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Climate

Earth’s Life-Support Systems Are Breaking
Climate

AM Briefing: Danger Zone

On a worrying new study, the Amazon rainforest, and EV chargers

Climate

AM Briefing: Peak Hurricane Season

On weather in the Gulf, Fervo’s big news, and rainy cities

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California’s Explosive Line Fire Forces Thousands to Evacuate

AM Briefing: Fire Storms

On massive blazes, debate week, and corporate sustainability

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We Just Lived Through the Hottest Summer Ever

AM Briefing: Hottest Summer Ever

On new heat records, Trump’s sea level statements, and a super typhoon

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Economy

This IRA Program Spawned 50,000 Solar Projects In Low-Income Communities. Who Benefited?

New data provided exclusively to Heatmap shows just how complicated it is to get money where it needs to go.

President Biden installing solar panels.
<p>Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images</p>

By the numbers, a new federal program designed to give low-income communities access to renewable energy looks like a smashing success. According to data provided exclusively to Heatmap, in its first year, the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program steered nearly 50,000 solar projects to low-income communities and tribal lands, which are together expected to produce more than $270 million in annual energy savings.

But those topline numbers don’t say anything about who will actually see the savings, or how much the projects will benefit households that have historically been left behind. In reality, the majority of the projects — about 98% — were allocated funding simply for being located in low-income communities, with no hard requirement to deliver energy or financial savings to low-income residents.

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Climate

AM Briefing: 100 Days at 100 Degrees

On life at 100 degrees, the data center boom, and cow emissions

Phoenix Just Hit Another Grim Heat Record
<p>Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images</p>

Current conditions: Ruins of the sunken village of Kallio have emerged from a dried up lake in drought-stricken Greece • AccuWeather reduced its 2024 forecast for the number of named Atlantic storms • It will be hot, humid, and rainy in Beijing today where U.S. climate envoy John Podesta will meet for climate talks with his Chinese counterpart.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Harris campaign reportedly hires a ‘climate engagement director’

Climate activists are pushing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to be more vocal about climate change on the campaign trail. E&E News reported that Michael Greenberg, founder of Climate Defiance, had a virtual meeting yesterday with a senior Harris advisor. “We want her to oppose fossil-fuel subsidies,” Greenberg told E&E. “We need to rapidly phase out fossil-fuel infrastructure, fossil-fuel use, fossil-fuel exports.” Harris has so far been relatively quiet about the climate crisis, but that might change with the rumored hiring of Camila Thorndike as campaign “climate engagement director.” Thorndike comes from Rewiring America where she was senior director of public engagement, and she also worked on the Inflation Reduction Act as a legislative assistant to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

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