Around The Web

A Washington DC lawmaker will introduce a carbon fee and rebate bill in early June that would see the US capital implement the highest carbon price of all sub-national proposals put forth throughout the country this year.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) published new draft rules on Tuesday that would set CO2 standards for the few remaining coal plants in the state’s fleet, helping the state phase out the fossil fuel entirely by 2020.

EU carbon allowances rocketed above €15 on Wednesday for the first time since 2011 after a failed auction appeared to light a fuse under prices.

CFCs have been outlawed for years but researchers have detected new production somewhere in east Asia

A sharp and mysterious rise in emissions of a key ozone-destroying chemical has been detected by scientists, despite its production being banned around the world.

Unless the culprit is found and stopped, the recovery of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging UV radiation, could be delayed by a decade. The source of the new emissions has been tracked to east Asia, but finding a more precise location requires further investigation.

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Freshwater supplies have already seriously declined in 19 global hotspots – from China to the Caspian Sea – due to overuse, groundbreaking study shows

Water shortages are likely to be the key environmental challenge of this century, scientists from Nasa have warned, as new data has revealed a drying-out of swaths of the globe between the tropics and the high latitudes, with 19 hotspots where water depletion has been dramatic.

Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, California and Australia are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater that is already causing problems. Without strong action by governments to preserve water the situation in these areas is likely to worsen.

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London's Science Museum unveils a replica of the probe Europe will send to the inner-most planet.

Campaigners force a referendum on the future use of synthetic pesticides in Switzerland.

More than 27,000 people applied for 1,000 public places at the scientist's Westminster Abbey service.

Winning images from the prestigious annual competition held by the Society of German Wildlife Photographers (Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen – GDT) which showcases talent from within the EU. This year’s winner is German photographer Maximilian Hornisch with his image of a golden eagle

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Influential committee says collapse in low-carbon investment is endangering jobs and threatening climate commitments

Investment in the UK’s low-carbon economy has fallen dramatically, endangering jobs and putting in doubt the government’s commitments on climate change, an influential committee of MPs has warned.

Funds going into renewable energy, the mainstay of the low-carbon economy, fell more than 50% in 2017, having dropped by 10% in 2016, bringing annual investment in the sector to its lowest since the financial crisis in 2008.

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Garrett Fisher spent much of his summer in 2015 flying over places like Yellowstone taking stunning pictures of retreating glaciers

After hearing that the glaciers of the Rocky Mountains are rapidly vanishing, financial consultant Garrett Fisher took a novel course of action – he flew a light aircraft, built in 1949, low and alone over the mountains in order to photograph them.

Fisher spent much of his summer in 2015 flying over places such as Yellowstone, Glacier National Park and Grand Teton National Park, taking stunning pictures of retreating glaciers for a new book.

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Iceland is among the first supermarkets to introduce the new ‘trust mark’ that shows shoppers which food packaging has no hidden plastic in it

A new plastic-free “trust mark” is being introduced today, allowing shoppers to see at a glance whether products use plastic in their packaging.

The label will be prominently displayed on food and drink products, making it easier for consumers to choose greener alternatives.

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The UK's fortnightly EU carbon auction was cancelled on Wednesday due to insufficient interest, sale host ICE said.

New Zealand’s industry association for sheep and beef farmers, a major source of GHG emissions, has pledged to go carbon neutral by mid-century but wants recognition for more carbon sinks if the sector is brought into the emissions trading scheme.

Study on rats said to show that the chemical, found in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, poses ‘a significant public health concern’

A chemical found in the world’s most widely used weedkiller can have disrupting effects on sexual development, genes and beneficial gut bacteria at doses considered safe, according to a wide-ranging pilot study in rats.

Glyphosate is the core ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide and levels found in the human bloodstream have spiked by more than a 1,000% in the last two decades.

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Testing of the 1,000mph car is pushed back ahead of next year's attempt on the land speed record.

Government-commissioned report says proposed site at Sambor reach is the ‘worst possible place’ for hydropower due to impact on wildlife

A Chinese-backed plan to build Cambodia’s biggest dam could “literally kill” the Mekong river, according to a confidential assessment seen by the Guardian which says that the proposed site at Sambor is the “worst possible place” for hydropower.

The report, which was commissioned by the government in Phnom Penh, has been kept secret since it was submitted last year, prompting concerns that ministers are inclined to push ahead regardless of the dire impact it predicts on river dolphins and one of the world’s largest migrations of freshwater fish.

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Nissan Leaf leads global sales in EVs, with Australia one of a number of countries, including China, to record a doubling of sales in the first quarter.

UK is on track to phase-out coal by 2025, but won't need to build any new large-scale gas plants in order to keep the lights on.

News of milestone comes as MPs say policy changes have caused collapse in investment in renewables

Britain’s windfarms provided more electricity than its eight nuclear power stations in the first three months of 2018, marking the first time wind has overtaken nuclear across a quarter.

The renewable energy industry hailed the milestone as a sign the UK was well on its way to an electricity system powered by cheap, domestic green energy.

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