At least 10 victorious candidates for governor campaigned on moving their states away from burning fossil fuels and toward relying on renewable forms of energy for electricity. More info: https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/11/7/18071770/midterm-election-results-governor-climate-change
Washington State Ballot Initiative
This upcoming midterm election Washington state is voting on a ballot initiative which would charge a fee on carbon. This fee would begin at $15 dollars per ton starting in 2020 and would rise $2 per year until 2035. Washington is the 5th largest refining state in the country and opposition is strong from oil companies. The opposition campaign is led by BP, Phillips 66, and Andeavor raising a total of over $20 million. The current proposal doesn’t detail how the money raised from the fee on carbon would be spent. For more on this story: https://www.axios.com/washington-state-progressive-climate-policy-8b860a93-5995-4cdd-823e-8e3d9211c12d.html
Oregon Court Case
Lawyers for the government are calling on the Supreme Court once again to stop a youth-led lawsuit that claims the federal government is ignoring the impact of climate change, according to Reuters. The Supreme Court already rejected the first application by the federal government to put the brakes on the suit back in July. The trial in the case is scheduled to begin on Oct. 29 in Oregon.
How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born?
The New York Times can tell you: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/30/climate/how-much-hotter-is-your-hometown.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_clim_20180831&nl=climate-fwd&nlid=66704053it_clim_20180831&ref=img&te=1
Alaskans are facing big bills due to rising temperatures and need a way to pay those bills. In a few weeks, a carbon tax proposal is expected to land on the desk of Alaska Governor Bill Walker--and it looks like it might become reality.
The government's proposed weakening of vehicle mileage standards would result in an additional 321 to 921 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 17 years - and we'd have higher gasoline bills.
A new University of Michigan poll found 73 percent of Americans think there is “solid evidence of global warming,” more than any time in the past decade of recorded surveys. A record 60 percent say global warming is happening and that humans are “at least partially responsible for rising temperatures.” Broken down by party lines, even half of Republican respondents say there is solid evidence of global warming, while 90 percent of Democratic respondents believe the same, per the survey.
After recently meeting with oil and energy execs, Pope Francis will host a climate conference on July 5th and 6th with environmental leaders and activists. For more, click here.
Hawaii has just enacted three laws to combat climate change. One commits the state to be carbon-neutral by 2045. Read more here.
The hurricanes of the future will be more like Hurricane Harvey—very slow and very rainy—according to a new study by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. When hurricanes move slowly, they dump more rain and thus cause more damage. The hurricane season begins June 1.