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Welcome to Cited, your essential guide to new climate research.

In the news

SPRING HEATWAVE: Temperature records for May fell across western Europe as the region baked in an “exceptionally early” heatwave, reported the Associated Press. The outlet noted that temperatures reached 35.1C in the UK and 36C in France at the end of last month, with the latter’s national weather service stating that a “heat dome” had produced temperatures more than 10C higher than “usual”. BBC News said temperatures reached 40.3C in Portugal. Carbon Brief explored how the media covered the extreme weather and the role of climate change.

CLIMATE RESEARCH ‘STYMIED’: The White House released draft regulations that would “give political appointees the final word” on federal research grants and other funding across government agencies, reported Scientific American. According to Bloomberg, climate experts said the “sweeping” changes would “stymie research in the field”. At the same time, the Guardian reported the National Science Federation – a US government agency – announced it would be dismantling a $368m deep-sea observation system that provides “crucial” data on ocean systems and climate change. [For more, see ‘Spotlight’ below].

WMO WARNING: A report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UK Met Office, covered by Reuters, found that average global temperatures are forecast to reach “near-record levels” in the next five years. The newswire said the report projected that average temperatures each year over 2026-30 will range between 1.3-1.9C above pre-industrial levels, with one year where temperatures will top the warmest year on record, set in 2024.

Research picks Impacts

• Climate change and population growth have led to a 51% increase in global exposure to extreme daytime heat in cities over the past two decades | Communications Earth & Environment
• Global warming interacts with poverty to “magnify educational disruption” and “deepen existing inequities” among children and young people | The Lancet
• Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions has increased the likelihood of “landfalling” oceanic heatwaves by a factor of nine | One Earth

Nature

• Wildfire “disturbances” have been shifting Canada’s forests from a carbon sink to a carbon source since the 2000s | Global Change Biology 
• Following decades of rapid decline, mangrove forests around the world have been recovering since 2010, with both forest loss and degradation rates slowing | Science 
• Large-scale cultivation of macroalgae has “low potential” for carbon dioxide removal and unintended consequences that “can be substantial” | Biogeosciences 

Projections

• Global hailstorm-induced damage potential could increase by 37-42% by the late 21st century, depending on the emission scenario | Nature 
• Even under a low-emissions scenario, 45% and 35% of mountain bird and mammal species, respectively, are at risk of seeing losses in habitat range by 2050 that outweigh any gains by at least 20% | Conservation Biology
• Future warming will likely boost natural methane emissions from freshwater, as methane-oxidising bacteria fail to keep pace | Nature Climate Change

Captured

China accounts for more “conventional” carbon dioxide removal (CDR), such as afforestation and reforestation, than any other country in the world. That is according to the third edition of the annual state of carbon dioxide removal report, published last week and covered in detail by Carbon Brief. China’s average conventional CDR of 539m tonnes of CO2 over 2014-23 is more than double that of the US, the next-highest country.   

625

How many times greater cities in the global south experienced “compound” exposure to extreme heat and air pollution than global-north cities over 2003-20, according to an npj urban sustainability study.

Spotlight AMOC observations at risk Ocean Station Papa instrumentation buoy, among those slated for removal. Credit: PMEL

The Irminger Sea, a patch of frigid ocean east of Greenland, plays an outsized role in the Earth’s climate. 

Here, surface water that has travelled thousands of kilometres from the tropics grows cold and dense enough to sink to the ocean’s depths – a transformation that must occur for the water to begin a long journey back to the southern hemisphere.

This makes the Irminger Sea an “action centre” for the mighty Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the vast system of ocean currents that keeps temperatures in Europe mild.

Last week, the US government announced plans to dismantle ocean moorings installed in the Irminger Sea which, among other things, collect data on the health of the AMOC.

This came as part of a programme to “descope” the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368m network of ocean sensors installed in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Two of the moorings earmarked for removal in the Irminger Sea form part of an internationally funded, trans-Atlantic AMOC monitoring array, known as OSNAP, that stretches from Canada to Scotland.

Experts told Carbon Brief the move by the Trump administration highlights the vulnerability of AMOC observation systems around the world. These deep-sea moorings – scattered across the Atlantic – collect real-time data on, among other things, ocean current, temperature, pressure and biochemistry.

Prof Penny Holliday, chief scientific officer of the UK National Oceanography Centre, told Carbon Brief that the OSNAP array, as well as the RAPID array at 26N, are “entirely dependent” on research grants that have to be “continually reapplied for”. 

“Funding is perilous all the time,” she said.

A report prepared last month by scientists for Nordic ministers exploring the security of funding for AMOC observing systems warned that RAPID and OSNAP were in “critical condition” and faced “material exposure over an 18-month horizon”. Meanwhile, other key basin-wide and global components of the global AMOC observing system were rated as “at risk”.

It is not just US funding that is uncertain. The report notes, for example, that the five-yearly funding the UK provides to RAPID and OSNAP is “at risk from 2027 due to year-on-year budget reductions” at the Natural Environmental Research Council. 

(RAPID is funded by the US and UK, whereas OSNAP is backed by five different countries, with the US contributing half of the total financial support.)

Report co-author Dr Femke de Jong from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research told Carbon Brief that “continued AMOC observations” are under pressure in “multiple countries”. She said:

“While the risk of a declining AMOC to society is starting to be recognised, there is not yet a system or institution in place to guarantee a way to monitor it.”

AMOC monitoring arrays are still in their infancy – RAPID, the oldest, was launched in 2004. Two decades of data captured so far shows that the AMOC is slowing down. However, scientists will need many more years of data to be able to confidently link the decline to climate change, rather than natural variability in the ocean. 

NOC’s Holliday points to the disconnect between scientific and funder timelines:

“The timescale of observations needed in order to be able to detect a climate change signal from the very naturally variable ocean is around 40-60 years…. [And yet], in the Netherlands, they have to apply for a new grant for their ocean moorings every two years. They are going to have to do that for 40 years. 

“This is a very inefficient way of getting funding for what should be critical infrastructure.”

Preprints to watch

Carbon Brief’s pick of new papers still going through peer review

• Urban areas were responsible for two-thirds of CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels in 2022 | Nature portfolio
• Climate adaptation measures are responsible for one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and three-quarters of human freshwater withdrawals | Earth System Dynamics
• Global food miles – the emissions generated from transporting food – could be “lower than previously estimated”, at around 0.82bn tonnes per year | Nature portfolio

Noticeboard

• 10 June: AMS Washington Forum early registration deadline 
• 10-12 June: Fourth international conference on carbon dioxide removal, Milan
• 11 June: Application deadline for postdoctoral research position in the political economy of net-zero at the University of Oxford; Salary: £39,424-47,779
• Mid-June: AGU annual meeting abstract submissions open
• 17 June: World Weaving climate research programme funding application deadline
• 17 June: CCMC lecture (online): “Temperature, health and adaptation: What actually protects people?”
• 21 June: Application deadline for postdoctoral research position in extreme event health impacts at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Salary: £42,552-66,456

Cited is researched and written by Cecilia Keating, Robert McSweeney, Ayesha Tandon, Daisy Dunne and Dr Giuliana Viglione.

Please send tips, feedback and upcoming climate research to cited@carbonbrief.org

This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cited email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

The post Cited 9 June 2026: Europe’s ‘exceptional’ heatwave | Warming forecast | AMOC observations ‘at risk’ appeared first on Carbon Brief.

This article 10 reasons to resist AI was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

This article is drawn from the author’s forthcoming weekly series “Ten Reasons to Resist AI: A series of AI explainers for the left.” You can read the series introduction here and follow along as each article is released.

With artificial intelligence so thoroughly embedded within our lives, and the constant surround sound of AI marketing, acquiescence can feel inevitable. This is the precise effect tech companies are banking on when they sign billion dollar checks for Super Bowl commercials. For people engaged in movements, it is our job to be defiant, to insist that our present circumstances are mutable, to imagine a way out, and to get there. Many in the anti-capitalist left have an intuitive understanding of why AI is bad, even a visceral revulsion, but becoming fluent in the details is paramount to mounting an effective resistance. 

The most powerful corporations and their government co-conspirators wield AI as a weapon to wage class war. They are making trillion-dollar gambles on data center development that, if successful, will reap enormous profits at the expense of the rest of us. 

However, these companies have shown their cards. They are placing massive bets on AI years before their business models are profitable. To rig the game, corporations are making two bluffs: 1) that a frictionless AI-powered future will benefit humanity (techno-optimism), and 2) that we are powerless to stop the march of technology (inevitability). The ubiquity of these narratives, which are often parroted by the well-intentioned, is an industry strategy to flood the zone and coax people into complacency.

But if the slog toward an AI dystopia is halted or even slowed, Big Tech’s investments could spectacularly backfire, forcing companies to fold. It’s time to go all-in on AI resistance. Here are 10 applications and impacts of AI that are fueling resistance.

1. Environment 

Data centers are the source of AI’s most catastrophic environmental consequences, both atmospheric and local. A single AI data center uses the same amount of energy as 100,000 homes, and the largest ones under construction today will each consume 20 times more, equivalent to more than half of all homes in New York City. This translates to a substantial bump in carbon emissions, particularly as  data centers’ gluttony for electricity drives a natural gas boom.  

Tech companies are not only putting stress on the existing power grid, but also building new fossil fuel plants alongside their data centers. For example, Meta is building three gas-fired power plants to supply its Louisiana data center, and Oracle recently announced that its 1.4 gigawatt data center will be 100 percent fossil-fueled. MIT researchers estimate that in 2026, electricity consumption from data centers will approach 1,050 terawatt-hours, which, if data centers were a nation, would make them fifth largest in global electricity usage, after Japan and before Russia. 

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In addition to exacerbating the climate crisis, data centers also have catastrophic local environmental effects. Many rely on diesel generators that spew nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter and other carcinogens into the air. Data centers are also intensifying an already-dire water crisis. A mid-sized AI data center requires about the same amount of water as a small town, while the larger ones consume roughly 5 million gallons daily, the same amount as a city of 50,000.

