Energy

Construction Unions Grab Hold Of Clean Energy Jobs

May 21, 2025 Paul Prescod, Labor Notes. Strategize! Energy, Green Transition, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

State and local governments have begun taking concrete steps towards a clean energy economy, and for now, even under Trump, green union jobs are increasing. Meanwhile, unions have partnered with climate activists to win legislation for more such jobs. Six states have passed “climate jobs” bills to expand renewable energy and raise labor standards for that construction. Four more have union coalitions advocating for such legislation. Will the green surge continue? And if it does, will workers reap the economic benefits—or get left behind? The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act opened the door for clean energy projects across the country. Many IRA tax credits were designed to encourage the use of high-wage union labor.

Build Inspiring Alternatives To Counter Authoritarianism

May 16, 2025 Barbara Peterson, Waging Nonviolence. Create! climate crisis, Communities, Education, Energy, Food Security, Health Care, Housing, Science and technology

We are heading down a perilous road. Vulnerable communities face growing threats. The climate crisis is outpacing scientists’ worst predictions. Authoritarianism is no longer a distant possibility — it is rising, with democracy backsliding across the globe. With Trump’s return, public services like education, labor protections, humane immigration policies, health care and diversity programs are being dismantled. Meanwhile, trust in democracy is eroding — especially among young people. As political scientist Steven Levitsky points out, part of the problem is motivational: The political right is fighting for a clear, albeit dangerous, vision. The left, by contrast, is often fighting against that vision, with fewer compelling alternatives on offer.

It’s Possible To End Global Poverty Without Compromising Climate Goals

May 14, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Create! climate crisis, Energy, Global South, Poverty

As the world works to stop global heating by ending the use of fossil fuels in accordance with climate objectives, ensuring that everyone on Earth has a decent standard of living is possible if the world quickly and decisively implements emissions reductions, new research has found. The study, led by research scholar Jarmo Kikstra with the Energy, Climate and Environment Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), looked at energy scenarios that line up with both the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “With climate change intensifying and billions of people still lacking basic necessities, addressing both challenges simultaneously is not only possible but essential,” a press release from IIASA said.

Retrofit For The Future Campaign Takes Demands To The Heart Of Government

May 12, 2025 Hannah Sharland, The Canary. Organize! climate crisis, Energy, Retrofit For The Future, United Kingdom (UK)

In March, a coalition of groups launched the vital new ‘Retrofit For the Future’ campaign – and already, it’s making waves. Notably, the coalition has secured a meeting with a key minister inside the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to demand the government put renters’ and workers’ rights at the heart of a green and just transition in the housing sector. Fuel Poverty Action, ACORN, Greener Jobs Alliance, Medact, and the Peace & Justice Project, among others, set the ball rolling on a retrofit revolution that calls for housing fit for the future. In particular, the campaign demands that the government direct its attention to retrofit-upgrading and improving existing homes. It argues that doing so is a key to tackling both the climate emergency and the housing crisis.

China Helps Cuba Fight Blackouts, Strengthen Power Grid

April 29, 2025 Jimena Esteban, Orinoco Tribune. Create! China, Cuba, Economic Blockade, Energy, energy crisis, Solar power

Cuba may slowly ease its crippling blackouts and strengthen the electricity grid as it begins building seven solar parks with the first batch of equipment from China. The Chinese aid helps Cuba’s plan to build 92 solar installations by 2028, adding about 2,000 megawatts to the island’s power grid and help reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports. Once completed, the project would significantly boost Cuba’s strained power system, which currently has a capacity of 7,264 MW. Installation work is set to begin soon in Artemisa, about 50 kilometers west of Havana, where the equipment arrived late last month. Additional solar parks are planned for the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma and Guantanamo.

AI Energy Demand Can Keep Fossil Fuels Alive

April 23, 2025 Sharon Kelly and Bailey Chambers, DeSmog. Educate! Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Tech, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Google, Oil and Gas, Politics and Policy

Just before the November 2024 election, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its flagship annual report on global energy markets – and the agency’s forecast suggested a new era was dawning. Over 150 years of growth in demand for fossil fuels has nearly reached its end, the IEA’s forecasts showed for a second year in a row. Fossil fuel demand will peak by the end of this decade, the organization affirmed, concluding that clean energy like wind, solar, and storage look increasingly capable of driving fossil fuels out of global energy markets – and soon.

How 77 Tons Of Radioactive Waste Ended Up In Brooklyn

April 19, 2025 Justin Nobel, DeSmog. Resist! Activism, Energy, New York City (NYC), Nuclear Waste

New York City’s second largest utility is being sued in federal court for the alleged inappropriate handling of at least 77 tons of radioactive waste at a 120-acre site located in Brooklyn, the city’s most populous borough. The radioactive waste, as well as other hazardous coal waste, is a leftover of a bygone era, more than a century ago, when the parcel was the location of Equity Works, a manufactured gas plant (MGP) that derived gas from heating coal, and then piped it across the city to power lighting, cooking, and heating. Cooper Tank & Welding, which purchased the site from London-based National Grid in 1987, is seeking “no less than $2,000,000” in damages, charging in its lawsuit that the multinational electric and gas utility’s “negligent operating and waste management practices resulted in contamination” from “concentrated radioactive materials,” as well as “coal tar and other hazardous substances.”

Canada Fossil Fuel Subsidies Hit $30 Billion Amid Pipeline Push

April 13, 2025 Taylor Noakes, DeSmog. Educate! Canada, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Pipelines, Politics and Policy, Subsidies

Amid trade war talk of expanding Canadian energy infrastructure, a new report reveals that direct Canadian subsidies to the fossil fuel and petrochemical sectors reached nearly $30 billion in 2024. For comparison’s sake, Canada spent between $38 billion and $39 billion on defense in 2024. “Oil and gas companies – emboldened by their influence over President Trump – are exploiting the current economic uncertainty to call on governments to double down on fossil fuels,” Julia Levin, associate director of national climate with nonprofit group Environmental Defence, which put out the report, said in a statement.

