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Visiting Florida’s beautiful beaches is an enjoyable way to spend the weekend, but for the shorebirds that nest there, these beaches are home — essential habitat where they lay their eggs and...

On a vast network of rivers flowing through the jungles of Papua New Guinea, researchers have rediscovered the spinach pipefish, a relative of the seahorse, which had not been recorded in more than 40 years. The fish has long been sought after by conservationists, who feared it had gone extinct.

Read more on E360 →

New Zealand’s parliament has adopted a controversial new law blocking a whole avenue of climate litigation and shutting down its most advanced corporate lawsuit, which has been blamed by the government for shaking business confidence and investment.

The Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill, expected to take effect in the coming days after it is formally signed by the Governor-General, prevents all current and future civil claims for climate loss or harm under tort law.

Justice minister Paul Goldsmith said last week that the aim was to give businesses “certainty around their climate change obligations”, noting it would not alter the government’s responsibilities under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 nor business obligations under the Emissions Trading Scheme.

“Our response to climate change is best managed by the Government at a national level and not through piece-meal litigation in the courts,” he added in a statement.

Such litigation, he said, “risks developing a new regime that contradicts the framework Parliament has already enacted” to tackle climate change.

• Aug 14, 2026 News South Africa’s top court blocks Shell’s offshore oil exploration right Constitutional Court rules that Shell and its partners failed to consult affected communities and did not properly consider environmental risks Read more
• May 28, 2025 News Peruvian farmer loses climate case against RWE – but paves way for future action Experts say that despite dismissing the lawsuit, the ruling sets a precedent by confirming that climate science can establish legal liability for the damage caused by emissions Read more

Goldsmith singled out a key domestic climate lawsuit brought by Northland iwi leader and activist Mike Smith against six big companies: dairy firms Fonterra and Dairy Holdings, energy firms Genesis Energy and Z Energy, New Zealand Steel and coal mining firm BT Mining. A seventh original defendant, Channel Infrastructure, was dropped after it permanently decommissioned its Marsden Point oil refinery.

Smith argued that these companies had caused him harm under public nuisance and negligence law, as well as a third breach of a duty to cease contributing to climate change that has yet to be tested domestically. He did not seek financial compensation, instead asking for the companies to immediately stop emitting or contributing to net greenhouse gas emissions.  

In one of the most advanced corporate climate accountability lawsuits in the world, a trial had been scheduled for April 2027 after the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the case to continue.

Corporate lobbying in the shadows

Smith described the passing of the bill as “deeply concerning”, particularly as it coincided with the Supreme Court hearing another of his climate lawsuits. In that case, Smith v Attorney-General, he argues that the government’s response to climate change and its impacts on Māori communities in particular breaches rights to life and culture.

“That timing raises profound questions about the separation of powers and the rule of law,” said Smith. “Whatever one’s view of the merits of these cases, it is deeply troubling when parliament intervenes to remove a legal pathway while the courts are actively considering fundamental questions about climate responsibility, rights and the crown’s obligations.”

The bill – which says that no person (including the government) can be found liable in tort for emissions-related climate change effects – followed major lobbying efforts by the companies defending themselves in Smith’s lawsuit. They outlined a proposed legal amendment in a briefing note to the government in 2024.

The centre-right government has been fiercely criticised over its lack of transparency in relation to this lobbying activity. The national ombudsman recently found that the Prime Minister’s Office effectively withheld information requested by the Environmental Law Initiative about meetings, discussions and conversations regarding Smith’s case.

Green groups fail to stop bill

The bill sparked huge concern among environmental campaigners in New Zealand and elsewhere. Greenpeace Aotearoa called it a “shocking abuse of executive power” and the vast majority of submissions to a parliamentary inquiry said it should be rejected.

But in the end, it was adopted with little resistance, moving relatively smoothly through parliament, passing its third reading by 67 votes to 53. Sam Bookman, climate law lecturer at Melbourne Law School, told Climate Home News he was not surprised by this, given that the coalition government has a secure majority.

A complaint has been made to the UN special rapporteur on climate change and human rights by Smith, the National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga and youth coalition Climate Clinic Aotearoa over what they see as the government’s heavy-handed approach. Smith is also challenging the new law in yet another lawsuit.

“Pathetic”: New Zealand plans to barely cut emissions between 2030 and 2035

Bookman thinks it “very unlikely” that such a challenge will succeed, noting that New Zealand’s constitution is firmly anchored in parliamentary sovereignty.

But the expert in climate law does not see the bill as the end of legal action in the country, noting that New Zealand has a “sophisticated climate litigation landscape with a growing number of specialist and experienced lawyers and NGOs”.

The country is also approaching its next general election in November, and some opposition parties have pledged to restore access to the courts if elected.

Amanda Larsson, global project lead on agriculture for Greenpeace International, said: “This law deserves to be tested, and I strongly encourage the international climate litigation community to unite and help defend New Zealanders’ fundamental right to hold polluters accountable before this becomes a global blueprint.”

Copycat legislation on the rise

New Zealand’s move is part of a small but growing legislative effort to shut down climate litigation around the world.

In the US, Republican politicians introduced legislation in the House and Senate in April that would shield fossil fuel firms from climate liability lawsuits. Similar laws have already been passed at state level in Tennessee, Utah, Iowa and Louisiana.

The German state of Bavaria has put forward a similar proposal to the Federal Council, aiming to block private climate claims as well as the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments imposing such liability. There are also proposals to limit available remedies and actions in the Netherlands and Belgium.

UN General Assembly backs “climate obligations” set by world’s top court

Bookman said he expects more efforts to counter climate damages litigation and advised plaintiffs to think about how to respond, including drawing on broader support in opposing them.

“Even though it’s very hard for plaintiffs to win these types of cases, companies are very eager to avoid the expense, embarrassment and political accountability that come even with unsuccessful lawsuits,” he said.

The post New Zealand moves to protect business with law curtailing climate litigation appeared first on Climate Home News.

Headline News:

• “Indonesian Police Arrest 72 People Suspected Of Starting Forest Fires” • Indonesian police arrested 72 people suspected of starting recent forest and peatland fires as blazes in central and western parts of the country triggered a harmful cloud known as a choking haze. Plantation owners and traditional farmers often start fires to clear land for farming. [ABC News]

Farmland in Sumatra (ahmad hidayat, Unsplash, cropped)

• “BYD Da Han Claims Global Flagship Status” • BYD launched the new Da Han last week as a global flagship-level sedan. This is not just an evolution of the Han and BYD brand. It challenges and, in many ways, beats top models from the global premium automakers. BYD clearly has its sights set on taking the lead from legacy flagship-level sedans. [CleanTechnica]
• “Ireland Hits Solar Record As Renewables Top 30% Of July Electricity Supply” • Ireland’s power mix reached a milestone in July, with solar delivering its strongest monthly showing yet and helping renewable sources supply over 30% of the Irish electric energy. This signals a broader shift toward cleaner power that could reduce reliance on fossil fuels. [The Cool Down]
• “Maryland Announces Major Solar Energy PPA Expected To Save $300 Million” • Maryland approved a 20-year solar PPA expected to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars while expanding use of locally generated renewable energy. Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland Department of General Services announced the agreement. [fundsforNGOs News]
• “In The American Southwest, The Water Crisis Threatens Existential Harm To Millions” • Seven US states rely on the water in the Colorado River. In 1922, those seven states agreed on how to divide up the water in the Colorado River. A lot has changed since that time, and they are drawing more water now than the river can provide. [CleanTechnica]

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

O‘ahu is building its first comprehensive plan focused on food systems. It is the local government’s first attempt at formalizing its role in identifying and addressing food and agriculture issues on the Hawaiian island.

