US President Joe Biden has signed a series of executive orders designed to address climate change, including a new ban on some energy drilling. The orders aim to freeze new oil and gas leases on public lands and double offshore wind-produced energy by 2030. They are expected to meet stiff resistance from the energy industry and come as a sea change from Donald Trump, who cut environmental protections.
BBC 27th Jan 2021 read more »
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Times 28th Jan 2021 read more »
Flooding has caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage in the U.S. over the past three decades. Researchers found that 36 percent of the costs of flooding in the U.S. from 1988 to 2017 were a result of intensifying precipitation, consistent with predictions of global warming.
Earth Matters 11th Jan 2021 read more »
Frank Von Hippel: Over the past two decades, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been captured by the nuclear power companies it is supposed to regulate. The process of capture and resulting erosion of regulation has been driven in part by the increasingly poor economics of nuclear energy as companies struggle to avoid large costs due to additional safety measures. However, the path has been laid to a potential disaster. The consequences of a severe nuclear accident in the US could potentially be 100 times worse than the 2011 Fukushima accident (Figure 1). The Biden administration has an opportunity to turn the situation around, but it is important to understand the problem.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 27th Jan 2021 read more »