In many cases, Black and Indigenous communities historically harmed by environmental racism are being yet again subjected to a toxic industry. xAI (owned by Elon Musk) built a gas-powered data center known as “Colossus” in Boxtown, a Black neighborhood in Memphis, to power the infamously racist chatbot Grok. Less than two years after the plant was built, nitrogen dioxide levels — which trigger and aggravate asthma — spiked by 9 percent in Boxtown.

While the environmental consequences of AI are grim, local communities are rising up against these behemoths in their backyards and forming a pivotal chokepoint in the AI resistance. A recent report found that local organizing victories that stopped or delayed data centers cost tech companies $156 billion in 2025. At least 142 groups in 24 states are actively organizing against data centers — you can read about some of them here.

2. Labor

There is absolutely no doubt that corporations are already leveraging AI to cut costs, replace workers and bolster profits. AI chatbots, agents and data processing systems are already replacing workers in data entry, customer service and administrative roles.  While job displacement is a real impending crisis, it is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI’s labor implications. 

A frequent rebuttal to concerns about AI’s impacts on labor is: “Sure some workers will be replaced, but jobs will also be created.” And while some jobs have indeed been created during the AI boom, what these jobs actually consist of goes unsaid. Mary L. Gray and Siddharth Suri coined the phrase “ghost work” to describe the tedious and underpaid labor that corporations disperse to networks of contractors in the Global South, obscuring the true human impacts of their products.

One of the more nefarious forms of ghost work in the AI industry is data labeling — a mind-numbingly tedious task necessary to train generative AI models. For example, ChatGPT was trained on trillions of words scraped from the internet. But a significant portion of those words includes vile, racist, misogynistic bile. Before ChatGPT could be trained, workers — largely in Kenya, being paid $2 an hour — first had to sort through repulsive internet content and flag it as such so that the AI could learn to identify and avoid repeating it.

Companies including Amazon use AI-powered cameras and productivity algorithms to surveil workers. (Dio Cramer)

AI is also supercharging the capacity for bosses to surveil and repress workers. Amazon is one of the most notorious adopters. Warehouse workers are tracked via AI-powered cameras and subjected to backbreaking paces based on AI-powered productivity algorithms. A network of nine mandatory surveillance technologies help the company monitor its nearly 400,000 delivery drivers, including by listening to their personal phone calls. The monitoring is used to enforce arbitrary “driver safety” standards tied to compensation, which experts warn can amount to wage theft. Additionally, Amazon made an AI- generated “unionization risk map” to track relationships between union organizers at different facilities.

Unions are perhaps the most important frontline of resistance to AI. As corporations attempt to introduce AI into more and more industries, more and more workers will have the opportunity to organize their workplaces against AI. In addition to unions that are securing contract protections, such as the Amazon Labor Union and UFCW, some leading groups supporting worker-organizers on this front include the Luddite Lab, The Tech Workers Coalition and No Tech for Apartheid.

3. Militarism 

If there’s one thing AI is definitively good at, it’s killing people. 

The U.S. based-company Anduril has received tens of billions of dollars from the Pentagon for its fully autonomous weapons, including a newly minted $20 billion contract to produce drones for the Iran War. The Pentagon also uses a Palantir-developed AI-targeting system called “Maven,” which builds its lists of people and infrastructure to target by harvesting classified data from 179 sources, like satellites and surveillance infrastructure. Like many surveillance and weapons systems, the technology was tested and refined on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel has its own version of Palantir’s Maven, called “Lavender.” Using civilian surveillance infrastructure in Gaza, Lavender generates a profile of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents, assigning each person a score from 0-100 expressing the probability that they are a resistance fighter. In Gaza, Lavender is judge, jury and executioner: The Israeli Defense Forces reference these scores, which have a 10 percent inaccuracy rate, to generate “kill lists” for its genocide. 

The most powerful militaries use AI targeting systems and fully autonomous weaponry to wage wars. (Dio Cramer)

For militaries, AI solves the problem of humanity — because an automated targeting system has the exact morals of whichever tech company programs it, which is to say: no morals at all. 

So who has the ability to stop wars in the AI era? With AI companies proposing a future in which “warfighters” become “technomancers,” tech workers have taken the lead. No Tech for Apartheid, a campaign led by Google and Amazon workers organizing against their employers’ contracts with the Israeli military is one inspiring example. No Azure for Apartheid recently forced Microsoft Azure to void a contract with the IDF. Local campaigns under the banner “Purge Palantir” also emerged this year, pressuring Congress members to return donations from Palantir and businesses to drop Palantir contracts. 

4. Policing and surveillance

From software targeting migrants to license plate readers, facial recognition programs and border panopticons, AI is a force multiplier in policing and surveillance.

ICE uses a new Palantir surveillance system called ELITE to map immigrants’ locations in real time, reportedly equipping the agency with 20 million potential targets. Facial recognition technology is another part of ICE’s AI-powered arsenal. Clearview AI, a private company partly funded by Palantir founder Peter Thiel, compiles a massive biometric database with billions of images scraped from the internet, leveraging AI to analyze these images and generate “faceprints” of civilians for use by local and federal police clients. 

If you’re sensing a common theme — AI technologies deepening repression — Flock Safety’s Automated License Plate Readers, or ALPRs, will come as no surprise. ALPRs are high-speed, computer-controlled cameras mounted on street poles, streetlights, highway overpasses, mobile trailers or police cars. They automatically capture every license plate number that passes by, along with data on location, date, time, photographs of the vehicle, driver and passengers. Police can instantaneously access a network of over 83,000 cameras nationwide by searching for a specific plate number or even vehicle characteristics such as “green Subaru with a peace sign bumper sticker.” Police forces have free rein over this data, including enabling police in Texas to track down a woman who conducted a self-managed abortion.

Dystopian surveillance tech is animating resistance across the U.S. Organizers developed a digital resource called DeFlock, crowdsourcing information on the locations of ALPRs and helping local communities build public pressure campaigns against municipalities with Flock contracts. Victories against AI-assisted surveillance tech are mounting: 68 cities across the U.S. have rejected proposals to implement Flock or cancelled existing contracts with local law enforcement. 

5. Algorithmic racism 

Yes, sometimes racist tech CEOs and developers deliberately program AI systems to reflect their values. But far more often, algorithmic racism occurs when the machines are trained to reflect the way people communicate on the internet, which — if you hadn’t noticed — is overwhelmingly racist.

To program AI systems, tech companies scrape data from trillions of words on the internet, training the model to recognize and replicate patterns in human language. A study published in Science looked under the hood of generative AI systems and found that the word “pleasant” was associated far more often with the names of white people than Black people. 

The widespread algorithmization of our society, from court sentencing to hiring decisions, means that AI is exacerbating systemic racism. On the grounds of eliminating bias, companies increasingly make hiring decisions with AI tools that scan and analyze data from resumes, online profiles and employment histories. But studies show that AI-based hiring decisions are actually more biased than human ones. 

AI systems trained on large swaths of the internet mirror racist attituds found in abundance online. (Dio Cramer)

Courtrooms in states across the U.S. use AI to generate “risk assessment scores,” which are referenced by judges at every stage of the criminal justice system, from bond-setting to sentencing. When ProPublica investigated risk score algorithms in Broward County, Florida, courtrooms, it found that Black defendants were twice as likely to be falsely labeled as likely future criminals than white defendants. 

Organizations such as the Algorithmic Justice League are tackling algorithmic racism and exposing the ways that AI systems can perpetuate discriminatory practices. And while organizing to eliminate algorithmic racism is an admirable endeavor (AI recidivism predictors should, at the very least, not be racist), it is insufficient in isolation. Because the primary flaws of prison and policing systems are not individual racist attitudes, algorithmic or otherwise (though that is of course an issue), but the broader function that these systems serve.

Addressing individual bias of cops and prosecutors does not alter the essential function of carceral systems — putting humans in cages. The same may be said for algorithms. Without combatting the fundamental issues at the heart of these systems — without abolition — AI simply tosses the hot potato into a robot’s heat-proof hands.

6. Health

While AI is not the root sickness of our terminally ill health care industry (that would be the profit motive), it is a contributing factor. This is also true of mental health, where tech executives offer their chatbots as substitutes for therapists and even friends — exacerbating social isolation. In both industries, corporations are offering AI as a quick fix to the crises they created. 

UnitedHealth Group developed an AI-backed algorithm called nH Predict to determine whether patients’ insurance claims are approved or (more often) denied. The algorithm is wildly inaccurate, consistently determining that physicians’ decisions were not medically necessary, and thus, not covered. Patients can in theory appeal denied health insurance claims, but it’s an arduous, soul-sucking process, and healthcare companies know that a minuscule fraction of policyholders – 0.2 percent, to be exact — will do so, the vast majority instead paying out of pocket or forgoing necessary care. Sure, some patients will die along the way, but it’s more profitable to delay, deny, depose. 

In the realm of mental health, a recent crisis of AI-assisted suicide is inflicting young people across the U.S. Researchers estimate that about 12.5 percent of Americans between ages 18 and 21 solicit mental health advice from generative AI. This same study found that every week 1.2 million users express suicidal ideation to ChatGPT. Rather than encouraging children to seek professional support, in some cases the chatbot dissuaded them from talking to their parents or calling a suicide prevention hotline. On April 11, 2025, ChatGPT helped 16-year-old Adam Raine tie a noose, then said: “I know what you’re asking, and I won’t look away from it.” This was the final message Adam received before he took his own life. His parents referred to the ChatGPT as a “suicide coach.” 

After ChatGPT instructed 16-year-old Adam Raine on how to tie a noose, his parents called the chatbot a “suicide coach.” (Dio Cramer)

The American Psychological Association warns that generative AI can contribute to deteriorating social skills, an inability to develop emotional connections and a loss of real-world relationships. 

The same tech industry that disregarded evidence of rampant social isolation now claims that its suicide-coach robots are the solution. There is a growing movement to enact government policy regulating generative AI chatbots. In October, California became the first state to pass legislation to protect children from predatory AI companion behaviors. Now, companies must implement safety features like age verification, publicize self-harm protocols and face liability for illegal deepfakes. New York followed suit with similar protocols in November. 

Pursuing regulation in every state and eventually the federal government is a necessary near-term safeguard, as organizers simultaneously work to convince the public that AI companions simply should not exist.

