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Page Updated:
Jan. 13, 2025

• • World’s Climate Fight Needs Fundamental Reform

  Some States are Not
  Acting in Good Faith’
  
  

  Jan. 7, 2025 - he international effort to avert climate catastrophe has become mired by misinformation and bad faith actors, and must be fundamentally reformed, according to a leading UN climate expert.

  Elisa Morgera, the UN special rapporteur on climate change, said the annual UN climate summits and the consensus-based, state-driven process is dominated by powerful forces pushing false narratives and by tech fixes that divert attention from real, equitable solutions for the countries least responsible and most affected.

• • NY Gov Signs Law That Penalizes
  Companies for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  Raising Funds to Pay For Some of the Damage Caused by Extreme Weather Events, Which Are Becoming More Frequent Because of the Fossil Fuel Combustion
  
  

  Dec. 26, 2024 - Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed a law that requires companies that are big fossil fuel polluters to help pay to repair damage caused by extreme weather, which is becoming more common because of greenhouse gas emissions.

  The legislation, called the Climate Change Superfund Act, mandates that the companies responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions buildup between 2000 and 2024 pay about $3 billion each year for 25 years.

• • Agricultural Poisons Tell a Tale of Two Californias

  The Golden Rule Doesn’t Apply in the Golden State when it Comes to Protecting Latino and Indigenous Farmworker Communities from Toxic Pesticides
  
  

  Dec. 20, 2024 -Esperanza was washing off the dirt and sweat from another grueling day in the strawberry fields when she felt a bump on her right breast. It reminded the 44-year-old mother of eight of the milk clumps that formed after she’d weaned her youngest. Except it didn’t go away.

  Esperanza, who is undocumented and asked not to use her last name to protect her identity, knew she should seek medical care after hearing PSAs on Spanish-language TV, she said through a translator.

• • An Enbridge Oil Spill in Wisconsin Is Eroding Trust

  The Fight Over Line 5 Continues
  
  

  Dec. 18, 2024 -A recent oil spill in Wisconsin is exacerbating already tense relationships between state officials and several groups that are fighting to stop a controversial pipeline project from moving forward.

  For years, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, along with several environmental groups, have been fighting to stop Enbridge Energy from replacing 41 miles of its Line 5 pipeline that runs through northern Wisconsin...

• • International Court of Justice Hears Climate Pleas

  This is Ahead of
  Issuing an Advisory Opinion
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2024 -A steel-gray sky hung over the climate proceedings at the International Court of Justice this month, evoking the shadows World War II cast over the negotiators who met here in 1946 to try to establish global legal norms that could bring a peaceful future to a world that had, just a few years before, been tearing itself apart.

  And as the 15-judge panel on Dec. 2 started hearing statements from more than 100 countries and organizations on the topic of states’ legal obligations to one another regarding climate change, the planet seemed to be hurtling toward a different, but no less deadly human-caused catastrophe...

• • Britain Leads the World in Cracking Down on Climate Activism

  Research Shows UK Police Arrest Environmental and Climate Protesters at Three Times the Average Global Rate
  
  

  Dec. 11 , 2024 -British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average rate, research has found, revealing the country as a world leader in the legal crackdown on climate activism.

  Only Australia arrested climate and environmental protesters at a higher rate than UK police. One in five Australian eco-protests led to arrests, compared with about 17% in the UK. The global average rate is 6.7%.

• • Social Media Is a Growing Vehicle for Climate Misinformation

  Research Shows That Social Media Influencers Can Shape Climate Denialism Around the World
  
  

  Dec. 10, 2024 - A few weeks ago, delegates from nearly 200 nations met for the 29th United Nations climate summit (COP29) in Azerbaijan, where they discussed how best to reduce emissions to slow dangerous global warming. Meanwhile, a separate global forum was playing out online, dedicated to undermining the conference, promoting oil and gas and denying humans’ role in climate change.

  Click now to learn more.

