United States

Race is on to define Green New Deal

Thursday - The decision by US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) to bring up the Green New Deal for a Senate vote is prompting a rush to define the terms of progressive Democrats' ambitious proposal to tackle climate change.

Green New Deal claims bold plan to fight change

8 Feb 19 - New US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is releasing a broad outline of a vision for the Green New Deal, a plan to battle economic and racial injustice while also fighting climate change.

Trump fails to mention climate change

7 Feb 19 - Top scientists have condemned US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address and say future presidents must confront climate change as an urgent priority.

How the polar vortex is linked to climate change

1 Feb 19 - The polar vortex has broken into ‘two swirling blobs of cold air’, bringing the most frigid conditions in decades to the United States midwest.

Intelligence chiefs warn of climate threats

1 Feb 19 - The US intelligence community has warned in its annual assessment of worldwide threats that climate change and other kinds of environmental degradation pose risks to global stability.

Big farms a growing driver of climate change

30 Jan 19 - Industrial farming encourages practices that degrade the soil and increase emissions, while leaving farmers more vulnerable to damage as the planet warms.

Americans are getting the message

24 Jan 19 - Nearly half of Americans say people in the US are being harmed by global warming "right now" - the highest point ever in a decade-long national survey called Climate Change in the American Mind.

Scores of US military bases under threat

23 Jan 19 - A new Pentagon report identifies significant risks from climate change at scores of military bases and says the Defense Department is taking protective measures against the looming threat.

Troubled Tesla cuts 7% of workforce

22 Jan 19 - Tesla is cutting its full-time staff headcount by about 7 per cent, as it tries to reduce the price of its cars and boost margins, CEO Elon Musk has announced

Poor losing the high ground in Miami

21 Dec 18 - Miami's poor are being pressured to leave their high-ground homes as rising sea levels threaten the city's wealthy coastal suburbs.

California insists on electric buses

20 Dec 18 - The Californian Air Resources Board has revealed its plan to have an all-electric bus fleet in California by 2040.

Better land use could slash emissions

14 Dec 18 - US scientists have found a new way to cut or offset 22% of the greenhouse gas emissions from American factory chimneys, car exhausts and power stations -- better land use.

Patagonia gives $10m tax cut to the cimate cause

12 Dec 18 - Outdoor clothing company Patagonia will be giving to the planet the $10 million it made as a result of President Trump's tax cuts.

California plans coastal retreat as sea starts swallowing homes

10 Dec 18 - Ocean-front homes could be demolished along California's coastline under a groundbreaking proposal to preserve the state's made-for-movies beaches before they're destroyed by rising seawater.

War hero president MIA in early climate battles

10 Dec 18 - Among the tributes paid to former US president George H.W. Bush has been plenty of reflection on his war record – but less on how he handled himself during the early skirmishes of the climate battle.

Rising tides bring threat to Pacific military readiness

5 Dec 18 - On a Pacific archipelago 2400 miles southwest of Hawaii, the United States' enormous military capability collides with the accelerating climate risk that threatens to erode it.

It's just worst-case stuff, says Trump

3 Dec 18 - The Trump administration is minimising warnings from scientists by arguing that they are exaggerated and based on the worst-case scenario.

Risks are spiraling, warns US weather scientists

26 Nov 18 - The US government's own climate scientists have issued a blunt warning that global warming is a growing threat to human life, property and ecosystems across the country, and that the economic damage...

Report over the top, say Trump's people

26 Nov 18 - The Trump administration has tried to downplay the stark findings of its own climate change assessment, as Democrats sought to pressure the White House to avert looming economic and public health...