Region: International
Solar and Wind are Winning
Two energy reports out this week paint a clear picture of the future that may await us.
Industrial policy moves slowly. Sometimes it takes months or years to understand the trajectory of global energy trends. Picture an oil tanker that requires a herculean effort just to shift course by a small degree — that’s what energy policy feels like much of the time. But then sometimes, you get a glimpse of the …
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CONTINUE READINGGarbage In, Garbage Out, Garbage Everywhere
The collapse of international plastics negotiations demands a new, non-UN framework
Given all the garbage that we have to deal with nowadays, you might have missed the prospect of actual, non-metaphorical garbage this week: to virtually no one’s surprise, UN negotiations over an international plastics treaty collapsed this week. It’s easy to make jokes referencing The Graduate – and in fact I will – but this …
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CONTINUE READINGA Breakthrough From India?
For only the second time in half a century, India’s power generation emissions drop, demonstrating that the world is moving on from the United States
Good news is very hard to come by nowadays, so this recent analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Finnish think tank, is particularly welcome: India’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its power sector fell by 1% year-on-year in the first half of 2025 and by 0.2% over the past …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia and Brazil Advance Joint Climate Action
The new MOU announced at New York Climate Week increased engagement and joint climate leadership ahead of COP30.
This week, California Governor Gavin Newsom led a high-level meeting with Brazil’s Environment Secretary Marina Silva to expand the long-running partnerships that exist between the Golden State and the largest country of Latin America. The meeting resulted in a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between both governments to continue to collaborate on climate action. Although …
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CONTINUE READINGImmigration Law is Environmental Law
The recent ICE raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia highlights a problem in our visa system — and our politics.
Three weeks ago, federal and state agents conducted an immigration raid at a multi-billion-dollar Hyundai-LG battery plant under construction in Ellabell, Georgia and detained some 475 workers. About 300 of these workers were South Korean citizens. 14 were from China, Japan, and Indonesia. Another 145 were from Mexico and other Latin American countries. As has …
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CONTINUE READINGWhere Should The United Nations Move?
The Trump Administration has abandoned the world, and the world should return the favor — with a climate twist.
You might have missed it amidst the sewer hose of feces that Donald Trump’s regime is spraying on the nation and the world, but the United States announced last week that it will not extend a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to attend the United Nations General Assembly. I’ve been a Zionist all …
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CONTINUE READINGThank You, President Trump, for Opening the Door to Carbon Tariffs
Democrats should make it clear that this will be on the agenda if the Supreme Court upholds Trump’s tariffs.
As a matter of policy, a border adjustment for carbon emissions is much more defensible than the kinds of tariffs that Trump is proposing. And conservatives need to know that what is sauce of the goose is sauce for the gander. Or to switch metaphors, liberals need to show that they’re willing to move beyond bringing baked goods to a gunfight.
CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration takes on the International Maritime Organization
Once again, the new US thumbs its nose at international consensus.
Despite its constant chaos, the Trump administration is at base quite consistent in its approach to both international law and climate change — it seeks to minimize international cooperation while maximizing greenhouse gas emissions. No surprise, then, that the Secretaries of State, Energy, Commerce and Transportation last month issued a joint statement critical of the …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy are California’s Zero-Emission Truck Standards Under Attack?
They are highly effective, as CLEE’s new Factsheet series on Zero-Emission Trucks documents.
The world of zero-emission trucks is at a pivotal moment. On one hand, the technology is rapidly advancing, and manufacturers are producing a growing number of zero-emission truck models in Europe, China, and here in California. Yet on the other hand, this clean transition is facing significant political and legal challenges from the U.S. federal …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Do Bureaucrats Maximize?
New research demonstrates that governments can reduce intractable emissions problems — if they have the right incentives
It’s no secret that Delhi has perhaps the worst air quality in the world, and it’s also no secret that crop-burning in nearby agricultural areas is one of the principal causes (along with topography). But what can you do about it? It’s illegal already, but because crop-burning is a cheap and effective way to get rid …
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