Lisa Song

The SBTi just published an evidence review that pretty comprehensively trashes carbon credits: "[V]arious types of carbon credits are ineffective in delivering their intended mitigation outcomes." "There could be clear risks to corporate use of carbon credits for the purposes of offsetting. This includes potential unintended effects of hindering the net-zero transformation and/or reducing climate finance." "All Tier A evidence challenge the legitimacy of offsetting claims, arguing that treating carbon credits as fungible with other sources, sinks, or reductions of emissions is inadvisable, illogical, or damaging to global mitigation goals." https://lnkd.in/eJfTuPyD

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An anti-greenwashing law in Canada compelled polluters to scrub misleading content from their websites. Could new bills in Pennsylvania and NY set an example for the United States? The new PA bill would amend the state’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law to “prohibit corporations from using deceitful and manipulative practices,” including references to terms like “net zero”, “low carbon,” and “cleaner energy,” as a means of “intentionally market[ing] their products in a manner that makes them appear to be better for the planet than they really are.” Pennsylvania’s bill is one of several new legislative efforts to tackle greenwashing across the globe. In June, the Canadian Parliament passed new amendments to the country’s Competition Act, which governs competition between businesses to protect Canadian consumers, by adding a new provision regulating environmental claims in advertising. The European Union is also moving closer to passing a package of directives designed to define and regulate greenwashing by businesses. A similar bill to PA's was just introduced in the New York State Senate yesterday. The efforts all aim to address a growing trend: as concerns about the companies’ increasing investments in oil and gas have gotten louder, so too has the volume of the industry’s “green” marketing claims. Troves of internal documents have revealed an industry-wide strategy to sell unproven technologies, like carbon capture and algae biofuels, and promote unsubstantiated climate pledges in order to sidestep demands to phase out fossil fuels. First Amendment scholars say there are also ways to tackle greenwashing at the federal level, despite likely legal challenges to a federal ban. “There’s no First Amendment protections for false and misleading advertising,” says Rebecca Tushnet, a First Amendment professor at Harvard Law School. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gcm8nKvv

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Check out the latest issue of the TS Digest for stories about gravitropism in plants, a (nearly) catastrophic conference presentation, a cilia close-up, and more. https://lnkd.in/eH6QUxdg

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Airlines hope sustainable aviation fuel is the golden ticket for curbing emissions. While DOE recently committed big bucks to SAF and there are SAF tax credits, too, the market faces hurdles to scaling. Read more in The New York Times' Climate Forward newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e2krQmDz

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Eastern hemlocks could completely disappear from the Northeast due to a climate-fueled invasive known as the hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA). Previously contained to the South, warming temperatures have enabled the invasive to expand along the Eastern seaboard. With more than half of America’s forests from Georgia to Maine currently infested, decisions by forest managers on curbing the spread of HWA and treating infected trees have grown more crucial — and creative — including enlisting the help of beetles and flies. Read more about the fight to save hemlocks for Bluedot Living! #climate #invasives https://lnkd.in/gfYCrtCh

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DELTA CONSERVANCY: New Report Released on Delta Drought Response Pilot Program Report Focuses on Results from 2023 Water Year Press release from the Delta Conservancy: The Delta Conservancy has released a final report on outcomes of the 2023 Delta Drought Response Pilot Program, an experimental program that was launched in order to test drought-resistant field management practices in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed. #Agriculture #Delta #DeltaDroughtResponsePilotProgram #Drought

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We use de-icers to treat treacherous surface conditions, but the products are negatively impacting local lakes and waterways, even some of the so-called “environmentally friendly” alternatives, new Queen's University research has shown. https://lnkd.in/gmhiFZrW

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Vermont has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that holds major fossil fuel companies financially responsible for the climate pollution associated with their products. The state's Climate Superfund Act became law on May 30 without Gov. Phil Scott's signature. The governor cited several concerns with the novel legislation, warning that “Taking on Big Oil should not be taken lightly.” In a statement responding to the law's enactment, the American Petroleum Institute criticized the law as a detriment to US economic and national security needs. “This punitive new fee represents yet another step in a coordinated campaign to undermine America’s energy advantage and the economic and national security benefits it provides,” API spokesman Scott Lauermann said. “Rather than work collaboratively with the industry to further our shared goal for a lower carbon future, state lawmakers opted to pass a bill designed by activists to further their own interests.” In passing the new law, proponents say Vermont is taking the first step in shifting some of the cost burden of responding and adapting to climate-related disasters from taxpayers and onto the corporate polluters whose products are driving climate breakdown. "It marks a new era in efforts to hold fossil fuel companies accountable through legislation as opposed to just through lawsuits,” said Elena Mihaly, an environmental attorney and vice president of Conservation Law Foundation’s Vermont office. More in my news story here https://lnkd.in/ej2ZZe_e

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Ideas for California Cap-and-Trade -- ClimateBrief: As CARB Readies New Cap-and-Trade Rule, Climate Experts Weigh in on Optimal Changes for California's Emissions Reduction Goals (CEB DailyNews piece - with free sign-up) https://lnkd.in/e9-wf55E

