Cover-crops like barley, oats and even radishes have long been a part of agriculture, protecting the soil for the eventual planting of a cash-crop. Now they’re being rebranded as “regenerative farming,” and marketed as a low-tech, effective weapon against climate change. Not only do they reduce soil runoff from heavy rains and flooding, but they retain water during stubborn periods of drought and suck up greenhouse gases. So the next time you tell a disappointed farmstand employee you don’t like radishes, consider what they’ve done for the planet. —Josh Petri
“The large impact we foresaw from the market disappearing—we always saw as out there in the future. Well, the future is now.”
—Guillermo Fonseca, CEO of Colombian coal giant Cerrejon, says the writing is on the wall when it comes to the dirtiest of fossil fuels.
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A group of 22 U.S. states and seven cities
sued to block the Trump administration’s plan to roll back Obama-era pollution restrictions, saying it’s an industry giveaway that will reverse progress in addressing the climate crisis and prolong the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.
We’re killing the world’s plants faster than we thought. Global vegetation has been in decline since the late 1990’s, thanks to humans, and the problem is only going to get worse.
A carbon-fiber kite tethered to a buoy floating in waters 220 meters deep took flight in a test to prove that the future of offshore wind power might fly through the air.
Public shaming works. Sales of carbon offsets are soaring as more flyers than ever try and assuage their carbon guilt.
The 1,450-mile-long Colorado River serves as a source of water for seven states. Western cities are clamoring for a share of its diminishing supply, hoping to insure against future droughts. Desert farmers with valuable water rights—located in rural areas that have been diverting the river since the Civil War—are making multimillion dollar deals. Now the water is running out.