‘It’s shocking, it’s horrendous’: Ellen MacArthur’s fight against plastic
She broke the solo record for sailing round the world, but now she is dedicating her life to an even greater challenge – saving it from the destructive tide of plastic pollution
New Study Links Living Near Forests to Healthier Brains
Evidence keeps mounting that, in stressful times, there is much to gain by surrounding yourself with plants and trees.
A National Beautification Campaign Revitalized Communities in the ’60s and Could Again Today
When’s the Last Time I’ll Go Home for Christmas?
By my count, I get 13 more holidays before the sea threatens to swallow my family’s home.
http://otherwords.org/whens-last-time-ill-go-home-christmas/
The top US environment stories of 2017: Trump makes the political weather
The new president immediately made his mark on environmental policy,
pulling out of the Paris climate accord and targeting America’s protected public lands
How Divesting of Fossil Fuels Could Help Save the Planet
https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/12/how-divesting-fossil-fuels-could-help-save-planet
When Companies Deny Climate Science, Their Workers Pay
General Electric doubled down on coal. Now, 12,000 workers are paying the price.
http://otherwords.org/companies-deny-climate-science-workers-pay/
Why healthy soils and forests are key to climate protection and prosperity
What links climate change, poverty and migration? The Global Landscapes Forum addresses how land-use is central to global challenges that are more interconnected than many of us realize.
Coalitions Of Agriculture Outsiders Tackle Powerful Agribiz Insiders
Popularity of plastic takes toll on oceans, puts human health at risk
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/plastic-pollution-harms-oceans-health/
The World’s Cheapest Solar Bid Is Actually for Wind
Enel—and GTM—set the record straight following the release of Mexico’s official auction results.
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-worlds-cheapest-solar-is-actually-wind-mexico
A different dimension of loss’: inside the great insect die-off
Scientists have identified 2 million species of living things. No one knows how many more are out there, and tens of thousands may be vanishing before we have even had a chance to encounter them.
Insectageddon: farming is more catastrophic than climate breakdown
A Radical Vision for Food: Everyone Growing It for Each Other
Consider the gift economy, brilliantly on display every Sunday in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California. Unlike capitalism’s many specialized goods and services, food is practical to barter—or, better yet, to gift.
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED AMERICAN CHESTNUTS
http://globaljusticeecology.org/wp-content/uploads/Chestnut-Fact-Sheet1.pdf
Marijuana businesses are awash with cash. California wants to help get that money into banks.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-marijuana-cash-20171222-story
Dahr Jamail | Climate Disruption Rings in the “New Arctic”
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/42984-climate-disruption-rings-in-the-new-arctic
Drowned world: icecap melt threatens flooding for millions
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/15777848/
World’s largest plastics plant rings alarm bells on Texas coast
Communities fear impact on environment, as fossil fuel companies target region in multi-billion dollar push to increase global plastic production
Brazil Neglects Its Solar Power Potential
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/brazil-forgets-solar-power-potential/
Smart money should back solar. We are on the verge of a revolutionary transformation able to power the last billion
https://www.ft.com/content/eb6dc174-d4f3-11e7-8c9a-d9c0a5c8d5c9
Electric cars already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel – study
Exclusive: Pure electric cars cost less over four years than petrol or diesel cars in the UK, US and Japan, researchers say, but China is set to lead the market
Vehicles are now America’s biggest CO2 source but EPA is tearing up regulations
Transport overtook power generation for climate-warming emissions in 2017 but the Trump administration is reversing curbs on auto industry pollution
Divest Responsibly
Barnard College unveils criteria it will use to evaluate whether a fossil fuel company is a good or bad actor worthy of its investment. An emphasis is on climate science.
Trump EPA rule change exploits taxpayers for mine cleanup, critics say
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt has scrapped an Obama-era rule requiring mining operations to prove they can clean up future pollution
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/17/donald-trump-epa-mining-pollution-rules
Top US firms including Walmart and Ford oppose Trump on climate change
- Big businesses appear at Miami summit to show progress on sustainability.
