Also: Data centres create 'heat islands'
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Hello and welcome back to our weekly climate newsletter. The Trump administration's "God Squad" – a group of officials who can determine the fate of endangered species – voted Tuesday to exempt oil and gas drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico from regulations that protect imperiled species. The Washington, D.C., meeting marked only the third time the squad - which currently includes Environmental Protection Agency Admin. Lee Zeldin, Interior Sec. Doug Burgum and Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins - had convened in the past 30 years. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth, who had requested the exemption, said that the move was aimed at increasing domestic energy supplies and that the exemption was "a critical matter of national security." "When development in the Gulf is chilled, we are prevented from producing the energy we need as a country," he said. But waiving the regulations will put dozens of species at risk, environmental groups say. There are at least 20 threatened and endangered species in the Gulf. It would lead to the extinction of the critically endangered Rice's whale, according to the non-profit Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity. There are only 51 of these whales left and they live nowhere else on Earth. They are the only endemic whale species found within the U.S. "Americans overwhelmingly oppose sacrificing endangered whales and other marine life so the fossil fuel industry can get richer," Brett Hartl, the center's government affairs director, said in a statement. "This has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with Trump and his lackeys kowtowing to Big Oil." The center has updated an lawsuit against the administration to challenge the move. Click here to read more |
Protesters gathered outside the Interior Department in Washington, D.C., after 'the God Squad' voted to waive restrictions on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (AP) |
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Should you choose a plug-in hybrid or a fully electric car? Here's my expert view |
The cost of running a car has crept back up the list of concerns for many drivers. So that's why this recent email from reader Simon Clarke caught electric vehicles editor Steve Fowler's attention. He wrote: "I'm seeing more plug-in hybrids being pushed again by manufacturers, and some friends are telling me they're a safer bet than going fully electric. Should I be considering a plug-in hybrid instead of a pure EV?" Read more | |
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US scientists are escaping to Norway because of Trump's anti-climate agenda, minister says |
The Trump administration's anti-climate crisis agenda has forced scientists to flee for international research institutes. Many are heading to Norway, the country's minister for research has said. Read more |
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