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Louisiana faces challenges with carbon storage due to abandoned wells

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Thursday, March 21, 2024

A new report raises concerns about the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide underground in Louisiana, given the state's high number of abandoned oil and gas wells.Nicholas Kusnetz reports for Inside Climate News.In short:Louisiana, leading in proposed carbon storage projects, grapples with the risk posed by 120,000 abandoned wells.Experts worry these wells could leak stored carbon dioxide, undermining efforts to combat climate change.The state's capability to oversee this complex issue is questioned, amidst fears of insufficient regulatory measures.Key quote:"It’s not a question of whether they’re going to leak. It’s a question of how much, how often, and whether it’s an acceptable level of leakage."— Able Russ, director of the Center for Applied Environmental ScienceWhy this matters:Despite its potential, carbon capture and storage faces challenges, including high costs, energy requirements for the capture and compression process, and the need for robust monitoring systems to ensure the CO2 remains securely stored.In 2021, more than 500 environmental and community groups called on United States and Canadian leaders to abandon efforts to capture carbon emissions from fossil fuels and work harder to curb fossil fuel use in the first place.

A new report raises concerns about the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide underground in Louisiana, given the state's high number of abandoned oil and gas wells.

Nicholas Kusnetz reports for Inside Climate News.

In short:

Louisiana, leading in proposed carbon storage projects, grapples with the risk posed by 120,000 abandoned wells.
Experts worry these wells could leak stored carbon dioxide, undermining efforts to combat climate change.
The state's capability to oversee this complex issue is questioned, amidst fears of insufficient regulatory measures.

Key quote:

"It’s not a question of whether they’re going to leak. It’s a question of how much, how often, and whether it’s an acceptable level of leakage."

— Able Russ, director of the Center for Applied Environmental Science

Why this matters:

Despite its potential, carbon capture and storage faces challenges, including high costs, energy requirements for the capture and compression process, and the need for robust monitoring systems to ensure the CO2 remains securely stored.

In 2021, more than 500 environmental and community groups called on United States and Canadian leaders to abandon efforts to capture carbon emissions from fossil fuels and work harder to curb fossil fuel use in the first place.

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

Related News

How Some Common Medications Can Make People More Vulnerable to Heat

As climate change brings more intense heat waves, scientists are trying to understand how certain medications interact with the body’s thermoregulation system

