The House approved the Great American Outdoors Act on Wednesday, setting aside $900 million in federal oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, The Hill reports.
Why it matters: The bipartisan legislation comes with President Trump's support, even though he previously proposed cutting LWCF's budget by roughly 97%, The Hill notes. His reversal comes as the 2020 election inches closer.
The Earth's average global temperature will likely warm anywhere from 4.1°F to 8.1°F (or 2.3°C to 4.5°C) if deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels continue at the current rate, the Washington Post reports, citing a major new study.
Why it matters: The best-case scenario of this estimate exceeds the previous minimum range first established in a 1979 report, which expected the planet to warm between 2.7°F and 8.1°F (1.5°C to 4.5°C) if the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were to double. The world is on track to hit that milestone within roughly the next 50 years, according the Post.
Tech giants' climate pledges are getting bigger and, more importantly, at least somewhat more specific.
Driving the news: Microsoft yesterday unveiled new info about implementing its January vow to be "carbon negative" by 2030 and help its customers and suppliers cut emissions too.
The pandemic and the presidential election are together putting a fresh spotlight onto the scope of residential energy demand and how to cut emissions from homes and buildings.
The big picture: Lockdowns and remote work are moving energy demand from offices and business to residences — and projections of working from home outlasting the pandemic suggest that some of that shift will persist.
European Union power generation from renewables exceeded fossil fuel-based electricity for the first time in the first half of 2020, per new analysis Wednesday from the U.K.-based climate think tank Ember.
Why it matters: It appears to be an inflection point. Ember electricity analyst Dave Jones tells Axios that he does not expect fossil generation to regain a bigger share than renewables.
The burning of natural gas at oil production sites rose last year to its highest level since 2009, per newly released World Bank estimates based on satellite data.
Why it matters: Flaring the gas associated with oil production, rather than capturing it, emits lots of greenhouse gas emissions, even though the oil sector has made progress on a per-barrel basis.
Apple aims to ensure that within 10 years every product it sells will have a net zero impact on climate change, the tech giant announced Tuesday.
The big picture: The new goal is the latest by global technology companies looking to go big on climate change even while they face growing scrutiny over the main thrust of their businesses, namely antitrust concerns.
Roughly 60% of real estate investment trust (REIT) properties are projected to experience high water-stress by 2030 — more than double the number today, according to a report that Axios had early access to from the asset management firm BlackRock.
Why it matters: Climate change is set to exacerbate water scarcity in much of the world. Investors who fail to price in the cost of adapting to water stress risk being left high and dry.
