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A legal catastrophe Channel News brendan 29th June 2026 Teaser Media

A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, June 21, 2026 thru Sat, June 27, 2026. Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (10 articles)

• Efforts to save kelp forests from ocean warming are ramping up Healthy kelp forests need cool, nutrient-rich seawater to survive but as ocean waters warm, kelp can no longer inhabit parts of their former range, resulting in a rapidly escalating crisis for ocean ecosystems. Grist, Richard Schiffman, Jun 21, 2026.
• Arctic marine heat waves surge since 1980s, with record event lasting 480 days The available data show that the duration, intensity and frequency of marine heat waves in the Arctic have increased significantly since the 1980s. Phys.org, Roland Koch, Jun 21, 2026.
• The water is rising in Chesapeake Bay. Can Tangier Island be saved? A mayor changes his mind about why his island is vanishing. Inside Climate News, Charles Paullin, Jun 22, 2026.
• Heat stress exposure climbed from 16% to 22% worldwide over 50 years, study shows The number of people exposed to dangerous heat stress worldwide has risen sharply over the past half-century, propelled by climate change. Phys.org, Daniel Lawler, Jun 22, 2026.
• 40°C is just the beginning. DrGilbz on Youtube, Ella Gilbert, June 22, 2026.
• Extreme heat cancels climate change event on adapting to extreme heat Extreme heat in London has led to the cancellation of a climate event on the topic of extreme heat. The Independent News, Maira Butt, Jun 23, 2026.
• Europe`s Heat Has Scientists Asking: How Much Hotter Can It Get? Records are being broken for the second time in a month, leading scientists to probe the upper limits of what the warming climate can dish out. NYT, Raymond Zhong, Jun 23, 2026.
• How climate change is influencing Europe's record-breaking heat wave NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Jennifer Francis, senior scientist at the Massachusetts-based Woodwell Climate Research Center, about the impact of Europe's heat wave and its links to climate change. NPR, Michel Martin, Jun 24, 2026.
• Why Is Europe the Fastest-Warming Continent The burning of fossil fuels is raising temperatures worldwide, but local factors, on land and at sea, determine which regions warm most rapidly. NYT, Raymond Zhong, Jun 24, 2026.
• Texas` refusal to plan for climate change created a crisis in Corpus Christi Stubbornly unrealistic assessments of the region’s reservoir system turned this year’s drought conditions into an emergency. Inside Climate News, Dylan Baddour, Jun 25, 2026.

Climate Education and Communication (5 articles)

• Climate fiction envisions the future of hurricanes and sea level rise Three excellent cli-fi novels envision a plausible future where sea level rise and climate change-intensified hurricanes cause massive economic disruption in the U.S. Yale Climate Connections, Jeff Masters, Jun 19, 2026.
• Cooking up the Climate Stripes, with Ed Hawkins Skeptical Science, Baerbel Winkler, Jun 20, 2026.
• New Publication: Identifying Flawed Reasoning in Contrarian Claims about Climate Change Skeptical Science, Baerbel Winkler & John Cook, Jun 23, 2026.
• True at the same time 'We can sometimes fall into the trap of framing climate as a binary: catastrophe or complacency, despair or denial. Reality is messier.'' Climate Trunk, John Lang, Jun 23, 2026.
• Former NOAA Employees Revive Climate.gov Web Site The database of federal global warming research recreates a website that was closed amid the administration’s broad retreat from climate science. NYT, Quinn Glabicki, Jun 23, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (5 articles)

• National Science Foundation halts plans to dismantle oceans observatory project The NSF issued a statement saying that it “appreciates the concerns raised by the range of stakeholders” and would halt efforts to remove or disable equipment. It also said it will redeploy equipment that already was removed from the water and convene an expert panel to determine the future of the network. AP News, AP News , Jun 22, 2026.
• Introducing Project Cosmos: Carbon Brief`s `universe` of climate science Carbon Brief, Carbon Brief Staff, Jun 22, 2026.
• Recreating the legendary heatwave summer of 1976 in today’s climate Climate Lab Book, Ed Hawkins, June 24, 2026.
• Beyond Denial: How Oil Execs Shaped a Landmark Climate Study How British Petroleum helped to foster a major climate solutions myth, allowing the fossil fuel industry to monetize more petroleum over the course of decades. ProPublica, Katie Worth, Jun 25, 2026.
• Feedbacks upon feedbacks: Rock weathering and the climate Rock weathering may release or draw down carbon dioxide—it depends on the rock. Ars Technica, Howard Lee, Jun 26, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (2 articles)

• Getting rid of an old fridge? Here's what you need to know Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Amy Briggs, Jun 19, 2026.
• Experts: Why carbon removal needs a `major scale up` to return warming to 1.5C Last week, more than 260 researchers convened in Milan to discuss the opportunities, challenges and risks involved in scaling “carbon dioxide removal” (CDR) to help curb climate change. Carbon Brief, Cecilia Keating, Jun 19, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (2 articles)

• Is It Warm Out There? The Atlantic, Joshua Partlow, Jun 23, 2026.
• Climate leadership is contagious, but so is retreat Op-ed suggests that shaping the safety and health of our future based on today's price for gasoline is poor political leadership. New Statesman, Mary Robinson, Jun 25, 2026.

Miscellaneous (2 articles)

• 2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #25 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, June 14, 2026 thru Sat, June 20, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler & Doug Bostrom, Jun 21, 2026.
• How US renewable-energy growth persists despite federal policy uncertainty Despite recent shifts in federal energy policies, our analysis shows that the US transition to renewable energy is continuing. Carbon Brief, Modi et al., Jun 25, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Science (1 article)

• The gas industry is sneaking into kids` science classes The Switch Energy Alliance markets its free classroom materials as “objective.” But they are backed by the fossil fuel industry, a HEATED investigation shows. HEATED, Marin Scotten, Jun 24, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

• Where does climate action go from here? A conversation with climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe Youtube, Project Drawdown, June 23, 2026.

If you happen upon high quality climate-science and/or climate-myth busting articles from reliable sources while surfing the web, please feel free to submit them via this Google form so that we may share them widely. Thanks!

At first glance, Lent Hill Dairy Farm in Steuben County, New York, looks like most other industrial dairies. There are red buildings that house some 4,000 cows, a staggering manure pit, and two gigantic dome-like structures that serve as anaerobic co-digesters.

These giant machines break down manure and local food waste to produce biogas. This renewable natural gas, or RNG, is then typically transported for use as electricity, heating, and fuel. But at Lent Hill, the gas produced isn’t just heating homes or running tractors. It’s also powering an on-site cryptomine.

The operation, run by Pennsylvania-based Ag-Grid Energy, is the first of its kind in the country. The company claims the anaerobic digestion of manure and food waste could be a game-changer, not only in powering crypto, but data centers, which currently use 4.9 percent of the country’s electricity, a figure that could double by 2030.

“At the end of the day, our model is providing value to the rural area that we are in,” Rashi Akki, the founder and CEO of Ag-Grid Energy, told Sentient.

The project claims to recycle more than 45,000 gallons of food waste per day and the manure of 4,000 cows. “What we want to do is also provide, if possible through fiber optics, [the] value of the AI computing capacity to that same regional area,” Akki said.

While Ag-Grid Energy wants to work with midsize dairies to create on-site power generation for small-scale data centers, the world’s largest technology players have bigger visions. Tech giants are increasingly searching for fossil fuel alternative fuel sources to power hyperscale data centers that won’t put a strain on the grid.