Summers are undoubtedly getting hotter. Extreme heat events are predicted to become longer, more intense and more frequent in the coming years—and rising temperatures are already taking a toll on the human body. A published last month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that heat-related emergency room visits were substantially higher from May to September 2023 than in any year before. And now growing evidence suggests that people who rely on certain medications, notably including antipsychotics, may become especially vulnerable to heat-related illness and adverse side effects as temperatures climb.Studies have established that people with chronic illnesses such as schizophrenia, diabetes and cardiovascular or respiratory disease are generally more vulnerable to overheating—and the medications they need may actually worsen these risks. A 2020 PLOS ONE study found that various commonly prescribed drugs interfere with the body’s ability to perceive and protect itself from heat, increasing the risk of hospitalization. These include diuretics, antipsychotics, beta-blockers, stimulants, antihypertensives and anticholinergic medications (which include Parkinson’s and bladder-control medications). Illicit use of amphetamines and some other drugs, including unlicensed weight-loss drugs such as dinitrophenol, can alter body temperature.“There are a lot of drugs out there that diminish our ability to radiate off heat and cool down,” says Adam Blumenberg, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Emergency room visits for medication-related heat stress or illness, also known as drug-induced hyperthermia, are still relatively rare—but Blumenberg says this will likely change as heat waves and record-breaking temperatures continue to increase.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The human body’s built-in “thermostat” system works to maintain an internal temperature between 97 and 99 degrees Fahrenheit (36 and 37 degrees Celsius), Blumenberg says, adding that a body temperature of more than 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) can be life-threatening. The brain structure called the hypothalamus helps orchestrate processes to keep that core temperature stable when the weather gets too hot. It acts on the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for keeping the body in homeostasis via many important processes, including heart rate, blood pressure and respiration. The hypothalamus also regulates sweating and dilates blood vessels in the skin, arms, feet and face to dissipate body heat—and it can cause a sensation of discomfort that prompts the body to seek out shade, water or rest.Experts say many medications associated with drug-induced hyperthermia have one factor in common: they’re anticholinergic. These drugs block cells’ receptors from binding to a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which plays an important role in the autonomic nervous system and its heat-adjustment responses, such as perspiration. Blocking its action can cause dry mouth and urinary retention—feeling a need to urinate but being unable to do so. “Some of these medications might cause more heat sensitivity because you’re not sweating,” says Vicki Ellingrod, dean of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. “Your body is not making the secretions that it should be making.” Anticholinergics can also causeflushed skin, dilated pupils, blurred vision, fever and an altered mental state. Clinicians have historically used a mnemonic about these symptoms to diagnose anticholinergic poisoning.“A lot of drugs have mild anticholinergic properties, even if that’s not their main intent as a drug,” Blumenberg says. For example, some allergy medications primarily block a cell’s histamine receptors—but they might also bind to other receptors as well and thus still produce anticholinergic effects.Some antipsychotics and neuroleptics (first-generation antipsychotics) can also lead to this and can create a dopamine-blocking effect as well. Dopamine—often called the “feel-good” hormone—influences motivation, memory and even body movement; blocking it can make people feel stiff and cause problems with gait, balance and muscles. One way to decrease those side effects is by pairing an antipsychotic with an anticholinergic—further interfering with acetylcholine and potentially disrupting heat regulation. People who take the antipsychotic drug haloperidol for schizophrenia, for example, are often prescribed an anticholinergic drug called benztropine that decreases some adverse side effects but can, on rare occasions, elevate internal temperature. This shouldn’t happen if people take the appropriate prescribed dose, Blumenberg says, “but it’s possible.”Antipsychotic medications, as well as medications commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder, depression and insomnia, typically act on the brain, which means they could potentially influence the neural pathways that control temperature. Some older antipsychotics are known to occasionally cause a severe reaction called neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which impacts the body’s ability to thermoregulate, Ellingrod notes. “Now, with our newer medications, it’s not as common. But maybe with the impact of the climate, it’s going to be more common,” she says.New research into psychiatric disorders has rapidly improved existing treatments and led to new strategies to reduce some of the adverse side effects; such steps include pairing antipsychotics with other medications. But responses to medications can still vary from person to person. Additionally, “the degree in which [these drugs] actually block the acetylcholine receptors varies between medications, which is why you can see one drug in a class really having this [anticholinergic] effect and another drug in the same class not having the same effect,” Ellingrod says. For example, she adds, the antihistamines that cause more drowsiness tend to be more anticholinergic because they can cross the blood-brain barrier. Newer antihistamines have side effects that are less sedating and very rarely disrupt thermoregulation.A 2023 study in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that most heat-related adverse effects were reported for medications that act on the nervous system (such as drugs that have strong anticholinergic effects), followed by medications that modulate the immune system. People on heart medications might face thermoregulation complications under high environmental temperatures, too. A 2022 study in Nature Cardiovascular Researchfound that people taking beta-blockers and antiplatelet medications for cardiovascular conditions have a higher risk of experiencing a heart attack in hot weather.“Beta-receptor blockers could decrease the heart rate [and] reduce the blood flow to the skin. That makes people more vulnerable to heat exposure,” says Kai Chen, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health and a co-author of the 2022 study. “The same goes for the [antiplatelet drugs], like aspirin. People taking that could increase core body temperature during passive heat stress, which will make them more vulnerable.”Chen notes that his study is based only on a small group of German participants. But he and his team are conducting studies to analyze these effects in bigger cohorts in the U.S., and they expect results in a couple of years. “We’re trying to see if this enhanced heat effect on these certain medications is due to the medication itself or due to the preexisting conditions,” he says. “If we can confirm through multiple studies at multiple locations with different populations that this is not a mere correlation or association and can maybe indicate a causation, then I think that will change how physicians advise the patients taking the medication during heat waves.”Soko Setoguchi, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a co-author of the 2020 PLOS ONE study, says there is a growing effort to understand how drugs are affected by extreme heat—because any medication can have unintended effects, and there is still “limited evidence” on how heat influences various drug interactions.“The precise temperature threshold for these side effects to occur is not explicitly defined in the provided studies, as heat sensitivity can vary based on individual health status, medication dosage and specific environmental conditions,” Setoguchi says, adding that comprehensive data from larger trials are needed.The Food and Drug Administration monitors drugs’ safety even after they are approved, but it has not been tracking heat-related issues associated with medications. “If newly identified safety signals are identified,” the agency wrote in an e-mail to Scientific American, “the FDA will determine what, if any, actions are appropriate after a thorough review of available data.”Scientific American requested comment from 10 major pharmaceutical companies that make antipsychotic medications, but only one, Lundbeck, had responded by the time of publication. A spokesperson said in an e-mail that the company hasn’t “observed any side effects linked to weather conditions such as hot weather in relation to the use of antipsychotics. However, certain labels may mention side effects like flushing, tremor, and hyperthermia, which are linked to [medications that act on serotonin] and can resemble symptoms associated with hot weather.” (Serotonin is a hormone involved in temperature regulation.)Ultimately, some medications that can induce heat-related side effects are still necessary for treating certain conditions. Experts recommend consulting with physicians about potentially adjusting doses or scheduling and alerting a health care provider if any irregular reactions occur as the weather warms. Additionally, people taking medications known to produce an anticholinergic effect should be aware of strategies to keep cool. These can include staying hydrated, carrying fans or ice packs and seeking shade or air-conditioning. Until more research results emerge, clinicians and their patients should discuss best options for prescriptions—and ways to prepare for hotter days.

