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The Trump administration acted unreasonably in eliminating the 5% total cost threshold as a route for wind and solar projects to prove tax credit eligibility, a federal judge ruled.

Lost to science for more than 70 years, the black-lored waxbill was only recently rediscovered in a marshy region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now, researchers have published the first clear photographs of the bird ever taken in the wild.

Read more on E360 →

Bill Hare is the CEO of Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute working to accelerate climate action.

The word ‘implementation’ has featured long and loud recently in discussions about the UN climate process.

The host government of last year’s COP30 summit, Brazil, argued that it should be an “implementation COP”. And if you talk regularly to influential participants in the UN process, you’d be surprised how many will tell you that in the current political climate, it’s all about implementing the pledges and targets governments have already made, rather than aiming to raise them.

This interpretation of ‘implementation’ is dangerously wrong. You can see that it is wrong by simply going back to the Paris Agreement. Article 4 states that Parties (countries) “shall prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), and that each new NDC “will represent a progression” beyond the Party’s previous one and “reflect its highest possible ambition”.

In other words, regularly increasing ambition is a central element of implementing the Paris Agreement. Governments pledged to increase ambition regularly, and the community of people who care about climate change needs to hold them to that pledge.

Raised expectations

Even a cursory look at the current state of emissions shows that without increased ambition, the other central pillars of the Paris Agreement will not be realised. The global emissions peak will not come “as soon as possible”, net zero will not be reached in the second half of this century, and global warming will race beyond the 1.5°C limit, with catastrophic impacts beginning in the most vulnerable countries and risks increasing for everyone.

Since the Paris summit in 2015, expectations and obligations on governments to step up on decarbonising their economies have increased. In 2021 and 2022, governments declared via the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly that the right to a healthy environment is a universal human right. An environment of dangerous climate change is not a healthy one, so the obligation to cut emissions further and faster is clear.

• May 12, 2026 Politics Paris Agreement committee snubbed over missing NDC climate plans Many governments have still not submitted a nationally determined contribution to the UN, breaching a key requirement of the Paris Agreement Read more
• May 7, 2026 Comment ICJ follow-up resolution is a test of climate leadership at the UN If states back the resolution by consensus, it would send a powerful message of commitment to climate action and the rule of law, despite pushback by some big emitters Read more
• Apr 14, 2026 Politics Türkiye sets COP31 dates and appoints Australian cattle farmer as youth champion In an open letter, Murat Kurum gives details of the October Pacific pre-COP and the November COP31 leaders’ summit in the Turkish city of Antalya Read more

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that 1.5°C is the primary limit of the Paris Agreement and constitutes a legally binding target. It clarified that states have obligations, not only under the UN climate convention, but under customary international law, human rights law and the Law of the Sea.

It also reaffirmed that governments’ NDCs must reflect their highest possible ambition. Last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution endorsing the ICJ ruling, with governments voting 141 for, and only eight against.

Failing on ambition

Nonetheless, most governments are not showing the ambition required by their international obligations. Fifty-two countries have not submitted their third NDC with emission-cutting targets for 2035, which they were supposed to do more than a year ago.

Many submitted NDCs fall well short of what is required, with Indonesia, Russia and Saudi Arabia among countries whose level of ambition, if reflected globally, would usher in at least 4°C of global warming.

We know from our own analysis that if countries just implemented their present level of ambition through 2035, the world would warm by 2.6°C above preindustrial levels by 2100, a catastrophic scenario.

A member of the Bolivian Armed Forces helps people cross the Pirai River following the collapse of bridges connecting different communities following floods triggered by an overflowing river that isolated several communities in the eastern Santa Cruz region, in El Torno, Bolivia, December 17, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Morales A member of the Bolivian Armed Forces helps people cross the Pirai River following the collapse of bridges connecting different communities following floods triggered by an overflowing river that isolated several communities in the eastern Santa Cruz region, in El Torno, Bolivia, December 17, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Morales

But we also know that if countries implemented policies consistent with their highest possible ambition, we can limit overshoot of 1.5°C to about 0.2°C, halt global warming within 25 years, and bring it down to about 1.2°C by the end of the century. Other analyses paint a similar picture.

Make no mistake: this level of overshoot will have serious adverse consequences. But two things are very clear: we can get warming back below 1.5°C before 2100, and countries can be far more ambitious than they are now.

Meanwhile real-world events are demonstrating more clearly than ever that moving quickly and decisively to an economy powered by clean electricity bolsters energy security, reduces energy costs and avoids the geopolitical blackmail and bullying associated with dependence on a continuous supply of fossil fuel imports.

Back the collective process

Because the various UN declarations and decisions outlined above are taken collectively by governments, we can make an interesting deduction: most governments themselves recognise that they need to show more ambition. There are many reasons why each of them doesn’t do so on its own; and one of the key aspects of the UN climate process is that it allows and encourages them to do so with some degree of collectivity.

What all of this speaks to is the need to increase the focus on raising ambition, to continue to use the UN climate process as the key convening forum, and to use COPs as the place where governments are held accountable at a high political level every year. There is no other forum that does that and no other place in which vulnerable countries are at the table on equal terms with the biggest emitters.

What to expect from the Bonn climate talks

Right now, the geopolitical going is tough; and the tough need to get going towards the trouble, not run away from it.

Yes, delivery of existing pledges is absolutely necessary. If governments use this decade to honour the Global Stocktake outcomes from 2024 – if they triple renewable energy capacity, double the rate of energy efficiency improvements and make deep cuts in methane emissions – that will go a long way to keeping global warming below 2°C. Most are not on track – so yes, full implementation of what countries have already agreed is sorely needed.

But ambition must also be strengthened, urgently. It’s not an either-or: ‘implementation’ has to include ‘increasing ambition’. Climate science, international law, climate justice and the needs of the world’s most climate-impacted societies demand nothing less.

The post The UN climate process needs ambition – the law demands it appeared first on Climate Home News.

The Secretariat of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) for relations with the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is seeking for a full-time administration and logistics officer during the period September – December 2026, with possibility of a longer-term extension of the contract.

• Location: Rome, Italy
• Working hours: Full time 
• Closing date for applications: 15 July 2026

Background

The Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) for relations with the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the largest international space of social movements, Indigenous Peoples’ and civil society organisations working to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition. The Mechanism was founded in 2010 as an essential and autonomous part of the reformed CFS. The purpose of the CSIPM is to facilitate civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ participation and articulation into the policy processes of the CFS.

