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Archives: Environment

Top Ten Renewable Energy surprises in New IEA Report

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - A new International Energy Agency report contains some startling findings about solar energy dominance and its future. !. Renewables comprised 66% of all…

Industrial Mercury (including Coal) & the Communities it has Poisoned

By Joshua Sokol | (Mosaic) | - - From 1932 to 1968, hundreds of tonnes of mercury seeped into the clear waters of Minamata Bay, Japan, causing health and environmental problems still…

Disrupting Climate Change

By Jules Kortenhorst | (Project Syndicate) | - - Despite a surge of apocalyptic weather and fears of runaway climate change, there is still time to stem global warming and save the…

The Gasoline Car will be History before you Know it

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The world transportation sector is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, heat trapping gas that warmed up the Caribbean and contributed to…

Trump’s Billionaire Cronies feed at Public Trough as he disses Puerto Rico

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Trump's petulant tweet storm on Saturday accused Puerto Ricans of wanting everything done for them. He expressed these sentiments as his secretary of…

EV Game-Changer: China dumping Gasoline Cars even Sooner

By Zoran Radosavljevic | EURACTIV.com China announced on Thursday (28 September) it would start phasing out fossil fuel cars and set a 10% minimum quota of “new energy vehicles” in 2019, in…

After Hurricane, Trump Reminds Puerto Rico of ‘Massive Debt’

TeleSur | - - “Maria has left behind her a trail of devastation and a humanitarian crisis,” said the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico's largest city. As Puerto Rico struggles to…

If Trump were really President, he’d Forgive Puerto Rico’s Debts and Rescue it

By Juan Cole | (informed Comment) | - - I'm not sure what Donald Trump thinks the job of president consists of. One task is to swing into action when 3.4 million…

How Colonialism, Inequality turbocharge Caribbean Hurricanes

By Levi Gahman and Gabrielle Thongs | (The Conversation) | - - Hurricane Maria, the 15th tropical depression this season, is now battering the Caribbean, just two weeks after Hurricane Irma wreaked…

Tweeting while the Planet Burns: Dystopia 2025

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - It’s January 2025, and within days of entering the Oval Office, a new president already faces his first full-scale crisis abroad. Twenty-four…

Much of U.S.’s Puerto Rico “Destroyed” by 138 mi/hr Storm, Pleads with Trump for Aid

By TeleSUR | - - Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to declare the island a “disaster” area. Hurricane Maria tore across Puerto Rico as the strongest…

Those 90 Companies that Caused Climate Crisis? They Should Pay for It

By Sarah van Gelder | Yes! Magazine | - - The companies responsible for the climate crisis should cover the costs of fighting wildfires and recovering from hurricanes. Pacific Northwest forests are…

A Sustainable future depends on Women’s Equality

H. Patricia Hynes | ( Truthdig ) | - - I am looking at the faces of 10-year-old girls from across the world—faces brimming with expectancy. The U.N. report, “The State of…

China to buy $300 mn. in Lab-Grown Meat from Israel

TeleSur | - - China currently imports approximately £10 billion worth of meat annually to help feed its 1.4 billion people. China has signed a multimillion-dollar deal to purchase lab-grown meat from…

The Pentagon’s Next War: Extreme Hurricanes & other Climate attacks on US Borders

By Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Deployed to the Houston area to assist in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, U.S. military forces hadn’t even completed their assignments when they…

How solar power can protect US military from threats to the grid

By Joshua M. Pearce | The Conversation | - - As the U.S. military increases its use of drones in surveillance and combat overseas, the danger posed by a threat back at…

AT&T and Verizon Need to Hang Up On Fossil Fuels

By Todd Larsen | Otherwords.org | - - One text at a time, America's largest telecommunications companies are fueling climate change. Smartphones are a huge part of our lives. We use them…

Antarctica Ice Melt will trigger Abrupt Global Heating

By Chris Turney, Jonathan Palmer, Peter Kershaw, Steven Phipps, and Zoë Thomas | (The Conversation) | - - Melting of Antarctica’s ice can trigger rapid warming on the other side of the…

Our CO2 intensified Harvey & Irma; Worse is yet to Come

By Andrew King | (The Conversation) | - - There has been no let up since Hurricane Harvey dumped record-breaking rains on the Houston area of Texas. Hurricane Irma lashed parts of…

On 9/11: How we slighted the real Threat, Climate Change, and Hyped Terrorism

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The US is commemorating the victims of September 11 today at the same time it is mourning the serial devastation that struck Texas…