Brazil's top security official is vowing to tackle the country's uptick in deforestation months after rampant fires in the Amazon rainforest thrust the issue into the international spotlight, Bloomberg reports.
The big picture: The Amazon, the world's largest and most biodiverse rainforest, plays a significant role in slowing global warming. But pro-development President Jair Bolsonaro has sanctioned its deforestation to fulfill a campaign promise of opening the Amazon to new agricultural and mining opportunities.
"We need to stop believing that more and bigger is better. We are chasing the wrong things," former president Barack Obama told a Silicon Valley audience Thursday.
Why it matters: Obama's warning has an added layer of meaning here, where the tech industry has grown powerful and rich by mastering the art of "scaling up."
Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, said in an interview with the BBC Thursday that the band will not tour its latest album, "Everyday Life," because of concerns over the environmental impact of global tours.
The big picture: Instead of a tour, the band will broadcast two performances from Amman, Jordan, for free on YouTube on Friday, Nov. 22 — the new album's release date.
Tesla will take the wraps off its long-awaited pickup truck in Los Angeles Thursday night.
Why it matters: Pickups are enormously popular with U.S. consumers, but Tesla will have competition in this space even if electric trucks become a thing. Ford and GM are also both working on models, too.
The climate chatter in last night's Democratic primary debate lacked a narrative through-line but produced interesting moments nonetheless.
The big picture: South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg made an agriculture pitch ahead of Iowa.He's the frontrunner in a closely watched recent poll of likely Democratic caucus-goers.
Smoke from Australia's deadly wildfires blanketed the state capitals of Sydney and Adelaide as air quality exceeded "hazardous" levels on Thursday, the BBC reports.
Why it matters: Thousands of people have fled the fires. Per News.com.au, much of the country is on high fire alert, as blazes rage across all six of Australia's states. Six people have died in the bushfires in the eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales.
House Democrats on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee have unveiled draft legislation that would extend and/or expand a suite of tax credits for climate-friendly energy sources.
Why it matters: The tax code has historically been a driver of solar and wind power deployment, as well as electric vehicle sales, and much more.
PG&E will start cutting power Wednesday to about 150,000 customers in 18 California counties in the latest wave of preemptive blackouts to curb wildfire risks.
Why you'll hear about this again: The embattled utility will probably need to keep doing this for a long time. But the blackouts are just one force speeding the rise of what Shayle Kann of the VC firm Energy Impact Partners calls "resilience culture."
