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Upgrading households is the fastest way for hyperscalers to obtain all the electricity they need, writes Ari Matusiak, founder and CEO of Rewiring America.

ESS’ stock price doubled in early Friday trading. The pilot project is expected to be online by the end of 2027.

In recent weeks, the U.S. has bombed multiple alleged Venezuelan “drug boats” at sea, killing at least 21 people without providing any clear evidence that they were involved in drug…

Headline News:

• “Record-Breaking Amazon Fires Triggered As Much Co₂ As An Entire Country Last Year” • The Amazon rainforest went through its “most devastating” forest fire season in over two decades, even in a trend to slower deforestation. Researchers say there were record carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation, exposing the region’s “growing ecological fragility.” [Euronews]

Amazon rainforest (Andres Medina, Unsplash, cropped)

• “Solar Power During Monsoons: Busting The Myth” • Solar panels typically experience only a 10-20% reduction in output during monsoons, not a complete shutdown. The reason is that modern panels efficiently capture diffused light, converting scattered sunlight even on cloudy days. Solar power has value even during monsoon. [pv magazine India]
• “Cost Of Europe’s Extreme Weather Doubled This Decade And Could Hit €126 Billion By 2029” • A report from the European Environment Agency calculated the economic losses caused by climate-related events such as intense heat, floods, and drought from 1980 to 2023. Annual damage from extreme weather could rise to 126 billion by 2029. [Euronews]
• “In A Contest Between Solar And Ethanol, There Is One Clear Winner” • Solar United Neighbors, a community action group, says, “In 2024, 43% of Indiana’s corn went to ethanol production. But … solar is 20 times more efficient than ethanol, even when accounting for useful byproducts such as animal feed.” And that’s just for starters. [CleanTechnica]
• “Despite Trump Administration’s Best Efforts To Suppress It, Climate Science Is Alive And Well Online” • Researchers in the US who raced to protect climate data, public reports, and other information from Trump administration budget cuts, firings, and scrubbing of federal websites are starting their own climate information portals. [Daily Kos]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Desert farmers may have found an unexpected ally in a tropical fruit: the pineapple. Researchers at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University have transformed pineapple waste from the food industry into a soil amendment that improves desert soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients by more than 30%. The approach could help deserts grow more food while recycling vast amounts of waste.

“The more we remediate deserts, the more biomass will be available to remediate more desertic soil,” says study lead author Blaise Leopold Tardy.

To test their idea, the team collected pineapple peels from local hospitality businesses and processed them through shredding, bleaching, alkali treatment, and ball-milling—a technique that breaks material into fine fibers. These residues were mixed into three types of sandy soil typical of arid regions, which usually contain very little organic matter.

The researchers experimented with different concentrations and fiber sizes, from coarse fragments to nanofibers invisible to the eye. Of all the fiber types and concentrations, they found the sweet spot when they dosed the soil with a tiny amount of the nanocellulose fibers, replacing just 0.25% to 2% of the sand with nanofiber fragments of pineapple waste. 

 

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This vanishingly small quantity completely transformed the soil.Treated soils slowed water drainage by 58% and boosted water retention by up to 32.7% compared with untreated controls. Evaporation fell by half. The soils also held onto twice as much phosphorus fertilizer, ensuring nutrients and moisture stayed available to plants longer—key factors for crop survival in sandy environments.

When the team grew cherry tomato seedlings in the amended soil, the plants thrived: they had more branches, more leaves, and higher survival rates. The benefits, however, peaked at low fiber concentrations—above 3%, the improvements declined.

The nanofibers’ impact appears long-lasting. “We have stabilized sand samples that are two years old now and they seem as good as when we first made them,” says Tardy. In deserts, where microbes are scarce, the fibers decompose slowly, maintaining soil structure over time.

Ultimately, Tardy hopes the method can transform both deserts and waste management. “Most of the waste biomass in arid areas is currently landfilled. This is a massive loss,” he says. Recycling food waste into soil amendments could “contribute to desert restoration” across the Middle East and North Africa.

“My biggest hope,” he adds, “is really seeing green bins at the domestic and industrial levels everywhere in arid areas to maximize the circular use of green ‘wastes.’”

Tardy et. al. “Evaluating nanocellulose from food waste as a functional amendment for sandy soils: Linking fiber structure to water dynamics, soil mechanics, and plant-microbes interactions.” Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts. 2025.

Image: ©Anthropocene Magazine, combined photos from peopleimages/iStock and Getty images for Unsplash+

The Caribbean region is among the most vulnerable to climate change, despite historically contributing less than half of one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Rising sea levels, extreme heat and more frequent and intense storms – such as the 2024 Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall in Grenada – pose urgent and growing threats to the small island states, coastal nations and territories that comprise the Caribbean region. 

With global progress to address climate change still too slow, Caribbean countries are taking matters into their own hands by enacting more robust legislation to help protect against climate risks.  

In a new study published in the Carbon and Climate Law Review, we identified 78 climate laws and legally binding decrees across 16 Caribbean states, as well as two constitutional references to climate change and a growing recognition of the right to a healthy environment. 

Our analysis suggests that, together, these developments are not only enhancing resilience, but also positioning Caribbean states as influential actors in the global climate arena. 

Caribbean climate laws on the rise

Climate governance in the Caribbean has expanded significantly in recent years. In the past decade, countries such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic have embedded climate obligations and programmatic guidelines into their national constitutions.

At the same time, legislative recognition of the human right to a healthy environment is gaining momentum across the region. Six Caribbean nations now affirm the right in their constitutions, while 15 have recognised it through international instruments, such as the UN Council, UN Assembly and the Escazu Agreement, as shown in the figure below.

Illustration of Caribbean states that recognise the right to a healthy environment at the domestic and/or international level. Source: Heredia Ligorria, Schulte and Tigre (2025). Graphic: Carbon Brief.

More recently, there has been a notable rise in targeted, sector-specific climate frameworks that go beyond broader environmental statutes. 

Saint Lucia stands out as the only country with a climate framework law, or a comprehensive national law that outlines long-term climate strategies across multiple domains. Meanwhile, several other Caribbean governments have adopted climate-specific laws that focus on individual sectors, such as energy, migration and disaster management.

According to our analysis, more than a quarter of climate-relevant legislation in the region – comprising 21 laws and legally binding decrees – now has an explicit focus on climate change, as illustrated in the chart below. 

Our research suggests that this represents an ongoing shift in legislative focus, reflecting changes in how climate legislation is being structured in one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.

Distribution of climate legislation in the Caribbean, showing the share of climate-specific and climate-related laws among those reported. Source: CCLW, ECOLex, FAOLex, Observatory on Climate Change and Just Transition.

Caribbean nations are also advancing legal reforms to structure and institutionalise climate finance and market mechanisms directly into domestic law, aligned with Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement.

For example, the Bahamas has introduced provisions for carbon credit trading, while Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Grenada have established national climate financing mechanisms to support mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Some states, including Belize and Saint Kitts and Nevis, have incorporated regional bodies such as the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre – the climate arm of the intergovernmental Caribbean community organisation CARICOM – into national frameworks. This indicates an increasing alignment between regional cooperation and domestic law.

In addition to the influx of regulations specifically addressing climate change, Caribbean nations are also legislating broader environmental issues, which, in turn, could provide increased resilience from climate impacts and risks, as shown in the graph above.

Key trends in these types of climate-related laws include the expansion of disaster risk management governance, which addresses national preparedness for climate-induced weather events or related catastrophes. Likewise, energy law is an increasingly prominent focus, with countries including Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines integrating renewable energy and energy efficiency goals into national climate governance.

More broadly, many Caribbean nations have adopted wide-ranging and comprehensive environmental laws, many of which were developed in alignment with existing climate commitments. In combination, these legal developments reflect a dynamic and evolving climate governance landscape across the region.

Proactive vs reactive approaches

Despite general alignment with these broader regional trends, our research reveals distinct developmental pathways shaping domestic climate regulation. 

In the eastern Caribbean, for example, we saw both proactive, long-term planning strategies and reactive, post-disaster reforms. 

Saint Lucia’s multifaceted approach to climate resilience evolved steadily over the course of more than a decade. During this time, the country developed numerous adaptation plans, strengthened cross-sectoral coordination and engaged in institutional climate reforms in areas such as energy, tourism, finance and development. 

More recently, the passage of Saint Lucia’s Climate Change Act in 2024 marked a milestone in climate governance, by giving legal force to the country’s obligations under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement – making Saint Lucia one of the few small island states to incorporate global climate commitments into domestic law. 

Our research indicates that this strategy has not only positioned the country as a more climate-resilient nation, but also solidified its access to international climate financing. 

In contrast, Dominica’s efforts evolved more rapidly in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, which destroyed over 200% of the country’s GDP. The storm’s impacts were felt across the country and hit particularly hard for the Kalinago people – the Caribbean’s last Indigenous community – highlighting the role of socioeconomic disparities in shaping climate vulnerability and resilience. 

In response, the government passed the Climate Resilience Act, creating the temporary Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD). 

Beyond establishing an exclusively climate-focused institution, the act aimed to embed resilience into governance by mandating the participation of vulnerable communities – including Indigenous peoples, women, older people and people with disabilities – in shaping and monitoring climate resilience projects. 

Damaged homes from hurricane Maria in 2017, Dominica. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo

As noted in a recent statement by the UN special rapporteur on Climate Change, Dr Elisa Morgera, these frameworks underscore the government’s ambition to become the world’s first “climate-resilient nation.”

Although challenges persist, Dominica’s efforts demonstrate how post-disaster urgency can drive institutional change, including the integration of rights and resilience into climate governance. 

Uneven progress and structural gaps

Despite significant progress, our research shows that several key opportunities for climate governance across the Caribbean continue to exist, which could enable improvements in both resilience and long-term ambition. 

The region’s legal landscape remains somewhat heterogeneous. While Saint Lucia has enacted a comprehensive climate framework law, the rest of the region lacks similar blanket legislation. This includes some states that entirely lack climate-specific laws, instead relying on related laws and frameworks to regulate and respond to climate-related risks. 

Other nations have yet to adopt explicit disaster-risk management frameworks, leaving Caribbean populations vulnerable before, during and after climate emergencies. Most have yet to enshrine the right to a healthy environment at the national level. 

Our research suggests that outdated legal frameworks are further limiting progress in addressing current climate risks. Because many of the longer-standing environmental laws in the region were adopted well before climate policy became a mainstream concern, some fail to address the nature, frequency and intensity of modern climate challenges, such as sea-level rise, tropical storms, wildfires, floods, droughts and other impacts. 

More broadly, many Caribbean climate laws include limited integration of gender equity, Indigenous rights and social justice. As Caribbean nations such as Grenada and the Dominican Republic begin to link climate resilience with these issues, the region has an opportunity to lead by example. 

Ultimately, capacity and resource constraints persist as significant barriers to implementation and adaptation. 

The Caribbean region faces debt that exacerbates ongoing development challenges, a burden made heavier by the repeated economic shocks of climate-related disasters. Along with regional debt-for-resilience schemes, increased funding from high-emitting countries to support adaptation measures in climate-vulnerable nations – as endorsed under the Paris Agreement – is likely to be critical to ensuring the region’s climate laws can be executed effectively. 

Global implications of Caribbean climate law

Our research suggests that Caribbean countries are outpacing other regions in terms of the scope and ambition of their climate laws. This legislation has the potential to serve as a model for climate-vulnerable nations worldwide.

Continuing efforts in the region show that legal frameworks in the field can not only drive resilience, embed rights and strengthen claims to international finance, but also highlight how regional cooperation and diplomacy can enhance global influence. 

These findings demonstrate that innovation in climate law need not wait for action from major emitters, but can instead be led by those on the front lines of climate change.

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The post Guest post: How Caribbean states are shifting climate legislation appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Contains spoilers Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another may be the most important American film made this year. I will go on a step...

The post The radical hope of “One Battle After Another” first appeared on Spring.

Updated on October 21 to reflect changes in meeting days. Originally published on October 9, 2025.

Greenbelt Alliance has been fighting to protect the Newark wetlands from development for almost a decade.

Right now, we’re at a pivotal moment in the fight for this valuable region. The proposed Mowry Village development would destroy one of the last remaining open spaces along the bay, land that is vital to our community and our climate future.

These wetlands are more than open space:

• They’re a nature-based solution to sea level rise, acting as natural buffers against flooding.
• They’re one of the most important habitats in the Bay Area, home to vulnerable and endemic species.
• They represent the last 10% of undeveloped Baylands—once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

With our partners from the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, we’ve gathered over 2,800 petition signatures, but we need to reach 3,000 before we deliver them to the Newark City Council at an upcoming meeting on October 23rd!

It takes less than two minutes to sign—please add your name and forward this to your friends today.

Can you do more for the wetlands?

Join us at upcoming in-person meetings to make your voice heard:

• UPDATED: Planning Commission Hearing: Wednesday, November 19, at 7 P.M., Newark City Hall. Come speak or stand with us.
• UPDATED: City Council Meeting – Final Decision Vote: Thursday, December 11, at 7 P.M., Newark City Hall. Join us to show our strength in numbers.

