ReportWire

Tag: Energy industry

  • California oil workers face an uncertain future in the state’s energy transition

    [ad_1]

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Thirty years ago, Willie Cruz was shocked when he learned the Southern California oil refinery where he worked was shutting down.

    Cruz, now a 61-year-old living in Arizona, had spent five years working in the environmental department when Powerine Oil Company said it would close the plant in Santa Fe Springs, southeast of Los Angeles.

    Cruz feared getting laid off again if he stayed in the industry. He decided to look into respiratory therapy, in part because he’s asthmatic. A federal job training program paid for his schooling.

    “I thought it was pretty cool, you know — go from polluting to helping, right?” Cruz said.

    Now he’s advising his son, Wilfredo Cruz, as the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles where the 37-year-old has worked for 12 years plans to close by the end of the month.

    Thousands — perhaps tens of thousands — of workers could lose jobs in the coming years as California tries to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Energy company Valero said earlier this year it would close a refinery in the Bay Area.

    California’s leading Democrats are grappling with how to confront lost jobs and high gas prices that the oil industry says are the result of the state’s climate policies.

    State energy regulators are negotiating to keep the Valero plant open and recently backed off a proposal to penalize oil companies for high profits, while Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to speed oil well permitting in the Central Valley. That action came after years of Newsom declaring he was “taking on big oil.”

    That inconsistent messaging has left the industry’s workers unsure of what the future holds.

    California was the eighth-largest crude oil producer in the nation in 2024, down from being the third-largest in 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Valero and Phillips 66 refineries set to close account for roughly 18% of California’s refining capacity, according to state energy regulators. They both produce jet fuel, gas and diesel.

    The Phillips 66 refinery will start shutting down this month and end active fuel production at the end of 2025, the company said. The closure is based on multiple factors and “in response to market dynamics,” Phillips 66 said.

    The announcement came after Newsom signed a law last year aimed at preventing gas price spikes that allows energy regulators to require that refineries keep a certain amount of fuel on hand to avoid shortages when they go offline for maintenance. But the company said its decision was unrelated to the law.

    Phillips 66 said it is “committed to treating all our refinery workers fairly and respectfully throughout this process.”

    Valero announced plans to “idle, restructure or cease refining operations” at its refinery in the Bay Area city of Benicia by the end of April. The company didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the status of its plans.

    Valero pays about $7.7 million annually in taxes to the city, making up around 13% of Benicia’s revenues, City Manager Mario Giuliani said.

    “It’s a significant and seismic impact to the city,” he said of the planned closure.

    Forty-six oil refineries in California closed between 2018 and 2024, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. The fossil fuel industry employs roughly 94,000 people in the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

    One study estimated that the state would lose nearly 58,000 workers in the oil and gas industries between 2021 and 2030. About 56% of those workers will have to find new jobs because they are not retiring, according to the 2021 report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

    Lawmakers approved the Displaced Oil and Gas Worker Fund in 2022 to help workers receive career training and connect with job opportunities. The state has since awarded nearly $30 million overall to several groups to help workers across the state — from oil-rich Kern County to Contra Costa County in the Bay Area.

    But the funding is set to run out in 2027, and state lawmakers wrapped up their work for the year without an agreement on whether to extend it.

    Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor said the governor is committed to supporting displaced oil workers “and affected communities in transitioning into new and emerging jobs and economic opportunities.”

    Newsom approved $20 million in the state’s 2022-2023 budget for a pilot program to train workers in the industry who’ve lost their jobs to plug abandoned oil wells in Kern and Los Angeles counties.

    California needs a clear plan for workers who will lose jobs because of the state’s energy transition, said Faraz Rizvi, the policy and campaign manager at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

    “We’re in solidarity with workers who have been displaced and who are looking for a relief to ensure that they’re able to find work that is important for their communities,” Rizvi said.

    But Jodie Muller, president and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, said the state can protect jobs by changing its climate policies.

    “The extremists fighting to close California refineries should explain why they are OK with destroying some of the best blue-collar jobs out there — because we certainly are not,” she said in a statement.

    For many workers, the industry offers an opportunity to earn a living wage without a college degree.

    Wilfredo Cruz was attracted in part by the paycheck. After more than a decade, he makes a base salary of $118,000 a year as a pipe fitter at the Phillips 66 refinery.

    But there are downsides.

    Every day when Cruz gets home from work, he showers immediately to try to shield his son from exposure to any harmful chemicals. He also never lets the 2-year-old ride in the car he takes to work.

    Now he’s enrolled in an online cybersecurity training course, schooling paid for by the state program that’s set to expire in the next couple of years.

    “There’s not really a real clear plan to be able to get workers from this oil industry into these new fields,” he said. “So, you feel kind of forgotten.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Republicans vote to roll back Biden-era restrictions on mining and drilling in 3 Western states

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans have voted to roll back restrictions on mining, drilling and other development in three Western states, advancing President Donald Trump’s ambitions to expand energy production from public lands.

    Senators voted 50-46 Thursday to repeal a land management plan for a large swath of Alaska that was adopted in the final weeks of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. Lawmakers voted to roll back similar plans for land in Montana and North Dakota earlier this week.

    The timing of Biden’s actions made the plans vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to terminate rules that are finalized near the end of a president’s term. The resolutions require a simple majority in each chamber and take effect upon the president’s signature.

    The House approved the repeals last month in votes largely along party lines. Trump is expected to sign the measures, which will boost a proposed 211-mile road through an Alaska wilderness to allow mining of copper, cobalt, gold and other minerals.

    Trump ordered approval of the Ambler Road project earlier this week, saying it will unlock access to copper, cobalt and other critical minerals that the United States needs to compete with China on artificial intelligence and other resource development. Copper is used in the production of cars, electronics and even renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines.

    The road was approved in Trump’s first term, but was later blocked by Biden after an analysis determined the project would threaten caribou and other wildlife and harm Alaska Native tribes that rely on hunting and fishing.

    The Biden-era restrictions also included a block on new mining leases in the nation’s most productive coal-producing region, the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. On Monday, the Trump administration held the biggest coal sale in that area in more than a decade, drawing a single bid of $186,000 for 167.5 million tons of coal, or about a tenth of a penny per ton.

    Trump has largely cast aside Biden’s goal to reduce climate-warming emissions from the burning of coal and other fossil fuels extracted from federal land. Instead, he and congressional Republicans have moved to open more taxpayer-owned land to fossil fuel development, hoping to create more jobs and revenue. The Republican administration also has pushed to develop critical minerals, including copper, cobalt, gold and zinc.

    A decision on whether to accept the recent bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. is pending, and the lease cannot be issued until the Montana land plan is altered. The dirt-cheap value reflects dampened industry interest in coal despite Trump’s efforts. Many utilities have switched to cheaper natural gas or renewables such as wind and solar power.

    Administration officials expressed disappointment that they did not receive “stronger participation” in the Montana sale. In a statement, Interior Department spokesperson Aubrie Spady blamed a “decades long war on coal” by Biden and former Democratic President Barack Obama.

    Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana said the repeal of the land-management plan in his state was “putting an end to disastrous Biden-era regulations that put our resource economy on life support.”

    Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska called the Biden-era plan for 13 million acres in the central Yukon region “a clear case of federal overreach that locks up Alaska’s lands, ignores Alaska Native voices … and blocks access to critical energy, gravel & mineral resources.”

    The GOP legislation “restores balance, strengthens U.S. energy & mineral security and upholds the law,” Sullivan said in a statement.

