Climate Change

Will the teeth of trade rules swallow the Paris climate deal?

Earlier this week, the European Parliament approved the Paris climate agreement, joining more than 60 other countries in signing the deal and paving the way for this historic global effort to enter into force. While the Paris deal is truly a major step forward, countries will have to overcome a series of hurdles created by trade agreements to reach their climate goals.

Raising Rural Voices on Climate Change

This blog overviews day 1 of the 2016 Rural Climate Dialogues State Convening.

The TPP's climate blindspot

Free trade deals, and in particular the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), have taken a beating this election season. Most of the noise on trade from Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has focused on the loss of jobs linked to the offshoring.

The Climate Cost of Free Trade

The Trans-Pacific Partnership undermines global efforts to address climate change

The Trans-Pacific Partnership undermines global efforts to address climate change Minneapolis – Last weekend, US President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping officially signed onto the Paris Agreement on climate. Yet, President Obama is simultaneously pushing a trade agenda that directly undermines the U.S.’s ability to address climate change.

Let’s make sure the Clean Power Plan provides opportunity for rural, low-income communities

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the Clean Power Plan, President Obama and the EPA’s regulation to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants.

Seed Sovereignty and Climate Adaptation in Malawi

You wouldn’t have known from the farmers gathered in Lobi, in the Dedza area of central Malawi, that drought had seriously depressed harvests. To be sure, they hadn’t suffered the worst of the country’s devastating heat and dry spell. Farmers to the south saw crops wither in their baked fields; some never even bothered to plant.

Climate change without a plan

On a wintry day in March, residents from Winona, Minnesota gathered around tables with flip charts and markers to develop a plan for how the Mississippi River community could respond to climate change.

The Clean Power Plan

The Clean Power Plan is the most significant policy shaping the future of the United States’ energy sector. As such, it will affect rural communities that have long produced much of the nation’s energy supply. Although rural counties house only 15 percent of U.S.

Carbon Markets: Reducing Carbon Emissions or Missing the Mark?

The Clean Power Plan is the predominant plan in the U.S. to address climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is encouraging states to set up regional carbon markets to comply with the plan; however, carbon markets to date have not achieved their intended goals.