Sustainability Weekly
Fridays are for…
The best of 2024, Landmark Supreme Court Case Wins, Weather Modeling, and more!
by Alli DiGiacomo
Happy Friday and last Sustainability Weekly of 2024! We are coming to the end of the hottest year on record so far (surpassing 2023), and the first year to see temperatures of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which breaches the threshold set by the Paris Agreement. The global average temperature in 2024 will likely be more than 1.55°C, compared to 1.48°C in 2023. And this rise is likely irreversible.
Despite this tough year for the climate, I don’t want people to forget all the milestones and positive events that have happened this year. I rounded up some of my favorites below:
A major review of conservation initiatives this year found that they are effective in slowing or reversing biodiversity loss.
Brazil’s Amazon rainforest reached its lowest deforestation levels since 2015.
Fossil fuel companies are starting to have to pay for climate change damages they have caused, which started with Vermont’s superfund act.
Plastic bags bans in the U.S. have reduced plastic bag use by billions, enough to wrap around the planet 42 times.
Scientists went to a damaged coral reef and played sounds of a healthy reef using underwater speakers, finding it helped attract wildlife, recovering faster.
The U.S. EPA ruled that water utilities must remove harmful PFAS (forever chemicals) from tap water.
The UK closed it’s last coal-fired power plant in 2024, which was symbolic because they were the first country to use coal for public power generation at the start of the industrial revolution.
There was a global surge in renewable energy. In the U.S., wind energy generation hit a record in April, exceeding coal-fired generation. China revealed they installed more solar panels last year than in the entire history of any other nation.
Oregon passed a “right to repair” law, increasing the freedoms to repair electronic devices.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday, as well as a lovely end of the year!
T H I S W E E K ’ S T O P S T O R I E S
YOUTH CLIMATE ACTIVISTS WIN LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASE IN MONTANA
The Montana Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of 16 youth climate activists, aged 5-22, who argued that the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies violated their constitutional rights to a “clean and healthful environment,” as outlined in Montana’s 1972 constitutional amendment. The decision upheld a lower court’s ruling in the landmark Held V. Montana case that the state was violating residents’ rights by permitting fossil fuel projects without considering the climate consequences. The state tried to argue that its carbon emissions were a drop in the bucket compared to global emissions, with comparably negligible effects on the climate, but ultimately the justices disagreed and affirmed the lower court’s decision. This ruling is the first of its kind by a U.S. state supreme court and represents a major win for youth-led climate litigation. The lawsuit, supported by the nonprofit Our Children’s Trust, sets a precedent for similar youth-led cases nationwide.
PRESIDENT BIDEN JUST SET A BIG NEW CLIMATE GOAL IN HIS LAST DAYS IN THE WHITE HOUSE
The Biden administration has announced an ambitious climate goal to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035, putting the nation on track to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This target, unveiled just a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, aligns with the Paris Agreement’s objectives. The announcement comes as Trump promises to prioritize fossil fuels, withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and reduce funding for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which has already provided $450 billion in clean energy projects and is projected to reduce emissions by 48% by 2035. Achieving net-zero would mean balancing emissions with carbon sequestration methods like forest restoration and wetland expansion. Government officials remain optimistic that significant momentum for decarbonization has been established. States, cities, and tribal governments are advancing local initiatives, such as congestion pricing in New York and litigation against federal policies that boost emissions.
NOAA IS CONSIDERING CHANGING ITS WEATHER MODELS
The weather patterns have become unpredictable and changed so much due to climate change that meteorologists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are holding internal talks about adjusting the models used to produce forecasts more accurately. Current models are based on temperature swings observed over one part of the Pacific Ocean that have for years correlated consistently with specific weather phenomena across the globe, but climate change seems to be disrupting that cause and effect pattern, making it harder to predict things like La Niña and El Niño.
MORE IN SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
2024 was hot—but it might be the coldest year of the rest of your life. How your brain tricks you into ignoring the climate crisis.
EPA approves California’s 2035 gas car sales ban.
EV’s could get universal chargers in the US in 2025.
Q&A: How the U.S.–China rivalry is holding back the world’s climate progress.
Green power set to overtake fossil fuels in historic milestone for UK.
The EPA is banning two cancer-causing chemicals used in everyday products.
The Biden-Harris administration issued a new regulation preventing PFAS (forever chemicals) from getting expedited approval (called “low volume exemptions”) with less rigorous reviews.
Corporate America is investing in record levels of solar and storage.
Switzerland is putting solar panels on highway barriers, expecting to provide at least 500,000 kwh of electricity per year.
China just completed its 3,046-kilometer “Great Green Wall” along its biggest desert.
As part of NYSERDA’s “Just Transition Program”, a former Binghamton, NY power plant transformed into a green-energy manufacturing firm.
Stay curious!