Joe Biden Just Released His Green New Deal. He’s Targeting Net Zero Emissions by 2050.
In a 10,400-word campaign policy proposal, the presumptive front-runner for the next Democratic presidential nomination laid out plans to ramp up renewable energy and electric car investments, spurring 10 million jobs over a decade, and ending fossil fuel subsidies. “As president, I will lead America, and the world, not only to confront the crisis in…
New York City Just Passed Historic Climate Legislation—Its Own Green New Deal
This story was originally published by HuffPost and is shared here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The nation’s largest and most economically influential city passed a historic bill Thursday capping climate-changing pollution from big buildings and mandating unprecedented cuts to greenhouse gases. The City Council approved the legislation in a 45-to-2 vote Thursday afternoon, all but ensuring…
John Hickenlooper Has a Curious Connection to a Trump Cabinet Secretary
Mother Jones illustration; ZUMA Press Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s ties to the oil and gas industry run deep, especially when compared to those of other candidates in the unwieldy 2020 Democratic field. In some ways, given that Hickenlooper served two terms in the fifth-largest oil-and-gas-producing state, these connections are not surprising. But what may…
Elizabeth Warren Raises the Pressure on the Military to Take Climate Change Seriously
Spencer Platt/Getty Images Of all the federal agencies in Trump’s Washington, the Department of Defense might be the one least equipped to dismiss climate change given its obvious danger to the safety of coastal bases and troops. But the military’s tendency to prioritize more immediate threats has been a recurring problem, especially when the current…
A Shocking Discovery Shows Just How Far Wind Can Carry Microplastics
Eric Cabanis/Getty Images This story was originally published by Wired and is shared here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. At the top of the French Pyrenees, not far from the border with Spain, is a virtually pristine clearing, home to snow and a weather station—but mostly feet upon feet of snow. The nearest road closes in…
A California Lawmaker Has a Plan to Prevent Shady Doctors From Helping Parents Get Out of Vaccinating Their Kids
Getty When public health officials began investigating a Bay Area measles outbreak last year, the case led them to two boys who were supposed to be medically exempt from vaccinations. But neither of the boys had cancer, nor were they recent transplant recipients, nor did they have any number of medical concerns that would make…