A UN report says making cities more population-dense can help cut carbon emissions

May 2, 2022
Cities were responsible for over half of the world's carbon emissions in recent years. They could turn that around in the decades to come.
An aerial view of a "green" roof in Caracas, Venezuela. Green roofs are roofs that incorporate vegetation.
Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

How do you calculate a company's carbon footprint? The SEC is figuring that out.

Jan 19, 2022
Emissions by a company's suppliers and customers could count towards the total.
The SEC may soon require companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions. Whether they'll also include emissions from suppliers — usually a larger proportion of emissions — is unclear.
Nilmar Lage/AFP via Getty Images

Virtual conferences significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions

Dec 27, 2021
A new study in the journal Nature Communications says going virtual can reduce an event's carbon footprint by 94%.
By hosting a conference online instead of in person, organizers can curb emissions by more than 90%.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Apparent death of Build Back Better has climate scientists searching for a solution

Dec 20, 2021
"We don't really have a plan without the Build Back Better Act to stop the warming," a UC Santa Barbara professor says.
The Build Back Better bill includes more than $550 billion in environmental initiatives, like tax credits for companies and consumers that install solar panels.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

If a carbon tax helps lower emissions, why doesn't the U.S. have one?

Oct 29, 2021
The tax has been a contentious topic among Washington lawmakers, but the U.S. is behind industrialized nations in not having one in place.
A carbon tax would provide information on how much consumers and companies are willing to pay to pollute. Above, a coal-fired plant releasing carbon emissions in Maidsville, West Virginia, in 2018.
Spencer Platt via Getty Images

Report calls plastics the "new coal"

Oct 22, 2021
Plastics could be a bigger source of greenhouse gases in the U.S. than the coal industry by 2030, if current production trends keep up.
These plastic pellets are used to make shoes in France. A new report by Beyond Plastics explains the ubiquitous material's environmental impact.
Sebastien Salom-Gomis/AFP via Getty Images

As foundations pledge to get endowments to net zero, monitoring emissions is a challenge

Oct 22, 2021
Companies aren't required to share data on their greenhouse gas emissions, which makes it hard for investors to evaluate their own progress toward net-zero portfolios.
Foundations first have to determine what "net zero" means before it can start figuring out how much a company is emitting.
Lukas Schulze/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Thirty countries agree to methane emissions cuts to protect the climate

Oct 13, 2021
Pound for pound, it's 28 times better at trapping atmospheric heat than CO2.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (L) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) participate in a news conference about the Senate vote on methane regulation outside of the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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Bike-share programs aren't profitable but chip away at emissions

Oct 6, 2021
A new study says New York City's bike-share program saved nearly 500 tons of emissions over four years.
Bike sharing is cheaper to subsidize for the government than public transit or car infrastructure, experts say. Above, a bicyclist wipes down a Citi Bike before riding in April 2020 in New York City.
Jamie McCarthy via Getty Images

To control methane emissions, the EPA seeks better ways to measure them

Aug 23, 2021
Environmental groups argue that the oil-and-gas industry emits nearly twice as much of the greenhouse gas as the agency reports.
The EPA is hosting a workshop on methane-detection technology after experts said emissions have been underestimated.
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