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A glacial collapse that resulted in a flash flood in the Nepal-Tibet border shows that climate delay is proving to be deadlier and more destructive than world leaders admit, climate groups said.

Disasters like this are becoming more frequent and more deadly as the Himalayas warm and glaciers destabilize, 350.org said, extending sympathies and calling for immediate international support for affected people and communities.

Aakriti Dotel, National Network Coordinator, Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA) said:

“The devastating floods in Rasuwa are another painful reminder of the growing climate crisis facing Nepal and the Himalayas. As our glaciers melt and extreme weather events become increasingly unpredictable, communities living downstream are bearing the devastating consequences. We mourn the lives lost and the livelihoods affected and call for urgent global climate action. There must be stronger support for vulnerable mountain communities, and accountability from those most responsible for the climate crisis.”

350.org pointed out that the tragedy exposes the failure of big polluting countries to provide the much needed finance that will enable vulnerable countries like Nepal to adapt to a changing climate, such as technology for early warning systems and other Disaster Risk Reduction measures.

Savio Carvalho, 350.org Head of Campaigns and Networks said:

“Every destabilized glacier in a warming Himalaya is a ticking time bomb that can go off unannounced, and when it does, those least responsible for the climate crisis pay with their lives. This moment of grief has a clear message for world leaders: delay is deadly. Rich countries must finally deliver the finance and protection they owe frontline communities. Without a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, the planet will continue to heat up and lives can be lost in a flash.”

To interview Nepalese climate activists, including those impacted by the flood, kindly reach out.

Cement is one of the most-used manmade materials in the world. And the kilns that produce this in-demand building material belch about 8 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions.

But a team from ETH Zurich and the US company Heirloom Carbon Technologies now propose a way to dramatically cut emissions from future cement factories. By employing established technologies, cement factories could not only capture their own emissions, the researchers write in the journal Chem Circularity, but also remove additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

The world produces about 4 billion tons of cement every year. Manufacturing cement, which is the key ingredient of concrete, is notoriously difficult to decarbonize. That’s because it requires heating limestone at high temperatures in large fossil fuel-burning kilns. And the chemical reaction itself releases carbon dioxide.

The ETH team proposes powering kilns with clean electricity rather than fossil fuels. That would cut the carbon emissions from heat production. Heirloom Carbon’s direct air capture technology would then capture the carbon dioxide released during limestone conversion. The gas would be compressed and permanently stored underground.

The company’s DAC technology, called calcium looping, is “uniquely positioned for such integration,” the team writes in the paper. That’s because the process cycles calcium between two compounds: calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide. These are the same materials and chemical conversion steps used in cement manufacturing.

 

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Limestone, or calcium carbonate, is the starting point. When heated, the limestone breaks down into calcium oxide, also known as quicklime, and carbon dioxide. In the proposed system, adding water to the quicklime would make it absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turn back into limestone, and the loop would continue.

According to the researchers’ calculations, electrifying the kiln and using calcium-looping DAC could reduce the climate impact of cement production by 78% by 2050.

Heirloom has been running a plant in California since 2023. The plant can capture 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. “Heirloom was an ideal partner for us because the company is already operating the first calcium looping DAC systems on a commercial scale,” said Vittoria Bolongaro, a graduate student and lead author of the paper, in a press release.

The team analyzed various energy scenarios. These included operating the plant using the current US electricity mix; using a clean electricity mix consisting of wind and solar energy; and a fully autonomous clean-energy system with photovoltaics and battery storage.

“We were able to show that the technology has a net-negative carbon footprint,” Bolongaro said. “In other words, commercial calcium looping DAC plants with carbon dioxide storage remove more carbon dioxide than they generate over their entire lifecycle.”

Source: Vittoria Bolongaro et al. Life cycle assessment of solid calcium-looping direct air capture and its synergistic dual use for net-negative cement. Chem Circularity, 2026

Image: Getty images for Unsplash+

Rathlin Energy, the company planning lower-volume fracking in East Yorkshire, has appointed a new board member from its majority owner.

Christopher Connolly, the chief financial officer of Reabold Resources, became Rathlin’s secretary earlier this month. The appointment was confirmed by Companies House yesterday (26 August 2026).

Mr Connolly has been Reabold’s secretary since May 2022.

Reabold Resources has a near 80% stake in Rathlin Energy, which has two oil and gas sites at West Newton in Holderness, East Yorkshire.

A local campaigner is seeking to quash consent by the Environment Agency for lower-volume fracking at the West Newton-A site.

Reabold is also seeking to takeover Union Jack Oil, another investor in the West Newton plans. Shareholders ousted the Union Jack board this week.

Other recent board changes at Rathlin include the appointment in July 2026 of Philip Birch, a former director of Africa Energy UK Limited, Impact Oil & Gas Limited and IOG Energies Limited.

DrillOrDrop reported in April 2026 that Rathlin’s founder, John Hodgins (73), a Canadian petroleum geologist, had resigned from the board. He was chief executive of Connaught Oil & Gas Ltd, Rathlin’s former parent company.

The co-chief executive of Reabold Resources, Stephen Williams, has been a Rathlin director since 2019.

Hungary has never had such a good climate bill as the one it could have now if, improbably, its parliament were to adopt the draft written by civil society and put out for public consultation. The fate of this draft legislation – which, with minimal changes, could be of outstanding quality even by international standards – depends on the stance of the Tisza government. But how will Péter Magyar and his party proceed?

Last summer, the Hungarian constitutional court ruled that the climate law passed by Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz government – which liked to call itself a “champion of the climate” – was inadequate and unconstitutional. The court annulled part of the law, calling on the National Assembly to “remedy the breach of the Fundamental Law resulting from this failure” by June 2026.

Subsequently, the Fidesz government showed no interest whatsoever in the matter. But a regulatory proposal has been drawn up that is virtually ready for implementation and could even have ensured compliance with the deadline. This document was not drafted by any parliamentary group: it is the joint effort of more than 180 civil society and professional organisations, and the proposal currently under public debate is of a particularly high standard.

Built on solid principles…

One of the draft bill’s greatest strengths is that it treats mitigation (alleviating environmental harm), adaptation (adjusting to climate change), and resilience (increasing resistance) as objectives of equal importance. Unusually, the system of guiding principles is also sufficiently detailed: alongside traditional environmental law principles (precaution, the polluter pays, prevention), it also includes distinctly modern, progressive principles such as the “principle of sufficiency” (which focuses on well-being rather than maximum consumption, thereby limiting waste and the over-use of resources), a systems approach, data-driven decision-making, and proportionate individual responsibility. The fact that the prohibition on regression and intergenerational justice are linked to existing constitutional court case law indicates that the drafters of the text drew upon the few effective practices that Hungarian environmental protection has painstakingly developed over recent decades.

Particularly positive is the detailed and forward-looking approach to water management. The proposal entails the requirement to review bilateral water-sharing agreements, ensuring the public availability of groundwater monitoring data, and encourages the use of greywater. These are all elements that were previously absent from domestic legislation and would be indispensable to managing the water crisis Hungary now faces – the most tangible consequence of climate change in the Carpathian Basin.