Newark is a Bay Area Resilience Hotspots Initiative because the bayshore community will face sea level rise and inland flooding, but there are opportunities for resilience. By fully protecting and restoring the shoreline and wetland area, and encouraging new development in more climate-smart places, Newark residents can enhance flood protection for existing homes and infrastructure while also providing vital natural habitat connections.

This is our chance to show Newark that we’re watching, we’re organized, and we believe in protecting the Baylands, not paving them

The post Sign Petition to Protect Newark Baylands From Development appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

Open access notables

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires, Cunningham et al., Science

Climate change and land mismanagement are creating increasingly fire-prone built and natural environments. However, despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially and economically disastrous wildfires, partly due to sparse systematic records. Using a 44-year dataset (1980 to 2023) we analyze the distribution, trends, and climatic conditions connected with the most lethal and costly wildfires. Disastrous wildfires occurred globally over this period but were concentrated in the Mediterranean and temperate conifer biomes. Disaster risk was highest where highly energetic daily fire events intersected affluent, populated areas. Economic disasters increased sharply from 2015 onward, with 43% of the 200 most damaging events occurring in the last decade. Disasters coincided with increasingly extreme climatic conditions, highlighting the urgent need to adapt to a more fire-prone world.

Recent and early 20th century destabilization of the subpolar North Atlantic recorded in bivalves, Arellano-Nava et al., Science Advances

Climate change risks triggering abrupt weakening in two climatically important North Atlantic Ocean circulation elements, the subpolar gyre and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Loss of AMOC stability has been inferred from slowing recovery of temperature and salinity fluctuations over time. However, observational datasets, constructed from records with sparse spatial and temporal coverage, may introduce substantial biases in stability indicators. Alternative records are therefore needed for reliable stability assessments. Here, using bivalve-derived environmental reconstructions, we show that the subpolar North Atlantic has experienced two destabilization episodes over the past ~150 years. The first preceded the rapid circulation changes associated with the 1920s North Atlantic regime shift, suggesting that a tipping point may have been crossed in the early 20th century. The second and stronger destabilization began around 1950 and continues to the present, supporting evidence of recent stability loss and suggesting that the region is moving toward a tipping point.

Damage intensity increases ice mass loss from Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, Li et al., The Cryosphere

Ice damage, which results from the formation and development of crevasses on glaciers, plays a critical role in ice-shelf stability, grounding-line retreat, and subsequent sea-level rise. Yet, few ice-sheet models explicitly account for ice damage or its effects on glacier dynamics. Here, we incorporate ice damage processes into an ice-sheet model and apply it to the Thwaites Glacier basin to assess the sensitivity of mass loss to ice damage intensity. Our results indicate that, when accounting for ice damage mechanics, the ice-sheet model captures the observed ice geometry and mass balance of Thwaites Glacier during the historical period (1990–2020). On multidecadal–centennial timescales, ice damage facilitates the collapse of Thwaites Glacier, significantly increasing ice mass loss. When extending simulations to the year 2300, we show that accounting for ice damage results in more than twice the ice mass loss compared to simulations that neglect ice damage mechanics. This study highlights the necessity of explicitly representing ice damage processes in ice-sheet models to improve projections of future ice loss and sea-level rise.

When the Oceans Come for Your Tap, Adams & Zamrsky, Global Change Biology

The oceans are changing, but they are not changing alone. Many evident impacts of changing sea level occur on the surface, and we oftentimes miss the silent companion beneath the surface. Saltwater intrusion, the underground salinization of coastal fresh groundwater, is already—and will be—widely rampant across global coastlines. Recent analysis shows that by 2100, more than 75% of the world's coastal regions will experience some form of saltwater intrusion, driven by changing rain patterns on land or sea level.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Global Climate Litigation Report: 2025 Status Review, United Nations Environment Programme and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School

The authors update previous reports published in 2017, 2020 and 2023. They provides judges, lawyers, advocates, policy makers, researchers, environmental defenders, including child and women defenders, NGOs, businesses and the international community with an essential resource to understand the current state of global climate litigation. The report includes descriptions of the key trends in climate litigation and the most important issues that courts have faced in the course of climate change cases.

The global climate risks of Asia’s expansive carbon capture and storage plans, James Bowen and Neil Grant, Climate Analytics

The authors focus on the implications of Asia’s growing promotion of carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a pathway for meeting the Paris Agreement goals. They assess the current pipeline and prospective future deployment of CCS in Asia, looking at some of its largest and/or most influential economies, energy users, and emitters: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as key regional partner Australia, which has strong integration with Asian fossil fuel trade and CCS plans. 113 articles in 50 journals by 582 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Cloud–radiation interactions amplify ozone pollution in a warming climate, Zhao et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-682

Increased future ocean heat uptake constrained by Antarctic sea ice extent, Vogt et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3982037/v1

Intensification of marine heatwaves and their climate drivers in the Arabian Gulf, Paradan et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-025-17669-9

Interdecadal shift of the dipole pattern in summer persistent extreme precipitation over Southwest China around 2003 and its possible causes, Ma et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108538

The climatology of extremely high warm-season temperatures and their sensitivity to climate change, Vargas Zeppetello, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 10.1002/qj.70048

The importance of stratocumulus clouds for projected warming patterns and circulation changes, Breul et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-25-11991-2025

Observations of climate change, effects

Atmospheric Freezing Level Height Changes, Ning et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70133

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires, Cunningham et al., Science Open Access 10.1126/science.adr5127

Observations of Reduced Ventilation in Meridional Overturning Circulation: Evidence From Physical and Biogeochemical Changes in Repeat Observations Along 110°E, Han et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023018

Recent and early 20th century destabilization of the subpolar North Atlantic recorded in bivalves, Arellano-Nava et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adw3468

Recent European marine heatwaves are unprecedented but not unexpected, Atkins et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02802-3

The uneven change of global expanding summer over the past 50 years, Jiao et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108506

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

ClimBurst: A Novel Method to Detect Climatological Anomalies Over Time and Space, Brouillet et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117095

Observed warming of cold extremes is not captured with a fixed threshold definition, Blackport & Sigmond Agel, Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02629-y

Reconstruction of the Background Air Temperature Record in Japan (1916–2023): Implications for Climate Change and Urbanisation Bias in the 20th Century, Katata et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70141

Reply to: Observed warming of cold extremes is not captured with a fixed threshold definition, Cohen et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02630-5

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Climate Projections and Temperature Evolution in the Canary Islands: High Resolution Analysis at Island Scale, Cruz?Pérez et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70139

ColdBlobMIP: A Multi-Model Assessment of the Atmospheric Response to the North Atlantic Warming Hole, Kramer et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117784

Contribution of meridional overturning circulation and sea ice changes to large-scale temperature asymmetries in CMIP6 overshoot scenarios, Roldán-Gómez et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1784

Insights from hailstorm track analysis in European climate change simulations, Brennan et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-918

Projecting Future Ozone Episodes in China by 2060 Under Diverse Emission and Climate Pathways: Insights From Extreme Value Theory, Wan et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl116891

Response of tropical cyclones to global warming: Super Typhoon Usagi in the Western Pacific Ocean, Sun et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108495

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

An improved and extended parameterization of the CO2 15 µm cooling in the middle and upper atmosphere (CO2&cool&fort-1.0), López-Puertas et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024

Cloud Feedback Uncertainty in the Equatorial Pacific Across CMIP6 Models, Hill et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117183

Comparison of multidecadal variability in climate reanalyses and global models, Westgate & Kravtsov, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000519

Emergent Constraint on CMIP6 Model Projections of Winter Ice-Free Periods in the Barents–Kara Sea, Peng et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117660

On the implementation of external forcings in a regional climate model – a sensitivity study around the Samalas volcanic eruption in the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East, Hartmann et al., Climate of the Past Open Access 10.5194/cp-21-1699-2025

Persistent Coastal Temperature Biases in km-Scale Climate Models Due To Unresolved Oceanic Tidal Mixing, Delpech et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118014

The importance of stratocumulus clouds for projected warming patterns and circulation changes, Breul et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-25-11991-2025

Cryosphere & climate change

Assessment of thermal stabilization measures based on numerical simulations at a Swiss alpine permafrost site, Sharaborova et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-4277-2025

Damage intensity increases ice mass loss from Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, Li et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-4373-2025

Measurement of Ice Shelf Rift Width with ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry: Automation, Validation, and the behavior of Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, Morris et al., Open Access 10.5194/tc-2023-63

Predicting Changes in Hillslope Freeze–Thaw Potential Due To Climate Change, Kido et al., AGU Advances Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025av001810

Rapid thinning of lake ice for Himalayan glacial lakes since 2010, Zhang et al., Remote Sensing of Environment 10.1016/j.rse.2025.115062

The Greenlandification of Antarctica, Mottram et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01805-1

The thermal state of permafrost under climate change on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (1980–2022): a case study of the West Kunlun, Zhao et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-4211-2025

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Ecosystem dynamics of an ice-poor permafrost peatland in eastern Eurasia: paleoecological insights into climate sensitivity, Xia et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-22-5283-2025

The Little Ice Age: The History and Future of a Traveling Concept, Collet et al., WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70023

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Ancient alleles drive contemporary climate adaptation in an alpine plant, Fior et al., Science 10.1126/science.adp5717

Belowground Communities in Lowlands Are Less Stable to Heat Extremes Across Seasons, Martínez?De León et al., Ecology Letters Open Access 10.1111/ele.70225

Climate change intensifies plant–pollinator mismatch and increases secondary extinction risk for plants in northern latitudes, Peng et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2506265122

Diverging trends in plant phenology and productivity across European mountains in a warming world, Andreatta et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110874

Double Trouble: Aquatic Invasive Plants Can Promote Mosquitoes, Chikodza et al., Ecology Letters Open Access 10.1111/ele.70199

Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics of Invasive Species Under Global Change, Zhan et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70530

Establishing Ring Width and Cell Chronologies for Predicting Future Growth of Thuja koraiensis under Climate Change, Park et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126423

Genetic, phenotypic, and environmental drivers of local adaptation and climate change–induced maladaptation in a migratory songbird, Rodriguez et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2518497122

Habitat Response Variability: Modeling Predictions Display the Expansion–Contraction Scenario of Two Chinese Endangered Cheirotonus Beetles Under Climate Change, Yu et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72156

Impacts of Vegetation Greening on Summer Mean and Extreme Land Surface Temperatures in Eastern China, Liu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118453

Increased carbon cost for nitrogen assimilation in plants under a warming climate, Hu et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01816-y

Marine heatwaves modulate food webs and carbon transport processes, Bif et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-63605-w

Methane emissions from indigenous nitrogen-efficient bovidae are overestimated, Shi et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02755-7

Microclimate vulnerability under coupled effects of changing climate and forest structure, Lumbsden-Pinto et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110853

Modeling Climate and Hydropower Influences on the Movement Decisions of an Anadromous Species, Min et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70533

Neoichnological experiments reveal key differences between marine bioturbator responses to gradual warming compared to marine heat waves, Miguez-Salas & Tarhan, Marine Environmental Research Open Access 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107595

One Century of Change: Stronger Diversity Decline in Lowland Than in Mountain Grasslands in Central Europe, Widmer et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70529

One Species Hibernates Shorter, the Other Longer: Rapid but Opposing Responses to Warming Climate in Two Sympatric Bat Species, Krivek et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70531

Reduced intraspecific variation in lake trout food webs under warmer temperatures and smaller ecosystem sizes, Kotsopoulos et al., Ecology Open Access 10.1002/ecy.70222

Shields of the shore: mangrove ecosystem shifts and climate vulnerability in Mozambique, Foggia et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1648754

Understanding and managing species range shifts: first observed mixed-species outbreak and coral predation by crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster brevispinus and A. cf. solaris) on subtropical reefs, Sommer et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107556

Warming effects on decomposition via trophic cascades vary across elevations in an alpine meadow ecosystem, Luo et al., Journal of Ecology 10.1111/1365-2745.70173

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Methane emissions from indigenous nitrogen-efficient bovidae are overestimated, Shi et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02755-7

Spatial and temporal variations of gross primary production simulated by land surface model BCC&AVIM2.0, Li et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.02.001

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Between speed and safeguards: evaluating equity in the EU's carbon capture and storage policy landscape, Lefstad, Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2025.2564723

Carbon sequestration ought to be permanent on climate-relevant timescales, Arcusa & Lackner, Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104223

Geochemical processes and environmental implications of carbon mineralization in basalts: A comprehensive review, Ma et al., Earth 10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105260

Geomechanical stability for hydrate-based CO2 sequestration in marine sediments: A comprehensive review, Zhang et al., Earth 10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105254

Regional ocean biogeochemical modeling challenges for predicting the effectiveness of marine carbon dioxide removal, Ward et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1640617

Decarbonization

At-scale adoption of floating solar PV technology: The case of India, Jindal et al., Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101830

Carbon emissions in metal manufacturing productivity: A global analysis of aluminium smelting, Ahmad et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104343