Read Next America’s data center backlash is bipartisan — can it stay that way? Zoya Teirstein & Kate Yoder

Biogas proponents — a broad coalition of industries, including agriculture, fossil fuels, utilities, and waste management — are pushing renewable natural gas, sourced in part by manure digesters, as a sustainable way forward.

In California, Microsoft has partnered with Enchanted Rock to use RNG for backup data center power. Vanguard Renewables, a waste management company and portfolio company of Black Rock, has touted RNG as “the fuel of the AI age.” Critics, however, fear the digester-to-data-center connection will give digesters an economic lifeline at a time when they’re struggling to stay online.

Renewable natural gas from digesters are touted as a drop-in energy solution, Sarah D’Onofrio, a scholar and advocate who works with digester-impacted communities across the country, told Sentient. This means the RNG can be used without changing existing fossil fuel based infrastructure, and can be added to other fuel sources like natural gas so companies could claim they are fueling data centers sustainably, according to D’Onofrio.

But researchers like D’Onofrio argue that to truly reduce emissions, we need to transition to clean energy fuels rather than rely on renewable substitutes for fossil fuels.

Read Next This new machine churns out carbon-storing biochar on the cheap Matt Simon

“Why would you want to incorporate that [RNG] into our fuel system during the period of climate change?” she said.

D’Onofrio has helped communities in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina defeat proposals for large-scale co-digesters. She fears data centers are creating a new, massive market for the manure-to-energy industry, which could in turn incentivize the further proliferation of factory farms.

“It attaches these industrial food operations into our energy system and makes us really dependent on them over time, because the more it becomes intermingled with agriculture, the more it’s going to concentrate agriculture,” said D’Onofrio.

Animals raised on factory farms in the U.S. produce an estimated 941 billion pounds of manure each year, which pollutes air and water in communities all over the United States. In addition to problems with leakage, digesters do not make the manure disappear. The digested waste, or digestate, is meant to be recycled, potentially into a range of products, such as fertilizer and animal bedding. But there are a number of challenges with these downstream products, from economic to environmental. Digested manure can be more polluting than manure that hasn’t been digested, according to USDA research.

In 2023, Victoria Gehrke, a community organizer who owns recreational property in Lind, Wisconsin, learned that a leader in the waste-to-energy field had proposed a co-digester in the town, touting it as a way to manage manure and reduce waste.

Gehrke and her fellow organizer Laurie Knutzen quickly discovered the impacts a co-digester would have on the community: hazardous air emissions, trucks going in and out delivering industrial food waste — and few restrictions about where that waste would come from — and water pollution. The project intended to send about 41,000 gallons of waste per day into a tributary of Walla Walla Creek, which empties into Lake Michigan.

Read Next Blood in the well: One town’s fight against the slaughterhouse polluting it Maddy Lauria

“These are manure and industrial food-waste processing and biogas-producing facilities, they are not ag accessories,” Gehrke said of co-digesters. “They don’t belong on ag land,” she explained, “and what they’re really doing is having our small rural communities — because we’re so vulnerable — we become sacrificial dumping grounds for the industrial waste that other big places don’t want to put in their communities.”

After more than a year of relentless community opposition, the town of Lind denied Vanguard’s application in the spring of 2024. The organizers celebrated the decision as a win for Lind, but Vanguard is still “developing and operating” more than 50 co-digesters across the country. It aims to have more than 100 completed projects by the end of 2028.

Patrick Serfass, the executive director of the American Biogas Council, told Sentient that biogas is an “excellent fit” for data centers in search of a reliable and high-capacity fuel source.

“We’re really excited about the prospect of biogas systems being able to provide power to data centers, because they can provide that reliability,” Serfass says.

Data center demand could lead to the expansion of co-digester buildouts across the country, he said. Serfass estimates that the U.S. has only built about 10 percent to 15 percent of the biogas market’s capacity.

“The data centers are going to be so hungry for power that they could eat up pretty much all of the supply that the biogas industry could create,” Serfass says.

Read Next This simple farming technique can capture carbon for thousands of years Matt Simon

Vanguard Renewables makes a similar pitch. “As energy demand from data centers continues to grow, there is increasing interest in solutions that are both reliable and lower carbon,” Vanguard Renewables told Sentient in an email statement.

The company is yet to partner with any data centers directly, but they have partnered with energy delivery companies like TotalEnergies and Enbridge, and both of these companies have relationships with hyperscalers and data center operators. In November 2025, TotalEnergies signed a 15-year deal with Google to provide solar energy to support the company’s data center operations in Ohio.

Anaerobic digesters are not new. They have long been hailed as a way to reduce emissions, capture methane and manage waste — a solution to agriculture’s methane problem with few tradeoffs.

The technology has received billions in subsidies at both the federal and state level. The California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, a climate program implemented to incentivize the production of alternative fuels, funds nearly 200 digesters across 16 states; in 2023, Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act provided over $150 million in funding to biogas projects across the country; and the Michigan Strategic Fund has approved more than $100 million in private bonds for digesters.

Akki said tax credits are incredibly important in making Ag-Grid Energy’s projects a reality. While most of the subsidies given to digester projects have been to support electricity and fuel for transportation, she wants to see fiscal support specifically for co-digesters that power AI.

Read Next A solution to data center backlash? Put them in oil fields. Jake Bittle

“Tax credits — just like what we had with the Inflation Reduction Act — for electricity production for AI would really support our projects,” Akki says.

But using tax-payer dollars to support digesters has lost favor with the Trump administration’s Department of Agriculture. In May, the USDA extended a 90-day moratorium on loans for anaerobic digesters through the end of the year amid environmental concerns and delinquent loans. According to a review of USDA lender data by Inside Climate News, 11 percent of the 746 project lenders across the country were considered over 90 days delinquent.

On top of this, a growing body of research raises questions about whether digesters make economic or environmental sense.

Government subsidies for digesters create a “perverse incentive where the value of manure or animal waste starts to compete with the value of the milk,” Brent Kim, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future, told Sentient. In other words, farmers are incentivized to produce waste for profit, not to produce milk for human consumption.

Kim and his colleagues published a scientific review of the touted benefits and downsides to the controversial technology. “The reality is nuanced,” he said of digesters. While they can reduce methane emissions in the short term, they may also lead to an increase in ammonia emissions, toxic byproducts, and other pollutants released into the environment, a phenomena Kim calls “pollution swapping.”

“So sure, all else being equal, you do have a reduction in methane, but if they’re incentivizing growth in the industry, the larger herd size is going to release more methane,” Kim said.

Some research suggests digesters aren’t always effective at reducing methane either. As Sentient has previously reported, research from the World Resources Institute found that digesters offer limited climate benefit given their cost. Digesters reduce methane from manure storage by only about 25 percent, the WRI research finds.

A report from Friends of the Earth found that dairies with digesters increased herd sizes by 3.7 percent annually, or 24 times the growth rate of dairies without digesters. In Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, herd sizes grew by about 58 percent since they were installed.

The trend comes as no surprise to Lynn Henning, a soybean farmer in Michigan who lives near a Chevron-owned co-digester. When manure becomes “more valuable than the milk,” it creates incentive for growth, and changes what farming is all about, she told Sentient.

“The system is changing farming. They’re shifting from producing food for people instead to producing manure so they can be paid more by the government,” Henning said.

