November, 2024

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Operationalizing Climate Science

Real Climate

There is a need to make climate science more agile and more responsive, and that means moving (some of it) from research to operations. Readers here will know that the climate science community has had a hard time giving quantitative explanations for what’s happened in climate over the Nature 2023 ?”>last couple of years or even over the last couple of decades.

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Chesapeake Bay Foundation: 'Get Real' When Considering A Christmas Tree

PA Environment Daily

By Kristen Heberlig, CBF Resiliency Program Manager in PA When considering a Christmas tree this holiday season, “getting real” helps the environment and local economy at the same time. Unlike artificial trees, real Christmas trees are recyclable and renewable resources that clean our water and our air and provide important habitat for wildlife. Buying a real Christmas tree every year also supports Pennsylvania growers, which is good for the economy.

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Chasing Glaciers: A Runner’s Quest Through a Changing Landscape

Union of Concerned Scientists

In 2022 I visited Glacier National Park for the first time with two close friends. We spent five days backpacking through the backcountry, and I was enthralled by the park’s vastness and beauty and the chance to see glaciers for the first time in my life. While I loved camping out in the wild, as a trail runner I couldn’t help but think of ways to travel lighter, cover more territory, and see even more of this breathtaking landscape.

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Food + Plastic Packaging = A Recipe for Trouble

Enviromental Defense

It is fair to say that most food in the average Canadian grocery store is now wrapped in plastic. When Environmental Defence surveyed key shelves in the country’s major grocery chains two years ago, we found an overwhelming amount of plastic – more than 70 per cent – on several key shelves. Shelves where food used to be mostly packaged in cans, jars or paper bags, like pet food, soups and baby food.

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Precision in Motion: Why Process Optimization Is the Future of Manufacturing

Speaker: Jason Chester, Director, Product Management

In today’s manufacturing landscape, staying competitive means moving beyond reactive quality checks and toward real-time, data-driven process control. But what does true manufacturing process optimization look like—and why is it more urgent now than ever? Join Jason Chester in this new, thought-provoking session on how modern manufacturers are rethinking quality operations from the ground up.

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Is California’s Climate Resilience Funding Ready for the Future?

Legal Planet

As climate change accelerates, California faces increasingly severe threats to its communities, economy, and environment. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, sea-level rise, and worsening wildfires are among the risks stretching State and local resources and driving demand for adaptation funding. California has utilized its longstanding leadership in climate policy to confront these challenges, including developing the State Climate Adaptation Strategy , establishing the Integrated Climate

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Drilling Into the Differences Between Offshore Oil Drilling and Offshore Wind

Ocean Conservancy

It took Hurricane Helene just three days to travel from the overly warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the mountains of North Carolina, causing incredible damage and loss of life. Hurricane Milton also moved fast, intensifying from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in a single day, before hitting Florida with incredible winds, tornados and flooding.

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Western PA Conservancy Adds 23 Acres To Old-Growth Tryon-Weber Woods Natural Area In Crawford County

PA Environment Daily

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy recently announced the protection of 23 acres of land in Sadsbury Township, Crawford County. The land is now a new addition to the Conservancy’s T ryon-Weber Woods Natural Area. The newly protected property, located across Grieser Road from the Tryon-Weber Woods Natural Area parking lot, is forested and hosts vernal pools, which are seasonal wetlands that provide habitat for plants and animals.

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Why Climate Scientists Are Sounding the Alarm on the Ocean Circulation System AMOC

Union of Concerned Scientists

Last month, 44 climate scientists from 15 countries wrote an open letter to the Nordic Council of Ministers highlighting the risk of a potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a critical ocean current system in the Atlantic Ocean. In the letter, the climate scientists stress that the risk of an AMOC collapse due to climate change has been greatly underestimated according to new observational evidence.

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Fossil fuel lobbyists are once again swarming Canada’s COP29 delegation  

Enviromental Defense

Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate Fossil fuel lobbyists are once again swarming the international climate negotiations, including within Canada’s official delegation. According to Environmental Defence’s analysis of the UN’s Provisional List of Registered Participants at COP29, 28 people with ties to the fossil fuel sector were given Party badges by Canada.

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California Must Not Abandon its Climate Leadership

Legal Planet

On November 8, the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is slated to consider approving amendments to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The program has been so successful in replacing high carbon petroleum-based fuels with lower emissions vehicle fuels that interest groups from all sides of the political spectrum have come forward to demand radical changes that they argue will fix problems.

