Funding for the free bus travel initiative was agreed as part of the Council’s 2025/26 budget, with an additional day to raise awareness about the danger of air pollution to communities.
Air pollution is linked to 43,000 deaths per year in the UK and is recognised by the World Health Organisation and the UK Government as the largest environmental threat to our health.
Continuing the success of the 2024 free bus travel offer, where 38,042 people took advantage of the offer, saving almost £108,000 in fares to those who travelled by bus, the initiative is designed to encourage people to get onboard their local bus services and travel sustainably.
On 19 June, people can take advantage of the free bus travel offer for journeys made fully in Perth and Kinross provided by local bus operators Stagecoach East Scotland, Docherty’s Midland Coaches, Elizabeth Yule, Sweeney’s Garage and Glenfarg Community Transport Group.
Passengers who have a free U22, 60+ or disabled concessionary bus pass should use their bus pass as normal to travel.
Councillor Grant Laing, Perth and Kinross Council Leader said: “Building on the success of last year’s free bus travel initiative, I’m thrilled that this year, we are not only offering free bus on the first Saturday of every month, but an additional day has also been added to raise awareness of air pollution.
“On Clean Air Day, I would particularly encourage people who normally travel to work on a weekday to leave the car at home, save on parking and fuel and travel for free on your local bus. This could be the first step to loving your local bus.”
Councillor Richard Watters, Convener of the Council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Committee added: “I’m pleased to see the council taking meaningful action to tackle air pollution – not just on Clean Air Day but throughout the year.
“Initiatives like the free bus travel offer are encouraging people to get onboard their local bus service, helping to reduce carbon emissions. It’s encouraging to see that over 38,000 people took advantage of the offer last year, highlighting growing support for sustainable travel. We are also fortunate that most of Stagecoach local bus services in Perth City are operated by electric buses.
“We’re also making real progress in reducing emissions from our own operations. As part of the fleet decarbonisation strategy, 18 refuse collection vehicles have already switched to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), a cleaner alternative to diesel. Refuse collection vehicles based in Blairgowrie, Crieff, Kinross, and Pitlochry will also transition to HVO.
“Tayside Contracts has introduced “TayLow”, a warm mix asphalt to be used in roads construction across Perth and Kinross. It uses less energy and can cut emissions by 5% and 15%, supporting more sustainable construction.”
Councillor Liz Barrett, Vice-Convenor of the Council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Committee continued “The new Kingsway, creating a 12km network of walking and cycling paths, connecting the neighbouring communities with Perth city centre is another step forward in offering people healthier, greener alternatives to car travel.
“Complementing this, our Nature Restoration Fund supports community-led projects that restore habitats, tackle biodiversity loss and strengthen nature networks that help filter air, absorb carbon and improve overall air quality.
“By working closely with our partners and communities, we’ll continue to take action to reduce the harmful health effects of air pollution, especially for those most at risk including children, older people, people with health conditions and people who stay in the most polluted areas.”
WASHINGTON— U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, vice-chair and chair of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) respectively, today joined Yukio Kani, global CEO and chairman of JERA Co., Inc. and representatives from several U.S. LNG producers to announce the finalization of four 20-year agreements between JERA and U.S. companies to purchase up to 5.5 million tons per year of American LNG. The agreements, which are projected to support more than 50,000 U.S. jobs and add more than $200 billion to U.S. GDP according to S&P Global analysis, underscore President Trump’s efforts to unleash American LNG production and the significant role the U.S. LNG industry plays in strengthening the U.S. economy and bolstering global energy security.
The agreements include sales and purchase agreements with NextDecade Corporation and Commonwealth LNG, and heads of agreements with Sempra Infrastructure and Cheniere Marketing LLC, to purchase LNG from America’s Gulf Coast. The announcement is yet another major milestone for President Trump’s commitment to increase investment in the U.S. and unleash American dominance.
“Today’s announcement of investments in American energy that will unlock nearly a quarter trillion dollars in U.S. GDP is a massive milestone and a bold demonstration of President Trump’s leadership,” said Secretary Wright. “More than 50,000 jobs, tens of billions of dollars in new LNG export infrastructure, and a more secure energy future is just around the corner because we have a President who prioritizes our nation’s prosperity and energy security. This is another powerful example of the growth of the U.S. LNG export industry over the past decade, which is a boon to our allies around the world who seek to expand trade with the U.S. while supporting their own energy security.”
“This investment is a message to the world that American LNG is back thanks to President Trump and we’re leading on the world stage,” said Secretary Burgum. “I am proud to join Secretary Wright and JERA CEO Yukio Kani to celebrate this commitment that will bring in almost a quarter trillion dollars to our nation’s economy and support over 50,000 American jobs for our country’s LNG industry. America is no longer begging for foreign energy – we’re producing it cleaner, smarter, better, and more reliably than the rest of the world.”
“Today represents a true win-win and we want to thank President Trump for his leadership and commitment to unleash American energy – both of which were essential to completing these Agreements,” said Yukio Kani, Global CEO and Chairman of JERA Co., Inc. “They reflect a strong commercial partnership between the U.S. and Japan, strengthen Japan’s energy security and reaffirm the U.S.’s leading role in the global LNG market. We look forward to continuing our work with the President, Secretaries Burgum and Wright, and their teams, in partnership with the Government of Japan and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, on shared energy goals moving forward.”
BACKGROUND:
President Trump and Secretary Wright have been hard at work to expand U.S. LNG exports by removing regulatory burdens left by the previous administration. With President Trump’s leadership, the DOE acted on day one to resume the consideration of pending applications to export LNG to countries without a free trade agreement (FTA), in accordance with the Natural Gas Act. Under President Trump, Secretary Wright has approved approximately 106 (mpt/a) in non-FTA export projects, which ranks higher than the current LNG export capacities of the second largest global exporter. The DOE removed regulatory barriers blocking LNG exports, including rescinding a Biden-era policy statement that required LNG exporters to meet strict criteria before the agency would request to extend a commencement date for an approved project. In May 2025, the DOE finalized the 2024 LNG export study showing key findings, including that the United States has a robust natural gas supply; exports increase GDP, expand jobs, and improve trade; and LNG exports improve national security.
To fulfill President Trump’s Energy Dominance agenda, Secretary Burgum is cutting red tape and empowering energy producers in the Gulf of America to drill more than ever before. In Q1 of 2025, the Department of the Interior announced the disbursement of approximately $353.6 million in energy revenues to the four Gulf of America oil- and gas-producing states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and their coastal political subdivisions such as counties and parishes. In a significant step forward for American energy production, the Department of the Interior is boosting offshore oil output in the Gulf of America. New scientific studies from the Department of the Interior have found that there is 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Gulf of America—a 22.6 percent increase in remaining recoverable reserves. In May, the Department of Interior issued an amended bonding financial assurance rule, which will free up billions of dollars for American energy producers to use to lease, explore, drill, and produce oil and gas in the Gulf of America while protecting American taxpayers against high-risk decommission liabilities.
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill will help advance this project by expediting permitting for critical infrastructure projects, including LNG export terminals.
For more information on this announcement and President Trump’s efforts to unleash American LNG exports click here to view a fact sheet.
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the Senate Republicans’ reconciliation bill text:
“Senate Republicans think they can get away with taking a sledgehammer to our national public lands, killing thousands of American jobs, and jacking up families’ electricity costs without being held accountable. To hell with that.
“Senate Republicans have finally said the quiet part out loud: They want to put millions of acres of our public lands up in a fire sale, destroy the investments that have created thousands of manufacturing and clean energy jobs – including in their home states, and obliterate programs that lower energy costs for everyday Americans. If Senate Republicans succeed, we all lose. Countless families lose their ticket to the middle class in the jobs killed and their hard-earned money to unnecessarily high utility bills. And we all lose access to public lands forever, jeopardizing our local economies and who we are as a nation.
“In the days ahead, you’ll hear a lot of excuses from Republicans trying to cover for what they’re doing. Do not believe it. This isn’t about building more housing or energy dominance. It’s about giving their billionaire buddies YOUR land and YOUR money.”
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Inflation in the United States edged slightly higher in May, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising 2.4 percent on an annual basis, up from 2.3 percent in April, according to the data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday.
The increase was just below economists’ expectations of a 2.5 percent rise, based on a FactSet survey.
Core inflation, which strips out the often volatile categories of food and energy, climbed 2.8 percent over the past year — also below the 2.9 percent projected.
Despite these softer-than-expected readings, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, underscoring ongoing challenges in fully stabilizing prices.
The inflation rate likely rose less than expected due to a sharp dip in gasoline prices. Lower energy prices were a “major source of disinflationary/deflationary pressure,” noted Adam Crisafulli, an analyst with Vital Knowledge. Gasoline prices fell 12 percent from a year earlier, while clothing prices declined 0.9 percent, and airline fares dropped 7.3 percent. On the other hand, prices for beef, coffee, and housing continued to rise, offsetting the broader easing in other sectors.
In financial markets, the report prompted a modest lift in U.S. stock indexes during midday trading, while the U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar slipped, reflecting expectations that the Federal Reserve may be inching closer to cutting interest rates later this year.
Political pressure quickly mounted in response to the CPI data. U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his call for the Fed to slash interest rates by a full percentage point, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused the central bank of engaging in “monetary malpractice” by maintaining current borrowing costs.
Although the inflation numbers do not yet reflect significant upward pressure from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, economists warn the full effects could materialize in the second half of 2025.
“The impact of tariffs was smaller than expected in May. We expect to see it more clearly starting next month,” said economists with Bank of America Global Research.
Combined with the solid May jobs report, the latest CPI data reduce the chances of a nasty bout of stagflation in the United States, according to Bank of America Global Research.
“Tariff impacts may begin appearing in the CPI data later this summer,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, noting the potential for inflation to creep above 3 percent by year-end if trade-related costs feed through the broader economy.
“Today’s below forecast inflation print is reassuring — but only to an extent,” Shah added. “Tariff-driven price increases may not feed through to the CPI data for a few more months yet, so it is far too premature to assume that the price shock will not materialise.”
Emission control systems in modern cars have slashed air pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
But these systems face two major challenges: carmakers cheating on pollution tests and owner tampering. Cheating means high-polluting cars can be sold when they shouldn’t be, while tampering can increase some pollutants up to 100 times.
In our new research review, we found the impacts of cheating and tampering on emissions of pollutants are substantial across the globe. For instance, researchers in Spain found almost half the diesel trucks had been tampered with, while the Volkswagen Dieselgate cheating scandal uncovered in 2015 led to an estimated A$60 billion in health costs in the European Union. In California, researchers found one in 12 trucks had a damaged or malfunctioning diesel particulate filter – and these high-emitting trucks contributed 70% of the entire fleet’s emissions of tiny particulate matter.
The solutions? Better detection of tampering, cheating and malfunctioning emission systems – and vigilance to get high polluting cars off the road.
Catalytic converters and other emissions control systems have slashed air pollutant emissions from modern cars. Virrage Images/Shutterstock
How did we get here?
From the 1950s onwards, smog, air pollution and health issues from car exhausts led many regulators to require carmakers to reduce dangerous air pollutants.
These days, modern combustion-engine cars are complex computer-controlled systems optimised to balance engine performance, durability and emission control. When working properly, new vehicles can reduce air pollutant emissions by 90% or more. However, they can increase carbon dioxide emissions by using slightly more fuel.
But these pollutants can soar if emissions control systems malfunction – or suffer from intentional cheating or tampering.
Cheating and tampering are not new. Cheating was first reported in the 1970s and it’s still happening. Tampering, too, dates back to the 1970s.
Both issues worsen air quality. These excess air pollutants have substantial costs to human health, as they can trigger respiratory conditions and can cause disability and premature death.
While the numbers of electric vehicles are rising, they’re only about 5% of the global fleet – about 60 million compared to about 1.5 billion cars powered by petrol, diesel and gas.
Because cars have relatively long lifespans, many fossil-fuel powered cars will still be in use in 2050, now just 25 years away. Many will be exported from rich countries to developing economies. That means effective pollutant control still matters.
There are many reasons for this, including natural wear and tear. But one big reason may be cheating.
Authorities in many nations rely on testing to see if a new model is emitting at rates low enough to meet emission standards.
Manufacturers can take advantage of the known quirks of official tests and intentionally alter how their vehicles operate during testing. To do this, they may install a “defeat device”, usually deep in the car’s engine or its computer code.
These devices shift the car to a special low-emissions mode if testing is detected. They’re typically easy for the automaker to install and difficult to detect.
Car makers can cheat on emission tests by installing defeat devices or other countermeasures. Belish/Shutterstock
Defeat devices are mainly found in diesel cars and trucks, since diesel emissions control systems are more complicated and expensive than petrol or LPG. Adding an emission control system to meet Euro 6 standards costs about $600 for a petrol car. For diesel, the cost can be three to five times higher.
