• Climate Change

White House Economic Advisors Warn China Could Outdo the U.S. on Clean Energy

• American Jobs Plan
• carbon emissions
• China
• clean energy
• Council of Economic Advisors
• jobs
• renewable energy

The Biden administration published a report on Friday that argued that failing to make headway on adopting clean energy technologies and lowering carbon emissions will dramatically affect the nation’s economy — potentially putting us behind other global superpowers, particularly China. 

Why this Matters:  President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisors, who provided the report, emphasized that economic development and addressing climate change are not mutually exclusive — an argument so often deployed by opponents.

• Forests

U.S., Britain, Norway Announce Coalition to Protect Tropical Forests

• Brazil
• carbon emissions
• carbon sinks
• deforestation
• LEAF Coalition. private capital
• rain forest

On the first day of President Biden’s Global Climate Summit, the United States, Britain, and Norway announced that they are teaming up with the world’s most influential companies to incentivize nations to protect tropical forests by mobilizing at least $1 billion this year for large-scale projects. 

Why This Matters: Tropical forests are one of the world’s largest carbon sinks and one of the most quickly deteriorating.

• Energy

Germany Is Shutting Its Coal Mines and Planning the Workers’ Transition

• carbon emissions
• coal
• Germany
• just transition
• lignite
• Paris Agreement

Germany wants to be the model for transitioning from coal to clean energy. The country plans to stop using coal by 2038 and has dedicated billions of dollars to make it a successful transition. As BBC’s Future Planet reports, a nonprofit near one of the country’s mines are engaging locals in the North-Rhine Westphalia region — many of them employed by the mines — to plan for their future. 

Why This Matters: First off: the European Union has called for an end of coal by 2030. So Germany’s timeline is longer than recommended to hit the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C target, and mine expansions are still planned in coming years.

• Ocean

Suez Canal Jam Will Take Months to Sort, Many Live Animals Likely Perished on Ships

• animals
• carbon emissions
• climate change
• humane
• inhumane
• Suez Canal

The Evergiven is no longer stuck in the Suez Canal, but world shipping is hardly back to normal. In just six days, the massive container ship held up almost $60 billion in global trade.  Supply chains across the world are delayed and off schedule, and the incident has economists and maritime experts across the globe reevaluating the efficacy of the current shipping economy.  

Why this Matters: The pandemic has rocketed demand for goods (and vaccines) to all-time highs, but bottlenecks at many major ports and slow shipping speed could slow the global economy just as it begins to recover from COVID-19.

• Energy

Vineyard Wind Project Nears Final Approval

• carbon emissions
• clean energy
• Martha's Vineyard
• offshore wind
• renewable energy
• Vineyard Wind
• wind

After years of delays, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Vineyard Wind 1, which is located in an area of the Atlantic Ocean about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The publication of the EIS puts the wind project one step away from federal approval. 

Why this Matters:  This project has overcome objections from President Trump, local fishers, and even some local environmental organizations.

• Climate Change

Direct Air Capture is Ready for its Close-up

• carbon capture
• carbon emissions
• CO2
• DAC
• direct air capture
• nature based solutions
• offset

By Dr. Julio Friedmann As Congress prepares major climate legislation and President Biden looks to take more executive action, net-zero emissions has become the science-based star of the show. That show features a climate solution that is often overlooked – undiscovered and waiting in the wings. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which pulls carbon dioxide (CO2) […]