In a move Democrats warned would have disastrous consequences for the economy, the environment, and public health, the Republican-led Senate Thursday voted to block California’s electric-vehicle mandates, revoking the state’s right to implement the nation’s toughest emissions standards.    Republicans used the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, to overturn California’s long-standing authority under the Clean Air Act to request waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency to pass emissions standards stricter than federal rules and protect residents from dangerous air pollution. The move affects 17 other states and Washington, D.C., which have voluntarily adopted one or more of California’s stricter standards.  The CRA allows Congress to quickly rescind a rule within a limited time after it’s issued by a federal agency, allowing a simple majority vote rather than the 60 votes needed to advance legislation under the filibuster rule.  An aerial view of traffic on a smoggy day in Los Angeles in January 1985. [Photo: Ernst Haas/Getty Images] But both the Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s official nonpartisan adviser, and the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan congressional referee, said the waivers are not rules and so are not subject to the Congressional Review Act. In defying the Senate parliamentarian, Democrats charged, the vote endangers not just the health of children and the climate but also decades of legal precedent and the integrity of the Senate itself. “Today, the Senate has done something unprecedented,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island late Wednesday night, after he and his Democratic colleagues spent the past several days urging Republicans to respect not just California’s authority under the law, but also Senate rules.  “Our actions and the ones that will follow from the procedural steps taken here today, over the next day or so will change the Clean Air Act, will change the Congressional Review Act, will change the rules of the Senate, and will do so by overruling the parliamentarian and breaking the filibuster—in effect, going nuclear,” Whitehouse said, referring to attempts to subvert the filibuster. “This isn’t just about California’s climate policies, and this isn’t just about the scope of the Congressional Review Act, and this isn’t just about eliminating the legislative filibuster,” said California Sen. Alex Padilla on the Senate floor Tuesday. The Trump administration’s EPA submitted California’s waivers for review by Congress “with full knowledge that they are not actually rules” subject to the CRA, Padilla said, opening the door for any agency to ask Congress to revoke regulations a new administration doesn’t like.  By mid-afternoon Thursday, Republicans moved to overturn California’s waivers through a procedural maneuver—giving the Senate the authority to determine what constitutes a rule for fast-track voting. They overturned waivers behind California’s rules to reduce tailpipe emissions from passenger vehicles and trucks, those regulating medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and the rule for heavy-duty smog-producing diesel and gas trucks. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) mocked Democrats’ objections to using the CRA, saying they were “throwing a tantrum over a supposed procedural problem.”Thune insisted that having a waiver submitted to Congress “is all that Congress has ever needed to decide to consider something under the Congressional Review Act.” He called the GAO’s ruling that the waiver is not a rule “an extraordinary deviation from precedent,” saying it was the first time the office “has decided to insert itself into the process and affirmatively declare that an agency rule submitted to Congress as a rule is not a rule.”  Despite Thune’s claim, since the CRA was passed in 1996 the GAO has offered 26 legal opinions about whether an agency action was a rule in response to inquiries from members of Congress. And EPA never submitted California Clean Air Act waivers to Congress before the Trump administration, Padilla and his Democratic colleagues say. They contend that Republicans chose this route because they don’t have the votes to withdraw the waivers through legislation. “The CRA has never been used to go after emission waivers like the ones in question today,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on the floor Tuesday. “The waiver is so important to the health of our country, and particularly to our children; to go nuclear on something as significant as this and to do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry is outrageous.” The first waiver was granted to California on July 11, 1968, Whitehouse told his colleagues in a last-ditch effort to change their minds late Wednesday night. Waivers have either been granted or amended or modified repeatedly since then, he said. “The score on whether the California clean air rule is treated by EPA as a waiver or a rule? It’s 131 to zero.” The use of the Congressional Review Act resolution is inconsistent with past precedent and violates the plain language of the act itself, said John Swanton, a spokesperson for California’s Air Resources Board, which regulates emissions.  “The vote does not change CARB’s authority,” Swanton said, adding that the agency will continue its mission to protect the public health of Californians impacted by harmful air pollution. Ten million Californians live in areas that are under distinct, elevated threats from air pollution, said Adam Schiff, California’s junior senator. That has led to higher rates of respiratory issues like asthma and chronic lung disease, and increased the risk of heart disease, cancer, chronic headaches, and immune system issues, he said.  Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) speaks about the importance of the Clean Air Act in California during a Senate meeting on May 8. [Image: U.S. Senate floor webcast] “And that is multiplied by us living now on the front lines of the climate crisis. We have devastating and year-round fire dangers that put millions of other pollutants into our air,” Schiff said. “We need, deserve, and reserve the right as Californians to do something about our air.” Yet earlier this month, House Republicans, joined by 35 Democrats, including two from California, voted to rescind the waivers, sending the issue to the Senate. A “Compelling and Extraordinary” Need California’s legal authority to implement stricter air quality standards than federal rules comes from having already implemented its own tailpipe-emission regulations before Congress passed national standards in 1967. California officials developed the regulations to deal with the “compelling and extraordinary” air-pollution problems caused by the Golden State’s unique geography, climate, and abundance of people and vehicles. Recognizing these unique conditions, Congress gave California the authority to ask the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver from rules barring states from passing air and climate pollution rules that are more protective than federal rules.  Only one waiver was denied, an action that was quickly reversed, according to CARB. And though the Trump administration in 2019 withdrew a waiver, a move legal scholars say has no basis in the law, the Biden administration restored the state’s authority to set its own vehicle-emission standards within a few years. Republicans argued that California’s rules amount to de facto national standards, given the state’s size and the fact that other states have signed on.  But California can’t force its emission standards on other states, Padilla said. “Yes, over a dozen other states have voluntarily followed in California’s footsteps, not because they were forced to, but because they chose to, in order to protect their constituents, their residents, and protect our planet.” California’s standards also represent ambitious but achievable steps to cut carbon emissions and fight the climate crisis, Padilla said. “Transportation is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and California has been proud to set the example for other states who may choose to follow suit.” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) told his Republican colleagues late Wednesday night why his state’s unique geography and climate create particularly hazardous air-quality problems. [Image: U.S. Senate floor webcast] Padilla, who grew up in California’s chronically polluted San Fernando Valley, recalled being sent home from grade school “on a pretty regular basis” when throat-burning smog settled over the valley. “It appears that Republicans want to overturn half a century of precedent in order to undermine California’s ability to protect the health of our residents,” Padilla said. “Republicans seem to be putting the wealth of the big oil industry over the health of our constituents.” “For Their Fossil Fuel Donors” Rhode Island’s Whitehouse, who has long schooled his colleagues on the perils of carbon pollution, took to the floor Tuesday to school them on the Congressional Review Act. Under the American legal system, administrative agencies can make rules through “a very robust process” that follows the Administrative Procedure Act, Whitehouse said. A rule could be contested in court, but years ago Congress decided there also could be a period of review when congressional members could reject the rule.  And for all the decades since the CRA was passed, he said, it’s been used to address rules under the APA within the specified 60 days.Other states, including Rhode Island, follow California’s emissions standards because it’s good for public health to have clean air, Whitehouse said. “Efficient cars may mean lower cost for consumers, but those lower costs for consumers are lower sales for the fossil fuel industry.” Whitehouse told his colleagues they had legitimate pathways to change laws they didn’t like. They could pass a joint resolution or a simple Senate resolution. But those approaches would require 60 votes to end debate. “They don’t want to do that,” he said. “They want to ram this thing through for their fossil fuel donors.” Republicans, by contrast, argued they had the authority to protect consumers from what they call California’s “electric vehicle mandate,” which they say would endanger consumers, the economy, and the nation’s energy supply. “And our already shaky electric grid would quickly face huge new burdens from the surge in new electric vehicles,” argued Thune.  