Polluting coal-fired power plants could make a comeback in the UK unless the government increases the carbon tax, new analysis suggests. The Times says that Aurora Energy Research forecasts that coal plants could enjoy a revival in the early 2020s because coal is likely to become relatively cheaper than gas. The total carbon price in the UK at present is about £23 a tonne. The paper adds: “The government vowed to end the burning of coal for power by 2025. Aurora’s analysis suggests that a total carbon price of about £40 a tonne would be needed to achieve this through carbon pricing alone. It estimates that scrapping the tax now would cut £30 from household bills, whereas increasing it to the level required to prevent a coal revival could add a further £10 to bills.” Meanwhile, in the US, Reuters reports that coal plant closures are continuing even as the Trump administration seeks to end the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. Reuters says: “US power firm Vistra Energy Corp said on Friday that it would shut two coal-fired plants for economic reasons, as closures in the industry continue apace despite the environment regulator saying this week he wanted to end the ‘war on coal’.” Reuters reports that authorities in Shanxi, one of China’s biggest coal-producing regions, said on Saturday they plan to close nine more coal mines by the end of this year: “The planned closures come after authorities in the region vowed to suspend or slow the construction of 12m tonnes of coal production capacity from 2016 to 2020 to battle oversupply. The closures will mean the suspension of production in mines which produced a total of 5.25m tones of coal a year, said Shanxi authorities.”

The Guardian reports that “leading climate scientists have warned that geoengineering research could be hijacked by climate change deniers as an excuse not to reduce CO2 emissions, citing the US administration under Donald Trump as a major threat to their work”. It quotes David Keith, a solar geoengineering (GE) expert at Harvard University, who says: “One of the main concerns I and everyone involved in this have, is that Trump might tweet ‘geoengineering solves everything – we don’t have to bother about emissions’. That would break the slow-moving agreement among many environmental groups that sound research in this field makes sense,” He said this on the sidelines of the Climate Engineering Conference in Berlin, which Carbon Brief also reported on last week.

The Times reports that new research shows that “underwater flatulence” off the coast of Sweden is creating as much gas as 20,000 cows. Mussels, oysters and clams were found to produce a tenth of all methane and nitrous oxides released by the Baltic Sea as a byproduct of digestion. The Times adds that “the findings, in the journal Scientific Reports, matter because of proposals to expand aquatic farming to help to feed growing populations”. MailOnline also covers the findings.

EU environment ministers agreed national emissions-reduction targets and forest management rules last Friday in a push to show the bloc is delivering on its climate goals ahead of United Nations talks next month to fight global warming, reports Reuters. However, Reuters also reports that talks between negotiators for the EU nations and the European Parliament over reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) after 2020 ended without an agreement.

The Guardian’s G2 features section carries a frontpage report on the wind power and how, “as the windiest country in Europe, Britain is at the forefront of this green revolution”. The feature quotes Emma Pinchbeck of RenewableUK, who “can’t keep the happiness from her voice”. It adds: “But she is happy for new reasons. What’s really exciting, she says, is the fact that she ‘is not having to talk to officials about decarbonisation any more as a starting point. Windfarms are low carbon. But that’s not why we want to build them. We want to build them because they’re bloody cheap!'” Separately, the Guardian has another feature under the headline: “The Texas town where all the energy is green.” It is referring to Georgetown in Texas, a city that has weaned itself off fossil fuels, he has “become a hero to environmentalists”. It quotes the Trump-voting local mayor, Dale Ross: “Coal is one of the most expensive forms of fossil fuels to produce. And those jobs are never going to come back, ever. They’re done.” Meanwhile, in the Financial Times, Nick Butler writes that “both solar and wind have made in gains in the last two years that transform their prospects”. And the Daily Telegraph carries a feature by Ben Marlow, the paper’s deputy business editor, headlined: “Shell has seen the future – and it’s several shades of green.” It focuses on the vision of Shell’s CEO: “[Ben] Van Beurden’s assertion is simple but compelling: war is being waged on fossil fuels but there is no war on energy. The whole world needs it.”

An editorial in the business section of the Observer says that “while the clean growth strategy is short on detail for a 164-page tome, it should be praised for putting energy efficiency front and centre”. It is referring to the UK government’s publication last Thursday of its plans to meet the nation’s climate goals, as covered in detail by Carbon Brief. The editorial adds: “The plan’s bright idea is an aspiration to bring all homes in England and Wales up to a minimum of energy band C, by fitting new boilers, insulation and more efficient appliances…What’s missing are the sort of bold measures to make the aspiration a reality.”

An editorial in the Irish edition of the Times says hurricane-force storm Ophelia, which is headed towards Ireland, is the strongest ever observed so far east in the Atlantic ocean. It adds: “Some weather experts have described Ophelia as an “outlier” — much as the Donegal monster rain was dubbed a “once-in-a-hundred-years” extreme event. But the arrival of two such unusual disturbances on our shores within the space of two months cannot simply be a fluke of nature. Climate research indicates more frequent extreme weather events are inevitable as a consequence of global warming…By committing to make real changes to the way people live and work in order to meet Ireland’s international climate change obligations, the government can weather-proof our future to some extent. It’s the duty of government to watch the horizon for all sorts of extreme events — economic, political and climatic — and build structures to keep as many people as possible out of the teeth of the storm.”

The Washington Post focuses on the recent disasters to hit the US, such as the wildfires sweeping through northern California, and says it’s time to discuss the role of climate change: “While California prepares for what promises to be an arduous rebuilding, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other places hit by this year’s unprecedented back-to-back-to-back hurricanes are still mopping up and, in Puerto Rico’s case, just beginning to rebuild. So it would seem to be a natural time to talk about the possible role climate change played in these disasters and about measures the nation should be taking to slow global warming. Instead, we have an administration that refuses even to consider the possibility of a connection, much less talk about solutions. Worse, it is taking steps in the wrong direction: pulling out of the Paris climate accord, reversing rules on power plant emissions, staffing key agencies with climate-change deniers. Sadly, that will increase the likelihood and frequency of tragedies such as the fires in California’s wine country.” Meanwhile, the New York Times carries an editorial under the headline: “Five Climate Truths Donald Trump Doesn’t Understand.” It adds: “[Trump is] trying to deliver by repealing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and proposing to subsidise coal-fired power plants. These moves are, in fact, unbelievable: Not only are they a setback in the fight against climate change, but they also make no economic sense, since the cost of renewable energy is falling sharply.”

The Maasai, a tribal group of nomad warriors living in Kenya and Tanzania, have significantly changed their habits and diets in order to adapt to climate change, new research suggests. In Kenya and Tanzania, drylands cover over around 80 and 50% of the respective land areas. The frequency and intensity of drought in dryland regions has worsened as a result of climate change, the research finds. “Climate change has also affected many rural communities in a severe way, reducing crop yields and sometimes causing crop failure,” the researchers say. “Among them is the tribal group of the Maasai, legendary nomad warriors, who have been suffering from persistent droughts and the negative impacts on their cattle herds.”