The CSIPM is an open and inclusive space that gives priority to the organisations and movements of the people most affected by food insecurity and malnutrition. Since it was founded, several hundred national, regional or global organisations have participated in the CSIPM. Far more than 380 million smallholders and family farmers, agricultural and food workers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, consumers and urban food insecure around the world are affiliated to organisations that participate in the CSIPM. The Mechanism respects pluralism, autonomy, diversity and self-organisation and tries to ensure a balance of constituencies, gender, and regions.

The CSIPM Secretariat is dedicated to facilitating the functions of the CSIPM, supporting the implementation of its work plan and activities during the CFS inter-sessional period and throughout the CFS Plenary Sessions. The CSIPM Secretariat supports the different CSIPM structures and articulations both in terms of governance and policy thematic work, accompanying all related processes. It is also responsible for providing coordination, facilitation, logistical, financial, and communication support to increase the overall capacities of the space and its participating organisations. The CSIPM Secretariat’s team is currently composed of 3 people with longstanding experience in the follow-up and coordination of the overall CSIPM activities, including the related logistics. The CSIPM is looking for a 4th team member to provide logistics and administration support, who will be accompanied by the rest of the team in the handover process

Main duties and tasks of the Administration and Logistics Officer are:

Logistics:

• Support in the organisation of in-presence meetings and online calls, including the organisation of interpretation;   
• Ensure the reservation of flights and hotels and an adequate accounting and archiving of these expenses.
• Supporting CSIPM participants in providing the necessary documentation for their Schengen Visas requests 
• Reimbursement of participants expenses and ensuring an adequate accounting and archiving of these expenses.
• Support the registration process to CFS meetings, CFS Plenary and the Annual Forum of the CSIPM.
• Preparation of meetings documentation, including photocopying, organising and assembling folder for participants and distributing meeting materials.
• Communication with service providers (website, applications, universities, hotel etc.)

These tasks will be implemented with the support and in close collaboration and coordination with the CSIPM Secretariat team particularly with the Secretariat’s Coordinators. 

Administration of funding and administrative tasks:

• Account for CSIPM expenditures on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. Work in close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordination to evaluate expenditures against available budget
• Liaise with CSIPM host organisations that administer funds on behalf of the CSIPM to:
  • Facilitate the signing of funding contracts between hosting NGOs and donors;
  • Ensure payment of invoices on a weekly basis;
  • Prepare sub-contracts between CSIPM and the NGOs for the transfer of funds provided by the CSIPM for the regional/constituency consultations.
• Work in close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordinators for the preparation and finalisation of service contracts for CSIPM consultancy services (i.e. interpreters, translators, communication experts, website designer, etc.), and working contracts for CSIPM secretariat staff.
• Support the CSIPM Coordination in:
  • In close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordination, keeping an overview and control of CSIPM funding needs, income and expenditure.
  • Supporting in the liaison with FAO Partnerships Division for the preparation of Letter of Agreement for funds provided by Member States
  • Liaising with the CSIPM host organisations to facilitate access to resources and their use.
  • Supporting the preparation of funding proposals for submission to donors, working closely with the CSIPM Coordination, particularly for multi-year funding projects, and follow up the process until their final approval and signature.
• Exploring and proposing long term options for the administration of CSIPM funds, for example by identifying and selecting organisations that could administer CSIPM financial resources or researching and follow up of procedures to establish a legal entity and association for the CSIPM.
• Managing working group email lists once or twice a week. 
• Brings a problem-solving attitude and is willing to support the team with research or ad hoc tasks when capacity is stretched, understanding that this role may occasionally require stepping in on areas outside the core remit to keep things moving.

Reporting:

• Support the CSIPM Coordination in the preparation of financial reports and narrative reports for submission to donors.
• Work in close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordination and hosting organisation during audits on financial reports
• Support in the preparation of quarterly/biannually Financial Reports and status of CSIPM funding needs to be presented to the CSIPM Finance working group and the Coordination Committee (CC) during the CSIPM Annual Forum and CC meetings. 

Profile and requirements

The CSIPM is looking for an Administration and Logistics officer committed to support social movements, Indigenous Peoples’ and civil society organisations meaningful participation in global food governance spaces, that has a positive and problem solving attitude and that enjoys working in a team and for the service of rights holders, marginalised communities and in contact with decision makers. 

The selected candidate will have: 

• A university degree, relating to economy, administration, political science, or an equivalent combination of a relevant undergraduate degree, plus related work experience and on-the-job training;
• 3 years work experience related to project administration management; basic financial administration, including budget tracking, expense reporting, and supporting financial reporting processes;
• Experience in organising and preparing international meetings and events with peoples’ organisations and social movements and a substantial understanding of what this entails and how it is different from other type of meetings. 
• Commitment to supporting civil society participation in inter-governmental policy dialogue and decision-making; 
• Working experience with social movements, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society organisations that promote human rights approaches to food security and nutrition, gender equality, and food sovereignty will be considered a plus;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills are necessary;
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with attention to detail;
• Proactiveness in taking on further responsibilities as the learning and handover process advances
• Good working knowledge of Excel and Word;
• Good knowledge in managing online community and video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom;
• Fluent in English and knowledge of Italian. Working knowledge of another language between Spanish and French is an asset;
• We are looking for someone who
  • Is committed, reliable, responsible and proactive with good problem-solving skills;
  • Enjoys working in a multi-cultural environment and can contribute harmoniously to team work;
  • Can adapt to a flexible working schedule and can work and communicate well under pressure and tight deadlines;
  • Has experience collaborating effectively and working in a team, fostering clear, transparent and respectful communication.
  • Takes ownership of their work and communicates proactively even when problems arise, e.g. when deadlines or tasks are at risk, including being comfortable flagging when something has not been completed rather than letting it go unnoticed.

We offer

• Working in a unique and dynamic space of civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ democratic participation to the United Nations;
• Being part of a highly motivated, welcoming, professional, caring and intercultural team in the context of intercontinental diversity; 
• An appropriate remuneration and a rewarding work environment. Further details will be provided in the event of an interview;
• The position is based in Rome. The selected person will be offered an Italian working contract (either a consultancy contract or a so-called co.co.co. contract with paid leave and holidays) with a monthly net salary that lies at 1.800 Euro. 
• The first contract offered will last for a trial period of four months (September to December 2026); if performance is positively assessed the contract will be further extended. In case of extension and after one year, the contract typology will be confirmed with the selected candidate. The salary may be reviewed subject to performance assessment and availability of funds. 