In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California announced Volkswagen had been using a software-based defeat device to make its diesel cars appear substantially cleaner. The scandal drew worldwide attention and cost the company about $50 billion.
For those caught, large fines and mandatory recalls have followed. But this hasn’t been enough to stop the practice.
The way these tests are conducted usually has to be disclosed by law to ensure transparency and make results comparable and repeatable. Unfortunately, having detailed knowledge of the tests makes it easier to cheat.
Tampering by car owners
Tampering is largely done by owners of diesel cars and trucks. Owners can tamper with emission control systems to improve performance, rebel against laws they don’t agree with or avoid extra costs such as Adblue, a liquid needed to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions from diesel trucks.
Tampering is usually illegal. But that hasn’t stopped the production of aftermarket tampering devices, such as software which deactivates emission control systems. It’s not necessarily illegal to sell these devices, but it is illegal to install and use them.
In the road freight sector, the use of aftermarket tampering by vehicle owners also acts as an unfair economic advantage by undercutting responsible and law-abiding operators.
What should be done?
Combustion engine cars and trucks will be on the world’s roads for decades to come.
Ensuring they run as cleanly as possible over their lifetime will require independent and in-service emissions testing. Authorities will also need to focus on enforcement.
Creating an internationally agreed test protocol for the detection of defeat devices will also be necessary.
Combating tampering by owners as well as malfunctioning emissions systems will require better detection efforts, either through on-road emissions testing or during a car service.
One approach would be to add telemetry to the onboard diagnostics systems now common in modern cars. Telemetry radio transponders can report emissions problems to the owner and relevant authorities, who can then act.
Shifting to EVs offers the most robust and cost-effective way to combat fraud and cut exhaust pollutants and carbon emissions from road transport. But this will take decades. Authorities need to ensure diesel and petrol vehicles run as cleanly as possible until they can be retired.
Robin Smit is the founding Research Director at the Transport Energy/Emission Research (TER) consultancy.
Alberto Ayala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
Padilla Statement Blasting Misguided Trump Admin Memo Threatening California National Monuments
WATCH: Padilla Questions Interior Secretary Burgum on DOJ Memo During ENR Committee Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new legal opinion that could pave the way for the Trump Administration to eliminate or shrink California’s recently established national monuments, Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands:
“Once again, the Trump Administration is upending the rule of law and flouting 90 years of legal precedent — this time by coming after our nation’s treasured public lands. With this opinion, the Trump Administration is trying to give itself unlawful authorities that will devastate California’s hard-fought progress to protect our iconic wildlife, preserve our sacred tribal sites, and ensure clean energy production.
“I was proud to work alongside local governments, tribal leaders, and the energy industry to build broad bipartisan support for Chuckwalla and Sáttítla, California’s recently designated national monuments. I will continue fighting this shortsighted effort to give carte blanche to this Administration which is determined to destroy our cherished public lands.”
Earlier today, Padilla questioned Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on DOJ’s legal opinion and its implications for California’s national monuments during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.
Senator Padilla led the charge to establish the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments, protecting roughly 850,000 acres of California’s public lands. Padilla, Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former California Senator Laphonza Butler, and Representative Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25) successfully urged former President Biden to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument. Padilla, Butler, and Ruiz also introduced legislation to push for the establishment of the monument.
Last year, Padilla, Schiff, and Butler called on President Biden to designate the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, and Padilla and Butler introduced legislation to establish it. Padilla and Schiff celebrated former President Biden’s official signing of proclamations to establish the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments in California earlier this year.
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON — In his opening statement, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member on the U.S. Energy and Natural Resources Committee, grilled the U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum over the Trump Administration’s budget request for the Department of the Interior, which will further gut the Department already reeling from chaos and mismanagement by the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE.
VIDEO: Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) delivers opening remarks on the Department of Interior’s Fiscal 2026 budget request before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, June 11, 2025.
“Mr. Secretary, when you were going through the confirmation process, I believed that you would be a responsible steward of our public lands, conservative, of course, but responsible. And with your experience in the private sector and as a governor, I believed that you could rein in the sometimes reckless tendencies of DOGE, at least within the Department of Interior,” said Heinrich in his opening statement. “We’re never going to agree on everything, but I thought we could agree that our public lands are the greatest heritage of our nation, and we have a responsibility to hand them down to the next generation, well-stewarded.
Heinrich continued, “This budget request will not resource your department to responsibly steward our lands and waters. The proposal for the Interior Department operations next year includes a 30 percent cut across programs. It’s no exaggeration to say that this would cripple the Department as we know it.”
A video of Heinrich’s opening remarks is here.
A transcript of Heinrich’s remarks as delivered is below:
We are here today to talk about the budget proposal of a department that is, quite frankly, not resourced to meet its mission.
Parks are cutting hours and services for visitors. Ranger tours are cancelled. Toilets are overflowing and trashcans sit unemptied.
Permits are languishing on empty desks. Energy projects are delayed or cancelled.
Contracts slowly wind their way through a byzantine bureaucracy that was invented overnight.
The senior leadership positions at the department are mostly vacant.
Roughly 100 park superintendent positions are vacant. Five of the seven regional director positions for the National Park Service sit empty.
At the Bureau of Land Management, about a third of senior leadership positions are vacant, including both deputy directors and the director position itself.
And the front-line staff is in no better shape.
After promising to hire 7,700 seasonal employees to serve Americans visiting their national parks this summer, the Park Service has managed, at least according to public reports, to hire only half that. Memorial Day is gone. The 4th of July just around the corner.
And all of this has occurred before this budget request is put place.
Mr. Secretary, when you were going through the confirmation process, I believed that you would be a responsible steward of our public lands, conservative, of course, but responsible. And with your experience in the private sector and as a governor, I believed that you could rein in the sometimes reckless tendencies of DOGE, at least within the Department of Interior.
We’re never going to agree on everything, but I thought we could agree that our public lands are the greatest heritage of our nation, and we have a responsibility to hand them down to the next generation, well-stewarded.
This budget request will not resource your department to responsibly steward our lands and waters.
The proposal for the Interior Department operations next year includes a 30 percent cut across programs.
It’s no exaggeration to say that this would cripple the department as we know it.
The cut to the Park Service is paid for by getting rid of most park system units.
The National Park System would have to lose more than 350 of its 433 units to swallow that kind of a proposed cut.
And yet, the Department has still not told us which units those might be.
Any hope for a speedier permitting system from the BLM is gone, with a proposed 35 percent cut to that agency.
Anyone who needs a recreation permit, a right-of-way, or a grazing lease will be left waiting. That is not efficiency.
The 35 percent cut to the Bureau of Reclamation puts critical water infrastructure at risk of failing to safely deliver water to farmers, fish, and people.
The proposal completely eliminates the WaterSMART program that provides resources to local, often rural communities and water users to conserve water and to make efficiency improvements to their water infrastructure, thereby reducing conflicts over this scarce resource.
The nearly 40 percent cut to the U.S. Geological Survey would kneecap the scientific research we need to understand how our natural world is changing in the face of a changing climate
And the major reduction to the Natural Hazards program would leave communities more vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanos, and landslides.
The proposal also completely eliminates the biological resources program at USGS, which could mean abandoning bird flu monitoring, closing the most advanced wildlife disease lab in the United States, and discontinuing research efforts for climate adaptation.
The USGS migratory bird research also directly informs the Fish and Wildlife Service’s bag limits for migratory bird hunting seasons. Eliminating this research would hobble the management of migratory bird hunting seasons.
One of the seven pillars of the North American model of wildlife conservation, the foundation of wildlife management in the United States, is scientific management. We cannot manage wildlife without wildlife science.
The budget proposal also overturns the bipartisan work of this committee in 2020 to pass the Great American Outdoors Act signed into law by this president.
Instead of supporting reauthorization of this great accomplishment, this budget robs the Land and Water Conservation Fund in order to pay for deferred maintenance projects.
And lastly, but most importantly, this budget request, if implemented, would cause irreparable harm to Indian Country.
With 30-plus percent cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education, this budget represents a dereliction of every treaty obligation this country has to tribes and their members.
This proposal even cuts the BIA’s Public Safety account, belying any claim that this administration might try to make that it cares for the safety of people of Indian Country.
Mr. Secretary, you promised to prioritize the needs of Indian country in your time leading this department, but this budget simply doesn’t give you the resources to be able to effectively accomplish that.
I think we need to do better, which I say out of respect for you and our shared values.
It is often said a president’s budget requests that they’re “dead on arrival” on Capitol Hill.
For the sake of the shared landscapes that we hold in trust for our grandchildren. I hope that’s the case for this budget.
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
Democrats are going to make increasing energy prices an issue for Republicans in the next election cycles, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich said Tuesday.
President Donald Trump promised to bring down energy prices during his campaign, but congressional Republicans are threatening to cut incentives for renewable energy and battery projects. The lack of new electricity generation projects plus rising demand from AI data centers and greater volumes of natural gas for export threaten to increase electricity bills for U.S. consumers, the New Mexico Democrat said during the POLITICO Energy Summit.
“We’re in a constrained supply environment and an increased demand environment,” Heinrich said. “People’s electricity bills all over the country are going to go up. What I can guarantee you is in the next election and the election after that Republicans are going to own increased energy prices.”
Natural gas prices could rise 25 percent next year as LNG exports rise faster than drillers can produce the resource, Bank of America analysts wrote. And tech companies are building data centers that consume huge amounts of electricity.
Republicans are trying to rescind government support for new solar and wind power projects in their reconciliation bill. Meanwhile, power plants fed by nuclear energy and natural gas can take years to build.
“If you’re not building renewables and storage over the next five years, you’re only artificially increasing the cost of electricity everywhere,” Heinrich said. “I don’t think consumers are going to stand for that. There’s going to be an enormous political price to pay for that. People will see it and feel it in their electricity bills.”
The Czech Republic boasts one of the lowest levels of power import dependence in Europe, thanks to its substantial reserves of hard coal. Nevertheless, the nation is committed to phasing out coal by 2033 and is in the process of establishing a comprehensive framework to support an inclusive transition. This transition is catalyzing investments in nuclear power, renewable energy sources, and natural gas. Against this backdrop, power capacity in the country is expected to reach 32.6GW in 2035, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3% during 2024-35, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The Czech Republic has set a strategic goal to close the majority of its coal plants by 2033. The updated National Energy Plan, released in December 2024, emphasizes the expansion of nuclear energy and the utilization of renewable resources. The plan sets forth objectives to increase the contribution of nuclear energy to 44% and that of renewable energy sources to 28% in the nation’s electricity generation by 2030.
Attaurrahman Ojindaram Saibasan, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Nuclear energy is pivotal to the Czech Republic’s strategy for phasing out coal. The government endorses the expansion of nuclear capacity, particularly at the Dukovany and Temelín facilities. State participation in financing and the establishment of long-term offtake agreements are instrumental in shaping the trajectory of nuclear development, with the aim of reducing reliance on external energy sources by enhancing domestic nuclear generation.”
In April 2025, the Czech competition authority dismissed appeals from Electricité de France (EDF), thereby confirming the selection of South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) for the construction of two new 1GW reactors at the Dukovany site. Valued at over 400 billion Czech koruna (approximately $18.2 billion), this project represents the most substantial energy investment in the nation’s history.
Saibasan concludes: “The power sector presents opportunities in generation, transmission, and smart metering. Investment prospects seem particularly promising in areas such as gas-based power plants, turbines, and related equipment. In the transmission arena, the Czech Republic’s status as a net power exporter means that a substantial volume of electricity crosses its borders. While there is currently no congestion, the potential for such an occurrence in the future is significant.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced proposed repeals of “greenhouse gas” emissions standards for the power sector under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act and amendments to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxic Standards. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee Chair and U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:
“The Trump Administration continues to fight for American coal and American energy! Administrator Zeldin’s actions help kickstart the unraveling of the Obama-Biden-Harris ‘War on Coal’ and continue our drive to a return of American energy dominance.
“These actions give communities like mine in Appalachia hope. We will continue to support federal developments that aim to reinvigorate coal communities and lower energy costs for American families.
“Affordable energy equals vibrant national economic health.”
BACKGROUND
In the 118th Congress, Rep. Griffith chaired the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations.
In the 119th Congress, Congressman Griffith is serving his first term as chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment.
The Environment Subcommittee’s first two hearings of the year focused on the EPA’s regulation of chemical manufacturing and the administration of the Brownfields Program.
Later, Congressman Griffith welcomed Administrator Zeldin for a subcommittee hearing on EPA’s FY26 budget request.
