Gizmodo: “The western and southwestern U.S. is wilting under the biggest drought in 1,200 years — a megadrought. As of writing this, most of the country is experiencing drier-than-normal conditions, but things remain particularly severe from Texas to Washington state. Scientists have identified climate change as a significant contributing factor to the extent and severity… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Energy
Light pollution is disrupting the seasonal rhythms of plants and trees, lengthening pollen season in US cities
Via LLRX – Light pollution is disrupting the seasonal rhythms of plants and trees, lengthening pollen season in US cities – City lights that blaze all night are profoundly disrupting urban plants’ phenology – shifting when their buds open in the spring and when their leaves change colors and drop in the fall. New research… Continue Reading
Cryptomining Capacity in U.S. Rivals Energy Use of Houston, Findings Show
The New York Times: “…Earlier this year, a group of congressional Democrats launched an investigation into energy use at the country’s largest cryptomining companies. They asked seven cryptomining companies for data on their operations, and the group’s findings, issued Friday, are based on the companies’ responses. That data showed that the seven companies alone had… Continue Reading
Edelman Trust Barometer – The Power of Gen Z
“This isn’t the influencer generation. This isn’t the cancel generation. This isn’t even the TikTok generation. This is the generation of sensibility. Preceding generations have idolized the unrealistic, prioritizing aspirational objectives, and often overlooking basic elements like humanity, our planet, and at times the truth for the sake of self, innovation, wealth, and immediacy. In… Continue Reading
This climate action tracker shows exactly where we are on the path to net zero
Fast Company: “Last year, global electric-car sales more than doubled compared to the year before. Solar and wind power are cheaper in most countries than fossil fuels. The world is now spending record amounts on clean energy. New technology is emerging to cut emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries like steel and cement and aviation. At the… Continue Reading
US water likely contains more ‘forever chemicals’ than EPA tests show
UK Guardian: “A Guardian analysis of water samples from around the United States shows that the type of water testing relied on by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is so limited in scope that it is probably missing significant levels of PFAS pollutants. The undercount leaves regulators with an incomplete picture of the extent… Continue Reading
California takes bold step to reduce truck pollution
California Air Resources Board: [June 25, 2022], “the California Air Resources Board adopted a first-in-the-world rule requiring truck manufacturers to transition from diesel trucks and vans to electric zero-emission trucks beginning in 2024. This bold and timely move sets a clean-truck standard for the nation and the world, and marks the Newsom administration’s most important air… Continue Reading
US only has 6,000 fast charging stations for EVs
MIT Technology Review – Here’s where they all are. “The United States has around 150,000 fuel stations to refill its fleet of fossil-fuel-burning vehicles. Despite the rapid growth of all-electric vehicles in America—400,000 of them were sold in 2021, up from barely 10,000 in 2012—the country has only 6,000 DC fast electric charging stations, the… Continue Reading
Measuring the Life-Saving Effects of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S.
Climate Impact Lab: “As we face the punishing impacts of global climate change it can be easy to wonder, do efforts to reduce emissions by individual countries, states or cities really make a difference? Research by the Climate Impact Lab, which measures the economic and social costs of climate change, can help answer this question.… Continue Reading
Short-and Long-Term Solutions to Extreme Drought in the Western United States
CRS – Statement of Charles V. Stern, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy, Before Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate Hearing on “Short-and Long-Term Solutions to Extreme Drought in the Western United States” June 14, 2022: “Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and Members of the committee, thank you for inviting the Congressional Research Service… Continue Reading
Net Zero Stocktake 2022
“Assessing the status and trends of net zero target setting across countries, sub-national governments and companies. Net zero is the dominant lens through which countries, states and regions, cities and companies approach decarbonisation. With global coverage of net zero nearly universal at the national level now, the big question is whether a sufficient proportion of… Continue Reading
How Fashion Giants Recast Plastic as Good for the Planet
The New York Times: “An influential system overseen by retailers and clothing makers ranks petroleum-based synthetics like “vegan leather” as more environmentally sound than natural fibers. It’s soft. It’s vegan. It looks just like leather. It’s also made from fossil fuels. An explosion in the use of inexpensive, petroleum-based materials has transformed the fashion industry,… Continue Reading
