Environment

The move is supposed to save the average household at least $100 a year in lower utility bills. As new water heaters are shipped out over 30 years, energy savings from the tougher standards are also expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 332 million metric tons. That’s like erasing the annual planet-heating pollution of nearly 43 million homes, the Department of Energy says.

By simplifying the permitting process, the Biden administration hopes to speed the deployment of solar and wind farms and other energy projects crucial to meeting US climate goals. At the same time, the new rules are designed to make potential impacts on local communities (environmental justice) a bigger consideration when permitting new projects.

Earth Month is coming to a close, but there’s still time to catch up on The Verge’s package of stories from Costa Rica on turning cattle ranches into forests, Indigenous leaders fighting for their land back, and how the country runs on nearly 100 percent renewable electricity. On the ground in Costa Rica, we found reasons to be hopeful about solutions to climate change.

Paging Helen Hunt. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton to Twister, please.

One of the biggest residential solar companies announced today that it’ll lay off 1,000 people. It’s also shutting down its direct sales business and residential installation locations.

There are plenty of great stories to read today from our sister site, Vox — on everything from more efficient (and yet controversial) appliances to how phones affect kids’ experiences in nature and how climate change is transforming our sense of home.

that caused catastrophic flooding in Dubai, experts tell AP. People falsely blaming cloud seeding are also spreading disinformation about climate change. So, you know, don’t believe everything you see on social media.

That means breaking waves could be a major source of PFAS pollution in the air, according to a new study. For decades, manufacturers used forever chemicals (AKA PFAS) in everything from food packaging to carpet cleaners to make things water, stain, and heat resistant. We’re just starting to understand how prevalent these chemicals have become in the environment and the health risks that could pose.

That’s what the company’s Earth Day recycling ads are really about, at least according to this scathing blog from iFixit. It’s a fun, informative read — and good reminder to keep an eye out for greenwashing this time of year.

It’s using three times as much “clean electricity” now as it did in 2020, Apple said today. It’s part of the company’s commitment to become carbon neutral across its operations and supply chain by 2030. By the same date, Apple also plans to replenish fresh water it uses in drought-stressed areas — spending $8 million on that task since 2023.

The European Space Agency plans to find out with a project called Solaris. Scientists and engineers have been trying to figure out how to make space-based solar power work since the 1960s. And the rise of the commercial space industry is finally bringing launch costs down enough to really put the technology to the test.

Newsweek notes that renewable energy hit a milestone in California, meeting 100 percent of the state’s electricity demand for up to 6 hours nearly every day of the past month.

That includes chemicals used to make rubber, sterilize medical equipment, and more. The new regulations are expected to slash releases of smog-forming volatile organic compounds by 23,700 tons annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is a big deal for communities bordering industrial facilities, including Louisiana’s Cancer Alley.

Just weeks after finalizing it, the SEC announced a stay on the landmark rule that would push big public companies to divulge financial risks they face from climate change and share data on their greenhouse gas emissions.

A new subsea cable called Far North Fiber would link Europe and Japan, cutting a path through the Arctic that would have been unreachable until recently. The Arctic is warming nearly 4x faster than the rest of the world, and vanishing sea ice could turn the Arctic into the new Wild West for companies looking to take advantage of newly navigable waters.

These companies are trying to alter the atmosphere as the world makes slow progress to tackle climate change, The New York Times reports.

University of California geologist Duncan Agnew published research in Nature saying the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has contributed to slowing Earth’s rotation, reports Space.com.