Kathy Morrison, a farmer in Fremont, Michigan, has similar concerns. She lived next to a co-digester for years, and it significantly impacted her quality of life. The smell was unbearable, sometimes so bad it woke her up in the middle of the night. She described it as being at a giant music festival and all the Porta Potties are overflowing. That smell was digestate, the liquid solid waste that’s left over and spread on fields after the digestion process.

Morrison is not against the technology of digesters themselves, particularly at the local level, but with so many private companies looking to make a profit, equitable implementation and scale is hard to control. Data centers (which come with their own environmental impacts) would likely expand those opportunities for profit.

“I would be all in favor of small, very controlled, community-size digesters, but when they’re large scale like this, and they’re operating for profit, corners get cut,” she said. But this is something else, she said. “All the different industries that have come together to turn this into something insanely profitable. …There’s just so many industries behind this. It’s wild.”

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 Cow manure could be the next data center fuel on Jun 28, 2026.

Headline News:

• “A ‘strategic mistake of colossal proportions’ Why Trump is losing the war on renewables” • Despite the Trump regime, solar overtook coal in the US electricity mix for the first month on record in May. According to energy think tank Ember, sunlight supplied a record 12.8 % of US electricity, while coal fell to 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever. [Euronews]

Protest sign (Leo_Visions, Unsplash, cropped)

• “Climate-Tech Claims Need A Red-Flag Pass Before They Get Money” • Climate-tech claims usually arrive with a promise of a solution for some hard part of decarbonization and a request for support. Sometimes the claim deserves serious diligence. Other times it deserves a narrow demonstration. And there are times it deserves a polite but firm no. [Cleantechnica]
• “The Next Frontier: Offshore Wind Power” • Besieged by high electricity costs and heavy reliance on fossil fuels, the Philippine archipelago is positioning itself as a prime destination for Asian offshore wind investment. With massive coastal wind resources, the Philippines recognizes that offshore wind offers the path to energy independence with lowest cost. [MSN]
• “Europe Is Still Sweltering With Record-Breaking Heat” • The brutal heatwave is still griping Europe. Paris banned drinking alcohol in public over the weekend, while the city’s Pride March has been postponed, and the Louvre museum and the Eiffel Tower are closing early. Temperatures in the French capital has touched 39°C (102°F). [Euronews]
• “China Is Quietly Winning The Clean Energy Trade War” • China’s clean energy dominance is growing. Buoyed by fast rising energy needs and the projected demands of the artificial intelligence boom, clean energy projects are getting greenlit at a breakneck pace. Beijing has near-total control of global supply chains for clean energy tech. [OilPrice.com]

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

Salah satu alasan yang paling sering dikemukakan pengguna adalah kemudahan mengakses permainan kapan saja. Berkat dukungan teknologi berbasis web maupun aplikasi seluler, pemain tidak lagi dibatasi oleh perangkat tertentu ataupun lokasi tertentu. Selama tersedia koneksi internet yang stabil, permainan dapat dinikmati dengan praktis.

Selain itu, proses navigasi yang semakin sederhana turut meningkatkan kenyamanan. Antarmuka modern dirancang agar mudah dipahami oleh pengguna baru tanpa mengurangi pengalaman bagi pemain yang telah berpengalaman. Perpaduan antara desain responsif dan performa yang stabil menjadikan aktivitas bermain terasa lebih efisien.

Visual Interaktif yang Menambah Daya Tarik

Aspek visual memiliki peran penting dalam mempertahankan minat pengguna internet. Slot Maxwin umumnya menghadirkan grafis berkualitas tinggi yang dipadukan dengan animasi halus serta efek suara yang mendukung suasana permainan.

Beragam tema juga menjadi nilai tambah tersendiri. Mulai dari nuansa petualangan, budaya klasik, mitologi, hingga futuristik, setiap permainan menawarkan identitas visual yang berbeda. Variasi tersebut membuat pengguna tidak mudah merasa jenuh karena selalu tersedia pilihan baru yang dapat dicoba.

Di sisi lain, perkembangan teknologi grafis memungkinkan pengalaman bermain menjadi semakin imersif. Detail warna, transisi animasi, serta kualitas ilustrasi yang terus meningkat menciptakan kesan profesional yang mampu menarik perhatian berbagai kalangan pengguna.

Sistem Permainan yang Lebih Dinamis

Tidak sedikit pengguna internet menyukai permainan yang menawarkan variasi mekanisme. Slot Maxwin menghadirkan berbagai fitur tambahan seperti putaran bonus, pengganda hadiah, simbol khusus, hingga mode permainan tertentu yang membuat setiap sesi memiliki dinamika berbeda.

Keberagaman fitur tersebut menciptakan pengalaman yang tidak monoton. Setiap putaran dapat menghadirkan kemungkinan yang berbeda sehingga pengguna terdorong untuk terus mengeksplorasi berbagai kombinasi yang tersedia.

Selain menghadirkan tantangan, sistem permainan yang variatif juga memberikan sensasi tersendiri bagi mereka yang menikmati unsur strategi sederhana dalam menentukan waktu bermain maupun memilih jenis permainan yang sesuai dengan preferensi masing-masing.

Pengaruh Komunitas Digital

Fenomena meningkatnya popularitas Slot Maxwin tidak dapat dipisahkan dari berkembangnya komunitas internet. Forum diskusi, grup media sosial, hingga platform berbagi video menjadi tempat pengguna saling bertukar pengalaman, berbagi informasi, maupun memberikan ulasan mengenai berbagai permainan.

Rekomendasi dari sesama pengguna sering kali memiliki pengaruh yang cukup besar. Ketika sebuah permainan memperoleh banyak ulasan positif, rasa penasaran calon pemain pun ikut meningkat. Efek ini menciptakan penyebaran informasi yang berlangsung secara organik.

Tidak hanya itu, konten kreator juga berkontribusi memperluas jangkauan informasi melalui pembahasan fitur, ulasan visual, hingga pengalaman bermain yang mereka bagikan kepada audiens. Kehadiran berbagai sumber informasi tersebut membantu pengguna memperoleh gambaran sebelum mencoba sebuah permainan.

Inovasi yang Terus Berkembang

Industri hiburan digital dikenal sebagai sektor yang bergerak sangat cepat. Pengembang terus menghadirkan pembaruan agar pengguna memperoleh pengalaman yang lebih menarik dibandingkan sebelumnya.

Inovasi tidak hanya terlihat dari sisi tampilan, tetapi juga pada peningkatan performa sistem, optimalisasi kecepatan loading, kompatibilitas dengan berbagai perangkat, serta penyempurnaan antarmuka. Langkah tersebut dilakukan untuk menjaga kenyamanan pengguna sekaligus mengikuti perkembangan teknologi yang terus berubah.

Kemampuan beradaptasi inilah yang menjadi salah satu faktor penting mengapa Slot Maxwin mampu mempertahankan daya tariknya di tengah persaingan hiburan digital yang semakin ketat.

Fleksibilitas dalam Menyesuaikan Preferensi Pengguna

Setiap pengguna internet memiliki karakter dan kebiasaan yang berbeda. Ada yang menyukai permainan singkat sebagai hiburan di sela aktivitas, sementara sebagian lainnya lebih menikmati sesi bermain yang berlangsung lebih lama.

Keberagaman pilihan permainan memberikan fleksibilitas kepada pengguna untuk menentukan pengalaman yang sesuai dengan preferensi masing-masing. Faktor tersebut membuat Slot Maxwin mampu menjangkau berbagai kelompok pengguna dengan kebutuhan yang beragam.