If you are fit for this role, we invite you to submit your CV and a one-page cover letter highlighting your motivation and most relevant experiences to this role. Applications should be sent to: csmrecruitments@gmail.com by 15 July 2026. 

Timeline of the recruitment process 

• 15 July – Deadline for submitting applications
• Weeks of 20 and 27 July – First round of interviews. 

Selected applicants will be asked to participate in an online interview (or potentially in-person if the candidate is based in Rome) with the full team of the CSIPM Secretariat, as well as the responsible of the hosting organization of the CSIPM. 

• Short-listed candidates might also be asked to pass a written evaluation task, and a second interview. 
• The selected person is expected to join the CSIPM Secretariat from the first week of September 2026. 
• The CSIPM office, where part of the work will take place, is in FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00154 Roma, Italy. In addition, the CSIPM Administration and Logistics Officer will be required to go on bi-weekly basis to the office of the hosting organization of the CSIPM, currently located in the Garbatella neighbourhood. 

Download the vacancy announcement (PDF)

The post CSIPM Vacancy: Administration and Logistics officer appeared first on CSIPM.

Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago are prepared for their one-day strike on June 11 to protest the administration’s illegal firings of six nurses in retaliation for union activity.

Australia endorses ambitious new global electrification target that it hopes will help accelerate shift from fossil fuels.

The post Australia endorses ambitious new global electrification target to hasten exit from fossil fuels appeared first on Renew Economy.

Headline News:

• “The Geysers Adds 25 MW Of Geothermal Capacity” • California’s largest geothermal resource added 25 MW of new generating capacity, strengthening the state’s geothermal energy. Calpine, a Constellation business unit, announced completion of the expansion project at The Geysers geothermal complex in Sonoma County, California. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Geothermal plant at The Geysers, California (Calpine image)

• “The Cost Of Balancing The Grid If The EU Cuts EV Targets: 150 New Power Plants” • Europe’s electricity system could be a big victim of plans to scale back EV targets. EVs can be ‘batteries on wheels,’ providing a different math of the electricity sector. Fewer EVs would mean less storage capacity for the grid and a need for more power plants. [CleanTechnica]
• “Off-Grid Mine Runs Solely On Renewables For Nearly A Week” • Bellevue Gold is celebrating a milestone at its namesake gold mine in Western Australia. The site was able to run entirely on renewables for 155 consecutive hours. The site’s 90-MW hybrid power station has 27 MW of solar, 24 MW of wind, and 15 MW, 33 MWh of battery storage. [Energy Magazine]
• “Use Of Bomb-Grade Plutonium For Energy” • The President of the US signed an executive order directing the DOE to stop an operation getting rid of nuclear bomb materials. Instead, it is to give the weapons-grade plutonium to private companies to use in nuclear reactors. They are to get enough plutonium to build 2,000 nuclear bombs. [Green Energy Times]
• “Judge tosses Trump bid to restrict renewable energy tax credits” • A federal judge struck down a Trump administration effort to restrict tax credits for wind and solar energy. The ruling is a win for renewable energy supporters, but it comes less than a month before a deadline to phase out the credits entirely under so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” [The Hill]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Mengapa Slot Dana Menjadi Pilihan Banyak Pengguna?

Popularitas Slot Dana tidak hadir tanpa alasan. Banyak pengguna memilih metode ini karena mampu menjawab berbagai kebutuhan transaksi modern yang mengutamakan efisiensi waktu dan kemudahan akses.

Beberapa keunggulan yang sering menjadi pertimbangan antara lain:

• Proses deposit yang cepat dan praktis.
• Tidak memerlukan perpindahan aplikasi yang berlebihan.
• Mendukung transaksi kapan saja selama 24 jam.
• Memiliki sistem keamanan yang dirancang untuk melindungi pengguna.
• Cocok digunakan oleh berbagai kalangan, termasuk pengguna baru.

Kemudahan tersebut membuat pengguna dapat lebih fokus menikmati layanan yang tersedia tanpa terganggu oleh proses pembayaran yang rumit atau memakan waktu.

Pentingnya Memilih Platform yang Terpercaya

Meskipun metode pembayaran yang digunakan sudah aman, pengguna tetap perlu memperhatikan kredibilitas platform yang dipilih. Kepercayaan menjadi faktor penting karena berkaitan langsung dengan keamanan data dan kenyamanan transaksi.

Platform yang terpercaya biasanya memiliki beberapa karakteristik berikut:

1. Transparansi Informasi

Penyedia layanan yang profesional akan memberikan informasi yang jelas mengenai sistem transaksi, ketentuan penggunaan, serta layanan pelanggan yang dapat dihubungi ketika dibutuhkan.

2. Sistem Keamanan yang Memadai

Keamanan menjadi fondasi utama dalam transaksi digital. Platform yang berkualitas umumnya menerapkan perlindungan data pengguna dan sistem verifikasi untuk meminimalkan risiko penyalahgunaan akun.

3. Layanan Pelanggan Responsif

Dukungan pelanggan yang aktif menunjukkan komitmen penyedia layanan dalam menjaga kenyamanan pengguna. Ketika terjadi kendala, bantuan yang cepat akan memberikan rasa aman dan meningkatkan kepercayaan.

4. Reputasi yang Baik di Kalangan Pengguna

Pengalaman pengguna lain sering menjadi indikator penting dalam menilai kualitas sebuah platform. Reputasi positif biasanya mencerminkan konsistensi layanan yang baik dalam jangka panjang.

Kenyamanan Transaksi Meningkatkan Pengalaman Pengguna

Salah satu alasan utama mengapa Slot Dana terpercaya semakin mendapatkan perhatian adalah kemampuannya menghadirkan pengalaman transaksi yang lebih nyaman. Pengguna tidak perlu lagi menghadapi proses pembayaran yang panjang atau menunggu konfirmasi dalam waktu lama.

Kemudahan akses melalui perangkat seluler juga memberikan fleksibilitas tinggi. Dengan beberapa langkah sederhana, transaksi dapat diselesaikan dalam hitungan menit. Efisiensi ini menjadi nilai tambah yang sangat relevan di era digital yang serba cepat.

