Climate tech investors have a lot to take stock of at the end of 2024. The macroeconomic environment is shaky and investment in the space is down, but there’s plenty of cash reserves lying in wait. Artificial intelligence and its attendant data center power demand may or may not … | Continue reading
Climate tech investors have a lot to take stock at the end of 2024. The macroeconomic environment is shaky and investment in the space is down, but there’s plenty of cash reserves lying in wait. Artificial intelligence and its attendant data center power demand may or may not be … | Continue reading
The United States is rapidly dividing into two camps: those that are trying to move away from using natural gas in buildings to fight climate change, and those passing “fuel choice” laws that protect consumers’ rights to keep burning it. On election day, Washington State flipped … | Continue reading
The energy giant ExxonMobil is planning a huge investment in natural gas-fired power plants that will power data centers directly, a.k.a. behind the meter, meaning they won’t have to connect to the electric grid. That will allow the fossil fuel giant to avoid making the expensive … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A bomb cyclone and atmospheric river are expected to bring “a firehose” of moisture and damaging winds to the eastern U.S. today • A former rugby star died in flooding from Storm Darragh in England • There is now a 55% chance of La Niña developing between now … | Continue reading
The Chinese electric automaker BYD is entering a new stage in its history. Last month, it sold more than half a million electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. BYD has already shipped more cars this year than Ford and Honda, and it is fast coming for Volkswagen, GM, and Toyota’s c … | Continue reading
When you think of companies whose valuations are soaring due to artificial intelligence, the ones that come to mind first are probably the chip designer Nvidia, whose shares are up 180% this year, or Elon Musk’s xAI, which its investors recently valued at $50 billion. But aside f … | Continue reading
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday rocked the energy world when he promised “fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals” for “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of Am … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A severe heat wave warning is in place for large parts of Australia’s Queensland state, where “unsettling” thunderstorms are expected • A bitter Arctic blast is heading for the Upper Midwest • An explosive wildfire is raging in Malibu, California, where at lea … | Continue reading
As soon as Donald Trump was declared the winner of November’s presidential election, climate advocates vowed to continue making progress at the state and local level. But some local projects may still depend too much on federal policy to move forward. The president-elect’s influe … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Tens of thousands of people are without power in the UK after Storm Darragh • A volcanic eruption of Mount Kanlaon in the Philippines triggered emergency evacuations • Red Flag fire warnings are in effect across Southern California as Santa Ana winds encounter … | Continue reading
The world has been very hot lately. Like, really hot. Much hotter than you might expect from climate change alone. In 2023, the global average temperature was nearly 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above its pre-industrial level. It is nearly certain to exceed tha … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Flood waters turned streets into rivers in Tripoli, Libya • The UK’s Met Office issued a rare “red weather warning” ahead of Storm Darragh, which could bring 90 mph winds • Americans on the West Coast are breathing a sigh of relief after a tsunami warning was … | Continue reading
It would be easy to feel down about the state of electric vehicles with an avowed EV foe set to reenter the White House. Yes, the election’s fallout will no doubt reshape the car market in the years to come. But in the short term, there’s good news in the form of the new slate of … | Continue reading
Over the course of a presidential term, a mature ironwood tree will add only about four inches to its height. Unless you happen to see one during the 10 or 12 days in May that pale pink flowers cover its branches, it’s not a shrub you’re likely to call one of the Sonoran Desert’s … | Continue reading
Of the over $13 billion in loans and loan guarantees that the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office has made under Biden, nearly a third of that funding has been doled out in the month since the presidential election. And of the $41 billion in conditional commitments — agreeme … | Continue reading
Today we’re talking with Tim Brightbill, a trade attorney at Wiley Rein LLP and lead counsel for a coalition of U.S. solar cell and module manufacturers – the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee. Last week, his client won a massive victory – fresh tariffs on … | Continue reading
Sourcing requirements – As we explain in our Q&A today, there’s momentum building in Washington, D.C., to attach new sourcing requirements to an IRA credit for advanced manufacturing known as 45X. 45X is supposed to supercharge production of battery and solar components, as well … | Continue reading
Queens County, New York – TotalEnergies’ first Attentive Energy offshore wind project might be the canary in the Trumpy renewables coal mine. The New York wind project in the bight has been indefinitely paused, according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyenne, meaning we have our … | Continue reading
Nevada, ground zero for solar development in the American West, is now seeing a different kind of renewables revolution – against development. It might endanger the Biden administration’s crowning solar permitting achievement, and will mean developers in the Silver State will hav … | Continue reading
Unpriced risk undermined the global economy during the financial crisis of 2008. Today, researchers say unpriced physical climate risk will lead to rapid declines in property values — and point out that this is already happening in some Florida markets. They often compare what’s … | Continue reading
Unpriced risk undermined the global economy during the financial crisis of 2008. Today, researchers say unpriced physical climate risk will lead to rapid declines in property values — and point out that this is already happening in some Florida markets. They often compare what’s … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Schools in Delhi have reopened but smog levels remain high • Storm Darragh could bring 80 mph winds to parts of the UK • Powerful snow squalls are making life difficult for large parts of the Northeastern U.S. THE TOP FIVE 1. An update on the World Court’s big … | Continue reading
