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By Eva Camus & Panagiota Kotsila

Heatwaves expose deep inequalities, hitting racialized migrants hardest due to race, gender, class, and poor housing. In Neukölln, Berlin, we see the urgent need for inclusive, locally-informed climate adaptation strategies that prioritize migrant voices, housing justice, and equitable access to cooling resources.

The numbers are staggering. Last month, the Climate Risk Index 2025, published by Germanwatch,  documented the growing impact of extreme weather events globally. Between 1993 and 2022, more than 765,000 people have lost their lives due to extreme climate events, while over 9,400 climate-related disasters, including hurricanes, floods, storms, and heatwaves, caused economic damages exceeding $4.2 trillion (Climate Risk Index, 2025). But behind these figures lie deeper questions: Who is most at risk when disaster strikes? Who shoulders the weight of climate?

While some stay cool in air-conditioned offices, shaded neighborhoods, or public cooling centers, others, including migrants, low-income workers, and racialized communities, endure the heat in overcrowded apartments, precarious workplaces, and public spaces where they are often unwelcome. Across European cities, adaptation strategies often overlook these inequalities, reinforcing existing patterns of environmental injustice and exclusion.

Who gets to stay cool? Heatwaves and climate injustice in European cities

Heatwaves are not just a weather event; they are a crisis of inequality (Anguelovski et al. 2025). As temperatures rise, cities become heat traps, where dense infrastructure and the urban heat island effect push temperatures higher than their rural counterparts and disallow urban neighborhoods from cooling down during the night. In Europe, risks are growing as it has become the fastest warming continent (Climate Risk Index, 2025). While Mediterranean cities have long coped with high temperatures, northern European cities are now also struggling. Many buildings, designed to retain warmth, make cooling difficult, and where air conditioning is scarce both in private homes and public buildings, heat stress is an increasing concern.

Not everyone experiences extreme heat the same way. As political ecologies of risk have long noted (see Collins 2008;Wescoat 2019; Huber et al.), vulnerability to environmental and climate impacts is socially produced. Power relationships are reflected in how such impacts and the subsequent policies of mitigating or adapting to them are governed, and social structures determine who will be most at risk and whose voice will be heard in processes of risk assessment, prevention and policy. The risks that climate change poses to human health and well-being are no exception.

Extreme and prolonged heat impacts places and communities by building on and magnifying existing inequalities related to urban planning and zoning decisions, historical patterns of socio-spatial exclusion and segregation, as well as to everyday patterns of life and work, hitting those at the most precarious positions the hardest. Research has identified children, older adults, and those with pre-existing conditions as particularly at risk, taking into account the biological predisposition of different people to the effects of heat (Rebetez et al., 2009; Kovats and Hajat, 2008). However, we need to take a closer look at the role of deeper and historical social, economic and cultural determinants of such vulnerability, including how race, gender, class, and living conditions are just as decisive of factors when defining vulnerability as biological predisposition (Abi Deivanayagam et al., 2023; Anguelovski & Kotsila, 2023; Anguelovski et al. 2025).

In the context of urban life in cities in Europe, some of the most socially vulnerable groups are racialized migrants; people that come from countries of a majority world context and now live in Europe. Despite increased attention to how racialization and marginalization shapes heat injustice, we have seen limited attention on the topic from scholars in Europe. In response to this gap in our understanding of climate injustice in EU cities, we designed a pilot research project to examine how migrants experience, understand and react to extreme and prolonged heat in the context of Neukölln neighborhood in Berlin, Germany.

Created by: Jana Dabelstein
@mentalnotearchive (Instagram)
http://www.linkedin.com/in/janadabelstein

 

During May and June 2024, we held 2 participatory workshops with 11 majority-world migrant residents. We adapted the Relief Maps method, to capture intersectional dynamics of heat-related dis/comfort in everyday spaces, and the contradictions often faced by migrants regarding thermal versus emotional comfort.

Firstly, we found out that ten out of eleven participants find public transport uncomfortable in relation to heat, mainly due to poor ventilation, high temperatures, and overcrowding. Gender significantly influences these experiences, with public transport showing the highest average discomfort in the gender dimension. Five of eight women and gender-nonconforming individuals reported insecurity due to harassment, with a young woman from Mexico, describing “a lot of sexual and sexist harassment.” The results also reveal that race and ethnicity contribute to discomfort on public transport, with four participants experiencing stereotyping, judgment, and overt racism.

Agreeing with scholars who have identified migrants working in construction, agriculture and manufacturing as particularly vulnerable due to their exposure to long hours in direct sunlight, or poorly ventilated environments with minimal protections against extreme temperatures (Hansen et al., 2014; Venugopal et al., 2014; Messeri et al., 2019), we found that beyond physical conditions, deeper socio-cultural structures and circumstances—such as language barriers—also significantly influence their access to thermal comfort. Five participants in our study noted that limited German proficiency restricted their job options, made it difficult to communicate with employers, and left them unable to advocate for better conditions. The exclusion from workplace decision-making processes mirrors broader patterns of labor control in migrant economies, where language is often a barrier to social mobility and labor rights advocacy (Collins, 2012).

