Emissions Reduction

Study: Gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers produce as much pollution as long car trips

A report from the Maryland Department of the Environment report recommends that state and local governments promote the use of electric lawn equipment instead of air polluting tools like leafblowers.

  • By Josh Kurtz, Maryland Matters

Hear that? It’s the sound of leaf blower bans.

As restrictions spread, neighborhoods are getting quieter—and cleaner.

  • By Kate Yoder, Grist

Drones spot energy leaks to boost building efficiency

New York City is exploring how drones equipped with thermal cameras and lidar can better identify flaws in exterior walls and roofs that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Big federal dollars for small state projects aim to get more cars off the roads

Cycling trails, electric street sweepers and EV charging stations are among the ideas.

  • By Erika Bolstad, Stateline

Exxon, Apple and other corporate giants will have to disclose all their emissions under California’s new climate laws that will have a global impact

COMMENTARY | California is the world’s fifth-largest economy. Laws tested there often spread across the U.S. and around the world.

  • By Lily Hsueh, The Conversation

Why some power companies support climate laws, but others don’t

Electric utilities have considerable political juice in state capitols, which a study found they can use to promote or stymie greenhouse gas reduction efforts.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

A group of US governors promises to install 20 million heat pumps by 2030

And they want to put at least 40 percent of them in disadvantaged communities.

  • By Katie Myers, Grist

A simple way to make electric cars more accessible: Share them

Car shares not only make electric vehicles more equitable, they reduce the number of vehicles on the road and the resources needed to decarbonize transport.

  • By Syris Valentine, Grist

Virginia is bailing on a carbon cap-and-invest program. Activists say that might be illegal.

If the state ditches the program, millions of dollars in climate resilience funding could be lost.

  • By Katie Myers, Grist
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