Current conditions: Wildfires continue to burn out of control in western Canada • An early season heat wave will bring record high temperatures to parts of Florida • One in eight Europeans now live in an area at risk of flooding. THE TOP FIVE 1. Study: Last summer was the hottest … | Continue reading
Transmission has been one of the biggest obstacles of decarbonizing the power grid in America. In the past week, however, the country has taken two big steps toward finally removing it. Last week, the Department of Energy published a list of 10 high-priority areas for grid develo … | Continue reading
The United States raised tariffs on a range of Chinese-made climate technologies on Tuesday, including electric vehicles, solar panels, and battery components. Inspired by the poet Wallace Stevens, here are 13 ways of looking at them: 1. The biggest tariffs in the bunch are for C … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A giant billboard collapsed during a dust storm in Mumbai, killing at least 14 people • Tornado watches are in place across northern parts of Florida • The water is rising again in the flooded Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sol. THE TOP FIVE 1. Fires continu … | Continue reading
On the two ends of the energy transition, public policy is working to encourage more non-carbon-emitting electricity generation (think wind, solar, and batteries) and convert what was once powered by combustion in electric power (think electric cars and heat pumps). But then that … | Continue reading
A first-of-its-kind attempt to make fossil fuel companies pay for climate damages is nearly through the finish line in Vermont. Both branches of the state legislature voted to pass the Climate Superfund Act last week, which would hit oil and gas companies with a bill for the cost … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Indonesia’s Mt. Ibu erupted this morning • Flash floods in Afghanistan killed at least 300 people • Gulf Coast states could see severe storms and hail today. THE TOP FIVE 1. Biden expected to announce 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs President Biden is expected to … | Continue reading
You have probably heard by now that there’s a big solar storm on its way toward us. (If not, sign up for Heatmap AM, our daily roundup of climate and energy news.) On Wednesday, the sun started ejecting massive columns of geomagnetic activity out into space in Earth’s direction. … | Continue reading
Here’s a shocker: Americans aren’t exactly unified in their takes on the energy transition. In a new Heatmap poll conducted by Embold Research, about a third of the more than 2,000 adults surveyed agreed that “renewable energy offers many significant benefits, with few downsides, … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Central Florida could see severe storms today • The cicadas are out in St. Louis • Kenya’s president declared today a public holiday to mourn the 238 people who have died in recent flooding. THE TOP FIVE 1. NOAA issues rare severe solar storm watch The Nationa … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Central Florida could see severe storms today • The cicadas are out in St. Louis • Kenya’s president declared today a public holiday to mourn the 238 people who have died in recent flooding. THE TOP FIVE 1. NOAA issues rare severe solar storm watch The Nationa … | Continue reading
The Scene On Thursday, the top climate diplomats from the world’s two most polluting countries are meeting in Washington, D.C. John Podesta, America’s climate envoy, and Liu Zhenmin, China’s climate envoy, will hold their first formal session and lay the groundwork for the United … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Severe overnight storms in Central states killed at least three people • London is gearing up for a “mini heat wave” • Residents in California’s San Bernardino County are being told to stay away from Silverwood Lake due to a toxic algal bloom. THE TOP FIVE 1. … | Continue reading
When you think of climate change, you think of Alaska whether you realize it or not. With its pipelines, polar bears, and dramatic, calving glaciers, the state has contributed an outsized amount of stock footage to global warming montages over the years. Combined with a nearly un … | Continue reading
If one company has set the pace for direct air capture, it’s Climeworks. The Switzerland-based business opened its — and the world’s — first commercial DAC plant in 2017, capable of capturing “several hundred tons” of carbon dioxide each year. Today, the company unveiled its newe … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Wildfires in India have killed at least five people • A heat wave in Mexico caused rolling blackouts • Central states will get some relief from severe storms as the system weakens and begins moving east today. THE TOP FIVE 1. Global power sector emissions like … | Continue reading
