Washington Post (May 11)
The EPA is proposing “the tightest limits ever on power plants’ planet-warming pollution” in order “to meet President Biden’s pledge to halve U.S. emissions by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.” The proposal “would encourage gas- and coal-fired plants nationwide to meet tighter emission-reductions standards by either closing or adopting technology to run cleaner, accelerating one of the fastest transitions underway in energy.”
Tags: Biden, Cleaner, Coal-fired plants, Emission reductions, Emissions, Energy, EPA, Gas, Pledge, Pollution, Technology, Transitions, U.S.
BBC (January 18)
“The United Nations has identified three existential environmental threats – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – and concluded that they must be addressed together” through multilateral agreements. Now “more than 100 countries, including the UK” appear to support a dedicated plastics treaty that may be “proposed at the next UN Environment Assembly in February and March.”
Tags: Biodiversity, Climate change, Environmental, Existential, Multilateral agreements, Pollution, Support, Threats, UK, UN
The Guardian (September 15)
“Every one of the world’s leading economies, including all the countries that make up the G20, is failing to meet commitments made in the landmark Paris agreement in order to stave off climate catastrophe, a damning new analysis has found.” With COP26 approaching, “none of the largest greenhouse gas emitting countries have made sufficient plans to lower pollution to meet what they agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate accord,” leaving the world “on track for 3C temperature increase if present trends continue.”
Tags: Climate catastrophe, Commitments, COP26, Failing, G20, GHG, Leading economies, Paris Agreement, Pollution
Philadelphia Inquirer (May 23)
“Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise nationwide, fueled by record prices for the precious metals in the auto part, which helps gas-powered engines burn cleaner. Demand for the metals, palladium and rhodium, has climbed in recent years as governments pass stricter emissions laws to cut pollution. The auto industry is the metals’ biggest consumer.” In the past five years, palladium has soared from $600 an ounce to $2,900, while rhodium has reached $28,000 an ounce.
Tags: Catalytic converter, Cleaner, Emissions laws, Engines, Gas-powered, Governments, Palladium, Pollution, Precious metals, Record prices, Rhodium, Stricter, Thefts
Financial Times (December 2)
“Investors are becoming increasingly concerned about how climate risks will impact their portfolios.” TCI, one activist hedge fund, “has warned Airbus, Moody’s, Charter Communications and other companies to improve their pollution disclosure or it will vote against their directors and called for asset owners to fire fund managers that did not insist on climate transparency.”
Tags: Activist, Airbus, Asset owners, Charter, Climate risks, Directors, Disclosure, Fund managers, Hedge-fund, Impact, Investors, Moody's, Pollution, Portfolios, TCI, Vote
Gizmodo (March 23)
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch “has more lost and discarded plastic inside it than previous surveys suggested—like, a lot more. And it’s still growing.” A recent study published in Scientific Reports suggest it “is filled with 79,000 metric tonnes (87,000 tons) of plastic, which is between 10 to 16 times higher than previous estimates…. Disturbingly, plastic pollution inside the GPGP ‘is increasing exponentially and at a faster rate than in surrounding waters.’”
Tags: Disturbing, Estimates, Exponentially, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Growing, Plastic, Pollution
Bloomberg (March 9)
“China is cracking down on pollution like never before, with new green policies so hard-hitting and extensive they can be felt across the world, transforming everything from electric vehicle demand to commodities markets.” China is now, by far, the largest global carbon emitter, but the “government is trying to change that without damaging the economy—and perhaps even use its green policies to become a leader in technological innovation.”
Tags: China, CO2, Commodities, Demand, Economy, EVs, Green policies, Hard-hitting, Leader, Pollution, Technological innovation
Gizmodo (January 26)
“We can’t rely on the market to create an ‘electric car revolution’ in Australia. Funding infrastructure, creating industry standards, legislating to reward and cheapen less-polluting cars, and educating the public are all part of the challenge.”
Tags: Australia, Education, EVs, Industry, Infrastructure, Legislation, Market, Pollution, Revolution, Standards
Fortune (January 10)
“China’s air quality has been particularly bad so far this winter. Severe smog or haze episodes have occurred one after another with short breaks in between… Last week, Beijing issued its first-ever red alert for ‘fog’ due to extremely low visibility caused by haze.” While winter weather is a complicating factor, the main blame lies elsewhere. “The reality is that new regulations to curb pollution aren’t enough, and the latest alert signals that China’s government needs to do more.”
Tags: Air quality, Beijing, China, Government, Haze, Pollution, Red alert, Regulations, Smog, Visibility
The Economist (September 3)
“An epic struggle looms. It will transform daily life as profoundly as cars did in the 20th century: reinventing transport and reshaping cities, while also dramatically reducing road deaths and pollution.” Across several industries companies have grasped “the transformative potential of electric, self-driving cars, summoned on demand.” With Uber poised to lead this race, “technology firms including Apple, Google and Tesla are investing heavily in autonomous vehicles; from Ford to Volvo, incumbent carmakers are racing to catch up.”
Tags: Apple, Autonomous vehicles, Carmakers, Cars, Cities, Daily life, Electric, Ford, Google, Pollution, Reinventing, Roads, Self-driving, Struggle, Tesla, Transformative potential, Transport, Uber, Volvo