Evan George

Can you think of a single movie in which there is a video from the government denouncing its political opponents playing on a loop in public spaces in which that government was the good guy?

Trump policies have dimmed the Vegas economy so why not also dim its energy supply, I guess…

www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

From right-to-work to who gets the jobs, here’s where Virginia’s gubernatorial candidates stand on its economy Early voting just began for the Commonwealth’s race between Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.

Spanberger has also stated she’s open to extending tax breaks for data centers. technical.ly/civics/virgi...

Virginia’s Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Embraces Renewables, Natural Gas and Community Planning for Data Centers - Inside Climate News Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger strikes a different tone than the current Republican administration and wants to expand energy possibilities.

Spanberger’s plan: energy storage jobs, new generation sources to the grid, energy efficiency programs, ratepayer project programs, and the use of VPPs. She supports the longtime decarb goals of the Virginia Clean Economy Act and smarter siting of data centers. insideclimatenews.org/news/0308202...

RECAP: Virginia governor nominees face-off in only debate before election day 7News live blogged Virginia's first and only gubernatorial debate scheduled between the nominees: Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears

Spanberger, the Dem, has settled on an all of the above energy message with an emphasis on renewables (wind, solar, storage) and on making data centers “pay their fair share” wjla.com/news/electio...

RECAP: Virginia governor nominees face-off in only debate before election day 7News live blogged Virginia's first and only gubernatorial debate scheduled between the nominees: Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears

The Republican Earle-Sears says the words “all of the above” when she means pro fossil fuels, anti-wind and solar, but doesn’t seem much focused on energy or affordability. Her energy comments at last night's debate were sort of a mess wjla.com/news/electio...

America’s biggest offshore wind farm will be online in six months Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW project off Virginia’s coast is progressing fast. The utility has a new, more definitive target to plug into the grid: March 2026.

VA holds not only Data Center Alley, but also Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW project off Virginia’s coast which is speeding ahead with support from some Republicans. So, the Nov. 4 gubernatorial election has an interesting energy backdrop. www.canarymedia.com/articles/off...

It’s tempting to over-emphasize the importance of the VA governor’s race as a bellwether on national messaging ahead of mid-terms. I grew up in Arlington... But the race *will* tell us something about the Democrats’ messaging on energy costs.

"This dominance would enable China to position itself as a leader in global climate talks; build stronger ties with Global South countries in need of cheaper, cleaner energy; and reduce choking pollution within China was only further reason to go all in on clean tech." @greenlawchina.bsky.social

Contributor: Even Saudi Arabia is focused on solar energy. Will the U.S. be left behind? The rise of China as the world's clean-energy superpower and the ambitions of oil-rich Middle East countries show that the U.S. is thinking small.

"Chinese leaders saw these technologies as strategic industries of the future and believed the country that dominated these technologies would gain economic and political advantage in the long run." www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Renewables 2025 – Analysis - IEA Renewables 2025 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

The other glimpse comes from the International Energy Agency which lowered its forecast for renewable energy growth in the United States over the next five years by almost 50 percent. Cue the trombone wah-wah. www.iea.org/reports/rene...

Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025 | Ember Solar and wind outpaced demand growth in the first half of 2025, as renewables overtook coal’s share in the global electricity mix.

Sometimes, you get a glimpse of the future in a flash. That happened this Tuesday when reports by @ember-energy.org and @iea.org came out within hours of one another that illuminate two big trends that have been developing over time and accelerating in recent months. ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

Solar and Wind are Winning - Legal Planet Two energy reports out this week paint a clear picture of the future that awaits us: Solar and wind are winning. The US is going backward.

Solar and wind are killing it. So is China. Two energy reports out this week and an LA Times op-ed by my @law.ucla.edu
colleague @greenlawchina.bsky.social paint a clear picture of the future that may await us. 🧵

legal-planet.org/2025/10/09/s...

Nestle Bows Out of Initiative to Reduce Dairy’s Climate Impact The food giant has left the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from herds of cattle.

Nestle stuck it out less than 2 years with the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, and never actually reported its dairy methane emissions. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Contributor: Even Saudi Arabia is focused on solar energy. Will the U.S. be left behind? The rise of China as the world's clean-energy superpower and the ambitions of oil-rich Middle East countries show that the U.S. is thinking small.