The five-year Oʻahu Food Systems Plan—led by the City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency (CCSR)—outlines 10 broad strategies for the island’s government agencies. Following the release of the draft plan in May, CCSR received hundreds of comments during its public comment phase, ranging from calls for more accountability mechanisms to clarification on the plan’s integration of Hawaiian values. The office now works to incorporate suggestions and get a final draft adopted by the Honolulu City Council by the end of the year, according to CCSR’s Food Systems Fellow Kaitlyn Judd. 

The plan’s strategies primarily focus on reducing food insecurity, promoting food sovereignty, and ensuring the long-term resilience of Oʻahu’s natural resources and small food producers.  One of CCSR’s first priorities is the creation of a working group across numerous Oʻahu public agencies, which would help the government avoid redundant or conflicting programs as well as compile resources, knowledge, and funding.  

“A key goal is building the capacity needed to effectively coordinate and implement these actions,” Judd tells Food Tank. “The collaborative process used to develop the draft plan has already helped to establish connections between departments and provide a solid foundation for this ongoing coordination.” 

The draft plan contains around 70 actions for local government, each of which belongs to one of the 10 strategies. Many proposals build on existing government and nonprofit work to address gaps in the island’s food system. 

One action under the strategy to “enhance market opportunities and value chain coordination for local food,” for example, would expand the O‘ahu Good Food Program, which aims to support local business by making it easier for institutions to buy food from O‘ahu’s small and medium-sized producers at scale. In Hawaiʻi, where around 90 percent of food is imported, according to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, local institutional purchasing offers a unique opportunity to boost the state’s economy and build food system resilience.

Every year, food producers brace for the impacts of seasonal Kona low storms, which can cause massive structural damage and financial losses. Farmers in Hawaiʻi also pay higher labor costs than those on the U.S. mainland due to the smaller scale of their agriculture operations and struggle to compete with lower prices from producers in states like California, according to Albie Miles—a sustainable food systems professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at West O‘ahu and the Director of its Transforming Hawaiʻi’s Food System Together initiative.    

“You start to combine these things—high rates of household food insecurity, low rates of emergency and commercial food storage, critical points of vulnerability on the south shore of O‘ahu,” Miles tells Food Tank. “If any of that is disturbed as a result of a hurricane, for example, then the structural bottleneck—the port of Honolulu—is disrupted, and that interferes with our ability to import and distribute food across the entire state.”

Other non-governmental organizations, including the Hawai‘i Good Food Alliance (HGFA), are partnering directly with CCSR to carry out the plan’s action items. Around one in three households in Hawaiʻi experience food insecurity—nearly triple the national average, per the Hawaiʻi Food Bank’s most recent data. As part of its strategy on food security, CCSR is leveraging services provided by the HGFA to reduce administrative and logistical barriers that might prevent farmers markets and other food hubs from accepting federal food assistance benefits.

Another action item in the strategy details how local government will continue to explore subway stations as “visible demonstrations of sustainable food practices,” like hosting food distribution events and growing culturally significant plants. In its strategy focused on food-producing gardens, the plan also identifies public housing as a crucial site for community gardening, and suggests that Honolulu pursue public and private funding for growing spaces. Proposals like these identify elements of the built environment as potential places for food systems change.

If adopted by Honolulu City Council, the Oʻahu Food Systems Plan will likely become the island’s primary outline for addressing a range of agriculture and food issues over the next five years. Though its action items would remain as guidance, not requirements, Judd says the plan can serve as a long-term framework and path toward idea-sharing across disciplines and sectors.

“Unless there are planning processes like the Oʻahu Food Systems Plan or other state and regional food system planning initiatives to implement policy recommendations, all this research that happens in higher education just sits there and it’s never implemented into actionable strategies,” Miles says.

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

Photo courtesy of the City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency

The post O‘ahu Government Launches First Food Systems Plan appeared first on Food Tank.

Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara is the Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), an Indonesia-based economic think tank. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat is the Director of the China-Indonesia desk at CELIOS. 

Indonesia produces around 60% of the world’s nickel, a metal used to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) – more than any other country in the world. But in 2026, the government sharply reduced how much of its nickel can be extracted from the ground. 

Production quotas were reduced by around 40% this year compared to 2025. Weda Bay, the largest nickel mine on Earth, had its allowance cut by more than 70% and exhausted its full-year quota by the end of May, halting mining entirely; it cannot resume large-scale extraction until next year unless regulators grant an extension.

The policy has sparked a vivid debate in Indonesian policy circles: how can the country shift its strategy from a decade of mining vast quantities of cheap nickel to producing a high-value and low-carbon material that the rest of the world wants for EV batteries.

The cuts aren’t a silver bullet to clean up Indonesia’s nickel industry, whose smelters are powered by coal – the most polluting fossil fuels. But alongside stricter enforcement of environmental rules, it is one side of efforts to produce more sustainable nickel for a premium.

Restricting Indonesia’s nickel output

Production quotas were introduced to stop the collapse of nickel prices because of oversupply in the market. Prices had fallen more than 40% in 2023 alone and kept sliding as Indonesian supply kept growing, hitting a four-year low of around $13,900 a ton in late 2025.

Critics called the recent tightening of production quotas proof that Indonesia’s nickel strategy has failed, arguing that the industry shouldn’t need to throttle its own output to survive. But when assessed against what the policy was supposed to do – push up nickel prices – it has worked. Prices jumped to $20,000 a ton in May, the highest since 2024.

• Aug 20, 2026 Clean Energy Frontier China keeps Indonesia’s battery dream afloat but future less certain Chinese capital and technology turned Indonesia into the world’s top nickel supplier, but its dependence on China and the rise of nickel-free batteries could upset its battery ecosystem plans Read more
• Nov 4, 2025 Energy Big banks’ lending to coal backers undermines Indonesia’s green plans  Foreign banks involved in Indonesia’s $20-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership have also funded companies working on coal power expansion, a TBIJ and Climate Home News investigation reveals Read more
• Aug 5, 2026 Clean Energy Frontier Southeast Asia’s fragile grids threaten billions in clean energy investment Renewables developers need reliable electricity infrastructure and stable policies to help the region meet climate goals and surging demand for power Read more

Chinese industry groups representing companies that have invested billions to mine and refine the country’s nickel were furious, warning Indonesia’s president Prabowo Subianto that the cuts put $50 billion worth of investment at risk. But much of that Chinese capital is sunk into smelters and processing plants built specifically to run on Indonesian ore, and cannot simply be moved elsewhere. That gives Jakarta more room to hold its ground than the warning suggests.

Stronger environmental enforcement

Since the start of the year, Indonesia’s forestry task force has seized more than four million hectares of land from mines and plantations operating illegally in protected forests, collecting over two trillion rupiah ($113 million) in fines.

This included 148 hectares seized from Weda Bay for lacking a forestry permit. The share of nickel produced from illegal small-scale mining also fell from about a quarter in 2022 to roughly 10% by 2024.

The crackdown responds to serious environmental damages in the nickel industry. On Obi Island, a waste pond collapsed after heavy rain in June 2025, flooding three villages and killing a resident. Internal company tests found chromium-6 – a carcinogen – in the water, in quantities far above the legal limit. The footprint of another mine near Raja Ampat, which is home to some of the world’s richest coral reefs, grew 60-fold in just eight years.

The fishing villages of Tapunggaya in Sulawesi, Indonesia, are squeezed between the sea and an expanding nickel mine (Photo by Garry Lotulung/NurPhoto)

The market is responding to early cleanup efforts. Low-carbon nickel now sells for a real premium, roughly $18,800 to $19,300 a ton compared with $17,900 to $18,300 otherwise, as carmakers seek to source cleaner materials to comply with the European Union’s new emissions rules for imports.

