Meeting to discuss updating national gas law to reflect fuel's environmental impact as well as overhauling hydrogen strategy

Municipalities that are suffering from the climate crisis employ lobbyists already in the pay of fossil fuel companiesLiberal cities and counties across the US - including ones suing oil and gas companies - are employing lobbyists who also represent the fossil fuel industry, new research shows.The city of Baltimore, which in 2018 sued fossil fuel companies for damages related to the climate crisis, shared a lobbyist with one of the defendants in the case: ExxonMobil. Continue reading...

Captain of tourist boat from Baja California, Mexico, says grey whales return repeatedly for grooming'Grey whales have learned to approach whale-watching boats to have parasites removed by human beings, it has been claimed.Video footage documenting the behaviour in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, shows a grey whale having whale lice picked off its head by the captain of a small boat. I have done it repeatedly with the same whale and others," Paco Jimenez Franco told a US news site. It is very exciting for me." Continue reading...

Independent Annie Riddle describes attack by Tory opposition on sustainable planting policy as ridiculous exaggerationCouncil leaders in Salisbury have hit back at politically motivated" attacks on their decision to replace single-use hanging basket displays and planters provided by the council with environmentally friendly sustainable planting in the medieval city centre.As part of an effort to become carbon neutral by 2030 and encourage bees and butterflies into the city centre, the coalition-led council this week voted to pilot replacing hanging baskets with living pillars" and parklets", which it hopes will provide pockets of nature in the heart of the city. Continue reading...

Wael Sawan criticised by climate campaigners after comments defending continued reliance on oil and gasClimate campaigners have condemned as cynical" suggestions by the boss of the energy company Shell that cutting the world's oil and gas production would be dangerous and irresponsible.Wael Sawan claimed in an interview that reducing fossil fuel production, which is considered crucial in limiting the rise in global temperatures, risked worsening the cost of living crisis by limiting global energy supplies and pushing up bills. Continue reading...

Pierre Thiam and Garrett Oliver are on a mission to introduce brewmasters to fonio, a small and mighty west African grainThere's a certain magic to fonio, a tiny golden grain believed to be Africa's oldest cultivated cereal. The ancient grain's potential to solve pressing modern environmental and economic challenges inspired Pierre Thiam, the Senegalese-born chef, to become fonio's No 1 champion.After rediscovering the grain and showing home cooks how easy to cook and versatile it is, now Thiam is introducing brewmasters around the world to what fonio can do in beer. Continue reading...

Five hundred farmworkers have unionized - the biggest success in years for the union co-founded by Cesar ChavezFor decades, the United Farm Workers - a powerhouse under American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez in the 1970s - has declined in size and prominence, its membership falling from 60,000 to around 6,000. Now, after years of scant success in organizing, the UFW has something big to boast about: it has unionized 500 workers at five farms in New York state.It's the union's biggest organizing success in years, and the first time the California-based union has organized in the north-east. The New York victories will increase the union's membership by 8%, with some labor experts saying these successes show new promise and energy in the long-languishing UFW. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Scientists hope success of growing carnivorous plants without peat will convince ministers not to water down banThe proposed ban on using peat on private gardens and allotments is in danger of being weakened as opponents argue it is more difficult to grow carnivorous plants and other flowers without the environmentally damaging compost products.However, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is hoping a successful experiment in which carnivorous plants grown peat-free outshone those grown in peat will convince ministers not to water down the ban. Continue reading...

Farmers can't use chlorpyrifos on food because it damages children's brains but an EPA official questions restrictions under global treaty

