• Energy

Meeting Paris Goals Will Create Green Jobs

• clean energy
• just transition

Researchers recently conducted an analysis of how trying to meet the Paris Agreement targets would affect energy jobs in 50 countries. They found that action to reach the targets would increase net jobs by about 8 million by 2050, primarily due to gains in the solar and wind industries.  Why This Matters: An estimated 18 […]

• Energy

Wyoming Passes Measure to Sue States that Refuse to Buy Coal

• coal
• just transition
• Wyoming

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer While environmentalists celebrate commitments and progress made by the Biden administration, some stakeholders aren’t so happy. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon (R) has passed a new state law providing the state government with $1.2 million in funding to sue other states that refuse to buy Wyoming’s coal. W.Y. is the largest coal-producing state […]

• 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.

• People

Mine Workers Union To Support Green Transition

• American Jobs Plan
• Coal Miners
• just transition

Yesterday the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), America’s largest mineworkers union, said it would accept President Biden’s policies to transition the United States away from coal and other fossil fuels in exchange for a “true energy transition” that includes thousands of jobs in renewable energy and spending on technology to make coal cleaner. As […]

• Energy

“Petrostates” Risk Collapse if they Don’t Diversify, New Report Says

• climate change
• developing countries
• just transition
• offshore drilling
• oil and gas

A new report says that economic diversification will be crucial as governments across the world set ambitious climate action goals. Forty countries have economies dominated by the oil industry, and as demand for and use of oil is phased out in importing nations, these “petrostates” risk major economic challenges. 

Why This Matters: A “just transition” away from fossil fuel-dependent economies will be needed globally. 

• People

A Green Energy Future Must Be an Inclusive One

• diversity
• Environmental Justice
• green energy
• inclusion
• just transition
• renewable energy

by Julia Fine, ODP Contributing Writer A transition to renewable energy in America will have a multiplier effect beyond merely reducing our emissions. . As Jennie Stephens, a Professor at Northeastern University, told Yale Climate Connections, this transition can also create positive social change in other arenas. In her words, “We really need to think […]