Opinion | Don’t Look Now, but the Green Transition Is Still Happening

Don’t Look Now, but the Green Transition Is Still Happening

"around 90 percent of all new power capacity installed anywhere in the nation last year was green, and the share of renewables is expected to be even higher next year..."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/o...

BLM Announces Plan to Fell Oregon's Last Great Forests One billion board feet per year... 30 days to make your voice heard.

Speak up!

open.substack.com/pub/morethan...

Impact Winter 2026 - RMI RMI’s vision of a clean energy future commits us to THINK bigger, DO boldly, and SCALE globally.

“Too many households are paying the price for outdated energy policies. This toolkit gives states a practical way to change the rules of the energy system so the energy transition delivers lower bills, not higher ones.”

rmi.org/impact-winte...

The 2014-2016 water drop In 2014-2016, something strange happened to the world’s water: a massive amount of it disappeared from the land, and did not return.

“A warmer atmosphere acts like a thirstier sponge, pulling more water back into the air before it can sink into the ground...the Earth’s water supply is running at a permanent deficit, and the old rules of recovery no longer apply...”

open.substack.com/pub/climatew...

US succeeds in erasing climate from global energy body’s priorities Trump’s energy chief had threatened to leave the International Energy Agency if it continued to focus on climate.

www.politico.eu/article/us-s...

Offshore Wind Farms Perform Well in Northeast Winter Storm | Canary Media Inc. posted on the topic | LinkedIn Bone-chilling cold and Arctic winds gripped the northeastern U.S. over the past few weeks, straining electricity systems and raising power prices as people cranked up their heat. Now, as the region f...

www.linkedin.com/posts/bone-c...

The 89 Percent Project Between 80 and 89% of the world’s people want their governments to be doing more to address climate change. Let’s tell their stories.

89percent.org

"The 89 Percent Project is a year-long global journalistic effort to explore a pivotal but little-known fact about climate change: The overwhelming majority of the world’s people — between 80 and 89%, according to recent science — want governments to take stronger action..."

Tesla executives say company is hiring to support Musk’s expanded solar strategy Tesla is hiring to support founder Elon Musk's recently announced plan to become the biggest U.S. manufacturer of solar energy components, according to online posts by senior executives at the company...

A job posting on the Tesla website for a solar manufacturing development engineer said the company's goal is to "deploy 100GW of solar manufacturing from raw materials on American soil before the end of 2028."

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

A Trump ‘Blockade’ Is Stalling Hundreds of Wind and Solar Projects Nationwide

"More than 60 large wind and solar farms under development on federal lands...are being stymied. But the administration is also holding up hundreds of wind and solar projects on private land that require federal consultations. Many projects are facing potentially fatal delays..."

Energy Star gets full 2026 funding from Congress Despite the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate the program, it received $33 million as part of a fiscal 2026 funding bill signed by the president.

Congress steps up: "The Energy Star program has saved consumers and organizations some 5.2 trillion kilowatt-hours of energy and more than $500 billion in costs since it was created in 1992, according to the program website."

www.utilitydive.com/news/energy-...

Should data centers pay up front or build their own power plants? • Pennsylvania Capital-Star Elected officials, the tech and energy industries and PJM itself appear motivated to implement solutions, but relief won’t be quick.

PA Capital-Star: Should A.I. Data Centers Pay Up Front Or Build Their Own Power Plants? PJM, State Governors Have Different Ideas On How To Fix Your Electricity Bill penncapital-star.com/energy-envir...

Economic Interests Drive Chinese Climate Leadership Amid U.S. Retreat - Inside Climate News As the United States retreats from climate policy, China signaled its rising intent to lead a transition away from fossil fuels and toward Chinese-made renewable energy technologies in remarks to worl...

"As energy appetites grow quickly across developing countries, China hopes to move them onto its new systems of solar, wind and battery power rather than fossil fuel technologies and markets still dominated by the U.S..."

insideclimatenews.org/news/2101202...

PA House Committees Hearing: Witnesses Agree - A.I. Data Centers - Real And Purely Speculative - Are Driving Up The Cost Of Electricity; Without Effective Action Energy Increases Will Not End On January 20, the House Energy and Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committees heard testimony from three panels of witnesses ...

“It is more evident than ever that the topic of affordability requires attention from policy makers and regulators alike. The Commission will continue to focus its efforts toward addressing these significant challenges...-Stephen DeFrank, Chairmam PA Public Utility Commission

“Switch will purchase approximately 13 megawatts of renewable energy from Ormat's Salt Wells geothermal power plant located near Fallon, NV...option to further expand the facility's output... by adding an approximately 7-megawatt solar panel facility, to provide auxiliary power to the...plant…”

E.P.A. Moves to Limit States’ Ability to Block Pipelines

E.P.A. Moves to Limit States’ Ability to Block Pipelines

"The proposal was the second part of a one-two punch against the Clean Water Act, which Congress passed in 1972 to protect all “waters of the United States” from harmful pollution..."

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/c...

