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Ash dieback experts identify shoots of hope for Britain’s threatened trees
As the deadly fungal disease tightens its grip, scientific efforts to protect ash trees are advancing
The UK is home to more than 100m mature ash trees, and every spring tells the same grim story: leaves emerge, wither and drop within weeks, as ash dieback disease tightens its grip.
Millions stand dead in woodlands and hedgerows across the British Isles, with an estimated 2bn seedlings and saplings at risk. Many experts have long feared the future of this cherished, ecologically important native tree hangs in the balance.
Continue reading...At 23, Surviving Scandal to Take a Green Seat in the E.U. Parliament
University bans on big oil firms at recruitment fairs rise by 30%
Survey finds post-1992 universities leading the way on sustainability and ethics
More universities are banning fossil fuel companies from recruitment fairs in a sign of the sector’s shrinking social licence among young people.
The annual survey of sustainability and ethics in higher education found there has been a 30% rise in the number of institutions stopping fossil fuel companies taking part in graduate fairs this year.
Continue reading...CO2 emissions from new North Sea drilling sites would match 30 years’ worth from UK households
New research comes as dozens of small potential fields have received some form of license from the government
Potential new North Sea oil and gas fields with early stage licences from the UK would emit as much carbon dioxide as British households produce in three decades.
The finding has led to calls to the government to reject demands from fossil fuel producers for the final permits needed to allow their operations to go ahead.
Continue reading...‘We’re gobsmacked’: climate groups angered by Labor’s ‘no new coalmines’ claim
Campaigners say Queensland mine given go-ahead this week is a new development, not an extension of an existing mine
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Climate campaigners have challenged a claim by the Albanese government that it has not approved any new coalmines in 2024, saying a Queensland mine given a green light this week was a new development.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, approved four coalmine projects on Thursday, describing them all as expansions of existing mines that would mainly be digging up coal to make steel.
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Continue reading...How the Climate Crisis Became an Insurance Crisis
Mayotte resident confronts Macron over Cyclone Chido response – video
Six days after Cyclone Chido brought widespread devastation to the Indian Ocean archipelago, residents in parts of Mayotte are still without water, food or shelter. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, visited a hospital in Mamoudzou, the capital, where staff and and locals shared their grievances
Continue reading...Cyclone Chido: locals demand more help from Macron on visit to Mayotte
French president promises food, water and to rebuild as emergency services search desperately for survivors
Distraught and angry inhabitants of Mayotte shouted out their grievances to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as he visited the island, five days after it was devastated by a cyclone.
High on their list was the lack of water and food, and the fear of looting.
Continue reading...Revealed: how a US public university courted the gas industry despite climate impacts
McNeese State University in Louisiana building a liquefied natural gas center, prompting fears of ‘corporate capture’
One of Louisiana’s top public universities has prompted concerns about “corporate capture” over its expanding relationship with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, despite environmental warnings about pollution and prolonging fossil fuel use.
As the US’s LNG boom gained momentum in south-west Louisiana, McNeese State University courted the industry to help launch a new LNG Center of Excellence currently under construction, hired a director doubling as an LNG industry lobbyist, and approached federal regulators to co-locate their own research center at the university, according to emails obtained via public records requests by DeSmog and the Guardian.
Continue reading...Biden, Headed to the Exit, Sets an Aggressive Climate Goal for the U.S.
Albanese government approves four coalmine expansions as Greens condemn ‘despicable’ move
Tanya Plibersek says projects in NSW and Queensland produce coal for making essential steel as critics say move ‘opposite of climate action’
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The Albanese government has approved the expansion of four coalmines that climate campaigners estimate will release more than 850m tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime – equivalent to almost double Australia’s annual emissions.
The four mines will target mostly coal to be used for steelmaking with some thermal coal for burning in power stations.
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Continue reading...E.P.A. Allows California to Ban Sales of New Gas-Powered Cars by 2035
Youth Climate Activists Get Major Win in Montana Supreme Court
Montana supreme court upholds right to ‘stable climate system’ for youngsters
Court rules in favor of 16 young people who said their health and prospects were being imperiled by climate crisis
Montana’s top court on Wednesday held that the state’s constitution guaranteed a right to a stable climate system and invalidated a law barring regulators from considering the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when permitting new fossil fuel projects.
The Montana supreme court upheld a landmark trial court decision last August in favor of 16 young people who said their health and futures were being jeopardized by climate change, which the state aggravates through its permitting of energy projects.
Continue reading...Insurers Are Dropping Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen
See Where Home Insurance Policies Were Dropped in Your State
Can everyone eat for the planet? I shopped at Dollar Store for a week to find out
In 2019, scientists published a climate-friendly food plan. I’ve long wondered: could it work for most Americans?
As a fossil fuels and climate reporter, most of my journalism focuses on the need to radically overhaul the energy system. But the food sector also needs a makeover, as it creates between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.
When scientists came up with a new climate-friendly food plan in 2019 and published their findings in the medical journal the Lancet, I read with interest. The guidelines called for more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, which seemed doable to me. The authors even allowed for meat and dairy consumption, albeit in small quantities. Both are major drivers of the climate crisis: the United Nations estimates that meat and dairy produce more than 11% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and some experts put the figure at up to 19.6%.
Continue reading...Pakistan and Bahamas join push for global pact to phase out fossil fuels
Climate-vulnerable pair add weight to proposed treaty seeking transition from coal, oil and gas in equitable way
Pakistan and the Bahamas have joined a growing bloc of climate-vulnerable countries seeking to broker a global pact to phase out fossil fuels in an equitable way, the Guardian can reveal.
The Bahamas is the 15th nation to fully endorse the proposed fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty, which would provide a binding global roadmap to explicitly halt expansion of coal, oil and gas in a fair way – with wealthy nations responsible for the highest emissions transitioning first and fastest.
Continue reading...And what do you want from Santa this Christmas? | First Dog on the Moon
An incurable illness that turns billionaires into owls
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