An energy security bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last month has alarmed some environmental and Indigenous activists who say the legislation could fund states’ efforts to stifle protest against pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure. The bill’s opponents, which include the left-wing lawmakers of the so-called Squad, have said it complements the […]
This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The most extensive heat wave of a scorching summer is set to descend upon much of America this week, further roasting areas already gripped by severe drought, plunging reservoirs and wildfires. A massive “heat dome” of […]
Most solar panels covering the world’s rooftops, fields, and deserts today share the same ingredient: crystalline silicon. The material, made from raw polysilicon, is shaped into wafers and wired into solar cells, devices that convert sunlight into electricity. Recently, the industry’s dependence on this singular technology has become something of a liability. Supply chain bottlenecks […]
To burnish their green credentials, companies have long paid to plant trees or protect forests in the hopes that nature will absorb their greenhouse gas emissions. Shopify, the Canadian company that runs e-commerce sites, wants to take a more hands-on approach — by paying a Texas venture to pull carbon dioxide from the sky and […]
What people call the “natural world,” according to Nathaniel Rich, “is gone, if ever it existed.” As he writes in his new book, Second Nature: Scenes from a World Remade, “Almost no rock, leaf, or cubic foot of air on Earth has escaped our clumsy signature.” The oceans are warm and swollen, and thousands of […]
At first glance, waves have the makings of an ideal renewable energy source. They’re predictable, constant, and tremendously powerful. Their energy potential is astonishing — researchers estimate that waves off the coasts of the United States could generate as much as 2.64 trillion kilowatt-hours annually, or the equivalent of 64 percent of the country’s total […]
Ever Given, the cargo ship that’s been wedged in the Suez Canal since Tuesday, is a behemoth, stretching as long as the Empire State Building stands tall. It belongs to a growing fleet of “mega ships,” which can carry two or three times more cargo than the average new container vessel. At its fullest, Ever […]
This story was originally published by ProPublica. It was produced in partnership with Georgia Health News, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Mark Berry raised his right hand, pledging to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The bespectacled mechanical engineer took his seat inside the cherry-wood witness stand. He […]
When shipping giant Maersk announced last month it would operate a “carbon-neutral” vessel by 2023, the Danish company committed to using a fuel that’s made from renewable sources, is free of soot-forming pollutants — and is currently in scarce supply. “Green methanol” is drawing interest from the global shipping industry as companies work to reduce […]
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Carbon dioxide emissions must fall by the equivalent of a global lockdown roughly every two years for the next decade for the world to keep within safe limits of global heating, research has shown. Lockdowns around […]