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NSW fast-tracks $60 million in community funds to help head off community concerns about the state's potentially biggest renewable energy zone.

The post NSW fast tracks $60m to win over local communities, years before first poles erected in new renewable zone appeared first on Renew Economy.

Australia's growing throng of solar panels, batteries and electric cars will be managed by a new regulator in a multimillion-dollar budget commitment welcomed by investment and climate groups. 

The post Australia’s growing throng of solar panels, home batteries and electric cars to be managed by new regulator appeared first on Renew Economy.

Industry says retrospective tax on renewables announced in budget could deter foreign investment when it's needed most.

The post A “keep out” sign for investment: Alarm bell sounds over new retrospective tax on renewables appeared first on Renew Economy.

One of the segments flowing rivers of gold from the data centre boom is backup diesel gensets. Our major cities could be awash with them. But batteries provide a better solution.

The post Diesel backup gensets are big winners from the data centre boom. Our cities would be better off with batteries appeared first on Renew Economy.

The bizarre planning rules that make fossil gas connections a default for new homes, and add costs in a state that leads the world in rooftop PV and home batteries.

The post Bizarre planning rules that force new home owners to pay for gas connections, whether they want it or not appeared first on Renew Economy.

Tim Buckley from Climate and Energy Finance joins to discuss the good, bad and the ugly from the federal budget, how to fix the Capacity Investment Scheme, and other news.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Budget’s fossil fail, and how to fix the CIS appeared first on Renew Economy.

May 13, 2026 For Immediate Release:
Ute Mountain Utes, Navajos/Dine, Greenaction & Allies to Protest Energy Fuels’ uranium mines and the mill/dump next to White Mesa Ute Community – Saturday, May 16, noon

 

 

Click Here To Download the Press Advisory –> PRESS-ADVISORY_WMCC_La-Sal_Protest (1)

Click Here to Download Flyer –> May 16 No Uranium Protest at La Sal Junction

Plans to construct a 400 megawatt, four-hour battery between two solar farms in north-east Victoria have been waved through the federal EPBC queue.

The post Developer of Australia’s most powerful battery gets green light for new four-hour project appeared first on Renew Economy.

Flying forwards while looking back Teresa Myers Wed, 05/13/2026 - 2:23 pm

This is a re-post from The Climate Brink

Back in December I provided some initial projections of where both 2026 and 2027 global mean surface temperatures might end up.

A lot has happened since then. We’ve gotten the first three months of data in for 20261 (and have a good sense of where April 2026 will end up in reanalysis data – see our Climate Dashboard for daily updates).

More importantly, models are converging on a doozy of an El Niño event developing in the latter part of 2026, with the latest multi-model median projection of a peak anomaly of 2.7C in the ENSO3.4 region of the tropical Pacific. While the prediction remains uncertain (we remain within the “spring predictability barrier” when its historically hard to predict ENSO2 development), this would put the 2026/2027 roughly on par with the “super” El Niño the world experienced in 2015/2016.

I’ve updated the models I use for both my 2026 and 2027 projections. I’ll go into the gory methodological details shortly, but the headline numbers are in the figure below: the estimate for 2026 has risen from 1.41C (with a range of 1.27C to 1.55C) to 1.46C (1.36C to 1.59C). The 2027 estimate has similarly increased from 1.57C (1.3C to 1.76C) to 1.61C (1.4C to 1.93C).

 

So what changed? Before the start of the year I was using a pretty simple regression model. It estimate what the annual temperature anomaly would be based on the prior year’s anomaly, the last month of the prior year, the predicted ENSO state over the next three months, as well as a year count (and year count squared) to reflect linear and non-linear aspects of the trend since 1970.

I’ve updated this to use the equation below, which includes the year count, prior year’s temperature anomaly, the anomaly over the year to date for 2026 (currently Jan-Mar), the latest month, the observed ENSO state over the year to date, and the forecasted ENSO state over the remainder of the year.3 The uncertainty in the 2026 prediction also accounts for the uncertainty in the ENSO forecast using a Monte Carlo sampling approach.4

Similarly, the original 2027 calculation was pretty ad hoc; I just took the 2026 estimate and added the current warming trend (0.026C per year) that we calculated in our Forster et al 2025 paper. I then added a range of possible boosts from El Niño ranging from 0C (no El Niño develops) to 0.2C (very strong El Niño), roughly encompassing the range we’ve seen across past events.

