Senator Joe Manchin’s new permitting deal is the best shot Congress will get this year to boost transmission and renewables. It may also lock in generations of future fossil fuel production and exports. To many climate activists, that’s not a trade worth making. Tomorrow, the Sen … | Continue reading
Current conditions: At least 45 are dead and many more are trapped in the Indian state of Kerala after heavy rainfall triggered landslides • California’s Park Fire, only 14% contained, is now the sixth-largest in the state’s history • Typhoon Gaemi’s death toll continues to climb … | Continue reading
The fusion world is flush in cash and hype, as the dream of near-limitless clean energy inches closer to reality. A recent report from the Fusion Industry Association found that in the last two years, companies in the industry have brought in over $2.3 billion, nearly a third of … | Continue reading
Tackling climate change is a complex puzzle. Hitting internationally agreed upon targets to limit warming requires the world to reduce multiple types of greenhouse gases from a multiplicity of sources on diverse timelines and across varying levels of responsibility and control by … | Continue reading
For those looking forward to bidding good riddance to a hot July, I have some bad news for you: Get ready for hot August.. Keep sending those 🥵 emojis If you thought it couldn’t possibly get hotter than July — the month that set a new record for warmest day ever — think a … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A heat dome is bringing scorching temperatures to parts of the Great Plains and the American Southwest • Typhoon Gaemi triggered a mudslide in southeast China, killing at least 15 • It’s 70 degrees and humid in Caracas, where both Venezuelan President Nicolás … | Continue reading
The Inflation Reduction Act will direct billions of dollars to subsidize clean energy in the form of tax credits. But those tax credits need to be bought and sold, requiring a whole industry to stand up between developers and corporate taxpayers looking to reduce their tax liabil … | Continue reading
The Inflation Reduction Act will direct billions of dollars to subsidize clean energy in the form of tax credits. But those tax credits need to be bought and sold, requiring a whole industry to stand up between developers and corporate taxpayers looking to reduce their tax liabil … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Eastern Bolivia declared an extreme weather state of emergency through the end of the year • The Chinese province of Fujian has recorded 1.6 feet of rain since Wednesday • Rain in Paris is threatening to make for a soggy Olympics opening ceremony. THE TOP FIVE … | Continue reading
“They’ve spent trillions of dollars on things having to do with the Green New Scam. It’s a scam,” said Donald Trump in his recent convention speech. His running mate J.D. Vance echoed the sentiment, saying in his speech that the country needs “a leader who rejects Joe Biden and K … | Continue reading
Plenty has changed in the race for the U.S. presidency over the past week. One thing that hasn’t: Gobs of public and private funding for climate tech are still on the line. If Republicans regain the White House and Senate, tax credits and other programs in the Inflation Reduction … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Typhoon Gaemi made landfall in Taiwan with the force of a Category 3 major hurricane • Large hailstones pelted Verona, Italy • Tropical Storm Bud formed in the Eastern Pacific, but is expected to dissipate by the weekend. THE TOP FIVE 1. Vineyard Wind turbine … | Continue reading
Tesla, formerly the golden boy of electric vehicle manufacturers, has hit the skids. After nearly continuous sales growth for a decade, in May sales were down 15% year-on-year — the fourth consecutive month of decline. Profits were down fully 45% in the second quarter thanks to s … | Continue reading
The blade that snapped off an offshore turbine at the Vineyard Wind project in Massachusetts on July 13 broke due to a manufacturing defect, according to GE Vernova, the turbine maker and installer. During GE’s second quarter earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Scott Strazik and Vice … | Continue reading
We now know what a real bipartisan permitting overhaul could look like. Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso on Monday unveiled the Energy Permitting Reform Act, the product of months of negotiations over how to craft a sweeping change to the nation’s federal energy project app … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Torrential rain from Typhoon Gaemi brought the Philippines’ capital to a standstill • California’s Santa Barbara County is dealing with an infestation of aggressive red fire ants • Monsoonal thunderstorms could bring flash flooding to the Great Basin region th … | Continue reading
This weekend, millions of Americans were reminded that we are living in extraordinary times. At moments, it almost seemed like you could feel our place in the great continuum of history — at once stretching backward to those who came before us while also extending forward, onward … | Continue reading
This weekend, millions of Americans were reminded that we are living in extraordinary times. At moments, it almost seemed like you could feel our place in the great continuum of history — at once stretching backward to those who came before us while also extending forward, onward … | Continue reading
Jesse is on vacation until August, so this is a special, Rob-only summer episode of Shift Key. The world uses about 30 billion tons of concrete every year — more than any other material except water. It is the most ubiquitous human-made substance in the global economy. It’s also … | Continue reading
Vineyard Wind’s turbine blade failure couldn’t have come at a worse time for offshore wind. The industry is still dealing with the high inflation and supply chain issues that turned 2023 into a parade of horribles. Now opponents to American offshore wind — most prominently former … | Continue reading
It’s been just over a week since one of the 350-foot-long blades of a wind turbine off the Massachusetts coast unexpectedly broke off, sending hunks of fiberglass and foam into the waters below. As of Tuesday morning, cleanup crews were still actively removing debris from the wat … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Taiwan is bracing for Typhoon Gaemi • A volcanic eruption from Mt. Etna closed Sicily’s Catania International Airport • Data suggests Sunday was the hottest day in Earth’s recorded history. THE TOP FIVE 1. Manchin and Barrasso release bipartisan permitting ref … | Continue reading
When former President Donald Trump addressed a crowd of non-union autoworkers in Clinton Township, Michigan, last fall, he came with a dire warning: “You’re going to lose your beautiful way of life.” President Biden’s electric vehicle transition, Trump claimed, would be “a transi … | Continue reading
While the Northeast might start breathing more easily this week, the heat will intensify again in the West. Keep reading to discover what sweltering lies in store. The Pacific Northwest takes its turn in the hot seat The weekend brough intense heat to the Northwest, with many cit … | Continue reading
