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