Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Senate Democrats to investigate Trump’s reported big oil ‘deal’ b

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 19:24:37 +0000

Two committees inquiring after reports of ex-president’s offer to roll back dozens of regulations for $1bn campaign donations

Powerful Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into an alleged quid pro quo offer from Donald Trump to fossil fuel executives.

‘Above normal’ hurricane season could bring summer of natural disasters to US

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 19:00:38 +0000

Factors including ‘near-record warm ocean temperatures in Atlantic’ lead to stark prediction from Noaa for June to November

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will be “above normal” amid very warm ocean temperatures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted, prompting some scientists to warn of a summer of natural disasters caused by the powerful storms.

Norfolk Southern agrees to $310m settlement over 2023 East Palestine derailment

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 15:56:10 +0000

Settlement for disaster that resulted in plumes of toxic chemicals in Ohio town includes funds for cleanup costs

The freight train company involved in a disastrous, pollution-spewing derailment in Ohio last year has agreed to a $310m settlement with the US government over the incident.

Norfolk Southern will pay a $15m civil penalty for violating clean water laws and pay hundreds of millions more in cleanup costs in the wake of the derailment, which occurred near the town of East Palestine in February last year.

Norway sued over deep-sea mining plans

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 14:44:49 +0000

WWF says the government has breached the law ‘without adequately assessing the consequences’

One of the world’s biggest environmental groups is suing the Norwegian government for opening up its seabed for deep-sea mining, claiming that Norway has failed to properly investigate the consequences of this move.

WWF-Norway says the government’s decision has breached Norwegian law, goes against the counsel of its own advisers, and sets a “dangerous precedent”.

Alarm as German climate activists charged with ‘forming a criminal organisation’

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 12:32:17 +0000

Action against Letzte Generation could have ‘immense chilling effect’ on climate protest, campaigners say

Five members of Letzte Generation, Germany’s equivalent to Just Stop Oil, have been charged with “forming a criminal organisation”, a move civil rights campaigners say could in effect criminalise future support for the climate campaign.

Nature’s ghosts: how reviving medieval farming offers wildlife an unexpected haven

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 12:00:08 +0000

Agriculture is often seen as the enemy of biodiversity, but in an excerpt from her new book Sophie Yeo explains how techniques from the middle ages allow plants and animals to flourish

The Vile clings on to the edge of the Gower peninsula. Its fields are lined up like strips of carpet, together leading to the edge of the cliff that drops into the sea. Each one is tiny, around 1-2 acres. From the sky, they look like airport runways, although this comparison would have seemed nonsensical to those who tended them for most of their existence.

‘I pray to you not to shoot us’: Mali’s Fulani herders languish in camps after violence – in pictures

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 10:00:06 +0000

After old rivalries between Dogon farmers and Fulani herders erupted into violence, exacerbated by Islamist rebels, thousands of the semi-nomadic pastoralists have fled to camps in towns, leaving their cherished animals and way of life. Many must beg to survive at sites lacking food and clean water, with no end in sight to the conflict

In one of the US’s hottest deserts, utilities push gas rather than solar

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 09:00:06 +0000

In Fort Mohave, Arizona, even Republican voters are fighting gas power plants as utilities try to lock in fossil fuels

Retirement was pretty idyllic for Mac and Debbie McKeever, who moved to Fort Mohave in Arizona for the desert views, starry nights and fresh air. The couple hosted cocktails by the pool and taco Tuesdays with their neighbors – an active bunch of Republican-voting retirees with a penchant for gas-guzzling RVs and side-by-sides, and the unlikeliest environmental activists.

National Grid taps shareholders to help fund £60bn low-carbon energy switch

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 08:40:16 +0000

Infrastructure firm raises £6.8bn to connect homes to renewable energy sources across US and UK

National Grid has tapped shareholders for nearly £7bn to fund a £60bn spending spree to upgrade its networks to cope with the switch to low-carbon energy on either side of the Atlantic.

The energy infrastructure company announced a £6.8bn rights issue – where existing shareholders are offered new shares – to provide fresh funds for investment in thousands of miles of cables to connect homes with renewable energy projects in the UK and the US.

Penguins in peril: why two bird charities are taking South Africa’s environment minister to court

admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 08:00:03 +0000

Conservationists say Barbara Creecy has failed to implement vital changes to stop fishing around colonies amid fears African penguins could be extinct by 2035