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

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. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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Our Fight for the Future at COP29

Ocean Conservancy

Fifty-two years. 26 Congresses. 10 U.S. presidents. That’s how long Ocean Conservancy has been advancing policies that secure a healthy ocean and a thriving planet. Through political shifts and economic tides, the organization has stayed the course. Protecting our blue planet isn’t just a matter of politics; it is our duty—to ourselves, to future generations and to the planet we call home.

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Guest Post: Is the Future of Organic Food at Risk? Research Funding Holds the Answer

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)

Photo credit: Matt Ryan/Sandra Wayman Editor’s Note: This blog post is a guest post authored by Gordon Merrick, Senior Policy and Programs Manager at the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and Mark Schonbeck, Research Associate, also at OFRF, which is an NSAC member. The world is increasingly recognizing the value of sustainable food systems, and organic agriculture plays a vital role in this movement.

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DEP Posted 60 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In November 16 PA Bulletin

PA Environment Daily

Highlights of the environmental and energy notices in the November 16 PA Bulletin -- -- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - November 16 [PaEN] -- DEP published notices in the November 16 PA Bulletin extending these Water Quality and Waste General Permits-- -- Oil & Gas General Permit For Erosion & Sedimentation [ESCGP-3] For 2 Months -- General Permit For Beneficial Use Of Biosolids By Land Application [PAG-08] Until New General Permit Is Fi

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Five Ways the Fossil Fuel Industry Tries to Co-opt UN Climate COPs

Union of Concerned Scientists

The fossil fuel industry’s presence at this year’s UN climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, has been simultaneously heavy-handed and covert. More than 1,770 lobbyists—including the heads of some major oil and gas corporations—have been granted access to the talks, many as guests of the host country. The numbers dwarf those of almost every country delegation and threaten to drown out the voices of Global South nations—not to mention Indigenous peoples, youth, women and others who disproportio

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

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.

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Groups question Canada’s climate leadership at COP29, after new data shows skyrocketing fossil fuel export emissions   

Enviromental Defense

OTTAWA/TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHNAABEG PEOPLE — Ecojustice and Environmental Defence have uncovered that greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s exported oil, gas, and coal ballooned to record levels in 2023. This information was discovered following a petition to Environment and Climate Change Canada for data on the country’s downstream emissions.

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CPUC Should Set a Date for Closing Aliso Canyon

Legal Planet

The Aliso Canyon gas storage facility blowout in 2015-16 was the largest methane gas leak in the history of the United States. In addition to the climate effects from the methane leakage — 109,000 metric tons, the equivalent of burning over 1 billion gallons of gasoline — there were tremendous health impacts on neighboring communities and even throughout California.

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Crafting a Future Free of Plastics

Ocean Conservancy

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tackle one of the biggest threats facing our ocean: plastic pollution. Next week the United Nations will host the fifth and final scheduled round of negotiations (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea, for an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution. Widely known as the “global plastics treaty,” this agreement aims to curb the global plastic pollution crisis, of which the ocean often bears the brunt.

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An Important New Report from the National Academies on Atmospheric Methane Removal

Law Columbia

Last month, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a report on a relatively new field of research – atmospheric methane removal. Addressing methane is critically important in addressing climate change – methane is the second largest contributor to human-driven warming after carbon dioxide. Although the concentration of methane is much lower than carbon dioxide and remains in the atmosphere for less time, a ton of methane has 80 times the heat trapping pot

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

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.

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Chesapeake Bay Journal: Volunteer Laurie Barr Leads Hunt For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Pennsylvania

PA Environment Daily

By Ad Crable Do you smell it?” Laurie Barr yelled as she tromped through an overgrown bottomland between remote wooded mountains in state game lands northeast of State College, PA. She had whiffed the rotten-egg smell of hydrogen sulfide and was soon at the foot of a tire-size round puddle of water seeping onto the surface. The pool was audibly burping bubbles.

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How Much Battery Storage Does Illinois Need? 

Union of Concerned Scientists

Energy storage, or the storing of electricity for later use on the power grid, plays an important role in the clean energy transition. Many states have established targets or goals for deploying increased amounts of storage on the grid. Illinois is currently considering policy proposals to establish a statewide energy storage target. To inform the amount of storage the state should seek, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) conducted a modeling analysis of the Illinois power system to assess

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Harmful Chemicals in Plastic Are Wreaking Havoc on Our Bodies and the Environment

Enviromental Defense

This blog is co-authored by Cassie Barker, Senior Program Manager for Plastics We’re surrounded by plastic. Every day, we touch and eat from hundreds of plastic things – from toys, dishes and clothing to electronics and food packaging. And it’s not just your imagination: the use of plastic in our everyday lives has been growing. This is not a good thing.

