News items for September 20, 2019

Fists raised by protesters in resistance by Kelsey Hamlin (license)

• 1. Teen activists worldwide prepare to strike for climate action

  Climate activist Bill McKibben: “This climate strike is going to be the biggest day of climate action that Earth has yet seen.”

  Inside Climate News Climate Action, Climate Change

• 2. Seattle’s rideshare tax would fund transit and affordable housing

  Among the beneficiaries of the tax is the Center City Connector which would see $56 million over five years, closing the deficit in funding that project after the City Council recently approved another $9 million for a reworked project design.

  Seattle Transit Blog Affordable housing, Public Transit, Ride Share

• 3. North America has lost 3 billion birds

  Over the past half-century, North America has lost more than a quarter of its entire bird population, or around 3 billion birds.

  KNKX Wildlife

• 4. CA ready to go to court over car pollution waiver

  The president announced Wednesday that he’s revoking the state’s legal authority to set its own auto emissions standards.

  Huffington Post Emissions, Pollution

• 5. Portland’s climate fail: More driving

  Portland has long prided itself in being one of the first cities in the US to adopt a legislated goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. The city’s latest carbon emission inventory report shows that emissions from transportation increased 6% last year.

  City Observatory Carbon emissions

• 6. Air travel emissions: ‘Worse than anyone expected’

  Air travel emissions have vastly outpaced predictions.

  New York Times Emissions, Travel

• 7. Google makes largest ever corporate purchase of renewable energy

  Google just made the largest corporate renewable energy purchase in history, with 18 new energy deals around the world that will help build infrastructure worth more than $2 billion.

  Fast Company Renewable Energy

• 8. 5 easy ways to reduce plastic exposure and intake

  While there’s virtually no way to completely avoid taking in the microplastics and chemicals that are so ubiquitous they’re found even in household dust, there are a few easy ways to reduce exposure.

  Seattle Times Microplastics

• 9. Is US shale facing an ‘unmitigated disaster’?

  The booming shale industry could be headed off a financial cliff, experts say, and environmental groups are asking who will clean up thousands of wells drilled miles beneath the surface if businesses go bust.

  E&E Publishing Fracking

• 10. 49 years of environmental victories, in photos

  As delegates gather at the UN’s Climate Action Summit, we look at conservation milestones since the first Earth Day in 1970.

  National Geographic Climate Action

More News from September 20, 2019

• Did CA just abolish single-family zoning?

  The Golden State now allows homeowners to build up to two accessory dwelling units on their property by right.

  Reason ADUs, Single-family Zoning

• Do we really only have 12 years to avoid climate disaster?

  The widely recited “12-year deadline” is wrong — and right.

  New York Times Climate Action, Climate Change