 

We also found that for migrant women, these vulnerabilities were even more pronounced. Many are overrepresented in caregiving, cleaning, and service jobs, where gendered expectations of emotional and physical labor heighten their exposure to heat. One participant, a childcare worker, described how the burden of protecting others during heatwaves made her own discomfort secondary:

“If I have to go to work on a hot day, then it’s kind of annoying because I work with kids, and we have to go to the park. Then it’s like I’m stressed about the bodies of 20 kids instead of mine. I’m stressed about whether they have sunscreen, if they have their hats, if they’re drinking water, if they’re not burning themselves on the metallic parts of the park. And then I’m super exhausted. […]”

Her experience reflects a broader reality of gendered workplace precarity, where migrant women are expected to manage heat exposure not only for themselves but for those under their care, often while earning low wages and receiving little institutional support (see also Sultana, 2014; Truelove & Ruszczyk, 2022).

Furthermore, housing conditions turned out to be a key determinant of climate vulnerability. Yet, for many migrants, their home offers very little protection from extreme heat. Scholars in urban political ecology emphasize that thermal comfort is not just about the level of air temperature, but also about access to safe, affordable and stable housing which is in turn deeply shaped by economic and social inequalities (Anguelovski et al. 2025; Checker, 2020).

Our workshops, indeed, revealed that while some participants found relief in good ventilation or cooling infrastructure, others faced overcrowding, poor airflow, and noise pollution at home, making heat waves unbearable. One participant, living with five others, described her home as “impossible to endure” without air conditioning, underscoring how housing conditions shape thermal comfort as much as outdoor temperatures. This is compounded by the constant struggle connected to securing an affordable home, let alone one that offers relief during times of heat. Many participants described constantly moving in search of affordable rent, reinforcing the argument that housing precarity compounds climate risk (Rolnik, 2019). With rising rents and few housing options, cooling often became a secondary concern, demonstrating how heat vulnerability is inseparable from economic instability and displacement. As one participant shared:

“I’m paying a lot for a small studio, and this is the fourth time I’ve moved in a year. Most housing is overpriced for the little space it offers.”

 

Exclusionary adaptation: who gets to benefit from green cities?

At a systemic level, migrants’ ability to adapt to extreme heat is shaped not just by economic hardship but by policies that reinforce exclusion. Neoliberal climate strategies, rooted in historical racism and capitalist exploitation, limit access to resources, making it harder for migrant communities to cope with rising temperatures (Kotsila et al., 2023). While European cities promote sustainability and climate adaptation, these efforts often mask, and indeed exacerbate, deep-rooted inequalities. Green infrastructure projects (including parks, permeable surfaces, green roofs, regeneration of waterfronts, etc.) are celebrated as solutions to urban heat. However, these are seen to frequently drive-up property values, displacing low-income and migrant residents and making public spaces less accessible (Anguelovski et al., 2018).

Parks and cooling green corridors offer relief from extreme heat, yet for many migrants, these spaces remain unwelcoming due to harassment, discrimination, and police surveillance, as participants in our study described.  Eight participants said they seek heat comfort in parks, and green spaces were also valued for their financial accessibility, particularly by those unable to afford private cooling options. Despite their cooling benefits however, experiences of exclusion and racial profiling severely also shape access to these environments. Three women and non-binary participants reported feeling unsafe in parks due to histories of sexual harassment and cultural judgment.

Access to life-saving information is another barrier. Many migrants struggle to access heat warnings, emergency resources, and public health information due to language barriers and weak institutional support (Kotsila et al., 2023; Lebano et al., 2020). Even when cooling centers exist, social exclusion and lack of networks prevent many from using them.  Our findings revealed a significant gap in awareness regarding municipal or NGO-provided heat relief locations. As one participant shared:

“Honestly, I do not know about these spaces. I have not heard about these places and did not know they existed in Berlin or Germany.”

The absence of commentary from other participants suggests that this lack of awareness is widespread. Beyond information gaps, social dynamics also played a role in limiting access. One participant, described feeling “very foreign in this place”, highlighting how migrants may feel unwelcome or out of place in institutional spaces designed for heat relief.

Rethinking climate adaptation: from exclusion to justice

If European cities are to adopt adaptation strategies that benefit all and prioritize the most vulnerable, adaptation must move beyond mainstream technocratic approaches that treat the city as a blank slate and assume “trickle-down” benefits. Local context, the history of neighborhoods and the realities of those who inhabit them, need to be the pillars of climate adaptation, including knowledge and practices from networks and collectives that have long sustained, involved, and provided care for and with the most vulnerable.

Migrants, often framed as passive victims of risks, hold crucial knowledge about surviving adversity and detecting risks of social exclusion and injustice, because they often have long experience of such processes. Heat knowledge, for example, consists of histories of adaptation in hotter climates and resource-scarce environments, but also by years or generations of people living in conditions were heat often becomes a health-threatening factor during or after the migration journey.  

