Author: cne4h

The Texas Central Railroad project aims to make travel time in Dallas and Houston less than 90 minutes. Fully electric, it could have run on dedicated tracks, based on Japan's bullet train system, similar to the ongoing high-speed rail failure in California. -CCD Editor The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Monday that it will end a grant to help fund the Texas high-speed rail project, saving U.S. taxpayers more than $60 million. Transport Minister Sean Duffy made the announcement, saying The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Amtrak reached an agreement to terminate the $63.9 million grant. The grant was awarded…

After taking office, President Donald Trump issued a temporary offshore wind lease that evacuates all coastal areas of the country. During the Biden-Harris administration, dozens of community groups opposed offshore wind energy development, fearing the impact on marine wildlife, view sheds and power rates, among others. [emphasis, links added] Although many activists are located in blue states, rather than Trump supporters, they want the Trump administration to be more sensitive to their focus. Amy Disibio, a board member of ACK Whale in Nantucket, told Just news Not everyone has the limitations of executive orders. “It's obvious that there's nothing it…

Transcript: The damage caused by extreme storms, droughts and wildfires can damage the economy. Therefore, Allie Lindstrom of the Sierra Club said that to protect retirement savings for teachers, firefighters and other public workers, public pension funds need to address the risks of climate change. Lindstrom co-wrote a report on how 30 public pension funds in the U.S. respond to climate change in their voting records and proxy voting guidelines – policies that shape how funds vote on shareholder issues. Lindstrom: “For the average person, shareholder votes may fly under the radar, but it’s a really important way for investors…

We bring a team through reading Particles of Truth: Discovery, Controversy, and the Story of Fighting for Healthy Airby C. Arden Pope III, Douglas W. Dockery, so you don't have to suffer. The book has twelve chapters as well as references and indexes. It was written by Brigham Young and Harvard scholars. Publisher MIT Press describes the book as “a convincing real-life description of how scientists discover the fatal effects of air pollution on human health and the controversial battle to use critical scientific evidence in the fight against clean air.” Read the three-page introduction via the infamous email Gina…

President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to effectively cut NOAA's Office of Ocean and Atmospheric Research (OAR) by closing its main climate research division, according to multiple reports. [emphasis, links added] Politico, Axios and the New York Times, which reviewed the memorandum, reported that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent an internal memorandum outlining the huge changes in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is reported that NOAA's climate change research will effectively stop if the government's proposal is proposed through Congress. “Getting balances requires: resetting the proper balance between federal and state responsibilities and re-emphasizing…

The United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) held a meeting in London on Friday, with member states agreeing to impose the world's first global carbon tax, at a cost of $380 per metric tonne. The vessel is subject to certain restrictions on “greenhouse gases” issued by the vessel, with a limit of $100 per tonne, exceeding a certain fee. [emphasis, links added] The IMO estimates that the new tax will bring about $10 billion a year to the “net zero fund” for the green energy transition. Originally scheduled to start in 2027, restrictions on untaxed greenhouse gas emissions will be…

A recent story by ABC News, “Climate and Environmental Update: Tornado Activity Average March: NOAA” categorized severe tornado outbreaks in the recent “climate crisis” category, suggesting that these storms are caused by global warming. [emphasis, links added] This is wrong. Climate change will not cause an increase in the number or severity of tornadoes, nor will it be associated with such a limited event. ABC Warning: The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is happening and affecting what is most important to us. Tornado activity in the U.S. in March was more than double the monthly average, recording…

As the climate warms, heat waves become increasingly intense and dangerous, increasing the risk of extreme heat becoming sick or killing people. But even if federal climate action stagnates in the United States, local governments can step in to protect their residents. Candice Youngblood, a lawyer at EarthJustice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization, said ordinary people can participate in pushing their governments to strengthen emergency preparedness. It might look like attending a council meeting, joining community organizations and gathering neighbors. “Our local elected officials, they serve us, so you can go to their offices, discuss with them the…

Transcript: More than 50 years ago, Republican President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act of 1970. It authorizes the federal government to regulate harmful air pollutants. At that time, one of the pollutants was warm-weather carbon dioxide. Naomi Oreskes, a professor of history of science at Harvard University, said that many people don’t know this history now. Oregon: “There are debates in Congress and in court about whether the Clean Air Act applies to carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.” So her team reviewed government documents from the 1960s. She said they found more than 100 congressional hearings discussing…

The Trump administration has expressed willingness to promote domestic nuclear energy production, although several industry experts say many obstacles must be cleared first. [emphasis, links added] After returning to the White House, President Donald Trump immediately signed an executive order, “American Energy,” aimed at strengthening domestic fossil fuel production, which the United States relies primarily on and reduces “inappropriate burden” on the nuclear energy sector. While the move shows growing concerns about industry development, several policy experts told the Daily Call News Foundation that many obstacles must be addressed before nuclear power becomes the primary energy source in the United…