Congress had approved $5 billion to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country, but the Trump administration withheld that funding, triggering a lawsuit from a coalition of attorneys to reverse what they said was a clearly illegal action. Republicans’ attacks on electric vehicles could disrupt a burgeoning industry built around the transition to renewable energy. “The repeal of these waivers will dramatically destabilize the regulatory landscape at a time when industry needs certainty to invest in the future and compete on a global scale,” said Jamie Hall, policy director for EV Realty, which develops EV-charging hubs. Thune also argued that California’s waiver rules are an improper expansion of a limited Clean Air Act authority, echoing an argument in Project 2025, a policy blueprint for the second Trump administration produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has long battled efforts to combat climate change. In a chapter on transportation asserts, Project 2025 claims that California has no valid basis under the Clean Air Act to claim an extraordinary or unique air quality impact from carbon dioxide emissions. Its recommendation? “Revoke the special waiver granted to California by the Biden administration.” On Wednesday, a clearly frustrated Whitehouse argued that Republicans were helping the fossil fuel industry create a shortcut for itself so it can sell more gasoline and ignore all the states that joined California to demand cleaner air for their constituents. “The fossil fuel industry essentially runs the Republican Party right now,” he said. Last year, the oil and gas industry spent more than $153 million on lobbying, led by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which spent $27.6 million to influence Congress on bills including those designed to repeal vehicle-emission standards. The trade group also donated $178,750 to congressional candidates, 96% of which went to Republicans.  The American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. oil and gas industry trade association, spent $6.25 million on lobbying last year to influence some of the same bills. Of nearly $400,000 donated to congressional candidates last year, 78% went to Republicans.  Ninety-five percent of the $21,000 the Heritage Foundation donated to congressional candidates last year went to Republicans. “We Believe That You Can Do It” The week before Donald Trump returned to office, the American Petroleum Institute held its biggest annual meeting in Washington, D.C. API promoted the event as an opportunity to urge the incoming Trump administration and Congress to “seize the American energy opportunity” by advancing commonsense energy policies. Thune joined API Chief Executive Mike Sommers onstage, where they reminisced about starting their careers in adjacent offices in the same congressional office building 30 years ago.  “It is a huge opportunity, having an administration that actually is pro-energy development working with the Congress,” Thune told his old friend. “We want to be supportive in any way that we can in ensuring that the president and his team have success in making America energy dominant.” Sommers suggested that one of the “big, powerful tools” Congress can use when one party controls both chambers is the Congressional Review Act, which he said offers fast-track authority to reverse “midnight regulations” passed by the Biden administration. Thune said he wouldn’t be able to use the CRA for one of California’s tailpipe emissions standards because it doesn’t fit within the required time window. But he was arguing with the parliamentarian and others, he said, “about the whole California waiver issue and how to reverse that because that was such a radical regulatory overreach.”Both California’s Clean Cars and Clean Trucks rules require an increasing percentage of vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035, with the cars rule, the so-called “EV mandate,” requiring that 100% of passenger cars and trucks be zero emissions by that date. “What California did was completely radical,” Sommers said at the meeting. “The fact that 17 other states who’ve waived into this are going to be subject to it could completely change the vehicle market.” “So we would highly encourage you to look at that as an option for the CRA,” Sommers told Thune. “And we believe that you can do it.” Thune assured Sommers that his committee chairs and team were looking at ways to fit repeal of California’s waivers “within the parameters of a CRA action” to fix what they saw as a shared problem. The oil and gas industry appreciated the efforts of Thune; John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate Majority Whip; and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who pledged to overturn California’s clean cars rule and introduced the measure to do so last month.  “Today, the United States Senate delivered a victory for American consumers, manufacturers, and U.S. energy security by voting to overturn the prior administration’s EPA rule authorizing California’s gas car ban and preventing its spread across our country,” said the American Petroleum Institute and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers in a joint statement. “We cannot thank Senators John Barrasso, Shelley Moore Capito, and Leader John Thune enough for their leadership on this important issue.” Back on the Senate floor, Democrats warned their Republican colleagues that they may live to regret their decision to override the parliamentarian and flout legislative rules. “It won’t be long before Democrats are once again in the driver’s seat here, in the majority once again,” Padilla said. When that happens, he warned, every agency action that Democrats don’t like, whether it’s a rule or not, and no matter how much time has passed, would be fair game with this new precedent.  “I suggest that we all think long and hard and be very careful about this,” he implored, in vain. “I would urge my colleagues, all my colleagues, to join me, not just in defending California’s rights to protect the health of our residents, not just in combating the existential threat of climate change, but in maintaining order in this chamber.” This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here.