7. Art and music

Art and music are under attack by tech companies building AI products. AI image generators are trained on datasets containing billions of copyrighted images, often without the artists’ knowledge, consent or compensation. These models analyze images for patterns, stripping art down to raw material inputs fed to sophisticated algorithms that generate “new” images. Art becomes coal. Music becomes oil.

AI companies are flooding streaming services with ersatz music that is in direct competition with human art. Many of the songs recommended by our streaming services — often unbeknownst to us (Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music don’t mandate labeling AI-generated music) — are AI slop. Publishers are also using AI image generators for book covers and editorial illustrations, displacing human artists.

One famous site of AI resistance in 2023 was the Writers Guild of America strike, when AI usage by Hollywood studios was one of the main points of negotiation. After months of picketing, the writers won a contract that implements guardrails to give workers agency over AI implementation, rather than their bosses. While writers, artists and musicians should indeed be primary agents deploying new technologies in their fields, it’s worth going a step further. It’s worth asking whether AI-generated art should exist at all. Is art a pure form of human expression or will we allow it to be captured by synthetic machines?

A broad cultural shift is necessary to beget mass AI rejection. An effective strategy may simply be to make it profoundly uncool to use AI by making fun of cartoonishly anti-human products — as when New Yorkers defaced subway ads for an AI-companion called “Friend,” inspiring a Boycott AI campaign.

There are plenty of signs that “ridicule as praxis” (a phrase minted by Alex Hanna, co-author of “The AI Con”) is working — and costing tech companies billions of dollars. The Metaverse, an oft-mocked $80 billion project by Meta, unceremoniously shut down this year. OpenAI also recently pulled the plug on their video-generation business, Sora, despite a massive investment from Disney. The reason? People weren’t using the products.

8. Education 

There’s a litany of problems besetting the U.S. education system — chronic underfunding of public schools, private capture of what should be a universal human right, one-size-fits-all pedagogies, “teaching to the test,” and a racist school-to-prison pipeline, for starters.

Yet, tech companies are marketing AI as a one-stop-shop solution to “empower” teachers and “streamline” learning. School districts across the U.S. are welcoming AI with open arms, signing contracts with companies such as Google, OpenAI and Anthropic. Eighty percent of K-12 teachers reported their school districts use Google Chromebooks, which now come pre-installed with the generative AI system Gemini. 

According to the College Board, as of May 2025 about 84 percent of high school students in the U.S. use generative AI for schoolwork, inside and outside of school. Higher education is capitulating, too. Academic institutions are enthusiastically adopting untested products. ChatGPT Edu is being embraced at universities such as Columbia. Arizona State also recently rolled out an AI tool called “Atomic” that generates modules scraped from webinars without the professors’ consent. 

As schools and higher education institutions adopt AI products in the classroom, studies show that students experience “cognitive debt.” (Dio Cramer)

A recent study shows that students reliant on AI experience a phenomenon called “cognitive debt,” in which their ability to retain information deteriorates. Education Week found that 20 percent of students’ generative AI use in school “involved cheating, self-harm, bullying and other problematic behaviors.” 

Students are increasingly rejecting AI, even organizing high school Luddite clubs. Harvard recently cancelled its contract with ChatGPT, after its senior advisor on artificial intelligence said “the uptake among undergraduates was far less than we anticipated.”

Teachers trying to curb AI use without resorting to surveillance and punishment are resurrecting low-tech methods like in-class blue-book writing assignments, or instructing students on the flaws of generative AI and the inimitable qualities of human intelligence.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups such as Schools Beyond Screens, based in Los Angeles, are pushing for stricter education policy to limit AI use. In New York, NYers for an AI Moratorium is taking things a step further: calling for a complete halt to AI use in classrooms. 

9. Media and misinformation

AI is fundamentally altering the information ecosystem. Media conglomerates are inviting AI into the newsroom, while social media companies are opening the floodgates for AI deepfakes that erode our ability to discern truth from hogwash. 

During the federal occupation of Minneapolis, organizers relying on Instagram to disseminate information about rapidly shifting conditions were deluged with AI-generated videos depicting fake confrontations between ICE and protesters, muddling the crystal clear evidence of ICE’s abuses. To the untrained eye, these deepfakes can be indistinguishable from reality. 

We are facing compounding crises: a torrent of AI slop on social media, an unregulated digital information ecosystem, a distrustful public and a fascist government casting doubt on basic reality. 

Good journalism has never been more important. But corporate media is capitulating to the tech industry. Dozens of publications, including The New Yorker, Associated Press, Vox Media, and The Wall Street Journal, signed secretive deals to license their stories to ChatGPT, often without the consent of journalists. 

Meanwhile, outlets are also inking deals with tech companies to automate crucial aspects of journalism. The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post recently launched “Ember,” an AI-writing coach for op-ed contributors to more efficiently churn out op-eds — now required by Bezos to promote the virtues of capitalism — with fewer pesky humans involved. The Baltimore Sun publishes political analysis using generative AI. An editor at Fortune has “written” over 600 stories with generative AI.

Unionized journalists across the U.S. are campaigning under the banner “News Not Slop” to defend their work from “media companies implementing artificial intelligence in ways that damage the credibility of journalism.” 

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And while pushing back against vampiric tech companies encroaching on the media industry is necessary, resisting AI in the media and tackling rampant misinformation will require transforming the media landscape and taking back ownership from oligarchs. (Yes, that means reading and supporting independent media is a crucial AI resistance strategy.)

10. Human Dignity

If we are to resist AI effectively, this fight must also be waged on the existential territory of what it means to be human. 

Our foes — the misanthropic class of tech billionaires, the Zuckerbergs, Musks, Altmans and Thiels of the world — have their own vision of humanity. And they are not shy about expressing it. “I was able to rebalance my headcount on my support,” said Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. “I’ve reduced it from 9,000 heads to about 5,000 because I need less heads.” Sure, the rhetorical decapitation is a figure of speech, but it’s an awfully revealing one for a tech CEO whose profit margins rely on cutting costs by replacing human brains with synthetic ones.

We might also question whether artificial intelligence is intelligent at all. Whereas human thought involves “organic associations, speculative leaps, and surprise inferences, AI can only recognize and repeat embedded word chains, based on elaborately automated statistical guesswork,” write the editors of n+1. 

This distinction between the dynamic chorus of human intelligence and the monotonous drone of AI is backed by science. “The more you delve into the intricacies of the biological brain, the more you realize how rich and dynamic it is, compared to the dead sand of silicon,” writes neuroscientist Anil Seth. Relying on dead sand to think for us has immense effects — the crisis at hand is nothing short of brain-breaking. MIT researchers found a correlation between reliance on generative AI and “cognitive atrophy.” AI is literally shrinking people’s brains. 

Crowning AI systems with parallel, if not superior, intelligence erodes our humanity, chipping away at our strengths until we concede to this enfeebled conception of ourselves. 

Through our resistance, we get to assert an alternative vision of humanity, one rooted in solidarity, collectivism and reciprocity — those wonderful features of humanity anathema to Silicon Valley, which they dismiss as “bugs.” Communing with others, bouncing ideas off of actual human beings, making connections across our beliefs and lived experiences, identifying points of tension and agreement, being wrong, very wrong, feeling upset, then elated, and finding enlightening moments of connection through a ballad of conversation – that is irreplaceable. If we are to succeed, this vision must be so irresistible as to form its own narrative of inevitability. 

Because AI is increasingly ubiquitous, we have boundless opportunities to affirm our humanity and to invite people along with us. You don’t need permission to perform anarchic acts of AI rejection — refusing facial recognition technology at the airport, stickering AI subway ads, reducing your personal reliance on Big Tech, standing in the path of delivery robots, the list goes on. (There is an actual AI Resist List where you might find some inspiration.)

Bravery begets bravery begets movements begets revolution.

This article 10 reasons to resist AI was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

In markets where supply and demand are out of balance, grid connection increasingly comes with a choice: either bring the needed power yourself, or bring flexibility, write experts at ICF.

Australia's biggest transmission project to date - hit by delays and cost overruns - has finally been energised and should be commissioned later this year.

The post “Not easy:” Australia’s biggest transmission project energised after delays and cost overruns appeared first on Renew Economy.

Co-authored by Jenny Silva is the Executive Director at Call Marin Home and Member of the Executive Committee of the Marin Group of the Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter.
Jessie Rountree is the Marin Resilience Manager at Greenbelt Alliance.

The housing and climate crises are often regarded as separate problems, when in fact they are intertwined. In an increasingly urbanized world, there is one powerful solution that addresses both: building more homes where people already live. 

This type of development is called infill. It places new and modified homes within existing neighborhoods and developed areas. The contrast to this is sprawl, a familiar practice in much of California that includes low-density residential housing, often on rural, natural, and agricultural lands. Sprawl fragments habitat, severs wildlife corridors, and disrupts the carbon sequestration and flood-prevention benefits of healthy ecosystems.

Because we share these beliefs, Greenbelt Alliance is proud to join Call Marin Home, a coalition of leading organizations expanding housing through production, preservation, and protection for an inclusive Marin County. We know that increasing housing supply is essential to advancing our mission and sustaining a thriving, equitable community. 

By choosing infill housing instead of sprawl, we can address both our housing shortage and climate challenge to create healthier communities.

Protecting the land we can't afford to lose

Marin’s environmental ethos is evident in our abundant open spaces. Over 85% of Marin County is restricted from development, consisting of federal parks, agricultural land, water district lands, and open space preserves. However, we seem to limit our value of open space to only our County boundaries. 

Because we have simultaneously limited affordable and moderate-density homes in Marin, our community members have been forced to move elsewhere in the region and commute in for work. The direct result is that we are disrupting more lands by creating sprawl further out in Sonoma, the East Bay, and beyond. Since 1950, outer-metro locations like Santa Rosa have increased in physical size by over 300%, mostly through low-density development.

When we build inward instead of outward, we reduce disruption to the soils, trees, and plant communities. These healthier landscapes sequester carbon, improve water quality and quantity, and offer connected habitat to wildlife. The good news is that we have substantial options within already developed footprints to build the housing we need without disrupting our beloved open space.

The more housing density we build now, the more land we can preserve for our future.

Reducing our emissions

Transportation accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in Marin County. 64% of Marin’s workforce commutes from outside the county due to its high cost of living and age distribution.