I have an op-ed in the LA Times today criticizing Trump's war on renewable energy. The US is shooting itself in the foot and ceding the next generation of key technologies to other countries like China. www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Signing AB 1167 Would be a Win for Energy Affordability  - Legal Planet AB 1167, which seeks to protect ratepayers from subsidizing utility lobbying, still awaits Governor Newsom’s signature.

Gov. Newsom should sign AB 1167 to keep costs down for utility ratepayers by ensuring they are not forced to subsidize utilities’ political lobbying and PR, our @denisegrab.bsky.social writes at @legal-planet.org.

legal-planet.org/2025/10/08/s...

Uber driver accused of intentionally starting fire that destroyed Pacific Palisades Authorities will announce an arrest in connection with the devastating Palisades fire, law enforcement sources said, and are expected to announce a cause of the blaze.

Authorities say the destructive Palisades inferno was caused by a rekindled fire that a suspect set days earlier, was suppressed, but smoldered and ultimately became the Palisades fire. Other destructive fires like the Maui fire have also been restarts of older fires. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Some Good News About the El Segundo Chevron Explosion - Legal Planet The El Segundo explosion is a good reminder of the air pollution from oil and gas: The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental news.

When the El Segundo Chevron oil refinery exploded last week, how did local media cover the fire? Some coverage focused on facility malfeasance and air quality. Some coverage still focused on gas prices.

legal-planet.org/2025/10/07/s...

Huge loss for LA Times readers, who have benefited from one of the only *opinion* columnists in the climate space. It's allowed for passionate reporting. The paper retains great talent on the Climate & Environment desk, but Sammy's voice will be one to follow in whatever new adventure.

Russ Vought said he would put career civil servants “in trauma." Do we want traumatized air traffic controllers?

"With beef out of favor, food-related emissions are down 60%"

What climate headline would you like to see in 2050? Share it. @grist.org's Looking Forward newsletter recently wrote about future climate headlines.

grist.org/looking-forw...

Appliance makers balk at Trump’s latest climate rollback The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would rewrite a Biden-era rule aimed at limiting hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

Trump’s EPA plans to rewrite a rule curbing a major source of greenhouse gas emissions from air conditioners & refrigerators. But appliance makers, @evanhalper.bsky.social reports, had been preparing for months to comply with the rules and voiced apprehension. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Small farmers are more squeezed than ever. A California grant program offers a lifeline. A recent report shows that the state’s farm-to-school grant program has been effective at supporting economically disadvantaged farmers in the face of mounting federal cuts.

A Grist story by @fridagarza.bsky.social examines why California’s small farmers are feeling squeezed, as well as a lifeline: The state’s farm-to-school grant program has been effective at supporting economically disadvantaged farmers in the face of mounting federal cuts. grist.org/food-and-agr...

YouTube video by 4AD Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven (Official Video)

Keeping with industrial waste, this week’s song is “This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven,” the rare Pixies song with environmental themes (industrial sludge, fires burning, etc). Each week, The Drain suggests a climate soundtrack. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHC9...

Air pollution from oil and gas causes 90,000 premature US deaths each year, says new study Study analyzed health impacts of fossil fuels from exploration to end use, and found communities of color bear brunt of harm

The Chevron explosion reminded me of a groundbreaking report from August that found air pollution from oil and gas causes more than 90,000 premature deaths across the US each year. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Chevron's El Segundo refinery has a history of safety and environmental violations Over the last five years, Chevron's El Segundo refinery has 46 violations of environmental safety rules; over the last decade, it was also issued 17 OSHA violations.

Turns out Chevron’s facility has received notices that it was in violation of environmental safety rules 46 times — 13 came in the last year. "There is a very good possibility we are never going to know what really caused this," @jklyou.bsky.social told the LAT. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Chevron said fence line monitoring did not reveal any “exceedances.” That might have been good luck. UCLA scientist Suzanne Paulson told @laist.com that we lucked out because winds were blowing offshore. laist.com/news/climate...

“As someone who lives less than a mile from the Torrance Refinery, the explosion in El Segundo came as no surprise,” my UCLA colleague Brennon Mendez told me. A decade after an explosion there, Torrance residents are still organizing for fundamental safety improvements.

The bad explosion at a Chevron refinery in El Segundo was a good reminder about the costs of oil & gas products. For months, the conversation in California has been dominated by breathless coverage of gas prices. Will this be a reset? 🧵 legal-planet.org/2025/10/07/s...