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The Rising Costs of Natural Catastrophes
Current conditions: A cloud of Saharan dust is sweeping toward southern Europe • Malaysia’s oppressive heat wave could last through mid-April • The water temperature is about 48 degrees Fahrenheit in Baltimore Harbor, where rescuers are searching for survivors after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. THE TOP FIVE1. Soaring losses from natural disasters ‘a new norm,’ says insurance giant Extremely costly natural disasters have become “a new norm,” and insured losses will double in 10 years due to climate change, according to one of the world’s largest reinsurers. In a report published today, Swiss Re, a firm that...
Biden’s Big Bet on Aluminum
Famously energy intensive and dominated by Chinese smelters, aluminum sits at a curious nexus of climate and industrial policy.The famously lightweight metal is something like the base metal of green industry. It’s used in the frames for solar panels, the control equipment for wind turbines, and in the hardware of electricity distribution. It’s lighter than steel, which makes it appealing to electric car manufacturers, like Tesla, who want to expand the range of their vehicles. Aluminum is often found in the batteries themselves, as well, specifically their enclosures. Overall, aluminum demand is projected to rise by some 40% by...
The Quest to Clean Up Heavy Industry in America
Current conditions: Hong Kong recorded its highest March temperature in 140 years • Miami’s Ultra Music Festival was evacuated due to severe weather • Tornadoes are possible today across east Texas and through the Lower Mississippi Valley. THE TOP FIVE1. Biden administration backs 33 projects to help decarbonize industrial sector As expected, the Biden administration today announced that 33 projects have been selected to receive a slice of $6 billion in government funding to speed up the decarbonization of America’s industrial sector. The projects cover some of the most energy-intensive industries, like cement, chemicals, steel, and food production. The Office of...
The Future of Deep Sea Mining Is Being Decided — Without the U.S.
There’s a lot of metal sitting at the bottom of the ocean. A single swath of seabed in the eastern Pacific holds enough nickel, cobalt and manganese to electrify America’s passenger vehicle fleet several times over. But whether to mine this trove for the energy transition is an open question — one that’s sparked many an internecine feud among environmentalists.Most of the seabed in question falls beyond the jurisdiction of any one country. This area, the High Seas, covers a whopping 43% of Earth’s surface. And one group decides whether (and how) to mine it: the International Seabed Authority....
The Advanced Nuclear Industry Would Like to Power Your Data Center
America’s technology companies need power, and lots of it. Artificial intelligence combined with still-growing internet and smartphone use will likely require a game-changing investment in data centers — one that its already showing up in huge projected increases for electricity demand across the country. At the same time, many technology companies want to procure and invest in clean power, while many states have clean energy goals that may make it difficult to add new load to the grid without a corresponding investment in clean generation. All told, the Department of Energy estimates that some 700 to 900 gigawatts of...
Suburbia Is the Real Battleground for Electric Cars
Where I am from, people worry about making good time. Nebraska small talk regresses not to what route you took — the California concern — but how fast you got there. Rather than get on a plane, people from the Great Plains will undertake a 10-hour drive to Cousin Rob’s in Dallas and rue that they could’ve done it in nine and a half if not for all the construction. Dads refuse to stop on long drives for this very reason. Electric cars aren’t great for making great time. Even though charging speeds are getting faster, the leisurely pace of...
The North Pole Is Still a Giant Climate Mystery
As is usually the case, one of the most basic questions in climate science has also been one of the most difficult to answer: How much energy is the Earth sending out into space? The pair of shoebox-sized satellites that comprise PREFIRE — Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment — could very well provide the answer.Principal investigator Tristan L’Ecuyer, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, spoke with Heatmap about PREFIRE. Tentatively scheduled to launch in May, the project...
The LNG Lawsuit Everyone Saw Coming
Current conditions: The air quality in Birmingham, Alabama, is “moderate” due to smoke from planned fires • Tourists in drought-stricken Barcelona are being asked to conserve water • It’s 103 degrees Fahrenheit in South Sudan. Tomorrow will be even hotter. THE TOP FIVE1. 16 states sue Biden administration over LNG pause Sixteen Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration over its pause on approvals for new liquified natural gas export terminals. The White House announced the pause in January, saying it wanted the Energy Department to first study the effect LNG projects have on the climate. The lawsuit claims this move...
Could Trump Scuttle the EPA’s New Car Rules?
The D.C. Armory is big enough to fit an F-150 Lightning, a hybrid Jeep Compass, and a Cadillac Lyriq, with room to spare for an elephant.That elephant was in the room on Wednesday when Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, along with National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi announced the Biden administration’s finalized vehicle emissions standards, flanked onstage by plugged-in models from GM, Ford, and Stellantis. That element is the invisible, though nevertheless looming possibility of a second Trump administration.Though climate advocates and environmental groups have celebrated the EPA’s rules for pushing the country closer to its net...
The First Open Ocean Carbon Removal Project in the U.S. Just Got a Green Light
When visitors flock to the beach this summer in Duck, North Carolina, a small, 6-mile long town on the Outer Banks, they may catch a glimpse of a climate experiment happening among the waves.About 1,500 feet offshore, a company called Vesta will be pouring 9,000 tons of sand into the sea and watching carefully to see what happens next. This finely crushed rock will not be of the typical Outer Banks variety. Instead, it will consist of a mineral called olivine, which should enhance the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere — and lock it away for...
