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  • A lesser-known Farmers’ Almanac will fold after 2 centuries, citing money trouble

    PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — It’s the Maine one, not the main one — a 208-year-old, Maine-based publication that farmers, gardeners and others have relied on for planting guidance and weather predictions will publish for the final time.

    The Farmers’ Almanac, not to be confused with its older, longtime competitor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last. The almanac cited the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s “chaotic media environment.” Access to the online version will cease next month.

    The Farmers’ Almanac was first printed in 1818 and the Old Farmer’s Almanac started in 1792, and it’s believed to be the oldest continually published periodical in North America. Both almanacs used secret formulas based on sunspots, planetary positions and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts.

    “It is with a heavy heart,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a statement, “that we share the end of what has not only been an annual tradition in millions of homes and hearths for hundreds of years, but also a way of life, an inspiration for many who realize the wisdom of generations past is the key to the generations of the future.”

    Editors at the other publication noted there’s been some confusion between the two. “The OLD Farmer’s Almanac isn’t going anywhere,” they posted online.

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    The two publications come from an era where hundreds of almanacs served a nation of farmers over time. Most were regional publications and no longer exist. The Farmers’ Almanac was founded in New Jersey and moved its headquarters to Lewiston, Maine, in 1955.

    They contain gardening tips, trivia, jokes, and natural remedies, such as catnip as a pain reliever and elderberry syrup as an immune booster. But its weather forecasts make the most headlines.

    Scientists sometimes disputed the accuracy of the predictions and the reliability of the secret formula. Studies of the almanacs’ accuracy have found them to be a little more than 50% accurate, or slightly better than random chance.

    The almanac was a “quaint relic” with a special kind of charm, but its use as a forecasting tool was debatable, said Val Kiddings, a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and a longtime researcher of science and agriculture.

    “It might have had some value looking back, as a historical indicator,” Giddings said, “but I never took any of its prognostications at all seriously.”

    Readers, saddened to hear the news, posted online about how they used it in their families for generations as a guide to help them plant gardens and follow the weather.

    Julie Broomhall in San Diego, California, told The Associated Press in a social media post that she’s used the Farmers’ Almanac for years to decide when to take trips and plant flowers.

    She said she planned a three-month, cross-country trip last year by reading the almanac. On one leg of it, she left Oklahoma the day before a prediction for a major snowstorm in the area. It snowed.

    “I missed several I-40 mishaps because of the predictions,” she wrote.

    In 2017, when the Farmers’ Almanac reported a circulation of 2.1 million in North America, its editor said it was gaining new readers among people interested in where their food came from and who were growing fresh produce in home gardens. It developed followers online and sent a weekly email to readers in addition to its printed editions.

    Many of these readers lived in cities, prompting the publication to feature skyscrapers as well as an old farmhouse on its cover.

    Among Farmers’ Almanac articles from the past is one from 1923 urging folks to remember “old-fashioned neighborhoodliness” in the face of newfangled technology like cars, daily mail and telephones. Editors urged readers in 1834 to abandon tobacco and, in 1850, promoted the common bean leaf to combat bedbugs.

    The almanac had some forward-thinking advice for women in 1876, telling them to learn skills to avoid being dependent on finding a husband. “It is better to be a woman than a wife, and do not degrade your sex by making your whole existence turn on the pivot of matrimony,” it counseled.

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    McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

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  • From a few to more than 350, children and parents ride together to school as a ‘bike bus’

    MONTCLAIR, New Jersey (AP) — On a sunny fall morning, children wearing helmets and backpacks gathered with their parents in Montclair, New Jersey, for a group bicycle ride to two local elementary schools. Volunteers in orange safety vests made sure everyone assembled in a neighborhood shopping area was ready before the riders set off on their 5-mile “bike bus” route.

    Every few blocks, more adults and kids on bikes joined in. Eventually, the group grew to over 350 people. Older students chatted with friends, while younger ones focused on pedaling. Cars along the way stopped to let the long line of cyclists pass. Pupils and parents peeled off toward the first school before the remainder reached the group’s final stop.

    It’s a familiar Friday scene in Montclair. For the past three years, what began as a handful of parents hoping to encourage their kids to bike to school has grown into a weekly ritual for both the township of about 40,000 residents and many of its families.

    “It was so fun,” second grader Gigi Drucker, 7, said upon arriving at Nishuane Elementary School. “The best way to get to school is by bike because it gives you more exercise. It’s healthier for the Earth,” she added.

    But traveling to school on two wheels isn’t just for fun, according to organizer Jessica Tillyer, whose are 6 and 8 years old. She believes that biking together each week helps promote healthy habits for the children and strengthens the sense of community among parents.

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    “And it really started because a small group of us, about five parents, all wanted to ride to school with our kids and just felt like it wasn’t safe. And for me, I felt kind of lonely riding by myself to school. So, bike bus just took off as a small effort. And now we can have up to 400 people riding together to school,” Tillyer said.

    The bike bus movement isn’t new. Hundreds of them exist throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as in Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Israel, according to Bike Bus World, a nonprofit organization that promotes and provides information about bike buses.

    Co-founder Sam Balto, who established a bike bus in Portland, Oregon, more than three years ago, said interest has grown so much that he offers free coaching calls to help others launch their own. He estimates there are more than 400 routes worldwide, and the number continues to grow.

    “Children and families are craving community and physical activity and being outdoors. And when you present that versus a school car line, people naturally gravitate to something that’s super joyful and community-driven,” Balto said.

    Organizers hope the bike bus movement will not only get more children on their bikes but also push elected officials in the United States and abroad to invest in safer biking infrastructure.

    While starting a bike bus may not be difficult, keeping it running year-round through different seasons takes more effort. Organizers of successful rides shared advice for parents hoping to create their own.

    Plan and communicate

    Andrew Hawkins, one of the leaders of Montclair Bike Bus, said that once enough families express interest, the first step is to plan a route carefully. That means identifying streets with low traffic while considering how many students can join at the starting point and along the way.

    “It took us a while to come up with a route we were happy with, but we’re still ready to adjust if necessary,” Hawkins said. “Things can change. It could be that new groups of students move into a certain block, or traffic patterns shift, and you have to adapt.”

    The Montclair group started via word of mouth and social media posts. As the number of participants grew, the organizers created a chat group to coordinate and share weekly updates. They also reached out to other families through PTAs, school forums and other parent communication channels.

    One unexpected benefit, several parents said, is the bike bus motivates children to get up and out the door more quickly on Friday mornings.

    “He’s more excited to get out of bed for the bike bus than for the regular bus. So actually, I have an easier time getting him ready for school,” said Gene Gykoff, who rides with his son to the boy’s elementary school.

    To keep momentum going all year, the Montclair Bike Bus team organizes themed rides on weekends and holidays. These events also allow families who can’t join on weekday mornings to experience what the bike bus is all about before committing to a regular schedule.

    Start young and go slow

    Montclair Bike Bus consists of multiple adult-led groups and routes that encompass all of the township’s elementary schools and middle schools. Organizers think the primary grades are when children benefit most from cycling with a group. Students in the first few years of school can learn about riding safely and apply those skills when they bike on their own or in small groups as they get older.

    The Montclair parents found that most elementary school students can handle a distance of 3-5 miles, and the group travels at a speed of around 6 miles per hour so the younger kids can keep up.

    “The slow speed can be tough for some of our older kids who want to go a little bit faster. We tell them there’s no racing on the bike bus — everyone gets to school at the same time. But there have been occasions where we’ve had to split the ride into two groups so that some of the older kids can go a little bit faster than the younger kids,” Hawkins said.

    Be consistent no matter the weather

    Keeping a bike bus going year-round requires consistency, which means preparing to pedal when it’s raining or cold outside, Balto and Hawkins said. Leaders monitor weather forecasts and decide whether to cancel a Friday ride due to unsafe conditions or to proceed as planned while reminding families to dress appropriately.

    “As it gets colder, we tell everyone to make sure they have the right gear — gloves, neck warmers, warm jackets,” Hawkins said. “The idea is that kids should feel comfortable riding all year.”

    The Montclair bike bus secured reflective vests and bike lights from sponsors to increase visibility on dark winter mornings. Leaders also carry basic maintenance tools, such as tire pumps.

    Weather is often more of a concern for adults than it is for children, Balto observed. “Kids want to be outside with their friends,” he said. “If you’re going to do this in all weather, just do it consistently. People will get used to it, and they’ll start joining you.”

    Just do it

    Despite all the planning and coordination involved in running a regular bike bus, experienced organizers say the key is simply to start. It can be as informal as two families riding to school together and sharing a flyer to spread the word, Balto said.

    “If you’re consistent — once a week, once a month, once a season — it will grow,” he said.

    Tillyer said she gives the same advice to anyone who asks how to begin: just go for it.

    “Don’t ask for permission. Don’t worry about what it’s going to take,” she said. “Find a small group of people, get on your bikes and ride to school. Once people experience it and enjoy it, more will want to join.”