The section on forest management is also very thorough: avoiding clearcutting, accounting for shifts in climate zones, and calling for support for species migration all point to a distinctly modern approach. Another positive aspect is the inclusion of the concepts and requirements relating to mental health and energy poverty in the cooling sector, which are absent from many otherwise modern European climate laws

The detailed description of the carbon budget mechanism (a legally binding, period-based planning and accounting framework that determines how much greenhouse gas we may emit in each period if we are serious about achieving net-zero emissions) is useful: together, the five-year rolling planning cycle, the carry-over option, the institution of infringement proceedings, and the obligation to submit final accounts form an enforceable system similar to the UK model. The requirement to introduce consumption-based emissions tracking is also welcome, as it can counterbalance the limitations of the territorial approach. The sectoral measures (building renovation, transport, industry, food consumption) are sufficiently wide-ranging and specific, whilst the establishment of an ecological hierarchy for biomass utilisation (modelled on the waste hierarchy) is particularly forward-looking.

One of the draft bill’s greatest strengths is that it treats mitigation, adaptation, and resilience as objectives of equal importance.

… and strong scientific foundations

The scientific and innovation elements of the concept are particularly strong: the Climate Innovation Centre, the National Climate Data Centre, and the introduction of funding mechanisms similar to Carbon Contracts for Difference initiatives to support emissions-reduction investments create promising institutional and financial instruments. Support for grassroots initiatives and recognition of traditional and community knowledge are also forward-looking and in line with the principle of subsidiarity. Moreover, the obligation to promote climate awareness at all levels of the education system, the development of teacher training, and measures to combat disinformation together form a coherent strategy for shaping public attitudes.

It seems useful to introduce ex-ante climate risk assessment as a separate legal institution to ensure that no government decision may be adopted without such an evaluation. Extending scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions (i.e. those related to purchased energy, on-site emissions, and arising from suppliers, respectively) to cover the entire value chain in environmental impact assessments is also a modern, ESG-compatible, and forward-looking rule.

Involving the Ombudsman for Future Generations in the ombudsman procedure in the event of a carbon budget overrun could also serve as a strong enforcement mechanism. A similar institution once existed, but the 2011 amendments to the Fundamental Law rendered it ineffective.

The enshrinement of the status of the Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Policy is clearly positive: it operates solely in accordance with the Hungarian constitution and the law and has its own budget and secretariat, and proposals relating to climate targets cannot be adopted without its opinion. The joint nomination mechanism of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) and the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) also provides a safeguard against political influence. The operation of the government Committee on Climate Protection under the prime minister’s leadership provides an appropriate framework for inter-ministerial coordination, whilst the mixed (partly non-political) composition of the National Climate Protection Council can strengthen its social legitimacy.

The introduction of the concept of “climate endangerment” into Hungarian law is particularly noteworthy: the public prosecutor could also bring proceedings against major emitters, seeking compensation and a ban on their activities, which represents a significant step forward in climate litigation. The privileged legal status of civil society organisations as claimants, their right to bring legal proceedings, and an exemption from litigation fees also provide a significant safeguard. The Advocate for Future Generations’ powers to intervene and to submit motions to the constitutional court are also commendable.

The introduction of the National Climate Protection Fund is a useful initiative, as it creates a dedicated and predictable funding framework (in contrast to current practice, namely ad hoc budgetary allocations and the routine deductions affecting them). The requirement for green corporate governance obligations and transition plans – particularly in light of the fact that these obligations have been substantially relaxed following the narrowing of the scope of the EU’s CSDDD Directive – is a forward-looking and courageous step. Meanwhile, excluding activities relating to fossil fuels from development bank financing is a clear and correct direction. Furthermore, enshrining participation principles in international climate finance would be fair (although, unfortunately, it seems unrealistic in this form).

Areas for improvement

As noted, Hungarian policymakers have never faced such a well-thought-out and complex climate regulation. That said, there are some minor shortcomings and contradictions, which the current public debate could identify and iron out.

Perhaps the most striking omission is the absence of any explicit reference to the institutional framework of climate justice, including climate litigation and state liability. This would be particularly important, as the “no backsliding” and “polluter pays” principles can only be effectively implemented if backed by a strong enforcement mechanism. It would also be worth incorporating a principle of climate equity, which specifies enhanced protection for socially vulnerable groups (the poor, the elderly, and those with a higher health risk), as they bear a disproportionately greater burden from the impacts of climate change.

It is difficult to understand the complete absence of any mention of the transport sector’s resilience in the proposal. For instance, the text could at least allude to infrastructure risks from heatwaves and extreme rainfall (roads, railways, bridges) and to preparing the vehicle fleet. In the transport section, there is also no discussion of aviation and inland waterway transport, even though their emissions are by no means negligible (although, for the time being, European climate legislation also often treats these as separate categories).

The objective of “phasing out harmful state subsidies by 2030” is correct in itself, but its feasibility is doubtful unless it is accompanied by a mandatory review schedule and a public list of the subsidies concerned. Regarding the management of the National Climate Protection Fund, it would be advisable to ensure its independence from political influence and to give civil society organisations a meaningful role in decision-making (rather than merely representing beneficiaries).

The current wording of the green public procurement requirement – “preference must be given” – is far too weak. To ensure effectiveness, a specific quota requirement or a time-bound obligation should be introduced. What is more, the text includes no provision regarding the responsibility of media actors and social media platforms in combating climate disinformation. In the case of the National Climate Protection Council, limiting membership to nine and granting a minister the role of co-chair pose a risk: despite the principles of proportional representation, government influence could become dominant, particularly if the minister’s department also covers the council’s operating costs. It would be advisable to limit the minister’s role to that of an observer or a non-voting chairperson, and to place the funding under the supervision of the National Assembly.

In the case of local authorities, the phrase “The state shall provide adequate budgetary support” is too general and leaves room for abuse. At the very least, the law should set a minimum funding guarantee or a clear allocation method; otherwise, authorities in smaller parts of the country will be unable to fulfil their statutory obligations due to a lack of resources. Rules on conflicts of interest and disclosure obligations for members are lacking as well, which could allow industry lobbyists to influence the decision-making process.

In addition, it would be advisable to establish a mandatory cooperation mechanism between the Scientific Council and the Ombudsman for Future Generations. Both bodies assess compliance with the carbon budget in parallel, and without coordination, overlapping or contradictory recommendations may arise.

The scope of the climate-threatening offence also appears to be narrow, as it applies only to major emitters subject to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), whilst medium-sized emitters – whose emissions are significant in aggregate – are excluded. To remedy this, the text should introduce a mechanism for gradual extension.

The possibility of bringing an action for failure to act in the event of a carbon budget shortfall is appropriate, but the provision includes no specific sanction if the government fails to comply even after losing the case, which substantially weakens its enforceability. Furthermore, legality oversight is a useful tool for local authority decisions, but the possibility of withholding funding could disproportionately affect smaller local authorities, which are already under-resourced. So,  it would be advisable to establish a graduated system of sanctions and an appeal mechanism.

