Senate Democrats alleged in a new report Thursday that the Trump administration has censored more than 1,400 studies on climate change across the government, Politico reports.
Why it matters: To the extent these claims are accurate, it illustrates the reach of President Trump's moves to stifle established climate science. It's also a sign of how much of a political football climate change has become between the two parties.
Google on Thursday announced a 1.6 gigawatt package of renewable power deals in the U.S., South America and Europe that the tech behemoth is calling the "biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history."
Why it matters: The announcement signals how buys from large companies, including several tech giants, are becoming an increasingly important driver of solar and wind power growth. It also arrives the same day that Amazon vowed to power its facilities and operations with 100% renewables by 2030 as part of wider new climate pledges.
President Trump's effort to yank California's power to impose vehicle carbon emission rules that are tougher than federal standards is very of-the-moment.
Driving the news: EPA this morning announced that they’re indeed revoking California’s waiver, stating it’s needed to ensure “there will be one, and only one, set of national fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles.”
GM CEO Mary Barra is willing to bet her company's future on massive investments in electric and self-driving vehicles — even at the expense of its traditional gasoline-powered base, writes Bloomberg Businessweek.
The big picture: "Taking vast resources from businesses that make money and moving them toward businesses that (so far) lose mountains of it is obviously a large and risky bet," according to Bloomberg. However, the biggest challenge for GM will be to get the right timing as it goes full steam on electric vehicles.
The Michael Bloomberg-backed Beyond Carbon campaign has launched a 6-figure digital ad buy just ahead of the 2-day climate forum with 2020 Democratic hopefuls that MSNBC is co-hosting Thursday and Friday.
Where it stands: The campaign — running on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube — features commentary from former New York City mayor Bloomberg, Hip Hop Caucus CEO Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. and others.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres sought to underscore the urgency of climate change on Wednesday, even as other topics grabbed the spotlight during a press conference ahead of a major UN summit next week.
Why it matters: Given both the cause and effect of climate change are decades in the making, the issue often gets crowded out of the top of diplomatic agendas when more imminent crises emerge. In Wednesday’s case, the conversation was dominated by the weekend attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure — which produces the very products helping warm Earth’s temperature.
Gasoline prices have gone up across more than half the country following last weekend’s attacks on Saudi Arabia oil infrastructure.
Where it stands: Since Monday, the national gasoline price average has increased 9 cents to $2.65 a gallon, according to AAA, which predicts the average could jump as much as another dime this month. Spokeswoman Jeanette Casselano wouldn’t speculate when prices would start going back down.
Bermuda was spared the brunt of Hurricane Humberto, but the Royal Gazette reports that the Category 3 storm's 125 mph winds cut power to almost 20,000 British island territory residents — about 80% of the population.
Details: Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service reported 17 minor incidents including gas leaks and transformer fires and 9 medical incidents, the government tweeted. By 2am, Humberto was 195 miles north-northeast of Bermuda, but its winds were still plaguing coastal areas, per the National Hurricane Center.
One of the unintended consequences of the transportation revolution Silicon Valley is unleashing on city streets is a macabre new array of traffic jams, injuries and even deaths.
The big picture: Cities have been built for personal cars for a century, and they are unprepared to manage the new modes of transportation that are rapidly gaining popularity.
The decisions reached this month by two Indian states, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, to stop building new coal plants align with a renewed call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to end all such construction by 2020.
Why it matters: India's pipeline of planned new coal plants ranks second in size only to China's. These commitments by its state governments come ahead of next week's Climate Summit at the UN General Assembly, where countries will face strong pressure to back off support for expanding coal facilities.
Sweden appears to be the only country in the world, or at least in Europe, where fewer people are flying for environmental reasons, the Telegraph reports.
Why it matters: Flying is a massive contributor to carbon footprints in developed countries, but based on the total number of travelers, air travel has increased this year in 38 of 42 European countries, the Telegraph notes. Drops in air travel in Iceland, Turkey and Bulgaria can be explained by economic or demographic causes, but the same can't be said for Sweden — home of climate activist Greta Thunberg and the "flygskam" (flight shame) movement.
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who arrived in the U.S. last month after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in a carbon neutral ship, offered a 2018 report on the implications of climate change in lieu of an opening statement in her testimony before 2 congressional committees on Wednesday.
Federal auto safety officials may soon allow you to pick your car's ringtone.
Why it matters: Electric vehicles and hybrids are quiet, which means they can be dangerous to pedestrians, bicyclists and people with vision impairments. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires carmakers to add alert sounds to their quiet models.
The battle between the Trump administration and California over vehicle carbon emissions and mileage is getting hotter.
The latest: Trump announced on Twitter Wednesday that the EPA will revoke California's waiver under the Clean Air Act that enables the state to set CO2 emissions rules that exceed federal standards.
As the scooter-startup wars continue to heat up across the U.S., San Francisco-based Skip claims its slow-and-steady approach has allowed it to perfect its warehouse operations and the design of its newest vehicle, the first scooter it has not purchased off-the-shelf from other vendors.
The intrigue: By some measures, the company is well behind its biggest rivals like Bird and Lime, which operate in dozens of cities while Skip is only in two, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
The current U.S. Highway Code does not have a single performance measure that focuses on the reduction of greenhouse gases or vehicle miles traveled, but a new bill in Congress aims to establish a connection and incentivize reductions.
Why it matters: Transportation contributes 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Driving represents 83% of trips, and the number of miles driven is rising, posing a serious problem to curbing emissions.
Hurricane Humberto was packing sustained winds of 115 mph as the Category 3 storm 330 miles west of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said early Wednesday.
The latest: While Humberto is set to bring strong winds to the British island territory, forecasters expect the hurricane's center to pass just to the northwest of Bermuda Wednesday night.
The latest: A potentially significant flash flood event along the upper Texas coast and Houston may set up overnight, the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center tweeted just before 11pm ET. Schools across the region canceled Wednesday classes as a precaution, the Houston Chronicle reports.
