Green

Republican-led states growing renewable capabilities at faster rate as Texas emerges as clean-energy leaderDemocratic-led states are eroding their climate policies, as red states are scaling up their clean energy deployment.California on Friday scaled back its cap-and-invest program, offering more than $3bn in free pollution allowances to polluting companies. Earlier the same week, New York weakened its groundbreaking climate law, delaying a plan to regulate carbon from 2024 until 2028 and reducing emissions-slashing targets. Rhode Island’s governor, meanwhile, is attempting to roll back aggressive clean-energy programs. Continue reading...

Founder of Greensill Capital says there was no finding he acted dishonestly after his company collapsed owing £1.6bnThe disgraced former financier Lex Greensill has been banned from running a UK company for nine years after he was judged to be unfit because of the 2021 collapse of his £1.6bn supply chain invoicing firm.The government’s Insolvency Service said on Thursday that Greensill had signed a disqualification undertaking, bringing the case to an end before a trial was due to begin on 8 June. Continue reading...

Exclusive: New loopholes for developers will exacerbate extreme environmental disparities, charity coalition warnsThe poorest and most nature-deprived communities in England will be further left behind in their access to green spaces if proposed changes to planning laws go ahead, a new report finds.More than 7.4 million people in England live in areas completely devoid of immediate biodiversity, including 1.42 million children under 15, the report commissioned by a number of wildlife and environmental NGOs says. Continue reading...

Government hopes to rush NDIS and tax changes through parliament but opposition and minor party push for more scrutinyThe Greens want Labor to halt its plans to rush NDIS cuts through the Senate later this month, urging a longer inquiry process as the government seeks the minor party’s support for its contentious tax and housing changes.It opens the possibility of the Greens and Coalition teaming up in parliament to support extending separate Senate inquiries into both the disability insurance scheme and tax proposals, and thus delaying Labor’s hopes of passing those bills before the end of June. Continue reading...

Net zero industry accounts for more than a million jobs and benefits whole country, according to CBI EconomicsMore than a million jobs, higher wages, nearly half a trillion pounds in investment in the pipeline – the UK’s green economy is powering ahead, according to research by the country’s leading business organisation.The net zero economy, which is worth more than £100bn a year, benefits all of the UK, according to the CBI Economics analysis commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank, despite critics who want to abolish the UK’s net zero targets. Continue reading...

Australian Greens should ‘take on’ Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, Polanski tells Victorian conference, just as he took on Nigel Farage’s Reform UKGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastZack Polanski, the leader of the Green party of England and Wales, has told his counterparts in Australia that they need to start “connecting with people’s anger” and learn from the “storytelling power” of populist rightwing politics.Speaking via video link at the Victorian Greens campaign conference on Saturday night, Zack Polanski said the party in Australia needed to start “taking on” Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, just as his own party had taken on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Continue reading...

• The CDC has issued an interim final rule expanding a public health entry ban to include Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have recently traveled to specific regions. • The ban specifically targets Green Card holders who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last 21 days. • This measure revises existing regulations on public health entry ban exceptions to tighten border controls and mitigate potential health risks.