Group items tagged

President Obama announced that an additional 15 U.S. cities (19 cities were committed prior to this update) have signed onto the Compact of Mayors-a global platform that helps cities accelerate their sustainability and climate change resiliency efforts. The president set a goal to have at least 100 U.S. cities signed onto the Compact of Mayors by the end of November 2015.

South Korea's newly elected president, Moon Jae-in, has ordered the temporary closure of 10 coal power plants for the entire month of June to help reduce air pollution in the country. President Moon Jae-in reportedly stated that he plans to phase these coal plants out over his five-year term.

Brazil's conservative National Congress has rushed to pass a wave of legislative initiatives, which taken all together, would dismantle much of the nation's body of law protecting the environment and indigenous people - an effort likely to escalate in 2017. The latest attempt occurred last week, just before the parliamentary recess. The agricultural lobby unexpectedly put forward three bills, known as Decretos Legislativos (PDCs), which are laws promulgated by the President of the Senate over which the country's President does not have the right of veto. If eventually passed, as seems likely, the bills will allow industrial waterways (requiring many dozens of new dams) to be built without the proper assessment of environmental and social impacts. The waterways would be used by agribusiness as a cheap means of exporting soy and other commodities.

Beijing (CNN) -- In a historic climate change deal, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced both countries will curb their greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades. Under the agreement, the United States would cut its 2005 level of carbon emissions by 26-28% before the year 2025. China would peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and will also aim to get 20% of its energy from zero-carbon emission sources by the same yea

The big question for 2018 is whether last year's troubling trends for environment and development - rising global carbon emissions, multiple billion-dollar natural disasters, U.S. President Donald Trump's abandonment of climate action - will continue or turn in a more positive direction. As WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer noted during the Stories to Watch event in Washington on January 10, 2018, developments across several key topics will determine the answer.

Just a few days after the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, President Obama signed an Executive Order designed to encourage Americans to incorporate climate change awareness into their activities and plans.

President Obama issued an Executive Order designed to encourage Americans to incorporate climate change awareness into their activities and plans.

The Obama administration's rule leans heavily on renewable energy to meet its goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent by 2030, which is an increase of 2 percentage points from the draft it released in the summer of 2014. While states have two additional years until they must begin cutting emissions - 2022 instead of 2020 - they are expected to start devising ways to improve their environments, which will focus on shifting to cleaner burning fuels and away from carbon-heavy ones. "The trend we are on will get us there," says Rob Gramlich, senior vice president for government affairs at the American Wind Energy Association, in a phone interview. "As the nation moves from coal to gas, and as it adds more wind, solar and energy efficiency, we will reach that 32 percent target."

The Obama administration's Clean Power Plan rule will require states to begin cutting carbon emissions by 2022. "The trend we are on will get us there. As the nation moves from coal to gas, and as it adds more wind, solar and energy efficiency, we will reach that 32% target," said Rob Gramlich of the American Wind Energy Association. To comply, states can choose among options including boosting renewables, improving heat rates for coal-fired steam generators, and using more nuclear energy and lower-emitting natural gas. Forbes (8/4) 

Costa Rica's new president has announced a plan to ban fossil fuels and become the first fully decarbonised country in the world.

Construction is finished at the 33-story Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh, a structure considered one of the world's greenest buildings. It was designed to use 50% less energy and 77% less water than a regular office building. The project used new materials techniques, requiring construction workers to understand the latest technology. "They get trained and they get retrained when new things come out," said Jack Shea, Allegheny County Labor Council, AFL-CIO president. 

Corporations interested in sustainability have become a major driver in the renewable energy industry, said experts at the North American Energy Markets Association meeting in Florida last month. "There is about 15 GW of latent demand for renewables that wants to be built by 2020 in order to meet the targets of Fortune 500 companies that have committed to some degree of renewable energy in their supply portfolios," said Invenergy Vice President of Sales and Marketing Craig Gordon. 3M, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are among the companies seeking power purchase agreements with renewables in the US.

President Obama told representatives of 90 countries yesterday that taking steps to safeguard the world's oceans is crucial in a warming world. Speaking at the third annual Our Ocean conference, hosted this year by the State Department in Washington, D.C., Obama urged action to relieve stress on the world's oceans as they cope with climate change.

We may suspect that low-flow toilets and showerheads and thermostats that let the room get a little chilly or stuffy while you're gone are really just ways to reduce the hotel's utility bills.We may believe it's always and forever about the bottom line. Snyder's title is vice president of corporate responsibility at IHG, whose hotel brands include Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton and more. His unofficial title is chief sustainability officer for the company. Whatever title he may go by, he is committed to being green, noting that saving money and saving the environment do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Mostly unnoticed amid the political brawl over climate change, the United States has undergone a quiet transformation in how and where it gets its energy during Barack Obama's presidency, slicing the nation's output of polluting gases that are warming Earth.

President Barack Obama officially committed the US to the goals of the Paris climate accord on Saturday. Under the deal, the US has until 2025 to curb its carbon emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels.

Obama (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) President Barack Obama unveiled a multimillion-dollar plan Wednesday that would help Western states cut carbon emissions and deal with climate change. The plan would ramp up renewables in Southern California, make a $230 million investment in stormwater management and provide up to $29 million for a pair of geothermal projects in Nevada and Utah. The Hill (8/31)

The UN released a report finding that a transformational change in global aviation's efforts to promote economic growth and combat climate change could deliver industry savings up to $70 trillion by 2050. Nancy Young, vice president of Airlines for America, said biofuels can help reduce carbon emissions over time by the commercial airline industry.

President-elect Donald Trump has named Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a prominent fossil-fuel industry ally, to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Environmentalists and congressional Democrats vow to oppose the appointment.

President Barack Obama announced a new ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling across broad areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, using part of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that would make it hard for his successor to reverse the decision. "They'll be arguing about this for years in the courts," said environmental lawyer Patrick Parenteau.

A plan launched by Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke and backed by the Philadelphia Energy Authority will use $1 billion on energy efficiency projects in municipal buildings, schools, small businesses and low- to middle-income homes with the goals of creating 10,000 green jobs over the next decade and reducing energy consumption. PEA's executive director, Emily Schapira, says green energy is a growing industry, and the project will spur its development in the city.

Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi announced that India would work towards ratifying the Paris Agreement by the end of this year, following a meeting with President Obama. The state leaders also launched two initiatives to deploy $20 million to provide clean and renewable electricity to as many as 1 million households by 2020 and deploy $40 million to support small-scale renewable energy projects in India.