A coalition backed by Google, Stripe, and Shopify will spend $1.7 million to buy carbon removal credits from three early stage firms on behalf of the tech giants to help scale up the nascent markets, an executive told Reuters.
The world is expected to need to suck between five and 10 billion tons a year of carbon emissions out of the atmosphere by mid-century to reach its climate goals, yet at the moment most technologies are small scale.
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2026 bill for the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The bill will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow, July 14th at 6:00 p.m. The markup will be live-streamed and can be found on the Committee’s website.
Energy and Water Development Subcommittee Chairman Chuck Fleischmann said, “To achieve America’s new Golden Age, we must safeguard our national security, unleash American energy dominance, and increase economic prosperity for all our citizens. I am proud that, in tight fiscal times where every dollar spent must be scrutinized, the Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill makes historic investments in our national security and nuclear deterrent, restores American energy production, and stops wasteful, unnecessary spending. This bill is the product of close collaboration with the Trump Administration and my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, and I thank them for their strong support.”
On 13 July 2024, a blade damage incident took place on one of the turbines installed on Vineyard Wind 1, located 15 miles (approximately 24 kilometres) off the coast of Massachusetts. Following an investigation, GE Vernova found that the damage was a result of a manufacturing deviation, and later decided to remove the blades that were produced in the same factory.
A few days after the incident, the company said that a “significant part” of the remaining blade came loose from the turbine and mobilised debris recovery teams.
On 16 July last year, GE Vernova said it had recovered three large fragments as it continued to monitor the offshore area for any floating blade debris, which consists of non-toxic fibreglass fragments ranging in size from small pieces to large sections.
A staffer with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has now taken on a key role at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which President Trump has sought to reduce and reform despite its independent status.
David Wright, whom Trump has renominated for a spot on the commission, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that “there is currently one staff member detailed to the NRC from [the Department of Energy].”
Wright, in written responses to questions from the Senate panel viewed by The Hill this week, said that the staffer is detailed to the Office of the Executive Director for Operations and is in charge of implementing Trump’s executive order to reform the commission.
Just a tiny fraction of rental households run on solar power. According to real-estate based energy efficiency platform Fram Energy, the share of rental units with solar power in the U.S. sits at a meager 0.1 percent.
A big barrier to widespread solar power adoption across the rental market is the misaligned incentives in place. Because tenants are typically responsible for their own utility bills, there is no financial incentive for landlords to install this renewable energy source on their properties. Now, New York City-based Fram Energy is reshaping the split-incentive structure so that both asset owners and tenants benefit from the cost savings generated by solar.
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Residential solar generates a number of benefits for tenants and landlords alike.
For one, homes equipped with solar energy incur a higher property value. That’s according to a 2021 finding from Zillow, which found that solar power-furnished homes sell for 4.1 percent more than comparable properties. They also tend to command a higher premium, with average monthly rents as much as 60 percent higher, according to real estate investment firm Arbor Realty Trust.
Apart from being a sustainable choice of energy, solar translates to lower electricity bills for tenants.
In March 2024, a multifamily rental in Oakland, CA, partnered with Fram Energy and saw a return on investment of 23.2 percent, with the system recouping its initial costs after 4.7 years. Additionally, due to federal and local solar tax credits, the photovoltaics were free to install. However, long-term success will depend on ensuring the initiative remains financially viable without relying on tax credits, driven by market demand.
The onboarding process is relatively simple. Fram Energy works with landlords to find the right solar provider, who installs the solar system either on-site or nearby. Tenants are then introduced to the company’s software, which handles direct billing for their individual energy usage. Property owners receive their monthly solar revenue directly into their bank accounts.
“Our software splits the savings from solar between landlords and tenants, creating a win-win situation and unlocking a new market for the solar industry,” says CEO of Fram Energy Charlotte Meerstadt.
U.S. solar capacity is projected to triple by 2035, according to a March 2025 Solar Market Insight report. However, installations in owner-occupied units continue to outnumber rentals by a significant margin. As the value of the solar market surges, the private rented sector would do well to tap into this growth.
Independence Day is a time to reflect on our country and appreciate it for all its glory and all its beauty. From towering mountains to vast coastlines, America’s natural landscapes are an essential part of what makes this nation remarkable. But these landscapes and ecosystems cannot thrive without intentional conservation and responsible stewardship.
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That’s why it was fitting that the President signed the “Make America Beautiful Again” executive order one day before Independence Day, an initiative aimed at conserving and restoring America’s natural environment for future generations.
The EO created the Make America Beautiful Again Commission, chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. The commission will be responsible for ensuring all federal land management agencies, including the USDA, DOI, and EPA, enact policies with the intention of the following five things:
This is a welcome first step towards common-sense conservation. From digging the NPS and Forest Service out of lofty deferred maintenance backlogs of $23 billion and almost $11 billion, respectively, to cutting red tape that hinders forest management, the MABA Commission holds real potential to deliver meaningful results for America and to manage public lands more effectively.
