Latest News
Dutch citizens are suing their government for failing to cut carbon. -
Almost 900 people are involved in the class action lawsuit, which argues that not acting on climate change violates fundamental human rights. The plaintiffs hope to force the Netherlands to cut emissions to 40 percent of 1990 levels. BBC
Who doesn’t want to be laid to rest in alfalfa?
—Urban Death Project founder Katrina Spade on her use of composting as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional burial
West Virginia injects climate doubt into its science curriculum (again). -
The new standards tone down language that refers to manmade climate change as fact (which fyi, it is). The state's Board of Education withdrew a set of more dramatically false revisions in January after teachers protested. New York Times
West Nile virus is thriving in drought-ridden California. -
Last year saw the highest number of West Nile cases ever recorded in the state. The reasons for the rise may be that warmer weather is lengthening bug-bite season, and the mosquitoes and birds that carry the virus are moving into more populated places in search of water. Mother Jones
New safety standards for offshore drilling are on the way. -
Five years after the Gulf oil disaster, the Department of the Interior is setting stricter rules for blowout preventers—the type of safety valve that failed on the Deepwater Horizon rig. But are they strict enough? With the administration recently proposing to open the Atlantic Coast to drilling, they'd better be. New York Times
The United States and Europe are working to cut airplane pollution. -
So far, standards for aircraft emissions have been slow to take off, but the aviation industry hopes the regional momentum will lead to an international plan to reduce carbon in the friendly skies. National Geographic