| White House Funds Coal Community Projects: The Obama administration announcednearly $39 million of funding for communities in nine states affected by the decline of the coal industry. The 29 projects are expected to create or retain more than 3,400 jobs in a variety of sectors, and matching grants could generate another $67 million for the communities. This funding is part of the administration’s broader POWER+ Plan to support coal communities. (AP, Politico Pro $, Morning Consult)
National Parks Feel the Heat: Climate change could irreparably alter US national parks by the end of the century, making them up to 12°F hotter in the summer. A new analysisby Climate Central shows the number of days with temperatures above 100°F could skyrocket, resulting in months of scorching temperatures. The glaciers of Glacier National Park will have disappeared along with the Joshua trees of Joshua Tree National Park, a threat that President Obama also alluded to in his last weekly address. The National Park Service’s 100th anniversary has raised awareness about how budget cuts and climate change are plaguing the parks. (News: Climate Central, Washington Post $. Commentary: Mercury News editorial)
Offshore Drilling Auction Gets Few Bids: A federal auction for offshore oil drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico this week attracted the fewest bids since 1983. Only three fossil fuel companies submitted bids worth approximately $18 million on 24 ocean blocks out of the more than 4,300 available. By contrast, in 2014, high bids on 81 blocks totaled nearly $110 million. This was the first lease auction that was live-streamed, while groups protested outside the venue. Offshore drilling faces heavy opposition from the environmental community for its high carbon footprint and impact on marine wildlife. (AP, The Hill, Guardian, Argus Media, Morning Consult, Southeast Energy News)
Warming Might’ve Begun in 1830s: A new study in Nature suggests that human activity may have begun changing the climate as early as the 1830s, decades earlier than currently thought. Researchers used proxy records to piece together past ocean temperatures and were able to tease out the signal of human-made warming well before existing studies have shown. Because some of the study’s findings also suggest the climate responds more quickly (though not necessarily more strongly) than typically agreed upon, there are concerns among some scientists about how these results are interpreted and reported in regards to model accuracy and climate sensitivity. (News: AP, Reuters, Guardian, Deutsche Welle, TIME, Washington Post $, Quartz, Carbon Brief, Climate Central. Commentary: The Conversation, Nerilie Abram et al. op-ed) |
