Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The sobering news comes from the Rhodium Group, a research firm that tracks CO2 emissions. The preliminary estimate is the third in two months to show an increase in 2018, attributing it to an improved economy and Trump's regulation rollbacks.
The Washington Post
Several states, and even the federal government, are considering adopting carbon pricing plans.
InsideClimate News
The report from the Global Carbon Project, an international group of scientists who track greenhouse gas emissions, comes as a surprise as emissions had been relatively flat for the last four years. Global emissions this year will increase 2.7%.
The New York Times
It's well known that an electric vehicle is only as clean, from a greenhouse gas perspective, as the electricity it consumes to power it. A new study finds that the electricity used in the manufacturing of car batteries also must be considered.
Bloomberg News
President Trump and his cabinet have been busy rolling back environmental regulations and promoting coal burning, and now they claim credit for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions last year even greater than in 2016.
NPR
A new report from the International Energy Association projects that petrochemicals will be the largest driver of oil consumption, greatly increasing greenhouse gas emissions and offsetting the effect of electric vehicles on oil demand.
Reuters
There's good and bad news from an annual assessment on the Golden State's economy and environment. Gross domestic product per capita increases as emissions per capita decrease, with the major exception of emissions from transportation.
Bloomberg
Two market-based programs add about a quarter to every gallon of fuel purchased in the Golden State, but don't expect to see the prices listed anywhere. Furthermore, costs to comply with the Low Carbon Fuel Standard are expected to increase.
San Francisco Chronicle
Sources leaked news of the Trump Administration's plans to dismantle the Obama-era environmental policies. The Trump Administration also aims to dismantle the Golden State's ability to regulate air pollution from vehicles.
Bloomberg
It is possible to achieve state-mandated global warming reduction goals after all. The nation's first such goal, signed into law by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, called for reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
San Francisco Chronicle
Despite ever-stricter air-quality regulations and dropping emissions, the American Lung Association once again finds the state to have some of the worst air in the nation.
USA Today
Blog post
According to to a recent study, methane gas produces a much larger greenhouse effect than previously thought. Planners can act to limit the environmental impact of methane.
By the usual measures, wealthy "consumer cities" have largely put a check on their carbon emissions. But that doesn't account for the emissions that their consumption habits fuel in other places.
National Geographic
The inventory, a requirement from a 1992 U.N. treaty, shows emissions from most sectors are either decreasing or holding steady. The major exception: transportation.
Climatewire
One legislator believes CEQA "is a key barrier to California meeting its ambitious climate change goals.”
Los Angeles Times
The city of Pasadena has released its draft Climate Action Plan, but how will the city achieve an 83 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if the plan sets no mandates?
Pasadena Star-News
In just his first year, the high-profile and controversial cabinet member “has begun to dismantle former president Barack Obama’s environmental legacy.”
The Washington Post
While forests sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, wildfires release enormous amounts of greenhouse gases as they increase in frequency and intensity from climate change.
San Francisco Chronicle
A coalition of government bodies from eight states around the country has sued the Trump Administration, claiming that the U.S. DOT unlawfully suspended an emissions accounting rule.
NRDC Blog
For almost two years, MUNI's diesel-powered buses in San Francisco have run entirely on renewable diesel fuel. Diesel-powered Amtrak trains running from San Jose to Sacramento could be next.
San Francisco Chronicle