This week, Congressman Griffith held a hearing that examined the impacts of the Clean Air Act.
While these rules are not finalized, the EPA estimates that repeal of the power plant rules would save $19 billion in regulatory costs over two decades beginning in 2026.
Congressman Griffith’s Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to repeal a last-minute Biden-Harris regulation on tire manufacturers passed Congress this year. In May, President Trump signed the resolution into law.
Congressman Griffith helped lead an effort on the House floor to pass CRAs that overturned California’s Clean Air Act waivers.
Congressman Griffith’s bill H.R. 3632, the Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025, which would help keep baseload power plants online, was favorably reported by the Energy Subcommittee last week.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, in a hearing of the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, Senator Angus King (I-ME), co-chair of the National Parks Subcommittee, demanded answers from Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as to why the National Park Service’s (NPS) budget is being cut by $1.2 billion. During the exchange, Senator King pressed Secretary Burgum to justify the cuts and made clear that arbitrary budget decisions will have devastating consequences for national parks across the country — not just to operations, but to the visitor experience at locations nationwide.
The hearing comes as the Trump Administration has implemented drastic cuts to federal land agencies such as the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service at the request of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). These actions, alongside aggressive pushes to privatize federally managed lands and reshape environmental policy, pose serious threats to public land protections. The cuts to the National Park Service, as of late, are now facing bipartisan pushback in Congress.
“The 1.2 billion dollars you are cutting from the National Park Service is devastating to the National Park Service. It doesn’t amount to anything in terms of our federal budget. I did a calculation, if our federal budget was the height of this room, what you are cutting from the National Park Service is the combined height of two credit cards. In other words, to save virtually no money from the federal budget, we’re devastating one of America’s treasures. And that’s what I don’t understand. You yourself a few minutes ago said you don’t have the data; you don’t have the visitation data. This is ready, fire, aim. How about waiting a year, developing the data, finding out what it is because you can’t convince me that a detailed analysis of the National Park Service took place in the last couple of months to justify this pitiful submission to this committee. So, I’m anxious to hear. We all know the term bang for the buck, this is damage for the buck. This is huge damage to the Park Service for a very minimal return in terms of reduction to the deficit, reduction of our federal budget. Why in the world, given your commitment to the national parks, the new Teddy Roosevelt Park in your state, why did you let them do this,” asked Senator King.”
Secretary Burgum replied,“Senator, I want to — first, I appreciate the chart you are holding up behind there. I believe that number, if I can see it correctly, probably is the full-time staffing as opposed to the summer and seasonal. I think we actually have — it is a mix. I think that line I’m trying to see —”
“You allowed more seasonals for this year, but I understand only half of them have been hired and are in the summer right now,” said Senator King.
“More than half have been hired but again this is a mix. Again, I just got back from a trip to Alaska. I was at Kenai Fjords. This is a beautiful and amazing park. The road gets plowed in May; it snows over in November. This is a classic case where we need a lot of staffing. cruise ships are stopping in Seward and hundreds of thousands of villagers coming over a three- or four-month period and in the wintertime, the visitor centers aren’t even open. So, we have to figure out a way to be able to do flex staffing. It is not as simple as the raw number. The one number I was able —,” responded Secretary Burgum.
Senator King finished,“There may be details in here but is pretty unmistakable the trend on this chart. I don’t understand — you are saving a very small amount of money, and you are gutting — I looked it up last night–the National Park Service is the most popular federal agency. The most popular federal agency. Why in the world would you target this agency particularly when you yourself in your testimony said I don’t have the data? This is ready, fire, aim. Get the data. Understand the details of the budget. Give us something like this, and then we can decide what the plan should be to echo the Vice Chair, what is the plan for doing this in a thoughtful way, not an arbitrary way of all probationary employees and that kind of thing?”
As a lifelong advocate for conservation and Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Senator King is among the Senate’s most prominent voices advocating for conservation. Senator King helped lead the passage the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) into law; the legislation that included the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF). Because of his work, in 2020, Senator King was awarded the inaugural National Park Foundation (NPF) “Hero” Award. Since the creation of the LRF, Senator King has pushed park leaders to discuss funding maintenance efforts, maintaining a sufficient NPS workforce, and managing growing park visitation. Recently, Senator King pressed a Department of the Interior
Senator King’s work on this legislation is the culmination of more than four decades of work on land conservation efforts in Maine, including helping to establish the Land for Maine’s Future program in 1987 and supporting extensive conservation projects during his time as Governor. Under King’s leadership in his eight years as Maine governor, he put more Maine land under conservation than in the state’s 175 year history.
Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to repeal the Biden administration’s unlawful power plant regulation. This rule, known as the Clean Power Plan 2.0, impacts both coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, and would decimate baseload energy production and eliminate jobs across West Virgina.
“Finally, under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking a necessary step towards ending the Clean Power Plan 2.0 once and for all, eliminating the threat this rule poses to our way of life in communities throughout America. I have long opposed this rule and warned of the devastating economic impacts it would have in West Virginia, and the energy reliability concerns it would create across our country. I’m thrilled that EPA Administrator Zeldin is reversing Biden-era regulations that would turn off affordable coal and natural gas energy generation, and is prioritizing electric grid reliability and energy abundance,” Chairman Capito said.
BACKGROUND ON CAPITO’S OPPOSITION TO THE CLEAN POWER PLAN 2.0:
In March 2025, Senator Capito applauded the Trump EPA for taking the initial steps towards deregulating Biden-era rules, including the Clean Power Plan 2.0, that harm American energy production and energy states like West Virginia.
In June 2024, Senator Capito led 43 of her Senate colleagues in introducing a formal challenge to the Biden administration’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 regulations intended to shut down American power plants through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.
In December 2023, Senator Capito and U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan to again outline significant concerns with the administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0.
Two days later, Senators Capito and Barrasso sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) urging the commissioners to work with the EPA to improve the agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0 and fix the associated threats to electric reliability the plan presents, brought to light during a FERC technical conference on the Clean Power Plan 2.0 held in November 2023. Senators Capito and Barrasso also sent two other letters to FERC on this topic in June 2023 (requesting the technical conference) and November 2023 (recommending areas of focus for the conference).
In August 2023, Senator Capito led 38 other Republican senators in filing comments on the proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0, calling on the EPA to withdraw its plans to force the closure of coal and gas-fired power plants.
In June 2023, Senator Capito led 27 of her colleagues in urging EPA Administrator Michael Regan to extend the public comment period for the Clean Power Plan 2.0.
In May 2023, Senator Capito announced plans to lead efforts through the CRA to overturn President Biden’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 once it was finalized and published by the EPA.
In December 2021, Senator Capito led 47 senators and 44 House members on an amicus curiae brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioners, including the state of West Virginia, in the pending case West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2015, Senator Capito and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) successfully challenged then-President Obama’s original Clean Power Plan, which the Supreme Court later overturned, with CRA resolutions of disapproval on the administration’s rules targeting both existing and new power plants. The Senate approved both resolutions: S.J. Res 24 introduced by Senator Capito, and S.J. Res 23 introduced by Senator McConnell. The resolutions were vetoed by President Obama.
A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment today charging a Florida business owner with multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and forgery for orchestrating a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies by submitting altered and fake invoices to U.S. Navy ships and other vessels through the SEA Card Program, which allows U.S. vessels to purchase critical fuel from suppliers at ports around the world.
According to court documents filed in the Southern District of Florida, between August 2022 and January 2024, Jasen Butler, 37, of Jupiter, Florida, the owner of Independent Marine Oil Services LLC, submitted dozens of falsified documents to multiple U.S. warships — including the USS Patriot — demanding and receiving over $5 million dollars in payments for phony expenses that Butler had not incurred. These ships were attempting to purchase fuel in international ports such as Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Croatia, among others. Butler also concealed his identity from government officials by using a false name and feigning employment by a fictitious fuel division of a different company. As alleged in the indictment, Butler used the millions in fraud proceeds to personally enrich himself and purchase multiple properties, including in Florida and Colorado.
“This indictment sends a clear, public message: the Antitrust Division and its Procurement Collusion Strike Force under President Trump will not rest until all who defraud the brave men and women of the U.S. military and the American taxpayers receive swift justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail A. Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
“Investigating complex fraud schemes which impact U.S. Coast Guard operations is a priority for CGIS,” said Special Agent in Charge Josh Packer of the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Southeast Field Office. “CGIS remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate any fraud which undermines the integrity of the Coast Guard’s supply chain.”
“Mr. Butler’s alleged involvement in unlawfully submitting fraudulent invoices related to U.S. naval ships receiving fuel during port visits is an affront to the warfighter and taxpayer,” said Special Agent in Charge Greg Gross of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Economic Crimes Field Office. “NCIS remains committed to thoroughly investigating those who commit fraud impacting the Department of Navy.”
If convicted, Butler faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, up to 10 years for each count of forgery, and up to 10 years for each count of money laundering. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Chief Sara Clingan and Trial Attorney Jonathan Pomeranz and of the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.
The NCIS and CGIS are investigating the case.
Anyone with information about this investigation or other procurement fraud schemes should notify the PCSF at www.justice.gov/atr/webform/pcsf-citizen-complaint. The Justice Department created the PCSF in November 2019. It is a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government — federal, state and local. For more information, visit www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
President Donald Trump is trying to unravel the signature climate policy of his predecessor Joe Biden, the Inflation Reduction Act, as part of a sweeping bid to dismantle the United States’ climate ambition.
The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, is a A$530 billion suite of measures that aims to turbocharge clean energy investment and slash emissions in the US. Once hailed as a game-changer for the global clean energy transition, it set in train a fierce international competition for renewable energy investment.
But the policy is now hanging by a thread, after the US House of Representatives last month narrowly passed a bill to repeal many of its clean energy measures.
Should the bill pass the Senate, billions of dollars in renewables investment once destined for the US could be looking for a new home. Now is the time for the Albanese government to woo investors with a bolder program of climate action in Australia.
The Trump administration is seeking to wind back Biden’s signature climate policy. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Climate Power 2020
What is the Inflation Reduction Act?
The Inflation Reduction Act passed US Congress in 2022. It legislated billions of dollars in tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and geothermal plants, among other technologies.
It included around A$13 billion in rebates for Americans to electrify their homes, tax credits of almost A$11,000 to electrify their cars, and billions more to establish a “green bank” and target agricultural emissions.
The money flowed. Last year, almost A$420 billion was invested in the manufacture and deployment of clean energy – double that in 2021, the year before the legislation passed.
Even in the first quarter of this year, under a Trump presidency, A$103 billion was invested in clean energy tech – an increase on the first quarter results of 2024. Electric vehicle manufacturing projects, especially batteries, were standout performers.
Then US president Joe Biden in August 2023, celebrating the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act. The policy aimed to turbocharge the clean energy transition. Win McNamee/Getty Images
But then came the proposed repeal. The Trump administration wants to gut tax credits for clean energy technologies. The measures passed the House of Representatives and must now clear the US Senate, where the Republicans have a margin of three votes.
The potential economic damage has sparked concern even among Trump’s own troops. Some Republicans last week reportedly urged the scaling back of the cuts, despite voting for the bill in the House.
Opportunities for Australia
After the IRA was enacted, many countries followed the US’ lead – including Australia’s Albanese government, which legislated the A$22.7 billion Future Made in Australia package.
So how will Trump’s unravelling of the policy affect the rest of the world?
The economic impacts are still being modelled. Some studies suggest the US could cede A$123 billion in investment to other countries.
The US axing of tax credits for battery and solar technology paves the way for nations such as China and South Korea to capitalise – given, for example, they already dominate battery manufacturing.
Australia should be doing its utmost to attract investors that no longer see the US as an option. Our existing policies are a start, but they are not sufficient.
In February this year, Labor increased the investment capacity of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – Australia’s “green bank” – by A$2 billion. But more will be needed if the government is serious about crowding-in private investment in low-emission technologies exiting the US.
The government would also be wise to remove incentives that increase fossil fuel use. This includes the diesel fuel rebate, which encourages the use of diesel-powered trucks on mine sites. Fortescue Metals this week announced a push for the subsidy to be wound back – potentially providing the political opening Labor needs.
What about nuclear?
Trump has also promised a “nuclear renaissance”, signing four executive orders designed to reinvigorate the US nuclear energy industry.
In fact, his cuts to the Loan Programs Office – which helps finance new energy projects including nuclear – threaten to undermine the viability of new nuclear plants. The office has been the guarantor for every new US nuclear plant this century, bar one.
If the US is struggling to scale up its existing nuclear industry, this does not bode well for the technology’s hopes in Australia. Here, the prospect of a nuclear energy policy still appears alive in the Coalition party room, even though the technology remains politically unpopular, and the economics don’t stack up.