Now I’ve converted it into a proper regression model. It calculates the expected year-over-year change in temperatures based on the year count (reflecting the trend) and the ENSO forecast for the latter part of the year (September-December, reflecting the period over which the currently developing El Niño will likely peak).5 This is then added to the 2026 estimates, with their uncertainty (and the uncertainty in future ENSO forecast) propagated through using the same Monte Carlo approach. This actually slightly increases the error bars from the original 2027 estimate, reflecting the uncertainty in both the 2026 estimate and the El Niño forecast.

One way to test how well this approach works is to see how well it predicts year-over-year temperature changes during past strong El Nino events (e.g. with a peak >2C and a Sept-Dec average of >1.5C), as shown in the figure below:

In general the model does pretty well; it slightly underestimates the year-over-year increase in 1973, 1983, and 1998, gets 2016 pretty spot on, and slightly overestimates the increase between 2023 and 2024. This is, of course, contingent on where 2026 annual temperatures end up, so a warmer 2026 in this model would result in a warmer 2027.

We can also look at how well the model “hindcasts” past years by applying the 2026 prediction model to past years using the same year-to-date and temperature and ENSO values:

Overall the development of a strong El Niño event in 2026 (and its effects on 2027 temperatures) have bumped my predictions up a bit from where they were at the start of the year.

But 2026 remains more likely than not to end up as the second warmest year on record (~56% chance), but has a non-trial chance of being the warmest year (~26%) with a somewhat larger change (34%) of being above 1.5C.

2027, by contrast, is likely (~85% chance) to be the warmest year on record and has a 88% chance to be above 1.5C. My updated estimate central estimate (1.61C) remains a bit lower than Hansen’s (1.7C),6 but its consistent with the size of the year-over-year bumps we’ve seen in past strong El Niño events.

Update:A new set of ENSO runs came in this afternoon from CanSIPS, which previously set the lower bound on the ENSO forecast for 2026. The new update has notably higher estimates; these don’t change the central estimate (as the median across all ENSO model remains unchanged), but it reduces the lower end of the uncertainties in the error bars. I’ve updated the figures and text accordingly. 1 Here I’m using the average of NASA’s GISTEMP, NOAA’s GlobalTemp, Berkeley Earth, Hadley/UAE’s HadCRUT5, and Copernicus/ECMWF’s ERA5 as they are updated monthly and reasonably reflect the diversity across GMST datasets. 2 ENSO refers to El Niño Southern Oscillation, a term that encompasses both El Niño and La Niña conditions in the ENSO3.4 region of the tropical Pacific. 3 I also tested it with year count squared but the difference was minor – the prior year and year-to-date already captures a lot of the information about acceleration. 4 This involves calculating a probability distribution of future ENSO development across all the ensemble members of all the models with runs through the end of the year, and randomly sampling 1000 times from that distribution to see how it affects the results. 5 I also tried a variant using the peak El Niño forecast, but that was slightly less predictive. 6 And his team’s new estimate, just published today, that 2026 is on track to be the warmest year on record.

Vermont passes first-in-the-nation bill to ban toxic herbicide linked to Parkinson’s disease Anthony Lacey May 13, 2026

In a historic show of bipartisan leadership, Vermont lawmakers today approved a bill to ban the highly toxic herbicide paraquat. It’s the first time a state legislature has passed legislation to phaseout paraquat, a chemical linked to Parkinson’s disease.

House Bill 739 would, if enacted, end Vermonters’ exposure to one of the most dangerous pesticides still in use. 

The Environmental Working Group is urging Gov. Phil Scott to sign the legislation and set a first-in-the-nation precedent for banning paraquat. The vote also comes as 12 other states have introduced bills to ban or restrict the chemical and California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation is re-reviewing paraquat.

Paraquat has been linked not only to Parkinson’s disease but also to other serious health harms, including cancer. More than 70 countries have banned paraquat due to these health concerns, yet it remains used in the U.S.

