Ella Nilsen

Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports | CNN Wright said the Trump administration is updating the National Climate Assessments that have been previously published, which the administration recently removed from government websites.

New: Energy Sec. Chris Wright suggested the Trump admin is updating past National Climate Assessments.“We’re reviewing them, and we will come out with updated reports on those and with comments on those reports,” he said. www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/c...

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says Trump admin is altering previous National Climate Assessments. These were produced by hundreds of climate scientists and mandated by Congress. (1/2)

NEW: The NWS has received permission to hire up to 450 meteorologists/hydrologists/radar technicians after DOGE-related cuts. Agency also given a public safety exemption from federal hiring freeze after losing more than 550 people in those cuts. (1/2)

A chart showing the mix and capacity of new power plants by state, according to EIA data. The top states are Texas, Arizona, California, Indiana, Florida and Ohio. The top power sources are solar, batteries and wind.

I wrote about US new power plant additions in the first half of the year, and what's on tap between now and 2030. If I had to some this up in three words, they'd be: solar, batteries, Texas.
insideclimatenews.org/news/3107202...

The EPA cited my paper in their argument against the endangerment finding today. However, their point is completely backwards: my paper actually supports the EPA's 2009 range of 1.8C to 4C warming by 2100. www.nature.com/artic...

More on that here. Wright said climate change “is a real, physical phenomenon” that is “worthy of study” and “even some action.”

“But what we have done instead is nothing related to the actual science of climate change or pragmatic ways to make progress,” he added.

Trump admin proposes to revoke EPA’s ability to make rules about climate pollution | CNN If successful, the repeal could strip away the federal government’s most powerful way to control the country’s planet-warming pollution and fight climate change.

New: The Trump admin commissioned a new report on climate science in conjunction with its proposed endangerment finding repeal, per Energy Sec. Wright. DOE recently hired 3 researchers who have questioned & rejected the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. www.cnn.com/2025/07/29/c...

Mass starvation stalks Gaza as deaths from hunger rise Aid agencies warned for months that Israel’s harsh limits on food aid would bring acute malnutrition and widespread suffering to Gaza’s 2.1 million people.

“[Children's] small bodies are shutting down — they can’t breathe, their immune systems are collapsing."

Meanwhile, Gaza health authorities say more 1,000 people have been shot and killed trying to access food distribution sites backed by Israel and the US.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

If “it is the artist’s job to make the revolution, irresistible,” I went looking for the artists most devoted to Earth repair and the clean energy revolution.

See how they are changing live music and discover what gives them hope in these dark days Sunday night on CNN.

The Trump admin just hired 3 outspoken climate contrarians. Scientists are worried what comes next | CNN The Trump admin just hired 3 outspoken climate contrarians. Scientists are worried what comes next

Confirming
@maxinejoselow.bsky.social
's scoop: DOE has hired 3 prominent climate contrarian's, and mainstream climate scientists are worried about what's next... W/ @ellanilsen.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/c...

Really important reporting by @afreedma.bsky.social and CNN's Investigates team.

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Projects that start construction between 1 year of bill enactment and end of 2027 must be placed in service by end of 2027.

Big picture: still a narrow window for clean energy developers, but more breathing room.

Big wind/solar changes in final Senate bill:
- no excise tax on wind/solar
- bill sets a commence construction deadline for wind/solar projects that start within a year of bill enactment. Those projects get full tech-neutral credit for 1 year, and are spared the 2027 placed in service deadline

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This comparsion in the NYTimes today is pretty stark. China is racing ahead to be a high-tech exporter of 21st century technologies, while the US is doubling down on being a petro-state exporting the technologies of the 19th century: www.nytimes.com/inte...

Trump admin tries to kill the most indisputable evidence of human-caused climate change by shuttering observatory | CNN The Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii has measured atmospheric carbon dioxide, which — along with other planet-warming pollution — has led directly to climate change, driving sea level rise, superchargin...

NEW: Trump admin seeks to defund US network of labs that monitor CO2 levels in the atmosphere, including Mauna Loa, home to the famous "Keeling Curve." The moves would also affect weather forecasting centers. www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/c...

See how your energy prices could change if the GOP passes Trump’s tax bill | CNN Republicans’ tax bill would increase Americans’ energy and transportation costs in every state in the continental US.

We're out with an interactive on how Trump's bill would raise energy prices in every state in the continental US over the next decade. Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas could see up to 18% higher energy costs by 2035 if Trump’s bill passes. w/ @thatsoph.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/c...

See how your energy prices could change if the GOP passes Trump’s tax bill | CNN Republicans’ tax bill would increase Americans’ energy and transportation costs in every state in the continental US.

Made gfx/tool based on modelling from @energyinnovation.org that shows that the GOP tax and spending bill will result in larger energy bills for many Americans compared with a scenario where the bill does not pass. Thanks to EI & Ella who worked on me with this: www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/c...

