SCIENCE
A new study in Nature Sustainability argues that coastal
Louisiana is ground zero for coastal climate
adaptation: a place where rising seas and sinking land are already
reshaping where people live, and where planning for movement could offer
more agency than crisis-driven displacement. By comparing today’s warming trajectory with the last interglacial
period roughly 125,000 years ago, when global temperatures were similar
and seas were much higher, the new study estimates that the
region could face three to seven meters of sea-level rise
and lose as much as three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands. While
the window of opportunity to save the New Orleans area in the long run
has probably closed, the next few decades will be decisive as to whether
other population centers that are presently well landwards of the coast
will be among the next to face their seawards fate. “Outmigration is often framed as tragedy or failure, but in some
cases it signals agency,” said Brianna Castro, a co-author of the paper,
who highlights that this is a chance to plan around choices people are
already making.
GREENING
- A report from the International Energy Agency out Wednesday affirmsEV sales are on fire in many parts of the world. In the first quarter of 2026, they were 75% higher in Latin America and 30%
higher in Europe, compared with the same period last year. That’s just
the start of a surge, as some countries are responding to the ongoing
oil crisis by expanding EV incentives. The IEA predicts the world will buy a record 23 million EVs throughout 2026 — that’s one electric car out of every three vehicles sold. - California and the Port of Long Beach advances the proposed $4.7 billion Pier Wind project to support offshore turbine deployment along the state’s coast, despite the Trump administration’s hostility toward the technology. (Los Angeles Times)
- California’s Energy Commission approves the 400 MW Potentia-Viridi Battery Energy Storage System in Alameda County, the third project to go through the state’s accelerated permitting program. (news release) [It applies only to renewables and has a role for local agencies but the CEC makes the final decision.]
- In Germany a virtual power plant comprised of hooked-together home batteries in just one company’s network this spring surpassed a gigawatt, making it as big as a nuclear power plant. [California has tested a VPP half that size.]
- On Tuesday, the oil and carbon management developer California Resources Corporation injected its maiden load of carbon dioxide into a depleted oil reservoir, marking the first time a carbon capture and storage project has come online in the state’s history. The project, called Carbon TerraVault I, is located in Kern County. Last October, as Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin reported, Google backed a project to build a gas plant with CCS, launching what may be one of the most promising efforts yet to commercialize the technology.
CLIMATE DESPOLIATION
- A 2025 study led by Avantika Gori of Rice University, Sensitivity of tropical cyclone risk across the US to changes in storm climatology and socioeconomic growth, looked at how damages from wind, rainfall, and storm surge would change under a moderate global warming scenario. The combined increased costs for hurricane damage for the future (2070-2100) period compared to the historical (1980-2005) period would be truly extraordinary, if no additional adaptation measures are taken: a 633% increase, the paper said. [Thanks to Bill McKibben’s Crucial Years substack.)
- A new study spearheaded by Rui Song shows that aerosols from air pollution reduced global solar generation by 5.8% in 2023 (111 TWh). From 2017 to 2023, annual aerosol-induced PV energy losses from existing systems were, on average, equivalent to one-third of the energy added by new PV installations. In China, aerosols caused the largest PV energy losses worldwide, reducing national PV generation by 7.7% in 2023.
- The US-Israel war on Iran has exacerbated other global disasters to drive record levels of hunger at a time when funding to combat famine has fallen dramatically, the deputy head of the UN World Food Programme has said. The WFP says 363 million people around the world are now at risk of acute hunger, 45 million of them as a result of conflict in the Middle East and the consequent oil price spike. It comes against the backdrop of two famines declared in 2025, in Gaza and Sudan.
DARK AGE CLIMATE POLITICS
- The Trump administration has moved to create a blanket environmental review for oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, garnering advocates’ criticism and industry’s praise. (Northern Journal)
- A climate fund founded by Jeff Bezos in 2020, the single largest philanthropic pledge to fight global warming, is lagging far behind its spending goals. Officials at the Bezos Earth Fund said they remain committed to disbursing $10 billion by 2030. With four years left on the timeline, however, only 28% of the promised funds have been allocated so far.
- Virginia data centers are currently connected to 10,500 diesel backup generators, which experts say could harm public health even if they’re used sparingly. (Washington Post)
- Coal order in the court: The Trump administration argues to a panel of federal judges that it has unilateral authority to declare an “energy
emergency” and force retiring coal plants to stay open, a claim the
state of Michigan and environmentalists are fighting. (Inside Climate News) - Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign has spurred at least an 80% increase in immigration flights year over year, accelerating the climate crisis by emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide, according to data analysis shared exclusively with the Guardian. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) air operations pumped out an estimated 335,876 tonnes (37,0240 US tons) of carbon emissions in 2025, up 88% from the year before. The first four months of 2026 show the federal agency is on track to contribute even more to global heating this year from such flights, the Guardian can reveal.
Take Action!
VOTE! It now seems very unlikely we will get two Republicans on the ticket so vote your conscience. Tom Steyer has been endorse by Bill McKibben and other climate leaders.
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