Public health experts worry rising grocery costs could increase the risk for diet-related diseases in the long runIn April, Kimberly Hart made a resolution to lose some weight on the advice of her doctor. Hart, who is 61 and lives in New Haven, Connecticut, has high blood pressure and cholesterol. These factors, combined with her age and weight, put her at an elevated risk for developing diabetes, and she wanted to do whatever she could to prevent that from happening.One element within her control, Hart thought at the time, was her diet. She started seeing a nutritionist, a cost covered by Medicaid, and eating more healthily. But it wasn’t long before her efforts clashed with the reality of rising grocery costs. Continue reading...

The city joins a growing number across the US in limiting the use of artificial turf made with dangerous PFAS compoundsBoston’s mayor, Michelle Wu, has ordered no new artificial turf to be installed in city parks, making Boston the largest municipality in a small but growing number around the nation to limit use of the product because it contains dangerous chemicals.All artificial turf is made with toxic PFAS compounds and some is still produced with ground-up tires that can contain heavy metals, benzene, VOCs and other carcinogens that can present a health threat. The material also emits high levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and sheds microplastics and other chemicals into waterways. Continue reading...

Agreement raises concerns transition to lower emissions energy sector will be harder and more expensive

New name Beowa means orca in Thaua language and comes after consultation with Aboriginal and South Sea Islander communities

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including an injured pangolin, a trapped dragonfly and a sneaky pig

Cairngorms national park drawing up plans as RSPB says latest survey shows population at critical level of 540An emergency plan is being drawn up to save the capercaillie, one of the UK’s most elusive and threatened woodland birds, after its numbers plunged.The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the latest population survey found its estimated population had fallen from roughly 1,114 in 2015/16 to about 542 birds last winter, putting it at a critically low level. Continue reading...

YouGov survey for major charities finds 81% believe wildlife and environment are under threatA majority of the public believe nature is under threat and needs urgent action to protect and restore it, according to a YouGov poll.The poll for the National Trust, RSPB and WWF comes as they and other mainstream green groups are mobilising their millions of members to counter what they say is the government’s attack on nature. Continue reading...

In Surrey, the cost of living crisis could push voters away from the Conservatives and towards a progressive alliance

National Parks and Wildlife Service says threat ‘should be condemned by all Australians’

State officials accused of violating civil rights, which resulted in ‘persistently unsafe and unreliable drinking water’ for residentsThe NAACP filed a federal complaint on Tuesday accusing Mississippi state officials of violating civil rights law by repeatedly diverting federal funds meant for ensuring safe drinking water away from the state’s predominantly Black capital, Jackson, to smaller, white communities.Their conduct amounted to racial discrimination and a devastating loss of access to drinking water for more than a month for residents in Jackson, where more than 80% of residents are Black and a quarter are in poverty. Continue reading...

Scientists ‘shocked’ by rate of change as rapid sea-ice melt drives absorption of CO2 – with ‘huge implications’ for Arctic sea lifeAcidification of the western Arctic Ocean is happening three to four times faster than in other ocean basins, a new study has found.The ocean, which absorbs a third of all of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, has grown more acidic because of fossil fuel use. Rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic region over the past three decades has accelerated the rate of long-term acidification, according to the study, published in Science on Thursday. Continue reading...

With rising seas expected to submerge the nation by 2100, official says ‘we should always be able to remember Tuvalu as it is, before it disappears’

Planting trees, rainwater gardens and de-paving can mitigate effects of climate crisis, according to analysis of 2,000 citiesUrban greening initiatives such as planting street trees, rainwater gardens and de-paving can help mitigate the impacts of urban heating due to the climate crisis and urban expansion, according to a study that has found cities have been warming by 0.5C a decade on average.Scientists at Nanjing and Yale Universities analysed satellite data from across 2,000 cities and compared surface temperature readings between cities and rural areas from 2002 to 2021. Continue reading...

Bill would see 570 EU-derived environmental laws removed at end of 2023, with little time to replace themThe government’s “Brexit freedoms bill” could see all legal protections from pesticides abolished, wildlife campaigners have warned, putting insects, wildlife and human health in danger.The bill, published a week ago by prime minister Liz Truss’s new administration, would result in all EU-derived laws being removed at the end of 2023, including 570 environmental regulations. The government could retain or amend some regulations, but has not set out plans to do so. Campaigners are worried there is insufficient time to put new regulations in place. Continue reading...

