Of all the eerie paradoxes of climate change, one of the most unsettling has got to be Christmas shopping in wildfire smoke. This weekend, ice skaters seeking early holiday cheer in New York’s Bryant Park did so not to the usual scent of honey-roasted nuts but to the reek of brus … | Continue reading
Since August, climate policy optimists have pointed to a letter sent by 18 Republican members of the House of Representatives to Speaker Mike Johnson imploring him to preserve the energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. As of January, however, some of them will no long … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Outdoor activities are banned in Pakistan’s Punjab province as air pollution worsens • An atmospheric river is hammering the Pacific Northwest • The Taurid meteor shower will peak today and tomorrow. THE TOP FIVE 1. COP29 kicks off in Azerbaijan The UN COP29 c … | Continue reading
For decades now analysts of various stripes have been predicting the end of America’s reign as the dominant world power. Some thought the war on terror, in which the U.S. spent on the order of $6 trillion turning half the Middle East into a Stygian wasteland, would crack it. Othe … | Continue reading
The next Trump administration is ramping up, and we are beginning to get a sense of what it might look like. But before we get any further from the election, I want to note the one thing we absolutely know about the Trump administration’s policy: It constantly contradicts itself. … | Continue reading
I won’t sugar coat this: The election of Donald Trump to a second term with a likely governing trifecta has dealt a devastating blow to U.S. efforts to cut climate-warming pollution. I’ve spent the past four years analyzing the progress made under the Biden-Harris Administration … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Colorado’s major snow storm will continue well into the weekend • More than 900 people in Pakistan were hospitalized in a single day due to extreme air pollution • Devastating flooding continues in Spain. THE TOP FIVE 1. Guterres warns of tipping points and 1. … | Continue reading
It was a curious alliance from the start. On the one hand, Donald Trump, who made antipathy toward electric vehicles a core part of his meandering rants. On the other hand, Elon Musk, the man behind the world’s largest EV company, who nonetheless put all his weight, his millions … | Continue reading
When Republicans flipped the Senate, they took the keys to three critical energy and climate-focused committees. These are among the most powerful institutions for crafting climate policy on Earth. The Senate plays the role of gatekeeper for important legislation, as it requires … | Continue reading
The most important climate election you’ve never heard of? Your local county commissioner. County commissioners are usually the most powerful governing individuals in a county government. As officials closer to community-level planning than, say a sitting senator, commissioners w … | Continue reading
1. Madison County, Missouri – A giant battery material recycling plant owned by Critical Mineral Recovery exploded and became engulfed in flames last week, creating a potential Vineyard Wind-level PR headache for energy storage. The explosion led surrounding communities to evacua … | Continue reading
1. It’s the election, stupid – We don’t need to retread who won the presidential election this week (or what it means for the Inflation Reduction Act). But there were also big local control votes worth watching closely. South Dakotans at the ballot box successfully defeated a law … | Continue reading
We’re joined today by Frank Wolak, CEO of perhaps the most crucial D.C. trade group for all things hydrogen: the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. The morning after Election Day we chatted about whether Trump 2.0 will be as receptive as members of Congress have been to h … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A winter storm could bring up to 4 feet of snow to parts of Colorado and New Mexico • At least 89 people are still missing from extreme flooding in Spain • The Mountain Fire in Southern California has consumed 14,000 acres and is zero percent contained. THE TO … | Continue reading
As the realities of Trump’s return to office and the likelihood of a Republican trifecta in Washington began to set in on Wednesday morning, climate and clean energy advocates mostly did not sugarcoat the result or look for a silver lining. But in press releases and interviews, r … | Continue reading
Last night, Donald Trump secured a second term in the White House. He campaigned on an aggressively pro-fossil -fuel agenda, promising to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s landmark 2022 climate law, and roll back Environmental Protection Agency rules governing power pla … | Continue reading