Di samping itu, perkembangan teknologi personalisasi memungkinkan rekomendasi permainan menjadi lebih relevan. Pengguna dapat menemukan pilihan yang sesuai dengan minat mereka tanpa harus menghabiskan banyak waktu melakukan pencarian.

Peran Teknologi dalam Meningkatkan Pengalaman Bermain

Perkembangan infrastruktur digital turut memberikan dampak positif terhadap kualitas layanan. Kecepatan internet yang semakin baik, perangkat dengan spesifikasi tinggi, serta teknologi komputasi modern membuat permainan berjalan lebih lancar dan responsif.

Pengalaman pengguna juga semakin meningkat berkat optimalisasi pada sisi keamanan data, stabilitas server, dan efisiensi sistem. Kombinasi tersebut menciptakan lingkungan digital yang lebih nyaman sehingga pengguna dapat menikmati hiburan dengan gangguan yang lebih minim.

Selain aspek teknis, inovasi pada desain pengalaman pengguna (user experience) terus menjadi perhatian utama. Tata letak yang intuitif, navigasi yang jelas, dan waktu respons yang cepat memberikan nilai tambah yang semakin diapresiasi oleh pengguna internet masa kini.

Kesimpulan

Popularitas Slot Maxwin di kalangan pengguna internet lahir dari perpaduan berbagai faktor yang saling mendukung. Kemudahan akses, tampilan visual yang menarik, variasi mekanisme permainan, perkembangan komunitas digital, hingga inovasi teknologi menjadi elemen penting yang membentuk daya tariknya.

Seiring meningkatnya kebutuhan masyarakat terhadap hiburan digital yang praktis dan interaktif, kategori permainan ini diperkirakan akan terus memperoleh perhatian. Meskipun demikian, setiap pengguna tetap perlu menjadikan aktivitas bermain sebagai bentuk hiburan yang dilakukan secara bijak, dengan mengutamakan pengelolaan waktu dan penggunaan yang bertanggung jawab agar pengalaman digital tetap positif dan seimbang.

Headline News:

• “Solar And Wind Each Produced More Electricity Than Coal In USA In April” • Solar and wind power plants are growing rapidly in the US, as coal keeps declining despite the federal government putting its thumb so heavily on the side of coal. In April alone, wind and solar each produced more electricity than the nation’s coal plants. [CleanTechnica]

Solar, wind, and coal (Arno Senoner, Unsplash)

• “Rooftop Solar Systems Can Provide Five Hours Of ‘Free’ Air Conditioning Per Day. But Is It Green?” • AC has consistently been proven to reduce heat mortality during heatwaves. The 2021 Lancet Countdown report estimated that cooling units prevented nearly 200,000 premature deaths in 2019. But with greater demand comes greater emissions. [Euronews]
• “Iron-Air Battery Project Aims To Cut Emissions And Boost Renewable Power” • Dutch startup Ore Energy secured what could be Europe’s largest iron-air battery agreement. The firm has signed a deal with energy supplier Budget Thuis to deploy 1 GWh of long-duration energy storage, starting with 400 MWh to be delivered in 2028. [Energy Live News]
• “The Nuclear Renaissance Is Missing One Key Ingredient” • The Trump administration is all-in on nuclear energy. It has committed to loaning a total of $17.5 billion to companies that build new reactors. But utilities don’t appear to have much interest. Their investors are too worried about the high cost and long delays of nuclear construction. [MSN]
• “Swiss Nuclear Plant Shut Down As River Temperature Rises Amid Heatwave” • In Switzerland, the Beznau nuclear plant, the world’s oldest active nuclear power facility, was temporarily shut down due to high water temperatures in a river used for cooling, the operator said. The water temperature in the Aare river has been measured at 25°C (77°F). [Yahoo]

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

Clip from our recent episode about Graham Platner and the Democratic establishment trying to destroy anyone challenging them from the left. For decades the Democratic establishment (today exemplified by Schumer,…

How one contaminated stream exposed Maryland's failure to investigate PFAS pollution from fire training facilities.

By Pat Elder
June 26, 2026

PFAS-contaminated water from the old Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Training Academy in Rockville flows nine miles downstream through Muddy Branch before entering the Potomac River immediately adjacent to Pennyfield Lock (Lock 22) on the C&O Canal, shown here.

‍Muddy Branch Exposed a Statewide Failure to Investigate PFAS Contamination from Fire Training Facilities across Maryland.

‍The “discovery” of severe PFAS contamination in Muddy Branch was entirely predictable. The former Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy used carcinogenic firefighting foams for 40 years. The training academy had direct hydrologic connections to nearby streams and stormwater ponds.

Across Maryland, there are well over a hundred locations like Muddy Branch where firefighting foams containing PFAS were historically used. These sites include military bases, civilian airports, municipal fire stations, and firefighter training grounds. These locations are expected to have contaminated nearby surface waters, groundwater, sediment, fish, and wildlife in much the same way that we are witnessing the contamination unfold in Muddy Branch.

‍The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has not publicly acknowledged the likely PFAS contamination associated with the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI)  regional fire training centers across the state, despite the well-established history of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) use at fire training facilities across the staate and nationwide. ‘

The regional training centers are listed here.

Similarly, the MDE has ignored the contamination flowing from the county-owned and operated fire training facilities statewide, at these locations.

The old Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy was located at the intersection of Great Seneca Highway and Darnestown Road, immediately adjacent to the Muddy Branch watershed. It closed in 2016 when operations moved to the new academy at 8751 Snouffer School Road.

The Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy at 8751 Snouffer School Road contains multiple live-fire training structures where Class B AFFF was likely used for flammable-liquid fire training before Maryland prohibited such training uses in 2021. Because the academy is situated immediately adjacent to the Cabin Branch watershed, PFAS released during historical training activities would be expected to migrate through stormwater runoff and shallow groundwater into nearby Cabin Branch. PFAS in the watershed may ultimately reach the Potomac River at Riley's Lock, about 16 miles away.

Maryland has not undertaken a systematic statewide investigation of either the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute's regional training centers or county-operated fire training academies, despite decades of PFAS-containing firefighting foam use and the recognition of fire training areas as high-priority PFAS source areas nationwide.

PFAS-containing firefighting foam sits in a storage area at the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department in St. Mary’s County, MD. (Photo Courtesy of Joseph Guyther)  Maryland Matters

Maryland also has hundreds of municipal and volunteer fire stations. Most are believed to have historically stored and used Class B aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for vehicle fires, fuel spills, aircraft incidents, and training. While most are not "training academies," they may represent a much larger number of potential PFAS source areas than the academies themselves.

Firetrucks were commonly equipped with AFFF storage tanks, proportioning systems, hoses, and foam nozzles that required routine operational testing. These activities often involved discharging foam onto designated testing pads, training grounds, gravel lots, or other outdoor areas. In addition to emergency responses and firefighter training exercises, decades of routine nozzle testing, system flushing, and accidental releases likely resulted in repeated PFAS discharges at fire stations throughout Maryland. These testing locations have never been investigated and may be heavily contaminated, particularly where runoff flowed into storm drains, ditches, streams, ponds, or groundwater recharge areas.

Airports and Military Bases

The MDE ought to be investigating all major airport and military firefighting training areas.

The Department of Defense has already identified numerous Maryland installations where AFFF was used during emergencies, testing, or routine training.

Here’s a list of military sites that the DOD has identified as having used AFFF during emergencies and routine practice.