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  • Halloween pumpkin waste is a methane problem, but chefs and farmers have solutions

    Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin haunt the landfill this November.More than 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of pumpkins rot in U.S. landfills each year after Halloween, according to the Department of Energy.Video above: Halloween festivities in full swing in Salem, MassachusettsYours doesn’t have to go to waste. Experts told us your pumpkins can be eaten, composted or even fed to animals. Here’s how. If you’re carving a jack-o’-lantern, don’t throw away the skin or innards — every part is edible.After carving, you can cube the excess flesh — the thick part between the outer skin and the inner pulp that holds the seeds — for soups and stews, says Carleigh Bodrug, a chef known for cooking with common food scraps. You can also puree it and add a tablespoon to your dog’s dinner for extra nutrients. And pumpkin chunks can be frozen for future use.”The seeds are a nutritional gold mine,” Bodrug said. They’re packed with protein, magnesium, zinc and healthy fats, according to a 2022 study in the journal Plants.One of Bodrug’s recipes involves removing the seeds, rinsing and roasting them with cinnamon for a crunchy snack or salad topper. Then you can use the stringy guts to make a pumpkin puree for muffins. This version differs from canned purees in grocery stores — which typically use a different type of pumpkin or squash — because carving pumpkins have stringier innards and a milder flavor. A carving pumpkin’s guts can still be used for baking — you’ll just have to amp up the seasoning to boost the flavor.If you don’t want to eat your pumpkins, you can donate them to a local farm, which might use them to feed pigs, chickens and other animals. Edible parts should be collected while you’re carving and before they’re painted, decorated or left on your porch for weeks. Paint and wax aren’t food-safe, and bacteria and mold can grow on the skin in outdoor climates.Once you’ve cooked what you can and donated what’s safe to feed, composting the rest is the easiest way to keep it out of the landfill.”That way, even though they’re not safe to eat, they can still give back to the earth,” Bodrug said. Composting pumpkins keeps them out of methane-emitting landfills and turns them into nutrient-rich soil instead. You can do this at home or drop them off at a local farm, compost collection bin or drop-off site.”A large percentage of what ends up going to the landfill is stuff that could have been composted,” said Dante Sclafani, compost coordinator at Queens County Farm in New York. “So even just cutting down something like pumpkins could really help curb how many garbage bags you’re putting out every week.”Before composting, remove any candles, plastic, glitter, or other decorations — they can contaminate the compost. A little glitter or paint won’t ruin the pile, but it’s best to get it as clean as possible before tossing it in. Then, chop up the pumpkin into 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) pieces so it can break down more easily.”Pumpkins are full of water, so it’s important to maintain a good balance of dried leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shredded newspaper, cardboard, straw — anything that’s a dry organic material — in your compost bin,” Sclafani said. If you don’t maintain this balance, your compost might start to stink.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a healthy compost pile should include a mix of “greens” — like pumpkin scraps and food waste — and “browns” like dry leaves, straw or cardboard, in roughly a 3-to-1 ratio. That balance helps the pile break down faster and prevents odors.And if your pumpkin’s been sitting on the porch all month? That’s actually ideal. “It’s never too far gone for compost,” Sclafani said. “Even if it’s mushy or moldy, that actually helps, because the fungus speeds up decomposition.””Composting anything organic is better than throwing it out because you’re not creating more refuse in landfills, you’re not creating methane gas,” said Laura Graney, the farm’s education director.Graney said autumn on the farm is the perfect opportunity to teach kids about composting since it gives them a sense of power in the face of big environmental challenges. “Even though they’re little, composting helps them feel like they can make a difference,” Graney said. “They take that message home to their families, and that’s how we spread the word.”

    Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin haunt the landfill this November.

    More than 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of pumpkins rot in U.S. landfills each year after Halloween, according to the Department of Energy.

    Video above: Halloween festivities in full swing in Salem, Massachusetts

    Yours doesn’t have to go to waste. Experts told us your pumpkins can be eaten, composted or even fed to animals. Here’s how.

    If you’re carving a jack-o’-lantern, don’t throw away the skin or innards — every part is edible.

    After carving, you can cube the excess flesh — the thick part between the outer skin and the inner pulp that holds the seeds — for soups and stews, says Carleigh Bodrug, a chef known for cooking with common food scraps. You can also puree it and add a tablespoon to your dog’s dinner for extra nutrients. And pumpkin chunks can be frozen for future use.

    “The seeds are a nutritional gold mine,” Bodrug said. They’re packed with protein, magnesium, zinc and healthy fats, according to a 2022 study in the journal Plants.

    One of Bodrug’s recipes involves removing the seeds, rinsing and roasting them with cinnamon for a crunchy snack or salad topper. Then you can use the stringy guts to make a pumpkin puree for muffins. This version differs from canned purees in grocery stores — which typically use a different type of pumpkin or squash — because carving pumpkins have stringier innards and a milder flavor. A carving pumpkin’s guts can still be used for baking — you’ll just have to amp up the seasoning to boost the flavor.

    If you don’t want to eat your pumpkins, you can donate them to a local farm, which might use them to feed pigs, chickens and other animals.

    Edible parts should be collected while you’re carving and before they’re painted, decorated or left on your porch for weeks. Paint and wax aren’t food-safe, and bacteria and mold can grow on the skin in outdoor climates.

    Once you’ve cooked what you can and donated what’s safe to feed, composting the rest is the easiest way to keep it out of the landfill.

    “That way, even though they’re not safe to eat, they can still give back to the earth,” Bodrug said.

    Composting pumpkins keeps them out of methane-emitting landfills and turns them into nutrient-rich soil instead. You can do this at home or drop them off at a local farm, compost collection bin or drop-off site.

    “A large percentage of what ends up going to the landfill is stuff that could have been composted,” said Dante Sclafani, compost coordinator at Queens County Farm in New York. “So even just cutting down something like pumpkins could really help curb how many garbage bags you’re putting out every week.”

    Before composting, remove any candles, plastic, glitter, or other decorations — they can contaminate the compost. A little glitter or paint won’t ruin the pile, but it’s best to get it as clean as possible before tossing it in. Then, chop up the pumpkin into 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) pieces so it can break down more easily.

    “Pumpkins are full of water, so it’s important to maintain a good balance of dried leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shredded newspaper, cardboard, straw — anything that’s a dry organic material — in your compost bin,” Sclafani said. If you don’t maintain this balance, your compost might start to stink.

    According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a healthy compost pile should include a mix of “greens” — like pumpkin scraps and food waste — and “browns” like dry leaves, straw or cardboard, in roughly a 3-to-1 ratio. That balance helps the pile break down faster and prevents odors.

    And if your pumpkin’s been sitting on the porch all month? That’s actually ideal. “It’s never too far gone for compost,” Sclafani said. “Even if it’s mushy or moldy, that actually helps, because the fungus speeds up decomposition.”

    “Composting anything organic is better than throwing it out because you’re not creating more refuse in landfills, you’re not creating methane gas,” said Laura Graney, the farm’s education director.

    Graney said autumn on the farm is the perfect opportunity to teach kids about composting since it gives them a sense of power in the face of big environmental challenges.

    “Even though they’re little, composting helps them feel like they can make a difference,” Graney said. “They take that message home to their families, and that’s how we spread the word.”

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  • Fast chargers are expanding quickly, but American EV drivers still fear running out of juice

    KENT, Conn. (AP) — For most Americans, there’s less reason than ever to worry about finding chargers to fuel up an electric vehicle. But charging worries remain a top hesitation for potential buyers, second only to sticker shock.

    Those concerns linger even as fast chargers multiply. More than 12,000 have been added within a mile of U.S. highways and interstates just this year, an Associated Press analysis of data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows. That’s about a fifth of quick-charging ports now in operation.

    Yet a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago finds about 4 in 10 of U.S. adults still point to range and charging time as “major” reasons they wouldn’t buy an EV. That’s significant considering only about 2 in 10 Americans say they would be “extremely” or “very” likely to make a new or used electric vehicle their next car purchase.

    That’s a perception Daphne Dixon, leader of a nonprofit that advocates for clean transportation, has been trying to fight. She has taken a coast-to-coast road trip in an EV each year since 2022. Always sporting hot pink and waving a bubblegum checkered race flag to match, Dixon posts snapshots of the charging experience along her 3,000-mile (4,828-kilometer) route, hoping to “bust” Americans’ anxiety about range and charging.

    Dixon said she has repeatedly found that “range anxiety is stuck in people’s heads,” even though the gap in price between gas and electric cars is closing and more chargers are being installed.

    “A lot of people still fear that there’s not enough chargers, but what they’re not seeing is that chargers are being put in every single day,” she said.

    Daphne Dixon stands next to her electric vehicle near a Level 2 EV charger, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Norwalk, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Fast chargers expand, but worries remain

    Traveling on Interstate 80, the longest American interstate, a driver will encounter few stretches that are more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from a fast charger, all the way from New York City to Des Moines. Out West, coverage is spottier. But the miles on I-80 covered by fast chargers has increased by 44% since 2021, the AP analysis found.

    Drivers would have a similar experience on other major roads. Nearly 70% of the combined length of the 10 longest interstates is within 10 miles of a fast charger — up from about half just five years ago.

    Installing fast chargers is considered critical to supporting EV adoption because they can refill a fully electric vehicle in 20 minutes to an hour. Compare that to home chargers, which often take four to 10 hours.

    Daphne Dixon shows a map she uses to identify where chargers are located for her electric vehicle Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Ridgefield, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Daphne Dixon shows a map she uses to identify where chargers are located for her electric vehicle Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Ridgefield, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Daphne Dixon grabs part of a charger for her electric vehicle with a Level 2 EV charger, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Norwalk, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Daphne Dixon grabs part of a charger for her electric vehicle with a Level 2 EV charger, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Norwalk, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    In Dixon’s home state of Connecticut, drivers still fret about charging. In the fall, Dixon takes a shorter trip along Route 7, a scenic drive full of river bends and antiques barns. Fast chargers are scarce along the route, as they still are in many rural parts of the U.S.