    Democrats urged rejection of the repeals, arguing that Trump’s fossil fuel-friendly agenda is driving up energy prices because renewable sources are being sidelined even as the tech industry’s power demands soar for data centers and other projects.

    “We are seeing dramatic increases in the price of energy for American consumers and businesses and the slashing of American jobs, so that Donald Trump can give an easy pass to the fossil fuel industry,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

    Last week, the administration canceled almost $8 billion in grants for clean energy projects in 16 states that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris won in the 2024 election.

    Ashley Nunes, public lands specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, said Republicans were unleashing “a wholesale assault on America’s public lands.” Using the Congressional Review Act to erase land management plans “will sow chaos across the country and turn our most cherished places into playgrounds for coal barons and industry polluters,” she said.

    ___

    Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Energy company abandons proposal to store nuclear waste at site in New Mexico

    [ad_1]

    SANTA FE, N.M. — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A private energy company is abandoning a proposal to store nuclear waste at a site in southeastern New Mexico.

    Holtec International described an “untenable path forward for used fuel storage in New Mexico” as it walked away from the proposal to temporarily hold spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants across the nation. The New Jersey-based company confirmed its decision Thursday.

    Holtec said the move would allow it to work with other states that are more amenable.

    The New Mexico project was cast aside despite a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling in August that rebooted plans for a temporary storage in Texas and New Mexico.

    The U.S. is at an impasse over a permanent solution for storing spend nuclear fuel, as roughly 100,000 tons (90,000 metric tons) of spent fuel, some of it dating from the 1980s, pile up at current and former nuclear plant sites nationwide. The waste was meant to be kept there temporarily before being deposited deep underground.

    U.S. nuclear regulators in 2023 licensed the proposed multibillion-dollar storage complex in New Mexico, while opposition persisted.

    New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature put up stiff resistance with legislation that threatened to withhold local permits and a lawsuit by the state. By contrast, Lujan Grisham’s Republican predecessor, Susana Martinez, had been supportive.

    Critics of the project, including the Sierra Club, said Holtec’s decision highlights an enduring roadblock.

    “Nuclear energy has an intractable problem — no one wants the waste,” said Camilla Feibelman of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • New US sanctions target 50 people, companies and ships for allegedly aiding Iran’s oil and gas trade

    [ad_1]

    The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on a group of 50 people, companies and ships largely out of the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and China

    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of 50 people, companies and ships largely out of the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and China, alleging they were facilitating the shipment of Iranian oil and sales of liquefied petroleum gas.

    Included in the penalties are two dozen “shadow fleet” ships flagged across multiple nations, concealing the origin of Iranian oil and circumvents earlier sanctions; a China-based crude oil terminal; and a non-state-owned Chinese refinery. The Treasury Department said they are key to Iran’s ability to export petroleum and petroleum products.

    The department said the entities and individuals cited enabled the export of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas products, aiding Iran’s government.

    The administration is citing a collection of executive orders signed by Republican President Donald Trump, including one in February that calls for the United States to “drive Iran’s export of oil to zero.”

    Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and companies access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. businesses and citizens from doing business with them.

    Trump’s “maximum pressure” on Iran is meant to deny Tehran access to nuclear weapons, and during the summer, the U.S. and Israel engaged in several bombardments of Tehran’s nuclear and military sites.

    The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran in September over its nuclear program, further squeezing the country as Iranians increasingly find themselves priced out of the food and worried about their futures. Iran’s rial currency is at a record low, increasing pressure on food prices and making daily life that much more challenging.

    Since January, the administration has imposed sanctions on 166 ships tied to the Iranian oil trade. The new sanctions target a second Chinese oil terminal and a fourth independently owned refinery in China.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the administration is disrupting the Iranian government’s “ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Asian shares trade mostly higher after Wall Street snaps its 3-day losing streak

    [ad_1]

    Shares were mostly higher Monday in Asia after Wall Street broke its three-day losing streak, trimming its losses for last week.

    China factory data are due out on Tuesday and a quarterly business sentiment survey by the Bank of Japan comes on Wednesday.

    The next big event for Wall Street could be a looming shutdown of the U.S. government, with a deadline set for this week. But such political impasses have had limited impact on the market before.

    U.S. jobs data also will be in the spotlight.

    U.S. futures edged higher early Monday and oil prices fell.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei was the regional outlier, giving up 1% to 44,892.52.

    Chinese markets advanced, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong adding 1.5% to 26,518.03, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.1% to 3,832.65.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 8,545.70, while the Kospi in South Korea surged 1.3% to 3,430.57.

    On Friday, U.S. stocks trimmed their losses for the week after a report showed that inflation is behaving roughly as economists expected, even if it’s still high.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,643.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% to 46,247.29, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to 22,484.07. All three indexes pulled closer to the all-time highs they set at the start of the week.

    Stocks got some help from the report showing inflation in the United States accelerated to 2.7% last month from 2.6% in July, according to the measure of prices that the Federal Reserve likes to use. While that’s above the Fed’s 2% target, it was precisely what economists had forecast.

    That offered some hope that the Fed could continue cutting interest rates in order to give the economy a boost. Without such cuts, growing criticism that stock prices have become too expensive by rising too quickly would become even more powerful.

    The Fed just delivered its first rate cut of the year last week but is not promising more because they could worsen inflation.

    Another report said sentiment among U.S. consumers was weaker than economists expected. The survey from the University of Michigan said consumers are frustrated with high prices, but their expectations for inflation over the coming 12 months also ticked down to 4.7% from 4.8%.

    One factor threatening to push inflation higher, adding to consumer woes, is President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and he announced more late Thursday. They include taxes on imports of some pharmaceutical drugs, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, upholstered furniture and heavy trucks starting on Oct. 1.

    Details were sparse about the coming tariffs, as is often the case with Trump’s pronouncements on his social media network. That left analysts unsure of their ultimate effects, and the announcement created ripples in the U.S. stock market instead of huge waves.

    Paccar, the company based in Bellevue, Washington, that’s behind the market-dominant Peterbilt and Kenworth truck brands, revved 5.2% higher, for example.

    Big U.S. pharmaceutical companies nudged higher. Eli Lilly rose 1.4%, and Pfizer added 0.7%.

    In other trading early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 49 cents to $65.23 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 42 cents to $68.80 per barrel.

    Reports that the OPEC plus oil producing nations might raise their production limits next month have added to worries over oversupply, analysts said.

    The U.S. dollar slipped to 148.93 Japanese yen from 149.51 yen. The euro rose to $1.1727 from $1.1703.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Belarus proposes a new nuclear plant to supply energy to Russian-occupied Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus unveiled a proposal on Friday to build a second nuclear power plant capable of supplying energy to Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

    President Alexander Lukashenko raised the plans during a meeting at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin, who appeared to publicly support the idea.

    Lukashenko said the plant could be used if needed to supply regions controlled by Russia in Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk.

    Belarus opened its first nuclear power plant, the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant in November 2020. It was built by the Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, with a $10 billion loan provided by Moscow.

    Putin did not specify at Friday’s meeting whether Russia would provide financial backing for a second plant.

    Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over three decades, is a close ally of the Kremlin. He allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and later authorized the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Orbán tells Trump dropping Russian energy would bring economy ‘to its knees’

    [ad_1]

    BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that Hungary will continue to source fossil fuels from Russia despite demands from his ally U.S. President Donald Trump, and that he’d informed the president that dropping Russian energy would be a “disaster” for Hungary’s economy.