Selain itu, penggunaan dompet digital juga membantu pengguna mengelola aktivitas transaksi secara lebih terstruktur. Riwayat pembayaran dapat dipantau dengan mudah sehingga memberikan kontrol yang lebih baik terhadap setiap aktivitas yang dilakukan.

Faktor yang Perlu Diperhatikan Sebelum Menggunakan Slot Dana

Agar pengalaman transaksi semakin optimal, terdapat beberapa hal yang sebaiknya diperhatikan:

• Pastikan akun Dana telah terverifikasi dengan benar.
• Gunakan kata sandi yang kuat dan unik.
• Hindari membagikan kode OTP kepada pihak lain.
• Pilih platform yang memiliki rekam jejak positif.
• Periksa kembali detail transaksi sebelum melakukan konfirmasi.

Langkah-langkah sederhana tersebut dapat membantu meningkatkan keamanan sekaligus menjaga kenyamanan selama menggunakan layanan digital.

Masa Depan Transaksi Online yang Semakin Praktis

Transformasi digital akan terus mendorong perkembangan metode pembayaran yang lebih cepat dan efisien. Slot Dana terpercaya menjadi salah satu contoh bagaimana teknologi dapat memberikan solusi yang relevan bagi kebutuhan masyarakat modern.

Dengan kombinasi antara kemudahan penggunaan, kecepatan transaksi, dan tingkat keamanan yang terus berkembang, metode pembayaran digital seperti Dana diperkirakan akan semakin berperan penting dalam berbagai aktivitas online. Bagi pengguna yang mengutamakan kenyamanan dan efisiensi, memilih platform terpercaya dengan dukungan transaksi Dana dapat menjadi langkah yang tepat untuk memperoleh pengalaman digital yang lebih aman dan menyenangkan.

Kesimpulan

Slot Dana terpercaya menawarkan kemudahan transaksi online yang selaras dengan kebutuhan pengguna masa kini. Proses yang cepat, akses yang fleksibel, serta dukungan teknologi keamanan menjadikannya pilihan yang menarik bagi banyak orang. Namun, kenyamanan tersebut akan semakin optimal apabila pengguna juga cermat dalam memilih platform yang memiliki reputasi baik dan sistem layanan yang profesional. Dengan pendekatan yang tepat, transaksi online dapat dilakukan dengan lebih nyaman, aman, dan efisien setiap saat.

Wind giant says "DC-coupled" battery technology piloted in Victoria will be included in all new Australian projects, starting with a shovel-ready wind farm in NSW.

The post Global wind giant plans to plug battery storage into turbines at all new Australian projects, starting in NSW appeared first on Renew Economy.

Last month, nearly a dozen wildfires erupted across southern California, sending plumes of smoke and particulate matter into the air. Public health officials in Los Angeles issued a multiday air quality advisory for the county, warning of “potential direct smoke impact” and advising everyone who could see or smell smoke to “avoid unnecessary outdoor exposure and to limit physical exertion.”

The red zone on the map included Los Angeles Stadium — also known as SoFi Stadium — one of the venues for the World Cup, soccer’s marquee event, which begins on Thursday. Between June 12 and July 10, Los Angeles will host eight games and is expected to draw tens of thousands of fans and scores of players. 

As dry, hot, conditions persist, more fires are possible and smoke could once again loom over the stadium. The same risk exists for a number of the 15 other World Cup host cities. But, despite the documented health impacts of smoke exposure, FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, doesn’t appear to have a plan if the air quality deteriorates. 

“FIFA has basically almost done nothing,” said Nicholas Watanabe, a professor of sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina. “They are lagging behind even minor leagues in North America.”

The National Women’s Soccer League, or NWSL; the Canadian Football League; and the NCAA, which oversees college sports, all have at least some guidelines outlining what to do if the Air Quality Index reaches certain thresholds. Other leagues — from Major League Baseball to the Women’s National Basketball Association — have postponed games because of wildfire smoke, notably when plumes spread across Canada and North America in June 2023. 

The Sandy Fire burned through heavy brush and sent smoke into the air as it moved through California’s Simi Valley in May 2026.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The Air Quality Index, or AQI, a measure of common pollutants in the air, ranges from 0 to 300+, with “unhealthy” levels starting at 101 and “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” warnings after that. Experts say that wildfire smoke often causes spikes that could be harmful to both players and fans. “They might get a burning throat, a cough, and a headache,” said Mary Johnson, who researches environmental health at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Some groups can be particularly sensitive, including children, older individuals, and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma.

“Climate-related risks are assessed as part of overall tournament planning and managed in close coordination with host cities, stadium authorities, and national agencies,” FIFA wrote in a statement to Grist. It detailed extensive protocols related to extreme heat, including mandatory water breaks for players (fans, meanwhile, will not be permitted to bring refillable water bottles into stadiums) but didn’t mention air quality. It did mention a “tournament-wide preparedness exercise” for severe weather, without providing further details. The organization did not respond to follow-up questions and declined multiple interview requests.

For now, FIFA seems to be betting the air will stay clear. While that gamble could very well pay off, wildfire smoke has become an increasingly common feature of North American summers, raising questions about whether organizers are prepared for conditions that are no longer unusual. “It’s sort of ridiculous that the biggest sporting event in the world doesn’t have anything,” said Watanabe, about even a minimum AQI threshold for canceling matches. “We’re one bad Pacific Northwest wildfire away from some very big concerns.”

All indicators point to a dangerous 2026 fire season. The National Interagency Fire Center projects that, after a warm winter and with a potentially record-breaking El Niño incoming, large swaths of the West will be at an elevated risk of wildfire this summer. Canadian officials have made similar predictions. Because smoke can blow thousands of miles, it puts virtually all of FIFA’s sites at potential risk.

“There are very few places in North America that are immune to these effects,” said Dominik Kulakowski, a geographer who studies wildfires at Clark University. He noted that the warning time for smoke events can sometimes be as short as a matter of hours. “It would make sense for FIFA to think ahead and implement some air quality standards that would trigger some decisions about whether or not to play.”

