Dan McCarthy

As solar booms and coal fades, Greece’s mining region struggles to… Next year, Greece will complete its coal phaseout, a success for the energy transition. But Western Macedonia residents feel left behind.

Killer dispatch by @danmccarthy.bsky.social on Greece's shift away from coal:

“Everybody knew that the coal would have to end. But nobody did anything to prevent the disaster. It’s like the Titanic — everybody dancing on board, but the disaster is coming.” www.canarymedia.com/articles/jus...

As solar booms and coal fades, Greece’s mining region struggles to… Next year, Greece will complete its coal phaseout, a success for the energy transition. But Western Macedonia residents feel left behind.

In September, I went to Greece to report on its rapid move away from coal.

Despite getting ~50% of power from coal a decade ago, it'll be coal free next year. Solar is booming.

It's a stunning shift — but not without challenges for Greece's coal region.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/jus...

Can the war on coal still be won? Ten years ago, the U.S. was on track to phase out coal by 2030, thanks to the Sierra Club. Now Trump and AI are delaying the fuel’s decline.

In 2015, I wrote the first big article inside the war on coal for
@politico.com. Ten years later, I wrote about how the war is going for @canarymedia.com. The @sierraclub.org is still winning the war, but Trump and AI are complicating the endgame.

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

Brookfield inks hydro contract with Microsoft in latest Big Tech deal The announcement follows Brookfield’s record-setting hydro deal with Google — and could help fund upgrades to certain hydroelectric facilities facing…

New story up on @canarymedia.com:

Nearly four months after inking the biggest-ever hydro deal to power Google's data centers with existing dams in Pennsylvania, Brookfield has signed yet another deal with Microsoft.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/hyd...

Massachusetts bill would undo climate goals and cut efficiency… The Democratic lawmaker behind the proposal says it will make energy more affordable, but opponents say it would harm the environment and consumers.

New one from @canarymedia.com: A Dem.-sponsored bill is advancing to undo Massachusetts' climate goals and cut funding to its successful energy efficiency program.

The reason? You guessed it: affordability. Critics call the legislation shortsighted. More below.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/pol...

New York Approves Trump-Backed Gas Pipeline The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline had been rejected by environmental regulators three times but was revived this spring after talks between Hochul…

⚠️ Breaking: Hochul administration approves 3x rejected, Trump-backed NESE pipeline, the first of its kind in New York in at least a decade.

Story: nysfocus.com/2025/11/07/n...

Trump claims ‘wind mills’ kill whales but quietly torpedoes the… The Interior Department defunds two vital research programs that track North Atlantic right whales near active offshore wind construction sites.

SCOOP from me:

I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.

Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵

How Trump gutted the team meant to build America’s energy future The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations had over $25 billion to help companies scale novel low-carbon technologies. Trump is working to erase it.

DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations was meant to
be a launchpad for ambitious projects that could help the U.S. lead on everything from decarbonizing factories to boosting rural energy resiliency. Now it's a shell of itself. My latest for @canarymedia.com www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

🔔 Check out @canarymedia.com’s “Chart of the week” column by @danmccarthy.bsky.social featuring our newest Siting Solutions Project legislative insight report co-authored by Nelson Falkenburg.

📍Click on the link to read the full column

California quietly guts ambitious virtual power plant bill Bills boosting solar, batteries, EVs, and smart thermostats to rein in California’s utility costs moved ahead — but the most innovative approaches were…

California quietly guts ambitious virtual power plant bill www.canarymedia.com/articles/vir... via @jeffstjohn.bsky.social

‘Bizarre’ and ‘unlawful:’ States, Ørsted challenge Revolution Wind… Trump halted the huge, nearly complete offshore wind project two weeks ago. Rhode Island, Connecticut, and its developer want courts to block that…

Lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits.

It’s the only tactic that appears to work against the Trump administration’s crusades.

Now, the Danish are giving it a go.

My latest on the Revolution Wind saga:

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

When you cover a field in solar panels, you don’t cover everything. And in a warming world, that leftover shaded space is invaluable, says @billmckibben.bsky.social.

