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Politics

The ‘Endangerment Finding’ Is in Danger

On greenhouse gas regulations, coal power, and contaminated drinking water

The ‘Endangerment Finding’ Is in Danger
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: An electricity transmission line failure triggered a massive blackout in Chile • Six tropical storms are currently swirling in the Southern Hemisphere • The Santa Ana winds are returning to Southern California this week.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Report: EPA urging Trump to repeal key greenhouse gas finding

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has reportedly been advising the Trump administration to repeal a landmark scientific finding that explicitly identified greenhouse gases as a public health threat. The 2009 “endangerment finding” gave the EPA the authority to regulate these gases. President Trump ordered the EPA to review the finding, but the agency has not publicly released any recommendations yet. According to The Washington Post, Zeldin has “privately urged the White House” to strike it down.

2. U.S. to ramp up retirements of coal-fired power plants

Power generators in the U.S. plan to retire 8.1 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity this year, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s more than double the 4 GW retired last year but less than the 9.8 GW that have been taken offline each year over the last decade. Planned retirements across all sources for 2025 total about 12.3 GW, and coal power retirements account for the largest share at 66%, followed by natural gas at 21%. At the same time, the EIA expects 63 GW of new utility-scale power capacity to come online this year, 81% of which will be solar and battery storage.

EIA

EIA

3. U.S. and Ukraine reach tentative deal on minerals

The U.S. and Ukraine have reportedly reached a deal that would see Ukraine share some of the revenue from its state-owned natural resources – including oil, gas, and critical minerals – with the United States. Ukraine has large deposits of critical minerals and rare earth materials, some of which are essential in clean technologies including electric vehicles. President Trump previously said he wanted access to some of those materials. The terms of the new deal remain unclear, but a draft seen by some outlets suggests Ukraine would put 50% of future mineral proceeds into a newly established joint fund, up to $500 billion. Some of the money would be reinvested into the war-battered country, and “the United States would provide a long-term financial commitment to the development of a ‘stable and economically prosperous Ukraine,’” according toRetuers. However, there do not seem to be any clear security guarantees for Ukraine in the deal. The Financial Times also noted that it “leaves crucial questions such as the size of the U.S. stake in the fund and the terms of ‘joint ownership’ deals to be thrashed out in follow-up agreements.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly plans to meet with Trump in Washington on Friday.

4. Database reveals Americans are drinking contaminated tap water

The nonprofit Environmental Working Group has published its newly updated tap water database, showing that millions of Americans are drinking water that contains “forever chemicals” (or PFAS) and other contaminants. EWG synthesized reports from 50,000 individual water systems across the country. In total, 563 utilities reported unsafe levels of forever chemicals. Almost all community water systems contained detectable levels of contaminants of some kind – from PFAS to heavy metals to radioactive substances. As Heatmap’s Jeva Lange reports, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to report drinking water data, but it’s never released a comprehensive database, and information can be hard to come by. “EWG is filling this need for people to have a national clearinghouse where they can easily access their drinking water data,” Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist with EWG, told Lange.

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  • 5. UK emissions goals hinge on consumers switching to EVs, heat pumps

    The UK needs to bring its emissions down by 87% compared to 1990 levels by 2040 if it is to remain on track for net zero by 2050, according to a new report from the Climate Change Committee, which is an independent climate adviser to the government. Sixty percent of those 2040 reductions will come from electrification – decarbonizing the grid, switching to EVs, and swapping out fossil fuel home systems with heat pumps, etc. The report noted that the UK has already cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half since 1990 by “expanding renewable power and phasing out coal in the electricity sector.” Going forward, surface transport alone will account for nearly 30% of emissions cuts, with three-quarters of cars and vans on the road in the UK expected to be electric by 2040.

    THE KICKER

    A recent study found that in spring and summer, trees and other vegetation in Central Los Angeles can absorb up to 60% of the carbon dioxide that gets emitted during the daytime.

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    Hotspots

    Trump May Approve Transmission Line for Wind Project

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

    Map of renewable energy conflicts
    Heatmap Illustration

    1. Carbon County, Wyoming – I have learned that the Bureau of Land Management is close to approving the environmental review for a transmission line that would connect to BluEarth Renewables’ Lucky Star wind project.

    • This is a huge deal. For the last two months it has seemed like nothing wind-related could be approved by the Trump administration. But that may be about to change.
    • The Bureau of Land Management sent local officials an email March 6 with a draft environmental assessment for the transmission line, which is required for the federal government to approve its right-of-way under the National Environmental Policy Act.
    • According to the draft, the entirety of the wind project itself is sited on private property and “no longer will require access to BLM-administered land.”
    • The email suggests this draft environmental assessment may soon be available for public comment, which is standard practice and required under the law to proceed. BLM’s web page for the transmission line now states an approval granting right-of-way for the transmission line may come as soon as this May.
    • We’ve asked BLM for comment on how this complies with Trump’s executive order ending “new or renewed approvals” and “rights of way” for onshore wind projects. We’ll let you know if we hear back.
    • It’s worth noting, however, that BLM last week did something similar with a transmission line that would go to a solar project proposed entirely on private lands. Could private lands become the workaround du jour under Trump?

    2. Nantucket County, Massachusetts – Anti-offshore wind advocates are pushing the Trump administration to rescind air permits issued to Avangrid for New England Wind 1 and 2, the same approval that was ripped away from Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm last Friday.

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    Q&A

    What’s the Deal with Battery Storage Regulation?

    A conversation with Nikhil Kumar of GridLab

    Nikhil Kumar, program director at GridLab
    Heatmap Illustration

    Today’s sit-down is with Nikhil Kumar, a program director at GridLab and an expert in battery storage safety and regulation. Kumar’s folks reached out to me after learning I was writing about Moss Landing and wanted to give his honest and open perspective on how the disaster is impacting the future of storage development in the U.S. Let’s dive in!

    The following is an abridged and edited version of our conversation.

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    Climate Tech

    Crusoe Is Pushing the Definition of Climate Tech

    A climate tech company powered by natural gas has always been an odd concept. Now as it moves into developing data centers, it insists it’s remaining true to its roots.

    Trump and technology.
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    Crusoe Energy has always been a confusing company, whose convoluted green energy credentials raise some eyebrows. It started as a natural gas-powered Bitcoin miner, then became a climate tech unicorn thanks to the fact that its crypto operations utilized waste gas that would have otherwise been flared into the atmosphere. It’s received significant backing from major clean tech investors such as G2 Venture Partners and Lowercarbon Capital. And it touts sustainability as one of its main selling points, describing itself as “on a mission to align the future of computing with the future of the climate,” in part by “harnessing large-scale clean energy.”

    But these days, the late-stage startup valued at $2.8 billion makes the majority of its revenue as a modular data center manufacturer and cloud services provider, and is exploring myriad energy solutions — from natural gas to stranded solar and wind assets — beyond its original focus. Earlier this week, it announced that it would acquire more than 4 gigawatts of new natural gas capacity to power its data center buildout. It’s also heavily involved in the Trump-endorsed $500 billion AI push known as the Stargate Project. The company’s Elon Musk-loving CEO Chase Lochmiller told The Information that his team is “pouring concrete at three in the morning” to build out its Stargate Project data centers at “ludicrous speed.”

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    Blue