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Higher tariffs may be bad for trade, but good for the environment

Oct 16, 2023
Recent research finds that higher tariffs on dirtier imports could reduce carbon emissions.
Steel production in the U.S. is a lot cleaner now than before the 1970s, thanks to the use of more energy-efficient electric arc furnaces. Above, a steel plant in Pennsylvania.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Occidental Petroleum makes a $1.1 billion bet on carbon capture technology

The giant U.S. oil and gas company is paying over $1 billion for a carbon-capture tech firm.
To make progress against climate change, we'll need to invest in technologies that pull carbon dioxide out of the air,  in addition to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

French entrepreneurs look to agriculture and forestry for the future of aviation fuel

Dec 28, 2022
One company says it can make sustainable aviation fuel using beets, sugar cane and forestry waste.
France is Europe's largest producer of sugar beets. Now, a bioenergy company there is using bacteria from the sugar to produce sustainable aviation fuel.
Thierry Zoccolan/AFP via Getty Images

Fizzling out: a shortage of carbon dioxide hits U.K. food and drink industry

Oct 11, 2022
The war in Ukraine and the sharp hike in the price of natural gas has sent the cost of C02, a vital industrial chemical, soaring in Europe.
The U.K. is dealing with a shortage of CO2, which is essential in the meat industry as well as the brewing and serving of beer.
Getty Images

Ocean acidification raises economic concerns for shellfish hatcheries

Jul 5, 2022
Lower pH water, caused by higher carbon dioxide emissions, can kill baby oysters as they fight for minerals to grow their shells.
Oceans are the most acidic they’ve been in 26,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization. That can impact the development of shellfish, like the ones fishermen depend on for income.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Thirty countries agree to methane emissions cuts to protect the climate

Oct 13, 2021
Pound for pound, it's 28 times better at trapping atmospheric heat than CO2.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (L) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) participate in a news conference about the Senate vote on methane regulation outside of the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Craft brewers cut down carbon dioxide pollution during COVID-19

Jul 7, 2020
Capturing carbon is expensive, so most brewers usually just release the gas into the atmosphere. That's changing during the pandemic.
One thing that’s driving breweries to capture their own carbon dioxide is that right now some suppliers don’t want to bother with low-volume customers.
Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

British business seeks to cash in on carbon

Jul 8, 2019
British entrepreneurs scramble to make money from carbon emissions without causing further climate change.
Exhaust plumes from cooling towers at a coal-fired power station in Jaenschwalde, Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

5 ways to treat your allergies on the cheap

May 4, 2018
Because this allergy season is longer and worse than last year.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Market forces help stabilize CO2 emissions for third year

Mar 17, 2017
The plateau in emissions comes amid global economic growth.
"The switch from coal to gas really happened because of the shale gas revolution and because of markets,” said Laura Cozzi of the International Energy Agency. Above, a coal power plant from American Electric Power in New Haven, West Virginia.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images