John Upton, Climate Central

Read the latest articles by John Upton, Climate Central at Seeker

Climate

Earth & Conservation

Cleaner Electricity Grids Mean Electric Vehicles Are Really Making a Difference

Erosion, rising seas, ferocious storms, and other coastal perils have prompted the resettlement of more than 1 million people worldwide, with an exhaustive new analysis highlighting an emerging migration crisis that's worsening as global warming overwhelms shorelines.

Communities Retreat as Oceans Swell, Coasts Erode

The lawns of homes purchased this year in vast swaths of coastal America could regularly be underwater before the mortgage has even been paid off, with new research showing high tide flooding could become nearly incessant in places within 30 years.

Coastal Cities Could Flood Three Times a Week by 2045

Space & Innovation

With President Trump and Republicans in Congress moving swiftly to repeal regulations that slow global warming, a group of prominent conservatives on Wednesday touted a different potential solution - a carbon tax that pays cash dividends to Americans.

Prominent Conservatives Argue for a Carbon Tax to Address Climate Change

History

With President Trump preparing to nominate a ninth justice for the Supreme Court this week, tumult over the crucial vacancy is overshadowing his unprecedented potential to fill the benches of lower federal courts.

Trump Could Reshape Courts by Filling a Record 114 Judge Vacancies

The head of the city department that drafts many of San Francisco's greenest rules and regulations uses one word to explain her greatest fear for the environment during Trump's presidency: "preemption."

Trump and Congress Could Halt State Action on Climate

ExxonMobil has agreed to provide an investment package worth about $180 million to its outgoing chief executive, Rex Tillerson, letting him cash in on benefits that he would have been required to give up in order to serve as President-elect Trump's top diplomat.

Exxon Makes $180 Million Deal With Trump’s Pick for State

Western firefighting veterans lamenting a "new normal" amid surging forest fires have received an explanation for the destructiveness they've been unable to quell.

Climate Change Is Causing Western Wildfires to Surge

Moving with a diplomatic haste rivaling the rapid recent rise in global temperatures, the European Union on Wednesday joined dozens of countries in signing onto a United Nations climate treaty, pushing it to within a month of taking legal force.

The Paris Climate Deal Will Be Law Before Election Day

As United Nations diplomats gather in New York this week, climate wonks may be feeling like anxious children on a long drive to a beach.

UN Climate Pact Moves Closer to Taking Effect

Louisiana Floods Directly Linked to Climate Change

Years of number crunching that had seemed to corroborate the climate benefits of American biofuels were starkly challenged in a science journal on Thursday, with a team of scientists using a new approach to conclude that the climate would be better off without them.

John’s Recent Articles

Cleaner Electricity Grids Mean Electric Vehicles Are Really Making a Difference

Electric cars are only as clean as the source of energy they're plugged into — and Tennessee offers a lesson in how build a better clean-vehicle market.

Communities Retreat as Oceans Swell, Coasts Erode

An emerging migration crisis is worsening as global warming pushes sea levels higher — and some communities are choosing to voluntarily retreat rather than continue to live in high-risk areas.

Coastal Cities Could Flood Three Times a Week by 2045

Flooding would generally cluster around new and full moons.

Prominent Conservatives Argue for a Carbon Tax to Address Climate Change

Former advisers to four Republican presidents want to phase out most of the EPA's power to regulate carbon dioxide pollution and replace it with a tax.

Trump Could Reshape Courts by Filling a Record 114 Judge Vacancies

New judges with a narrow view of federal agency powers could make decisions that have long-term consequences on the environment.

Trump and Congress Could Halt State Action on Climate

As Republicans take control of the White House and Congress, local and state officials fear environmental preemptions.

Exxon Makes $180 Million Deal With Trump’s Pick for State

Exxon will provide Trump's pick for secretary of state, former CEO Rex Tillerson, with a $180 million package.

Climate Change Is Causing Western Wildfires to Surge

Global warming is blamed for 44 percent of the total area burned in Western forest fires since 1984.

The Paris Climate Deal Will Be Law Before Election Day

A key threshold for the Paris climate pact has been met, meaning it will go into effect on Nov. 4.

UN Climate Pact Moves Closer to Taking Effect

A slew of documents filed on Wednesday pushed the new UN climate treaty closer to taking effect.

Louisiana Floods Directly Linked to Climate Change

Unprecedented rainfall in parts of Louisiana last month was made more likely by global warming.

Biofuels Worse for Climate than Gasoline: Study

American biofuels are doing more harm to the climate than good, suggests new research.