Children suffer most from deadly coal pollution in one of Earth’s most polluted cities – “I no longer know what a healthy lung sounds like”

By Beth Gardiner 26 March 2019 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (National Geographic) – Coal is everywhere in Mongolia’s frigid capital. It sits beneath the towering smokestacks of power plants in piles as big as football fields. Drivers haul it through town in the open beds of pickup trucks. Vendors stack yellow bags of the stuff along roadsides, […]

In blow to climate, coal plants emitted more than ever in 2018 – “We are headed for disaster, and nobody seems to be able to slow things down”

By Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis 25 March 2019 (The Washington Post) – Global energy experts released grim findings Monday, saying that not only are planet-warming carbon-dioxide emissions still increasing, but the world’s growing thirst for energy has led to higher emissions from coal-fired power plants than ever before. Energy demand around the world grew […]

Global carbon emissions hit record high in 2018 – Global energy demand rose at fastest pace in last decade, driven by record temperature extremes

By Nina Chestney26 March 2019 LONDON (Reuters) – Global energy-related carbon emissions rose to a record high last year as energy demand and coal use increased, mainly in Asia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. Energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 1.7 percent to 33.1 billion tonnes from the previous year, the highest rate […]

“Social disaster”: South Korea invokes emergency laws to tackle air pollution after record pollution levels hit the country

By Justin McCurry 13 March 2019 (The Guardian) – South Korea has passed emergency measures to tackle the “social disaster” being unleashed by air pollution, after record levels of fine dust blanketed most of the country in recent weeks. The national assembly passed a series of bills on Wednesday giving authorities access to emergency funds […]

Trump regulation rollbacks will result in more than 200 million tons of additional greenhouse emissions each year – “The Trump administration has taken historically unprecedented actions to roll back years of environmental progress”

WASHINGTON, D.C., 5 March 2019 (NYU School of Law) – Today, the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU School of Law announced the release of a Special Report detailing the extensive climate change and public health damage caused by the Trump administration’s environmental deregulatory agenda. In its Special Report, titled “Climate & […]

Senate confirms former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as EPA administrator

By Anna M. Phillips28 February 2019 (Los Angeles Times) – The Senate on Thursday confirmed Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, handing the reins of the agency responsible for ensuring clean air and safe drinking water to a former coal industry lobbyist. The 52-to-47 vote removed the word “acting” from Wheeler’s title, installing […]

Trump State of the Union 2019: “The leaders of men conceived of their most desperate strategy yet”

6 February 2019 (Desdemona Despair) – There are many reasons to despair when Donald Trump speaks – the baseless nativist paranoia, the continuous stream of half-truths and lies, the thinly veiled appeals to bigotry – but last night, during his second State of the Union address to Congress, Trump extolled the “energy dominance” policy he […]

The glaring hole in Trump’s address: Climate change – “Trump and, more to the point, the fossil fuel interests whose bidding he is doing, have weaponized the public’s poor understanding of science”

By Ishaan Tharoor 6 February 2019 (The Washington Post) – President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night zigzagged between paeans to unity and sops to his hardcore base. He eulogized World War II soldiers and then wheeled on immigrants and leftist rivals at home. But absent amid the nativist demagoguery and partisan jockeying […]

Germany sets 2038 deadline to end coal use

By Kirsten Grieshaber 27 January 2019 BERLIN (AP) – In a pioneering move, a German government-appointed panel has recommended that Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest, as part of efforts to curb climate change. The Coal Commission reached a deal early Saturday following months of wrangling that were closely […]

Miners, environmentalists protest outside German coal talks

By Frank Jordans25 January 2019 BERLIN (AP) – Miners’ unions and environmentalists held competing protests Friday outside the German government building where experts were holding crunch talks on plans to end the country’s use of coal. Unions oppose Germany quitting coal quickly and are demanding assurances from the government that jobs will be protected. Green […]

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