Climate action versus environmental protection? How far-right and environmentalist messengers shape public attitudes towards renewable energy infrastructure in forests, Weisskircher & Diermeier, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2025.2569733

Sustainable ethanol production: CO2 emission analysis and feedstock strategies through life cycle assessment, Kumar & Sinha, Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101775

Climate change communications & cognition

Climate Change Anxiety as a Mental Toll for Parents: Investigating the Relationship Between Climate Change Anxiety and Parenting Practices, Chan et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102798

Fossil complacency: reorienting climate hypocrisy and system change debates, Snellman & Säynäjoki, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2025.2569729

Thematic analysis of climate change awareness and mitigation agency in the children of Indian Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, Vyas & Vyas, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2562298

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

A systematic review of climate change adaptation in vegetable farming systems in Africa, Obossou et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02763-7

Agrivoltaics in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Assessing the geo-spatial potential for sustainable development, Gadhiya & Chakraborty, Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101807

Climate warming and agronomic practice interactively alter soil carbon stock in dry farmland in China, Zhou et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02754-8

Course corrections responding to climate impacts produce divergent effects on population biomass and harvest in fisheries, Samhouri et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000624

Emissions Footprints of Agriculture Around the World 1970–2020: Decreasing Land Conversion, Regional Exceptions and Increasing Management Intensity, Adlan et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70528

Intensifying impacts of compound drought and heatwave events on water use efficiency in U.S. corn and soybean, Yan et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110873

Modeling biochar effects on soil organic carbon on croplands in a microbial decomposition model (MIMICS-BC&v1.0), Han et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4871-2024

The Role of Chemistry in Climate-Smart Agriculture in Nigeria: Enhancing Crop Resilience and Sustainability, Abogunrin-Olafisoye, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 10.1007/s11270-025-08490-1

Toward Climate-Smart Rice Systems: Moving Beyond Cultivar Improvement, Wang et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70545

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Assessment of Anticipated Changes in Extreme Temperature and Precipitation Under 1.5°C and 2°C Warming Over the Mississippi River Basin, Dommo et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70135

Climate change and human activities amplify runoff variability risks in lower reaches of large rivers, Gao et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02759-3

Climate change impacts on hydrological regimes under spatially variable human-activity conditions, Liu et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access 10.3389/feart.2025.1656661

Climate induced increase in frequency and area affected by critical rainfall conditions triggering debris flows in Austria, Kaitna et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02760-w

Insights from hailstorm track analysis in European climate change simulations, Brennan et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-918

Linkages of Multiple Types of Compound Droughts and Hot Events at the Global Scale, Feng et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd043562

Polarised Changes in Sub-Daily Precipitation Extremes and Underlying Mechanisms Over Southwest China in a Warmer Climate, Wang et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70140

When the Oceans Come for Your Tap, Adams & Zamrsky, Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70524

Climate change economics

Climate risk shocks and corporate outsourcing, Zhang et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2566166

Pathways to a blue economy, , Open Access 10.1596/41409

Climate change mitigation public policy research

Communication silos: A governance network approach to the offshore wind planning and permitting process, Smythe et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104328

Influence of individual models and studies on quantitative mitigation findings in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Sognnaes & Peters Peters, Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-64091-w

Publics and UK parliamentarians underestimate the urgency of peaking global greenhouse gas emissions, Kenny & Geese, Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02655-w

Six principles to get natural climate solutions right in Africa, Pereira et al., Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-025-01652-3

Toward theory consolidation: Stratification, organizational, and political-legal effects on greenhouse gas emissions, Prechel et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104330

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Editorial: Climate mobility modeling: methodological advances and future prospects, Milan & Standardi, Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1704343

How positive peace might enhance the success and adequacy of climate change adaptation in the global south, Monyei & Heintze, Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1639479

Impacts of climate change on extreme weather indices in Ecuadorian cities: A socioeconomic analysis, Portalanza et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100810

Local government and climate literacy: exploring community perspectives in Ghana’s coastal zones, Adjei Baffour, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2566938

Practical weather knowledge: Embodied experience, comfort practices and household energy management in a changing climate, Martin, Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104357

The adaptation triangle: a multivariate analysis of vulnerability, resilience and livelihood strategies in semi-arid regions of India, Mannepalli et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1674565

The tale of two climate risks in Latin America: the perspective of the NGFS climate scenarios, Bressan & Nieto, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2563063

Climate change impacts on human health

Health-centred climate adaptation: Insights from local governments in western Sydney, Australia, Morrison et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102617

The heat, the heart and beyond: a narrative review of the many ways climate change impacts human health, Ouambo Talla et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1647942

Climate change & geopolitics

Who speaks for climate migrants? A justice-oriented bibliometric analysis of Global South research, Aziz et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1658517

Other

Future forests: estimating biogenic emissions from net-zero aligned afforestation pathways in the UK, Mooney et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-22-5309-2025

Impact of demographic changes on carbon emissions under a carbon–neutral pathway, Zhong et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.09.004

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

EDITORIAL: global research of climate change ? causes, consequences, and solutions, Hao, Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2025.2571807

Taking Earth's Carbon Pulse From Space, Pandey, AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av002085

Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Fundamentals for Thermal Comfort and Safety: Designing Climate-Ready Playgrounds, Heather Olsen, National Program for Play Area Safety

Whether it is adding a landscaping feature, repositioning playground amenities, renovation, or new construction, this guidebook shares the fundamentals of thermal comfort and safety for climate-ready playgrounds. The information is applicable for planners, educators, directors, owners and operators, such as child care and school facilities; municipalities and parks; and community housing, designers, landscape architects, playground equipment and surfacing installers, insurance agencies, civic organizations, parents, grandparents, community members, and other youth organizations. The authors highlights challenges and describes the effects that climate has on playgrounds. She provides useful considerations, including four phases to help designers improve a playground’s microclimate. An emphasis is placed on helping playground design planning committees navigate using climate data, conduct site assessments, implement modifications, maintain the playground, and evaluate outcomes.

Women, Peace and Security, Brodtkorb et al., Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

The authors examine how women, peace and security concerns intersect with climate-related risks and conflict dynamics. They highlight the ways in which gender inequalities shape vulnerability, resilience and participation in peacebuilding, and offers recommended actions for the international community to integrate gender-responsive approaches into addressing these challenges. Climate-related security risks are not gender-neutral; they intersect with existing social, political and economic inequalities, shaping people’s exposure to risk, capacity to adapt and inclusion in peacebuilding. Gender inequalities, such as limited access to financial resources and exclusion from decision making, undermine the ability of women and marginalized groups to respond to climate change and contribute to sustainable peace. To address climate-related security risks effectively, gender considerations must be integrated into analysis, planning and implementation.

Global Climate Litigation Report: 2025 Status Review, United Nations Environment Programme and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School

The authors update previous reports published in 2017, 2020 and 2023. They provides judges, lawyers, advocates, policy makers, researchers, environmental defenders, including child and women defenders, NGOs, businesses and the international community with an essential resource to understand the current state of global climate litigation. The report includes descriptions of the key trends in climate litigation and the most important issues that courts have faced in the course of climate change cases.

At Least 170 US Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse, Hacker et al., KFF Health News

About 170 American hospitals, totaling nearly 30,000 patient beds from coast to coast, face the greatest risk of significant or dangerous flooding, according to a months-long investigation based on data provided by Fathom, a company considered a leader in flood simulation. At many of these hospitals, flooding from heavy storms has the potential to jeopardize patient care, block access to emergency rooms, and force evacuations. Sometimes there is no other hospital nearby. Much of this risk to hospitals is not captured by flood maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which have served as the nation’s de facto tool for flood estimation for half a century, despite being incomplete and sometimes decades out of date. As FEMA’s maps have become divorced from the reality of a changing climate, private companies like Fathom have filled the gap with simulations of future floods. But many of their predictions are behind a paywall, leaving the public mostly reliant on free, significantly limited government maps.

The global climate risks of Asia’s expansive carbon capture and storage plans, James Bowen and Neil Grant, Climate Analytics

The authors focus on the implications of Asia’s growing promotion of carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a pathway for meeting the Paris Agreement goals. They assess the current pipeline and prospective future deployment of CCS in Asia, looking at some of its largest and/or most influential economies, energy users, and emitters: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as key regional partner Australia, which has strong integration with Asian fossil fuel trade and CCS plans.

Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025, Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka and Kostantsa Rangelova, Ember

The authors analyze changes in global electricity generation from January to June 2025 compared with the same period last year to measure the progress of the global clean energy transition. They draw on monthly electricity data from 88 countries representing 93% of global electricity demand and include estimated changes in the remaining generation. They also dives deeper into the top four CO2-emitting economies, which together account for 63% of the world’s electricity generation and 64% of global CO2 emissions from the power sector. The analysis confirms what is occurring on the ground: solar and wind are no longer marginal technologies—they are driving the global power system forward. The fact that renewables have overtaken coal for the first time marks a historic shift. But to lock in this progress, governments and industry must accelerate investment in solar, wind, and battery storage, ensuring that clean, affordable, and reliable electricity reaches communities everywhere.

2026 Supply Chain Outlook Report, The Harris Poll, Prologis

Global supply chain leaders are orchestrating a fundamental transformation driven by AI, regional self-sufficiency and energy resilience as core operational pillars. The study includes insights from 507 U.S. executives, 268 U.K. executives, 270 German executives, 258 Indian executives, 255 Chinese executives and 258 Mexican executives, offering a global perspective on the challenges and opportunities shaping supply chain management for 2026 and beyond. The survey includes respondents from companies with over 250 employees, representing a diverse range of industries and organizational scales. The authors reveal how global business leaders are navigating the transition characterized by AI-driven decision making, regional self-sufficiency and energy resilience as core operational pillars. For example, energy disruptions have become a top executive fear, with 89% experiencing energy-related disruptions in the past year and 83% believing energy reliability will be the next major supply chain crisis. With 76% expecting 10-50% increases in power requirements over the next five years, energy resilience is reshaping location decisions and operational strategies.

Extreme Heat: Limited FEMA Assistance Highlights Need for Reevaluation of Agency’s Role, Currie et al., Government Accountability Office

Between 2018 and 2024, 97 percent of counties across the contiguous U.S. were projected to reach at least level 3, a dangerous level of heat, by the National Weather Service's HeatRisk, a 5-level index for potential heat-related effects. In addition, more than 319 million people lived under a forecast that was at a dangerous level for at least one day during this period of time. FEMA has provided limited assistance to tribal, state, and local governments for projects to mitigate against extreme heat. For example, less than 1 percent of the agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) 1,235 grant projects with obligations from fiscal years 2020 through 2023 primarily addressed extreme heat. Further, there has never been a presidentially declared major disaster for an extreme heat event, which would trigger federal assistance, such as damaged infrastructure, emergency protective measures for survivors, and mitigation assistance. According to FEMA, past extreme heat events have caused little infrastructure damage, a key criterion for approving federal assistance. FEMA officials told the authors that absent extraordinary circumstances, it was unlikely that a President would ever declare a major disaster for extreme heat. Agency officials reported providing some assistance for extreme heat when responding to other approved disasters, such as distributing commodities to Houston, Texas after Hurricane Beryl.

A Decade of National Climate Action: Stocktake And The Road Ahead, Guazzini et al., The Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations

Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, the authors analyze what has been the real effect of the Paris Agreement on climate action. Complementarily to global headlines, the authors present a detailed analysis of climate action at the national level from experts across 21 countries, representing a diversity of geographies, levels of development, and sizes (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, France, EU, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Thailand, United States). This assessment highlights effective progress, including those that may not have yet translated into concrete emission reductions, and reveals challenges encountered in each country, as presented in dedicated country chapters. The cross-cutting analysis of these country assessments leads to a set of generic lessons on governance and policies:

The Supply Chain for Wind Turbines Will Create Jobs in Coal Country, Reimagine Appalachia

New wind infrastructure could create significant manufacturing jobs in Appalachian counties in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The authors found that investment in wind infrastructure could produce over 70,000 manufacturing jobs in these four states by 2045, with nearly a third—some 22,000— in the 193 counties within the jurisdiction of the Appalachian Regional Commission. The concentration of jobs would be in the historically strong manufacturing sectors of the region: plastics, rubber and fabricated metal. About New Research

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We are at a pivotal stage of the genocide. Although formally somewhere in the range of 66 thousand bodies have been registered in hospital morgues, the real death toll is estimated to be much higher—in the range of 320 thousand, if we use the same method of calculation  that the highly regarded medical journal The Lancet used when it published its figure of 186 thousand in July 2024, when there were 38 thousand bodies. This means that 13 or 14 percent of the Gaza Strip’s population has been killed —an astonishing figure that is already more than the level of death suffered by Germany in World War II and the equivalent to that of the Soviet Union in that war. But it took five years to get to those levels in World War II, while in Gaza they have been achieved in less than two. Let’s not forget that this slaughter is the result of a nuclear, advanced capitalist, industrial, and post-industrial state attacking a de-developed territory populated primarily by multiple generations of refugees who have been living in camps for seven decades and living off United Nations handouts. This is a disgrace of unconscionable proportions. With this said, it is not over yet—far from it.