Understanding climate health vulnerability through the experiences of migrants requires centering their situated knowledge and everyday adaptation practices. In our efforts to capture this through the workshops in Neukölln, we heard participants’ proposals for more shaded pedestrian and cycling routes, increased public water fountains, and capped-price fruit and drink vendors to ensure equitable access to cooling. They also suggested developing an app to map shaded park pathways, helping residents navigate cooler routes during extreme heat.

Urban adaptation strategies remain shaped by top-down processes and resulting policies that exclude the communities mostly at risk. This is not just a procedural or coincidental oversight. It is the result of the socio-economic production of urban nature, including how ecosystems have been managed, altered and commodified, within and outside of cities for the purpose of urbanization and urban economic growth; of how communities of color and the working class have been assigned certain roles and social positions, reflecting on the formation of certain types of neighborhoods and housing complexes; as well as of how nature is being increasingly instrumentalized to proxy urban health and climate protection in order to promote powerful interests such as those of the tourist or real estate industries.

Instead of climate policies that raise property values and displace vulnerable communities, adaptation must prioritize housing justice, labor protections, and equitable access to cooling infrastructure. Public spaces should be designed with inclusivity and safety in mind, ensuring migrants and racialized communities feel welcomed rather than policed or excluded. Most importantly, cities must create spaces where migrants’ experiences and adaptation strategies are valued as essential. In the face of intensifying heatwaves, relief cannot remain a privilege. Climate adaptation must be about redistributing resources, dismantling systemic inequalities, and ensuring that no one is left to endure the heat alone.

The post Climate injustice as intersectional heat experience: the case of Neukölln, Berlin appeared first on Undisciplined Environments.

Lock the Gate Alliance says the Crisafulli Government’s doubling down on fossil gas and review of emissions reduction targets will only benefit multinational corporations and leave Queenslanders with more expensive bills and degraded farmland.

We are honored to be a part of this recently published book, Contesting Colonial Capitalism in the Americas, Africa and Asia edited by Dip Kappor. “This book is a critical excavation of capitalist development that is being driven by the Global North in the modern (neo)colonial era, with a related focus on the anticolonial and anticapitalist resistance […]

Along with millions across the country, Team Backbone joined in the nationwide protests.

One of our long time Solidarity Brigade members from LA took to the streets for a projection for the April 5th Hands Off nationwide protest.

A recent multi-city pro immigrants and workers projection across the country was done in partnership with SEIU.

News recently broke that B.C.’s electric vehicle rebate is under government review, a decision some have tied to the removal of B.C.’s consumer carbon tax and whether it creates a funding gap for the program.

It helps to start with the facts. B.C.’s EV rebate was not funded by the province’s late consumer carbon tax and, in fact, the policy isn’t funded by taxpayers at all.

B.C.’s EV rebate is funded by BC Hydro, which collects revenue as a result of another climate measure called the low-carbon fuel standard. Fuel producers regulated under the standard can either make their fuel cleaner—for example, by blending in biofuels or distributing electricity—or purchase credits from cleaner fuel producers.

BC Hydro earns money from these credits, which the electric utility uses to help British Columbians purchase money-saving, pollution-cutting electric cars.

But in conducting a review, B.C. has a critical opportunity to ensure more families benefit from EV rebates. We should absolutely not walk away from a program that saves considerable costs for British Columbians, our health-care system and our climate—especially when our friends in Quebec and California are stepping up, not back.

When B.C. removed its consumer carbon tax, it was crystal clear that the province would need programs in place to help households make the switch. Experience time and again has proven that EV rebates are incredibly effective—and frankly necessary if B.C. wishes to still consider itself a North American climate leader.

Change, however, is indeed needed. Roughly two years ago, B.C. introduced an income cutoff for its full EV incentive ($80,000) that is now below the average income of full-time workers in the province between the ages of 25 and 54. It also has not kept up with annual wage increases.

In short, many retirees qualify, but middle-class working parents struggling to buy their first townhouse often do not. This is even more disharmonious than it sounds, given that more than three in four Metro Vancouverites under 44 are inclined to buy an EV as their next car, according to a survey Clean Energy Canada undertook with Abacus Data due for public release this spring.An overwhelming 80 per cent of respondents also say they support incentives for clean technologies such as EVs, while those who did not qualify for the full rebate were twice as likely to say their exclusion was unfair than fair.

It almost goes without saying that we shouldn’t be excluding teachers and nurses from incentives to buy new EVs, but in many cases, that is exactly how the policy in its current form functions. The EV rebate is a distinctly middle-class measure that excludes much of the working middle class.

It’s also worth noting that the current policy includes a vehicle price limit of $50,000, so luxury vehicles like Teslas are already excluded. This restriction we agree with, as it more elegantly excludes fancy cars and the people who buy them.

Truly lower-income, lower-wealth individuals are not buying new cars of any powertrain, period. What will benefit them is a healthier used car market. How do we create the conditions for a better used market? Simple: get more EVs into the province. Every new car is destined to become a used one.

