Debbie Carlson Aug 25th 2016 11:00AM Photo Courtesy of BBC.Com Renewable energy has made significant inroads into the U.S. energy system and even in the era of low fossil fuel prices, costs for solar and wind installations are down dramatically. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the solar industry trade group, costs to install solar panels fell by more than 70…
Jeffrey Gutman (Cover Photo) and Nirav Patel Monday, August 15, 2016 While cities worldwide continue to see rising levels of economic growth and inequality, inclusivity has emerged as a key goal for global leaders looking to encourage more sustainable urban development. The United Nations has outlined strategies in support of this effort – namely through its Sustainable Development Goals – but the…
By Colin I. Bradford “The Earth in the coming decades could cease to be a ‘safe operating space’ for human beings,” concludes a paper by 18 researchers “trying to gauge the breaking points in the natural world,” published in Science in January 2015. That our planetary environment seems to be approaching “breaking points” is but one of several systemic threats looming on…
By Laura Parker PUBLISHED July 14, 2016 Underground water is being pumped so aggressively around the globe that land is sinking, civil wars are being waged, and agriculture is being transformed. Cover Photograph by Manish Swarup, AP--A shepherd drinks water on the dry bed of Manjara Dam, which supplies water to Latur and nearby villages in the Indian state of Maharashtra. India…
By William Sosinsky June 20th 2016 Steven Lee is on a mission. Unlike other 23 year olds who spend their time going out with friends or starting a new job, Steven is setting out to change the minds and attitudes of his countrymen about climate change. Starting in the summer of 2016 he will embark on a two year journey to convince…
By Graham Readfearn Wednesday 8 June 2016 Cover Photograph: Essential Media Policies and rhetoric around the Great Barrier Reef have rarely matched reality as the natural wonder suffers under the stress of pollution Coral bleaching at Loomis Reef, off Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. In late November 2015, as corals across the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef started to bleach…
By RACHEL NUWERJUNE 20, 2016 A picture of Berta Cáceres placed at an altar during a demonstration outside Honduras’ embassy in Mexico City on June 15. CreditEduardo Verdugo/Associated Press On March 3, two armed men entered the home of Berta Cáceres, an environmental activist in Honduras, and shot her dead. For years, Ms. Cáceres had vigorously opposed the proposed Agua Zarca Dam, to be built on…
New dietary guidelines could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1bn tonnes by 2030, and could lessen country’s problems with obesity and diabetes China now consumes 28% of the world’s meat, including half of its pork. Oliver Milman Monday 20 June 2016 Photograph: Wong Campion/Reuters The Chinese government has outlined a plan to reduce its citizens’ meat consumption by 50%, in a move…
Earth Guardians Tribe April 8th 2016 Yesterday, the Federal District Court in Oregon rejected the appeals by the oil and gas industry and decided in favor of the 21 youth climate leaders in their landmark constitutional climate change case brought against the federal government. This is unprecedented! The judge's decision validates the science behind climate change and the responsibility that our elected leaders have in…
Nika Knight, Common Dreams | March 17, 2016 9:43 am | Comments Another member of Berta Cáceres’ Indigenous rights group was brutally murdered by unidentified assailants on Tuesday, following a violent eviction of Indigenous people from their land. Nelson Garcia, a father of five and community leader, was shot four times in the face—”gunned down in his home,” the Nation reported. His assassination occurred less than two weeks after Cáceres’,…