Adding insult to injury, U.S. taxpayers subsidize climate-disrupting fossil fuel industry with $7 billion per year

New report breaks down public cost of supporting oil and coal Staff Report The as-yet barely checked use of fossil fuels is rapidly disrupting the global climate and to add insult to injury, taxpayers around the world are supporting the damage with huge subsidies, as well as tax breaks and loopholes. A new report from

Federal court pauses Clean Power Plan case

U.S. policy in turmoil as Bonn climate summit approaches Staff Report The future of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan is still up in the air, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has put a hold on legal proceeding pending the new administration’s review. The Clean Power Plan developed under the Obama

Alaska’s senators want more offshore drilling in Arctic waters

GOP assault on the environment continues Staff Report Environmental protections are under attack on every front and the far North is no exception. Alaska’s senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, appear willing to risk fragile ocean environments for a few more petrodollars, so they’ve opportunistically introduced a bill that would expand oil and

February ends up as second-warmest on record for U.S.

16 states report record heat Staff Report Nearly a quarter of the U.S. was record warm in February, and nationwide, it ended up as the second-warmest February on record, just behind 1954. The winter (December to February) was the sixth-warmest, according to the latest State of the Climate update from the National Centers for Environmental

Can wave power help de-carbonize the world?

Planned test site in Oregon could help answer the question, but will it survive Trump? Staff Report All eyes are on wind and solar these days, and rightly so, but ocean waves may play an even bigger role in humanity’s efforts to decarbonize energy production. Scientists and engineers in the Pacific Northwest may get a

Study eyes ‘flash drought’ forecasts

Soil moisture, snowpack data help inform new forecast modeling Staff Report Some droughts creep up on you, while others seem to come out of nowhere, like in 2012 when spring came early and a hot, dry summer parched fields and forests and led to a busy wildfire season, including the destructive Waldo Canyon blaze near

Climate: 3d-warmest year-to-date for U.S.

Every state was warmer than average for the summer Staff Report This year’s meteorological summer in the contiguous U.S. (June-August) will go down in the climate annals as the fifth-warmest on record, at 2.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average. The year-to-date is the third-warmest on record, with Alaska on pace for a record-warm

Global warming started earlier than you think

New study suggests climate is very sensitive to greenhouse gases Staff Report Although the rate of global warming has increased dramatically in the last few decades, a new study suggests that human activities have been driving climate change for the past 180 years. The findings suggest that global warming is not just a  20th century

Climate: Arctic sea ice melt slows slightly in July

Experts say record low now unlikely Staff Report Cool and stormy weather in the Arctic during July slowed the rate of sea ice loss to just below average for the month,  making it less likely sea ice extent will dwindle to a record low, according to the latest update from the National Ice and Snow

July 2016 ranks as 14th-warmest on record for U.S.

Year to-date is third-warmest, according to monthly climate report Staff Report The July temperature across the lower 48 states was 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average, with month ending up ranked as the 14th warmest on record, according to NOAA’s monthly state of the climate report for the U.S. The year-to-date is the