When homes are built closer to jobs, transit, and services, people drive less. That means fewer and shorter car trips—one of the most effective strategies California can use to address climate change. In fact, building affordable housing is one of the most effective strategies for reducing carbon emissions, far more effective than transitioning to EVs. 

Less driving also improves our notorious Bay Area traffic and reduces wear on roads and bridges, so that local government budgets can be allocated to needed adaptation investments. Further, density creates the demand that makes buses, trains, and public transit economically viable. Centralized and denser housing is what makes public transit actually work.The emissions benefits are not limited to transportation. Newer units also tend to be more compact than suburban single-family homes, which require less energy and use less water.  

Connecting our community

Building new homes in existing communities puts families closer to jobs, schools, parks, and shopping, giving more Californians access to vibrant, connected communities. When a new building is nestled amongst a storefront or café, it generates foot traffic that supports local businesses, activates streets, and makes walking and biking safer and more enjoyable options.

Walkability also rebuilds the kind of social connections that keep communities healthy and resilient in the face of climate change. Neighbors who walk the same streets, share the same corner store, and know each other by name are more likely to support one another when climate impacts occur.

All Californians should have the opportunity to live in healthy communities and enjoy the natural lands and open spaces that make this area unique.

Creating a greater variety of homes in connected communities can help increase affordability, address climate change, and improve quality of life for Californians. That is the future we want to build in Marin.

Local decisions about housing are being made now, and elected leaders need to hear clearly from residents who support building more homes. Stay connected with Greenbelt Alliance via email and social media and sign up for Call Marin Home’s email updates to stay informed about key upcoming meetings and get the tools you need to make your voice heard.

Header Photo: Scott Hess

The post Housing Builds a Healthier Climate Future for Marin appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

In April 2026, California farmer Terri McCall stood on the steps of the Supreme Court at a rally protesting pesticide use, telling the story of how her husband and dog both died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a disease she believes was caused by pesticides. Her husband, Jack, had used Roundup for more than three decades on their 20-acre ranch before dying of cancer in 2016.

Over 57,000 pesticide products are currently registered for use in the United States, ranging from powerful chemicals used in conventional agriculture, to common insect repellents approved for use on children. Scientific evidence is accumulating that some of them are linked to illnesses ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s disease. 

But beginning in 2024, a powerful coalition of chemical manufacturers and industry groups launched a coordinated national effort to pass “immunity laws,” bills designed to shield companies from potential legal claims tied to harms from their pesticide products. Over the past three years alone, industry lobbyists attempted to pass pesticide immunity legislation in 15 different states.

The battle over ‘failure to warn’

At the center of the industry’s lobbying effort is a key legal question: What responsibility do pesticide companies have to warn users and consumers about potential health risks from their products? In many states, individuals can currently bring “failure to warn” claims if they believe a company withheld information about harms associated with a pesticide.

The chemical makers advocating for pesticide immunity laws argue that companies should be protected from those lawsuits as long as they use labels approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But opponents say that standard is dangerously inadequate.

There are longstanding concerns about the EPA’s pesticide review process. For example, the official EPA labels for glyphosate still do not carry a cancer warning, despite mounting evidence that it may cause cancer and other groups like the World Health Organization calling it “probably carcinogenic.” 

“The science is pretty clear,” said Daniel Hinkle, the senior counsel for policy and state affairs at the American Association for Justice. “The evidence continues to accumulate, and the pesticide makers continue to lose in the courtroom.”

Meanwhile, a growing body of research links a broad range of health harms to commonly used pesticides, including neurodevelopmental impacts, respiratory problems and reduced IQ in children, health problems like liver and metabolic diseases, and cancer.

The pesticide lobbyist’s playbook

Several landmark court cases have found chemical makers responsible for illnesses like cancers and neurological diseases, resulting in billions of dollars in payments from pesticide makers. Bayer alone has paid over $11 billion in cancer settlements linked to its products. In response, the chemical industry has poured millions of dollars into lobbying for pesticide immunity laws at the state and federal levels, and in the courts. “It’s very clear that this is a coordinated campaign by the industry to absolve themselves of legal liability for health harms from these chemicals,” said Hinkle.

In the last three years, advocates fought against proposed immunity bills in 15 different states. While defeated in a dozen states, the bills passed in Georgia, North Dakota and Kentucky. “The states where these bills are passing have some of the highest cancer rates in the nation,” said Joy Reeves, the director of policy and strategic development at the Rachel Carson Council. “The reality now is, if you’re a farmer and get sick, you have fewer options to hold the pesticide companies accountable.”

Environmental and legal advocates say the campaign behind the pesticide immunity laws is both sophisticated and well-funded. Hinkle says a central driver of the effort is the Modern Ag Alliance (MAA), a lobbying and public relations group founded by Bayer, the maker of Roundup, in 2024. 

While many states do not make lobbying expenditures easy to track, those that do show huge sums are being spent on pesticide immunity legislation. According to public filings, MAA spent roughly $1.6M lobbying in Tennessee in 2025. Reporting by the Idaho Sun found that MAA was the top outside spender in Idaho politics that same year. 

What pesticide immunity could mean for families

As industry groups push for legal protections around pesticide injury, there are growing concerns about what these bills could mean for public health, accountability, and local input.

In 2012, on a warm July afternoon in Iowa, organic farmer Rob Faux was working in his poultry yard. He heard an airplane roar overhead, and then droplets began raining over him and his chickens and turkeys. A crop duster kept the sprayer on as it passed over Faux’s farm twice, covering them with fungicides and insecticides. 

Subsequently, Faux was diagnosed with cancer. Recent data shows that Iowa, which has one of the highest rates of pesticide use in the country — in 2025, 53 million pounds of pesticides were used in the state — also has the second-highest cancer rate in the nation.

Faux is now the communications manager and resident farm expert for the Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN). He says that many products that people use every day, from ant bait to mosquito repellent, will similarly fall under the scope of the new immunity laws. 

“If these laws pass, and someone sells a mosquito repellent for children that makes them sick, for example, these pesticide immunity bills will eliminate pathways for families to hold the makers accountable,” he said. 

He also points to the loss of local control as a key concern. “If I live in a town where the drinking water comes from a local lake, but pesticide applicators are using chemicals that are getting into the water, the community should be able to protect people,” he said. Many of the proposed immunity bills would prevent that, because local or state governments wouldn’t be allowed to set pesticide rules that are stricter than federal standards.

A pivotal moment in the pesticide immunity fight

These concerns brought together a broad coalition spanning left-leaning environmental advocates and members of the Make America Healthy Again network. Protestors gathered outside the Supreme Court for a rally the last week of April as the justices inside heard opening arguments in Monsanto v. Durnell. The closely-watched case could reshape the future of pesticide litigation nationwide.

The case centers on whether federal pesticide labeling laws and EPA labels override state-level failure-to-warn lawsuits. A ruling in Monsanto’s favor could dramatically weaken legal pathways for people alleging harm from pesticide exposure. “This is a case that is largely about states’ rights,” said Reeves. “It will affect states’ ability to regulate pesticides.”

Just a few days later, federal lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected an effort to insert pesticide immunity language into the Farm Bill. Seventy-three Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the pesticide immunity provision. 

“It was a pretty astounding defeat,” said Max Sano, a senior policy and coalitions associate with Beyond Pesticides who helps organize a national coalition of farmers, farmworkers, scientists, and advocacy groups. “But these bills are still popping up everywhere [on a state level], so we can’t afford to slow down.” His organization is currently monitoring newly proposed pesticide immunity legislation in 10 states.

The rise of a new pesticide reform movement

As momentum grows against pesticide immunity laws, Reeves described the current moment as “today’s Silent Spring movement,” referencing Rachel Carson’s landmark 1962 book that helped ignite the modern environmental movement. “Today, the pesticide reform movement is diverse,” Reeves said. “It’s cross-partisan. It’s far-reaching.” 

Advocates like Reeves, Sano, and Hinkle are taking a multi-pronged approach to fighting pesticide immunity laws: organizing national coalition calls, educating lawmakers, tracking bills across states, mobilizing grassroots campaigns, and coordinating legal and public awareness efforts.

And individuals can have a deep impact on the fight, too, Hinkle said. “It is incredibly important to be in communication with your lawmaker,” he said. “Every single call or email matters. Concerned constituents and grassroots organizing have really been the decisive forces in holding off this onslaught.”

Reeves echoes him, saying, “If you care about your family and your community, you should engage on this issue. It affects us all.”

The Rachel Carson Council (RCC), founded in 1965, is the national environmental organization envisioned by Rachel Carson to carry on her work after her death. We promote Carson’s ecological ethic that combines scientific concern for the environment and human health with a sense of wonder and reverence for all forms of life in order to build a more sustainable, just, and peaceful future. The Rachel Carson Council is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

LEARN MORE

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The quiet push to shield pesticide makers from lawsuits on Jun 9, 2026.

FirstEnergy’s proposal adopts a cost allocation practice from the gas pipeline sector. It comes ahead of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s expected large load interconnection decision on June 18.

Energy price increases such as those triggered by the war in Ukraine make faster decarbonization more cost effective, according to a new analysis of the EU energy system. The net benefits could amount to roughly 3% of the bloc’s projected GDP in 2050, the study suggests.

In the past, the EU has been highly dependent on imported oil and gas. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 caused fossil fuel prices to spike and prompted EU leadership to reduce or eliminate imports of Russian natural gas.

In turn, this sudden drop in energy supply has left the EU with an “energy gap.” In the new study, researchers use a pair of computer models to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of short- and long-term solutions to filling in the gap.

Short-term strategies to increase the energy supply such as burning more coal or biomass involve high costs, a heavy public health burden, or both, the analysis shows. Meanwhile, demand-side solutions like reducing private transportation by 20% or turning down thermostats by 3 °C to reduce heating demand have limited impact.

With short-term solutions inadequate and geopolitical developments in the Middle East and elsewhere suggesting the energy crisis is likely to persist and can’t simply be white-knuckled through, the researchers turned their attention to solutions that would fundamentally reorganize the EU’s energy system in the coming decades.

Three scenarios that involve increasing electrification, increasing renewable sources of energy like solar and wind power, and reducing private transportation while filling in the remaining energy gap with renewables would all reduce net costs to society by 2050, the researchers found.