That said, these are minor details, and there is still time to refine the bill. The more important question is whether, after its historic win, Péter Magyar’s government will have the will to do so – not just to perfect the legislation, but to put an end to the current unconstitutional situation in the first place.

The civil society document is ‘extremely thorough and wide-ranging, comparable to the most comprehensive legislation at European level’.

How will Tisza proceed?

“Experts are analysing the text of the civil society draft bill to assess what elements can be incorporated into the draft bill to be tabled by the government,” the press office of the Ministry of the Living Environment announced at the end of July.  According to the ministry, the civil society document is “extremely thorough and wide-ranging, comparable to the most comprehensive legislation at European level”. Meanwhile, legislators are also examining which elements should be regulated at statutory level, and which issues are better addressed in strategies or lower-level legislation.

According to the ministry’s position, bolder emission-reduction targets alone are not enough. “A framework must also be established setting out how these targets will be achieved, and what the roles of economic and social actors are in the transition towards sustainability.” The legislation must also address how the country can replace fossil fuels with renewables as well as how it can reduce energy consumption.

Notably, the ministry’s response suggests that Hungary’s new climate law will place much greater emphasis on adaptation than the current legislation. “Hungary is one of Europe’s most vulnerable countries to climate change,” the ministry pointed out. According to a previous ruling by the constitutional court, a legal framework must be established to ensure the preservation of the unique landscapes, wildlife, and natural assets of the Carpathian Basin. Accordingly, “The law must address in great detail adaptation to the inevitable effects of climate change and the development of flexible resilience to climate change.”

New analysis shows the sector is approaching a commercial tipping point in the early 2030s that will trigger a rapid shift to battery-electric trucks and reshape competition across the global truck market. 

London, 27th August – Heavy-duty transport has long been viewed as one of the most difficult sectors to electrify. Carbon Tracker’s new report, Trucking’s Tipping Point, shows that electric trucks are expected to become economically competitive with diesel across major markets in the early 2030s, overturning the long-held assumption that the sector will be slow to electrify. The analysis demonstrates that China’s rapid freight electrification is poised for swift global export. Equity analysts must urgently reflect this accelerating transition in truckmaker valuations, while portfolio managers should adjust their investment decisions before market re-pricing takes hold.  

Drawing on the University of Exeter’s Future Technology Transformations (FTT) model, Carbon Tracker applies an investor-focused analytical framework to assess transition risks and opportunities in the commercial vehicle sector. Calibrated with Carbon Tracker’s proprietary market and asset data, the analysis identifies when commercial tipping points are expected to be reached across major markets and which manufacturers are best positioned for the transition. 

Commercial fleet purchasing is ultimately an economic decision driven by total cost of ownership (TCO). The analysis shows that falling battery costs and manufacturing scale are bringing electric trucks towards cost parity with diesel. Once that threshold is reached, adoption is expected to accelerate rapidly across major markets. 

For investors, the key risk is not simply when electric trucks overtake diesel in new sales, but how quickly adoption accelerates once commercial tipping points are reached. Faster transition speeds could lead to and then accelerate the write-down of legacy internal combustion manufacturing assets, while rewarding manufacturers that are better prepared for an increasingly electric market. 

Ben Scott, Head of Energy Supply at Carbon Tracker said:  “Heavy-duty trucking has long been regarded as one of the hardest transport sectors to electrify. While important barriers remain, including charging infrastructure, our analysis shows that improving total cost of ownership will dictate the speed of the trucking EV transition.  Investors should not underestimate how quickly adoption could accelerate once those commercial tipping points are reached and should be asking whether manufacturers have credible strategies to compete in an increasingly electric market.” 

The report recommends investors: 

• Stress-test automotive investments against dynamic cost-parity scenarios, rather than relying solely on static regulatory forecasts, to better assess the speed of the transition and the risk of legacy internal combustion assets losing value.  
• Use active stewardship to challenge incumbent truck manufacturers on their electrification strategies, including how they plan to scale electric platforms, strengthen supply chains and remain competitive as the market transitions. 

 

–   ENDS   –

 

Notes to editors
For more information and to arrange interviews please contact: 

Alessandra Moscadelli – alessandra.moscadelli@tracker-group.org 

Sally Palmer – sally.palmer@tracker-group.org 

 

About Carbon Tracker
Carbon Tracker is an independent financial think tank working to align capital markets with an accelerated energy transition. Through data-driven research, we assess the risks associated with continued fossil fuel investment and opportunities arising from changes in energy demand, technology and climate policy. Our work empowers investors, policymakers and companies to make informed decisions that support an orderly shift to a net zero emissions future.  

www.carbontracker.org 

 

The post Heavy-duty truck market set for faster-than-expected shift to electrification appeared first on Carbon Tracker Initiative.

Headline News:

• “Renewable Energy Is Winning, Trump Is Losing (Shocker!)” • In the US, the all-important business of climate action continues apace despite Trump’s death cult focus on fossil fuels. Renewable energy now claim 30% of power generating capacity in the US. That 30% figure comes from the US EIA, an independent agency affiliated with the US DOE. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm in Oregon (Steve Wilson, CC BY-SA 2.0)

• “Finland Plans 26-GW Solar Surge” • Renewables Finland’s updated project portfolio shows that over 26 GW of large solar capacity is being planned in Finland for 300 projects. According to Renewables Finland, 77 projects totaling 4.6 GW have been granted building permits, while another 15 projects representing 1.4 GW have completed the zoning process. [reNews]
• “California Legislature Approves Bill Easing Access To Clean, Affordable ‘Balcony Solar’” • The Environmental Working Group is applauding the California Legislature for passing a bill that will help Californians invest in clean energy while also tackling sky-high energy bills by making it easier to install small, affordable “balcony solar” systems. [CleanTechnica]
• “Evacuations Ordered As Wind-Whipped Ross Fire In Texas Grows To 80,000 Acres” • The Ross Fire, a wind-whipped grass fire near Fort Worth, Texas, rapidly grew overnight to 80,000 acres, triggering evacuations and road closures in two counties, officials said. It was 12% contained on Wednesday morning, up from 5% a day earlier. [ABC News]
• “Delaware Governor Signs Singular Bill to Power Data Centers with Clean Energy” • The Sierra Club is celebrating Delaware Governor Matt Meyer signing into law a suite of legislation that will protect families in the state from having to pay for pricey artificial intelligence data centers. One bill ensures data centers are powered by clean energy. [CleanTechnica]

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

As artificial intelligence devours more land and electricity, a new breed of tech companies promises that outer space holds the solutions to our problems on Earth. If data centers are so hard to find a place for down here, why not put them hundreds of miles above the planet instead? Since power demand surges in the evening, why not send tens of thousands of mirrors into orbit to shine sunlight down on demand, powering solar farms after sunset? 

