Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 30, 2023

And I love hearing about new renewable electricity records as spring unfolds. A few recent examples for that last love: California scored a new record for total generation from renewable energy in mid-April and a new record for solar production in mid-May. New York just broke its solar record.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Climate Change Electricity 245

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 26, 2024

According to García, prioritizing meaningful community participation can speed up an equitable transition to clean energy, rather than continuing to foster large projects that prioritize private sector profits. Back home in Colombia, García’s family is witnessing the consequences of a fossil fuel-centered energy system.

Renewable Energy 276

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Electricity 276

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

In light of Native American Heritage Day last Friday, we should also be thinking about the future of the tribes in the era of climate change. Tribes face serious challenges from climate change, but also some potential opportunities. In terms of climate impacts, many tribes are at high risk.

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Climate Change Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels 2007 195

Enviromental Defense

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Earlier this month at COP28 countries committed to transitioning off of fossil fuels and massively scaling up renewable energy instead. So you’re excused if, like me, you’re baffled by Minister Freeland’s first move in the wake of COP28: a giant new fossil fuel subsidy, via the new Canada Growth Fund.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Clean Energy Solar Power 124

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 4, 2024

That 2013 headline resulted from the first effort to quantify emissions from the ‘carbon majors’ —fossil fuel companies and cement manufacturers whose businesses have contributed an outsized amount of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Nearly two-thirds of industrial heat-trapping emissions can be traced to just 90 entities.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change 2013 2015 240

A Greener Life

DECEMBER 13, 2023

By Anders Lorenzen Whether or not to include the language stating ‘fossil fuels must be phased out’ rather than ‘phased down’ became the key contentious issue at this year’s UN climate talks. A draft text released Friday, with just under a week for the summit to conclude included the key fossil fuel language as an option.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change 2023 2009 105

Legal Planet

JUNE 16, 2022

According to the Energy Information Agency , South Korea’s power sector is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Two thirds of generation capacity is based on fossil fuels, split evenly between coal and natural gas, with 17% nuclear, and 14% hydro and other renewables. 50% coal, 26% gas, and 25% nuclear.

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Climate Change Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement 2030 231

Enviromental Defense

DECEMBER 13, 2023

On this final day of COP28, just a few hours after countries of the world agreed on the need to move away from fossil fuels, I’m overcome with a mix of emotions. Gratitude to the people in the climate and Indigenous rights movement, who have been pushing for this outcome for years.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Government Regulations 120

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 23, 2023

Renewable projects can experience delays due to the country’s antiquated (and slow) system of connecting to the grid, as well as other reasons like permitting and transmission constraints. And fossil fuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. A bit more on those reasons later.

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Fossil Fuels 2023 Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides 187

Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

In 1965, scientists sent LBJ a memo mentioning the risks of climate change. Instead, we would have understood that the root problem was the burning of fossil fuels in the first place. We would have started pumping money into renewable energy research. I magine if history had been a little different.

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Law Pollution Control Fossil Fuels Air Pollution 269

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 13, 2022

And yet, technological innovation is not what’s standing in the way of significant and necessary near-term climate progress. It means broadening access to clean energy solutions so stakeholders at every level can participate. People can no longer deny climate change must be addressed.

Technology 239

Technology Technology Climate Change Fossil Fuels 239

Enviromental Defense

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

They are useful tools for incentivizing things that we want more of – like renewable energy. That’s what the proposed clean energy tax credit does. Hydrogen, like electricity, is an energy carrier – it can be used to store and deliver usable energy, for example to a cement or steel factory or to produce fertilizer.

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Fossil Fuels 2023 Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 77

Legal Planet

AUGUST 15, 2023

A Montana state district court has issued its long-awaited decision in a major climate change case brought by Montana children against state officials. Judge Seeley did so after presiding over a two-week, non-jury trial in June 2023–the first such climate change trial in U.S. In Held v. legal history.

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Climate Change Government Fossil Fuels Energy Policy Act 151

Enviromental Defense

JULY 24, 2023

If applied with integrity, these new rules for government spending will effectively shut the door on the creation of new handouts of public money to the companies most responsible for the climate disasters being experienced today – and free up billions for climate solutions.

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Fossil Fuels Government Renewable Energy Clean Energy 87

Enviromental Defense

DECEMBER 21, 2022

Earlier this month the Government of Canada delivered on a key climate promise and released new rules which end public funding for fossil fuels abroad, starting January 1, 2023. It also begins to align federal spending with a climate-safe future, by prioritizing public dollars towards climate solutions like renewable energy.

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Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Renewable Energy Government 99

Enviromental Defense

MARCH 4, 2024

In part one of this series we introduced you to the huge role that the Canadian financial sector plays in exacerbating the climate crisis. Climate change could have some very significant negative impacts on the Canadian economy, and therefore your money. In this blog, we’ll discuss how climate change poses a risk to finance.

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Climate Change Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement 2023 84

A Greener Life

JUNE 30, 2023

By Anders Lorenzen The renewable energy sector experienced record growth in 2022 of 1%. But despite this, it did not shift the dominance of fossil fuels. They still account for 82% of the global energy supply according to the industry’s Statistical Review of World Energy released this week.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Paris Agreement 2022 52

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

(For a deeper dive on what’s really going on here in Egypt, check out the Climate Action Against Disinformation’s website.). A small number of big corporations are responsible for the climate crisis. The best solution: Replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 305

Enviromental Defense

AUGUST 3, 2023

This moratorium on renewable energy is bad for business, bad for the environment and bad for Albertans. Scaling up renewable energy is essential to addressing the climate crisis. Alberta has been Canada’s leading province for building renewable energy. Stopping now makes no sense.