    The only plug in Kent, a town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Norwalk, is an aging machine at town hall that’s long been defunct, said Lynn Mellis Worthington, chair of the town’s sustainability team.

    Connecticut’s state government plans to use $1.3 million in federal funds to install eight fast-charging plugs at two stations in New Milford, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) down Route 7 from Kent. The Trump administration sought to cancel those federal funds earlier this year, before reinstating them in August after multiple states sued over the halt of the $5 billion program. Congress had approved the funds in 2021 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

    Lynn Mellis Worthington poses for a portrait with her hybrid vehicle Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Kent, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Lynn Mellis Worthington poses for a portrait with her hybrid vehicle Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Kent, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Mellis Worthington and her husband considered an EV when they replaced their 15-year-old Pontiac Vibe this year. She said prices for cars with enough range to make her husband feel comfortable with his commute were still too high. So despite her high hopes of going full electric, they went with a hybrid instead.

    “Our next car will definitely be an EV,” she said.

    Vehicle price still top barrier for buyers

    While many are concerned about charging, price is still the reason U.S. adults most commonly gave when asked why they would not buy one, the AP-NORC/EPIC poll shows. Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults said the high cost is “not a reason” for holding off on an EV purchase.

    Electric vehicles held about 8% of the U.S. market share in 2024, up from 1.9% five years prior, according to data from Atlas Public Policy.

    In the long run, owning an EV may be cheaper due to lower maintenance costs and the lower price of electricity compared to fuel in many places, said Daniel Wilkins, a policy analyst at Atlas Public Policy.

    Still, “everyday Americans are focused more on the sticker price upfront,” he said.

    A sign points to a municipal lot with a Level 2 EV charger Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in North Canaan, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    A sign points to a municipal lot with a Level 2 EV charger Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in North Canaan, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Daphne Dixon's electric vehicle is plugged into a Level 2 EV charger Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Norwalk, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    Daphne Dixon’s electric vehicle is plugged into a Level 2 EV charger Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Norwalk, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    And with federal incentives expiring at the end of September, the final bill for many prospective buyers has effectively increased by $7,500 for a new EV.

    Electric vehicle advocates are quick to point out the average U.S. resident drives no more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) per day, according to AAA, well within the range modern EVs offer. Most electric vehicle owners, like Bloomfield resident Jim Warner and his wife, do the majority of their charging at home.

    Warner has one EV and one plug-in hybrid vehicle. He’s taken the EV, a Chevy Bolt with a roughly 250-mile (402 kilometer) range per charge, on a 400-mile (643-kilometer) trip to Maine twice since he bought it in 2022.

    “The first trip, I turned the heat off. I made sure I drove 65,” Warner said. “The second time I just drove normally and had no problem.”

    People sit in their electric vehicles while using a Level 3 EV charger Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Ridgefield, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

    People sit in their electric vehicles while using a Level 3 EV charger Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Ridgefield, Conn. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

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    AP polling reporter Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

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    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Ecological Threat Report 2025: Extreme Wet-Dry Seasons Emerge as Critical Conflict Catalyst

    Approximately 2 billion people – one quarter of humanity – now live in regions experiencing moderate to severe increases in seasonality


    LONDON, England, October 29, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    New research from the Institute for Economics & Peace reveals that changing rainfall patterns are significantly amplifying conflict risks worldwide. The 2025 Ecological Threat Report (ETR), released today, finds conflict death rates are substantially higher in areas where rainfall is concentrating into fewer months, compared to regions where rain is spreading more evenly throughout the year.

    Key Findings

    • On average in areas where wet and dry seasons are becoming more extreme, there are four times as many conflict deaths as areas where it has decreased.

    • In 2024, natural hazards triggered 45 million short-term internal displacements across 163 countries, the highest figure since at least 2008.

    • Western Brazil, including parts of the Amazon, has recorded some of the world’s sharpest increases in ecological threat levels. Temperatures have risen at twice the global rate, triggering drought and wildfires.

    • Sub-Saharan Africa faces the world’s most severe ecological pressures, with Niger registering the worst ETR score.

    • Central and Western Europe recorded substantial overall improvements, in part representing a return to normalcy following Europe’s unusually dry climatic conditions in 2019.

    • Despite fears of looming water wars, there have been no interstate conflicts fought exclusively over water in the modern era. In the second half of the 20th century, at least 157 international freshwater treaties have been signed, offering models for interstate cooperation.

    • This cooperative approach to water somewhat mirrors nuclear deterrence since the Second World War. In both cases, the very threat of catastrophic destruction has created pragmatic cooperation. The destruction of water supply can lead to societal collapse.

    Approximately 2 billion people – one quarter of humanity – now live in regions experiencing moderate to severe increases in seasonality. This is where wet seasons are becoming shorter and more intense, while dry seasons are longer and drier. These changes are disrupting agricultural calendars and heightening uncertainty for billions of people who rely on seasonal rains for food and livelihoods.

    The Ecological Threat Report, produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace, covers 3,125 sub-national areas in 172 countries and territories representing more than 99% of the world’s population. Between 2019 and 2024, ETR scores deteriorated in 96 countries and improved in 74.

    Sub-Saharan Africa Approaching Multiple Critical Tipping Points

    In sub-Saharan Africa, conflict risk rises sharply when seasonality combines with rapid population growth. Unpredictable rains trigger agricultural stress. When coupled with demographic pressure, competition over land, water and food intensifies. In regions with weak governance and unresolved grievances, this combination proves combustible.

    The Karamoja Cluster in East Africa illustrates this pattern. While total rainfall remains relatively stable, its timing has become less predictable, amplifying both drought and flood hazards, leading to increased conflict. With only 2% of cultivated land irrigated compared to a global average of 20%, East African communities remain highly vulnerable to these shocks. Since 2019, increased rainfall seasonality has coincided with a resurgence of pastoralist violence after years of relative peace.

    “Rainfall seasonality is becoming a powerful conflict catalyst,”said Steve Killelea AM, Founder & Executive Chairman of the Institute for Economics & Peace.“Where rains are increasingly concentrated into fewer months, conflict deaths rise sharply. In sub-Saharan Africa, rapid population growth amplifies this effect, turning unpredictable seasons into competition for land, water and food. The issue isn’t water scarcity – it’s our failure to capture and distribute it. Only 2% of Sub-Saharan African farmland is irrigated, compared to 20% globally.”

    Water Inequality and the Infrastructure Gap

    The world’s renewable freshwater supply is finite and increasingly unevenly distributed. There are 295 subnational areas facing very high water risk and another 780 with high risk, affecting nearly 1.9 billion people.

    High-income countries have reduced per capita water use by roughly one-third since 2000 through efficiency gains and slower population growth, while many low-income nations face rising total withdrawals and falling per capita availability as populations outpace supply.

    Sub-Saharan Africa highlights this imbalance. Per capita water use has dropped from 113 cubic metres in 2000 to just 89 in 2022 – less than one-fifth of the global average. The result is mounting pressure on limited water sources and intensifying competition among farms, industries and households, heightening the risk of conflict.

    The failure to capture and distribute water is most acute in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the lowest irrigation rates in the world. To irrigate 34 million hectares would require only 6% of the region’s annual renewable water resources.

    Steve Killelea said: “COP30 must prioritise investment in climate-resilient water systems as a foundation for sustainability and peace. Just as nuclear treaties reduced the risk of annihilation, international cooperation on water can reduce the risk of ecological collapse. Both demonstrate that survival depends less on dominance, than on shared responsibility.”

    Interstate Water Cooperation

    Popular narratives have warned of looming “water wars”, especially in transboundary river and lake basins. The ETR finds this is not the case. While disputes over shared rivers do occur, no interstate wars have been fought over water in the modern era. This makes the lessons of successful interstate water cooperation even more important. In an era of increasing conflict, understanding why interstate cooperation has been so successful can provide a blueprint for avoiding future conflicts.

    Even in tense basins such as the Indus River – shared by India and Pakistan – water-sharing has continued despite repeated episodes of conflict, political confrontations and military tension. Water agreements, by necessity, encourage nations to think beyond immediate political grievances toward long-term survival and shared benefit.

    Regional Analysis

    Sub-Saharan Africa faces the world’s most severe ecological pressures. However, some southern and eastern African countries, including Lesotho, Rwanda, Eritrea and Eswatini, have improved their ETR scores. More favourable rainfall patterns in these countries resulted in marked reductions in water risk over the past five years.

    In contrast, northwest Africa has seen the steepest deterioration in ETR scores over the same period, led by Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, where persistent drought and rising temperatures have reversed the unusually favourable conditions of 2019.

    Central and Western Europe recorded notable improvements, marking a return to normal following the extreme dryness of 2019.

    Source: Institute for Economics & Peace

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  • Climate Inaction is Leading to Millions of Deaths Each Year

    Global failure to adapt to climate change is taking a toll on people’s lives and is responsible for millions of deaths every year, according to a new report from The Lancet. 

    The Lancet today published its 9th annual “Countdown on Health and Climate Change” report, led by University College London and produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization. It aims to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the connections between climate change and health.

    “This year’s health stocktake paints a bleak and undeniable picture of the devastating health harms reaching all corners of the world—with record-breaking threats to health from heat, extreme weather events, and wildfire smoke killing millions. The destruction to lives and livelihoods will continue to escalate until we end our fossil fuel addiction and dramatically up our game to adapt,” Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown at University College London, warned in a press release.  