Stepping back from the politics, we cannot ignore the climate harms flowing from a walk-back on US climate action.
The US is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. As climate change reaches new extremes, the policy vacuum created by Donald Trump must urgently be filled by the rest of the world.
Christian Downie receives funding from the Australian Research Council
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***
Washington, D.C. — Today, during a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee hearing on the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget requests for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, underscored the indispensable role each agency plays in ensuring America’s waterways are flowing, supporting our economy, and protecting the American people—and slammed President Trump’s politicization of America’s water resources and proposal to gut investments in the Corps and Bureau.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Thank you very much, Chair Kennedy. Good morning to all of you, Acting Assistant Secretary Forsgren, Lieutenant General Graham, and Acting Assistant Secretary Cameron—thank you all for being here today.
“We are here today to talk about the fiscal year 2026 budget requests for the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Whether they know it or not—every American depends on the work of these agencies every day. And that is especially true for folks in my home state of Washington, and anyone who lives out West or near a major waterway.
“The Army Corps keeps our ports running smoothly, which is critical for our economy and trade. They manage critical infrastructure like our dams, levees, and bridges—and protect communities from dangerous floods. And they support our ecosystems and help protect keystone species like salmon, among a lot else. Bureau of Reclamation brings water to over 30 million people and irrigation to one-in-five farmers out West, it generates power to keep the lights on in millions of homes, and it protects farmers and communities against drought—to name a few things!
“It is critical work—work that we cannot afford to shortchange. But President Trump’s budget request shows yet again that he has no clue, and no problem gutting essential water investments our communities rely on to feed their families and stay safe from flooding. The president’s budget requests a nearly 25 percent cut for the Corps of Engineers.
“And when you consider the fact that House Republicans’ last yearlong CR already cut funding for the Corps, we are really talking about a nearly 30 percent cut for the Corps relative to the funding level just a few months ago. This request, for example, falls $1.7 billion below the target level for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund—leaving more than half of that target funding on the table.
“Not only that, you include just $60 million for Donor and Energy ports like in my home state, when our bipartisan Water Resources Development Act has specifically instructed that there be $417 million for these ports. And President Trump’s budget also proposes a massive 30 percent cut for the Bureau of Reclamation. These cuts would end critical work on flood prevention, port dredging, basic management of our water resources, and more. This is flat-out dangerous—and Trump’s budget is dead on arrival here in Congress as far as I’m concerned.
“But we have a lot more to cover beyond the budget request. Because, as we sit here today, the President seems bent on doing everything he can to undermine the work of the Corps and the Bureau with reckless staffing cuts, and by brazenly—and corruptly—politicizing the allocation of funding and control over our nation’s water resources. In the span of just a few months, DOGE has pushed out a quarter of the Bureau’s staff without any discernible strategy. This mass exodus of talent puts the Bureau’s mission at serious risk. The last thing we need are fewer dam safety inspections or big delays on repair projects.
“And when it comes to politicization, the President spent much of his first few weeks in office making up conspiracies about California’s water supply as wildfires raged; vowing to block disaster relief, picking fights with the state’s governor, and—against the advice of all experts—ultimately ordered the Corps to open two dams and unleash billions of gallons of water on California’s central valley. That move, predictably, did absolutely nothing to stop the fires and came nowhere near LA. But it did waste huge quantities of precious water and nearly flooded—yes, flooded—local farms and communities and put agriculture at risk.
“It was one of the first instances we saw of this president meddling in the Corps’ work and overruling experts to chase some fixation, but it was not the last. A few weeks ago, the Corps released plans detailing how it is allocating funding for construction projects in FY-25. Now, usually, that is something we decide here in Congress. But that decision-making power was turned over to the Trump administration with House Republicans’ yearlong, slush-fund CR.
“That was one of the many reasons I voted against that bill, and it’s a reminder to all of us about why we need strong, bipartisan spending bills. So instead of allocating construction funding to projects that were selected in both our bipartisan Senate appropriations bill and the Republican House bill and giving funding to red and blue states roughly evenly—as both bills did—this administration decided to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in critical investments from blue states, and steer those investments instead to red states and the president’s political allies.
“Every single construction project in California—the most populous state in the country—was zeroed out. We’re talking about funds to protect people in one of the most flood-prone states in the country—gone. And Trump completely defunded construction at the Howard Hansom Dam in Washington state, leaving a literal hole in the ground! This is a shovel-ready project that will ensure water reliability for over one million people in the region. And of course, the administration’s budget proposal does not fund those projects in FY-26 either.
“All told, two-thirds of Army Corps construction funding is now headed to red states, for no reason other than Trump wanting to punish political enemies and reward his friends. This is not how these projects should work—ever—in the United States of America.
“Lieutenant General Graham, a few weeks ago the Assistant Secretary’s office was asked in a House hearing about this nakedly partisan allocation. That official didn’t even try to justify it. Instead, they said, tellingly, the buck stopped with OMB. So, there it is: Trump and Russ Vought called the final shots and defunded these projects on their own.
“Now, I shouldn’t need to tell anyone here, floods hit red states and blue states alike. Droughts hammers farmers in rural districts, and strain families in big ways. Every single American—in one way or another—depends on our ports being well-maintained to get the basic goods we count on and keep our economy humming. And everyone should be able to trust their government will decide how to invest resources and protect them from threats like flooding, drought, and wildfire based on science, based on engineering—that is, what’s best for people—not on a president’s desire for retribution.
“I believe Congress needs to reject the reckless cuts you’re requesting for the Corps and the Bureau. And we need to see an end to the egregious politicization of these resources—this is not a path we can afford to continue going down as a country.
“So, I will just give a warning to all of my colleagues, once again: It may have not been your state this time, but you all know full well just how fickle the President can be.
“Let’s not leave this authority with him. We do need to come together and write a strong bipartisan bill.”
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
***WATCH AND READ: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s questioning***
Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, slammed the Trump administration’s politicization of water resources and proposal to gut investments in the Corps and Bureau.
Senator Murray questioned witnesses D. Lee Forsgren, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works); Lt. Gen. William H. Graham, Jr., Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Scott J. Cameron, Acting Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Department of Interior, on the Trump administration threatening the Howard Hanson Dam project in Washington state, not meeting funding targets for donor ports like the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, and putting the Columbia River Treaty with Canada—which is critical for the entire Pacific Northwest—at risk.
[RANK POLITICIZATION OF ARMY CORPS FUNDING]
Senator Murray began by asking General Graham about President Trump’s flagrant politicization of Army Corps funding—an issue she touched on in her opening remarks—stating: “The Howard Hanson dam project is to address dam safety issues, provide additional water supply, and meet the Corps’ legal obligations by opening up miles of critical salmon habitat—would you agree with that assessment?”
General Graham responded, “Yes. The Howard Hanson project right now is, the one we are working on is primarily is fish passage, to figure out how to get small juvenile fish off of a high head dam which we have never done before, but it is part of a larger project that provides as you said, critical flood risk management and water supply protection to the southeastern part of Seattle.”
“Is it true that the $500 million the project was slated to receive in the FY25 budget—as well as in the House and Senate bills—would have allowed construction to proceed on schedule?” Senator Murray asked General Graham.
General Graham replied, “Yes, that would have allowed us to keep on our current construction schedule.”
Senator Murray said, “Well it’s clear that the Howard Hanson project is shovel ready. And despite that—the Trump Administration seems ready to walk away from that. Everyone needs to understand, turning the Army Corps into a political slush fund sets a very dangerous precedent.”
“In fact, in testimony before the House, a top Army Corps official very explicitly stated that OMB—not the experts at the Corps—called the final shots here. Section 107 has been passed on a bipartisan basis in our bill for the last five years and makes clear that funding should be allocated only to projects determined to be eligible by the Chief of Engineers. But it appears that OMB handed the Corps the final spend plan without consulting you as required,” Senator Murray continued. “The law needs to be followed. So, I am going to ask you, yes or no—were you provided a final spend plan so you could determine all the projects listed were eligible?”
General Graham answered, “We provided our best technical recommendation to the assistant secretary.”
Mr. Forsgren responded, “We provided input through the presidential budget process on that spending plan. We provided technical input on that spending plan.”
“So that you could prove that all of them were eligible, correct?” pressed Senator Murray.
“I don’t think eligibility was ever the question,” replied Mr. Forsgren.
Senator Murray replied, “That’s really troubling—and really an example of this Administration that just somehow thinks they are above the law. I’ve got news for Russ Vought—the law applies to him the same as for everybody else. So that is very troubling.”
[DONOR PORT FUNDING]
Senator Murray continued her questioning by discussing the administration’s failure to meet statutory targets for Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) funding for donor ports like the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma—which contribute significantly to the HMTF but have historically received relatively little funding back for harbor maintenance projects. Murray said, “I consistently hear from ports and harbors across the country about how they rely on the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to maintain critical port infrastructure. Now, in April, the Administration issued an Executive Order acknowledging that cargo carriers divert goods to Canada from our donor ports, Seattle and Tacoma, to avoid the Harbor Maintenance Tax—that is really an unfair practice, I have spoken about for years.”
“But this year’s budget request does not even attempt to meet the WRDA [Water Resources Development Act] targets for HMTF donor port funding,” continued Senator Murray. “Even more troubling, in the skinny budget, this administration tries to tell Congress that it is not a federal responsibility to provide those dollars—even though that is one of the explicit purposes Congress passed into law. That is really unacceptable. Donor Port funding has already been determined through the WRDA process and our annual appropriations bills for years. It is extremely frustrating that I have to continue raising this issue year after year to get our ports the fair share they are entitled to under the law.”
Senator Murray asked Mr. Forsgren, “Will you commit to ensure that Donor Ports like Seattle and Tacoma will receive their full, fair share of the HMTF dollars as Congress intended?”
Mr. Forsgren responded, “I will commit to working to ensure that the Harbor Maintenance Fund is used to the maximum extent it possibly can. We understand the Harbor Maintenance Fund is the backbone of the commercial navigation system for our ports and that system has to be able to be functional across all of the nation’s ports. But I will say, there needs to be a primary focus on the principal federal responsibility which is the mainline channels. I will commit to working with you to fully utilize the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund as it is passed into law.”
[COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY]
Finally, Senator Murray emphasized the importance of the Columbia River Treaty for Washington state and the entire Pacific Northwest, and the shared waterway with Canada, “The Columbia River provides habitat for salmon and endangered species, it also irrigates 600,000 acres of farmland, and serves as a marine highway, it also provides electricity to the entire Northwest. And critically, it is also a transboundary waterway shared with Canada. Now, the State Department has been leading efforts to negotiate a modernized Columbia River Treaty—which is really critical to providing certainty for people and businesses across our region who rely on the Columbia River. But this Administration appears committed to doing everything they can now to tank our relationship with our friend and neighbor, Canada. And the key to getting this agreement in place, and all the hard work that has gone into it, was collaboration between all the stakeholders. It is really imperative that as the interim agreement is executed, that that collaboration continues.”
Senator Murray asked Mr. Cameron and Mr. Forsgren, “Will you commit to ensuring that the Corps and Reclamation continue to communicate with tribes and the mid-C public utilities on the operation of the Columbia River System?”
Mr. Forsgren replied, “We certainly commit—we are committed to the treaty, as is reflected in the budget. We are committed to continuing the dialogue necessary to operate and maintain the system.”
“Mr. Cameron?” followed up Senator Murray.
Mr. Cameron said, “Yes Senator, I’ve already had multiple meetings with stakeholders from throughout the Columbia River basin, including tribes. Conversations are ongoing.”
Senator Murray concluded, “This is really a critical treaty. We need to get it enacted. And again, Canada is not our enemy there, we need to include them.”
___________________________________
Senator Murray recently led the Washington state and California delegations to call out President Trump’s outrageous, nakedly-political decision to zero out critical funding for Army Corps of Engineers construction projects in blue states like Washington and California while steering hundreds of millions more to red states. Supporting the Howard Hanson Dam has been a longtime priority for Senator Murray, and she has pressed the Army Corps to prioritize funding for the Dam for years. Under the last administration, Senator Murray was able to secure critical funding boosts for Howard Hanson Dam, including $220 million in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $50 million to begin construction of a new facility in the funding bills for fiscal year 2024 that Murray wrote as then-Chair of the Appropriations Committee. Back in 2010, Murray secured $44 million in badly needed emergency funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Howard Hanson Dam. In the draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she cleared unanimously out of Committee last year, Senator Murray secured $500 million for the dam, which would support fish passage and address dam safety and water supply issues for cities like Tacoma and Covington. $500 million was also included in the House’s draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill. The funding is needed to execute a construction option on the contract for the project, which would have allowed construction to begin in 2026 as scheduled.
