One Month From Election Day, Helene Has Snarled the North Carolina Voting Process
MelissSue Gerrits/Getty Images/Grist This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There are battleground states, and then there’s North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump won the state by 1.3 percent in 2020, his lowest margin of victory in any state, and polls now show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris within just…
Your Phones and Computers Rely on This Remote North Carolina Mine. Helene Just Walloped It.
Paige Vickers/Vox; Getty This story was originally published by Vox.com and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. You wouldn’t expect to find the linchpin of the global microchip industry tucked away in a Blue Ridge Mountains town, but it’s there. Scattered across the outskirts of Spruce Pine, a series of mines has been extracting some of…
Right-Wing Think Tank Targets Efforts to Educate Federal Judges on Climate Science
Leonard Leo has been at the center of conservative efforts to influence the federal courts.Carolyn Kaster/AP This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A right-wing organization is attacking efforts to educate judges about the climate crisis. The group appears to be connected to Leonard Leo, the architect of the…
The AI Boom Has Raised Hopes for a Nuclear Comeback
Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 1, located in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, in Pennsylvania, generates 852 megawatts of clean, safe and reliable electricity for more than 800,000 homes. In 2009, Three Mile Island Unit 1 received a 20 year extension to the plant’s operating license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. With license extension, Three…
Will Young Voters’ Initial Excitement for Harris Get Them to the Polls?
Sunrise Movement activists marched to the Democratic National Committee’s office in July to urge Kamala Harris to make bold climate policy central to her campaign.Rachael Warriner/Sunrise Movement/Inside Climate News This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. On Tuesday, the youth-led activist group Climate Defiance—which had loudly called…
Raising Efficiency Standards for New Home Mortgages Could Save Families a Bundle
Mario Tama/Getty Images/Grist This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Buried deep within the minutiae of federal regulation is a seemingly tiny policy switch that, if flicked, would dramatically raise the energy efficiency standard for new homes. Such a move would save homeowners thousands of dollars on their energy…