MI5, Royal Navy and RAF could be called upon to provide support for industry if situation escalatesBritish authorities are taking “precautionary” steps to ensure UK oil rigs are not vulnerable to interference after drones were spotted near Norwegian rigs and the Nord Stream pipelines were damaged.Executives in the energy industry are coordinating efforts with government agencies to assess security arrangements at offshore and onshore sites, to determine whether any best practices employed in other countries, in particular Norway, should be introduced. Continue reading...

Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Fiona dumped great amounts of water across larger stretches of land – global heating is to blame“It’s all about the water,” warned meteorologists as Hurricane Fiona battered Puerto Rico last week and as category 4 Hurricane Ian edged closer and eventually hit Florida on Wednesday.The water refers to the rainfall and storm surge – both of which are becoming more intense and destructive thanks to global heating, changing the pattern of hurricanes across the world. Continue reading...

Asked what local consent looks like, PM hesitates and says she will make sure there is local consentLiz Truss has refused to give details of how local consent would be given for fracking in a particular area, amid growing evidence that it will be pushed through as a national infrastructure project.In an interview with BBC Radio Lancashire, the prime minister said she was not familiar with the Preston New Road site in the county and had never visited. Continue reading...

Co-leader Adrian Ramsay says energy and cost of living crises means party’s policies have never been more neededGreen policies have never been more relevant or urgently needed given the energy and cost of living crises, the party’s co-leaders have said before a conference seen as a crucial chance to influence the UK’s political direction.Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay will use the Greens’ annual get-together in Harrogate from Friday to unveil details of a wealth tax that would pay for policies, including insulating millions of homes. Continue reading...

On Mongolia’s coal highway to the Chinese border, truck driver Maikhuu dreams of a better life and financial security for her three children. However, the road from the mines to China is riddled with accidents, toxic pollution, poor hygiene and now, amid the Covid crisis, drivers face days of quarantine on the border. Trapped in a hazardous industry, Maikhuu’s journey reflects the human and environmental costs of Mongolia’s mining boom Continue reading...

On Mongolia’s coal highway to the Chinese border, truck driver Maikhuu dreams of a better life and financial security for her three children. However, the road from the mines to China is riddled with accidents, toxic pollution, poor hygiene and now, amid the Covid crisis, drivers face days of quarantine on the border. Trapped in a hazardous industry, Maikhuu's journey reflects the human and environmental costs of Mongolia’s mining boom Continue reading...

Energy giant says it will need to find $20bn to meets its goal of adding 12 gigawatts of new wind and solar plants and storage by 2036

Annastacia Palaszczuk unveils details about 5GW renewables project that is estimated to cost $12bn

State environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio and federal counterpart Tanya Plibersek announce change as part of $515m recycling reform

Conservationists say memorandum should prompt the government to be cautious as it drafts water allocation plans for Beetaloo Basin

National Trust says dazzling display this year may be reversed if trees continue to face extreme summersAfter a year of extreme weather, a “unique” show of golden browns and buttery yellows could light up the UK’s trees in the next few weeks, a conservation charity has predicted, while warning that the impact of the climate emergency could threaten the show in autumns to come.The National Trust said that some stressed trees had shed leaves early during a “false autumn” because of the summer’s exceptional heat and dryness but said that it, nonetheless, believed a particularly vivid October and November could be on the way. Continue reading...

Federal resources minister Madeleine King says agreement with three big exporters will ensure security of supply and avoid need for ‘gas trigger’

David Littleproud and Matt Canavan have turned the scare rhetoric up to 11, but the energy market operator has already accounted for much of their criticisms

Agriculture minister says size of colony in Mandalong indicates there could be many more of the toxic intruders in the area

Figures likely to be an underestimate, says Global Witness, as land defenders are killed by hitmen, crime groups and governmentsMore than 1,700 murders of environmental activists were recorded over the past decade, an average of a killing nearly every two days, according to a new report.Killed by hitmen, organised crime groups and their own governments, at least 1,733 land and environmental defenders were murdered between 2012 and 2021, figures from Global Witness show, with Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras the deadliest countries. Continue reading...

Energy company accelerates its exit from coal, although timeline for closure of Bayswater in the NSW Hunter Valley remains unchanged

Organisers call on nations to carry on crucial climate negotiations despite differences on geopolitical issuesThe Egyptian hosts of the next UN climate summit have issued a plea for countries to set aside tensions and animosity over the Ukraine war for the sake of focusing on the climate crisis.Egypt will host the Cop27 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, intended as a forum for companies to fulfil the promises they made at the landmark Cop26 summit in Glasgow last year. Continue reading...

