Back in the spring, we pointed out that the previous 12 months from May 2011 - April 2012 was the hottest on record. Then, in July, we highlighted how over 3,000 temperature records had been broken within the first 10 days of the month.
In his State of the State yesterday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out his plan to make the state a clean tech leader. Cuomo proposed extending a program to increase solar panel installations for homes and businesses and investing in an electric car network with statewide charging stations and incentives to build charging infrastructure.
This is not a good idea. The New York Times is shutting down its environment desk. The justification for closing the desk is that the environmental beat is no longer siloed.
The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy raises tough questions about the strength of New York City’s infrastructure, and the stability of its waterfront. Governor Cuomo’s commission on storm prevention recently issued recommendations for future damage control, which include sea barriers along the coast, floodwalls in subways, and water pumps in airports.
In our discussions around climate change, we’ve noted that while vast majorities of Americans both believe in climate change and think it’s manmade, pushing for action on climate change remains a low priority. This reality leaves Congress and the Administration free to not take any meaningful action on climate change and face little political consequence for not doing so.
Here’s another reason why income inequality is so destructive—it’s ruining our planet and increasing the severity of climate change. A new paper from the Center on Economic and Policy Research looks at a novel way to slow climate change: reduce the hours that we work. For reasons that are not entirely understood, shorter work hours are linked with lower greenhouse gas emissions.
After a campaign season marked by climate silence, the President’s inaugural call for action on climate change left hope that the administration was serious about making climate a priority. And, there were parts in last night’s State of the Union that were promising, beyond the simple fact that he addressed the issue at length. First and foremost, the President tied extreme weather events to climate change.
The Guardian has a compelling and distressing profile of the harsh reality of climate change that many already face. The story profiles a village on the west coast of Alaska called Newtok that is surrounded on three sides by the Ninglick River.
In the absence of federal leadership, states are taking the lead in the fight against climate change. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley recently released an ambitious climate change plan that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020, generate $1.6 billion in economic benefits, and support more than 37,000 jobs. The plan has over 150 initiatives that touch on nearly every aspect of the economy from transportation to agriculture to zero waste.
SANTA FE— A new report released today reveals how New Mexico’s economy is at risk for serious damage as the climate change crisis grows graver. New Mexico, the report explains, is particularly vulnerable to water shortages and increased forest fires due to the impacts from climate change.
Climate change poses an existential challenge to the planet. But the effects of climate change have fallen disproportionately on communities of color and working families. And the reality is that climate change has been accelerated by a coalition of corporations, donors, and policymakers who have adopted a willful blindness toward these dangers to our communities and our planet.
On Friday, February 15, Lew Daly, Senior Policy Analyst at Demos, testified in support of New York State’s Climate and Community Protection Act. Following is Daly’s statement on the bill:
New York State’s Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) is a bold and necessary climate action policy for the people of New York. It will establish the strongest mandate for economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the country, requiring a 50 percent reduction by 2030 and set a timeline for achieving a 100 percent renewable energy economy by 2050.
It’s not often that good news comes out of Washington. Today is an exception: the Obama Administration is expected to deny TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sand pipeline application.