In turn, this is incentivising the industry to do more to green its operations. Vale Indonesia’s smelter in South Sulawesi now runs almost entirely on hydropower, for example.

None of this addresses coal use, however. Major Indonesian nickel producers still emitted an estimated 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023. Indonesia may be cracking down on illegal mining and rewarding cleaner producers but it is still running its mines on the dirtiest fuel available.

Unequal benefits

For Indonesia to truly benefit from producing cleaner and high-value nickel, it needs to reap the economic benefits too. Although the industry has boosted the country’s economic growth, the reality on the ground tells a different story.  

Konawe in Southeast Sulawesi is home to a major smelting complex. Growth in the district jumped from 6% to 22% between 2015 and 2023, driven almost entirely by the nickel industry, according to a study by the Lowy Institute study. At the same time, poverty levels increased slightly and unemployment remained unchanged.

• Dec 9, 2024 Justice Nickel mining for electric vehicles is destroying lives in Indonesia Indonesia’s abundant nickel reserves are crucial for a low carbon world. But extracting them is ruining local peoples’ lives and causing rampant deforestation Read more
• Feb 9, 2024 Clean Energy Frontier Indonesia turns traditional Indigenous land into nickel industrial zone Indonesia supplies the EV industry with critical battery materials but the sector’s rapid expansion is infringing the rights of Indigenous peoples Read more
• Jun 3, 2026 Comment Indonesia’s failing Just Energy Transition Partnership is a cautionary tale The government has abandoned its plan to shut down a major coal plant, which was a key part of the deal, raising doubts about the donor-backed approach Read more

In Halmahera, another epicentre of the nickel industry, spending by the poorest fifth grew just 5% between 2019 and 2022, compared with 28% for the wealthiest fifth, according to a separate study.

Part of the reason for this inequality is the system for transferring mining royalties to district authorities where the mines are located. In theory, they are entitled to the largest share. But in practice, payments are delayed, companies routinely dispute what they owe and royalties are pooled and distributed across a larger area.

The Natural Resource Governance Institute has found that decentralisation handed local governments power to approve new mines faster than they could build their capacity to manage them. Higher output raises national income on paper, but local governments remain constrained by fiscal rules and infrastructure costs that scale with mining.

None of this makes the 2026 quota cuts a mistake. Indonesia has every right to defend its pricing power over a resource it controls. But limiting extraction isn’t going to fix underlying issues around environmental enforcement and revenue-sharing. That requires rules that are consistently enforced, royalties that reach communities living by the mines, and a plan to wean smelters off coal.

The post Indonesia’s nickel production cuts are not enough to create a sustainable industry  appeared first on Climate Home News.

Across Ontario, thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families are waiting for services they need to live safely and participate...

The post When the waitlist becomes the crisis first appeared on Spring.

Dear friends,

The 2026 legislative session comes to an end on August 31, and we need your help.

Right now, we are urging legislators to ensure that harmful trailer legislation, such as the California Forever Trailer Bill targeting Solano County, does not move forward, while supporting inclusive and equitable legislation like AB 2218, the Indigenous Water Rights Bill.

Keep reading to learn how you can take action and advocate for the ecosystems and communities we all depend on.

Oppose the California Forever Trailer Bill

California Forever, a proposed development project in Solano County that would have devastating impacts on the Delta, is once again trying to circumvent legislative processes to gain preferential treatment. Similar to our Delta Tunnel Trailer Bill fight last year, California Forever proposes sweeping exemptions from environmental review to move parts of its project forward. 

The exact language of the legislation has not been publicly released, but we have good confirmation that the legislation will: 

• Eliminate environmental review for a large new industrial site in Collinsville for shipbuilding and other undisclosed industrial uses.
• Override the vote of the people of Solano County who have, since 1984, preserved the right to weigh in on land use changes through the Orderly Growth Initiative.

On Tuesday, August 25, the Solano County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether they support or oppose this legislation as it moves through the final week of the State Legislature. 

We need them to say NO.

This will send a sign to Sacramento lawmakers that local decision-makers and residents are against this last-minute legislation.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:
 

1. Attend the upcoming Solano County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, August 25 to tell our Supervisors not to support legislation. We recommend arriving at 1:00 PM to fill out your comment card prior to the start of the Board Meeting. 

• When: Tuesday, August 25 at 2:00 PM
• Where: 675 Texas St, 1st Floor, Board Chambers, Fairfield, CA 94533
• What: Item 29 of the Agenda, proposing Trailer Bill language to fast-track elements of the CA Forever Project

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

3. Call Sen. Cabaldon and Asm. Wilson and tell them: 

• You oppose any attempts to streamline the controversial California Forever Project, which would have a 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

Support AB 2218

On February 19, 2026, Assemblymember Kalra introduced AB 2218, the Indigenous Water Rights Bill sponsored by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Karuk Tribe. 

AB 2218 would establish a clear statewide policy directive acknowledging and seeking to remedy the inequities inflicted upon Tribes in California through historical state-sanctioned acts of termination, removal, and forced assimilation.

The bill directs relevant state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Board, to incorporate this policy into water rights decisions, regulatory actions, permitting, and grantmaking to address identified inequities. Recognizing historic harms and directing state agencies to center Tribal equity in water policy is not simply a symbolic act; it is a pathway toward stronger relationships, more inclusive decision-making, and better outcomes for the ecosystems we all depend on.

We need your help! AB 2218 will soon be heard on the Senate floor and we need your help getting it past the finish line.

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:
 

1. Call your Senator urging them to support AB 2218. You can find your representative here.

Please call your Senator and tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to support AB 2218 when it comes before the Senate floor.
• AB 2218 supports the State’s progress towards equitable water management.
• AB 2218 is an important step toward addressing inequities affecting California Native American Tribes in state water policy and ensuring Tribal interests are meaningfully considered in decisions affecting water.

CLICK TO FIND AND CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES 

2. Alternatively, you can also write to your Senator, asking for their support on AB 2218. 

• Click this link to send a pre-written letter urging your Senator to support AB 2218.

Saskatchewan, much like the rest of Canada, is confronting important questions about how it will expand and strengthen its electricity system. With some of the best wind and solar resources in Canada, the province is uniquely positioned to meet this...

Utility portals are framed as customer experience tools, but they also improve how frontline work is done.

Luther “Sunny” Miller is nearly 80, but in his younger days, he worked at Aerojet, a rocket and missile manufacturer located quite literally in his backyard. He can’t prove it, but he worries that his thyroid and bladder problems, and his wife’s kidney disease, can be traced to the plant.

Last year, national nuclear supplier BWX Technologies purchased the factory in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and announced plans for a significant expansion. The new facility will convert depleted uranium oxide supplied by the Department of Energy into high-purity depleted uranium. The 10-year, $1.6-billion contract will supply the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with the material needed to maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Despite the company’s promise to bring 175 permanent jobs to the area, Miller and many neighbors were left irate. 

“They’re going to turn over the most beautiful parts of Tennessee into a nuclear waste area,” Miller said. 

But for others, the promise of jobs is what makes a nuclear “renaissance” centered around the nearby city of Oak Ridge in East Tennessee so promising. BWXT’s planned buildout is part of what state officials hope will be an economic revival driven by a renewal of the Manhattan Project’s legacy. Billions of dollars are already flowing into a region whose experience and expertise in nuclear energy and weapons development make it especially attractive to the industry. 

