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natalie volk

@climate-nat

climate comms at @cleanaircatf.bsky.social previously: Columbia University, EFI Foundation, CKUT 90.3 FM seattle/washington dc (opinions my own aka don't take everything i say on here seriously)

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17.11.2024
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Latest posts by natalie volk @climate-nat

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Trump administration freezes offshore wind projects, undermining affordability, reliability, and permitting certainty The Trump administration yesterday ordered an immediate halt to the construction of five major offshore wind projects.

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows www.catf.us/2025/12/trum...

23.12.2025 20:17 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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New CATF analysis reveals hidden electricity costs are stalling growth for African businesses Cotonou, BENIN – New research from Clean Air Task Force shows that unreliable electricity and the high costs of backup solutions are driving a significant share of African businesses into financial di...

New CATF analysis reveals that hidden electricity costs are driving African businesses into financial distress. A case study in Benin shows how unreliable power is quietly stalling economic growth across Sub-Saharan Africa.

www.catf.us/2025/08/new-...

12.08.2025 12:44 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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2025 mid-year impact in a chaotic world Learn about our work in the first half of 2025 to defend key climate policies, forge new and powerful partnerships, and conduct fresh and challenging research.

For climate action to be effective, it must be resilient and purpose built for our messy reality.

In our 2025 mid-year impact update, see how CATF is taking into account a range of hard reality checks and accelerating policy that benefits both the climate and people: www.catf.us/2025/06/2025...

01.07.2025 15:07 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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New CATF analysis reveals energy poverty metrics fail to capture true costs for African households A new paper reveals that standard methods of measuring energy poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa significantly understate the true burden faced by households.

New CATF analysis reveals that outdated energy poverty metrics in Sub-Saharan Africa are masking the true cost of unreliable electricity – especially in Benin.
www.catf.us/2025/07/new-...

01.07.2025 13:04 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Policy Brief: Will a Stronger Cedi Relieve Electricity Cost Burdens for Ghanaians? The resilience of the cedi provides Ghana with an unusual window of opportunity to realign electricity prices.

#Ghana’s stronger cedi won’t fix its electricity crisis.

New analysis from CATF shows power prices remain high due to legacy debt, inefficiencies, and opaque tariffs – not just currency pressure.

Structural reform is the only way forward.
www.catf.us/resource/str...

27.06.2025 12:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Strategy at the Geopolitical Crossroads: The Imperative for Secure and Clean Energy in Central and Eastern Europe To maintain cohesion and strategic independence, given the economic benefits of decarbonisation, CEE nations must promote a collaborative regional vision.

A new CATF report lays out a strategic vision for how Central and Eastern Europe can reduce fossil fuel dependence, scale local clean tech, and build a more resilient and independent energy system.

Read the report: www.catf.us/resource/str...

30.06.2025 10:16 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A Fusion Engine for Growth: A European Industrial Strategy for Fusion Energy Europe has the scientific expertise and infrastructure to lead in fusion energy. What is needed now is political commitment.

Europe has long led on fusion science. But without a strategy to turn research into commercial deployment, it risks falling behind the U.S. and China in the global fusion energy race.

Our new policy brief lays out a path to close the gap ⬇️
www.catf.us/resource/fus...

11.06.2025 11:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Levelized cost of energy is the metric many of us have used to compare different energy sources β€” especially journalists and policymakers.

The problem is, it’s not a very accurate measurement.

Just look at what just happened in Ontario.

www.latitudemedia.com/news/report-...

10.06.2025 11:57 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
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Everyone’s Favorite Energy Cost Metric Is Wrong, Environmental Group Says A new report from the Clean Air Task Force casts shade on β€œlevelized cost of energy.”

why everyone's favorite solar-friendly cost metric is wrong, or at least not useful for planning deep decarbonization across a whole grid heatmap.news/energy/level...

10.06.2025 11:41 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Forest Carbon Protocols – An evaluation of 20 forest carbon credit protocols An evaluation and scorecard of 20 forest carbon credit protocols that demonstrate most protocols are not strong enough.

🚨BREAKING🚨

Weak forest carbon credit protocols undermine trust in carbon markets. In a new study, leading scientists recommend ways to strengthen standards to ensure lasting climate impacts.

forestcarbonprotocols.org

15.05.2025 13:04 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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i’ll be in arizona this week for #sej2025 :) hmu if you want to laugh, cry, commiserate or all of the above

23.04.2025 17:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Fusion innovation is happening fast, but without clear regulations and federal support, progress will stall.

In a new policy brief, CATF outlines key policy steps to advance U.S. fusion leadership.

Read it here: www.catf.us/resource/fus...

03.04.2025 10:12 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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SEC abandons defense of climate-related disclosure rules, reducing investor access to material information WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it would no longer defend its climate-related disclosure rules in court, following months of litigation. The decisio...

