Julia Verville

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm

Trail shoes for snow, spikes (sheet metal screws in the soles of old shoes) for ice, warm clothes + cover face below ~15F

I'm covering some of the "why" in a new article out soon, but wanted to share new from @insideclimatenews.org
As of July, the price of electricity in the U.S. is up 9.5% this year on average.
Electricity price increases in top 5 states:
Missouri: 38%
ND: 33.6%
NJ: 28.6%
Iowa: 27.5%
Montana: 25%

Appeals court allows Trump to revoke billions in clean energy grants that had been approved under Biden.

2-1 vote, with two Trump appointees in the majority:
media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/doc...

‘It happened so fast’: the shocking reality of indoor heat deaths in Arizona Heat deaths could surge in the state as energy poverty linked to Trump’s energy and trade policies burns

By me from Mohave county: ‘It happened so fast’ - the shocking reality of indoor heat deaths in Arizona as energy bill rise and federal aid shrinks

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Volkswagen é condenada em R$ 165 mi por escravidão na ditadura Justiça do Trabalho condenou Vokswagen pelos episódios ocorridos entre 1974 e 1986 na Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino

Huge judgement. Volkswagen ordered to pay R$165 million for using slave labor in the Amazon during the 1970s-80s.

reporterbrasil.org.br/2025/08/volk...

To Handle Data Centers, the Electricity System May Need New Rules. Here Is a Proposal - Inside Climate News Legal scholars suggest revisiting a core tenet of electricity regulations and taking cues from how officials manage scarce resources such as water in the West.

New from me: Do we need a new regulatory paradigm to stop data centers from completely mucking up our power system? I spoke with two legal scholars about one possible path:
insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...

Unbelievable. "Over three hours, federal agents demanded identification from the members of two private contractor crews. The crews were among the 400 people including firefighters deployed to fight the wildfire, the largest active blaze in Washington state."

Nippon Steel to begin relining Indiana blast furnace next year The owner of U.S. Steel confirmed plans to revamp the aging coal-fueled facility at its Gary Works complex. Community groups want a low-carbon steel mill…

Nippon, new owners of US Steel, will begin relining an Indiana facility in 2026. This means they are planning to continue using coal for steelmaking for up to 20 years. www.canarymedia.com/articles/gre...

Soaring Power Bills in Largest US Grid Pose Risk for Republicans Surging utility bills in key battleground states are threatening to become a political liability for Republicans heading into upcoming elections.

Surging utility bills in key battleground states are threatening to become a political liability for Republicans heading into upcoming elections.

🎁 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Sherrill vows to freeze utility rates Skyrocketing energy costs continue to be a political liability for New Jersey Democrats. BY: MADISON FERNANDEZ Mikie Sherrill speaks at a lectern with a sign affixed that says "DAY ONE: NO MORE RATE HIKES" Democratic New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill speaks about her plan to address energy costs on Aug. 20 in Kenilworth. Madison Fernandez/POLITICO

A proposal to watch.

The NJ Congressional Rep. Mikie Sherrill is running for governor of her state, and promises to freeze all utility rate hikes on Day One of her governorship.

archive.is/oAB3M

yes more of this please

The Rainforests Being Cleared to Build Your R.V.

On #WorldOrangutanDay in @nytimes.com – How America's RV industry is destroying Indonesia's rainforests.

Our new investigation reveals wood used in America’s favourite RVs can be traced to the devastation of Borneo’s rainforests.

Read more 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/w...

The Rainforests Being Cleared to Build Your R.V.

After months of research and collaboration, I'm so pleased to share this article in @nytimes.com, featuring new research by @earthsight.bsky.social.

The story exposes the links between the US RV industry and the devastation of Borneo's rainforests.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/w...

Here is change in FAIR plan exposure in the 10-month period to June.

Electricity prices in California's investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and community choice aggregator (CCA) territories have more than doubled in a decade, after accounting for inflation.

What are these power providers spending the increased revenues on?

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Respect

Wolves’ continued spread in California brings joy, controversy & conflicts With its enchanting eyes, powerful jaws, acute senses and haunting howls, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) — the largest member of the dog family — is a wilderness icon. Once the most widespread mammal on ...

California’s #wolves naturally dispersed south from Oregon & are now further expanding their territories, with more frequent encounters w/ people:

“We’re at the beginning of this really exciting recovery … so there’s a lot of unknowns.”

@spoorthyraman.bsky.social reports, w/ cool video of howling:

Wall Street Sees Decline in Dealmaking for Oil and Gas Clients Today’s newsletter looks at the decline in lending for fossil fuel projects. Plus, a scoop on the return of a key federal database that the Trump administration killed. For unlimited access to climate...

"Wall Street has seen a significant decline in its financing of fossil fuel projects, as markets prove more powerful than net zero goals in shaping loan and bond portfolios."

New York energy company ramps up disconnections as it seeks 11% price hike Con Edison, city’s monopoly utility, cut off 88,000 households in first half of 2025 as climate crisis drives extreme temperatures

By me: Con Edison, the monopoly utility in NYC, disconnected 88,000 homes from Jan to June - triple the 2024 shut offs & now wants to hike bills by 11%. Meanwhile >525 heat deaths in the city last year, and heat waves are getting worse. Energy poverty kills.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

🎶 Orwellian in fact 🎶

Fear the Tree 🌲

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.

Trump administration takes aim at satellite that measures carbon dioxide and crops

This would be such a huge waste. Glad to see my @carnegiescience.bsky.social colleague @annamichalak.bsky.social quoted.

www.npr.org/2025/08/04/n...

The lower-right chyron showing the extreme-heat temperature is a real chef's-kiss touch.

Researchers quietly planned a test to dim sunlight. They wanted to ‘avoid scaring’ the public. Hundreds of documents show how researchers failed to notify officials in California about a test of technology to block the sun’s rays — while they planned a much huger sequel.

EXCLUSIVE: A team of researchers in California drew notoriety last year with an aborted test of a cloud-making machine.  

But behind the scenes, they were planning a larger and potentially riskier study of tech that could dim the sun's rays, internal documents show. www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

This is what I mean by the distribution problem: "Every night in San Francisco, more than 4,000 people sleep on the streets without any form of shelter. In the same city, tens of thousands of homes are vacant without a single person sleeping inside." www.kron4.com/news/bay-are...

California Catastrophe Response Council meeting today is going to be a banger.

And that's saying something.

Off to a good start with Tom Welsh's Executive Report.

Senate panel raises hopes that NSF will restore killed grants Republicans promise to work with Democrats to salvage defeated amendment

Breaking news: A Senate spending panel today offered a glimmer of hope to the more than 1600 scientists who had their grants terminated earlier this year by the National Science Foundation. scim.ag/46ctgwj

Both the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations have now passed funding for science agencies with moderate cuts and flat funding, respectively. Both bills are quite far from the president's budget request, which proposes massive cuts to science funding.