The re-election of Donald Trump all but assures that the next four years of climate policy will have to unfold at the local level. With a climate change denier who previously wreaked havoc on longstanding environmental regulations, opened wildlife refuges to drilling, and put the … | Continue reading
While many investors and analysts had anticipated a Donald Trump victory Tuesday — Maheep Mandloi of Mizuho Securities wrote earlier this week that stocks had “priced in” a 70% chance of Trump winning — that hasn’t stopped markets from twitching reflexively now that he’s actually … | Continue reading
South Dakota voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have eased the permitting process for a highly contentious carbon dioxide pipeline. The planned $8 billion project, developed by Summit Carbon Solutions, would carry CO2 captured from ethanol plants to sequestration we … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Power outages are likely to spread across windswept California today as PG&E tries to prevent fires • A snowstorm is brewing in Colorado • It is 80 degrees Farenheit and raining in West Palm Beach, where Donald Trump delivered his 2024 presidential victory spe … | Continue reading
As the election odds swung sharply towards Republican Donald Trump as Tuesday evening slid into Wednesday morning, climate-conscious investors, academics, strategists, and other internet personalities were mostly mute. It was a night to stare blankly at the TV, watch the needle s … | Continue reading
As of early Wednesday morning, Donald Trump seems likely to be re-elected president of the United States, becoming the first commander in chief since Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms. Trump’s probable victory has profound implications for America’s economy, securit … | Continue reading
If you’re sweating bullets in line, stay in line! Across the United States, millions of voters cast their ballots in record or near-record daily heat, including in Rochester, New York, where it hit a sweltering 81 degrees Fahrenheit (it was also the city’s hottest November day on … | Continue reading
Yes, the race for the White House is extremely important for the future of climate policy in the U.S. and, frankly, around the world. But it’s not the only race that matters. Starting at 6 p.m. ET on Election Night, Heatmap will be tracking 36 of the most important climate electi … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Typhoon Yinxing is expected to bring heavy rain to the Philippines this week • India is considering cloud seeding to trigger artificial rain to combat dangerous air pollution • It will be 59 degrees Fahrenheit and cloudy in Washington, D.C., where security fen … | Continue reading
When Joe Biden was still running for reelection to the presidency, he often repeated the line that voters should keep him in the White House to “finish the job.” Though she would be loath to describe her mission that way, that is more or less what Biden’s vice president, Kamala H … | Continue reading
Elections inspire hyperbole. Every two years, we have “the most important election of our lifetime,” America’s future constantly “hangs in the balance,” and the stakes perennially “couldn’t be higher.” But this year, some breathlessness does seem appropriate. 2024 marks the first … | Continue reading
In Texas, the Oak Run Solar Project would have been a slam dunk. Developers would install 800 megawatts of solar panels — enough to power 800,000 homes — across nine square miles of unused land. It would devote some of its acreage to new farming practices that incorporate solar p … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Schools are closed this week in Lahore, Pakistan, due to unprecedented pollution • An extreme red alert for torrential rain has been issued in Barcelona • A storm system in the Caribbean could strengthen into a hurricane by Wednesday. THE TOP FIVE 1. Biodivers … | Continue reading
In four days, Pennsylvania will become just about the most important place on Earth. It is unlikely that either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump can reach the White House without carrying the Keystone State; winning Pennsylvania bumps either’s odds of prevailing in the whole electio … | Continue reading
Current conditions: New York City, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley, along with much of the Northeast Corridor, are under red flag warnings for fire after a month of dry weather • Typhoon Kong-rey made landfill in Taiwan with winds over 125 miles per hour, injuring more t … | Continue reading
