The World Meteorological Organization announced Wednesday it has retired the name "Ida" from its rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021.
The Department of Commerce's probe into whether Chinese companies are skirting tariffs on solar panel shipments to the U.S. is delaying projects nationwide, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
Why it matters:The industry trade group claims that the investigation is setting back efforts to cut carbon emissions and harming U.S. green jobs, while potential tariffs resulting from it could further stunt solar growth.
The commodity surge from Russia's invasion of Ukraine will burden Africa with higher costs and could create headwinds for the continent's clean energy transition.
Driving the news: A new International Monetary Fund report calls the war a "severe and exogenous shock" for sub-Saharan Africa due to surging food and fuel prices.
An intense heat waveis bringing temperatures of 104°F (40°C) or greater to nearly 1 billion people in India and Pakistan, with records threatened each day through the weekend.
Why it matters: Extreme heat can be deadly. An increase in the intensity, duration and occurrence of extreme heat events has been tied to climate change, including trends in India specifically.
Ambassador Dan Feldman, who serves as chief of staff on John Kerry's international climate team, is leaving the administration early next month and will rejoin his law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Feldman, who previously served under then-Secretary of State Kerry as the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is a close Kerry confidant.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are among those suing the U.S. Postal Service to block its purchase of 148,000 gasoline-powered mail delivery trucks.
Driving the news: The state attorneys general, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council say the federal agency severely underestimated the cost of the vehicles and the toll on the environment, according to the Washington Post.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday that his office has subpoenaed ExxonMobil as part of an investigation into the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries' role in "causing and exacerbating the global plastics pollution crisis."
Why it matters: The U.S. only recycles about nine percent of produced plastics, according to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency. Much of our plastic waste, which takes hundreds of years to decompose, ends up in waterways and poses a major threat to marine life and ecosystems.