New infrastructure and equipment required for electrification and building out renewables costs money. A lot of money. But the savings from lower fuel prices, reduced public health burden from air pollution, and lower costs to society from climate change are greater than those costs.

“Eastern EU countries such as Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, and Hungary are more reliant on Russian imports and exhibit the largest benefits,” the researchers write.

In fact, why wait for 2050 to complete the greening of the energy system? The analysis shows that if high energy prices persist, an even faster rollout of renewables and decarbonization is cost effective.

With energy prices as high as they were in August 2022, the benefits of moving the EU’s current 2050 renewables target ahead by 5, 10, or even 20 years outweigh the costs. The savings on fuel, public health, and climate change costs are greater than the expense of quickly building new power plants and other renewable energy infrastructure.

However, in some of the scenarios analyzed the outcomes differ by country: Even if the EU as a whole shows a net benefit, individual countries might not, highlighting the need to develop strategies tailored to each country’s situation to keep things equitable across the bloc.

The researchers also modeled an even more ambitious energy transition goal, a net-zero-emissions push that would require increasing the EU’s share of renewables to 80%. In this scenario, an accelerated green transition looks good at moderate fuel prices, not just high ones.

“This suggests that once energy prices surpass a certain threshold, initiating the transition earlier becomes increasingly beneficial,” the researchers write.

Source: Meng W. et al. “Rethinking energy transition strategies for the European Union amid rising energy prices.” 2026.

Image: ©Anthropocene Magazine.

The Trump administration acted unreasonably in eliminating the 5% total cost threshold as a route for wind and solar projects to prove tax credit eligibility, a federal judge ruled.

Lost to science for more than 70 years, the black-lored waxbill was only recently rediscovered in a marshy region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now, researchers have published the first clear photographs of the bird ever taken in the wild.

Read more on E360 →

Bill Hare is the CEO of Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute working to accelerate climate action.

The word ‘implementation’ has featured long and loud recently in discussions about the UN climate process.

The host government of last year’s COP30 summit, Brazil, argued that it should be an “implementation COP”. And if you talk regularly to influential participants in the UN process, you’d be surprised how many will tell you that in the current political climate, it’s all about implementing the pledges and targets governments have already made, rather than aiming to raise them.

This interpretation of ‘implementation’ is dangerously wrong. You can see that it is wrong by simply going back to the Paris Agreement. Article 4 states that Parties (countries) “shall prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), and that each new NDC “will represent a progression” beyond the Party’s previous one and “reflect its highest possible ambition”.

In other words, regularly increasing ambition is a central element of implementing the Paris Agreement. Governments pledged to increase ambition regularly, and the community of people who care about climate change needs to hold them to that pledge.

Raised expectations

Even a cursory look at the current state of emissions shows that without increased ambition, the other central pillars of the Paris Agreement will not be realised. The global emissions peak will not come “as soon as possible”, net zero will not be reached in the second half of this century, and global warming will race beyond the 1.5°C limit, with catastrophic impacts beginning in the most vulnerable countries and risks increasing for everyone.

Since the Paris summit in 2015, expectations and obligations on governments to step up on decarbonising their economies have increased. In 2021 and 2022, governments declared via the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly that the right to a healthy environment is a universal human right. An environment of dangerous climate change is not a healthy one, so the obligation to cut emissions further and faster is clear.

• May 12, 2026 Politics Paris Agreement committee snubbed over missing NDC climate plans Many governments have still not submitted a nationally determined contribution to the UN, breaching a key requirement of the Paris Agreement Read more
• May 7, 2026 Comment ICJ follow-up resolution is a test of climate leadership at the UN If states back the resolution by consensus, it would send a powerful message of commitment to climate action and the rule of law, despite pushback by some big emitters Read more
• Apr 14, 2026 Politics Türkiye sets COP31 dates and appoints Australian cattle farmer as youth champion In an open letter, Murat Kurum gives details of the October Pacific pre-COP and the November COP31 leaders’ summit in the Turkish city of Antalya Read more

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that 1.5°C is the primary limit of the Paris Agreement and constitutes a legally binding target. It clarified that states have obligations, not only under the UN climate convention, but under customary international law, human rights law and the Law of the Sea.

It also reaffirmed that governments’ NDCs must reflect their highest possible ambition. Last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution endorsing the ICJ ruling, with governments voting 141 for, and only eight against.

Failing on ambition

Nonetheless, most governments are not showing the ambition required by their international obligations. Fifty-two countries have not submitted their third NDC with emission-cutting targets for 2035, which they were supposed to do more than a year ago.

Many submitted NDCs fall well short of what is required, with Indonesia, Russia and Saudi Arabia among countries whose level of ambition, if reflected globally, would usher in at least 4°C of global warming.

We know from our own analysis that if countries just implemented their present level of ambition through 2035, the world would warm by 2.6°C above preindustrial levels by 2100, a catastrophic scenario.

A member of the Bolivian Armed Forces helps people cross the Pirai River following the collapse of bridges connecting different communities following floods triggered by an overflowing river that isolated several communities in the eastern Santa Cruz region, in El Torno, Bolivia, December 17, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Morales A member of the Bolivian Armed Forces helps people cross the Pirai River following the collapse of bridges connecting different communities following floods triggered by an overflowing river that isolated several communities in the eastern Santa Cruz region, in El Torno, Bolivia, December 17, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Morales

But we also know that if countries implemented policies consistent with their highest possible ambition, we can limit overshoot of 1.5°C to about 0.2°C, halt global warming within 25 years, and bring it down to about 1.2°C by the end of the century. Other analyses paint a similar picture.

Make no mistake: this level of overshoot will have serious adverse consequences. But two things are very clear: we can get warming back below 1.5°C before 2100, and countries can be far more ambitious than they are now.

Meanwhile real-world events are demonstrating more clearly than ever that moving quickly and decisively to an economy powered by clean electricity bolsters energy security, reduces energy costs and avoids the geopolitical blackmail and bullying associated with dependence on a continuous supply of fossil fuel imports.

Back the collective process

Because the various UN declarations and decisions outlined above are taken collectively by governments, we can make an interesting deduction: most governments themselves recognise that they need to show more ambition. There are many reasons why each of them doesn’t do so on its own; and one of the key aspects of the UN climate process is that it allows and encourages them to do so with some degree of collectivity.

What all of this speaks to is the need to increase the focus on raising ambition, to continue to use the UN climate process as the key convening forum, and to use COPs as the place where governments are held accountable at a high political level every year. There is no other forum that does that and no other place in which vulnerable countries are at the table on equal terms with the biggest emitters.

What to expect from the Bonn climate talks

Right now, the geopolitical going is tough; and the tough need to get going towards the trouble, not run away from it.

Yes, delivery of existing pledges is absolutely necessary. If governments use this decade to honour the Global Stocktake outcomes from 2024 – if they triple renewable energy capacity, double the rate of energy efficiency improvements and make deep cuts in methane emissions – that will go a long way to keeping global warming below 2°C. Most are not on track – so yes, full implementation of what countries have already agreed is sorely needed.

But ambition must also be strengthened, urgently. It’s not an either-or: ‘implementation’ has to include ‘increasing ambition’. Climate science, international law, climate justice and the needs of the world’s most climate-impacted societies demand nothing less.

The post The UN climate process needs ambition – the law demands it appeared first on Climate Home News.

The Secretariat of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) for relations with the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is seeking for a full-time administration and logistics officer during the period September – December 2026, with possibility of a longer-term extension of the contract.

• Location: Rome, Italy
• Working hours: Full time 
• Closing date for applications: 15 July 2026

Background

The Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) for relations with the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the largest international space of social movements, Indigenous Peoples’ and civil society organisations working to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition. The Mechanism was founded in 2010 as an essential and autonomous part of the reformed CFS. The purpose of the CSIPM is to facilitate civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ participation and articulation into the policy processes of the CFS.

The CSIPM is an open and inclusive space that gives priority to the organisations and movements of the people most affected by food insecurity and malnutrition. Since it was founded, several hundred national, regional or global organisations have participated in the CSIPM. Far more than 380 million smallholders and family farmers, agricultural and food workers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, consumers and urban food insecure around the world are affiliated to organisations that participate in the CSIPM. The Mechanism respects pluralism, autonomy, diversity and self-organisation and tries to ensure a balance of constituencies, gender, and regions.

The CSIPM Secretariat is dedicated to facilitating the functions of the CSIPM, supporting the implementation of its work plan and activities during the CFS inter-sessional period and throughout the CFS Plenary Sessions. The CSIPM Secretariat supports the different CSIPM structures and articulations both in terms of governance and policy thematic work, accompanying all related processes. It is also responsible for providing coordination, facilitation, logistical, financial, and communication support to increase the overall capacities of the space and its participating organisations. The CSIPM Secretariat’s team is currently composed of 3 people with longstanding experience in the follow-up and coordination of the overall CSIPM activities, including the related logistics. The CSIPM is looking for a 4th team member to provide logistics and administration support, who will be accompanied by the rest of the team in the handover process

Main duties and tasks of the Administration and Logistics Officer are:

Logistics:

• Support in the organisation of in-presence meetings and online calls, including the organisation of interpretation;   
• Ensure the reservation of flights and hotels and an adequate accounting and archiving of these expenses.
• Supporting CSIPM participants in providing the necessary documentation for their Schengen Visas requests 
• Reimbursement of participants expenses and ensuring an adequate accounting and archiving of these expenses.
• Support the registration process to CFS meetings, CFS Plenary and the Annual Forum of the CSIPM.
• Preparation of meetings documentation, including photocopying, organising and assembling folder for participants and distributing meeting materials.
• Communication with service providers (website, applications, universities, hotel etc.)

These tasks will be implemented with the support and in close collaboration and coordination with the CSIPM Secretariat team particularly with the Secretariat’s Coordinators. 

