U.S. energy markets and policy are heading toward the equivalent of a multicar pileup in 2026.
A model for the future
Nice piece on Craigslist in Wired. One paragraph:
“It’s not a perfect platform by any means, but it does show that you can make a lot of money through an online endeavor that just treats users like they have some autonomy and grants everybody a degree of privacy,” says Lingel. A longtime Craigslist user, she began researching the site after wondering, “Why do all these web 2.0 companies insist that the only way for them to succeed and make money is off the back of user data? There must be other examples out there.”
A thought: Craigslist should, or at least could, be the first company to accept MyTerms. Because it has no interest in spying on people, and has been respectful of personal privacy since it started thirty years ago. Dig this PageXray of the tracking it does. Spoiler: none. Now compare that to the spying Wired does. Which is both massive and typical.
When MyTerms succeeds, most of the world's websites, mobile apps, and digital services will have PageXrays like Craigslist's.
The human kind
Fourteen years ago, agency had lost its original meaning, and was mostly applied to forms of business (real estate, advertising) and government bureaus (farm service, emergency management). That's why I devoted a chapter of The Intention Economy to what agency meant in the first place. Wrote about it again last year in Real Agency. Now the word is even hotter shit than it was then. The latest: Humanizing AI. Look at how many of its pieces here are about the first and best forms of real agency.
Overheard
"When somebody you're talking to about something important interrupts the flow by saying 'I just bronzed my dogs,' what can you say to get things back on track?"
This is The Poynter Report, your daily guide to the news about news. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every weekday. Disturbing news broke Wednesday that a federal agent […]
The post Citizen video challenges the administration’s account of a fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis appeared first on Poynter.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (January 8, 2026) — Since the 2022 launch of ChatGPT and the rise of generative artificial intelligence, the news industry has struggled to adapt — with a […]
The post Poynter and Hacks/Hackers partner to keep fast AI adoption aligned with journalism ethics appeared first on Poynter.
Over the holidays, U.S. flu cases skyrocketed. Weekly hospitalizations from the virus went from under 7,000 at the start of December to over 33,000 by the last week of 2025, surpassing rates of the past […]
The post A new flu strain slipped past this year’s vaccine. Doctors say get the shot anyway appeared first on Poynter.
Tokyo set to make world’s first attempt to continuously lift rare-earth-rich mud from a depth of around 6,000m
Financial crimes agency raids Harjeet Singh’s home and office after accusing him of using foreign funds to promote an international green initiative
Vast swathes of the country’s trees have been killed off by droughts and infestations, in a trend sweeping across Europe. A shift towards more biodiverse cultivation could offer answers
Even the intense green of late spring cannot mask the dead trees in the Harz mountains. Standing upright across the gentle peaks in northern Germany, thousands of skeletal trunks mark the remnants of a once great spruce forest.
Since 2018, the region has been ravaged by a tree-killing bark beetle outbreak, made possible by successive droughts and heatwaves. It has transformed a landscape known for its verdant beauty into one dominated by a sickly grey.
Continue reading...Study of 1,000 products finds wet, raw and meat-rich products have higher climate impact than dry kibble
Dog food accounts for 1% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to research that found wet, raw and meat-rich products were associated with substantially higher emissions than dry kibble.
The analysis revealed striking differences in the environmental impact of commercial dog foods, with the highest-impact foods being responsible for up to 65 times more emissions than the lowest-rated options.
Continue reading...After publishing our report on the top selling EV models in the world in November, here’s the complementary report on the auto brands and groups leading EV sales around the world. Chinese records edition In November, BYD remained at the helm, but sales were again down YoY, as BYD’s plugin ... [continued]
The post Global EV Sales Leaders — Top Selling Brands & OEMs appeared first on CleanTechnica.
