@nytimes.com: Offshore wind is out. Geothermal power is in. And many climate technology start-ups are looking for ways to carry on without federal backing.
“Clean energy isn’t dead in the Trump era. But it does look different these days,” writes @bradplumer.bsky.social
The oil and gas industry wants to sell more LNG. The war in Iran -- and Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- might convince buyers that they would be better off with renewables, coal and nuclear power. by @rebeccafelliott.bsky.social and @bradplumer.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/b...
A giant wind farm in Wyoming died after facing permitting delays. In Indiana, a solar project stalled after the Trump administration blocked it from using a taxpayer-funded database.
A federal permitting ‘blockade’ is hitting renewables projects hard. Story with @bradplumer.bsky.social:
I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.
If you’re asking me, sure, put it on Google calendar….
full list of canceled awards here....
DOE cancels $3.7 billion in demonstration projects aimed at cutting emissions — a couple big carbon capture demos, but also cement, glass, iron, chemicals projects.
Calpine and Exxon Mobil were hit, as were startups like Sublime and Brimstone. (Full list in story.) www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/c...
Latest House GOP bill has faster phaseout of IRA clean electricity credits—need to start building wind/solar/battery/geothermal before 60 days after law passes and finish by end 2028, or no credit.
Nuclear gets an exception—a new reactor can get the credit if it starts construction by end 2028.
DOE's super useful guides to commercializing key technologies are back! You can find the collection of "Pathways to Commercial Liftoff" reports here: yardsale.energy/liftoff-reports
Plus check out my amazing graphic design skillz!
Since the IRA passed, companies have made plans to invest over $843 billion in clean energy projects. But just one-third of that has actually been invested, new data shows. Much of the rest is now at risk.
On the new House Republican plan to dismantle the IRA, with @harrystevens.bsky.social
excellent news, congrats!!
oh for sure, i'm just curious what drove the earlier decline
This chart makes it look like Tesla’s decline in Germany has been happening for awhile and not really related to any recent DC stuff, no?
Not an exaggeration to say this was pound-for-pound the most effective piece of US public diplomacy in China. Twitter was blocked, but U.S. embassy pollution tweets forced Beijing to start publishing its own pollution data, which fed public outrage. Result: millions breathing vastly less toxic air
More than 300 workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration were told they were fired on Thursday.
Now many of them are getting contacted and told to come back to their jobs: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/u...
New York Times is hiring for two climate reporter jobs — descriptions/how to apply at the links:
1) Climate policy reporter: nytimes.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/NYT/de...
2) Climate adaptation reporter: nytimes.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/NYT/de...
Text of a February 2nd Department of Justice memo directing all agencies to comply with Friday's federal Court injunction prohibiting any arbitrary suspension of federal grants & assistance due to OMB memo or Trump's Executive Orders. Effective Monday 9am. Applies to all programs.
Update 2/2: Dept of Justice memo directs all agencies to comply with Friday's federal Court injunction prohibiting any arbitrary suspension of federal grants & assistance due to OMB memo or Trump's Executive Orders! Effective Monday 9am. Hat tip @benjaminwittes.bsky.social & @azevin.bsky.social
“These are real human beings. We have one woman in her 80s who lives alone, and if she does not get her roof fixed, well, we’re going to have a senior in her late 80s who is homeless."
More on the human cost of this illegal freeze of obligated grants
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/c... 🎁🔗
That said I do think @liamdenning.bsky.social makes a bunch of great points here — there's a lot of risk for the nuclear industry in counting on AI-driven load growth to drive the development of small modular reactors. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
I've seen stories about how DeepSeek is upending expectations of rising demand but is that what the market's saying? Maybe things evolve further, but right now most of these stocks are back to… early January levels.
A correction, sure, but doesn't seem like the big picture has hugely changed. No?
that is a very good question
oh for sure, i've definitely had developers tell me they avoid federal lands because of NEPA (among other things).
Fair point, for scale, NREL says about 4% of utility-scale renewable energy capacity is currently on federal land (wind/solar/geothermal). www.nrel.gov/analysis/ren...
Doesn't include proposed projects though. There is a lot of solar potential on federal lands, fwiw.
bsky.app/profile/rose...
oh interesting i'll look/ask
that is what i'm hearing although certainly could be wrong — though i think the 2021 version of this memo was in effect a pause on fossil fuel authorizations no? www.doi.gov/sites/doi.go...
oh yeah, just meant the language is extremely similar except swapping "fossil fuels" with "renewables." obviously very different real world impact!
Possibly relevant... bsky.app/profile/atru...
New Interior memo orders a 60-day pause on new approvals for all renewable energy development on federal land—not just wind, this one also affects solar. www.doi.gov/document-lib...
(Very similar to an early Biden DOI memo ordering a 60-day freeze on new fossil fuel authorizations on public lands.)
DOE and nuclear folks talk a lot about how a lot of lessons were learned from the Vogtle project in Georgia and that the next AP-1000s could be built more efficiently, with fewer problems and overruns.
TBD whether anyone wants to test that out — and what kind of federal backing they'd need.
