When prominent entrepreneur Jigar Shah took over as head of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office in 2021, he had one primary mission: to get “dollars out the door.” Now the office, which offers financing to clean energy technologies that struggle to borrow from banks and received a huge boost of money from...
North Carolina town sues Duke Energy for climate ‘deception’
A small town in North Carolina has taken a bold step, filing the first climate “deception” lawsuit against an electric utility in the United States. In a civil lawsuit, the Town Council of Carrboro accuses Duke Energy, one of the largest power companies in the United States, of orchestrating a...
This New York town doesn’t want to be a climate experiment
On a hot morning in July, Ray Apy stood in a vacant lot in upstate New York and pointed to the mowed grass, explaining what he wanted to build there: a pilot plant to convert waste into something useful. He tipped the contents of a small glass jar into his...
Some of the world’s biggest cities are so polluted they’re warming slower
The question of whether global warming is accelerating is hotly contested among climate scientists. While some have argued that the current rate of warming — which hit an all-time high last year — is strictly correlated with increased fossil fuel emissions and therefore aligned with current climate models, others have...
The Trump Cabinet nominees who will decide our climate future
President-elect Donald Trump has put forth a slate of Cabinet nominees that reflects a clear commitment to fossil fuels and upending the country’s efforts to address climate change. The eclectic group includes TV personalities, industry insiders, and climate skeptics. If confirmed, they are expected to promote fossil fuels, environmental deregulation,...
Don’t blame Biden for inflation. Blame the climate.
Angela Bishop has been struggling with what she describes as “the cost of everything lately.” Groceries are one stressor, although she gets some reprieve from the free school lunches her four kids receive. Still, a few years of the stubbornly high cost of gas, utilities, and clothing have been pain...
The world’s biggest climate case begins in The Hague
The world’s biggest climate case begins at The Hague in the Netherlands today. Oral arguments will be heard by the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, which will consider what obligations United Nations member states have under international law to protect the planet from greenhouse gas emissions for future generations....
New York isn’t ready to fight more wildfires
Joseph Nickischer can’t remember wildfires like this. “We’ve had fires that lasted this long, but not this big,” Nickischer, a former chief and current volunteer with the Patterson Volunteer Fire Department, told New York Focus. “You’re talking fire lines. … You’re not measuring them in a couple hundred feet. You’re measuring...
Midwest wins funding for a new hydrogen hub. Not everyone is convinced it’s ‘clean.’
The U.S. Department of Energy is rolling out the first installment of its $1 billion commitment to ramp up clean hydrogen production in the Midwest, part of a bid by the Biden administration to lock in a nationwide roadmap for decarbonization. The Midwest Hydrogen Hub, which is set to span...
How giant ‘batteries’ in the Earth could slash your electricity bills
Solar panels and wind turbines give the world bountiful energy — but come with a conundrum. When it’s sunny and windy out, in many places these renewables produce more electricity than is actually needed at the time. Then when the sun isn’t shining and wind isn’t blowing, those renewables provide...