“With today’s vote, Vermont is making history and putting the health of its residents first,” said Geoff Horsfield, legislative director at EWG. “This is the first time any legislative body in the country has passed a bill to fully ban paraquat, sending a powerful signal that the days of tolerating this dangerous chemical are numbered. 

“Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike have made clear that safeguarding farmers, rural communities and children must take precedence over continued use of one of the most hazardous pesticides still on the market.” he added. “Now that the House has passed this landmark bill, we urge Gov. Scott to sign it.”

State Rep. Esme Cole (D-Windsor) and state Sen. Martine Gulick (D-Chittenden-Central District) championed their chambers’ versions of the bills. 

In addition to EWG, groups supporting the paraquat ban bill include the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Parkinson’s Foundation, the American Parkinson Disease Association, the Vermont Natural Resources Council and others.

“No one, including farmers, farmworkers, families or children, should be exposed to a chemical with such well-documented risks,” added Horsfield.

Once Scott signs the legislation, it would mark a major milestone in the fight to eliminate paraquat use in the U.S. and could accelerate efforts in other states. 

###

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and education, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.

Areas of Focus Paraquat Press Contact Alex Formuzis alex@ewg.org (202) 667-6982 May 13, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2026

Bold Statement Re: Summit Carbon Solutions’ Alternate Plan to Route Risky CO2 Pipeline Through Nebraska

Landowners with the Nebraska Easement Action Team will oppose Summit’s efforts to acquire land; any attempts to use eminent domain will face court challenges

Hastings, NE – Bold issued the following statement after Summit Carbon Solutions issued an announcement that it now intends to attempt to seek a route through the state of Nebraska for its proposed risky carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline:  

“Transporting a dangerous waste product across the entire state of Nebraska so that a private company can capture billions of dollars of our tax dollars is not a public use, and surely is not in the public interest of Nebraskans. Bold and the Nebraska Easement Action Team will oppose Summit’s latest scheme to appease its investors,” said Shelli Meyer, Director of Bold’s Nebraska Easement Action Team (NEAT) landowners’ legal co-op. “Nebraskans are not willing to expose our families and farms to the risks of a CO2 pipeline rupture, like what happened in Satartia, Mississippi in 2020, where vehicles attempting to flee stalled and dozens were hospitalized due to lack of oxygen, with some experiencing negative health impacts to this day.”

After the citizens of South Dakota voted overwhelmingly to ban the use of eminent domain to seize landowners’ private property for CO2 pipelines, Summit was confronted with a “pipeline to nowhere,” as the company initially intended to pipe the CO2 through South Dakota into North Dakota, where it would be injected into underground sequestration well waste dumps.

Now, Summit says its new plan is to instead attempt to obtain a pipeline route directly across the entire state of Nebraska, to an alternate underground CO2 waste dump site in Wyoming. The company will also switch focus from offering ethanol plants a way to improve their “carbon scores,” to “enhanced oil recovery” as a potential use for the captured CO2 – erasing whatever climate benefits the company and its ethanol plant partners are claiming from the project, if the CO2 will instead be utilized to extract and burn more oil. 

Just like an alliance of landowners stood together to defeat the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska, landowners with the Nebraska Easement Action Team landowners’ legal co-op are organizing landowner and community opposition within impacted counties threatened by Summit’s potentially deadly carbon pipeline. NEAT landowners and their attorneys stand ready to file litigation should Summit attempt to seize Nebraskans’ farmland via eminent domain. 

Bold’s Easement Teams in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota have also been organizing landowner opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline for years. Bold’s Easement Teams are helping fund attorneys who have represented landowners at agency hearings that resulted in pipeline permit rejections in North Dakota and South Dakota, and the most-contested project in the history at the Iowa Utilities Commission, where landowners with the Iowa Easement Team also continue to challenge Summit’s pipeline route approval in the courts.  

