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How bitcoin mining works

Mar 4, 2022
Ingredients: Tens of thousands of powerful computers, enough energy to power all of Poland. Yield: More than $30 million in newly minted bitcoin every day.
Two technicians inspect a bitcoin mining operation in 2018. The highly lucrative practice is paying off for miners but wreaking environmental havoc.
Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images

How much is climate a factor in where people are moving?

Jan 28, 2022
Duluth, Minnesota, is welcoming people who say they are moving away from places like California because of climate concerns.
Doug Kouma moved to Duluth, Minnesota, from Sonoma County, California, in 2019. He said Duluth may soon be known as a "climate migration hub."
Dan Kraker/MPR News

Why it's so hard to pass climate crisis legislation in the U.S.

Jan 27, 2022
The American political system makes it easier to block change than to create it, explains Shannon Osaka of Grist.
The Build Back Better Bill is stalled, but it's not the first time that legislation aimed at tackling climate change has been sidelined.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

How do you calculate a company's carbon footprint? The SEC is figuring that out.

Jan 19, 2022
Emissions by a company's suppliers and customers could count towards the total.
The SEC may soon require companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions. Whether they'll also include emissions from suppliers — usually a larger proportion of emissions — is unclear.
Nilmar Lage/AFP via Getty Images

NuScale, compact nuclear plant developer, plans to go public

Jan 12, 2022
The company has created a modular design it says makes financial sense. Though carbon-free, nuclear remains controversial.
An artist’s rendering of a NuScale Power nuclear facility. Though the energy source is carbon-free, accidents like the disaster at Fukushima, Japan, have diminished its popularity.
Courtesy NuScale Power

Oil jobs abound in West Texas, but obstacles hamper hiring

Jan 12, 2022
Is it the Great Resignation? A clean-energy future? Higher wages? Or all of the above?
Unemployment in Midland, Texas, has dropped since the summer, but the city's labor market remains tight.
Montinique Monroe/Getty Images

Could nuclear fusion solve the climate crisis?

Jan 10, 2022
A small British company says it is on track to decarbonize the economy with an abundant, safe and cheap source of energy — eventually.
Tokamak's latest nuclear fusion reactor, the ST40, which emulates the way stars generate energy, CEO Chris Kelsall says.
Photo courtesy Tokamak Energy

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Firms race to liquefy more natural gas as global demand soars

Jan 3, 2022
LNG is proving popular as a "bridge fuel" while countries transition from coal and oil to renewables.
LNG could play a crucial role in the transition to net-zero carbon emissions. Above, a ship containing liquefied natural gas at Adriatic LNG Terminal, off the coast of Italy.
Marco Sabadin/AFP via Getty Images

Virtual conferences significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions

Dec 27, 2021
A new study in the journal Nature Communications says going virtual can reduce an event's carbon footprint by 94%.
By hosting a conference online instead of in person, organizers can curb emissions by more than 90%.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Apparent death of Build Back Better has climate scientists searching for a solution

Dec 20, 2021
"We don't really have a plan without the Build Back Better Act to stop the warming," a UC Santa Barbara professor says.
The Build Back Better bill includes more than $550 billion in environmental initiatives, like tax credits for companies and consumers that install solar panels.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images