Congress typically provides specific, detailed instructions in its annual appropriations bills on how the Army Corps (and so many other agencies) must spend funding provided by Congress. Annual appropriations bills note exactly what Army Corps projects must be funded and at what levels. But instead of working with Democrats to pass full-year appropriations bills that deliver for communities across America, Republicans in Congress put forth a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) that failed to include hundreds of specific directives on how funding must be spent. For months, Senator Murray warned of the dangers of passing Republicans’ slush fund CR, noting, for example, that it would allow the administration to zero out funding for Army Corps projects.
Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
[embedded content]
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor highlighting Louisiana’s energy abundance and detailing how unleashing American energy will benefit American families, the economy, and our national security.
“The benefits of unleashing American energy go beyond our borders. President Trump’s America First policies are good for the U.S., good for Louisiana, and good for the world,” said Dr. Cassidy.
“America has the resources. We have an abundance. Let’s put it to use,” concluded Dr. Cassidy.
Background
In January, Cassidy released a statement applauding President Trump’s executive order to lift the Biden administration’s harmful pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permitting. In March, Cassidy was joined by U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) in reiterating support for President Trump’s approach to American energy.
Last year, immediately following the Biden administration’s announcement that they would freeze pending applications for LNG export permits, Cassidy led 25 of his Republican colleagues in condemning the decision. Cassidy later delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor blasting the decision. In February 2024, Cassidy penned an op-ed with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Houston Chronicle underscoring the devastating economic, environmental, and national security impacts of the LNG export freeze.
Cassidy also introduced the LNG Security Act to reverse President Biden’s LNG export ban and require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to approve LNG exports to all countries that have imported, currently import, or are capable of importing Russian or Iranian natural gas. Additionally, he introduced the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act, which depoliticizes the export of American LNG. It eliminates the requirement for the DOE to authorize exports and instead gives the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sole authority over the approval process.
Cassidy’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Louisiana fuels the world.
That is what we say in my state. And that is true.
Louisiana accounted for more than 60% of U.S. energy exports last year. The United States is the world’s largest LNG exporter—Louisiana has some of the largest export terminals in the world.
And it’s a whole-of-state initiative! A lot of the gas that we export is produced in the Haynesville shale, which is in Northwest Louisiana.
And that gas comes down to Cameron LNG in Hackberry, Louisiana. That one is capable of exporting 12 million metric tons of LNG per year.
Cheniere Energy in Cameron Parish. 30 million metric tons of LNG per year.
Venture Global in Plaquemines Parish. 27 million metric tons of LNG per year, and it is growing.
President Trump wants to reestablish American energy dominance. That dominance starts in Louisiana.
Louisiana has the infrastructure, the strategic location, and most importantly the workers to put America back on top.
Louisiana’s ports, railroads, highways, and pipelines provide an outlet for gas and oil from landlocked states to export through our ports.
Some oil is transported by rail. And the only place in the United States of America where six major freight railway carriers converge is in—you guessed it—Louisiana.
Our fully integrated, 50,000-mile pipeline network and 11,000 miles of state highways make Louisiana an obvious choice when considering which states can best transport these goods.
We’re positioned where the Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of America.
Besides our LNG export terminals, we have six combined deep draft ports.
Louisiana moves oil and gas, and we also move the refined products of that oil and gas, which is part of fueling the world.
Louisiana is critical to production and distribution of fuel and fuel products.
I’m making these points because reestablishing American energy dominance is about creating better jobs—higher-paying jobs—changing the trajectory of a family in my state and across the nation.
By the end of President Biden’s term, after four years of attacks against American energy production, the Department of Energy reported tens of thousands of jobs lost.
But tens of thousands of jobs is a statistic! **These are real people, real families we’re talking about!
Think of the young couple with children who have lost their job!
The wife immediately wonders how they’re going to pay the house note.
The husband feels as if he’s letting his family down.
The kids see conflict that was never there before between the parents.
Those are human stories and those stories are relived over and over when those jobs are killed. Not because the fuel is not needed, but because the last administration decided they didn’t like it.
That was the case for tens of thousands of Americans under President Biden. His war on American energy was a war on American jobs, which is a war on American families.
That war on the American family is over. I recognize, President Trump recognizes, that American energy dominance fueling our state, our country, and the world—and along with it, giving enough product for the manufacturing of the refined products that we all need—creates with it the high-paying jobs for the Americans who should never have been out of work in the first place.
Woodside Energy recently announced the largest single foreign direct investment in Louisiana history: a $17.5 billion investment in Calcasieu Parish for a new LNG export facility.
It will support 15,000 jobs during construction and, once operational, thousands more after it’s built.
By the way, there are other things we do with this plentiful, abundant energy! There are wonderful spin-offs!
Last month, Hyundai Steel announced a $5.8 billion investment to build a new, next-generation steel production facility in Ascension Parish. The facility is expected to generate $4.1 billion in annual revenue and will bring nearly 1,500 direct jobs to the state, plus thousands of indirect jobs.
That’s low-cost energy paving the way for more opportunity!
By the way, this benefits my state, our nation, but guess who else it benefits? Our allies!
Europe imports 45% of its LNG from the United States. Now they still get 20 from Russia, and the rest from Qatar and other countries.
But WE send them 45% of their LNG. Before the Russia-Ukraine war, it was only 27%!
We have a bill before Congress now to put even stricter sanctions upon Russia. If the Europeans buy even less gas from Russia, they’ll need more gas from us.
We can make up that difference.
With our LNG export facilities and with our gas, I want to send MORE natural gas from the Haynesville shale, through those LNG export facilities, across the Atlantic Ocean, creating tax revenue for my parish governments and wealth for my workers—to help their national security, to help our economy, to help my working families.
The European Union using more U.S. LNG hurts Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Last year, the EU paid 22 billion euros for Russian natural gas, and Putin used that for his war machine.
Next year, if the Europeans buy that much U.S. natural gas, that’s $25 billion coming to OUR economy!
After Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, America stood up against Putin. Europe did too. Let’s help them do it even more so.
We can help them by saying, “Don’t buy Putin’s gas to fuel his war, buy OUR gas.”
Louisiana is ready to help.
America has the resources. We have an abundance. Let’s put it to use.
NEW YORK, June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Nasdaq Stock Market announced today that it will delist the common stock of Blue Star Foods Corp. Blue Star Foods Corp.’s stock was suspended on December 20, 2024 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the common shares of Altamira Therapeutics Ltd. Altamira Therapeutics Ltd.’s stock was suspended on December 20, 2024 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the American Depositary Shares of Fresh2 Group Limited. Fresh2 Group Limited’s stock was suspended on December 24, 2024 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the Class A Ordinary Shares, Warrants, and Units of Coliseum Acquisition Corp. Coliseum Acquisition Corp.’s securities were suspended on December 27, 2024 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the Class A Common Stock of The Real Good Food Company, Inc. The Real Good Food Company, Inc.’s stock was suspended on January 7, 2025 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants of MultiMetaVerse Holdings Limited. MultiMetaVerse Holdings Limited’s securities were suspended on January 10, 2025 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the common stock and warrants of Nature’s Miracle Holding Inc. Nature’s Miracle Holding Inc.’s securities were suspended on January 15, 2025 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the ordinary shares of SPI Energy Co, Ltd. SPI Energy Co., Ltd.’s ordinary shares were suspended on January 15, 2025 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the Class A Ordinary Shares, Warrants, and Units of Evergreen Corporation. Evergreen Corporation’s securities were suspended on February 13, 2025 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the American Depository Shares of Mynaric AG. Mynaric AG’s security was suspended on February 18, 2025 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the Class A Common Stock, Warrants, and Units of byNordic Acquisition Corporation. byNordic Acquisition Corporation’s securities were suspended on February 18, 2025 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the common stock of Avinger, Inc. Avinger, Inc.’s stock was suspended on February 18, 2025 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
For more information about The Nasdaq Stock Market, visit the Nasdaq Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com. Nasdaq’s rules governing the delisting of securities can be found in the Nasdaq Rule 5800 Series, available on the Nasdaq Web site: https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/nasdaq-5800-series.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Senator Cortez Masto pressed Secretary Burgum for answers about the potential for Senate version of the Republican Tax Bill to include almost 2 million acres of federal land for sale
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) questioned Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing about the administration’s involvement in potential provisions in the Senate Republican’s reconciliation bill that would add back in misguided public land sales in Nevada and across the West.
Senator Cortez Mastohighlighted the bipartisan support for the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA), which includes robust stakeholder engagement, and touted it as a model for effective federal land management that ensures the benefits of any land transfers return directly to the state of Nevada. Secretary Burgum himself discussed the importance of a comprehensive process like SNPLMA as a model for federal land sales earlier in the hearing.
“You talk about the benefits [of this model], but in action you’re not doing it,” she said. “In fact, on the House side – and I’m assuming they worked with the administration – their reconciliation package included federal land sales…that weren’t even near areas where you could actually do affordable housing.” She pointed to a map of remote land in Southern Nevada identified for sale in a failed amendment to the House reconciliation bill offered by Representative Mark Amodei (R-Nev.-02). The land is “in the middle of the desert. There’s no infrastructure. I don’t know any builder who is going to build housing in the middle of the desert, it makes no sense.”
“And now I’m hearing there is a proposal going to be put back into reconciliation [by the Chairman of this committee, Senator Mike Lee of Utah] to allow the federal government to sell up to 2 million acres of federal land. Is that correct,” she asked.
Secretary Burgum confirmed that this proposal is under consideration. Despite continued follow-up questions from Senator Cortez Masto, Secretary Burgum could not name any details of this upcoming legislation, nor identify anyone in Nevada who the administration is working with to ensure land sales actually meet the needs of the local communities. He stated he was “not actively engaged” in negotiations.
“I’m asking you because we have not seen anything,” the senator finished. “The Chairman has [the proposal], it is behind closed doors. I would assume you would be talking…because you’re going to be taking the lead as the lead agency. So if you don’t know, I’m really concerned and we should all be concerned across the west.”
Senator Cortez Masto is a strong supporter of SNPLMA and will continue to stand up against misguided attempts to include federal land sales in the Republicans’ upcoming tax bill that will only serve to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Instead, Cortez Masto will continue to push for passage of her Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, a years-long effort that includes all necessary stakeholders and will help Clark County grow responsibly, encourage affordable housing, and protect 2 million acres for conservation.
This forum aims to explore where we stand today in emissions reduction, fuel efficiency, and the transition to alternative power sources in drilling operations without compromising performance. It will highlight practical applications, lessons learned and future strategies for optimizing rig power while balancing performance, cost and sustainability.
The event will be both in-person and virtual/online. The in-person venue is the Transocean office in Houston. Please register early to ensure your seat. For virtual attendees, a zoom invitation will be emailed the day before the meeting.
Special thanks to our event host Transocean and lunch sponsor Siemens Energy!
For questions about the DEC, contact Linda Hsieh, +1 713 292 1945 or linda.hsieh@iadc.org.
NASA’s Earth science missions have continued to demonstrate remarkable adaptability and innovation, balancing the legacy of long-standing satellites with the momentum of cutting-edge new technologies. The Terra platform, the first of three Earth Observing System flagship missions, has been in orbit since December 1999. Over a quarter-century later, four of its five instruments continue to deliver valuable data, despite recent power challenges. As of this writing, Terra’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) – Visible–Near Infrared (VNIR) and Thermal Infrared (TIR) bands, Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and one of the two Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) instruments onboard, are all still producing science data. For reasons explained below, only the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument has been shut down completely, after 25 years of successful operations. The longevity of the Terra instruments is credited to Terra’s instrument team members, who have skillfully adjusted operations to compensate for the reduction in power and extend Terra’s scientific contributions for as long as possible. Terra has been experiencing power-based limitations caused by platform orbital changes and solar array impacts. On November 28, 2024, one of Terra’s power-transmitting shunt units failed. A response team reviewed Terra’s status, and discussed potential impacts and options. Consequently, the team changed the battery charge rate and reduced spacecraft power demands by placing the ASTER instrument into safe mode. In order to maintain power margins, the Terra team also moved the MOPITT instrument from science mode into safe mode on February 4, 2025, ceasing data collection. On April 9, 2025, the Terra project determined that additional power was needed for the platform and MOPITT was moved from safe mode and fully turned off, ending the instrument’s carbon monoxide data record of near-global coverage every three days. MOPITT was the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) contribution to the Earth Observing System. Launched as part of Terra’s payload in 1999, it became the longest-running air quality monitor in space, and the longest continuously operating Canadian space mission in history. MOPITT’s specific focus was on the distribution, transport, sources, and sinks of carbon monoxide (CO) in the troposphere – see Figure. The spectrometer’s marquee Earthdata products have included MOPITT Near Real-Time Datasets and offerings from the MOPITT Science Investigator-led Processing System (MOPITT SIPS). From tracking pollution from wildfires to providing data that informs international climate agreements, MOPITT served as a powerful tool for gathering data about pollution in the lowest portion of Earth’s atmosphere, informing research, policies, and even helping to advance forecasting models used by scientists worldwide. Congratulations to the MOPITT team for more than 25 years of groundbreaking science and international collaboration!