About Bold’s Easement Action Teams: 

The Easement Action Teams are a project of the Bold Education Fund. The EATs work with local communities to provide immediate legal representation to landowners facing pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Our first priority is to protect landowners’ property rights and water. We believe landowners should have the ultimate right of what does and does not happen on their land. We stand against the use of eminent domain for private gain. (https://easementteams.org) The first landowners legal co-op formed was the Nebraska Easement Action Team, which successfully organized landowners to fight the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and currently works with landowners fighting carbon pipelines in the state. (https://neeasement.org) 

About Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub: 

The Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub, a project of the Bold Education Fund, provides technical, legal, story telling and organizing assistance to any community fighting pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, with the goal of protecting the land and water. (https://pipelinefighters.org)

About Bold:

The Bold Alliance and Bold Education Fund are coordinating state-based groups with our Pipeline Fighters Hub and landowner legal groups called the Easement Action Teams to stop pipelines from using eminent domain for private gain. (https://boldalliance.org)

# # #

BALTIMORE – The National Audubon Society has received a $13 million grant that will support large-scale marsh restoration projects across Maryland, addressing the rapid loss of salt marsh habitat...

The Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features an Earth Day panel discussion facilitated by Bill Moyer of Solutionary Rail, with environmental justice and labor organizers Ryan Calbreath of the UE Union Green Locomotive program, Jess Conard of Rail Watch, mark! Lopez of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Tabitha Tripp of Public Rail Now, and Andrea Vidaurre of People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, talking about shifting harmful, private, Wall Street-extractive, Class 1 railroads into beneficial, public, electrified, rail and transmission infrastructure systems that could provide better accountability and community safety and services. We also share news, videos, and reflections on the proposed, unpermitted, bedrock blasting under rivers for construction of the Enbridge Line 5 tar sands pipeline, rerouted around a Wisconsin indigenous reservation near the Great Lakes, and Idaho citizen objections to Snake River Oil and Gas plans to drill the Miller 1-15 methane well and extract their privately-owned resources via forced leasing, close to hundreds of Fruitland residences, businesses, and water wells. Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

New: Enbridge’s Line 5 Reroute Blasts through Bedrock Without Permits, Threatening the Great Lakes, May 7, 2026 Unicorn Riot

WIRT Comments and CAIA Objection with Attachments Opposing Snake River Oil and Gas Miller 1-15 Methane Well Drilling Application, April 20, 2026 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

Panel Discussion: Solutionary Earth Day Special — From Problem to Solution, May 2, 2026 Solutionary Rail

A Brazil-led initiative that is pulling together a global roadmap to end deforestation will invite countries to produce their own voluntary pathways to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, experts managing the process said this week.

At last year’s COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belém, a group of around 80 countries led a failed push to start developing two new global roadmaps – one to stop deforestation by 2030 and another to transition away from fossil fuels. All countries signed up to these commitments in a landmark deal at COP28 in Dubai, but little progress has been made to implement them since then.

As a bridging alternative, Brazil’s COP30 presidency agreed to draft two voluntary versions of these roadmaps. COP30 officials said a final version of the deforestation roadmap will be published by September this year, after receiving more than 130 written submissions from countries.

This Monday, Juliano Assunção, executive director of Climate Policy Initiative/PUC-Rio in Brazil and an advisor to the COP30 presidency on deforestation, presented a first outline of the roadmap to countries at the United Nations Forum on Forests in New York (UNFF21).

Assunção said the roadmap “will not prescribe a single model”, but would rather invite countries to translate commitments they have already made to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 – which is a longstanding global goal – “into forest roadmaps grounded on regional and national diagnosis”.

In 2025, the world lost 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest, an area roughly the size of Denmark, according to annual data published by Global Forest Watch. While that was 36% lower than in 2024 when climate-fuelled fires pushed forest loss to a record high, deforestation was still 70% higher than it should to be to meet the 2030 international pledge to end it, the report said.

• May 12, 2026 Politics Paris Agreement committee snubbed over missing NDC climate plans Many governments have still not submitted a nationally determined contribution to the UN, breaching a key requirement of the Paris Agreement Read more
• May 12, 2026 News Scientists warn El Niño could intensify climate extremes in 2026 Climatologists say a particularly powerful weather pattern could amplify wildfire risk, heatwaves and flooding worldwide as global temperatures continue to rise Read more

What will be in the roadmap?

Assunção said the COP30 team “were positively surprised by the level of depth and how comprehensive” the contributions from countries and experts were in the consultation phase for the global roadmap, noting that these served to inform the current outline.

