Sat.Dec 24, 2022 - Fri.Dec 30, 2022

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3 Renewable Energy Trends for 2023

Earth 911

Despite setbacks from the pandemic, renewable energy deployment is increasing. The Inflation Reduction Act extends. The post 3 Renewable Energy Trends for 2023 appeared first on Earth911.

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Stunning Satellite Images of Our Changing Planet in 2022

Yale E360

Humans are reshaping the Earth in unprecedented ways, both by turning vast tracts of wilderness into farms and cities and by altering the global climate, fueling more intense fires, floods, heat, and drought. Scientists at NASA have captured the astounding breadth of humanity's impact in stunning satellite images. The photos below, all published in the past year by NASA's Earth Observatory , reveal the profound changes now underway.

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Federal Water Tap, December 26: Water Spending Woven into Budget Deal

Circle of Blue

The Rundown. Congress passes a $1.7 trillion budget deal. The Army Corps finalizes a plan for a river diversion to rebuild land on the Louisiana coast. The Army Corps also releases a draft review of a massive water-diversion tunnel through California’s contentious delta region. Congress sends several water-related bills to the president. And lastly, the EPA’s draft drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS are due by the end of the year.

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Keep on Trucking

Legal Planet

Last week, EPA finalized its new rule imposing emission limits on new heavy trucks. The new regulation was clearly a massive undertaking. EPA’s formal announcement of the new rule is 1100 pages long. The accompanying summary of comments on the proposed rule and EPA’s responses is another 2000 pages. This is partly due to the complexity of controlling emissions from trucks, given that there is no equivalent of the catalytic converter for diesels.

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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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BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS – WHY THEY MATTER

Cleannovate

I remember traveling to work sometime ago and encountering a ‘sea’ of plastic papers around a certain town centre. Now … More.

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Ten Remarkable New Plants Discovered in 2022

Yale E360

The world's largest waterlily, a long-lost relative of the sweet potato, and an herb that grows exclusively in rapids and waterfalls are among more than 100 new species of plant and fungi recorded by scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this year. Read more on E360 →.

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Reflections on a Century of “Regulatory Takings” Law

Legal Planet

Credit: ABA for Law Students. One hundred years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a radical constitutional decision that over the last century has proven enormously consequential in a host of environmental, natural resources and public health contexts. In the December 1922 decision Pennsylvania Coal Company v. Mahon , a divided Supreme Court created the constitutional doctrine of “regulatory takings.” A bit of background is required to understand the significance of the

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CHITIN – A NATURE-INSPIRED PLASTIC?

Cleannovate

Chitin – pronounced as kaitin – is a word that doesn’t seem to make any waves. But why should it? … More.

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Coal Prevailed in 2022, but Renewables Remain Ascendant

Yale E360

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine roiling energy markets, 2022 saw countries burning unprecedented amounts of coal — but also making massive investments in renewables. Experts are projecting the world will add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the last 20, with renewables rapidly overtaking coal to become the world’s largest source of electricity.

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A 3M Plant in Illinois Was The Country’s Worst Emitter of a Climate-Killing ‘Immortal’ Chemical in 2021

Inside Climate News

The company was also sued this year by the state’s attorney general for discharging PFAS, contaminating groundwater and the Mississippi River. It says it will stop manufacturing and using PFAS in its products by 2025. By Phil McKenna CORDOVA, Ill.—At a sprawling 3M chemical manufacturing complex here, where the company makes adhesives for Post-it notes, golf clubs and LCD displays, several hundred pounds of a potent climate killer are vented into the atmosphere each day.

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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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Will 2023 be the year we finally understand consciousness?

New Scientist

In 1998, two researchers made a bet that by 2023, we would have found a sign of consciousness within the brain. As the wager comes due, how close are we to an answer?

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CRITTERS, CRAPS, CABBAGE & CHICKEN – PROFITABLE INSECTS

Cleannovate

Put some food waste in a bucket outside your house and witness the congregation of insects descending onto it. Most … More.

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Rwanda’s circular economy plan

A Greener Life

By Jeremy Williams. Rwanda is a true sustainability leader – see the Kigali accord that regulated greenhouse gases from refrigerants, and the plastic treaty proposed with Peru earlier this year. Last week Rwanda hosted the World Circular Economy Forum, and at the event, they launched their first national action plan for a circular economy. If you’ll excuse a little policy wonkery, it’s worth looking at the plan and what it contains.

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To Save the Vaquita Porpoise, Conservationists Entreat Mexico to Keep Gillnets Out of the Northern Gulf of California

Inside Climate News

The country must enforce its ban on gillnet fishing in the area to save the world’s most endangered marine mammal, experts warn. Only around 10 of the porpoises are thought to remain. By Delaney Dryfoos In San Felipe, a fishing town on the northeast edge of Baja California, the use and transportation of gillnets have been banned by the Mexican government since 2017 as a measure to protect the rare vaquita porpoise.

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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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Spacecraft are heading to a metal asteroid and Jupiter's moons in 2023

New Scientist

The JUICE and Psyche mission are set to blast off in 2023, with the aim of studying Jupiter's largest moons and a possible iron core of a planet in the hopes of understanding how worlds become habitable

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Meet our new Blog Associate Editor: Catherine Waite

The Applied Ecologist

We are delighted to announce two new Blog Associate Editors who have joined The Applied Ecologist team! Valentine introduced herself earlier this month so in this post, find out more our other new recruit – Catherine Waite. Hi everyone, I’m Catherine, one of the new Associate Editors for The Applied Ecologist. It’s great to be writing this first post to introduce myself!

