China unveils an ambitious plan to curb climate change emissions

by Keith Bradsher and Lisa Friedman, NY Times SHANGHAI — China is the world’s No. 1 polluter. It burns more coal than the rest of the world combined. It produces more than a quarter of the world’s human-caused global warming gases, nearly as much as North America and Europe put together. On Tuesday, the country […]

FHA should reconsider their about face—about PACE

By Jacob Corvidae and Martha Campbell, Rocky Mountain Institute Last week, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced it will stop insuring new mortgages on homes with property assessed clean energy (PACE) loans. As to what motivated its decision—according to its letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—the FHA is “concerned with the […]

Wind power blows past coal in Texas

by Ryan Maye Handy, Chron Wind power, by one important measure, surpassed coal last month to become the second-largest electricity source in Texas, yet another milestone in the state’s march toward greater reliance on renewable energy. When a 155-megawatt wind farm in West Texas began commercial operation this month, it helped push the state’s wind […]

South Dakota warns it could revoke Keystone Pipeline permit over oil spill

by Phil Mckenna, InsideClimate News South Dakota regulators said they could revoke TransCanada’s permit for the 7-year-old Keystone Pipeline if an investigation into a large oil spill discovered last week concludes the company violated its terms. If that happens, the company would have to correct any issues—in the worst case, even replace part of the […]

California’s housing policy is holding back its climate policy

by Esmé E Deprez, Bloomberg The high cost of housing in California isn’t just hurting the state’s economy, fueling homelessness, and exacerbating economic inequality. It’s imperiling its reputation as a global leader in emissions reductions, too. Lila Cabrera’s move last year to Palmdale, a city of 160,000 in the high-desert region of Antelope Valley north […]

College Republican group ACC takes up Roosevelt’s environment mantle and hopes the GOP will follow

by Javier E. David, CNBC Dozens of college Republicans are tackling what might appear to be a mission impossible enough for Tom Cruise: Persuading GOP elders to embrace environmentally friendly policy. The American Conservative Coalition — a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization — is a group of young GOP campus activists that advocates pro-market clean-energy policies. On […]

Why Governor Jerry Brown was booed at the bonn climate summit

by Bill McKibben, The New Yorker Spare a little pity for Jerry Brown. The California governor has been standing up admirably to Donald Trump on many issues, but especially on climate change—even threatening to launch scientific satellites to replace the ones that Washington wants to ground. This week, he’s in Bonn, Germany, at the global […]

Election winners promise climate action in coast-to-coast pushback

by Phil Mckenna, InsideClimate News Americans in many states and cities across the country elected leaders on Tuesday who have pledged to address climate change despite—and even rebuking—the recalcitrant Trump administration. Newly elected governors, mayors and state legislators from the East Coast to the West won on platforms including carbon pricing and clean energy incentives […]

How the house tax bill would impact wind, solar, electric vehicles and utilities

by Lacey Johnson, Greentech Media House Republicans unveiled a massive tax reform bill last week. While it wasn’t as damaging to renewables as many feared, the changes still pose a threat. Wind and electric vehicles stand to lose the most. Lawmakers are looking to slash tax credits for wind by more than a third and […]

Climate advocates sue in federal court claiming government has a duty not to kill its citizens

by Steve Hanley, Clean Technica Last week, the annual National Climate Report stated that all the increase in average global temperatures since 1950 is attributable to human activity. This week, a lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Philadelphia claiming the federal government has a duty to protect its citizens from injury or death […]