Farmers In Trump Country Were Counting On Clean Energy Grants

March 30, 2025 Ames Alexander, Mario Alejandro Ariza and Joe Engleman, Portside. Educate! Energy, Farmers, Renewable Energy, Trump Administration, USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced late Tuesday it will release previously authorized grant funds to farmers and small rural business owners to build renewable energy projects—but only if they rewrite applications to comply with President Donald Trump’s energy priorities. The move has left some farmers perplexed—and doubtful that they’ll ever get the grant money they were promised, given the Trump administration’s emphasis on fossil fuels and hostility toward renewable energy. Some of the roughly 6,000 grant applicants have already completed the solar, wind or other energy projects and are awaiting promised repayment from the government.

Canada’s Sovereignty Was Under Threat Long Before Trump

March 30, 2025 Ekaterina Cabylis, Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Canada, Donald Trump, Energy, NAFTA, Sports, US Empire, White House

While the exploitation of Canada’s natural resources and economic control exerted by the U.S. are well known, the subtler ways America maintains its grip, through cultural influence, economic pressure, and the poaching of talent, reveal a deeper, systemic colonization. The United States has systematically prevented Canada from developing industrial independence, ensuring it remains a supplier of raw materials rather than a competitor on the global stage. The economic imbalance has been in place for decades, yet many Canadians falsely believe that Donald Trump was the catalyst for U.S. exploitation.

Beyond Community Currencies: Strengthening Your Local Economy

March 28, 2025 Alex Lopez, Resilience. Create! Communities, Energy, Local Economy, Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Communities (REC)

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Renewable Energy Communities (REC), legal entities that collectively manage energy, promoting economic, social, and environmental benefits for their community. This model of citizen management over an essential resource has been widely accepted — so could a similar principle be applied to money? Ekhilur, a nonprofit citizen cooperative, is pioneering an innovative approach to strengthening the local economy. Instead of creating a new currency, it operates its own payment system — regulated by the Bank of Spain — to maximize the circulation of the existing euro within the community for as long as possible.

Some First Nations Ready ‘To Rise’ If Poilievre Lifts Oil Tanker Ban

March 27, 2025 Daniel Mesec, DeSmog. Resist! Canada, Energy, Environment, First Nations, Fossil Fuels, Oil Spill

On a clear day overlooking the inner harbour of Prince Rupert, a northwest British Columbia town home to Canada’s third largest port, chances are you’ll see a spurt of water coming from the surface of the ocean. “I’ve lived here my whole life and every once in a while, you might get a glimpse of a humpback, but there have been so many humpback whales lately in the harbour, I’ve never witnessed that in my life. It’s a sign that our waters are healthy and abundant,” says Arnie Nagy, a member of the Haida Nation. Traditionally, Nagy is known as Tlaatsgaa Chiin Kiljuu, or Strong Salmon Voice, because of his years fighting to ensure the survival of the fishing industry and wild salmon on B.C.’s North Coast as a member of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union. “I’ve lived here my whole life and every once in a while, you might get a glimpse of a humpback, but there have been so many humpback whales lately in the harbour, I’ve never witnessed that in my life. It’s a sign that our waters are healthy and abundant,” says Arnie Nagy, a member of the Haida Nation.

Farmer In Peru Takes Major Germany Energy Firm To Court

March 19, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Resist! Climate Justice, emissions, Energy, Farmers, Germany, Lawsuit, Peru

A lawsuit filed by a Peruvian farmer against major German energy company RWE began on Monday. The claim, which argues that global heating fueled by the firm’s greenhouse gas emissions poses a risk to the farmer’s home, could set a new precedent for climate litigation, reported The Associated Press. “We have waited 10 years for this day, this decisive day,” said Saúl Luciano Lliuya, as supporters cheered outside the courthouse. “I’m very excited; I hope that everything goes well.” The lawsuit, filed in the Higher Regional Court in Hamm, western Germany, makes the case that RWE’s historical emissions have contributed to the global warming that has accelerated glacial melt near Lliuya’s hometown of Huaraz.

Energy Secretary Wants To ‘Play A Role In Reversing’ Climate Policies

March 12, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Biden administration, Chris Wright, climate crisis, Donald Trump, Energy, Oil and Gas Industry, Trump Administration

United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday delivered a blunt critique of the energy and climate policies of the Biden administration to a group of oil and gas executives, promising a “180 degree pivot.” The former fracking executive is fully behind President Donald Trump’s plan to expand fossil fuel production in the U.S. while doing away with federal policies to mitigate global heating. “I wanted to play a role in reversing what I believe has been a very poor direction in energy policy,” Wright said during the kickoff to the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston, as The New York Times reported.

Fossil Fuel Industry Wants To Keep New Buildings Dependent On Gas

February 27, 2025 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. Educate! Energy, Fossil Fuels, Gas Industry, Politics and Policy, Report

A new report from InfluenceMap reveals the fossil fuel industry has been waging an international lobbying war to prevent cities and towns from requiring newly built homes and businesses to install climate-friendly heating and other appliances. So far, 26 U.S. states have passed laws designed to prevent towns, cities, and other local governments from crafting new “natural gas bans” or enforcing those laws, according to the report. The analysis shows how utilities and their trade associations have pushed to take away local government’s power to phase out fossil fuel appliances or to limit new buildings’ connections to natural gas pipelines.

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