As chance would have it, the MOPITT Team had planned a 25th anniversary celebration in April, 10–11, 2025, at CSA headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec and online – which began one day after the instrument was shut down. The celebration was a fitting closeout to the MOPITT mission and a celebration of its accomplishments. Over the two days, more than 45 speakers shared memories and presented findings from MOPITT’s quarter-century record of atmospheric carbon monoxide monitoring. Its data showed a global decline in carbon monoxide emissions over two decades and could also track the atmospheric transport of the gas from fires and industry from individual regions. MOPITT is a testament to remarkable international collaboration and achievement. As it is officially decommissioned, its data record will continue to drive research for years to come. The Director General of the Canadian Space Agency—a key MOPITT partner—delivered remarks, and both Ken Jucks [NASA HQ— Program Manager for the Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP)] and Helen Worden [National Center for Atmospheric Research— MOPITT U.S. Principal Investigator] attended representing the U.S. More information is available in a recently-released Terra blog post and on the Canadian Space Agency MOPITT website. After continued investigation and monitoring of platform battery status, the Terra Flight Operations Team (FOT) determined there was sufficient power to resume imaging with ASTER’s VNIR bands, and as a result, ASTER once again began collecting VNIR data on January 17, 2025. Subsequently, ASTER resumed acquisitions for the TIR bands on April 15, 2025. (The ASTER Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) bands have been shut down since 2008). As one long-serving mission sunsets its operations, new missions are stepping in to carry forward the legacy of Earth system science with fresh capabilities and approaches. Launched on May 25, 2023, the NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission provides a groundbreaking approach to studying tropical cyclones using a passive microwave sounder CubeSat constellation. TROPICS uses multiple small satellites flying in a carefully engineered formation to measure precipitation structure as well as temperature and humidity profiles both within and outside of storms. Unlike traditional polar-orbiting satellites, TROPICS’ low-inclination orbits allow for hourly revisits over tropical regions, enabling scientists to better monitor storm structure, intensity changes, and key processes like upper-level warm core formation and convective bursts. The mission has already significantly contributed to operational forecasting and scientific research. With over 10 billion observations to date, TROPICS data have been used to validate storm models, support early-warning systems, and improve forecasts for events like Hurricane Franklin and Typhoon Kong-rey. Collaborations with agencies like the National Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center have shown the value of TROPICS channels, particularly the 204.8 GHz channel, in identifying storm structure and intensity. The data are publicly available through the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), and TROPICS continues to set the stage for the next generation of rapid-revisit Earth observation missions. To read more about the last two years of successful science operations with TROPICS, see NASA’s TROPICS Mission: Offering Detailed Images and Analysis of Tropical Cyclones. While some missions focus on monitoring atmospheric processes, others are expanding the frontiers of Earth observation in entirely different domains—ranging from seafloor mapping to land surface monitoring and beyond. NASA’s Ice, Clouds, and land Elevation Satellite–2 (ICESat-2) mission continues to provide critical data on Earth’s changing ice sheets, glaciers, and other environmental features. In March 2025, the satellite achieved a significant milestone by firing its two trillionth laser pulse, measuring clouds off the coast of East Antarctica. Despite challenges, such as a solar storm in May 2024 that temporarily disrupted operations, the mission has resumed full functionality, providing high-resolution data that has enabled scientists to map over 16 years of ice sheet changes. The mission’s advanced laser altimeter system, ATLAS, continues to deliver unprecedented detail in monitoring Earth’s changing ice sheets, glaciers, forests, and ocean floor. The ICESat-2 Satellite-Derived Bathymetry (SDB) workshop, held on March 17, 2025, in conjunction with the US-Hydro meeting, brought together experts and stakeholders from government, academia, and industry to explore the current capabilities and future potential of satellite-based seafloor mapping. With over 2000 journal articles referencing ICESat-2 in the context of bathymetry, the workshop underscored the growing importance of this technology in coastal management, navigation, habitat monitoring, and disaster response. For more details, see the ICESat-2 Applications Team Hosts Satellite Bathymetry Workshop report. As satellite technologies continue to evolve, so do the scientific communities that rely on them, bringing researchers together to share insights, refine data products, and explore new applications across a range of Earth and atmospheric science disciplines. As of early 2025, NASA’s Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) continues to provide critical insights into Earth’s atmospheric composition. In addition to scientific advancements, SAGE III/ISS has enhanced public accessibility to its data. In February 2025, the mission launched updates to its Quicklook and Expedited data portal, introducing a new ‘Highlights’ tab to showcase major stratospheric events and a ‘Comparisons’ tab for validating measurements with ground-based stations. These enhancements aim to make SAGE III/ISS data more accessible and increase its utilization for atmospheric research. The most recent SAGE III/ISS Science Team Meeting took place in October 2024 at NASA Langley Research Center and was held in hybrid format. Around 50 scientists gathered to discuss recent advancements, mission updates, and future directions in upper troposphere–stratosphere (UTS) research. The SAGE III/ISS team celebrated eight years of continuous data collection aboard the ISS and presented Version 6.0 of SAGE III/ISS data products during the meeting, which addresses previous data biases and enhances aerosol profile recovery. Presentations also covered aerosol and cloud studies, lunar-based aerosol retrievals, and collaborative projects using data from multiple satellite platforms and instruments. To learn more, see the full Summary of the 2024 SAGE III/ISS Meeting. Moving on to personnel announcements, I wish to extend my condolences to the friends and family of Dr. Stanley Sander, who passed away in March 2025. Sander devoted over 50 years to atmospheric science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, making groundbreaking contributions to stratospheric ozone research, air pollution, and climate science. His precise laboratory work on reaction kinetics and spectroscopy became foundational for atmospheric modeling and environmental policy, including the Montreal Protocol. Sander also played a key role in satellite calibration, mentored dozens of young scientists, and held several leadership positions at JPL. Remembered for his brilliance, humility, and kindness, his legacy endures through both his scientific achievements and the many lives he influenced. See In Memoriam: Dr. Stanley Sander. On a happier, though bittersweet, note, my congratulations to Jack Kaye [NASA HQ—Associate Director for Research, Earth Science Division (ESD)] who retired from NASA on April 30, 2025, after 42 years of distinguished service. With a background in chemistry and atmospheric science, he played a leading role in NASA’s efforts to understand Earth’s atmosphere and climate using satellite data and modeling. Throughout his career, Kaye has held various key leadership positions, managed major missions, e.g., the series of Shuttle-based Atmospheric Laboratory of Applications and Science (ATLAS) experiments, and supported the development of early-career scientists. He also represented NASA in national and international science collaborations and advisory roles. Kaye received numerous awards, published extensively, and was widely recognized for his contributions to Earth science and global climate research. I extend my sincere thanks to Jack for his many years of vital leadership and lasting contributions to the global Earth science community! Barry Lefer [NASA HQ—Tropospheric Composition Program Manager] has taken over as Acting Associate Director for Research in ESD. Reflecting on Kaye’s impact, Lefer said, “Jack has been a wonderful friend and mentor. The one thing about Jack that has had the biggest impact on me (besides his incredible memory) is his kindness. He has an enormous heart. He will be missed, but his impact on Earth Science will endure for a very long time!” See the full announcement, Jack Kaye Retires After a Storied Career at NASA. Steve PlatnickEOS Senior Project Scientist
Delivering on the EU’s climate targets[1] requires a swift decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, including transport.
The CO2 emission standards Regulation[2] sets targets to reduce emissions for new cars and vans, which creates long-term predictability for manufacturers and investors, while giving industry the necessary lead-time to adapt.
This supports competitiveness, as EU manufacturers are strongly investing in zero-emission technologies and a strong home market is a crucial enabler for them to regain leadership in this area.
From 2025, the limit value curve used for calculating car manufacturers’ specific targets has changed, taking into account recent developments in the relationship between the mass and CO2 emissions of new cars, including due to the increased uptake of battery electric vehicles.
The CO2 targets apply to vehicles’ tailpipe emissions. This ensures that manufacturers implement innovative technologies, which reduce emissions of the vehicles when driven on the road.
Emissions from other lifecycle stages of vehicles are regulated under separate pieces of EU legislation[3]. By end 2025, the Commission is required to adopt a methodology for assessing and reporting life-cycle CO2 emissions of vehicles.
From June 2026, manufacturers may submit to the Commission life-cycle CO2 emissions data for their vehicles, calculated according to that methodology.
[1] Enshrined in the European Climate Law — http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1119/oj.
[3] Such as the EU Emission Trading System Directive — http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2003/87/2024-03-01 and the Renewable Energy Directive — http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/2001/2024-07-16.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1)
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, early this morning voted against the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations funding measure.
The measure (MILCON-VA) would fund worldwide military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and various small agencies and programs supporting our nation’s some 19 million veterans, including some 112,000 throughout Hawai‘i, and their families.
The bill is the first of twelve separate bills developed by the Appropriations Committee that would fund the federal government at some $1.6 trillion for FY 2026 commencing October 1st of this year.
“While the measure does have positive provisions including funding for essential veterans programs, I regrettably had to vote against it because it kicks critical military infrastructure projects down the road yet again, pursues the Project 2025 goal of privatizing VA medical care, shortchanges dedicated funding for Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) cleanup, eliminates climate resiliency efforts and excludes important VA infrastructure funding,” said Case, who is in his seventh year on Appropriations and previously served on the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs for four years. He currently serves on its Subcommittees on Defense and Homeland Security.
Case spoke to his Appropriations Committee colleagues on the serious deficiencies in the bill that fail to address critical military infrastructure needs throughout the Indo-Pacific (speech here). He stated that only one milcon project is located in the Indo-Pacific despite critical needs in meeting the challenge of the People’s Republic of China. The bill also fails to provide funding for infrastructure in Europe to support U.S. servicemembers working to bolster NATO and deter Russia.
Case further said that the funding measure specifically advances the privatization of veterans health care by proposing vastly larger increases for medical care provided in private sector compared to shorfunding the government’s VA healthcare system, a key goal of the Project 2025 plan being followed by the Trump administration. By vast margins, veterans oppose privatizing the VA and want to receive their medical care at VA clinics and hospitals with a direct mission to care for veterans and their families as opposed to the private sector.
Despite these and other significant problems with the bill, Case highlighted positive provisions he requested, including fully funding the budget request for veterans’ medical care at $131.4 billion and for veterans’ toxic exposures-related needs under the PACT Act.
It also includes $1.3 billion for specific care for women veterans, and supports the Office of Women’s Health, including its childcare initiative. These funds will allow the VA to continue hiring women primary care providers and to increase the number of peer support specialists for women veterans. These efforts have become even more critical as the number of female veterans using VA health care services has increased.
“Women veterans often require specialized care due to unique health needs stemming from their military service and gender,” said Case. “With sustained support from my Committee over multiple years, Congress is working to ensure the VA set the standard for women veterans care, ensuring consistent, high-quality services across all facilities.”
The measure also continues support as Case requested for the VA Center for Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and United States-affiliated Pacific Islander (NHPIUSAPI) Veterans. The center’s doctors and scientists coordinate research from all over the Pacific Islands and the United States to specifically address veterans’ healthcare in the Hawaiian Islands and throughout the Pacific. The center works with the University of Hawai‘i, and the bill encourages the VA to continue partnering with universities in the Pacific region focusing on issues unique to the NHPIUSAPI community.
Further details follow:
Veterans-Related Programs
The bill provides $133.7 billion in discretionary spending for veterans-related programs, an increase of $4.7 billion above the FY 2025 enacted level
“Our Hawai‘i veterans and their families make up one of the largest percentages of any state in our nation including in such key areas like women and minority veterans. I continued to focus especially on the often unique challenges of delivering full veterans’ health and other benefits in a diverse island state,” said Case.
Specific veterans-related programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include:
· $12 million for the Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program, which is $6 million above the FY 2025 level.
· Contracting preferences for Native Hawaiian owned business that work with the VA.
· Directing the VA to continue supporting the VA Center for NHPIUSAPI Veterans.
· $1.5 million for a pilot project using the most advanced technology to identify the remains of unidentified fallen servicemembers buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
· Directing the VA to develop a plan for more fully providing VA benefits for veterans living in the Freely Associated States.
· $106 million for the American Battle Monument Commission, which manages the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
· $60 million for the VA Grants for the Construction of Veterans Cemeteries Program, which regularly provides fundings to support Hawaii’s state cemeteries.
