May, 2023

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The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling, Prompting New Climate Concerns

Yale E360

A new study reaffirming that global climate change is human-made also found the upper atmosphere is cooling dramatically because of rising CO2 levels. Scientists are worried about the effect this cooling could have on orbiting satellites, the ozone layer, and Earth’s weather.

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ABB Partners to Build an Offshore Wind Farm to Create Green Hydrogen

Environment + Energy Leader

The ABB Energy Industries is driving the move toward renewable hydrogen with an offshore wind project: SoutH2Port – a project that has two key hurdles, which include the cost of making hydrogen from wind and solar and building offshore wind farms.

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James Hansen Warns of a Short-Term Climate Shock Bringing 2 Degrees of Warming by 2050

Inside Climate News

The famed researcher publicly released a preliminary version of a paper-in-progress with grim predictions of short- and long-term warming, but not all climate scientists agree with its conclusions. By Bob Berwyn A team of scientists led by former NASA climate researcher James Hansen, who formally raised the alarm about climate change to U.S. government leaders in his 1988 testimony to Congress , is working on a new study that warns of a possible short-term spike of planetary heating 2 degrees Ce

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An A to Z of Fossil Fuel Industry Deception

Union of Concerned Scientists

This year has brought new evidence of what major fossil fuel companies knew and when about the role their products play in climate change, as well as what they did in spite of what they knew. The evidence builds on revelations from the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s investigation during the last Congress into Big Oil’s climate disinformation.

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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Louisiana Becomes First State to Issue Drinking Water Report Cards

Circle of Blue

Move aims for transparency and to identify struggling water systems. The water tower in Sunset, Louisiana. The town’s water system received a D grade in the state’s first report card. Photo courtesy of Patrick under Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA 2.0 By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – May 11, 2023 In an effort to improve public communication, the Louisiana Department of Health published its inaugural water system report cards last week, becoming the first state in the country to us

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The role of regulatory relationships in wastewater innovation

Legal Planet

Read our recent article. Public water and wastewater utilities are increasingly struggling to meet society’s expectations. Their basic infrastructure is aging, budgets are tight, and they face a barrage of stressors, from population growth to climate change and shifting regulatory expectations. What’s more, in addition to performing their traditional function of protecting human health and water quality, many wastewater utilities are being asked to contribute to meeting other goals.

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Expect $264B of Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging by 2030

Environment + Energy Leader

Global technology company Siemens predicts that the market for wireless EV charging in Europe and North America will reach $2 billion by 2028. The post Expect $264B of Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging by 2030 appeared first on Environment+Energy Leader.

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CMIP6: Not-so-sudden stratospheric cooling

Real Climate

As predicted in 1967 by Manabe and Wetherald , the stratosphere has been cooling. A new paper by Ben Santer and colleagues has appeared in PNAS where they extend their previous work on the detection and attribution of anthropogenic climate change to include the upper stratosphere, using observations from the Stratospheric Sounding Units (SSUs) (and their successors, the AMSU instruments) that have flown since 1979.

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California Legislature Could Make Overdue Changes to Water Rights if These Three Bills Pass

Union of Concerned Scientists

For the first time in several decades , policy makers in Sacramento seem poised to actually do something about California’s dysfunctional water rights systems. There are three promising policies winding their way through the Legislature this session. All three bills just made it out of the committee review process, and are slated to be voted on by June 2.

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HOTSPOTS H2O: Failing Rains in Darfur Foster Conflict and Displacement

Circle of Blue

Mahmoud, a Darfurian farmer displaced by violence over scarce arable land, sits on a beach in Ventimiglia, Italy. HOTSPOTS H2O: Failing Rains in Darfur Foster Conflict and Displacement By Zara Gounden & Fraser Byers, Circle of Blue – May 31, 2023 Two decades after the onset of the war in Darfur, an enduring water crisis continues to inflict tension between crop farmers and herders in the embattled territory.

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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The Winding Path of Australian Climate Policy

Legal Planet

On a per capita basis, Australia’s carbon emissions are even higher than the United States. A decade ago, Australia had a climate tax. That was repealed in 2014, and the ensuing period saw little progress. In the past two years, however, the things have started trending upward after years of inaction by conservative governments. More is needed, but hopefully the tide has turned.

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As Ocean Oxygen Levels Dip, Fish Face an Uncertain Future

Yale E360

Global warming not only increases ocean temperatures, it triggers a cascade of effects that are stripping the seas of oxygen. Fish are already moving to new waters in search of oxygen, and scientists are warning of the long-term threat to fish species and marine ecosystems.

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WWF Proposes Global Ban on ‘High-Risk, Unnecessary’ Single-Use Plastics

Environment + Energy Leader

Research on plastic pollution done by WWF and Eunomia will present the feasibility of banning certain plastics from circulation at the UN plastic pollution treaty talks later this month.

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Evaluation of GCM simulations with a regional focus.

Real Climate

Do the global climate models (GCMs) we use for describing future climate change really capture the change and variations in the region that we want to study? There are widely used tools for evaluating global climate models, such as the ESMValTool , but they don’t provide the answers that I seek. I use GCMs to provide information about large-scale conditions, processes and phenomena in the atmosphere that I can use as predictors in downscaling future climate projections.

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

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California’s Water Rights System is Inequitable, Inadequate, and Possibly, About to Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

During a California State Assembly informational hearing earlier this year, there seemed to be consensus that California’s 19 th century water rights system is not well suited to the social context and climate of the 21st century. Change is necessary and may be coming.  This outdated water rights system is based on historic and continued disenfranchisement and dispossession.

