Delegates from more than 150 countries met in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, last week, to agree on a strategy for diminishing the worldwide use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Historically, people started using these chemicals for refrigeration, air conditioning, and aerosols in response to the scientific finding that their predecessors — chlorofluorocarbons — … [continued]
Just two weeks ago, the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for endangering Massachusetts communities along the historic Mystic River through its activities at the Everett petroleum storage terminal. This is the first nongovernmental lawsuit in the nation to take a petroleum company to task for its decades-long … [continued]
In Strasbourg, France, yesterday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the President of the UN’s climate group (COP 21), Ségolène Royal, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker witnessed the European parliament’s signed approval of the ratification of the Paris Agreement. 191 nations came to the agreement, which globalizes action on … [continued]
Originally published on Planetsave. Disturbing news came out of a meeting in Oxford, England, last week. Over 200 researchers, policy makers, businesspeople, and members of civil society met to reexamine Earth’s deadline for human sustainability. They found it likely to be sooner than we previously thought. To review recent history … [continued]
Both United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry (quoting President Obama), affirmed the viability of the Paris Agreement on climate change this morning. Sensing the urgency of acting on upcoming world disaster, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had convened a special “High-Level Event” today at the UN … [continued]
Canada’s federal environment minister Catherine McKenna made a huge announcement Sunday on Canadian television’s Question Period. The central government in Ottawa has come out for nationwide carbon pricing. It will soon levy a minimum national carbon price on any province that lacks adequate plans to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions. … [continued]
On Monday, September 7 (the Labor Day holiday in the US), the government of Mexico announced that the nation “south of the border” would soon join the growing ranks of countries that have adopted cap and trade to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Mexico’s pilot carbon pricing program will begin … [continued]
The news broke this morning that the United States and China have renewed their global leadership on climate change by jointly announcing their ratifications of the Paris Agreement on climate change ahead of schedule. The prediction we made last week about the landmark international climate agreement has thus come to pass. In a … [continued]
California stands poised to enact the most ambitious carbon pollution reduction goal on the North American continent for the year 2030. The Golden State bears a special burden this year, the fifth of a historic and punishing drought. The drought causes water quality to degrade, surface and groundwater level to … [continued]
In Beijing, senior US and Chinese officials worked extra late Tuesday night to finalize a joint ratification of last December’s landmark Paris Agreement on climate action. On September 4, the summit meeting of the Group of Twenty major economies begins in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. There President Xi Jinping and … [continued]