Administration of funding and administrative tasks:

• Account for CSIPM expenditures on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. Work in close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordination to evaluate expenditures against available budget
• Liaise with CSIPM host organisations that administer funds on behalf of the CSIPM to:
  • Facilitate the signing of funding contracts between hosting NGOs and donors;
  • Ensure payment of invoices on a weekly basis;
  • Prepare sub-contracts between CSIPM and the NGOs for the transfer of funds provided by the CSIPM for the regional/constituency consultations.
• Work in close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordinators for the preparation and finalisation of service contracts for CSIPM consultancy services (i.e. interpreters, translators, communication experts, website designer, etc.), and working contracts for CSIPM secretariat staff.
• Support the CSIPM Coordination in:
  • In close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordination, keeping an overview and control of CSIPM funding needs, income and expenditure.
  • Supporting in the liaison with FAO Partnerships Division for the preparation of Letter of Agreement for funds provided by Member States
  • Liaising with the CSIPM host organisations to facilitate access to resources and their use.
  • Supporting the preparation of funding proposals for submission to donors, working closely with the CSIPM Coordination, particularly for multi-year funding projects, and follow up the process until their final approval and signature.
• Exploring and proposing long term options for the administration of CSIPM funds, for example by identifying and selecting organisations that could administer CSIPM financial resources or researching and follow up of procedures to establish a legal entity and association for the CSIPM.
• Managing working group email lists once or twice a week. 
• Brings a problem-solving attitude and is willing to support the team with research or ad hoc tasks when capacity is stretched, understanding that this role may occasionally require stepping in on areas outside the core remit to keep things moving.

Reporting:

• Support the CSIPM Coordination in the preparation of financial reports and narrative reports for submission to donors.
• Work in close collaboration with the CSIPM Coordination and hosting organisation during audits on financial reports
• Support in the preparation of quarterly/biannually Financial Reports and status of CSIPM funding needs to be presented to the CSIPM Finance working group and the Coordination Committee (CC) during the CSIPM Annual Forum and CC meetings. 

Profile and requirements

The CSIPM is looking for an Administration and Logistics officer committed to support social movements, Indigenous Peoples’ and civil society organisations meaningful participation in global food governance spaces, that has a positive and problem solving attitude and that enjoys working in a team and for the service of rights holders, marginalised communities and in contact with decision makers. 

The selected candidate will have: 

• A university degree, relating to economy, administration, political science, or an equivalent combination of a relevant undergraduate degree, plus related work experience and on-the-job training;
• 3 years work experience related to project administration management; basic financial administration, including budget tracking, expense reporting, and supporting financial reporting processes;
• Experience in organising and preparing international meetings and events with peoples’ organisations and social movements and a substantial understanding of what this entails and how it is different from other type of meetings. 
• Commitment to supporting civil society participation in inter-governmental policy dialogue and decision-making; 
• Working experience with social movements, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society organisations that promote human rights approaches to food security and nutrition, gender equality, and food sovereignty will be considered a plus;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills are necessary;
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with attention to detail;
• Proactiveness in taking on further responsibilities as the learning and handover process advances
• Good working knowledge of Excel and Word;
• Good knowledge in managing online community and video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom;
• Fluent in English and knowledge of Italian. Working knowledge of another language between Spanish and French is an asset;
• We are looking for someone who
  • Is committed, reliable, responsible and proactive with good problem-solving skills;
  • Enjoys working in a multi-cultural environment and can contribute harmoniously to team work;
  • Can adapt to a flexible working schedule and can work and communicate well under pressure and tight deadlines;
  • Has experience collaborating effectively and working in a team, fostering clear, transparent and respectful communication.
  • Takes ownership of their work and communicates proactively even when problems arise, e.g. when deadlines or tasks are at risk, including being comfortable flagging when something has not been completed rather than letting it go unnoticed.

We offer

• Working in a unique and dynamic space of civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ democratic participation to the United Nations;
• Being part of a highly motivated, welcoming, professional, caring and intercultural team in the context of intercontinental diversity; 
• An appropriate remuneration and a rewarding work environment. Further details will be provided in the event of an interview;
• The position is based in Rome. The selected person will be offered an Italian working contract (either a consultancy contract or a so-called co.co.co. contract with paid leave and holidays) with a monthly net salary that lies at 1.800 Euro. 
• The first contract offered will last for a trial period of four months (September to December 2026); if performance is positively assessed the contract will be further extended. In case of extension and after one year, the contract typology will be confirmed with the selected candidate. The salary may be reviewed subject to performance assessment and availability of funds. 

If you are fit for this role, we invite you to submit your CV and a one-page cover letter highlighting your motivation and most relevant experiences to this role. Applications should be sent to: csmrecruitments@gmail.com by 15 July 2026. 

Timeline of the recruitment process 

• 15 July – Deadline for submitting applications
• Weeks of 20 and 27 July – First round of interviews. 

Selected applicants will be asked to participate in an online interview (or potentially in-person if the candidate is based in Rome) with the full team of the CSIPM Secretariat, as well as the responsible of the hosting organization of the CSIPM. 

• Short-listed candidates might also be asked to pass a written evaluation task, and a second interview. 
• The selected person is expected to join the CSIPM Secretariat from the first week of September 2026. 
• The CSIPM office, where part of the work will take place, is in FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00154 Roma, Italy. In addition, the CSIPM Administration and Logistics Officer will be required to go on bi-weekly basis to the office of the hosting organization of the CSIPM, currently located in the Garbatella neighbourhood. 

Download the vacancy announcement (PDF)

The post CSIPM Vacancy: Administration and Logistics officer appeared first on CSIPM.

Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago are prepared for their one-day strike on June 11 to protest the administration’s illegal firings of six nurses in retaliation for union activity.

Australia endorses ambitious new global electrification target that it hopes will help accelerate shift from fossil fuels.

The post Australia endorses ambitious new global electrification target to hasten exit from fossil fuels appeared first on Renew Economy.

Headline News:

• “The Geysers Adds 25 MW Of Geothermal Capacity” • California’s largest geothermal resource added 25 MW of new generating capacity, strengthening the state’s geothermal energy. Calpine, a Constellation business unit, announced completion of the expansion project at The Geysers geothermal complex in Sonoma County, California. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Geothermal plant at The Geysers, California (Calpine image)

• “The Cost Of Balancing The Grid If The EU Cuts EV Targets: 150 New Power Plants” • Europe’s electricity system could be a big victim of plans to scale back EV targets. EVs can be ‘batteries on wheels,’ providing a different math of the electricity sector. Fewer EVs would mean less storage capacity for the grid and a need for more power plants. [CleanTechnica]
• “Off-Grid Mine Runs Solely On Renewables For Nearly A Week” • Bellevue Gold is celebrating a milestone at its namesake gold mine in Western Australia. The site was able to run entirely on renewables for 155 consecutive hours. The site’s 90-MW hybrid power station has 27 MW of solar, 24 MW of wind, and 15 MW, 33 MWh of battery storage. [Energy Magazine]
• “Use Of Bomb-Grade Plutonium For Energy” • The President of the US signed an executive order directing the DOE to stop an operation getting rid of nuclear bomb materials. Instead, it is to give the weapons-grade plutonium to private companies to use in nuclear reactors. They are to get enough plutonium to build 2,000 nuclear bombs. [Green Energy Times]
• “Judge tosses Trump bid to restrict renewable energy tax credits” • A federal judge struck down a Trump administration effort to restrict tax credits for wind and solar energy. The ruling is a win for renewable energy supporters, but it comes less than a month before a deadline to phase out the credits entirely under so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” [The Hill]

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

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• Mendukung transaksi kapan saja selama 24 jam.
• Memiliki sistem keamanan yang dirancang untuk melindungi pengguna.
• Cocok digunakan oleh berbagai kalangan, termasuk pengguna baru.

Kemudahan tersebut membuat pengguna dapat lebih fokus menikmati layanan yang tersedia tanpa terganggu oleh proses pembayaran yang rumit atau memakan waktu.

Pentingnya Memilih Platform yang Terpercaya

Meskipun metode pembayaran yang digunakan sudah aman, pengguna tetap perlu memperhatikan kredibilitas platform yang dipilih. Kepercayaan menjadi faktor penting karena berkaitan langsung dengan keamanan data dan kenyamanan transaksi.

Platform yang terpercaya biasanya memiliki beberapa karakteristik berikut:

1. Transparansi Informasi

Penyedia layanan yang profesional akan memberikan informasi yang jelas mengenai sistem transaksi, ketentuan penggunaan, serta layanan pelanggan yang dapat dihubungi ketika dibutuhkan.

2. Sistem Keamanan yang Memadai

Keamanan menjadi fondasi utama dalam transaksi digital. Platform yang berkualitas umumnya menerapkan perlindungan data pengguna dan sistem verifikasi untuk meminimalkan risiko penyalahgunaan akun.

3. Layanan Pelanggan Responsif

Dukungan pelanggan yang aktif menunjukkan komitmen penyedia layanan dalam menjaga kenyamanan pengguna. Ketika terjadi kendala, bantuan yang cepat akan memberikan rasa aman dan meningkatkan kepercayaan.

4. Reputasi yang Baik di Kalangan Pengguna

Pengalaman pengguna lain sering menjadi indikator penting dalam menilai kualitas sebuah platform. Reputasi positif biasanya mencerminkan konsistensi layanan yang baik dalam jangka panjang.

Kenyamanan Transaksi Meningkatkan Pengalaman Pengguna

Salah satu alasan utama mengapa Slot Dana terpercaya semakin mendapatkan perhatian adalah kemampuannya menghadirkan pengalaman transaksi yang lebih nyaman. Pengguna tidak perlu lagi menghadapi proses pembayaran yang panjang atau menunggu konfirmasi dalam waktu lama.

Kemudahan akses melalui perangkat seluler juga memberikan fleksibilitas tinggi. Dengan beberapa langkah sederhana, transaksi dapat diselesaikan dalam hitungan menit. Efisiensi ini menjadi nilai tambah yang sangat relevan di era digital yang serba cepat.

Selain itu, penggunaan dompet digital juga membantu pengguna mengelola aktivitas transaksi secara lebih terstruktur. Riwayat pembayaran dapat dipantau dengan mudah sehingga memberikan kontrol yang lebih baik terhadap setiap aktivitas yang dilakukan.

Faktor yang Perlu Diperhatikan Sebelum Menggunakan Slot Dana

Agar pengalaman transaksi semakin optimal, terdapat beberapa hal yang sebaiknya diperhatikan:

• Pastikan akun Dana telah terverifikasi dengan benar.
• Gunakan kata sandi yang kuat dan unik.
• Hindari membagikan kode OTP kepada pihak lain.
• Pilih platform yang memiliki rekam jejak positif.
• Periksa kembali detail transaksi sebelum melakukan konfirmasi.

