Justin Gerdes

Californians whose homes were destroyed by wildfires and other natural disasters can apply for assistance to rebuild a fully electric home under @californiapuc.bsky.social's new $50 million Sustainable Electric Homes program: www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-upd... 🔌💡

Strait Up Hormuz Monday 9 March 2026

"You do not kick the hornet’s nest of Iran because that endangers the flow of oil from numerous Middle East producers. Apparently, Donald Trump now stands as one of the few people on the planet to not fully understand this simple equation," writes @gregor.us: www.coldeye.earth/p/strait-up-... 🔌💡

Member drive: Please support CCG! Get ready for five stories in five days.

Doing a member drive this week for CLIMATE-COLORED GOGGLES! Planning to publish five stories in the next five days to sign up as many new paid subscribers as possible. Here is my pitch. Your support greatly appreciated. www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/member-dri...

Here’s what it will take to unlock the potential of advanced energy communities Solvable policy barriers are holding back the adoption of proven technologies that are the building blocks of all-electric, zero-carbon, grid-flexible communities, experts said at a symposium convened in Oakland, California.

✨ NEW: Last month, we convened a symposium on advanced energy communities to highlight how community-led decarbonization projects can make our energy more reliable, equitable, and affordable. Read: https://loom.ly/5WC71GQ

How Do Offshore Wind Farms Affect Military Radar? With the right technology, offshore wind farms can bolster national defense, not hinder it.

"It’s not a choice of whether we go for wind farms or security. We need both,” Ben Bekkering, a retired vice admiral in the Netherlands and current partner of the International Military Council on Climate and Security, told @peter.fairley.ca: spectrum.ieee.org/offshore-win... 🔌💡

The Arrogance of Ignorance. What I have learned in 45 years of interviewing experts about peace and war, and how it applies to the tumult of these past nine days.

"Now the people at the controls have taken every hard-earned lesson about war and peace and set it ablaze," writes @jfallows.bsky.social: fallows.substack.com/p/the-arroga...

What I’m reading: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more Quitting Carbon is made possible by paid subscribers. Support independent energy journalism by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation. Welcome back to another recap of highlights fr...

ICYMI: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more highlights from what I've been reading: www.quittingcarbonmedia.com/what-im-read... via @quittingcarbon.bsky.social 🔌💡

There Have Been No Approvals for New Transit Projects in the First Year of the Current Trump Administration

For the 1st time in the 1st year of a presidential administration since at least 1993, under Trump 2, the Federal Transit Administration signed 0 new contracts for major transit projects, like subways or light rail.

The US is facing a crisis of rail transit investment: www.urban.org/urban-wire/r...

Are electric vehicles denting oil demand? Yes.

By how much? 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, according to EV Curve Futurist.

Caveat: These estimates are hard, but the numbers are certainly adding up.

EPA Hits 40-Year Lows in Staffing After Trump Targets Its Public Health Experts - Inside Climate News An Inside Climate News analysis of just-released federal workforce data shows more than 4,000 employees departed between January 2025 and January 2026, including a majority of team leaders.

"The EPA lost more than 4,000 employees in the first year of Trump’s second term, bringing its staffing down to a total of 12,849—a level not seen since the Reagan administration." insideclimatenews.org/news/0603202... via @mlavelle.bsky.social and @peteraldhous.com

Funding Friday: Tom Steyer Makes a Real Estate Play On Galvanize’s latest fund strategy and more of the week’s big money moves.

"California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer’s investment firm Galvanize just closed a fund devoted to decarbonizing real estate," reports @kbrigham.bsky.social: heatmap.news/climate-tech... 🔌💡

What I’m reading: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more Quitting Carbon is made possible by paid subscribers. Support independent energy journalism by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation. Welcome back to another recap of highlights fr...

Weekend reading: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more energy transition developments you might have missed: www.quittingcarbonmedia.com/what-im-read... via @quittingcarbon.bsky.social 🔌💡

What I’m reading: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more Quitting Carbon is made possible by paid subscribers. Support independent energy journalism by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation. Welcome back to another recap of highlights fr...

Weekend reading: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more energy transition developments you might have missed: www.quittingcarbonmedia.com/what-im-read... via @quittingcarbon.bsky.social 🔌💡

What I’m reading: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more Quitting Carbon is made possible by paid subscribers. Support independent energy journalism by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation. Welcome back to another recap of highlights fr...

My latest at @quittingcarbon.bsky.social: East Coast offshore wind farms nearing completion, plug-in solar goes nationwide, building electrification update, and more highlights from what I've been reading: www.quittingcarbonmedia.com/what-im-read... 🔌💡

Texas Seizes the Solar Crown From California, and Other Key Points From the Latest Electricity Data - Inside Climate News Utility-scale solar soared in 2025 across the country; coal also grew, while natural gas was down.

"Texas, which already leads the country in electricity generation from natural gas, coal and wind, has passed California to become the leader in utility-scale solar," reports @dangearino.bsky.social: insideclimatenews.org/news/0503202... 🔌💡

Analysis: UK emissions fall 2.4% in 2025 as coal hits 400-year low - Carbon Brief The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025 to their lowest level in...

