Tag Archives: Paris agreement

Eliminating the use of coal to generate electricity would be the single biggest step the U.S. could take in meeting its U.N. Paris Climate Agreement GHG emissions reductions goals, according a new study from Portland State University. Accomplishing this would require a wholesale shift in the U.S. power generation mix to "natural gas, efficiency, wind, solar power and biofuels."

Easier said than done Last week, Taryn Fransen and Kelly Levin of the World Resources Institute published an informative analysis on the “Trump Effect” on the Paris Agreement, signed in Paris at COP21 in  December 2015. It was historic in many respects, not least of which was that it was the first time the whole world agreed on anything so ambitious. Even so, it …

One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic Be it from social unrest, economic upheaval, or environmental collapse, forced human migration is at unprecedented levels. According to the UNHCR, there are more than 65 million displaced people in the world today. Of those, more than 22 million are forced refugees. Over half are under 18 years old. Nearly 20 people are displaced from …

When the Trump administration’s 2018 fiscal budget proposal included 40 percent of funding cut for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), few were surprised. The president doesn’t seem to understand what is at stake with such cuts. If passed, Trump’s proposed budget will impose significant funding cuts from enforcement programs that impose penalties on environmental offenders. With reports of polluted water on the rise, funding …

Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia have joined California, New York and Washington in establishing the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition that aims to realize the goals and ambitions expressed in the UN Paris Climate Change Accord and US Clean Power Plan.

This morning, under the cover of “energy independence,” U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a rewrite of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The Plan is the cornerstone of U.S. commitment to curbing emissions under the Paris climate agreement, so the rewrite represents a significant rollback of U.S. global warming mitigation as a whole. Unlike the rhetoric surrounding health care, no replacement carbon regulation …

It's possible to reduce global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2050 and entirely by 2060 without sacrificing economic growth or job creation, according to IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency.