SCIENCE
No news is good news!
GREENING
- A new analysis finds that some 44% of Los Angeles County’s 312,000 acres of pavement may not be essential for roads, sidewalks or parking, and could be reconsidered. The report, DepaveLA, is the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County, and to distinguish streets, sidewalks, private properties, and other areas. The researchers divided all pavement into “core” and “non-core” uses. A street, for example, is core. Then they paired that map with data on heat, flooding and tree canopy, creating what they intend as a new framework for understanding where removing concrete and asphalt could make the biggest difference for people’s health and the climate. Paved surfaces get hotter than those with plantings, absorbing and radiating out the sun’s energy rather than converting it into plant growth, which in turn creates shade. Hotter areas also create more ozone smog. Greener areas are known to bring people psychological relief as well. At the end of 2025, Los Angeles County set a depaving target to remove 1,600 acres of pavement from schools and public spaces by 2045, far short of the 44% of unnecessary paving found in this study.
- General Motors’ energy division will begin leasing its home energy management systems that let EV owners use their cars’ batteries to back up home power. (Axios)
- California automaker Aptera Motors expects to begin production of its three-wheeled, super-efficient EV later this year. (KPBS)
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has continued to fall into early 2026, extending a downward trend, according to the latest satellite data covered by Mongabay.
CLIMATE DESPOLIATION
- The EU’s climate advisory board urged countries to prepare for 3C of global warming, reported the Guardian. The outlet quoted Maarten van Aalst, a member of the advisory board, saying that adapting to this future is a “daunting task, but, at the same time, quite a doable task”. The board recommended the creation of “climate risk assessments and investments in protective measures”.
- Production of natural gas in the US is set to hit a record high in 2026, and continue upward next year. The Energy Information Administration’s latest short-term energy outlook expects natural gas production to surge 2% this year then surge again next year. Roughly 69% of the increased output is set to come from Appalachia, Louisiana’s Haynesville area, and the Texas Permian regions. Still, a lot of that gas is flowing to liquified natural gas exports, which Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin explained could raise prices.
- An analysis finds nearly 4,500 idle and potentially leaky oil and gas wells in California lie within 3,200 feet of a school, healthcare facility, playground, or childcare or eldercare center. (news release)
- Federal forecasters say climate change-exacerbated drought on the Colorado River could force Glen Canyon Dam to cease hydropower production by the end of this year. (Land Desk)
DARK AGE CLIMATE POLITICS
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright threatens to withdraw the U.S. from the International Energy Agency if it continues to measure global emissions progress against Paris Agreement goals. (Reuters)
- Paris Court Holds Historic Climate Trial in Case Against TotalEnergies. The lawsuit challenges the oil major’s expansion plans and could set a significant precedent on climate responsibilities for fossil fuel companies if successful, advocates say. In the city where the Paris climate agreement was created, French oil major TotalEnergies is facing trial in a landmark civil climate case that aims to compel the company to curb its oil and gas production and emissions in line with the global accord’s 1.5 degrees Celsius long-term temperature limit.
- California regulators propose slashing the amount of in-state wind power grid operators should plan for through 2036, citing expiring federal tax incentives and Trump administration hostility toward clean energy. (Politico)
- New York cites federal pushback as it closes its offshore wind solicitation without issuing any awards, and says it instead will survey industry leaders to learn how the state can support future development. (OffshoreWind.Biz)
- Boom: Current and former Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Energy Department staff say the NRC is struggling as the Trump administration guts the agency’s independence while pushing it to quickly approve more projects and new reactor designs. (E&E News)
- An analysis finds more than 20,000 AI-generated comments helped defeat a proposal to phase out and levy a surcharge on gas-powered appliances in southern California last year. (Los Angeles Times)
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