• People

ODP Exclusive Interview: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Gets Real on Climate Progress

• bipartisan
• clean energy
• climate change
• climate emergency
• executive power
• Green New Deal
• Senate
• stimulus
• whole of government

Senator Whitehouse believes the Biden Administration should go big and go bold on climate change policy.  Watch the whole interview here. 

• Politics

Americans In Both Parties Believe Climate Change Should Be High Priority for Biden Team

• clean energy
• climate change
• fossil fuels
• poll
• public opinion
• renewable energy
• Yale

The incoming Biden administration campaigned on promises of taking on climate change, and it turns out this position is popular with Americans from both parties. A new poll conducted in December by the Yale Climate Communications Program found that 53% of registered voters think global warming should be a high or very high priority for both the president and members of Congress. 

Why this Matters: The survey shows strong support for climate action, from requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for their pollution to providing tax rebates for solar panels.

• Food

Climate Change Impacts Childhood Malnutrition As Much as Poverty

• climate change
• food
• food insecurity
• malnutrition
• WHO

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study published last week found that rising global temperatures impact childhood malnutrition at similar rates to poverty, insufficient sanitation, and poor education. The 19-country study, which observed 107,000 children aged 5 and under, reviewed the impact of rainfall and temperature on children’s diet diversity. The findings shocked […]

• Energy

Joe Biden Plans To Repeal Keystone XL Permit on First Day in Office

• Environmental Justice
• Keystone XL
• pipeline safety
• President Biden

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer President-elect Joe Biden is expected to implement an executive order to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit on his first day in office. The story broke in CBC news, though they did not identify their sources. Apparently “Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit” was written on a transition briefing note […]

• Climate Change

Conspiracy Theorists Spun a Web of Disinformation, from Election Fraud to Climate Change

• big tobacco
• Capitol
• climate change
• Climate Denial
• insurrection
• riot

The January 6th insurrection at the Capitol was the culmination of years of disinformation, conspiracy theories, and false narratives pushed by the GOP, the Trump administration, white supremacists, and the far-right — but these tactics are not a surprise to those who work in the climate movement. Indeed, experts like John Schwartz, a science writer for The New York Times, the lies and rhetoric that fueled the riots felt all too familiar. 

Why This Matters:  The fossil fuel industry employed the big tobacco disinformation playbook, a strategy that only became more effective with the onset of the internet age.

• People

California’s Focus on Environmental Justice Creates Model for Other States

• BIPOC
• California
• Environmental Justice

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Since 2018, Californians have benefited from a new addition to the state government: the Bureau of Environmental Justice. Launched by Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the bureau is focused on protecting communities disproportionately harmed by pollution and contamination. The environmental justice bureau is the first of its kind, with six […]