The amount of land needed for renewable energy projects is sometimes criticized, but a new study points out that, in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, much more land gets allocated for golf courses than renewable energy facilities.

The study, “Countries across the world use more land for golf courses than wind or solar energy,” was published in the journal Environmental Research Communications.

“Land use is a critical factor in the siting of renewable energy facilities and is often scrutinized due to perceived conflicts with other land demands. Meanwhile, substantial areas are devoted to activities such as golf, which are accessible to only a select few and have a significant land and environmental footprint,” the authors of the study wrote.

In the 10 countries in the world that have the most golf courses, a course’s area could support as much as 659 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity and 842 GW of solar capacity, which exceeds the installed capacity for many of the renewable energy facilities, IOP Publishing reported.

More land is allocated to golf courses than renewable energy, a new study in our journal Environmental Research Communications shows: ow.ly/y6WR50V4l8c. We don’t suggest eliminating golf courses, but it highlights the potential of rethinking land use to boost renewable energy.

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— IOP Publishing (@ioppublishing.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 10:53 AM

“In many of these countries, this potential exceeds both current installed capacity and medium-term projections,” the authors wrote in the study.

Golf courses have an outsized environmental impact, as they usually require chemical treatments and large amounts of water. On the other hand, solar farms, wind turbines and other renewable energy installations offer an option for sustainable land use that directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Roughly 0.01 square kilometers of land is required per megawatt (MW) for utility-scale solar farms, while wind farms need 0.12 square kilometers for each MW, though just a small fraction of the land is impacted by infrastructure and turbines.

“These findings underscore the untapped potential of rethinking land use priorities to accelerate the transition to renewable energy,” the authors wrote in the study.

Lead author of the findings Dr. Jann Weinand, who is head of the department of Integrated Scenarios at the Institute Jülich Systems Analysis at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, said the study was not advocating for golf courses to be directly converted, but that it “highlights the vast potential for renewable energy on similarly large and underutilized areas.”

“In light of the ongoing debates about land use for renewables, it is crucial to consider how we allocate land overall — especially when significant space is dedicated to activities that benefit only a limited segment of the population,” Weinand said, as reported by IOP Publishing.

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In the newest edition of Colorado College’s Conservation in the West Poll, nearly three-quarters — 72 percent — of respondents from eight states said they supported boosting outdoor recreation and the protection of water, clean air and wildlife habitat by their congressional representatives over maximizing oil and gas drilling on public lands.

The 14th annual survey by the Rockies Project showed that 67 percent of voters in eight Mountain West states — Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada — are concerned about the future of water, land and wildlife.

“Majorities of voters view issues like loss of habitats and declining fish and wildlife populations, inadequate and polluted water supplies, microplastics, uncontrollable wildfires, air pollution, loss of pollinators, and loss of natural spaces as extremely or very serious problems in their state,” a press release from Colorado College said.

More than half of Western voters — 66 percent — believe the impacts of the climate crisis over the past decade have been significant in the state where they live. And 85 percent of voters — including 96 percent of Democrats, 87 percent of Independents and 74 percent of Republicans — say issues that involve clear air and water, public lands and wildlife are important to their decision of who to vote for.

“There may be a lot that divides voters across the country, but in the West there is nearly universal consensus in favor of conservation,” said Katrina Miller-Stevens, associate professor at Colorado College and director of the State of the Rockies Project, in the press release.

When asked their preference for what congressional representatives should put more emphasis on, 70 percent were in favor of protecting air quality, clean water and wildlife habitats while also providing opportunities for recreation on public lands.

That is in contrast to just over a quarter of voters — 26 percent — who would rather more domestic energy production be ensured by maximizing the availability of public lands for oil and gas exploration and mining. It was the first time in the history of the poll that the prioritization of conservation over maximized energy production received a majority of support from both Independents and Republicans.

“Westerners do not want to see a rollback of national monument protections and there is no mandate for oil and gas development. Voters from all political ideologies are united in support of public land conservation in the West,” Miller-Stevens said, as Inside Climate News reported.