Calls grow for legislation requiring developers to include hollow bricks for endangered nesting speciesConservative MPs are joining calls for a new law to guarantee swift bricks in every new home to help the rapidly declining bird and other endangered roof-nesting species.Pressure is growing to amend the levelling up bill so that developers are required to include a hollow brick for nesting birds in all new housing, with MPs to debate the issue in parliament on 10 July. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: With the news that Rishi Sunak may ditch a key climate commitment, we look back at the party's poor record on the environment Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.When David Cameron threw his hat in the ring to be the leader of the Conservatives in 2005, his mission was to modernise the party and, crucially, make it more environmentally friendly. He took a trip to the Arctic where he posed with a husky and committed to leading the greenest government ever". His campaign worked. All the political parties in Britain were, generally, on the same page: the climate crisis was an imminent threat and they needed to cut fossil fuel use as quickly as possible.UK news | Richard Ratcliffe - husband of British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe - alongside the families of other political prisoners, has accused the Foreign Office of complacency after it rejected a call by MPs to overhaul the way it goes about trying to secure the release of British nationals overseas.Policing | The head of the Metropolitan police, Sir Mark Rowley, has said the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation may be irreparably damaged by the egregious errors made in the first weeks after the killing. Rowley also rejected a BBC report claiming a man called Matthew White, who died in 2021, was a new suspect in the investigation.Lung cancer | The number of women diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK is expected to overtake men this year for the first time, prompting calls for women to be as vigilant about the disease as they are about breast cancer. Cancer experts said the very stark" figures reflected historical differences in smoking prevalence.Company profits | The world's 722 biggest companies collectively are making more than $1tn a year (780bn) in windfall profits on the back of soaring energy prices and rising interest rates, according to research by development charities. Windfall profits are defined as those exceeding average profits in the previous four years by more than 10%.Threads | Meta's Twitter rival, Threads, logged five million sign-ups in its first four hours of operation, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as the company seeks to woo users from Elon Musk's troubled platform. The app is freely available in 100 countries, but regulatory concerns mean it will not be available in the EU. Continue reading...

Proposal to improve soil health throughout continent by 2050 criticised for lack of legally binding targetsThe European Commission has proposed the continent's first soil law, intended to undo some of the damage done by intensive farming and mitigate global heating.Amid intense opposition to proposed laws on nature restoration and curbs on pesticides, the European Commission put forward proposals in Brussels on Wednesday to revive degraded soils. Research indicates that this could help absorb carbon from the atmosphere and ensure sustainable food production. Continue reading...

Ash dieback most expensive, while cost of tackling alien species has more than doubled since 2010, says studyFrom Japanese knotweed to a fungus that kills ash trees, tackling invasive non-native species now costs the UK economy about 4bn, up from 1.7bn in 2010, research suggests.There are about 2,000 invasive non-native species (Inns) in the UK, and about 12 new ones establish themselves each year, adding, along with inflation, to the rise in costs. Continue reading...

Watchdog identifies 102 violations over past two years as country extracts transition minerals' for green-energy technologyA new report into China's dominance in the green-energy market has identified more than a hundred allegations of environmental and human rights violations linked to its overseas transition mineral investments over the past two years.China dominates the processing and refining of lithium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, zinc, chromium, aluminium and rare-earth elements - and the manufacturing of technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and batteries for electric vehicles (EV), which require so-called transition minerals. Continue reading...

Average global temperature hits 17.18C and experts expect record to be broken again very soonWorld temperature records have been broken for a second day in a row, data suggests, as experts issued a warning that this year's warmest days are still to come - and with them the warmest days ever recorded.The average global air temperature was 17.18C (62.9F) on Tuesday, according to data collated by the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), surpassing the record 17.01C reached on Monday. Continue reading...

Chief medical officer says move to electric cars can reduce impact of exhausts, but may bring different problem to the foreMinisters need to start looking seriously at the health risks from vehicle tyre wear as the impact of pollutants from car exhausts gradually reduces, Sir Chris Whitty has told MPs.Giving evidence to the environmental audit committee, England's chief medical officer said improvements in emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles, and a shift towards electric cars, were reducing the extent of dangerous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides. Continue reading...

The biggest players in tech have contracted with lobbyists that also represent some of the biggest fossil fuel companiesApple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon - some of the largest technology firms in the world - have all vowed to confront the climate crisis and have each set goals to slash planet-heating emissions. But they have also hired US lobbyists that work with the fossil fuel companies that are worsening global heating.Apple has contracted lobbyists who also work for the Koch Industries network, well known for its work to undermine confidence in climate science and stymie action to cut emissions, as well as the coal mining company Peabody, among other fossil fuel companies, according to F Minus, a new database of state-level lobbying disclosures. Continue reading...

