New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas also face scorching temperatures as heat dome settles over US south-west
A record-breaking heat wave is entering its third week in Texas, as temperatures reach triple digits in the broader US south and tens of thousands of people in affected states are without power and lack air conditioning.
More than 40 million people in the US are under a heat alert.
Continue reading...Countries in debt distress thrown financial lifeline but critics say measures fall short of what is needed
Poorer countries struggling with a growing debt crisis were thrown a lifeline at a global finance summit in Paris but the plans still fell short of the debt forgiveness programme that some had hoped for.
Progress was made on reforms that would help address the climate emergency, as nearly 40 world leaders and the heads of global institutions met in Paris for the summit, which ended on Friday.
Continue reading...Church pension and endowment funds shed holdings after U-turns by BP and Shell
The Church of England is divesting from fossil fuels in its multibillion pound endowment and pension funds over climate concerns and recent U-turns by oil and gas companies.
The church said it was abandoning oil and gas companies and all firms primarily engaged in the exploration, production and refining of oil or gas by the end of 2023, unless they were in genuine alignment with a 1.5C reduction pathway.
Continue reading...The budget committee hearing looked into alleged misinformation from big oil that covered up ‘massive’ risks of the climate crisis
The Senate budget committee held a hearing on Wednesday morning to scrutinize the role of oil- and gas-linked “dark money” in delaying climate action – and tearing through local and federal budgets.
The hearing was led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has held 10 climate crisis-focused hearings since he took the helm of the budget committee this past February.
Continue reading...Even low doses of airborne benzene raise the risk of a variety of cancers, including lymphomas and leukemia
Using a gas stove can raise indoor concentrations of benzene, a cancer-linked chemical, to above what’s found in secondhand smoking or even beyond levels found next to oil and gas facilities, a new study has found.
The research, which measured benzene levels in 87 homes in California and Colorado, found that gas and propane stoves frequently emitted benzene at rates well above healthy benchmarks set by the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Continue reading...Speech in Scotland shows willingness to face energy dilemma head-on, but green groups say fossil fuel end date must come soon
Scotland was a brave choice as the venue for the launch of Keir Starmer’s new energy and climate policy. Back in March, Rishi Sunak was planning to hold his “energy day” in Aberdeen, the UK’s oil and gas capital, but after criticism he switched to the much safer Oxfordshire.
Starmer knows that Labour needs to win back lost seats in Scotland, so visiting the Scottish capital for an important speech was a canny move. More than that, though, taking the launch to Edinburgh showed a willingness to face head-on Labour’s energy dilemma: how to shift the UK economy to a low-carbon footing, as net zero demands, without destroying high-quality jobs in carbon-intensive industries.
Continue reading...Grattan Institute analysis recommends governments help households transition to electric, and ban new gas connections for homes and businesses
Getting households off gas for heating and cooking would cut energy bills and improve people’s health, and is necessary for Australia to have any hope of reaching net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050, a new analysis says.
The report by the Grattan Institute, a Melbourne-based thinktank, called on state and territory governments to set dates for the end of gas use and launch campaigns to encourage and help households become “all electric”, running on renewable energy.
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Continue reading...Three activists use glitter cannons and air horns during performance of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites
Just Stop Oil protesters have interrupted a performance during the Glyndebourne opera festival in East Sussex by letting off glitter cannons and blowing air horns.
The disruption took place during a performance on Thursday of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites at the festival near Lewes.
Continue reading...Company gives up 10 of its 11 leases in the area amid concern about potential impacts of fracking
Australia’s largest energy company has surrendered 10 controversial gas tenements in Queensland’s channel country, as the state government embarks on long-delayed consultation over environmental protections for the sensitive Lake Eyre-Kati Thanda basin.
Origin Energy and the Queensland resources department confirmed the “total surrender” of 10 of the 11 production leases held by the company in the area, amid concerns about the impact of potential fracking plans on its unique waterways and floodplains.
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Continue reading...Early data shows June temperatures hitting record highs ahead of El Niño that experts say will have significant heating effect
Global temperatures have accelerated to record-setting levels this month, an ominous sign in the climate crisis ahead of a gathering El Niño that could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded.
Preliminary global average temperatures taken so far in June are nearly 1C (1.8F) above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979. While the month is not yet complete and may not set a new June record, climate scientists say it follows a pattern of strengthening global heating that could see this year named the hottest ever recorded, topping 2016.