Other areas of conservation also received overwhelming support, including a 78 percent majority in favor of more emphasis being placed on the preservation of wildlife migration routes, limiting more development in order to safeguard wildlife habitats and providing highway crossings for animals. This was in comparison with one-fifth of voters who said they wanted more emphasis to be placed on land use that was “economically productive,” like new development, oil and gas production, roads or ranching.

“By contrast, most voters see no conflict between clean energy production and preserving natural areas for wildlife habitat and the character of local communities. 75 percent of voters in the West agree we can increase clean energy production while preserving natural areas, while only 20 percent say we need to choose between production and preservation,” the press release said.

The Conservation in the West Poll showed that the outdoors, including public lands, are an important part of Western lifestyles. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that they had visited national public lands three-plus times over the past year, while just 12 percent said they had not spent time on public lands.

“Western voters also view connecting with nature as vital for their wellbeing. 93 percent say spending more time outdoors would help counter growing rates of anxiety, depression and mental health problems in young people, with 67 percent agreeing it would help a lot,” the press release said. “The deep connection between Westerners and the outdoors, along with the importance placed on protecting public lands, are reflected in strong support for a variety of conservation policies among Westerners.”

Light pollution was also important to voters, with 89 percent saying they supported managing public lands in a way that ensures there are more outdoor spaces that are free from light pollution “to better see the stars at night.”

When asked about policies that regulate the production of oil and gas on public lands, Westerners were overwhelmingly in support of conservation. Ninety percent said they were in favor of requiring that gas and oil companies foot the bill for land restoration and clean-up after drilling is completed, rather than requiring state and federal governments to do so.

“A lot of the actions that the Trump administration has taken or has proposed to take are pretty far out of step with what Westerners want to see in terms of our public lands,” said Rachael Hamby, Center for Western Priorities’ policy director, as reported by Inside Climate News. “If elected officials are straying too far from what their constituents want to see, they’re going to have to answer to their voters.”

The 2025 Conservation in the West Poll confirms what we already know—Westerners overwhelmingly support protecting public lands, clean water, and wildlife www.coloradocollege.edu/…/conserva…

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— Western Watersheds Project (@westernwatersheds.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM

The post Most Voters in Eight Western States Support Conservation Over Oil and Gas Drilling on Public Lands: Poll appeared first on EcoWatch.

It stands to reason that if you reduce the amount of pollution in an environment, the organisms there will thrive. Now, a study confirms that is happening in rivers in England. According to the research, reducing the amount of metal pollutants like zinc and copper in English rivers led to an increase in the aquatic biodiversity of macroinvertebrates.

As coal and heavy industry have declined, related river pollution also cleared up, allowing more invertebrates to thrive, the study published in Environmental Science & Technology found.

A team led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) analyzed over 65,000 observations 1,457 sites from 1989 to 2018 found in the UK Environmental Agency’s data.

In their findings, reduction in metal pollutants had the biggest impact on invertebrate biodiversity, although other pollution reduction, such as sewage, also impacted the variety of invertebrate species. According to the findings, zinc levels below 14 micrograms per liter and copper levels below 3.3 micrograms per liter led to the biggest improvements in species richness.

The authors estimated that metal pollutants and sewage may have declined for multiple reasons, including reduced coal dependence, which would lead to a decline in acid rain that contribute to metal pollution in waterways. Some of the ammonia, organic matter, and other pollutant declines could also be attributed to the 1991 European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and improved agricultural practices, according to the study.

With strong evidence that zinc & copper concentrations have the biggest influence on invertebrate species richness, efforts to increase freshwater biodiversity are unlikely to bear fruit without further reductions in these metals, lead author Prof Andrew Johnson said www.ceh.ac.uk/press/biodiv…

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— UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) (@ukceh.bsky.social) February 18, 2025 at 8:09 AM

“There is a widespread desire by the public to improve water quality and biodiversity in our rivers but the problem for policymakers is what steps would be most likely to achieve results,” Andrew Johnson, lead author of the study and environmental research scientist at UKCEH, said in a statement. “Our study provides strong evidence that concentrations of zinc and copper have the biggest influence on invertebrate species richness, so future attempts to increase freshwater biodiversity are unlikely to bear fruit without further reductions in these metals.”

