Mayor Roberts says she’s leading on climate change. GOP opponent says she is – grandstanding.’

After President Donald Trump said he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord Thursday, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and her Democratic opponents in September's primary said they opposed the decision and backed the city's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. City Council member Kenny Smith, the Republican mayoral candidate, said he too has "consistently supported" the city's efforts and goals to become more environmentally-friendly.

Exxon and Tillerson Accused of Frauding Investors Over Climate Risks

Former ExxonMobil chair and CEO Rex Tillerson, who now serves as President Donald Trump's secretary of state, reportedly "approved of the inconsistency." ExxonMobil is being accused of using "sham" accounting to "mislead" investors about the likely financial risks posed by climate change, which New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said was evidence of potentially "wide-ranging fraud" executed under the direction of former CEO and current U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson .

Renewable energy expected to continue growth, despite Trump

" President Donald Trump may abandon U.S. pledges to reduce carbon emissions, but global economic realities ensure he is unlikely to reverse the accelerating push to adopt cleaner forms of energy. Around the world, coal-fired power plants are being shuttered as governments and private companies invest billions in wind turbines and solar farms.

$9 million available for biomass development

Up to $9 million in funding will be made available through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative to increase the nation's energy independence by supporting the development of bioenergy feedstocks, biofuels, and biobased products. The projects funded through BRDI - a joint USDA and Department of Energy program - will help develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass, increase the availability of renewable fuels and biobased products, and diversify the nation's energy portfolio.

Westporter Off to Become U.S. Senate Page

Ethan Parker, 16, of Westport is off to Washington, D.C. this summer to work as a U.S. Senate page under the sponsorship of New York Sen. Charles Schumer, the Senate minority leader. The Greens Farms Academy honor roll sophomore is one of 30 students from across the country who will serve the 100 senators.

Coal impacts could push 122 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.

That's according to a report from the global anti-poverty organization Oxfam, which specifically calls for Australia to stop propping up the coal industry - especially the $300 million in subsidies it's offered up for a proposed mine in Queensland. "Against the backdrop of an imperiled Great Barrier Reef and extreme weather disasters, Australia's carbon pollution is continuing to climb - the tragic consequence of more than a decade of climate policy paralysis and short-term political opportunism," Helen Szoke , CEO of Oxfam Australia, says.

.com | No ‘clean slate’ between the US and Russia – Tillerson

Relations between the United States and Russia, at their lowest level since the Cold War, will not restart "with a clean slate", Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday. The former ExxonMobil CEO, who was decorated in 2013 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, had said previously that the relationship between the two nuclear powers had hit its lowest point since the Soviet collapse in 1991.

Town hall meeting rallies support to move nuclear wasteMay 12, 2017

The self-organized Citizens Oversight group rallied residents' support to move San Onofre spent nuclear fuel off site as soon as possible. Information on the dangers of the nuclear waste and delays in moving it were shared at a town hall meeting May 4. A civil lawsuit by Citizens Oversight challenged state Coastal Commission approval of a permit to move the nuclear waste from its on-site cooling pools into in-ground storage containers.

The Latest: Tillerson arrives in Alaska for Arctic meeting

The secretary of state is in Fairbanks for a meeting with the world's eight Arctic nations amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development. Rex Tillerson landed on Wednesday afternoon and immediately held a meeting with a congressional delegation as well as Arctic representatives from Alaska's indigenous people.

US mine blast: Ex-coal CEO Blankenship at end of prison term

Former coal executive Don Blankenship jumped back on Twitter on Wednesday, renewing his feud with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on the day Blankenship was to finish a one-year prison sentence arising from the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in decades. Even before the U.S. Bureau of Prisons listed Blankenship as leaving a halfway house in Arizona, the ex-Massey Energy CEO rattled off a series of tweets.

Obama: Private sector is key to tackling climate change

Former U.S. President Barack Obama says he's "confident that the United States will continue to move in the right direction" on climate change despite his successor's pledges to undo many of his policies. On his first foreign foray since leaving office, Obama told an audience Tuesday at a Milan conference on food innovation in Italy that businesses in the United States are already committed to clean energy, in part due to cost-savings, which would help counteract moves by Donald Trump 's administration.

White House climate change meeting postponed

The White House has postponed a Tuesday meeting to discuss whether the United States should withdraw from the landmark international climate deal struck in Paris under the Obama administration. The White House said late Monday that the meeting would be rescheduled.

No firm timeline for Keystone XL despite Trump’s blessing: TransCanada CEO

TransCanada is still not prepared to offer a firm timeline for the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline, its top executive said on Friday, even after U.S. President Donald Trump granted the project a permit in March. TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said that both the proposed Keystone XL and Energy East projects, which are fiercely opposed by many environmentalists, sit in the company's longer-term bucket because of the difficulty of getting them done.

Bernie Sanders rallies anti-Trump protesters with climate bill

Former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday will introduce a 100-percent clean energy bill to kick off major protests against President Trump's environmental agenda this weekend. The independent senator from Vermont, who ran as a Democrat, will be joined by climate change stalwart Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., at a public rally hosted by the organizers of the People's Climate March to announce the bill, according to an agenda.