Climate

Food

Nature

Lawsuit appears to be in peril for California children harmed by climate change

Eighteen California children sued the EPA, saying U.S. climate policy discriminates against minors. A federal judge indicates he is likely to dismiss the suit.

Eighteen California children who allege the United States’ climate policies intentionally discriminate against minors appeared in federal court this week with their landmark lawsuit in jeopardy.The children, ages 8 through 17, sued the U.S. government and the federal Environmental Protection Agency for violating their constitutional rights. Their attorneys claim the nation’s environmental policies have allowed dangerous levels of greenhouse gases to be released and accumulate in the atmosphere, knowing these emissions will endanger their well-being and future.Although younger generations will undoubtedly experience the worst effects of global warming, children have little, if any, recourse to influence the rules that will shape their future.“Their only redress is not the ballot box, elections or political power,” said Julia Olson, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit that has filed legal actions over climate change in several states. Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science. But U.S. Department of Justice attorneys this week petitioned a federal judge in California to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing in part that the court did not have the authority to make sweeping public policy changes.Judge Michael Fitzgerald, 64, acknowledged climate change would have profound effects for all Americans, especially those “younger than my age or the president.” But Fitzgerald, who did not make a ruling Monday, said he was inclined to side with the government, noting these decisions should rest with Congress and the executive branch. “There are ways everyone can express their political views,” Fitzgerald said, noting that he volunteered for an elected official as a child.In the coming weeks, Fitzgerald will rule on whether the case can proceed to trial. Ironically, in a case adjudicating the rights of children, the 18 plaintiffs — who live in communities that have been devastated by wildfires, flooding or heat waves — remained silent in the courtroom Monday. Outside of the downtown Los Angeles courthouse, however, the children and their attorneys expressed their desire to be heard. That included Genesis B., a 17-year-old from Long Beach, whose family does not have air conditioning. She has experienced summer temperatures so hot that she waits until sunset to start homework. By then, she’s typically tired and dehydrated.Genesis said she hopes Fitzgerald allows the case to move forward, because she feels the suit is their best chance to make a difference. “I would say just to keep future generations in mind, because this is one planet for everyone,” she said. “One quote I would share with the judge is: ‘We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors — we borrow it from our children.’” “When the EPA looks at the value of a life, it doesn’t treat a child’s life as worth as much [as an adult’s] because they’re not income-earners,” said Julia Olson, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit that has filed legal actions over climate change in several states. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) One of the main arguments of their lawsuit is that the EPA’s analyses of air pollution and greenhouse gases treats the lives of adults as worth more than those of children, according to Olson. “When the EPA looks at the value of a life, it doesn’t treat a child’s life as worth as much because they’re not income-earners,” Olson said outside the courthouse. “All of that economic analysis drives the government’s decisions on whether to control pollution or to allow it. And if it’s cheaper to allow it, then they’ll keep allowing it.”Federal attorneys argued no court ruling would be able to fix previous damage from climate change. But the children and their attorneys argued this case is just as much about mitigating future damage.“This may not automatically reverse the damage,” said Maryam A., a 13-year-old from Santa Monica. “But I think that you, as government officials, should be able to protect all Americans, regardless of age, gender, race, or anything like that. “The fact that you are dismissing our claims because we’re children doesn’t invalidate what’s happening to us. And I feel that sometimes people may not take seriously children sitting in a courthouse. But we’re the same as anyone else.”To reduce levels of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this century, the plaintiffs argue that the U.S. government needs to cease burning fossil fuels by 2050. The Biden administration has set a lofty goal of completely eliminating the nation’s carbon footprint by 2050, although it will take decades of concrete policy action for the nation to achieve that target.In the meantime, the U.S. and other countries continue to endure record-setting heat, intensifying wildfires and powerful storms. Avroh S., a 14-year-old student from Palo Alto, said extreme storms and flooding at his middle school caused a power outage and prompted an evacuation. For him and other plaintiffs, these recurring natural disasters only reinforced the importance of their case. “Apathy isn’t the answer. Action is,” he said. “If climate change wasn’t happening, I wouldn’t be here. I would much rather be hanging out with my friends or in school.”

