Interesting Ideas

US energy secretary Chris Wright featured in seminars to judges when he was a fracking executive

As cities and states sue big oil for billions in damages over allegations that it covered up the dangers of its products, rightwing organizations are attempting to discredit the wave of litigation. They claim the lawyers behind it are teaming up with an environmentally focused legal education non-profit to bias federal judges against oil companies.

But it is actually fossil fuel-backed organizations that are attempting to sway the judiciary in their favor, one of those law firms is countering. Evidence of this includes judicial seminars hosted by one such group featuring pro-industry speakers such as the current energy secretary, Chris Wright, in his former occupation as a fracking executive.

“Balcony solar” has been one of the more popular stories of the past year. More and more locations are allowing plug-and-play solar. No need for a permit. No need to wait for months to install solar. No need for a solar installer at all. You just plug in your solar ... [continued]

The post Balcony Solar Bill Moving Forward in California appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Wolstonbury Hill, West Sussex: The fly orchid looks like no fly I’ve ever seen – its target insect is a wasp. And if you see one being pollinated, you’re one up on Charles Darwin

Many British orchids are named for their animal or humanoid appearance. List some and you have all the characters for a nursery-rhyme tale of transformation and trickery: lady, frog, man, fly and spider. Today’s protagonist is the fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), a subtle conjuror of alternate realities and a plant I’m fortunate to encounter yearly on my local South Downs hill. Favouring the dappled interface of chalk grassland and woods, it flowers here from mid-May. It’s hard to spot amid the bugle, wild marjoram, agrimony and dock, but once I have my eye in, I find upwards of 20 plants.

While they look like no fly I’ve ever seen, the tiny blooms do have an uncannily insectile appearance. This is mostly down to a special petal, the labellum, which is minutely modified for luring in pollinators. Up close, I can see how its edges are curved back just so, a sleight of folding which gives the illusion of volume. An iridescent blue patch at its centre suggests the sheen of folded wings.

A hydrogen bus fire in Crawley should not be turned into a simple hydrogen-cause story. That would be sloppy, and the investigation needs to run its course. But it is a useful hook for the real transit lesson: a small hydrogen fleet can create a large operational support problem, and ... [continued]

The post Wrightbus Shows Hydrogen Bus Hype Turning Into An Electric Bus Business appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Analysis pinpoints areas most vulnerable to hotter, drier weather causing ground to shrink and drag foundations down

Millions of homes are at risk from climate-related subsidence, according to an analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS).

As hotter, drier summers driven by global heating become more frequent, the ground under houses can shrink and drag down a property’s foundations. The most vulnerable areas include London, Essex, Kent and a tranche of land from Oxford up to the Wash on England’s east coast, according to scientists, who say mitigation measures will be needed.

Pacoima is hemmed in by highways and heavy industry, and its residents are fighting pollution with hyperlocal air quality monitoring

Jose Luis Salas looks up at the ladder. “Are you ready?” he asks Shance Taylor, an environmental project manager who’s holding a white container, about the size of a shoebox, covered with wires and numbers.

Taylor nods and climbs up to reach the side of Salas’s tidy house in Pacoima, a neighborhood in Los Angeles’s north-east San Fernando valley. The curious box in their hands is known as Aeroqual sensor – part of a community air-quality monitoring program run by Pacoima Beautiful, a local environmental group.

In the “this was news a decade ago” category, T1 Energy CEO Dan Barcelo is hammering home a key point for the US solar power industry. The solar industry has one big problem in the United States compared to other major markets — permitting. With cuts in subsidies and net ... [continued]

The post US Solar Industry Needs Serious Permitting Reform, T1 Energy CEO Contends appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Crops and flowers rely on them for survival, but wild bees are declining – and crucial nutrients will go missing from our diets as a result

There are few ways in and out of Nepal’s Jumla district. The Karnali highway, considered one of the world’s most dangerous roads, provides the only land link, splicing through the Himalayas to connect Jumla’s terraced valleys to the rest of the country. As such, the 120,000 people that live there are almost entirely self-sufficient, with most of them eating and selling what they grow.

It’s a tenuous existence, plagued by food insecurity and malnutrition. In recent years, local beekeepers have bemoaned languishing hives and dwindling honey production, observing that roughly half of their bees seem to have vanished over the past decade. These concerns, however, ignore an even more insidious impact.

