Demand For Ivory In Asian Markets Is Driving Illegal Elephant Poaching, With China Posing The Greatest

The larger the share of overall energy jobs that are solar and wind jobs, the more likely a state was to support the Democratic candidate in 2016. This has an important lesson for Trump as his administration crafts energy policy.

Per Axios: 

...for the most part, states that Trump narrowly won have a higher percentage of energy jobs that are renewable-energy jobs than safe Republican states.

Thus, an energy policy that shuns renewables in favor or jobs in fossil fuels could bolster his support in solid red states, while jeopardizing his support in the swing states he narrowly won to give him the presidency. Trump would be wise to continue Obama’s investment in renewables.

Carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are falling. CO2 emission fell 5.8% in 2016 from the previous year. Current emissions represent a 36% reduction from 1990 levels, and are at their lowest level since 1894 (outside the 1920s general strikes).

Why? The decline of coal. Coal use in the UK has declined steadily from its peak in 1956, and has experienced a dramatic decline since 2012. Coal use in 2016 dropped 52% from 2015.

The reduction in coal use is a result of multiple factors. The biggest is the expanded use of natural gas and renewables displacing coal. Other factors include an overall reduction in energy demand, the closing of Redcar Steelworks in 2015, and the UK’s carbon tax.

Source

From Bloomberg:

The U.K. said in July it will ban sales of diesel- and gasoline-fueled cars by 2040, two weeks after France announced a similar plan to reduce air pollution and meet targets to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

China will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, becoming the biggest market to do so in a move that will accelerate the push into the electric car market... The looming ban on combustion-engine automobiles will goad both local and global automakers to focus on introducing more zero-emission electric cars to help clean up smog-choked major cities.

Rhino poaching in South Africa decreased for the third year in a row, according to South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa. But the number is still unsustainably high, with about 3 rhinos killed per day in South Africa.

Rising incomes in Asian nations, such as Vietnam and China, is driving a renewed poaching boom for rhino horns, and poachers are finding new ways to avoid detection of exports.

Original Article

Acid rain (wet sulfate deposition = sulfuric acid rain) before (89-91) and after (07-09) the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which used a cap & trade program to limit sulfur dioxide emissions. For anyone who has any doubt that environmental regulations can work...

Changes in US tree cover since 2000 (purple is gain, red is loss)

While the coal industry is fighting Clean Water Act protections for rivers and streams from mountaintop removal mining (MTR), this 2011 poll of residents in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee found strong support.

Other interesting results:

57% of voters oppose MTR; 20% support

64% of Democrats, 60% of independents and 51% of Republicans oppose MTR

“[Electric vehicle] sales have been soaring worldwide. By 2025, more than 37 million fully electric vehicles are expected to be on the road globally, according to Navigant Research, and those EVs will be ‘cost competitive’ without subsidies.” - ThinkProgress

The Florida Everglades, where elevation above sea level is often measured in single digits, is on of the most susceptible areas of the country to sea level rise. In addition to its low coastal elevation, the Everglades are threatened as a result of a history of wetland degradation that changed the way water flowed through the large wetland system. Restoring natural freshwater flows will help protect the everglades from the intrusion of salt water due to sea level rise, but it must be done quickly.

Dr. Harold Wanless of the University of Miami Department of Geological Sciences created a series of maps showing the Everglades under varying scenarios of sea level rise. This is the Everglades in 1995. 

The American Lung Association released its 2012 "State of the Air" report. Among their findings, they report that the air quality in many places has improved, but that over 127 million people—41 percent of the U.S.—still suffer pollution levels that are too often dangerous to breathe. The report includes this graph from EPA, showing that emissions of the six common air pollutants have fallen 59% since 1990 as a result of Clean Air Act regulations. These reductions have occurred even as population, energy consumption, vehicle miles traveled and GDP have increased, debunking the myth that environmental regulations hurt economic growth.

*The "six common pollutants" are fine particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), and lead.