The plan is for the global roadmap report to be structured in two parts: one on the social, economic and environmental risk of continued forest loss; and a second presenting a menu of options to tackle deforestation by 2030.

“The roadmap will be practical, based on countries’ experiences. It will help identify the key challenges, and understand their drivers, which vary quite differently among different countries. It’s going to be drawing on existing policy tools,” Assunção told countries at the UN forests meeting this week.

The COP30 advisor said that, while countries can draft national plans, there’s also “a lot of room for international co-operation”, which governments themselves requested as part of the consultation.

The roadmap will include a sub-section on international co-operation, which will include how countries can share tools such as satellite platforms to improve monitoring systems, how to improve the finance architecture to channel more resources for forests, and how to align international regulations on trade, crime and due diligence to protect forests.

Indigenous groups warn Amazon oil expansion tests fossil fuel phase-out coalition

Marco Tulio Cabral, a diplomat at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who leads the deforestation roadmap process, told governments that, while the document is not a negotiated outcome, the COP30 presidency is “investing a lot of time and effort” in talking with countries to “make as good a text as we can” that represents a range of views.

He noted that, while the COP30 initiative for a fossil-fuel phase-out roadmap led to a coalition of countries that gathered for a first landmark conference in Santa Marta last month, a similar dedicated push is not necessarily expected for a deforestation roadmap.

“The supportive actors and those who oppose it are very different, so there are limits to what we can do together or associate one thing with the other,” Cabral said.

Cattle graze on deforested areas of the Ituxi ranch near Kaxarari Indigenous land, in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 12, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Adriano Machado) Cattle graze on deforested areas of the Ituxi ranch near Kaxarari Indigenous land, in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 12, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Adriano Machado) Forest nations seek focus on local realities

Countries at the UN event were supportive of the roadmap, but also expressed the need to offer real alternatives to rural communities.

Joseph Malassi, climate advisor at the Ministry of Environment of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said that in the Congo basin – the planet’s second-largest rainforest – deforestation “is not caused by vast industrial or infrastructure projects, but rather by extreme poverty” as local people cut down trees for firewood, minerals or crops.

“The roadmap will be confronted with these realities,” Malassi said, adding that it should avoid competing with other UN forest initiatives already working at the intersection of conservation and development.

Nicholas Suryobasuindro of Indonesia’s Ministry of Forests, which manages another mega-diverse rainforest basin, welcomed the Brazilian roadmap, adding it will need to address the “complex interaction between land use chains, economic pressure, spatial planning challenges and development needs”.

Finance will be key to dealing with these realities, according to Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s permanent ambassador to the UN. She said the roadmap should take into account an existing six-point plan to scale up forest finance launched last year by 34 countries.

Two options in that plan in particular have potential to drive up funding for forest protection and “must immediately receive strong international support”, she added. They are a new rainforest fund called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – launched last year by Brazil and supported by several donor governments – and “high-integrity jurisdictional” carbon markets, which refers to government-led sales of carbon credits from large forested areas.

“Both approaches can support countries with different forest and deforestation profiles, including countries with historically low deforestation rates achieved with sustainable forest management,” Rodrigues-Birkett said.

The post COP30 roadmap to end deforestation will invite countries to draft domestic plans appeared first on Climate Home News.

Food industry claims state chemical laws will spike grocery bills, but that doesn’t add up Ketura Persellin May 13, 2026

In a page straight out of the industry playbook, a powerful group of U.S. food companies has funded a “study” claiming consumers will pay more if harmful chemicals are labeled or banned.

The industry front group, which represents food giants Nestlé and General Mills, among many others, is also backing other efforts to quash states’ ability to enact stricter food chemical laws.

The Policy Navigation Group, a lobbying and consulting firm whose clients include Dow Chemical and Snack International, published the so-called study. It says food chemical laws in Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia would increase household grocery spending by 12%, or $860, per year. 

Louisiana and Texas enacted laws requiring a simple label or QR code be added to a food products packaging if it includes select ingredients of concern, such as certain artificial dyes and preservatives. West Virginia’s law bans food products containing potentially harmful ingredients like propylparaben, Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40 and Yellow Dye No. 5 from being sold in the state.

Federal regulatory failures have driven dozens of states to introduce similar laws targeting dyes, additives and other ingredients of concern.