Now Tennessee is among five finalists for a Department of Energy “nuclear lifecycle innovation campus” that could make it the centerpiece of a federal plan to finally deal with what’s left behind after splitting atoms to generate electricity. But the history that makes the Volunteer State so attractive a contender is marked by contamination, illnesses, and accidents, leaving some wary of what a renaissance might bring.

Nuclear waste is a logistical and public relations nightmare. Spent fuel, which remains radioactive for millennia, eventually finds its way into secure concrete containers. It remains there indefinitely because there is nowhere else to put it. The federal government has long wanted to build a permanent repository deep underground, but the only serious candidate, Yucca Mountain in Nevada, stalled amid political and public opposition. With the Trump administration hoping to quadruple nuclear energy output, solving this problem is increasingly urgent given that the nation’s 85 interim storage sites already hold more than 86,000 tons of radioactive waste, or just about enough to fill a football field nearly 10 yards deep.

The nuclear lifecycle innovation campuses are the latest attempt to address that problem. Rather than foist a site on an unwilling community, the Department of Energy invited states to volunteer as potential hosts. These industrial centers would support far more than waste storage. They would include uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication, reprocessing and recycling of spent fuel, and even energy generation. But federal officials said waste management would anchor the project. In July, Tennessee joined Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho as the five states selected to continue discussions with DOE.

Tennessee’s advantage in that competition dates back more than 80 years to the end of World War II and the dawn of the nuclear age. The federal government chose Oak Ridge, at the time a remote southern Appalachian farming community, as a key site for the Manhattan Project. The town grew to encompass an array of separate sites related to the nuclear weapons development program, including a nuclear reactor.

BWXT president of operations Ronald Daily said that the company, and others like it, is building on the region’s history of contributing to national energy security and defense. “Appalachia was key to the U.S. developing a defense power in a time frame like no other because of the industrious nature of the people of Appalachia,” he said. 

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, produces materials for nuclear weapons. Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Oak Ridge’s rural feel has given way to a concrete sprawl hosting a mismatched array of museums, highway-exit chains, and top-secret facilities. Today, the federally managed Y-12 Security Complex and the laboratory, now a federally funded research institution, remain, sitting alongside private companies of all kinds hoping to get a little shine from the area’s legion of talented engineers. All of it is dotted by verdant public lands.

For those at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this moment is a chance to leverage its expertise for the continued local and national public good.

“Part of Oak Ridge’s role is that we have expertise in all parts of that fuel cycle,” said Joe Hoagland, a physical chemist and associate laboratory director of the laboratory’s Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate. “We know how to enrich it. We know how to use it. We know how to store it. We know how to transport it, and we understand the chemistries around how to recycle it.”

For many years, Hoagland said, East Tennessee was home to a handful of legacy companies like GE and Westinghouse, which created technologies for traditional utilities. But these days, it looks a lot more like startup culture, he said, because growing demand for electricity “creates an opportunity for others to get in the energy game.” 

Hopes for local benefit are lofty. In the past 10 years, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has secured $10 billion in investment to recruit new companies and bring the region 3,000 new jobs, said the agency’s nuclear advisor, Braden Stover. They include companies like BWXT, Orano, and Centrus, which are involved in various aspects of the processes that enrich uranium.  

Officials said this growing sector could bring tens of thousands of jobs in everything from construction and manufacturing to engineering and research. They also envision an educational pipeline that prepares local residents for many of those positions. “The second graders of today are going to be the ones that actually are coming in to work at these facilities,” Stover said. “We need to get to them and just let them know, Hey, here is what is coming.”

BWX Technologies has announced plans to open a high-purity depleted uranium processing plant in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Jesse Barber / Grist

But the region’s long industrial and nuclear history has left another legacy, and opposition to the coming nuclear revival is rooted in memories of the harm already done to the people and the landscape of East Tennessee. 

For some, that harm started with the eviction of 3,000 farmers to make way for the Manhattan Project. Wariness has only grown in the years since as the risks of living alongside the facility and those that support it emerged.

Past studies have linked patterns of neurological conditions, cancers, and fatal respiratory ailments to workplace exposures at the now-shuttered K-25 plant that enriched uranium from 1943 until 1985. The federal government continues cleaning up contamination left by decades of nuclear weapons production in Oak Ridge. Nuclear Fuel Services, a uranium processing plant in Erwin and subsidiary of BWXT, has a record of leaks, potentially toxic dust, and groundwater contamination.  

The mistrust also arises from incidents beyond the nuclear industry. In 2008, 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash spilled at the Kingston Fossil Plant, originally built to power the Oak Ridge war complex. Coal ash cleanup workers were not informed of the hazards they faced or provided with protective equipment. Over the past decade, many workers exposed to the toxic waste have fallen ill, and some have died of rare cancers.

Those histories have contributed to skepticism and fear as the Trump administration has streamlined and overhauled radioactive waste storage and siting requirements. Valerie Thomas, who studies nuclear engineering and environmental impacts at the Georgia Institute of Technology, called those changes concerning.

“There are two reasons we want nuclear regulations to be very strong. One is, no, you don’t want to have errors,” Thomas said. “The second is if people think the regulations aren’t very strong, they’re not going to want nuclear power and nuclear facilities.”

That distrust has already shaped fights over the nuclear industry’s expansion in East Tennessee. In early March, hundreds of residents in Claiborne County packed a town hall to oppose a proposed nuclear graphite facility. Their efforts stopped the proposal in its tracks.

This history wasn’t far from the minds of many in Jonesborough, where residents expressed concerns about waste storage and uranium dust. Many filled local county commission meetings to oppose BWXT’s proposal and fought zoning rules that would clear its path. BWXT responded to community questions about the plant’s waste storage plans, but the answers weren’t satisfactory for many local residents. A late March meeting at the Washington County courthouse left many residents angry and hurt. Will Manning, a 42-year-old knifemaker and father, had spent the winter knocking on doors in Jonesborough, urging neighbors to turn out to oppose final zoning approval for the facility. Ultimately, however, the measure passed, clearing a path for the plant. 

Some residents of Jonesborough, Tennessee, are wary of nuclear and defense industries and oppose efforts to lure them to East Tennessee. Jesse Barber / Grist

“I honestly don’t know what was more disgusting, disappointing, depressing: the outcome of the vote or the dog-and pony show they put on and blatant disregard for the strong voice of this community,”  Manning later told Grist. 

Jonesborough residents remain active in a Facebook group created to organize opposition to BWXT, monitoring any news about the nuclear industry’s moves in Tennessee. Some participants have followed local elections closely, vowing to vote out officials who supported the zoning change.

As for the DOE’s nuclear lifecycle innovation campus, most of it would likely be located in Oak Ridge, but waste disposal might happen elsewhere, and that location remains undecided. Federal officials familiar with the process told Grist the selection process will include extensive discussions with the communities that might be considered, although they did not say what those conversations might look like. They also said any waste storage decisions would be preceded by years of environmental analysis to rule out locations with fatal flaws like streams, aquifers, or geologic instability. The initial Tennessee project application sought letters of support from officials in adjoining counties, and suggests that campus funding could support infrastructural improvements locally.

Sunny Miller concedes East Tennessee needs the jobs a nuclear revival would bring. Many residents are poor, he said, and employers would offer good pay. What troubles him is being asked to weigh those benefits against risks he doesn’t feel he fully understands.

“You can’t live on car washes and chicken places alone, that’s a real feeling,” Miller said. “But let me make this decision based on facts.” 

This piece has been updated to clarify the role and origin of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 Security Complex.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Tennessee helped usher in the nuclear age. It wants to lead the way again. on Aug 24, 2026.

