Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

Brazil’s Displacement Fears

On the Biden administration’s carbon removal investments, the climate refugees of Brazil, and more

Wednesday sunrise.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: More storms and possible tornadoes are forecast to hit Texas and the Plains, where millions of people are still without power • Cyclone Remal, the first tropical storm of the season, killed at least 23 people in India and Bangladesh • Brazilian authorities are investigating up to 800 suspected cases of waterborne illness following unprecedented flooding over the past month.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Biden administration invests in carbon removal

The Department of Energy on Tuesday gave $1.2 million to companies competing for a chance to sell carbon removal credits to the federal government. These 24 semifinalists, which were each awarded $50,000, include nine direct air capture projects, seven biomass projects, five enhanced rock weathering projects, and three marine-based projects. Up to 10 of them will be offered federal contracts amounting to $30 million. “The Department of Energy hopes that by selecting 24 companies that have been vetted by government scientists, it’s sending a signal to the private sector that there are at least some projects that are legitimate,” Heatmap’s Emily Pontecorvo writes, referencing struggles in the broader carbon credits marketplace.

2. Brazil floods leave some permanently displaced

Weeks of deadly flooding in Brazil displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Many of them now are — or will become — climate refugees. Residents of the cities devastated by the floodwaters are now rethinking how to live alongside the increasingly unpredictable rains. As climate refugees, they join the survivors of other climate disasters in recent years and the millions more who are expected to follow in their footsteps over the coming decades. “Brazil is not going to be a one-off,” Andrew Harper, a senior official at the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, told The Washington Post. “What we are seeing is the start of something that will become more frequent and more extreme and lead to more people left vulnerable, with no choice but to move to a safer location.”

3. New satellite will study clouds and climate

SpaceX launched the EarthCARE (Earth Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiation Explorer) satellite, a joint project between the European Space Agency and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, on Tuesday in a mission that will study the impact that clouds have on the climate. The satellite, which has been 20 years in the making, will use four instruments, including radar and imaging systems, to measure clouds’ altitude, structure, and movement. The mission will take place at a relatively low orbit and is expected to last at least three years. Researchers hope the data it collects will lead to improvements both in long-term climate modeling and short-term weather forecasting.

4. Supreme Court to hear San Francisco’s case against the EPA

The Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit brought by the city and county of San Francisco against EPA Clean Water Act discharge regulations. Lawyers representing San Francisco argued in their petition that the federal regulations — which prohibit violations “of any applicable water quality standard” rather than setting numerical pollution limits — are too vague. “These prohibitions effectively tell permit holders nothing more than not to cause ‘too much’ pollution,” the petition said. The EPA argued in response that the requirements are meant to keep permits in line with regional and state discharge standards. “Those standards, in turn, establish specific limits to which petitioner’s discharges must conform,” the EPA’s brief said. In recent years, the conservative Supreme Court has ruled against the EPA in high-profile cases.

5. Poll: Voters favor climate accountability

Almost two-thirds of U.S. voters want oil companies to ”be held legally accountable for their contributions to climate change,” The Guardian reported Tuesday. A poll conducted by consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen and progressive polling firm Data for Progress found that 62% of voters — including 84% of Democrats, 59% of independents and 40% of Republicans — supported the idea. Asked about their stance on “criminal charges being filed against oil and gas companies to hold them accountable for deaths caused by their contributions to climate change,” 49% expressed support and 38% said they were opposed. A growing number of states, counties, and cities are suing major oil companies for climate damages. “These national findings show these cases may be able to earn popular support, particularly in blue jurisdictions,” Grace Adcox, senior climate strategist at Data for Progress, told The Guardian.

THE KICKER

A five-bedroom house in Rodanthe, North Carolina, has become the sixth house along its stretch of seashore to fall into the ocean in the past four years as coastal erosion increasingly threatens homes built near the water.

Yellow

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Energy

The Infrastructure Investor Still Bullish on Renewables

Generate Capital’s Jonah Goldman makes his case.

Money and renewables.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Inflation Reduction Act sparked a predictable surge in clean energy-related investments from the law’s signing in 2022 through the 2024 election, before President Trump’s second term ushered in an era of cancellations, closures, and downsizing. Of the domestic projects announced since the IRA’s passage, a total of 35 have been nixed or scaled back so far this year — more than in all of 2023 and 2024 combined, according to estimates from the environmental advocacy organization E2. This accounts for over $22 billion in lost investment and 16,500 in lost jobs.

“There’s a drastic decrease in the amount of new [clean energy] investments,” E2’s Michael Timberlake told me. After the IRA’s passage, he explained, nearly every month saw over a billion dollars invested in new clean energy projects. But since December of last year, monthly investment has come in below a billion dollars more often than not.

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Politics

AM Briefing: Ford’s EV ‘Model T’ Moment

On Interior’s birdwatching, China’s lithium slowdown, and recycling aluminum

Ford’s EV ‘Model T’ Moment
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Hurricane Erin is gathering strength as it makes its way toward Puerto Rico later this week • Flash flooding and severe storms threaten the Great Plains and Midwest • In France, 12 administrative regions are on red alert for heat as temperatures surge past 95 degrees Fahrenheit.


Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Electric Vehicles

Ford’s Model T Moment Isn’t About the Car

The assembly line is the company’s signature innovation. Now it’s trying to one-up itself with the Universal EV Production System.

A pickup truck and a diagram.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

In 2027, Ford says, it will deliver a $30,000 mid-size all-electric truck. That alone would be a breakthrough in a segment where EVs have struggled against high costs and lagging interest from buyers.

But the company’s big announcement on Monday isn’t (just) about the truck. The promised pickup is part of Ford’s big plan that it has pegged as a “Model T moment” for electric vehicles. The Detroit giant says it is about to reimagine the entire way it builds EVs to cut costs, turn around its struggling EV division, and truly compete with the likes of Tesla.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue