As the Congress works to avoid another government shutdown, Inside Climate News reports that funding for the Environmental Protection Agency is being mostly restored from the draconian cuts proposed in the President’s budget. The New York Times notes that congressional action may reinstate most of the funding to a wide range of scientific agencies, including NASA, the U.S. EPA, the Department of Energy Office of Science, NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Renewable electricity passed another milestone, as The Guardian reports that wind and solar produced more electricity for the EU last year (30%) than fossil fuels (29%). In what is being described as a “major tipping point” for clean energy, “the trend was driven by a boom in solar, which generated a record 13% of EU power. In five countries – including the Netherlands, which is not known for its sun – it provided more than 20%.” The movement away from fossil fuels is seen in the EU as important for national security and geopolitical stability.

Meanwhile, greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States increased last year by 2.4% after declining for the previous two years, reports The New York Times. This increase was driven by higher demand for electricity, which led to more coal burning, and also colder winter temperatures that resulted in more fossil-fuel use than last year to heat buildings and homes. Despite increased transportation activity, emissions from this sector were flat, which researchers attributed to the increasing number of hybrid and electric vehicles. ‟America’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen roughly 18 percent since 2005 and the nation is far off-track from meeting the Biden administration’s goal of halving emissions by 2030. Mr. Trump has dropped that goal entirely.” Researchers did not think that Trump’s pro-fossil-fuel policies have yet had much impact, but they did note that it will be harder to make estimates of emissions in future years because of the Trump Administration’s interference with the collection and distribution of official greenhouse-gas data.

Inside Climate News reports that 2025 was the third-warmest year on record. The past three years ‟averaged more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, the first time any three-year stretch has crossed that threshold.” Of course, as the Earth’s temperature continues to climb, these ‟extreme temperatures” will just be what is considered ‟normal” in the future.

Inside Climate News notes that recent legislation in Florida is making it virtually impossible for local and regional governments to enact policies that encourage building resiliency against future climate impacts. The new law, which was adopted after the devastating hurricane season of 2024 with the goal of making it easier to rebuild, means local governments cannot enact any land-development policies that could be considered to be “more restrictive or burdensome.” This essentially freezes planning and zoning ordinances as they were on August 1, 2024. There is a possibility that the law will be changed in the next legislative session, but this has already slowed progress toward resilience in Florida. For comparison, California is requiring coastal counties and cities to establish adaptation plans that account for sea level rise and other characteristics of the future climate.

Reuters reports that torrential rains have led to deaths in Mozambique, with flooding from overflowing rivers and dams affecting more than half a million people. Neighboring parts of South Africa were also impacted. Intense rainfall also led to deaths in Greece, Tunisia, Indonesia and New Zealand. At least 20 are dead in vast wildfires in Chile.

The New York Times describes how solar and batteries from China are quickly transforming the energy landscape across Africa. ‟Solar has risen from almost nothing in 2019 to roughly 10 percent of South Africa’s electricity-generating capacity. South Africa was the largest destination for Chinese solar, but not the only one. Sierra Leone imported the equivalent of more than half its total current electricity-generating capacity, and Chad, nearly half.”

The Guardian describes legislation proposed in Oklahoma and Utah that would shield oil companies from litigation over their role in the climate crisis. ‟The proposals appear designed to prevent parties in either state from joining the growing wave of US climate accountability litigation, which has seen more than 70 states, cities and local governments sue major oil companies for allegedly misleading the public about climate risks.” The bills seek to block claims of fraud, misrepresentation and deceptive marketing, arguments that are at the heart of existing climate lawsuits against oil companies. A new lawsuit against the oil companies by the state of Michigan is based on anti-trust law, claiming that oil companies act like a cartel to disinform and drive up prices.

