Google inks its first fusion power deal with Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Google will invest in Commonwealth Fusion Systems and buy 200 MW of electricity from its forthcoming power plant.
Climate
Google bets on fusion power as its greenhouse gas emissions grow
Google has agreed to purchase electricity from a forthcoming nuclear fusion power plant, the so-called holy grail of clean energy that scientists have been chasing for more than half a century. While the fusion industry reached a significant milestone a few years ago, the technology has yet to prove whether it can be a technically […]
How extreme heat disproportionately affects Latino neighborhoods
Scorching hot days tend to hit certain neighborhoods harder than others, a problem that becomes more dangerous during record-breaking heat like swathes of the US experienced over the past week. A new online dashboard shows how Latino neighborhoods are disproportionately affected in California. Developed by University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the tool helps fill […]
Google’s carbon emissions just went up again
Google’s carbon emissions jumped yet again as the company continues to push ahead in AI. The company’s 2025 sustainability report emphasizes that its “ambition-based emissions” grew 11 percent last year to reach 11.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution, marking a 51 percent increase compared to 2019. That puts Google farther away from its […]
The US is stripping its forests of decades-old protections
The Trump administration wants to open up tens of millions of acres of national forest to development. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yesterday that it’s rescinding a landmark rule that prevents road construction and timber harvesting in the last unfragmented stretches of national forest. The USDA says the move will boost timber production, […]
New York’s getting a new nuclear power plant
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans today to develop a new nuclear power plant, the first to be built in the state in decades. It’s the latest signal that nuclear energy could see a comeback in the US thanks to wide-ranging support from some strange bedfellows: the Trump administration purporting to seek “energy dominance”; […]
The new lies spreading about climate change
New strains of misinformation about climate change are spreading, meant to slow the growth of renewable energy needed to fix the problem. Rather than flat-out denying the mountains of evidence that show that humans are causing climate change, more recent talking points aim to mislead people by casting doubt on potential solutions. Renewable energy has […]
Fossil fuels are an insurance disaster
Heatwaves, mold, and plastic pollution pose new risks to businesses and insurance companies, a new report by reinsurer Swiss Re warns. What do these things have in common? Fossil fuels make matters worse. They release the greenhouse gases warming our planet and are the primary ingredients for plastics, of course. Swiss Re’s annual report flags […]
Meta inks a new geothermal energy deal to support AI
Meta’s geothermal ambitions are growing with a new agreement to support projects in New Mexico. It announced the deal with XGS Energy today, a company developing next-generation geothermal technologies that make it possible to use this energy source in places where it was unfeasible before. The plan is to add 150 megawatts of carbon pollution-free […]
Google has a new AI model and website for forecasting tropical storms
Google is using a new AI model to forecast tropical cyclones and working with the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) to test it out. Google DeepMind and Google Research launched a new website today called Weather Lab to share AI weather models that Google is developing. It says its new, experimental AI-based model for forecasting […]