    Hungary remains one of the only countries in Europe to continue purchasing Russian oil and natural gas following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But Trump, an admirer of the long-serving Hungarian leader, earlier this month called on all NATO countries including Hungary to cease purchasing Russian oil, since he believes the Russia-Ukraine war would end if they did so.

    In comments to state radio on Friday, Orbán said he recently told Trump that that dropping Russian energy imports would be an economic “disaster” for Hungary.

    “I told the U.S. president … that if Hungary is cut off from Russian oil and natural gas, immediately, within a minute, Hungarian economic performance will drop by 4%,” Orbán said. “It means the Hungarian economy would be on its knees.”

    Despite three years of efforts by European Union countries to wean off of Russian energy supplies — an effort to deprive President Vladimir Putin of revenue that helps fuel the war in Ukraine — Hungarian officials have insisted that geographical and infrastructural constraints make it nearly impossible to transition to using fossil fuels supplied from the West.

    However, other countries in the region, including the similarly landlocked Czech Republic, have managed to fully cease their purchases of Russian oil since Moscow launched its invasion. Slovakia, which neighbors Hungary, has also maintained its Russian energy imports.

    Yet despite pressure from the EU and the Trump administration, Orbán, widely considered the EU leader with the closest relationship to the Kremlin, said Friday that when it comes to energy sources, “It is clear what is in Hungary’s interest and we will act accordingly.”

    Hungary and the United States, he said, “are sovereign countries. There is no need for either of us to accept the arguments of the other. America has its arguments and interests, and Hungary does too.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump administration moves to revoke permit for Massachusetts offshore wind project

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has moved to block a Massachusetts offshore wind farm, its latest effort to hobble an industry and technology that President Donald Trump has attacked as “ugly” and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

    The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, filed a motion in federal court Thursday seeking to take back its approval of the SouthCoast Wind project’s “construction and operations plan.” The plan is the last major federal permit the project needs before it can start putting turbines in the water.

    SouthCoast Wind, to be built in federal waters about 23 miles south of Nantucket, is expected to construct as many as 141 turbines to power about 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

    The Interior Department action is the latest by the Trump administration in what critics call an “all-out assault” on the wind energy industry.

    Trump’s administration has stopped construction on major offshore wind farms, revoked wind energy permits and paused permitting, canceled plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopped $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects.

    The moves are a complete reversal from the Biden administration, which approved construction of 11 large offshore wind projects to generate enough clean energy to power more than 6 million homes. The projects now face uncertain futures under Trump.

    Last week, the Interior Department asked a federal judge in Baltimore to cancel a previous approval by BOEM to build an offshore wind project in Maryland. The ocean agency has concluded that its prior weighing of the project’s impacts was “deficient” and intends to reconsider that analysis to make a new decision, the department said.

    Developer U.S. Wind has not yet begun construction, but plans for the Maryland Offshore Wind Project call for up to 114 turbines to power more than 718,000 homes.

    BOEM had approved SouthCoast’s operations plan on Jan. 17, 2025, three days before Trump’s second term began.

    “Based on its review to date, BOEM has determined that the COP approval may not have fully complied with the law” and “may have failed to account for all the impacts that the SouthCoast Wind Project may cause,” Interior said in its legal filing. The agency asked a federal judge to allow reconsideration of the project.

    In a statement, developer Ocean Winds said the company “intends to vigorously defend our permits in federal court.”

    “Stable permitting for American infrastructure projects should be of top concern for anyone who wants to see continued investment in the United States,” the statement said.

    Jason Walsh, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of labor unions and environmental groups, said Trump “is threatening good jobs while he pursues his senseless vendetta against offshore wind.”

    Pulling energy project permits and canceling lease sales isn’t new. Biden revoked the permit to build the long-disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office, halting construction. He canceled scheduled oil and gas lease sales.

    But Trump’s efforts to dismantle the offshore wind industry are much more extensive than the way Biden targeted fossil fuels, said Kristoffer Svendsen, assistant dean for energy law at the George Washington University Law School. He thinks offshore wind developers will now see the U.S. as too risky.

    “They have plenty of options. They can invest in Europe and Asia. There are good markets to invest in offshore wind. It’s just the U.S. is not a good market to invest in,” he said.

    The Trump administration has stopped construction on two major offshore wind farms, so far. One of them, the Empire Wind project for New York, was allowed to resume construction. The Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut is paused, and both the developer and the two states sued in federal courts.

    The Danish energy company Orsted is building Revolution Wind. The Danish government owns a majority stake in the company.

    Besides SouthCoast, the Trump administration has said it is reconsidering approvals for another wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, New England Wind. It previously revoked a permit for the Atlantic Shores project in New Jersey.

    ___

    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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump calls on all NATO countries to stop buying Russian oil, threatens 50% to 100% tariffs on China

    [ad_1]

    BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — President Donald Trump said Saturday he believes the Russia-Ukraine war would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia and placed tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for its purchases of Russian petroleum.

    Trump posted on his social media site that NATO’S commitment to winning the war “has been far less than 100%” and the purchase of Russian oil by some members of the alliance is “shocking.” As if speaking with NATO members, he said: “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia.”

    Since 2023, NATO member Turkey has been the third largest buyer of Russian oil, after China and India. according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Other members of the 32-state alliance involved in purchasing Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia.

    Trump’s post arrives after the Wednesday flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland shot down the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incursion and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”

    While Trump as a candidate promised to end the war quickly, he has yet to hit the pressure points needed to end the violence and has at times been seen as reluctant to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin. Congress is currently trying to get the U.S. president to back a bill toughening sanctions, after Trump last month hosted Putin in Alaska for talks that failed to deliver on progress toward peace.

    The U.S. and its allies are seeking to show a firmer degree of resolve against Russia. At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Friday, acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said America “will defend every inch of NATO territory” and that the drones entering Poland “intentionally or otherwise show immense disrespect for good-faith U.S. efforts to bring an end to this conflict.”

    Britain on Friday also took steps to penalize the trading of Russian oil, including a ban on 70 vessels allegedly used in its transportation. The United Kingdom also sanctioned 30 individuals and companies, included businesses based in China and Turkey, that have supplied Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.

    Trump in his post Saturday said a NATO ban on Russian oil plus tariffs on China would “also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”

    The president said that NATO members should put the 50% to 100% tariffs on China and withdraw them if the war that launched with Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine ends.

    “China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia,” he posted, and powerful tariffs “will break that grip.”

    The U.S. president has already placed a 25% import tax on goods from India for its buying of Russian energy products.

    In his post, Trump said responsibility for the war fell on his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He did not include in that list Putin, who launched the invasion.

    Trump’s post builds on a call Friday with finance ministers in the Group of Seven, a forum of industrialized democracies. During the call, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on their counterparts to have a “unified front” to cut off “the revenues funding Putin’s war machine,” according to Greer’s office.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Study links frequent, severe heat waves to pollution from major fossil fuel producers

    [ad_1]

    Fifty-five heat waves over the past quarter-century would not have happened without human-caused climate change, according to a study published Wednesday.

    Planet-warming emissions from 180 major cement, oil and gas producers contributed significantly to all of the heat events considered in the study, which was published in the journal Nature and examined a set of 213 heat waves from 2000 to 2023. The polluters examined in the study include publicly traded and state-owned companies, as well several countries where fossil fuel production data was available at the national level.

    Collectively, these producers are responsible for 57% of all the carbon dioxide that was emitted from 1850 to 2023, the study found.

