
Credit: jaroslavav/ BigStock Photo ID: 83377346
8h
How China raced ahead on clean energy while America clung to oil
Even as the climate crisis intensifies, China and the U.S. are charting wildly different energy paths — one doubling down on clean tech, the other on fossil fuels.
In short:
- China is aggressively expanding its global dominance in clean energy by building solar, wind, battery, EV, and nuclear infrastructure at unprecedented scale — including major investments abroad.
- The Trump administration is pushing an oil-and-gas agenda at home and abroad, undoing clean energy incentives while lobbying allies to invest in U.S. fossil fuels.
- The U.S. once led in renewable tech but failed to sustain investment, allowing China to corner the market through coordinated government support and control over key materials.
Key quote:
“When the federal government of the United States decides to go out of the race, it doesn’t stop the race. Other countries keep moving.”
— Rafael Dubeux, a senior official in Brazil’s Finance Ministry
Why this matters:
America — once a solar and wind innovator — is now backpedaling. The Trump administration is tossing lifelines to oil and gas companies, lobbying countries to buy U.S. crude, and rolling back policies that helped launch renewables in the first place. The U.S. is bet on short-term profits. China is playing the long game.
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www.nytimes.com
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8h
Greenpeace faces ruin after oil giant wins lawsuit rewriting Standing Rock history
The company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) convinced a North Dakota jury to blame Greenpeace for protests led by Indigenous activists — and now the nonprofit faces a $666 million penalty.
Episode one of SLAPP’d, a multipart podcast focusing on the Greenpeace/DAPL trial.
In short:
- In 2016, thousands of people gathered near the Standing Rock Reservation to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, led by Indigenous groups defending water and land rights. One of them, Cody Hall, became a public spokesperson for the resistance but was later targeted by a lawsuit.
- Energy Transfer, the pipeline’s builder, filed a sweeping racketeering suit alleging that Greenpeace and other nonprofits masterminded a violent conspiracy to sabotage the project — despite thin evidence and years of reporting confirming Indigenous leadership.
- The private security firm TigerSwan ran intelligence operations against protestors, and possible infiltrators may have posed as Greenpeace representatives, muddying the legal waters as Energy Transfer advanced a narrative that ultimately won over a jury.
Key quote:
“Greenpeace wasn’t running anything… They were merely an organization that was there as allies.”
— Cody Hall, former Red Warrior Camp spokesperson
Why this matters:
The verdict against Greenpeace in the Energy Transfer lawsuit is a landmark moment in how corporate power rewrites protest history. If a major energy company can bankrupt a nonprofit for supporting Indigenous-led protest, it chills dissent everywhere. And it distracts from the health and environmental harms these protests were trying to stop — namely, oil infrastructure that threatens water and cultural resources.
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www.ehn.org
Credit: jaroslavav/ BigStock Photo ID: 83377346
13h
Senate passes GOP budget bill, hampering US shift to clean energy
A Senate-approved Republican budget bill would gut core parts of the 2022 climate law, stalling clean energy growth and likely raising Americans’ utility bills. The bill now goes to the House for final approval.
In short:
- The Senate’s Republican budget bill removes a proposed tax on solar and wind but accelerates the expiration of tax credits for renewable energy, threatening hundreds of clean energy projects.
- While some renewable incentives for technologies like hydropower and nuclear remain, clean energy advocates warn the bill favors fossil fuels and eliminates EV tax credits and the methane fee.
- Industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute celebrated the bill as a boost to oil and gas, while Democrats say it will drive up costs and damage U.S. energy independence.
Key quote:
“If the bill becomes law, families will face higher electric bills, factories will shut down, Americans will lose their jobs, and our electric grid will grow weaker.”
— Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association
Why this matters:
The Republican-led budget bill, by fast-tracking the expiration of tax credits that have been driving wind and solar projects from coast to coast and slashing incentives for electric vehicles, effectively steps on the brakes just as the U.S. clean energy economy was beginning to hit its stride.
Read more: The real scam — rail against renewables, run away with factories
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Read the Full Article on
apnews.com
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15h
World leaders stall as Cop30 looms and climate pledges remain unfinished
With just four months until the United Nations climate summit in Brazil, most countries have yet to submit updated emissions plans, threatening the world’s ability to stay below the 1.5C warming threshold.
In short:
- Only a small fraction of countries have submitted new national climate plans required under the Paris Agreement, raising concerns that Cop30 in Belém will lack meaningful progress.
- Global temperatures have already breached 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, and scientists warn that without rapid emissions cuts by 2030, this overshoot could become permanent.
- Political distractions — from war and trade conflicts to rising populism — along with deliberate obstruction by fossil fuel interests are slowing international cooperation.
Key quote:
“Climate is our biggest war. Climate is here for the next 100 years. We need to focus and … not allow those [other] wars to take our attention away from the bigger fight that we need to have.”
