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Category Archives: Energy

NASA’s High-Resolution Air Quality Control Instrument Launches

“A NASA instrument to provide unprecedented resolution of monitoring major air pollutants – down to four square miles – lifted off on its way to geostationary orbit at 12:30 a.m. EDT Friday. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument will improve life on Earth by revolutionizing the way scientists observe air quality from space.… Continue Reading

Sail & Explore Association Partnership Expands Microplastics Database

“The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives data collected by a variety of scientists and institutions. The partnership between NCEI and nonprofit organization Sail & Explore Association has improved and expanded the Marine Microplastics database. The goal of this partnership is to not only expand the database, but to establish a diverse international community… Continue Reading

How Do We Inventory the Materials Needed To Build Wind and Solar Farms?

New Database Quantifies What the Country Needs To Meet Its Big Clean Energy Goals – Wind and sun may be nearly infinite resources. But the materials needed to build wind turbines and solar panels are not always common. Take the rare earth metals—neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium—for example. Chances are those names are just as unfamiliar… Continue Reading

DOE Critical Materials Assessment July 2023

Politico: “The Energy Department this week unveiled its final list of “critical materials,” a determination that could shape how the agency spends billions of dollars to thwart climate change and bolster a shift to electric vehicles and renewable energy like offshore wind and solar. The assessment deems more than a dozen materials critical, including the… Continue Reading

Fortune Global 500

“The corporations on our annual list of the world’s largest companies showed their muscle in 2022, delivering record-high aggregate revenues of $41 trillion. But the Fortune Global 500 has been anything but static, as technological change and scientific breakthroughs threaten established leaders and elevate new winners. Walmart remains No. 1 for the 10th consecutive year,… Continue Reading

Capital markets: The hidden pipeline for fossil fuel financing

“A new report – Capital markets: The hidden pipeline for fossil fuel financing by the Sierra Club’s Fossil-Free Finance campaign on the role of big US banks in capital markets reveals a hidden pipeline for fossil fuel financing through the banks’ underwriting of bonds and equities for polluting companies. The analysis raises important questions about… Continue Reading

GAO – Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized

Federal Real Property – Preliminary Results Show Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized Due to Longstanding Challenges and Increased Telework, July 13, 2023. Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives: “Federal agencies have long struggled to determine how much office space they needed to… Continue Reading

Biggest Fossil Fuel Firms Responsible for a Third of Western Forests Burned

Yale Environment 360: “Emissions from the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel firms and cement makers are responsible for 37 percent of the forest burned in the western U.S. and Canada since 1986, according to a new study. “Over the last several decades, human-caused climate change has turned routine Western wildfires into exceptionally destructive events,” Kristina… Continue Reading

Lobbyist Database

FMinus: “Companies and organizations that are supposed to be on the right side of the environmental movement too often hire compromised lobbyists. Search our database to find out who’s hiring who—and whether or not their track record is consistent with their values. [Search by State or Search by Client] Launched in July 2023, F Minus… Continue Reading

Drought and Public Health: A Roadmap for Advancing Engagement and Preparedness

Drought.gov: “Drought is one of the costliest and deadliest climate-related disasters in the United States, necessitating public health engagement at a national level. Although drought is not typically thought of as a health hazard, the pathways to human health outcomes are prevalent and numerous. To better understand these pathways, and actions that could be taken… Continue Reading