Continue reading...Environmental groups criticise revision of law that would have banned installation of gas and oil systems
The German government has staved off a power battle that threatened to cause the ruling coalition to implode after finally agreeing an 11th-hour amendment to a controversial new heating law.
Negotiations over the legislation have dominated the headlines for weeks, with the economy minister, Robert Habeck, of the Greens clashing with the pro-liberal Free Democratic party (FDP) over how much consumers should be burdened with the costs of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with cleaner, climate-neutral energy.
Continue reading...As Russian oil and gas imports fell petrostates including UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia increased exports to UK
UK fossil fuel imports from authoritarian petrostates surged to £19.3bn in the year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it can be revealed.
Efforts to end the purchasing of oil and gas from Russia appear to have resulted in a surge in imports from other authoritarian regimes, including Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to data from the Office for National Statistics analysed by DeSmog.
Continue reading...Supporters of clean energy say they expect further battles ahead to prevent state’s progress in solar and wind from being unwound
In the scramble before the end of Texas’s legislative session last week, a must-pass bill was amended to impose new costs upon renewable energy. This came amid a barrage of anti-solar and wind power measures pushed forward by Republicans to reshape a state that has become the US’s powerhouse of clean energy.
But the conservative lawmakers had help.
Continue reading...Majid Al Suwaidi says governments not in agreement yet over whether issue should be on agenda
UN climate talks this year might skirt the vital question of whether and how to phase out fossil fuels, as nations have not yet agreed to discuss the issue, one of the top officials hosting the talks has said.
Majid Al Suwaidi, director-general of the Cop28 climate talks for its host nation, the United Arab Emirates, said governments were not in agreement over whether the phaseout of fossil fuels should be on the agenda for the conference, which begins in November.
Continue reading...Exclusive: UN conference president Sultan Al Jaber is also head of oil firm, which was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiry
The United Arab Emirates’ state oil company has been able to read emails to and from the Cop28 climate summit office and was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiry, the Guardian can reveal.
The UAE is hosting the UN climate summit in November and the president of Cop28 is Sultan Al Jaber, who is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). The revelations have been called “explosive” and a “scandal” by lawmakers.
Continue reading...Pollution from gas flaring – the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction – is also a major concern in the oil-rich but extremely dry south
Western oil companies are exacerbating water shortages and causing pollution in Iraq as they race to profit from rising oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Water scarcity has already displaced thousands and increased instability, according to international experts, while Iraq is now considered the fifth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis by the UN. In the oil-rich but extremely dry south, wetlands that used to feed entire communities are now muddy canals.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Report claims Australia’s shareholdings in development banks has made it responsible for investing $828m in fossil fuel projects over five years
Australia’s shareholdings in three international banks – including the World Bank – has seen it responsible for investing $828m in fossil fuel projects between 2016 and 2021, according to a research report.
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have collectively pumped $32.85bn into fossil fuel projects – almost entirely linked to oil and gas production or power generation – over the same period, the report says.
Continue reading...Big four have pledged to align business practices with Paris agreement but loophole allows them to fund sector, activist group says
Australia’s big banks have loaned more than $13bn for fossil fuel projects over the past two years even as they publicly advocate for emissions reductions, a new report suggests.
Analysis by environmental activist group Market Forces has found that while Australia’s major banks largely avoid providing direct project finance to new coal, oil and gas projects, they do fund corporate entities that develop them.
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Continue reading...Monday’s election is going to be a political nail-biter but neither candidate has discussed a post oil and gas world
Record-breaking wildfires have charred more than a million hectares of land in Alberta, pushing tens of thousands from their homes and choking the skies in a thick haze of smoke.
But on the zigzagging campaign trail of the province’s general election, neither party leader has confronted the realities of climate change and how it will likely dramatically reshape life in the Canadian prairies.
Continue reading...Exclusive: New documents also reveal federal government admitted Australia did not have policies to ensure project would meet key recommendation in full
New documents reveal the Northern Territory government knew it could not meet a key recommendation to reduce the climate risk of its planned massive expansion of gas production, and asked the Albanese government for help.
Federal climate change officials in turn admitted Australia did not have any existing policies that would meet the recommendation in full.
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