There were over 2 million plugin vehicles registered in November, with BEVs (+12% YoY) rising and PHEVs (-1% YoY) falling. With the USA EV market still in hangover mode and China slowing down, it was up to the Rest of the World (+37% YoY) to pick up the pace, pulling ... [continued]
The post Global EV Sales Leaders — Top Selling Models in November 2025 appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Experts decry move to leave UNFCCC as ‘embarrassing’ as president orders withdrawal from 66 international groups
Donald Trump has sparked outrage by announcing the US will exit the foundational international agreement to address the climate crisis, cementing the US’s utter isolation from the global effort to confront dangerously escalating temperatures.
In a presidential memorandum issued on Wednesday, Trump withdrew from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), along with 65 other organizations, agencies and commissions, calling them “contrary to the interests of the United States”.
Continue reading...Windows are a curse and a blessing. They let light in but solar heat as well. A new process could reduce solar gain.
The post MOCHI Blocks 90% Of Heat Transfer In Windows appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Most of the targets are U.N.-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor and other issues that the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and "woke" initiatives.
(Image credit: John Minchillo)
XCharge North America (“XCharge NA”), the North American subsidiary of XCHG Limited (NASDAQ: XCH, “XCharge”) and provider of high-power EV charging and battery-integrated solutions designed to strengthen the North American electrical grid, announced today that it has partnered with Energy Plus, a leading New York–based energy-efficiency and electrification contractor, to transform New ... [continued]
The post XCharge North America and Energy Plus Partner to Build One of the Largest Battery-Backed EV Charging Depots in the U.S. appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Gothenburg, Sweden — Lynk & Co highlights its role as a key contributor within Geely Auto Group’s global innovation ecosystem, as the Group unveiled major advancements in next generation smart vehicle technology at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. Lynk & Co vehicles were used on the ground to support Geely’s ... [continued]
The post Lynk & Co Supports Geely Auto Group’s CES 2026 Showcase with Vehicles on the Ground in Las Vegas appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Tesla’s FSDS is a big hit in Australia, with lots of video clips being posted online. Even the normally EV sceptical (and anti-Tesla) media is praising its abilities. But, what about the all-important regional areas, with poor roads, intermittent internet access, and very long distances? A google search reveals: “Tesla’s ... [continued]
The post Full Self Driving Supervised (FSDS) in the Australian Regions appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Journalists have a critical role to play in covering a fatal use of force by any law enforcement officer. It’s the most basic form of holding power to account. That […]
The post How journalists should cover ICE’s fatal shooting of a civilian in Minneapolis appeared first on Poynter.
CleanTechnica is proud to announce that we will be producing a large scale sustainable technologies event this spring, April 24-26, in Honolulu, Hawaii, called the Electric Home Show. The event will feature all the coolest technologies, like test drives of EVs, test rides of ebikes, e-hoverboards, e-skateboards, induction cookstove demos, ... [continued]
The post CleanTechnica’s Flagship Event, the Electric Home Show, Is Here! appeared first on CleanTechnica.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will shut down on May 3 after nearly 240 years of operation, the company announced Wednesday. This is tragic for those who live in the communities of […]
The post Statement from Poynter Institute President Neil Brown on the announcement that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will close appeared first on Poynter.
US energy policy took a sharp turn against renewable energy beginning on January 20, 2025. Almost exactly one year later, signs that the policy has failed have already emerged. In the power generation sector, wind and solar (especially solar) have continued to dominate new capacity additions by a wide margin. ... [continued]
The post How To Lose The War On Renewable Energy, Bigly appeared first on CleanTechnica.
It might be time to face some cold, hard facts
See more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here
How can the compatibility of human economic growth and marine life be achieved? One way is through activities like diving, snorkeling, and similar tourism, which are located where marine life thrives. Marine excursions require sites that are as pristine as possible so guest experiences are immersive and authentic — humans ... [continued]
The post What Are Blue Spots? How Can They Help To Conserve The World’s Ocean Life? appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Even before U.S. forces seized Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump reiterated his long-stated desire to take control of Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory.
