🌱New York unveils ambitious climate goals as U.S., EU opt for more paltry plans

As the summer heats up, so too does the discussion on wildfires, past and present. Because even with fires burning across the Southwest, southern California and parts of Canada like Alberta, the damage from last year's explosive season are not yet close to being erased. California's state utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, made headlines twice this week. First, the utility that caused the Camp fire [agreed to pay $1 billion]( to the ravaged town of Paradise, Butte County and other northern California counties as part of a civil settlement. The fire was the deadliest in California history - killing 85 people. PG&E also may benefit from a [future wildfire fund]( proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The $10.5 billion pot of money - filled by ratepayers - would be used to pay for wildfire destruction caused by investor-owned utilities. The two stories again highlight the ballooning costs of wildfires in the West that scientists say are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Whether it's companies or ratepayers footing the bill for catastrophe (which presents an entire different environmental justice question), where does that money come from when billion-dollar disasters hit more often and with more force? Some communities are taking matters into their own hands. As this High Country News [story]( highlights, communities are realizing that the best defense against wildfires is not firefighters but rather proactive land-use planning and building codes. Through a national community fire adaption assistance program, communities in the wildland urban interface receive personalized land-use planning and forest management tactics to better protect the places they live. An iteration of this often happens on the local scale, too. As I highlighted in a story from spring 2018, many [city and county fire departments]( will go to an individual's home to assess their property's wildfire risk and measures they can take to reduce it. This is all to say that environmental action comes not just from the bottom or just from the top, but rather from both meeting in the middle. Bison were once a staple in the ecology of northwestern Montana and within the Blackfeet Indian tribe until they were all but exterminated in the late 19th century. But their population is rebounding, as is the deeply engrained cultural significance they hold for the native people of the area. [Read More +]( [Trump's order to slash number of science advisory boards blasted by critics as 'nonsensical']( President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Friday to slash the number of government advisory committees by a third across all federal agencies. [Read More +]( [Watchdog to investigate whether BLM broke the law by studying Grand Staircase monument’s potential for oil and gas leasing]( The Government Accountability Office will look into whether the Interior Department illegally surveyed Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument for oil and gas leases. [Read More +]( [New York to pass most progressive climate crisis plan in U.S.]( New York's climate proposal would produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040 and cut it's greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050. [Read+]( Read More - [Renewable energy sector hails]( York state's new climate plan]( via Reuters - OPINION: New York [can win on climate and racial justice]( via The New York Times [Trump’s EPA replaces Obama’s signature climate policy with a much weaker rule]( The new rule is likely to do little to slow the U.S power sector’s impact on the global climate and could actually increase greenhouse gas emissions, even compared to business as usual. [Read More +]( [Poland blocks Merkel’s push to end EU carbon emissions by 2050]( German Chancellor Angela Merkel's attempts to stick to the Paris Agreement by ending European Union Emissions by 2050 was blocked by Poland this week. [Read More +]( What else we're reading this week - Colorado's [state bird]( is on the decline via The Gazette - Pennsylvania governor looks to [Northeast carbon cap-and-trade]( program to fund capital projects via Penn Live - BP finds energy demand and [carbon emissions rising]( world on 'unsustainable path' via The Northwest Indiana Times - Which European countries are doing [best on renewable energy]( via euronews - Oregon [Republicans are hiding]( to avoid a climate-bill vote via High Country News [Quote of the day:]( “National monuments like Grand Staircase-Escalante protect some of our most spectacular wilderness areas and breathtaking lands, and it is imperative that the [Interior] Department manage them in accordance with the laws passed by Congress.” -Sen. Tom Udall Make your own vegetable stock by stockpiling the unusable vegetable ends you'd usually compost in the freezer, then boiling a large pot of them in water. Each batch brings its own unique flavor and saves you money at the grocery store. [Subscribe now!]( A free weekly environment briefing that comes to you. No algorithms, clickbait or ads – just what's worth reading. I've got your back Hi, my name is Liz Forster. I am a former environment reporter and have a particular interest in public land management, natural disasters, climate change and ecology, among other topics. I received a degree in Environmental Policy from Colorado College, worked for a Colorado newspaper and am on my way to environmental law school. Subscribe and each week, I'll comb through newspaper's headlines and send you the latest, most pertinent environment news. Questions, comments, suggestions? Tweet at me on Twitter at @lizmforster. You're receiving this email because you signed up for Environment Weekly emails The Colorado Springs Gazette, L.L.C. | 100 E. 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