    Twelve of the 20 indicators for the health risks and impacts of climate change in the report set concerning new records—showing that the health impacts caused by our changing climate have reached unprecedented levels that cannot be ignored. The indicators studied include extreme heat, weather events, food security, and pollution.

    Weather events, like extreme heat and wildfires, are becoming more common due to climate change and are having a deadly impact on the lives of thousands. The number of heat-related deaths have surged 23% since the 1990s, now reaching 546,000 a year, according to the report. In 2024, the hottest year on record, the average person was exposed to a record 16 additional health-threatening hot days, the report found. Air pollution from wildfire smoke was also linked to a record 154,000 deaths last year.

    Delays in the adoption of clean energy are also taking a toll on our health. Each year, 2.5 million deaths are attributable to the air pollution that comes from continued burning of fossil fuels. Many of these deaths could be prevented by the transition to clean energy—air pollution resulting from the household use of dirty fuels and technologies across 65 countries resulted in 2.3 million deaths in 2022, according to the report. Energy related emissions have reached new highs, the report says, with the world’s largest fossil fuel giants having increased their projected production to a scale three times greater than a liveable planet can support. According to the Paris Agreement, the world must peak global emissions before this year at the latest and decline 43% by 2030 in order to limit global warming by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

    The report calls on leaders to focus on green solutions that can also improve health outcomes, and warns that political backsliding on climate commitments will only cause more harm. “Scarce financial support for adaptation remains a key barrier, and data in this report shows it is still grossly insufficient to cover the financial needs disclosed by countries,” said Romanello. “A political shift towards reduced foreign aid support from some of the world’s wealthiest countries, further restricts financial support for climate change action, leaving all populations increasingly unprotected.”  

    In spite of the rollbacks on climate action in the U.S., many governments and communities are taking action globaly—and reaping the health benefits that come along with it. According to the most recent data the study analyzed, an increased shift away from coal, particularly in wealthy countries, prevented an estimated 160,000 premature deaths annually between 2010 and 2022, and renewable energy generation also reached record-highs in 2022.

    It’s just one example of how combating climate change can improve health outcomes for people around the globe, the report’s contributors say.

    “Climate change action remains one of the greatest health opportunities of the 21st century, also driving development, spurring innovation, creating jobs, and reducing energy poverty,” Tafadzwa Mahbhaudi, director of the Lancet Countdown Africa said in a statement. “Realizing the myriad benefits of a health-centered response requires unlocking so-far untapped opportunities to mitigate climate change and build resilience to the impacts already being felt.”

    Simmone Shah

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  • New Report Finds Efforts to Slow Climate Change Are Working—Just Not Fast Enough

    In the 10 years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the backbone of international climate action, humanity has made impressive progress. Renewable energy is increasingly cheap and reliable, while electric vehicles are becoming better every year.

    By virtually every key metric used to measure progress, though, we are still lagging behind where we would need to be to avert the worst effects of climate change, according to a report released Wednesday by a coalition of climate groups—and we’re running out of time to right the ship.

    “All systems are flashing red,” Clea Shumer, a researcher at the World Resources Institute, one of the organizations involved in the report, said last week on a call with reporters. “There’s no doubt we are largely doing the right things—we are just not moving fast enough.”

    The Paris Agreement aims to keep the world from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by the end of this century. To measure progress toward this goal, the report looks at emissions from 45 different sectors of the global economy and environment, measuring everything from building electrification to use of coal in the power sector to global meat consumption.

    Grimly, none of the indicators the report measures are where they need to be to keep the world on track to meet the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. Six of the 45 indicators are “off track”—progress is being made, but not fast enough—while almost 30 are “well off track,” meaning progress is much too slow. Five, meanwhile, are headed in the “wrong direction,” meaning the situation is getting worse, not better, and needs an urgent U-turn. (There’s not enough data, the report says, to measure the remaining five indicators, which include peatland degradation and restoration, food waste, and the share of new buildings that are zero-carbon.)

    One of the most consistently off-track markers, experts said, was the global effort to phase out coal, one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. While coal’s share in global electricity generation did go down slightly in 2024, total coal use actually hit a record high last year thanks to growing electricity demand, especially from China and India. A dirty power grid, Shumer said, has “huge knock-on effects” for other progress indicators like decarbonizing buildings and transportation.

    To get on track, the world needs to increase its pace of coal phaseout tenfold, Shumer said. That, she continued, would entail shutting down more than 360 medium-sized coal plants each year and canceling every coal-fired power plant currently in the global development pipeline.

    “We simply will not limit warming to 1.5 degrees if coal use keeps breaking records,” Shumer said.’

    Molly Taft

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  • US rejects bid to buy 167 million tons of coal on public lands for less than a penny per ton

    BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials rejected a company’s bid to acquire 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana for less than a penny per ton, in what would have been the biggest U.S. government coal sale in more than a decade.

    The failed sale underscores a continued low appetite for coal among utilities that are turning to cheaper natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar to generate electricity. Emissions from burning coal are a leading driver of climate change, which scientists say is raising sea levels and making weather more extreme.

    President Donald Trump has made reviving the coal industry a centerpiece of his agenda to increase U.S. energy production. But economists say Trump’s attempts to boost coal are unlikely to reverse its yearslong decline.

    The coal-fired generation unit at Rawhide Energy Station in northern Colorado is seen Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver).

    The Department of Interior said in a Tuesday statement that last week’s $186,000 bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC) did not meet the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act.

    Agency representatives did not provide further details, and it’s unclear if they will attempt to hold the sale again.

    The leasing act requires bids to be at or above fair market value. At the last successful government lease sale in the region, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy paid $793 million, or $1.10 per ton, for 721 million tons of coal in Wyoming.

    President Joe Biden’s administration sought to end coal sales in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, citing climate change.

    A second proposed lease sale under Trump — 440 million tons of coal near an NTEC mine in central Wyoming — was postponed last week following the low bid received in the Montana sale. Interior Department officials have not said when the Wyoming sale will be rescheduled.

    NTEC is owned by the Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

    A mechanized shovel loads coal into a haul truck at the Spring Creek mine, in this Nov. 15, 2016 photo, near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

    A mechanized shovel loads coal into a haul truck at the Spring Creek mine, in this Nov. 15, 2016 photo, near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

    In documents submitted in the run-up to the Montana sale, NTEC indicated the coal had little value because of declining demand for the fuel. The Associated Press emailed a company representative regarding the rejected bid.

    Most power plants using fuel from NTEC’s Spring Creek mine in Montana and Antelope mine in Wyoming are scheduled to stop burning coal in the next decade, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

    Spring Creek also ships coal overseas to customers in Asia. Increasing those shipments could help it offset lessening domestic demand, but a shortage of port capacity has hobbled prior industry aspirations to boost coal exports.

    The coal-fired generation unit at Rawhide Energy Station in northern Colorado is seen Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver)

    The coal-fired generation unit at Rawhide Energy Station in northern Colorado is seen Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver)

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  • Drought impacts Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees in Alabama and leaf peeping in other states

    Parts of Alabama are experiencing extreme drought conditions right now. The Forestry Commission has put the entire state under a fire danger advisory. The lack of rain is impacting many crops, which could affect our fall and winter holidays — including pumpkins and Christmas trees.And Alabama isn’t alone, as some states and regions from New England to the Rocky Mountains, which count on tourism dollars from leaf-peeping season, seeing, in some cases, leaves change colors earlier, muted colors, and fewer leaves to peep.According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 40% of the country was considered to be in a drought in early October, the Associated Press reports.That’s more than twice the average, Brad Rippey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist, told the AP.Rippey, an author of the drought monitor — which is a partnership between the federal government and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln — told the AP that drought has hit the Northeast and Western U.S. especially hard. Related video below: Colorful foliage started early this year because of drought conditionsAt The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden, Alabama, they grow some of their pumpkins; many of the small pie pumpkins come from their own fields. But because of a lack of rain, most are from farms in other states.For a day at the pumpkin patch, this dry, warm weather is perfect, but it’s not so great for the pumpkin growing season.Pumpkin Patch owner Julie Swann said, “We have not had rain, probably for us it’s been since August. And then prior to that, it was probably the good rains that we had, you know, April, maybe some of June.”The Great Pumpkin Patch is parched, and the drought does have an impact on the gourds they grow there.”It doesn’t necessarily affect the size simply because pumpkins take so long to produce. But it does the quantity, it affects that, you don’t have as many, you know, to produce as far as vines won’t produce as much without the rain,” Swann said. So the owners have to reach out to farmers in Tennessee and Michigan and buy their pumpkins to sell in Hayden, which is around 30 miles from Birmingham. And Halloween may not be the only holiday impacted by the drought. Paul Beavers at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm in Trafford, Alabama, said the lack of rain is particularly hard on his youngest, smallest trees.“If it continues all the way through winter, it might kill some of my smaller trees. Hopefully, it’ll stop sometime in the next month or two,” Beavers said.A lack of rain means the trees will just stop growing, so the drought could impact the size of your Christmas tree. But the trees tagged for sale are five years old or more, so problems might not be realized till Christmas of 2030.“We’re still going to have over 3000 trees ready to sell this year,” Beavers said. When the owners of the pumpkin patch have to buy more pumpkins from out-of-state farms, their costs increase, but they say this year, they are not raising prices for customers.They’ll have to re-evaluate that next fall. ___The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    HAYDEN, Ala. —

    Parts of Alabama are experiencing extreme drought conditions right now. The Forestry Commission has put the entire state under a fire danger advisory. The lack of rain is impacting many crops, which could affect our fall and winter holidays — including pumpkins and Christmas trees.