Because what we are witnessing is a genocide from which there are no do-overs, we have a moral, historic and political duty to take decisive measures to prevent Israeli and U.S. plans from materializing. Activists must thus think and act outside the box, raising the stakes in their activism to prioritize direct action, strikes, and civil disobedience on a mass scale to create a people’s campaign that directly impedes the genocide machine from advancing.

Formally, negotiations have entirely broken down and Israel has declared that it is preparing “a definitive, game-changing maneuver” to take over Gaza City, which entails forcing out more than a million people from the city. (The Israeli army announced the start of the ground assault on the evening of September 16.) Israel claims that, through this operation, it will be able to definitively uproot and destroy Hamas as a resistance actor and political player, preparing the ground for the “release of the captives,” the nominal objectives of the Israeli campaign.

Israel’s goals in Gaza

Of course, these are only the pretexts for what Israel has really set its sights on. In leveling Gaza City and attempting to definitively crush Hamas, Israel is attempting to remove the Gaza Strip from the historical and political equation of the “Israel-Palestine conflict.”

As a territory, the Gaza Strip currently represents a free-standing Palestinian entity along the Mediterranean coastline that is part of the international framework seeking a “two-state solution.” Israel prefers to remove this entity from existence and to secure exclusive control over the eastern Mediterranean’s southern shoreline, particularly in this continental corner of the globe where Asia meets Africa. In that regard, the Gaza Strip as a Palestinian territory has always been an unacceptable presence from Israel’s perspective.

As for the Gaza Strip population and the political causes it represents, Israel is also keen to eliminate the way this territory has acted as an incubator to the Palestinian national movement, particularly in its refugee dimensions. Gaza has persistently been the seat of the most determined, and indeed militant, expression of Palestinian nationalism. Its very existence acts as a continual reminder of the ethnic cleansing that gave birth to the state of Israel, and by association, the claim of the refugees who survived that campaign to return to their historical lands. Recall, of course, that 80 percent of the Gaza Strip’s residents descend from families of 250 Palestinian villages and towns in southern and coastal Palestine who were forced from their lands in 1948.

Since its creation, the Gaza Strip has acted as the most significant Palestinian bone stuck in the throat of the Zionist project that Israel has been  able neither to swallow nor to throw up.

From its Communists and Pan-Arabists in the 1950s and 1960s, to PLO factions in the 1970s and 1980s, to Hamas today, the Gaza Strip has acted as an incubator of resistant, militant nationalism. This dynamic arose because of how this territory was created and has evolved over the years when Israel repeatedly waged massacres on a restricted and isolated population, resulting in the acute accumulation of political, social, and economic grievances that have percolated there as all these matters were ignored by the international community.

Israel now seeks to definitively end this cycle by destroying the crucible itself that generates these dynamics. It also seeks to eliminate any actors who would resist this fate and forcibly remove the Palestinians from the territory.

The “destruction of Hamas” and the “release of captives” thus become the pretexts for this much larger historical and political gambit. Israel is structurally attempting to change the equation of the conflict and to eliminate the possibility of any future Palestinian national claims arising from the territory and its population. Israel cannot accept the territory itself as a part of the two-state solution, or to have it act as a territorial platform from which larger claims can be made for refugee homelands in historical Palestine.

Israel hopes that in removing this potent symbolic, political, and social basis for the national movement, it will achieve an important accomplishment in the historic struggle that will affect the rest of the national movement in the West Bank and beyond.

We already see Israel heading in this direction with its acceleration of settlement construction in the West Bank and particularly the E1 area east of East Jerusalem. This area is located in the narrowest section of the West Bank. If Israel builds there, linking settlements in the Jordan Valley to those in East Jerusalem, it will bifurcate the West Bank into northern and southern sections, ending the pretense of a two-state solution. For years the U.S. opposed construction in this area to maintain the two-state charade, with the issue being particularly sensitive for the E.U. states who were paying for Palestinian statebuilding. But now Israel and the U.S. are clearly working to do away with it.

Of course, neither Israel nor the U.S. pretends that building in E1 arises from any pretext to “eliminate Hamas” or to “free captives.” From their perspective, now is the time to see how far they can reset the entire equation in the context of the calculus of regional power. Indeed, we see this goal clearly in Israel’s policies in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

The current assault on Gaza City clearly aims to prepare the ground for the transfer of the Gaza population beyond the borders of the Strip, and indeed, beyond historical Palestine—be this to Egypt or a third country. The details of these plans are yet to be fully worked out.

Israel is currently focusing on asserting full control over the Gaza Strip as a territory, which, it should be noted, effectively reverses how Israel has been acting toward it over the past 30 years. Ever since the first Intifada, Israel has tried to divest itself from the Gaza Strip and the population there, recognizing it as an intractable, unwinnable quicksand when it comes to governance.

This partially explains how and why it accepted the Oslo accords as it did and why Gaza was the first territory Israel withdrew from in 1994.

The first Intifada exposed how Gaza was Israel’s biggest headache that sapped social and army morale and damaged the Israeli state’s international standing. The Oslo redeployment resulted in the establishment of the Palestinian Authority to disentangle Israel from the conundrum of administering the eight massive refugee camps that comprise Gaza and which were created as a result of Israel’s establishment.

In 2006, Israel also withdrew its military positions from the Strip together with the Jewish settler presence. Then-Israeli-prime-minister Ariel Sharon undertook this step because he understood that maintaining any Israeli presence within the Strip was too costly for Israel, inefficient and unsustainable in the long term.

So, both tactical withdrawals were implemented to extract Israel from the burden of direct entanglement with the Gaza population and aimed to establish remote control via the establishment of a proxy force (the PA), and later, by establishing a high-tech regime of control through border walls, sophisticated surveillance, and sensors, etc. But both tactics failed miserably.

In response to these failures, Israel is now attempting to establish what can only be described as a push to transform Gaza into a kind of “blank slate.” By enacting “total war” against its people, urban spaces, municipal facilities, and services, it aims to eliminate the entity in its totality—as a polity, as a community capable of making any claims, and as a territory that can sustain life itself.

Israeli army officers and the political leadership now speak openly of “not leaving one building standing in Gaza City” and ethnically cleansing the Palestinian population there. The U.S. under Trump echoes this while both parties cynically frame this destruction as though it is the first phase of a real estate project that will eventually result in the creation of a “Riviera.”

What we are really witnessing though is genocide and ethnic cleansing meeting vulture capitalism at the dead end of Israeli and U.S. failures to control or vanquish Palestinian resistance and national claims.

Displacement and starvation

For the time being, Israel has yet to solve the question of where to push the Gazan population. The interim solution is to displace them from their current homes and corral them in what, for lack of a better term, are best described as concentration camps, where food and water will be located. Of course, Gaza has always functioned as a kind of open-air prison that already was among the densest populated places in the world. But now we are talking about concentrating the population on a far smaller area and downgrading their abodes from concrete structures and refugee shelters to makeshift tents. By depriving Gaza’s population of elementary standards of living and ensuring their utmost precarity, Israel believes it can reset the equation of control by leveraging survival itself.

Here it is also significant to highlight the perversity of these strategies and how the U.S. and Israel attempt to sugarcoat the weaponisation of starvation.

Even before October 7, 80 percent of the Gaza Strip population was food-dependent on the United Nations. Palestinians in Gaza used to receive their food aid through the UN Relief and Works Association (UNRWA), a particular UN body set up to provide basic services to the Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war. However, the continued existence of this international body more than 70 years later is a legal and institutional reminder to the international community of the ethnic cleansing that accompanied Israel’s founding, and hence of the basic rights and entitlements Palestinians hold as refugees.

As a result, Israel and the U.S. now work in concert to destroy this agency even though it has absolutely no role in representing Palestinian political rights and was engaged exclusively in humanitarian and social assistance work. This yet again demonstrates the U.S. and Israel’s race to restructure the conflict beneath the pretext of the October 7 attacks and to pocket as many “victories” as they can from these circumstances.

Instead of UNRWA, the U.S. and Israel have now established the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF) to control food disbursement, precisely because they do not want the UN or any other “neutral” body to undertake this role. By using starvation as a tool to control the population, they aim to cultivate desperation and entice people to move.

These dynamics have transformed the situation in Gaza into a kind of 21st-century “hunger games.” Every day dozens of people are killed as starving people who wait for food are penned in for hours. More than two thousand people have been killed at these food distribution stations since February 2025. Israeli soldiers also monitor the cameras set up at these sites and use facial recognition technology to develop datasets on who uses them. The entire outfit functions as an instrument of domination and intelligence gathering. It recently came to light that the GHF extensively recruits members of Islamophobic, Christian nationalist biker gangs in the U.S. You couldn’t make this stuff up. The situation is sick and dystopian, where truth is not just stranger than fiction, but far more obscene.

Once Israel creates its concentration camps, everywhere outside of these areas will be turned into open killing zones. Here we need to appreciate the timeline of Israel’s actions throughout the past 23 months.

Since it unilaterally ended the ceasefire in March 2025, Israel has focused its actions on physically molding the terrain where Gazans are located. This was the purpose of what Israel dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariot”—demolishing all of Rafah, all East Khan Younis and pretty much all of north Gaza including Jabalia town and Camp, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. These maneuvers concentrated the population closer to the middle of the Strip and toward the shore with most of the population now located on roughly 25 percent of the territory. It also has been targeting actors and institutions—hospitals and schools—that enable Gazan society to remain steadfast. Now it is aiming to further concentrate the Gaza population on even smaller areas to sweep the total population continually southward.

Eventually, the aim is to isolate the entire population within a desolate section of Rafah and to call this area a “humanitarian city.” In pushing the population as far south as possible, Gazans become increasingly exposed, isolated, and dependent, while the prospect for pushing Gazans into Egypt becomes much more realizable if circumstances arise permitting that.

The Gaza Strip today

The intention and practice of destroying the Gaza Strip and crushing its people has long qualified as genocidal when it comes to international humanitarian legal standards. All major human rights institutions, the UN, and the global community of genocide scholars all agree that this is what Israel has been doing. What is less evident, though, is that Israel also appears to be preparing to establish zones of extermination by inversely defining the areas outside the concentration camps as combat zones and those who still stay in them as “combatants.”

Many of Israel’s major military engagements over the years have included large massacres as a means to induce population flight and to “teach a lesson” to the survivors and witness—from the Dawayma massacre in 1948, to the Khan Yunis massacre in 1956, to the mass killing of Egyptian soldiers in 1967. There is every reason to believe that such a scenario is possible in Gaza City, and, indeed, we have already seen this in the mass grave found outside Al Shifa hospital where almost 400 bodies were discovered.

Too many people think that genocide is simply killing everybody in sight. It’s not, although the act of killing members of the group being targeted for genocide does constitute one of the criteria regarding the crime of genocide. But Israel has preferred at this stage and in general since October 7 to keep the Palestinian people in Gaza alive, albeit in a state of such extreme precarity, terror, and hardship that it becomes easy to induce their expulsion. This is why the U.S. and Israel continue to flirt with the term “voluntary relocation” as though the choice to survive and escape such terror constitutes an act of free will. Instead, what we are really witnessing is an active unfolding genocide conducted for ethnic cleansing purposes with extermination also likely needed to ensure the success of these plans. In a nutshell, this amounts to a policy of keeping the population sufficiently alive so it can be forced to move out, although enough of them still need to be killed so they are terrorized into this fate and others learn the lesson to forever fear Israel.

We must thus warn that a huge massacre awaits Gaza City. The mass arrest of those remaining there is unlikely given the way this tactic does not definitively solve any of Israel’s problems. And given the symbolic capital of Gaza City as the heart of the resistance and the largest of Palestinian cities in historic Palestine today, we can be fairly certain that Israel is willing to massacre thousands, if not tens of thousands, to achieve this historic act.

If we are honest about it, every day for months on end, hundreds of Gazans are killed and maimed through aerial bombardment and increasingly now through land-based robotic or aerial drones. The latter tactic is also being waged to improve the conditions in which the attack on Gaza City takes place. Israel is systematically taking out multistory housing while sending in land-based robot bombs to level buildings, half-destroyed buildings and entire neighborhoods, to create lines of sight and access routes while aiming to concentrate the population and level the terrain. Israeli planes also drop leaflets urging the population to flee and promise massacres if they do not. Israel has also said that when it does commence its actual assault into the city, it will use artillery as well as sustained aerial bombardment, opening the “the gates of hell,” as Israeli Defense minister Israel Katz describes it. This is the perverse scenario emerging on the ground. It is openly discussed and not anything secret.

The battle for Gaza City

With all these things in flux, we can see how the battle for Gaza City is a pivotal moment. Although it retains overwhelming military superiority, especially from the air, folks should be aware that Israel’s power is by no means absolute, and many obstacles stand in the way of Israel achieving its goals.