Cattle are a central part of the identity of Andrew Msami’s Maasai community in northeast Tanzania. Herd size determines social position, and many people keep all their wealth in livestock, not banks. But in recent years, Msami and others have been forced to sell the animals and buy goats, which can handle drought better but are less financially and culturally valuable. Msami says adapting to a shifting climate has been a part of Maasai life for generations, but recent conditions represent an existential threat.

“We have to adapt because it’s like desertification is attacking our identity,” Msami told Grist. “If you lose your identity, it means you have lost everything.”

The Maasai are pastoralists, a term that describes the roughly 500 million people around the world who tend herds of livestock like cattle, goats, and sheep. They often move with the animals as they seek grass and water. Because they live and work in places with arid conditions and extreme temperatures, they are particularly vulnerable to climate change. 

Around the world, drought and land degradation threaten rangelands, which make up roughly half of the planet’s landmass, and the pastoralists from Tanzania and Sudan to Nepal and Mongolia that rely on them. Desertification is occurring at 30 to 35 times the historical average, threatening even the most resilient communities. That’s on top of an influx of invasive species, extractive industries, tourists, and other threats. 

To address these overlapping crises, Msami and hundreds of other pastoralists are in Mongolia this week for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD. They are calling for stronger protections for Indigenous pastoral traditions, greater access to funding and resources to combat the crisis, and official recognition that the experience of generations living on increasingly marginal lands offers lessons for adapting to a hotter, drier world.

“We want to give the world a message that it’s not only the land that you will have to really look at,” said Msami, who is the program lead for the Pastoralists Indigenous Non-Governmental Organizations Forum, or PINGOs Forum, which is a network representing over 50 pastoralist organizations in Tanzania. “But you look at the people in that land, and maybe their lives should not be disturbed or sacrificed for the development of the world.” 

That message must first overcome a global environmental movement that has not always prioritized rangelands and the peoples who steward them. 

In 1992, world leaders gathered at the historic United Nations Earth Summit in Brazil, where they identified three great environmental challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification. Global conferences were established for each, creating a forum where the world would develop plans to tackle them. In the decades since, trillions of dollars have flowed toward the first two, while desertification has largely been relegated to a problem for the developing world to address.

“But now the history is catching them because when you look at Spain, France, even Sweden, all those countries, they have a bigger drought ever since the last two years,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, who is Mbororo from Chad and the first chair of the Indigenous peoples caucus at UNCCD. “So it is becoming a developed countries issue, and now they start paying more attention, but still it does not get the same attention on the level of political will or finance.”

Although this is the 17th meeting of the convention, Ibrahim described this year’s event as “unique, historic, and particular.” That is because it is the first with a formal caucus specifically for Indigenous peoples, something not found at the climate and biodiversity conferences. Because of that, Ibrahim and others consider this gathering a unique opportunity for Indigenous pastoralists to advocate for their rights and advance their goals on the international stage. 

Read Next Indigenous cultural practices are a climate solution, report finds Joseph Lee

The gathering also comes during the United Nations’ International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, which Ibrahim said has had a positive impact on raising awareness of the challenges communities like his face and the contributions they are making to climate resilience.

Despite those signs of progress, attendees in Mongolia said that the Indigenous caucus has faced resistance. In the first week of the conference, Ibrahim led a protest to demand full participation for the caucus and for its official functions to be established.

As the world increasingly works to address drought, Ibrahim and others are concerned that, after decades of being overlooked, a global focus could sideline them even further. About a third of Mongolia’s population practice pastoral lifestyles, for example, but often have no role in global climate discussions.

Some countries have responded to drought and land degradation by restricting pastoralist herd sizes and restricting movement. That comes despite scientific evidence that pastoralism boosts biodiversity and supports climate resilient landscapes, among other benefits. 

But Ibrahim said that the rate of desertification has accelerated beyond the point where traditional knowledge alone is enough. She said that in Chad the desert is advancing 2 kilometers, or 1.2 miles, each year. “We have the land degradation very, very fast, and of course we use our knowledge to try to restore the land,” she said. “We try to fix it, but it is still there.” 

That’s why a call for greater legal protections and resources for their livelihoods is central to this year’s conference. “Securing land and mobility rights is not separate from climate adaptation,” said Solange Bandiaky-Badji, who is coordinator and president of the Rights and Resources Initiative, a global coalition of over 200 organizations focused on land rights. “It is a fundamental part of building resilience.”

Bandiaky-Badji said the rest of the world should learn about climate adaptation and resilience from pastoralists. But, she said, none of their expertise and experiences matter unless countries protect rights to land and mobility. The right to free, prior, and informed consent, which requires that Indigenous peoples have a say in what occurs on their lands and in their waters, is one that Bandiaky-Badji said needs greater enforcement. Because pastoralists are mobile, their land rights are not always recognized, and pastoralist leaders often do not receive an invitation to negotiate agreements and solutions.

Both Ibrahim and Bandiaky-Badji said global climate change and biodiversity conferences should follow the UNCCD’s focus on active inclusion of Indigenous voices. 

But beyond that, Bandiaky-Badji said desertification and rangelands can no longer be treated as secondary issues. “There is a link between climate resilience, protecting biodiversity, and restoring landscapes,” she said. “They’re all interrelated. And until we start seeing them as interrelated, we might have these different COPs, but it will not really solve the systemic problem that we have been dealing with. And the climate crisis is a systemic problem that we need to deal with.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Living with drought has taught pastoralists lessons the world needs on Aug 24, 2026.

Unprecedented. Record-breaking. Baffling. Experts are running out of ways to describe this year’s tornado season in the Midwest, which has unleashed more twisters on Illinois than any other place on Earth. 

So far, 207 cyclones and counting have touched down in the Prairie State, some of which have flipped homes, toppled power lines, and even torn through solar arrays. That figure may rise as officials continue working through the remaining post-storm assessments, according to the National Weather Service. The season has yet to wrap, but it has already handily topped the previous record of 142 funnel clouds set just two years ago, according to Trent Ford, the Illinois state climatologist. This is the third year in a row that Illinois has experienced a triple-digit tornado season; the state’s historical average is closer to 50. 

“It’s just anything beyond what we would expect,” Ford said. 

The dramatic surge in Illinois and throughout the Corn Belt contrasts with a decreasing trend of twisters in the Great Plains, the region traditionally billed as Tornado Alley. Experts are still working through the data, trying to understand whether it has been inching eastward, and if so whether climate change has anything to do with it. 

Regardless of the answer to that question, Illinois is today the epicenter of tornadoes in the U.S. A recent analysis by Steve Nesbitt, a meteorologist and professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, found that the region is getting a historic hammering. Illinois and Indiana have already recorded the highest level of tornado activity since the National Weather Service started keeping track in 1950. He added that nearby states including Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, and Ohio are in the top 10. A pair of tornadoes even touched down in New York City and Long Island. 

That said, overall it has been a slow year. “It has been below average nationally, with the southern Plains and Southeast less active than normal,” Nesbit said.

Even with the unusual flurry of tornadoes, the Land of Lincoln remains well short of the all-time record. That belongs to Texas, which experienced 255 in 2015. Some experts argue it’s not a fair comparison because Texas is about 4.7 times larger than Illinois. However, Nesbit said that in terms of tornado density, or concentration of tornadoes touching down in 80-kilometer (50 mile) squares, Illinois is on top. He added that as of mid-August no region of the country has had a higher reported density of tornadoes than parts of central Illinois. 

Tornadoes are the result of atmospheric contrasts and chaos. They develop when moist air near the ground lies beneath drier, hotter air aloft, creating a sandwich of sorts. In this unstable atmosphere, differences in wind speed and direction at different heights create rotation and thunderclouds. “So just a difference between air masses,” said Shel Winkley, chief meteorologist at the research group Climate Central. “That’s also going to provide some spin in the atmosphere.” 

