Climate Pact, Clean Power Rule, Worst Wildfires Ever

Obama Pushes for Climate Pact from Melting Alaska

President Obama spent three days in Alaska earlier this week and used the occasion to talk up his hopes for accomplishing an international accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Paris climate summit coming up in December. Obama wants Americans to reduce emissions by as much as 28 percent over the next decade, and remains optimistic that a similar pledge from China last year means world leaders could potentially agree—finally—on an international climate agreement with some teeth. “This year, in Paris,” Obama told reporters, “has to be the year that the world finally reaches an agreement to protect the one planet that we’ve got while we still can.”

“Overwhelming Majority” of Americans Support Obama’s Clean Power Rule

A new survey conducted by the non-profit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) found that 60 percent of American voters support President Obama’s recent landmark rule on regulation greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Likewise, 70 percent of survey respondents believe their state governors should comply with the new federal rule. “It is good news that support for the Clean Power Plan remains strong, but it’s especially good news to see that Americans want their governors on board with the plan too,” said LCV head Gene Karpinski.

Western Wildfires On Track As Worst Ever, Decimating Harvests

Recent tallies confirm that the wildfires raging across the American West are currently on track to be the biggest acreage burn on record. While they are causing their fair share of forest damage and property loss, they are also jeopardizing a large part of the agricultural harvest across much of the affected region, especially in the Pacific Northwest.