December 22, 2020
When Rwanda’s president said last August that he wanted all of the country’s motorbikes to be electric as soon as possible, Ampersand’s waiting list exploded. The country’s first electric motorbike company now has about 7,000 drivers in line for its …
December 18, 2020
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday that Volkswagen breached the law by installing on its cars a so-called defeat device to cheat on emission tests and cannot argue it was merely protecting car engines. The …
December 14, 2020
The dystopian images of wildfires ravaging vast swathes of woodland around the globe belie a rare positive signal for the Earth’s climate — the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by burning forests actually fell in 2020. That’s the conclusion of …
September 22, 2020
For weeks, smoke has blanketed the west coast. The Bay Area has seen a vast improvement in the past few days, but terrible air lingers in Portland and Seattle. Millions of people have been furiously checking the air quality ratings …
September 17, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore. — Dangerously dirty air spewing from the West Coast wildfires is seeping into homes and businesses, sneaking into cars through air conditioning vents and preventing people already shut away by the coronavirus pandemic from enjoying a walk or …
August 19, 2020
LOS ANGELES — California firefighters battled destructive wildfires Monday as a lengthening heat wave roasted the state. Thousands of homes were at risk and air quality deteriorated in areas affected by smoke. The National Weather Service blanketed the state in …
July 7, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO — Firefighters scrambled to douse grass and structure fires sparked by illegal Fourth of July fireworks across California. The city of San Francisco saw at least 100 fires between 3 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Saturday, the San Francisco …
January 3, 2020
HOUSTON — On the east side of Houston, the white plumes of the Texas oil and chemical refineries are a constant backdrop for residents of the Manchester neighborhood. Late at night or early in the morning when plants burn off …
October 14, 2019
Firefighters have tightened their grip on a deadly Los Angeles wildfire burning with subdued fury on Sunday after extremely dry desert winds that had stoked the flames gave way to moister, gentler breezes blowing in from the Pacific. The so-called …
January 15, 2013
One of Beijing’s worst rounds of air pollution kept schoolchildren indoors and sent coughing residents to hospitals Monday, but this time something was different about the murky haze: the government’s transparency in talking about it. While welcomed by residents and …