New York City plans to divest $5bn from fossil fuels and sue oil companies
Mayor Bill de Blasio: ‘It’s up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient’
Cities
Montgomery County Council in Maryland unanimously approves $15 minimum-wage
Montgomery, which is the largest and one of the most affluent jurisdictions in Maryland, is the first in the state to require a $15 minimum wage, and the second jurisdiction in the Washington region, after the District of Columbia.
Hong Kong to host 2022 Gay Games as LGBT acceptance grows in parts of Asia
The win comes amid growing momentum for the gay rights movement in Asia, with Taiwan’s constitutional court this year declaring that same-sex couples have the right to marry, the region’s first such ruling.
St. Louis commits to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035
The resolution, unanimously approved by the legislative body, tasks the city with developing a plan by December 2018 to wean itself off fossil fuels.
Philadelphia water rate links payments to household income
City utility prepares nation’s first water rate based on annual earnings.
700MW solar project in Dubai hits record bid with $7.3 cents per KWh
The project is considered the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) project in the world.
London’s first plastic-free store now open
The products are brandless, instead of hiding behind the familiar brand names and packaging we all know and recognise in the supermarkets.
L.A. City Council replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day on city calendar
Over the objections of Italian American civic groups, the council made the second Monday in October a day in L.A. to commemorate “indigenous, aboriginal and native people.”
Baltimore removes Confederate statues
Statues dedicated to Confederate heroes were swiftly removed across Baltimore, just days after violence broke out over the removal of a similar monument in neighboring Virginia.