“God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created, for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters. What will be our answer?” Pope Leo has given his first speech on the climate. He also “noted that some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming.”
Meanwhile, the US Energy Department sent an email instructing staff to avoid “terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration’s perspectives and priorities”, with a list of banned words that includes climate change, green, carbon and sustainability.
Britain has a target to run on 100% clean energy by 2030, and the grid continues to set new records on the way to that. So far clean energy supply has exceeded demand for 87 hours this year.
Hannah Ritchie points out some positive news that hasn’t made any headlines: record breaking harvests are expected in most parts of the world this year.
Some book news: my online bookshop, Earthbound Books, now has ebooks. I’ve been waiting for this for a while. Fill your eboots.
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Osmosis, the other other renewable energy
I’ve been writing about renewable energy for twenty years, and just this week discovered that there’s a whole other kind that I didn’t know about. This is the climate nerd equivalent of my daughter finding a new Pokemon. Usually when we’re talking about renewable energy, it’s wind and solar that come to mind. Biomass is…
Easy energy comparisons
Back when the climate movement was young, we got a lot of tips for cutting carbon with very little context around them. My personal favourite was at LiveEarth, where celebrities offered their favourite eco actions. One of them was to switch off your phone charger at the wall when you’re done. This was recommended to…
It’s not solar that competes with farmland
One of the big hesitations around solar farms is that they take up land that could be used for food production. It’s an argument that’s made by climate sceptics who oppose renewable energy, but those on the green side of the equation worry about it too. My response has always been that if you’re displacing…
The Earthbound Report 
Am looking at data for Virginia’s crops. We had, between 2023 and 2024, 40 and 47% declines for corn and winter wheat yields, respectively. 12% decrease for tobacco. Increases for soybean yields by 22% and cotton, too. Need references for the past 60 months in order to see a pattern.