Norway and The Netherlands started the trend a few years ago, though they're relatively tiny car markets. Then France and the U.K. joined in. China, the world's largest new-car market by far, is doing it—though the country hasn't decided when. All of those countries plan to ban, or work the end of, sales of new vehicles with... Britain’s electric utility backs earlier ban on new cars with engines, in 2030
Norway and The Netherlands started the trend a few years ago, though they're relatively tiny car markets. Then France and the U.K. joined in. China, the world's largest new-car market by far, is doing it—though the country hasn't decided when. All of those countries plan to ban, or work the end of, sales of new vehicles with...
It is now abundantly clear that the Trump administration in the U.S. is staffed with climate-science denialists and committed promoters for the greater extraction, sale, and combustion of fossil fuels. That includes coal, the dirtiest major fossil fuel of them all, with the highest emissions of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour when used to...
If a marketer talked enthusiastically about "healthy delicious cyanide," what would you think? You may wish to apply those judgments to mentions of "beautiful clean coal" by President Donald Trump, who used the phrase in Tuesday's State of the Union address. Trump claimed his administration had "ended the war" on "beautiful clean coal," while...
You may recall that President Donald Trump made some ambitious and audacious campaign promises about his plans to revive America's dwindling coal industry. Two weeks ago, The Washington Post fact-checked the president's delivery on those promises after his first year in office—in multiples of "Pinocchios," its measure of untruthfulness for...
Last month, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry signed an agreement with Saudi Arabian officials to research "carbon capture" technology for fossil fuels, the Department of Energy announced. Perry and Khalid Al Falih, the Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, signed a memorandum of understanding to "establish a framework for...
One of the world's largest oil producers is about to enter a tit-for-tat battle over climate change with government officials from multiple states. New York, Massachusetts, New York City, and a slew of cities in California have brought multiple lawsuits against oil producers for a lack of disclosure of potential liabilities they may face. Those...
As nations, automakers, and utilities contemplate how to tackle climate change in real terms, a perfect storm of competition is brewing that will—ideally—produce positive change for the rest of us. Automakers and electric utilities have been incentivized to build electric vehicles and install vast numbers of public charging stations to...
Electric vehicles have the potential to upend energy markets as their adoption becomes more widespread. But how much of an effect will they have? And on which specific markets? According to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie, the global power grids are likely safe for quite a while, but another market may be turned on its head. DON'T MISS: Decline...
It's not just the world automotive industry that's grappling with rapid changes brought about by the need to reduce the effects of climate change. The world's fossil-fuel extraction, refining, and delivery industries are also faced with the reality that two centuries of burning their core products hurts the planet and has already exacerbated...
A shipyard in China has built what it says is the world's first all-electric cargo ship, capable of hauling 2,000 metric tons of lading some 50 miles on a single charge. The ship, built and operated by CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Ltd under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation Group, may not have the gross tonnage or...
California, long a leader in emission reduction and electric-car incentives, may be ready to take the next big step: a full ban on the sale of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel. Such a ban would follow India, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and others around the world with aggressive targets to reduce emissions and curb...
Hurricane Harvey will go down as one of the most destructive and costliest natural disasters in the United States. While the storm has dissipated, with this week's attention focused on Hurricane Irma, the effects and damage tolls will last for years—and one thing already seems clear: Texas' dependence on the fossil-fuel industry poses an...
Most analysts agree the future of the automobile will slowly but increasingly come to rely on battery power. Electric cars will slowly displace internal combustion engines, many researchers suggest, and peak demand for fossil fuels used in transportation could arrive as soon as the next decade. What will become of companies, then, that focus on...
Sometimes it's best not to dare the public to do the research, especially if you're trying to persuade them of something that isn't true. Almost two years ago, Inside Climate News published a significant expose that confirmed Exxon's own scientists had agreed that human carbon emissions contributed to global warming as early as July 1977. But as...
The Trump administration has reneged on one aspect of a promise widely discussed throughout the 2016 presidential campaign: reviving the coal industry. President Donald Trump declared the United States coal industry would thrive under his watch, but the Trump administration and the Energy Department have just delivered a blow to the...
Continental, a major supplier for automakers around the world, has come out with a bold prediction: internal-combustion engine development by German automakers will essentially end by the year 2025. The supplier, which makes exhaust-gas-cleaning systems for diesel cars and nitrogen oxide-measuring sensors, lists several factors contributing to its...
Major oil companies are beginning to take the threat of electric cars seriously, and the latest evidence comes from British Petroleum. BP has begun discussions with electric-vehicle makers to partner on a network of charging stations. The move comes as many European countries announce plans to ban the sale of fossil-fuel powered cars in coming...