Corporate giants and some countries are backsliding on their climate commitments — a worrying sign in a year that otherwise saw hopeful growth in renewables, Al Gore and his investment colleagues say in a new report from Generation Investment Management.
Why it matters: The sustainability trends report details lower EV production and sales in the U.S., along with hiccups in the speed of wind energy deployment in some areas.
British energy giant BP said that it will seek to sell its U.S. onshore wind business, which could fetch around $2 billion, as it refocuses its U.S. renewables business on solar.
Why it matters: This reflects how solar capacity is catching up to wind in the U.S., and may eventually surpass it, thanks to lower costs and installation complexity.
The big picture: As Storm Boris moves through the region, it has brought several months' worth or more of rain to Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and other countries in just a matter of days.
The Energy Department wants to see solar panels built above the only place in the nation where nuclear waste is buried deep underground.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is trying to demonstrate the potential for new energy sources at sites across the DOE's nuclear weapons complex.
At least 1,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced, by floods across Central and Western Africa. Parts of Nigeria, Mali, and Niger have been particularly hard hit by some of the heaviest rains in decades.
Threat level: The flooding, which has hit some of the driest places in the world, has displaced large groups of people and drowned many who could not escape swiftly-moving water in time.
A tropical rainstorm that is taking aim at the Mid-Atlantic has flooded the Carolinas with "historic" rains, inundating homes, roads and vehicles and prompting water rescues.
The big picture: Flash flood and tropical storm warnings were in effect for portions of North and South Carolina Monday into Tuesday due to the unnamed system that the National Hurricane Center referred to as Potential Tropical Cyclone 8, as it dumped more than a foot of rain in some places.
Scientific American magazine announced Monday that it was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race, citing her plans to improve the nation's health care system, fight climate change and support reproductive rights.
Why it matters: This is only the second time in the magazine's 179-year history that it has made an endorsement in a presidential race, the publication's editors wrote in an op-ed.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is testing what it says is the first respirator developed specifically for battling wildfires.
Why it matters: The device would at last shield wildland firefighters from toxic smoke that most inhale without proper protection, especially as the wildfire season is made even longer by climate change.
More high-speed charging stations for electric vehicles will be available in urban parking garages under a deal to be announced today between BP Pulse and LAZ Parking, a leader in digital parking technology, Axios is first to report.
Why it matters: Finding a place to charge an EV is especially difficult in densely packed cities, where many people live in apartment buildings and don't have access to a home charger.