Hartlepool and Heysham 1, operational for four decades, are due to close in 2024 but EDF says that is under reviewFrance’s EDF is considering extending the life of two British nuclear power plants due to the severity of the energy crisis.EDF said on Wednesday that it would review whether there was a case to keep open the Hartlepool nuclear power plant in County Durham and Heysham 1 on the north-west coast of England near Lancaster. Both plants had been scheduled to close in March 2024. Continue reading...

‘Colossal amount’ of leaked methane, twice initial estimates, is equivalent to third of Denmark’s annual CO emissions or 1.3m carsScientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide. Continue reading...

All 50 states, Puerto Rico and DC get approval as White House gives go-ahead to plans for access to federal funding for chargersElectric vehicle charging stations have received a green light across the US.All 50 states have been approved for EV charging stations covering 75,000 miles of highway, the US transportation department announced on Tuesday. The White House has approved plans that will give states access to $1.5bn in federal funding to build the chargers. Continue reading...

Green New Deal Rising says Starmer’s green policies prove its proposals and pressure on MPs bore fruitYouth climate activists have claimed a checklist of environmental policies proposed this week by Keir Starmer and his shadow cabinet is proof organising and movement pressure can still sway Labour.At a Labour conference under the banner of “a fairer, greener Britain”, Starmer on Tuesday announced a “green prosperity plan”, aimed at “tackling the climate head on, and using it to create the jobs, the industries and the opportunities of the future”. Continue reading...

Wildfires, floods, heatwaves, hurricanes and drought are not waiting for politicians to act – the president must step inMillions of people across the United States have witnessed, often tragically, how the climate crisis is here and levying steep costs on communities. Black, Indigenous, and other frontline communities, including those in my home state of West Virginia, are experiencing these impacts – measured in lives lost, homes destroyed, and livelihoods upended – first and worst.Hurricane Fiona, which has washed away mothers and fathers from their children and left nearly all of Puerto Rico without power, and the remnants of Typhoon Merbok, which destroyed homes and inundated western Alaska with historic levels of water, underscored this reality more than a week ago. And Hurricane Ian, which is about to push into Tampa, Florida, will underscore it again as it leaves entire communities in Florida and the Southeast inundated with water and likely without power and access to essential services. Continue reading...

The proposals would ensure the power of our wind and waves is harnessed for everyone – not just foreign governments and multinationalsHow can Britain achieve 100% clean energy by 2030? Yesterday, Keir Starmer set out an answer: a new publicly owned clean energy generator. Great British Energy would own, run and invest in new, clean energy infrastructure, from offshore wind to tidal and solar. Operating as a generating company, not energy retailer, it would have the potential both to reduce our household fuel bills and create a future of clean, affordable, abundant energy.The full scale and details of Great British Energy are yet to be determined. But though Labour’s proposal may appear novel in Britain, public ownership of renewables is already commonplace. Indeed, nearly half of the UK’s offshore wind capacity is publicly owned – just not by the British public. Instead, it is owned by foreign governments.Mathew Lawrence is director of Common Wealth and co-author of Owning the Future with Adrienne Buller Continue reading...

Exclusive: A further 35,000 flights have operated almost empty, with climate campaigners calling the revelations ‘shocking’More than 5,000 completely empty passenger flights have flown to or from UK airports since 2019, the Guardian can reveal.A further 35,000 commercial flights have operated almost empty since 2019, with fewer than 10% of seats filled, according to analysis of data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). This makes a total of about 40,000 “ghost flights”. Continue reading...

Tech billionaire will support four independent non-executive directors to transform the company

Tony Juniper urges government to ‘foster both economic and environmental growth’Liz Truss has been issued a veiled warning over new government policies by the head of Natural England, who says “even bankers need to eat, drink and inhale clean air”.Tony Juniper, chair of the nature watchdog, has outlined the vital relationship between the economy and nature in Wednesday’s Guardian, as charities across the country revolt over government plans to slash nature protections and potentially remove environmental requirements from farming subsidies. Continue reading...

