Though we may come by our climate cynicism honestly post-Paris, it doesn't do the climate (or our future) a lick of good. The world only wins climate solutions if our country, the United States, shows all the way up. And no matter how hard it may be to hold our own country so accountable, that remains our indispensable role.
To “be” climate is the hardest thing of all, yet there’s nothing else to be. Climate denial persists because we don’t want to go here. Contradicting science is the least of it; we compartmentalize; we detach; we disown consequences. We watch our leaders work their hearts out for a strong climate agreement, while toying with a deal to lift a ban on oil exports.
Faraday announces $1 billion electric-car factory, Texans rent their roofs for solar power, Paris accord boosts clean-energy stocks, and more news of the week in clean energy solutions
"If the world were a bank," a French labor leader said in exasperation during the Paris climate negotiations, "it would have been rescued by now!" In this telebriefing, four Northwest climate action leaders share unfiltered ringside observations on the negotiations' final stages. With KC Golden, labor leader Jeff Johnson, clean tech business leader Tim Miller, and Portland sustainability manager Michael Armstrong.
The Paris Agreement sets the stage for the immediate future of coordinated, international climate action. Much of the actual progress will depend on local and regional action; every Northwest oil terminal abandoned, ton of coal left in ground, and solar panel installed, fuels the ambition of the U.S., Canada, and therefore countries around the world to meet and exceed our carbon-reduction goals.
Today in Portland, five west coast mayors announced aggressive commitments to aggressive action on both climate change and equity. The announcement comes directly after a Paris gathering of international mayors talking climate change; it also closely follows the groundbreaking climate resolutions passed last month in Portland. Here's the story of how those resolutions came to be.
Is the US Senate really preparing to eliminate the ban on crude oil export – threatening our communities and setting back our fight against climate change? And are they really doing so on the same week as the Paris climate conference?
Civil-society climate justice advocates and vulnerable nations may be succeeding in their push for a more aggressive target for limiting global warming. This development shows a shift in power towards the priorities of a massive global climate movement–and it's the news from Paris, as much as the climate agreement text itself.
Global climate pollution bends downward, negotiators lean toward a 1.5˚C warming goal, Financial Standards Board to require that firms disclose their carbon risk, and more news of the week in clean energy solutions.
Cities (or "sub-nationals," in international climate negotiations-speak) are at the vanguard of where real climate solutions are being implemented around the world. That will remain true in the years ahead, no matter how ambitious an agreement emerges from the COP21 climate talks in Paris this month--local and state governments will be shouldering much of the load of creative carbon emissions reduction, of energy efficiency improvements, and of access to renewable energy.
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Canada to enact national carbon price this year, Pacific island nations draft treaty to end fossil fuel extraction, Nevadans will vote whether to restore net metering, and more news of the week in climate and clean energy.
100-MW battery outcompetes a natural-gas peaker plant in LA, Germany replaces feed-in tariffs with clean power auction, Chinese automaker unveils solar car, and more news of the week in climate and clean energy.
Washington state officials continue working on a new set of rules to cap carbon emissions. Getting ir right will require setting more ambitious goals, in line with current science—and we'll still need more tools to protect our climate and our future.
Solar prices fall 8 percent in first half of 2016, Oakland rejects coal export proposal, California plans for a future without baseload power plants, and more news of the week in climate and clean energy.
Thanks to St. Thomas School for supporting us through your 2016 Walkathon. When we visited to talk climate with you, you inspired us.
VW announces major move into EVs, Sweden to keep nuclear plants open ’til 2040s, first mammalian species succumbs to global warming, and more news of the week in climate and clean energy.
Historically, environmentalism has focused on the experiences and goals of higher-income, white males. Today environmentalists that are looking to “diversify” the movement must put aside their own agenda, and seek to listen, learn from, and join the global movement of indigenous and communities of color.
With temperatures already hitting historic highs, momentum and investment in clean energy solutions are also increasing rapidly. Oregonians have good reasons for optimism about the clean energy transition that is well underway.
US and India agree to quicker phase-out of HFCs, SF Bay Area voters pass adaptation tax, ConEd to deploy ‘virtual power plant’ of batteries and solar panels in Brooklyn, and more news of the week in climate and clean energy.
SEIU votes to make climate action a priority, California tests zero-net-energy homes, Australian coal CEOs defect to solar and energy efficiency, and more news of the week in climate and clean energy.
