China’s Energy Crunch and Climate, Fast Food with a Side of Phthalates, Plastic Planet and more

Roughly 20 Chinese provinces are enduring rolling electricity blackouts amid a coal and natural gas shortage. How the current energy crunch intersects with China’s long-term climate commitments and the prospects for China’s influence at the UN climate talks. Also, fast food could be even more unhealthy than we knew – laden with phthalates, chemicals that are linked to serious health problems and even early death. And greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production in the United States are on track to outpace domestic coal emissions.