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More Americans Are Missing Payments and Losing Home Insurance
Australia is becoming an uninsurable nation. There may only be one solution | Nicki Hutley
With the outlook for risk of fire, flood and other disasters increasing, this is not a problem that will go away
As we watch the horror of the Los Angeles fires, Australians are painfully reminded of our own vulnerability to climate change, which continues to exacerbate the impact and frequency of these unnatural disasters.
The images of loss and destruction in LA are particularly painful to those who have experienced such losses first-hand in Australia.
Nicki Hutley is an independent economist and councillor with the Climate Council
Continue reading...Fake Meat Is Processed. What Does That Mean for Its Health Benefits.
Fleeing mountain lions and scorched earth: can wildlife survive California’s wildfires?
The fires have been devastating for humans and taken a toll on nature, but many of California’s ecosystems will be able to regenerate
Beth Pratt has spent her career protecting Los Angeles’ mountain lions, which roam an area currently engulfed by wildfires. These apex predators, also known as cougars or pumas, share a scrubby landscape with lavish private homes and a dense network of roads. When major fires take out huge areas of open space, their options are limited.
“This is the LA area – these mountain lions can’t move into the Kardashians’ back yard,” says Pratt, California executive director for the National Wildlife Federation. “My heart is very heavy right now,” she says.
Continue reading...Lee Zeldin, Trump’s E.P.A. Nominee, Is Short on Environmental Experience
‘A ton of unknowns’: months ago, LA residents lost wildfire insurance. Then the fires came
After insurers like State Farm dropped policies, to switch to the state’s Fair plan was prohibitively pricey for many
When Palisades resident James Borow realized last Tuesday that his house was on fire, he was 300 miles away in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. The power was out at his house but a friend suggested he remotely turn on his Tesla and see if the cameras showed anything.
From the car camera, he watched in a panic as his house burned. As he drove home from Vegas to LA, he called his parents and told them: “You’ll see it on the news tomorrow, but the house is totally gone. I just watched it.”
Continue reading...Doug Burgum, Trump’s Choice for Interior, Aims for ‘Energy Dominance’
I Fought Wildfires in California. Trump Will Make the Problem Worse.
Our Insurance System Subsidizes Moves to Disaster Zones
UK accused of undermining democratic rights with climate protest crackdown
British director of Human Rights Watch attacks ‘dangerous hypocrisy’ of government
Britain’s crackdown on climate protest is setting “a dangerous precedent” around the world and undermining democratic rights, the UK director of Human Rights Watch has said.
Yasmine Ahmed accused the Labour government of hypocrisy over its claims to be committed to human rights and international law.
Continue reading...Energy Dept. Offers Utilities $22 Billion to Reshape U.S. Power Grids
A town torched by LA fires rallies to revive its community: ‘Everybody wants to come back’
Eaton fire tore through Altadena, burning buildings and killing many. Its residents are only now taking in the scale of devastation
A week after wildfires tore through the community of Altadena, the smell of destruction still hangs in the air. The acrid smoke seeped into the walls of homes that survived the Eaton fire, which burned 7,000 buildings and killed at least 15 people.
On Woodbury Road, where unblemished homes stand in between blackened lots of charred rubble, the devastation overwhelms the senses. The houses that haven’t completely collapsed offer glimpses of life before disaster arrived – pitchers and mugs in a cabinet, all a deep black, a bed still standing, a scorched bicycle and children’s toys.
Continue reading...BP to cut 4,700 jobs and 3,000 contractor roles to help save £1.6bn
Oil company to lose 5% of its staff in effort to cut costs amid shareholder worries over green energy strategy
BP is to cut thousands of jobs from its global workforce, amounting to 5% of its staff, in an effort to save billions in costs to appease its worried shareholders.
The oil company told staff on Tuesday that it would cut 4,700 jobs and scrap another 3,000 contractor positions, after its chief executive promised to reduce the company’s costs by at least $2bn (£1.6bn) by the end of 2026.
Continue reading...The media needs to show how the climate crisis is fueling the LA wildfires
With few exceptions, the news has shied away from showing how the unfolding climate crisis plays a large role in the disaster
Last week, as the Sunset fire was bearing down on her Los Angeles home, Allison Agsten approached a group of television news crews gathering in her neighborhood. Did any of them plan to mention the role of the climate crisis in their reporting?
The question was professional as well as personal for Agsten, who runs a climate journalism center at the University of Southern California and has trained reporters on how to connect the climate crisis to what’s happening in the world. She has lived in her home along Runyon Canyon, near Hollywood, for a decade.
Continue reading...What to Know About the E.V. Tax Credit That Trump Might Repeal
Fake Meat Is Processed. What Does That Mean for Its Health Benefits.
Kemi Badenoch to criticise Theresa May and Boris Johnson ‘mistakes’
Tory leader to condemn predecessors’ Brexit, climate and migration failings amid rising popularity of Reform UK
Kemi Badenoch will attack the Conservative party’s record under Boris Johnson and Theresa May on Brexit, the economy, net zero and immigration in a speech aimed at “rebuilding trust”.
The Tory leader, who is competing with the sharp rise in popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, will “acknowledge the Conservative party made mistakes” under her predecessors.
Continue reading...Global economy could face 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 from climate shocks, say actuaries
Exclusive: Report by risk experts says previous assessments ignored severe effects of climate crisis
The global economy could face 50% loss in gross domestic product (GDP) between 2070 and 2090 from the catastrophic shocks of climate change unless immediate action by political leaders is taken to decarbonise and restore nature, according to a new report.
The stark warning from risk management experts the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) hugely increases the estimate of risk to global economic wellbeing from climate change impacts such as fires, flooding, droughts, temperature rises and nature breakdown. In a report with scientists at the University of Exeter, published on Thursday, the IFoA, which uses maths and statistics to analyse financial risk for businesses and governments, called for accelerated action by political leaders to tackle the climate crisis.
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