Driverless, Zero Emissions Cargo Ships

A fully electric, zero emissions cargo ship will set sail next year in Europe.

This first one will be sent out by Norway. It's the Yara Birkeland.

Currently, Yara uses diesel trucks to haul what it plans to use these ships for. The transport is taking place between Norwegian ports -- it's not like they're doing international shipping. But confidence in the project seems high. They announced that their Birkeland will be remote controlled in 2019, unmanned in 2020. Yara's shares shot up from 7.7 to 322.8 kroner Monday.

The shipping industry currently accounts for 2.3% of global emissions. They use a lot of dirty diesel fuels (I don't mean that diesel is dirty, but these vessels have historically used dirty fuel).

5 Officials Charged with Manslaughter Over Flint Water Crisis

For failing to act during Flint, Michigan's water crisis, 5 government officials are being charged with involuntary manslaughter by the Michigan AG.

The officials are from the Department of Health and Human Services,Water Department, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The District Supervisor and Emergency Manager, too.

California Signs Green Tech Accord with China

A week after Trump said the U.S. would leave the Paris Climate Agreement, the governor of California made an agreement with China to develop more green tech.

People are talking widely about states possibly making lots of climate deals now that the U.S. is out.

"The United States Will Withdraw" - Trump

"The United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement," said Trump this week.

Trump said he wants to negotiate for better terms, and that other countries are given an economic edge by the current accord. The U.S., he said, suffers lost jobs, lower wages, closed factories, and diminished economic production because of the agreement.

European countries said that the agreement could not be renegotiated, and China reaffirmed its commitment to the deal.

The U.S. entered the agreement under Obama, who decided to say yes to it without submitting it to the Senate for confirmation -- analysts believe it wouldn't have passed the Senate.

Guatemalan Indigenous Land Rights Activist Wins the Goldman Environmental Prize

For standing up to the government and nickel miners expanding into the land of his 270-member farming and fishing village, Rodrigo Tot, 60, won the largest award going for grassroots environmental activists.

"An indigenous leader in Guatemala’s Agua Caliente, Rodrigo Tot led his community to a landmark court decision that ordered the government to issue land titles to the Q’eqchi people and kept environmentally destructive nickel mining from expanding into his community," summarized Goldman Prize.

2017 winners: mark! Lopez (sic) of the U.S.; Uroš Macerl, Slovenia; Prafulla Samantara, India; Wendy Bowman, Australia; Rodrigue Katembo, Democratic Republic of Congo; and Tot.