California's planet-warming pollution shrank by 3% in 2023, one of the largest year-over-year reductions the state has seen, according to a report by nonprofit Next 10. The state's use of cleaner fuels in heavy-duty transportation, like big rigs, and its deployment of battery storage and solar energy drove this climate progress, in large part. While the transportation sector comprised the state's largest category of emissions, accounting for roughly 38% of emissions in 2023, it also saw the largest percentage decrease in emissions of any other sector, falling by 4.6%.
It is a rule of thumb that for every person who marches, there are 10 to 20 who sympathize. That would equate to 70 million to 140 million people, as a record 7 million participated. While some complain that these rallies don't do anything, they are an essential demonstration of the depth and breadth of popular sentiment and resistance, and they serve to hearten and motivate people to engage.
The New York State Department of Transportation has quietly announced that it was pausing work on a controversial highway expansion in the Hudson Valley that locals opposed. Earlier this month, the agency posted, but did not distribute, a statement on its website announcing that the Route 17 widening project in the Catskills - long regarded as one of the biggest highway boondoggles in the state - had been put on ice.