Environmental Politics

"The president of Azerbaijan, host of this year’s UN climate summit, lashed out at Western critics of his country’s oil and gas industry on Tuesday."

"In 2022, President Joe Biden announced a new effort to protect old forests, which are key to the fight against climate change. But it hasn’t made much of a difference."

"When he ran for governor of New York two years ago, fellow Republicans privately exhorted former Representative Lee Zeldin to distance himself from Donald J. Trump and his debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. He leaned in instead, most likely dooming any chance of his winning in a Democratic-leaning state."

"America’s oil industry released its wish list for the incoming Trump administration on Tuesday, a five-point plan that would eliminate many of the Biden administration’s most far-reaching efforts to reduce climate pollution and limit the warming that is driving ever more destructive and deadly extreme weather."

"India promised to burn its trash mountains and safely turn them into electricity. But a New York Times investigation found hazardous levels of toxic substances around homes, playgrounds and schools."

"Take a drive through the Salinas or Central valleys in California and you’ll pass from town to town advertising its specialty fruit or vegetable: strawberries in Watsonville, garlic in Gilroy, pistachios in Avenal and almonds in Ripon. More than 400 types of commodities are grown in the Golden state – including a third of the vegetables and three-quarters of the fruits and nuts produced in the United States. Much of that food is grown by immigrant farm workers – many of whom are undocumented."

"United Nations annual climate talks stuttered to a start Monday with more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda for the next two weeks. It then turned to the main issue: money."

"A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report. A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor."

"As President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition team plans his energy and environment agenda, it is relying on two seasoned former cabinet leaders and fossil fuel lobbyists to dramatically reshape the agencies charged with protecting the nation’s air, water, climate and public lands, according to six people familiar with the matter."

"President-elect Donald Trump on Monday tapped former representative Lee Zeldin of New York to serve as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, a crucial role that will oversee the rollbacks of dozens of President Joe Biden’s environmental policies."