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CO2

Health

This spring, DC-area students are planting native flowers — and activating ‘the solarpunk imagination’

A new initiative invited student groups to design and plant gardens that will promote wildlife, and cultivate their visions for the future.

The spotlight Tending a garden is about as hands-on as climate solutions get. On a basic level, putting plants in the ground helps sequester carbon. Vegetation can reduce stress and tension for the humans around it, and it provides habitat and sustenance for pollinators and other wildlife. Gardens can provide spaces for education, and, of course, sources of food. But the act of designing and planting a green space serves another, more metaphorical purpose: It gives the gardener agency over a piece of the world and what they want it to look like — and a role in conveying of all those aforementioned benefits. That’s the premise behind Wild Visions, a challenge launched in the DMV area (that’s District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, for the uninitiated) in January. The project invited university students to design gardens with all sorts of visions and themes, then bring them to fruition this spring with native seedlings from Garden for Wildlife — an offshoot of the National Wildlife Federation. For every plant the company sells, it donates one to a community project, said campus engagement lead Rosalie Bull. This spring, around 2,000 went to Wild Visions. “We’ll be creating in total nearly 6,000 square feet of new wildlife habitat in the DMV,” Bull said. “And that’s just this year. We hope to do it year after year.” In Bull’s view, this project has a distinctly solarpunk framing — celebrating a literary genre and art movement that conjures visions of a sustainable future, where nature is as central as technology. Although part of the goal was to get more native flowers in the ground, the challenge also hoped to “activate the solarpunk imagination,” and let students offer their perspectives on what the gardens could accomplish. For instance, a group called Latinos en Acción from American University wanted to focus on monarch butterfly habitat, as a symbol of the migrant justice movement. Others, like the Community Learning Garden at the University of Maryland, were interested in exploring culinary uses of the plants they received, which included sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, milkweed, goldenrod, and aster. “We framed the challenge as a response to the biodiversity crisis, but also as an invitation to be creative and to create habitat and to create space for humans to connect with the more-than-human world,” Bull said. Above all, she and her team wanted the projects to be fun — and to help students feel empowered to participate in solutions. “The solarpunk orientation is recognizing that things are bad. There’s so much cause for grief, despair, anxiety, whatever. But nevertheless, we’re actually just being asked to care more for our communities and to reintegrate ourselves into relationship with the Earth and our local ecosystems.” A photo from Latinos en Acción’s planting day at 11th and Monroe Street Park in D.C. Rosalie Bull Garden for Wildlife hired Bull in September to explore how it might create opportunities for college students in and around D.C. (the company is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland). She visited schools to discuss various possibilities, like fundraising partnerships or educational programs. “Almost every single student group that I spoke to was like, ‘Give us plants, and we’ll plant a garden,’” she recalled. In the end, 14 groups participated from concept to planting day. They each received 150 seedlings for their wild visions, as well as design support and, in some cases, connections to local partner organizations. The challenge culminated on Sunday in an awards ceremony dubbed “The Plantys.” Among the six awards handed out were the cross-pollinator award, for the group that best exemplified collaboration; the wildlife-gardener award, for the design most focused on creating habitat; and the sanctuary-maker award, for the garden that best served as a community space for gathering and reflection. Each prize came with an engraved, handmade ceramic birdbath. The landscape design award went to Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights, or SINAR, from George Washington University. Its garden took the shape of a turtle, modeled after the flag of the Piscataway people. “I think that we saw this as an opportunity to raise awareness of the connection between climate change, Indigenous land stewardship, and even landback — and also to bring awareness to the Piscataway, [whose land] we reside on,” said Julia Swanson, a junior at George Washington and the vice president of SINAR. She and her peers see a general lack of awareness of Indigenous history and the continued presence of Native peoples in the DMV area. “We just really want to rewrite that narrative and make sure everyone