The Atlantic hurricane season is underway as many coastal areas still recover from an endless barrage of storms last year that culminated in the most active hurricane season on record. With climate change, we can expect to see more intense hurricanes, leaving many communities at risk.  In fact, a new report indicates that as many as 32 million U.S. homes and $8.5 […]

The post Hurricane season is here. We need a national plan to protect our coastal communities. first appeared on Growing Returns.

Thanks for listening to the latest episode of Delta Dispatches! Today Jacques and Simone are joined by Harry Vorhoff, of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, and Rep. Joseph Orgeron to discuss the state’s first Wind Week, a series of public webinars on expanding wind energy in the Gulf. You can watch all Wind Week sessions online at: https://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/124.   Listen Now:

The post Delta Dispatches: Exploring Louisiana’s First Wind Week appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Thanks for listening to the latest episode of Delta Dispatches! Today Jacques and Simone are joined by Harry Vorhoff, of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, and Rep. Joseph Orgeron to discuss the state’s first Wind Week, a series of public webinars on expanding wind energy in the Gulf. You can watch all Wind Week sessions online at: https://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/124.   Listen Now:

The post Delta Dispatches: Exploring Louisiana’s First Wind Week appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Learn how you can start using commercial electric vehicles to fulfill your last mile deliveries today.

This blog was co-authored by Taylor Bacon, Analyst with the U.S. Clean Air team at EDF. Editor’s note: This post was last updated Sept 27, 2021. As Pennsylvania moves forward with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), questions are being raised about how this will impact Pennsylvania’s neighbors: West Virginia and Ohio. Will coal plant […]

This blog was co-authored by Taylor Bacon, High Meadows Fellow with the U.S. Clean Air team at EDF. As Pennsylvania moves forward with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), questions are being raised about how this will impact Pennsylvania’s neighbors: West Virginia and Ohio. Will coal plant jobs be lost to these states? And will […]

Tom Neltner, J.D., is Chemicals Policy Director Two recent articles add to the already strong evidence that adult exposure to relatively low levels of lead is associated with heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, after COVID-19. These studies reinforce the urgent need to reduce not only children’s exposure to lead but […]

The post Heart disease and adult lead exposure – the evidence grows more compelling first appeared on EDF Health.

Tom Neltner, J.D., is Chemicals Policy Director Two recent articles add to the already strong evidence that adult exposure to relatively low levels of lead is associated with heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, after COVID-19. These studies reinforce the urgent need to reduce not only children’s exposure to lead but […]

Reps. Judy Chu and Jimmy Panetta introduced legislation this week which would help empower communities to withstand and adapt to climate change. The bill would also advance important environmental justice goals.

There's an often overlooked, invisible source of climate pollution lurking in the supply chain: methane.

The post To meet sustainability goals, food companies need to slash methane first appeared on Growing Returns.

There's an often overlooked, invisible source of climate pollution lurking in the supply chain: methane.

The post To meet sustainability goals, food companies need to slash methane first appeared on Growing Returns.

By Nina Pardo and Hector Soldi On June 4, a small but mighty fleet of artisanal sailboats from the fishing communities of Cabo Blanco and El Ñuro in northern Peru unfolded their sails and went out to sea — sailing alongside the Peruvian Navy’s sailing vessel La Unión. This annual regatta is a salute to […]

Extreme weather reminds us we must (and can) tackle the climate crisis

The San Francisco sky outside my colleague’s window last summer was burning red with wildfires. It was like a hellscape, and I was frightened for her and for our planet.

Summer began this month, time to shed our pandemic-induced stress at beaches and other vacation spots, but a new season of extreme weather made worse by climate change also began — as shown by the record temperatures being set right now in the Pacific Northwest. That means hurricanes in the South and the East, drought and wildfires in the West and Southwest.

Clearly, we need to take immediate action to slow the warming and the effects it has on weather systems — action that prioritizes bold, ambitious and swift measures to tackle the climate crisis while addressing longstanding environmental injustices.

Reasons to be hopeful again

This is a cautionary tale about the extreme weather that has already begun, but also an homage to the hope I feel in my bones.

Why am I hopeful?

The political winds around climate policy are shifting. The Biden administration has brought the U.S. back into the Paris climate agreement, pledged to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and appointed a superstar team of seasoned experts to focus on climate change. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan attempted to confront climate change head-on.

Also, two climate activists were recently elected to ExxonMobil’s board of directors, and CEOs from over 300 businesses called on the Biden administration for bold emission reductions — all positive signs.

Sign the “Go Bold, America!” climate action petition How extreme weather gets personal

Weather is part of the fabric of our lives, and extreme weather poses particular challenges.

The first thing I do every morning is check the weather. Do I need to dress my kids in short or long sleeves, water the garden or take an umbrella outside? At the same time, the weather has become a deeply unsettling part of life.

When the heat rises, I worry more. My daughter Teagan has special needs. When it gets hot, she has more seizures. She’s in a wheelchair so she can’t run and jump in a pool to cool off like other kids.

Teagan is not alone. When temperatures soar and storms become severe, people with asthma have more flare-ups, studies show. People of color suffer the most. Children in neighborhoods with higher percentages of people of color face double the rate, on average, of pollution-related asthma compared to predominantly white neighborhoods, according to an EDF analysis.

