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Politics

Doug Burgum Takes Over the Interior

On Cabinent confirmations, NYC’s congestion pricing, and Orsted

Doug Burgum Takes Over the Interior
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Flowers are blooming in Moscow as parts of Russia experience unseasonally warm weather • The UK is being battered by yet another storm after Éowyn and Herminia brought back-to-back flooding events • An atmospheric river is expected to soak Northern California this weekend.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Burgum confirmed as Interior secretary

The Cabinet confirmations continue. Doug Burgum was confirmed yesterday as the new secretary of the Interior Department, where he will be in charge of executing President Trump’s plans to “drill, baby, drill.” He’ll also oversee the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Land Management. One of his first priorities will be to carry out the president’s executive order pausing new offshore wind leasing and permitting. During his confirmation hearings, Burgum suggested that “clean coal” could help with decarbonization, backed up Trump’s disdain for wind power, and dodged questions seeking reassurance about his commitment to protecting federal lands. More than half of the Senate Democrats voted for Burgum’s confirmation.

2. NYC’s congestion pricing shows ‘undeniably positive results’

President Trump is reportedly considering ways to cancel New York City’s congestion pricing. The tolling program – the first in the nation – came into effect in early January and has produced “undeniably positive results,” according to Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It has prevented some 1 million vehicles from entering lower Manhattan, significantly reduced congestion and commuting times, and made bus services more efficient. Weekday ridership on some bus routes has increased by nearly 15%, and subway ridership has grown by 7.3%. “Better bus service, faster drive times, and safer streets are good for all New Yorkers,” Lieber said.

MTA

3. DOT moves to eliminate ‘climate change’ policies

The Department of Transportation this week moved to carry out some of President Trump’s executive orders aimed at eliminating all Biden-era policies that “reference or relate in any way” to climate change, “greenhouse gas” emissions (quotes are theirs), and environmental justice. A memorandum from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy gave all administrations and agencies operating under DOT purview 10 days to produce a written report listing any policies relating to these climate issues and then another 10 days to terminate those policies. Duffy’s order also canceled a 2023 DOT policy that required all agencies to consider climate change adaptation and resilience in planning. The DOT employs 55,000 people across various bureaus including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and many others.

4. Orsted ousts Mads Nipper as CEO

Mads Nipper is out as CEO of the world’s largest offshore wind developer. Orsted is replacing Nipper tomorrow with the company’s current deputy chief executive and chief commercial officer, Rasmus Errboe. The decision comes just 10 days after Orsted announced a $1.7 billion write-down in the U.S., which it blamed on challenging economic conditions like high interest rates and general uncertainty about the offshore wind industry. Nipper’s departure isn’t all that surprising – he held on after the company announced huge impairments from abandoning some U.S. projects in 2023. The latest write-downs were the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” one source told the Financial Times. In a statement, Errboe acknowledged the “headwinds” facing the industry, and said “offshore wind remains crucial for the green transition, and we’re deeply committed to pursuing our vision of a world that runs entirely on green energy.”

5. World invested $2 trillion in energy transition last year

More than $2 trillion was invested in the global energy transition last year, according to BloombergNEF’s annual energy Transition Investment Trends report. That’s 11% more than was spent in 2023, and a new record. But … investment growth seems to be slowing, and it still falls short of the $5.6 trillion that experts say will be needed each year between now and 2030 to have a shot at reaching net zero by 2050. The report contains lots of interesting statistics. For example:

  • Decarbonizing transportation received the largest amount of investment at $757 billion. Renewable energy came in second at $728 billion, followed by power grids at $390 billion.
  • Investment in “emerging tech” like carbon capture, hydrogen, nuclear, and clean shipping fell by 23%, while investment in “proven, commercially scalable” technologies grew by nearly 15% “despite hindrance from policy decisions, higher interest rates and expected slower consumer purchasing.”
  • About 60% of the total investment in the supply chain went to batteries.
  • Climate tech fundraising was down 40% year-over-year.

THE KICKER

“If Trump makes good on his threats to tariff oil imports from Canada and Mexico, then he will cost the American oil and gas industry tens of billions of dollars while causing gasoline prices to rise across much of the country.”

–Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer on how Trump might be about to wreck U.S. oil refineries

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Spotlight

Data Centers Are the New NIMBY Battleground

Packed hearings. Facebook organizing. Complaints about prime farmland and a disappearing way of life. Sound familiar?

A data center and houses.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Solar and wind companies cite the rise of artificial intelligence to make their business cases after the United States government slashed massive tax incentives for their projects.

But the data centers supposed to power the AI boom are now facing the sort of swift wave of rejections from local governments across the country eerily similar to what renewables developers have been dealing with on the ground over the last decade. The only difference is, this land use techlash feels even more sudden, intense, and culturally diffuse.

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Hotspots

Arkansas Attorney General Reassures Wind Energy Opponents

And more of the week’s most important news around renewable energy conflicts.

The United States.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Pulaski County, Arkansas – The attorney general of Arkansas is reassuring residents that yes, they can still ban wind farms if they want to.

  • As I chronicled earlier this month, the backlash to wind energy in this state is fierce, motivated by a convergence of environmental frustrations and conservative cultural splashback. It bears repeating: there really isn’t much renewable energy in operation here right now.
  • The state passed legislation putting restrictions on wind development that was intended to assuage local concerns. But it seems frustrations have boiled to a point where the state attorney general has had to clarify this new law will not get in the way of towns or counties going further, and that the law was merely to create a minimum set of guardrails on wind development.
  • “In my opinion, [the law] broadly delegates authority to municipalities and counties, enabling them to enact local laws that address their specific needs, including the possibility of moratoriums on wind development,” Arkansas attorney general Tim Griffin wrote in a letter released this week. “No state or federal law prohibits or preempts a local unit of government from passing moratoriums on the construction and installation of wind turbines.”

2. Des Moines County, Iowa – This county facing intense pressure to lock out renewables is trying to find a sweet spot that doesn’t involve capitulation. Whether that’s possible remains to be seen.

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Q&A

Solar Out West Is ‘Relatively Difficult’ Under Trump

A conversation with Wil Gehl at the Solar Energy Industries Association

Wil Gehl.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

This week I chatted with Wil Gehl, the InterMountain West senior manager at the Solar Energy Industries Association. I reached out in the hopes we could chat candidly about the impacts of the current national policy regime on solar development in the American West, where a pause on federal permits risks jeopardizing immense development in Nevada. To my delight, Wil was (pun intended) willing to get into the hot seat with me and get into the mix.

The following conversation was lightly edited for clarity.

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