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Even After Rain and Snow: What a Drought Watch Means for the Northeastern Region’s Ecosystems 

Academy of Natural Sciences

If you haven’t noticed, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have been a bit dry. Most public parks and private landowners now have fire restrictions in place and some well-known streams and reservoirs are actually shriveling up. While the seemingly unending days of blue skies can be picturesque, there are unseen challenges to a long dry season. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, the city and the surrounding regions are currently in a ‘drought watch.

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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Carbon-neutral ports push

A Greener Life

By Jiang Mengnan Weifang Port has become the first port in China to officially achieve carbon neutrality amid a huge push to decarbonise the global shipping industry. On 15 October, the port in Shandong was certified as carbon-neutral by the China Classification Society Quality Certification Company, according to a government statement. Weifang Port’s “zero-carbon” certification was primarily achieved by transitioning away from fossil fuel use, according to China Electric Power News (CEPN).

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Guest Blog: Courting the Heat: Heatwaves, Remedy, and Climate Justice

Law Columbia

Sunset background. Free public domain CC0 photo. Introduction It was forty-three degrees Celsius or 109.4 Fahrenheit in Dhaka, Bangladesh on a hot April day and the tin homes of the community members in the informal settlement of Khorail were steadily accumulating heat. Arpitha Kodiveri was there with a group of other climate lawyers trying to understand what litigation can do in these sites of injustice.

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Protect PT, Three Rivers Waterkeeper Appeal DEP Permits For CNX Slickville Natural Gas, Shale Gas Wastewater Pipelines Project In Westmoreland County

PA Environment Daily

On November 4, Protect PT and Three Rivers Waterkeeper announced they have appealed two permits for the Slickville Pipeline Project issued by the Department of Environmental Protection to the Environmental Hearing Board. Both permits are associated with CNX Resource Corporation's Slickville Pipeline Project, which proposes to build a natural gas pipeline and a shale gas wastewater pipeline along a 13.9 mile route.

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Florida and California Have This Need in Common: Clean Backup Power

Union of Concerned Scientists

At this point, I’d wager that pretty much everyone in the US either has been affected or knows someone who has been affected recently by a natural disaster-related electric power outage. Often the households dealing only with a power outage, and not also fire, flood , or freeze directly threatening their lives and property, are the lucky ones. That doesn’t reduce the hardship of a power outage.

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How to Modernize Manufacturing Without Losing Control

Speaker: Andrew Skoog, Founder of MachinistX & President of Hexis Representatives

Manufacturing is evolving, and the right technology can empower—not replace—your workforce. Smart automation and AI-driven software are revolutionizing decision-making, optimizing processes, and improving efficiency. But how do you implement these tools with confidence and ensure they complement human expertise rather than override it? Join industry expert Andrew Skoog as he explores how manufacturers can leverage automation to enhance operations, streamline workflows, and make smarter, data-dri

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STATEMENT: Wealthy countries fail to deliver on climate finance at COP29 

Enviromental Defense

Statement from Julie Segal, Senior Manger Climate Finance, Environmental Defence Canada Baku, Azerbaijan — COP29 concluded with an inadequate offer on climate finance from wealthy countries: a stingy pledge which abdicates the obligations of major historical emitters. The decision was unfairly steamrolled through opposition from the most vulnerable countries.

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What does the election mean for the EV transition?

Legal Planet

The election of Donald Trump and a Republican Congress poses a direct threat to environmental protection and climate policy across the board, including destructive agency heads, reduced clean energy funding, abandoned international agreements, and more federal judges openly hostile to science-based regulation in service of public and environmental health.

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DOE Releases New Report on Pathways to Commercial Liftoff for Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Nanotech

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on November 13, 2024, the release of its latest Pathways to Commercial Liftoff report, “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Sustainable Aviation Fuel,” which analyzes the technical and commercial readiness of several sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production pathways and highlights steps that both the public and private sector can take to make the United States a global leader in SAF production as soon as 2030.

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Soil Carbon: The Climate Solution We’re Misunderstanding

HumanNature

Guest Post by Lexi Firth , 2024-2025 Sustainability Leadership Fellow and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University Soil is more than just dirt beneath our feet; it’s a dynamic, living system that plays a crucial role in supporting our food systems, clean water, and the resilience of our communities.

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.