is aware that no matter where they go, they’re on someone’s land. And that includes D.C.” Jacob Brittingham, the secretary of SINAR, is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He saw this project as an opportunity to engage with Indigenous representation in his new home of D.C. “It’s always great when you get to honor tribal lands and tribal leaders, and the history and culture of people who have fought to be here, but are continuing to be marginalized,” he said. The SINAR team planted its garden at Piscataway Park, working with the Accokeek Foundation, a local organization that tends to the park and manages educational opportunities there. During their planting day on Saturday, the students had the opportunity to learn from Anjela Barnes, a Piscataway leader and land steward who is the foundation’s executive director. Working with Barnes was a highlight for all the members of SINAR. “I felt so lucky to be able to be there and to plant these plants, and be able to ask questions about them and talk directly to Anjela as we were going through,” said Riya Sharma, a senior and president of the group. “It was just such a great relief to go to Piscataway Park and be surrounded by nature — let alone actually using our hands to dig in the soil and work directly with the land.” Swanson added that it felt good to actively do something the group advocates for on a theoretical level — the restoration of native plants and control of invasive species. And the planting itself was joyful. “I’m not exactly a super outdoorsy person,” she said with a chuckle. “But they were so helpful, the people from Accokeek Foundation. And it was just a really fun environment. Everyone was making jokes and collaborating.” The group named its garden “Wawpaney,” which means daybreak or dawn in Nanticoke, a language spoken by the Piscataway and other tribes from the area. The students worked in a plot in front of the park’s educational center, near the parking lot, which will make the garden highly visible to visitors. Ultimately, they’d like to add a plaque sharing the story of the garden and its connection to the Piscataway flag. “That could be a follow-up project,” Brittingham said. Sharma, Brittingham, and Swanson pose with their birdbath at the Planty awards ceremony. Aliia Wilder As the challenge grows in the years ahead, Bull said, she’d like to be able to work with other organizations to offer students the opportunity to incorporate art and other interpretive materials into their gardens. She was heartened by the enthusiastic response not only from student groups, but also from local environmental organizations, like Accokeek Foundation, that wanted to get involved and host gardens. “There are so many components of the planetary crisis that are really abstract, or are difficult to see yourself as actually integral to the solution,” Bull said. “But biodiversity renewal really has to play out at a yard-by-yard level. It has to play out by individual actions.” She echoed Swanson’s sentiments about creating the opportunity to put solutions into practice — in planting gardens, the students can see the impact they can have on people and wildlife in their communities. “They’re not like, ‘Oh, I just learned a horrific fact, that the world is emptying out of life and I have nothing to do about it.’ It’s like, ‘I’m actually already doing something about it.’” — Claire Elise Thompson More exposure Read: a previous Looking Forward newsletter about the movement away from manicured lawns Read: about the history of urban farming and its connections to food justice and resistance (Grist and Earth in Color) Watch / Read: about some of the benefits of planting native species in your garden (The Weather Network) Read: how climate change is affecting the health of native trees, and arborists are working to build diversity and resilience in the urban canopy (Grist) Browse: a step-by-step guide to building a pollinator-friendly garden (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) A parting shot The Wild Visions cross-pollinator award went to three student orgs from the University of Maryland that teamed up for their planting day: the campus Community Learning Garden, the student chapter of the Audubon Society, and an environmental justice group called 17 for Peace and Justice. “It was honestly so awesome,” said Grace Walsh-Little, a senior and president of the Community Learning Garden. “We had worked really hard to be able to come up with a design plan for every single space in the garden and exactly what we were going to pick, and how we were going to space them and where certain plants were going to go. So it was really nice to see that come into action.” Here are some shots from their planting event on Earth Day. IMAGE CREDITS Vision: Grist Spotlight: Rosalie Bull; Aliia Wilder Parting shot: Rosalie Bull; Sydney Walsh This story was originally published by Grist with the headline This spring, DC-area students are planting native flowers — and activating ‘the solarpunk imagination’ on May 1, 2024.