Today, you can buy a used Chevrolet Bolt—a popular electric hatchback with impressive range—with relatively low mileage for around $25,000 in the province. Not a bad deal for a car that could save you $2,000-3,000 a year on fuel. That kind of used EV at that price point wasn’t available even a few years ago, but B.C.’s historically high EV adoption rate has fed a more abundant and competitive used market.

Unfortunately, once Canada’s EV king, B.C. now ranks a distant second behind Quebec. In 2024, S&P Global reports EV sales in Canada’s French province reached an impressive 33 per cent compared with just 23 per cent in B.C. Two years ago, those numbers were 20 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.

Sales in B.C. are flatlining because the program is excluding its most willing adopters: young, working British Columbians. People who could be enjoying considerable fuel savings every year, which they instead might spend at local businesses rather than lining the pockets of fossil fuel companies.

The other hidden costs of gas cars are considerable. A Health Canada study found that air pollution from road transportation leads to $1.3 billion in health-care impacts annually in the province.

Or roughly the value of BC Hydro incentivizing half a million EV sales with a widely accessible $2,500 rebate. Now there’s an idea.

This post was co-authored by Evan Pivnick and first appeared in Business in Vancouver.

The post EV rebates work but B.C. is shutting out the middle class appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

On Bear Creek Road in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, a small butcher shop has stood the test of time, serving farmers and families for over fifty years. What began in 1969 with Bill Opell has transformed into a family legacy, now carried forward by his granddaughter, Laura, and her husband, Brad Maggard. They’ve brought new life to the shop while honoring the traditions that made it a cornerstone of the community. 

Laura, the youngest granddaughter of Bill Opell, grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of the family business. After earning her degree in agriculture at Morehead State, she spent over eight years as an Extension Agent in Lawrence County, always staying true to her agricultural roots. When her aunt and uncle closed the shop in 2022 after running it as Bear Creek Meats for over a decade, Laura found herself fielding calls from local farmers, desperate for a nearby butcher. 

“A lot of places were just too far, and more and more people were wanting to raise their own animals, especially after the pandemic,” Laura said. “So I thought: This is our family business, all the equipment is still there, let’s do this.” 

In May 2023, Laura and Brad reopened Opell Meats, once again providing a crucial service to farmers and families from all the counties surrounding Boyd, and beyond.  

“There’s not a whole lot of places like us anymore. Years ago, every small town had a butcher shop, and now that’s just not the case. We get people from over two hours away.” 

Running a small cow/calf operation in Boyd County themselves, Laura and Brad understand the needs of local farmers firsthand. Brad, who serves as the Fire Marshal for the City of Ashland, spends his spare time assisting with slaughter, maintenance, repairs, and anything else the shop demands. Each day, Laura can be found behind the counter, slicing sandwich meat, wrapping orders, and keeping daily operations running smoothly. 

Opell Meats is more than just a butcher shop—it’s a community hub.  

“It’s a generational thing,” Laura explains. “People have been coming here for years. They loved my grandfather, and they keep coming back. We’re a family operation, so we know our customers, what they like, and what they don’t like.” 

During the peak processing months of October through March, the shop is bustling with farmers bringing in cattle, hogs, and deer. Despite the shop’s recent upgrades, some of the original equipment, like the 1970s grinder and saw, are still in use, standing as a testament to the quality and durability of old-school craftsmanship. 

In addition to processing beef and pork, Opell Meats offers a variety of products, including deli meats, frozen chicken, and seasonal specialties like heart-shaped steaks for Valentine’s Day and winter meat bundles. They also work closely with local producers, offering prime beef, BBQ beef jerky, eggs, and more. As a custom processor, they cater to individuals and families who use the meat for their personal families or to provide to their neighbors. 

Laura and Brad’s daughters, Caroline and Evie, are already part of the family tradition. “They’re like our little mascots,” Laura laughs. Like her, the girls are active in 4H, attending county fairs and supporting local agriculture projects. Opell Meats proudly supports 4H and FFA students across four counties by purchasing animals at auctions, which helps support their 4H projects for the next year.

As May approaches, the shop is gearing up to celebrate its two-year anniversary with a customer appreciation event, complete with lunch and a big sale. It’s a way to say thank you to the community that has supported them through generations. 

The Mountain Association is honored to have provided flexible financing for initial inventory and technical assistance for setting up their QuickBooks and accounting systems.   

Follow along the Opell Meats journey and its living legacy via their Facebook page here. 

The post From Grandfather to Granddaughter: The Next Chapter of Opell Meats  appeared first on Mountain Association.

The post NEW REPORT: LOCAL FOOD GROWTH PLAN – A COLLABORATIVE PLAN FOR ACTION appeared first on Landworkers Alliance.

The Boundary Waters sit atop one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of copper, placing it at the nexus of a multiyear debate between mining companies and environmental advocates.

Seattle area bannering returned once again with a few messages to commuters. 