These ideas might sound far-fetched, but they are real proposals from Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and start-ups in the space industry. As private industry drives the new “space race,” now launching more rockets than countries do, even the cosmos is starting to feel a bit crowded. A growing amount of so-called “space junk” has led to concerns that all the metal could collide, creating a destructive layer of debris that anything launching into orbit would have to contend with. Earlier this month, part of a discarded SpaceX rocket unintentionally slammed into the moon at 5,400 miles per hour, blasting a new crater.

As Musk’s SpaceX, Bezos’ Blue Origin, and other companies expand into space, they risk causing more problems for Earth in the process: air pollution, climate effects, and light pollution. The practice of downplaying these negative consequences while trumpeting the message that space operations can make life better on Earth has a new name: “starwashing,” a term the space researcher Melissa E. Yingling helped popularize in an article published in The Conversation earlier this month. 

It’s a play on the term “greenwashing,” used to critique companies that highlight small sustainable investments to divert attention from the pollution their businesses cause. Space companies are appealing to a sense of “cosmic wonder” and making promises to benefit humankind, along with promoting their environmental bona fides, Yingling wrote.

For example, Blue Origin says its mission is “to restore and sustain Earth” as it sends rockets and lunar landers up into space, touting reusable rockets, cleaner-burning fuel, and the development of carbon-neutral technologies. Reflect Orbital, the California start-up behind the plan to send 50,000 space mirrors into orbit to provide sunlight on demand, promises “abundant energy” and “a healthier planet.”

All the emphasis these companies place on technological progress is a distraction from dealing with the climate crisis, said Gregers Andersen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Denmark who has written a forthcoming book about Silicon Valley overpromising tech solutions to climate change. “The problem is, of course, that it takes attention away from actually solving the problems that are here on Earth,” he said. “And I think that’s also what’s meant by the term of ‘starwashing.’”

Whether or not the term catches on, experts say that companies’ optimistic marketing does obscure real environmental risks. Magali Delmas, a professor of management at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, thinks of the “new frontier” of space as something akin to the Gold Rush. “They were only seeing the positive — they were not seeing the negative impact on the environment of mining,” she said. “This optimism [about space] is really downplaying some of the challenges.”

The growing space industry could wind up polluting the layers of atmosphere in ways that scientists are just beginning to understand, altering Earth’s climate. Rocket engines release soot into the stratosphere, where it can damage the ozone layer that protects us from ultraviolet radiation. They also release water vapor, which absorbs heat radiated from Earth and amplifies the warming caused by greenhouse gases. Research has found that as satellites disintegrate, they could alter the chemistry of the upper atmosphere, releasing aluminum oxide dust that can lead to warming, the scattering of sunlight, and changes in atmospheric circulation.

Beyond changes to the atmosphere, space expansion has other environmental effects, including the loss of dark sky as satellites reflect sunlight and damage to wildlife habitats around launch sites. That’s not to mention the enormous greenhouse gas emissions involved in building and launching satellites.

Delmas said that some of the companies’ promises are worth considering, and can’t be easily dismissed as greenwashing or starwashing: “Some of it’s actually true — there are these new technologies that are developed that can be just amazing.” There have been some environmental benefits from going up into space: Methane-detecting satellites have uncovered leaks from oil and gas operations in recent years that dramatically exceeded what had been reported, important information for reining in emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas. Astronauts have been shocked by how fragile and delicate Earth’s atmosphere looks from space, and this so-called “overview effect” has turned a surprising number of them into climate advocates.

Read Next Data centers gobble Earth’s resources. What if we took them to space instead? Sophie Hurwitz

Andersen, however, warned against falling for tech moguls’ narratives of “progress.” He thinks they’re trying to manipulate the public into being optimistic about the future, even as scientists show we’re headed toward an even hotter, more disaster-ridden world. He has a different vision of what should be considered “progress” — not establishing colonies in space, where people would live limited lives, but ensuring that humans can thrive on Earth long-term. 

“I think the common human project should be to create a sustainable civilization within the planetary boundaries,” Andersen said. “And I think the narratives that they are presenting are just basically derailing us from that mission.”

toolTips('.classtoolTips3','Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases that prevent heat from escaping Earth’s atmosphere. Together, they act as a blanket to keep the planet at a liveable temperature in what is known as the “greenhouse effect.” Too many of these gases, however, can cause excessive warming, disrupting fragile climates and ecosystems.'); toolTips('.classtoolTips7','A powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for about 11% of global emissions, methane is the primary component of natural gas and is emitted into the atmosphere by landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, and wastewater treatment, among other pathways. Over a 20-year period, it is roughly 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.');

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline ‘Starwashing’: The new space race has an environmental problem on Aug 27, 2026.

Less than two years after opening, a liquefied natural gas terminal near New Orleans is seeking a multibillion-dollar expansion under the Trump administration’s new “emergency” permitting process that cuts regulatory review and could put nearby wetlands and waterways at greater risk.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted Plaquemines LNG fast-tracked permitting under a “national energy emergency” that President Donald Trump declared last year. The agency cut the public comment period from the typical 30 days to 10, and is expected to move quickly to approve the expansion, a step that would allow the terminal to more than double in size, growing from nearly 590 acres along the Mississippi River to about 1,220. 

That would make the facility the largest LNG export terminal in North America, according to its owner, Virginia-based Venture Global. 

Environmentalists warn that the expedited review will mean less scrutiny of dredging, in-water construction, and the filling of marshlands in a region rapidly losing land. By the Army Corps’ estimates, Venture Global’s $18-billion expansion could damage up to 470 acres of wetlands and river bottoms in central Plaquemines Parish, about 25 miles south of New Orleans.   

“Louisiana is already dealing with a coastal crisis,” said Matt Rota, a senior policy director with Healthy Gulf, a New Orleans-based environmental group. “Destroying 400 more acres in Plaquemines Parish is ridiculous. I don’t know how many acres they have left, but it’s not that much.”

The Plaquemines LNG terminal in Port Sulphur on July 28.
Christiana Botic / Verite News

Plaquemines Parish has lost more than 250 square miles of land over the past 60 years to subsidence, sea level rise, and erosion. The state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority projects another 300 square miles — about half the parish’s remaining land — could disappear over the next 50 years. Much of Louisiana’s coast faces a similar threat. Since the early 1900s, nearly 2,000 square miles of the state have vanished, an area roughly the size of Delaware.

Hundreds of other projects could receive expedited permitting under the emergency declaration, which Trump said was necessary to maintain a “reliable, diversified, and affordable supply of energy” for the U.S. military and economy. Last year, the Army Corps identified more than 600 pipelines, power plants, LNG terminals, and others that could speed through the normal review process required by the Clean Water Act.

Fast-tracking permits will likely accelerate the growth of an already booming LNG industry. More than 30 LNG export terminals are under construction or proposed in the United States. Plaquemines LNG is the newest of four terminals in Louisiana, including Sabine Pass, Cameron LNG, and Calcasieu Pass LNG, which is also owned by Venture Global. (The Army Corps and Venture Global did not respond to requests for comment.) 

