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Climate

9 Dramatic Photos of Tropical Storm Hilary in California​

The storm left a record amount of summer rain and a host of images rarely seen in the region.

Tropical Storm Hilary has dumped a record amount of summer rain on Los Angeles and San Diego, but, as of mid-day on Monday, those Southern Californian cities seem have avoided the worst case scenarios of the storm. Still, in its wake, the deluge left roads flooded, drivers stranded, and a host of images rarely seen in that part of the country.

A woman looking at the sea.A person and dog stand near the Pacific Ocean as Tropical Storm Hilary approaches Imperial Beach, California.Mario Tama/Getty Images

People on the beach.People walk along Imperial Beach as Hilary approaches.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Cars on a flooded street.Vehicles drive along a flooded street as Hilary approaches Palm Springs, California.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Stranded motorists.Stranded motorists attempt to push their car out of floodwaters on the Golden State Freeway in Sun Valley, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A tow truck driver attempting to pull a stranded car out of floodwaters.A tow truck driver attempts to pull a stranded car out of floodwaters on the Golden State Freeway in Sun Valley.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Workers attempting to unclog a drain.Workers attempt to unclog a drain on a flooded street in Rancho Mirage, California.Mario Tama/Getty Images

A partially submerged car.A partially submerged car in Cathedral City, California.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Road damage.Road damage near In-Koh-Pah, California.Caltrans San Diego/X

Dodger Stadium.Flooding around Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.Los Angeles Dodgers Aerial Photography/X

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Hotspots

Judge, Siding With Trump, Saves Solar From NEPA

And more on the week’s biggest conflicts around renewable energy projects.

The United States.
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1. Jackson County, Kansas – A judge has rejected a Hail Mary lawsuit to kill a single solar farm over it benefiting from the Inflation Reduction Act, siding with arguments from a somewhat unexpected source — the Trump administration’s Justice Department — which argued that projects qualifying for tax credits do not require federal environmental reviews.

  • We previously reported that this lawsuit filed by frustrated Kansans targeted implementation of the IRA when it first was filed in February. That was true then, but afterwards an amended complaint was filed that focused entirely on the solar farm at the heart of the case: NextEra’s Jeffrey Solar. The case focuses now on whether Jeffrey benefiting from IRA credits means it should’ve gotten reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act.
  • Perhaps surprisingly to some, the Trump Justice Department argued against these NEPA reviews – a posture that jibes with the administration’s approach to streamlining the overall environmental analysis process but works in favor of companies using IRA credits.
  • In a ruling that came down on Tuesday, District Judge Holly Teeter ruled the landowners lacked standing to sue because “there is a mismatch between their environmental concerns tied to construction of the Jeffrey Solar Project and the tax credits and regulations,” and they did not “plausibly allege the substantial federal control and responsibility necessary to trigger NEPA review.”
  • “Plaintiffs’ claims, arguments, and requested relief have been difficult to analyze,” Teeter wrote in her opinion. “They are trying to use the procedural requirements of NEPA as a roadblock because they do not like what Congress has chosen to incentivize and what regulations Jackson County is considering. But those challenges must be made to the legislative branch, not to the judiciary.”

2. Portage County, Wisconsin – The largest solar project in the Badger State is now one step closer to construction after settling with environmentalists concerned about impacts to the Greater Prairie Chicken, an imperiled bird species beloved in wildlife conservation circles.

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Spotlight

Renewables Swept Up in Data Center Backlash

Just look at Virginia.

A data center.
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Solar and wind projects are getting swept up in the blowback to data center construction, presenting a risk to renewable energy companies who are hoping to ride the rise of AI in an otherwise difficult moment for the industry.

The American data center boom is going to demand an enormous amount of electricity and renewables developers believe much of it will come from solar and wind. But while these types of energy generation may be more easily constructed than, say, a fossil power plant, it doesn’t necessarily mean a connection to a data center will make a renewable project more popular. Not to mention data centers in rural areas face complaints that overlap with prominent arguments against solar and wind – like noise and impacts to water and farmland – which is leading to unfavorable outcomes for renewable energy developers more broadly when a community turns against a data center.

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Energy

Where Clean Energy Goes From Here

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is one signature away from becoming law and drastically changing the economics of renewables development in the U.S. That doesn’t mean decarbonization is over, experts told Heatmap, but it certainly doesn’t help.

The Big Beautiful Bill and clean energy.
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What do we do now?

That’s the question people across the climate change and clean energy communities are asking themselves now that Congress has passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would slash most of the tax credits and subsidies for clean energy established under the Inflation Reduction Act.

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