Energy Efficiency Updates – HHS Cuts Hit LIHEAP & PA PUC Draft Order 

Massive Cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program

‘It’s a bloodbath’: Massive wave of job cuts underway at US health agencies – By Nick Valencia, Brenda Goodman, Meg Tirrell, Tami Luhby and Sean Lyngaas, CNN – Wed April 2, 2025  – Also terminated was the entire staff of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. The program provides about $4 billion to help millions of Americans with their heating and cooling bills. “It will definitely hamper program operations,” Wolfe said, noting that he doesn’t see how the agency can “allocate the remaining $387 million in funds for this year without federal staff.”

Home energy assistance program gutted in HHS mass firings – By Lisa Martine Jenkins – April 1, 2025 – Latitude Media – LIHEAP is among the latest victims of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal government. The Trump administration has gutted the federal home energy assistance program as a part of the mass firing of 10,000 Department of Health and Human Services workers. The staff in charge of administering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, were let go earlier today, according to a statement shared via email by the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition. Going forward, the status of the program, which provides roughly $4 billion per year to help low-income families with heating and cooling costs, is unclear. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, told CNN that the firings could cause the program to “grind to a halt” with $387 million left to distribute.

 

PA Public Utility Commission’s Phase V Tentative Implementation Order  

PA CPC Comment document is linked here. Comments on all aspects of the Public Utility Commission’s Phase V Tentative Implementation Order and potential impacts on Act 129 Phase V Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programs. Sign on letter deadline is: Monday, April 7, by 4 PM, so please fill out the below form by Monday April 7, 2025 at noon!

SIGN ON HERE: https://forms.office.com/r/PJ5PdJPuD0

Please contact John Kolesnik (jkolesnik@keealliance.org)  or Madi Keaton (mkeaton@pautilitylawproject.org) with any questions!

 

Hearing on PA HB 109 – Environmental Justice/Cumulative Impacts 

April 7, 2025  [Agenda]  House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee will meet to consider House Bill 109 (Vitali-D-Delaware) establishing an environmental justice permit review program in DEP to consider cumulative impacts of pollutants on communities – Environmental & Natural Resource Protection will Meet at 11:00 AM on April 7, 2025 in Room 205, Ryan Office Building.

Rep. Vitali Introduces Bill To Establish DEP Environmental Justice Permit Review Program In Law, Analyze Cumulative Impacts Of Pollution From Facilities, Supported By DEP – On January 14, Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) introduced House Bill 109 that would establish DEP’s Environmental Justice Permit Review Program in law and require an analysis of the cumulative impacts of pollution from certain facilities before a permit could be issued. The legislation is supported by PA DEP.  Read more here.

See Supporting Report from Assessing Strengths, Stressors and Environmental Justice in SoutheaStern (ASSESS) Pennsylvania Community and Environmental Health Study

The ASSESS study is a collaboration of Marcus Hook Area Neighbors for Public Health, Clean Air Council, Johns Hopkins University, and community co-investigators. The study utilized a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) model in which residents were full partners in the design, implementation, evaluation, and publication of the study results. View presentation slides. View handouts/fliers here and here.

 

Abandoned Well Plugging Funding Cuts – Dept of Interior 

Thursday, March 27, 2025 – by David Hess – DEP: US Interior Dept. Withdraws Orphan Oil & Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Grant Program To Help Prevent Future Well Abandonments. – On March 20, PA DEP told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board the US Department of the Interior has “withdrawn” the Orphan Oil and Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Act Grant Program designed to help states strengthen their programs, in particular to prevent future oil and gas well abandonments.https://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2025/03/dep-interior-dept-withdraws-orphan-oil.html

Trump halts historic orphaned well-plugging program –  By Nick Bowlin – March 27, 2025 – High Country News – The billions of dollars approved by Congress to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells have been frozen as part of Pres. Trump’s sweeping cuts to government. ORPHANED WELLS represent the final stage in what ProPublica recently described as the oil industry’s “playbook”: When oil wells are no longer productive, large companies sell them off to smaller companies and thereby shed their obligation to plug those wells. The increasingly marginal wells change hands, eventually landing with operators who lack the financial means to plug them. And when these companies go bankrupt, the wells become orphaned, meaning that the plugging costs then fall on American taxpayers.

Copy of March 19, 2025 – Letter to Honorable Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior is Here. – On March 20, more than 30 House Democrats sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, asking him to clear up the lingering confusion surrounding orphaned well funding and restart the grant program.

Federal money to plug Pa.’s dangerous wells is unfrozen, but Trump admin uncertainty plagues contractors – by Kate Huangpu and Katie Meyer of Spotlight PA | March 20, 2025 — HARRISBURG — As Pennsylvania celebrates plugging 300 abandoned oil and gas wells since 2023, ongoing lawsuits against the Trump administration over hundreds of millions of federal dollars are creating uncertainty for those doing the work on the ground.

 

Green Bank Updates – Litigation Updates

Federal judge questions whether EPA move to rapidly cancel ‘green bank’ grants was legal – by  MICHAEL PHILLIS, Associated Press – April 2, 2025 – A federal judge pressed an attorney for the EPA about whether the agency broke the law when it swiftly terminated $20 billion worth of grants awarded to nonprofits for a green bank by allegedly bulldozing past proper rules and raising flimsy accusations of waste and fraud. In a nearly three-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the government had provided no substantial new evidence of wrongdoing by the nonprofits and considered technical arguments that could decide whether she is even the right person to hear the case.

E.P.A. Hunt for Shady Deals and ‘Gold Bars’ Comes Up Empty by Lisa Friedman and Claire Brown – New York Times – April 2, 2025 – The agency head said a $20 billion Biden climate program was marred by fraud and abuse. Documents filed for a court hearing this week don’t support that. Over the last few months, Lee Zeldin, EPA administrator has made explosive accusations against the Biden administration, accusing it of “insane” malfeasance in its handling of $20 billion in climate grants. Now, as a legal battle ensues, many of Mr. Zeldin’s claims remain unsupported, and some are flat-out false.

How We Got a Green Bank, How Trump Is Trying to Kill It and Who Gets Hurt By Marianne Lavelle, Dan Gearino – Inside Climate News – April 1, 2025: A faith-based Indiana group and heating contractors in Maine are among hundreds of businesses and organizations stymied by EPA’s attempt to claw back $20 billion of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

EPA asked us 35 questions. We want everyone to have our responses. Statement by Climate United – March 28, 2025 – Earlier this month, the EPA posed 35 questions to Climate United and other awardees as part of an oversight request. In alignment with our deep commitment to transparency, Climate United is pleased to share our formal responses to their questions. Our responses are built on nearly 12 months of working with the EPA to shape our goals, policies, & investment strategy while ensuring strong oversight and controls. EPA has had access to hundreds of documents, transaction-level visibility into our bank accounts, and robust budget and compliance requirements.

Republicans seek documents from climate grant recipients – March 27, 2025 Press Release – The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is requesting documents from environmental groups that received EPA grants — including some that are now suing the Trump administration. All eight groups received grants from the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) established through the 2022 IRA.

Republicans seek documents from climate grant recipients – By Andres Picon | 03/27/2025 E&E News  – The House Oversight probe comes as some of the environmental groups are suing to maintain their grant contracts.

EPA insists it has the right to cancel climate grants – GreenWire – 3/27/25 EPA continued to argue that it is under no legal obligation to honor $20 billion in climate grants because the awards conflict with Trump administration policy. EPA’s legal brief states it has the right to terminate contracts “for consideration of its priorities.”

The Trump admin accuses EPA of squirreling away $20 billion in ‘gold bars.’ Here’s what’s really going on. – By Ella Nilsen, CNN Mar 27, 2025

 

EPA – Waivers On Clean Air Act & More Background On Budget Cuts

E.P.A. Offers a Way to Avoid Clean-Air Rules: Send an Email – By Hiroko Tabuchi – March 27, 2025 – New York Times – Referring to a little-known provision, it said power plants and others could write to seek exemptions to mercury and other restrictions and that “the president will make a decision.” The Biden administration required coal- and oil-burning power plants to greatly reduce emissions of toxic chemicals including mercury, which can harm babies’ brains and cause heart disease in adults. Now, the Trump administration is offering companies an extraordinary out: Send an email, and they might be given permission by President Trump to bypass the new restrictions, as well as other major clean-air rules. The Environmental Protection Agency this week said an obscure section of the Clean Air Act enables the president to temporarily exempt industrial facilities from new rules if the technology required to meet those rules isn’t available, and if it’s in the interest of national security.

How Lee Zeldin Went From Environmental Moderate to Dismantling the E.P.A. By Lisa Friedman – New York Times – March 29, 2025 – He once talked about the need to fight climate change. Now, he embraces Elon Musk, lavishes praise on the president and strives to stand out in a MAGA world. Over the past nine weeks, Mr. Zeldin has withheld billions of dollars in climate funds approved by Congress, tried to fire hundreds of employees, recommended the elimination of thousands more E.P.A. scientists, and started trying to repeal dozens of environmental regulations that limit toxic pollution. He has filled the leadership ranks at the agency with lobbyists and lawyers from industries that have fought environmental regulations.

EPA knew it wrongfully canceled dozens of environmental grants, documents show –  By Amudalat Ajasa – Washington Post – March 25, 2025 – According to an internal email, EPA officials knew they had no contractual right to cancel dozens of grants. They did it anyway. Trump officials knew their legal justification for terminating dozens of Environmental Protection Agency grants was flawed, according to documents and internal emails reviewed by The Washington Post.