Corporate bonds intended to inject liquidity into markets profited companies engaged in deforestationSome of the world’s biggest central banks are unwittingly helping to finance agri-business giants engaged in the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon, according to a report published on Wednesday.The Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are among the institutions that have bought millions of dollars in bonds issued by companies linked to deforestation and land-grabbing, according to the report Bankrolling Destruction, published by the rights group Global Witness. Continue reading...

Unlike most of the media, the Guardian resists political or commercial influence in order to keep the climate crisis front and centre

While there are questions about the pace of Labour’s proposals, criticism in rightwing newspapers is bizarrely wide of the markLabour’s ambitious plan for zero-carbon power by 2030 raises legitimate questions – which we’ll come to shortly – but the commentary in rightwing newspapers is bizarrely wide of the mark.Perhaps the strangest was a Daily Telegraph editorial that claimed Labour’s plan “would make the country more dependent on imported gas, not less”. As should be obvious, the opposite is true. Continue reading...

We paid a deposit for solar panels with Green Energy Together but all we’ve got is scaffoldingWe had solar panels fitted in 2019 as part of the Solar Together initiative, and this year wanted to add to them. We chose Green Energy Together as it had done Solar Together projects with our council. We paid a £1,340 deposit. There was then a rather odd silence, but finally scaffolding and two installers appeared. The installers hadn’t been told the panels had to be fitted in addition to those already there, so the kit they had brought was inappropriate. Since then, in spite of daily phone calls and promises from the company that someone would ring back, nothing has happened.We eventually cancelled our order by phone and email, and asked for the return of our deposit and the removal of the scaffolding. Again, there has been silence, even from the company director we emailed directly. We are concerned that this company has over-reached itself while holding on to our money (and that of a lot of other people, if Trustpilot is to be believed). We are also concerned that the scaffolding is still on our house and is a security risk. Continue reading...

Annastacia Palaszczuk says state is facing a ‘climate emergency’ while unveiling $62bn energy plan

There are many reasons to suggest a deal to save the natural world is possible in Montreal, if division can be overcome and the Brazilian president doesn’t cause problemsWe are at the beginning of a busy end to the year. The summer holidays are over in the northern hemisphere, the world economy is creaking into recession, war is raging in Ukraine and there is the small matter of the most important biodiversity conference in more than a decade: Cop15.Money will ultimately decide the fate of the summit and the ambition of the final text in Montreal this December, as will the mood after the climate Cop27, which ends two weeks earlier.In a series of dispatches ahead of the Cop15 UN biodiversity conference in Montreal in December, we will be hearing from a secret negotiator who is from a developing country involved in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework negotiations. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Birkbeck, University of London, is first institution to blacklist firms ‘most responsible for destroying the planet’Fossil fuel companies have been banned from recruiting students through a university careers service for the first time. The new policy from Birkbeck, University of London, states its careers service “will not hold relationships of any kind with oil, gas or mining companies”.The decision follows a campaign, supported by the student-led group People & Planet, to cut off recruitment pathways to fossil fuel companies. The campaign is now active in dozens of UK universities. Continue reading...

State of the World’s Birds report warns human actions and climate crisis putting 49% in decline, with one in eight bird species under threat of extinctionNearly half of the planet’s bird species are in decline, according to a definitive report that paints the grimmest picture yet of the destruction of avian life.The State of the World’s Birds report, which is released every four years by BirdLife International, shows that the expansion and intensification of agriculture is putting pressure on 73% of species. Logging, invasive species, exploitation of natural resources and climate breakdown are the other main threats. Continue reading...

Both parties opposed the measure on energy permits, which critics said would gut environmental protectionsThe US Senate has voted to advance a funding bill to avert a federal government shutdown, after a tense standoff over a controversial energy-permitting provision proposed by the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin ended with its withdrawal.A procedural vote on Tuesday to move forward with the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal, which faced opposition from both parties, would be stripped from the final legislation. It was clear that, with Manchin’s plan included, Democrats were falling far short of the 60 votes needed to proceed, as most Republicans objected to it. Continue reading...

Ursula Von der Leyen warns of ‘strongest possible response’ to attacks on European energy infrastructureSabotage is the most likely cause of leaks in two Baltic Sea gas pipelines between Russia and Europe, European leaders have said, after seismologists reported explosions around the Nord Stream pipelines.A seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm, near where the leaks occurred, twice recorded spikes on Monday, the day on which the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines underwent dramatic falls in pressure, the German geological research centre GFZ said. Continue reading...