But the study has serious flaws. From faulty data to bad math and poor logic, scrutinizing the claims makes clear they don’t add up.

Flawed grocery price analysis

The study uses highly selective examples, false assumptions and outdated models to drive up the cost estimates.

The study’s central assumption is that consumers who see a warning label on food will waste valuable time searching for an alternative that is more expensive. That’s because the study’s authors looked at only a handful of selected retailers who possibly charge more for products with fewer ingredients of concern. 

But that’s not how most Americans actually shop.

Many major grocery chains, including Kroger, Publix, ShopRite and Wegmans, already offer affordable store-brand products that are free of many of the chemicals states are targeting with new food safety laws. 

ShopRite, for instance, designed its Wholesome Pantry store brand to be free of artificial additives at competitive prices.

The study largely fails to account for these affordable, available alternatives – a limitation the researchers themselves acknowledge, noting that their focus on particular retailers likely led them to overlook some products and introduce bias in their results.

Texas, where H-E-B dominates the grocery business, is a heavy focus of the study. Under market pressure, H-E-B has already removed more than 175 synthetic ingredients from its store-brand line. That’s most of the ingredients targeted by Texas’ food chemical labeling law. 

The study didn’t disclose the products and brands it analyzed. But its retailer of choice, Amazon, also owns Whole Foods, so it’s possible many of the pricier alternatives the study identified were Whole Foods products, not the kind of everyday substitutes most shoppers reach for.  

According to a separate food industry report from February, two-thirds of all grocery retailers are reformulating brands to meet consumers’ desire for cleaner products. This includes removing artificial dyes and additives while maintaining affordability.

Faulty math skews study's outcomes

The study’s flaws don’t stop there. 

Most significantly, it claims to be a cost-benefit analysis yet it fails to include the benefits of food chemical labels. This is not a minor methodological oversight but a fundamental failure.

Lower consumer exposure to chemicals of concern would benefit public health, yielding significant healthcare savings. Increased consumption of ultra-processed food, or UPF, is linked to higher rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, dementia and reproductive harm. 

And the study’s calculations included the 14% of consumers who said they would ignore warning labels. This inflates estimates in consumer spending by assuming cost increases among consumers whose behavior would not actually change. 

It also relied on consumer behavior data that is more than 16 years old, a limitation the researchers themselves flagged as a source of unknown bias. 

Rather than use the lowest available prices for label-free alternatives, as a budget-conscious shopper would likely do, the study used average prices, further overstating the real cost to consumers.

Further, industry representatives and lawmakers sympathetic to them have misused the results to claim that labeling laws would increase by 12% the prices we see on store shelves. The study doesn’t predict that individual grocery items will get more expensive. It actually – and inaccurately – predicts some people will choose to buy more expensive groceries to avoid ingredients of concern. Those are not the same thing.

Helping shoppers make more informed choices is a public health benefit, not a burden. But the study frames labeling requirements as financial harm only.  

Real-world effects of changing food labels

Faulty studies and overinflated price claims are tired industry responses to requests for greater food ingredient transparency. 

In 2022, a federal rule took effect requiring labels on products made with genetically modified ingredients. Industry-funded studies predicted major price increases when products made with GMO ingredients were required to bear labels. 

But the new labels didn’t drive prices up. Many brands simply chose to include the new symbol on their existing labels while other household staples like Cheerios and Grape Nuts were reformulated at no extra cost to consumers.

Consumer Reports found similar industry-funded studies overstated the costs of GMO labeling by nearly a factor of 10. The most realistic industry estimate was around $66 per family of four per year, compared to the original estimate of nearly $500, and even that lower figure was likely inflated. 

Food companies update their labels regularly for seasonal promotions and rebranding, without consumers switching to pricier products. Ingredient disclosure labels would be no different.

A label change would cost a company as little as $205, an amount too small to show up on store shelves, according to the Agriculture Department in 2024.

Clearer labels mean more confident consumers

The study’s authors are correct about one thing: Shoppers’ time is valuable.

Right now, consumers who want to make better food purchases have to read fine-print ingredient lists on every product. Clear labels designed to identify chemicals of concern make it easier and faster for them.

While states push for better public health protections, EWG has tools to help you shop with confidence. 