• • Should the Polluter Always Pay?

  It Depends On Whether Your Priority is Climate Justice or Cutting Carbon
  
  

  Dec. 8, 2024 -It’s a rule everyone learns as a child: if you spill it, you clean it up. This common-sense principle is even enshrined in US law, with polluters (mostly) paying to clean up Superfund hazardous waste sites.

  What could be more sensible than extending the same argument to carbon emissions? If only it were so simple. The damage from CO2 rests on historical emissions from Western nations and Big Oil—but it is being driven today by countries struggling to industrialize and eradicate poverty, including much of Asia.

• • Trump’s Policies ‘Should Be Turning Off Farmers

  So, Why Did So Many
  Vote For Him?
  
  

  Dec. 7, 2024 -Every year, farmers in California’s Central valley heavily rely on the labor of hundreds of thousands of immigrant agricultural workers to grow and harvest their crops.

  But for many in a region that produces one-quarter of the country’s food, Trump’s promise to deport millions of undocumented migrants – a move that could result in national agricultural output falling by up to $60bn – is not a threat to their livelihoods.

• • What Trump’s Second Administration
  Could Mean for Environmental Justice

  Biden Poured Billions into Helping Communities Most Threatened by Pollution. Donald Trump Could Stop It
  
  

  Dec. 4, 2024 -Over the past four years, the Biden administration said it has funneled hundreds of billions of dollars to help towns and neighborhoods most harmed by pollution. The money, largely through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, paid for electric school buses to replace diesel-burning vehicles, brought solar to tribal lands and funded local groups to clean up their communities.

  Click now to read on.

• • Concerns About US Charges Against Climate Protesters

  UN Human Rights Expert Raises Them
  
  

  Dec. 4, 2024 -A leading UN human rights expert has expressed dismay after the US government failed to respond to questions about the criminal crackdown on peaceful climate protesters.

  Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, on Tuesday published a letter sent to US authorities raising concerns about the potential violation of international human rights law after two climate activists, Alex Connon and John Mark Rozendaal, were charged with crimes that carried lengthy jail terms.

• • Fury as US Argues Against
  Climate Obligations at Top UN Court

  US Says Current Climate Rules are Satisfactory, Prompting Condemnation from Activists and Vulnerable Countries
  
  

  Dec. 4, 2024 -Climate justice campaigners have condemned the US after the world’s largest historic greenhouse gas emitter argued against countries being legally obliged to combat the climate crisis.

  The US intervention came on Wednesday as part of the historic climate hearing at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague, where island nations and other climate-vulnerable countries are calling for wealthy polluting nations most responsible for climate breakdown to be held legally responsible.

• • After Helene, a Push to Stave Off Evictions in North Carolina

  “We Had an Avalanche of Need With This Hurricane,” One Advocate Said
  
  

  Nov. 29, 2024 -Asia Aiken sat with an eviction notice in her hand and weariness on her face

  Like many others, she had come to Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church to seek help with housing after Hurricane Helene battered this region. Aiken, a 21-year-old Asheville native, was already a half month behind on rent when the storm struck, shuttering the sandwich shop where she works and putting her in an even deeper hole. Now, two weeks after she had gone to court for an eviction hearing, she had only days to vacate her home.

• • Making Beneficiaries Pay for New Power Lines is Fair Strategy

  The Costs for New Power Lines Should Be Borne by Those Who Benefit From Them, According To New Cornell Research
  
  

  Nov. 20, 2024 -The nation’s aging electrical grid crosses state lines, jurisdictions and ideologies, but the costs for new power lines should be borne by those who benefit from them, according to new Cornell research.

  Failure to upgrade the grid leads to unreliability and higher electricity bills, in part because it remains tough to get cheap wind and solar to market. From a policy perspective, tensions swirl around affordability, reliability and achieving decarbonization commitments.

• • Why Is Newark in Line for Another Power Plant?

