Dan McCarthy

This chart.

Damn.

And I've heard not a peep from the GOP lawmakers who went to all those ribbon cutting ceremonies at the factories.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

(chart by @danmccarthy.bsky.social)

Offshore wind leasing is officially dead under Trump Over 3.5 million acres of federal waters are no longer eligible for offshore wind development following an order from the Interior Department.

“My read on this is that there is not going to be any leasing for offshore wind in the near future,” said a career employee at the Interior Department, who Canary Media granted anonymity to speak freely for fear of retribution.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/off...

Resignation of a top US nuclear regulator seen as an attack on agency independence NRC Commissioner Annie Caputo "apparently resigned rather than be compromised by politics."

Very cool: @motherjones.com has republished the scoop in my newsletter yesterday about the a top regulator resigning from the NRC.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

We know how to decarbonize energy. The food sector should take notes. Climate-friendly agriculture is two decades behind clean energy. Here are lessons food and farming can learn from the rise of renewables and cleantech.

My new column for @canarymedia.com kinda sums up what I’ve learned over 20 years of climate reporting. It’s about what the transformation of the (fucked up but improving) energy sector can teach us about the (fucked up and not improving) food/ag/land sector. www.canarymedia.com/articles/foo...

In Ohio, oil and gas industry is steering new carbon capture bill Newly obtained public records show that the industry has worked hard to ensure the legislation prioritizes their interests over climate change concerns.

A new investigation by @kmkowalski.bsky.social and @canarymedia.com, with documents obtained by Fieldnotes, reveals a coordinated effort by oil lobbyists to write and introduce carbon capture and storage legislation. www.canarymedia.com/articles/car...

USDA abruptly cancels rural energy grant application window It’s the latest setback for the longstanding REAP program, casting uncertainty over the future of a resource that helps farmers save on energy and install…

REAP has been an economic lifeline for U.S. farmers for two decades, helping them save on energy and make money from solar.

The Trump administration has thrown the program into chaos — including by abruptly canceling a planned application window on July 1.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Critics fear Trump will use flawed DOE report to push pro-coal agenda Grid experts say DOE’s new forecast of major blackout risks by 2030 misuses data to justify the Trump administration’s push to force dirty plants to stay…

Energy experts say DOE's report claiming 100x increase in blackout risk by 2030 dramatically undercounts the new energy — clean and dirty — that can be added to the grid by then. Why? to back Trump's push to force fossil fuel power plants to stay open:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/fos...
#energysky

Critics fear Trump will use flawed DOE report to push pro-coal agenda Grid experts say DOE’s new forecast of major blackout risks by 2030 misuses data to justify the Trump administration’s push to force dirty plants to stay…

Last week, the Department of Energy issued a report that energy analysts agree is designed to push Trump's pro-coal agenda — and which experts say relies on dubious math to reach its conclusions.

@jeffstjohn.bsky.social has the details:

www.canarymedia.com/articles/fos...

Chart: The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels More than $2.2 trillion will go into clean energy and electrification this year, double that of fossil fuels — but it’s still not enough.

This year, $2.2 trillion will be invested in clean energy, efficiency, and electrification globally, double the $1.1 trillion that will flow toward fossil fuels.

It's a remarkable change from a decade ago, but still not enough, @danmccarthy.bsky.social writes:

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Geothermal survives in 'big, beautiful' budget bill — but hurdles… The new law preserves tax credits for geothermal, an industry that’s poised to grow with next-gen tech. But anti-China rules and tariffs still pose risks.

Geothermal energy was largely spared in Trump’s sweeping budget bill, which made deep cuts to incentives for wind, solar & residential projects. But developers of the heat-driven energy source may still face difficulties ahead due. Me for @canarymedia.com www.canarymedia.com/articles/geo...

Offshore wind has faced mounting hurdles this year: new tariffs, a federal permitting pause, higher investment risk, and the threat of the Trump halting projects mid construction.

For planned wind farms that haven’t yet broken ground, the “big, beautiful” bill was the final nail in the coffin. 🧵

Tax credit cuts in Trump’s megabill imperil two fully approved wind… The “Big, Beautiful Bill” includes rollbacks of clean energy incentives that at least two offshore wind projects rely on to pencil out financially,…

The “Big, Beautiful” bill just doomed the future of Maryland’s first offshore wind farm. It was supposed break ground next year.

As one analyst told me: “We don’t predict any new offshore wind projects starting construction…at least in the next four years.” 👇

www.canarymedia.com/articles/off...

In @canarymedia.com this morning explaining, once again, why the OBBBA is *not* a win for geothermal energy. Thanks, FEOC.

Thanks @mariagallucci.bsky.social for this great piece highlighting how the GOP might be holding back this promising new technology:

Thanks to @jeffstjohn.bsky.social for featuring me and CPE in this great dive into the reconciliation bill's unworkable FEOC rules!

Chart: ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ would cause energy bills to go up in… Legislation just passed by the Senate would undo clean-energy tax credits, slowing the addition of new power to the grid and saddling customers with…

Once again: the fossil fuel industry wants energy prices to be high. The Republican Party is in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry. And thus, they are celebrating the passage of a big ugly bill that will cause your energy prices to go up. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ law tethers the US to the past The law takes a sledgehammer to key pieces of American industrial policy, threatening the development of clean energy — a vital 21st century technology.