Army

Aberdeen Proving Ground
Adelphi Laboratory Center
Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick - Forest Glen
Fort Meade – BRAC
Fort Meade – Active
Fort Meade – Phoenix
Phillips Army Airfield
Weide AASF

Navy

Annapolis Naval Academy
Annapolis Surface Weapons Center BRAC
NSWC Carderock – West Bethesda Campus
Bainbridge
Naval Research Laboratory Chesapeake Bay Detachment
Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center
Patuxent River Naval Air Station
Solomons Naval Recreation Center
Webster Field Annex – Patuxent River NAS

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
White Oak- NSWC Dahlgren DIV

Air Force 

Joint Base Andrews
National Guard Martin State

Maryland Airports       

Aside from the clearly documented use of AFFF during fire training at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore over the years, Maryland’s regional Airports have likely trained with the toxic foams.

‍Baltimore Washington International Airport participates in annual Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting recertification training. The foams used to douse this recent blaze likely cccontained fluorine-free foams, but decades of practice likely involved the deadly foams.  - IAFF Local 1742

‍Regional Airports that likely used the toxic foams

Martin State Airport        ‍

Wicomico Regional Airport     

Hagerstown Regional Airport  

‍Greater Cumberland Regional Airport

‍Frederick Municipal Airport    

‍St. Mary's County Regional Airport   

‍Easton Airport

‍Cambridge–Dorchester Regional Airport     

‍Carroll County Regional Airport       

‍Garrett County Airport   

‍Montgomery County Airpark   

‍Ocean City Municipal Airport  

‍Bay Bridge Airport        

‍Crisfield–Somerset County Airport    

‍Tipton Airport‍‍ ‍

MDE’s botched “take-back” program

The MDE also dropped the ball in implementing the PFAS “take-back” program that the General Assembly had ordered and funded in 2022. Maryland banned PFAS-containing firefighting foam in 2022 and directed MDE to establish a  program to collect and dispose of legacy AFFF.

The department received $500,000, a tiny amount in state funding, to carry out that mandate, yet by May 2026—roughly four years after passage of the law—fire departments across Maryland were still storing drums and containers of banned foam in closets, storage rooms, and apparatus bays while awaiting state action.

MDE's delay in implementing the state's AFFF take-back program created more than a bureaucratic problem. For years after Maryland banned PFAS-containing firefighting foam, thousands of gallons of the material remained stored at firehouses throughout the state. These stockpiles were often kept in plastic containers, storage rooms, apparatus bays, and outdoor locations vulnerable to weather, flooding, punctures, equipment failures, and accidental releases. The continued storage of large quantities of AFFF at hundreds of fire stations increases the likelihood of additional PFAS contamination events long after the state had recognized the hazards posed by the foam. Rather than promptly removing and securely disposing of the material, Maryland allowed it to remain scattered across local communities while the state struggled to establish the take-back program required by law.

The state’s unwillingness to dispose of legacy PFAS-containing firefighting foam raises questions not only about environmental risk but also about cost. Maine's Department of Environmental Protection recently estimated that approximately 50,000 gallons of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) remain available for collection across that state. Using a planning estimate of roughly $100 per gallon—derived from New Hampshire's statewide program, Maine projected that collection and disposal alone could cost at least $5 million. In the meantime, MDE recommends facilities “properly” store PFAS-containing Class-B foams, while regularly monitoring for storage system leaks and maintenance needs is necessary.

Maryland faces an even larger challenge. The state has a much larger population than Maine and contains hundreds of potential AFFF-use locations. If Maryland's legacy AFFF inventory is comparable to or greater than Maine's estimated 50,000 gallons, disposal costs could easily reach $5 million to $10 million or more.

‍The estimate does not include the costs of environmental investigation, “remediation”, or long-term monitoring at contaminated sites. These costs could reach several billion dollars at a hundred sites. “Cleanup” would require decades of groundwater extraction, multiple pump-and-treat systems, treatment plants using granular activated carbon or ion exchange, excavation and disposal of contaminated soils, installation of extensive monitoring well networks, repeated sampling of groundwater, surface water, fish and wildlife, replacement of contaminated drinking water supplies, engineering investigations, CERCLA oversight, and decades of long-term operation and maintenance.

‍Scientists cannot agree on what PFAS cleanup ultimately looks like. EPA acknowledges significant uncertainties surrounding the destruction of PFAS through high-temperature incineration, while landfilling merely transfers the chemicals to another location where contaminated leachate must be managed for decades. In many cases, "cleanup" means moving PFAS rather than eliminating it.

Who Bears the Burden?

‍This reality raises a difficult ethical question. When Maine shipped thousands of gallons of legacy firefighting foam to the hazardous waste facility in Emelle, Alabama, it reduced one state's environmental burden by transferring it to another community. Emelle is a predominantly Black community that has long hosted one of the nation's largest hazardous waste landfills. As states confront growing stockpiles of PFAS waste, policymakers must decide not only how to manage these chemicals, but also who will bear the environmental risks associated with their disposal.

‍WSSC prompted MDE to get to work

‍The testing process at Muddy Branch wasn’t initiated by MDE. Testing occurred only after the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) requested additional PFAS investigation in the Muddy Branch watershed. Following WSSC's request, the MDE conducted more extensive sampling of streams and stormwater ponds in the area. MDE's investigation subsequently identified elevated concentrations of PFAS in surface waters near the former Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy.

If there is a hero in this story, it is WSSC. Private citizens have tested tap water throughout Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties and found levels of PFAS well under federal guidelines. While WSSC limits drinking water to levels under 4 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA, the MDE allows Smallmouth Bass with 574,000 parts per trillion of PFOS to be consumed in the Potomac north on Montgomery County and Largemouth Bass south Montgomery County with 94,200 ppt of PFOS to be consumed by the unsuspecting public. ‍ ‍

The Media Missed the Larger Story

Maryland's major news organizations have not treated PFAS contamination from fire training areas as the statewide story it plainly is. The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun have failed to investigate the broader pattern of PFAS contamination from fire training academies, county training centers, municipal fire stations, airports, and military installations across Maryland.

‍ Local television and radio outlets reported the initial Muddy Branch advisory, but the story stopped there. Initial reports focused public attention on the county's announcement that PFAS had been detected at about 1,600 parts per trillion near the former Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy. But the fuller MDE data later showed a much broader chemical picture, including 4,465 ppt total PFAS at MB8 near the stormwater pond. That follow-up story—the one that changed the public's understanding of the scale and complexity of the contamination—was ignored.

Maryland's news media have reported on PFAS legislation, fish advisories, military cleanup efforts, and the state's delayed foam take-back program. What has been largely absent is sustained investigative reporting into the contamination of Maryland's fire training facilities themselves—the places where PFAS-containing firefighting foams were routinely discharged for decades.

‍The result is a distorted public record. Residents were told there was PFAS in Muddy Branch, but it was never explained that Muddy Branch is part of a much larger statewide pattern tied to decades of firefighting foam use. When major news organizations fail to explain that pattern, public agencies face less pressure, elected officials face fewer questions, and residents are left with the impression that this is an isolated event rather than a predictable consequence of Maryland's long failure to investigate fire training sites.

‍The failure of the press to follow the evidence allows public misunderstanding to flourish.

‍Still, Muddy Branch will ultimately prove to be the first clear demonstration of a much larger statewide problem.‍ ‍

Washington’s cap-and-invest market goes international Climate Solutions Fri, 06/26/2026 - 12:15 pm

Florida officials announced the closure of “Alligator Alcatraz” on June 25, 2026.

