Sat.Jan 06, 2024 - Fri.Jan 12, 2024

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Mind the Gaps: How the UN Climate Plan Fails to Follow the Science

Yale E360

The U.N. climate conference in Dubai agreed on a plan to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees C and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. But researchers are warning that these pledges are not grounded in sound science and will fail to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

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Not just another dot on the graph?

Real Climate

As the climate monitoring groups add an additional dot to their graphs this week, there is some disquiet among people paying attention about just how extraordinary 2023 really was. First, it’s been obvious for months that 2023 would be a record year – in temperatures (at the surface, troposphere and in the ocean), in Antarctic sea ice, in the number of big climate disasters etc.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel. Charts and Graphs Included

Union of Concerned Scientists

Back in 2016 I wrote a long post about biodiesel , explaining what it is made from (mostly vegetable oil) and arguing that EPA should show restraint in setting targets for biodiesel because of the limited availability oils and fats and the harmful consequences of drawing too heavily from these limited sources. The world has changed in many ways since 2016, but the large-scale diversion of vegetable oil from food to fuel remains a bad idea.

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Power Play: The Effects of Overruling Chevron

Legal Planet

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about whether to overrule the Chevron doctrine. That doctrine allows administrative agencies that implement statutes to resolve ambiguities in those statutes. Overruling the doctrine would shift that power to courts. Institutionally, then, judges would be the big winners, with more sway over how laws are implemented.

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Manufacturing Sustainability Surge: Your Guide to Data-Driven Energy Optimization & Decarbonization

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.

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The Beleaguered Whitebark Pine Is in Trouble. Can It Be Saved?

Yale E360

Once common in the West, whitebark pine is being wiped out by a deadly fungus, ravaging beetles, and climate change. Scientists hope advances in gene sequencing and a recent federal listing as threatened will speed the hunt for trees that can be replanted and seed the future.

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PSA Well Permit Dispute Makes its Way to the Texas Supreme Court

Energy & the Law

Contacted at his seaside villa, Captain Renault said he was shocked that Elsie and Adrian Opiela are asking the Texas Supreme Court to review questions surrounding the Railroad Commission’s approval of a drilling permit for a Production Sharing Agreement well. The Commission’s “65% Rule” for multi-tract horizontal wells is invalid because the Commission does not have the authority to make such a rule.

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Inequality Today: Unfinished Work

Legal Planet

More than a half century after Martin Luther King’s death, his work is still unfinished. Sadly, despite his efforts and those of many others, inequality remains a reality along multiple, interrelated dimensions: race, income, and geography. Inequality is not merely economic; it involves differences in health and life expectancy — and in exposure to pollution and the risks of climate change.

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Ten Curious New Plants and Fungi Recorded in 2023

Yale E360

As the planet warms and extinctions mount, researchers are racing to catalog the vast array of life on Earth before species disappear. This year, researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, recorded 89 new species of plant and fungi across the globe, from the rocky edges of Antarctica to a dormant volcano in Indonesia.

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The Energy Policy and Conservation Act – Still – Preempts Berkeley’s Ban on New Natural Gas Connections

Law and Environment

Last week, the 9 th Circuit voted against rehearing en banc its decision from last April finding the City of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas connections in new construction to be preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Judge Friedland, joined by seven other judges (and three senior judges!) dissented from the denial, writing a lengthy opinion fairly explicitly directed at judges from other Courts of Appeal that might hear cases addressing similar bans.

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La poca fiabilidad de las centrales eléctricas de gas: tres cosas que debes saber

Union of Concerned Scientists

Los Estados Unidos ha visto avances impresionantes en el desarrollo de la energía limpia en los años recientes. En 2022, más del 22 por ciento de la electricidad en el país se generó con fuentes renovables como el viento, el sol y el agua, casi el doble de su contribución en 2012. Sin embargo, las centrales eléctricas que usan como combustible el gas metano (tradicionalmente conocido como gas natural) siguen siendo hoy una gran parte del suministro de electricidad en los Estados Unidos.

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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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Saving the Planet, One Case at a Time

Legal Planet

Law school clinics are where the proverbial rubber meets the road. They introduce students to the realities of lawyering. Often, they are a law school’s most important form of public service. Environmental law clinics have blossomed across the country. Today’s post provides a directory to the clinics. There are several sites that promise comprehensive lists of environmental law clinics, but each list has gaps and some links to nonclinical programs.

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Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Fell in Half Last Year

Yale E360

Forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon was down 50 percent, year on year, in 2023, according to government figures.

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European Reporting Standards Published in the Official Journal of the EU

Clean Energy Law

For in scope companies, disclosures may be required as early as the reporting period for the 2024 financial year. By Paul A. Davies , Michael D. Green , and James Bee On 22 December 2023, the Commission Delegated Regulation specifying the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (EU). [1] The ESRS apply from 1 January 2024, for financial years beginning on or after that date.

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Navigating Net Zero Via the Law  

Union of Concerned Scientists

This blog was coauthored by Joana Setzer and Laura Peterson. Fresh off the heels of the 28 th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the global climate conversation is buzzing with a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism. Last year’s UN climate talks, while criticized for certain shortcomings , brought into sharp focus the need for robust legal frameworks to transition from fossil fuels.

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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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Guinness yeasts are genetically unique among Irish beers

New Scientist

The Guinness brewery has kept a record of the yeast strains it has used going back to 1903 – a genetic analysis shows these are distinct from those used to brew other Irish beers

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Global EV Sales Headed for New High in 2024

Yale E360

Analysts project another record year for sales of electric vehicles, driven largely by surging demand in China, the biggest market for battery-powered cars.