Langkah-langkah sederhana tersebut dapat membantu meningkatkan keamanan sekaligus menjaga kenyamanan selama menggunakan layanan digital.

Masa Depan Transaksi Online yang Semakin Praktis

Transformasi digital akan terus mendorong perkembangan metode pembayaran yang lebih cepat dan efisien. Slot Dana terpercaya menjadi salah satu contoh bagaimana teknologi dapat memberikan solusi yang relevan bagi kebutuhan masyarakat modern.

Dengan kombinasi antara kemudahan penggunaan, kecepatan transaksi, dan tingkat keamanan yang terus berkembang, metode pembayaran digital seperti Dana diperkirakan akan semakin berperan penting dalam berbagai aktivitas online. Bagi pengguna yang mengutamakan kenyamanan dan efisiensi, memilih platform terpercaya dengan dukungan transaksi Dana dapat menjadi langkah yang tepat untuk memperoleh pengalaman digital yang lebih aman dan menyenangkan.

Kesimpulan

Slot Dana terpercaya menawarkan kemudahan transaksi online yang selaras dengan kebutuhan pengguna masa kini. Proses yang cepat, akses yang fleksibel, serta dukungan teknologi keamanan menjadikannya pilihan yang menarik bagi banyak orang. Namun, kenyamanan tersebut akan semakin optimal apabila pengguna juga cermat dalam memilih platform yang memiliki reputasi baik dan sistem layanan yang profesional. Dengan pendekatan yang tepat, transaksi online dapat dilakukan dengan lebih nyaman, aman, dan efisien setiap saat.

Wind giant says "DC-coupled" battery technology piloted in Victoria will be included in all new Australian projects, starting with a shovel-ready wind farm in NSW.

The post Global wind giant plans to plug battery storage into turbines at all new Australian projects, starting in NSW appeared first on Renew Economy.

Last month, nearly a dozen wildfires erupted across southern California, sending plumes of smoke and particulate matter into the air. Public health officials in Los Angeles issued a multiday air quality advisory for the county, warning of “potential direct smoke impact” and advising everyone who could see or smell smoke to “avoid unnecessary outdoor exposure and to limit physical exertion.”

The red zone on the map included Los Angeles Stadium — also known as SoFi Stadium — one of the venues for the World Cup, soccer’s marquee event, which begins on Thursday. Between June 12 and July 10, Los Angeles will host eight games and is expected to draw tens of thousands of fans and scores of players. 

As dry, hot, conditions persist, more fires are possible and smoke could once again loom over the stadium. The same risk exists for a number of the 15 other World Cup host cities. But, despite the documented health impacts of smoke exposure, FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, doesn’t appear to have a plan if the air quality deteriorates. 

“FIFA has basically almost done nothing,” said Nicholas Watanabe, a professor of sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina. “They are lagging behind even minor leagues in North America.”

The National Women’s Soccer League, or NWSL; the Canadian Football League; and the NCAA, which oversees college sports, all have at least some guidelines outlining what to do if the Air Quality Index reaches certain thresholds. Other leagues — from Major League Baseball to the Women’s National Basketball Association — have postponed games because of wildfire smoke, notably when plumes spread across Canada and North America in June 2023. 

The Sandy Fire burned through heavy brush and sent smoke into the air as it moved through California’s Simi Valley in May 2026.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The Air Quality Index, or AQI, a measure of common pollutants in the air, ranges from 0 to 300+, with “unhealthy” levels starting at 101 and “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” warnings after that. Experts say that wildfire smoke often causes spikes that could be harmful to both players and fans. “They might get a burning throat, a cough, and a headache,” said Mary Johnson, who researches environmental health at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Some groups can be particularly sensitive, including children, older individuals, and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma.

“Climate-related risks are assessed as part of overall tournament planning and managed in close coordination with host cities, stadium authorities, and national agencies,” FIFA wrote in a statement to Grist. It detailed extensive protocols related to extreme heat, including mandatory water breaks for players (fans, meanwhile, will not be permitted to bring refillable water bottles into stadiums) but didn’t mention air quality. It did mention a “tournament-wide preparedness exercise” for severe weather, without providing further details. The organization did not respond to follow-up questions and declined multiple interview requests.

For now, FIFA seems to be betting the air will stay clear. While that gamble could very well pay off, wildfire smoke has become an increasingly common feature of North American summers, raising questions about whether organizers are prepared for conditions that are no longer unusual. “It’s sort of ridiculous that the biggest sporting event in the world doesn’t have anything,” said Watanabe, about even a minimum AQI threshold for canceling matches. “We’re one bad Pacific Northwest wildfire away from some very big concerns.”

All indicators point to a dangerous 2026 fire season. The National Interagency Fire Center projects that, after a warm winter and with a potentially record-breaking El Niño incoming, large swaths of the West will be at an elevated risk of wildfire this summer. Canadian officials have made similar predictions. Because smoke can blow thousands of miles, it puts virtually all of FIFA’s sites at potential risk.

“There are very few places in North America that are immune to these effects,” said Dominik Kulakowski, a geographer who studies wildfires at Clark University. He noted that the warning time for smoke events can sometimes be as short as a matter of hours. “It would make sense for FIFA to think ahead and implement some air quality standards that would trigger some decisions about whether or not to play.”

John Quindry, a professor of physiology at the University of Montana, said that, although a lack of a plan likely doesn’t mean “putting people in early graves,” he does think organizers should be prepared. There are things FIFA could do to help mitigate risk from wildfire smoke, he said, ranging from playing at times of days when the air quality tends to be better to postponing or relocating matches. “You should have a decision tree and algorithm that’s baked into the process,” he said, comparing air quality events to thunder storms. “People certainly call games for lightning and nobody argues with it.”

When the AQI hits 101, the air is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and the NWSL starts to add hydration breaks for players. At 180, which falls into the “unhealthy” range for everyone, the league starts to consider rescheduling games. Cancellation or postponement is mandatory above 200, when AQI is “very unhealthy.” The league did not respond to a request to confirm whether this policy, which The New York Times reported in 2023, remains current. But it aligns with guidelines from USA Soccer. The NFL’s 2022-2023 game operations manual also says the league “will be prepared to relocate a game if there is definitive evidence that the AQI will remain consistently above 200 for a significant period of time, including the day of the game being played in the affected stadium.” Once AQI passes 300, the NCAA requires that organizers move events indoors or cancel them.

Watanabe said that some of the World Cup venues are enclosed, with modern filtration systems that could help mitigate poor air quality. That includes Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta, a city that already experienced bad air quality due to wildfire smoke this year. But many others can’t be closed, including those in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver — all places historically prone to wildfire smoke. Grist reached out to local organizing committees and public health officials in host cities, the U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association, and the White House Task Force for the World Cup. Of the handful of responses, most redirected questions to FIFA. 

“There are no specific AQI levels that would automatically trigger suspension of FIFA events,” said James Garrow, a spokesperson for the public health department in Philadelphia, which is a 2026 World Cup site. Instead, he said, the city would monitor air quality and “consider possible recommendations.”

For FIFA, though, the issue is not simply whether wildfire smoke can affect health, but how to balance those risks against the logistical and financial demands of a multiweek global tournament. As Quindry put it: “There is a lot of money at stake.”

Whatever happens at this year’s World Cup, Kulakowski said it’s only a matter of time before FIFA and other sports leagues are going to have to reckon with a smoky future. “Having to think about smoke from wildfires and how that affects athletes, athletic ability, and sporting events is a new thing,” he said, but it’s becoming an increasingly common issue across North America, Europe, and elsewhere. “We’re seeing wildfires become a larger part of life.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The World Cup is one wildfire away from an air quality disaster on Jun 9, 2026.

A bill aimed at increasing the number of wood pellet mills in Louisiana has sailed through the state’s Legislature — despite some lawmakers, including the bill’s sponsor, acknowledging they know little about the controversial industry.

State Representative Chuck Owen, a Republican from Vernon Parish in west Louisiana, said he proposed House Bill 670 in February shortly after learning about the industry, which exports about $1 billion worth of pellets from Louisiana each year. Nearly all the production comes from two British-owned mills in central and north Louisiana that emit large — and sometimes illegal — quantities of air pollutants linked to cancers and other serious illnesses. 

Owen, whose district spans one of the state’s most timber-rich regions, said the goal of his bill is to make Louisiana a “premier location for wood pellet manufacturing.” 

The legislation gives a state agency, Louisiana Economic Development, broad direction to develop new incentives for pellet manufacturers, potentially including new tax breaks, state-funded workforce training programs, and port upgrades tailored to the industry’s needs. It also instructs state regulators to streamline permitting for pellet mills and review environmental and public safety rules that “impose unnecessary burdens on this emerging industry.”

For Owen, talking during a meeting ahead of the vote, the rationale behind expanding pellet manufacturing is simple: “We have a lot of trees in Louisiana, and north of Bunkie, that’s about all we have,” he said, referring to a town in central Louisiana. “There’s a market craving wood pellets, and I think we should get further into it.” 

But when a fellow legislator asked him to describe one of the mills and “what exactly it produces,” Owen admitted he was only vaguely familiar with it. “I do not know a lot about it,” he said. “No, sir, I do not. I know they’ve had some struggle in recent years, but I know that they’re there.”

Despite that uncertainty, Louisiana’s House and Senate passed Owen’s measure unanimously. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican who has backed similar measures aimed at boosting industrial growth in the state. 

Louisiana State Representative Chuck Owen wants to expand the wood pellet industry throughout the state. Allison Allsop / Louisiana Illuminator

The British energy company Drax operates the two large pellet mills in Louisiana: one in Urania, a small town in the central part of the state, and another near Bastrop in the northeast corner. Together with a nearly identical Drax facility in Gloster, Mississippi, the mills churn out billions of wood pellets to meet demand in the United Kingdom for electricity generated by wood, what the industry markets as “sustainable biomass.” 