The federal government, with the support of the State of Florida, constructed and operated Alligator Alcatraz in violation of the sovereign rights of the Miccosukee Tribe, who took the government to court for illegally constructing the center without their consultation or consent.

As Native peoples, we have a sacred obligation passed down from our ancestors to care for the land and everyone who depends on it. The construction of the detention center in Florida was on the ancestral lands of the Miccosukee Tribe. The buildings endangered delicate and protected ecosystems. Alligator Alcatraz put thousands of immigrants at risk. The reported filthy and unsafe conditions were a violation of the human rights of immigrants and their families.

The administration’s violent crackdown on migrant communities is an affront to all we stand for as Native peoples. We are opposed to any government operation that violates the human rights of our neighbors and all who reside on this land. As we saw in Minneapolis earlier this year, ICE operations operate with little to no oversight or safeguards, acting illegally in many cases. Multiple people, including babies, have died in, or as a result of, ICE custody. This must end.

The closure of Alligator Alcatraz is a victory for human rights and Tribal Sovereignty, but we want to see an end to all inhumane and unlawful detention of our neighbors who are simply trying to live, work, and raise their families.

This story was originally published in Native News Online.

The post “Alligator Alcatraz” officially closing appeared first on Native Organizers Alliance.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the national, health-based limit on fine particulate matter (PM2.5), also known as soot, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strengthened in 2024.

Soot, made up of tiny toxic particles that lodge deep in the lungs, results in severe health harms, including premature death, and comes from sources like vehicle exhaust pipes, power plants, and factories.

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 set baseline national air quality standards to reduce the harms of this deadly air pollutant for communities across the country. Last year, in an unprecedented move, Trump’s EPA gave up defending the strengthened standard against challenges from industry and aligned states and asked the court to strike it down on narrow legal grounds, without ever disputing the science underlying the standard. Health, environmental, and community groups, along with a coalition of states led by California, continued to defend the standard.

“Clean air is not a luxury. We are thrilled these vital air quality standards have been upheld by a federal court,” said Patrice Simms, vice president of Healthy Communities at Earthjustice. “The 2024 soot standard is a critical advancement for public health, projected to save thousands of lives every year. Lee Zeldin’s EPA must stop catering to polluters and must instead fulfill its mission to protect public health. The time for implementing the 2024 soot standard is now.”

“Fine particulate matter standards provide critical public health protections. The court correctly rejected EPA’s about-face on the need for a stronger standard,” said Shaun Goho, senior director, Legal Advocacy at Clean Air Task Force. “The science is clear that soot has many serious health impacts, particularly for children, the elderly, and those with asthma. By EPA’s own estimate, implementing the 2024 soot standard will prevent 800,000 cases of asthma symptoms, 2,000 hospital visits, and 4,500 premature deaths in 2032. Today marks an important step in the right direction, but EPA must now implement the 2024 standard without delay.”

“The federal court’s decision to uphold the 2024 strengthened particle pollution standard is a win for public health,” said Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, executive director, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. “Every day in practice, nurses witness and treat conditions made worse by soot pollution. From asthma exacerbations and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to heart disease and preterm birth, nurses see the real-world health implications of toxic air pollution. The science shows stronger limits to reduce dangerous soot pollution provide significant health benefits for Americans, especially for those most vulnerable and those exposed to higher levels of particulate matter pollution. We now urge EPA to fully implement the strengthened standard to ensure those health benefits are realized.”

“Today’s federal court decision is good news for clean air in America and for the millions of people harmed by deadly soot,” said Noha Haggag, senior attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “Soot can cause asthma attacks, lung cancer, and premature deaths. The court’s rejection of the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate our national health standards for soot will mean healthier, longer lives for people across the country.”

“While the Trump EPA has dragged its heels, millions of Americans have kept breathing unhealthy air,” said Vijay Limaye, climate and health scientist at NRDC. Every day of delay means more premature deaths, more asthma attacks, and more hospitalizations. This decision removes any remaining doubt: the science has long been clear, and now the law is too. The Trump EPA must stop stalling and deliver the healthier air the science and the law demand.”

“The court did the right thing today by standing up for our health and safety,” said Rachel Briggs, Conservation Law Foundation staff attorney. “We should never put the polluting status-quo over people, especially when it fuels chronic respiratory and cardiac illnesses. We’ll never compromise when it comes to the safety of our neighbors, communities, and the low-income and Black and Brown families that continue to shoulder the worst of these toxins.”

Background

Soot is a lethal combination of metals, organic chemicals, and acidic substances so tiny that they can be easily inhaled into our lungs and delivered directly into our bloodstream. It threatens our health and environment — posing especially heightened risks for children, seniors and people with chronic illnesses. Among the health harms it is linked to are death, cardiovascular harms, new and exacerbated asthma cases, lung cancer, and serious neurological harms, like Alzheimer’s disease.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA has for decades set baseline national air quality standards for six harmful pollutants, including soot. In 2024 the agency strengthened the soot standard from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter,

According to the EPA, the strengthened soot standard will result in significant public health net benefits that could be as high as $46 billion by 2032. The EPA’s estimate of costs is an order of magnitude less. Polluters’ exaggerated claims about costs have been repeatedly debunked.

After the agency strengthened the soot standard, corporations and attorneys general in allied states sued. Earthjustice, its clients and partners intervened to defend the strengthened soot standard. Earthjustice clients are Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Lung Association, Environmental Defense Fund, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre (formerly the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition), Rio Grande International Study Center, and Sierra Club. Clean Air Task Force represents Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future and Conservation Law Foundation.

A recent white paper found that 75 million people live in counties whose air quality violates the standard. The Clean Air Act mandated that the EPA formally identify the areas that violate the standard by Feb. 6, 2026. When EPA failed to meet that deadline, a group of health, environmental, and community groups, and a state coalition, sued to require it to obey the law. That key step will require pollution reductions in those areas, to bring them into compliance with the 2024 NAAQS.

In mountain regions from the Andes to the Himalayas, Indigenous people see the retreat of glaciers as a sign that they have lost the favor of their gods or ancestors.

Read more on E360 →

Montana Residents Challenge State’s Granting of Undisclosed Waiver for Bridger Pipeline Construction Montana DEQ issued illegal waiver by ignoring requirements for public notices and hearings. For Immediate Release: June 26, 2026 Contact: Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice | pwheeler@earthjustice.org Derf Johnson, MEIC | (406) 443-2520, Ext. 103 | djohnson@meic.org   HELENA – Montana residents today challenged the …

The post Press Release: Montana Residents Challenge State’s Granting of Undisclosed Waiver for Bridger Pipeline Construction appeared first on Montana Environmental Information Center - MEIC.

The Aika People Say Freeport’s Grasberg Mine Operates Without Their Consent and Dumps Its Waste in the River. Copper Mark Certified It Anyway.

Just weeks ago, Copper Mark awarded PT Freeport Indonesia a renewed certification claiming that their Grasberg facility “fully meets” all but one of its 33 criteria for responsible mineral producers. The Indigenous Aika Tribe in Central Papua filed a grievance challenging the credibility of the company’s claims.

The Aika People’s complaint against a Copper Mark audit is of global significance. Voluntary mine site audits are on the rise across the world. The majority of deposits of energy transition minerals are located on or near the lands of Indigenous Peoples. The mining industry’s use of voluntary standards to hide or dismiss Indigenous Peoples’ rights violations is an ever-growing concern.

