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Daily Personalized Newsletter

Earth Catalyst gathers & hand-filters the most recent updates from over 1,000 green tech and sustainability organizations. Here are all of the updates; if you subscribe to our free newsletter, we'll send you 3 each weekday we think will be meaningful to you.

Expanding Our Map of Who Matters

Writer's picture: Andrea GonzalesAndrea Gonzales

"It's way better 'cause I was at my prison yard, I'm seeing guys getting stabbed, get jumped, get beat up, the cops treat us like sh**. But here, we get better treatment, right? They talk to us like humans...

 

"We're underpaid, but we got a job. You feel me? And then, the community comes out and shows us all kinds of love. We never received that growing up, never received that kind of love, that kind of recognition for anything we've done."

 

 

So, so much needs to change. Lots of people are talking right now about the role of incarcerated firefighters in LA.

 

Prisoners, disproportionately poor and people of color, have been mobilized to fight fires in the US since WWII. (Smithsonian) It is both a strikingly exploitive part (paid $5-$30 per very dangerous 24 hour day) of the socio-economic system we have built around fire, and widely seen as one of the best jobs in the generally dystopian US prison labor system. (ACLU)

 

For some, this leads to good jobs in fire after release; see an organization called The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, for example. Relatedly, check out this insightful blog post several years ago about firefighting as an amazing practice of collaboration that the business world would be well served to learn from (not as a poorly used metaphor for haphazard work).

 

Ultimately, these LA fires are prompting conversations about expanding our scope of consideration: including the perspectives of incarcerated firefighters, the neglected lessons of history (see this 1962 LAPD documentary about the Bel Air Conflagration, also started by Santa Ana wins at the dense urban interface of LA), and more.

 

Expanding our maps of who, what, and when matters is one of the ways we can respond to disaster in a way that makes us stronger and more resilient for the future.


-Marshall Kirkpatrick

Earth Catalyst: We'll support your work with our experience, network, and technology

 
Today and every day, our system scans over 1,000 green tech and sustainability organizations for updates. Below, you'll find:

  • A Visual of the Day

  • A digest-style Table of Contents for 214 selected updates from around the green tech and sustainability world

  • (If you subscribe by email) 3 personalized selections just for you and your work

 

Did a friend forward you this newsletter? Welcome! You can subscribe here and get your own personal recommendations each day.

 


Visual of the Day

Mysterious Beach Pollution

The Guardian reports on a concerning pattern of unidentified "grease balls" washing up on Sydney's northern beaches, forcing closures at multiple locations and echoing similar incidents from late 2024. This photo shows a cross-section of one of these marble-sized debris balls found at Manly Beach, which environmental authorities have linked to previous cases containing fatty acids and petroleum hydrocarbons, highlighting ongoing concerns about waste management and ocean pollution along Australia's eastern coastline.


Today's Updates

Table of Contents

  • Agriculture (15 stories) - PFAS contamination crisis in US farmland, while Nobel laureates push for food security solutions; AgriCapture launches major rice carbon credits; Formo secures $36M for alt-dairy; global coffee prices spike amid extreme weather


  • Carbon (10 stories) - Equinor's CO2 storage shortfall at Sleipner, new carbon-storing building materials research, and Woodcache PBC's biochar initiatives highlight storage challenges amid record global temperatures


  • Circular (2 stories) - Food waste prevention policies needed as UC Davis/ReFED study shows recycling falls short; Li-Cycle advances battery recycling with new share offering


  • Ecosystems (14 stories) - Antarctic ice melt-volcano link discovered; IUCN reports 25% freshwater species extinction risk; San Rafael and Chuckwalla protected areas expanded; Marineland beluga deaths continue; illegal lynx release in Cairngorms


  • Efficiency (10 stories) - State initiatives in CA, MD, and NY fund building electrification; DOE grants $11.6M for efficiency projects; data center power consumption concerns grow amid AI expansion; Vancouver showcases thermal networks; Brazil targets shower upgrades


  • Finance (15 stories) - Peace Renewable Energy Credits, HeavyFinance's €3.62M raise, BlackRock's NZAM exit, Apollo's $3B clean energy fund, and Schroders' £5.2B sustainable mandate highlight volatile climate finance landscape