    And Alabama isn’t alone, as some states and regions from New England to the Rocky Mountains, which count on tourism dollars from leaf-peeping season, seeing, in some cases, leaves change colors earlier, muted colors, and fewer leaves to peep.

    According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 40% of the country was considered to be in a drought in early October, the Associated Press reports.

    That’s more than twice the average, Brad Rippey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist, told the AP.

    Rippey, an author of the drought monitor — which is a partnership between the federal government and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln — told the AP that drought has hit the Northeast and Western U.S. especially hard.

    Related video below: Colorful foliage started early this year because of drought conditions

    At The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden, Alabama, they grow some of their pumpkins; many of the small pie pumpkins come from their own fields. But because of a lack of rain, most are from farms in other states.

    For a day at the pumpkin patch, this dry, warm weather is perfect, but it’s not so great for the pumpkin growing season.

    Pumpkin Patch owner Julie Swann said, “We have not had rain, probably for us it’s been since August. And then prior to that, it was probably the good rains that we had, you know, April, maybe some of June.”

    The Great Pumpkin Patch is parched, and the drought does have an impact on the gourds they grow there.

    “It doesn’t necessarily affect the size simply because pumpkins take so long to produce. But it does the quantity, it affects that, you don’t have as many, you know, to produce as far as vines won’t produce as much without the rain,” Swann said.

    So the owners have to reach out to farmers in Tennessee and Michigan and buy their pumpkins to sell in Hayden, which is around 30 miles from Birmingham.

    And Halloween may not be the only holiday impacted by the drought. Paul Beavers at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm in Trafford, Alabama, said the lack of rain is particularly hard on his youngest, smallest trees.

    “If it continues all the way through winter, it might kill some of my smaller trees.
    Hopefully, it’ll stop sometime in the next month or two,” Beavers said.

    A lack of rain means the trees will just stop growing, so the drought could impact the size of your Christmas tree. But the trees tagged for sale are five years old or more, so problems might not be realized till Christmas of 2030.

    “We’re still going to have over 3000 trees ready to sell this year,” Beavers said.

    When the owners of the pumpkin patch have to buy more pumpkins from out-of-state farms, their costs increase, but they say this year, they are not raising prices for customers.

    They’ll have to re-evaluate that next fall.

    ___

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Hurricane Kiko is weakening and expected to bypass Hawaii, forecasters say

    HONOLULU (AP) — The risk of direct impacts from Hurricane Kiko decreased Monday as the tropical cyclone showed signs it would pass to the north of the Hawaiian Islands, forecasters said.

    Kiko was a Category 1 hurricane and was expected to lose intensity throughout the day, according to an advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center.

    With maximum sustained winds around 85 mph (140 kph), Kiko was centered roughly 350 miles (560 kilometers) east-northeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and about 515 miles (830 kilometers) east of Honolulu.

    The hurricane was traveling northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).

    Kiko could still send large swells to eastern-facing shores in the island chain, with possible life-threatening surf and rip currents, forecasters said.

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  • Prince William and Gisele Bündchen Join Forces for Climate Campaign in Brazil

    Prince William has added a supermodel to his delegation of eco-friendly spokespeople. None other than Brazilian fashion mogul Gisele Bündchen has joined the board of the Earthshot Prize, the initiative of King Charles III’s son supporting inventions for the environment and sustainability. “Guided by her love for her family, community and nature, Gisele has long inspired millions with her vision and commitment to positive change,” a statement on the official initiative Instagram read, emphasizing the value of Bündchen’s “leadership,” as well as her “dedication” that will be “invaluable” to “Brazil and beyond.”

    “Honored” to join the movement, Bündchen renewed her pledge to be a spokesperson for the protection of nature, a cause that has long been close to her heart. “I’ve seen the power of global communities coming together and supporting innovation to create real change,” she said in a statement shared with People. “The Earthshot Award highlights solutions that inspire hope and transformation, and I’m proud to represent Brazil by sharing these stories with the world.”

    The model joins a host of other celebrities who have advocated for the cause, including two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, Queen Rania of Jordan, and British journalist Sir David Attenborough. By accepting this role, the fourteen members of the Council commit themselves to promoting positive action in favor of the environment. Their votes also count in determining the five winners of the Earthshot Prize, awarded each autumn under the chairmanship of Christiana Figueres.

    Bündchen’s nomination comes just a month and a half before the Earthshot Prize ceremony, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro on November 5. The red carpet is already shaping up to be glamorous. The Prince of Wales has announced that he will be attending, but the presence of his wife, Kate Middleton, has not yet been announced.

    Séraphine Roger

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  • Why Climate Investing Is Increasing

    Climate focused investment continues its rise and is attracting increasing attention across financial markets. A recent analysis by BCG confirms this trend. 

    In 2024, private equity transactions linked to the climate sector reached $73 billion. At the same time, fundraising for climate funds grew by 20 percent compared to the previous year. This happened in a context where global private equity overall fell by 18 percent. 

    This contrast signals a shift in direction. Capital is increasingly flowing toward projects and technologies that provide solutions to climate change. And large institutional investors are also joining this movement. 

    A survey by S2G Investments revealed that nearly half of investors plan to expand their positions in climate related initiatives. Among them is CalPERS, which recently decided to double the size of its mitigation, adaptation, and transition fund to 100 billion dollars. 

    What is driving this growth? 

    The main driver is economic. More than half of low carbon technologies are already cost competitive with conventional alternatives, and a significant group is on the verge of achieving that benchmark. Technological advances have lowered risks and opened the door to investments supported by solid fundamentals. 

    At the same time, pressure to manage climate risk is rising. Supply chains exposed to extreme weather, tightening regulations, and rising societal expectations are all creating a more favorable position for companies with credible transition plans. 

    The breadth of sectors involved also adds momentum. It is not just about renewable power generation but also smart grids, charging infrastructure, energy efficiency services, storage, advanced recycling, bioenergy, alternative proteins, carbon capture, and financial solutions adapted to the transition. This diversification multiplies investment opportunities and reduces dependence on any single segment. 

    Opportunities taking shape 

    In energy infrastructure, smart grids and digitalization stand out as highly attractive areas. A clear example is Suma Capital’s SC Net Zero Ventures I fund, which reached 210 million euros and is already investing in companies like Corinex, focused on grid digitalization, and V2C, specialized in electric vehicle charging solutions. 

    Energy efficiency is another fast-growing front. Companies offering guaranteed savings contracts and energy as a service models are gaining traction in various markets. Sapphire Technologies fits this approach with its turboexpander technology, which converts residual energy into clean electricity. Its recent 18-million-dollar Series C round will expand production capacity and diversify applications across industry. 

    The circular economy also ranks among the segments with the highest potential. Xampla, a spin out from the University of Cambridge, raised 14 million dollars to scale natural materials that replace single use plastics. This innovation aligns with BCG’s outlook on advanced recycling and material substitution. 

    Direct air capture is another technology beginning to consolidate. Brineworks secured 6.8 million dollars to scale its air capture solution designed for e fuel production. The company’s goal is to bring capture costs below 100 dollars per ton, a milestone that could transform the economics of hard to electrify sectors. 

    These are only a few examples of how the opportunities highlighted by BCG are taking shape. The climate investment landscape is much broader, spanning advanced storage, flexibility management in power grids, biofuel development, low emission industrial heating, and the expansion of sustainable finance platforms, among many others.  

    The integration of tangible projects with new opportunities indicates that climate investment is moving into a more mature phase. 

    This momentum is unfolding at multiple levels. Large investors are channeling resources into strategic sectors, while emerging ventures are demonstrating the technical and financial viability of innovative solutions. It is this convergence that sustains growth. 

    The years ahead will be decisive in consolidating this trajectory. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Antonio Vizcaya

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  • Why US Power Bills Are Surging

    Now, electricity prices are surging in addition to all of the uncorked demand from the Covid-19 pandemic, when the global economic slowdown and pressure from policymakers kept a lid on utility bills.

    “I think if we were to repeat this analysis for next year, there would probably be a little bit of an uptick this year, but the data that I’m looking at doesn’t suggest a really significant increase in the historical context,” said Geoffrey Blanford, the lead author of EPRI’s report.

    But there isn’t just one story unfolding across the country.

    The US has a particularly chaotic energy system. How much people pay to light their homes, stay warm, and get around varies a lot from state to state and even among neighbors. For example, Texas households tend to spend a larger share of their budgets on keeping their pickup trucks running, while families in Massachusetts spend a greater portion on staying warm.

    So, no—we’re not in an energy crisis, but it’s unlikely that your power bills will come down anytime soon. There is some good news though: In the years ahead, Americans are actually poised to spend a smaller share of their incomes on energy overall as technology makes it more cost-effective to shift away from fossil fuels.

    “In our forward-looking scenarios, one of the key drivers for change is electrification, particularly light-duty vehicles,” Blanford said. “This tends to actually reduce the energy wallet in real terms per household over time even as you’re spending more on electricity.” Though electric car sales have slowed down in the US, they are still rolling into more driveways. And as homes and appliances become more efficient, that will help reduce energy bills as well. Based on current trends, the average US household energy wallet will shrink by 36 percent by 2050, with state-level declines anywhere from 10 to 50 percent, according to the report.

    Umair Irfan

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  • China Is Leading the World in the Clean Energy Transition. Here’s What That Looks Like

    Speaking by video at the UN Climate Summit in New York last week, China’s president Xi Jinping laid out his country’s climate ambitions. While the stated goals may not have been aggressive as some environmentalists would like, Xi at least reaffirmed China’s green commitment.