Civil servants say bold action needed to meet target - but painful decisions need to be madeRishi Sunak risks damaging trust in the UK among developing countries and reducing the country's standing in negotiations, because of a failure to meet climate spending pledges, civil servants have told ministers.They said that under current policies the only way to meet the 11.6bn international climate funding target agreed at Cop26 was to take a drastic combination of hugely reputationally damaging" measures including delaying meeting the target, redefining already committed spending as climate funding, and cutting money for research and development, biodiversity and plastic pollution mitigation.Delay the target. Officials said they could move it to the end of the 2026 calendar year instead of the financial year 2025/26, giving another three-quarters of a year to spend money. They warned this would be hugely reputationally damaging at a time when the global south mistrusts wealthy countries". They added: The geopolitical ramifications are likely to extend beyond climate, damaging our standing with a wide range of developing countries, SIDs [small island developing states], Commonwealth and middle-ground nations, further undermining trust in the UK as a donor."Count other already-committed amounts to climate payments as part of the 11.6bn. Civil servants said: This would be seen as the UK moving the goalposts' and would be seen as a backwards step, reducing UK standing and influence in climate negotiations."Eat into Defra and net zero department budgets. Currently half of the international funding paid by these departments is part of the 11.6bn commitment. Civil servants said it would be helpful for this to be closer to 75%, but this would eat into research and development funding as well as non-climate biodiversity protection programmes and other areas such as preventing plastic pollution.Obtain a one-off sum from the Treasury. Officials admitted this would be strongly resisted" by the chancellor but said if the Treasury directly funded loss and damage options, it would be a strong signal of climate leadership by the UK". Continue reading...

Exclusive: new database shows 1,500 US lobbyists working for fossil-fuel firms while representing universities and green groupsMore than 1,500 lobbyists in the US are working on behalf of fossil-fuel companies while at the same time representing hundreds of liberal-run cities, universities, technology companies and environmental groups that say they are tackling the climate crisis, the Guardian can reveal.Lobbyists for oil, gas and coal interests are also employed by a vast sweep of institutions, ranging from the city governments of Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia; tech giants such as Apple and Google; more than 150 universities; some of the country's leading environmental groups - and even ski resorts seeing their snow melted by global heating. Continue reading...

Allstate, too, has pulled out of climate disaster-prone areas while hiring lobbyists who are also aligned to fossil fuel interests

Tuesday incidents happened about 60 miles apart, a day after two others reported being attacked off popular New York beachesTwo swimmers were apparently attacked by sharks off Long Island on Tuesday, a day after two others reported being attacked off popular New York beaches.At least one beach delayed opening to Independence Day revelers after officials said drones spotted 50 sand sharks. When the beach reopened, swimmers were advised to stay close to shore. Continue reading...

Bills would force large companies that do business in the state to report all emissions and crack down on bogus carbon offset claimsThis article was produced by Capital & Main. An extended version is available here.Two transparency bills in the California legislature would require corporations to disclose more information about their emissions and their efforts to fight the climate crisis. The oil and gas industry is spending millions to kill them. Continue reading...

Increasing number of workers in once profitable mining industry now employed in tourism in a stunning corner of AppalachiaRick Johnson's introduction to the world of coal began as a teenager more than 40 years ago in rural western Virginia. For a decade and a half, he worked for extraction and chemical production companies across Appalachia.I was fed on coal," he said recently. Continue reading...

State-owned corporation expressed genuine remorse' over the spill in a Naremburn creek in October 2020

David Black says water firms' debt is their issue to sort out' because regulator did not have powers to tackle problem until recentlyWater companies will be seeking big bill rises as they face huge infrastructure investment demands, the chief executive of the water regulator, Ofwat, has said.David Black denied that the water industry was badly regulated and defended Ofwat's role in an industry saddled with debt and facing public anger over poor performance, high dividends, executive pay and sewage pollution. Continue reading...