John Quindry, a professor of physiology at the University of Montana, said that, although a lack of a plan likely doesn’t mean “putting people in early graves,” he does think organizers should be prepared. There are things FIFA could do to help mitigate risk from wildfire smoke, he said, ranging from playing at times of days when the air quality tends to be better to postponing or relocating matches. “You should have a decision tree and algorithm that’s baked into the process,” he said, comparing air quality events to thunder storms. “People certainly call games for lightning and nobody argues with it.”

When the AQI hits 101, the air is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and the NWSL starts to add hydration breaks for players. At 180, which falls into the “unhealthy” range for everyone, the league starts to consider rescheduling games. Cancellation or postponement is mandatory above 200, when AQI is “very unhealthy.” The league did not respond to a request to confirm whether this policy, which The New York Times reported in 2023, remains current. But it aligns with guidelines from USA Soccer. The NFL’s 2022-2023 game operations manual also says the league “will be prepared to relocate a game if there is definitive evidence that the AQI will remain consistently above 200 for a significant period of time, including the day of the game being played in the affected stadium.” Once AQI passes 300, the NCAA requires that organizers move events indoors or cancel them.

Watanabe said that some of the World Cup venues are enclosed, with modern filtration systems that could help mitigate poor air quality. That includes Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta, a city that already experienced bad air quality due to wildfire smoke this year. But many others can’t be closed, including those in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver — all places historically prone to wildfire smoke. Grist reached out to local organizing committees and public health officials in host cities, the U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association, and the White House Task Force for the World Cup. Of the handful of responses, most redirected questions to FIFA. 

“There are no specific AQI levels that would automatically trigger suspension of FIFA events,” said James Garrow, a spokesperson for the public health department in Philadelphia, which is a 2026 World Cup site. Instead, he said, the city would monitor air quality and “consider possible recommendations.”

For FIFA, though, the issue is not simply whether wildfire smoke can affect health, but how to balance those risks against the logistical and financial demands of a multiweek global tournament. As Quindry put it: “There is a lot of money at stake.”

Whatever happens at this year’s World Cup, Kulakowski said it’s only a matter of time before FIFA and other sports leagues are going to have to reckon with a smoky future. “Having to think about smoke from wildfires and how that affects athletes, athletic ability, and sporting events is a new thing,” he said, but it’s becoming an increasingly common issue across North America, Europe, and elsewhere. “We’re seeing wildfires become a larger part of life.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The World Cup is one wildfire away from an air quality disaster on Jun 9, 2026.

A bill aimed at increasing the number of wood pellet mills in Louisiana has sailed through the state’s Legislature — despite some lawmakers, including the bill’s sponsor, acknowledging they know little about the controversial industry.

State Representative Chuck Owen, a Republican from Vernon Parish in west Louisiana, said he proposed House Bill 670 in February shortly after learning about the industry, which exports about $1 billion worth of pellets from Louisiana each year. Nearly all the production comes from two British-owned mills in central and north Louisiana that emit large — and sometimes illegal — quantities of air pollutants linked to cancers and other serious illnesses. 

Owen, whose district spans one of the state’s most timber-rich regions, said the goal of his bill is to make Louisiana a “premier location for wood pellet manufacturing.” 

The legislation gives a state agency, Louisiana Economic Development, broad direction to develop new incentives for pellet manufacturers, potentially including new tax breaks, state-funded workforce training programs, and port upgrades tailored to the industry’s needs. It also instructs state regulators to streamline permitting for pellet mills and review environmental and public safety rules that “impose unnecessary burdens on this emerging industry.”

For Owen, talking during a meeting ahead of the vote, the rationale behind expanding pellet manufacturing is simple: “We have a lot of trees in Louisiana, and north of Bunkie, that’s about all we have,” he said, referring to a town in central Louisiana. “There’s a market craving wood pellets, and I think we should get further into it.” 

But when a fellow legislator asked him to describe one of the mills and “what exactly it produces,” Owen admitted he was only vaguely familiar with it. “I do not know a lot about it,” he said. “No, sir, I do not. I know they’ve had some struggle in recent years, but I know that they’re there.”

Despite that uncertainty, Louisiana’s House and Senate passed Owen’s measure unanimously. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican who has backed similar measures aimed at boosting industrial growth in the state. 

Louisiana State Representative Chuck Owen wants to expand the wood pellet industry throughout the state. Allison Allsop / Louisiana Illuminator

The British energy company Drax operates the two large pellet mills in Louisiana: one in Urania, a small town in the central part of the state, and another near Bastrop in the northeast corner. Together with a nearly identical Drax facility in Gloster, Mississippi, the mills churn out billions of wood pellets to meet demand in the United Kingdom for electricity generated by wood, what the industry markets as “sustainable biomass.” 

In the U.K. and several other European countries, wood pellets are classified as a renewable energy source, making the industry eligible for large subsidies typically given to solar and wind projects. While Drax promotes itself as a purveyor of green energy, communities in the Deep South that host the pellet mills pay a high cost from air pollution, dust and noise, said Kadin Love, a community organizer with the Dogwood Alliance, an environmental group in North Carolina opposed to wood pellet manufacturing. 

“This is an industry that doesn’t have a clean history,” Love said. “This bill opens doors to the industry that we might not be able to close.”

Drax has paid nearly $6 million in fines and settlements for hundreds of pollution violations in Louisiana and Mississippi over the past six years. Despite some facility upgrades aimed at reducing pollution, the company has continued to rack up violations.  

In Gloster, where Drax has operated the longest, several residents are suing the company over what they say is a decade of exposure to toxic chemicals, including formaldehyde, acrolein, and methanol. In the mostly Black, low-income town, about 40 miles north of the state Legislature in Baton Rouge, many people blame widespread health problems, including cancer and respiratory illnesses, on the mill’s pollutants.   

In a motion to dismiss the case, Drax’s lawyers argued that the lawsuit fails to show “particularized injury that is traceable to [the mill’s] conduct.”

When asked about Owen’s bill, Drax expressed gratitude to Louisiana lawmakers for supporting the industry but declined to address pollution concerns raised by Love and other critics. “We appreciate the engagement of lawmakers and our community partners in Louisiana,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We remain focused on operating responsibly and transparently, working constructively with regulators, and continuing to support jobs and economic activity in the communities where we operate across Louisiana.”