 

US Senate Letter & Full List of Project Cuts from EPA

Whitehouse, Blunt Rochester Lead EPW Democrats in Demanding EPA Reverse Unlawful Termination of Grants for Clean Air and Water – March 25, 2025 — New documents reveal 400 grantees are being illegally targeted for termination and expose EPA’s willful violation of congressional appropriations law, contractual agreements, and multiple court orders. The EPW press release from yesterday also included the list of 400 grants EPA plans to terminate (far right column indicates if IRA funding, and there’s a column by state) and internal emails that show how EPA violated its own contracts and court orders. PA cuts are listed here; See Full Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Bfq08WBcX1i8W2vCBUw46UiIpDwZSZXqR4PA2aUT4ts/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

 

USDA Funding Cuts: Energy Programs for Farms & Rural Areas

Trump moves goalposts for farmers counting on clean energy grants – By Mario Alejandro Ariza, Ames Alexander, Joe Engleman – Canary Media – March 31, 2025: The USDA is demanding grant rewrites favoring fossil fuels over renewables, leaving some rural recipients doubtful they’ll ever see the money they were promised. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on March 25th that it would release previously authorized grant funds to farmers and small rural business owners to build renewable energy projects — but only if they rewrite applications to comply with President Donald Trump’s energy priorities. A lawsuit filed earlier this month challenges the legality of the freeze on IRA funding for REAP projects. Earthjustice lawyer Hana Vizcarra, one of the attorneys who filed the suit, called the latest USDA announcement a ​“disingenuous stunt.”

 

Potential DOE Funding Cuts

Secret Energy Department “hit list” targets renewable energy industry – by Emily Atkin – Heated – Mar 27, 2025 – Among many other proposed cuts, the “hit list” includes six long-duration energy storage projects that have already had $156 million in federal funding obligated under the bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The grants for those projects were awarded in 2023, and “seen as vital for turning variable wind and solar production into a reliable, round-the-clock power source,” Canary Media reported at the time.

 

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Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities are anticipating a huge increase in the amount of electricity they will need to produce over the next 15 years, in large part due to the possible data centers coming in to power AI. In a plan they submitted to the state’s Public Service Commission, they said they will soon be asking for approval to build (and charge customers for) new gas plants at a cost of $3.7 billion. But what happens to this investment if the data centers never get built? Or they are built with their own solar or other power sources? And what will be the impact on ratepayers?

Before LG&E-KU comes to the Public Service Commission asking to build gas plants that would be a 40-year investment for customers, we need:

• A commitment by LG&E-KU to examine and mitigate the impacts of their choices on their customers, especially low-income residential customers.
• A good faith effort from the utilities to evaluate the costs to meet the demand of new corporations with cheaper and more resilient options.
• A lot more certainty that data centers will actually be built and a promise that data center investors will be responsible for covering the costs of investments to serve them so that they don’t put the burden on ratepayers. Additionally, confirmation that LGE and KU can meet the carbon emissions standards that many of these corporations likely have.
• And more.

Interested in these issues? Read the below write-up for how you can get involved.

Energy utilities like Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities are regulated by the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) to ensure safety, fairness, and reliability of services. Every three years, each electric utility must submit an Integrated Resource Plan to the PSC, outlining their strategy for meeting future energy demands over the next 15 years. Utilities can include plans for new power plants, renewable energy, and energy efficiency/demand reduction programs. LG&E and KU’s plan includes a lot of the first, less of the second, and very little of the last.

LG&E and KU filed their plan in October 2024, which includes strategies approved by the PSC in 2023, such as two coal retirements, a new natural gas plant, a battery storage project, energy efficiency programs, and two solar projects. However, it also stated that 637 megawatts of solar, approved in 2023, will not move forward. To put this in perspective — 637 megawatts of solar could serve the energy needs of approximately 70,000 homes!

To summarize the plan, LG&E and KU expect economic development to increase the demand for electricity by 30-45% by 2032, primarily driven by the possibility of new data centers coming to Kentucky. To meet this forecasted growth, LG&E and KU are proposing to spend $3.7 billion on additional gas plants, which could drive higher rates for the next 40 years, while investments in energy efficiency and local distributed energy resources – think rooftop solar and advanced batteries – would be cheaper and bring more benefits to customers. LG&E and KU’s IRP does not consider how these options can, just as well, meet the expected demand.

Report after report shows that renewables are cheaper than coal, and likely cheaper than natural gas, especially in the long run. Despite what you hear in the news, renewables can increase reliability and provide backup power during extreme weather, and distributed renewables and associated storage allow for microgrid developments and “virtual” power plants. With storage, they can also reduce peak load, which in turn reduces threats from events such as blackouts with Kentucky’s 2022 severe winter storm. Many states are already leading the way for how to transition to clean energy while ensuring reliability and affordability, and many companies are looking to locate in states whose utilities have power sources that meet their emissions standards.

With already high rates, additional rate increases could contribute to the affordable housing crisis and other cost of living issues many Kentuckians are already experiencing. High energy costs strain household budgets, reduce disposable income, and can put households at risk of being disconnected due to overdue bills.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Solar Energy Society, Metropolitan Housing Coalition, and the Mountain Association, represented by Kentucky Resources Council and Earthjustice, are jointly intervening on LG&E and KU’s Integrated Resource Plan on behalf of low-income families to ensure that rates remain affordable and promote reliable, safer energy sources. However, we need your help!

There is a public process for people to engage in PSC and utility decisions, but many people don’t know about the PSC, and they don’t know how to participate. Unfortunately, if the public doesn’t speak up, the PSC only hears the utility and business perspectives and can’t make the best decisions for everyday Kentuckians.