At home, consumers can check EWG’s Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Chemicals, which highlights top food chemicals to avoid due to health and safety concerns. 

For more guidance, search  EWG’s Food Scores, which provides ratings for more than 150,000 foods and drinks based on nutrition, ingredients and processing. Food Scores also flags unhealthy UPF and can help you identify alternatives. 

Or if you’re on the go, EWG’s Healthy Living app puts that information at your fingertips while you shop.

Areas of Focus Food Ultra-Processed Foods Food Chemicals Authors Jared Hayes Sarah Reinhardt, MPH, RDN May 13, 2026

We’ve all been stuck in jobs we’ve hated for one reason or another —  for example, when a workplace doesn’t share our values. It’s a tough job market right now, but we can still take back our agency. Let’s explore how to move past feelings of bitterness and alienation and find the vocational niche that supports our beliefs and sense of morality.

Dr. Green,

In my workplace, an alien from outer space would fit in better than I do. My soul is hurt every day by the wanton waste and disregard for natural resources I see. For example, despite having a full galley with sinks for dishwashing, the company springs for disposable plates, cups, plastic cutlery, and even those godawful plastic coffee stirrer straws! Toilet paper rolls are tossed way before they’re empty. The same goes for detergent bottles, soap containers, and more. Good, usable products end up in the trash for no discernible reason and don’t get me started about food waste. I try to set an example by never using the disposables and practicing efficiency, but nobody has ever followed suit. I’m sure I’m also the only vegetarian within a 15-mile radius of our home port.

I’m desperately looking for another job, gritting my teeth (dentist told me I have bruxism), communicating as little as possible (They’ll never listen. They already think I’m a freak. Guess which news channel they watch?), using the “un-empty” items myself, invoking the “environmentalist curse” (May you live next to a landfill.) silently on them and trying my best to not explode in eco-rage. Anything else I can do for myself?

Breathing exercises and meditation are not going to cut it. After nearly a year of trying, they’re not helping. I’m just too high-energy. Any research vessels or companies involved in trying to REPAIR the environment rather than destroy it need to hire a great mariner?

Hello Friend,

I certainly understand your frustration — it’s clear you’re unhappy and want to find a position that’s a better cultural fit. This can be difficult in a soft job market. On the other hand, if you expend too much energy on eco-rage, you’ll have little left over to seek a better-fit position and workplace with clarity.

Musicians go where there are other musicians and musical opportunities, engineers go where there’s engineering, and environmentalists gravitate toward where environmentalism is cultivated and upheld in practice and deed. Let’s see if we can help make that happen for you.

What Is Eco-Rage?

You may not have realized it when you used the phrase, but “eco-rage” is a very real and common feeling — though not always productive.

Eco-rage is an intensely negative emotional response to the lack of other people’s concerns for the environment — an overwhelming feeling of helplessness when others around you don’t seem to share your urgent concern. That can elevate antisocial aggression and even result in you lashing out at coworkers, family and friends, or strangers. You become isolated because you can’t control your emotions or actions, and an increasing fatalism can cause you to lash out further or shut down in depression. This is related to climate doomism.

At the same time, because you’re overwhelmed with negativity, your brain begins to release chemicals that physically and mentally further degrade your system.

Rage can be a destructive force, but it can also be a powerful catalyst for positive change. A desire for a better world and an anger over natural destruction lie at the heart of environmentalism. Try to refocus of your rage into finding a new job, career, or avocation; cultivate intelligent control over runaway emotions. Get out of your own way.

Here are some suggestions for working with your eco-rage to develop skills in self-possession and inner strength so that you can more fruitfully explore new opportunities and feel validated and supported. (And see the resource guide below for more information.)

Talk to a Therapist

To identify and organize your overwhelming feelings, it’s a great idea to seek the help of an objective person trained in one-on-one sessions where you can slow your feelings down a bit and separate each bad feeling into an item for exploration on how to cope.

Psychologists and psychiatrists are trained in this and bound by law and The Ethics Code (the equivalent of The Hippocratic Oath for medical professionals) to maintain confidentiality. Make sure only to work with psych professionals who are legally licensed and certified. Most health insurance plans cover therapy (at least, in network and in your home state). And some remote or distance psychological services will accept health insurance, too. See The Revelator’s “Dr. Green: The Therapist-Patient Relationship” for more resources on finding help.