Tommy Barbo, manager of Drax’s wood pellet mill in Urania, Louisiana, tosses a few pellets while inspecting machinery. Eric J. Shelton / Mississippi Today

During the recent deliberations over Owen’s bill in the state House, none of the representatives mentioned concerns about pollution. Like Owen, most legislators were unfamiliar with the industry and asked only basic questions. 

“Are we talking about the wood pellets you put in the smoker, or do you build stuff with these wood pellets?” asked Representative Candace Newell, a Democrat from New Orleans. “What do they look like?”

The only expert testimony came from Scott Roe, a consultant who produced a feasibility study on pellet mills in Louisiana. Roe described pellet burning as “cleaner” than other fossil fuels and said the industry could eventually use technology that “releases nothing at all.”

“So, it’s clean-burning,” said Newell, who voted in favor of the bill. “You can’t build anything with it — just clean-burning clean energy.”

But several scientists say that’s far from the truth. Drax’s wood-fueled power station in rural England emitted more than 14 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2024, making it the largest single source of CO2 in the U.K., according to a report last year from the climate research group Ember. That amount is more than the combined emissions from the country’s six largest gas plants and more than four times the level of the U.K.’s last coal plant, which shut down in 2024. 

The most contentious discussions about the bill concerned the industry’s potential use of carbon capture and storage technology, or CCS, which allows emitters to inject carbon dioxide underground rather than release it into the atmosphere. Tax credits and other incentives are available to industries that integrate CCS into their operations, but a growing number of Louisiana legislators oppose the technology; several pending bills would restrict CCS projects amid concerns about health and safety risks at storage sites and along pipelines that transport the gas.

During the discussion over his bill in the state House, Owen sought to distance his bill from CCS, or the “C-word,” as he called it. 

Drax, however, has pledged heavy investment in CCS technology. In 2023, the company established a new office in Houston focused on pairing biomass with CCS projects across North America. “The U.S. Gulf Coast has emerged as a major hub for carbon capture and sequestration investment and technology, a key component of the company’s plans to expand clean electric generation from renewable resources,” Drax CEO Will Gardiner said at the time.

Some members of the Louisiana Legislature wanted assurances that the bill wouldn’t help Drax reach its CCS goals. Owen promised to kill his own bill if the Senate tried to insert language supporting the technology. 

“If, on the [Senate] side, they try to make it pro-carbon capture, will you pull it?” asked Representative Robby Carter, a Democrat from St. Helena Parish. 

“Pull it,” Owen responded.  

The Senate steered clear of the CCS debate and passed the bill with only a few minor wording changes on May 27.

The bill gained support largely because of its promises to boost the state’s struggling forest products sector. Several pulp and paper mills have shut down in Louisiana, leaving many small communities with few jobs and empty downtowns. Backers argued that the pellet industry could help fill that void. Low-grade pine once used for paper production can instead be made into pellets, creating a new market for Louisiana trees and potentially revitalizing the state’s forestry economy.

“What this bill is about is employing people,” Owen said during deliberations. 

But the three Drax mills each employ about 70 people, which is far fewer than the hundreds employed by many of the older mills. 

Louisiana has granted Drax generous tax breaks aimed at boosting employment. Through the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, Drax has avoided paying about $75 million in property taxes that would otherwise support local school districts and local government operations, Verite News and Grist found in a review of estimates from Louisiana Economic Development. 

The industry’s growth looks uncertain as European countries are increasingly skeptical of the claim that burning wood is better for the environment than relying on other energy sources. The U.K. government recently decided the current subsidies for Drax would be cut in half next year. 

There have been other signs of trouble for the industry. Enviva, once the world’s largest wood pellet producer, filed for bankruptcy in 2024. Drax has also scaled back some of its North American expansion plans and recently shuttered its two Arkansas mills after only a few years in operation.

Love, from the Dogwood Alliance, said he was stunned that Louisiana’s legislators rushed to pass Owen’s bill unanimously despite having only a superficial understanding of the industry and without much, if any, consideration of the environmental and economic risks.

“If you’re making a state law that exclusively benefits one industry, I’d hope they’d do some homework on it,” Love said. “The fact that they’re not doing the due diligence of researching this industry is incredibly concerning.”

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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Louisiana lawmakers rush to support an industry they ‘do not know a lot about’ on Jun 9, 2026.

As Japan coins a new term for “cruelly hot days,” its linguistic and institutional adaptation to extreme heat starkly contrasts with growing climate denial among U.S. political elites, revealing an emerging global split between fossil-fuel holdouts and nations pushing for a rapid energy transition.

As rising sea levels threaten low-lying island nations, questions once confined to legal theory are becoming urgent realities. From Tuvalu to the Maldives, climate change is forcing governments and communities to reconsider what sovereignty and nationhood mean when territory itself is disappearing.

Opening with a personal reflection on his own relationship to dread, Nate describes how the chronic anticipation of collapse affects the human nervous system long before any single crisis fully arrives.

Africa stands at a pivotal crossroads. As the climate crisis intensifies in the region, it is disproportionately crushing marginalized communities, particularly women and youth. Yet, our continent is home to the world’s most abundant renewable energy resources and a vibrant, youth-driven climate movement ready to claim the future.

Every year leading up to Africa Day on May 25, Afrika Vuka Week serves as our annual moment to channel Pan-African solidarity into bold, collective action for climate justice. This year, under the banner of REPower Afrika, our message was loud, clear, and uncompromising: Access to affordable energy is a human right –  End the Political Crisis.

We are building a pan-African movement advocating for clean energy that is rooted in people’s power and the lived realities of everyday Africans.

The problem: we pay, they profit

Africa is currently trapped in a severe, manufactured energy crisis. Decades of fossil fuel extraction have left 600 million Africans without electricity access. The continent contributes only a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it continues to suffer disproportionately from fuel price spikes, debt distress, inflation, and food insecurity tied to global oil and gas markets. 

Ongoing global conflicts and supply chain disruptions have caused the prices of fossil fuels like gas and oil to spike yet again. While multinational corporations rake in record-breaking profits from these crises, African governments, ordinary households and businesses are being pushed into deep debt. In 2026 alone, six major oil corporations — Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and TotalEnergies — are projected to pocket $94 billion in fossil fuel profits: enough to provide solar power for the energy needs of almost 50 million people in Africa.

When fossil energy prices skyrocket, the cost of everything else follows: transportation costs spike, groceries and basic food items become unaffordable and monthly utility bills grow unmanageable. This situation is the direct result of a global system built on fossil fuels that prioritizes the profits of a few companies over the lives of millions.