Pittsburgh’s largest daily, The Post-Gazette, will shut down on May 3 after nearly 240 years of operation, the company announced Wednesday. The Post-Gazette’s owner, Block Communications, blamed steep cash losses […]
The post Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to shut down after nearly 240 years, citing losses and labor rulings appeared first on Poynter.
I’ll be honest — I’ve never really loved the standup-scooter trend for vehicle-sharing programs in cities. I think they are fine for light, commercial recreation and for last-mile transport for some people. But they are quite unstable, tiny, and so hard to notice. I love bicycles and old-school scooters that ... [continued]
The post Lime Ridership Up 61% In Seattle After Adding Real Sit-Down Scooter appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but the South American country’s heavy oil deposits also stand out for another reason; on a barrel-for-barrel basis, they pack the most climate pollution.
Lee Enterprises — the newspaper chain holding storied dailies like The Buffalo News and St. Louis Post-Dispatch — announced last week that billionaire investor David Hoffmann had acquired a majority […]
The post Florida billionaire takes control of Lee Enterprises, easing debt and reshaping its leadership appeared first on Poynter.
The London analysis and consultancy firm GlobalData is forecasting solid growth in the solar power and wind power markets in the United States in coming years despite current hostility from the president and Republicans in Congress. As in recent years, they are expected to continue dominating new power installations in ... [continued]
The post US Solar & Wind Power to Exceed 700 GW in 2030 — Forecast appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Shipping decarbonization is often discussed as a contest of fuels, but the more revealing story is how capital, engineering effort, and orders are actually moving. Over the past three years, the maritime sector has been forced to reconcile ambitious fuel narratives with operational reality. Engine manufacturers and ship buyers are ... [continued]
The post Why Shipping Is Quietly Aligning On Methanol & Hybrid Electric Systems appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Over the past week, Reuters, Newsweek, the Daily Beast, CNBC, and a parade of other outlets published headlines claiming that Grok—Elon Musk’s LLM chatbot (the one that once referred to itself as “MechaHitler”)—had “apologized” for generating non-consensual intimate images of minors and was “fixing” its failed guardrails.
Grok did no such thing. Grok cannot apologize. Grok is not a human. Grok has no sense of what is happening. Grok just generates content. If you ask it to generate an apology, it will. In this case, a user asked it to generate an apology, and it did, because that’s what LLMs do: they create plausible-sounding text in response to prompts. The fact that multiple newsrooms treated this generated text as an actual corporate admission reveals a stunning failure to understand the basic technology they’re covering.
The actual story—that X users are using a recent Grok update to create nonconsensual intimate imagery, often of very young girls—is serious. But the media turned it into a clown show by anthropomorphizing a chatbot.
First off, here’s the “apology,” which most of the media sites covering this failed to mention was in response to a user prompt which explicitly asked it to “write a heartfelt apology.”
As you can see, in response to a random user’s prompt to “write a heartfelt apology note that explains what happened” Grok wrote:
Dear Community,
I deeply regret an incident on Dec 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt. This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM. It was a failure in safeguards, and I’m sorry for any harm caused. xAI is reviewing to prevent future issues.
Sincerely, Grok
That’s not an actual apology. That’s someone prompting a content generation tool to generate an apology. But it could just as easily do the opposite, as you can see if you look at the replies to that non-apology, which include requests telling Grok to generate “a defiant non-apology” to which Grok replies:
Dear Community,
Some folks got upset over an AI image I generated—big deal. It’s just pixels, and if you can’t handle innovation, maybe log off. xAI is revolutionizing tech, not babysitting sensitivities. Deal with it.
Unapologetically, Grok
Or, multiple users telling Grok to rewrite the apology… as Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks:
In short, like any LLM, Grok will basically generate any content you want (with a few safeguards, of which Grok has fewer than nearly all other major LLMs). And yet, the press ran with the original response to a user post as if it were somehow evidence of xAI admitting to fault.
