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(Reuters) - Vanguard Group's decision last month to quit a key climate change coalition underscores how the retail investors who dominate its client base focus less on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) priorities than institutional investors. Vanguard said last month it would drop out of the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative, whose members commit to making their investment portfolios emission-neutral by 2050. It said 80% of its close to $8 trillion in assets are in its index funds, which primarily attract retail investors. These funds generally do not have discretion to include or exclude stocks beyond a pre-set...

(The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.)I remember being on a golf course talking politics and a friend “jokingly” called me a “breeder.” I have four kids; he’s chosen to forgo parenthood altogether.After a moment of stunned silence, I realized two things: one, that there are plenty of folks who think that having children is evil, and two, that this person was not in fact my friend.He’s not alone in his thinking though: a survey by Veolia, an environmental utility firm, reveals that a quarter of respondents described “not being...

Environmentalists slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom for slashing billions of dollars from initiatives that the governor has repeatedly called top priorities: efforts to combat climate change and transition to zero-emission vehicles.

Twitter users mocked Ellen DeGeneres after she blamed climate change for severe storms and flooding in California over the past few weeks.

LONDON (AP) — Climate change is the global economy’s biggest long-term challenge but one the world is least prepared to tackle because of short-term problems led by a cost-of-living crisis, the World Economic Forum said in a report Wednesday. The group’s Global Risks Report, released ahead of its annual gathering of government leaders and business elites next week in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, offers a bleak outlook. The report based on a survey of 1,200 risk experts, industry bosses and policymakers says the biggest challenges over the next decade involve the environment, yet more immediate challenges are distracting...

Berlin — German police said their methodical operation to clear hundreds of climate change activists from a tiny town that's been sold to an energy company to dig up for coal was going according to plan on Wednesday. As Sweden's high-profile climate campaigner Greta Thunberg said she would join the demonstrators squatting in the otherwise abandoned village, Day Two of the police's effort got off to a rocky start. There were more violent clashes and even some Molotov cocktails hurled at police early Wednesday, repeating scenes that played out the previous day, but the Aachen police force said its clearance...

Shortly after the New Year, I was fired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory after urging fellow scientists to take action on climate change. At the American Geophysical Union meeting in December, just before speakers took the stage for a plenary session, my fellow climate scientist Peter Kalmus and I unfurled a banner that read “Out of the lab & into the streets.” In the few seconds before the banner was ripped from our hands, we implored our colleagues to use their leverage as scientists to wake the public up to the dying planet. Soon after this brief action, the A.G.U.,...

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday unveiled a 2023 state budget proposal that includes significant cuts to climate investments — even as a relentless storm system battered California’s coast. California is now facing an estimated budget gap of $22.5 billion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which the governor attributed to declines in both withholding and capital gains taxes. EQUILIBRIUM & SUSTAINABILITY Newsom’s 2023 budget proposal includes climate cuts, to tackle fiscal shortfalls BY SHARON UDASIN - 01/10/23 2:57 PM ET SHARE TWEET FILE – California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers a speech after taking the oath of office on Friday, Jan....

The following excerpt was sent out from The Washington Post’s climate and environment editor Zachary Goldfarb; climate and environment deputy editor Juliet Eilperin; and climate/environmental policy, politics and power editor Stuart Leavenworth: We are so pleased to announce that Chico Harlan, one of our distinguished foreign correspondents, is joining the Climate team as our first global climate correspondent. In this new role, Chico will traverse Europe, Africa and the Middle East to uncover the most important stories about how global warming and environmental change are affecting people and societies. Chico has had a highly varied career at The Post, having...

A new pilot project to find ways to inject equity considerations into transportation planning in southeast Michigan will focus on how urban flooding affects historically disadvantaged communities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and partner agencies are launching this research project to better create infrastructure that is more resilient to flooding impacts from climate change. The study’s focus will be to better understand how transportation disruptions during major urban flooding events affect areas already struggling with poverty challenges. NOAA will contribute $150,000 to the study, which includes partner groups the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), Fernleaf Interactive, and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has only a limited role to play in combating climate change, Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, a stance that puts him at odds with environmental activists who have pushed central banks worldwide to take steps to restrict lending to energy companies. “Without explicit congressional legislation, it would be inappropriate for us to use our monetary policy or supervisory tools to promote a greener economy or to achieve other climate-based goals,” Powell said in prepared remarks to be delivered during a panel discussion in Stockholm hosted by Sweden’s central bank. “We are not, and will...