Tesla is now facing its worst crisis in years. Last week, CEO Elon Musk laid off the automaker’s roughly 500-person Supercharger team and what remained of its policy and new vehicle teams. Before that, it reported its first-quarter financial results — and they were even worse tha … | Continue reading
It’s getting hot in Texas. Forecast highs for Tuesday are 89 degrees Fahrenheit in Houston, 92 in San Antonio, and 90 in Dallas. ERCOT, which operates the energy market that covers around 90% of the state, issued an “extreme hot weather event” warning and a “weather watch” due to … | Continue reading
It’s getting hot in Texas. Forecast highs for Tuesday are 89 degrees Fahrenheit in Houston, 92 in San Antonio, and 90 in Dallas. ERCOT, which operates the energy market that covers around 90% of the state, issued an “extreme hot weather event” warning and a “weather watch” due to … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Tornadoes terrorized Oklahoma overnight • Flash floods killed two people in China’s Guangxi region • It is 75 degrees Fahrenheit and clear in Rafah, where Israeli troops have seized the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt. THE TOP FIVE 1. April broke h … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Tornadoes terrorized Oklahoma overnight • Flash floods killed two people in China’s Guangxi region • It is 75 degrees Fahrenheit and clear in Rafah, where Israeli troops have seized the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt. THE TOP FIVE 1. April broke h … | Continue reading
NET Power’s power plants are an oil exec’s fantasy, an environmentalist’s nightmare, and an energy expert’s object of fascination. The company builds natural gas-burning power plants that, due to the inherent design of the system, don’t release carbon dioxide or other health-harm … | Continue reading
The energy transition happens one project at a time. Cutting carbon emissions is not simply a matter of shutting down coal plants or switching to electric cars. It calls for a vast number of individual construction projects to coalesce into a whole new energy system, one that can … | Continue reading
Current conditions: The Sierra Nevada received more than two feet of snow, marking the region’s snowiest day of the season • Tropical Cyclone Hidaya lost strength over the weekend • It will be about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and clear in Cape Canaveral for the launch of Boeing’s Star … | Continue reading
When I finally succumbed and opened Threads, Mark Zuckerberg’s algorithm sized up my demographics and fed me two kinds of posts it thought would juice my engagement. First were the people shouting, incorrectly, that IPA is a bad style of beer and framing themselves as too hip to … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration across 88 counties as flooding there continues • 48 people have died in China after record rainfall caused a landslide that swept away part of a highway • Louisville is forecast to see a brief dry spell … | Continue reading
With $6.4 million, you could pay to remove 4,923 tons of carbon from the atmosphere. You could buy 533 used Chevy Bolts — far more than enough to give one to every incoming freshman at Swarthmore College — or supply an entire county with low- and no-emissions buses. Or, if you’re … | Continue reading
“Delete, delete, delete,” Elon Musk reportedly told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, describing his approach to management. “Delete any part or process you can. You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you didn't de … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Heavy rain in southern Brazil killed at least 10 people • Flood watches are in effect across North Texas • It will be 75 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny today in California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which has just been expanded by 13,700 acres. … | Continue reading
It was always a fantasy to think that the Senate Committee on the Budget’s hearing on oil disinformation would actually be about oil disinformation. It was still shocking, though, how far off the rails things ran. The hearing concerned a report released Tuesday by the committee a … | Continue reading
Most climate solutions are getting smarter. Solar panels can track the sun. Electric vehicles are equipped with the equivalent of an iPad and may soon be able to drive themselves (according to some people). Startups are inventing stoves with batteries that charge when energy is c … | Continue reading
Current conditions: It will be 107 degrees Fahrenheit in Kolkata as Southeast Asia’s heat wave continues • Kansas and Oklahoma are on alert for tornadoes and large hail • The Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks this week. THE TOP FIVE 1. Biden administration outlines rules for sust … | Continue reading
