Across Beijing, millions of weeping willows and poplar trees turn the megacity into a green metropolis. But compounds released by these trees are becoming a major contributor to air pollution finds a study. Beijing is not alone. Many trees planted in urban areas — species that are often chosen for their quick growth and climate resilience — are worsening ozone emissions, suggests the study published in Science Advances today. Rising temperatures from global warming could exacerbate the problem. The findings are not an argument against planting trees in cities. Trees provide substantial benefits, including cooling, carbon storage and biodiversity, he adds. But tree selection should become part of urban planning, particularly as climate change increases temperatures and exacerbates heatwaves.
Researchers analyzing modern and fossil corals from the Galápagos Islands concluded that global warming has intensified El Niño cycles over the last 40 years, making them more extreme than natural variations seen during the previous millennium. Their study, published Thursday in Science, revealed sharper swings in sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean beginning in the late 19th century, as the burning of fossil fuels accelerated and began disrupting the global climate. The findings suggest that rising greenhouse gas concentrations are amplifying one of the world’s most important drivers of extreme weather.
GREENING
The Vatican is reportedly planning to build an up-to-90-MW agrivoltaics project that would allow crops to be grown under solar panels. (Reuters)
The winds of change are finally blowing into far northern Maine. After decades of delays, the state has approved a utility-scale wind project near the Canadian border and a transmission line to match it. Sarah Shemkus has the details.
Global clean energy investment reached $327.5 billion in the first half of this year, similar to the previous six months, though spending on solar-plus-storage projects reached an all-time high. (BloombergNEF)
In the six months since conflict began in the Middle East, the world has ramped up renewable power generation, putting clean energy on pace to outproduce coal over the whole year. (Reuters)
California lawmakers passed the Plug and Play Solar Act that would allow households to install plug-in solar systems without going through the utility interconnection process if Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t veto it. (Canary Media)
California lawmakers passed a bill that would allow cities and counties to conduct remote inspections of home solar, battery, and heat pump installations. (Solar Power World)
Record solar capacity of 17 GW will be installed in Africa in 2026, up 45% year-on-year. 36 out of Africa’s 54 countries are expected to install record amounts of solar in 2026: 19 countries have seen year-on-year growth of over 100%, including 544% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 282% in Zimbabwe, 176% in Egypt and 117% in Zambia.
California, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California are working together on a network of charging and hydrogen fueling stations intended to support zero-emission trucks traveling the West Coast. The 1,381-mile corridor averages nearly 10,000 trucks each day — and sometimes as many as 35,000 — making it a backbone of North American freight movement for huge volumes of agricultural products, lumber, consumer goods and other cargo. they aim to see Class 8 heavy-duty electric trucks driving the entire route as soon as 2030.
CLIMATE DESPOLIATION
The Himalayanflash floods that have killed at least 547 people and left some 1,500 missing across Nepal and Tibetwere not triggered by an earthquake, contrary to initial reports, but by a glacier collapse so violent it produced its own seismic signal, the United States Geological Survey said. BBC News reported that climate change is “known to be driving faster glacier melt in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, but scientists say it is too soon to pinpoint its role”.
Around 189 GW of natural gas capacity to power data centers has been announced, entered pre-construction, or started being built, up from 97 GW at the end of last year. (Heatmap, Global Energy Monitor)
A peer-reviewed study attributes Western snowpack and water supply declines in recent decades to climate change exacerbated by emissions from 122 fossil fuel companies and cement producers or “carbon majors.” (Inside Climate News)
The world’s oceans reached their hottest temperature on record, reported the Guardian. Average sea surface temperatures hit 21.1C last weekend, according to data from EU Copernicus Climate Change Service, it added. Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, told BBC News that, while the current El Niño event is “adding heat to the system”, it is “doing so on top of decades of human-driven warming”. Scientific American noted that “hotter ocean temperatures can worsen sea level rise, disrupt weather patterns and pose dangers to sea life such as coral reefs”.
DARK AGE CLIMATE POLITICS
The White House begins review of a proposal to permanently end EPA oversight of power plant carbon emissions and make it difficult to reinstate under future administrations. (E&E News)
The Trump administration is reportedly close to taking a massive ownership stake in many Venezuelan oil fields. (Axios)
Data show Arizona added more battery energy storage capacity to its grid than any state besides Texas during the first half of this year, but advocates worry political shifts could stifle the storage growth spurt. (Canary Media)
The U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments in October over the oil industry’s petition seeking to quash Boulder, Colorado’s lawsuit looking to hold petroleum corporations accountable for climate change-related disasters. (Inside Climate News) [Any bets on whether heavily fossil-fuel invested Sam Alito will recuse himself?]
Tin ears: The Trump administration is moving to make it harder for communities to weigh in on proposed data centers, even as a backlash against the behemoth projects grows across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate a federal requirement that states publicize and solicit public input on applications for air pollution permits for a range of industrial facilities, including new data centers and the power plants needed to run them. The move could prevent residents from raising concerns about — or even learning about — data centers before permits are approved and construction starts. Nearly 200 advocacy groups and more than a dozen states have voiced opposition to the change.
An analysis finds more than 99% of public commenters oppose the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to roll back Biden-era oil and gas leasing reforms. (news release)
The Trump administration’s attacks on the clean energy industry could jeopardize as much as 540 GW of new wind, solar, and storage capacity over the next decade, a new Natural Resources Defense Council report finds. (Utility Dive)
Take Action!
Write a letter or email to ask the Governor to sign important climate-related bills. Here are several choices. You can do more research on them on Google or just write using the general purpose of the bills. If you click on the hyperlinks they will take you to the text of the bills.
AB 40, California Environmental Quality Act: environmental impact reports: coal handling, storage, and export by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, would add more environmental review hurdles for coal handling and export projects around the state. That measure emerged as a direct response to the Trump administration’s announcement in June that it was investing $75 million in a controversial project to build a coal export facility in Oakland.
AB 1448, Coastal resources: California Coastal Sanctuary: tidelands and submerged lands: oil and gas development, by Assemblymember Gregg Hart, would prohibit the use of existing oil and gas infrastructure located in California coastal territory from being used to support federal offshore oil leases issued after Jan. 1, 2026. That would make it effectively impossible to transport oil from a newly-leased federal territory to shore via a pipeline.
AB 2313, Gas corporations: gas distribution service line replacements: alternatives, by Assemblymember Marc Berman, would set up a program in which natural gas providers must offer residents whose service lines need replacing the option to instead accept an incentive to cut their gas service, bolstering electrification.
Here are directions and tips from the Governor’s office.
Email: Send your letter or support text directly to [email protected]. Only use this address for messages concerning specific bills.
Online Form: You can also submit comments and messages through the Governor’s Contact Page by scrolling down and choosing the “Legislation issue/concern” topic.
Tips for Your Message
Include the Bill Number: Clearly state the bill number and title (e.g., AB XXX or SB XXX) in your subject line and opening sentence.
State Your Stance: Explicitly ask the Governor to sign the bill.
Add Personal Context: Briefly explain how the bill impacts you, your family, or your community, the state or the climate.
Although the governor often chooses the right path without pressure, we have been disappointed many times. So please add your voice for at least one bill.
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