· $233 million for substance-use disorder (SUD) efforts to ensure veterans can receive timely SUD specialty services.
· $3.4 billion for the Veterans’ Homelessness Program Resources Account for our nation’s veterans. This funding will enhance homeless veterans service providers ability to provide high demand care such as health services, substance use disorder programs, compensated work therapy and other supportive services.
· $342 million for Rural Health Initiatives, $5 million above FY 2025 level. This will improve access and quality of care for the more than 3 million enrolled veterans residing in highly rural areas.
Military Construction
The bill provides $453.6 billion for Department of Defense (DoD) military construction and family housing, $480 million above the FY 2025 enacted level.
Specific military construction programs and provisions requested and secured by Case critical to Hawai‘i include:
· $634 million for the Energy Resiliency and Conservation Investment Program, which funds projects that save energy and water, reduce DoD energy costs and improve energy resilience.
· Directing the DoD to identify the Army’s investment needs in order to support the wildland firefighters located on Schofield Barracks.
· Directing the DoD to provide a report on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam infrastructure development plan, to address ongoing concerns of the aging water and wastewater facilities on the installation.
· Directing the DoD to assess the aging infrastructure that houses the headquarters of the Marine Corps, Space Force and Special Operations Commands on O‘ahu.
· Directing the DoD to assess the requirement for a floating drydock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.
· Directing the DoD to assess the capacity for battle damage repair of all public shipyards and how to prepare these shipyards for conflict requirements under the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP). SIOP is a multi-billion multi-year effort to upgrade the Navy’s four public shipyards, including Pearl Harbor.
· Directing the DoD to assess the infrastructure needs and shortfalls for 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment on Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i.
· Directing the DoD to study the impacts of unexploded ordnance on military construction sites in Guam.
· Directing the DoD to study the necessary steps and what actions would be required to begin construction on port improvements on Tinian Island.
· Directing the DoD to study the necessity and feasibility of establishing a biosecurity inspection facility to combat invasive species on the Northern Mariana Islands.
· Directing the DoD to study the impact and develop a plan to address growing solid waste management issues on Tinian Island.
The bill now moves to the full House of Representatives for its consideration.
A summary of the VA-MilCon funding bill is available here. The committee report explaining the full bill in detail is available here.
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
June 11, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “23 and You: The Privacy and National Security Implications of the 23andMe Bankruptcy.” Today’s hearing will examine the bankruptcy of 23andMe, Inc., and the potential sale of the company’s database of customers’ personal genetic information. The hearing also will provide an opportunity to examine policy and ethical issues associated with the collection and use of personal genetic information, the need for a comprehensive federal data privacy law in the United States, and the treatment of consumer data privacy in the bankruptcy process.
Key Quotes:
“In short, 23andMe has access to deeply personal information about you and your health. Information that you would normally want to keep private—between you, your family, and your doctor. Yet no federal law—no federal law—prevents 23andMe from sharing this data with others, including insurance companies, future employers, and law enforcement. Rather, a patchwork of state laws and [23andMe’s] privacy policy are the only things protecting the genetic information of millions of Americans.”
“If 23andMe’s customers are anything like [their] fellow Americans, they likely didn’t read this privacy policy. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, more than half of Americans say they always, almost always, or often agree with privacy policies without ever reading them. Who can blame them?”
“When 23andMe filed for bankruptcy on March 23, a lot of people suddenly became interested in that privacy policy. Because, buried in the fine print of their privacy policy is the following, listen carefully: ‘If we are involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction.’”
“So 23andMe’s 15 million customers were left wondering: Who is going to get access to my genetic information? What are they going to do with it? What rights do I have to stop it?”
“Thankfully, 23andMe’s privacy policy gave its customers the right to delete their data upon request. And millions have done so—so many, in fact, that 23andMe’s website crashed with the traffic. But again, this wasn’t required by federal law.”
“There are very few federal guardrails to protect your most sensitive data, including your DNA and who can share it. It’s time for Congress to put some protections in place for Americans.”
“The American people deserve to have faith that their sensitive information will be in—and stay in—the right hands before they agree to share it. Yet, nearly 20 years after 23andMe came on the scene and at least that long since the surveillance industrial complex started taking over the Internet, America still lacks a comprehensive federal law to protect our privacy.”
“There have been signs of hope, including in 2022 when the American Data Privacy and Protection Act passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a broad, bipartisan vote of 53-to-2. But the American people are still waiting.”
Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.
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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative for Western Samoa Congresswoman Aumua Amata
Headline: Amata Releases Questions for DOI on Critical Minerals
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is releasing some of her questions for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), which she will submit for responses as part of a congressional hearing.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which governs critical minerals exploration of the seabed, is part of DOI, and Amata’s questions primarily center on recently announced federal seabed critical minerals efforts, which will include a public comment period.
“I have important questions for the DOI, which reflect the thinking of our people,” said Congresswoman Amata. “I will do what I can to get our people more information, while I continue to take your message to Washington.”
The following questions will be submitted for the record this week to the Honorable Doug Burgum, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior:
Mr. Secretary, what is the status of and what are the next steps in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) review process regarding seabed mining around American Samoa?
Any seabed mining pursuant to a BOEM lease would be done in federally controlled EEZ waters outside the American Samoa 3-mile boundary limit, is this correct?
Mr. Secretary, do you intend to engage directly with the people of American Samoa on the seabed mining proposal? Will you commit to meeting with local government leaders as the proposal moves through the approval process?
What survey information can you provide to the American Samoan people about which critical rare earth minerals are where within and over that 3-mile limit so that we know what minerals are in American Samoa controlled waters and what is in federally controlled waters?
Your agency is responsible in part for the economic development of the territories; how will such an endeavor benefit the economy of American Samoa and the people?
The governor of American Samoa is investing over $40 million in a next generation cable connection for our island’s economic development as well as our nations national security; essential to this is the administration’s support for our economic development by advocating for renewal of our 30A/American Samoa Economic Development Credit in the big beautiful bill. Will the administration support my bill, H.R. 399, which renews the credit, as we hope to include it in the reconciliation or extender process this year, so we can take full advantage of this investment?
Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today joined U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and U.S. Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA-04) to introduce the Bicycle Commuter Act of 2025, bicameral legislation that would reinstate and expand the Bicycle Benefit Subsidy Program’s non-taxable bicycle commuter benefit to encourage more Americans to bike to work.
“The perks of biking to work are tenfold–saving commuters money, providing health benefits, and helping reduce emissions. An increasing number of Vermonters have recognized those benefits, with the number of cycling commuters doubling in the Green Mountain State in the past decade. But there’s more that we can do to strengthen biking infrastructure to help more folks around the country enjoy the advantages of cycling to work,” said Senator Welch. “Our bicameral legislation will reinstate and modernize the bicycling tax benefit to encourage more commuters around the country to get to work by riding a bicycle.”
“Biking to work is good for our planet, our health, and our wallets,” said Senator Padilla. “The Bicycle Commuter Act would allow cyclists to take advantage of the same tax benefits that incentivize hardworking Americans to commute via public transit or carpool, while also helping keep our air clean and reduce congestion on our roads. It would also expand these commuter tax benefits to e-bikes, bikeshares, and certain scooters, further encouraging bike ridership and putting money back in the pockets of workers.”
“Cycling is efficient, low-cost, and low-impact on our roads and the environment — in other words, it’s good for you and it’s good for our planet. Encouraging people to bike to work just makes sense,” said Rep. Thompson, Co-Chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus. “I’m glad to work with Senators Welch and Padilla on this bicameral legislation restoring and modernizing bike commuters’ tax benefits.”
Cities and towns across America are investing in bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure to create safer, greener, and more connected communities. In Vermont, nearly 6% of residents walk to work, ranking the Green Mountain State third-highest in the nation for its walk-to-work percentage. The amount of Chittenden County residents that bike to work has doubled since 2010, with the number of statewide cycling commuters in Vermont expected to increase as local trail associations spearhead initiatives that allow Vermonters to bike longer distances to work. According to recent studies, over 60% of Chittenden County residents would walk or bike to work more frequently if safety and accessibility improvements are made.
In 2009, Congress created the Bicycle Benefit Subsidy Program to encourage more workers to bike to their jobs by allowing employers to offer a non-taxable reimbursement of up to $20 per month for expenses related to bicycle commuting. However, employees who elected to participate in the program were forced to forfeit other commuter benefits, such as those provided for parking or transit. The non-taxable bicycle commuter benefit was suspended until 2026 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, eliminating this vital financial incentive for employees who bike to work.
The Bicycle Commuter Act of 2025 would modernize the Bicycle Benefit Subsidy Program to ensure cyclists can access pre-tax commuter benefits similar to those available for parking and public transit and allow recipients to claim the bicycle benefit in tandem with other commuter benefits. The bicameral legislation would also allow electric bicycles and bikeshare and scootershare services to be eligible for the benefit.
The Bicycle Commuter Act is supported by the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT), League of American Bicyclists, North American Bikeshare and Scootershare Association, PeopleForBikes, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Safe Routes Partnership, and Sierra Club.
“The reintroduction of the Bicycle Commuter Act is an important step toward building a more balanced, multimodal transportation system that supports healthier, more accessible commutes. By recognizing and incentivizing active transportation, Congress is helping to reduce congestion and improve quality of life for millions of commuters. ACT applauds Senator Welch and Representative Thompson’s leadership and commitment to a future where every journey can be a better one,” said David Straus, Executive Director, Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT).
“The League of American Bicyclists applauds Senator Peter Welch and Representative Mike Thompson for their efforts to put money back in commuters’ pockets by introducing the Bicycle Commuter Act,” said Bill Nesper, Executive Director, League of American Bicyclists. “The Bicycle Commuter Act would give bike commuters the same tax benefit that drivers and transit riders already receive. Americans have the freedom to commute to work however we choose and we should all get the same tax benefits on our chosen commutes to work. By incentivizing bike commuting, Congress can help reduce traffic on the roads, give parity to our commuter tax system, and ensure everyone gets home safely.”
“We are thrilled to see the introduction of the Bicycle Commuter Act, which would include bikeshare and scootershare among the transportation-related benefits that employers can provide,” said Sam Herr, Executive Director, North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association. “We thank Senator Welch and Representative Thompson for their leadership on this important legislation that helps to support employee travel choices and options.”
“Americans deserve the choice to pick which way they want to get to work, and bike commuting saves money and gives access to jobs,” said Jenn Dice, President and CEO, PeopleForBikes. “The Bicycle Commuter Act expands choices and opportunities for everyone by giving people who commute by bike the same tax benefits that car and transit commuters already enjoy. More people are using bikes to get to work, which brings significant economic and health benefits to local communities.”
“We applaud and thank Senator Welch for his sponsorship of this important legislation to restore bicycle commuter benefits, demonstrating, alongside his longstanding support of the Recreational Trails Program, the importance of bicycling as a way for people across the country to get around their communities,” said Kevin Mills, Vice President for Policy, Rails to Trails Conservancy. “His leadership will bring meaningful financial benefit to those who commute by bike and have negligible impact on the tax revenue stream to the federal government.”
“Safe Routes Partnership applauds Senator Welch’s leadership in introducing the Bicycle Commuter Act. Any action that incentivizes people to get around via active transportation—like biking—helps build healthier, safer, and more connected communities. This legislation is an important step toward making it easier for more people to choose biking as a safe and convenient way to get to work,” said Marisa Jones, Managing Director, Safe Routes Partnership.
“While many employees enjoy a commuter tax benefit for parking and transit, this does not extend to biking. The Sierra Club is proud to support this legislation that would incentivize biking and help improve our health, curb pollution, and reduce dependency on cars,” said Katherine García, Clean Transportation for All Director, Sierra Club.
Learn more about the Bicycle Commuter Act.
Read and download the full text of the bill.
NREL Announces Chip-to-Grid Consortium, Invites Collab Around Energy-Data Integration
Andrea Watson, associate laboratory director for Innovation, Partnering, and Outreach at NREL, introduces the 2025 NREL Partner Forum. Photo by Agata Bogucka, NREL
Over the past decade, energy demand from U.S. data centers has tripled—doubling in just the last two years. And the growth is not slowing down.
Utilities are wondering where to add generation. Meanwhile, companies queue for that power. Governments are deciding what to permit, and residents are voicing their priorities. Rarely are they all in the same room, but for a productive two days, more than 300 participants gathered in Golden, Colorado, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to strategize powering data centers during the 2025 NREL Partner Forum.
For an issue that is fundamentally about connections—connecting data centers to the grid and connecting people to each other—NREL was a natural place to collaborate. In the shadow of full-scale grid assets, and next to an eminently efficient data center that supplies leading artificial intelligence (AI) research, attendees worked through the details of data and power systems.
