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Energy

Exxon Counterattacks California Over Plastics
Politics

AM Briefing: Exxon’s Plastic Counterattack

On uranium challenges, Cadillac’s EV dreams, and a firefighter’s firestorm

Politics

The Messaging War Over Energy Costs Is Just Beginning

The new climate politics are all about affordability.

Green
Climate

AM Briefing: EPA Muddies The Waters

On fusion’s big fundraise, nuclear fears, and geothermal’s generations uniting

Yellow
Spotlight

Birds Could Be the Anti-Wind Trump Card

How the Migratory Bird Treaty Act could become the administration’s ultimate weapon against wind farms.

Yellow
The United States.

New Mexico’s NIMBYs Vow to Fight Again in Santa Fe

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

Yellow
An outlet.

Can Plug-in Solar Work in the U.S.?

Europeans have enjoyed it for years. Now, through careful state interventions and creative salesmanship from startups, Americans are close to having their turn.

Blue
Energy

AM Briefing: Trump Brings In the Lumberjacks

On Alaska’s permitting overhaul, HALEU winners, and Heatmap’s Climate 101

Trump Axes Logging Protections for 44 Million Acres of National Forest
<p>Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images</p>

Current conditions: Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas brace for up to a foot of rain • Tropical Storm Juliette, still located well west of Mexico, is moving northward and bringing rain to parts of Southern California • Heat and dryness are raising the risk of wildfire in South Africa.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Trump to ax logging protections from 44 million acres of national forest

The Trump administration has started the process to roll back logging protections from more than 44 million acres of national forest land. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins proposed undoing a 25-year-old rule that banned building roads or harvesting timber on federally controlled forest land, much of which is located in Alaska. “Today marks a critical step forward in President Trump’s commitment to restoring local decision-making to federal land managers to empower them to do what’s necessary to protect America’s forests and communities from devastating destruction from fires,” Rollins said in a statement. “This administration is dedicated to removing burdensome, outdated, one-size-fits-all regulations that not only put people and livelihoods at risk but also stifle economic growth in rural America.”

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Climate 101

Welcome to Climate 101

Your guide to the key technologies of the energy transition.

Welcome to Climate 101
<p>Heatmap illustration/Getty images</p>

Here at Heatmap, we write a lot about decarbonization — that is, the process of transitioning the global economy away from fossil fuels and toward long-term sustainable technologies for generating energy. What we don’t usually write about is what those technologies actually do. Sure, solar panels convert energy from the sun into electricity — but how, exactly? Why do wind turbines have to be that tall? What’s the difference between carbon capture, carbon offsets, and carbon removal, and why does it matter?

So today, we’re bringing you Climate 101, a primer on some of the key technologies of the energy transition. In this series, we’ll cover everything from what makes silicon a perfect material for solar panels (and computer chips), to what’s going on inside a lithium-ion battery, to the difference between advanced and enhanced geothermal.

There’s something here for everyone, whether you’re already an industry expert or merely climate curious. For instance, did you know that contemporary 17th century readers might have understood Don Quixote’s famous “tilting at windmills” to be an expression of NIMYBism? I sure didn’t! But I do now that I’ve read Jeva Lange’s 101 guide to wind energy.

That said, I’d like to extend an especial welcome to those who’ve come here feeling lost in the climate conversation and looking for a way to make sense of it. All of us at Heatmap have been there at some point or another, and we know how confusing — even scary — it can be. The constant drumbeat of news about heatwaves and floods and net-zero this and parts per million that is a lot to take in. We hope this information will help you start to see the bigger picture — because the sooner you do, the sooner you can join the transition, yourself.

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