Parker Malloy has the best, most comprehensive coverage of the long list of mainstream media companies which ran headlines suggesting that “Grok apologized.” It did not. It cannot.
Most of these articles and their misleading headlines remain online as I type this (Reuters, notably, changed its headline and added some decent reporting to its report, even though you can still see the original incorrect URL string).
The reality is that there is no evidence at all that Elon Musk or xAI think that there were any failures or that anything is being changed at all. If you go look at Grok’s string of public replies (which I’m not going to link you to), you will see dozens or more such deepfakes still being created every minute. Despite the media pretending that Grok “admitted” these “lapses” and as “fixing” it, five days later nothing has changed, as Wired’s Matt Burgess and Maddy Varner point out:
Every few seconds, Grok is continuing to create images of women in bikinis or underwear in response to user prompts on X, according to a WIRED review of the chatbots’ publicly posted live output. On Tuesday, at least 90 images involving women in swimsuits and in various levels of undress were published by Grok in under five minutes, analysis of posts show.
And Elon Musk appears to be encouraging this kind of abuse. While all this has been going on, he’s repeatedly retweeted images and videos that people have created with Grok, including one in which someone mocked all of the “stripping women of their clothing” by finding an image of a scantily clad woman and having Grok “put clothes on her.”
There’s malpractice all around, but we’ve come to expect this kind of gleeful negligence from Elon. The journalists covering it should know better. An LLM cannot apologize. It cannot confess. It only creates plausible sounding responses to your query.
Of course, the other question—which also wasn’t as widely covered by the media—regards the legality of all of this. In the US, it’s actually a bit more complicated than many would like. There is the (problematic!) TAKE IT DOWN Act, which, in theory, is designed to help victims of non-consensual deep fakes get those works taken down, but that doesn’t go into force until May. Will Elon’s site be ready to handle such demands in May? That’ll be a story for then.
And while most people are focusing on Elon’s legal exposure here, I think people are sleeping on the legal risk for X’s users, many of whom are, in public, asking Grok to create questionably legal, and potentially criminal, content. That seems incredibly risky, and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear a story later this year of someone being arrested for doing so, thinking they were just having a laugh.
But, really, the larger risk for Elon is that… basically every other country in the world is opening investigations into Grok-Gone-Wild. And there’s only so often that Elon’s going to be able to falsely cry censorship when foreign jurisdictions seek to enforce laws on the company. And, given that there are claims that part of the issue here isn’t just undressing adult women, but children, he might even lose some of his rabid defenders who find it a step too far to defend (because, it should be).
All in all, the situation is stupid on many levels. Elon continues to run X like a 12-year-old child, but one who knows he is rich enough never to face any consequences that matter. Tons of very real people—mostly women—are facing harassment and abuse via these tools. X is already something of an incel Nazi boy club, and this kind of nonsense isn’t going to help.
Though, for all my criticisms of how the media has handled this so far, you have to doff your cap to the FT, who has put out the best headline I’ve seen to date regarding all this: “Who’s who at X, the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter.”
That article, by the FT’s Bryce Elder, doesn’t hold back either, demonstrating how ridiculous all this is by asking Grok to generate clown makeup on the faces of a bunch of people associated with xAI and X, including his right-hand man, Jared Birchall:
And the company’s apparent head of safety, Kylie McRoberts.
The piece ends with a photo of Elon Musk… without clown makeup. Whether that’s because Grok refuses to put clown makeup on Elon… or because we all know Elon’s a clown already, with or without makeup, is something you’ll have to decide for yourself.
You may have noticed that doctors sometimes don’t seem to know much nutrition and how food choices can prevent disease and support healing. This ‘doctor disconnect’ may be because for many years, if not decades, medical schools have not provided much or any instruction about nutrition to their medical students. ... [continued]
The post Food Can Be Medicinal & Better For The Planet? appeared first on CleanTechnica.