  Despite NJ’s Tough New Environmental Justice Law
  
  

  Nov. 15, 2024 -A super-sized swath of factories, warehouses and diesel trucks clog the Ironbound neighborhood, along with the state’s largest trash incinerator, the biggest sewage treatment plant, an animal carcass rendering facility, several power plants and the contaminated remains of an Agent Orange factory that is still a Superfund site.

  And it’s all just a quick walk from a residential area that is home to some 50,000 people, who live, shop and work in a community long known as a haven for immigrants.

• • Case Claiming Environmental Racism in Cancer Alley Zoning

  Appeals Court Hears Arguments
  
  

  Oct. 7, 2024 -Black residents of Louisiana’s St. James Parish asked a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn a lower court ruling and give them the opportunity to argue at trial that local land-use policies are racist and have concentrated polluting industrial plants in their neighborhoods.

  Click now to read more.

• • Indigenous Group Asks SEC to Scrutinize Fracking Companies

  The Ones Operating in Argentina
  
  

  Sept. 30, 2024 -Mapuche communities affected by methane gas extraction in Patagonia are urging the top U.S. securities regulator to inform investors about the 'environmental, social and cultural' situation in Argentina.

  Click now for more.

• • The Rural Americans Too Poor for Federal Flood Protections

  A Data-Driven Disaster Tool Shows
  “Bias” Against Rural Communities
  
  

  Sep. 1, 2024 -Dozens of people died after more than a foot of rain fell from July 26 through July 30, 2022, flooding 13 rural counties in Eastern Kentucky. Yet as these communities attempt to rebuild, they’re being overlooked for federal spending that’s protecting wealthier and more urbanized Americans from such weather disasters.

• • Harris Stirs Hope for a New Chapter in Climate Action

  Her Record as a Prosecutor
  and Voice for Justice Has
  Environmentalists Looking to the Future
  
  

  Aug. 18, 2024 -Those who care about the climate are now considering new possibilities based on Harris’ past actions: What would she do to hold Big Oil accountable? How could she push climate policy further, especially to address historic injustice? Would she be able to advance international cooperation, building on the progress made in her travels to Africa and Asia as vice president?

• •  Toxic NYC Subway Air Puts Black,
  Hispanic Riders at Higher Health Risk

  It's the First State to Get Federal Funds For Hydrogen Energy
  
  

  Aug. 7, 2024 < Gothamist > -Toxic subway air disproportionately harms low-income commuters, especially Black and Hispanic riders, due to longer commutes and more station transfers, as stated by researchers at New York University on Wednesday.

  Recent research highlights the elevated health risks faced by millions of subway riders. Tiny particles suspended in subway air, known as particulate matter, can enter the lungs and bloodstream, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, researchers said.

• • Tribes and Environmentalists Press
  Arizona and Federal Officials to Stop
  Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon

  Activists Hope to Shut Down an Existing Mine Within a New National Monument and to Prevent Transporting of Uranium on State and Federal Roads Across Navajo Nation Lands
  
  

  July 17, 2024 -Members of environmental groups stood together in the lobby of the Arizona State Capitol Executive Tower late last month to deliver a petition to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, requesting that she stop uranium mining activities near the Grand Canyon National Park.

  The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, National Parks Conservation Association, Wild Arizona, Chispa Arizona and Haul No!, a group formed to fight the mining and transport of uranium, delivered a petition with more than 17,500 signatures to the governor.

• • An Historic African American Community
  Outside Charleston, S.C., Embraces Conservation

  Climate Gentrification Prompted It
  
  

  July 7, 2024 -After emancipation, freed slaves bought marshy land along the coast that white landowners weren’t interested in. Now, big developers covet such waterfront property, despite rising sea levels, threatening historic Black communities.

  At high tide, the marsh alongside Seafood Road disappears under an inscrutable mirror of water. Then, as it drains, reeds resurface and begin to trace hundreds of paths through the marsh, etched by generations of subsistence fishing.