Company Claims Don’t Match Reality

The complaint, submitted on May 25th by the Aika Indigenous Council (LEMASAI), accuses Freeport Indonesia of excluding their community from consultation, compensation and land governance processes despite operating on territory recognized as their ancestral and customary land.

At the center of the dispute is the assessment conducted by auditor Ernst & Young, published on April 8, 2026. That assessment concluded that Freeport “Fully Meets” Copper Mark criteria on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, stakeholder engagement and tailings management.

For the Aika Tribe, the certification renewal represents a glaring contradiction between corporate sustainability claims and realities on the ground.

“How can a company receive ‘Fully Meets’ status when the Indigenous People most affected by the operation say they were never properly recognized or consulted?” asked Mombiot Yoseph Akoha, chairman of the Aika Indigenous Council.

Aika Excluded from Negotiations

According to the filing, the company relied on what the community describes as “proxy representation” through an MOU from 2000 involving other Indigenous Peoples. It excluded the Aika People from negotiations over compensation and benefit-sharing.

The Aika People cite a 2019 decree issued by Majelis Rakyat Papua (a government body charged with protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples) recognizing the mine’s operational area as part of the customary territory of the Aika Tribe.

In another development highlighted in the grievance, LEMASKO — one of the other Indigenous institutions previously involved in the compensation arrangement — issued a declaration in 2024 acknowledging that the territory in question belongs to the Aika People and suggests that there had been manipulation in the processes that led to the signing of the 2000 MOU and its exclusion of the Aika People.

River Dumping Threatens Livelihoods

In addition to the lack of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent and compensation for the Aika Tribe, the grievance also raises concerns over environmental impacts linked to decades of dumping mine waste into the Ajkwa estuary system. The practice has disrupted traditional fishing routes, navigation channels and subsistence livelihoods for the Aika Tribe.

Weak Audit Affirms Concerns About Industry-Backed Standard

The Copper Mark is one of four industry-backed standards bodies that joined together to form the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI). The CMSI has been widely criticized by civil society organizations, including numerous Indigenous Peoples’ rights groups, for the risks it poses. The weak standard has the potential to uphold and normalize the systematic abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, human rights and ecosystems by the mining sector. 

Both of the Copper Mark-audited mines in Indonesia have resulted in grievances by Indigenous Peoples for the failure of these audits to accurately identify and capture the harms and rights violations they face.

That trend has broad implications. Downstream buyers and investors rely on audits as data points in their due diligence and risk evaluation processes. Policymakers should also be concerned since they integrate voluntary certification schemes into legislation (as the European Commission has in the EU Batteries Regulation and Critical Raw Materials Act).

Learn more about efforts to strengthen voluntary mining standards from the Mining Standards Accountability Alliance.

The post Indigenous Council Files Complaint Over Indonesian Mine’s Responsible Producer Certification appeared first on Earthworks.

Natural Resources Canada has opened a call for proposals under the Energy Innovation Program’s Innovation Ecosystem Enablers stream — funding for the shared facilities and test centres that help de-risk emerging energy technologies.

Peter Massie

Cascade Institute’s Peter Massie, who leads the Institute’s Geothermal Energy Office, says the call is important chance to spur made-in-Canada energy innovation at a time when it’s needed most.

Massie likens the call to proposals to past projects in which Canadian energy expertise made big leaps. AOSTRA’s Underground Test Facility, for example, de-risked steam-assisted gravity drainage and helped grow in-situ oil sands production from near zero in the late 1980s to roughly 1.8 million barrels a day today. The U.S. Department of Energy’s FORGE site made breakthroughs in enhanced geothermal, helping Fervo Energy cut drilling costs and raise billions in private capital — what Massie calls “a perfect example of how public de-risking can crowd in private investment.” NASA’s wind-power test centres brought experts together across sectors to catalyze key elements of modern turbine design.

Test centres are especially valuable for subsurface technologies like geothermal where the cost and risk of drilling a well is the single biggest barrier facing innovators, Massie says.

“A shared facility lowers that barrier,” he explains, “and the data it produces validates the subsurface conditions for the projects that follow.”

The Innovation Ecosystem Enablers call is an important part of building that kind of infrastructure.

“If you’re working on innovative energy technologies, this call is worth a serious look,” says Massie.

See the call for proposals. 

 

The post NRCan’s call for test centre proposals a big opportunity for energy innovation appeared first on Cascade Institute.

Yesterday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 25, led by Rep. Andy Josephson, that would have prohibited single-use polystyrene foodware in restaurants and across Alaska’s government. The bill, which passed the State Senate and House with bipartisan support this spring, would have aligned Alaska with growing action across the country, including similar policies in Washington and Oregon.

“The governor’s veto is a setback for Alaska and our oceans,” said Christy Leavitt, Senior Campaign Director at Oceana. “Alaska is on the frontlines of the global plastics crisis, and leaders like Rep. Josephson in the state legislature stepped up with a meaningful solution. This veto undermines bipartisan action to reduce single-use plastic pollution at the source, and will only put Alaska’s communities, wildlife, and waters in further jeopardy. We applaud the efforts of the state legislature and look forward to working with lawmakers to pass this important bill in the future to phase out plastic foam foodware.”

Plastic pollution is affecting Alaska’s ecosystems. Microplastics have been found in Southeast Alaskan glaciers, ocean waters, and Arctic sea ice. Polystyrene foam — one of the earliest plastics identified in the ocean — continues to contribute to the global plastics crisis. Ocean wildlife, including marine mammals, fish, and seabirds, often mistake foam for food, which can lead to malnutrition, starvation, and exposure to toxic chemicals. Plastic foam also poses risks to human health. Styrene, the primary component of polystyrene foam, is considered a probable carcinogen and can leach harmful chemicals into food and beverages.

Background

Plastic has been found in every corner of the world, and it’s one of the greatest threats facing our oceans today. An estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year — the equivalent of two garbage trucks full of plastic being dumped into the sea every minute. Plastic is in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and in our bodies. Plastic poses environmental and public health threats at every stage from extraction and production to use and disposal. It’s also one of the greatest contributors to climate change. In fact, if plastic were a country, it would be the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.

One of the most problematic types of plastic is plastic foam. Oceana’s 2025 report “Plastic Foam Needs ‘To Go'” outlined the dangers behind single-use plastic foam, including that it’s made with toxic chemicals linked to cancer. Plastic foam is also one of the most common types of marine plastic pollution and was one of the first types of plastic discovered in the ocean. National polling released in 2025 found that 78% of registered U.S. voters support national policies to reduce single-use plastic foam.

A 2020 Oceana report revealed evidence of nearly 1,800 animals from 40 different species swallowing or becoming entangled in plastic in U.S. waters between 2009 and early 2020. Of those animals, a staggering 88% were from species listed as endangered or threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act.

Recycling will not solve the plastics crisis. In fact, less than 6% of plastic in the U.S. is recycled. To address the problem, companies must reduce the production and use of unnecessary single-use plastic and develop systems that refill and reuse packaging and foodware. Government policies must ensure that companies act.

In February 2025, Oceana released the results of a nationwide poll revealing that an overwhelming majority of U.S. voters support policies that reduce single-use plastics. Overall, 81% of U.S. voters support reducing the amount of plastic that is produced. The national online poll, conducted for Oceana by the nonpartisan polling company Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®, surveyed 1,111 registered U.S. voters from December 13 to 15, 2024.