LNG is natural gas chilled into a liquid for easier shipment overseas, where demand has surged as countries seek alternatives to coal and Russian gas. The industry’s critics say shipping natural gas abroad conflicts with Trump’s stated rationale for declaring an energy emergency: increasing what he described as the “nation’s inadequate energy supply.”

“It’s hard to see how expanding an LNG export terminal is going to help domestic energy independence and reliability,” said Griffin Bird, a research analyst with the Environmental Integrity Project. 

Of the 833 billion cubic feet of gas exported from Plaquemines LNG last year, most went to Europe, with Germany receiving the largest share, at 19 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The terminal is one of Louisiana’s largest industrial facilities, with 1.3 miles of river frontage, three ship berths, two gas-fired power plants, and nearly 30 miles of natural gas pipeline. 

It’s also one of the state’s biggest polluters. Plaquemines LNG is permitted to release about 8.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases per year, according to company records. That’s equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 1.7 million gas-powered vehicles.

The only industrial facility in Louisiana that emits more than Plaquemines LNG is an ammonia plant owned by CF Industries that released about 10.4 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, the latest year available in the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory. 

Those emissions, along with the carbon dioxide released when natural gas is burned for energy overseas, contribute to climate change, which is accelerating sea level rise and intensifying the storms that drive land loss in Plaquemines. “Burning more natural gas means we lose Plaquemines Parish even faster,” Rota said. 

The terminal’s expansion would increase its production capacity from about 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas per year to around 2.3 trillion. It’s unclear how the expansion will affect emissions, but federal filings indicate the larger facility could produce at least 9 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. Venture says it plans to use carbon capture and sequestration technology to inject a portion of the terminal’s carbon dioxide emissions underground. 

Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG export in 2024, in Port Sulphur, Louisiana.
Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post via Getty Images

Some Louisiana leaders welcome the expansion, saying it will spur economic activity and create jobs. 

In April, U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Jefferson Parish, celebrated the rapid development of the Plaquemines site. “This was a cow pasture four or five years ago,” he told reporters during a tour of the facility and the area planned for expansion. “Now it’s the most modern, the most efficient, the largest LNG export facility in the world.”

toolTips('.classtoolTips3','Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases that prevent heat from escaping Earth’s atmosphere. Together, they act as a blanket to keep the planet at a liveable temperature in what is known as the “greenhouse effect.” Too many of these gases, however, can cause excessive warming, disrupting fragile climates and ecosystems.');

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline On Louisiana’s disappearing coast, a natural gas terminal is poised to become the largest in the US on Aug 27, 2026.

The fossil fuel industry isn’t just raking in record profits amid the war with Iran. In California, it’s also spending big to oppose climate and worker-safety legislation.

According to analyses by a coalition of environmental groups called the Last Chance Alliance, oil and gas companies spent more than $17 million on California lobbying during the first half of 2026. That includes $10.3 million during the first quarter — a new record for the sector — and another $6.8 million during Q2.

Much of the spending was directed against legislation proposing new costs and liabilities for the fossil fuel industry, like a state bill that would make companies pay for rebuilding following climate-intensified natural disasters. But other bills targeted were more milquetoast, seeking to clarify existing workplace-safety laws and ensure more thorough reporting of cleanup costs when oil companies want to decommission projects.

Faraz Rizvi, campaign and policy director for the nonprofit Asian Pacific Environmental Network — a member of the Last Chance Alliance — criticized companies for “aggressively lobbying” against straightforward measures to protect communities and boost transparency. “They’re not actors that have consumers’ or communities’ interests at heart,” he told Grist.

Last Chance Alliance pulled the data from mandatory reporting to the California secretary of state. The top spenders in the oil-and-gas lobbying category included the Western States Petroleum Association, which spent $4.3 million over the first half of the year; Chevron, whose spending amounted to $3.7 million; and Phillips 66, an oil refiner that spent just over half a million dollars. Much of the money went to consultants and alleged “front groups” that present themselves as grassroots operations but are funded by the fossil fuel industry, like Californians for Energy Independence.

One big target of the sector’s lobbying was California’s cap-and-invest program, which requires companies to pay for a finite — and declining — number of emissions permits each year. The program covers roughly 80 percent of California’s economy and is considered critical to achieving the state’s climate targets, including carbon neutrality by 2045. Earlier this year, oil and gas interests successfully lobbied regulators to green-light a mechanism that could make a vast pool of free pollution permits available to fossil fuel companies. If finalized, the plan could deprive the state of billions in funding that would have otherwise gone toward public transit and housing. The change is currently facing a legal challenge from environmental groups and objections from some Democratic lawmakers.

The sector also fought a bill, currently awaiting passage by the state Senate, to extend California’s Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund. Established under a 2022 law, the $30 million fund distributes grants to help oil and gas industry workers transition to new careers. According to one estimate, the fund has already helped 600 people find new lines of work, and supporters have been discussing the potential for new forms of support, including wage replacement during transition periods and financial support during apprenticeships. 

Other pending bills that oil companies lobbied against propose creating a task force on safe staffing guidelines for oil refineries; preventing fossil fuel companies from abandoning methane-leaking oil wells; and adding new safety and public comment requirements for offshore oil pipelines. One bill would force companies to submit formal retirement plans before they shutter their oil refineries. The bill follows the closure of a Phillips 66 refinery in L.A. County that environmental groups claim was poorly handled. 

A number of the targeted bills have been defeated, giving the oil and gas industry a series of wins. These include SB 1245, which sought to stabilize California’s gas supply, and SB 982, which addressed California’s home insurance crisis. The latter bill would have allowed the state attorney general to sue fossil fuel companies for damages following climate-related disasters like wildfires. It was meant to help pay for skyrocketing property insurance, disaster mitigation, and other expenses that are currently straining the state’s insurer of last resort. Oil and gas lobbying also helped to defeat a bill that would have made it harder for fossil fuel companies to abandon methane-leaking oil wells. There are more than 100,000 of these wells in California, and companies are often able to evade responsibility for plugging them.

Read Next As climate lawsuits advance, the oil industry enters ‘panic mode’ Kate Yoder

Hollin Kretzmann, deputy political director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, said it’s been a generally disappointing year for Golden State climate policy. “This legislative session was just a huge missed opportunity for California. We didn’t get to show what the world’s fourth-largest economy could accomplish when it comes to protecting our economy, protecting our health.”

The lobbying is a particularly bad look, he added, given the oil and gas industry’s recent earnings. Late last month, Chevron reported $12 billion in net profits during the second quarter, nearly five times as much as it earned during the same period in 2025. Exxon Mobil made $14.5 billion, more than double its second-quarter earnings from last year. These profits have been driven by oil supply disruptions linked to the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, particularly the monthslong closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Supply shortages and higher oil prices have benefited oil producers that don’t depend on the strait to export products, as well as companies with oil refineries in the West.