    “Despite some countries going against the trend, the international community should stay on the right track, maintain unwavering confidence, unwavering action, and undiminished efforts,” he said. Any reference to Donald Trump and the United States was surely intended (though not explicit).

    The march of the energy transition is a long one, but it has to start somewhere. And with this approach, China has already taken quite a few steps.

    Beijing Stands (Mostly) Alone

    Today, there is no race to be a climate leader. The world is a far fry from the COP26 conference in November 2021, when tackling the threat of climate change seemed like a global priority. A few months later, Russia invaded Ukraine; the ensuing energy crisis and inflation kicked climate off of many political agendas.

    While Joe Biden and the United States responded to soaring prices with the Inflation Reduction Act, which prioritized investment in renewable energy, Donald Trump subsequently withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement—an international accord to limit global warming—for the second time. The European Union has also stuttered: Too internally divided, it did not go beyond a drab declaration of intent at the UN Climate Summit. There hasn’t been much movement from India, a country of nearly 1.5 billion people. And other nations’ emissions are simply too small to matter.

    Given this background, it becomes easy to understand how, in this scenario, China has become a global leader in the clean energy transition. Xi’s speech did not go into much detail, but it did mention all the main points of China’s strategy.

    Cut Emissions Between 7 Percent and 10 Percent by 2035

    In New York, Xi acknowledged the importance of the transition, and for the first time, agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rather than simply promise to slow them down. China’s stated goal is between 7 percent and 10 percent reduction by 2035.

    How do you evaluate these pledges? While the commitment is vague, it’s still significant; previously the regime had merely promised to reach peak emissions by 2030, tying the cuts to economic growth. In Xi’s speech you can seen China transition from a developing country approach to a role more akin to that of industrialized countries, whose emissions have been declining for decades.

    Slow Going?

    It should be pointed out that reducing emissions at the pace promised by Beijing means a decline of about 1 percent a year. According to an analysis by William Lamb of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, this is a slower pace than that held by most industrialized nations. Italy, for example, has reduced them by an average of 3.2 percent every 12 months since their peak in 2006; the United Kingdom by an average of 2.8 percent since 2004; France by 2.3 percent.

    “China has often promised little and achieved much,” notes Andreas Sieber, associate director for policy and campaigns for the global climate nonprofit 350.org, suggesting that China might overdeliver. The country’s lack of democracy also means its policies are not at risk of reversal every election cycle.

    On Renewables

    Xi Jinping’s speech included a commitment to reach 3,600 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind and solar capacity by 2035, six times the country’s 2020 figures. This is already the leading country in terms of installed renewable power, and a giant on the technology front as well, with universities churning out environmental and climate tech research at full speed, and attracting scientists from abroad across numerous fields. He also announced a commitment to an energy mix with more than 30 percent renewables.

    On Electric Vehicles

    Mobility has long been an issue for China, which has moved from bicycles, ubiquitous until the 1990s, to the mass automobile. The images of the 2008 Beijing Olympics are unforgettable: A blanket of smog buried the city. The government has in recent years given a strong boost to electric mobility: At the Climate Summit it announced plans to make EVs “mainstream,” that is, prevalent in sales. It helps that it has ready access to rare earth minerals that are essential for building batteries. And for that matter, the country hosts giant automotive companies like BYD and Catl, which supplies batteries to some 50 global brands including Tesla and Volkswagen.

    On the carbon market

    Xi has declared his intention to expand the national carbon emission trading market to more emission-intensive sectors than today.

    On forests

    China made additional commitments on forests, which it says will reach an extent of 34 billion cubic meters.

    China has reshaped the market for green technologies.

    To skeptics expecting broader measures and the mantle of true global leadership from China, well, that’s not a particularly coveted title these days—especially if the US continues to reverse course on climate science. As senior advisor Bernice Lee of the think tank Chatham House notes, China invested $625 billion in the clean energy transition last year alone; that’s nearly a third of the gobal total.

    Not only that: Research and massive adoption of renewable technologies have led to the dramatic drop in prices, and China’s very large domestic market is a formidable driver in this regard. “The rise of Chinese renewables is reshaping the global economy and replacing coal in the domestic market,” Lee says.

    The hope is that other countries, reassured by that commitment, will follow China’s example rather than America’s.

    Antonio Piemontese

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  • Former Google CEO Will Fund Boat Drones to Explore Rough Antarctic Waters

    A foundation created by Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, will fund a project to send drone boats out into the rough ocean around Antarctica to collect data that could help solve a crucial climate puzzle. The project is part of a suite of funding announced today from Schmidt Sciences, which Schmidt and his wife Wendy created to focus on projects tackling research into the global carbon cycle. It will spend $45 million over the next five years to fund these projects, which includes the Antarctic research.

    “The ocean provides this really critical climate regulation service to all of us, and yet we don’t understand it as well as we could,” says Galen McKinley, a professor of environmental sciences at Columbia University and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory and one of the lead scientists on the project. “I’m just really excited to see how much this data can really pull together the community of people who are trying to understand and quantify the ocean carbon sink.”

    The world’s oceans are its largest carbon sinks, absorbing about a third of the CO2 humans put into the atmosphere each year. One of the most important carbon sinks is the Southern Ocean, the body of water surrounding Antarctica. Despite being the second smallest of the world’s five oceans, the Southern Ocean is responsible for about 40 percent of all ocean-based carbon dioxide absorption.

    Scientists, however, know surprisingly little about why, exactly, the Southern Ocean is such a successful carbon sink. What’s more, climate models that successfully predict ocean carbon absorption elsewhere in the world have diverged significantly when it comes to the Southern Ocean.

    One of the biggest issues with understanding more about what’s going on in the Southern Ocean is simply a lack of data. This is thanks in part to the extreme conditions in the region. The Drake Passage, which runs between South America and Argentina, is one of the toughest stretches of ocean for ships, due to incredibly strong currents around Antarctica and dangerous winds; it’s even rougher in the winter months. The ocean also has a particularly pronounced cloud cover, Crisp says, which makes satellite observations difficult.

    “The Southern Ocean is really far away, so we just haven’t done a lot of science there,” says McKinley. “It is a very big ocean, and it is this dramatic and scary place to go.”

    Molly Taft

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  • Contributor: California Democrats aren’t just resisting; they’re governing

    Gov. Gavin Newsom answering the Republican redistricting power-grab in Texas with a plan of his own is a powerful example of how Golden State Democrats are standing up to President Trump and firing up their base. But while the partisan fireworks draw attention, California Democrats are also quietly offering a different kind of model for the national party that may prove more meaningful in the long run. They’re not just resisting Trump; they’re actually governing.

    Forget what you think you know about California and its lefty Democrats. They’re inching to the center, meeting voters where they are, and it’s improving people’s lives.

    Just look at San Francisco, long seen as a dysfunctional emblem of failed progressive governance.

    The city’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit leader and philanthropist, has shaken off left-wing taboos and focused on delivering results. Instead of defunding the police, he’s hiring more officers and cracking down on shoplifting and drug crimes. Instead of demonizing the business community, he’s partnering with them. He’s also reforming zoning laws to make it easier to build more housing, which should ease the city’s affordability crunch and the homelessness crisis. Lurie has been in office less than a year, but already crime is plummeting and his approval rate has reached 73%.

    National Democrats can find a lesson here: Voters care about results, not just empathy and ideology.

    In Sacramento, Newsom and legislative Democrats are taking a similar tack, with a stubborn focus on affordability and the courage to stare down opposition, even in their own coalition. For example, the Legislature recently reformed the California Environmental Quality Act, a well-intentioned 50-year-old law that had been twisted to obstruct construction projects, clean energy development and public transportation. This angered some powerful environmental activists, but it will ultimately help bring down costs for housing and energy.

    CEQA reform is emblematic of California’s new, more balanced approach on some thorny issues, like energy and climate. The state recently announced that two-thirds of its power now comes from clean energy sources — a major achievement. At the same time, Newsom and the Legislature agreed to a package of bills that will increase oil drilling while extending the state’s cap-and-trade program. Together, the package can reduce energy costs for Californians and strengthen our state’s chances of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. Some environmental justice advocates and climate purists oppose the deal, but it’s an example of how to make progress in the long term while addressing affordability in the short term.

    Immigration is another example: Newsom and other leading California Democrats continue to stand up to the Trump administration’s inhumane immigration policies, including suing to stop the deployment of troops to Los Angeles. But they also recently passed a budget that pulls back on costly plans to provide health insurance to all low-income undocumented immigrants.

    This reflects the new California model: principled resistance and pragmatic governance. The results speak for themselves. The Golden State recently surpassed Japan to become the fourth-largest economy in the world.

    Democratic leaders are making these moves because they are listening to voters who consistently say that the high cost of living is their top concern.

    In 2024, these concerns contributed to a surprising number of Californians abandoning Democrats, even with Kamala Harris, the state’s former U.S. senator and attorney general, on the ticket. Trump flipped 10 counties and boosted his support in 45. Since 2016, 72% of California counties have gotten redder, including many with heavy Latino populations.

    Democrats are paying attention and are wisely changing course. Being responsive to voter concerns doesn’t have to mean sacrificing core values, but it does require new approaches when the old ways aren’t working.

    Karen Skelton (whose father is a political columnist for the Los Angeles Times) is a political strategist, having worked in the White House under Presidents Clinton and Biden and at the United States Departments of Energy, Transportation and Justice.