Climate

Culture

Crisis

California protects its Joshua trees. A new bill could allow more to be cut down for development

Environmentalists warn that a California Democrat’s bill “drives a bulldozer” through the state’s new law that protects imperiled Joshua trees from commercial development. But the lawmaker says his impoverished desert region desperately needs the economic boost.

In summary Environmentalists warn that a California Democrat’s bill “drives a bulldozer” through the state’s new law that protects imperiled Joshua trees from commercial development. But the lawmaker says his impoverished desert region desperately needs the economic boost. Democratic Assemblymember Juan Carrillo has mixed feelings about the Joshua trees that are scattered across his sprawling Southern California desert district. “The Joshua tree is an iconic symbol of the high desert,” he told CalMatters. “We have to save that. We have to preserve it.” At the same time, he’s a former planner for the city of Palmdale, so he knows that efforts to protect the trees will make it harder to build housing and commercial developments in his economically disadvantaged district in the Mojave Desert. It’s with those concerns in mind that Carrillo introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 2443, that would give commercial developers a break from the state’s newly passed protections for one of the state’s most recognizable – and imperiled – trees. Perhaps surprisingly in a state known for its environmental advocacy, the bill last week passed its first committee over the objections of nearly every major environmental group in the state. The legislation comes on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom last summer signing the first-ever law protecting the Joshua trees, which can live for hundreds of years. An estimated 4 to 11 million Joshua trees grow across the vast area of Southern California, including in the Joshua Tree National Park, according to state estimates. Climate models suggest that by the end of the 21st century, much of the species’ range may no longer be viable due to droughts and wildfires. But the California Fish and Game Commission, which sets state endangered species protections, deadlocked in 2022 on whether to officially declare the species threatened. Last year’s law sets restrictions on how many trees can be cut and requires developers to pay a fee for each tree they remove unless they acquire and restore habitat to mitigate the ecological damage. The fees the state collects are used to replant trees, save habitat and buy new lands for Joshua tree sanctuaries. The law allowed cities and counties to set lower fees for small projects, like housing and public works. Carrillo’s bill would let local governments offer the same benefits to large commercial and industrial projects. Assemblymember Juan Carrillo joins other members of the Assembly in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 1, 2023. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo The bill now faces an uncertain future as state lawmakers consider the state’s ballooning budget deficit. (The bill’s legislative analysis declares the fiscal impacts of Carrillo’s bill as “unknown.”) Carrillo’s bill must next pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where thousands of controversial – and potentially costly – bills have died in what’s known as the “suspense file.” Meanwhile, the California Building Industry Association, which supports this year’s bill, has donated at least $300,000 to sitting legislators’ campaigns in the past two years. By comparison, the Sierra Club, an opponent, has only donated around $19,000 over the same period. Why environmentalists oppose Joshua tree bill Last year’s bill had grudging support from environmentalists. In 2019, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned state officials to list Western Joshua trees as “threatened” under the state’s Endangered Species Act, although they are not protected under the federal version of the law. The listing would have led to more stringent prohibition on development over the thousands of square miles where Joshua trees grow in California, including the fast-growing cities of Palmdale, Lancaster, Hesperia and Victorville in Carrillo’s district. The compromise legislation last year provided the first-ever protection for Joshua trees while setting rules for development. In a recent letter to the legislature, Brendan Cummings, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity, called Carrillo’s bill a dangerous piece of legislation that “drives a bulldozer” through last year’s bill and the state’s endangered species law. “The bill is an unnecessary, overbroad, counterproductive, and … would unravel the delicate and carefully-crafted compromise,” he wrote. Importantly, lowering fees for commercial and industrial development projects would eliminate more than half of the state’s funds, Cummings wrote. Critics say fully protecting the species would create a major barrier to meeting the state’s ambitious goals to expand housing and build renewable energy projects across a range that spans portions of Inyo, Kern, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside and Mono counties. Carrillo said he supported last year’s legislation. Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story. Juan Carrillo Democrat, State Assembly, District 39 (Palmdale) “But the problems I saw with that was the agreements would only be for single-family, multi-family (home developments) and some public works projects,” Carrillo said. “It did not include commercial and industrial development.” Carrillo said it’s critical for commercial development to grow alongside his district’s iconic Joshua trees. “Local governments deserve an equal shot at economic development in the region,” said Carrillo who was elected in 2022. “The high desert has been forgotten for decades, and that’s one of the reasons I decided to run for office.”