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DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’

PA Environment Daily

On December 29, the Department of Environmental Protection released the first-ever assessment of how well conventional oil and gas drillers comply with state environmental laws and concluded, “(the) conventional oil and gas industry’s recent record of compliance with Pennsylvania law is simply not good, particularly with regard to improper abandonment of wells.

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Mathematical Alarms Could Help Predict and Avoid Climate Tipping Points

Inside Climate News

A new study finds that mathematical tools can find early warning signals that can accurately predict climate tipping points. By Charlie Miller When New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell published the best-selling book The Tipping Point in 2000, he was writing, in part, about the baffling drop in crime that started in the 1990s. The concept of a tipping point was that small changes at a certain threshold can lead to large, abrupt and sometimes irreversible systemic changes.

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US FDA User Fee Riders Make It Across the Line: A Guide to the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act (FDORA)

Arnold Porter

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a $1.7 trillion omnibus that will fund the federal government through the remainder of fiscal year 2023.

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A Year-End Letter to Our Supporters

Washington Nature

Dear friends: As we end 2022, I want to express gratitude for your support of The Nature Conservancy in Washington and beyond. Your support sustains and strengthens us as we seek to build an enduring legacy of conserving the lands and waters upon which all life depends. There is much to celebrate. We have a talented, diverse, and committed team and Board of Trustees, deep partnerships across the state, and a solid resource base.

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Telling the story of Antarctica through 100 objects

New Scientist

The 250th anniversary of the first documented crossing of the Antarctic circle is being marked with a new book that traces the continent's history via 100 artefacts from around the world

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PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment

PA Environment Daily

The following DEP notices were published in the December 31 PA Bulletin related to oil and gas industry facilities. Many of the notices offer the opportunity for public comments. Land Recycling/Brownfield Cleanups -- Blackhill Energy, LLC - Kingsley E6H Well Pad: DEP received Final Report on remediation of soil contaminated by drilling wastewater in Springfield Twp., Bradford County. ( PA Bulletin, page 8272 ) -- EQT Corporation - COP Tract 551B: DEP received Final Report on remediation of soil

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Holiday Traditions in the Forest Revive Spiritual Relationships with Nature, and Heal Planetary Wounds

Inside Climate News

Humans evolved strong spiritual connections to the natural world. New research shows exploring and nurturing them can help slow climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as improve our health. By Bob Berwyn ‘Tis the season for bringing nature inside our increasingly civilized confines. Homes celebrating Christmas are filled with evergreen boughs; twined wreaths of holly, mistletoe and ivy decked with dried seed pods, fruits and nuts.

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Are ultra-thin solar cells the future of solar energy?

Inhabitant

According to the American Institute of Physics, a new ultra-thin solar cell technology could help with the creation of radiation-resistant solar cells. This technology could increase the longevity of solar cells and reduce the amount of materials needed to create solar panels or similar solar tech that could power everything from satellites to houses.

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The world's ultimate X-ray machine will start up in 2023

New Scientist

The Linac Coherent Light Source II X-ray laser will be so fast and bright that it will allow people to create movies of atoms moving inside molecules

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Wildlife For Everyone Now Accepting Applications For College Scholarship Program

PA Environment Daily

The Wildlife for Everyone Foundation is now accepting applications for its College Scholarship Program. The deadline to apply is February 10. The Foundation awards students with financial support to advance their career interest in a natural-resource related field such as wildlife resources, conservation, forest ecosystem management, environmental science, fisheries and wildlife biology.

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Why the Language of Climate Change Matters

Inside Climate News

New and borrowed words from the worlds of art, academia and activism can help us to better “imagine how to adapt and flourish” amid the challenges of the climate crisis. By Kiley Bense In a 1920 edition of a local Pennsylvania newspaper, a brief article appeared with a simple title: “The Chestnut.” Although this was a story about a species of tree, it read more like an obituary for a beloved relative.

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UNESCO calls to add Great Barrier Reef to danger list

Inhabitant

One of the world's most famous natural wonders is the Great Barrier Reef. The site is a marine wonderland, with a rich diversity of beautiful corals and thousands of aquatic creatures.

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A factory will soon start making green food from air and electricity

New Scientist

Solar Foods will grow bacteria using carbon dioxide from the air and hydrogen produced by renewable energy, a process more efficient than growing plants

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Rare Animals' Microbiomes Harbor Survival Secrets

Scientific American

Scientists are beginning to decode endangered creatures’ microbial ecosystems.

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The Capitol Christmas Tree Provides a Timely Reminder on Environmental Stewardship This Holiday Season

Inside Climate News

Comparing the carbon footprints of real and artificial Christmas trees involves a complex calculation which, in the case of real trees, depends upon how they are disposed of. By Emma Ricketts WASHINGTON—A ceremony on the Capitol’s West Lawn to light a 78-foot red spruce from Pisgah National Forest earlier this month heralded the festive holiday season.

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The best and worst US states for climate change

Inhabitant

A recent study by Wise Voter set out to compare how each U.S. state is coping with the growing climate crisis. Each state was ranked based on five environmental factors. These were Carbon Emissions, the Adoption of Green Technology, Landfill Usage, Recycling and Green Policies. Overall, the top five best states concerning climate resilience are California, Maine, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.

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The best science fiction television to watch out for in 2023

New Scientist

From new seasons of The Mandalorian and Severance to a much-anticipated adaptation of The Three-Body Problem, settle in for some stellar shows next year

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Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 24 to 30

PA Environment Daily

From December 24 to 30, DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 223 inspection reports that included three major violations of environmental regulations at one unconventional shale gas drilling well pad. So far this year-- as of December 23 -- DEP issued 5,052 formal notices of violation to conventional operators and 1,143 notices to unconventional shale gas operators.