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Renewable Energy Government Fossil Fuels Electricity 92

A Greener Life

AUGUST 2, 2023

The country will also target 5,000 kilometres of new transmission lines, an 8% reduction in overall energy demand, and one gigawatt (GW) of distributed generation, with the government putting the plan’s estimated costs at US$86.6 These targets represent a potentially significant shift in Argentina ’s energy mix.

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Renewable Energy 2030 Fossil Fuels Electricity 95

Legal Planet

JULY 13, 2023

To begin with, there are the health benefits of the energy transition away from fossil fuels. As we clean up our energy system, we simultaneously reduce the tons of pollutants we now produce from burning coal, oil, and natural gas. Limiting climate change will itself protect ecosystems and biodiversity around the world.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Air Pollution Natural Gas 210

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 22, 2022

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Getting energy from where it’s produced to where it’s needed. Unlocking the gridlock for Minnesota’s renewable energy future.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Electricity 347

A Greener Life

MARCH 28, 2022

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia , in the name of energy security countries have sought to increase the use of fossil fuels again, and one could be forgiven for thinking that the climate crisis has somehow disappeared. He continued: “Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Climate Change 98

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Each year since 1995, the countries of the world have gathered to negotiate what to do about climate change. They do so under the auspices of the Framework Convention on Climate Change , the universally adopted climate change treaty that sets a goal of avoiding dangerous interference with the climate system.

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Paris Agreement Fossil Fuels Climate Change Renewable Energy 195

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 12, 2022

Nearly all of the alliance members have a renewable electricity standard (RES), which requires utilities in their jurisdiction to increase their use of renewable energy to a particular percentage by a specific year. We found that states have technically feasible and highly beneficial ways to achieve 100-percent renewable energy.

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Electricity Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Nitrogen Oxides 261

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 18, 2021

The world must reach net-negative CO2 emissions by midcentury, not only to slow the pace of climate change, but to reduce the millions deaths yearly from fossil fuel air pollution. Much of the burden of our energy choices falls on Black and brown communities.

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Fossil Fuels Air Pollution Renewable Energy Climate Change 246

A Greener Life

JULY 26, 2021

In order to make their portfolio more sustainable and respond to lower fossil fuel demand, oil majors are increasingly snapping up renewable energy projects as the pressure grows to take action on climate change. Many countries prefer the easier option of electrification through renewable energy sources.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Wind Power 98

Law Columbia

APRIL 3, 2024

Achieving the United States’ ambitious emissions reduction goals depends in large part on the rapid adoption of wind and solar energy and the electrification of consumer vehicles. However, misinformation and coordinated disinformation about renewable energy is widespread and threatens to undermine public support for the transition.

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Electricity Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Radiation 132

Enviromental Defense

JUNE 21, 2021

In a remarkable new report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds that in order to limit warming to 1.5 The IEA is the world’s foremost authority on energy, relied upon by governments and the private sector around the world. That includes: 1 Stop approving fossil fuel projects, and plan for their phase out.

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Clean Energy Climate Change 98

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

The IRA will stimulate most of the near-term private investment in clean energy and related infrastructure to decarbonize the US economy, spurring more than a trillion dollars in capital investments through 2035. It also will save US consumers money because they will spend less on fossil fuels. What are the main solutions?

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Carbon Emissions Fossil Fuels Clean Energy 2030 308

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 10, 2023

We are at the height of Danger Season , the time of year when extreme weather events driven by climate change are most prevalent across North America. The power sector is the second highest source of climate pollution in the U.S. DR. MARC FUTERNICK: It’s all connected to fossil fuels.

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Air Pollution Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Climate Change 219

Legal Planet

APRIL 3, 2023

Climate change under other federal statutes. Climate change as substantial impact requiring discussion in environmental impact statement. Climate change as reason for threatened or endangered status under Endangered Species Act. SEC rules on disclosure of climate-related risks. Adaptation A.

Law 199

Law Endangered Species Act Clean Air Act Biofuels 199

Enviromental Defense

JULY 6, 2021

So does electrified public transportation and energy efficiency for our homes. Instead, it turns out that the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta have spent a minimum of $23 billion on fossil fuel pipelines since 2018. Take Action: Tell Canada to end subsides for fossil fuel projects.

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Fossil Fuels 2018 Government Renewable Energy 98

Enviromental Defense

DECEMBER 9, 2022

To date, the CER has only modelled a suite of scenarios that imply the Paris Agreement’s goals will not be met, where the world does too little to reduce its production and consumption of oil, gas and coal, and where Canada’s climate policies lack ambition and fail to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. However, more needs to be done.

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Climate Change Renewable Energy 52

Global Green

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

Michael Moore’s last movie, Planet of the Humans , questions the reliability, affordability and sustainability of renewable energy. The thought-provoking film also highlights the renewables’ dependence on fossil fuels. How green are renewables? What are the limitations of renewable technologies?

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Renewable Energy Climate Change Fossil Fuels Ocean 40

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 12, 2024

However, as we replace fossil fuels with clean electricity for heating and transportation to meet our climate goals, these peak demands will increasingly shift to the winter in many parts of the country. And this problem will only get worse as the impacts of climate change become more frequent and severe.

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Fossil Fuels Electricity 2030 Clean Energy 253

Enviromental Defense

MAY 15, 2024

A taxonomy is supposed to clear up greenwashing, but including fossil fuels like ‘natural’ gas under a sustainable finance taxonomy would muddy the waters rather than clarify them. To advance a climate aligned financial system, fossil fuels like ‘natural’ gas should not be included under a Canadian sustainable finance label.”

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Fossil Fuels Natural Gas Climate Scientist Renewable Energy 87