Wrote about Trump's big, beautiful law and how it dismantles not only U.S. climate policy, but its most effective industrial policy, too.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

New Senate GOP bill would kill clean power and spike energy costs Under pressure from Trump, Senate Republicans unveiled legislation so restrictive that even Elon Musk and the Chamber of Commerce’s policy chief oppose it.

Senate Republicans are pushing a tax cut bill that would undermine billions of dollars of clean energy investment, kill jobs, drive up energy prices and add a new 'tax' on solar and wind so ugly that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Elon Musk oppose it:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky

These New England fishermen made peace with offshore wind. Trump wants to end it. This "is the number one way for scallop guys, captains, mates, deckhands, to make extra money.”

Fishermen & offshore wind firms have a tense relationship, mainly based on the fishers' unfounded fears. But with more fishers now seeing wind development as a way to supplement their incomes, Trump is trying to kill it. Nice piece from @fieseler.bsky.social via @canarymedia.com & @motherjones.com

These New England fishermen made peace with offshore wind. Trump wants to end it. This "is the number one way for scallop guys, captains, mates, deckhands, to make extra money.”

Meet Captain Jack Morris and Kevin Souza.

They are scallopers.

They voted for Trump.

They work for offshore wind companies part time because times are tough.

They opened up to me about what’s at stake for them if Trump crushes offshore wind.

My latest 👇

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Melissa Hortman was a climate and clean energy champion for Minnesota The former state House speaker, assassinated by a gunman Saturday, helped to pass some of the country’s most ambitious state clean energy policy.

From Minnesota’s trailblazing community solar program to the flurry of laws adopted during Democrats’ 2023 trifecta, Hortman had a hand in passing some of the country’s most ambitious, consequential state-level clean energy policy. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

I have a new story out in @theatlantic.com this morning.

This piece looks at the Trump administration's rollback of energy efficiency policies and the risk that poses when the U.S. is trying to shore up its grid to power electrification and AI.

www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Trump deals a ‘big blow’ to clean heat with Energy Department cuts The loss of $3.7 billion in funding for industrial decarbonization threatens efforts to replace large-scale fossil-fueled boilers with electric options.

I have a new story up this morning on @canarymedia.com:

The $3.7 billion in funding the Energy Department just canceled for industrial projects is a "big blow" to clean heat -- which made up 25% of the cuts.

"It’s hard to overstate the scale of the loss."

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Biden’s climate-smart ag program was better than nothing. Trump… In a climate-dumb move, the Trump administration ended a flawed but necessary program aiming to lower agricultural emissions. We can still draw useful…

I wrote about Biden’s deeply flawed approach to climate-smart agriculture, and how it was way better than Trump’s flagrantly climate-dumb approach. @canarymedia.com

www.canarymedia.com/articles/foo...

Here's the full list of canceled projects, courtesy of @jeffstjohn.bsky.social:

assets.canarymedia.com/content/uplo...

Trump admin cuts $3.7B for industrial decarbonization and carbon… The decision will devastate ambitious efforts to cut emissions from heavy industry ranging from food production to chemicals.

"Sublime Systems told Canary Media that the company was ​'surprised and disappointed' by DOE’s decision to cut its grant.

Sublime this week announced a deal with Microsoft, which said it would buy 600,000 tons of the low-carbon cement from the startup..."

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Trump admin cuts $3.7B for industrial decarbonization and carbon… The decision will devastate ambitious efforts to cut emissions from heavy industry ranging from food production to chemicals.

News: The Trump admin has canceled $3.7B in Biden-era grants for industrial decarbonization that aimed to clean up the production of everything from cement to mac and cheese.

@jeffstjohn.bsky.social has the full list:

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

I've got a new exclusive in the newsletter this morning:

Geothermal startup Eavor just hit a milestone with its in-house tech that allows the company dig as deep as 20 Empire State Buildings down, shaving "tens of millions of dollars" off drilling costs.

kaufman.substack.com/p/geothermal...

A Michigan coal plant was about to close. Trump ordered it to stay… Environmental and consumer advocates say the DOE has “manufactured an emergency” to keep a costly, polluting coal plant running and serve Trump’s pro-coal…

The Trump admin has acted on its threat to use emergency power to keep coal plants open even if utilities and grid operators know they're safe to close. Its first target — a Michigan coal plant set to close on May 31 after years of planning:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/pol...
#energysky

A timeline of Trump’s failed attempt to kill Empire Wind Trump officials will allow the New York offshore wind farm to resume construction, backing down from a controversial stop-work order and months of attacks.

Have you heard about the 5 month saga between Trump and an offshore wind farm that refused to die?

Here it is, the full blow by blow:

www.canarymedia.com/articles/off...

A timeline of Trump’s failed attempt to kill Empire Wind Trump officials will allow the New York offshore wind farm to resume construction, backing down from a controversial stop-work order and months of attacks.

The Trump administration will allow New York's Empire Wind project to proceed after halting it in April and pushing the offshore wind project close to collapse.

Here's the timeline of Empire Wind's near-death experience, from @fieseler.bsky.social:

www.canarymedia.com/articles/off...