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In recent years, North Carolina communities have weathered one storm after another, with Hurricane Helene being no exception. Hurricane Helene followed a once-in-a-thousand-year rain event in western North Carolina, which as a result caused widespread devastation and $53 billion of damage to the state alone. The impacts also stretched far beyond North Carolina, affecting communities throughout …

From extensive droughts across the Great Plains and back-to-back hurricanes damaging vegetable and citrus crops in the Southeast, the last two production seasons have demonstrated the intensifying damage of extreme weather on America’s farms. In 2023 alone, natural disasters caused nearly $22 billion in crop and rangeland losses. While crop insurance is a critical safety …

The last two production seasons have demonstrated the intensifying damage of extreme weather on America’s farms.

By Danielle Carey, Sepp Haukebo and Eduardo Boné-Morón Renowned for its turquoise waters and unique marine ecosystems, The Bahamas is a natural wonder of the world. Yet, with all its beauty, the country faces critical challenges, including rising energy costs, environmental degradation and the growing impacts and threat of climate change. These issues jeopardize the …

By Pedro Piris-Cabezas and Glenda Chen Airport activity emits a noxious cocktail of air pollutants, including ashy particulate matter, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Among them, PM emissions from aircraft turbines often fly under the radar yet have an outsized impact on regional air quality and public …

Last month, Washingtonians voted to protect their landmark cap-and-invest program, showing support for the program’s strong limit on pollution and game-changing investments. Thanks to this resounding win, the cap-and-invest program continues to deliver for Washington communities — with today’s results bringing in record revenue for the year. The results released today are for Washington’s fourth …

Detailed in Virginia's 2025 Common Agenda are three key opportunities for lawmakers to continue progress on flood resilience initiatives.    The post Ahead of the 2025 General Assembly, here are 3 ways to build flood resilience in Virginia first appeared on Growing Returns.

EDF and IAC leading a study to understand the financial, soil and animal health impacts of regenerative agriculture practices on Native farming.

EDF highlights businesses that are advancing steps toward reducing their GHG emissions while building profitable businesses in a series of interviews.

With anticipated environmental rollbacks at the federal level, the U.S. needs states to act on climate in order to make progress towards the nation’s 2030 commitments. Luckily, there are already signs of momentum. A landslide victory in Washington state to protect its climate law sends a hopeful message that ambitious climate action at the state …

These devastating disasters underscore the need and urgency to build resilience and ensure preparedness ahead of future storms. Florida leaders have made great progress this year to better protect residents, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Let’s look back at Florida’s 2024 progress and consider new initiatives to prepare for the next storm.  The post How Florida built resilience this hurricane season and what can be done to prepare for future storms first appeared on Growing Returns.

Results were released today for California’s fourth cap-and-trade auction of the year, which was administered last week by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Auction prices in the joint California-Quebec market (known as the Western Climate Initiative, or WCI) have trended downward this year, reflecting growing uncertainty among market participants about how best to plan …

By: Aubrey Taylor Tropical Storm Oscar crept up from the North Atlantic Ocean at a leisurely 40 miles per hour on the morning of Oct. 19, 2024 and ambled toward the Turks and Caicos Islands. Based on the data available, meteorologists believed the tiny storm was unlikely to cause major damage. Yet only three hours …

By Nini Gu Data recently collected by EDF’s MethaneAIR project in 2023 reveals a striking difference in the emissions profiles between the two major Colorado basins: the Denver-Julesburg (D-J) in the east, and the Piceance in the west. The D-J Basin exhibited a 1.7% methane loss rate from the total natural gas produced; by contrast,

By: Jane Eisenhardt Wrapping up Baku and the message for business is clear: we are officially in the era of implementation.   Over the past four years, a growing wave of companies, cities, states and financial institutions made ambitious climate commitments. Since COP26 in Glasgow, over 15,500 entities committed to net zero through the Race to …

By Pedro Piris-Cabezas and Glenda Chen The adoption of electricity-based synthetic fuels, also known as e-fuels, will be essential for any hard-to-decarbonize sector with a stake in a resilient liquid fuels market. Chief among them is aviation. E-fuels offer promising new routes nearing commercialization. However, a primary barrier to adoption has been the current cost …

This post was authored by Bärbel Henneberger, Senior Partnerships Manager at the Environmental Defense Fund.  On November 21, COP29 celebrated Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP and LCs) as a thematic day in the Action Agenda of the Azerbaijani COP presidency. The day underscored the essential role of IP and LCs in safeguarding 80% of …

A new consensus on forests from the world’s leading carbon market governing body marks a significant turning point for voluntary carbon market buyers.

By: M. Khazali, Andi Yasser Fauzan, and Meutia Isty Wulandari  The Government of Indonesia has committed to protect its marine ecosystems, pledging to establish 32.5 million hectares of marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030. This commitment supports the 30×30 target of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s marine areas …

A new report from South Coast Air Quality Management District shows the District’s groundbreaking warehouse Indirect Source Rule is catalyzing hundreds of zero-emission truck acquisitions and, as result, reducing hundreds of tons of health-harming nitrogen oxide and small particulate matter pollution. The report, which charts compliance with the Indirect Source Rule from 2021 through 2023,

The shift to electric trucks is accelerating faster than ever. This has been another record year for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle deployment, with 2024 outpacing 2023 as the best year yet for EV adoption, according to a new Environmental Defense Fund analysis of Class 2b-8 fleet announcements.  EDF’s Electric Fleet Deployment & Commitment tracking …

This blog was authored by Christopher Dekki, Manager, Global Engagement and Partnerships. Hopefully, COP29 delegates savored every moment of the rest day here in Baku because week 2 is already off to a hectic start. As deep divides within the negotiations remain unbridged, Azerbaijan, the newly minted COP29 Presidency, will need to increase its efforts …

The UN climate talks, COP29, is well underway, and countries have entered final negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), a new climate finance goal to boost funding for climate action in developing countries. Reaching agreement on the goal may be difficult in the face of the U.S election results, but it remains an …

By Ann M. Albury, Sepp Haukebo, and Carlito Turner The cerulean blue waters of The Bahamas are world renowned for their expansive saltwater fishing flats. These flats—shallow, sand or seagrass covered nearshore areas—are the ideal habitat for stalking prized fly fishing species, including bonefish, tarpon, permit, cobia, and snook.  The Bahamas is known as one …

By Hiro Shirakawa As one of the world’s top five importers and financiers of oil and natural gas, Japan is uniquely positioned to influence methane emissions along the supply chain. Though Japan has been recognized for the climate-action leverage it can exert as a major global buyer of liquefied natural gas, a new Deloitte report …