It is important that citizen voices, like yours, are heard. You can submit a public comment by simply emailing the PSC at psc.comment@ky.gov with your statement, your name, and case no. 2024-00326, or visit the Kentuckians for Energy Democracy website to file a public comment using their talking points.

A version of this op-ed was published in Kentucky papers in March 2025 written by Sarah Pierce of Metropolitan Housing Coalition with support from the intervening groups.

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Community groups have raised the alarm about the release of billions of litres of polluted water from Central Queensland coal mines following heavy rain, calling for action to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the rivers that flow into it. 

It’s April (how did that happen already?!) that means the start of EARTH MONTH!! Here’s a growing list of events and actions that we’ll add to during this exciting month–so come back for updates!

Before we jump into events, support 350PDX by eating, drinking, and shopping at our local business partners this month:

• • Radio Room – buy the “Earth to Emily” drink and 50% of proceeds will go to 350PDX – only during April!
  • Dove Vivi – 10% of pizza sales on Tuesdays go to 350PDX!
  • Annie Bloom Bookstore – Mention 350PDX when you make a purchase on Earth Day (April 22) and we’ll get 15% of proceeds!

Events & Actions

• Saturday, April 5 – Hands Off Our Democracy – Mass Mobilization, 12-5 pm at the Japanese American Historical Plaza (Organized by Rose City Indivisible and 50501 Portland)
• Sunday, April 13 – 350PDX Art Build, 1-4 pm at the 350PDX workshop, preparing puppets for the Earth Day Parade. (RSVP to Donna – murph1949@aol.com)
• Thursday, April 17 – 350PDX April Action Night: Earth Day Was (and is) a Protest: Direct Action in the Trump 2.0 Era. You won’t want to miss this action night, featuring a guest speaker from the Oregon Justice Resource Center. 6-8 pm at the 350PDX workshop.
• Tuesday, April 22 – Earth Day! Join 350PDX for a happy hour at Radio Room from 4-6pm, where we’ll be gathered to celebrate our work, recruit volunteers, and try Radio Room’s drink special that’s raising funds for 350PDX.
• Saturday, April 26 – Earth Day Parade at Sunnyside Elementary! Come see the beautiful 350PDX puppets in action and celebrate our love for the earth. Parade at 11 am, Earth Ceremony at 7 pm.
• Tuesday, April 29 – 350 Climate Justice Lobby Day in Salem, 8:45 am – 1:30 pm. Lobby days are a great way to talk to your legislators face to face about issues you care about while seeing behind the scenes how change is made at the Capitol. Never lobbied before? Not to fear! We will start the day with a training, and you’ll be in meetings with folks from your district, equipped with talking points. Register to join us.

The post Earth Month Special Events & Actions! appeared first on 350PDX: Climate Justice.

When I received the invitation from the Rachel Carson Council to come to Washington DC to represent west coast organizers at the National Wood Pellet Forum, I didn’t immediately say yes. It seemed like a very long way to go for a day-long Forum, and I’m not that keen on flying. But as I got more details – the Forum was part of a Week of Action that included a day of lobbying Representatives and Senators, 70 college students were participating, I’d get a chance to meet community organizers from the SE that I’d talked to for the last year over Zoom, and it was the same time as the cherry blossom festival . . . all that overcame my hesitation, so off to DC I went.

And, It was great! The main highlight was spending the day on Capitol Hill with women whose communities are impacted by biomass pellet production. Amazing organizers from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina who fight Drax & Enviva’s wood pellet plants like the kind we’re trying to keep out of Longview, WA. Together, we went to see Representatives from the SE and the NW – who heard cautionary tales of the huge spike in respiratory illnesses in their communities from the pellet manufacturers and about our efforts to keep this industry from expanding. 

I learned more about places like Gloster, MS, where there is a Drax plant right in the center of town. Dr. Krystal Martin recently moved back to her hometown to take care of her mother, who is sick from the air pollution from the factory.  Dr. Martin said that all the old people in the town are on oxygen, and all the kids have asthma. All this, so that Europe can (falsely) claim to be lowering its carbon emissions by burning wood. 

The next day, we all reconvened for the National Wood Pellet Forum. This day-long symposium gathered community leaders, scientific experts, environmental justice advocates, and policymakers to discuss the ecological, climatic, environmental justice, public health, and economic pitfalls of the growing wood pellet biomass industry. I was the sole representative from the West Coast, and spoke on the Taking Action panel about our work drawing attention to this new energy export threat. 

I also learned about the Rachel Carson Council’s college activist network and Environmental Leaders Fellowship for students. They currently have no presence on the west coast, so we’re hoping to connect them with students we work with in Portland and expand that network!  

While it was a very long way to travel, I found it incredibly valuable to cross-pollinate our fight against the biomass industry with others who are already living with the worst of its impacts. It renewed my commitment to keep Drax out of the NW and work for the eventual end of the industry everywhere. 

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