The Trump administration eviscerated the only agency tasked with studying worker health and safety. Now, Republicans have revived a plan to stop OSHA “overreach.” Advocates fear it could further endanger workers.

By Liza Gross

A warming climate exposes more and more workers to increasingly hotter conditions every year, yet soon after taking office, Donald Trump indefinitely froze a heat illness prevention rule proposed under the previous administration and gutted the only agency that studies workplace health and safety. 

For the first time in modern history, China’s annual CO₂ emissions have dropped—not due to economic turmoil or external shocks, but from a deliberate and sustained expansion of clean energy infrastructure. The significance of this milestone cannot be overstated. China’s emissions had risen relentlessly over decades, driven by rapid industrialization ... [continued]

The post Clean Energy Shifts China’s CO₂ Emissions From Growth To Decline appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The Norwegian wave energy startup Ocean Oasis has developed an emission free, wave-powered offshore desalination system to help relieve water scarcity among island and coastal communities.

The post A New Job For Wave Energy: Water Desalination appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The latest study finds that emissions of the potent greenhouse gas might be higher than previously estimated.

Deftpower, a Dutch startup, has begun a smart charging program in Amsterdam that may become a model for other world cities.

The post Amsterdam Begins Deftpower Smart Charging Trial appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In California, a home insurance rate increase by State Farm is yet another sign of growing crisis driven by climate change.

A few weeks ago, I had another opportunity to sit down with Dr. Joseph Romm, currently working with Michael Mann at the UPenn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. The topic was the 20th anniversary edition of his book The Hype About Hydrogen, available now. What follows is lightly ... [continued]

The post The Hype Returns: Joe Romm & Michael Barnard Revisit Hydrogen, 20 Years Later appeared first on CleanTechnica.

I have not made it a secret. I think the Toyota BZ4X is one of the ugliest vehicles I’ve ever seen. I’m really disappointed with Toyota’s first attempt at a modern electric vehicle, and I think the design is actually an anti-selling tactic so that Toyota can say people don’t ... [continued]

The post New Toyota bZ Woodland for US Market appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The eight-foot-long bottlenose dolphin was found dead with its head missing last month on the shore of Lea-Hutaff Island, N.C., north of Wilmington.

If you’ve been watching the e-bike space lately, you’ve probably noticed how mid-drive systems with premium components can easily push bikes into $4,000 territory. That’s what makes the Ride1Up Prodigy V2 so interesting: it brings top-tier specs, like a Brose mid-drive motor, Gates belt drive, and Enviolo CVT hub, down ... [continued]

The post Mid-Drive Muscle Under $2.5K? Ride1Up’s Prodigy V2 E-Bike Just Got Even Cheaper appeared first on CleanTechnica.

At the latest year’s Energy Globe Austria Awards, held at the ORF Landesstudio Linz, the team from SYNCRAFT and the Josef Ressel Center at MCI Innsbruck took home the prestigious Audience Award in the Water category. Their groundbreaking project, “Smart Wastewater Treatment Using Powdered Activated Carbon,” was selected from nearly ... [continued]

The post SYNCRAFT Wins Energy Globe Award For Breakthrough In Activated Carbon Usage appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Ministers must resist pressure to relax environmental standards in the rush for new housing

Almost two decades after the last Labour government announced a zero carbon homes standard, and with the breaking of temperature records around the world now so normal as to seem routine, it ought to be uncontroversial that new buildings should be as environmentally friendly as possible. Given everything we know about global heating, and the law obliging the UK to reach net zero by 2050, it is disturbing that even the basics of promoting energy security and efficiency continue to be questioned.

But that is the situation Britain faces, as the government lays the ground for a housebuilding spree that it hopes will last for the rest of this parliament (as planning is devolved, the target of 1.5m new homes is for England only). Much of the blame for this discouraging state of affairs lies with the Tories, who delayed progress towards sustainability by scrapping environmental rules, leading to a disgraceful proliferation of new developments where the houses do not even have solar panels on the roofs.

Continue reading...

The Amazon rainforest may be able to survive long-term drought caused by climate change, but adjusting to a drier, warmer world would exact a heavy toll, a study suggests.

When trees and soil fungi form close associations with each other, both partners benefit. Many tree species have further enhanced this cooperation by forming a concurrent symbiosis with two different groups of mycorrhizal fungi. Those trees cope better with water and nutrient scarcity, which is an important trait for forestry in the face of climate warming.

A team has created the most complete map of the world's rivers ever made offering a major leap forward for flood prediction, climate risk planning, and water resource management in a warming world. The new study introduces GRIT -- a mapping system that finally shows how rivers really flow, branch, and connect landscapes.

A new study shows that seagrass ecosystems along the northern half of Florida's Gulf Coast have remained relatively healthy and undisturbed for the last several thousand years.

