Details have yet to be worked out, but it's likely to follow California's example, with funds going to low-carbon choices like electric vehicles and public transit.
Nine Eastern states have committed to cut transportation emissions in their region by designing a new cap-and-trade system. It's the latest and perhaps most significant example of states working together to fill a void left by the federal government to address climate change.
What the plan will actually look like, and how much it is able to reduce emissions, remains to be seen. The nine states, plus Washington, D.C., agreed to cooperate on a regional policy that would cap carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and then reduce that cap over time. Proceeds would be reinvested in low-carbon projects, such as zero-emission vehicles and public transit, according to a statement endorsed by the group.
"It's one of the most important initiatives ever undertaken by the states on climate," said Kenneth Kimmell president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an organization that has advocated for the initiative. "It is a huge, transformative moment."
Read more at 9 States Target Transportation Emissions with New Cap-and-Trade Plan
As the world heats up, it’s also becoming more violent. There’s been a lot of research linking climate change to war, violent crime, and even road rage. But you may not have heard that climate disasters like hurricanes Harvey and Michael were accompanied by a surge in intimate partner violence, or IPV. (The term is favored over “domestic violence” for encompassing different relationships and genders.)
Hurricanes often lead to displacement and isolation, which makes people more vulnerable to IPV. And climate change in general disproportionately impacts those who are already more likely to experience IPV: low-income women, women of color, and women experiencing homelessness.
To compound the problem, resources to address IPV are limited after climate disasters, when more people tend to need them. In the year following Hurricane Harvey, the number of women who sought help at a Houston-based crisis center doubled, as Yessenia Funes writes in Earther. Shelters are sometimes forced to close their doors in the wake of disasters. After Hurricane Florence, a domestic violence shelter in Wilmington with 19 beds was left in shambles.
Read more at What Does the Violence Against Women Act Have to Do with Climate Change?
In late-night talks, negotiators agreed to end backdoor subsidies to coal generators, with some leeway for the most coal-dependent member state.
European Union legislators reached agreement in the early hours of Wednesday (19 December) over a proposed reform of electricity market rules that includes a 2025 cut-off date for coal subsidies, and a special clause for Poland.
After marathon talks that started at 10:30 on Tuesday, EU negotiators finally reached agreement on the reform of Europe’s electricity market shortly after 01:00 the following day.
The deal wraps up the adoption of a “clean energy package” of laws that was presented by the European Commission more than two years ago.
Read more at EU Reaches Coal Subsidy Phase-Out Deal – with Caveat for Poland
Missing Arctic data was part of the problem. In the end, the idea of a pause, often cited by climate policy opponents, didn’t hold up to statistical testing.
The United Nations panel of climate science experts mentioned it in a 2013 report, scientists have published more than 200 papers analyzing it, and climate deniers said it was proof that climate change didn't exist, but in reality the global warming "pause" or "hiatus" never occurred.
That is the conclusion of a pair of studies, published Tuesday in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, based on statistical reassessments of a recent 10-year period that appeared at the time to evince a flattened warming curve.
These are the latest of several assessments to caution that the hiatus theory has no real significance either for climate science or for science-based policy. Even so, they seem unlikely to stamp out the discussion, which has become a deeply embedded meme in some circles.
Read more at That Global Warming Hiatus? It Never Happened. Two New Studies Explain Why.
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in support of methane gas emission rules put in place under the Obama administration, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.
The administration of President Donald Trump in September proposed weakening requirements for repairing leaks of the greenhouse gas in drilling operations in a step toward rolling back an Obama-era policy that was intended to combat climate change.
“We support maintaining the key elements of the underlying regulation, such as leak detection and repair programs,” Exxon Vice President Gantt Walton said in the letter dated on Monday.
The company believes “reasonable regulations help reduce emissions” and support the use of cleaner-burning natural gas, the letter said.
Read more at Exxon Mobil Opposes Weakening Obama-Era Emissions Rules: Letter to EPA
