New York City's super-sized Climate Week featured a stark split-screen between the official business of the week, as showcased at the UN Climate Ambition Summit, and a trade show-like glimpse into our lower carbon future.
Why it matters: The core message from both sides is that progress is being made to decarbonize economies, but the pace and scale are nowhere as fast or sweeping as they need to be.
There are thousands of facilities that house large quantities of hazardous chemicals in communities across the U.S. Most Americans may not know they're there.
Why it matters: Accidents at these facilities have seriously injured — or even killed — people who work there.
Chemical accidents at facilities with a risk management plan are supposed to be reported to the Environmental Protection Agency within six months, But public records indicate that's not always happening.
Why it matters: The number of accidents per year is steadily declining. But delayed reporting can produce an inaccurate picture of how safe the U.S.' chemical-storage infrastructure truly is.
Most of the chemical accidents reported to the EPA over the past 20 years involved one of 3 chemicals, according to Axios' analysis of records obtained by the Data Liberation Project.
The big picture: Workers have suffered serious injuries from these mishaps.
The U.N. Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday marked a potential turning point in the global effort to limit the severity of climate change.
The big picture: For more than three decades, world leaders have gathered to discuss the increasing urgency of this issue. Yet there has been staunch resistance to centering those conversations around the biggest cause of climate change: burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas for energy.