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Scientists have warned the country to expect multiple natural disasters' this month including typhoons and high temperaturesChina's president, Xi Jinping, has called for stronger efforts to protect lives and property from severe flooding, as the country's scientists warned July will bring more misery from extreme weather.Heavy rain has displaced thousands of people in the centre of China, and destroyed bridges and other property. Video captured one building in southwest Chongqing crumbling into a raging torrent, and the national broadcaster reported a railway bridge collapsed after it was weakened by flood waters in the same region. Continue reading...

Project Sea clears rubbish from Aqaba's reefs, which is recycled into bags by Palestinian refugees - a female-led scheme in a country where women must still fight for equalityThe yacht Diversity leaves the harbour of Aqaba, the only coastal town in Jordan. To the right is the Israeli resort of Eilat, framed by barren mountains; in the Red Sea, a boxfish makes leisurely circles in absurdly clear, turquoise water.The boat soon anchors just offshore, directly in front of Aqaba's electricity plant, and suddenly everything happens quickly: the passengers don wetsuits, pass around gloves and cloth bags, and then, one by one, dive in. They all have one mission: to collect as much rubbish as possible in 30 minutes. Continue reading...

World Meteorological Organization says weather pattern is in place, which for Australia increases risk of drought, heatwaves, bushfires and coral bleaching

Heatwaves sizzled around the world from the US south and the north of Africa to China and AntarcticaThis Monday, 3 July 2023, was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction.The average global temperature reached 17.01C (62.62F), surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92C (62.46F), as heatwaves sizzled around the world. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Disclosure provokes fury as Rishi Sunak accused of betraying populations vulnerable to global heatingThe government is drawing up plans to drop the UK's flagship 11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge, the Guardian can reveal, with the prime minster accused of betraying populations most vulnerable to global heating.The disclosure provoked fury from former ministers and representatives of vulnerable countries, who accused Rishi Sunak of making false promises. Continue reading...

Five Tory-led councils take legal action in bid to block Sadiq Khan's plans to extend ultra-low emission zone to whole of capitalLondon's mayor Sadiq Khan lacks the legal power" to extend the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to the whole of the capital, five Conservative-led councils have argued in the high court.Lawyers for four outer London boroughs - Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon - and Surrey county council said that key information was not disclosed" in consultations over the proposed expansion of the Ulez. Continue reading...

Team hope sale of block of rare ambergris, used by perfumers, will help victims of 2021 La Palma volcanoWhen a sperm whale washed up dead on a beach in the Canary Island of La Palma no one imagined a valuable treasure was hidden in its entrails.Heavy seas and a rising tide made it difficult to carry out a postmortem, but Antonio Fernandez Rodriguez, head of the institute of animal health and food security at the University of Las Palmas, was determined to find out why the whale had died. Continue reading...

Vast majority of releases were illegal, high court told - as Thames Water is fined 3.34m for sewage dumping in separate caseWater companies discharged raw sewage into rivers and seas via their storm overflows more than 300,000 times last year, according to new data presented to the high court. The new figures came as - in a separate hearing - Thames Water was fined 3.34m for sewage dumping.The vast majority of the releases of raw sewage were illegal, the high court heard. The discharges had happened because of a lack of capacity at treatment works run by water companies and had been in breach of the law, it was told. Continue reading...

Japanese firm believes it could make a solid-state battery with a range of 745 miles that charges in 10 minutesToyota says it has made a technological breakthrough that will allow it to halve the weight, size and cost of batteries, in what could herald a major advance for electric vehicles.The world's second largest carmaker was already pursuing a plan to roll out cars with advanced solid-state batteries, which offer benefits compared with liquid-based batteries, by 2025. Continue reading...

World Meteorological Organization warns of record temperatures and extreme heat in environmental double whammy'The arrival of a climate-heating El Nino event has been declared by the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with officials warning that preparation for extreme weather events is vital to save lives and livelihoods.The last major El Nino was in 2016, which remains the hottest year on record. The new El Nino comes on top of the increasing global heating driven by human-caused carbon emissions, an effect the WMO called a double whammy". This can supercharge extreme weather, and temperature records are already being broken on land and at sea across the globe. Continue reading...