Currently the Israeli military has serious problems regarding enlistment among its reserve troops, many of whom are also suffering from fatigue. Israel hides the true statistics regarding these matters, but there is plenty of indication that these problems are quite serious, in the form of increasing suicide rates and reservists’ and families’ petitions and warnings. This crisis exposes the longstanding sore point of who within Israeli society bears the task of combat roles and who doesn’t, with Netanyahu’s government allies from the ultra-orthodox—15 percent of the Israeli Jewish population—still retaining their privilege of being excepted from conscription.

Recruitment may also become increasingly affected by the fact that the genocidal nature of the campaign Israel wages means that many Israeli soldiers who hold joint nationality—which could be as high as 50 percent—are also exposing themselves to war crimes charges in their (other) home states.

The army is also struggling with supply concerns, with a third of its heavy machinery out of commission two years into its campaign. It has come to rely upon commercial enterprises to fill these gaps, which further says something about the role of the Israeli private sector in genocide.

While I don’t think Israel will have a problem fielding an army and can continue to do grave damage from the air and through its army of drones, the military brass is clearly extremely sensitive about how it deploys its precious human resources in situations of direct combat. Every casualty is sure to drip additional corrosive acid into the social and political fault lines within Israel, and the longer this lasts, the more severe these contradictions become. Let us not forget as well that the army is one of the main institutions that serves to unite Israelis under a national and cultural identity.

Israel of course was also seriously divided before the events of October 7. These divisions have only deepened over time, albeit only after a unified cathartic period calling for merciless acts of vengeance against the entirety of Gaza and its people. While this sentiment still remains high, with the impetus to ethnically cleanse Gazans supported by more than 80 percent of Israeli Jews, Israeli society has become significantly divided over how to realize this end when Israeli captives are still held in Gaza.

Two years into Israel’s genocidal campaign, most families of the captives believe that the Israeli government should take the deal that is on the table for a comprehensive prisoner exchange, asserting this as the best way for them to assure their return. But Netanyahu rejects this, and in so doing, exposes that he actually deprioritizes their release in favor of his larger strategic ambitions to reconfigure the conflict itself. However, the assault on Gaza City also clearly threatens more soldier and captive lives, while Hamas has clearly also been attempting to take more soldiers prisoner in Gaza to create an even larger crisis for the Israeli army, government, and society.

Netanyahu’s pursuit of the Gaza City campaign is motivated at least in part by the need to save his own political skin from his enduring legal cases. It is also meant to assert the particular neofascist, messianic, “Greater Israel” fantasy of his governmental allies. In these contexts, any added crises to the Israeli state and its army will pose serious threats.

Last but not least, Israel is also undergoing a serious and growing isolation regionally and internationally, which is getting more pronounced and beginning to really bite. Netanyahu recently spoke quite frankly about this, saying that the Israeli economy would have to engage in “autarkic” economic practices. For him to say this was to acknowledge that international efforts at BDS are working and that the Israeli economy has been sustained by the massive injections of arms and finance that have subsidized its genocide. It also points to the fact that many of the gains of the past thirty years regarding Israel’s ability to globalize its brand and markets have begun to be reversed, though clearly there is still a long way to go on these fronts.

The role of Hamas

While I don’t want to go into the prospects for the success of Israel’s plans, and what each of these matters hinge upon, I do want to stress two elements that are less evident.

First, the attempt to take Gaza City is a very large and complicated undertaking. We are talking about a city of over one million residents with a dense urban environment. Significant parts of the city have also already been transformed into complexes of half destroyed buildings and rubble. Israel has never attempted an assault of this kind in its history. Even the siege of West Beirut in 1982 found Israel facing a population roughly half the size of what Gaza is today, and in the end, Israel did not storm the city but preferred to besiege it, fearing casualties in a scenario of extended urban warfare.

Hamas has also been preparing for the battle of Gaza City for quite some time, and from what we can ascertain from its actions on the ground, has reorganized its structure and tactics in anticipation of Israel’s plans. We will have to see what this will entail in due course.

Below Gaza City there is also a very large city of tunnels that provides crucial infrastructure for the resistance. According to Israeli estimates, at least 75 percent of this network is still functional. Surely Hamas has also built new tunnels while renovating old ones. Hamas has also been able to resupply its military stocks thanks to unexploded Israeli ordnances—ten to fifteen percent of the 100 thousand tons—already dropped on Gaza. Israel and the U.S. also acknowledged back in March that Hamas was able to recruit and replenish its ranks.

All of this points to Hamas still operating as a functional and capable military, political, and social actor across the Gaza Strip—no small feat more than 700 days into this campaign. Recall that three Arab armies were defeated in six days in 1967.

Although it is impossible to have a clearer picture of the movement’s popular support on the ground in the midst of the genocide, it’s evident that the barbarity of Israel’s campaign against the entirety of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the fact that Israel is aiming to achieve far larger ends than just the “destruction of Hamas,” unite Gazans around broad self-defense, communal/humanitarian/survivalist national unity aims and principles. Within this environment, Hamas is able to provide key institutional scaffolding to these ends, which helps facilitate how needs are met, though surely needs in such circumstances are endless. Its military resistance operations—ambushing, sniping and mortaring Israeli troops and their positions—are also seen as important in deterring the Israeli military from achieving their ends or at least slowing them down.

We are in a race against time to prevent Israel and the U.S. from achieving their vile ends. Who knows what Gazans can withstand in these circumstances? What we do know is that Israel cannot do what it wants without the Western umbrella, and that is our moral, political and legal duty to remove that.

Hamas’ institutional solvency and political leadership is clearly still powerful across the strip. This can partially be attributed to the movement’s experience as a social actor for decades, though it also has to do with how the movement worked to reconstitute Gaza’s political economy during the years of siege (post-2006). This is why Israel worked so relentlessly to eliminate entire families in Gaza, especially in the early period of the genocide: It sought to punish and destroy the social networks that supported Hamas.

For what it’s worth, Hamas has also played a role in preventing open anarchy emerging in Gaza. Again, it’s difficult to know how this works on the ground because any public discussion or manifestation of this activity renders clear targets for Israel. With that said, Hamas has also attempted to play a role in combating gangsterism and predation from money lenders and food hoarders. Here it is important to stress that Israel’s attempts to erect alternative institutional structures that could replace it have also completely failed, which Israel also admits.

Finally, the distribution of the Hamas political leadership across different regional states has also meant that Israel has so far been unable to crack the integrity of the organization as they would like. In the end, Israel would like to definitively remove Hamas as a political player like the Sri Lankan military crushed the Tamil Tigers when it stormed their headquarters bunker in May 2009. But a repeat of such a scenario is unlikely in so far as the tunnel network Hamas oversees remains robust with this key infrastructural asset a major reason why Hamas has been able to hold out. As Gaza is transformed into massive heaps of rubble, with a good portion of it mined, the resistance circulates both above and below ground, surfacing in small groups for select purposes, maintaining a kind of remote yet invisible oversight of the field. The situation resembles a kind of massive briar patch with a warren below it that Israel is trying to figure out how it can transverse and control without getting scratched. No wonder it has opted for the weapons of fire and starvation.

In addition, Hamas has multiple arenas where it operates and enjoys deep networks of support regionally and globally. So the movement is geographically diversified as well, even though it remains to be seen whether it can continue to have Gaza act as the movement’s political headquarters, as it has, since 2006.

All of this doesn’t of course mean that the movement could not or has not been severely weakened. It has been, with many of its political and military leaders killed, including most of the original military council of the Al-Qassam Brigades. With that said, Hamas built an institution that was not merely an assemblage of charismatic figures. It was a full-blown government that operated both above and below ground for 17 years. It was accepted as a legitimate player among several Muslim and Arab states, while it also enjoyed at least two years during the Arab revolutions (post-2011) when the Egyptian Morsi regime enabled mass armament and facilitation of the movement.

Reversing history and attempting to take that apart was never going to be easy and may in the end still prove elusive, although these matters remain in the balance.

It’s important to also not forget that Hamas’ brinkmanship has also written itself into Palestinian, Arab, and world history as a mirror to the international community that reflects its complacency, contradictions and complicity with a genocidal, apartheid state for generations. In the context of the horror show of the genocide, the events of October 7 are also becoming some kind of footnote to the troubling global (dis)order that permits it, which has not only stained Israel but also its Western allies.

Hamas now seems determined to wage a tenacious fight for Gaza City, while the Gaza population also seems determined to resist Israel’s plans for ethnic cleansing.

While Israeli tanks may be able to enter Gaza City, if significant numbers of people do not leave the city, the Israeli military will find itself in a situation whereby its very presence in Gaza City over time creates targets for the resistance, all the while massacres of horrific proportions will be taking place above ground to attempt to induce flight.

The question of the resolve, determination, and organization of the Palestinians in Gaza and of Hamas itself will thus be key factors in what is about to unfold.

The role of the solidarity movement

Here comes the key role of the international community and the solidarity movement in particular. The latter needs to understand the overall dynamics at play and decisively act to shut down the Israeli genocide machine. We are in a race against time to prevent Israel and the U.S. from achieving their vile ends. Who knows what Gazans can withstand in these circumstances? What we do know is that Israel cannot do what it wants without the Western umbrella, and that is our moral, political and legal duty to remove that.

As we elevate our activism, we should bear in mind that the ground beneath Israel’s feet is also slipping. Our work is more significant given the structural dilemmas Israel faces in its current circumstances, which are not resolvable by military means alone.

Israel’s plans to destroy Gaza City and to corral the population into concentration camps as a first step toward more comprehensive ethnic cleansing is riddled with dilemmas.

Notwithstanding the guerilla campaign Hamas is preparing and engaging in against it, and the determination of Gaza’s residents to resist their ethnic cleansing, the Israeli army itself is aware that the interim period carries the seeds for reproducing the same dilemmas that Israel has attempted to avoid all these years.

Activity that identifies, isolates and targets the supply chains that facilitate the genocide must be prioritized in a race to break the ability of Israel and its allies from carrying out their plans.

Administering concentration camps of two million Palestinians—even if framed as temporary–—is basically a recipe for reproducing a variant of the Civil Administration, the institution that ran Gazan and Palestinian lives before the first Intifada and from which Israel desperately attempted to escape. What I’m really pointing to is the fact that instead of being free from Gaza, Israel is becoming not only knee deep in it, but neck deep. Indeed, it risks becoming swallowed by Gaza in a maelstrom of infamy and opprobrium. This will only worsen every problem Israel already faces, from financing this situation, to the security of its troops and society, to the question of criminal probes brought against it.The army recognizes this, which partially explains its reticence to engage in ground operations for Gaza City. Indeed, a significant but under-reported clash has been taking place between the Israeli military and the Netanyahu government, as the former accuses the latter of being in the dark regarding Netanyahu’s political end game.In the earlier days of the genocide, Netanyahu framed opposition to his plans as an extension of his political struggles that pre-dated October 7. Similarly to Trump, Netanyahu accused the military, his political opposition, and parts of the state (particularly the judiciary) of acting as a kind of deep state that sought to undermine his “democratic reforms” and the ability of his constituency to take state power.But as the genocide progressed, Netanyahu pushed all naysayers from power and has hand selected a military chief of staff (Zamir) who was seen as loyal and compliant. But now Netanyahu encounters the same problem with Zamir, who is questioning Netanyahu about the direction he is taking the country and the army.

Zamir fears—correctly—that without a clear, convincing, and realizable end game at the end of the “battle of Gaza City,” the army’s sacrifices (which are likely to be significant—and indeed, already are) will be in vain. At the end of the day, the army may find itself stuck in a position of directly administrating two million excessively destitute, displaced, starving, traumatized Gazans. They will be unable to move these people beyond the borders of historical Palestine because everyone outside is horrified by what they have just witnessed; they recognize that any association with Israel’s plans is akin to political leprosy and direct association with the crime of genocide.

Zamir, together with the great majority of the military brass (past and present), also recognize this situation as creating more attrition for the military itself, Israeli society, and for Israel’s international standing, which is why they all prefer and press for taking the deal on the table. But Netanyahu’s adventurism remains in command, even though the political question of Gaza is not resolvable through military means alone. At some point, politics must play a role. The thing is, Israel may be so isolated politically that it does not have much rope to play with on that front. Trump may be a loyal ally, but the military wants out now and fears the unchartered territory Netanyahu is taking them collectively toward. While Israel is clearly powerful militarily, there’s also no question that its political standing is in freefall and that wars are not won by military means alone.

This is why the question of what the international solidarity movement does now is so important.

Activity that identifies, isolates and targets the supply chains that facilitate the genocide must be prioritized in a race to break the ability of Israel and its allies from carrying out their plans. How and where to do this is up to activists to answer themselves based on solid empirical research, their positionality, their resources, and the courage and willingness to struggle.

By all means—educate, organize, and use your voices to exhaust the democratic channels that might be able to end facilitation of the genocide and bring about accountability. But at the same time, because what we are witnessing is a genocide from which there are no do-overs, we have a moral, historic, and political duty to take decisive measures to prevent Israeli and U.S. plans from materializing. Activists must thus think and act outside the box, raising the stakes in their activism to prioritize direct action, strikes, and civil disobedience on a mass scale to create a people’s campaign that directly impedes the genocide machine from advancing. If progressive actors fail in this test, the precedents set by this defeat will shape future global and domestic political orders for generations to come.

