Energy policy

Wisconsin Becomes First Midwest State With a Plan to Go Carbon-Free By Midcentury

The impacts of climate change have been real so far this year for the Midwest. Historic flooding has ravaged multiple states, and don’t even get me started on last month’s heatwave. All this has been a rude awakening for many across the region, and their leaders are listening. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed an executive order…

Climate Change Yessenia Funes Aug 19

Hurricane Maria Caused the Second-Longest Blackout Ever

As the sun came up on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria, it was clear life would be forever different. Weak, old electric grids reliant on outdated infrastructure were basically wiped out by Category 4 winds, and the replacement process dragged on to the point that it became the worst blackout…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Apr 12

China Is Definitely Winning the World’s Clean Energy Race

The world continued to double down on renewable power in 2017. Or at least, China did. Certain wealthy nations (ahem, U.S.) could stand to step up their game. That’s according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which found that worldwide, solar, wind, and other renewables (excluding large…

Energy Maddie Stone Apr 6

Congress Calls Burning Wood ‘Carbon Neutral,’ Prominent Ecologist Calls Bullshit

On Friday, Congress passed a 1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that, among other things, will continue to enshrine the controversial notion that biomass fuels are carbon neutral. The day before, a prominent ecologist penned an article in a prestigious journal explaining why that’s baloney. William Schlesinger may be an emeritus professor at the Cary Institute…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Mar 23

Lamar Smith Is Okay Addressing Climate Change as Long as It’s With Fusion Power

House Science, Space and Technology Committee chairman and man who calls hearings to challenge basic climate science Lamar Smith struck an unusual tune in a hearing that garnered little attention earlier this week. Apparently, despite all evidence to the contrary, Smith is concerned about reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change after all. He just…

Energy Maddie Stone Mar 9

The Trump Administration Might (Sort Of) Be Serious About Clean Coal

The Trump era is unlikely to be known for aggressive climate action, but there is one front on which scientists, engineers, and policymakers may yet make a little progress over the next few years: carbon capture technology. On February 15, the Department of Energy announced that it would be doling out $6.5 million to advance…

Energy Maddie Stone Feb 20

US Solar Jobs Declined Last Year

America’s solar industry lost nearly 10,000 jobs in 2017, the non-profit research firm The Solar Foundation announced on Wednesday. It’s the first time solar jobs have dipped in the United States since the foundation began tracking the fledgling industry in 2010. Those job losses represent an industry-wide decline of about four percent. Roughly 250,000 Americans…

Energy Maddie Stone Feb 7

Renewables Just Outdid Coal in Europe for the First Time (But There’s a Caveat)

Coal is dying. Long live renewables. That’s the message from a new report by U.K. climate nonprofit Sandbag and and German think tank Agora Energiewende. It shows that 2017 was the first year in history that renewables overtook coal as a source of electricity generation in the European Union. It also shows that wind installation…

Energy Brian Kahn Jan 30

Can We Put Coal Miners Back to Work in Clean Energy?

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 has taken credit…

Tech News Sidney Fussell Aug 3

The Climate and Energy Stories We’ll Be Following in 2017

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 expanded rapidly as costs fell,…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Dec 30

The Paris Climate Agreement Just Passed a Major Milestone

Good news, Earthlings: the Paris climate agreement had passed a critical milestone toward adoption. At a UN General Assembly meeting in New York this morning, 31 nations officially signed onto the accord, making it very likely that the deal will enter legal force this year. You may remember that the Paris agreement—an international pledge to…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Sep 21

This Proposal to Torch Dead Forests For Fuel Is Nuts

Drought and bark beetle infestations have not been kind to western forests in recent years. California alone has an estimated 66 million dead trees speckling its landscapes and waiting to become wildfire fuel. To prevent that from happening and help us kick our coal habit at the same time, a pair of scientists has put…

Tech News Maddie Stone Sep 9

This Energy Goal Could Save the US Over a Trillion Dollars

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 could save the…

Health Maddie Stone Feb 22

Australia’s Prime Minister Is Hell Bent On Scrapping Clean Energy

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott seems determined to push his country back decades on environmental policy. In his latest scheme, Abbott has ordered Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in wind and small-scale solar energy. The mandate comes after Abbott tried and failed (twice) to scrap the CEFC, a green bank that lends…

Tech News Maddie Stone Jul 16

Wisconsin Becomes First Midwest State With a Plan to Go Carbon-Free By Midcentury

Hurricane Maria Caused the Second-Longest Blackout Ever

China Is Definitely Winning the World’s Clean Energy Race

Congress Calls Burning Wood ‘Carbon Neutral,’ Prominent Ecologist Calls Bullshit

Lamar Smith Is Okay Addressing Climate Change as Long as It’s With Fusion Power

The Trump Administration Might (Sort Of) Be Serious About Clean Coal

US Solar Jobs Declined Last Year

Renewables Just Outdid Coal in Europe for the First Time (But There’s a Caveat)

Can We Put Coal Miners Back to Work in Clean Energy?

The Climate and Energy Stories We’ll Be Following in 2017

The Paris Climate Agreement Just Passed a Major Milestone

This Proposal to Torch Dead Forests For Fuel Is Nuts

This Energy Goal Could Save the US Over a Trillion Dollars

Australia’s Prime Minister Is Hell Bent On Scrapping Clean Energy

The New York Times Claims It Finally Unmasked Satoshi Nakamoto (This Time for Real)

Artemis 2 Day 8: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

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Amazon Clears Out Alexa Smart Plug at Its Lowest Price After Selling 10K+ Units

Mysterious Seafood Virus May Be Behind Emerging Eye Disease, Scientists Warn

New Maps Show Just How Much of the West Could Go Up in Flames This Summer

Anker’s 10,000mAh MagGo Power Bank Restocks at Record Low After Selling Out 10K+ Units on Amazon, MagSafe Compatible Portable Charger for Less

The Biggest Apple Copycat Is Now Copying Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses

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