State and local governments seeking climate change 'solutions' have plenty of options » Yale Climate Connections

Government bodies at all levels have a wide range of choices available for addressing climate change.

A March 2019 five-part series addressed actions individual people can take to reduce their carbon footprint on the road, in and around their homes, and in their diets.

That series raised the obvious question of whether individual actions on their own can be adequate to help society confront the climate challenges we all face. The answer is decidedly ‘No’: Societal actions globally also are essential. That’s the focus of this companion two-part series.

This post focuses on actions all levels of government can take in this effort. A second part of this series will address actions only the federal government can take. After that, the author plans to address a range of private sector (manufacturing, agriculture, services) actions needed to help prevent the most devastating impacts of climate change.

The following list of governmental actions, based on science and common sense, is by no means exhaustive. They are straightforward, with some already being implemented, and they could be scaled up.



State and local governments seeking climate change 'solutions' have plenty of options » Yale Climate Connections

Climate change: UK government to commit to 2050 target - BBC News

Greenhouse gas emissions in the UK will be cut to almost zero by 2050, under the terms of a new government plan to tackle climate change.

Prime Minister Theresa May said there was a "moral duty to leave this world in a better condition than what we inherited".



GETTY IMAGES

Cutting emissions would benefit public health and cut NHS costs, she said.

Britain is the first major nation to propose this target - and it has been widely praised by green groups.

But some say the phase-out is too late to protect the climate, and others fear that the task is impossible.

Climate change: UK government to commit to 2050 target - BBC News

Analysis: global plastics boom fueled 2018 CO2 emissions rise - Unearthed

The world added more non-fossil power last year than ever before, but energy demand rose by even more

Last year’s rise in global CO2 emissions – the largest since 2011 – was driven in part by a surge in demand for petrochemicals used largely to manufacture plastic materials, according to statistics in BP’s latest world energy review.

Growth in production of naptha, ethane and LPG – which primarily function as petrochemical feedstocks – accounted for half of oil demand growth in 2018, far more than in previous years.


Petrochemical production has been soaring in recent years. Photo: China Photos, Getty Images.

Emissions were also pushed up by a rebound in China’s coal use – tied to the steel industry – and a jump in demand for heating and cooling around the world, largely due to yearly variation, but potentially a sign of things to come as climate change proceeds.

Analysis: global plastics boom fueled 2018 CO2 emissions rise - Unearthed

Hundreds of new pesticides approved in Brazil under Bolsonaro | Environment | The Guardian

Many of those permitted since far-right president took power are banned in Europe

Brazil has approved hundreds of new pesticide products since its far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, took power in January, and more than 1,000 since 2016, a study has found. Many of those approved are banned in Europe.



A farmed field alongside native savanna in Formosa do Rio Preto, western Bahia state. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images

Of 169 new pesticides sanctioned up to 21 May this year, 78 contain active ingredients classified as highly hazardous by the Pesticide Action Network and 24 contain active ingredients banned in the EU, according to the study published on Wednesday by Greenpeace UK’s news agency Unearthed. Another 28 pesticides not included in the report were approved in the last days of 2018.

Hundreds of new pesticides approved in Brazil under Bolsonaro | Environment | The Guardian

Brazil's President Is Making It Impossible to Fight Deforestation, Activists Say

Brazil's President Is Making It Impossible to Fight Deforestation, Activists Say

Britain Becomes First Major Country to Commit to Legally Binding Zero Emissions Target

Britain Becomes First Major Country to Commit to Legally Binding Zero Emissions Target

Justice Through Citizen Science: How ‘Chemical Fingerprinting’ Could Change Public Health • The Revelator

When residents of Tonawanda, N.Y., began falling sick with cancer, they launched their own investigation. It led to legal action and the closure of a polluting coal plant, but the work didn't end there.

University at Buffalo PhD candidate Kaitlin Ordiway (left) prepares to run a sample in a secondary ion mass spectrometer. UB chemistry professor Joseph Gardella (right) is leading the Tonawanda Coke soil study. (Photo by Douglas Levere / University at Buffalo)
Justice Through Citizen Science: How ‘Chemical Fingerprinting’ Could Change Public Health • The Revelator