Scientists measure this as “convective available potential energy,” or CAPE, which describes the available fuel for thunderstorm development. Look inside these towering thunderclouds and you’ll find warm air rising but cool air falling, which creates spinning currents that can spawn a tornado. One trend scientists can parse, Winkley said, is the increase in the number of potential thunderstorm days. “That doesn’t necessarily mean a tornado will form,” Winkley added, “but we have these higher values of CAPE over the East and the Southeast during the spring than we used to have.”

The other component is that moisture. An abundantly clear climate signal is playing out in the Gulf of Mexico, which has been exceptionally warm of late. Since humans began pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the oceans have absorbed more than 90 percent of the additional heat. The hotter the Gulf gets, the more moisture it can pump into the atmosphere, and the more fuel it can provide for thunderstorms and tornadoes. (This is also how climate change is supercharging hurricanes, as those storms also love moisture.)

Even given all that, it doesn’t seem that climate change is in and of itself resulting in more tornadoes. However, on the days when we get the biggest tornado outbreaks, more twisters are touching down, Winkley said. Tornado Alley also seems to be shifting east, putting new communities in danger.  “At least the science that we have right now, we don’t see a connection between more tornadoes occurring because of climate change,” Winkley said. “It’s more about where they’re occurring, when they’re occurring, and then again the number that they’re happening on specific days versus others.”

Another wrinkle: It has never been easier to spot a tornado. 

“Our radar data has increased in resolution multiple times over compared to even when I started at this office 20 years ago,” said Ginno Izzi, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service office covering Chicago. He adds that advancement in radar resolution, satellite data, and remote sensing has made it possible to count smaller tornadoes that might not have been previously detected. 

If that seems unsatisfyingly inconclusive, it’s not for lack of trying. Tornadoes are hyperlocal weather events, so they’re difficult to simulate in climate models. Massive hurricanes, on the other hand, are easier to model. So scientists are still working to figure out how much the change in tornado activity is due to natural variability — what you’d expect if humans hadn’t warmed the planet — versus what’s the consequence of runaway greenhouse gas emissions. “That’s still one of those things that we just need faster computers and stronger computers in order to be able to do that sort of modeling with it,” Winkley said, “and we’re just not quite there yet.”

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 Even meteorologists are baffled by the Midwestern tornado season on Aug 24, 2026.

This is a guest post by Camilo Sánchez, a communications strategist working for Greenpeace International.

We are living through a cost of living crisis that is being treated as if it were a mysterious, purely “economic” event, when in reality it has a clear, combustible cause: our dependence on coal, oil and gas. Across the United States, Europe and far beyond, the main driver of recent price surges has not been wages or “too much money” in the system, but repeated fossil fuel shocks feeding into everything from electricity bills to food prices. When we talk about inflation today, in many countries we are mostly talking about fossilflation, a price spiral rooted in the fossil fuel system itself.

War, chokepoints and the human cost of fossilflation

The US‑Israeli war on Iran is first and foremost a human catastrophe, with thousands of lives lost, families displaced and communities facing bombing, blackouts and water cuts across Iran and the wider Middle East. Those impacts are compounded by the environmental devastation of burning refineries, major oil spills, leaking pipelines and militarised shipping lanes, whose toxic fallout will last far beyond the nightly news cycle. At the same time, the decision to wage war in a region that carried a substantial share of the world’s oil and LNG has triggered what the International Energy Agency calls the worst energy crisis since the 1970s, sending fuel, food and transport prices soaring.

The closure and repeated disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, which controls around a fifth of global oil and gas shipping, has shown again how easily a single chokepoint can turn into a global economic weapon. Another fossil fuel chokepoint, the Bab al‑Mandeb strait, has become a flashpoint in a connected war over Red Sea shipping and Yemen, against the backdrop of the same energy shock. This strategically located transit route has enabled Saudi Arabia to boost its oil revenue during the crisis, even as missile threats and blockade politics deepen a humanitarian emergency and ripple into higher bills far from the frontline. As long as our energy system relies on oil and gas flowing through war‑prone chokepoints, war anywhere becomes a crisis everywhere.

The US‑Israeli war on Iran is not an isolated episode. Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, earlier energy crises and repeated OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) supply squeezes have all followed a familiar pattern, fossil fuel prices surge, inflation jumps, whiteland households are left to absorb the shock through higher bills. Each time, governments and central banks talk about “temporary energy noise”, but the reality is that every fossil shock leaves a permanent mark on the price level, pushing people deeper into hardship even after headline inflation starts to fall again.

Governments are bailing out fossil fuels, not people

August 06 2023, Canada, Alberta. Tar Sand Processing in Alberta near Fort McMurray. © Markus Mauthe / Greenpeace

Since fossilflation is driven by oil and gas, governments must cut down their countries’ dependence on fossil fuels as a response to energy shocks. But this is not what we are seeing. An analysis of seven EU countries’ responses to the US‑Israeli war on Iran shows that most emergency packages have been designed to protect fossil fuel consumption rather than to cut dependence on it. Across Europe, roughly 86% of crisis spending by governments is encouraging more fossil fuel use through fuel tax cuts, broad VAT reductions on energy (cutting sales tax on everyone’s gas and electricity bills) and untargeted subsidies (direct payments or price supports for fossil fuel costs for all consumers rather than prioritising support for the most vulnerable households. 

Spain, Germany, and Ireland have spent the most on broad fossil fuel bailouts by cutting fuel taxes across the board. This brings prices down for now, but keeps these countries hooked on imported oil and gas.

The Spanish government’s energy relief €5 billion package is a mixed bag: it includes protection for people against rising energy costs and measures towards shifting to renewables but also a massive tax break for heavy industry, making it one of Europe’s strongest renewable energy commitments and one of its biggest fossil fuel lock-ins, at the same time.

Despite its bold climate rhetoric, Germany’s actual response to the energy price shock has been almost entirely fuel tax cuts and price caps, nothing that meaningfully reduces its fossil fuel dependence.

The Netherlands and Sweden have done better, putting more money into things like energy-efficient homes, heat pump incentives, and cheaper public transport. But even they still spend heavily on fossil fuel subsidies.

Overall, none of these seven EU countries has a plan that actually ends fossil fuel dependence, all are allocating more to fossil fuel bailouts than to structural solutions.

Such measures make fossil fuels cheaper to keep using, rather than helping people use less of them which is not only inconsistent with climate goals, it also deepens inequality. Broad tax cuts and general fuel untargeted subsidies tend to benefit higher‑income households and sectors with high fossil consumption, while leaving the poorest communities with only partial relief and no long‑term protection. Only a small share of the government spending is going towards reducing fossil fuel for good, or speeding up the transition to renewables.

Instead of using limited  public budgets to insulate buildings, expand clean public transport, support agroecology and tax windfall fossil profits, many governments are effectively writing cheques to the fossil fuel industry, hoping that temporary discounts will buy social peace.

Fossilflation, inequality and peace

Fossilflation is not just a technical issue for central bankers, it is a justice and peace issue. Every time oil and gas prices surge, it is ordinary households, especially in low‑income communities on the frontlines of climate impacts, that pay the price through rising bills and reduced public services. In the first 50 days of the US‑Israeli war on Iran, an estimated 150 billion dollars moved from households to oil and gas companies through higher energy prices alone, while governments worldwide are on track to spend around 1.1 trillion US dollars propping up the fossil fuel industry in 2026.

