Oil Firms Target Rural Communities Again, Now for Lithium Mining
Getty/Grist This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Chantell Dunbar-Jones remembers when her hometown of Lewisville, Arkansas, seemed to have oil wells on every corner. The small town, located in the southwestern part of the state, sits atop the Smackover Oil Formation, one of the largest oilfields in the United…
Puerto Rico Is Harnessing Home Solar Rigs to Stabilize Its Power Grid
Courtesy Sunrun This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Puerto Rico has begun using batteries connected to residents’ rooftop solar panels to provide backup power for its grid, helping prevent blackouts and offering an alternative to fossil fuel-burning peaker plants. It could be the first step toward building one…
Electric Vehicles Just Became More Affordable
Joe Biden at the grand opening of General Motors Factory ZERO. Dominick Sokotoff/ZUMA This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A change to the federal EV incentive that took effect Monday could widen access for low and middle-income buyers who want to go electric but have been…
Michigan’s New Clean Energy Bill Signals a “Huge Shift”
Michael Brochstein/Zuma This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Michigan is set to become the third state in the Midwest and twelfth in the country to require a shift to clean electricity. Of all those states, Michigan is one of the most ambitious because of the extent…
Maine Voters Have a Chance to Oust Their Profit-Driven Utilities
Seth Berry, left, an author of the Pine Tree Power proposal and a former Democratic state representative, chats with voters at a gathering of climate activists in Winslow, Maine, in August 2023. Annie Ropeik/Inside Climate News This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Maine will vote on…
Coal Communities Fear Exclusion From Environmental Justice Initative
Belle Ayr Mine near Gillette, Wyoming Mead Gruver/AP This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Officials from declining coal communities in Wyoming worry that the Biden administration’s environmental justice agenda is hurting their ability to compete for billions of dollars in federal clean energy and infrastructure grants,…