To Understand the EPA’s Car Rules, Look to China
On Wednesday, the Biden administration finalized sweeping new rules that will sharply limit how much carbon pollution new cars and trucks can emit into the atmosphere. The rules — which rank as one of Biden’s most important climate moves — are aimed at accelerating the country’s transition to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, requiring most new cars sold in 2032 to burn little gasoline or none at all. My colleague Emily Pontecorvo has an excellent explainer on how the new rules work. But I want to focus on one more aspect: Why they are able to do so much...
Heatmap Is Hiring a Senior Reporter
The climate media startup Heatmap News is looking for a veteran, ambitious reporter to lead its coverage of the intersection of renewable energy projects and politics.This writer will report to the editor-in-chief and be tasked with reporting on how local and national politics are helping or hindering clean energy projects across the country. They should be well-sourced, deft at navigating data, and able to traverse government websites and polls to extract insights. They should also be knowledgeable about tax incentives and permitting issues — words like 45x and the interconnection queue should mean something. The salary minimum is $80,000...
Why the GOP Is Mad at the IEA
Current conditions: Minneapolis is expecting snow tonight. Less than a month ago it was 65 degrees Fahrenheit in the Twin Cities • More than 100 people were evacuated from the small Australian town of Borroloola ahead of severe flooding • It is cloudy in Copenhagen where global climate leaders are meeting to hash out a plan for COP29. THE TOP FIVE1. EPA unveils final auto emission rules The Biden administration announced final new emissions standards for cars yesterday, significantly curtailing both the carbon dioxide and the toxic soot and chemicals that spew from the tailpipes of the nation’s light- and medium-duty...
California Is Quietly Trump-Proofing Its EV Rules
Even as the Environmental Protection Agency was preparing to release federal tailpipe emissions rules that will steer more U.S. drivers into electric vehicles, California has been working in the background to harden its own, more stringent emissions standards.On Tuesday, the state announced an agreement with Stellantis, the automaking conglomerate that contains the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram brands to comply with more restrictive tailpipe emissions rules through 2026. California also said Stellantis would go along with its electrification mandates through 2030 — regardless of whether either is struck down by federal regulators or the courts.The agreement is part of...
The EPA’s Final Auto Emission Rules Are Out
The Biden administration announced final new emissions standards for cars on Wednesday, significantly curtailing both the carbon dioxide and the toxic soot and chemicals that spew from the tailpipes of the nation’s light- and medium-duty vehicles. With that, Biden is checking off one of the two most important pieces of unfinished climate business he has left on his first term to-do list. The rules tighten pollution limits gradually over six years, beginning in 2027. In concert with other Biden policies including consumer tax credits for electric vehicles purchases, initiatives to build out charging infrastructure, and support for domestic manufacturing, the...
The WMO Just Issued a Climate ‘Red Alert’
Current conditions: Much of the Northeast will be cold, windy, with a chance of snow today • Rio de Janeiro remains under an excessive heat warning • It is 45 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Seoul, South Korea, where the MLB kicked off its regular season. THE TOP FIVE1. UN agency issues ‘red alert’ on worsening climate crisisThe UN’s World Meteorological Organization is “sounding the Red Alert to the world” on the urgency of the climate crisis after publishing its annual State of the Global Climate report yesterday. The report paints a dire picture of the state of the planet...
What the New Rivians Say About the Future of EVs
Earlier this month, the electric-car maker Rivian announced its new SUV, the R2 — a $45,000 family hauler that will get more than 300 miles in range. It also debuted the R3 and R3X hatchbacks, which entranced online car nerds. These new Rivian models are sleek and important, but they won’t go on sale until 2026 at the earliest. Can Rivian last that long? We also chat about how electric vehicles’ physical requirements — big batteries, high voltage wires — are changing the design of cars themselves. In this week’s episode, Rob and Jesse discuss Rivian’s quest to survive, how electrification...
We Fact Checked Everything Trump Has Said About Climate Change Since 2021
If there was ever any question that Donald Trump would be the 2024 Republican nominee, there isn’t anymore. Since he vacated the White House in 2021, the former president has silenced numerous rivals within his party — most recently ending Nikki Haley’s campaign in a Super Tuesday near-sweep — as well as legal challenges to his ability to run for federal office, leaving him the last Republican candidate standing. And if current general election polls are any indication, Trump isn’t slowing down as he turns his attention to unseating President Joe Biden. The Trump vs. Biden rematch will serve in...
Trump’s ‘Bloodbath’ Comment Was Actually About EVs
You won’t hear me say this often, but Donald Trump kind of sort of has a point. On Monday, the former president and presumed Republican nominee rebutted headlines that claimed he’d predicted a “‘bloodbath’ if he loses” the November election. To be sure, “bloodbath” isn’t a word you want to throw around when you’re accused of architecting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. One could probably even make the three-dimensional chess case that Trump intentionally used the word to trigger coverage of his comments. Whatever the case may be, he posted Monday on Truth Social that the Fake News Media...
Why Moving to 24/7 Clean Electricity Is Going to Be Really, Really Hard
Today, if a company claims to run on “100% clean power,” that generally means it’s adding up its electricity use for the entire year, then offsetting any fossil fuel-generated electricity through the purchase of renewable energy certificates, a.k.a. RECs. So a New York-based firm using natural gas to power its data center at night can offset that dirty power by purchasing RECs generated by a California-based solar farm in the middle of the day, so long as energy production and procurement happen within the same year. We call this system “annual matching,” and it may not be much longer...
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