Meanwhile, the social and environmental costs of fossilflation are enormous too. Air pollution from burning coal, oil and gas is linked to roughly 8.7 million premature deaths a year worldwide, and climate‑driven disasters such as floods and heatwaves add hundreds of millions of euros to energy bills in countries like France and Germany on top of lives lost. When governments choose to preserve fossil fuel profits and military alliances over people’s wellbeing, they are effectively trading peace and stability for an economy built on volatile, violent energy sources.

May 01 2002, Germany, Ingolstadt. Esso Refinery. © Jens Küsters / Greenpeace

Dependence on fossil fuel chokepoints such as Hormuz and Bab al‑Mandeb also undermines peace directly. It gives armed actors leverage over global energy prices, incentivises military protection of shipping lanes, and turns entire regions into geopolitical battlegrounds where civilians pay in parts: first through war and destruction, then through the economic fallout and ultimately, through more extreme weather. Breaking this dependence is therefore imperative not only to the climate imperative but also to peace.

The way out: decentralised renewables and a fair response to fossilflation

August 16 2023, Indonesia, Jakarta. Electric Bus in Jakarta.© Jurnasyanto Sukarno / Greenpeace

The evidence from the US, Europe and conflict zones points to a clear conclusion: tackling fossilflation means ending our dependence on oil and gas. There is no shortage of sunlight or wind threatening our energy security, what keeps our societies vulnerable is the decision to stick with fuels whose price and supply can be disrupted at any moment by Trump’s mood, a pipeline explosion or a war.

A coherent response needs four pillars.

• Decentralised, price‑stable renewables. Wind and solar have become the cheapest forms of new electricity generation in history, with solar costs falling by around 87% and battery storage by more than 90% since 2010, and they do not depend on shipping through war‑prone chokepoints. Scaling up local energy communities, rooftop solar, heat pumps, smart grids and green storage can turn households and communities from passive bill‑payers into active participants in a resilient energy system.
• Demand reduction and fair transport. Instead of subsidising fossil fuels for private cars, governments can introduce affordable climate tickets for public transport, strengthen rail networks and night trains, and support remote working and speed limits to cut oil demand. Fair transport policies reduce emissions and shield people from future oil price spikes.

June 10 2015, Japan, Kanagawa-ken. Neighbors Visiting at Farmer’s Market in Japan © Kayo Sawaguchi / Greenpeace

• Resilient food system. Large‑scale renovation of homes, phasing out gas from buildings, and investing in agroecology to break dependence on fossil‑based fertilisers can turn cities and rural areas into climate‑resilient spaces, while making heating and food more affordable in the long run.
• Tax justice and ending fossil fuel bailouts. Ending fossil fuel subsidies and broad tax cuts, introducing permanent taxes on super‑profits and on the ultra‑rich, and banning fossil fuel advertising can help fund solutions that can actually protect people from energy shocks while accelerating the transition.

February 24 2025, Germany, Nauen. Wind Farm. © Paul Langrock / Greenpeace

Breaking free from fossil fuels is not just climate policy, it is an anti-inflation policy, social policy and peace policy. As long as we remain locked into oil and gas, we will remain trapped in repeated cycles of fossilflation, war‑fuelled price shocks and widening inequality. Shifting to renewables, efficiency, fair taxation and justice‑based solutions, is both the opportunity and the precondition for real energy independence, economic stability and lasting peace.

What can you do?

For us to fully tackle this situation, we have to look at both its causes and its solutions. You can start by calling it the right way: fossilflation, so that we put the light on the oil and gas addiction that is causing this crisis in the first place.

Together with that, you can also demand your government to tax those fossil fuel polluters that are reaping astronomical profits from the war. That money would fund the policies and measures that are needed to protect you and your community in this and the next crises, as well as to finance the shift towards the clean, stable and renewable energies that we so urgently need.

The post When oil sets the price appeared first on 350.

New accounts show the oil and gas industry trying to weaken methane reporting while saving the federal emissions system it relies on.

Everyone is now on board with the theory of multipolarity. But now that it’s mainstream that unipolarity is dead, it’s time to ask: is the world actually becoming multipolar?

In an old cottonwood tree in Arizona, a small group of Americans are doing what lawsuits and letters couldn't.

Baby gear takes over the living room, outgrown bikes pile up in the garage, and toy boxes multiply faster than anyone can keep track of. Families expanding in size rarely expand in square footage at the same rate, and the gap between the two shows up in every overstuffed closet. Renting storage spaces in Dubai gives busy households a practical way to reclaim their rooms without giving up items they still need.

Make room for daily life

Growing families often collect belongings quickly. Baby equipment, school projects, toys, bicycles, furniture, and holiday decorations can quickly fill closets and spare rooms. Storage spaces give these items a separate location, leaving bedrooms, hallways, and living areas open for everyday activities. Parents also gain clearer rooms by moving rarely used belongings away from busy areas. Kids get more floor space for play, while adults gain easier access to household essentials.

Store seasonal belongings

Seasonal items take up valuable space during months when families don’t use them. Winter coats, holiday decorations, camping equipment, fans, and outdoor furniture can sit untouched for long periods. A storage unit gives these belongings a dedicated spot until the next season arrives. Families free up closets and garages while keeping seasonal goods protected and organized.

Keep children’s items organized

Children grow quickly, and their belongings change with each stage. Clothes, toys, books, school supplies, and sports equipment may no longer suit their current age but still hold future value. Families can sort these items into labeled boxes and place them in storage. Parents can group clothing by size, separate toys by type, and keep school materials together. This simple system makes future access easier and reduces clutter inside the home.

Support home changes

Growing families may rearrange rooms as children get older. A nursery may become a study area, while a playroom may become a bedroom. Furniture and household goods can temporarily move into storage during these changes. This extra space gives families greater freedom during home updates. Parents can clear rooms before moving furniture, painting walls, or setting up new areas for children.

Build better household habits

Storage works best when families use a simple organization system. Clear labels, sturdy boxes, and grouped belongings help everyone locate items quickly. Parents can also keep an inventory of stored goods and review it from time to time. As children grow and family routines change, extra storage gives households a practical place for belongings that still serve a purpose.

Texas Poker, yang lebih dikenal sebagai Texas Hold’em, merupakan salah satu varian poker yang menarik karena kemenangan tidak hanya ditentukan oleh kartu yang diterima. Permainan ini juga menuntut kemampuan memahami situasi, memperkirakan kemungkinan, serta mengambil keputusan berdasarkan informasi yang tersedia. Di sinilah seni membaca kondisi meja menjadi bagian penting dari pengalaman bermain.

Bagi pemain pemula, poker sering terlihat seperti permainan yang sepenuhnya bergantung pada keberuntungan. Padahal, setiap putaran memberikan sejumlah informasi yang dapat dianalisis. Posisi pemain, jumlah lawan yang masih bertahan, pola taruhan, hingga kartu yang terbuka di meja dapat memengaruhi keputusan berikutnya. Pemahaman terhadap faktor-faktor tersebut membantu pemain melihat permainan secara lebih objektif, bukan sekadar menunggu kombinasi kartu yang bagus.

Memahami Informasi dari Setiap Putaran

Dalam Texas Hold’em, setiap pemain menerima dua kartu pribadi, sementara kartu komunitas muncul secara bertahap. Struktur tersebut menciptakan ruang untuk mengambil keputusan berdasarkan perkembangan permainan. Pemain perlu memperhatikan perubahan situasi dari pre-flop, flop, turn, hingga river.

Kartu yang terlihat memang menjadi sumber informasi utama, tetapi tindakan pemain lain juga tidak kalah penting. Misalnya, taruhan besar pada tahap tertentu dapat menunjukkan kepercayaan diri, tetapi tidak otomatis berarti lawan memiliki kombinasi terbaik. Sebaliknya, pemain yang cenderung pasif tiba-tiba melakukan kenaikan taruhan mungkin memberikan sinyal bahwa situasi telah berubah.