Almost 12 years ago, I wrote about the fast adoption of small-scale solar power in Bangladesh. A couple years later, I got to talk with an expert and leader in the industry. It was an interesting and inspiring story, but apparently it didn’t continue and grow as fast as desired. ... [continued]

The post 0% Tax Rate for Solar Power Sector! … in Bangladesh appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Temperatures above 15C ‘very strange’ say scientists, as snow melts and rain falls on glaciers in usually frozen region

Temperatures in the Antarctic climbed above 15C this month, shattering the previous winter heat record for the usually frozen region and raising concerns about the speed of climate breakdown.

The new winter peak temperature was logged by the Argentinian Esperanza base on the Trinity peninsula on 6 June amid a protracted heatwave, when the maximum daily temperature exceeded zero degrees for three consecutive weeks.

Critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan population falls after heavy rain and landslides, fuelled by climate crisis, in North Sumatra

Extreme rainfall and landslides fuelled by the climate crisis killed 7% of the remaining population of the world’s rarest great ape, a study has found, prompting fears for the species’ survival.

The research suggests 58 out of the remaining 800 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) were killed after more than 1,000mm (39in) of rain fell over four days in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province in November 2025. This equates to 11% of the local population and 7% of the entire species.

GM announced this week a partnership with Peak 'Energy that will bring sodium-ion battery technology to more energy storage facilities.

The post Why GM Will Focus On Sodium-Ion Batteries For Energy Storage appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Conservationists say cherished creatures such as whales, dolphins and seabirds are being killed in large numbers by fishing tackle

Thousands of Britain’s most charismatic and protected marine wildlife, including whales, porpoises, dolphins, seals and seabirds are being killed as “collateral damage” by fishing vessels every year, according to the first-ever analysis of bycatch data.

The analysis, by the Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of voluntary conservation groups, reveals the devastating toll bycatch, the accidental capture and killing of non-target species by fishing vessels, is having on marine species.

Enfield council in north London took legal action against restaurant chain after outrage over damage to tree

The UK restaurant chain Toby Carvery has settled a legal dispute over taking a chainsaw to an ancient oak tree without permission, by agreeing to pay to restore a lost orchard.

The unauthorised partial felling of the 500-year-old oak next to a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, north London, in April last year, prompted widespread public outrage and questions in parliament.

When it was announced in February of this year that there would be 10,000 new public EV chargers installed in Kent, UK, this total number was so large it might have been astounding to some. Generally, public EV chargers are installed in far smaller groups: by a dozen or so, ... [continued]

The post 17,000 New EV Chargers Coming To The UK appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In an article a couple of days ago about AI and the government’s role in its ownership and profits, Steve Hanley shared that Elon Musk recently wrote the following: “Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI.” ... [continued]

The post Elon Musk’s Extremely Confusing Comments On “Universal HIGH INCOME” appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Pelagic fish are both coastal and oceanic fish, below and above the continental shelf. Ranging from forage fish — think anchovies and sardines — all the way to predatory fish like swordfish, tuna, mackerel, and sharks, pelagic fish are in trouble from microplastics (MPs). The pelagic uptake of MPs is ... [continued]

The post Pelagic Fish Are The Canaries Of The Deep Ocean appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Geely is a brand to watch as it storms the barricades of the rEVolution. Geely owns many other brands, but the focus in this article is one brand, and one particular model: the Geely Xingyuan, recently launched in Australia as the Geely EX2. According to CleanTechnica’s Jose Pontes in his ... [continued]

The post Geely EX2 — There Is Only One — So Far! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

As the US shuts its doors to most refugees, there’s little hope of a new system to help those forced from home by climate impacts

• Trump targets migrants from countries hit most by climate shocks

Millions of people around the world are having their lives upended by floods, storms and heatwaves worsened by the climate crisis. Those forced to flee their home countries, however, are finding that the door to the US is more firmly shut than ever.

Neither US nor international law recognizes environmental hazards, such as climate-related displacement, as a valid cause to claim asylum or gain entry through other migration pathways, despite the mounting toll of disasters caused by an overheating planet.

Lynk & Co is introducing the Model Year 2027 (MY27) update for the Lynk & Co 02, bringing a series of targeted enhancements based on customer feedback and everyday usage. The update focuses on improving comfort, usability and in-car experience, while maintaining the core design and performance of the model. ... [continued]

The post Lynk & Co Introduces Model Year 2027 Update for the 02 appeared first on CleanTechnica.