Climate and Environment

Wealth Matters

A Call for Investors to Put Their Money Toward a Green Future

For wealthy Davos men and women, as well as people from less rarefied air, targeted investing is one way to force change on carbon-emitting companies.

When the Prince of Wales Is Your Landlord

On England’s southwestern coast, a community built by the Duchy of Cornwall is attracting residents who have bought into Prince Charles’s housing philosophy.

corner office

She’s Taking on Elon Musk on Solar. And Winning.

As the head of Sunrun, Lynn Jurich won’t rest until the photovoltaic cell module is as common as the fireplace.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Takes Jab at Greta Thunberg at Davos

At a Swiss economic forum, Mr. Mnuchin dismissed criticisms by Ms. Thunberg, the teenage environmental activist.

Wheels

Mapping Potholes by Phone (the West Bank’s Roads Were Smoother)

Students in Cambridge, Mass., and Ramallah have created an app to track road quality. It turns out the roads around Cambridge are worse.

Trump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands

The Trump administration has finished a new rule that rolls back environmental controls on many wetlands and intermittent streams, delivering a win to rural landowners.

Climate Fwd:

Things We Can Do: The Big Picture

Also this week, strange scenes at the Davos economic forum

As Australia Burns, a Climate-Change Denier Rallies the Troops

Scroll through the Facebook page of Craig Kelly, a conservative politician, and you’ll see why the country has not taken strong action on global warming.

Making Yellow School Buses a Little More Green

Some school districts are replacing diesel buses with electric models to benefit students and the environment. But the change is expensive so utilities like Dominion Energy are helping offset the cost.

American Journalist Is Arrested in Indonesia Over Visa Issue

The editor, Philip Jacobson, who works for the environmental website Mongabay, was detained last month after attending a public meeting on Borneo island. He was traveling on a business visa.

Trump and the Teenager: A Climate Showdown at Davos

President Trump and Greta Thunberg dominated the first full day of the annual gathering of the rich and powerful in the Swiss Alps.

Trilobites

Earth’s Oldest Asteroid Impact Found in Australia

The cataclysm, which occurred roughly 2.2 billion years ago, might have catapulted the planet out of an ice age.

Greta Thunberg’s Remarks at the Davos Economic Forum

The Swedish climate activist spoke Tuesday afternoon at an event hosted by The New York Times and the World Economic Forum.

Why These Australia Fires Are Like Nothing We’ve Seen Before

More than 16 million acres have gone up in flames. And it has happened in populated areas, unlike most of the world’s other blazes of this scale.

Greta Thunberg’s Message at Davos Forum: ‘Our House Is Still on Fire’

The activist punched a hole in the promises emerging from a forum of the global political and business elite at Davos, telling the leaders to stop investing in fossil fuels immediately.

Trump Focuses on Economy at Davos, Seeking a Counter to Impeachment

President Trump made his first appearance on the international stage since the House sent impeachment articles to the Senate, on the day his trial is set to begin in earnest.

Australian Coal Company Says Bush-Fire Smoke Is Slowing Production

The poor air quality is making equipment harder to operate, and some workers have had to take leave to fight fires. The irony was not lost on many in Australia.

I Quit Cars

And in Los Angeles! Lauren Ferree, 27, does not miss the traffic — or destroying the environment.

Conservative States Seek Billions to Brace for Disaster. (Just Don’t Call It Climate Change.)

A Trump administration program to help states prepare for natural disasters has become a window into the tortured political language of talking about climate change.

China Says It Will Ban Plastics That Pollute Its Land and Water

Though likely to be welcomed by many Chinese who worry about pollution, the measures could be a hard sell for a society used to convenience.