In the U.K. and several other European countries, wood pellets are classified as a renewable energy source, making the industry eligible for large subsidies typically given to solar and wind projects. While Drax promotes itself as a purveyor of green energy, communities in the Deep South that host the pellet mills pay a high cost from air pollution, dust and noise, said Kadin Love, a community organizer with the Dogwood Alliance, an environmental group in North Carolina opposed to wood pellet manufacturing. 

“This is an industry that doesn’t have a clean history,” Love said. “This bill opens doors to the industry that we might not be able to close.”

Drax has paid nearly $6 million in fines and settlements for hundreds of pollution violations in Louisiana and Mississippi over the past six years. Despite some facility upgrades aimed at reducing pollution, the company has continued to rack up violations.  

In Gloster, where Drax has operated the longest, several residents are suing the company over what they say is a decade of exposure to toxic chemicals, including formaldehyde, acrolein, and methanol. In the mostly Black, low-income town, about 40 miles north of the state Legislature in Baton Rouge, many people blame widespread health problems, including cancer and respiratory illnesses, on the mill’s pollutants.   

In a motion to dismiss the case, Drax’s lawyers argued that the lawsuit fails to show “particularized injury that is traceable to [the mill’s] conduct.”

When asked about Owen’s bill, Drax expressed gratitude to Louisiana lawmakers for supporting the industry but declined to address pollution concerns raised by Love and other critics. “We appreciate the engagement of lawmakers and our community partners in Louisiana,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We remain focused on operating responsibly and transparently, working constructively with regulators, and continuing to support jobs and economic activity in the communities where we operate across Louisiana.”

Tommy Barbo, manager of Drax’s wood pellet mill in Urania, Louisiana, tosses a few pellets while inspecting machinery. Eric J. Shelton / Mississippi Today

During the recent deliberations over Owen’s bill in the state House, none of the representatives mentioned concerns about pollution. Like Owen, most legislators were unfamiliar with the industry and asked only basic questions. 

“Are we talking about the wood pellets you put in the smoker, or do you build stuff with these wood pellets?” asked Representative Candace Newell, a Democrat from New Orleans. “What do they look like?”

The only expert testimony came from Scott Roe, a consultant who produced a feasibility study on pellet mills in Louisiana. Roe described pellet burning as “cleaner” than other fossil fuels and said the industry could eventually use technology that “releases nothing at all.”

“So, it’s clean-burning,” said Newell, who voted in favor of the bill. “You can’t build anything with it — just clean-burning clean energy.”

But several scientists say that’s far from the truth. Drax’s wood-fueled power station in rural England emitted more than 14 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2024, making it the largest single source of CO2 in the U.K., according to a report last year from the climate research group Ember. That amount is more than the combined emissions from the country’s six largest gas plants and more than four times the level of the U.K.’s last coal plant, which shut down in 2024. 

The most contentious discussions about the bill concerned the industry’s potential use of carbon capture and storage technology, or CCS, which allows emitters to inject carbon dioxide underground rather than release it into the atmosphere. Tax credits and other incentives are available to industries that integrate CCS into their operations, but a growing number of Louisiana legislators oppose the technology; several pending bills would restrict CCS projects amid concerns about health and safety risks at storage sites and along pipelines that transport the gas.

During the discussion over his bill in the state House, Owen sought to distance his bill from CCS, or the “C-word,” as he called it. 

Drax, however, has pledged heavy investment in CCS technology. In 2023, the company established a new office in Houston focused on pairing biomass with CCS projects across North America. “The U.S. Gulf Coast has emerged as a major hub for carbon capture and sequestration investment and technology, a key component of the company’s plans to expand clean electric generation from renewable resources,” Drax CEO Will Gardiner said at the time.

Some members of the Louisiana Legislature wanted assurances that the bill wouldn’t help Drax reach its CCS goals. Owen promised to kill his own bill if the Senate tried to insert language supporting the technology. 

“If, on the [Senate] side, they try to make it pro-carbon capture, will you pull it?” asked Representative Robby Carter, a Democrat from St. Helena Parish. 

“Pull it,” Owen responded.  

The Senate steered clear of the CCS debate and passed the bill with only a few minor wording changes on May 27.

The bill gained support largely because of its promises to boost the state’s struggling forest products sector. Several pulp and paper mills have shut down in Louisiana, leaving many small communities with few jobs and empty downtowns. Backers argued that the pellet industry could help fill that void. Low-grade pine once used for paper production can instead be made into pellets, creating a new market for Louisiana trees and potentially revitalizing the state’s forestry economy.

“What this bill is about is employing people,” Owen said during deliberations. 

But the three Drax mills each employ about 70 people, which is far fewer than the hundreds employed by many of the older mills. 

Louisiana has granted Drax generous tax breaks aimed at boosting employment. Through the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, Drax has avoided paying about $75 million in property taxes that would otherwise support local school districts and local government operations, Verite News and Grist found in a review of estimates from Louisiana Economic Development. 

The industry’s growth looks uncertain as European countries are increasingly skeptical of the claim that burning wood is better for the environment than relying on other energy sources. The U.K. government recently decided the current subsidies for Drax would be cut in half next year. 

There have been other signs of trouble for the industry. Enviva, once the world’s largest wood pellet producer, filed for bankruptcy in 2024. Drax has also scaled back some of its North American expansion plans and recently shuttered its two Arkansas mills after only a few years in operation.

Love, from the Dogwood Alliance, said he was stunned that Louisiana’s legislators rushed to pass Owen’s bill unanimously despite having only a superficial understanding of the industry and without much, if any, consideration of the environmental and economic risks.

“If you’re making a state law that exclusively benefits one industry, I’d hope they’d do some homework on it,” Love said. “The fact that they’re not doing the due diligence of researching this industry is incredibly concerning.”

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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Louisiana lawmakers rush to support an industry they ‘do not know a lot about’ on Jun 9, 2026.

Africa stands at a pivotal crossroads. As the climate crisis intensifies in the region, it is disproportionately crushing marginalized communities, particularly women and youth. Yet, our continent is home to the world’s most abundant renewable energy resources and a vibrant, youth-driven climate movement ready to claim the future.

Every year leading up to Africa Day on May 25, Afrika Vuka Week serves as our annual moment to channel Pan-African solidarity into bold, collective action for climate justice. This year, under the banner of REPower Afrika, our message was loud, clear, and uncompromising: Access to affordable energy is a human right –  End the Political Crisis.

We are building a pan-African movement advocating for clean energy that is rooted in people’s power and the lived realities of everyday Africans.

The problem: we pay, they profit

Africa is currently trapped in a severe, manufactured energy crisis. Decades of fossil fuel extraction have left 600 million Africans without electricity access. The continent contributes only a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it continues to suffer disproportionately from fuel price spikes, debt distress, inflation, and food insecurity tied to global oil and gas markets. 

Ongoing global conflicts and supply chain disruptions have caused the prices of fossil fuels like gas and oil to spike yet again. While multinational corporations rake in record-breaking profits from these crises, African governments, ordinary households and businesses are being pushed into deep debt. In 2026 alone, six major oil corporations — Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and TotalEnergies — are projected to pocket $94 billion in fossil fuel profits: enough to provide solar power for the energy needs of almost 50 million people in Africa.

When fossil energy prices skyrocket, the cost of everything else follows: transportation costs spike, groceries and basic food items become unaffordable and monthly utility bills grow unmanageable. This situation is the direct result of a global system built on fossil fuels that prioritizes the profits of a few companies over the lives of millions.

A deeply unjust, gendered burden

This crisis is not gender-neutral, it hits women the hardest. Across Africa, the structural failure to provide affordable energy fuels the feminization of poverty. Women spend up to 4 hours a day on unpaid care work — triple the time of men — searching for firewood or cooking over dangerous kerosene and charcoal stoves, with 70% of rural Sub-Saharan Africa still dependent on traditional biomass.  The consequences are devastating:  severe, long-term health problems and forcing women to scramble to afford basic necessities. We cannot solve our continent’s poverty and health crises as long as we remain tied to expensive, volatile fossil fuels. It is time to put people over profits.

How Afrika Vuka Week 2026 took this fight to the streets, schools and town halls

Last month,  the 23 to 30May, we mobilized during Afrika Vuka Week 2026 under the banner of  Pan-African solidarity to redefine the energy crisis not just as a technical challenge, but as a fundamental human right and a pressing political crisis.

Over the seven days of  coordinated actions across the continent, we shifted the narrative. We made sure  affordable renewable energy was at the center of political debate and  community voices were leading  the fight for an equitable energy transition. Our  cost of living stories from locals put a human face to what rising fossil fuel prices actually mean:  unaffordability of daily life.

Throughout the Week of Action, local groups tailored interventions to their unique realities. From grassroots organizing to creative expression, communities mobilized in many ways:

Through marches and awareness walks, we demanded political accountability, including a bike march in Democratic Republic of Congo by Shujaa Initiative. 

Artivism, concerts, and pop-culture captured the spirit of resistance with Green Society holding a Art4Climate workshop in Egypt led by Professional Visual Artist Hossna Hanafy

Educational talks in schools and universities to equip the next generation like the one in Nigeria led by Quest For Growth and Development Foundation at the Community Secondary School, Rumuodumaya, Port Harcourt.

Community Dialogues & Town Halls shared lived experiences such as the Renewable Energy Assembly in Uganda led by the Centre for Environmental Research and Agriculture Innovation (CERAI) and Youth for Nature Conservancy (YNC). 

The results speak for themselves. The REPower Afrika campaign is now recognized across the continent as the definitive roadmap for a just transition away from expensive fossil fuels. Local groups owned the campaign, driving solutions built around their communities’ real needs. Because true energy justice isn’t just about switching to solar, geothermal, and wind. It’s about doing it fairly, democratically, affordably and without saddling African nations with yet more debt.

Here is what we are fighting for: a renewable energy future that dismantles the exploitative, debt-heavy funding models that burden our people. Instead, we champion community-owned, decentralized solutions. Africa rises with the sun and wind – our energy transition must empower our people, not foreign creditors.

Join the Movement: 

The Afrika Vuka Network is calling for an immediate shift toward community-led renewable energy. People deserve clean, affordable energy that puts our needs first – and it is time for our governments to deliver it. 

#AffordableEnergy – Let’s claim it together! Join our whatsapp channel for the latest updates!

The post Afrika Vuka Week 2026 appeared first on 350.