Kamala Harris quickly rang up endorsements from Democratic elected officials and convention delegates Sunday afternoon after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, making Vice President Harris the likeliest Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States. M … | Continue reading
Current conditions: England’s wet and cold summer has been linked to a concerning decline in insect populations • At least 11 people died in northern China after torrential rain caused a bridge to collapse • The West Coast’s record-breaking heat wave will last at least through We … | Continue reading
What is so striking, in immediate retrospect, about many of Joe Biden’s accomplishments as president is how many of them depended on him. Democrats had tried and failed for 30 years to pass a climate law through the Senate. Biden succeeded. Now Biden, the 46th president of the Un … | Continue reading
The longest presidential nomination acceptance speech in history included not one single second on climate change. That’s table stakes, though, for the party of Donald Trump. More noteworthy, perhaps: During Trump’s 92-minute speech Thursday night at the conclusion of the Republi … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A raging wildfire disrupted traffic at Turkey’s Izmir airport • The North Central Plains are on alert for severe thunderstorms • It’s about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where President Biden is self-isolating with COVID. THE TOP … | Continue reading
Tonight, for the third time, Donald Trump will accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president. But this time, for the first time ever, Trump is also on track to outright win the presidential election he is involved in. He has opened a two-point lead in polling averages, b … | Continue reading
“We need a leader,” said JD Vance as he accepted the Republican nomination for vice president, “who rejects Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s Green New Scam and fights to bring back our great American factories.” The election, he said, is “about the auto worker in Michigan, wondering … | Continue reading
Current conditions: The Acropolis in Greece was closed yesterday due to excessive heat • The Persian Gulf International Airport recorded a heat index of 149 degrees Fahrenheit • Recent flooding in Brazil exposed a 233-million-year-old dinosaur fossil. THE TOP FIVE 1. Republicans … | Continue reading
The Biden administration loves a hub. There are the hydrogen hubs, the direct air capture hubs, and now there are the tech hubs. Established as a part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the $10 billion program has so far seeded 12 such hubs across the country. Four of these ar … | Continue reading
The Biden administration loves a hub. There are the hydrogen hubs, the direct air capture hubs, and now there are the tech hubs. Established as a part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the $10 billion program has so far seeded 12 such hubs across the country. Four of these ar … | Continue reading
America is melting. Roads are buckling everywhere from Houston to Aurora, Colorado, and in June caused traffic jams in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Last week, a New York City bridge that had opened to let a ship pass got stuck after expanding in the heat, forcing thousands of commuters to … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Torrential rain brought flash flooding to Toronto • A wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Kauai has been contained • Parts of southern Spain could hit 111 degrees Fahrenheit this week. THE TOP FIVE 1. Intense heat waves and thunderstorms torment millions of Ame … | Continue reading
Jesse is on vacation until August, so this is a special, Rob-only summer episode of Shift Key. Shipping is the backbone of the modern economy. At least 80% of all goods worldwide are shipped as ocean cargo, and the global economy rises and falls on the free movement of gigantic s … | Continue reading
After decades of research and billions or dollars in funding, nuclear fusion has produced “net energy” (more energy coming out of a reaction than was necessary to start it) in exactly two places in our solar system: Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and the sun. Even the scientist … | Continue reading
It’s a good thing most of us aren’t accountable for every single silly thing we’ve ever said, but most of us are not vice presidential running mates, either. Back in 2022, when J.D. Vance was still just a “New York Times bestselling author” and not yet a “junior senator from Ohio … | Continue reading
It’s a good thing most of us aren’t accountable for every single silly thing we’ve ever said, but most of us are not vice presidential running mates, either. Back in 2022, when J.D. Vance was still just a “New York Times bestselling author” and not yet a “junior senator from Ohio … | Continue reading
National political conventions don’t make for the best TV. Prime-time speeches are delivered by a parade of party celebrities and last for only a few minutes — typically just enough time to bash gas prices (nonsensically) and get in a few digs at the opposition. The highlight of … | Continue reading
National political conventions don’t make for the best TV. Prime-time speeches are delivered by a parade of party celebrities and last for only a few minutes — typically just enough time to bash gas prices (nonsensically) and get in a few digs at the opposition. The highlight of … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A year’s worth of rain fell in one day in China’s Henan province • A tornado reportedly touched down outside Chicago’s O’Hare Airport • The heat index could reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit today in Washington, D.C. THE TOP FIVE 1. Trump announces J.D. Vance as VP … | Continue reading
The United Nations calls 24/7 carbon-free energy generation, also known as hourly matching, “the end state of a fully decarbonized electricity system.” It means that every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed is matched with a zero-emissions electricity source, every hour of eve … | Continue reading
On Monday afternoon, following a flurry of leaks ruling out North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, the former president announced Hillbilly Elegy author and Ohio junior senator J. D. Vance as his 2024 running m … | Continue reading
Few aspects of Biden’s climate law have spurred more controversy than the “three pillars” — a set of rules proposed by the Treasury Department for how to claim a lucrative new tax credit for producing clean hydrogen. Now, it appears, the pillars may be poised to fall. The Treasur … | Continue reading
The heat is not going anywhere anytime soon, so keep reading to discover how you might feel it this week. Thousands are still without power in Texas with relief efforts ongoing Shawn Schulze, CEO of the American Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast Region, has been driving around Texas to … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Russia declared a state of emergency as forest fires rage near the Black Sea • Tornado sirens sounded in downtown Chicago last night • It will be rainy and hot in Milwaukee today for the start of the Republican National Convention. THE TOP FIVE 1. RNC to go ah … | Continue reading