The future of coal played a starring role in the 2016 presidential election. As an industry, an energy supply, and a source of jobs and identity in many communities, coal was both a practical and symbolic issue, one that helped solidify Donald Trump’s support among white working … | Continue reading
Chaos at Tesla is nothing new. But the company now appears to be going through something of an identity crisis, with its future at war with its past. Let’s just recap the past few weeks: First, Tesla released first-quarter delivery numbers that came up well short of even analysts … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Floods in Saudi Arabia forced some schools to close • Nearly 50 fires were reported in Greece over 24 hours • Tornado alley could see more severe storms this afternoon. THE TOP FIVE 1. Biden finalizes permitting reform rule The Biden administration today final … | Continue reading
At San Francisco Climate Week, everyone wanted to talk about artificial intelligence. “I was looking through all of the events on SF Climate Week, and it seemed like every single one of them had AI somewhere in the name,” joked (sort of) Rohan Nuttell of OpenAI last week, while m … | Continue reading
Current conditions: An orange alert for severe thunderstorms is in effect across China’s southern provinces • More rain is expected in Kenya, where extreme flooding has killed at least 70 people • Bangladesh reopened its schools despite an ongoing heat wave. THE TOP FIVE 1. Hundr … | Continue reading
My wife used to speedrun to San Francisco. A full tank of gas powered the little truck from Los Angeles to the halfway-point pit stop near Coalinga, California, where the L.A. radio stations have faded into static and the “Mr. Brightside” broadcasts from the Bay Area have yet to … | Continue reading
One of the most important pieces of the Biden administration’s climate policy has arrived: On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules restricting climate pollution from coal-fired plants and natural gas plants that haven’t been built yet. The rules will eli … | Continue reading
There’s no question that coal is on its way out in the U.S. In 2001, coal-fired power plants generated about 50% of U.S. electricity. Last year, they were down to about 15%. On Thursday, however, the Biden administration arguably delivered a death blow. New carbon emission limits … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Flash floods killed at least 155 people in Tanzania • Dry conditions are spawning dust devils in western Canada • Ongoing thunderstorms are set to pummel the central U.S. with hail and possible sporadic tornadoes through the weekend. THE TOP FIVE 1. Climate ch … | Continue reading
Everyone loves a public good, and one of the classic examples is clean air. When I breathe in clean air, no one else gets any less of it, and you can’t exclude people from enjoying it. But how do we know whether the air we’re breathing is clean? And is that information a public g … | Continue reading
The United Nations’ climate summit in Dubai ended last December with a mad dash to lock in a location for this year’s gathering. Which is how we wound up with yet another petrostate — Azerbaijan — as the host. On Thursday at a climate conference in Berlin, Azerbaijan’s minister o … | Continue reading
The United Nations’ climate summit in Dubai ended last December with a mad dash to lock in a location for this year’s gathering. Which is how we wound up with yet another petrostate — Azerbaijan — as the host. On Thursday at a climate conference in Berlin, Azerbaijan’s minister o … | Continue reading
At San Francisco Climate Week, everyone wanted to talk about artificial intelligence. “I was looking through all of the events on SF Climate Week, and it seemed like every single one of them had AI somewhere in the name,” joked (sort of) Rohan Nuttell of OpenAI last week, while m … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Heavy rains this spring have reinvigorated the drought-stricken wetlands at Spain’s Doñana National Park • Severe thunderstorms are taking shape above the central and southern U.S. • Flooding in Kenya kills at least 32 people and displaces over 40,000. THE TOP … | Continue reading
The Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant rules were not the only big energy policy announcement from the Biden administration Thursday. The White House also announced a bevy of initiatives and projects meant to bolster infrastructure throughout the country. Transmission … | Continue reading
Utilities all over the country have proposed to build a slew of new natural gas-fired power plants in recent months, citing an anticipated surge in electricity demand from data centers, a boom in manufacturing, and the rise of electric vehicles. But on Thursday, the Environmental … | Continue reading