In 2024, Climeworks’ direct air capture (DAC) Mammoth plant in Iceland captured just 105 tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s not per day, not per week, that’s total, across the year. For context, that’s less than the annual tailpipe emissions from a dozen long-haul trucks, or roughly one-thousandth of what the ... [continued]

The post Climeworks’ DAC & Fiscal Collapse & The Brutal Reality Of Pulling Carbon From The Sky appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Smaller cars are more efficient, cost less, and have lower life cycle emissions. Should policy makers be encouraging more of them?

The post Thoughts On Smaller Cars, Sustainability, & Technology appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A coolant shortage and forecasts calling for rising temperatures are both likely to contribute to air conditioning price increases

Here at CleanTechnica, we review a lot of bikes in all shapes and sizes. But some kinds of bikes are far more common than others. 20” and 26” fat-tire e-bikes are very common in the United States, probably because they’re the SUVs of e-bikes. They’re comfortable and absorb bumps well. ... [continued]

The post A Desert Journey With Heybike’s ALPHA Mid-Drive Fat Tire E-Bike appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Among the many federal grants canceled by the Trump administration are two related to the community that hosts a huge energy storage facility.

By Dan Gearino

The Trump administration has canceled outright or is trying to cancel billions of dollars in federal grants for research about energy and the environment.

China continues to dominate with over half of global EV sales

Friederike Otto is a leading practitioner of arguably the most important development in climate science in many years: attribution science. Specialists like Otto can now calculate how much responsibility man-made global heating has for a given extreme weather event. The brutal heat wave that scorched India and Pakistan in 2022, for example, was made 30 times more likely by global warming, Otto and her colleagues at the nonprofit World Weather Attribution group found.

Like police officers dusting a crime scene for fingerprints, attribution science reveals what role climate change played in a given weather disaster.

For journalists, such calculations are invaluable. Attribution science equips us with the data to connect the dots between climate change as a distant abstraction and climate change as a current reality — and to do so quickly, when our audiences are feeling those impacts. Which means journalists can dispense with the once standard line that climate change cannot be linked to any single event, only to long-term trends. Attribution science changes that.

Journalists will find Otto’s book, Climate Injustice, useful for its descriptions of how attribution science works — how do scientists know what they know? — as well as its limitations. Scientists can measure climate change’s influence on heat waves with precision, she explains. Much harder, at least with today’s tools, is to calculate its influence on droughts, floods, and other precipitation-related events.

Trained as a physicist, Otto ventures beyond physical science in this book to make a moral and practical argument grounded in economics, history, ethics, and public policy. She also offers sharp observations about how journalists report the climate story.

She has no patience for coverage that blames individuals, as with shame about air travel, but ignores far more destructive actions by ExxonMobil and other corporate polluters. She reports that nowhere are extreme heat events deadlier than in Africa, and accuses Global North media of ignoring such events because their customers are not among the victims.

The media needs “to create new narratives” for the climate story, Otto writes. Don’t illustrate heat wave coverage with photos of kids licking ice creams; tell the stories of outdoor workers suffering from heat exhaustion and highlight how tree-shaded streets and community cooling centers can save lives. Ground climate coverage in science but humanize and solutionize the storytelling.

Climate change is, of course, a physical phenomenon — the carbon dioxide released when oil, gas, or coal is burned traps heat in the atmosphere. But the way humans experience climate change, Otto argues, is a social phenomenon, shaped by differences in wealth, race, gender, and more. “The people who die are those with little money who can’t readily obtain all the help and information they need,” she writes.

A tone of controlled outrage animates Otto’s prose as she maintains that “that doesn’t have to be the case.” Humans have the know-how and money to protect nearly everyone; those in power simply have other priorities. The question, she believes is, “How many more human lives, how many more coral reefs, how many more insects will we allow ourselves to lose to the short-term continued use of comparatively cheap fossil fuels in the Global North?”

Covering Climate Now has long made similar suggestions about the framing of the climate story. With summer fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere and climate-fueled disasters getting more frequent and destructive, newsrooms will have plenty of opportunities to do better in the weeks ahead.

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From Us

Prep Your Climate Coverage: Summer Heat & Hurricanes. On Wednesday, May 21, CCNow and Climate Central will co-host the second of a new webinar series designed to prepare journalists to cover worsening extreme weather — this session we’ll focus on heat and hurricanes and share scientifically vetted language to help audiences make the climate change connection.  Learn more and register.

Locally Sourced newsletter. The latest edition of our biweekly newsletter for local journalists explores shoreline loss, including the different tactics to grapple with rising seas used by coastal communities worldwide. Check out the Locally Sourced archive and sign up to get it every other Tuesday.

