With a sharp drop in auto traffic due to the coronavirus, cities around the globe have closed streets to cars and expanded pedestrian thoroughfares and bike lanes. But as life edges back to normal, will these initiatives survive, especially if virus-wary citizens shun mass transit?
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Climate
How Small Family Forests Can Help Meet the Climate Challenge
As efforts grow to store more CO2 emissions in forests, one sector has been overlooked — small, family-owned woodlands, which comprise 38 percent of U.S. forests. Now, a major conservation initiative is aiming to help these owners manage their lands for maximum carbon storage.
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Solutions
Will Floating Turbines Usher in a New Wave of Offshore Wind?
As locations for wind energy fill up onshore and near-shore, companies are deploying floating turbines that can be sited in deep waters, out of view from the coast. Proponents contend the new technology could boost the wind industry, but daunting challenges, including costs, remain.
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Energy
A Major Oil Pipeline Project Strikes Deep at the Heart of Africa
Despite the global plunge in oil prices, a major pipeline that would carry oil 900 miles across East Africa is moving ahead. International experts warn that the $20 billion project will displace thousands of small farmers and put key wildlife habitat and coastal waters at risk.
Opinion
When Social Distancing Ends, Will We Rethink the World We Want?
Long before the virus, Americans had become socially isolated, retreating into sprawling suburbs and an online world of screens. When we emerge from our pandemic-mandated separation, can we reconnect with each other and reconsider how the way we live impacts the natural world?
E360 Digest
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President Trump To Sign Executive Order Waiving Key Environmental Laws
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order to expedite the permitting of new infrastructure and energy projects as a way to address the economic downturn driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, several news outlets report. The order will waive several long-standing environmental laws to allow for the faster approval, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), according to The Washington Post. More about President Trump To Sign Executive Order Waiving Key Environmental Laws →
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As Mining Continues During Coronavirus, Local Indigenous Communities at High Risk
Mining sites across the globe have become hot spots for coronavirus infections, threatening thousands of workers and indigenous and rural communities, according to a new report by a coalition of environmental watchdog groups. Outbreaks of the virus have occurred in and around mine sites in 18 countries, including Panama, Brazil, Russia, Canada, and Peru. More about As Mining Continues During Coronavirus, Local Indigenous Communities at High Risk →
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The World’s Forests Are Getting Younger and Shorter, Research Finds
Climate change is altering the age and structure of the world’s forests, driving an increase in younger and shorter trees over the last century, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Since 1900, the world has lost more than a third of its old-growth forests. More about The World’s Forests Are Getting Younger and Shorter, Research Finds →
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Analysis
How Renewable Energy Could Emerge on Top After the Pandemic
The short-term prospects for wind and solar power look rocky amid the economic upheaval of the coronavirus. But long term, renewables could emerge stronger than ever, especially if governments integrate support for clean energy into Covid-19 economic-recovery programs.
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Forests
In California, A Push Grows to Turn Dead Trees into Biomass Energy
As forests in California and the Western U.S. are hit by rising numbers of fires and disease outbreaks related to climate change, some experts argue that using dead and diseased trees to produce biomass energy will help to restore forests and reduce CO2 emissions.
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Interview
Connecting the Dots Between Environmental Injustice and the Coronavirus
Scientist Sacoby Wilson has long focused on health issues related to environmental injustice. In an e360 interview, he discusses how social and environmental inequality have contributed to the outsized impact of Covid-19 on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
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Climate
Fortress Charleston: Will Walling Off the City Hold Back the Waters?
Officials in Charleston, South Carolina have endorsed a $2 billion plan to wall off the historic downtown from rising seas and surging storms. It is the latest in a growing number of extravagantly expensive seawalls and barriers being proposed to defend U.S. coastal cities.