Climate

Conservation

Energy

Promising environmental advancements signal hope amid climate concerns in 2024

Amid widespread climate anxiety, 2024 has ushered in numerous environmental successes, from renewable energy breakthroughs to significant legislative reforms.As reported by Angela Symons in Euronews.Green.In short:Renewable energy use is surging with initiatives like residential solar projects and increased wind power installations showing significant growth.Legislation is playing a key role with new EU laws on packaging waste reduction and the ratification of the High Seas Treaty to protect marine life.Community and technological innovations, such as nature being recognized on streaming platforms and the boom in solar balconies in Germany, illustrate grassroots and technological impacts on sustainability.Why this matters: Positive environmental developments not only offer hope but also showcase effective strategies for mitigating climate change and protecting our planet. Read more: EHN's top 5 good news stories of 2023.

Climate

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"Can Hydroponic Farming Help Reduce the Effects of Climate Change?" is an entertaining and educational short film. Rachel and her remarkable robot companion, Rex, witness the dire consequences of climate change through news reports of devastating natural disasters. When Rex encounters an alien emissary, he embarks on a journey to a ruined world where pollution and climate change led to the collapse of an entire civilization. Returning to Earth the three main causes of global warming are reveal—electricity production, transportation, and wasteful agriculture—and stress the importance of transitioning to clean energy sources, electric transport, and hydroponic farming. Rex takes on the mission of educating robots and humans alike about combating climate change. The film ends with a global commitment to address the crisis and a poignant celebration of Rex's role in this vital endeavor, reminding us of the urgency to protect our planet from climate catastrophe.

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Louisiana faces challenges with carbon storage due to abandoned wells

Related News

How Some Common Medications Can Make People More Vulnerable to Heat

Lawsuit appears to be in peril for California children harmed by climate change

This spring, DC-area students are planting native flowers — and activating ‘the solarpunk imagination’

California protects its Joshua trees. A new bill could allow more to be cut down for development

Promising environmental advancements signal hope amid climate concerns in 2024

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Heimat - Requiem For The World As We Know It

The Wisdom To Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community

Rise and Fall

CO2? CO-Nee!

Can Hydroponic Farming Help Reduce the Effects of Climate Change?

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Louisiana faces challenges with carbon storage due to abandoned wells

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Heimat - Requiem For The World As We Know It

The Wisdom To Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community

Rise and Fall

CO2? CO-Nee!

Can Hydroponic Farming Help Reduce the Effects of Climate Change?

Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Promising environmental advancements signal hope amid climate concerns in 2024

Join us to forge
a sustainable future