Government scientists have cooked up a new concept for how to potentially cool an overheating Earth: Fiddle with the upper atmosphere to make it a bit drier. …That could counteract a small amount of the human-caused warmth. It’s just the spark of an initial idea, said the lead author of a new study. …Known as geoengineering, it’s often rejected because of potential side effects, and is usually mentioned not as an alternative to reducing carbon pollution, but in addition to emission cuts. …Purposely tinkering with Earth’s atmosphere to fix climate change is likely to create cascading new problems, said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver. He compared the concept to a children’s story where a king who loves cheese is overrun with mice, gets cats to deal with the mice, then dogs to chase away the cats, lions to get rid of the dogs and elephants to eliminate the lions and then goes back to mice to scare off the elephants.
The flagging shares of America’s largest wood-pellet exporter got a lift Tuesday after Enviva said it had agreed to extend a forbearance agreement with creditors through March 11. The forbearance agreement that Enviva struck last month after missing a bond payment expired. Enviva’s shares, which reached nearly $90 in 2022, have traded for less than $1 this year. They rose by more than 30% today. Enviva is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal has reported. In addition to the forbearance extension, Enviva told investors in a securities filing that they should no longer rely on its financial reports for the first three quarters of 2023, which it said would be restated. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
The Department of Energy announced March 4 that it is making $90 million available to help states and localities adopt and implement building energy codes, which set energy efficiency standards for new buildings, additions and major renovations. This is the second tranche out of a total of $225 million designated by the 2021 infrastructure law for building energy code modernization. In July 2023, the DOE awarded the first $90 million to 27 projects nationwide, including workforce development programs and a national network to support state and local governments as they develop new codes. …Homes built with current energy codes are nearly 40% more efficient than those built just a few years ago, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. In the release, the DOE touts the benefits that updated energy codes promise for communities: lower utility bills, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved grid reliability. 
For a generation now, governments have played a dangerous, costly game with wildfire in British Columbia. Government must do many things to win this game. It must prevent wildfire outbreaks, put fires out and help communities recover from the aftermath. …Wildfires are now more frequent, intense and costly. But how we manage wildfire also shapes this new reality. …B.C.’s February budget set aside $233 million for wildfire management. No B.C. government has ever made a larger initial commitment to fighting wildfires. …But will it be enough? Over the last 10 years, the average annual wildfire-fighting bill has been $498 million, more than twice the amount laid out in the government budget. Contrary to this commitment, the premier warned he’s expecting this fire season to be even worse than the $1.1-billion 2023 season. …In addition to developing more efficient and effective partnerships to respond to wildfires, we must finally recognize and substantially fund prevention and mitigation measures.
The forests of the Pacific Northwest, sometimes soaked in feet of rainfall each year, are known for growing some of the largest trees in the world. Together, they store thousands of tons of carbon in their trunks and support hundreds of critters. But even these lush forests can be affected by climate change. If the world continues to emit greenhouse gases at its current pace, the North Cascades, Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound lowlands and Western Oregon Cascades could see at least twice as much fire activity in the 30 years following 2035, according to new research led by Alex Dye, a faculty research associate in the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Fire seasons — the dry and hot months — are expected to get longer, in some places spanning from early spring to late fall. …The new research aims to better describe how climate change is impacting a region where fire was historically infrequent, west of the Cascade crest.
More than $8 million will be used to plant trees in communities across Washington as the Washington State Department of Natural Resources announced the 45 recipients of the agency’s largest Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program ever. The record-shattering dollar amount is 14 times bigger than the previous single-year record of $550,000 and is nearly three times the total grants awarded by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for urban and community forestry projects since 2008. “Access to clean air, shade, and green spaces should be a basic human right, but the fact is that throughout our state, lower-income communities and communities of color more often live in neighborhoods with more concrete and asphalt, and too few trees,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. “We need to bring the same urgency we brought to our wildfire crisis to our efforts to ensure everyone lives in neighborhoods with adequate tree canopy.”