The New York Times reports that Trump’s ‟attempts to torpedo offshore wind farms” was dealt a blow by a federal judge (nominated by Trump) who ruled that construction for the $5 billion Empire Wind project off Long Island could resume. This decision comes on the heels of another judge of this court issuing a similar ruling that allows Revolution Wind off of Rhode Island to complete construction. This is the second time each of these projects has been halted, only to be restarted, wasting billions of dollars and chilling future investment in this new American industry. ‟The wind farms are collectively worth $25 billion and are expected to power more than 2.5 million buildings and create thousands of jobs.” Governor Hochul of New York called Trump’s bluff, which asserts claims of threats to national security, stating: “I am the governor of New York. If there is a national security threat off the coast of New York, you need to tell me what it is, and I need a briefing right now. Lo and behold, they had no answer.”

The Times also noted that a different judge ruled that a $11.2 billion wind farm off the coast of Virginia can resume construction. ‟The Virginia Coastal Offshore Wind project would be the nation’s largest wind farm if built. Dominion [the developer] has said the project is 70 percent complete and would ultimately consist of 176 turbines with 2.6 gigawatts of electrical capacity, approximately enough to power 660,000 homes. Dominion has already spent roughly $8.9 billion on the project and said in court filings that the Trump administration’s stop-work order was costing it $5 million per day.” Canary Media takes a look at how Trump’s senseless actions have impacted the people trying to build this industry, and how developers are trying to quickly complete their projects.

An op-ed in The New York Times notes that, while CEOs plan for the future of their companies, you can’t ‟future-proof your company against stupid,” which is how the author characterizes Trump’s attacks on electric vehicles. ‟About 25 percent of new cars sold globally are E.V.s. They now make up more than half of new car sales in China [Semafor notes that 97% of new cars sold in Norway are EVs or plug-in hybrids]. Superior technology ultimately wins out. By the time the automobile industry is dominated by E.V.s, G.M. and Ford might have fallen well behind China, thanks to the Trump administration. This isn’t industrial policy; it’s industrial suicide.” The New York Times describes how Chinese automaker BYD has surpassed Tesla as the largest electric-vehicle manufacturer in the world. Inside Climate News reviews how Chinese EVs are making large inroads into Mexico, where China’s share of the market grew ‟from 24 percent in 2023 to 80 percent in 2024 and 89 percent in 2025.” And now, partially in response to Trump’s foolish treatment of Canada, that country is opening its market to Chinese EVs by reducing its prohibitive tariffs.

In another sign of the global transition away from fossil fuels, the Guardian reports that, last year: ‟Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s, in a ‘historic’ moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis. The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world’s biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air [CREA], and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects. Together, the countries drove more than 90% of the increase in global carbon emissions between 2015 and 2024, meaning a permanent reduction in coal use could bring a peak in the world’s coal consumption and global emissions.”

China added more than 300GW of solar power and 100GW of wind power last year – together, more than five times the UK’s total existing power generation capacity – which are both “clear new records for China and, therefore, for any country ever.” The CREA report said, ‟about 36% of India’s fossil fuel reduction was driven by milder weather, while 20% was due to slower underlying demand growth, meaning a rise in severe summer temperatures could increase demand for air-conditioning and reverse the fall in energy demand.”

Canary Media describes what is planned to be the largest solar and battery project in the U.S., which is taking shape in California’s San Joaquin Valley. ‟In December, the board of directors of the Westlands Water District, the agency that manages water delivery to more than 600,000 acres in California’s agricultural heartland, approved the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan (VCIP). The VCIP calls for building up to 21 gigawatts of solar energy and an equivalent amount of battery storage across up to 136,000 acres, along with a series of high-voltage transmission lines to connect the electricity generated to the state’s grid.” Analysts note that the remarkable scale of this project could revitalize the region’s economy, as billions would be invested, ​creating jobs and building the tax base for Fresno County.

The VCIP, which will require years to complete, supports the region’s agricultural industry by enabling growers with increasingly limited water supplies and land that can’t be planted to transition their fallowed land to renewable-energy generation. The more than 700 growers in the Westlands Water District can reallocate water use to the land that remains under cultivation.

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