News That Matters

Policy

RIP fossil fuels?
24Feb By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Energy, Featured, Loyola Marymount University, Policy

RIP fossil fuels?

By Sebastian Ramirez Playa Del Rey Natural Gas Storage Facility down the hill from houses.Photo by Sebastian Ramirez Cars. Buses. Trucks. Trains. Planes.  What do they have in common? The majority are fueled exclusively by fossil fuels, and contribute half of all greenhouse gas emissions in California.  The state consumes 1.8 million barrels of oil and gas per day. About a third of those are produced in California, and the rest are imported. In L.A. County alone, there are 5,919 oil and gas wells, not including offshore wells.  Dr. Jason Jarvis moved to Los Angeles in 2015 from Atlanta. Previously unaware of any issues regarding the oil industry, he became invested after seeing a map showing all the active, idle and abandoned wells in L.A. County.  Ja...
Read More
Citizens’ Climate Lobby national conference reignites the movement 
18Dec By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Community, Kent State University, Policy

Citizens’ Climate Lobby national conference reignites the movement 

  By Grace Springer Photo courtesy of Citizens' Climate Lobby Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) held its virtual national conference last month with a major focus on carbon price, how to effectively lobby members of Congress and diversity and inclusion within the movement.  The conference, which coincided with the end of COP26 and a historic vote on President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, represented an important moment for the movement.    According to Flannery Winchester, CCL communications director, getting involved in climate movements is the best way to combat climate dread and anxiety.    “If you feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem the best thing you can do is get active,” she told Climate360. “Like we say in CCL, ‘...
Read More
COP26 Week 2: Summit “heats up” as representatives struggle to finalize plan
17Nov By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Economy, Loyola Marymount University, Policy

COP26 Week 2: Summit “heats up” as representatives struggle to finalize plan

By Alex Kim The second week of COP26 focused on drafting a global climate accord by the end of the summit, as criticisms continued to swirl around pledges that were made. Day Eight: Sunday, Nov. 7 A counter climate summit began on Sunday, Nov. 7, because of the “greenwashing” and inaction from investors and world leaders of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The purpose of The People’s Summit for Climate Justice is to bring attention to ideas and solutions which, it believes, have not been effectively addressed at COP26. Some of the key points that the counter-summit advocated for were the Global Green New Deal – a UN proposition from 2009 that has never been passed – and corporate liability for th...
Read More
COP26 Week 1: Catalyst for change or performative gesture?
16Nov By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Economy, Energy, Loyola Marymount University, Policy

COP26 Week 1: Catalyst for change or performative gesture?

By Alex Kim The first week of COP26 was packed with action. From new agreements to failings of old ones the first week leaves us with a lot to discuss. Day One: Sunday, Oct. 31 The opening days of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) brought out representatives and activists from the global community to discuss climate change and find ways to mitigate its effects on the planet. Though not formally invited, climate activist Greta Thunberg was swarmed by hundreds of people concerned with climate change upon her arrival to the convention in Glasgow, Scotland. Representatives from around the globe were calling on world leaders to take direct action to prevent the global climate from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above  “pre-industrial levels....
Read More
What is COP26?
29Oct By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Economy, Loyola Marymount University, Policy

What is COP26?

By Ashley Buschhorn Image ©No10 Crown Copyright . 04/02/2020. London, United Kingdom. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Sir David Attenborough talk to school children at the Science Museum for Launch of the UK hosting of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). Picture by Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing Street COP26 is the 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, from Sunday, Oct. 31, through Friday, Nov. 12. This could be a pivotal event for the future of climate change. The Conference of Parties, the COP, consists of world superpowers such as the U.S., U.K., China and Russia. Two of the world’s largest pollutants, Russia and Brazil, will participate in COP, but their presidents will not be in attendance. China, ...
Read More
Environmentalists say the EPA’s efforts to clean up toxic waste fall short
23Aug By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Community, Loyola Marymount University, Morgan State University, Policy, Video

Environmentalists say the EPA’s efforts to clean up toxic waste fall short

By Kennedi Hewitt and Alexis Durham https://youtu.be/lkopo6be_eo Produced, filmed and edited by Kennedi Hewitt and Alexis Durham. Glenn Ross is a self-proclaimed urban environmentalist. For 40 years, the 71-year-old has fought to make his Baltimore community a safer place for his children and neighbors by educating others on the reality of Superfunds.  A Superfund, as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency, is a contaminated site “due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed.” Such sites include landfills and mining sites.  Officially titled “Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act” (CERCLA), Superfunds were established by Congress in the 1980s after the Love Canal ...
Read More
California representatives announce new California Coastal Caucus
21Aug By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Loyola Marymount University, Policy

California representatives announce new California Coastal Caucus

Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA). By Kelsey Warda (Climate 360). By Veronica Backer-Peral SAUSALITO, CA — In an effort to address policy issues of importance to coastal California, congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) announced the launch of the Congressional California Coastal Caucus on August 20, 2021. The announcement took place at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, and was followed by a panel discussion with both congressmen, Dr. Jeff Boehm, Chief Executive Officer of The Marine Mammal Center, and Dr. Cara Field, Medical Director of The Marine Mammal Center and moderated by Carol Costello. One important focus of the caucus is climate change. “The reason why I ran for Congress is because of climate change,” Lieu told on-site Clim...
Read More
Carbon capture presents opportunities in industry-dominated states, experts say. But climate activists remain skeptical
16Aug By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Economy, Energy, Louisiana State University, Policy

Carbon capture presents opportunities in industry-dominated states, experts say. But climate activists remain skeptical

Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Pexels.com By Sydney McGovern BATON ROUGE, LA – The holy grail of stopping climate change is to reduce carbon emissions across all sources to zero. One solution that holds promise is to capture carbon dioxide – the lead cause of global warming – before it’s emitted from refineries and other industrial sources. The practice, called carbon capture, utilization and storage, or CCUS, can be accomplished in many ways. Some are feasible but expensive. Others will require years of research and investment before being implemented. The technical challenges divide some researchers and advocates. Spend now to do what’s possible today, or wait for better CCUS technologies? Or jettison CCUS approaches altogether as too easy on big carbon emitters? “There’re...
Read More
6Aug By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Energy, Kent State University, Policy

What you can do to help get the U.S. to net-zero

By Spencer Hayes Clean energy, otherwise known as renewable energy, is energy that is taken from resources that are naturally replenished by the Earth. President Joe Biden’s goal for the United States is to use clean energy to get to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This would mean removing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere by using carbon removal as well as reducing human caused emissions. But what does that mean for everyday American citizens? There are many things that people can do in their day-to-day life that can help the country achieve this goal. Here are six steps you can take to keep the country on track. President Joe Biden’s goal for the United States is to use clean energy to get to net zero green house gas emissions by 2050. Photo above of Biden ...
Read More