‘We’ve been working on this for a long time, prior to this administration’
Will McDonald’s Transition to Regenerative Agriculture?
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/12/19/mcdonalds-regenerative-agriculture
South Australia turns on Tesla’s 100MW battery: ‘History in the making’
The world’s largest lithium-ion battery has officially been turned on in South Australia promising to usher in a revolution in how electricity is produced and stored.Tesla boss Elon Musk has made good on his promise to build the 100-megawatt facility on deadline or provide it free after blackouts last year that critics of the state’s Labor government blamed on pro-renewable policies.
Venue of last resort: the climate lawsuits threatening the future of big oil
In an era of environmental deregulation, groups like the American Petroleum Institute are focusing resources on the courts – and ‘time is on industry’s side’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/17/big-oil-climate-change-lawsuits-environment
Mixed forests may not resist climate change
https://climatenewsnetwork.net/23546-2/
The Most Accurate Climate Models Predict Greater Warming, Study Shows
In the range of climate models, those that most successfully simulate the past predict some of the worst-case scenarios for the future, researchers found.
Higher Winds Could Hinder Wildfire Fight
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/forecast-higher-winds-complicate-wildfire-fight/
Climate Change Has Come for Los Angeles
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/climate-change-has-come-for-los-angeles.html
How big oil is tightening its grip on Donald Trump’s White House
The oil industry has stalled action on climate change from the inside and sold America on fossil fuels – and its influence goes back further than people realize
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/12/big-oil-white-house-century-of-influence
Arctic Report Card: Update for 2017
Arctic shows no sign of returning to reliably frozen region of recent past decades
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2017
Reaction: World Bank Steals Show at One Planet Summit by Phasing Out Upstream Oil and Gas Finance
http://priceofoil.org/2017/12/12/reaction-world-bank-upstream-oil-gas-finance/
Costa Rica Approves Incentives for Electric Vehicles
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/costa-rica-passes-law-promoting-electric-vehicles/
China aims to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions through trading scheme
Heavily polluting power plants across China will now have to choose between paying for their emissions or cleaning up their act
Welcome to the “New Arctic”: the region “as we once knew it is no more”
http://priceofoil.org/2017/12/19/welcome-to-the-new-arctic-the-region-as-we-once-knew-it-is-no-more/
Pesticides Linked to Declining Bee Populations Also Threaten Birds and Small Mammals
‘If there’s no water, what’s the point?’ Female farmers in Arizona – a photo essay
Arizona has the highest proportion of female farmers – but conditions in this dry desert landscape aren’t easy, and rural isolation has created a tapestry of challenges
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/19/arizona-desert-women-farm-ranchers
California is set to hit its green-energy goals a decade early
https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/20/california-green-energy-goal-2020/
California Olive Ranch Gets $35M Investment
COR’s regenerative agriculture project seeks to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Every new acre acquired through the financing deal will be planted using techniques the company said will make its operations “the first large-scale implementation of regenerative agriculture for permanent plantings”
https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-business/california-olive-ranch-gets-35m-investment/61647
Case Study: Taranaki Farm Regenerative Agriculture. Pathways to Integrated Ecological Farming
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128012314000227
Industrial hemp can regenerate Iowa’s soil
Oranges on the high plains?
North Platte NRD planning to construct solar-powered, geothermal-heated greenhouse
$400K in Federal Investment to Support Young Farmers
Glynwood Center is a non-profit organization serving food and farming professionals across New York’s Hudson Valley. The organization advances regenerative agriculture in service of our natural environment, local economies, and human health. The center also serves as a teaching venue.
http://hudsonvalleynewsnetwork.com/2017/12/01/400k-federal-investment-support-young-farmers/
America’s Farmworkers Face Poverty, Neglect, and Now Deportation
Up to 70 percent of the people who put food on America’s tables may be undocumented.
http://otherwords.org/americas-farmworkers-face-poverty-neglect-now-deportation/