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The Senate on Wednesday afternoon voted in favor of passing a bill reversing the Biden administration's actions mandating states to track and set reduction goals for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles on highways. The chamber approved the resolution in a 53-47 vote in which Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Jon Tester, D-Mont.; and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., joined every Republican voting in the affirmative. The bill was introduced in February by Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; and Manchin. "Few things are more frustrating in government than un-elected bureaucrats asserting authority they don’t have and foisting federal...

The Biden administration has announced in recent weeks new stringent emissions requirements for virtually the entire American transportation system.The Environmental Protection Agency will mandate by the year 2035 that virtually every car made and sold in America must be an EV. No more gas cars. The New York Times comically declared that motorists don't have to worry because this "is not a ban on gasoline-powered vehicles." Sure it isn't. Today less than 2% of cars use the electric power grid for fuel. So soon we will see 50 times more demand for electricity from autos. Then the EPA announced new...

California would need to triple the rate of emissions cuts that the state has undertaken since 2010 in order to meet its climate goals for 2030, a new report has found. The Golden State’s aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990’s levels by 2030 may be unachievable, according to this year’s California Green Innovation Index, released Thursday by the San Francisco-based nonprofit Next 10. After California’s emissions plunged during the pandemic, they jumped 3.4 percent, per the report, prepared by Beacon Economics and citing information from the California Air Resources Board (CARB). “The increase in emissions...

Two years ago, an emissions data firm known as Emissions Analytics, published a study that revealed E.V.s emitted more pollution than gas-powered cars, and the type of pollution they emitted is the most common vehicle-related environmental contamination. The study flew relatively under the radar until a few days ago.

Under intense pressure from farmers, the European Commission has dropped key passages in a proposal for a new 2040 goal for cutting greenhouse gas pollution. “All sectors” would need to contribute to the effort, the EU executive's plan says. But a mention of a possible 30 percent cut to agricultural pollution between 2015 and 2040, which was in previous drafts seen by POLITICO, had been removed. Also excised were recommendations for citizens to make changes to their behavior, like eating less meat, and a push to end fossil fuel subsidies. Farmers' protests have broken out in many countries across Europe...

Today, Joe Biden is cracking down on manufacturing, but I bet he doesn’t have the scientific data to give credibility to the new policies, but he doesn’t care. He is bending over for the green pushers. Here’s this, from Fox News:Biden’s latest climate rules crack down on manufacturing, ignoring industry warnings of economic devastationBiden admin’s actions will ‘grind permits to a halt for a large portion of our country’The Biden administration finalized regulations severely tightening restrictions on fine particulate matter that the manufacturing and energy sectors are legally allowed to emit, an action that industry said would have devastating economic...

Loud fart sound erupts during John Kerry’s speech at climate panel John Kerry might need to cut back on his own emissions. The Biden Administration’s climate envoy was discussing US policy on coal power plants at the Climate Change Conference in Dubai on Sunday when Kerry may have unleashed a burst of wind energy. The former secretary of state was speaking next to Becky Anderson, Managing Editor of CNN Abu Dhabi, and Fatih Birol, Executive director of the International Energy Agency, when a Bronx cheer suddenly erupted midsentence. “There shouldn’t be any more coal-fired power plants permitted anywhere in the...

President Joe Biden has issued two veto threats to protect several controversial agenda items as Republicans in Congress seek to roll back or hamper his administrative goals. If he follows through with the vetoes, that will bring Biden's total vetoes to 10 since he took office in 2020, with all of them occurring this year. The president has vetoed high-profile legislation this year, such as a repeal of a Washington, D.C., crime law and an effort to overturn protections for the nation's waterways. The veto threats floated on Monday involve two areas that are central to both the Biden administration's...

The California Trucking Association is suing the state’s air-quality agency over a new climate action rule that requires truckers to switch to zero-emissions vehicles by 2042, claiming it “threatens the security and predictability” of the trucking industry. In a federal lawsuit filed against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Oct. 16 in Sacramento U.S. District Court, the trucking association is seeking the court to permanently stop the agency from enforcing its Advanced Clean Fleets rule that goes into effect Jan. 1. The proposed regulations (pdf) would require trucks operating at California ports to be zero-emission by Jan. 1, 2035, and...