Congress set to reject Trump’s major budget cuts to NSF, NASA, and energy science Appropriators agree instead to keep this year’s spending nearly level

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

Trump Wants Venezuela’s Oil. Getting It Might Not Be So Simple The administration has made it clear that Nicolás Maduro's capture was tied to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Much less certain is how US companies will actually access them—or if they even want to.

" But experts caution that a number of realities—including international oil prices and longer-term questions of stability in the country—are likely to make this oil revolution much harder to execute than Trump seems to think..."

www.wired.com/story/trump-...

America’s Biggest Oil Field Is Turning Into a Pressure Cooker Drillers’ injection of wastewater is creating mayhem across the Permian Basin, raising concern about the future of fossil-fuel production there.

From the Wall Street Journal yesterday:

Drillers’ injection of wastewater is creating mayhem across the Permian Basin, raising concern about the future of fossil-fuel production there

www.wsj.com/business/ene...

Oil, gold and rare earth elements: the backdrop to US political tension with Venezuela The country’s enormous energy and mineral resources are consolidating as a key factor in the geopolitical dispute and in Venezuela’s institutional collapse

"In addition to possessing the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela boasts enormous gas deposits—the sixth largest globally—; vast gold reserves, the most significant in Latin America; iron, ranking 12th worldwide; bauxite, 15th; and diamonds..."

english.elpais.com/internationa...

Trump Halts Five Wind Farms Off the East Coast

“…citing unspecified national security concerns, the Trump administration said it would freeze those leases, effectively blocking construction or operations and jeopardizing billions of dollars that have already been invested…

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/c...

AI Data Centers Are Taking Texas Resources. Residents Without Reliable Water Are Sounding the Alarm. The massive facilities in the state are projected to consume 49 billion gallons of water this year alone.

“ ERCOT, predicts that new data-center construction will mean that Texas will have to double its 2024 energy production by 2031. Data centers are also projected to consume 49 billion gallons of water this year…”

Why Are So Many Data Centers Coming to Texas?: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Feds pave the way for Big Tech to plug data centers right into power plants in scramble for energy Federal regulators will allow tech companies to effectively plug massive data centers directly into power plants.

"It also comes amid concerns that the mid-Atlantic territory covering some 65 million people will face electricity shortages in the coming years, as the build out of data centers outpaces the speed of new power sources coming online..."

apnews.com/article/powe...

Prices in biggest US power grid auction hit new record, signaling higher utility bills ahead Power bills for about a fifth of Americans are expected to continue to rise after the largest U.S. grid operator, PJM Interconnection, reported fresh record-high capacity prices on Wednesday that refl...

"This auction leaves no doubt that data centers demand for electricity continues to far outstrip new supply..the solution will require concerted action involving PJM, its stakeholders, state and federal partners, and the data center industry itself...”- PJM next COO

www.reuters.com/business/ene...

Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center

More insanity:

Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...

Scientists Warn of Emissions Risks from the Surge in Satellites With hundreds of satellites launched each year and tens of thousands more planned, scientists are increasingly concerned about an emerging problem: emissions from the fuels burned in launches and from...

“scientists...alarmed by two potential problems: emissions from rocket fuels, and emissions from satellites and rocket stages... that burn up...“Both of these processes are producing pollutants that are being injected into just about every layer of the atmosphere…”

e360.yale.edu/features/sat...

Laundry is a top source of microplastic pollution. Here’s how to clean your clothes more sustainably Textiles shed microfibers while they are manufactured, worn and disposed of, but especially when they are washed. A single wash load can release several million microfibers.

“Textiles shed microfibers...especially when they are washed. A single wash load can release several million microfibers. Many factors affect how many fibers are released... fabric type, mechanical action, detergents, temperature and the duration of the wash cycle…”
www.pbs.org/newshour/sci...

Pennsylvania Will Study a Plan to Keep New Natural Gas Pads Farther From Homes, Schools and Hospitals - Inside Climate News Advocates say more distance is needed to protect public health. Industry groups and Republican legislators say the rule change would effectively ban natural gas development.

“Pennsylvania’s environmental regulator will study a plan to sharply increase the distance between new natural gas drilling sites...from homes to...3,281 '...from schools and hospitals to 5,280’...ban new gas development within 750' of surface water body…"
insideclimatenews.org/news/0912202...

“Penn State C2M researchers have developed methods to extract and recover rare earth elements cobalt, manganese, nickel and other critical materials...abundant in Pennsylvania...such as acid mine drainage, fly ash and e-waste,” said director Sarma Pisupati…"

www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-n...

Researchers reveal revolutionary system for cities to slash costs and keep residents healthy: 'A clear path forward' Researchers at Tohoku University have outlined the SolarEV City concept, which could slash a neighborhood's carbon pollution by up to 90%.

"When parked, the batteries can serve as mobile power banks for homes through a Vehicle-to-Home system, explained lead author Takuro Kobashi. This allows families to store the clean solar power generated during the day and use it to power their homes at night…”

www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/s...