Chiara Pappalardo

There seems to be a thread with large gatherings that bring short term quick money but also leave detrimental environmental impacts. When infrastructure gets built to for a one-off event, long term needs of the local communities are often ignored.

Chiara Pappalardo (@cpappalardo) My latest contribution appears in the ABCI Institute’s Spring 2026 Newsletter, which I recommend reading in its entirety. It features articles by ABCI board members commenting on the latest Supreme Co...

Highly recommend reading ABCI Institute’s latest newsletter—just released on Substack—for a fresh take on some of the most pressing international trade issues and engaging with us! substack.com/@cpappalardo...

You know who really has a good vantage on what universities can and should be? Faculty. Not always the organizational structure and operation, because that's not the job, But what it takes to educate? Yep. Yet the overwhelming media coverage is by and about ppl w very little to no experience.

This is why electrification means more energy security:

In 2024, ~81% of EU electricity came from locally sourced fuels (57% excluding nuclear). Just 19% relied on imported fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels are mostly imported.

Source @ember-energy.org

Batteries are the fossil fuel killer.

Much of the main stream analysis about the energy transition is still pretending this didn't happen in the past two years.

But it did.

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

Incredible self own for the US. The damage being done to the US scientific enterprise is generational. We will look back on this as a tipping point where the US chose all on its own to stop leading the world in science.

www.science.org/content/arti...

RAND PAUL: If a country bombed our air defense missiles, captured & removed our president, & blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war?

RUBIO: We just don't believe this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition

PAUL: Of course it would be an act of war!

That it is an unregulated monopoly dominated by just a few big corporations who are squeezing farmers who then get bailed out by US taxpayers and the Fed Gov has done zero about it for decades now.

Electricity rate hikes slash commercial solar payback periods by 33%, says Wood Mackenzie Soaring utility costs and rising power demand are recalibrating the financial outlook for the United States non-residential solar market.

When putting solar panels on your roof or land saves your business money, you put up the solar panels. USA addition.

"Commercial projects sized between 2 MW and 20 MW are positioned for growth as corporate offtakers seek to hedge against volatile retail power markets"

It’s time to put scientific guidance at the heart of climate policy Scientific consensus indicates that global warming has reached the 1.5°C threshold, requiring climate policy to shift from commitments to the rapid, science-aligned phase-out of fossil fuels.

“This is not the time for resignation; it’s a time of heightened urgency”

Ahead of @weforum.org annual meeting #WEF26, PIK Director Johan #Rockström & Carlos Afonso Nobre @uspoficial.bsky.social highlight the importance of the 1.5C limit, naming 4 deciding factors.

www.weforum.org/stories/2026...

Our Biggest Stories of 2025: From Climate Politics to AI and Beyond WRI rounded up 15 of our biggest stories from 2025, covering everything from extreme heat and wildfires to climate politics, AI and beyond.

Missed Our Biggest Stories of 2025: From Climate Politics to AI and Beyond?

Check them all out here:

Trump is trying to kill clean energy. The market has other plans. The administration has done real damage to climate action, experts say. But in many ways, renewables are unstoppable.

Trump is trying to kill clean energy. The market has other plans. #Climate

Estudiantes de Cornell lanzan la primera vela solar retroreflectiva y autónoma del mundo, con menos de 100 gramos de peso Equipo de Alpha despliega la vela solar más pequeña y rápida hasta la fecha, capaz de volar sin nave nodriza.

Estudiantes de Cornell lanzan la primera vela solar retroreflectiva y autónoma del mundo, con menos de 100 gramos de peso.

ecoinventos.com/estudiantes-...

India’s SECI awards 1.2 GW of solar, 600 MW/3,600 MWh of storage at $0.035/kWh Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has concluded a tender for 1.2 GW of interstate transmission system-connected solar projects paired with 600 MW/3,600 MWh of energy storage, with tariffs as low as I...

Firmed solar power with battery backup in India is now at $0.035/kWh. There are no thermal sources that can touch that price. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋 #FossilFuelsAreStrandedAssets www.pv-magazine.com/2026/01/12/i...