I highly recommend engaging a psych professional to make sense of your current state of mind and learn coping skills. While you search for that new job, the one you feel stuck at job may be a good place to challenge yourself by practicing your newfound self-regulation techniques.

Cultivate Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. This skill requires awareness, an ability to identify your own feelings, and an effort to redirect those emotions toward strategic and creative thinking to solve problems.

Stop cleaning up after your coworkers or “educating” them. When people perceive that they’re being scolded or preached at — especially in a pervasive culture like the one you describe — they get defensive and dig in. Simply let it go, stop monitoring them, and work on yourself instead. Set an example through your silent deeds (which can be more effective than we think, since people who respond to them also often do so silently). In the workplace, address your own feelings and behaviors. Rage is wasted energy that will be best used in strategic planning for future employment.

Consider Stoicism

Stoicism is a philosophy focused on developing emotional regulation and inner fortitude, regardless of external circumstances. It emphasizes distinguishing what is within our control from what is not in our control, exercising self-discipline, and accepting what comes. It’s excellent for gaining and projecting inner strength, focus, and resilience.

All philosophies are imperfect, but taking a bit of wisdom from each can help you define yourself clearly in self-empowerment. My personal mix of humanism, nihilism, and stoicism has been invaluable in both my personal and professional life.

Here are a few ideas from stoicism:

“Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.” — Epictetus

 “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” — Epictetus

“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” — Marcus Aurelius

“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius

A Few Words of Advice on Job-Hunting

If you’re applying for jobs now, make sure that your resume and cover letter are objective and dispassionate. Remove any editorial comments that may reflect negative feelings you have about your current job. If you land an interview, don’t say even one negative thing about your current or previous employers and coworkers. Simply say you’re seeking a new position because you’re ready for new challenges and leave it at that.

I tell you this because I once got the best job of my life by not complaining about my previous employers. The hiring manager didn’t know that I was being brutally bullied by two managers at the job I held while HR did nothing and coworkers looked the other way so they wouldn’t get bullied too.  I focused on my strengths and what I could bring to the new job — not what was holding me back.

Now stop wasting your energy on the actions of others and get to work on finding a job where you feel appreciated for the values you hold dear.

Cheers,

Dr. Green

What are you struggling with in your job as a dedicated environmentalist?  Let us know by sending your questions and success stories in the text box below.

All participants are anonymous. Even Dr. Green has no idea who you are.

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See you next time!

Disclaimer: This column is not a replacement for therapy, and the advice given is educational in nature, not a replacement for professional psychological or psychiatric therapy. This is a peer-driven support effort by The Revelator to inform and build community with environmental and wildlife defenders.

If you are feeling critically depressed and suicidal, it’s time to immediately find professional help. Go to your closest emergency room or call the following numbers to get immediate help in your area:

SUICIDE HOTLINES

Worldwide: http://www.befrienders.org/support/

United Kingdom: http://www.samaritans.org

USA: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

1-800-273-TALK

Resources:

Jobs in environmental mariner fields (though I don’t know what type of mariner you are):

Search engine term: environmental mariner jobs

Conservation Job Board – https://www.conservationjobboard.com

Environmental Jobs – https://environmentaljobs.com

Green Jobs Network – https://greenjobs.net

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – https://www.unep.org/work-with-us

EcoJobs – https://ecojobs.com

Conservation International – https://www.conservation.org/conservation-international-jobs

Environmental Career Center – https://environmentalcareer.com

EnableGreen – https://enable.green

(These should get you started!)

Emotional Intelligence – a good resource to start with: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/emotional-intelligence

Eco-Grief and Psychotherapy Support Resources: Many of these groups are donation-based or free, or will take your insurance, offering a crucial outlet for those feeling isolated in their climate anxieties.

BetterHelp

Talkspace

Climate Grief Groups

Good Grief Network

GreenFaith

Stoicism Resources

The Daily Stoic

How to Be a Stoic: 9 Stoic Exercises to Get You Started

The post Dr. Green: What If Your Job Doesn’t Align with Your Eco-Values? appeared first on The Revelator.

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