Feed aggregator

Internal emails show pressure from industry lobbyists and politicians led Trump-era agency to change position on aldicarb

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering approving a pesticide for use on Florida oranges and grapefruits despite the fact that agency scientists have repeatedly found the chemical does not meet safety standards designed to protect children’s health, internal agency records show.

EPA emails indicate how for years, agency scientists have wanted to deny new uses of aldicarb, but appear to have not done so because of persistent pressure from chemical industry lobbyists, politicians and political appointees.

This story is co-published with the New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group

Continue reading...

Global warming is not the only driver of the headlong rush to transition to green energy that has triggered a borrowing binge battle between the US and China - the world is also running out of cheap and easily extracted oil.

The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) will publish additional guidance on Nov. 28 to supplement its 'Claims Code of Practice' that is expected to include details of easier tiers of achievement to help corporates onto the mitigation ladder, while still avoiding allegations of greenwashing when buying carbon credits.

Report finds excessive supernormal profits are becoming the norm for Australia's regulated networks, harming power affordability and diverting billions from the energy transition.

The post Network super profits cost consumers up to $400 a year, and slow the shift to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

At annual yacht show, only a handful of customers said they were troubled by vessels’ disproportionate carbon footprint

The largest of the yachts in Monaco’s harbour were worth more than the annual GDP of some small island states. But few of the customers touring their decks seemed to care that buying the former would help drown the latter. “I don’t think about this yet,” said Elena Papernaya, an artist who had set her eyes on a mid-sized yacht, when asked if she worried about the damage it would do to the climate.

Kasper Hojgaard, a regional manager for an industrial company who charters yachts for a few weeks each year, said he did not consider climate change “at all” when doing so. His friend Lasse Jensen, a pension fund manager, nodded in agreement. “We are beginning to look a bit more into it, but it’s not playing a role.”

Continue reading...

The European Parliament adopted on Tuesday its position on the EU's proposed Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), proposing a wider list of go-to technologies and moving towards ETS-funded sovereignty.

Toxic foam has been shown floating over the Yamuna River in Delhi amid India's annual battle with air pollution. In the winter months, wind speeds drop and cooling air traps pollutants from vehicles, industry and farmers burning agricultural waste. The foam on the river comes from untreated waste, according to a former adviser to the government. Delhi, home to about 33 million people, is regularly ranked the most polluted city in the world

• Delhi air pollution spikes to 100 times WHO health limit

Continue reading...

The annual report from Surfers Against Sewage found a rise in water-users reporting being unwell.

Jets belonging to entertainers, CEOs, oligarchs and billionaires produce equivalent to emissions of almost 40,000 Britons

Private jets belonging to 200 celebrities, CEOs, oligarchs and billionaires have spent a combined total of 11 years in the air since the start of 2022.

The carbon footprint of all those flights – a jaw-dropping 44,739 journeys – would be the equivalent of the total emissions of almost 40,000 Britons.

Continue reading...

Does being an effective agency mean helping sell more products or can it mean helping mitigate climate emergency?

When Bartle Bogle Hegarty won one of the advertising industry’s most coveted prizes – the Effectiveness award – for their amazing car-selling prowess, two executives from another company worked out that the resultant carbon emissions of the extra 132,700 Audis that BBH had managed to shift came to about 5.2m tonnes, roughly equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of Uganda.

The work has been a lightning rod in an industry that is deeply divided over its role in the climate crisis. There is increasing agreement that although individual behaviour should not be the primary focus for change, some individuals’ behaviour – namely that of the world’s wealthiest people – has a much bigger impact not only on global emissions but also on broader economic and political trends. But how should the advertising and PR industries grapple with the overconsumption of the top 10%?

Continue reading...

Health companies reliant on functioning ecosystems and healthy water supplies for business continuity are taking the lead in reporting their nature dependencies through the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and striving to curb their impacts on the natural world, with several leading multinationals mapping their value chains to understand their biodiversity impacts more closely.

Climate Impact X (CIX) has temporarily suspended credits from a troubled Kasigau corridor project (VCS 612) into delivery for its nature-based benchmark, Nature X, with immediate effect, a day after two senior staff member at the project were sacked in relation to ongoing investigation into sexual harassment and abuse allegations.

Carbon prices in Europe initially tumbled on Tuesday morning, taking their cue from a declining natural gas market and a weak auction, to approach the year-to-date low reached at the start of the month, before later rallying as selling activity dwindled towards midday.

The EU’s first draft legislation defining a framework for certifying carbon removals passed with a large majority during a vote in the full European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, paving the way for negotiations with member states and the European Commission for an agreement on the file.

Amid the heat and humidity, energy bills in New Orleans are surging – but the options for low-income residents are severely limited

Darlene Jones spends most of her time holed up in the bedroom to minimize the amount of electricity she uses to cool and light her home in downtown New Orleans.

Air seeps out from the doors and windows of the 1890 one-bedroom shotgun house – and through the bashed-up floorboards and ceiling that Jones cannot afford to repair. She has wrapped foam around the leaky air-conditioning pipes, and taped handwritten signs on the front door above the metal letterbox that read “Please close the slot”.

Continue reading...

The implications of policy are felt very differently depending on how well-off you are. It’s time for politicians to recognise this

Many of Rishi Sunak’s political decisions are baffling, but one that’s easy to understand is his recent rowing back from the UK’s climate commitments: he, like many creatures of Westminster, thinks working-class people don’t care much for climate action. This is a lazy stereotype and, predictably, did nothing for his poll numbers.

The simple truth is this: when it comes to the climate crisis, working-class people are often the first to spot the changes occurring because even slight fluctuations can make or break family finances. That doesn’t mean this is the first subject working-class people raise when a canvasser knocks at the door or a pollster asks, but it is there in the background when deciding who to trust with our futures.

Roger Harding is the founding director of Round our Way

Continue reading...

Australian miner Fortescue took another step to trying to realise its vast clean energy hopes Monday with the sanctioning of two hydrogen projects prior to its annual general meeting in Perth at a cost of over $700 million.

Indonesia has launched its Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP) under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which includes a $20-billion plan to invest in renewables as part of efforts to rid its power sector of coal.

Chris Bowen also says climate disaster fund will need to be bankrolled by broader-than-expected range of countries in speech ahead of Cop28

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, says Pacific nations and other countries vulnerable to climate catastrophe should be the major beneficiaries of “loss and damage” funding, and a broader range of countries should bankroll the international effort along with the private sector.

Bowen used a speech to a foreign policy thinktank on Tuesday night to signal Australia’s position ahead of Cop28, the looming United Nations-led climate talks, which get under way in the United Arab Emirates later this month.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

A major carbon credit project developer and trader in South Korea on Tuesday made its debut on a major domestic exchange, with plans to secure more carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.