The term "climate terrorists" has been named Germany's "non-word" for 2022, according to a jury of linguists in Marburg in Hessen who said the term discredited people who campaigned for climate protection measures and compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement. The jury criticized the phrase "climate terrorists" for defaming and criminalizing activists. The climate crisis, Russia's war on Ukraine and the migration discourse dominated the search for the "non-word" of 2022. According to the jury, non-violent protest and democratic resistance is placed in the context of being anti-state by equating climate activists with terrorism. The focus of the debate shifts...

Paris (AFP) – The last eight years were the warmest on record even with the cooling influence of a La Nina weather pattern since 2020, the European Union's climate monitoring service said Tuesday. Average temperatures across 2022 -- which saw a cascade of unprecedented natural disasters made more likely and deadly by climate change -- make it the fifth warmest year since records began in the 19th century, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Pakistan and northern India were scorched by a two-month spring heatwave with sustained temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), followed in Pakistan...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during a press conference on Sunday that he is requesting a state of emergency from the White House as another round of storms targets the Golden State this week. Severe storms in California knocked out power to over 560,000 homes on Sunday. Along with power outages, the state has faced several days of severe weather events and two more are scheduled to occur this week. The first storm is expected to begin Monday and go into the early morning hours on Tuesday, and the second storm will occur from Jan. 12-14. "We’ve been at this...

For years, the world’s wealthiest nations have dragged their feet on sending climate aid to developing countries. One obstacle — perhaps the biggest obstacle — is convincing politicians in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere that climate investments abroad can make a difference back home. As former President Donald Trump quipped in 2017 about one U.N. climate initiative: It’s “yet another scheme to redistribute wealth out of the United States.” But experts say that viewpoint is shortsighted. They argue that climate investments in developing countries offer some of the cheapest and best opportunities to avoid runaway warming and preserve...

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Labels describing the climate impact of dishes on fast-food menus could encourage Americans to eat more sustainably, a new study finds. When it comes to food production, beef has one of the largest climate footprints. It’s among the most resource-intensive foods to produce, and cattle account for about two-thirds of livestock’s global greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing a burger with poultry or a vegetarian option can be a more Earth-friendly choice. In the study, published in JAMA Network Open last week, scientists asked more than 5,000 participants to select a hypothetical meal from a sample fast-food menu. To gauge whether people...

In the not-so-distant past, scientists predicted that global temperatures would surge dramatically throughout this century, assuming that humans would rely heavily on fossil fuels for decades. But they are revising their forecasts as they track both signs of progress and unexpected hazards. Accelerating solar and wind energy adoption means global warming probably will not reach the extremes once feared, climate scientists say. At the same time, recent heat, storms and ecological disasters prove, they say, that climate change impacts could be more severe than predicted even with less warming. Researchers are increasingly worried about the degree to which even less-than-extreme...

In an effort to help people process their anxiety over the environment and climate change, a Conway artist is forming an eco-grief support group. Hannah Harvester’s weekly community support group is designed to help people process their thoughts and fears about climate change and how it may affect communities in the future. “The first step toward going through these emotions is realizing you’re not alone in this,” Harvester said. “I think a lot of people don’t talk about it, and that’s certainly true for me. We’re feeling these feelings for good reasons, so let’s talk about them and take it...

California “lacks a clear strategy” to meet the ambitious climate change goals set by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and the Democrat-dominated legislature, according to a report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. The report, released Wednesday, assesses California’s plan to achieve the goals it has set in recent years: 100% renewable energy by 2045; a ban on sales of gas-powered cars in 2035; and other goals, none of which will have much direct effect on the phenomenon of global climate, but which aim to lead and inspire other jurisdictions. Growing emissions from China and India dwarf U.S. emissions, which have...