🙈

....Did anyone actually listen to Woods' statement??

Woods specifies it's "uninvestable" *today*, lays out a series of changes that would be needed to make investable, and then says "We're confident that with this administration and President Trump....those changes can be put in place

Global research shows how Dust Bowl-type drought causes unprecedented productivity loss A global research effort led by Colorado State University shows that extreme, prolonged drought conditions in grasslands and shrublands would greatly limit the long-term health of crucial ecosystems t...

Highly important: we reach now a climate state where unprecedented productivity losses will happen in the food baskets of the world...

Simultaneously...

How Carbon Border Adjustments Might Drive Global Climate Policy Momentum: Elkerbout, Milan; Nehrkorn, Katarina; Wolfram, Catherine; Clausing, Kimberly

Developing nations achieve massive solar power growth Cheap panels from China help expansion, often by private citizens

Developing nations achieve massive #solar growth.
www.globalcapital.com/globalmarket...

Mega-Batteries Are Powering the Clean Energy Revolution | OilPrice.com Mega-battery energy storage is becoming crucial for the global clean energy transition, balancing variable renewable sources and offering new profit opportunities for energy traders.

Grid-scale energy #storage, particularly mega-batteries, is essential for the global clean energy transition by balancing the variable nature of #RenewableEnergy sources like #solar and #wind.
oilprice.com/Energy/Energ...

Why Microgrids Are the Backbone of the Next Energy Revolution | OilPrice.com Microgrids are emerging as a critical solution for expanding energy access, improving resilience, and integrating renewables across both developing and developed regions.

Microgrids provide flexible, decentralized power that operate independently from national grids.
#climate
oilprice.com/Energy/Energ...

We are proud to congratulate Soumya Krishnamurthi, a senior leader in our IT Department, who was recently honored with the Women in Technology Impact Award from the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania!

China Is Beating the US in the Battle for Energy Export Dominance China’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with $20 billion shipped globally.

China has exported $120 billion in green technology for the year-to-date. The US, which has positioned itself as a major fossil fuel exporter, has only sold $80 billion in oil and gas abroad.

The Primary Energy Fallacy is the idea that all primary energy from fossil fuels must be replaced with equivalent amount of clean energy.

BUT: Not necessary because >2/3 of all primary energy is lost as waste heat.

Electrification+renewables are far more efficient.

medium.com/@jan.rosenow...

Jane Goodall, the trailblazing naturalist whose intimate observations of chimpanzees in the African wild produced powerful insights that transformed basic conceptions of humankind, has died. She was 91.

Read more about her legacy www.latimes.com/obituaries/s...

Join us for a timely discussion on the impact of the latest tariffs on U.S.-Brazil Bilateral Trade next Monday.

RSVP Link: shorturl.fm/zvuwO

New report ranks states on climate-related health risks, clean energy policies • Pennsylvania Capital-Star Vermont, New York, Washington, New Jersey and Maine have the best combination of relatively low environmental risks and robust environmental policies, according to a report released this week.

Researchers at Northeastern and Yale universities ranked states based on risks from extreme heat, flooding, poor air quality, natural hazard risks to health care facilities and greenhouse gas emissions by the health care sector.

From @stateline.org

Pa. Gov. Shaprio said electric grid operator PJM needs reform to put consumers first • Pennsylvania Capital-Star “We need to be thinking about consumers and their costs, something that PJM ... doesn't really spend a whole lot of time focused on,” Shapiro told reporters

The organization that manages the electric grid for Pennsylvania and 12 other states has moved too slowly in response to skyrocketing energy demand and consumers are paying for it, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday.

From @petehallpa.bsky.social

Utilities want to regain the ability to build power plants in PJM. Here's why that may be a bad idea • Pennsylvania Capital-Star The debate that took place in a Washington, D.C., hearing room in June was so filled with energy-industry jargon that most people would not realize they were witnessing a battle over who could own and...

Utilities are backing legislation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that would allow them to own power plants. Consumer advocates expect to see a similar proposal in Maryland in 2026.

From @insideclimatenews.org