Looks like beans are going to get a bum deal in the upcoming update to the USDA’s dietary guidelines. Science advisors had previously urged that the agency place increased emphasis on plant-based protein sources in its fresh recommendations, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is signaling those edits won’t make the final cut, Sentient Media reports. That could be a dirty deal for the planet: Producing 100 grams of protein in beef form creates nearly 60 times the planet-warming emissions of an equal amount of legume-based protein; even poultry creates nearly seven times the emissions of beans.
The leaves haven’t changed colors yet, but one apple just suffered a big fall (sorry, had to): A German court ruled that marketing around the Apple Watch misled consumers by portraying the timepiece as carbon neutral. Apple’s use of carbon offsets, the court found, are not enough to justify the claim. According to Trellis, offsets the company purchased at a eucalyptus plantation in Paraguay were only leased until 2029. That date is important because it means the offsets don’t support a long-term claim of carbon neutrality—what offset watchers call “permanence.” Because of the lawsuit, Apple will drop its greenwashy label before its newest phone hits the E.U. market.
Waiting for EV prices to dip before you make the switch? A new provision in the trade agreement between the United States and the European Union could open the gates for affordable European EVs to cross the Atlantic, InsideEVs reports. The language in question would allow the two powers to unite vehicle regulatory standards—meaning smaller, more affordable European EVs could enter the U.S. market. There are potential sticking points—U.S. standards, for one, focus more on crash protection than pedestrian safety—but the White House seems on board with the idea, saying in an official statement, “with respect to automobiles, the United States and the European Union intend to accept and provide mutual recognition to each other’s standards.”
Solar production in the U.S. is on pace to break its previous annual record this year, despite the Trump administration’s ongoing push to squash renewables. According to recent data from the Energy Information Administration, 12 gigawatts of new solar capacity hit the grid in the first half of 2025, and another 21 gigawatts could come online by the end of the year. That means sun catchers will represent nearly half of all newly installed energy capacity in the U.S., reports Canary Media. The outlook is far less sunny for wind energy, as the administration has abruptly ended not one, but two, massive offshore projects just in the last week.
Despite federal assertions to the contrary, the climate crisis is bad for human health, and a pair of studies in the latest issue of Nature Climate Change offer fresh windows into just how bad those impacts might be. The first study looked at the impacts of deforestation on heat-related deaths; the authors found that warming driven by tree-felling led to an estimated 28,000 heat-related deaths per year across Africa, South America, and Asia between 2001 and 2020. The second study looked at how a hotter world influences aging overall, and found that just two years of exposure to heat waves can increase a person’s biological age by eight to 13 days.