I live in Maryland, so I don’t worry about a hurricane destroying my home. But my parents live in Florida, so I worry about them. Things are not looking good: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a 60 percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season — what could be the sixth in a row.

More severe storms, droughts and wildfires

If you live in Miami, New Orleans, Houston or other coastal areas, you know that winds and storm surges are getting worse. A shocking 32 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with a combined value of $8.5 trillion, are at risk of sustaining damage from high winds this year.

The West could use some of that water. The Lake Mead reservoir, which supplies water to 25 million people in the Southwest, is at its lowest level since the 1930s. Ranchers in North Dakota have to truck in water to keep their livestock alive, and farmers along the Rio Grande in New Mexico were urged not to plant crops.

Further west, as Joni Mitchell would sing, “Oh, but California.” Last summer, there were nearly 10,000 wildfires there. Fires burned over 4 million acres and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. California’s still in trouble: reservoirs are only half as full as they should be.

The drought and high temperatures are ominous signs that my colleague’s sky will be burning red again this year.

Turn hope and worry into action

Just as most of us endured the pandemic, we will learn to live with extreme weather, and we can do so while fighting to lessen the worst impacts. Here are three things you can do at home:

• Plant shade trees in your yard if you have one.
• Keep your blinds or shades drawn to save energy if you have AC.
• Consider installing solar panels — and benefit from tax advantages.

You can also join EDF in advocating to slow the warming and increase resilience around the world:

• Restore U.S. climate leadership on the world stage.
• Prioritize climate solutions for America’s farmers and ranchers.
• Call on our leaders to jumpstart electric vehicle production and modernize our energy grid.

After taking these actions, let’s go enjoy the summer while we can!

jkornegay June 29, 2021 - 12:10

Extreme weather reminds us we must (and can) tackle the climate crisis

The San Francisco sky outside my colleague’s window last summer was burning red with wildfires. It was like a hellscape, and I was frightened for her and for our planet.

Summer began this month, time to shed our pandemic-induced stress at beaches and other vacation spots, but a new season of extreme weather made worse by climate change also began — as shown by the record temperatures being set right now in the Pacific Northwest. That means hurricanes in the South and the East, drought and wildfires in the West and Southwest.

Clearly, we need to take immediate action to slow the warming and the effects it has on weather systems — action that prioritizes bold, ambitious and swift measures to tackle the climate crisis while addressing longstanding environmental injustices.

Reasons to be hopeful again

This is a cautionary tale about the extreme weather that has already begun, but also an homage to the hope I feel in my bones.

Why am I hopeful?

The political winds around climate policy are shifting. The Biden administration has brought the U.S. back into the Paris climate agreement, pledged to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and appointed a superstar team of seasoned experts to focus on climate change. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan attempted to confront climate change head-on.

Also, two climate activists were recently elected to ExxonMobil’s board of directors, and CEOs from over 300 businesses called on the Biden administration for bold emission reductions — all positive signs.

Sign the “Go Bold, America!” climate action petition How extreme weather gets personal

Weather is part of the fabric of our lives, and extreme weather poses particular challenges.

The first thing I do every morning is check the weather. Do I need to dress my kids in short or long sleeves, water the garden or take an umbrella outside? At the same time, the weather has become a deeply unsettling part of life.

When the heat rises, I worry more. My daughter Teagan has special needs. When it gets hot, she has more seizures. She’s in a wheelchair so she can’t run and jump in a pool to cool off like other kids.

Teagan is not alone. When temperatures soar and storms become severe, people with asthma have more flare-ups, studies show. People of color suffer the most. Children in neighborhoods with higher percentages of people of color face double the rate, on average, of pollution-related asthma compared to predominantly white neighborhoods, according to an EDF analysis.

I live in Maryland, so I don’t worry about a hurricane destroying my home. But my parents live in Florida, so I worry about them. Things are not looking good: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a 60 percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season — what could be the sixth in a row.

More severe storms, droughts and wildfires

If you live in Miami, New Orleans, Houston or other coastal areas, you know that winds and storm surges are getting worse. A shocking 32 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with a combined value of $8.5 trillion, are at risk of sustaining damage from high winds this year.

The West could use some of that water. The Lake Mead reservoir, which supplies water to 25 million people in the Southwest, is at its lowest level since the 1930s. Ranchers in North Dakota have to truck in water to keep their livestock alive, and farmers along the Rio Grande in New Mexico were urged not to plant crops.

Further west, as Joni Mitchell would sing, “Oh, but California.” Last summer, there were nearly 10,000 wildfires there. Fires burned over 4 million acres and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. California’s still in trouble: reservoirs are only half as full as they should be.

The drought and high temperatures are ominous signs that my colleague’s sky will be burning red again this year.

Turn hope and worry into action

Just as most of us endured the pandemic, we will learn to live with extreme weather, and we can do so while fighting to lessen the worst impacts. Here are three things you can do at home:

• Plant shade trees in your yard if you have one.
• Keep your blinds or shades drawn to save energy if you have AC.
• Consider installing solar panels — and benefit from tax advantages.

You can also join EDF in advocating to slow the warming and increase resilience around the world:

• Restore U.S. climate leadership on the world stage.
• Prioritize climate solutions for America’s farmers and ranchers.
• Call on our leaders to jumpstart electric vehicle production and modernize our energy grid.

After taking these actions, let’s go enjoy the summer while we can!

jkornegay June 29, 2021 - 12:10