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”
Featured Image credit: Pixabay; modified by Tempest.

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ELEA Acknowledges Mutual Termination of Holtec Agreement for HI-STORE CISF Project

October 8, 2025
Nick Maxwell 
nickray07@gmail.com

Breaking:

[LEA COUNTY, NM] The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) has formally acknowledged a mutual termination of its 2016 land purchase option agreement with Holtec International for the proposed HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) in Lea County.

In correspondence dated October 3, 2025, Holtec’s General Counsel informed ELEA that:

“New Mexico has since passed state legislation effectively prohibiting construction of the [CISF] envisioned for the Property. That law, combined with continued public opposition expressed by New Mexico’s current administration, has made the CISF project that Holtec and ELEA worked for so long to effectuate no longer feasible. As such, ELEA recently expressed to Holtec a desire to explore the development of the Property for alternative uses and new economic development. Holtec will not stand in the way of its long-time partner’s desire to pursue other options for the Property. 
Thus, at ELEA’s request and on both parties’ behalf, Holtec hereby formally exercises its right to terminate the Agreement per Section 7(b).”

At the special meeting this morning, ELEA Chairman John Heaton characterized Dr. Singh’s position as one in which he is “not putting one more penny” into the project and that “somebody has to pay him” to come into New Mexico at this point. Neither Dr. Singh nor any representative from Holtec or the nuclear industry were present at the meeting.

That termination was based upon the option agreement provisions for termination, which read:

Section 7. Termination. 
(a) This Agreement shall automatically terminate if Holtec has not delivered the Option Exercise Notice no later than 90 days after the Option Start Date.
(b) Holtec may, by written notice to ELEA, terminate this Agreement at any time prior to Closing.
(c) Unless terminated as provided in Subsection 7(a) or Subsection 7(b), or terminated as the result of a breach, this Agreement shall continue so long as the Property is used for the Facility.

“It’s over with them. It can’t be any clearer than that,” Chairman John Heaton concluded before calling for a unanimous vote to acknowledge Holtec’s termination of the agreement — a ceremonial action carrying no effect on the notice’s immediate and independent effectiveness.

On September 10th, 2025, Dr. Tom Alter, a respected and tenured professor of history at Texas State University, was fired for remarks he made at a socialist conference in his capacity as a private citizen.  He was fired without due process, a clear violation of both Texas State University policy and Texas state law.  Alter is a published labor historian, a popular teacher and adviser, a proud union member, a father of two, and a socialist activist. 

Texas State University’s actions represent a blatant attack on Dr. Alter’s First Amendment right to free speech. It is a political move to suppress progressive and leftist thought on campuses. His firing and the stripping away of his and his family’s livelihood is a chilling reminder of the attacks waged on campuses around the country. Alter’s firing constitutes an attack on his fundamental civil liberties, and represents a threat to the democratic rights of all working people.

The Committee to Defend Tom Alter demands his immediate reinstatement to his tenured teaching position at Texas State University.  We fight for the right of Alter and people everywhere to speak out in support of socialism, the defense of Palestine, LGBTQIA and trans advocacy, anti-racism, and social justice. We are prepared to resist these very real threats by higher education  and  federal/state government institutions. 

We call on individuals and organizations  of conscience everywhere to join our campaign.  If Tom Alter can be fired  from his job without due process and be denied  his constitutionally-protected right to free speech,  this can happen to any of us. 

We invite you to join us in this struggle. An injury to one is an injury to all.

Sign the petition here.

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”

Featured Image credit: Texas State Employees Union; modified by Tempest.

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On a warm fall evening on October 2nd, 2025, Greenbelt Alliance supporters and partners gathered in the beautiful oasis garden of supporter Sandy Moll for our South Bay Happy Hour.

New and longtime friends came together for this annual event to learn about our work in the South Bay and celebrate the community that makes it all possible. To everyone who joined us—thank you for making the evening so inspiring. Together, we’re building a Bay Area where every community can thrive in the face of climate change.

Check out photos from the event

As communities face urgent challenges from extreme heat, floods, and wildfires, our South Bay Resilience Manager Victorina Arvelo shared the latest updates on initiatives that will help communities like Gilroy—one of our Bay Area Resilience Hostpots—and East San José prepare and adapt.

Thanks to our local partnerships and supporters, we’re already making an impact:

• On the ground in Gilroy and East San José, we’re helping launch plans for resilience hubs and cooling centers, safe spaces that will protect residents during climate emergencies. Last November, we launched an emergency preparedness toolkit as a resource to communities in Gilroy. Learn more.
• With the Santa Clara County Climate Collaborative (SC4), we’re building a first-of-its-kind Resilience Hub Working Group, creating a countywide model and guidebook to help neighborhoods prepare for climate threats close to home.

Learn more about our resilience work here.

Donations made at the event will: 

• Help provide emergency supplies to community members, including first aid kits, water filters, and solar-powered chargers. 
• Fund listening sessions or workshops where neighbors come together to share their needs and shape their community’s future. 
• Provide stipends to community members, ensuring their voices guide resilience hub planning.

If you are interested in getting involved and supporting our work in the South Bay, please reach out to Victorina at varvelo@greenbelt.org. 

This annual event aims to bring together both new and longtime South Bay supporters to receive updates about Greenbelt Alliance’s work and learn ways to plug in. Board members, staff, local government officials, and residents mingle over wine and hors d’oeuvres and discuss visions for a climate-resilient Bay Area. Revisit previous events here

The post Helping South Bay Communities Adapt to Climate Change appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to pass Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions targeting the Bureau of Land Management resource management plans (RMPs) for the Miles City Field Office in Montana and the North Dakota Field Office.

RMPs provide the foundation for stability and order on America’s public lands, guiding how millions of acres are managed for energy, recreation, and conservation. These plans have never been treated as “rules” under the CRA, and approving CRA resolutions to overturn these plans breaks decades of precedent—inviting chaos across the nation’s public lands system.

Using the CRA on RMPs in this way casts doubt on the legitimacy of every RMP adopted since the CRA’s passage in 1996, throwing the management of hundreds of millions of acres of public lands into chaos.

“Teddy Roosevelt is rolling over in his grave,” said Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich. “Imagine sweeping away years and years of input, conversations, not just about the public lands on one landscape but to public lands across this country, all because you what? Found a quicker, easier way?”

The Senate is expected to vote on another CRA resolution targeting the Central Yukon RMP in Alaska later this week.

Emails show tension between Senate staffer and Interior official over DOI downsizing plans

Emails obtained by E&E News reveal frustration between a Senate staffer and Interior department DOGE operative Tyler Hassen earlier this year. Daniel Mencher, the clerk for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, emailed Hassen seeking information and requesting a briefing about the Trump administration’s voluntary staff downsizing programs. “Many of my members are concerned and hearing DOI/NPS plans might alleviate said concerns,” said Mencher via email.

The series of emails that followed shows Mencher’s increasing frustration as Hassen delayed scheduling a briefing. “Tyler – How about you acknowledge you’re either not going to brief me or we get this on the books? At this point you’re just being rude,” Mencher wrote shortly before the briefing was scheduled on June 8.

Quick hits Congress repeals Biden land use plan for Montana

E&E News | KTVH | Center for Western Priorities [press release]

Forest Service lags on prescribed burns after California loses 600-year-old trees to wildfire

SFGate

The Trump administration is allowing waste, fraud, and abuse to fester in the federal oil and gas program

Center for American Progress

Bandelier National Monument sees trespassing as fears over vandalism on public lands rise amid shutdown

Santa Fe New Mexican

Opinion: Thank you, public land patriots

Durango Herald

Trump’s major coal sales flop in Wyoming and Montana

WyoFile

New bill from Senator Lee would butcher the Wilderness Act under the guise of border security

Outdoor Life

Thousands of acres of federal land now open for coal leases are adjacent to Utah national parks

Utah News Dispatch

Quote of the day

This vote is a power grab by a fossil-fuel friendly majority in Congress that will likely backfire spectacularly. By using the Congressional Review Act in this way, Congress is opening Pandora’s box on public lands, throwing the management of millions of acres into chaos. Ironically, oil and gas companies could be stripped of thousands of leasing permits thanks to this vote.”

—Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby, press release

Picture This
@mtstateparks

Montana Landmarks!

One of our favorites is located in Tower Rock State Park!

Tower Rock was a landmark for native tribes, the Corps of Discovery, fur trappers, traders and many more that followed in their footsteps.

What is your favorite Montana landmark??

Learn more about Tower Rock State Park with the link in our story! 

 

Featured photo: The Terry Badlands Wilderness Study Area in Montana is managed by the Miles City Field Office. Alyse Backus/BLM Montana

The post Congress uses CRA to repeal BLM resource management plans, inviting chaos on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

An environmental campaigner is challenging the government over what he says are “misleading” and “inaccurate” claims about the controversial issue of fracking.

Photo: Frack Free Scarborough

The energy minister, Michael Shanks, said publicly that lower volume hydraulic fracturing – where rocks are fractured under pressure – was “commonplace” in the water industry, as well as the oil and gas sector.

The claim was made last year in a letter to a North Yorkshire MP about contentious plans for proppant squeeze, a form of lower volume fracking, at Burniston, near Scarborough.

The letter has since been used by Europa Oil & Gas, the company behind the Burniston scheme, to support its proposals.

But Dennis May, of the campaign group, Frack Free Misson, said he has evidence that the minister’s claim about the water industry was “ill-founded” at best and potentially “factually inaccurate”.

He said 13 water companies and the Environment Agency had confirmed in response to freedom of information requests (FOIs) they had no records of any form of hydraulic fracturing operations on water wells in the public supply over the past 20 years.

One company, supplying the Weald oil and gas area, said:

“Southern Water has not conducted any hydraulic fracturing of wet wells since 2005, and there are currently no plans to undertake such activities in relation to public water supply wells or bores in the future.”

Another, supplying north-west England, said:

“United Utilities has never used hydraulic fracturing, which is a technology primarily used for the development of hydrocarbon resources, rather than for potable groundwater supply.”

Mr May is now challenging the government to reveal the source of information behind the minister’s claim.

Last month, the government refused to release it.

The information came from internal communication between departments, the government said. Releasing the information was “likely to have an adverse impact on the quality of decision making”, it added.

“The public has a right to know”

This month, Mr May criticised the government’s refusal to release the information source. He said:

“The public have a right to know why a minister is citing misleading information in an attempt to justify policy to a backbench MP, to whose constituents the issue of hydraulic fracturing is of great concern. The disclosure of relevant information is key to such an understanding.”

He said the information was either unknowingly factually incorrect or there was a decision to “wilfully distribute misleading information about the use of hydraulic fracturing in the water industry”.

Mr May said the claim may also have been intended to “’normalise’ such activities with a view of making them more acceptable to the public”.

He said:

“Hydraulic fracturing is already a contentious issue. It is in the public interest to know what sources of information the government is relying on to formulate policy and legislation.

“Any public concern regarding decision-making processes will likely be compounded following publication that the minister’s assertion was misleading, along with the obfuscation in order to justify refusal of disclosure.”

He told DrillOrDrop:

“The purpose of fracking is to cause geological disruption to extract a finite material from the strata.

“Why would you unnecessarily and haphazardly risk disturbing the geology that provides, in some areas of Southern England, up to 100% of a public water supply which is replenished through the natural flow of groundwaters?

“The only possible beneficiary of such government misinformation is the onshore oil and gas sector.”

Ministerial information

This is not the first time a government minister has argued that oil and gas techniques are commonly used in the water industry.

In 2022, the then business minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, told Brockham Oil Watch:

“Acidisation is a common technique carried out to clean and develop wells. It is widely used in the water industry as well as the oil and gas industry”.

Acidisation is, in fact, an umbrella term for activities that include acid hydraulic fracturing.

Mr May said:

“It is inaccurate to state in that context that it is ‘widely used across the water industry’”.

In response to an FOI request, Mr Shanks’ department said there were well stimulation techniques – widely used across the water industry, oil and gas, and geothermal – that aimed to enhance permeability and increase flow. It said these included proppant squeeze, acid washes, and other mechanical or chemical stimulation methods.

Mr May said:

“In light of the evidence supplied to the minister (that hydraulic fracturing is not carried out in the water industry), it is misleading to conflate that sector with activities that reach or exceed the fracture pressure of relevant strata, such as proppant squeeze.”

He added:

“Evidence would suggest that the government had an established behaviour of supplying misinformation in defence of hydraulic fracturing”.

DrillOrDrop asked the energy security department (DESNZ) to comment on the claims that one of its ministers had given inaccurate information. We provided evidence from 14 FOI responses from the water sector. The department said “low volume hydraulic fracturing has been used for the abstraction of groundwater”.

A department spokesperson said:

“Low volume hydraulic fracturing has been used in water, geothermal and oil and gas operations.