  • Grid (15 stories) - DOE grants $2.5B for grid upgrades including Texas transmission line, while Hydrostor secures $1.76B for California storage and PJM reforms could unlock 26GW capacity; ABB acquires Lumin for smart load management as MISO and Texas face mounting grid pressures


  • Indigenous (15 stories) - Indigenous-led conservation spans Bolivia's 500,889-acre Pando reserve, Kenya's communal lands, Brazil's Krahô territory, Alaska's Utqiagvik whaling practices, and Australia's clean energy partnerships, while fire management unites Native knowledge with modern practices across California and global networks


  • Industry (8 stories) - SSAB exits Mississippi green steel plans as global H2 production lags; Leadmicro advances TOPCon solar tech; WA funds steel and battery initiatives amid US-Mexico toxic waste concerns


  • Policy (57 stories) - Environmental justice advocates block fossil fuel fast-track bill, while El Salvador lifts mining ban and CJA names KD Chavez as Executive Director; EPA issues methane rules as White House secures $74bn climate funding amid Trump policy threats


  • Renewables (30 stories) - Global energy leaders target 530GW renewable growth as UAE plans 5GW solar facility, while Denver Federal Center, Meta, Shell, and Amazon advance major clean energy projects; TOPCon solar tech gains market share as Jupiter International and Roltec expand manufacturing


  • Transport (23 stories) - GOGO's Uganda e-motorcycle success, BYD outpacing Tesla in Q4, GM/EVgo's 2,850 charger rollout, while Škoda Enyaq hits 350-mile range and Aptera debuts solar EV at CES 2024


Agriculture

PFAS contamination crisis in US farmland, while Nobel laureates push for food security solutions; AgriCapture launches major rice carbon credits; Formo secures $36M for alt-dairy; global coffee prices spike amid extreme weather



Carbon

Equinor's CO2 storage shortfall at Sleipner, new carbon-storing building materials research, and Woodcache PBC's biochar initiatives highlight storage challenges amid record global temperatures



Circular

Food waste prevention policies needed as UC Davis/ReFED study shows recycling falls short; Li-Cycle advances battery recycling with new share offering



Ecosystems

Antarctic ice melt-volcano link discovered; IUCN reports 25% freshwater species extinction risk; San Rafael and Chuckwalla protected areas expanded; Marineland beluga deaths continue; illegal lynx release in Cairngorms



Efficiency

State initiatives in CA, MD, and NY fund building electrification; DOE grants $11.6M for efficiency projects; data center power consumption concerns grow amid AI expansion; Vancouver showcases thermal networks; Brazil targets shower upgrades



Finance

Peace Renewable Energy Credits, HeavyFinance's €3.62M raise, BlackRock's NZAM exit, Apollo's $3B clean energy fund, and Schroders' £5.2B sustainable mandate highlight volatile climate finance landscape



Grid

DOE grants $2.5B for grid upgrades including Texas transmission line, while Hydrostor secures $1.76B for California storage and PJM reforms could unlock 26GW capacity; ABB acquires Lumin for smart load management as MISO and Texas face mounting grid pressures



Indigenous

Indigenous-led conservation spans Bolivia's 500,889-acre Pando reserve, Kenya's communal lands, Brazil's Krahô territory, Alaska's Utqiagvik whaling practices, and Australia's clean energy partnerships, while fire management unites Native knowledge with modern practices across California and global networks



Industry

SSAB exits Mississippi green steel plans as global H2 production lags; Leadmicro advances TOPCon solar tech; WA funds steel and battery initiatives amid US-Mexico toxic waste concerns



Policy

Environmental justice advocates block fossil fuel fast-track bill, while El Salvador lifts mining ban and CJA names KD Chavez as Executive Director; EPA issues methane rules as White House secures $74bn climate funding amid Trump policy threats



Renewables

Global energy leaders target 530GW renewable growth as UAE plans 5GW solar facility, while Denver Federal Center, Meta, Shell, and Amazon advance major clean energy projects; TOPCon solar tech gains market share as Jupiter International and Roltec expand manufacturing



Transport

GOGO's Uganda e-motorcycle success, BYD outpacing Tesla in Q4, GM/EVgo's 2,850 charger rollout, while Škoda Enyaq hits 350-mile range and Aptera debuts solar EV at CES 2024


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