    Insights

    L.A. Times Insights delivers AI-generated analysis on Voices content to offer all points of view. Insights does not appear on any news articles.

    Viewpoint
    This article generally aligns with a Center point of view. Learn more about this AI-generated analysis
    Perspectives

    The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content.

    Ideas expressed in the piece

    • California Democrats are demonstrating effective governance by moving toward the political center while maintaining their core values, offering a model for the national Democratic Party that goes beyond mere resistance to Trump’s policies.

    • San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie exemplifies this pragmatic approach by hiring more police officers, cracking down on shoplifting and drug crimes, and partnering with the business community rather than demonizing it, resulting in plummeting crime rates and a 73% approval rating.

    • Sacramento Democrats are prioritizing affordability and practical results over ideological purity, as demonstrated by their reform of the California Environmental Quality Act despite opposition from environmental activists, ultimately helping to reduce housing and energy costs.

    • The state’s balanced approach to energy and climate policy shows how Democrats can make long-term progress while addressing immediate affordability concerns, achieving two-thirds clean energy power while also increasing oil drilling through a cap-and-trade package.

    • On immigration, California Democrats maintain principled resistance to Trump’s policies while making pragmatic budget decisions, such as pulling back on costly plans to provide health insurance to all low-income undocumented immigrants.

    • This strategic shift reflects Democrats’ responsiveness to voter concerns about the high cost of living, which contributed to Trump gaining support in 10 counties and 45 others in 2024, with 72% of California counties becoming redder since 2016.

    Different views on the topic

    • Republican leaders view California’s redistricting response as a partisan power grab rather than principled governance, with some vowing to challenge the maps in court and arguing that the redistricting process violates the California Constitution by relying on outdated population data[1].

    • Environmental activists and climate advocates oppose California’s pragmatic approach to energy policy, particularly the package that increases oil drilling while extending cap-and-trade programs, viewing it as a betrayal of environmental justice principles.

    • Progressive organizations initially opposed California’s redistricting efforts, with Common Cause, a good governance group supporting independent redistricting, originally opposing the state’s partisan response before later reversing its stance[1].

    • Some Democratic constituencies argue that pulling back on progressive policies like universal healthcare for undocumented immigrants represents an abandonment of core Democratic values rather than pragmatic governance.

    • Critics contend that the centrist shift represents capitulation to conservative pressure rather than principled leadership, arguing that Democrats should maintain their progressive positions rather than moderating in response to political setbacks.

    Karen Skelton

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  • Jim Jordan pressed to subpoena climate group accused of ‘judicial manipulation’

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    FIRST ON FOX: A conservative climate policy group is urging House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to subpoena records from the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project as part of an ongoing probe into the influence of climate advocacy groups in climate policy litigation. 

    Hon. Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, a conservative pro-U.S. energy production policy group, wrote a letter to Jordan last week pointing to evidence from a Sept. 12 Multnomah County v. ExxonMobil et al. court filing that he says suggests “covert coordination and judicial manipulation.”

    “This new evidence raises serious red flags about the credibility of both the so-called science being used in climate lawsuits and the judicial training programs behind the bench,” Isaac told Fox News Digital. 

    According to Isaac’s letter to Jordan, the court filing submitted by Chevron Corporation earlier this month reveals that “one of the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys, Roger Worthington, had undisclosed involvement in at least two so-called scientific studies that the county is presenting as independent, peer-reviewed evidence.”

    TRUMP ADMIN SCORES LEGAL WIN IN $16B CLIMATE FIGHT AS FEDERAL APPEALS COURT LIFTS BLOCK ON GRANT TERMINATIONS

    Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks to reporters as House Republicans hold a caucus meeting at the Longworth House Office Building on Oct. 13, 2023, in Washington.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

    One of those studies “acknowledged funding from the Climate Judiciary Project in a draft version, but that disclosure was inexplicably removed from the final publication,” Isaac said in the letter. 

    Earlier drafts of the study, labeled “DO NOT DISTRIBUTE,” were found on Worthington’s law firm website, the letter revealed. 

    TOP ENERGY GROUP CALLS FOR PROBE INTO SECRETIVE ‘NATIONAL LAWFARE CAMPAIGN’ TO INFLUENCE JUDGES ON CLIMATE

    According to the American Energy Institute, the study seeks to “attribute global economic losses from climate change to specific oil companies.” The website also included a “pre-publication draft of a CJP judicial training module” with internal editorial comments, according to the letter. 

    Isaac told Jordan this mark-up raises “serious questions about how and why a plaintiffs’ attorney had early access to, and possibly editorial influence over, materials being presented to state and federal judges as ‘neutral’ science.”

    Another module was designed to “educate” participant judges on how to apply “attribution science” in the courtroom, according to Isaac. 

    Attribution science seeks to measure how much human-caused climate change is responsible for certain extreme weather events, per Science News Explores’ definition. 

    “The Environmental Law Institute has claimed neutrality, yet documents suggest coordination with plaintiffs’ counsel who stand to profit from the outcomes,” Isaac told Fox News Digital. “If the same lawyers suing energy companies are shaping the studies and educating the judges, that is not justice; it is manipulation. Congress is right to dig deeper, and the American Energy Institute is proud to support that effort.” 

    Isaac is requesting that Jordan formally request “communications, draft documents, funding agreements, and internal editorial notes related to the scientific studies and CJP curriculum.”

    While commending Jordan’s leadership, Isaac said, “Judges and the public deserve to know whether the courtroom is being quietly shaped by coordinated climate advocacy posing as neutral expertise.”

    Isaac said the Environmental Law Institute and Worthington should answer several questions about their involvement in the studies, including the “judicial education module on attribution science.”

    Climate protester

    A climate protester scales the Wilson Building as part of an Earth Day rally against fossil fuels on April 22, 2022.  (Getty Images)

    “Does ELI regularly seek input from plaintiffs’ attorneys on its judicial education modules?” Isaac questioned. 

    “ELI did not fund the Nature study, and the Climate Judiciary Project has not coordinated with Mr. Worthington,” Environmental Law Institute spokesman Nick Collins told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

    “CJP does not participate in or provide support for litigation,” Collins added. “Rather, CJP provides evidence-based continuing education to judges about climate science and how it arises in the law. Our curriculum is fact-based and science-first, grounded in consensus reports and developed with a robust peer review process that meets the highest scholarly standards.”

    When 23 Republican state attorneys general sent a letter last month to Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin calling on him to cancel funding to the Environmental Law Institute, Collins told Fox News Digital that the Climate Judiciary Project’s projects are far from “radical.”

    “The programs in which the Climate Judiciary Project (CJP) participates are no different than other judicial education programs, providing evidence-based training on legal and scientific topics that judges voluntarily choose to attend,” Collins said.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Fox News Digital has reached out to Jordan and Worthington for comment on the letter but did not immediately hear back. 

    Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this story. 

    Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital. 

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  • Thousands protest on NYC streets ahead of climate week

    Thousands of climate activists marched through Manhattan streets today as part of a coordinated global wave of protests demanding urgent environmental change.

    The demonstration took place on the eve of Climate Week NYC, the world’s largest climate event, which runs September 21-28 across all five boroughs of New York City.

    Why It Matters

    The timing of these protests underscores growing tensions between grassroots climate activism and institutional climate discussions.

    As world leaders, business executives, and policy makers prepare to gather for Climate Week NYC’s official programming, activists are demanding more aggressive action from those with the greatest economic and political power.

    Climate Week NYC bills itself as a platform for “inspiring heads of government, ministers and climate envoys, and some of the most prominent leaders from the world of business, tech, academia, and civil society.”

    Protestors march through Manhattan up to Central Park at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis
    NYC Climate protests
    People march through Manhattan in the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis

    What To Know

    Protesters specifically targeted Billionaires’ Row and Trump Tower, chanting “Make Billionaires Pay” while connecting climate justice to broader social and political issues. The march linked environmental concerns with calls for democracy, gender equality, free speech, immigration reform, and a ceasefire in Gaza.

    Climate Week NYC features hundreds of events across New York’s five boroughs, from policy gatherings and climate fintech discussions to community-led initiatives and art installations. Most official events are free and designed to be accessible to all participants.

    The week addresses what organizers call “the biggest challenges of our time,” focusing on competitive strategies in a changing world, cost reduction, barrier removal, and clean technology investments.

    However, protesters argue that current approaches remain insufficient given the urgency of the climate crisis.

    NYC climate protest
    People carry a “Climate Polluters Bill” the length of an Olympic swimming pool (50 meters long) through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis
    NYC climate protest
    A woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty marches through Manhattan in the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis

    What People Are Saying

    Climate Week NYC Organizers: “The need for immediate climate progress grows every year, every month, every day. There has never been a more important time than right now.”

    NYC climate protest
    Protestors sit for a moment of silence for the Global South at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis
    NYC climate protest
    An art piece of Jeff Bezos with bloody hands carrying the globe is marched through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis

    What Happens Next?

    Climate Week NYC continues through September 28, with events scheduled across Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island.

    The week’s programming includes both high-level policy discussions and community-focused initiatives.

    NYC climate protest
    People march through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis
    NYC climate protest
    An effigy representing Elon Musk with a bloody hand holding a globe is marched through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest in New York, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025.

    AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis

    Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.

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  • The DOGE Subcommittee Hearing on Weather Modification Was a Nest of Conspiracy Theorizing

    The popularity of these conspiracies may also be on the rise in right-wing spaces. Some MAHA figureheads, including Nicole Shanahan, have shared geoengineering content promoting conspiracy theories, while Marla Maples, Donald Trump’s ex-wife, told Fox News in July that she helped Florida’s anti-weather modification bill pass. (Bill Gates’ track record of funding solar geoengineering research has undoubtedly helped fan some of these flames.)