The Cornish Seal Sanctuary has been rescuing and rehabilitating pups for more than 60 years. Between September 2022 and March 2023, 50 grey seal pups were treated by the animal care team, with 86% of them being released back into the sea. The sanctuary also provides a permanent home to those needing special care Continue reading...

WildFish charity says 56bn plan to reduce sewage dumping from storm overflows is illegal because it expects customers to foot billWater companies must pay to fix illegal sewage discharges rather than pass the cost to customers, lawyers for the charity WildFish are to argue in the high court.The campaign group will allege at a judicial review that the government's 56bn plan to reduce raw sewage dumping from storm overflows is illegal. Continue reading...

Researchers alarmed by results of study of dogs and horses living close to Chemours factory in North CarolinaPets living near a PFAS manufacturing plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina have concerning levels of the toxic chemicals in their blood, and show evidence of health effects linked to exposure, new research finds.PFAS were present in all 32 dog and 31 horse blood samples checked, and the findings provide evidence that human and animal exposures to the chemicals impacts their bodies, said Scott Belcher, a North Carolina State University researcher and co-author. Continue reading...

The first supermoon of 2023 has been seen in Spain, Russia, Greece and Argentina and according to the Old Farmer's Almanac is called the 'full buck moon', named after the antlers of male deers which are growing at this time of year. A supermoon occurs when the full moon takes place at or near the lunar perigee, which means its closest approach to the Earth. When the full moon occurs at or around this point in its orbit, it appears larger and brighter than other full moons

Australian government stands by safeguard mechanism's design and indicates it will not change in response to lobbying

Heat dome of high pressure hovers over Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma as thousands remain without power in Chicago with heavy rains knocking down trees and power linesThe heating of the earth's atmosphere and oceans by the burning of fossil fuels made the current extreme heatwave across the us at least five times more likely, according to a recent analysis by Climate Central, a climate science non-profit.The rolling heatwave marks the latest in a series of recent extreme heat dome" events that have scorched various parts of the world.If you have this sort of high-pressure system sitting stationary over a region, you can have these really impressive heatwaves. Continue reading...

Average temperature of 15.8C almost a full degree higher than previous highs for the monthThe Met Office has confirmed June was the hottest on record for the UK, eclipsing the last hottest by nearly a full degree.Across the month, the country recorded an average mean temperature of 15.8C, beating the previous record of 14.9C, recorded in 1940 and 1976 and about 2.5C above the usual June average. Continue reading...

Public urged to use water sparingly on Koh Samui, as authorities say they don't want it to become a disaster zone'Authorities on Koh Samui are working to tackle a water shortage that has left taps running dry often for months, saying they do not want the Thai island to become a disaster zone".A lack of rain and a resurgence in tourism has put intense pressure on supplies, prompting Sutham Samthong, a deputy mayor of Koh Samui, to urge the public to use supplies sparingly. Continue reading...

Creator of winning garden at Hampton Court flower show says US plants are ideal for changing climateYears of hot dry summers parching lawns and killing off prize blooms have caused many gardeners to switch to using gravel and Mediterranean herbs, trees and shrubs.But a newly fashionable style of planting known as prairie planting could be a way to maintain a lush garden that is good for wildlife, while withstanding drought and floods. Continue reading...

Winter storms inundated an industrial agricultural area the size of Lake Tahoe, flooding fields, homes and electricity gridsThere are portions of California's Tulare Lake, with its blue water that stretches for miles and birds bobbing around the shoreline, where it can be easy to forget that a few months ago, none of this was here at all.But then an irrigation hose or a fence post or a power line pokes through the surface, reminding passersby and authorities tasked with patrolling the lake what lies under the water. Continue reading...

Duchy hopes to at least double size of Wistman's Wood, a 3 hectare fragment of ancient woodland, by 2040Prince William plans to double the size of a tiny fragment of rainforest on his Dartmoor estate, the Duchy of Cornwall has announced.Wistman's wood is one of Britain's remaining ancient temperate rainforests", brought into the public eye after environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole's bestselling book on the subject. Continue reading...