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case that challenged a Minnesota law that would mandate auto dealers to offer more hybrid and electric vehicles. The high court did not provide an explanation for declining the case on Monday. No justices offered a dissent. The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) challenged the emissions law, known as the “clean car” rules, after they were adopted in 2021 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency at the request of Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. The emissions standards are slated to go into effect in 2024 for 2025 model-year vehicles. MADA has...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Large businesses in California will have to disclose a wide range of planet-warming emissions under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Saturday — the most sweeping mandate of its kind in the nation. The law requires more than 5,300 companies that operate in California and make more than $1 billion in annual revenues to report both their direct and indirect emissions. That includes things like emissions from operating a building or store as well as those from activities like employee business travel and transporting their products. The law, SB 253, will bring more transparency to...

The maximum carbon emissions that several leading green energy states could reduce would only counter a small amount of China’s expected increase in emissions, according to a report published by the John Locke Foundation.The report assessed the costs of “decarbonizing” electricity production across every state, standardizing each state’s maximum possible reduction in carbon dioxide emissions relative to 2005 levels in terms of how many daily minutes of new Chinese emissions those reductions would offset. The report found that states with carbon-free electricity goals, including California, New York and Minnesota, would not make much impact relative to newly-generated Chinese carbon dioxide...

The California state legislature passed a bill Tuesday that would require large companies to disclose their estimated carbon emissions. It is the first bill of its kind, and could lead to similar legislation being passed in other states. The bill, SB253 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would make California the first state to require such disclosures from companies that operate in the state if their annual revenue exceeds $1 billion.

It was a bad week for anyone who thought China would cooperate on emissions reduction. President Xi Jinping reiterated that his country would set its own path on the issue and not be influenced by outside factors, according to the Washington Post and Bloomberg. This contradicts Xi’s 2015 Paris Agreement pledges to reduce its carbon emissions at the latest after 2030. Xi’s remarks came while climate envoy and former secretary of state John Kerry was visiting Beijing to reopen a dialogue. This was shortly after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived, and just before former secretary of state Henry Kissinger,...

Lugging around a heavy suitcase on holiday could become a thing of the past if an airline's clothes rental experiment proves a good fit for customers. The service, dubbed 'Any Wear, Anywhere', allows passengers to rent a bundle of clothing ahead of their flight, which is then delivered straight to their hotel or AirBnb on arrival. Japan Airlines launched the scheme yesterday in the hope that it will mean customers can leave bulky bags behind and make a 'sustainable choice'. Travellers can tailor their clothing style depending on whether they are on a business or leisure trip, choosing between smart,...

According to the International Energy Agency, the transportation sector is more reliant on fossil fuels than any other sector in the economy. In 2021, it accounted for 37% of all CO2 emissions from end‐use sectors.To gain insights into how different vehicle types contribute to these emissions, the above graphic visualizes the life cycle emissions of battery electric, hybrid, and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles using Polestar and Rivian’s Pathway Report.Production to Disposal: Emissions at Each StageLife cycle emissions are the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted throughout a product’s existence, including its production, use, and disposal.To compare these emissions effectively,...

ROME, ITALY (May 15, 2023) — At the Vatican City, a World Resources Institute (WRI) delegation and His Eminence Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Vicar General for the Vatican City State and President of the Fabric of Saint Peter, announced a new phase in their partnership to work jointly toward net-zero emissions goals for the Saint Peter’s Basilica, one of the most iconic Catholic cathedrals in the world, attracting over 10 million visitors a year. The two organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September 2022 to work together to develop and implement actions aimed at making the Saint Peter’s...

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has enacted new regulations that will require “zero emissions” trains to be introduced after 2030, focusing on a sector often seen as a “green” alternative to cars and trucks. The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Under the new regulations, zero-emissions models will be required for all switch, industrial and passenger locomotives built after 2030 and for all freight line locomotives built after 2035. Any non-zero emissions locomotive that is 23 years old or more will not be allowed to operate in the state past 2030. The regulations also require train operators to open a spending...

The Senate passed a resolution on Wednesday to overturn a heavy-duty engines emissions rule implemented by President Joe Biden’s administration after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) broke ranks with his fellow Democrats and instead joined Republicans in opposition to the emissions rule. In December, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the new “Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards,” which placed more stringent emissions standards over a “wider range of heavy-duty engine operating conditions.” The new rule was set to go into effect in March, but Republicans have been preparing to oppose the regulations through...

The federal government does not know the extent that regulations are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, despite committing $200 billion towards the issue.Jerry DeMarco, commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, holds a press conference in Ottawa on April 20, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)An April 20 report released by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jerry DeMarco, indicates that Environment and Climate Change Canada does not attribute emission results to specific regulations.The federal department does not measure, or report on, the contributions of each regulation toward meeting the set target for 2030. An audit by the commissioner...