NEW YORK CITY — The mood at Climate Week NYC and the UN General Assembly blends excitement about low-carbon energy growth with stress about geopolitical headwinds.
State of play: Al Gore's remarks at Axios House Climate Week/UN General Assembly on Monday capture this vibe.
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring the western Caribbean for the formation of what is expected to become Tropical Storm Helene — and then Hurricane Helene — midweek.
Threat level: With record-warm Gulf waters, the storm is forecast to rapidly intensify into a Category 3 hurricane before hitting Florida's Big Bend region Thursday.
Hurricane John made landfall along Mexico's southern Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm after rapidly intensifying on Monday night, per the National Hurricane Center.
The big picture: The major hurricane made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph just to the south-southwest of Marquelia, in the state of Guerrero, the NHC said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is suing the Biden administration for classifying the dunes sagebrush lizard in May as an endangered species.
The big picture: The sand-burrowing lizard is native to a portion of the oil-and gas-rich Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico and Paxton in a statement Monday called the designation an "unlawful misuse of environmental law" and a "backdoor attempt to undermine Texas's oil and gas industries."
The shipping industry is at a critical juncture, poised to undergo a sustainability transformation that could redefine global trade.
Why it's important: Maritime shipping, responsible for transporting nearly 90% of globally traded goods, is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions due to its reliance on fossil fuels like diesel.
Amazon is striving to decarbonize parts of its business globally in an effort to progress its climate goals, chief sustainability officer Kara Hurst told Axios' Niala Boodhoo at Axios House Climate Week/UN General Assembly in New York City on Monday.
Why it matters: The company runs one of the biggest logistics and transportation networks in the world.
If a 100% tax was a stiff jab in the effort to keep Chinese EVs off U.S. roads, the Biden administration just dropped a decisive uppercut.
Between the lines: Today's newly proposed ban on certain connected-vehicle technologies is less about fixing a problem that's already here, and more about preventing what's to come.
California sued ExxonMobil on Monday alleging a decades-long campaign that falsely promised recycling would effectively address plastic waste.
The big picture: The first-of-its-kind lawsuit seeks to hold the oil giant— one of the largest producers of petroleum-based polymers — accountable for misleading the public and polluting the state.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm sees "extremely positive" signs in the potential reactor revival at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, she told Axios.
Why it matters: Rising power demand from AI data centers and new manufacturing has both Congress and the Biden administration increasingly bullish on nuclear power.
Former Vice President Al Gore said Monday that the fossil fuel industry uses its deep-rooted influence over "captive politicians," particularly in red states, as an effort to slow the progress of climate change policy.
Why it matters: Gore has sounded the alarm that corporate giants and some countries are falling behind on their climate commitments, which he partly attributes to the industry's "information war."
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson dismissed suggestions thatElon Musk's inflammatory rhetoric jeopardizes the agency's relationship with SpaceX because day-to-day operations are handled by its president, Gwynne Shotwell.
Why it matters: NASA is relying on SpaceX to bring astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams back home after technical setbacks at Boeing left them stranded on the International Space Station.
The fossil fuel industry's push for natural gas and carbon capture technology is causing the world to fall short on climate goals, former presidential climate envoy John Kerry told Axios.
Why it matters: Recent global climate accords have dictated that countries need to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and slow the warming planet.
NEW YORK – Former Vice President Al Gore criticized the selection of COP presidents and the recent number of host locations in "petro states," calling it "ridiculous," during an interview at Axios House for Climate Week and the UN General Assembly.
Why it matters: COP convenes climate leaders annually to discuss the path forward for climate change solutions and progress toward goals.
Gore highlighted how this year's COP29 is the third year in a row where the conference is hosted in a petro state and urged the United Nations to open up the location selection process to a shared decision.
The details: Axios House hosted a special edition of News Shapers featuring prominent leaders in the climate industry.
The event was sponsored by Bank of America.
Former secretary of state John Kerrysaid the fossil fuel industry causes the world to fall short of climate goals by pushing for natural gas and carbon capture instead of cutting its dependency on fossil fuels.
"There's a massive movement in the fossil fuel industry now to sort of suggest that 'gas is going to be green and gas is going to be the future'. But gas is 87% methane, and methane is…20 to 80 times more damaging than CO2," said Kerry.
Kerry added that the promises made at COP28 last year to ramp up phasing out fossil fuels to reach the goal of net zero by 2050 isn't happening. "We're not doing that, we're not implementing."
"We need to speed up, we must come to scale faster."
When it comes to growing the sustainable food industry, chef Alice Waters said re-directing public school systems' procurement money towards slow food instead of fast food could be a global climate solution.
"We could make this really globally connecting. So we could learn from people around the world, like we have, about what plants you can grow in very hot places and cold places and wet places. It could be the most positive, and I daresay delicious, solution to climate," Waters said.
In a separate interview, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson discussed the decision "unanimous" to have the two astronauts remain in space after discovering malfunctions on the Boeing spacecraft that brought them to the International Space Station.
"It was unanimous in NASA. My decision is the final decision. It was easy…And in this day and time of putting two test pilots' lives on the line, we just were not going to take that risk," said Nelson.
Wildfires have spiked to new highs across huge parts of South America, with large blazes burning deep in the Amazon rainforest, new reports show.
Why it matters: The fires are emitting record amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases in a region that humanity counts on for being a net absorber of carbon dioxide.
California is banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery store checkouts under legislation that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Sunday.
Why it matters: The law that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, honors the intent of a ban on single-use bags "enacted 10 years ago that allowed stores to sell customers thicker plastic carryout bags that were considered reusable and met certain recyclability standards," per a statement from state Sen. Catherine Blakespear.