— Ana Toni, chief executive of Cop30
Why this matters:
Climate summits like Cop30 are designed to hold governments accountable, but their success depends on political will — and right now, that’s faltering. The 1.5C threshold isn’t just symbolic; passing it risks triggering irreversible changes, from melting glaciers to collapsing ecosystems. Scientists warn the world has just two years left at current emissions rates before this boundary becomes locked in. Yet most nations haven’t updated their short-term targets, and fossil fuel expansion continues, especially in countries like China and the U.S. Meanwhile, poorer nations, facing mounting climate disasters, wait for promised funds that often don’t arrive.
Learn more: Cop30 faces challenges as Trump’s climate retreat and global tensions complicate negotiations
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Read the Full Article on
www.theguardian.com
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15h
Saudi oil official’s role in climate science report raises conflict of interest concerns
A longtime Saudi Aramco employee’s nomination to help lead a major United Nations climate report has sparked fresh questions about fossil fuel influence inside the world’s top climate science body.
In short:
- Mustafa Babiker, an economist and 18-year veteran of the Saudi Aramco oil company, was proposed as a coordinating lead author for a chapter of the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report focused on reducing fossil fuel emissions.
- Scientists and watchdog groups warn the nomination could harm the IPCC's credibility, citing Babiker’s close ties to the world’s largest oil producer and the growing political pressure on the body from fossil fuel nations.
- The United States, under President Trump, has scaled back its involvement in the IPCC, cutting staff and blocking a senior American scientist from participating in key meetings.
Key quote:
The nomination is “one of the most blatant examples of political capture by the oil industry of climate policy that I have ever seen.”
— Tzeporah Berman, founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty NGO
Why this matters:
The IPCC plays a central role in shaping global understanding of climate science and guiding policy decisions on reducing emissions. When individuals with deep ties to fossil fuel interests help lead the body’s reports, it raises serious concerns about objectivity and integrity. Oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia have long pushed to downplay or redirect climate science findings that could threaten their economic model. With the U.S. stepping back and fossil fuel exporters gaining influence, the balance of power within the IPCC is shifting.
Related: UN climate talks face growing backlash over corporate influence and stalled action
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Read the Full Article on
www.politico.eu
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15h
Ocean salinity shifts are melting Antarctic sea ice faster, scientists find
Rising salt levels near Antarctica are altering ocean dynamics, drawing up warm water and accelerating sea ice loss, new satellite data reveal.
In short:
- A new study finds increasing ocean salinity near Antarctica is driving warmer water to the surface, which speeds sea ice melt and hinders winter ice formation.
- The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used advanced satellite algorithms and ocean buoy data to detect changes in water salinity over the past decade.
- Scientists warn the shift may mark a long-term transition in Antarctic ice behavior, with the feedback loop between melting, warming, and salt levels posing broad climate risks.
Key quote:
“We are entering a new system, a new world.”
— Alessandro Silvano, senior scientist at the University of Southampton
Why this matters:
Sea ice acts as the planet’s reflective shield, bouncing solar radiation back into space and helping to regulate Earth’s temperature. The loss of Antarctic sea ice not only exposes darker ocean water that absorbs more heat but also disrupts global ocean currents and weather systems. Rising salinity near Antarctica hints at a larger, destabilizing feedback loop: Warmer waters melt more ice, which then reinforces ocean mixing and heat absorption. This shift threatens to reshape sea level patterns and intensify extreme weather across the globe. As the climate warms, monitoring Antarctic changes becomes increasingly urgent, but recent U.S. cuts to satellite data programs could leave scientists with fewer tools to track these tipping points.
Read more: Melting ice and microplastics signal deepening disruption in Antarctica’s climate system
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www.nytimes.com
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16h
Vermont soccer club kicks toward a cleaner future
In Burlington, Vermont, a scrappy amateur soccer team is drawing crowds and taking climate action one game at a time.
In short:
- The Vermont Green Football Club blends sports and sustainability, offering recycled uniforms, vegan food trucks, and compost bins at every game.
- The team’s climate-first mission includes donations to environmental groups, low-carbon operations, and partnerships with brands like Ben & Jerry’s and Seventh Generation.
- Players and fans alike are embracing the team’s ethos, from biking to games to rethinking personal habits — and even free vegan ice cream.
Key quote:
“It infuses everyone’s awareness in a way that’s much more joyful, much more connected, much more community oriented. When people experience climate action and environmental focus in that way, they see that joy can be a part of the work.”
— Eli Scheer, Vermont Green fan
Why this matters:
This semi-pro team has quickly become a cult favorite not just for its play, but for its unapologetically bold mission: to use the beautiful game to champion environmental justice. As extreme weather intensifies and air quality declines, Vermont Green offers a playbook for climate action that’s local, joyful, and infectious. It shows how sports — often carbon-heavy enterprises — can flip the script and become platforms for public engagement, behavior change, and community resilience. For fans disillusioned with corporate sports greenwashing, it's climate action in cleats.
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Read the Full Article on
www.nytimes.com
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