Still, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth has said threats to oil supplies are straining his company. “Every day that goes by, the situation gets more difficult,” he told CNBC in late July. His company has also blamed California energy policies for high gasoline prices, deflecting accusations of price gouging. Chevron, Phillips 66, and Californians for Energy Independence did not respond to Grist’s requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association declined to comment.

Ryan Schleeter, communications director for the nonprofit The Climate Center, said curtailing Big Oil’s influence over the California Legislature should be a priority moving forward. He suggested starting with the reduction of public subsidies — including from the cap-and-invest program’s free allocations, but also from tax loopholes that allow companies to report only a fraction of their global earnings to the state. “We’re essentially subsidizing their profit margins,” he told Grist. 

Kretzmann said more measures are needed to limit both the number of lobbyists visiting Sacramento and the amount of money they’re allowed to spend; otherwise, legislators and environmental advocates will keep running into the same problem year after year. “It gets to the heart of why our policies in California don’t reflect the will of the people,” he said. “I don’t have an easy solution, but we need our legislators to listen to the public … rather than oil industry lobbyists.”

toolTips('.classtoolTips7','A powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for about 11% of global emissions, methane is the primary component of natural gas and is emitted into the atmosphere by landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, and wastewater treatment, among other pathways. Over a 20-year period, it is roughly 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.');

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The fossil fuel industry is spending record amounts to keep California from regulating it on Aug 27, 2026.

In 2024, the Biden administration enacted wide-ranging regulations to protect communities near petrochemical plants from air toxics. The Trump administration has since granted exemptions to scores of polluting facilities and is working to rewrite the long-awaited rule.

Read more on E360 →

The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) announces the opening of applications for the sixth round of the Climate Catalysts Innovation Fund, a small catalytic grant program for local innovative climate projects.

VCRD launched the fund in 2021 to support local innovators in developing climate and energy solutions for which a small  grant could have a meaningful impact. To date, this fund has awarded 109 local innovators with over $345,500 in collective support for community-led climate and energy projects. Last year, CCIF recipient COVER Home Repair of White River Junction built a solar trailer that provides power to everything from work site tools to sound systems during events.

“I’m so grateful to VCRD for providing COVER with the grant funding to make this solar trailer project possible,” said Conor Teal, Work Crew Leader at COVER. “It’ll make our worksites safer, more efficient, and hopefully inspire our volunteers and other contractors to move toward installing solar power systems at their workplaces or in their homes.” 

In collaboration with multiple funding partners, VCRD supports projects that deliver community-scale impact with solutions that strengthen community resilience, reduce energy use, and create new approaches to local challenges.

“Five rounds of flexible, accessible funds have been distributed to individuals and organizations around Vermont moving climate projects forward,” said Laura Cavin Bailey, Climate Economy director. “The projects continue to show a wide range of ideas and inspiring action.”

Grants are awarded based on criteria that combine innovation, resilience, collaboration, replicability, and service to marginalized communities and those most affected by natural disasters. Eligible applicants include municipalities, town committees, schools, businesses, volunteer groups, and non-profit organizations.

Applications will close October 14th at 5pm. To apply, see past projects, and learn more, visit https://www.vtrural.org/climate-economy/climate-catalysts-innovation-fund/. For more information, contact Laura Cavin Bailey at laura@vtrural.org or (802) 234-1646.

 Vermont Council on Rural Development

The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of the locally-defined progress of Vermont’s rural communities. VCRD is a dynamic partnership of federal, state, local, nonprofit and private partners. Actively non-partisan with an established reputation for community-based facilitation, VCRD is uniquely positioned to sponsor and coordinate collaborative efforts across governmental and organizational categories concerned with policy questions of rural importance. The organization has successfully completed over 100 community visits, resulting in locally defined projects like new childcare centers, wastewater infrastructure, downtown redevelopments, and more.

A new report co-published by the Centre for Future Work and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives reviews six new ‘Workforce Alliances’ being established by the federal government as part of its economic strategy responding to Donald Trump’s trade war. The report concludes that the Alliances have potential to improve training, labour supply, and labour standards – but Canadian unions must be ambitious and assertive to ensure that they fulfil this potential.

The report, Hinge Moment for Canada’s Workforce and Industrial Policy, is based on research presented at the recent Canadian Industrial Relations Association conference at Université Laval in Québec.

The federal government is advancing these new Alliances to strengthen the labour side of major new investment and industrial policies. Somewhat reminiscent of the previous tripartite era of sector councils from the 1990s, unions are once again being invited to participate. 

Ottawa has announced six Workforce Alliances, which largely mirror the government’s industry, energy and transportation infrastructure initiatives. On a parallel track, a historic $6 billion funding stream to support Red Seal skilled trades training has also been launched. 

Unions have ample experience with supply-side training programs. Too many have focused solely on meeting the labour supply needs of employers, with limited benefits for workers and no opportunity to build union power. Could this iteration of workforce policy be an opportunity for the labour movement to do better? Does it create an opening to influence industrial policy, labour standards and worker rights? 

At a special panel during the 2026 conference of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) at Université Laval in June, union experts and labour studies academics came together to review the Workforce Alliances and their associated training initiatives, and examine the opportunities for genuine trade union engagement.

The presentations to the CIRA conference are collected in this compendium. The goal is to start a bigger discussion among trade unionists and progressive researchers about a labour strategy that links workforce policy with labour standards and conditionalities across the industries and sectors receiving federal funding, including a larger role for unions in shaping industrial policy. 

Several common themes emerge from the contributions collected here. First, workforce policy cannot be reduced to labour supply measures aimed solely at meeting employers’ skills needs. Second, sectoral institutions and public investments must be linked to stronger labour standards, worker retention and equitable employment outcomes. Finally, the Workforce Alliances raise broader questions about industrial governance and whether unions can use these new institutions to exercise meaningful influence over economic strategy and democratic decision-making. 

Fred Wilson’s introduction traces the evolution of workforce policies from the old sector councils, to industry-led labour market information programs and now back to partial joint governance in the Workforce Alliances. In each case, the primary purpose has been to provide “labour market information,” or LMI, and training programs to meet employer needs. Yet, in this latest version of workforce policy, to meet the government’s promise of “not just jobs, but careers” will require going well beyond the LMI model. Labour’s goals in the new workforce policies must address sector and industry-based standards and industrial policies that create and sustain high-quality, value-added jobs. 

Ken Delaney, the managing director of the Canadian Skilled Trades Employment Coalition (CSTEC), Canada’s longest-standing “sector council” model, speaks to the limits of the former sector councils that were confined by government agendas. CSTEC’s work highlights the promise of workforce programs to address worker transition, equity and inclusion, especially if workers are allowed to maintain EI benefits in training. The organization’s programs also demonstrate how the career-building potential of Red Seal training can be adapted to meet the needs of skilled workers in manufacturing and other sectors. Delaney encourages unions to seize the opportunity in the Workforce Alliances to integrate industrial policy with labour market policy. 

