EPA agreed to grant the state’s requests and permit similar proposals from other states, a step Trump has vowed to undo
The Biden administration granted two requests from California to enforce strict standards for vehicle emissions, including a rule aimed at banning sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 in a move that Donald Trump is expected to roll back immediately.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would grant California’s request for the waivers to allow the state to enforce the proposed rules, the agency announced on Wednesday.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/18/2024 - 10:42
12/18/2024 - 10:00
In 2019, scientists published a climate-friendly food plan. I’ve long wondered: could it work for most Americans?
People in the US: how do you eat climate friendly on a budget?
As a fossil fuels and climate reporter, most of my journalism focuses on the need to radically overhaul the energy system. But the food sector also needs a makeover, as it creates between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.
When scientists came up with a new climate-friendly food plan in 2019 and published their findings in the medical journal the Lancet, I read with interest. The guidelines called for more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, which seemed doable to me. The authors even allowed for meat and dairy consumption, albeit in small quantities. Both are major drivers of the climate crisis: the United Nations estimates that meat and dairy produce more than 11% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and some experts put the figure at up to 19.6%.
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12/18/2024 - 10:00
We want to hear how you manage to eat a planet-friendly diet despite soaring food prices and lack of access
Can everyone eat for the planet? I shopped at Dollar Store for a week to find out
Tackling the climate crisis will require us to think more carefully about what we eat, since our food system accounts for up to one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions.
The best option, according to scientists who developed a climate-friendly food plan several years ago, is to eat more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and cut back on meat and dairy. Despite the planetary – and health – benefits of this diet, it’s not always easy to eat this way, especially given soaring food prices and lack of accessibility in many parts of the US.
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12/18/2024 - 08:54
Gone are the pleasures of licking the foil cover on yoghurts and soft cheese. Plus no one consulted me about this dismal change to my home routines
All I want for Christmas is the return of yoghurt pot lids. And not just for me, for everyone. In this season of goodwill, I want everyone to get a share of the joy. The lids disappeared very suddenly, without so much as a goodbye. It didn’t seem right. And it wasn’t just yoghurt pots, either. Creams, buttermilk, cottage cheese, you name it, were suddenly minus their lids, hatless, naked.
For me, this was a blow. I’ve always taken my plastic pot management very seriously. I have strict rules. Not for me pulling back the foil cover, leaving it attached to the tub, and then replacing the lid on top of it. No, not neat. The foil would be removed completely, possibly licked, and discarded.
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12/18/2024 - 07:53
Climate-vulnerable pair add weight to proposed treaty seeking transition from coal, oil and gas in equitable way
Pakistan and the Bahamas have joined a growing bloc of climate-vulnerable countries seeking to broker a global pact to phase out fossil fuels in an equitable way, the Guardian can reveal.
The Bahamas is the 15th nation to fully endorse the proposed fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty, which would provide a binding global roadmap to explicitly halt expansion of coal, oil and gas in a fair way – with wealthy nations responsible for the highest emissions transitioning first and fastest.
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12/18/2024 - 03:14
National Grid, SSE and ScottishPower submit five-year plans amid shift from fossil fuels to clean electricity
Energy companies have promised to spend up to £77bn over five years to help rewire to Great Britain’s electricity infrastructure in the global race to shift from fossil fuels to clean electricity.
The companies that own the high-voltage power system – National Grid, SSE and ScottishPower – have submitted the spending plans to the regulator Ofgem for the period from 2026 to 2031, which could support about 100,000 jobs.
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12/18/2024 - 03:00
Trade can help protect species – and real skins are often more sustainable than synthetic alternatives, say conservationists
Conservation experts have criticised a decision by London fashion week to ban exotic animal skins from its 2025 shows as “ridiculous”, warning that it is ill-informed and could harm the protection of many snakes, crocodiles and reptile species.
Last month, the British Fashion Council’s deputy director for policy and engagement, David Leigh-Pemberton, told parliament that next year’s fashion shows would prohibit the use of skins from alligators, snakes and other animals. In a statement, the council said the ban was part of a wider range of standards to promote sustainable practices in the fashion industry.
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12/18/2024 - 01:00
Researchers find winds affecting emissions from incinerators play role, though diet still thought to be largest factor
Toxic chemicals in breast milk have been identified in mothers living near waste incinerators in the UK, a study has found.
The study looked at complex chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. These are found in the fumes from burning waste and can persist in the environment for a long time. They can also accumulate in the fat in our bodies, with more than 90% coming from food.
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12/18/2024 - 01:00
Spike in fossil fuel use a result of global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The world’s coal use is expected to reach a fresh high of 8.7bn tonnes this year, and remain at near-record levels for years as a result of a global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
There has been record production and trade of coal and power generation from coal since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine inflated global gas market prices, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
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World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023
Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program.
World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html.
Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs.
World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world.
World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org.
media contact
Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory | director@thew2o.net +12077011069
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