PITTSBURGH — America’s storied “Steel City” is on the forefront of an energy revolution, transitioning from its long reliance on fossil fuels to renewables and energy efficient homes. In June, Mayor Bill Peduto joined an alliance of over 100 cities committing to solar and wind power. The announcement came only hours…
In August 2016, fewer coal miners were employed in the US than anytime in modern history: just 48,600. A year later, little more than 50,000 miners are working, but the industry is still in dire straits—layoffs and mine shutdowns have led to rampant unemployment in West Virginia, Kentucky and Montana. President Trump…
On Tuesday, President Trump is expected to begin the process of dismantling Obama’s environmental legacy, including his signature climate action policy, the Clean Power Plan. According to Reuters, Trump will sign an executive order compelling the Environmental Protection Agency to review and rewrite the plan, which…
It’s been a rough week for environmentalists in America, but buried amidst a torrent of reports detailing the Trump administration’s war on climate science, one uplifting energy story has garnered comparably little attention: the United States may be getting a second offshore wind farm.
On the climate and energy front, 2016 was a year of contradictions. Again and again, our planet smashed global temperature records. The fingerprints of climate change were visible in extreme weather from the North Pole to Louisiana. But the clean energy sector also hit some major milestones. Wind and solar power…
Offshore wind power is taking off in Europe, but we’re still coming to grips with the environmental impacts of sticking gigantic steel towers in the oceans. One effect of these clean energy behemoths, however, seems indisputable: sediment plumes.
The steel towers loom in the distance, like shiny toy soldiers arranged in formation. As our boat approaches, the dizzying size of the machines becomes clear. A few minutes later, I’m standing right next to one, holding the guardrails and craning my head to take it all in. The boat bucks like a rollercoaster as giant…
Iceland, land of elves and shark meat delicacies, is proving to be far more inventive than the rest of us when it comes to new energy technologies. Having already tamed its shallow geothermal resources, the chilly island nation is now trying to tap into the power of magma.
Last week, the Paris climate agreement cleared its final hurdle, when the European Union formally signed on. With the support of 73 nations accounting for 57 percent of global carbon emissions, the deal enters legal force on November 4th. So what does that mean, and how soon do we kick our addiction to fossil fuels?
For the past sixteen months or so, it’s felt as though our planet has been shaking us by the shoulders, trying to wake us up to the fact that we’ve kicked the thermostat into overdrive. The good news is, America finally seems to be listening. According to a new report by the Department of Energy, wind and solar…
The United States, Canada, and Mexico are poised to announce an ambitious new energy pledge that would see 50 percent of North American electricity drawn from clean sources by 2025.
Last year, NASA casually announced its intention to disrupt the aviation industry by sticking fully electric commercial passenger planes in the sky in 20 years. In a small step toward that goal, space agency director Charles Bolden has just announced plans for the X-57, the first all-electric addition to the famous…
The longstanding joke about fusion—that it’s the energy source of the future, and always will be—may be the field’s biggest problem.
Most human beings would be in a black mood after spending 24 hours awake, strapped to a chair, and concentrating hard so as not to die. Not Bertrand Piccard. Gizmodo caught up the man currently flying the Solar Impulse 2 plane from Hawaii to San Francisco, and he sounded downright chipper.
Smog-filled days may be a part of life in Beijing for now, but China is cutting coal and growing its wind and solar energy capacity fast, according to figures released yesterday by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Last December, world leaders made an unprecedented pact to wean their countries off fossil fuels this century. The oil lobby says such a transition would be an economic death sentence. But a new study paints a sharply different picture: Working toward the Paris goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius…
The United States’ commitment to combatting climate change will affect the entire world. Last week, the Supreme Court froze Obama’s plan to uphold that commitment, sparking fears that the Paris climate agreement would fall apart. But the death of justice Antonin Scalia over the weekend changes everything.
In a symbolic kick in the pants to the coal industry, the Obama administration will announce today that it’s freezing new coal mining leases on public lands, the New York Times reports. It’s the latest in a series of strategic moves by the president to wean America off fossil fuels, something that leaders of 195…
As the leaders of 196 countries negotiate a carbon emissions goal for the planet to prevent an environmental apocalypse, the real work will fall to the companies that will need to deliver change to consumers. And no single person is doing as much to help change our energy consumption as one Elon Musk.
In the wake of yet another bout of devastating smog, China announced today that it plans cut its power sector emissions 60% by 2020, a promise that puts the US Clean Power Plan to shame. If fulfilled, the pledge would make a major dent in global carbon pollution.