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More Than 900 Widely Used Chemicals May Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Inside Climate News

Ninety percent of the chemicals identified as potential breast carcinogens in a new study are found in everyday products in homes and workplaces. By Liza Gross More than 900 chemicals in widespread use could be increasing breast cancer risk, scientists reported in a peer-reviewed study published today.

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From Wildfires to Melting Sea Ice, the Warmest Summer on Record Has Had Cascading Effects across the Arctic

Scientific American

Climate change is already disrupting lives in the Arctic, and the warmest summer on record will certainly have an enormous impact on the people and wildlife of the region

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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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Early fossil identified as new species of Tyrannosaurus

New Scientist

A dinosaur known only from a partial skull has been dubbed Tyrannosaurus mcraensis, adding a new twist to long-running debates about putative relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex

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Caution: Killer Cone Snails

Ocean Conservancy

If you’ve ever been to an amusement park, you’ve probably heard or read the phrase, “Keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times.” While our planet is full of magical, mesmerizing and often enticing creatures, the same “look, don’t touch!” rule applies when visiting and exploring the beach, ocean or any body of water. And this is especially true for the cone snail—one of the most venomous animals on Earth.

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Once Known for Its Pollution, Pittsburgh Becomes a Poster Child for Climate Consciousness

Inside Climate News

The National Climate Assessment shines a light on the city’s “innovative” plans to curb flooding based on projections for heavier, climate-amplified precipitation. By Jon Hurdle The City of Pittsburgh’s incorporation of climate-change projections into its stormwater-control regulations have been highlighted by the latest National Climate Assessment as an example of how a city can prepare itself for the bigger, more frequent rain storms produced by the changing climate.

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What to Know About the New COVID Variant JN.1

Scientific American

A new SARS-CoV-2 variant is behind the latest surge in infections this winter, but it doesn't appear to cause more severe disease

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Workplace well-being initiatives don't boost employee mental health

New Scientist

The mental health of people who undertake mindfulness or meditation courses offered by their employer is generally no better than those who are not offered such programmes

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Key Concepts in Ecology: Life and the physical environment 

The Applied Ecologist

This blog post on ‘Life and the physical environment’ is part of the BES ‘Key Concepts in Ecology’ series, designed to help ecologists in learning the key topics in ecology!

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Diet for a Sick Planet: Studies Find More Plastic in Our Food and Bottled Water

Inside Climate News

Researchers find we can now wash down the microplastics in our tofu, or steak, with a much larger quantity of nanoplastics in bottled water than previously known. By James Bruggers If we are what we eat, there’s growing evidence to help explain how nanoplastics and microplastics are in our blood, in our intestines and in some of our organs.

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2023 confirmed as the warmest year ever recorded

A Greener Life

By Anders Lorenzen It was long expected that 2023 was going to be the warmest year ever recorded since records began. Every month since June 2023 has on a global level been the warmest compared with corresponding months in previous years. But the extraordinary findings by the European Union’s (EU) Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), unveiled this week, were more significant than perhaps many expected.

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We’re finally working out why the Mediterranean diet is so good for us

New Scientist

We have known for decades that the Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of heart attack and other conditions – now we are starting to understand how certain components of the diet work their magic

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Driving Ambition, Action, and Equity at COP28 (Part 2)

NRDC

At COP28, countries, companies, investors, and other decision-makers sent a clear signal to spur greater action now and increase ambition this decisive decade.

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Q&A: Anti-Fracking Activist Sandra Steingraber on Scientists’ Moral Obligation to Speak Out

Inside Climate News

Spending a month in jail protesting plans to expand a fracked gas storage facility taught Steingraber the value of using “all peaceful means possible” to safeguard environmental and public health. By Liza Gross For many, a cancer diagnosis is a deeply personal, private matter. But when Sandra Steingraber confronted a diagnosis of cancer that is rarely found in young women as a college biology student more than 40 years ago, it set her on a life-long mission to document the intimate connection be

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DEP Issued Record 6,860 Notices Of Violation To Conventional Oil & Gas Operators In 2023-- Nearly 52% More Than In 2021; ‘Culture Of Non-Compliance’ Continues

PA Environment Daily

The Department of Environmental Protection issued a record 6,860 notices of violation to conventional oil and gas operators in 2023, according to DEP’s December 29, 2023 Weekly Workload Report. That’s 51.9% more than in 2021 and 26.6% more than in 2022 and 569.9% more than in 2015. DEP’s 2022 Oil and Gas Annual Report said 5,416 notices of violation were issued to conventional operators in 2022 and 4,514 violations in 2021 and in 2015, DEP issued just 1,024 violations to conventional operators.

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AI comes up with battery design that uses 70 per cent less lithium

New Scientist

Researchers used AI to design a new material that they used to build a working battery – it requires up to 70 percent less lithium than some competing designs.

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The Significance of Chevron Deference

NRDC

Two new SCOTUS cases, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless Inc. v. Dept. of Commerce, may impact federal agencies’ ability to perform their duties.

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New Research Explores a Restorative Climate Path for the Earth

Inside Climate News

Existing green growth policies are leading nowhere fast, so scientists say it’s worth exploring alternatives like degrowth to stay within planetary boundaries. By Bob Berwyn With Earth’s average annual temperature speeding toward 1.5 degrees Celsius faster than expected and global climate policy on a treadmill , an increasing number of researchers say it’s time to consider a “restorative pathway” to avoid the worst ecological and social outcomes of global warming.