"The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025 to their lowest level in more than 150 years," according to new @carbonbrief.org analysis: www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-... #ClimateSky

NEW ANALYSIS: UK emissions fell 2.4% in 2025 as coal fell to a 400-year low. Incredibly, we used less coal last year than than in 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing Hamlet.

All the details in our article: www.carbonbrief.org/...

Shouting CEQA reform from the rooftops Welcome to BACAville We could soon find out how Californians really feel about CEQA.  Voters are on track to consider a CalChamber-backed ballot measure in November that aims to modernize the 55-yea...

"While [the Building an Affordable California Act] doesn't address every barrier facing clean energy, it takes meaningful steps to build faster and more affordably without scrapping environmental review," argues ACP-California's Wes Venteicher: www.cleanpowercalifornia.org/shouting-ceq... 🔌💡

Virginia to utilities: Do more with the existing power grid Amid rising energy costs, the state just passed a first-of-a-kind bill that would force utilities to quantify and examine ways to reduce waste on the grid.

Virginia House Bill 434 "would direct Appalachian Power Co. and Dominion Energy, the state’s two predominant vertically integrated utilities, to gather and report detailed data on their grid utilization," reports @elizouzts.bsky.social: www.canarymedia.com/articles/tra... 🔌💡

U.S. Automakers Risk Being Reduced to Niche Producers of Gas Vehicles

"General Motors, Ford and other established automakers risk becoming relics if they don’t catch up to Chinese carmakers and technology companies in electric vehicles and self-driving cars," reports @jackewingnyt.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/b... 🔌💡

"Blaming energy efficiency for rising energy prices is a myth that is unfortunately gaining traction. It’s a convenient narrative, but the data simply doesn’t support it," writes @neepenergy.bsky.social's Maggie Molina: neep.org/blog/energy-... 🔌💡

Is Climate Journalism Up to the Task in 2026? - Legal Planet Bad news and good news on the climate reporting beat. The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental news from Legal Planet.

There's some good news on the climate beat this week thanks to recent hires, expansions, and investments from HEATED to the LA Times to POLITICO and Drilled. legal-planet.org/2026/03/04/w...

Independent Journalism Atlas A comprehensive directory of independent journalists and creators, mapping the new landscape of independent journalism worldwide.

Want an easy way to find energy and climate newsletters like @sammyroth.bsky.social's Climate-Colored Goggles, @volts.wtf, @alexckaufman.bsky.social's Field Notes, my own @quittingcarbon.bsky.social - or ones on any other topic? Search the Independent Journalism Atlas: journalismatlas.com 🔌💡

AI: Does not compute Building fossil-fuel infrastructure to power data centers is a poor bet. Renewables are by far the cheaper, faster choice.

"Today’s AI mania rhymes: Gas and nuclear vendors that can’t beat energy efficiency and renewables in competitive markets are leveraging hype into mandates and subsidies to rescue their losers," write Amory Lovins and Justin Locke: www.canarymedia.com/articles/dat... 🔌💡

Ukrainian Engineers Risk All to Restore Power Under Fire Ukrainian engineers have adapted to constant attacks on their power grid, risking their lives to keep the heat on.

"One man’s nerve, creativity, and genius sustained Ukraine's grid." - @peter.fairley.ca profiles Ukraine's "transmission mastermind" Oleksiy Brecht, who died in the field in January: spectrum.ieee.org/repair-ukrai... 🔌💡

Independent Journalism Atlas A comprehensive directory of independent journalists and creators, mapping the new landscape of independent journalism worldwide.

Want an easy way to find energy and climate newsletters like @sammyroth.bsky.social's Climate-Colored Goggles, @volts.wtf, @alexckaufman.bsky.social's Field Notes, my own @quittingcarbon.bsky.social - or ones on any other topic? Search the Independent Journalism Atlas: journalismatlas.com 🔌💡

Chart depicting BYD's $4,700 cost advantage for the BYD Seal vs the Tesla Model 3 (both produced in China) in U.S. dollars. Source: Rhodium Group.

@rhg.com on "Why Are Chinese EVs So Cheap?": "The two largest drivers are vertical integration and significantly lower overheads, which together account for at least three-quarters of the cost advantage for all three OEMs." rhg.com/research/why...

Why Electricity Bills Are So High—and How the Blowback Could Hit Trump - Inside Climate News As Democrats and climate activists seize on energy costs as a political issue, new data shows electricity rates rose 5 percent nationwide in 2025. The figures were much higher in some states.

A deep dive by @dangearino.bsky.social and @mlavelle.bsky.social into what’s driving the rise in electricity bills nationwide: insideclimatenews.org/news/0203202... 🔌💡

Here’s what it will take to unlock the potential of advanced energy communities Solvable policy barriers are holding back the adoption of proven technologies that are the building blocks of all-electric, zero-carbon, grid-flexible communities, experts said at a symposium convened...

ICYMI: Solvable policy barriers are holding back the development of all-electric, zero-carbon, grid-flexible communities, experts said at a recent @theclimatecenter.bsky.social symposium: www.quittingcarbonmedia.com/heres-what-i... by me at @quittingcarbon.bsky.social 🔌💡

On Thursday, @airresources.bsky.social "approved the adoption of the California Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate Financial Risk Disclosure Initial Regulation, an initial step in meeting the regulatory requirements of SB 253 and 261." ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/carb-ap... #ClimateSky