A deeply unjust, gendered burden

This crisis is not gender-neutral, it hits women the hardest. Across Africa, the structural failure to provide affordable energy fuels the feminization of poverty. Women spend up to 4 hours a day on unpaid care work — triple the time of men — searching for firewood or cooking over dangerous kerosene and charcoal stoves, with 70% of rural Sub-Saharan Africa still dependent on traditional biomass.  The consequences are devastating:  severe, long-term health problems and forcing women to scramble to afford basic necessities. We cannot solve our continent’s poverty and health crises as long as we remain tied to expensive, volatile fossil fuels. It is time to put people over profits.

How Afrika Vuka Week 2026 took this fight to the streets, schools and town halls

Last month,  the 23 to 30May, we mobilized during Afrika Vuka Week 2026 under the banner of  Pan-African solidarity to redefine the energy crisis not just as a technical challenge, but as a fundamental human right and a pressing political crisis.

Over the seven days of  coordinated actions across the continent, we shifted the narrative. We made sure  affordable renewable energy was at the center of political debate and  community voices were leading  the fight for an equitable energy transition. Our  cost of living stories from locals put a human face to what rising fossil fuel prices actually mean:  unaffordability of daily life.

Throughout the Week of Action, local groups tailored interventions to their unique realities. From grassroots organizing to creative expression, communities mobilized in many ways:

Through marches and awareness walks, we demanded political accountability, including a bike march in Democratic Republic of Congo by Shujaa Initiative. 

Artivism, concerts, and pop-culture captured the spirit of resistance with Green Society holding a Art4Climate workshop in Egypt led by Professional Visual Artist Hossna Hanafy

Educational talks in schools and universities to equip the next generation like the one in Nigeria led by Quest For Growth and Development Foundation at the Community Secondary School, Rumuodumaya, Port Harcourt.

Community Dialogues & Town Halls shared lived experiences such as the Renewable Energy Assembly in Uganda led by the Centre for Environmental Research and Agriculture Innovation (CERAI) and Youth for Nature Conservancy (YNC). 

The results speak for themselves. The REPower Afrika campaign is now recognized across the continent as the definitive roadmap for a just transition away from expensive fossil fuels. Local groups owned the campaign, driving solutions built around their communities’ real needs. Because true energy justice isn’t just about switching to solar, geothermal, and wind. It’s about doing it fairly, democratically, affordably and without saddling African nations with yet more debt.

Here is what we are fighting for: a renewable energy future that dismantles the exploitative, debt-heavy funding models that burden our people. Instead, we champion community-owned, decentralized solutions. Africa rises with the sun and wind – our energy transition must empower our people, not foreign creditors.

Join the Movement: 

The Afrika Vuka Network is calling for an immediate shift toward community-led renewable energy. People deserve clean, affordable energy that puts our needs first – and it is time for our governments to deliver it. 

#AffordableEnergy – Let’s claim it together! Join our whatsapp channel for the latest updates!

The post Afrika Vuka Week 2026 appeared first on 350.

As governments search for alternatives to fossil fuels, large-scale biomass energy is increasingly being promoted as a renewable solution. But behind the industry’s rapid expansion lies a growing body of evidence showing serious harm to forests, communities, Indigenous Peoples, human health, and fundamental human rights.

Today, the Environmental Paper Network (EPN) and the Global Forest Coalition (GFC), as part of the Biomass Action Network, are launching a new briefing: The Human Rights Impacts of Large-scale ‘Modern’ Biomass Energy. Released during the UN climate negotiations (SB64) in Bonn, the briefing highlights how the production and burning of forest biomass is driving human rights abuses across the globe.

The briefing documents impacts throughout the biomass supply chain, from forest destruction and industrial tree plantations to pellet manufacturing facilities and biomass power stations. It shows how expanding demand for biomass is contributing to land grabbing, violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, loss of livelihoods, threats to food security, worsening air pollution, and serious public health impacts. Communities in countries including Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Sweden, Chile, Brazil, Ghana, Mozambique, Uganda, and the United States are already experiencing these consequences.

The briefing also highlights growing international concern, including a warning from the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change that new bioenergy developments should be approached with the highest level of precaution due to significant climate, environmental, and human rights risks.

As governments negotiate climate policies in Bonn, the briefing calls on policymakers to:

• End subsidies and incentives that promote large-scale forest biomass energy;
• Stop classifying forest biomass as a renewable or carbon-neutral energy source;
• Respect and uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, including the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC);
• Prioritize genuinely clean, low-impact renewable energy solutions that protect forests, biodiversity, human rights, and climate stability.

We encourage policymakers, civil society organisations, journalists, and concerned citizens to read the briefing, share it widely, and join calls for a just energy transition that protects both people and forests.

About the Biomass Action Network

The Biomass Action Network is a coalition of more than 220 NGOs across 70 countries. Our position statement, The Biomass Delusion, outlines the significant harm large-scale forest biomass burning causes to the climate, forests, people, and the clean energy transition. The network works to expose the impacts of biomass energy, amplify community voices, and advocate for policies that protect forests, uphold human rights, and accelerate a genuinely sustainable energy transition.

Radical alternatives to capitalism are being practiced across the world as everyday realities, writes Grace Wright-Arora

The post Real existing degrowth appeared first on Red Pepper.

The second boiler at a former coal-fired power station has been demolished in a spectacular explosion as the energy precinct makes way for a cleaner future.

The post Another boiler demolished at shuttered coal power plant in spectacular explosion appeared first on Renew Economy.

No money, mo’ problems.

Amtrak honchos officially showed off renderings for President Trump and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s renovation of Penn Station on Monday, but left unsaid amid the unveiling of pretty pictures was the only aspect of the Penn Station redevelopment that matters: How much will it cost, and who’s paying?

One possible answer: Tenant railroads Amtrak, the MTA and New Jersey Transit. According to the development company vice president Peter Cipriano (who was a senior adviser to the U.S. DOT during President Trump’s first term), those tenants might have to pony up “availability payments” to cover a share of the project costs.

“Presumably there will be some level of availability payment at the end of the road on this project, like Amtrak has on 30th Street Station in Philadelphia,” the Halmar executive told reporters.