Yesterday, the SEC announced it would no longer defend its climate-related disclosure rules in court, following months of litigation.

@cleanaircatf.bsky.social's statement here: www.catf.us/2025/03/sec-...

28.03.2025 17:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

CEQ’s decision to eliminate NEPA regulations will create confusion and delays for project developers and agenciesβ€”undermining efforts to streamline permitting.

In a new piece, CATF’s @nicolepavia.bsky.social & @franksturges.bsky.social explain why and what’s next πŸ‘‡

www.catf.us/2025/03/dism...

27.03.2025 13:27 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

can't believe it's 2025 and i'm stressed about tariffs and measles, like am i a character in an american girl book

03.03.2025 21:09 πŸ‘ 42467 πŸ” 8528 πŸ’¬ 320 πŸ“Œ 195

energy and climate journalists: the deadline to apply is monday!! this was hands down one of my favorite programs to work on at columbia, led by the one and only bill loveless

www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/programs/ene...

01.03.2025 19:20 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Are you an Energy Department worker who just got fired? Or the employee from another energy or environmental agency? I’d like to speak with you and I can protect your identity. Please contact me over Signal:

15.02.2025 16:20 πŸ‘ 67 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Careers at CATF Working with CATF could be a challenging and rewarding next step in your career. Join our ever-growing team of experts.

for those affected by the gov't layoffs, @cleanaircatf.bsky.social is hiring for multiple positions:

www.catf.us/careers/

14.02.2025 21:55 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

While it's good to unsubscribe from the bad ones, also remember that it's good to subscribe to the good ones

One year of @wired.com for $5 USD is a good deal....

12.02.2025 07:53 πŸ‘ 207 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 4

UPDATE: The Army Corps of Engineers is now claiming in a statement to me that it has lifted its pause on permitting activity for renewables projects.

cc @heatmap.news

06.02.2025 15:40 πŸ‘ 168 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 2
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Congress aims to eliminate methane fee that would hold large polluters accountable and protect public health Congress introduced a resolution to eliminate the regulation implementing the waste emissions charge.

Congress aims to eliminate #methane fee that would hold large polluters accountable and protect public health.

The waste emissions charge has been part of the United States' world-leading approach to capturing methane that would otherwise be wasted. www.catf.us/2025/02/cong...

05.02.2025 19:10 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

excellent (free!!) program for energy and climate journalists led by bill loveless

apply by march 3!

04.02.2025 20:15 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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US Government Websites Are Disappearing in Real Time A growing number of US government websites have gone offline as of Saturday, including several related to USAID and others focused on youth programs, Africa, and more.

NEW: USAID source says staff are scrambling to save archived copies of US regulations before they're gone & are being actively locked out of systems, including a publicly available database of USAID documents.

WIRED has built software to systematically check the status of 1,374 government domains.

01.02.2025 22:33 πŸ‘ 8390 πŸ” 3824 πŸ’¬ 217 πŸ“Œ 191

No amount of oil drilling will shield many US drivers from increases in gasoline prices coming from these tariffs. This is because we import crude oil from Canada for many US refineries that were built to handle the type of oil from Canada & can't make gasoline with US oil without big investments.

02.02.2025 01:27 πŸ‘ 165 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 3

What's happening right now at USAID is probably the most shameful thing I've heard of so far in this new administration.

Withdrawing aid from the poorest people in the world with no notice is intentional harm. A crime against humanity.

01.02.2025 17:54 πŸ‘ 165 πŸ” 73 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2
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New steps to reduce electricity bills and maintain control over national energy resources The Norwegian Government has proposed a set of new measures to lower the cost of consumer electricity bills. Under the new plan, consumers will be able to choose between subscribing to the general ele...

Surprised not to see more international or European coverage of this: the Norwegian government is opting for a populist move to fix energy prices and stop any new interconnection into Europe.

When push comes to shove we always choose self-interest over collective global action on climate.

01.02.2025 18:48 πŸ‘ 74 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 1

Transmission + distribution losses in many African countries rank among the highest in the world. While a few nations, including Botswana, Lesotho, and Mauritius, keep losses at <10%, 36 others experience losses ranging from 11%-48%.

More from my colleagues Michael Dioha and Prudence Dato below:

30.01.2025 17:25 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The whole progressive community -- no matter what their subject matter focus happens to be -- should speak out against the anti-transgender executive order. Environmentalists. Labor. Consumer rights. Everyone.

30.01.2025 00:52 πŸ‘ 128 πŸ” 44 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

you can do this for trans people now too, you know. it’s not like the lives of kids across the country are at stake or anything

29.01.2025 17:54 πŸ‘ 326 πŸ” 107 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1