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Noteworthy Stories

Pakistan’s water crisis. Last week, as conflict sparked between India and Pakistan, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi vowed that water would no longer cross the countries’ borders. “India’s water will be used for India’s interests,” he said. But Pakistan is already in the grips of a major water crisis, due in large part to climate change–fueled heat, drought, and floods. By Simmone Shah for Time…

Israel’s water war. In southern Syria, water resources are increasingly scarce, due to climate change. Since the collapse of the Assad regime in December, Israel’s military has swept in, seeking to transform the balance of power in the region; they’ve seized key water resources, further imperiling locals and the agricultural economy on which they depend. By Natacha Danon for New Lines Magazine…

Green Pope? As the world gets to know Pope Leo XIV, environmentalists, both in and outside of Catholic circles, are optimistic he will prove an advocate on climate change. In 2024, at a Vatican conference on environmental crises, then-cardinal Robert Prevost said: “Dominion over nature — the task which God gave humanity — should not become ‘tyrannical.’ It must be a ‘relationship of reciprocity’ with the environment.” By Brian Roewe for National Catholic Reporter…

Hotter, earlier. Swaths of the central US, from the Dakotas to the southwest and southern Texas, are broiling this week, amid an early-season heat wave that experts warn could catch many Americans off-guard, boosting the risk of heat-related illness and death. By Denise Chow for NBC News…

States and locals stepping up. Despite the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to halt federal climate action, some state and local governments aim to pick up the slack — and in fact, if successful, they’re in a position to “reduce emissions so dramatically that the nation could still hit key climate targets,” according to analysis by the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability. By Sarah Wesseler for Yale Climate Connections…

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Quote of the Week

“[Pope Leo] showed his preference for the most vulnerable. I am convinced that his leadership will inspire us to keep working for justice and the care of our common home.”

– Ronald Moreno, a Peruvian environmental activist familiar with Robert Prevost
during his tenure as Bishop of Chiclayo

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Dispatch #5 from the Climate Blueprint for Media Transformation

For the next few months, we’ll periodically share standout insights from the Climate Blueprint for Media Transformation, a collaboration between CCNow and the Solutions Journalism Network. This is the fifth.

The psychological toll of covering an existential issue like climate change can’t be overstated. And that’s just one piece of journalism’s burnout and mental health problem.

But journalists and news outlets aren’t powerless. Though the climate beat can take a heavy toll, prioritizing mental health in newsrooms, journalists engaging in physical activity and allowing space for unpleasant feelings, rather than “pushing through,” can all help make the work more manageable.

“Newsrooms and the industry at large must contend with the unique pressures climate and environmental journalists face,” writes Yessenia Funes, “and provide resources that support their well-being and allow them to continue this necessary public service long term.”

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Resources, Events, Etc.

Visualizing water shortages worldwide. As part of its World Freshwater Initiative, the National Geographic Society has published a World Water Map, which can help journalists visualize the worsening gap, due in part to climate change, between available freshwater resources and communities’ needs across the world.

US permitting and clean energy briefing. On May 21, Heatmap News is hosting an online briefing to unpack plans by congressional Republicans to revamp US permitting legislation, with major potential implications for clean energy projects nationwide. Learn more and register.

Food & Farming Journalism Network webinar. On May 22, Sentient Media’s Food & Farming Journalism Network will host a webinar, “Uncovering Agriculture’s Climate Impact,” featuring top experts, “[sharing] cutting-edge research on the powerful link between food systems and climate change.” The event will include an on-the-record, journalist-led Q&A. Learn more and register.

Creative Commons climate change photography. Climate Visuals, a program run by the nonprofit Climate Outreach, curates a wealth of photographs that can help journalism outlets visualize climate change, in addition to “guidance, resources and research on what makes for compelling, impactful climate change photography.” Recently added image collections include “Visualising Air Pollution,” “Energy and the cost of living in Europe,” and “Carspreading.”

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Jobs, Opportunities, Etc.

National & large outlets. Fortune is hiring an energy reporter (New York). Sinclair is hiring a national investigative journalist (Arlington, Va.).

Local & smaller outlets. The Narwhal in Canada is hiring an assistant editor (apply before TOMORROW, May 16). CalMatters in California is hiring an environment and health editor. The Sacramento Bee in California is hiring a climate and environment reporter and a service journalism reporter. The Provincetown Independent in Cape Cod, Mass., is hiring a science and environment reporter. The San Antonio Report in Texas is hiring a business reporter. The Anchorage Daily News in Alaska is hiring “at least three” reporters and a news editor (apply by June 9).

Applications are open now for the Chips Quinn Reporter Fellowship, for both early-career journalists and mentors. The fellowship, founded by Freedom Forum and led by Journalism Funding Partners, provides one year of mentorship for early-career journalists “with a Chips Quinn alum or other accomplished journalism professional.” Learn more and apply by May 23.

