Climate One

World leaders are gathered in Antalya, Turkey, for COP 31, the annual UN climate conference, which takes place against the backdrop of a global energy crisis that’s accelerating the need to move away from fossil fuels. This year’s summit is billed as set on turning past promises into action, while pushing countries to swiftly electrify their economies. Yet one of the biggest questions remains...

Common climate wisdom used to be that buying solar panels was one of the smartest long-term investments an individual could make – pay once up front for decades of carbon-free electricity. But it turns out layers of red tape make that process slower – and much more expensive – than it needs to be. And with federal rollback of longstanding tax credits and stiff competition from China, the U.S....

As the cost of living climbs, can clean energy technology help ease the burden? That seems to be the case in West Texas, where revenue from a wind farm is helping fund a rural county’s senior center, Meals on Wheels, and even a Valentine’s Day dance! But the benefits of clean energy aren’t always spread evenly, largely because of how policies shape incentives and cost distribution. In some cases,...

After PG&E pled guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2018 Camp Fire, Patti Poppe was brought on as the utility’s new CEO. Her stated mission: to fix it. Now, rising electricity prices, repeated power outages, and the growing impact of climate change have put PG&E in the crosshairs of the public and legislators. Again.This summer, California lawmakers rejected a bill that...

Climate scientist Kate Marvel made headlines this year when she publicly resigned from NASA, drawing coverage from Bloomberg to The New York Times. Marvel says her resignation wasn’t newsworthy on its own. What made it notable is that she was one of more than 10,000 Ph.D. scientists to leave the federal government during President Trump’s second term, part of what she calls a “mass nerd exodus.”...

The war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz created a global energy supply crisis. And while gasoline prices didn’t reach the extreme highs some predicted a few months ago, the global markets are still in flux. “What has been disrupted most is the confidence in the old energy system where you could reliably and affordably dig up a source of energy thousands of kilometers away from where...

New York set some of the country's most ambitious climate goals, from slashing emissions to bracing for rising seas. But living in the city is freaking expensive. So what does it take for NYC to be affordable and climate-conscious? In collaboration with Grist, we put that question to the city’s chief climate officer, a Grist reporter, and a grassroots leader during New York Climate Week. Listen...

How should Democrats campaign on climate? Some are quietly shelving climate-specific language ahead of the midterms in favor of terms like “energy crisis” and “affordability.” But Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has been talking about climate change on the Senate floor for more than a decade, and he has no plans to stop now. “The most important thing that can be accomplished on the...

As the 2026 midterms approach, voters are contending with concerns around affordability, the AI boom, and climate disruption in their daily lives. AI data centers have become the wild card in energy politics, driving up energy demand and utility bills, and playing a large role in a battleground House primary. A year after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rolled back key parts of the Inflation...

Growing power demands – coupled with increasingly frequent climate-driven disasters – have led even staunch environmentalists like NRDC head Manish Bapna to rethink their past opposition to nuclear power. Three Mile Island didn't kill anyone or cause major public harm, but it fundamentally changed U.S. nuclear policy for 40 years. Why did an accident with a relatively contained consequence have...