We crunched the data and you can see how annual energy costs would change in your state with our interactive. www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/c...

See how your energy prices could change if the GOP passes Trump’s tax bill | CNN Republicans’ tax bill would increase Americans’ energy and transportation costs in every state in the continental US.

NEW: Republicans killing wind/solar/EV tax credits means annual energy costs will be higher in *every state* in the continental US than they would have if the tax credits stay intact, per @energyinnovation.org data. Red states like SC, OK and TX will be hit hardest. www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/c...

See how your energy prices could change if the GOP passes Trump’s tax bill | CNN Republicans’ tax bill would increase Americans’ energy and transportation costs in every state in the continental US.

Excellent article with very cool infographic from some of our modeling, courtesy of @cnn.com's @ellanilsen.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/c...

Two new polls from KFF and Washington Post-Ipsos out today both finding negative views of the GOP budget bill:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.kff.org/medicaid/pol...

The Trump Environmental Protection Agency is telling staff to stop policing the oil and gas industry | CNN Politics The Environmental Protection Agency has told staff overseeing the country’s industrialized Midwest– a region plagued by a legacy of pollution– to stop enforcing violations against the fossil fuel comp...

EPA has told staff overseeing the industrialized Midwest to stop enforcing pollution violations against fossil fuel companies, Rene Marsh & @ellanilsen.bsky.social report: www.cnn.com/politics/epa...

The Trump Environmental Protection Agency is telling staff to stop policing the oil and gas industry | CNN Politics The Environmental Protection Agency has told staff overseeing the country’s industrialized Midwest– a region plagued by a legacy of pollution– to stop enforcing violations against the fossil fuel comp...

New: The EPA has told staff overseeing the country’s industrialized Midwest — a region plagued by a legacy of pollution — to stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies, multiple sources told CNN. www.cnn.com/politics/epa...

Meager snowpack adds to Colorado River's woes, straining flows to Southern California Melting snow from California's Sierra Nevada is filling reservoirs. But dry conditions have shrunk the flow of the Colorado River, straining a vital supply for Southern California.

Meager snowmelt amid high temperatures in the Colorado River Basin. Lake Mead and Lake Powell are dangerously low: www.latimes.com/environment/... via @ianjames.bsky.social

As hurricane season looms, America’s weather and disaster agencies are in turmoil | CNN Staring down another above-average hurricane season, America’s weather forecasting and disaster response agencies are more hollowed out than ever before – and that could leave tens of millions of Amer...

And with Trump and Noem's talk of eliminating FEMA, there's internal chaos and fears of misinfo around FEMA's very existence. “I think given this conversation, it just creates even greater misunderstanding of, ‘Do they even exist?’” Deanne Criswell said. www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/w...

As hurricane season looms, America’s weather and disaster agencies are in turmoil | CNN Staring down another above-average hurricane season, America’s weather forecasting and disaster response agencies are more hollowed out than ever before – and that could leave tens of millions of Amer...

We're expecting another above-average hurricane year as NOAA and FEMA have been hollowed out -- losing thousands of experts and staff. “There almost certainly will be less data for the models," one NOAA staffer said. w/ @afreedma.bsky.social and Gabe Cohen. www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/w...

From Bloomberg News: Now, the paused project is costing the company $50 million a week, Morris said. While work at sea is completely stopped, operations at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in New York continue, and there are costs associated with keeping people and equipment on standby.  The halt on Empire is bigger than Equinor or even offshore wind, Morris said. “It’s about honoring contracts and financial investments made in the US,” she said. “They are setting a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution.”

Equinor says it's losing $50 million a week after the Trump admin stopped the NY Empire wind project, which was fully permitted. The executive's comments here are notable

Trump admin plans to shut down money-saving Energy Star program soon, sources say | CNN The Trump administration is preparing to eliminate two key Environmental Protection Agency divisions, including the Energy Star program.

New: Trump officials planning to shutter well-known Energy Star program as part of larger EPA staff reorg. The program has been going since 1992 and its “the most widely recognized symbol for energy efficiency in America,” per its website. www.cnn.com/2025/05/06/c...

A nuclear fusion power plant prototype is already being built outside Boston. How long until unlimited clean energy is real? | CNN In an unassuming industrial park 30 miles outside Boston, engineers are building a futuristic machine to replicate the energy that powers the stars. If all goes to plan, it could be the key to produci...

A stat that blew my mind: once it is built, the inside of the Commonwealth Fusion Systems tokamak will simultaneously be the hottest and coldest place in our solar system. My latest on fusion. www.cnn.com/2025/05/06/c...

But, boy, is it stark.

Basically anything that doesn't carry a weapon is getting carved up.

And we haven't even looked at other agencies.
- Army Corps of Engineers down 15%
- EPA down 55%
- NASA down 24%
- SBA down 33%
- Nation Science Foundation down 56%