    “It just shows that it’s not that many actors … who are responsible for a very strong fraction of all emissions,” said Sonia Seneviratne, a climate professor at the Swiss university ETH Zurich who was one of the study’s contributors.

    The set of heat waves in the study came from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database, which the researchers described as the most widely used global disaster repository. The Nature study examined all of the heat waves in the database from 2000 to 2023 except for a few that weren’t suitable for their analysis.

    Global warming made all 213 of the heat waves examined more likely, the study found. Out of those, 55 were 10,000 times more likely to have happened than they would have been before industrialization began accelerating in the 1800s. The calculation is equivalent to saying those 55 heat waves “would have been virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, the authors wrote.

    “Many of these heat waves had very strong consequences,” said Seneviratne. She said the series of heat waves that struck Europe in 2022 that was linked to tens of thousands of deaths sticks out in her mind as one of the events with particularly grave consequences.

    Climate scientists can use complex computer programs and historic weather data to calculate the connection between extreme weather events and the planet-warming pollutants humans emit. Climate change attribution studies often focus on how climate change influenced a specific weather event, but the scientists say this new Nature study is unique because it focused on the extent to which cement and fossil fuel producers have contributed to heat waves.

    “They are drawing on a pretty well-established field of attribution science now, which has existed for about 20 years,” said Chris Callahan, a climate scientist at Indiana University who was not involved in the study. Callahan has used similar attribution methodologies in his research and said the new study is appropriate and high-quality.

    Scientists say the new study could be taken into consideration in legal cases. Globally, dozens of lawsuits have been filed against fossil fuel companies by climate activists, American state governments and others seeking to hold the companies accountable for their role in climate change.

    For example, Vermont and New York have passed laws that aim to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their emissions and the damage caused.

    “For a while, it was argued that any individual contributor to climate change was making too small or too diffuse a contribution to ever be linked to any particular impact. And this emerging science, both this paper and others, is showing that that’s not true,” said Callahan.

    Justin Mankin, a Dartmouth College climate scientist who wasn’t involved in the study, said the findings provide insight into the origins of the heat waves and how potential hazards from them could be minimized in the future.

    “As we contend with these losses, the assessment of who or what’s responsible is going to become really important,” Mankin said. “I think there are some really appropriate questions, like who pays to recoup our losses, given that we’re all being damaged by it.”

    ___

    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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • In LA port, bobbing blue floats are turning wave power into clean energy

    [ad_1]

    LOS ANGELES — On a recent sunny morning in a channel at the Port of Los Angeles, seven blue steel structures that look like small boats are lowered into the ocean one by one. Attached to an unused wharf on a site that once housed oil tanks, they gently bob up and down with the waves to generate renewable power. Nearby, a sea lion peeks from the water and pelicans and sea gulls soar overhead.

    This is the nation’s first onshore wave energy site, and on Tuesday, Eco Wave Power will officially unveil the pilot installation and begin operating. The pilot will generate just a small amount of electricity that can be used locally, but the larger goal is to prove the technology works well enough to expand along 8 miles of breakwater at the port — enough to power up to 60,000 homes.

    Co-founder and CEO Inna Braverman said that much power could be a “game changer in terms of clean energy production” for the port and the communities around it. America’s shipping ports have long struggled with dirty air that harms the health of people living nearby.

    “We’re starting here in LA, but we hope, aspire and believe that we will be in the United States and in other locations around the world,” she said, standing outside a blue shipping container serving as the project’s power station.

    Wave energy is an emerging industry that’s largely still focused on research, demonstration and pilot projects. But the potential is big.

    Waves off the coasts of the United States generate enough power to meet roughly one-third of America’s energy needs, according to Department of Energy estimates. Even if only a portion is harnessed, wave energy technologies could help meet the growing demand for electricity being driven in large part by the artificial intelligence race. Wave energy could also complement wind and solar to stabilize the electric grid.

    Eco Wave Power installed its technology at the port’s AltaSea ocean institute, a nonprofit that is working in part to advance ocean-based solutions to climate change. Half this pilot project was funded by the oil and gas company Shell.

    “It’s the first U.S. project on breakwater, so it opens up the possibility to do that on multiple other ports in the U.S.,” said Rémi Gruet, CEO of the trade association Ocean Energy Europe. “It’s a moment where wave power is starting to turn from innovation projects to actual pilot projects that go toward industrialization and commercialization.”

    A key advantage for wave energy is it produces electricity at different times than wind and solar, Gruet said. For example, when the wind stops blowing, wind turbines will stop generating electricity. But waves will carry on for hours and electricity can still be generated that way, he said.

    But the cost needs to come down with the help of subsidies, like it has for solar and wind, Gruet added.

    The first commercial wave power plant in Europe started operating in 2011 from a breakwater at Mutriku harbor in Spain. An offshore wave energy system came online off the coast of Hawaii in 2016.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in 2023 to promote wave energy development in the state. Eco Wave Power currently has a two-year license to operate the pilot station at the Port of Los Angeles.

    As the small blue floats bob up and down, each pushes a cylinder that sends a biodegradable hydraulic fluid through a system of pipes into storage tanks. Pressure in the tanks builds up. That pressure turns a motor, which turns a generator, producing clean electricity.

    “The world has waves, 70% percent of the world is covered by ocean,” Terry Tamminen, president and CEO of AltaSea and former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, said at the site of the project.

    “And we can harness all of that clean energy now, thanks to things like Eco Wave,” he said.

    Braverman said there are dozens of sites along the U.S. coastline, identified through a study paid for by Shell, where her company could harness wave energy to add clean electricity to the grid. She said the technology is easy to adopt because unlike other renewables, this system doesn’t require any land acquisition, it involves repurposing existing structures rather than altering coastlines and it can generate electricity around the clock.

    The Eco Wave pilot did require licensing from the Army Corps of Engineers and from the port, but that came in a relatively quick two years, Braverman said.

    Eco Wave Power is also working on projects abroad, including Taiwan, India and Portugal, and operating a grid-connected project in Israel. In New Jersey, where legislation is advancing to promote ocean energy development in the state, the company is looking for a site to install a pilot project, with help from elected officials.

    Andrea Copping, an expert in marine renewable energy development, thinks Eco Wave Power’s technology can be scaled up successfully. These small marine energy projects are not yet economically competitive with solar or wind, but there are places where they may be a better fit or a solution in cooperation with other energy sources, such as remote coastal communities and islands where diesel deliveries can be very expensive, she said.

    “We consider every successful deployment an important milestone in creating this industry,” said Copping, a distinguished faculty fellow in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington.

    ___

    McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. AP’s 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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Republicans seek to lift drilling, mining restrictions in Western states

    [ad_1]

    BILLINGS, Mont. — Republican lawmakers in Congress are clearing the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to expand mining and drilling on public lands by moving to eliminate energy development limits in several Western states.

    House Republicans on Wednesday night voted largely along party lines to repeal land management plans adopted in the closing days of former President Joe Biden’s administration that restricted development in large areas of Alaska, Montana and North Dakota.


    This page requires Javascript.

    Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

    kAmq:56?’D 8@2= H2D 😕 A2CE E@ C65F46 4=:>2E6H2C>:?8 6>:DD:@?D 7C@> E96 3FC?:?8 @7 7@DD:= 7F6=D 6IEC24E65 7C@> 7656C2= =2?5] &?56C %CF>A[ #6AF3=:42?D 2C6 42DE:?8 2D:56 E9@D6 2DA:C2E:@?D 2D E96J @A6? >@C6 E2IA2J6C@H?65 =2?5 E@ 56G6=@A>6?E[ 9@A:?8 E@ 4C62E6 >@C6 ;@3D 2?5 C6G6?F6]k^Am

    kAm“%9:D 😀 2 8C62E 52J 7@C p>6C:42?D 24C@DD E96 4@F?ECJ 2D H6 4@?E:?F6 @FC H@C< E@ F?=62D9 @FC ?2EFC2= C6D@FC46D[ DFAA@CE =@42= 64@?@>:6D 2?5 4@>>F?:E:6D 2?5 DEC6?8E96? @FC 6?6C8J 2?5 ?2E:@?2= D64FC:EJ[” D2:5 pC<2?D2D #6AF3=:42? #6A] qCF46 (6DE6C>2?[ H9@ 492:CD E96 w@FD6 }2EFC2= #6D@FC46D r@>>:EE66]k^Am

    kAm%96 #6AF3=:42?>2;@C:EJ $6?2E6 >FDE DE:== 2AAC@G6 E96 w@FD6 24E:@?[ 2?5 D@>6 =2H>2<6CD 2=C625J 92G6 6IAC6DD65 DFAA@CE]k^Am

    kAms6>@4C2ED 925 FC865 C6;64E:@? @7 E96 C6A62=D[ H9:49 H6C6 244@>A=:D965 FD:?8 2 AC@465FC6 @H? 2D E96 r@?8C6DD:@?2= #6G:6H p4E E92E 2==@HD =2H>2<6CD E@ F?5@ D@>6 C646?E 24E:@?D E2<6? 3J E96 6I64FE:G6 3C2?49]k^Am

    kAm“#6AF3=:42?D AC6D:56 @G6C 2? 64@?@>J 😕 H9:49 6G6CJE9:?8 😀 86EE:?8 >@C6 6IA6?D:G6[” #6A] y@6 }68FD6[ 2 r@=@C25@ s6>@4C2E[ D2:5 5FC:?8 5632E6 @? E96 >62DFC6D] “%96:C 2?DH6C E@ 2== @7 E9:Dn |@C6 4@2=]”k^Am

    kAm%CF>A 564=2C65 2 “?2E:@?2= 6?6C8J 6>6C86?4J” 😕 y2?F2CJ 2D 96 D@F89E E@ DA665 2AAC@G2=D 7@C @:=[ 82D 2?5 4@2= AC@;64ED]k^Am

    kAm~? %9FCD52J[ E96 qFC62F @7 {2?5 |2?286>6?E 2??@F?465 E96 7:CDE 4@2= =62D6 2H2C565 E@ 2 4@>A2?J 5FC:?8 %CF>A’D 4FCC6?E E6C> — `g]b >:==:@? E@?D @7 E96 7F6= 2E E96 uC665@> |:?6 ?62C q6F=29[ }@CE9 s2<@E2] r@E62F !C@A6CEJ r@>A2?:6D 3@F89E E96 =62D6 7@C S`_e[___ 2?5 >FDE DF3>:E C@J2=EJ A2J>6?ED @? E96 4@2= :E 6IEC24ED] %96 D2=6 925 366? D4965F=65 367@C6 (65?6D52J’D G@E6D 3J =2H>2<6CD]k^Am

    kAmp5>:?:DEC2E:@? @77:4:2=D 😕 yF=J 2??@F?465 E96:C :?E6?E:@? E@ F?5@ E96 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^4@2=AF3=:4=2?5DECF>A>@?E2?2HJ@>:?8fc2a4`3342`ccd2ge4aa5b7h_3b7eg36Qmq:56?6C2 =2?5 FD6 A=2?Dk^2m[ 2:>:?8 E@ @A6? >@C6 2C62D E@ >:?:?8 2?5 56G6=@A>6?E] %9C@F89 E96 FDF2= CF=6>2<:?8 AC@46DD E92E 4@F=5 E2<6 >@?E9D @C 6G6? J62CD]k^Am

    kAmqJ 4@?EC2DE[ 2 4@?8C6DD:@?2= C6A62= H@F=5 8@ :?E@ 67764E BF:4<=J[ D6EE:?8 E96 DE286 7@C E96 25>:?:DEC2E:@? E@ 6I64FE6 D2=6D[ :?4=F5:?8 2 AC@A@D2= 7@C 2 `ef >:==:@? E@? 4@2= =62D6 😕 D@FE962DE6C? |@?E2?2] %92E D2=6[ C6BF6DE65 3J E96 }2G2;@ %C2?D:E:@?2= t?6C8J r@][ 😀 D4965F=65 7@C ~4E] e] w@H6G6C[ ?@ =62D6D 4@F=5 36 :DDF65 H9:=6 E96 q:56?6C2 =2?5 FD6 A=2? 7@C E96 2C62 C6>2:?D 😕 67764E[ 244@C5:?8 E@ D2=6 5@4F>6?ED]k^Am

    kAm“%9:D H2D E96 962GJ 92?5 @7 3:8 8@G6C?>6?E 4CFD9:?8 2? 6?E:C6 :?5FDECJ[” |@?E2?2 #6AF3=:42? #6A] %C@J s@H?:?8 D2:5 @7 E96 A=2?]k^Am

    kAmx? p=2D<2[ E96 DE2E6’D =@?6 &]$] w@FD6 >6>36C[ #6AF3=:42? }:4< q68:49[ D2:5 C6A62=:?8 E96 >2?286>6?E A=2? 7@C E96 46?EC2= *F<@? C68:@? H@F=5 @A6? 2446DD E@ 4C:E:42= >:?6C2=D 2?5 96=A DFAA@CE 2 AC@A@D65 =:BF67:65 ?2EFC2= 82D AC@;64E] ~AA@?6?ED[ :?4=F5:?8 2 4@?D@CE:F> @7 c_ 7656C2==J C64@8?:K65 EC:36D[ H@CCJ 2 C6A62= H@F=5 AFE DF3D:DE6?46 92CG6DED 2E C:D< 3642FD6 E96 =2?5D :?4=F56 :>A@CE2?E 923:E2E 7@C D2=>@? 2?5 42C:3@F]k^Am

    kAm(65?6D52J’D G@E6D >2C<65 E96 7:CDE E:>6 r@?8C6DD 92D 2EE6>AE65 E@ FD6 E96 C6G:6H 24E E@ @G6CEFC? 2 =2?5 FD6 A=2?[ }68FD6 D2:5]k^Am

    kAmp? 62C=:6C 2EE6>AE 3J #6AF3=:42?D E@ @A6? >@C6 7656C2= =2?5D E@ 56G6=@A>6?E k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^AF3=:4=2?5D2=6DD6?2E6E2I4FEDd5ff47g3`cfa3aa72beg7gg5dfb2e2_`Qm42==65 7@C E96 D2=6k^2m @7 >@C6 E92? a >:==:@? 24C6D E@ DE2E6D @C @E96C 6?E:E:6D] %92E AC@A@D2=[ 7C@> &E29 #6AF3=:42? $6?] |:<6 {66[ k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^AF3=:4=2?5D2=6DD6?2E6>:<6=6637c4b2_ce2`_f674f5c776__d753h5a5QmH2D 6I4=F565k^2m 7C@> E96 v~!’D 3:8 E2I 2?5 DA6?5:?8 4FED 3:== 2>:5 7:6C46 @AA@D:E:@? 7C@> D@>6 76==@H #6AF3=:42?D]k^Am

