Environment

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was passed by the Senate some time ago and then passed by the House of Representatives on the evening of Friday, November 6, has some great news in it for greening the economy. It is admittedly a mixed bag, but let’s consider […]

Climate Crisis

COP26: here’s what it would take to end coal power worldwide

The Conversation

By Alex Clark | – More than 40 countries have signed an agreement at COP26, the latest UN climate change summit in Glasgow, to phase out coal in electricity generation. The signatories include some of the world’s biggest coal burners: Canada, Poland, Vietnam, South Korea, Ukraine and Indonesia. The larger of these economies pledge to […]

Congress

Fightin’ Joe Biden Wins big, on Jobs, Covid, the Dow and Infrastructure, but Corporate News downplays Successes

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The for-profit press thinks it knows what the story in Washington, D.C., is. Joe Biden is a boring president who struggles to get anything done and the Democratic Party is a hot mess of infighting that paralyzes it. Corporate news is the Eeyore of the news world, spreading pessimism and […]

Climate Crisis

Even German big business CEOs say they expect to reach CO2 neutrality in 14 years

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( Clean Energy Wire) – Germany’s leading business executives are taking climate and environmental protection increasingly serious, according to a survey presented at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. The survey was carried out by the FUTURIST Institute for Sustainable Transformation, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact […]

Environment

Sacrifice Zones: How the EPA Allows Polluters to Make Neighborhoods breathe Carcinogens

ProPublica

Poison in the Air By Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, Al Shaw and Lisa Song, with additional reporting by Maya Miller, photography by Kathleen Flynn for ProPublica | – Mapping Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution ( ProPublica ) – From the urban sprawl of Houston to the riverways of Virginia, air pollution from industrial plants is elevating […]

Climate Crisis

Question for Joe Manchin after COP26: Why isn’t Coal — the New Blood Diamonds– Illegal, Now?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Denise Chow at NBC News reports that on Thursday at the UN climate conference Cop26, some 23 new countries signed on to Britain’s push to phase out coal, the biggest source of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. These included Poland, South Korea, Indonesia, Chile and Vietnam. Poland is the Saudi […]

Climate Crisis

Global emissions almost back to pre-pandemic levels after unprecedented drop in 2020, new analysis shows

The Conversation

By Pep Canadell, Corinne Le Quéré, Glen Peters, Pierre Friedlingstein, Robbie Andrew, and Rob Jackson | – Global carbon dioxide emissions have bounced back after COVID-19 restrictions and are likely to reach close to pre-pandemic levels this year, our analysis released today has found. The troubling finding comes as the COP26 climate talks continue in […]

Arab World

The Middle East is heating twice as Fast as the Rest of the World: How long will it be Habitable?

Middle East Monitor

By Nasim Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Alarm bells are ringing at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow over the perilous fate of the planet. The threat of a “doomsday” scenario was echoed in the speeches of world leaders taking part, warning of the “existential threat to human existence”. The message […]

Climate Crisis

The Climate Emergency is a Social Justice Issue – Six Charts that Show Why

The Conversation

By Sonja Klinsky | – Climate change has hit home around the world in 2021 with record heat waves, droughts, wildfires and extreme storms. Often, the people suffering most from the effects of climate change are those who have done the least to cause it. To reduce climate change and protect those who are most […]