That potential matters — for hunters, anglers, ranchers, farmers, backpackers, climbers, and all Americans who treasure the outdoors. As the President stated in his executive order, “Years of mismanagement, regulatory overreach, and neglect of routine maintenance require action. Land-use restrictions have stripped hunters, fishers, hikers, and outdoorsmen of access to public lands that belong to them.” The MABA Commission is an opportunity to ensure that the land we love remains just as wild, beautiful, and free for future generations.
This mismanagement often delays essential land maintenance, increases wildfire risks, and limits access for responsible recreationists. It prevents timely, on-the-ground action needed to preserve habitats, reduce fuel loads, and support wildlife populations. By cutting through these barriers and empowering local stakeholders, we can restore healthy ecosystems, improve public access, and ensure long-term conservation through practical, voluntary stewardship.
In addition to establishing the MABA Commission, President Trump issued the Making America Beautiful Again by Improving our National Parks EO. This EO is a declaration of common-sense environmentalism. It requires the Interior Secretary to develop a strategy to increase revenue for our national parks, including the potential of higher entrance fees for international visitors. Currently, American taxpayers support national parks through both taxes and entrance fees, effectively paying twice. Adjusting fees for international visitors would help ensure a more balanced funding structure.
>>>READ: How Will an International Visitor Surcharge Benefit Our National Parks?
Many countries, such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Thailand, among others, charge international visitors more to visit their national parks or other federally managed lands than their citizens. It’s time America follows suit.
The Property Environment and Research Center (PERC) is the creative force behind this innovative idea for improving the funding of our national parks. As PERC’s CEO Brian Yablonski stated, “If you can afford a flight from Beijing to Yellowstone, you can afford to pay to take care of the place you’re coming to see…”
In a week already saturated with conservation wins, Secretary Burgum announced a new pilot program aimed at restoring public lands through a job training initiative. The “Patriot Program” will provide youth and young adults with training to preserve our lands through wildland fuel reduction, trail maintenance, and other related activities. This program will help train more people in the on-the-ground skills needed to manage our forests and ensure that public lands thrive.
The effects of these new policies on our public lands and how they will be enacted are yet to be seen. But as American Rivers’ Tom Kiernan says, “Any day we are talking about ensuring clean water and putting conservation back on the agenda is a good day.”
These executive orders are more than just policy; they serve as a reminder that conservation and economic growth can coexist and complement each other. By promoting voluntary stewardship, expanding outdoor access, and investing in future generations, we can conserve the ecosystems and wild spaces that make this country special. Real conservation doesn’t come from top-down mandates. It comes from local action and common sense. With the help of the executive orders, we can make America beautiful again.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law late last month a bill defining “green energy” as “… any energy generated by utilizing … hydrocarbons which, when combusted for the purpose of electricity generation meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the authority of the Clean Air Act, and shall include: (a) Energy generated by nuclear reactors. (b) Energy generated using natural gas.”
That definition is a bit odd, in that the NAAQS are defined as ambient atmospheric concentration levels of given pollutants, and not as emissions levels for a given pollutant used in power generation. But for purposes of this discussion, it matters not. It is far more amusing to note the feigned outrage that followed immediately from all the usual left-wing suspects. A good example is DeSmog, for decades a determined ideological opponent of fossil energy: “… the state’s overreliance on gas and reticence to adopt solar and wind energy has led to high costs, an unreliable grid, and toxic air pollution that threatens the climate and public health.” That the DeSmog leftists can argue with a straight face that it is fossil-fired power generation that yields “an unreliable grid” is supremely entertaining (see the electricity generation capacity factors in Table 1b, and the Spain and Portugalblackout of April 2025).
The appearance of Neil Jacobs, President Trump’s NOAA nominee, before a Senate panel on Wednesday was fairly revealing by the standards of these kinds of things.
Why it matters: NOAA is a major climate research agency, and its National Weather Service plays a huge public safety role — especially as climate change intensifies some extreme weather events.
Here are four themes from the hearing with Jacobs and other nominees…
Energy solutions provider Ameresco announced a partnership with Alaska’s Juneau Hydropower to develop, build, and operate a 19.8-MW hydropower station at Sweetheart Lake. The facility is located 33 miles south of downtown Juneau. The project also includes installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS) and more than 40 miles of high-voltage transmission infrastructure.
Officials said the Sweetheart Lake station is designed to generate an average of 116,000 MWh annually. The companies said the new plant will bring a 20% increase in baseload clean hydropower above Juneau’s current power generation. The project scope also includes eight miles of undersea cable that will cross Gilbert Bay, and an interconnection substation with the existing Snettisham transmission line serving Alaska’s capital city.
A tiny Pacific nation may become the first in the world to mine the ocean floor. The Cook Islands, about 3,000 miles east of Australia near Tonga and Fiji, lays claim to an enormous wealth of polymetallic nodules in its national waters.
Some Cook Islanders are excited about deep-sea mining’s economic potential, while others are worried its environmental impacts will be destructive and irreversible. Three companies currently have exploration licenses, but they are still years away from approval for any commercial mining activity.
“There are two primary objectives from a government perspective,” said Edward Herman, partnerships and cooperation director of the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority, based on the main island of Rarotonga. “Can this be done in an environmentally acceptable manner? And is this economically feasible?”
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