    kAm%96 qFC62F @7 {2?5 |2?286>6?E[ H9:49 😀 A2CE @7 E96 x?E6C:@C s6A2CE>6?E[ @G6CD66D E96 =2?5D 4@G6C65 3J E96 5:DAFE65 >2?286>6?E A=2?D]k^Am

    kAm%96 =2?5 286?4J @? %F6D52J 2??@F?465 2 D6A2C2E6 AC@A@D2= 2:>65 2E :?4C62D:?8 >:?:?8 2?5 5C:==:?8 😕 (6DE6C? DE2E6D H:E9 A@AF=2E:@?D @7 8C62E6C D286 8C@FD6] %96 8C@F?55H6==:?8 3:C5D 92G6 366? 564=:?:?8 7@C 564256D 3642FD6 @7 5:D62D6 2?5 923:E2E =@DE E@ 6?6C8J 56G6=@A>6?E[ 8C2K:?8 2?5 H:=57:C6D]k^Am

    kAmq:56? 25>:?:DEC2E:@? @77:4:2=D k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^8C62E6CD2868C@FD67656C2=AC@E64E:@?D3e_g2_45caffgcbf4gca62acg62f7fd7QmAC@A@D65 =:>:ED @? 56G6=@A>6?Ek^2m 2?5 AC@9:3:E:@?D 282:?DE >:?:?8 E@ 96=A AC@E64E 8C@FD6] w@H6G6C[ E96 s6>@4C2E’D 7@FCJ62C E6C> 6?565 367@C6 >2?J @7 E9@D6 >62DFC6D H6C6 7:?2=:K65]k^Am

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

    [ad_2]

    By MATTHEW BROWN – Associated Press

    Source link

  • Trump admin cancels $679 million for offshore wind projects as attacks on reeling industry continue

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — The Transportation Department on Friday canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest attack by the Trump administration on the reeling U.S. offshore wind industry.

    Funding for projects in 11 states was rescinded, including $435 million for a floating wind farm in Northern California and $47 million to boost an offshore wind project in Maryland that the Interior Department has pledged to cancel.

    “Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”

    The Trump administration has stepped up its crusade against wind and other renewable energy sources in recent weeks, cutting federal funding and canceling projects approved by the Biden administration in a sustained attack on clean energy sources that scientists say are crucial to the fight against climate change.

    President Donald Trump has vowed to restore U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market and has pushed to increase U.S. reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.

    California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called Duffy’s action “outrageous” and deeply disappointing.

    Trump and his Cabinet “have a stubborn and mystifying hatred of clean energy,” Huffman said in an interview. “It’s so dogmatic. They are willing to eliminate thousands of jobs and an entire sector that can bring cheap, reliable power to American consumers.”

    The canceled funding will be redirected to upgrade ports and other infrastructure in the U.S., where possible, the Transportation Department said.

    Separately, Trump’s Energy Department said Friday it is withdrawing a $716 million loan guarantee approved by the Biden administration to upgrade and expand transmission infrastructure to accommodate a now-threatened offshore wind project in New Jersey.

    The moves come as the administration abruptly halted construction last week of a nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Interior Department said the government needs to review the $4 billion Revolution Wind project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are.

    Democratic governors, lawmakers and union workers in New England have called for Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to reverse course.

    Trump has long expressed disdain for wind power, frequently calling it an ugly and expensive form of energy that “smart” countries don’t use.

    Earlier this month, the Interior Department canceled a major wind farm in Idaho, a project approved late in former President Joe Biden’s term that had drawn criticism for its proximity to a historic site where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II.

    Last week, with U.S. electricity prices rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, Trump lashed out, falsely blaming renewable power for skyrocketing energy costs. He called wind and solar energy “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social media post and vowed not to approve any wind or solar projects.

    “We’re not allowing any windmills to go up unless there’s a legal situation where somebody committed to it a long time ago,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

    Energy analysts say renewable sources have little to do with recent price hikes, which are based on increased demand from artificial intelligence and energy-hungry data centers, along with aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather events such as wildfires that are exacerbated by climate change.

    Revolution Wind’s developer, Danish energy company Orsted, said it is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction on the New England project and is considering legal proceedings.

    Revolution Wind was expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. In addition to hampering the states’ climate goals, losing out on all that renewable power could drive up electricity prices throughout the region, Democratic officials say.

    Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Those include reviewing wind and solar energy permits, canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopping work on another offshore wind project for New York, although construction was later allowed to resume.

    Some critics say the steps to cancel projects put Americans’ livelihoods at risk.

    “It’s an attack on our jobs,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said of the move to stop construction of Revolution Wind. “It’s an attack on our energy. It’s an attack on our families and their ability to pay the bills.”

    Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, said his union is “going to fight (Trump) every step of the way, no matter how long it takes.”

    Under Biden, the U.S. held the first-ever auction of leases for floating wind farms in December 2022. Deep waters off the West Coast are better suited for floating projects than those that are anchored in the seabed, officials said.

    ___

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Want to work for National Weather Service? Be ready to explain how you agree with Trump

    [ad_1]

    As the National Weather Service scrambles to hire up to 450 people to restore deep cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, potential applicants are being asked to explain how they would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda if hired.

    A posting from the weather service’s parent agency seeking meteorologists asks applicants to identify one or two of Trump’s executive orders “that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”

    It’s among screening questions added to government job applications as part of a “ merit hiring plan” that Trump announced at the outset of his second term, and it’s not unique to the weather service positions. But some experts said they are alarmed at the prospect that a candidate’s ideology could matter for jobs in science.

    “The fundamental question is, will this make forecasts any better? That’s the job of the weather service,” said Rick Spinrad, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the weather service, under former President Joe Biden.

    “These people should be hired for their knowledge in meteorology or hydrology or information technology or physics — not civics. … Bottom line, I’d rather have a great forecaster who’s never read an EO than a policy muck who’s taken one meteorology class,” he said, referring to executive orders.

    Spokespeople for NOAA didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

    Before Elon Musk left DOGE, it cut hundreds of NOAA forecasters and other employees soon after Trump took office. Experts warned that the vacancies could hurt forecasts and dangerous consequences for people if extreme weather warnings were slowed.

    NOAA confirmed in early August that it had received approval to hire as many as 450 people for critical positions within the weather service after this spring’s deep cuts.

    Trump has issued numerous executive orders, and applicants could presumably choose any to endorse — or none at all, since the application says responses aren’t required, only encouraged.

    But Trump has consistently attacked clean energy and climate science while promoting fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, which emit planet-warming gases. One of his first executive orders, which he dubbed “ unleashing American energy,” directed agencies to sweep away any “undue burden” to fossil fuel development. That order also canceled a series of orders from Biden that addressed climate change.

    Under Trump, NOAA has stopped tracking the cost of weather disasters worsened by climate change. His administration has also moved to shut down two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health — data seen as helpful for measuring the impacts of climate change.

    Trump’s second term has been marked by accusations that he has politicized science, most recently with the ouster of the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not being “aligned” with the president’s agenda. Separately, employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health and Federal Emergency Management Agency have issued declarations of dissent with agency actions. Some EPA and FEMA employees who signed those letters were put on leave.

    Another screening question asks applicants how their “commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States” inspired them to seek the job. A third asks how they would use their skills to improve government efficiency and effectiveness.

