All articles tagged with #climate regulation
The Environmental Protection Agency weakened pollution limits on coal-fired power plants, allowing higher mercury and other heavy-metal emissions as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to revive the coal industry, despite scientific evidence of health risks and climate concerns. The move, showcased at a Kentucky plant visit, underscores ongoing regulatory shifts affecting public health and fossil fuel policy.
A small group of Trump-era officials, led by Russell Vought and Jeffrey Clark, spent 16 years plotting to wipe out federal climate efforts. With Republicans nearing power, their strategy to dismantle climate rules—drafting executive orders to roll back EPA authority—seems close to realization, according to The New York Times' reporting based on documents and interviews.
Coral reefs have played a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate for over 250 million years by influencing ocean alkalinity and carbon absorption, with their rise and fall affecting climate recovery times and marine evolution; current reef decline due to human activity may impact this natural climate regulation, but recovery would take thousands to hundreds of thousands of years.
President Trump criticized European climate laws, particularly the EU's climate directive, which aims to regulate corporate environmental and human rights impacts, arguing it hampers energy and shipping industries. The EU plans to modify the directive, but faces internal divisions, while the US and Qatar warn that the law could threaten energy affordability and reliability in Europe. Trump’s stance reflects broader tensions over climate policies and energy independence.
The International Maritime Organization's recent meeting in London saw a majority of countries expressing support for the world's first global emissions levy, aiming to achieve net zero shipping emissions by 2050. This marks a significant step in the effort to regulate the shipping industry's carbon emissions, which account for about 3% of global emissions. The proposed levy, backed by countries from various income brackets, is seen as a crucial step towards incentivizing shipping decarbonization and ensuring an equitable transition to cleaner energy sources.
The European Union's parliament has approved legislation to tax imports based on the greenhouse gases emitted to make them, enshrining climate regulation in the rules of global trade for the first time. The tax will give credit to countries that put a price on carbon by deducting payments for overseas carbon emissions when goods arrive at EU borders. The legislation will initially cover imports of iron, steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, electricity, and hydrogen.
The Biden administration has proposed a new climate regulation for passenger cars that would limit how much planet-warming emissions can come from an automaker’s fleet, projecting that 60% of new cars sold will be electric by model year 2030. Experts say a lot needs to be done both technically and in terms of consumer mindset to make this a reality, but many also say it’s possible. Consumer behavior is key, with cost and charging infrastructure being the most common major reasons not to buy electric vehicles. The US would need 1.5 million public chargers to meet the president’s previously stated goal of 50% of new sales being electric by 2030.