“That’s the magic of the Partner Forum,” said Andrea Watson, associate laboratory director for Innovation, Partnering, and Outreach at NREL. “We know we can do so much more together than on our own, so we host events like Partner Forum to facilitate better engagement with stakeholders and to develop better solutions for everyone. It’s how we drive NREL’s research impact.”
Yes, More Power. And Different Power.
“We are just getting warmed up,” keynote speaker Dean Nelson said, after showing numbers that prove the recent climb in data center capacity. Nelson’s career followed that same trajectory, and his insight helped frame both the big picture and the finer points.
“We have to do this the right way, to balance the social, economic, ecological, and community preference. Like a Rubik’s Cube,” Nelson said.
Dean Nelson, CEO of Cato Digital and Founder and Chairman of Infrastructure Masons, keynotes the NREL Partner Forum. Image by Agata Bogucka, NREL
He ran through many of the major topics—like flexibility (“data centers must become active grid participants”), siting (“not moving power to data center, but data center to power”), and community approval (“master planning has to be with the communities”)—including one that resurfaced several times later: “Data centers create a giant amount of instantaneous demand.”
“It’s like starting an engine a thousand times in a second,” Nelson remarked. “That’s why NREL is so important: Data centers can stabilize or destabilize the grid, and we have to know how.”
Recent breakthroughs in chip design have packed more power consumption into the same-sized server rack, which means large and fast swings in electrical load. For the grid planners in the room, this was the crux of the problem.
How To Connect Petaflops and Gigawatts
When dealing with loads that are “the equivalent of bringing cities to the grid”—as Mason Emnett, senior vice president of Constellation Energy put it—competitive jostling for new generation might not work anymore.
“What keeps me up at night is infighting over pieces of the pie, even though the pie is big enough,” Emnett said, responding to a panel prompt. “It creates friction in the regulatory space, instead of collaboration.”
This map layers U.S. data infrastructure alongside power infrastructure to help visualize the overlap and simplify co-system planning. Perhaps with a holistic, nation-to-local perspective, there is enough of the “pie” to go around. Image by Billy Roberts, NREL
Taking the whole-nation view, power transmission exists along certain corridors, as do data centers. If utilities, regulators, companies, and communities can collaborate, perhaps there is enough “pie,” including generation sources such as natural gas, solar and storage, hydrogen fuel, and in the case of Constellation’s planned restart of Three Mile Island, nuclear.
Attendees bounced through many options to bring more power online and to better use the power that already exists.
“There is no silver bullet,” emphasized Prasanna Joshi, vice president of low-carbon solutions technology at ExxonMobil. “We look at all solutions—carbon capture, natural gas generation, hydrogen-powered turbines. But equally important is software: using that chip more efficiently.”
“Why not think about new market structures to incentivize large rotating machines?” asked a panelist from Idaho National Laboratory, in reference to the extra grid services that nuclear and other inertial plants provide but are uncompensated for.
“Systems are in place to unlock grid flexibility, but the markets are not,” another agreed.
“We need some form of battery to support that large on-off ramp of power,” added a panelist from an engineering firm.
“Power electronics are the only way to overcome stability issues,” agreed another.
Naturally, talk of more generation gave way to talk of local politics and whether people will accept any of this.
Transmission Lines Over Vineyards
A new power plant in the neighborhood is not on most residents’ wish list, and plenty of energy projects have met their fate at the picket line. But maybe people would play ball if they were on the pitch to start.
“People want to make sure they’re benefiting at least as much as it’s costing them,” remarked Sherry Stout, laboratory program manager for NREL’s State, Local, and Tribal activities.
Stout, who works closely with Tribes, reminded the forum that communities want to be part of the conversation. To get projects passed, everyone must be at the negotiation table.
“You have to intentionally bring detractors,” Stout said. “The more you sideline, the more you might bring out a grassroots rejection.”
Panelists discussed ideas like local incentive packages, such as development of a STEM workforce center to train for incoming jobs or diverting waste heat toward community buildings at no cost.
Marc Aveni, assistant director with Loudoun County Virginia’s, Department of General Services, speaks about key considerations for optimal placement of new data centers at NREL’s Partner Forum. Image by Agata Bogucka, NREL
In Loudoun County, Virginia, data center expansion caught the community off guard but resulted in a booming tax base. Loudoun’s Assistant Director of General Services Marc Aveni joined a panel to add the “local county employee” perspective.
“It’s been a bit of a mixed bag. We’ve seen lots of positive revenues, but we didn’t have a good handle on energy and natural resource requirements. It presented a lot of challenges at the local government level,” Aveni explained.
“We’re very happy to be partnering with NREL to work through our challenges,” Aveni said.
Chip-to-Grid
Like Loudon County, NREL has partnered with many, if not all, of the attendees, often helping partners evaluate pivotal energy investments. In the spirit of the forum, NREL Partnership Development Manager Bill Livingood announced an evolution of NREL capabilities: Chip-to-Grid.
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Chip-to-Grid is a planned initiative aimed at creating a more seamless and integrated approach to data center development and “to address the problems that one stakeholder alone can’t solve,” Livingood said, like problems of interoperability and especially end-to-end utility to data center compatibility.
Livingood presented Chip-to-Grid alongside Kent Crawford, director of engineering at Schneider Electric, which supports creating the consortium.
“It takes us all,” Crawford reiterated. “None of this works unless it’s an interoperable system. We’ve got to go faster than faster, which means bringing together all the players.”
This builds on NREL’s renowned Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform, as well as NREL’s work in projects like ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS. Forum attendees later toured NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility to appreciate the globally unique research capacity that makes endeavors like Chip-to-Grid feasible.
Emerging Innovations With Appeal
On day two, industry partners and investors alike heard about emerging technology ventures. Four startups, selected by NREL’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, showcased how their technologies could transform the energy performance of data centers.
Palanquin Power, a participant in NREL’s West Gate program, is rethinking rack-level power conversion with a DC-direct-to-server approach. Lucidean’s CEO introduced the company’s custom photonic chip that enables direct fiber optic networking with greater efficiency. Flexnode pitched modular, rapidly deployable data centers tailored for compute-intensive AI workloads. And Flux XII shared its vision for transforming intermittent energy sources into reliable baseload power using low-cost, long-duration storage.
From optical switches to power electronics to flow batteries, the technical topics ran deep. But the predominant themes were never lost: collaborate to add new generation, innovate to advance chips and energy, and evaluate solutions collectively supported by NREL’s resources and expertise.
Decide How To Power Data With NREL
From decision support to whole-system analysis to real-power demonstrations, NREL is a leading institution for energy integration. It is where crosstalk occurs for industry, utilities, and governments and where solutions can move from concept to implementation.
“Getting technology into the marketplace is in our DNA,” NREL Director Martin Keller said. “Our power is bringing everyone together to move this forward as fast as possible.”
Ottawa, Ontario – Members of the media are invited to join the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Honourable Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services, and the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, as they provide an update on the forecast for the 2025 wildfires season.
Prior to the press conference, Government of Canada officials will host an embargoed media technical briefing to provide an update on the seasonal outlook for wildfires. Journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions to officials attending in a “for attribution” capacity.
All information and materials related to this briefing will be shared under embargo, until the Ministerial press conference begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT.
1. Media Technical Briefing
Event: Hybrid (In-person and virtual) Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025 Time: 11:30 a.m. EDT Location: National Press Theatre, 180 Wellington Street, Room 325, Ottawa, Ontario
Simultaneous translation audio feed will be available. Participation in the question and answer portion of the technical briefing is in person or via Zoom and is for accredited members of the Press Gallery. Media who are not members of the Press Gallery may also contact pressres2@parl.gc.ca to request temporary access.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)
Pfluger Participates in Energy Hearing with Secretary Wright
Washington, June 11, 2025
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, participated in the Committee’s Energy Subcommittee hearing entitled “The Fiscal Year 2026 Department of Energy Budget.”
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright testified before the subcommittee. During the hearing, Rep. Pfluger asked Secretary Wright about his top priorities for the year, for an update on the Mexico Pacific LNG export site, and how we can legislatively protect the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Click HERE or the image below to watch their full exchange.
Watch their full exchangeHEREor read highlights below.
Rep. Pfluger:You have extreme expertise about how energy in this country works. I am worried about everybody who has testified here, especially those who have recently talked about data centers and the demand that we are going to see—rising demand for electricity consumption, and how we’re going to keep up with manufacturing. Just big picture priorities that you have set out that will enable us as a country to set the conditions for private industry to meet that demand with adequate supply. Love to hear your thoughts.
Secretary Wright:Look, as you know, over the years, we’ve created huge regulatory burdens on building infrastructure, on building pipelines, on building power plants, on building transmission lines. If you make it harder and harder and more and more expensive to do things, well, guess what? You get less of them. And that’s what’s happened in the United States. I heard a comment earlier that U.S. oil and natural gas production were at all-time highs in 2023, which was true, but that’s because it’s dominantly on private land and state land, and it’s not on federal land. We’ve had huge federal obstruction efforts. They haven’t been entirely effective on oil and gas that’s produced on private lands and on state lands. But when you restrict the ability to build pipelines and grow the transportation, you ultimately restrict the growth of it. Power plants with the Clean Power Plan, if you build a new power plant today, you have to have carbon capture and sequestration injected underground, like 11 years from now. That’s a technology we don’t have at a commercial scale. A massively expensive parasitic load of maybe a third of the power plant has to go to that thing. People aren’t going to invest money and build power plants with constrictions like that. There are a lot of reasons we haven’t built as much new capacity as we should. And it’s critical for this administration and this Congress that we work together to remove these obstacles and barriers that chill investment. Because we need to lead in AI. We need to win in AI. We can lead and we can win in AI. But to do that, we need to get overly burdensome, truly not focused on the environment, regulations out of the way so that capital will flow and things will be built. We need some simplification with permitting. We need to make FERC move more efficiently. But I will tell you, in this administration, and I know in this Congress, there are many people working tirelessly to achieve just that, so I’m optimistic, but yes, big changes need to be made.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), pediatrician and member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, led 86 of her colleagues, with the support of Democratic members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, on aletterdemanding that Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. upholds his oath to protect the health of the American people by immediately reinstating the seventeen members of Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that were recently fired.
“Secretary Kennedy’s dangerous decision to fire all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a direct attack on science and a threat to our public health,” said Congresswoman Schrier, M.D. “For 61 years, this integral committee of seasoned health care experts has been trusted to evaluate scientific evidence, ask questions, and ultimately make fully transparent recommendations about vaccines. But now, Secretary Kennedy is gutting that expertise and may well use this opportunity to elevate conspiracy theorists and social media influencers to these decision-making positions. As a pediatrician and a member of Congress, I am outraged that the Secretary of Health and Human Services would dismiss science and the medical community and instead welcome those with fringe healthcare ideas into the heart of our public health system. It is just plain dangerous.”
Today’s letter comes on the heels of Congresswoman Schrier introducing theFamily Vaccine Protection Actthat will protect the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) and remove politics from the life-saving immunization schedule.
A copy of the letter is below.
Dear Secretary Kennedy,
For over 60 years, in both Republican and Democratic Administrations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has played a pivotal role in keeping Americans healthy and safe. As Members of Congress, we are outraged at your decision to unilaterally remove all 17 individuals from ACIP on June 9th. As Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), your duty to this country is to enhance the well-being of all Americans and this decision will cost lives. Your decision to disband the ACIP, a committee of medical and public health experts whose sole focus is to develop vaccine recommendations, completely undermines ACIP’s critical role and endangers this nation’s public health.
On June 9th, in your opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, you blame conflict of interests and a lack of curiosity as a rationale for removing this panel of experts from their roles. Your statement belies the rigorous vetting process for ACIP members, including financial disclosures and a review of their previous work on clinical trials. ACIP members must recuse themselves from votes and discussions on vaccines they are studying, or on any other vaccines manufactured by companies that fund their research. In fact, just this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set up a public, searchable database allowing transparency for any conflicts of interest for voting ACIP members dating back to 2000.
These actions upend ACIP’s thoughtful, evidence-based decision-making and will weave unfounded or disproven theories into what has traditionally been a science-based process trusted by our health care providers. Conducting immunization reviews takes months of deliberation and review of research, and your unilateral decision to abruptly end ACIP’s existing work is detrimental. It has become abundantly clear that your intent is to sow doubt and fear in the American public that will cost lives. With an ongoing measles outbreak and the decline of routine child immunizations, we will see the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases across the country. Your politicization of vaccines has made American families less safe and will return the US to an era before mass vaccination prevented millions of infections and early deaths.
We demand that you reinstate the fired 17 members to ACIP and uphold your oath to the American people.