    Craig McLean, a former NOAA acting chief scientist under Biden and during Trump’s first term, said none of the questions are relevant to weather service positions. NOAA and the NWS are responsible for daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring, among other tasks.

    “Asking a meteorologist to define how they as a new employee, are going to make the government more efficient is ludicrous,” McLean said. “I’d rather understand how well they are prepared to use the forecast tools and make a timely and accurate forecast.”

    Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections and co-founder of Weather Underground, said the questions amount to a loyalty test that will discourage many qualified applicants from applying.

    “Whether or not you support the President’s Executive Orders will not enable a meteorologist to make a better forecast or issue a more timely tornado warning, and should have no place on a job application for the National Weather Service,” Masters said by email.

    ___

    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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Democrats ask Trump to resume a major offshore wind project near Rhode Island

    [ad_1]

    A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future as the states’ Democratic governors, members of Congress and union workers are calling Monday for the Trump administration to let construction resume.

    The administration halted construction on the Revolution Wind project last week, saying the federal government needs to review the project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what the concerns are. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Monday it’s not commenting further at this time.

    The politicians are getting involved because stopping work on Revolution Wind threatens local jobs and their states’ climate goals, and could drive up electricity prices throughout the region. All of the project’s underwater foundations and 45 out of 65 turbines are already installed.

    Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of government plans to shift to renewable energy, particularly in populous East Coast states with limited land for wind turbines or solar arrays.

    President Donald Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Those include reviewing wind and solar energy permits, canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopping work on another offshore wind project under construction for New York, although construction was later allowed to resume.

    Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is scheduled to go to State Pier in New London, Connecticut, on Monday, where components for the Revolution Wind project are kept before being taken out to sea. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is headed to North Kingstown, Rhode Island, where the logistics and operations hub for the project is located.

    McKee says Revolution Wind is critical to the region’s economy and energy future.

    Both governors will be joined by Democratic congressmen and labor leaders. About 1,000 union members have been working on Revolution Wind, and those jobs are now at risk.

    Revolution Wind is expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first large offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. Power would be provided at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, locked in for 20 years. That is cheaper than the average cost of electricity in New England.

    The developer, Danish energy company Orsted, is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and considering legal proceedings.

    The project site is more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles (51 kilometers) southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm in state waters, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

    The Trump administration previously stopped work on Empire Wind, the New York offshore wind project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals, although the developer Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits. Construction was allowed to resume in May after two of the state’s Democratic leaders, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, intervened.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Isabella O’Malley in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

    ___

    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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 6 people found dead at Colorado dairy. Authorities suspect an accident involving gas

    [ad_1]

    An apparent accident at a dairy in a rural farming community in Colorado involving exposure to gas killed six people, including a high school student, authorities said Thursday.

    Investigators are looking into what kind of gases may have played a role in the deaths Wednesday at Prospect Valley Dairy in Keenesburg, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Denver. Crews recovered the bodies in a confined space at the dairy, the Southeast Weld Fire Protection District said.

    “We are investigating these deaths as the possible consequence of gas exposure in a confined space,” said Jolene Weiner, chief deputy coroner for Weld County.

    The identities of those who died, all Hispanic males, were being withheld pending notification of the families, Weiner said. A local school district said a high school student was among those who died.

    Weld County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Melissa Chesmore said her agency didn’t find anything indicating a crime took place.

    “It looks like an accident,” she said, declining to elaborate or say where exactly the bodies were found, referring questions to occupational safety regulators.

    Chauntra Rideaux, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson, said in an email that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating. The farm is a member of the Dairy Farmers of America, the group said.

    “We are deeply saddened by this incident, and our thoughts and most sincere condolences go out to the friends and families of the deceased. At this early stage, we have no further details,” the farmer-owned cooperative said in a statement.

    County tax records say the property is owned by Prospect Valley Dairy LLC and list a Bakersfield, California, address for the owners. Phone messages left for a number at the California address were not immediately returned.

    Weld County is a major agricultural producer. Three-quarters of its land is devoted to farming and raising livestock. It’s Colorado’s leading dairy producer and the state’s biggest source of beef cattle, grain and sugar beets.

    Census data from 2020 shows 30% of the county was Hispanic or Latino, compared to 22% for the state overall.

    ___

    Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico and McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press Writer Corey Williams contributed from Detroit.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump blames renewable energy for rising electricity prices. Experts point elsewhere

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — With electricity prices rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, President Donald Trump has lashed out at renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, blaming them for skyrocketing energy costs.

    Trump called wind and solar power “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social media post and vowed not to approve wind or “farmer destroying Solar” projects. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social site.

    Energy analysts say renewable sources have little to do with recent price hikes, which are based on increased demand, aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather events such as wildfires that are exacerbated by climate change.

    The rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has fueled demand for energy-hungry data centers that need power to run servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems. Increased use of electric vehicles also has boosted demand, even as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans move to restrict tax credits and other incentives for EV purchases approved under the Biden administration.

    Natural gas prices, meanwhile, are rising sharply amid increased exports to Europe and other international customers. More than 40% of U.S. electricity is generated by natural gas.

    Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to lower Americans’ electric bills by 50%. Democrats have been quick to blame him for the price hikes, citing actions to hamstring clean energy in the sprawling tax-and-spending cut bill approved last month, as well as regulations since then to further restrict wind and solar power.

    “Now more than ever, we need more energy, not less, to meet our increased energy demand and power our grid. Instead of increasing our energy supply Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to the clean energy sector, killing jobs and projects,” said New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

    The GOP bill will cost thousands of jobs and impose higher energy costs nationwide, Heinrich and other critics said.

    A report from Energy Innovation, a non-partisan think tank, found the GOP tax law will increase the average family’s energy bill by $130 annually by 2030. “By quickly phasing out technology-neutral clean energy tax credits and adding complex material sourcing requirements,” the tax law will “significantly hamper the development of domestic electricity generation capacity,” the report said.

    Renewable advocates were more blunt.

    “The real scam is blaming solar for fossil fuel price spikes,” the Solar Energy Industries Association said in response to Trump’s post.

    “Farmers, families, and businesses choose solar to save money, preserve land, and escape high costs of the old, dirty fuels being forced on them by this administration,” the group added.

    Wind and solar offer some of the cheapest and fastest ways to provide electric power, said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, another industry group. More than 90% of new energy capacity that came online in the U.S. in 2024 was clean energy, he said.

    “Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense,” added Ted Kelly, director of U.S. clean energy for the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group.

    Energy Secretary Chris Wright blamed rising prices on “momentum” from Biden-era policies that backed renewable power over fossil fuel sources such as oil, coal and natural gas.

    “That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who’s going to get blamed for it? We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office,” Wright told POLITICO during a visit to Iowa last week. About 60 percent of the state’s electricity comes from wind.

    Not all the pushback comes from Democrats.

    Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican who backs wind power, has placed a hold on three Treasury nominees to ensure wind and solar have “an appropriate glidepath for the orderly phase-out of the tax credits” approved in the 2022 climate law under former President Joe Biden.

    Grassley said he was encouraged by new Treasury guidance that limits tax credits for wind and solar projects but does not eliminate them. The guidance “seems to offer a viable path forward for the wind and solar industries to continue to meet increased energy demand,” Grassley said in a statement.

    John Quigley, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Republican tax law will increase U.S. power bills by slowing construction of solar, wind, and battery projects and could eliminate as many as 45,000 jobs by 2030.