May 23, 20255 min readNOAA Says It’s Ready for Hurricane Season, but Weather Experts Are WorriedAs hurricane season approaches, thousands of weather and disaster experts have raised concerns about NOAA and NWS budget cuts and staffing shortagesBy Chelsea Harvey & E&E News The remnants of Hurricane Helene begin to dissipate over the United States in this NOAA satellite from Sept. 27, 2024. Space Image Archive/Alamy Stock PhotoCLIMATEWIRE | The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration insists it’s ready for the above-average hurricane season that meteorologists expect this summer.But scientists across the country are sounding the alarm about personnel shortages and budget cuts, which they say could strain the agency’s resources and risk burnout among its staff.The tension was on display Thursday as NOAA officials announced the agency’s annual Atlantic hurricane season outlook.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.This year’s projection suggests a 60 percent chance of an above-average season, with anywhere from 13 to 19 named storms and three to five major hurricanes. That’s compared with the long term average of 14 named storms and three major hurricanes in a typical season.NOAA hosted this year’s announcement in Gretna, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans, in a nod to the upcoming 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city in 2005. The agency has made significant strides in hurricane forecasts and warnings over the past two decades, officials said — including life-saving improvements in hurricane track and intensity predictions and new forms of modeling, radar and observation technology.“These improvements and collaborative efforts demonstrate that NOAA is now more prepared than ever for what hurricane season may bring,” said NOAA chief of staff Laura Grimm.But reporters at the briefing pushed back on that certainty, noting that recent cuts have eroded some of the agency’s observation capabilities and left dozens of local National Weather Service offices understaffed.Thousands of scientists have raised the same concerns over the past few months, as the Trump administration has reduced NOAA staff by more than 2,200 people, or around 20 percent of its former workforce. The administration also has proposed a plan to dramatically reorganize the agency and effectively eliminate its climate research operations.The National Weather Service alone has lost around 550 staff members since January, leaving the agency scrambling to fill at least 155 key job openings at regional offices around the country; some include top positions such as meteorologist-in-charge.At least 3,300 scientists have signed an open letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who leads the department that oversees NOAA, warning that cuts to the agency could have “dire consequences for American lives and livelihoods.”And earlier this month, five former National Weather Service directors published an open letter warning that the recent cuts mean NWS staff members face “an impossible task” when it comes to maintaining their usual level of service.Volunteers work to remove debris and mud from a flooded home on Edwards Avenue in Beacon Village neighborhood after a catastrophic flooding caused from Hurricane Helene caused the Swannanoa river to swell to record levels October 5, 2024 in Swannanoa, North Carolina.Steve Exum/Getty Images“Some forecast offices will be so short-staffed that they may be forced to go to part time services,” the letter warned. “Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life.”NOAA officials sidestepped these worries at Thursday's presentation, insisting the National Hurricane Center’s headquarters is fully staffed and prepared for the upcoming season.“We had some folks go,” said National Weather Service director Ken Graham. “But we’re gonna make sure that we have everything that we have on the front lines. Every warning’s gonna go out.”It remains unclear how the agency plans to address the dozens of vacancies at local offices across the country, including some hurricane-prone areas along the East and Gulf coasts. Lawmakers have reported that NOAA managers are encouraging staff members to pursue reassignments to understaffed offices, while the former NWS directors noted that staff members have been known to sleep in their offices to avoid gaps in coverage.That scenario played out recently at a regional office in Jackson, Kentucky, that is so understaffed that it’s no longer able to regularly operate overnight. When deadly tornadoes struck the region earlier this month, meteorologists there made the decision to call all hands on deck to staff the overnight shift and ensure the quality of forecasts and warnings, CNN reported.But experts say it’s an unsustainable system, which could lead to burnout this summer when disasters like hurricanes, floods and wildfires are at their peak.