“We will ban fracking for shale gas extraction. Through our Plan for Change, we will reignite our industrial heartlands as we seize the opportunities of the clean energy transition, and will continue to drive investment for businesses and communities in the UK.”

Burniston fracking debate

The proposed use of proppant squeeze at Burniston and other onshore oil and gas sites has reignited the debate about fracking and its definition.

Mr Shanks’ letter said the 1998 Petroleum Act set criteria for activities commonly known as fracking.

In fact, the act defined only associated hydraulic fracturing. This is a process which pumps more than 1,000m3 of fluid into a well per fracking stage or 10,000m3 in total.

Europa has cited the letter in defence of its plans at Burniston.

It accused local opponents of “a high level of misinformation” by referring to the proposed proppant squeeze operation as fracking.

But in an email to the industry regulator, the company itself referred to proppant squeeze as fracking.

DrillOrDrop asked Europa whether it continued to support Mr Shanks’ claim that hydraulic fracturing operations were commonplace in the water industry and what evidence it had to support the claim.

We also asked whether, in the absence of any evidence to support the claim, would the company continue to quote from the minister’s letter.

Europa replied:

“We continue to note the very important thrust of the Minister’s words relating to the distinction between a proppant squeeze and high-volume hydraulic fracturing.

“That is the fundamental issue here and the reason we referenced his letter. We are not in a position to comment on the water industry specifically.”

The Burniston project is expected to be decided by North Yorkshire Council by the end of the year.

Dominion Energy spokesman Aaron Ruby said the company is seeking the power purchase agreements as part of its “‘all of the above’ strategy to serve growing power demand.”

Food Tank is rounding up 26 titles that explore the intersection of food, farming, and cultural identity. From Sean Sherman’s new book on re-indigenizing our food systems to Marion Nestle’s guide on what to eat today, each entry offers insights to help us preserve land, farming practices, and our relationship to natural resources in a changing environment. The titles on this list are sure to inspire readers to plant and water seeds of change in their own communities

1. All Consuming: Why We Eat The Way We Eat Now by Ruby Tandoh

All Consuming is a cultural history of food, from the first television cooking show to the first TikTok food critic. Ruby Tandoh, author of Cook As You Are, explores the sociopolitical factors, such as social media and Michelin stars, that have reshaped our society’s culinary literacy. All Consuming takes a critical and curious look at the tastemakers that influence our consumption patterns and our relationship to food.

2. Agroecology in Practice by Jeffrey W. Bentley and Paul van Mele

Agroecology in Practice is a field guide for farmers, agriculture professionals, policymakers, and environmentalists. Researchers and agricultural scientists Jeffrey W. Bentley and Paul van Mele share tips, tools, and innovative examples from across the globe for implementing agroecological practices and regenerating farmland.

3. Barn Gothic: Three Generations and the Death of the Family Dairy Farm by Ryan Dennis

In Barn Gothic, third generation dairy farmer Ryan Dennis shares about growing up milking calves and watching his father and grandfather struggle to keep their dairy farm alive in a changing world. As corporate corruption rendered 40,000 dairy farms obsolete between 2003 and 2020, Dennis draws on personal narrative and poignant business insights in this story about fighting to preserve agricultural life.

4. Care and Feeding: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever

Care and Feeding is a behind the scenes look at the male-dominated field of restaurant work and food publications, told by Laurie Woolever’s wry candor. Woolever recounts the adventures and misadventures of being a woman in the food industry and in the world at large, reckoning with her own purpose-givers of care and feeding.

5. Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave it All Away by David Gelles 

New York Times reporter and bestselling author David Gelles tells the story of a “dirtbag” in the truest sense: a legendary rock climber who founded the global brand Patagonia, became a billionaire, and committed all profits back to environmental and climate resiliency efforts. Gelles recounts Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard’s story of building and managing the brand, diving into the contradictions of creating a mission-driven business in a capitalist society. 

6. Dirty Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Jill Damatac

Jill Damatac writes a love letter to food as the ultimate comfort in her memoir Dirty Kitchen, a story about her life as an undocumented Filipino immigrant in America for twenty-two years. Damatac recalls cooking her way through her native Philippines, her time studying in the U.K., and her return to the United States with a new perspective and sense of self. Dirty Kitchen shows how food can be the answer to questions of identity, tradition, and belonging in spite of colonial trauma.

7. Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet by Stuart Gillespie

 In Food Fight, Stuart Gillespie explains how the global food system has become the cause of severe public health and planetary crises. With careful analysis, Gillespie shows that colonialism and capitalism affect how and what we eat–and offers a hopeful look at the future of food justice and consumption.

8. Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange by Katie Goh

In Foreign Fruit, Katie Goh traces the history of the orange alongside her own heritage from east to west to east. In pursuit of investigating the orange, Goh describes growing up queer in a Chinese-Malaysian-Irish household and a homecoming to Malaysia, where she begins to unpeel the layers of her own identity and personhood as well.

9. Formulating Development: How Nestlé Shaped the Aid Industry by Lola Wilhelm

In Formulating Development, author Lola Wilhelm examines how large food corporations have shaped the global food aid industry. Drawing from Nestlé’s historical archives and the records of humanitarian aid agencies, Wilhelm considers the complicated relationships between the food industry’s biggest companies, human health, and agricultural advancement.

10. From Scratch: Adventures in Harvesting, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging on a Fragile Planet by David Moscow and Jon Moscow

Creator and star of the show From Scratch, David Moscow, takes readers along for a culinary travelogue in his new book. Moscow explores the inside of food ecosystems in over 20 countries, as he talks to hunters, fishers, foragers and many more people along the food supply chain to investigate – sometimes literally – how the sausage is made. From Scratch will show just how interconnected the environment, culture, and community is through food.

11. Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life by Gabrielle Cerberville

In the upcoming illustrated field guide Gathered, Gabrielle Cerberville, known for her viral presence online as “The Chaotic Forager,” takes readers along on a foraging adventure that will teach them how to find, identify, harvest, and prepare wild food. Structured by seasonality, Gathered is a case for re-wilding our diets and learning to eat in accordance with the natural world.

12. Ginseng Roots: A Memoir by Craig Thompson

Craig Thompson follows up his 2003 autobiography Blankets with a new graphic memoir about growing up as a child laborer in the Wisconsin ginseng farming industry. In Ginseng Roots, Thompson chronicles the 300-year-old global ginseng trade and the individuals who make it up, from ancient Chinese ginseng hunters to migrant farmers in the American Midwest. Ginseng Roots is a reflection on a lost childhood, class divide, industrial agriculture, and finding a sense of home. 

13. Mushroom Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Fungal Lives by Alison Pouliot

In Mushroom Day, ecologist Alison Pouliot brings readers along for an hour in the life of 24 different fungi species. At dusk, the bioluminescent ghost fungus whispers the secrets of the dark forest, while at dawn the porcino mushrooms prepare for the Italian foragers’ arrival. Pouliot takes readers underground into the unique fungal world and their fascinating relationship to plants, lands, and people through vivid prose and evocative illustrations from artist Stuart Patience.

14. My (Half) Latinx Kitchen: An Unforgettable Multicultural Culinary Journey, Spice up Your Cooking Game by Kiera Wright-Ruiz

Part cookbook, part journey of self-discovery, My (Half) Latinx Kitchen is Kiera Wright-Ruiz’s celebration of the flavors that make up her identity. From South America to Asia to the United States, the recipes and heartfelt essays in this book represent the integration of traditions from a first generation voice.

15. Reaping What She Sows: How Women are Rebuilding a Broken Food System by Nancy Matsumoto

In Reaping What She Sows, James Beard Award winner Nancy Matsumoto poses the ultimate question “how should we eat?” in a time when grocery prices are high and supermarkets are short on products. The answer: relying on our own communities. Matsumoto highlights the women trailblazers who are saving and rebuilding local and regional food systems, from a Black women-led rice cooperative to indigenous kelp hatchery owners.

16. Recipes from the American South by Michael Twitty

From critically acclaimed chef, author, and cultural historian Michael Twitty comes the new cookbook, Recipes from the American South. Recipes will take readers from Louisiana to the Chesapeake Bay, highlighting more than 260 of the region’s most iconic dishes. Twitty lends his well-researched and lyrical storytelling to complementary essays that explore the cultural influences that impact Southern cuisine.

17. Saturdays at Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery, illustrated by Jessie Hartland

Tony Hillery, founder and director of the nonprofit Harlem Grown, adds a new book to his nonfiction picture book series about the real-life urban garden in Harlem teaching children how to grow their own food. Saturdays at Harlem Grown tells the story of a teacher, a student, and the community they grew from their garden seeds. 

18. Sea Change: Unlikely Allies and a Success Story of Oceanic Proportions by Amanda Leland and James Workman

Sea Change is a hopeful vote of confidence for revolutionizing the fishing industry. Amanda  Leland and James Workman share the stories of the individuals fighting against overfishing and the quick band-aid fixes to the boom and bust fishing economy. And throughout the pages, they demonstrate that leaning on unlikely partnerships can lead to surprising and sustainable solutions.

19. Strong Roots: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Ukraine by Olia Hercules

From chef and and co-founder of the #CookforUkraine movement Oli Hercules comes a sweeping memoir of life, family, and food in Ukraine from Soviet rule to Russian invasion. Making it her mission to preserve family recipes and stories that connect her family to the land, Hercules’ memoir is a documentation and declaration of Ukrainian identity and resilience.

20. The Accidental Seed Heroes: Growing a Delicious Food Future for All of Us by Adam Alexander

 The Accidental Seed Heroes celebrates the tiny seeds at the center of our worldwide food system, combining lessons on traditional seed varieties with new sustainable plant science. Building on his past book, The Seed Detective, Alexander argues that protecting traditional seeds goes hand in hand with creating innovative new produce that can feed humanity and protect the planet.

21. The Last Supper: How to Overcome the Coming Food Crisis by Sam Kass

Senior food policy advisor to the Obama administration Sam Kass shares what he has learned about investing in accessible and effective food policy in his new book The Last Supper. Kass breaks down how to maximize nutrition while minimizing environmental damage and protecting against climate change through updates in culture, legislation, business, and technology.

22. The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit by Priyanka Kumar

The Light Between Apples gives a glimpse into the rich history of the 16,000 apple varieties that once existed in America – only one fifth of those now remain. Kumar traces the story of the apple from its roots in Kazakhstan to its home in Spanish orchards in the Southwest, and blends childhood memories with science to paint a vivid picture of how at its core, an apple can rewild our relationship with nature.

23. Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America by Sean Sherman (forthcoming November 2025)

Sean Sherman, also known as the Sioux-Chef, is a three-time James Beard Award winner and a leading figure in the Indigenous food movement. In his new book Turtle Island, Sherman curates more than 100 ancestral and modern recipes from Indigenous peoples across North America, as well as deep narrative histories of how Native food pathways can teach us to connect with our natural world.

24. What if Soil Microbes Mattered?: Our Health Depends on Them by Leo Horrigan

 On behalf of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Leo Horrigan examines the potential for alternatives to conventional chemical farming. What if Soil Microbes Mattered? looks at how these organisms can restore the biodiversity of soil that has been damaged by chemical applications. Through this exploration, the book — available as a PDF — presents regenerative farming methods that pose the potential for rebuilding healthy soil to better nourish our land and ourselves.

25. What to Eat Now: The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters by Marion Nestle (forthcoming November 2025)

Twenty years after her trailblazing What to Eat, Marion Nestle is asking the same question in a radically changed food environment in her new book. With over 30,000 products in a typical American supermarket and a rapidly changing news cycle, choosing what to eat can often be a daunting task. In What to Eat Now, Nestle cuts through the noise and establishes clear pathways for eating simply, sustainably, and ethically. 

26. Will Work for Food: Labor across the Food Chain by Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern and Teresa M. Mares

Will Work For Food is an argument for centering fair labor practices in popular discourse about sustainable food and agriculture systems. Authors Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern and Teresa M. Mares combine thorough labor justice research and anecdotes from laborers across the food chain to outline action steps that can help us build systems that are better for workers and eaters alike.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

The post Food Tank’s Fall Reads for Food, Farming, and Our Future appeared first on Food Tank.

The governor signed a bill which will streamline the approvals process for geothermal projects, but he vetoed one aimed at doing the same for geothermal exploration, citing fee increases.

What’s the top animal species you can’t stop dreaming about seeing in the wild?

For Brooke — one of the main characters of Tiffany Everett’s delightful new graphic novel, Diary of a Nature Nerd — the answer is a moose. She’s fascinated by them, but her attempts to observe one and document the sighting in her nature journal have been thwarted at every turn.

Brooke’s emotional quest sits at the core of the book, which sees her newly blended family — including her less-enthusiastic-about-nature best friend/stepsister — travel to Washington state’s North Cascades National Park as a combination honeymoon-slash-scientific expedition.

It’s the first full-length book both illustrated and written by Everett, who previously illustrated several science- and nature-based books for kids and who also maintains a busy YouTube channel with her partner about their full-time travel.

The Revelator sat down with Everett to talk about her new book, the excitement and value of nature journaling, and life on the road.

