Brief #125 – Environment
By Jacob Morton
Democrats in Congress are looking to pass two landmark legislations, the “Hard” and “Soft” infrastructure bills. One is bipartisan, the other is not. Both have significant climate and environmental implications. Will these two bills usher in a new era of climate stewardship for the United States, or will they continue to line the pockets of the fossil fuel industry?
Brief #124 – Environment Policy
By Katelyn Lewis
Around 32 million people in the United States’ workforce are risking their health for their jobs on hot summer days – a scenario likely to increase dramatically by mid-century if there is slow or no action to reduce global emissions, a new analysis finds.
Brief #123 – Environmental Policy
By Adrian Cole
COP 26 is the latest climate gathering in a process which began with the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC), established then, is comprised of 200 members who commit to meeting annually in a Conference of the Parties (COP). This year the UK will host, and has the presidency. The meeting has been billed as the “last, best chance” to deal with climate change. What are its goals?
Brief #122 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
Biden’s foundational policy objectives of carbon-free power by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050 serve as the basis for his $2.25 trillion green infrastructure plan. The overarching question is “how” – particularly when nationwide carbon-free power effectively means tripling the size of the U.S. transmission system.
Brief #121 – Environment Policy
By Katelyn Lewis
President Joe Biden’s team is working on a vehicle emissions rule that will not only restore aggressive vehicle mileage standards set under then-President Barack Obama, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and significantly increase electric vehicle drivers in the U.S. by the end of the decade.
Brief # 120 – Environment
By Katelyn Lewis
In a sweeping effort against plastic, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a bill enabling municipalities to enforce local plastic bag and packaging ordinances as well as implementing a ban against the use of single-use plastic bags, polystyrene cups and containers statewide.
Brief # 119 – Environmental Policy
By Katherine Cart
Corporate wealth towers like megalithic fungi about the globe. Imagine the coagulated money of the world sprouting graphically in the areas in which the owners of that money are housed, bedded, fed. This should appear rather like a globular histogram, with, say, Beijing, New York City, Hong Kong, Moscow, Shenzhen, San Francisco etc. etc. sprouting great swaying money towers. Now, conversely, consider a similar globular graph that depicts where the physical goods powering wealth are sourced from.
Brief # 118 – Environmental Policy
By Jacob Morton
The state of Maine has passed a law forbidding any state pension fund or other public savings funds from making new investments in stocks or securities of fossil fuel companies. As other states and organizations follow suit, divestment could spell trouble for the fossil fuel industry.
Brief # 117 – Environment Policy
By Jacob Morton
On Tuesday June 1, the Biden administration temporarily suspended all oil and gas drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), reversing one of former President Donald Trump’s most sought after and last-minute environmental policy changes.
The suspension comes after President Joe Biden’s executive order, given on his first day in office, placed a moratorium on drilling in the ANWR and requested a new environmental review “to examine possible legal flaws in the program approved by the Trump administration.”
Brief # 116 – Environmental Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
A prolonged period with little or no precipitation combined with an extended period of abnormally high temperatures has created “extreme” drought conditions in much of the western half of the U. S. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has placed 41 counties under a state of drought emergency. In some areas of Oregon and California, scientists conclude the drought is the most severe it has been in centuries.
Brief #117—The Environment
By Katherine Cart
Intentional social inclusivity is, once again, generating backlash and the vexed use of the word “all” is causing reaction to a highlighting and attempted remediation of historical discrimination. The March 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARPA) released by the Biden Administration included a $5 billion dollar package designated for the support of “socially disadvantaged farmers.” In the bill’s language these include Black, hispanic, indiginous and other nonwhite farmers.
Brief #116—Environment
By Todd Broadman
The Biden Administration has recognized what previous administrations have not: that carbon-based energy has been destroying our planet and must stop, that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to net zero by 2050. Recognition is a major step forward. Government action to replace our fossil fuel economy with renewables is a colossal task and one that Biden aims to tackle.
What we know is that carbon-free energy is actually more mineral intensive than its oil-based counterpart. There are some 35 rare earth minerals that are key components to making the transition from fossil-fuels to clean energy. Lithium has recently garnered much attention for its essential role in the production of lithium-ion batteries that power our next generation of EV cars. (Other essential minerals include aluminum, cobalt, copper, and nickel).