    Trump administration polices that emphasize fossil fuels are “an extremely backward force in this conversation,” Quigley said. “Besides ceding the clean energy future to other nations, we are paying for fossil foolishness with more than money — with our health and with our safety. And our children will pay an even higher price.”

    ___

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Radiant First Developer to Sign DOE Contract for HALEU Fuel, on Track for Test Next Spring

    [ad_1]

    Radiant scheduled to be the first to test a new reactor design at Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility


    EL SEGUNDO, Calif., August 21, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Radiant, the company pioneering the world’s first portable, mass-produced nuclear microreactor, announced today it has officially signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel.

    The agreement follows the DOE’s April 9th announcement naming five HALEU awardees. Each awardee still needed to successfully negotiate a contract to receive HALEU. Radiant is the first to finalize such an agreement. Over the past couple of months, Radiant worked closely with DOE and other federal and private partners to negotiate specific terms and conditions.

    “This agreement means the HALEU fuel can now officially be transferred, which keeps us on schedule to begin testing our Kaleidos Demonstration Unit at the DOME facility next year,” said Dr. Rita Baranwal, Chief Nuclear Officer at Radiant. “It also keeps the country on track to deliver on the President’s four executive orders signed in May to unleash America’s energy independence and innovation.”

    Radiant is scheduled to be first to test a new reactor design at the National Reactor Innovation Center DOME facility next spring – marking the first test of a U.S.-designed advanced reactor at Idaho National Laboratory in almost 50 years. With this fuel agreement in place, Radiant continues to lead the field in delivering flexible, advanced nuclear technology to power American energy independence and national security.

    For more information on Radiant, visit www.radiantnuclear.com.

    About Radiant

    Radiant is building the world’s first mass-produced nuclear microreactors that can go anywhere they’re needed, whenever they’re needed and without constant refueling. The company’s first reactor, Kaleidos, is a 1 MW failsafe microreactor that can be transported anywhere power is needed. Founded in 2020, Radiant plans to test its first reactor in 2026, with initial customer deployments beginning in 2028. Radiant’s mission is to mass produce the most economical and reliable portable reactors.

    Source: Radiant Industries, Incorporated

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • China rushes to build out solar, emissions edge downward

    [ad_1]

    TALATAN, China — High on the Tibetan plateau, Chinese government officials last month showed off what they say will be the world’s largest solar farm when completed — 610 square kilometers (235 square miles), the size of the American city of Chicago.

    China has been installing solar panels at a blistering pace, far faster than anywhere else in the world, and the investment is starting to pay off. A study released Thursday found that the country’s carbon emissions edged down 1% in the first six months of the year compared to a year earlier, extending a trend that began in March 2024.

    The good news is China’s carbon emissions may have peaked well ahead of a government target of doing so before 2030. But China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, will need to bring them down much more sharply to play its part in slowing global climate change.

    For China to reach its declared goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, emissions would need to fall 3% on average over the next 35 years, said Lauri Myllyvirta, the Finland-based author of the study and lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

    “China needs to get to that 3% territory as soon as possible,” he said.

    China’s emissions have fallen before during economic slowdowns. What’s different this time is electricity demand is growing — up 3.7% in the first half of this year — but the increase in power from solar, wind and nuclear has easily outpaced that, according to Myllyvirta, who analyzes the most recent data in a study published on the U.K.-based Carbon Brief website.

    “We’re talking really for the first time about a structural declining trend in China’s emissions,” he said.

    China installed 212 gigawatts of solar capacity in the first six months of the year, more than America’s entire capacity of 178 gigawatts as of the end of 2024, the study said. Electricity from solar has overtaken hydropower in China and is poised to surpass wind this year to become the country’s largest source of clean energy. Some 51 gigawatts of wind power was added from January to June.

    Li Shuo, the director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington, described the plateauing of China’s carbon emissions as a turning point in the effort to combat climate change.

    “This is a moment of global significance, offering a rare glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak climate landscape,” he wrote in an email response. It also shows that a country can cut emissions while still growing economically, he said.

    But Li cautioned that China’s heavy reliance on coal remains a serious threat to progress on climate and said the economy needs to shift to less resource-intensive sectors. “There’s still a long road ahead,” he said.

    A seemingly endless expanse of solar panels stretches toward the horizon on the Tibetan plateau. White two-story buildings rise above them at regular intervals. Sheep graze on the scrubby vegetation that grows under them.

    Solar panels have been installed on about two-thirds of the land. When completed, it will have more than 7 million panels and be capable of generating enough power for 5 million households.

    Like many of China’s solar and wind farms, it was built in the relatively sparsely populated west. A major challenge is getting electricity to the population centers and factories in China’s east.

    “The distribution of green energy resources is perfectly misaligned with the current industrial distribution of our country,” Zhang Jinming, the vice governor of Qinghai province, told journalists on a government-organized tour.

    Part of the solution is building transmission lines traversing the country. One connects Qinghai to Henan province. Two more are planned, including one to Guangdong province in the southeast, almost at the opposite corner of the country.

    Making full use of the power is hindered by the relatively inflexible way that China’s electricity grid is managed, tailored to the steady output of coal plants rather than more variable and less predictable wind and solar, Myllyvirta said.

    “This is an issue that the policymakers have recognized and are trying to manage, but it does require big changes to the way coal-fired power plants operate and big changes to the way the transmission network operates,” he said. “So it’s no small task.”

    ___

    Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press video producer Wayne Zhang contributed.

    ___

    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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Radiant Selected by Department of Energy as First New Nuclear Reactor Design to Be Tested in DOME

    [ad_1]

    Reactor installation and testing scheduled to begin in Spring 2026


    EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 2, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Radiant, the company on the forefront of pioneering the world’s first portable mass-produced nuclear microreactor, announced today that it has been conditionally selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct the first test of its Kaleidos microreactor in the National Reactor Innovation Center’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) testbed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The demonstration reactor installation and testing is scheduled to begin in Spring 2026 and would be the first new U.S. nuclear reactor design to be tested in DOME.

    Radiant was competitively selected and is currently working through the multi-phase DOE authorization process to support the design, fabrication, construction, and testing of their fueled reactor experiment at DOME. The DOME facility is being established at INL to accelerate deployment of advanced microreactor technologies.

    “Radiant and the Department of Energy are now a team with a combined mission: Just nine months from now we will have the opportunity to put the 53rd reactor in INL’s long history into the DOME,” said Doug Bernauer, Radiant Founder and CEO. “In short order, we will fuel, go critical, and operate, leading to the mass production of portable reactors which will jumpstart American nuclear energy dominance.”

    Radiant’s Kaleidos reactor is designed to be built on an assembly line and deliver more than 1 MW of electricity in a portable package. Fueled by TRISO fuel particles, Kaleidos is designed for deployment anywhere it’s needed without the need to refuel for years.

    This latest news comes on the heels of Radiant’s previous conditional selection by DOE to receive an allocation of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel for the Kaleidos test – a critical enabler of next year’s demonstration.

    For more information on Radiant and the Kaleidos microreactor, visit www.radiantnuclear.com. To join Radiant on their mission, follow them on Linkedin.

    About Radiant

    Radiant is building the world’s first mass-produced nuclear microreactors. The company’s first reactor, Kaleidos, is a 1 MW failsafe microreactor that can be transported anywhere power is needed. Founded in 2020, Radiant plans to test its first reactor in 2026, with initial customer deployments beginning in 2028. Radiant’s mission is to mass produce the most economical and reliable portable reactors.

    Source: Radiant Industries, Incorporated

    [ad_2]

    Source link