‘It’s madness’: Trump-voting fishermen oppose Revolution Wind halt The Rhode Island offshore wind project, now nearly finished, employed 80 fishermen to help with construction. With Trump's pause, they are losing vital…

SCOOP: Revolution Wind employed 80 fishermen over the past 2 years, paying out $9.5 million to captains, deckhands, and fishing boat owners. Trump's pause means he just put Trump-voting fishermen out of work.

When Trump paused Empire Wind, the fishermen stayed quiet.

This time, they spoke to me.👇

Trump extends order forcing Pennsylvania fossil-fuel plant to stay… The administration isn’t backing off efforts to revive retiring coal and gas plants. Now, customers are on the hook to pay for Eddystone for another three…

NEW: Trump's DOE has re-upped an emergency order forcing an oil and gas power plant to stay online, one week after renewing a similar directive for a coal plant.

It's the latest signal that Trump is committed to blocking all fossil-fueled power plants closures.

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

US solar plant construction is on a record-breaking spree — for now Solar power is having a bumper year as developers race to complete installations before Trump's policy changes pull the rug out from under the industry.

And despite it all… solar plants are still be built at record speed in America.

For now.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...

Trump admin halts construction of nearly finished offshore wind farm Ørsted's Revolution Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island is hit with a stop-work order over vague "national security" concerns.

My story about Revolution Wind dropped. Trump just halted construction of the offshore wind farm due to "national security."

NEW: Navy, Army Corps, and Coast Guard raised "no major military issues" during a 2009-2015 federal task force that sited Rev Wind where it's now being built, says insider.

Trump admin’s new anti-renewables rule rooted in fossil-fuel… The Interior’s recent directive casts solar and wind energy as bad for the environment, without weighing costs of oil, coal, and gas, critics say.

DOI's "capacity density" metric uses fossil fuel cheerleaders' talking points to erect more barriers to solar and wind. Critics say it's an "absurd metric" and "red herring." @canarymedia.com @ejtodaynews.bsky.social www.canarymedia.com/articles/lan...

Trump admin orders dirty, expensive coal plant to stay open even… Keeping J.H. Campbell open past its slated close is costing Midwest households big. Advocates fear that more such orders are on the way.

The Trump admin is forcing a Michigan coal plant slated to close this year to keep running through November. Critics say it's part of a broader plan to use emergency powers to keep dirty and expensive fossil fuel power plants running, no matter the cost
www.canarymedia.com/articles/fos...
#energysky

‘Come to America and lose $1B’: Trump drives new offshore wind losses Ørsted is seeking $9.4B to finish two U.S. projects, the latest in a spate of setbacks for foreign firms invested heavily in the struggling sector.

💴 “‘Come to America and lose a billion dollars’ should be the headline of your article.”

👇 my latest

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

Bill McKibben on the tremendous rise of renewable power Join a live online conversation with climate journalist and activist Bill McKibben, author of a new book on the promise of clean energy, <i>Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fres...

Webinar alert! Join @billmckibben.bsky.social‬ for a conversation on renewables’ rise — and challenges — with Canary’s @alisontakemura.bsky.social‬ on Aug. 27:

UPDATE:

🌊 My colleagues at E&E News used FOIA to obtain a copy of that elusive NOAA report I wrote about. The one Trump used to pause construction of a New York offshore wind farm and bleed the wind company of almost $1B.

😱 All 27-pages they obtained were blacked out.

Bill McKibben on the tremendous rise of renewable power Join a live online conversation with climate journalist and activist Bill McKibben, author of a new book on the promise of clean energy, <i>Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fres...

Join @billmckibben.bsky.social‬ and @alisontakemura.bsky.social‬ on Aug. 27 for a live online discussion of how solar and wind power became mainstream — and how to overcome the headwinds threatening their progress with @Sundayofaction.bsky.social:

Trump administration says it's axing $7B program for low-income solar EPA chief Lee Zeldin claims the “big beautiful bill” allows funds for the Solar for All program to be rescinded. Advocates say that’s false and promise to…

The Trump administration has terminated Solar for All. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claims the “big beautiful bill” authorizes clawback of $7B in contracted funds — a claim that Sen. Moore Capito (R) has called "ridiculous." Cue the court challenges: www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...
#energysky

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)

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