“It’s not sustainable if we have multiple high-impact weather events,” said Brian LaMarre, a former meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay Area office and founder of the weather consulting service Inspire Weather. “It doesn't matter if we’re forecasting above normal or below normal, it only takes that one storm to truly make a significant impact.”Risks rise with global temperaturesMeanwhile, Atlantic hurricane seasons are expected to grow more intense as global temperatures rise.This year’s projections for an active season are partly linked to above-average ocean temperatures, which help fuel the formation of tropical cyclones. This year’s temperatures aren’t as warm as they were the past two seasons, when ocean waters broke daily records for more than a year. But they’re still warm enough to cause concern.Natural climate cycles play a part in each year’s hurricane outlook. Every few years, the planet shifts between El Niño and La Niña events, which cause temperatures in the Pacific Ocean to grow periodically warmer and cooler. These events influence weather and climate patterns around the globe, with El Niño typically associated with below-average Atlantic hurricane activity and La Niña contributing to more active seasons.This year, the planet is in a neutral phase, meaning Pacific Ocean temperatures are close to average. With no El Niño event to hinder the formation of tropical cyclones, warmer-than-average Atlantic temperatures are likely to fuel an active season.Climate change is partly to blame. Scientists warn that greenhouse gas emissions and continued global warming are gradually raising sea surface temperatures across much of the world. Studies suggest that hurricanes are intensifying faster and growing stronger as a result, leading to a greater risk of major storms striking the United States.Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was a stark reminder of the growing dangers.Hurricane Beryl smashed records in July as the earliest Atlantic hurricane to achieve a Category 4, before eventually expanding to a Category 5. Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into the season’s second Category 5 storm — and although it weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall, it dropped historic rainfall and spawned dozens of tornadoes along the Florida coast.And Hurricane Helene made history as an unusually large and fast-moving storm, hitting Florida as a Category 4 and barreling inland, where it carved a path of destruction through Appalachia. It became the deadliest storm to strike the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina.Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

As our lives become more intertwined with technology, many of us crave a connection to the natural world, especially in our homes and workspaces. LEGO, the world’s favorite building block, offers a unique way to bring nature indoors with sets that blend the joy of creativity with the calming beauty of plants, flowers, and gardens. These nature-inspired LEGO sets aren’t just fun to build; they transform any room into a vibrant, green sanctuary, no watering required. From intricate terrariums to blossoming bouquets, each set is an invitation to relax, create, and celebrate the wonders of the great outdoors—all from the comfort of your table. Here are the top five nature-inspired LEGO sets that let you build your piece of paradise, no green thumb necessary. 1. LEGO Terrarium Set Terrariums have long been a favorite for plant lovers who want to create tiny, self-contained ecosystems. The LEGO Terrarium Set, designed by LEGO builder 44th_brick, elevates this concept to new heights, blending the charm of hand-crafted apothecary bottles with the creativity of LEGO building. This three-piece collection features a rustic yet sophisticated design – each terrarium is shaped like a classic corked bottle, complete with jade and gold bases that instantly elevate them from playful craft to tasteful home décor. What truly sets these terrariums apart is the attention to detail inside each glass-like bottle. You’ll find everything from delicate orchids and pink succulents to mushrooms and even a hidden spider, all meticulously rendered in LEGO bricks. 2. Botanical Garden LEGO Ideas Set Step into a world where history, architecture, and nature come together with the LEGO Botanical Garden Ideas Set. Conceived by LEGO user Goannas89, this ambitious set boasts over 3,000 bricks and is a marvel of intricate design. Unlike many plant-themed sets, the Botanical Garden is more than just a collection of greenery—it’s a grand cast-iron greenhouse inspired by the 19th and early 20th centuries, complete with a neoclassical entrance and lush interior spaces teeming with plant life. Open the elegant white structure and you’ll find a vibrant garden scene, where banana and palm trees anchor the central atrium and exotics like Anthurium, Bamboo, and Begonia Maculata fill every corner. The set is alive with detail: minifigures stroll through the walkways, exploring the layered foliage and vivid blossoms. The modular design means you can lift the top to admire the interior, making it both a showpiece and an interactive build. 