Namun, membaca pola taruhan bukan berarti menebak pikiran lawan secara pasti. Pengamatan yang baik seharusnya menghasilkan beberapa kemungkinan, kemudian pemain memilih keputusan yang paling masuk akal berdasarkan informasi tersebut.

Posisi dan Pengaruhnya terhadap Keputusan

Posisi di meja menjadi salah satu konsep penting dalam Texas Poker. Pemain yang bertindak lebih akhir biasanya memiliki keuntungan informasi karena dapat melihat tindakan beberapa lawan sebelum mengambil keputusan. Kondisi ini membuat posisi tidak sekadar menjadi urutan giliran, tetapi juga bagian dari strategi.

Ketika berada pada posisi awal, pemain perlu lebih berhati-hati karena masih banyak lawan yang belum menentukan tindakan. Sebaliknya, posisi akhir memberikan kesempatan untuk mengamati lebih banyak perkembangan sebelum memutuskan apakah akan mengikuti taruhan, menaikkan taruhan, atau memilih mundur.

Pemahaman seperti ini menunjukkan bahwa keputusan poker sebaiknya tidak dibuat secara terpisah. Kualitas kartu, posisi, perilaku lawan, dan kondisi taruhan perlu dipertimbangkan secara bersamaan.

Pentingnya Mengelola Emosi

Kemampuan membaca situasi juga berkaitan erat dengan pengendalian emosi. Pemain yang terbawa kekalahan sebelumnya dapat mengambil keputusan secara impulsif, sementara kemenangan beruntun kadang membuat seseorang terlalu percaya diri. Kedua kondisi tersebut dapat mengganggu penilaian yang rasional.

Pendekatan profesional justru menempatkan disiplin sebagai bagian dari permainan. Pemain perlu mengetahui kapan harus melanjutkan dan kapan sebaiknya berhenti. Pengelolaan batas permainan juga penting agar keputusan tetap berada dalam kendali dan tidak berubah menjadi tindakan mengejar kerugian.

Kesimpulan

Seni membaca situasi dalam Texas Poker pada dasarnya merupakan perpaduan antara pengamatan, pemahaman aturan, penilaian probabilitas, posisi, dan pengendalian diri. Tidak ada metode yang mampu menjamin kemenangan dalam setiap putaran karena unsur ketidakpastian tetap menjadi bagian dari poker.

Justru karena itulah Texas Hold’em menarik untuk dipelajari. Pemain tidak hanya berhadapan dengan kartu, tetapi juga dengan rangkaian keputusan yang menuntut ketelitian. Semakin baik seseorang memahami konteks permainan, semakin matang pula cara mereka menilai setiap situasi di meja.

Double parking and loading zone violations are down in Center City Philadelphia after local officials implemented automated enforcement and payment cameras — offering inspiration to other cities struggling to enforce parking rules.

In the 15 months since the state-run Philadelphia Parking Authority introduced automated enforcement and payment for loading zones in Center City, traffic speeds increased from 7 to 10 miles per hour, the Inquirer reported earlier this month.

At the same time, the new enforcement has kept private vehicles out of commercial loading deliveries, and the number of freight vehicles using those dedicated spots increased 97 percent, parking authority officials said.

The parking authority now plans to expand the program to more locations in Center City.

“We are making substantial progress in our effort to reduce congestion on Center City streets, which in turn improves public safety and the quality of life in Philadelphia,” said Acting Philadelphia Parking Authority executive director Gabe Roberts in a press release.

Rather than deploying police to catch violators in the act, the camera-based program reduces illegal parking by making it easier to follow the law. Curb users complete a one-time enrollment that links their license plate to an online account, where they are automatically charged 10 cents per minute parked. In other words, the city isn’t asking drivers to follow the law — drivers follow it by design.

That ease of compliance, experts said, can exponentially improve the quality of cities’ streetscapes.

“Loading compliance typically goes from single digits to the 90s because the rules are easy to follow,” said Gabe Klein, the Head of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation under the Biden Administration.

City crash data isn’t up-to-date enough to show safety impacts, but locals say they’ve observed an increase in safety since the automated enforcement program started getting illegally parked cars out of the way of cyclists and crosswalks.

“These changes have probably shown a lot of safety improvements,” said Cody Cowper, who chairs the Complete Streets Committee for the Washington Square West Civic Association, which represents an area included in the program. “You don’t have somebody … swerving around a car and they can’t see the pedestrians in the intersection.”

Recommended Should Streets Be Designed for Easy Double-Parking or Safe Bicycling? Ben Fried March 20, 2014

Of course, dangerous illegal parking nuisances isn’t limited to Center City, or even to Philadelphia.

The quick rise of e-commerce has handily outpaced expansions of curb capacity across the nation. Cities aren’t able to handle the influx of Amazon and Doordash drivers and trucks, who also compete for space with traditional freight. The Philadelphia Parking Authority’s approach may be the closest yet to a practical solution.

“It’s really exciting,” said Giacomo Dalla Chiara, an urban freight management researcher at the University of Washington. “[Philadelphia is] really trying something new.”

Dalla Chiara worked on a recent study analyzing loading zone management systems across 13 different US cities. Few control commercial loading at all, or call it a day after painting a curb yellow. But the key is to integrate three strategies in tandem, Dalla Chiara said: infrastructure, including painted loading curbs; policy, such as time limits in loading zones; and regulation through pricing and enforcement.

That third element, Dalla Chiara said, is where Philadelphia stands out and others fall short.

“A lot of cities are scared of changing regulations,” he said.

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Philadelphia’s program includes more than 50 cameras, and more on the way, which scan the license plates of vehicles in loading zones. The cameras do not track faces or any other identifying features, according to parking authority officials. Parking enforcement officers review each filmed violation before the authority issues a ticket.

Drivers do not have to operate a commercial vehicle to use the zones, but are required to register with the CurbPass app. The first three minutes of parking are free, and drivers pay 10 cents each minute thereafter. Drivers are fined $51 if they stay in the spot for over an hour or do not register on the app. Drivers who double park must pay a heftier $76 fine.

A loading zone violation ticket with identifying information redacted.

Automating enforcement helps to distribute penalties evenly and promote fairness, according to supporters.

“Our enforcement shouldn’t be selective,” Cowper said. “The things that people are being ticketed for were always illegal. We just didn’t have a good means of enforcing it.”

But Dalla Chiara warned that it’s too early to call the program an unmitigated success, since it only launched in May 2025 and continues to grow.

Curb management data is fairly limited in the US, making it hard to draw conclusions about a single city’s pilot program limited to a few blocks.

“We know very little about curb behaviors,” he said.

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Still, Philadelphia officials are nonetheless motivated by the results.

Several US cities already implement some form of automated street enforcement. Los Angeles, New York, Washington, DC and Oakland all join Philadelphia in using bus and trolley-mounted, AI-assisted cameras to issue tickets to cars parked in bus lanes.

Several more use automated cameras to catch speeders and red light-runners with lifesaving outcomes.

Loading zone enforcement could revolutionize street safety on the nation’s busiest commercial corridors, but Philly officials advise other cities to take it slow.

“Any city looking to implement the program, should do a strong public outreach, it will take a while for the public to be aware,” a Philadelphia Parking Authority spokesperson advised other cities’ offficials in an email to Streetsblog. “Build in a warning period, so drivers have a chance to change behavior. You should also build in a grace period for those dropping off passengers, have an internal team review all images before a violation is created to make sure all violations being mailed out are accurate and clear.”