Included among the key findings:

• 85% of U.S. voters support increasing the use of reusable packaging and foodware.
• 82% of U.S. voters support protecting people in neighborhoods that are affected by pollution from nearby plastic production facilities.
• 80% of U.S. voters support requiring companies to reduce single-use plastic packaging and foodware.

To learn more about Oceana’s campaign to stop plastic pollution, please visit usa.oceana.org/plastics.

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

The FIFA World Cup is here! Learn how you can get around to major summer 2026 events without a car, or being stuck in traffic with GoPhillyGo: Car-Free Routes Map!

Image Source: Philadelphia Today

NBC Philadelphia: SEPTA announces next steps of mixed-use development at Germantown Station – SEPTA has announced it is seeking information from local developers to enhance mixed-use development at Germantown Station. The primary target for this development is a vacant lot at 120-128 E Chelten Ave in Historic Germantown. This is part of a larger program, SEPTA’s Transit-Oriented Communities, that develops areas near transit stops and supports the public transit network. Other mixed-use concept locations considered or announced by SEPTA include areas around East Armat St Bridges, Ambler Station, Conshohocken, and Langhorne stations.

Image Source: Metro Philadelphia

Metro Philadelphia: How SEPTA plans to move tens of thousands of World Cup fans – SEPTA has been preparing for the World Cup to arrive in Philly this summer, and now that it’s here, tens of thousands of fans will be riding it around the city, with measured improvements as well. The Broad Street Line has trains going to and leaving from NRG every four to five minutes a few hours leading up to kickoff. NRG has had some upgrades recently as well, such as new roofing, a new ventilation system, and enhanced lighting and signage. These upgrades were in part funded by federal operating money to assist with the World Cup; the general SEPTA budget has yet to be announced by the PA state government, but is due at the end of this month.

Image Source: Rabbittransit

The Burg: Regional bus system Rabbittransit to introduce mobile pay, fare raises in July – Buses in Harrisburg are part of the regional system known as Rabbittransit. This week, it was announced that a new smartcard and mobile payment system will be installed next month on the Capital Region, Gettysburg, Shippensburg, and York routes of the public transit system. The rabbitPAY system will launch mid-to-end July, and allow riders to load reusable transit passes through an app, and tap to ride. Also being added is fare capping, meaning riders can pay as they go, and once the cost of a daily or monthly pass is reached, the rest of the rides during that period are free.

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92.5 XTU: Pennsylvania Braces for Record Traffic Amid 250th Independence Day Anniversary

WJAC: Cambria County officials press state lawmakers to fix outdated CamTran payment system

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Block Club Chicago: Chicago’s Bike Lanes Don’t Hurt Businesses, City Report Finds

Ellen Davies is head of programmes at the African Climate Foundation and is based in Kenya. Wole Hammond is programme officer for adaptation and resilience at the foundation, based in Nigeria.

For generations, African communities have lived on the frontlines of climate disruption, managing erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and the slow erosion of their livelihoods, which depend on predictable seasons.

When the rains failed across Southern Africa in 2024, it was but the latest chapter of a crisis already long underway. During that season, maize crop failures of 40-80% devastated farming communities in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, where roughly 70% of people depend on rain-fed agriculture. Governments already stretched by debt were forced to raid development budgets, trading long-term growth for emergency relief.

Then came the floods. In early 2026, parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa received over a year’s worth of rain in days. More than 2 million people were affected. In East Africa, drought has displaced nearly 62,000 people in Somalia this year alone, with nearly one in four Somalis now facing acute food insecurity.

This is what climate change looks like on the ground – not parts per million or diplomatic jargon, but whether a school stays open after floods cut off the road, whether a clinic can function in extreme heat, whether a country can still invest in its future when every year brings another disaster bill.

As Nigeria rails at loss and damage “mirage”, fund boss assures money is coming

Africa as a continent contributes the least to global emissions yet bears a disproportionate share of the consequences. Nine of the ten countries most vulnerable to climate change are African. As livelihoods collapse and rural economies fail, migration pressures will intensify, driven by climate change intersecting with poverty, conflict and constrained opportunity.

Chronic under-funding

Europe is only now beginning to experience, in more limited form, what African communities have navigated for decades with far less fiscal space, thinner insurance coverage and fewer resources for recovery. With El Niño conditions confirmed and a “super” version of the naturally occurring weather pattern possible later this year, the pressure is set to intensify further.

In Africa, climate action is fundamentally a development challenge where adaptation and mitigation must go hand in hand. Building a solar grid and flood-proofing the road that serves it are not separate agendas. Yet for too long, the global climate conversation has prioritised mitigation while leaving adaptation – the work of protecting lives, livelihoods and economies in a changing climate – chronically under-funded.

The result is three compounding gaps. A visibility gap: much of Africa’s adaptation work remains under-documented and under-recognised in global climate narratives. A financing gap: capital does not flow at the scale or speed required to the people and institutions best placed to use it. And a decision-making gap: too many solutions are still designed elsewhere and imported into African contexts, rather than backing African-led platforms to scale what is already working.

Live from LCAW – Raw diplomacy: Can new mineral alliances deliver a just energy transition?

Solutions ready for finance

The solutions exist. Rwanda’s green investment fund has mobilised climate finance at national scale through its own systems. Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food and Energy programme has shown how integrated planning can stretch limited resources across interdependent systems.

Zambia’s Presidential Irrigation Initiative is building climate-resilient food production from the ground up. In Pata, Senegal, a solar irrigation project has unlocked agricultural production and created jobs, demonstrating how integrated investments in water, energy and livelihoods can deliver resilience and development gains simultaneously.

In South Africa, the African Climate Foundation’s work with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is supporting district municipalities to assess their climate risks and develop fit-for-purpose Climate Action Plans, building adaptation capacity where it is needed most – at the local level.

These are not pilot projects waiting to be validated. They are working systems waiting for investment.

Closing the gaps requires a decisive shift in posture from global finance, philanthropy and development institutions. It means backing country-led platforms that can prepare, aggregate and finance adaptation projects. It means investing in place-based initiatives grounded in local knowledge.

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It means fostering intra- and inter-continental collaboration, so that lessons from Kigali inform decisions in Nairobi and innovations in Lagos reach communities in Dakar. And it means treating adaptation as core economic infrastructure, not charitable relief.

Invest now for future gains

The economic case is clear. Every dollar invested in climate adaptation returns an estimated four dollars in benefits on average – and up to five in the poorest economies. Under-investment in African adaptation is as economically irrational as it is morally unjust.

The world depends on Africa’s food systems, its young workforce – the majority of the continent’s population is under 25 – and its minerals. Several African countries supply a substantial share of the copper, cobalt and other critical materials underpinning the global clean energy transition.

Drought in Zambia has already shown how climate stress can disrupt hydropower, electricity supply and mining output. A transition that depends on African minerals cannot afford to ignore African climate resilience.

The world can continue to under-fund adaptation and pay repeatedly for emergencies, instability and lost development. Or it can invest now in the people, institutions and systems already doing the work on the ground in Africa, not in solutions imported from elsewhere.

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Africa has the agency, the knowledge and the platforms. What it needs is the finance to match. A super El Niño will not wait for consensus to form. Neither, frankly, should we.

The post Climate adaptation in Africa needs investment, not imported solutions appeared first on Climate Home News.

CALGARY — David Pickup, director of the Pembina Institute’s Electricity program, made the following statement in response to the Government of Canada’s announcement in support of five specific intertie projects:“As we’ve seen with other discussions...

Headline News:

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Solar array (Michael Pointner, Unsplash)

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