    Doricko, the Rainmaker CEO, has spent much of the past year testifying in state legislatures that were considering vague anti-geoengineering bills that would have also banned cloud seeding. In May, he told WIRED that he and his team had spoken in front of 31 state legislatures. Education, he says, is key to getting people on board with the technology.

    “I think there’s some cohort of people that believe that, you know, Joe Biden is actually a lizard person,” he says. “I think that a lot of people aren’t quite that far along, but are very concerned about chemtrails, probably. Showing them farms that are greener than they otherwise would have been with testimonies from those farmers—that’s probably the way that we’re gonna win hearts and minds.” (Doricko told WIRED last week that in recent months, his company has had “interest, curiosity, and excitement” from various state governments, both Democratic and Republican, in using cloud seeding to enhance water supply. “The education that we had the opportunity to do ultimately I think assuaged a lot of reasonable people’s concerns.”)

    There is one additional type of human-caused shift in the world’s weather that played an outsize role in the hearing: climate change. Greene and other Republican lawmakers repeated many climate denial talking points and bad framing around climate science, including the idea that carbon dioxide is good for the planet because it is plant food. There were multiple mentions of beach houses owned by Barack Obama and Al Gore as a way of illustrating supposed hypocrisy about sea level rise. One of the witnesses called by the House majority works at an organization with a long history of questioning established climate science; he claimed in his testimony that there is “uncertainty as to exactly how much influence humans have exerted” over the global rise in temperature—a take that is out of line with mainstream science.

    “My view is that this is mainly a way of saying there are secret forces at work that are making your life miserable, and everything bad is due to these secret forces,” says Dessler. “When in reality, it’s not secret forces, it’s climate change and it’s these other things that are hurting people.”

    But even a whole hearing dedicated to a conspiracy theory grab bag may not be enough for some. On X, a popular anti-geoengineering community was alight with posts about the hearing—including many critical of the experts and their findings. “This was a scripted show to protect the government’s weather control agenda,” one moderator’s post reads. “Why no independent voices?”

    Molly Taft

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  • Pope Leo XIV feeds fish as he opens Vatican’s ambitious model of sustainable farming and education

    Pope Leo XIV fed fish, petted horses and visited organic vineyards Friday as he inaugurated the Vatican’s ambitious project to turn Pope Francis’ preaching about caring for the environment into practice.Leo formally opened Borgo Laudato Si, a 55-acre utopian experiment in sustainable farming, vocational training and environmental education located on the grounds of the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. The Vatican hopes the center, open to student groups, CEOs and others, will be a model of ecological stewardship, education and spirituality for the Catholic Church and beyond.Leo travelled by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo and then zoomed around the estate’s cypress-lined gardens in an electric golf cart to reach the center, which is named for Francis’ landmark 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” or Praised Be. The document, which inspired an entire church movement, cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern that was inherently tied to questions of human dignity and justice, especially for the poor.Leo has strongly reaffirmed Francis’ focus on the need to care for God’s creation, and celebrated the first “green” Mass in the estate’s gardens earlier this summer, using a new set of prayers inspired by the encyclical that specifically invoke prayers for creation. On Friday, some 10 years after Laudato Si was published, Leo presided over a liturgy to bless the new center after touring its gardens, fishpond, farm, and classrooms.Leo recalled that according to the Bible, human beings have a special place in the act of creation, created in the “image and likeness of God.”“But this privilege comes with a great responsibility: that of caring for all other creatures, in accordance with the creator’s plan,” he said. “Care for creation, therefore, represents a true vocation for every human being, a commitment to be carried out within creation itself, without ever forgetting that we are creatures among creatures, and not creators.”A greenhouse inspired by St. Peter’s SquareLeo spoke from the heart of the project: a huge greenhouse in the same curved, embracing shape as the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square that faces a 10-room educational facility and dining hall. Once it’s up and running, visiting groups can come for an afternoon school trip to learn about organic farming, or a weekslong course on regenerative agriculture.The center aims to accomplish many of the goals of the environmental cause. Solar panels provide all the power the facility needs, plastics are banned, and recycling and composting systems used to reach zero-waste. Officials say water will be conserved and maximized via “smart irrigation” systems that use artificial intelligence to determine plants’ needs, along with rainwater harvesting and the installation of wastewater treatment and reuse systems.There is a social component as well. The Vatican’s first-ever vocational school on the grounds will aim to provide on-site training in sustainable gardening, organic winemaking, and olive harvesting to offer new job opportunities for particularly vulnerable groups: victims of domestic violence, refugees, recovering addicts, and rehabilitated prisoners.The products made will be sold on-site, with profits reinvested in the educational center: Laudato Si wine, organic olive oil, herbal teas from the farm’s aromatic garden, and cheese made from its 60 dairy cows, continuing a tradition of agricultural production that for centuries has subsidized monasteries and convents.While school groups are a core target audience, organizers also want to invite CEOs and professionals for executive education seminars, to sensitize the world of business to the need for sustainable economic growth.Officials declined to discuss the financing of the project, other than to say an undisclosed number of partners had invested in it and that confidential business plans precluded the Vatican from releasing further information.

    Pope Leo XIV fed fish, petted horses and visited organic vineyards Friday as he inaugurated the Vatican’s ambitious project to turn Pope Francis’ preaching about caring for the environment into practice.

    Leo formally opened Borgo Laudato Si, a 55-acre utopian experiment in sustainable farming, vocational training and environmental education located on the grounds of the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. The Vatican hopes the center, open to student groups, CEOs and others, will be a model of ecological stewardship, education and spirituality for the Catholic Church and beyond.

    Leo travelled by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo and then zoomed around the estate’s cypress-lined gardens in an electric golf cart to reach the center, which is named for Francis’ landmark 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” or Praised Be. The document, which inspired an entire church movement, cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern that was inherently tied to questions of human dignity and justice, especially for the poor.

    Leo has strongly reaffirmed Francis’ focus on the need to care for God’s creation, and celebrated the first “green” Mass in the estate’s gardens earlier this summer, using a new set of prayers inspired by the encyclical that specifically invoke prayers for creation. On Friday, some 10 years after Laudato Si was published, Leo presided over a liturgy to bless the new center after touring its gardens, fishpond, farm, and classrooms.

    Leo recalled that according to the Bible, human beings have a special place in the act of creation, created in the “image and likeness of God.”

    “But this privilege comes with a great responsibility: that of caring for all other creatures, in accordance with the creator’s plan,” he said. “Care for creation, therefore, represents a true vocation for every human being, a commitment to be carried out within creation itself, without ever forgetting that we are creatures among creatures, and not creators.”

    FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

    Pope Leo XIV attends the inauguration of the “Borgo Laudato Si’” Advanced Training Center at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, on September 5, 2025. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

    A greenhouse inspired by St. Peter’s Square

    Leo spoke from the heart of the project: a huge greenhouse in the same curved, embracing shape as the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square that faces a 10-room educational facility and dining hall. Once it’s up and running, visiting groups can come for an afternoon school trip to learn about organic farming, or a weekslong course on regenerative agriculture.

    The center aims to accomplish many of the goals of the environmental cause. Solar panels provide all the power the facility needs, plastics are banned, and recycling and composting systems used to reach zero-waste. Officials say water will be conserved and maximized via “smart irrigation” systems that use artificial intelligence to determine plants’ needs, along with rainwater harvesting and the installation of wastewater treatment and reuse systems.

    Pope Leo XIV presides over a Liturgy of the Word after the inauguration of the "Borgo Laudato Si'" Advanced Training Center at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, on September 5, 2025. Borgo Laudato Si' is training in integral ecology and fraternity, an education that aims to be inclusive and accessible to all, with particular attention to those in vulnerable situations. From job training to educational programs, from immersive experiences in contact with nature to seminars and cultural events, Borgo Laudato Si' is committed to protecting and developing through investment in education, with a consistent commitment to promoting a culture of care. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)

    FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

    Pope Leo XIV presides over a Liturgy of the Word after the inauguration of the “Borgo Laudato Si’” Advanced Training Center at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, on September 5, 2025. Borgo Laudato Si’ is training in integral ecology and fraternity, an education that aims to be inclusive and accessible to all, with particular attention to those in vulnerable situations. From job training to educational programs, from immersive experiences in contact with nature to seminars and cultural events, Borgo Laudato Si’ is committed to protecting and developing through investment in education, with a consistent commitment to promoting a culture of care. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)

    There is a social component as well. The Vatican’s first-ever vocational school on the grounds will aim to provide on-site training in sustainable gardening, organic winemaking, and olive harvesting to offer new job opportunities for particularly vulnerable groups: victims of domestic violence, refugees, recovering addicts, and rehabilitated prisoners.

    The products made will be sold on-site, with profits reinvested in the educational center: Laudato Si wine, organic olive oil, herbal teas from the farm’s aromatic garden, and cheese made from its 60 dairy cows, continuing a tradition of agricultural production that for centuries has subsidized monasteries and convents.

    While school groups are a core target audience, organizers also want to invite CEOs and professionals for executive education seminars, to sensitize the world of business to the need for sustainable economic growth.

    Officials declined to discuss the financing of the project, other than to say an undisclosed number of partners had invested in it and that confidential business plans precluded the Vatican from releasing further information.

    Source link