Less than a week after election night in the U.S., the United Nations’ annual climate conference begins in Azerbaijan. COP29, as this year’s conference is called, has climate finance and carbon markets on the agenda. It’s no secret that the outcome of the U.S. presidential electi … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A “pretty good chance of rain” in Los Angeles over the next few days won’t dampen World Series celebrations • Typhoon Kong-rey makes landfall as the most powerful storm to hit Taiwan in 28 years • Record-warm temperatures across the Northeast mean trick-or-tre … | Continue reading
The cloud computing company CoreWeave announced Monday that it is leasing a former medical research facility and turning it into a data center. Along with it comes a 25-megawatt power plant that once provided power and steam directly to the former Merck headquarters in Kenilworth … | Continue reading
Key projects for the Energy Department’s hydrogen hubs are dropping like flies. And it’s really not obvious why. Three hubs DOE selected for potential federal support have lost projects that were linchpins. Industrial giant Fortescue is no longer publicly committing to a hydro-po … | Continue reading
1. Douglas County, Kansas – A legal headache is consuming Kansas Sky Energy Center, a 159-megawatt solar project proposed by Savion and Invenergy… and showcasing how “agri-voltaics” may not be the community engagement panacea some in industry are praying for, according to legal f … | Continue reading
1. Offshore wind lease win – Two companies, Avangrid and Invenergy, purchased four of the eight leases up for grabs yesterday at the first floating offshore wind sale in the Gulf of Maine, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. I’ve previously chronicled how offshore … | Continue reading
Last week at Greentown Labs’ startup summit in Boston I interviewed Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova, the energy equipment manufacturing arm of General Electric formerly known as GE Renewables and GE Power. GE Vernova has been at the forefront of a tech and public relations crisi … | Continue reading
At a recent rally for Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick, the head of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, took the stage together and contemplated the federal budget. “How much do you think we can rip out of this wasted $6.5 trillion Harris-Biden budget?” Lutnic … | Continue reading
Stop me if you’ve heard this one already, but the supposed EV sales slump isn’t real. The overall growth rate has slowed somewhat, crushing any fantasy that America would accelerate to mostly electric driving in just a few years. But electric vehicles sales have been steadily ris … | Continue reading
Current conditions: At least 51 people were killed by flash floods in Spain yesterday • Rapidly intensifying Super Typhoon Kong-rey is barreling toward Taiwan • Mount Fuji has yet to see snow this year, marking the latest date the mountain has been bare in 130 years. THE TOP FIVE … | Continue reading
Decarbonizing industrial processes such as paper and pulp production, chemical manufacturing, or food processing is a tough sell. As it so often goes, that’s largely due to the efficacy and low cost of natural gas, which can cheaply and efficiently provide the high heat required … | Continue reading
It’s all happening. The presidential election is a week away, and our cohost Jesse Jenkins is back from vacation. There is so much to talk about in the world of decarbonization and energy. So we tried to catch up on all of it. Are EV sales starting to rebound in the U.S.? What’s … | Continue reading
It’s all happening. The presidential election is a week away, and our cohost Jesse Jenkins is back from vacation. There is so much to talk about in the world of decarbonization and energy. So we tried to catch up on all of it. Are EV sales starting to rebound in the U.S.? What’s … | Continue reading
Just days before what is sure to be a close presidential election in which one of the candidates has promised to shut down the offshore wind industry “on day one,” an auction for the rights to develop wind energy projects in the Gulf of Maine on Tuesday was a surprise success. Tw … | Continue reading
The Paris Agreement goal of holding warming to well less than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels is not just increasingly appearing to be out of reach. The energy transition as a whole is slowing down. This was the stark warning from Wood Mackenzie’s Energy Transition O … | Continue reading
Sometimes it’s called the “missing middle,” sometimes, more ominously, the “valley of death.” Whatever the terminology, it’s undeniable that a chasm lies between a climate company’s early funding rounds and its eventual commercial scale-up, one that’s getting harder and harder to … | Continue reading
For some reason, people keep moving to Phoenix. The population of Maricopa County, which includes the city and its suburbs, was over 4.4 million in the 2020 Census, double what it had been 30 years before. This is despite the fact that you run the risk of bursting into flames sim … | Continue reading