Professor Evelyn Dionne’s study of the construction sector in Quebec warns that sector programs to increase labour force supply and speed up construction can lead to “a downward spiral marked by declining skill levels, lower-quality housing, inefficient green buildings and high turnover.” Dionne calls for project labour agreements (PLAs) to be incorporated into housing and construction projects in order to establish common and high-quality terms and conditions governing all workers and contractors. “By embedding training, equity and labour standards into procurement processes,” she writes, “PLAs can help ensure that accelerated construction does not come at the expense of quality or working conditions.” 

After pressure from within the Liberal caucus, reinforced by advocacy from social policy and feminist advocates, the federal government agreed to establish a Workforce Alliance for the care economy. Laurell Ritchie, a member of the Care Economy Initiative, emphasizes that in the care economy, worker retention is as important as recruitment. Like industrial sectors, meeting workforce goals in the care economy will require sector-based programs and standards, and strong government leadership. The inclusion of the care economy among the Workforce Alliances is itself recognition that industry and workforce policy can be influenced by advocacy from unions and women’s organizations. 

Unifor Research Director Angelo DiCaro’s contribution on the interrelationship between industrial policy and workforce policy underscores the need for the state to act as a “conductor” of a complex orchestra involving multiple public and private players. A weak state role leaves the government as a passive enabler of the private sector, resulting in “industrial improvisation” rather than industrial strategy. For the Workforce Alliances to make a real difference, they must go beyond workforce development—filling vacancies, and sponsoring training—to become well-rounded tables for “peak-level social dialogue” with “a whole-of-supply-chain approach” to labour standards and industrial growth. 

As DiCaro aptly puts it, the Workforce Alliances could be “a vital cog in the wheel of industrial growth and rising workplace standards.” Alternatively, they could become an “unambitious and burdensome exercise, simply facilitating training fund transfers, and entirely delinked from future-facing industrial strategy.” 

Prime Minister Carney has described this as a “hinge moment” for Canada, as Canadians collectively face up to the unprecedented threat posed by Donald Trump and aggression from Washington. It is also a hinge moment for labour. The potential reorientation of Canada’s economy away from deep dependence on U.S. export markets, with a greater role for active industrial policy and public investment, carries both opportunities and risks for unions and the workers they represent. 

The Workforce Alliances are an opportunity for unions to shape this historic economic moment, leveraging workers’ position at the point of production to demand both material progress and democratic power as this pivot unfolds. Canada’s unions must demonstrate that they have the organizational capacity and political leverage to bring a working-class agenda to the Workforce Alliances, and help to shape this new era of industrial policy in favour of workers. 

Please see the full paper here.

The post Workforce Alliances an Opportunity for Canadian Unions to Shape Future Industrial Strategies appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

ANPFA has mobilized its cadres and district organizations for search, rescue, and relief work alongside security forces and local government. Its provincial committees in Bagmati are coordinating support for displaced families.

The post Nepal Flash Floods: Early Assessment by ANPFA Indicates Extensive Damage in Villages Near the Border appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

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• Angie Schmitt wrote about how the big-box retail model is killing smaller stores and thus walkable neighborhoods, forcing everyone who lives downtown to drive miles to the suburbs just to pick up a tube of lipstick. Sure, Costco is cheaper, but in the long run how much are you saving if you need to buy an SUV to get there? (Love of Place)
• Meanwhile, shopping malls are becoming more like downtowns in that they’re starting to charge for parking — which, as Donald Shoup taught us, is never actually free. (USA Today)
• Sprawl has been the key to the Sun Belt’s success because cities can keep building more cheap housing without any opposition from existing neighborhoods. Now that temperatures are rising, they have to figure out how to cool down all those asphalt ovens. (We Can Have Nice Things)
• This just might be a conflict of interest: More than 300 local governments seeking federal funding to recover from damage caused by climate change hired lobbyists who also work for the fossil fuel industry. (The Guardian)
• The Trump administration’s justification for building roads on remote federal lands is to fight forest fires, but bringing more people into those areas is likely to cause more fires. (Heatmap; registration required)
• Two programs in California and Denver show that people really like e-bike rebates. (Government Technology)
• South Carolina and the Federal Highway Administration are spending $2.7 billion to fix one freeway interchange. (The State)
• Seattle’s Sound Transit could use a value capture tool called tax increment financing to pay for the Ballard Link. (The Urbanist)
• Bus rapid transit on Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas has cut commuting times by 20 percent. (Sun)
• Columbus is still tweaking its bikeshare and e-scooter policies. (Axios)
• Wichita is testing a Douglas Avenue road diet for six months. (KAKE)
• The Transit Brief takes a look at what Montreal could have built if construction costs in Canada were as low as Europe’s.
• Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are the big winners of Trump’s war on Iran, which has lifted EV sales everywhere but the U.S. (Yale Climate Connection)

Mayor Mamdani will not tear down the deteriorating triple-cantilevered stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and instead pursue his own version of long-stalled plans to rebuild the segment over 10 years using a bypass structure that city officials say will be temporary.

Mamdani’s plan, which he will unveil on Monday, differs from previous plans for a temporary highway structure by not expanding the highway’s footprint through the Brooklyn waterfront. Construction will start in 2030, wrap up in 2040 and extend the structure’s lifespan to 2080, city officials told reporters at a closed briefing last week.

Past attempts to rebuild the city-owned “BQE Central” segment of the highway fizzled out under mayors Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams, who attempted to get federal funding for the effort.

The city spends $160 million a year maintaining the structure in lieu of a long-term solution, the administration said. DOT bean counters insist that any shutdown would risk diverting a “significant portion” of the 130,000 daily car and truck trips onto local streets.

“For decades, prior administrations have failed to deliver urgent long-term repairs to BQE Central — but we can no longer afford to wait for the perfect solution,” Mamdani said in a statement. “This plan allows us to safely fix the BQE without slowing our city down or wasting decades more on magical thinking. The cost of inaction is too high, and the risks to New Yorkers are too important to delay any longer.”

We're done kicking the can down the road. Here's how we're fixing the city-owned section of the BQE. pic.twitter.com/ln0it98s1w

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) August 24, 2026

The Department of Transportation plans involve building a temporary two-tiered bypass highway next to the 0.4-mile cantilever along Furman Street, between Atlantic Avenue and Columbia Heights. The detour road will continue over the Brooklyn Bridge approach at Vine Street to connect back into the rest of the BQE, though its exact route near the bridge is still under consideration.

Mamdani and his team vowed not to increase the BQE’s footprint, and to keep it at two lanes in each direction, after his predecessor Eric Adams proposed rebuilding the highway as a three-lane road. But officials who briefed the media last week reiterated the city’s longstanding position that tearing the road down entirely would unleash its traffic onto local streets — despite growing calls for the city to seize the chance and phase out the BQE.

“While the city and the state must right the wrongs of Robert Moses with the BQE and other infrastructure plowed through urban communities, decades of political paralysis have left us out of options,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement. “Confronting the reality of cracked concrete, exposed steel and extensive rust damage simply cannot wait for another blue-ribbon commission.”