This type of payment scheme — which the railroads will almost certainly pass on to their riders — was the linchpin of the Halmar/ASTM plan that Cipriano’s team pitched the MTA in 2023. That plan would have involved Halmar and its parent company ASTM funding the renovation upfront, then collecting $250 million per year over 50 years from each over the three tenant railroads.

But neither Cipriano nor Andy Byford, Amtrak’s special adviser for Penn Station, would put a pricetag or timeline on the “availability payments.”

Byford, who has openly bragged about using President Trump to strong-arm New York into accept the project, insisted he would not allow an “unaffordable” funding scheme.

“I made it very clear in the RFP to the bidders: do not come with a proposal that saddles the railroads, of which Amtrak is obviously one, with unaffordable availability payments, because you won’t get through, you will not win,” said Byford. “My strategy is to minimize the gap between the overall cost and what we can raise through capital, like loans and grants, and what remains to be paid for via availability payments.”

One type of “availability payment” that Byford insisted is not in play is a surcharge on train tickets for trips originating from Penn Station. But riders will wind up paying in one way or the other if Amtrak plans to charge the railroads they ride, and the MTA is already raising objections to the proposal.

“Gov. Hochul has been clear from the day President Trump took over this project: if he wants it, then he’ll have to pay for it,” said MTA spokesperson Mitch Schwartz. “Secretary Duffy didn’t have any problem with that arrangement when he told Congress that his administration was ready to ‘give’ Penn Station $8 billion — the full cost of the project. Now, they’re admitting their real plan is to charge New York taxpayers billions. Their position may have changed. Ours hasn’t: we’re not interested in that deal.”

Amtrak held Monday’s press briefing in order to reveal renderings of the project, some of which were previously published in Gothamist. Cipriano, Byford and architect Vishaan Chakrabarti did not seem eager to discuss the project’s funding despite a barrage of criticism and concerns from Manhattan pols including Rep. Jerry Nadler.

Recommended



Penn Station Belongs to New Yorkers
Jerry Nadler

June 8, 2026

Byford eventually copped to a vague total cost of between $7 billion and $8 billion — the reported price for the previous Halmar plan in 2023. Part of that cost included paying Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan $500 million to buy the Hulu Theater (formerly the Felt Forum) and knock it down to make way for a station entrance on the Eighth Avenue side of the station.

Other wild cards remain in the offing: A recently passed amendment to the proposed federal Build America 250 Act would give Amtrak the power to seize local property tax funding to pay for station rehab projects.

The redesign promises a grand interior.

The amendment is not yet law, but if it passes critics warn it will enable a federal land grab that could allow real estate titan Vornado to redevelop the area and send its billions in property taxes that otherwise would have gone to New York City to pay for what is essentially a facelift for Penn Station.

For his part, Cipriano suggested that proposed scheme was no different than what New York state had previously proposed for the project (somethong local critics also opposed).

“If Amtrak got that authority, Andy would probably go through a process that looks somewhat similar to the one that [New York State] undertakes now. He would go to the city and say, ‘This is what we want to do. Can we work together?’ Should this thing get built, I think it’s fair to speculate that the surrounding property values will go up,” he said. “People call that ‘value uplift.’ What we’re talking about is Amtrak, by virtue of having delivered this, especially if the state’s not participating in costs, Amtrak should get a piece of that value which it created. That’s all. It’s fair. It’s done throughout the world,:

Cipriano alluded to, but did not directly mention, the previous Penn Station redevelopment plan floated by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and briefly pursued by Gov. Hochul to do a similar value capture scheme in which New York seized zoning power around Penn Station through the creation of a land-use action called a General Project Plan.

Through the GPP, the state planned to give Vornado the power to develop multiple office buildings around Penn, and pay payments in lieu of taxes to cover the costs of the Penn Station renovation.

But the Cuomo-Hochul plan had built-in guardrail — including a chance for the state’s Public Authorities Control Board to review plans for each parcel of land. Critics of the GPP and the House amendment passed last week threw cold water on Cipriano’s spin.

“The so-called ‘Transit Oriented Development’ amendment … is an unprecedented power grab from the Trump administration and Vornado to steal New York City tax revenues for what appears to be an unnecessarily expensive facelift for Penn Station,” said Reinvent Albany Senior Policy Advisor Rachael Fauss. “It overrides all local authority over taxation and zoning in the area around Penn Station. Even if Amtrak did agree to consult with local officials, there is no requirement they do so and they could stop at any time if they don’t like what they hear.”

• World Cup host cities like Seattle, Atlanta, Boston and Kansas City are using the event to beef up their transit systems in ways that will hopefully outlast the global soccer tournament. (Next City)
• Both the location of housing near transit and the frequency of transit service are important for getting people to ride transit. Surprisingly, Los Angeles is at the top of the Urban Institute’s metric, followed by San Francisco and New York City. Less surprisingly, Sun Belt cities Dallas, Houston and Atlanta are at the bottom.
• A private company hires and trains bus drivers for Boston public schools. TransDev drivers were responsible for at least 60 deaths nationwide in the past decade, but most were not reported by the federal database that tracks such crashes, which means communities contracting with TransDev don’t know about its record. (ProPublica)
• The new Penn Station renderings are in, but the cost accounting isn’t. (Streetsblog NYC)
• Delays in Sound Transit projects have led to calls to reform the Seattle transit agency. (The Urbanist)
• California is cracking down on polluted runoff from parking lots. (Los Angeles Times)
• What’s the point of even having city governments if the Texas legislature can override anything they do? (Tribune)
• Passenger trains were delayed Saturday when a barge hit a rail bridge in Maryland. (New York Times)
• The Utah Transit Authority is addressing gaps in service. (Utah Public Radio)
• The D.C. Metro is closing three Red Line stations for construction this summer. (WTOP)
• Las Vegas is lowering the speed limit on Centennial Parkway as part of a Vision Zero effort to reduce deadly crashes. (Fox 5)
• Are Honolulu residents treating bikeshare like a mere novelty? (Civil Beat)
• Arkansas cities should do a better job of maintaining sidewalks. (Democrat-Gazette)
• Ann Arbor is experimenting with asphalt made from recycled tires. (Equipment World)
• Carmel, the small Indiana town of 100,000, has more than 150 roundabouts that have cut car crashes by 80 percent. (CNU Public Square)
• Feel like taking a scenic train trip this summer? Travel + Leisure suggests a few Amtrak routes.