climate-change


Photo: Staff Sgt. Herschel Talley/Nebraska National Guard

The Wettest 12 Months: New Analysis Shows Spikes in Flood Alerts in the US

, Climate Scientist

May 23, 2019 1:24 PM EDT

April 2019 marked the wettest 12-month period in the United States since record-keeping began 124 years ago, breaking the previous record set from May 2015–April 2016.  In most places in the contiguous US, by April 2019 it had already rained more than the annual average during the 20th century. This week, heavy rain is dumping up to 1 foot of rain in northern and central parts of the US. It’s evident that extreme precipitation events are getting more extreme, and also that climate change is one of the culprits. Read more >

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California’s Infrastructure Earns a C-. We Need More Equitable and Climate-Safe Infrastructure Now

, Western states senior climate analyst

May 17, 2019 5:18 PM EDT

I count on the quality and reliability of our roads, water and wastewater systems, and electric grid to help me keep my daughter safe from harm and provide an environment where she can thrive. Many other parents do, too. These expectations seem reasonable. They will, however, become even harder to meet in the face of continued underinvestment and disinvestment in communities and more frequent and severe climate-related extreme events here in California and beyond. These issues must be key considerations in infrastructure decisions and solutions moving forward. Read more >

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Photo: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

5 Reasons Why HB 6, Ohio’s Nuclear Plant Subsidy Proposal, Should Be Rejected

, director of energy research, Clean Energy

May 16, 2019 10:38 AM EDT

Last November, UCS released Nuclear Power Dilemma, which found that more than one-third of existing nuclear plants, representing 22 percent of total US nuclear capacity, are uneconomic or slated to close over the next decade. This included the Davis-Besse and Perry plants in Ohio that are owned by Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions. Replacing these plants with natural gas would cause emissions to rise at a time when we need to achieve deep cuts in emissions to limit the worst impacts of climate change.

Read more >

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Photo: House Speaker’s Office/Facebook

Challenging Trump’s Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement

, director of strategy & policy

April 30, 2019 4:42 PM EDT

President Trump’s announcement in June 2017 that he intends to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement was both ignorant and irresponsible, placing the interests of the fossil fuel industry ahead of the health and well-being of current and future generations.  The Agreement represents an historic consensus among the nations of the world on the urgent need to respond to the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.

Read more >

House Speaker’s Office/Facebook
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Photo: US Department of the Interior/CC BY-SA 2.0 (Flickr)

Taking the “Public” out of Public Service, New Interior Secretary Bernhardt Refuses to Address Climate Change

, Senior Fellow

April 30, 2019 1:32 PM EDT

Trump Administration Cabinet officials have hit a number of new lows in recent months, but there is a more troubling trend that gets lost in all the scandal and incompetence. In the past, industry-friendly administrations hired political leaders who would emphasize deregulation and industry priorities, and minimize work on conservation and American health and safety. You may not agree with their priorities, but as long as they operated within the law, they were entitled to impose their policy priorities on the executive branch.

The Trump administration, however, is not concerned about operating within the law, and newly minted Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is exhibit A. Read more >

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