The Trump administration will place new hurdles in front of plans to build a large gold and copper mine in a sensitive Alaskan ecosystem, and may block the project outright, according to reports Saturday.
Driving the news:The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal report the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will say Monday that the Pebble Mine would cause "significant degradation."
New research suggests that the true number of people around the world who lack reliable and regular access to electricity is many times higher than previously estimated.
Why it matters: Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity is a requirement for modern life, and enshrined in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. But fair access needs to go beyond a few lightbulbs and enable full participation in an electrified world.
"America is roasting," the WashPost reports on A1, noting the historically high temperatures it calls a "deadly force of nature."
Driving the news: "At least 140 Western weather stations notched record highs in the past 10 days as a thermometer in California’s Death Valley hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit, one of the highest temperatures measured on Earth."
Joe Biden emphasized climate change in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination Thursday night, as the days leading up to it offered fresh evidence of the problem's scale and tensions within his coalition.
Why it matters: It was a statement of priority in the most important speech of Biden's campaign to unseat President Trump, and the address mentioned the topic repeatedly.
A new report from several groups shows strong opposition among asset managers, financial advisers and other industry actors to Labor Department plans to restrict sustainable investing — or ESG, for environmental, social, and governance.
Why it matters: The rule has transformed the Labor Department into a battleground over climate (though of course climate is just one part of ESG investing).
The response from America’s political class to California’s overlapping crises of heatwaves, wildfires and power blackouts shows just how politicized these topics have become.
Driving the news: President Trump and other Republicans say the whole country will face California’s problems if Democrats pass their climate policies. Meanwhile, some Democrats are pushing political messages with the state’s extreme weather.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) used his Democratic National Convention address on Thursday to highlight the real-world effects of climate change, speaking just a mile from the site of one of the over 370 wildfires that are currently ravaging his state.
What he's saying: "Well, I confess this is not where I expected to be speaking here tonight," said Newsom, who was originally set to speak at the DNC but remained in California to monitor the fires. "We are just coming off a record heat wave that led to 130 degree temperatures — the highest temperature ever recorded in California."