(This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and style.)

So where are you calling from these days? Are you still 100% mobile or…?

No, I’m in Auburn, Alabama, but we’re getting ready to hit the road again.

Aha. Will you be using the same modified bus I saw in your videos?

No, we’re done with the bus. We’ve got a van and we’ve done a truck camper with a pop-up tent on the back. And we did a scamp, which is one of those little fiber fiberglass egg-shaped tiny campers. And we just built out another van to travel in.

Wow. Did you do this whole book while traveling around mobile?

No, funny enough. I started the book while I was mobile, and then when I got the deal, I was kind of overwhelmed with the thought of how much work was in front of me. So we got a house here in my hometown for little while. I did basically the whole book here. But now I’m itching to get back on the road.

Great. So tell me, why did you write this book, and what do you hope readers are going to get from it?

Well, there are a lot of reasons I wanted to write a book like this one. One of the main reasons is I get really excited when I see an animal in the wild. And I see that same excitement for kids and adults alike when I’m hiking and we pass somebody and they’re like, “we just saw some deer up there, be quiet and you won’t scare them away.” They just light up.

And I think as a kid, one of the most important questions is “What’s your favorite animal?” So many kids pick some faraway species, which is wonderful. But I want to remind kids that there’s some amazing animals right here in the U.S.

Courtesy Tiffany Everett

And I wanted to shine a light on nomadic life, because my partner and I have lived out of a school bus, in a van, and a camper. When we tell people that, we’re often met with a lot of confusion, especially in the east and from family and stuff. I think it’s a misunderstood way of life, but it’s a lifestyle a lot of people choose. I enjoy my time living in the campers and it has brought me closer to nature. That’s just something I want to have front and center in this book.

Cool. And this is your first book-length comics work. You described it as “an emotional experience” on your website, but at the same time it’s a progression of your other illustrative work, which is science- and nature-based. Tell me about that journey and how all this work fits together.

I always wanted to be an illustrator. I kind of thought writing was out of reach for me, because I’m a visual person. But what’s cool about graphic novels is it marries the two. It’s as much about the illustrations as it is about the text.

I love illustrating nature and science. I like to be as specific as I can. I put a lot of research into it.

When I finally got to write my own story, I naturally wanted to build this whole world around nature and science, because I knew I would learn a lot while I did it.

What was your biggest challenge doing the book?

It was nothing but challenges [laughs]. I had never written before, I had never worked on a graphic novel before, and I’d never worked on a project of this size before. At 128 pages, that’s around 600 illustrations — it’s a lot of work.

I put a lot of research into it. I tried to be careful, but I still missed some things. And I’m lucky that I had some expert reviewers look at the book and find some things.

For example, there was a panel where I illustrated a river otter floating on its back. And the expert reviewer was like, only sea otters float on their backs. And that was a cool fact that I didn’t know, so I fixed it.

There was a lot of help behind the scenes, but it was an amazing journey.

You could have set it anywhere. You could have set it in your home state of Alabama. But you chose North Cascades. What attracted you to that setting?

One of the main reasons is it was one of the most recent parks I had visited when I started writing the story.

When I first got to North Cascades, I was in a very raw emotional state because we had just driven days through wildfire smoke. And when we got there, we finally got a break from it. We ascended the mountain and suddenly the skies were clear and it was lush and green. We got to Diablo Lake and saw that iconic view. It was like a sigh of relief.

Diablo Lake without smoke…and with. Photos courtesy Tiffany Everett

We camped there for two weeks. And for that first week, we didn’t have any wildfire smoke. It was a week of heaven after a pretty stressful experience.

During that week the blackberries were everywhere. I saw my first banana slug, which was very exciting. It was the first time I had seen trees of that size — just mind-blowing.

It’s definitely one of my favorite national parks, and I’ve been to 26 of them.

On that note, how do you feel about all the threats to national parks right now?

I get really frustrated reading about shortsighted plans that don’t adequately protect the wild spaces we still have. I’m deeply disheartened by the administration’s decisions to cut funding for America’s best idea, national parks, and conservation as a whole. My hope is that my book inspires some kids to put nature forward and that our natural resources are worth vastly more than dollars and cents.

Tell me about the nature journal portion of the book. It both conveys information and Brooke’s character. It’s a completely different art style, while also complementary to your regular art style. How did you develop that? What were your goals with these areas of the book?

I knew I wanted the nature journal to be the heart of the book. I think it was fun to draw things in Brooke’s style. It kind of broke it up for me artistically.

The nature journal throughout the book is a place for her to record her animal observations, which is a huge part of her personality, but she also uses it like a true diary. She hides little folded pieces of paper in the notebook where she can write her personal thoughts.

Courtesy Tiffany Everett

Her drawings kind of change — she starts by putting a lot of effort into her drawings and adding cute, fun facts and stuff. And then when she’s frustrated, her drawings reflect her feelings, and they get messy and sloppy, and she doesn’t care about it anymore. That’s so unlike this character, because this is a kid who thinks anytime she gets to observe an animal in the wild, no matter if it’s a grizzly bear or a squirrel, that’s exciting. But she gets so blinded by her obsession that she doesn’t care anymore and you see that in her drawings.

That’s one of the questions I wanted to ask. She’s so obsessed with seeing her “number one mammal” and she gets upset when she doesn’t see it and when her family members do. And I can understand that feeling. I’ve had species I wanted to see, and other people say, “I just saw one…”

“And you just missed it.”

Yeah! So I found it interesting that that was what created the drama of the book and allowed you to reveal so much character. Why did you choose that as the plot element?

Well, I think because, like you, I can relate to that feeling. You know, Brooke has spent almost her entire life camping. And a moose is her number one favorite animal. Somehow it’s the one she’s never seen. And we can imagine that there’s been a lot of times where she almost saw one, where she’s on the trail and somebody was like, “we just saw a moose.” And then the disappointment she probably feels when it’s gone, when she gets to that spot.

So then her best friend-turned-sister, Jayla, sees the moose in her very first week of camping — her reaction to that is big. At first Brooke is kind of cold to Jayla. She probably doesn’t even know why, because that’s how jealousy can feel sometimes. It’s kind of a complicated emotion, and the story is all about Brooke navigating her own feelings and learning to be happy for somebody else.

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Obviously not every family can take this type of immersive experience. Are there ways kids can translate the lessons of the book to their backyard or their urban environment or their neighborhoods?

Yeah, absolutely. You don’t have to go far to have an experience in nature. You can just go to your backyard or a local park.

If you bring a notebook, and any kind of art supplies — any notebook works, any art supplies work — and can you just sit and pay attention. Squirrels and birds and chipmunks or whatever you have near you can provide endless entertainment. You just need to slow down and pay attention to it.

Some of the advice I’ve gotten from other artists is that the very process of slowing down, like you just said, and capturing an animal or plant in linework helps you see it in new light. It brings new observations that you might not have noticed otherwise.

Absolutely. One of my favorite resources for nature journaling — and I think this is a good resource for kids and adults — is John Muir Laws and the Wild Wonder Foundation’s amazing YouTube videos for cool things like how to nature journal.

I think it’s important for everybody to remember that nature journal journaling is not about making pretty pictures. If you enjoy that, that’s great, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about making you slow down and notice things. These videos point out all the kinds of things you can make notes about, and it makes you just think about what’s going on. Like, what time of day did I see this, what season is it, what kind of tree was it in — stuff like that.

And just as a side note, it’s amazing how some of those journals from maybe a century ago contained vital science that reveals how animal migration has changed, how the climate has changed. People are tapping into this stuff either from their own lives or from generations past and learning new things.

One-hundred percent. And that’s something else that I hope readers get from this book: that everybody can be a scientist. It doesn’t matter what age you are. You don’t have to be a great artist. Making these observations — it’s fun for you, and it could actually be something that somebody learns from one day.

Speaking of observations, were any of the wildlife scenes you drew in the book things you’ve seen?

Oh yeah. Brooke’s top 10 most wanted mammals list is essentially my own wish list.

I’ve seen half of the ones on her list. I’ve seen a moose, but I haven’t seen a moose swimming, which I think would be really cool.

Every time I get to see any animal in the wild, it’s an honor. Even deer and squirrels and stuff — like when you’re hiking and you get to share the space with these deer and they look at you and stop, and then they decide that you’re not a threat and they keep eating. It’s so cool just to slow down and watch them for a little bit.

The book’s been out for a few weeks. You’ve done some author events — how are kids responding?

Well, I’ve been blown away from responses. It’s humbling. I did my first author event last weekend, and it went really well. The kids were so excited and they asked great questions.

We did a draw-along, where I showed them how I draw from references and how you can break down any image into shapes and draw anything. We drew a fox together and all the kids’ fox drawings looked great — they were all so unique and they had their own style, but they were all definitely foxes.

 

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A post shared by Tiffany Everett (@tiffanyeverettstudio)

And I’ve had parents reach out and say that their kids devoured the book in one day and we’re looking for book two.

So what does come next? Are you thinking about another book for Brooke or about something else?

Well, I don’t have any official news for Brooke and her family, but I can say that I’m dreaming up some adventures and some interesting environments for them to explore. I think, fingers crossed, there might be more.

And for me personally, I missed camping while working on this, so we’re about to hit the road again. We’re packing up the van now.

The author and Tuco. Courtesy Tiffany Everett

Tuco, the dog in the book, is my real life Tuco. He’s a senior now and we’re getting the van ready to accommodate an 80-pound senior dog. We’re excited. I think he’s going to love getting one more adventure in.

Previously in The Revelator:

Comics for Earth: Eight New Graphic Novels About Saving the Planet and Celebrating Wildlife

The post <i>Diary of a Nature Nerd</i>: New Graphic Novel Celebrates Kids’ Love of Wildlife appeared first on The Revelator.

More than 100 countries have cut their dependence on fossil-fuel imports and saved hundreds of billions of dollars by continuing to invest in renewables, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

It says nations such as the UK, Germany and Chile have reduced their need for imported coal and gas by around a third since 2010, mainly by building wind and solar power.

Denmark has cut its reliance on fossil-fuel imports by nearly half over the same period.

Renewable expansion allowed these nations to collectively avoid importing 700m tonnes of coal and 400bn cubic metres of gas in 2023, equivalent to around 10% of global consumption.

In doing so, the fuel-importing countries saved more than $1.3tn between 2010 and 2023 that would otherwise have been spent on fossil fuels from overseas.

Reduced reliance

The IEA’s Renewables 2025 report quantifies the benefits of renewable-energy deployment for electricity systems in fossil fuel-importing nations. 

It compares recent trends in renewable expansion to an alternative “low renewable-energy source” scenario, in which this growth did not take place.

In this counterfactual, fuel-importing countries stopped building wind, solar and other non-hydropower renewable-energy projects after 2010.

In reality, the world added around 2,500 gigawatts (GW) of such projects between 2010 and 2023, according to the IEA, more than the combined electricity generating capacity of the EU and US in 2023, from all sources. Roughly 80% of this new renewable capacity was built in nations that rely on coal and gas imports to generate electricity.

The chart below shows how 31 of these countries have substantially cut their dependence on imported fossil fuels over the 13-year period, as a result of expanding their wind, solar and other renewable energy supplies. All of these countries are net importers of coal and gas.

Share of national electricity supplies that depend on imported fossil fuels in 2023, actual (left) and in the IEA’s “low renewable-energy source” scenario (right), in 31 countries that are net importers of coal and gas. Source: IEA.

In total, the IEA identified 107 countries that had reduced their dependence on fossil fuel imports for electricity generation, to some extent due to the deployment of renewables other than hydropower.

Of these, 38 had cut their reliance on electricity from imported coal and gas by more than 10 percentage points and eight had seen that share drop by more than 30 percentage points.

Security and resilience

The IEA stresses that renewables “inherently strengthen energy supply security”, because they generate electricity domestically, while also “improving…economic resilience” in fossil-fuel importer countries. 

This is particularly true for countries with low or dwindling domestic energy resources.

The agency cites the energy crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which exposed EU importers to spiralling fossil-fuel prices.

Bulgaria, Romania and Finland – which have historically depended on Russian gas for electricity generation – have all brought their import reliance close to zero in recent years by building renewables.

In the UK, where there has been mounting opposition to renewables from right-wing political parties, the IEA says reliance on electricity generated with imported fossil fuels has dropped from 45% to under 25% in a decade, thanks primarily to the growth of wind and solar power. 

Without these technologies, the UK would now be needing to import fossil fuels to supply nearly 60% of its electricity, the IEA says.

Other major economies, notably China and the EU, would also have had to rely on a growing share of coal and gas from overseas, if they had not expanded renewables.

As well as increasing the need for fossil-fuel imports from other countries, switching renewables for fossil fuels would require significantly higher energy usage “due to [fossil fuels’] lower conversion efficiencies”, the IEA notes. Each gigawatt-hour (GWh) of renewable power produced has avoided the need for 2-3GWh of fossil fuels, it explains.

Finally, the IEA points out that spending on renewables rather than imported fossil fuels keeps more investment in domestic economies and supports local jobs.

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