In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Treasury Department is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on the tax rules that form the heart of the Inflation Reduction Act and its climate strategy. Today, Treasury has released final rules for the Section 48 Investment Tax … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Monsoon rains caused severe flooding in Thailand and Malaysia that left more than 30 people dead • In Germany, a recent wind lull known as a “Dunkelflaute” has led to a drop in wind power and a rise in gas-fired electricity production • It is chilly and cloudy … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Monsoon rains caused severe flooding in Thailand and Malaysia that left more than 30 people dead • In Germany, a recent wind lull known as a “Dunkelflaute” has led to a drop in wind power and a rise in gas-fired electricity production • It is chilly and cloudy … | Continue reading
The Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, is the biggest investment in clean energy in American history. It is also in danger. In January, the Trump administration and a GOP Congress will take over the federal government — and they have made a varie … | Continue reading
In the wake of a wave of scandals in the carbon credit market, a boatload of brokers arrived to mediate between buyers and sellers and improve the integrity of carbon claims. In came the consulting firms staffed by scientists to advise companies on which credits to buy, ratings a … | Continue reading
By the time the Swedish battery giant Northvolt declared bankruptcy last month, a well-funded U.S. startup, Lyten, had already swooped in to snatch up the company’s previously shuttered Bay Area factory. With China flooding the market with its cheap lithium-ion tech, Lyten is bet … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Japan’s warmest autumn ever recorded has delayed the country’s vibrant foliage season • The east coast of Australia is bracing for a “rain bomb” • A Canadian storm system is bringing a blast of Arctic air to the Midwest and Northeast today through Thursday. TH … | Continue reading
Confidence in the United Nations’ ability to find cooperative solutions to some of humanity’s biggest threats took another walloping this weekend when negotiators left the fifth and final UN plastic pollution treaty talks in Busan, South Korea, with no deal. A planet-wide agreeme … | Continue reading
When Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017, millions of people participated in hundreds of marches around the country and the world to demonstrate their commitment in the new cause of resistance. No such large-scale protests are materializing for next January 20; those who hoped T … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A city in southeastern India recorded its heaviest 24-hour rainfall in three decades when Cyclone Fengal slammed the region and left 19 dead • Storm Bora flooded the Greek island of Rhodes over the weekend • The Great Lakes and surrounding states are seeing th … | Continue reading
When I scheduled this interview with Auden Schendler back in August, I’d picked what at the time felt like an arbitrary time closer to his book’s publication date. It wasn’t until much later that I realized we’d agreed to speak exactly one week after the results of the U.S. presi … | Continue reading
If you want to donate to fight climate change, what’s the best way to spend your money? For the past five years, Giving Green has been trying to find out. Each year, the nonprofit recommends a set of nonprofits that are trying to solve the climate problem effectively and efficien … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Storm Conall brought more heavy rain and flooding to sodden England • Flash floods killed at least 20 people on Indonesia’s Sumatra island • The northern Plains will be hit with an “arctic outbreak” on Thanksgiving day. THE TOP FIVE 1. Rivian gets conditional … | Continue reading
It’s been a news-filled few weeks — so it’s time for a roundup. On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk about what Trump’s cabinet selections might mean for his climate policy and whether permitting reform could still happen. Then Rob chats with Corey Cantor, seni … | Continue reading
When Trump enters the Oval Office again in January, there are some climate change-related programs he could roll back or revise immediately, some that could take years to dismantle, and some that may well be beyond his reach. And then there’s carbon capture and storage. For all t … | Continue reading
Donald Trump believes that tariffs have almost magical power to bring prosperity; as he said last month, “To me, the world’s most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariffs. It’s my favorite word.” In case anyone doubted his sincerity, before Thanksgiving he announced his intent … | Continue reading
The star of this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show was the Hyundai Ioniq 9, a rounded-off colossus of an EV that puts Hyundai’s signature EV styling on a three-row SUV cavernous enough to carry seven. I was reminded of two years ago, when Hyundai stole the L.A. show with a different E … | Continue reading
Current conditions: Parts of southwest France that were freezing last week are now experiencing record high temperatures • Forecasters are monitoring a storm system that could become Australia’s first named tropical cyclone of this season • The Colorado Rockies could get several … | Continue reading
Less than two months after Hurricane Helene cut a historically devastating course up into the southeastern U.S. from Florida’s Big Bend, drenching a wide swath of states with 20 trillion gallons of rainfall in just five days, experts are warning of another potential threat. The N … | Continue reading
Current conditions: A California wildfire burned some 400 acres near the site of the Hell’s Kitchen Lithium Extraction Project • Storm Bert in the U.K. killed at least five people and triggered 150 flood warnings • Many parts of the U.S. could see their coldest weather of the sea … | Continue reading
As the 118th Congress prepares to clear the way for a new set of legislators who will be responsible for confirming cabinet picks, passing tax legislation, and whatever else the President-reelect throws at them, it is also quietly working on bills to ease the development path for … | Continue reading
President-elect Donald Trump spent the Friday evening before Thanksgiving filling out nearly the rest of his Cabinet. He plans for his Treasury secretary to be a hedge fund manager who’s called the Inflation Reduction Act “the Doomsday machine for the deficit”; he’s named a vacci … | Continue reading
Before it even began, the 29th annual United Nations climate conference, or COP29, was deemed the “Finance COP.” While the name is fitting, it’s also a little absurd. It’s called the Finance COP because the main item on the agenda at this year’s conference, held in Baku, Azerbaij … | Continue reading
Donald Trump ended weeks of Billions-esque drama on Wall Street and Palm Beach by finally settling late Friday on a nominee for Secretary of the Treasury, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. In contrast to the quick and instinctive picks for major posts like secretary of defense, s … | Continue reading
When Democrats in Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, the legislation promised to unleash a wave of funding for electric vehicles, zero-carbon electricity, clean manufacturing, and more across the United States. It signaled the return of industrial policy and the … | Continue reading