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This graphic from Climate Action Tracker has been updated to reflect current global climate actions, policies, and commitments. As a reminder, 1.5C = 2.7F. While we have brought down the warming trajectory from the 5-6C range that existed before the Paris Agreement, we still have serious work to do in order to close the warming gap. Why this matters--because people matter. And most of the issues that Americans are focused on--economy, inflation, immigration, health--are all made worse on a warming planet. Yes, there is a direct connection scientifically. Look at all of the destruction to lives and livelihoods at 1.3C (our current level). With every tenth of a degree additional warming, the impacts get exponentially worse--threatening lives, costing more money, worsening health, putting accessible food at risk, and forcing more immigration and migration. But at the same time, THERE'S SO MUCH THAT WE CAN DO. Shifting society to wind and solar energy, electrified transportation, climate-friendly farming, preserving and expanding green spaces, implementing heat pumps and efficiencies...and TALKING about climate change. Climate conversations are an action. Learn more about the report here: https://lnkd.in/eY7emKya

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One of the things we do at Cipher News is turn a spotlight on quality reporting happening across the climate landscape. Here are a couple of pieces that I called out this week in our "Top Reads/Hot Takes." https://lnkd.in/eg_cHZmm In the pipeline construction business, private inspectors report safety concerns to developers, but there isn't sufficient enforcement that problems get fixed, according to an E&E News investigation. This excellent reporting exposing a "potentially deadly gap in the regulatory apparatus" is especially critical, reporter Mike Soraghan points out, because we're going to need lots more pipelines. https://lnkd.in/e4yj6bAj Salesforce's Marc Benioff and the World Economic Forum launched their goal to plant or conserve one trillion trees by 2030 at Davos in 2020. So far, the project is behind schedule, Sophie Alexander at Bloomberg reports. The number of trees pledged to the effort is less than 15% of the goal and 2.6 billion trees, less than 0.3% of what's needed, has been planted or conserved, according to admittedly imperfect records. Have a scroll through CipherNews.com to see what my other esteemed colleagues — Amy Harder, Amena H. Saiyid, Anca Gurzu and Bill Spindle —are reading and why.

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Association of Earth Science Editors Awards Nominations!! It’s time to nominate noteworthy publications and exceptional individuals in publishing and editing for the annual Association of Earth Science Editors awards! The deadline for submitting nominations is May 27, 2024 (fast approaching…with possible extension). Winners will be announced in fall 2024. The awards committee looks forward to receiving nominations for three awards: 1) AESE Award for Outstanding Editorial or Publishing Contribution This award recognizes outstanding contributions and achievements in editing or publishing that stimulate new or greatly improved accomplishments in teaching, research, and applications in Earth Science. Editorial and publishing contributions can include writing, editing, publishing, and editorial management. 2) AESE Lifetime Honor Award This award is given in recognition of (1) a career of continuous contributions to Earth Science editing or publishing or (2) contributions to AESE through service in office or on committees. Only current and former members of AESE are eligible for this award. 3) AESE Award for Outstanding Publication (published between January 1, 2021, through to December 31, 2023) This award recognizes a recently published earth science publication that demonstrates outstanding editing, design, illustration, writing, effectiveness of production cost, and overall effectiveness in achieving its publication goal. Awards are given under three publication categories: 1. Book (printed, PDF file, or print-on-demand; may include a journal) 2. Map or poster (printed, PDF file, or print-on-demand; may include a journal) 3. Electronic/digital media (websites and webpages, web-based publication, interactive online product, e-book). The competition is open to AESE members and nonmembers alike. For instructions, entry forms, and more information, please visit https://lnkd.in/dxdMnqT . #earthscience #geoscience #publishing #editorial #editing #communications #Education #guidebook #maps #GIS #geology #geologist #geologicalwonders #geologicalsurvey #science #geopark #nationalpark #geological #geologicalhistory

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Today, Carbon Brief has published the latest, and most comprehensive, update to our interactive map of extreme weather attribution. The redesigned map now includes almost 750 extreme events and trends from more than 600 studies. https://lnkd.in/e4jXme5j Such is the sheer quantity of attribution studies now, the new map gives a regional view: Size of the circles = the number of extremes studied Colour = the attribution finding: more (red) or less (blue) severe/likely, no influence (yellow) or inconclusive (grey) Across all the extremes in the map, 74% were made more likely or severe because of climate change, while 9% were made less likely or severe. The remaining cases are cases where scientists either identified no human influence (10%) or where the findings were inconclusive (7%). The analysis and article are by Ayesha Tandon and me, while the amazing design and all the under-the-bonnet cleverness are by Tom Pearson, Tom Prater and Kerry Cleaver. Oh, and the map and its underlying database are covered in today's edition of the Guardian: https://lnkd.in/etMQK2Qt

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Fascinating report from Verisk Maplecroft on how the world's biggest fossil fuel producers are among those most exposed to the worst climate impacts. This could usher in greater international co-operation in support of global decarbonisation efforts, as the blockers of progress at UN climate talks realise it is in their interests to avoid climate impacts that could present an existential threat in their own backyards. Or then again, it could not. https://lnkd.in/eA-g6qNt

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