Climate Point: Yes or no, can you recycle a pizza box? And UN warns of biblical scale exodus
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I’m Janet Wilson from Palm Springs, California.
Are you still undecided on what to do with Sunday's Super Bowl pizza box or that plastic snack wrap? Can you or can't you throw it in the recycling container if it's greasy and has a bit of cheese stuck to it? Here's a hint: If you live in the Northeast, likely yes. In the Southwest, it's muddier. USA Today's Dinah Voles Pulver explains, and includes a helpful link to check on this and other recycling questions by zip code, though it's not comprehensive.
Widespread confusion over what can be recycled doesn't stop with pizza boxes, one expert said. People debate plastic bottles, cups and more. Mitch Hedlund, head of Recycle Across America, is frustrated by the recurring questions over what is and isn’t recyclable.
“There isn’t any other industry that has allowed this kind of confusion to continue for 50 years,” he said, noting it obfuscatesthe real issue, namely how effective recycling could be at reducing fossil fuel emissions, landfill waste and plastic pollution if the nation “could get it right.”
Obfuscation? Who, us? Speaking of fossil fuels, a new study finds four of the world’s largest oil and gas companies are failing to back their climate pledges with real action. The authors document a clear mismatch between the clean energy claims of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell and their sluggish follow-up, including paltry investments in renewables.
Carbon Brief's Josh Gabbatis has a good round-up on the oil majors "not walking the talk," even as they've announced record profits from production, a leading cause of climate change.
BP, sometimes seen as the "greenest" of the bunch, publicly dialed back its emission reduction plans this month, aiming for a 20 to 30 percent reduction rather than up to 40 percent. Part of the likely reason, along with those record profits, is less investor pushback. Instead of demonstrating at shareholder meetings as in recent years, they appear to be happily cashing their dividend checks and staying mum.
"Exodus on a biblical scale" Fossil fuels are an unsustainable business model long-term, writes Vox's Rebecca Leber. But will there be any habitable Earth left by the time the energy industry shifts? UN officials bluntly warn this week that sea levels are rising fast, and 900 million people are at risk along coastlines across the planet. The world will witness “a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale,” said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, unless companies and countries swiftly reduce emissions and rein in their worst impacts, including fiercer competition for fresh water and land.
There's lots happening around the country, including updates on the Ohio train derailment's impacts, pesticides now found in the Great Lakes year-round, and coastal North Carolina bracing for hurricanes as it awaits sand deliveries.
In California, a new bill proposes to save gangly, iconic Joshua trees in some places, while greenlighting their destruction for housing and renewables elsewhere. In Arizona, environmentalists are frustrated as lawmakers delay and cast shade on bills to plant trees at schools in low income areas that typically experience much hotter weather.
In Mississippi, feds have allocated $21 million to clean up "emerging contaminants" in Mississippians' drinking water. And Jacksonville, Florida now has a resilience officer focused on local input and solutions to withstand climate change impacts.
This one's for the birds. This weekend, stay in your backyard, look out a window, or walk a neighborhood street and count the feathered species you see, for a good cause.
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