In another statement, Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson warned the highway’s collapse would force “cars and heavy trucks…onto local streets” and disrupt “key freight transportation networks.”

“We must and will act now,” Kerson said.

If realized, the decade-long project will cost $4 billion and effectively lock the highway in place for the next half-century, but Mamdani will likely encounter local resistance.

In 2018, the de Blasio administration faced stiffed resistance to its plan to build a six-lane replacement highway atop the popular Brooklyn Heights Promenade. De Blasio ultimately kicked the can down the road, making patchwork fixes and converting the highway segment from three lanes to two to lighten the load on the aging structure. His successor Eric Adams unsuccessfully pitched the federal government to rebuild the BQE to last for another century and flirted with rewidening the highway to six lanes at the behest of car-first Brooklyn Democratic Party bigwigs, but never got sign-off from Uncle Sam.

The Mamdani administration’s plan seems designed to reduce the backlash this time by building the interim structure lower than the promenade — about at the height of the northbound upper roadway of the cantilever.

DOT will close portions of the scenic walkway for the repairs, however, but officials promised to keep it partially open at all times. DOT also plans to reconstruct the adjacent Columbia Heights overpass during the work as well.

The project will impact a long list of park space, including Squibb Park, Hillside Dog Park, Anchorage Plaza, Clumber Corner, Bar and Grill Park, Adam Yauch Park, and part of Harry Chapin Playground, according to City Hall.

The temporary bypass along Brooklyn Bridge Park will be within Furman Street’s right-of-way, but officials insisted that access to Brooklyn Bridge Park from that road will remain throughout construction.

DOT plans to ask the state to alienate parkland as part of the project, but officials vowed to tear down the temporary roadway and restore the green spaces after the work wraps.

Brooklyn Heights residents and other civic and environmental groups formed a coalition in 2024 calling on the city and state to reimagine the entire BQE corridor, from the Verrazzano Bridge and the Kosciuszko Bridge, and move away from a highway.

There are plenty of successful examples of highway removal projects, like the Cheonggyecheon in Seoul, which officials in the Korean capital turned into a river walk. Closer to home, there’s the removal of Alaska Way Viaduct in Seattle where traffic “just disappeared,” the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco, and, of course, the collapse of the West Side Highway in Manhattan.

Gov. Hochul also recently called off an expansion of the Cross-Bronx Expressway following pushback by residents and extensive coverage by Streetsblog.

DOT leaders said such an effort would need buy-in from the state, which controls most of the BQE, to scale back its portion of the expressway as well, along with support from the federal government, since the thoroughfare is also part of the interstate highway system.

DOT took over the cantilever project from the state during the de Blasio era; planning for the project goes all that way back to 2006. The city only owns the 1.5-mile portion of the roadway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Streets, while the state owns and operates the remaining stretches. Albany has shown no interest in taking down the highway.

Despite DOT’s stated fears of spilling highway traffic to local streets, that already happens with motorists getting off the highway and taking shortcuts around the trenched section in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, before getting back on at Atlantic Avenue.

Experts have for years recommended the city close off the Atlantic Avenue interchange to discourage the cut-through traffic and calm the chaotic on-ramps near Brooklyn Bridge Park. DOT has been studying closing the on-ramps as part of a redevelopment of the nearby Brooklyn Marine Terminal, but any work on interchanges would trigger a federal review, officials said.

The city will launch an environmental review by mid-2028, and start construction in 2029, before moving traffic onto the bypass the following year, officials said.

Tejido Global de Alternativas: Declaración Popular de Bandung [ English ] [ Español ] [ Français ] [ Português] [ Kurdish] Emitida en la segunda Asamblea presencial celebrada en Bandung, Indonesia, del 11 al 17 de abril de 2026. A los pueblos del mundo y a quienes luchan contra todas y cada una de las formas de opresión e injusticia. A toda la vida, incluidas todas las especies no humanas. A los gobiernos de los Estados-nación del mundo y a las instituciones internacionales.

Global Tapestry of Alternatives: People’s Bandung Declaration [ English ] [ Español ] [ Français ] [ Português] [ Kurdish] Issued after the second in-person Assembly of the Global of held in Bandung, Indonesia, 11-17 April 2026 To the peoples of the world and to those struggling against any and all forms of oppression and injustices. To all of life, including all non-human species. To the nation-state governments of the world, and to international institutions.TapestryAlternativesalternativ…

For Immediate Release:

August 26, 2026

Contact:
Ashley Castaneda, ashley@restorethedelta.org

SOLANO, CA — California Forever, a proposed development project in Solano County that would have devastating impacts on the Delta, is once again seeking to circumvent legislative processes to gain preferential treatment. Despite the Solano County Board of Supervisors voting in opposition to California Forever, legislation advancing through the state Legislature and supported by Governor Newsom would create sweeping exemptions from environmental review to move portions of the project forward. 

Today at a press conference, when asked by a reporter about the controversial legislative proposal concerning California Forever, Governor Newsom stated that he would have “voted for it in a nanosecond”.

The bill contains several dangerous provisions, including: 

• The bill contains several dangerous provisions, including: 
• Eliminating environmental review for a large new industrial site in Collinsville for shipbuilding and other undisclosed industrial uses.
• Creating vague exemptions that extend the bill’s stated purpose and could allow the construction of data centers tied to shipbuilding.
• Allowing California Forever to unilaterally end tribal consultation without mitigation measures or agreement from affected Tribes.
• Overriding the vote of the people of Solano County, who have, since 1984, preserved their right to weigh in on land-use changes through the Orderly Growth Initiative.

Restore the Delta has worked successfully with Solano Together and the Solano County Board of Supervisors to reject this harmful proposal in recognition that it is an attempt to bypass due process, public input, and the priorities of local communities and Tribes. Now, Sacramento must stop this trailer bill to ensure that local residents maintain the right to shape economic planning and development, not billionaires.

We successfully convinced the Board of Supervisors to reject this harmful legislation, but we need Sacramento to stop this trailer bill once and for all. 

Take Action Before It’s Too Late!

1. Tell Governor Newsom and California legislators “No backroom deals for California Forever!”

• Governor Newsom – (916) 445-2841
• Speaker Robert Rivas – (916) 319-2029
• Pro Tem Limon – (916) 651-4021
• Assemblymember Wilson – (916) 319-2011
• Senator Cabaldon – (916) 651-4003

Tell them that: 

• You oppose any attempts to streamline the controversial California Forever Project, which would have direct and detrimental impact on Delta communities and ecosystems; and 
• Trailer Bills that circumvent the policy process undermine our democratic process and should not be entertained

2. Sign the NEW petition calling on State Lawmakers to not pursue this legislation.

SEND A LETTER TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY!

Community groups have warned that new state development laws, passed last night by the LNP government, will give the Deputy Premier unprecedented powers to fast-track major projects while stripping Queenslanders of important community, environmental, landholder and First Nations protections.