Voters approve minimum wage increase to $13.50 in Washington state
Washington’s low-wage workers can expect to earn at least $13.50 an hour by 2020 under a ballot measure that won Tuesday night.
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Germany is building the world’s first wind turbines with built-in hydroelectric batteries
Wind blows. Water falls. But for the first time, one is now powering the other. Engineers in Germany are storing water for hydroelectricity inside wind turbines allowing the towers act like massive batteries once the wind stops blowing.
Arizona sheriff officially charged with criminal contempt in racial profiling case
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been arresting undocumented immigrants with no state charges against them. He has now been charged with criminal contempt.
Renewables now exceed all other forms of new power generation
According to the International Energy Association, the global growth of renewable energy capacity reached historic levels in 2015.
Women in Iceland protest country’s 14 percent pay gap by leaving work 14 percent early
On Monday, in protest of the pay gap, thousands of Icelandic women decided to work the hours their pay merited by leaving their workplaces promptly when the clock struck 2:38.
Cannabis tax revenue is overwhelming Oregon’s tax office
Oregon officials estimate that they’ll take in around $43 million in tax revenue from recreational cannabis this year.
Scotland is set to be 100% zero-carbon by 2020
A world run completely on renewable energyit sounds to be an impossible feat, but in a some places around the world, people have stopped burning fossil fuels for electricity. Another country is about to join the club: Scotland.
170 countries agree to ban HFCs in landmark climate change agreement
The agreement was seven years in the making. HFCs became common after ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) were phased out by the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Though the amount of HFCs released by humans into the atmosphere is small, HFCs are known as a “super greenhouse gas.” The chemical compound traps heat 1,000 times quicker than carbon dioxide.
Scientists accidentally discover efficient process to turn CO2 into ethanol
Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have discovered a chemical reaction to turn CO2 into ethanol, potentially creating a new technology to help avert climate change.
Nations, fighting powerful refrigerant that warms planet, reach landmark deal
Negotiators from more than 170 countries on Saturday reached a legally binding accord to counter climate change by cutting the worldwide use of a powerful planet-warming chemical used in air-conditioners and refrigerators.