Applications are open for the 2025 Kozik Environmental Justice Reporting Grants. The National Press Foundation and the National Press Club Journalism Institute will award grants of up to $15,000, from a pot of up to $45,000, “to support journalism in any medium that centers on environmental justice and environmental racism in the United States.” Learn more and apply by May 27.

The University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication is launching a sustainability communication certificate program this summer. During the six-week online program, “participants will learn how to convey sustainability messaging with accuracy and balance, avoiding both greenwashing and misinformation/disinformation.” Learn more and apply by May 31.

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Support Covering Climate Now

We’re working to help journalists worldwide improve and expand their climate coverage. Meet our staff and learn more about CCNow.

 

The post Climate Change Leaves Fingerprints appeared first on Covering Climate Now.

Under David Keeling, a former UPS and Amazon executive, Osha is expected to thwart protections on extreme heat

As the US prepares for what could be another record-breaking hot summer, Donald Trump and his pick to lead the nation’s workplace safety agency are expected to derail the creation of the nation’s first-ever federal labor protections from extreme heat.

Trump in February nominated David Keeling to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha). Keeling formerly served as an executive at the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Amazon – both of which have faced citations from Osha for worker injuries and deaths amid heat exposure. The companies deny the deaths were heat-related.

Continue reading...

Emissions gap between men and women mirrors rich-poor divide

Nevada’s congressional delegation, environmental groups, tribes and local officials see the late-night amendment to House Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill as a threat to the state's water resources, tribal sovereignty and public engagement.

By Wyatt Myskow

For years, Nevada’s congressional delegation and leading Las Vegas officials have been pushing Congress to pass the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, which would allow tens of thousands of acres of public lands currently managed by the federal government to be sold at auction to cities and developers looking for space to expand. 

The U.S. forecasting agency was working on streamlining itself for the modern era. Days away from hurricane season, it’s now struggling to keep offices open.

With Colorado River negotiations facing a 2026 deadline, the state wants to keep water management in its own hands, but lags its neighbors in planning to cut usage.

By Jake Bolster

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, the northernmost city receiving Colorado River water, the state engineer and attorney general’s offices met with legislators on the select water committee last week to discuss ongoing Colorado River negotiations. Their message was clear: Wyoming must adapt to a future in which the river has an inadequate supply of water for all of its users.

Before Pennsylvania’s high court, the state defends efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Foes say the plan is an illegal tax.

By Jon Hurdle

Pennsylvania’s highest court heard arguments over whether the state’s proposed membership of an interstate agreement to curb carbon emissions from power plants is invalidated by being a tax not authorized by the legislature.

Moving migratory pied flycatchers further north to breed where food remained resulted in twice as many chicks

How do you help a migratory bird adapt to the climate crisis? One radical solution, as a team of Dutch ecologists discovered, is to move them further north.

Pied flycatchers are handsome black-and-white songbirds, which breed in deciduous woodlands across much of temperate Europe. Each autumn, they head south across the Sahara desert to overwinter in west Africa.

Continue reading...

Democratic countries shift emissions abroad while cutting them at home, new research says

I saw a few headlines — Waymo robotaxis were being recalled! 1,212 of them! Apparently, at low speeds, they were running into trouble with gates and chains and such. Not life threatening, but not great. But a 1,212 vehicle recall?! Ah, they did it again. We normally see this with ... [continued]

The post The Huge Waymo Recall That Wasn’t appeared first on CleanTechnica.

I know many EV fans have heard this before, and most of us roll our eyes at it. Some older guy is telling us why “they don’t make them like they used to”, and tells us that his old car or truck is better than a new EV any day. ... [continued]

The post How To Build A Non-Disposable EV appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Elon Musk was part of the Trump coterie who flew to meet with the Saudis this week. The planned series of forums and spectacles was a way for Musk, who runs his own artificial intelligence (AI) company, xAI, to position himself within fierce peer competition for funding from the Saudis. ... [continued]

The post Musk Visits With The Saudis — With US Citizens’ Private Data In His Pocket appeared first on CleanTechnica.

European ports face an increasingly urgent mandate to reduce carbon emissions across their landside and waterside operations, driven not only by climate policies but also by local air quality concerns. The scale of the challenge is enormous yet manageable, provided clear strategies and timelines are established. My perspective is straightforward. ... [continued]

The post Powering the Future: A 30-Year Roadmap to Zero-Emission Port Operations appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Compared with March 2025, plug-in vehicle sales dropped slightly in both New Zealand and Australia in April. In New Zealand, 649 cars with a plug were sold, approximately 10% of the market (7.3% BEV — 442 units, 3% PHEV — 207 units). In Australia, 8,628 cars with a plug were ... [continued]

The post EV Sales in New Zealand — April Update appeared first on CleanTechnica.