3. LEGO Succulents Set Succulents are beloved for their resilience and sculptural beauty, and LEGO’s Botanical Collection brings them to life in a way that’s both playful and elegant. The LEGO Succulents Set is a scaled, lifelike arrangement of nine distinct plant varieties, from Aloe Vera and Burro’s Tail to a vibrant Moon Cactus and purple Echeveria. With 771 pieces, this set gives builders the freedom to customize: display all nine succulents as a group for a stunning centerpiece, or scatter them individually around your home for pops of green in every room. What makes these LEGO succulents truly special is the attention to realism. Each plant is crafted with care, capturing the unique shapes and colors that make real succulents so popular. Each comes with its base, so you can mix, match, and arrange them however you like. 4. LEGO Chrysanthemum and Plum Blossom Nature’s beauty is always in season with the upcoming LEGO Chrysanthemum and Plum Blossom sets. Though not officially released, leaked images have already sparked excitement among LEGO fans. These two additions to the Botanical Collection perfectly capture the vibrant colors and forms of their real-life counterparts. The Chrysanthemum set, at 278 pieces and standing 26 cm tall, creates a stunning display with its striking yellow petals, all neatly arranged in a decorative pot and stand. The Plum Blossom is equally eye-catching, with delicate pink and white flowers that evoke the fleeting beauty of spring. Both come with sturdy stands, making them as suitable for a coffee table as for a bookshelf or office desk. 5. LEGO Cherry Blossoms Set Few flowers capture the imagination like cherry blossoms, and the LEGO Cherry Blossoms set lets you bring the magic of spring into your home, no matter the season. Designed for ages 8 and up, this set offers two buildable twigs, each customizable with 438 pieces in shades of pink and white. Each twig can be assembled to your liking—combine colors for a natural gradient or keep them monochrome for a bold look. At up to 35 cm long, these cherry branches make an impressive and elegant display on any table or shelf. The twigs can be displayed on their own or combined with other LEGO flower sets, such as the Roses, Wildflower Bouquet, or Botanical Collection, to create a personalized arrangement.The post Top 5 Nature-Inspired LEGO Sets That Bring the Outdoors Inside first appeared on Yanko Design.

Again, the German-Danish startup using ancient bacteria to turn CO2 into new chemicals, is building a new bioreactor plant in Texas. The facility will be located at Texas City, a major petrochemicals park located on the Gulf Coast. The industrial centre is run by Diamond Infrastructure Solutions — a joint venture between chemicals giant Dow and Macquarie Asset Management.   “We’re building a global company, and that also means taking our technology into new regions,” Again’s co-founder Max Kufner told TNW. “There is a high demand in the US for our chemicals, particularly ones that can be sustainably made on-shore.” The new facility will capture CO2 from one of Texas City’s refineries. Again will then combine the gas with hydrogen and feed the concoction to a host of millennia-old bacteria. The little germs devour the brew, turning it into commercial-grade compounds like acetate. This is the base chemical in everything from plastics and cosmetics to paint.  Grab that deal Most industrial acetate is derived from fossil fuels. By using CO2 that would’ve otherwise entered the atmosphere, Again aims to produce cleaner chemicals. The company claims its CO2 fermenter can cut the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of chemical-making by up to 80%.   The petrochemical industry is responsible for 4% of the world’s total GHG emissions — twice that of air travel — so Again’s tech could make a huge impact. The company also claims its product is cost-competitive with the same chemicals made using fossil fuels.   Again opened its first pilot plant in Copenhagen in 2023, which converts up to 1 tonne of CO2 each day and turns it into acetate. The company is also currently building a facility in Norway, backed by a $47mn grant from the EU’s Horizon Europe research initiative.    Again emerged from over a decade of research led by Dr. Torbjørn Jensen and Professor Alex Nielsen at the Technical University of Denmark. They teamed up with Kufner, a German former early-stage investor, to found the startup in 2021. So far, Again has raised $150mn, according to Dealroom. The company has already broken ground at the Diamond Texas City site, where it aims to build a new facility and begin production within a year. To bring its low-carbon chemicals to market, Again is partnering with German chemicals distributor Helm, targeting heavy industries in the region as key customers. Story by Siôn Geschwindt Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Again, the German-Danish startup using ancient bacteria to turn CO2 into new chemicals, is building a new bioreactor plant in Texas. The facility will be located at Texas City, a major petrochemicals park located on the Gulf Coast. The industrial centre is run by Diamond Infrastructure Solutions — a joint venture between chemicals giant Dow and Macquarie Asset Management.   “We’re building a global company, and that also means taking our technology into new regions,” Again’s co-founder Max Kufner told TNW. “There is a high demand in the US for our chemicals, particularly ones that can be sustainably made on-shore.” The new facility will capture CO2 from one of Texas City’s refineries. Again will then combine the gas with hydrogen and feed the concoction to a host of millennia-old bacteria. The little germs devour the brew, turning it into commercial-grade compounds like acetate. This is the base chemical in everything from plastics and cosmetics to paint.  Grab that deal Most industrial acetate is derived from fossil fuels. By using CO2 that would’ve otherwise entered the atmosphere, Again aims to produce cleaner chemicals. The company claims its CO2 fermenter can cut the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of chemical-making by up to 80%.   The petrochemical industry is responsible for 4% of the world’s total GHG emissions — twice that of air travel — so Again’s tech could make a huge impact. The company also claims its product is cost-competitive with the same chemicals made using fossil fuels.   Again opened its first pilot plant in Copenhagen in 2023, which converts up to 1 tonne of CO2 each day and turns it into acetate. The company is also currently building a facility in Norway, backed by a $47mn grant from the EU’s Horizon Europe research initiative.    Again emerged from over a decade of research led by Dr. Torbjørn Jensen and Professor Alex Nielsen at the Technical University of Denmark. They teamed up with Kufner, a German former early-stage investor, to found the startup in 2021. So far, Again has raised $150mn, according to Dealroom. The company has already broken ground at the Diamond Texas City site, where it aims to build a new facility and begin production within a year. To bring its low-carbon chemicals to market, Again is partnering with German chemicals distributor Helm, targeting heavy industries in the region as key customers. Story by Siôn Geschwindt Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future by Alan Weisman | Dutton | $32 The expression “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic” is meant to convey a sense of futility, of meaningless action in the face of catastrophe, but I have been thinking recently of how it might be turned on its head, reimagined as a small gesture of purpose, of good work left to be done aboard that superlative metaphor for capitalist overabundance and technological hubris. I concede, it is not a perfect thought exercise, nor one nearly so elegant as those often deployed in the writing of the environmental journalist Alan Weisman, but I keep returning to it as I read Hope Dies Last, his final installment in a trilogy that also includes The World Without Us (2007) and Countdown (2013). Weisman has an acumen for moving fluidly between a cataclysmic big picture and intimate first-hand accounts of its impact and his rigorously researched storytelling is well-suited to the challenge of writing about a phenomenon as vastly incomprehensible as climate collapse. “We can’t picture 6,780 pyramids of Giza,” Weisman writes, so it is hard to visualize the 40 million tons of carbon humanity produces each year, but we can start to comprehend its impact through the stories of the people on the ground trying to do something about it—engineers at work restoring Mesopotamian wetlands in Iraq or plasma physicists developing commercial-scale fusion power at MIT. There are architects in this book too—including projects in the Korean DMZ by Bijoy Jain, Shigeru Ban, Seung H-Sang, and Minsuk Cho, and a Bjarke Ingels’ proposal for a floating city in Busan inspired by Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao—but Hope Dies Last’s immediate relevance to readers of this publication may have more to do with a statistic familiar to these pages, the 40 percent of global greenhouse emissions for which the construction industry is responsible (a share second only to the oil and gas sector). Our ecological crisis is, at least in part, a byproduct of our built environment. (Courtesy Dutton) Weisman writes about that built environment beautifully. His description of the natural world’s ruthless repossession of a post-human Manhattan in the third chapter of The World Without Us is a small masterpiece of infrastructural prose. Many moments in Hope Dies Last, including a description of the massive network of dams, dikes, locks, levees, and storm surge barriers that comprise the Netherland’s Delta Works, are equally compelling. When COVID-19 locked much of humanity indoors, Weisman