The study determined that while river biodiversity improved in the 1980s and 1990s with reduced metal pollution, the species richness has mostly plateaued since 2000, and the authors cited other research that has shown similar trends across North America and Europe.

The authors wrote that more research is needed to determine what urban land cover pollutants most impact biodiversity of invertebrates, and that runoff from urban areas could still contribute to higher levels of zinc and carbon pollution that may not be detected in routine river sampling. Further, the study found that higher levels of metal pollution continue to exist downstream from former mines.

These factors will need to be considered for environmental protection efforts, as the UK’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has set a target to reduce the length of rivers impacted by metal pollutants from mines by half by 2038.

“The way priority chemicals are currently identified for action, ensuring aquatic wildlife may be better protected, could be described as ‘top-down,’” the authors concluded in the study.

“Here, we used a ‘bottom-up’ approach, relying on a statistical analysis of large wildlife and stressor field data sets (consistent monitoring by regulatory agencies being critical to this approach) to identify factors that are most closely associated with biodiversity. We suggest that this approach has considerable merit and at the very least can act as a sense check on the traditional approach.”

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Denise Cheung, the top criminal prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, resigned on Tuesday after she declined to follow an order from a Trump-appointed superior at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start a grand jury investigation, people with knowledge of the matter said, as CNN reported.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove initially gave the instruction to Ed Martin — a Donald Trump nominee for U.S. Attorney in DC. — for Cheung to direct an investigation of a Biden EPA funding decision, then freeze the funding.

Cheung, a long-time employee of the Department of Justice, did not feel there was sufficient evidence to comply with the order and was asked to resign.

“Earlier yesterday, I was asked to review documentation supplied by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General to open a criminal investigation into whether a contract had been unlawfully awarded by an executive agency before the change in Administration and to issue grand jury subpoenas pursuant to this investigation,” Cheung wrote in her resignation letter on Tuesday, as seen by CNN.

As Cheung noted in the letter, she and other experienced prosecutors did not believe there was enough evidence to meet the threshold requirements to conduct a grand jury investigation. Bove insisted that the DOJ had met that threshold.

Top US prosecutor quits over pressure to investigate Biden climate spending: Denise Cheung resigns after Trump appointees demand she open grand jury investigation into EPA grants A top federal prosecutor has quit after refusing to launch what she called a politically driven investigation …

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— The Guardian Climate News (unofficial) (@guardian-climate.bsky.social) February 18, 2025 at 5:07 PM

In the resignation letter to Martin, Cheung wrote that she and other prosecutors believed there was insufficient evidence despite senior officials citing an undercover Project Veritas video, reported The Guardian.

“When I explained that the quantum of evidence did not support that action, you stated that you believed that there was sufficient evidence,” Cheung wrote to Martin. “You also accused me about wasting five hours of the day ‘doing nothing’ except trying to get what the FBI and I wanted, but not what you wanted.”

Cheung noted her obligation to follow the law and the code of legal ethics, as well as her sworn oath of office.

“When I started as an AUSA, I took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution, and I have executed this duty faithfully during my tenure, which has spanned through numerous Administrations,” Cheung wrote in a farewell email to colleagues. “I know that all of the AUSAs in the office continue to honor their oaths on a daily basis, just as I know that you have always conducted yourself with the utmost integrity.”

The dispute originated from a claim by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin last week regarding $20 billion in EPA funding being held in an account at Citibank.

The funding at issue was earmarked for eight nonprofits in charge of climate change mitigation projects as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Zeldin has criticized what he called “rushed” funding for the climate organizations, saying he would attempt to claw back funding in conjunction with the DOJ and return it to the U.S. Treasury Department.

“We will review every penny that has gone out the door. I will be referring this matter to the inspector general’s office, and will work with the Justice Department as well,” Zeldin said, as The Hill reported.