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The Stream, May 17, 2023: Morocco Boosts Funding, Ambitions for 30-Year Water Plan

Circle of Blue

Restoration projects in the Kissimmee River Basin north of Lake Okeechobee are part of larger efforts to reduce nutrient pollution and send clean water south to the Everglades. Photo courtesy Brent Anderson / South Florida Water Management District via Flickr Creative Commons YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN Public hiking paths have opened along the Han River, a biodiverse estuary which flows through the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

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Environmental Law Again Front-and-Center at California Supreme Court

Legal Planet

Monterey County Oil Field (credit: Monterey County Weekly) For the first two decades of this century, and under the able leadership of former Chief Justices Ronald George and Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the California Supreme Court was quite active in interpreting and shaping California environmental law. That trend had abated in the last few years–coincidentally or not during the height of the COVID epidemic–with only a couple of relatively minor environmental law decisions being issued b

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El Niño to Return This Year, Boosting Warming Trend

Yale E360

El Niño, a phase marked by warm waters in the eastern Pacific, will likely return this year, driving up global temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

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Rubicon Partners with Atlanta for Sustainable, Efficient Public Works Operations

Environment + Energy Leader

The company's cloud-based smarty city technology will help Atlanta's Department of Public Works implement sustainable operations for its existing fleet.

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NAEP-SC Student Scholarship Program + Other Updates

NAEP Leadership Blog

We have two exciting new updates we’d like to share with you and would like you to check out on our website, naep-sc.org, and the deadline to apply is June 1. Please help us get the word out! Also new to the Members Only side of the website is a tab for posting or reviewing resumes. Just in time for new graduates to join our organization and share their resume with a diverse group of environmental professionals!

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Illinois Dust Storm Disaster Is a Warning for Agriculture

Union of Concerned Scientists

On a stretch of interstate highway in central Illinois last week, a freak dust storm caused a series of massive vehicle pileups that killed seven people and injured dozens more. The cause of the tragedy, according to Illinois State Police , was “excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility.” News reports noted that dust storms are rare in Illinois, but drier, hotter conditions in many farming communities could make such events more frequ

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Fresh, May 2, 2023: Mississippi River Flooding Reaches Historic Levels Along Illinois-Iowa Border

Circle of Blue

May 2, 2023 Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing , straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday. — Christian Thorsberg, Interim Fresh Editor This Week’s Watersheds The city of Waukesha, whose groundwater was often contaminated with radium, will receive water directly from Lake Michigan no later than this fall.

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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New York’s New Environmental Justice Law

Legal Planet

New York has enacted what may be the country’s most stringent environmental justice law. The state deserves credit for its commitment to remedying the unfair pollution burdens placed on disadvantaged communities. The law is so broadly worded, however, that it may have the potential to prevent economic development that would aid those communities, or even new facilities like hospitals that are urgently needed by the community.

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Finland Drained Its Peatlands. He’s Helping Bring Them Back

Yale E360

Tero Mustonen has led a successful effort to restore roughly 80 areas of ecologically critical peatlands across his native Finland. In an interview, he talks about the importance of bringing Indigenous knowledge to rewilding initiatives in far northern regions and beyond.

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U.S. Steel Secures $240 Million Green Bond for Arkansas Facility

Environment + Energy Leader

The money will help enhance sustainable technology at its new $3 billion facility expected to open next year.

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Who Said Recycling Was Green? It Makes Microplastics By the Ton

Inside Climate News

A study finds one plastics recycling plant in the U.K. produces as much as 3 million pounds of microplastics a year—and that’s with filtering. By James Bruggers Research out of Scotland suggests that the chopping, shredding and washing of plastic in recycling facilities may turn as much as six to 13 percent of incoming waste into microplastics—tiny, toxic particles that are an emerging and ubiquitous environmental health concern for the planet and people.

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Transforming Transportation: Opportunity for a Sustainable and Equitable Electric Future

Union of Concerned Scientists

Electric transportation is essential for a cleaner and healthier world. Replacing gasoline vehicles with electric can reduce emissions that cause climate change and illnesses. Researchers like me are putting a microscope to the electric vehicles (EVs) because, as with any extraction and manufacturing, there are associated impacts. We are specifically looking at the social and environmental impacts of mining and processing the minerals that are used in the batteries powering these vehicles, buses

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Anishinaabe Tribes Work to Save a Fish Significant to Their Culture and an Important Source of Protein

Circle of Blue

Refresh A Great Lakes News Collaborative series investigating the region’s water pollution challenges. This series explores the Clean Water Act’s shortcomings in the Great Lakes, and how the region can more completely address water pollution in the next 50 years. The collaborative’s four newsrooms — Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now, and Michigan Radio — work collaboratively to report on the most pressing water issues in the Great Lakes region.

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Canada’s Top Seven Climate Villains Fueling Climate Catastrophe

Enviromental Defense

What do the CEO of Imperial Oil, the head of RBC bank and the head of Big Oil’s biggest lobby association, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, all have in common? They’re all committed to using their power to block climate action in order to profit personally from more oil and gas production. And they’re preventing efforts to build a healthy, equitable world beyond fossil fuels.

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Beyond Factory Farms: A New Look at the Rights of Animals

Yale E360

Philosopher Peter Singer’s book, Animal Liberation , helped launch the animal rights movement nearly 50 years ago. He talks with Yale E360 about the evolution of our understanding of how animals feel pain and how humans are not so different from other species as we once thought.

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DOW on Route to Making Chemicals Using Small Modular Reactors

Environment + Energy Leader

When Dow and X-energy inked an agreement to develop an advanced nuclear reactor at one of Dow’s sites along the Gulf Coast, it was a big deal – a technology the two will license to other industrial customers.

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Lab-grown meat could be 25 times worse for the climate than beef

New Scientist

Analysis finds the carbon footprint of cultivated meat is likely to be higher than beef if current production methods are scaled up because they are still highly energy-intensive

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