Regulation Archives - Inside Climate News

At COP28, the United States Will Stress an End to Fossil Emissions, Not Fuels

By Marianne Lavelle — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 22:37:37 +0000

The Biden administration faces increasing international and domestic political pressure to endorse near-term cuts in coal, oil and natural gas.

By Marianne Lavelle

President Joe Biden will not attend the climate talks that commence this week in Dubai, but the conflict that has come to define his policy on the planetary crisis will be front and center.

“Carbon Cowboys” Chasing Emissions Offsets in the Amazon Keep Forest-Dwelling Communities in the Dark

By Sam Schramski and Cícero Pedrosa Neto — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Indigenous and traditional groups in the forest are rarely consulted about carbon credit projects they see as the latest gold rush on their lands, and question the community and climate benefits the projects promise.

By Sam Schramski and Cícero Pedrosa Neto

“The first time I heard about carbon credits, I didn’t understand what they were about at all,” says Queila Couto, a lawyer, while staring into the Itacuruçá River in the Brazilian state of Pará, “and it was bad.”

Black Women Face Disproportionate Risks From Largely Unregulated Toxic Substances in Beauty and Personal Care Products

By Victoria St. Martin — Sun, 26 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

The FDA has finally proposed a ban on formaldehyde in hair straighteners, and new regulations on the cosmetics industry take effect next month. But one activist called them “a floor, not a ceiling.”

By Victoria St. Martin

Dereliction of Beauty: First in a series on how lax regulation of beauty care products victimizes women of color.

Is China Emitting a Climate Super Pollutant in Violation of an International Environmental Agreement?

By Phil McKenna and Peter Aldhous — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Concentrations of HFC-23, one of the world’s most potent greenhouse gases, remained elevated in East Asia after China, a known past polluter, agreed to curb emissions.

By Phil McKenna and Peter Aldhous

Preliminary atmospheric monitoring data from a remote South Korean island off China’s east coast shows elevated concentrations of hydrofluorocarbon-23 (HFC-23), a greenhouse gas 14,700 times more potent than carbon dioxide on a pound-for-pound basis, according to the World Meteorological Association.

Can US, China Climate Talks Spur Progress at COP28?

By Bob Berwyn, Phil McKenna and Nicholas Kusnetz — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:48:03 +0000

With global consensus difficult to find, some experts say smaller multilateral deals between major greenhouse gas polluters are needed to quickly cut emissions.

By Bob Berwyn, Phil McKenna and Nicholas Kusnetz

New climate talks between the United States and China could set an encouraging signal for the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate summit, but only if the world’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters follow up on their words with actions.

Dominion’s Proposed Virginia Power Plant Casts Doubt on Its Commitments to Clean Energy

By Jake Bolster — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

The company has proposed building a natural gas facility in Chesterfield, Virginia, despite laws mandating it reach zero-emissions by 2045.

By Jake Bolster

In 2020, the Virginia Assembly passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a law that required the state’s largest utility provider, Dominion Energy, to generate all of its power using only renewable energy by 2045.

With Democrats Back in Control of Virginia’s General Assembly, Environmentalists See a Narrow Path Forward for Climate Policy

By Hannah Chanatry — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

New Democratic majorities in the Senate and House of Delegates aren’t nearly big enough to override vetoes by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, described by one Democrat as “mostly hostile to climate policy.” But Democrats will control the regulation of utilities.

By Hannah Chanatry

With all 140 legislative seats in the state up for election, Virginia Democrats retained their majority in the state Senate and flipped the House of Delegates in Tuesday’s elections, fending off an almost-certain attempt by Republicans to roll back the state’s ambitious climate act.

In the Florida Everglades, a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hotspot

By Amy Green — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Drainage has exposed the fertile soils of the Everglades Agricultural Area, a region responsible for much of the nation’s sugar cane.

By Amy Green

ORLANDO, Fla.—It used to be the water spilled over Lake Okeechobee’s southern shore, flowing eventually into the sawgrass prairies of the Florida Everglades. For thousands of years the marsh vegetation flourished and died here in an endless cycle, the plant remains falling beneath the slow-coursing water to form a rich layer of organic soil called peat.

Toxic Pesticides Are Sprayed Next to Thousands of US Schools

By Liza Gross — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 08:45:00 +0000

As many as 2 million children attend elementary schools near farms where pesticides are likely applied, as federal legislators aim to gut state and local health protections.

By Liza Gross

Young children go to schools within just 200 feet of farms where pesticides are likely to be sprayed, a new analysis of farms across the country has found. Although most states have laws restricting how and when pesticides can be applied near schools, pesticide companies and their allies in Congress are trying to preempt such laws, the report warned.

Oil and Gas Companies Spill Millions of Gallons of Wastewater in Texas

By Martha Pskowski, and Peter Aldhous — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

An exclusive Inside Climate News analysis found companies have spilled nearly 150 million gallons of toxic, highly saline wastewater in Texas over the last decade.

By Martha Pskowski, and Peter Aldhous

State of Denial: Fourth in a series about how Texas’ environmental regulators enable Big Oil and other polluters.