A former official at the EPA who was responsible for implementation of the funding told CNN that it had not been rushed or set up in a nefarious manner.

The EPA and the U.S. Treasury had set up an arrangement with the bank to distribute the funding to the grantees, and while it was the first time that type of agreement was employed by the EPA, it is a process that the Treasury Department had been using for years.

Cheung’s departure comes during a period of upheaval across the DOJ, as prosecutors deemed untrustworthy by the Trump administration are dismissed and the president’s political appointees clash with long-time federal prosecutors.

In her departure email, Cheung encouraged colleagues to “fulfill your commitment to pursuing Justice without fear or prejudice,” as The Hill reported.

I'm leading my colleagues in writing to the DOJ Inspector General after Denise Cheung was forced to resign after defying her Trump-appointed superiors and refusing to freeze climate bank funding in the absence of any crime. You need your climate bank money and we need answers.

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— Senator Ed Markey (@markey.senate.gov) February 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM

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Stronger water management efforts will be essential to overcoming the gap between supply and demand as the planet continues to warm, according to a new analysis by Lorenzo Rosa, principal investigator at Carnegie Science, and Matteo Sangiorgio, a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan.

For the study, the pair of researchers quantified issues of water scarcity under 1.5 and three degrees Celsius of global heating above pre-industrial levels, a press release from the Carnegie Institution of Science said.

“Water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity this century,” Rosa said in the press release. “About 4 billion people reside and about half the world’s irrigated agriculture is in regions that experience water scarcity for at least one month each year.”

Life on Earth cannot exist without water. It is necessary for human health, food and energy security, environmental resilience, economic development and a wide range of human activities. Even though it is so important, in many places on our planet, demand for water exceeds available supply.

When water consumption is greater than the natural availability of water at any time during a month, it is referred to as a “water gap.” As time goes on, this kind of unsustainable use leads to depleted rivers, lakes, aquifers, groundwater and other natural water reserves.

“Water gaps are already an issue for communities around the world, resulting in either inadequate supplies of water or environmental degradation,” Rosa explained. “And as climate change further disrupts precipitation patterns and alters the water cycle, it will add even more stress.”

Earlier research approached the subject by quantifying groundwater depletion or other reductions in water availability globally, while other studies looked at unsustainable use of water at the regional level.

This study combined the two strategies in order to fully comprehend the scope of the problem and make well-informed water management policies and plans going forward.

“We must be able to balance environmental resilience and the growing need for water in a warming world with a burgeoning population,” Rosa emphasized. “As cities grow, pollution, industrial water use, and irrigation will all increase, which will, in turn, exacerbate the water gap.”

Sangiorgio and Rosa quantified water gaps for scenarios under baseline, 1.5 and 3 degrees Celsius of warming, accounting for factors such as surface and groundwater depletion and water requirements for aquatic ecosystems.

The findings showed that there are already almost 458 billion cubic meters in water gaps annually. They are predicted to grow by 6% under a 1.5 degrees Celsius warming scenario and by 15% if the planet warms by 3 degrees Celsius.

“Even relatively modest increases in the water gap can put pressure on ecosystems and lead to severe shortages for agricultural use, resulting in food insecurity,” Rosa said.

Options to consider for water resources managers and lawmakers in order to increase water supplies include enhancing water storage capabilities by investing in resilient infrastructure, reusing treated wastewater, desalinating saltwater and bringing in water from other areas.

Farmers can prepare for the potential of water scarcity by planting crops that are less water intensive while investing in irrigation technologies that are more efficient.

“While water scarcity can affect entire regions, the most severe consequences are borne by the most vulnerable and impoverished populations, underscoring the important influence of economic and institutional factors in determining water scarcity,” the authors wrote in the study. “Under global warming, this fragile balance between supply and demand is likely to worsen, leading to a future where water resources struggle to meet growing societal and environmental needs. Consequently, many areas face a widening water gap, which threatens not only economic development and societies but also the health of aquatic ecosystems.”

The study, “Global water gaps under future warming levels,” was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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