was seen as something of a visionary, but what makes his writing so griping is less his sweeping prognostications than his doggedly pragmatic realism. We cannot begin to address our climate crisis without looking rationally at and learning from its myriad constituent parts. The Netherlands’ methodically planned Delta Works, for example, cost less than a tenth of what the U.S. paid to clean up after hurricane Katrina. We need to be smarter about how we build. We also need to build less. Weisman’s second book, Countdown was a study of a central logical fallacy of late capitalism—that technology can solve for the impossibility of infinite population growth on a planet with very finite resources. We don’t like to talk about population control because it can feel coercive or contrary to our values but placing faith in technology to solve for unlimited human growth is lunacy. The same may be said of our hugely energy-intensive development of artificial intelligence infrastructure. A future edition of Countdown might include in its preface the 2023 story of a Belgian man despondent over the climate crisis, who committed suicide after a conversation with a chatbot that arrived at the logical conclusion that most impactful thing he could do to save the earth would be to remove the burden he placed upon it. The environmental outlook is far worse now than when Weisman began his career; the message at the core of Hope Dies Last is more somber than the two books that preceded it. Hope is not an expression Weisman uses lightly. Early in the book he unpacks the foreboding that lingers within a word that conveys an emotion more powerful than optimism precisely because it also carries a tinge of doubt. Hope, he notes, is a word that struggles against itself. That struggle is compounded by the uncomfortable truth of the astonishingly destructive work that has been done in the weeks since Hope Dies Last went to press. Even my advance copy has begun to feel outdated as I watch the current administration slam the door on so many small last best hopes. Yet, there is still work to be done and much of it by the people who think about how we build the world around us. In the words of a naturalist named Rosario whom Weisman meets while she is helping to clear the beach of plastic bottles during a turtle census in the Yucatán: “It’s a lost cause, but we do it anyway.” Justin Beal is an artist and author based in New York. His first book, Sandfuture, was published by MIT Press in 2021. He teaches at Hunter College and the Yale School of Architecture. This post contains affiliate links. AN may have a commission if you make a purchase through these links.

Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images Nature abhors a vacuum, and so, too, does geopolitics. With the US under Donald Trump vacating the stage when it comes to tackling global warming, the climate crown is waiting to be claimed – and if China’s president, Xi Jinping, wants it, it is his for the taking. China’s climate record is mixed. Since 2006, it has been the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, as the nation has rapidly industrialised. On the other hand, that industrialisation has seen it become the world leader in solar panel manufacturing. Xi himself has also shied away from the global climate stage. He hasn’t attended a COP climate summit since Paris in 2015, when countries agreed a target of holding warming below 1.5°C. While many nations have since interpreted this as needing to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, China has only pledged to reach carbon neutrality, a weaker promise, by 2060.Advertisement But that could all be about to change. As we report on page 10, China’s emissions appear to have peaked. It also looks like Xi is planning to make an appearance at COP30 when it is held in Belém, Brazil, this November. The pieces are falling into place for a major climate intervention from China – but what will it be? The pieces are falling into place for a major climate intervention from China – but what will it be? The most likely announcement is an interim target on the way to 2060, perhaps a pledge for certain cuts by 2040. But if Xi wants to be the world’s climate leader, he should go further, with a pledge of net zero by 2050. That this would simply match existing targets by the likes of the UK is no small thing, as there is a feeling in many nations that those who were first to industrialise should also be first to cut emissions. China adopting the 2050 target would make it harder for others to wriggle out of it, and could spur on green tech. Will Xi go so far? Probably not. But with reports that COP30 may be a disappointment (see “Is the COP30 climate summit already in crisis, with six months to go?”), the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has made no secret of his desire for strong relations with China, would do well to work on convincing Xi to act. If China is to take the crown, Brazil can be the crown bearer. Topics: