Todd Woody

How China Built a Big Lead in Global Race for Batteries That Last for Days Long-duration storage is yet another area where Beijing is charging ahead of other countries.

NEW: The world added a record 9.6 gigawatt-hours of new long-duration #energystorage capacity last year, according to BloombergNEF. Almost every project built in 2025 was in China, and the nation also takes a lion's share of global installations in the pipeline. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

As Iran Crisis Upends Oil and Gas, Clean Energy Gets Complicated Higher fossil fuel prices could make green alternatives more attractive, but harder to deploy.

NEW: Here's what the crisis in the Middle East and turmoil in energy markets mean for renewable energy and the clean transition

Story w @akshatrathi.bsky.social @sharonchenhm.bsky.social via @bloomberg.com
FREE read:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Why California is Reconsidering Nuclear Energy After 50-Year Ban The state is one of several looking into allowing new nuclear reactors to meet climate goals as AI power demand surges.

New: Cracks are showing in California’s 50-year-old moratorium on new nuclear power plants as artificial intelligence spikes electricity demand and the state struggles to meet its climate goals. With @willwwade.bsky.social. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US Climate Forecaster to Be Absorbed in Weather Agency Reshuffle The US climate forecasting service will be absorbed into other federal departments as part of a re-organization announced to staff Thursday.

Scoop: The Climate Prediction Center is being folded into other agencies overseen by the National Weather Service

The change follows moves by the Trump administration to dismantle climate science programs

By @weathersullivan.bsky.social & @laurenthal.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Cleaning Up Potomac River Sewer Spill Could Take Months The federal government is now playing a bigger role in river restoration after Trump criticized the local response.

While emergency repairs to DC Water's broken sewer line could be completed by mid-March, there’s *no timeline* for how long it will take to clean up the environmental damage caused by the spill.

My latest @bloomberg.com (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Private Equity Flexes Muscle in Race to Overhaul London Offices Private equity cash has emerged as a rapidly growing force in reshaping the look of London’s offices, more than tripling its footprint over the past three years to 13% of the total, according to fresh...

New from me: London’s offices are getting greener - and private equity is increasingly paying for it. Gift link:

Saw “Wuthering Heights” at Sydney’s Open Air Cinema last night and stars Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie made a surprise appearance. Totally lives up to its billing as the “World’s Most Beautiful Cinema.”

Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE | TechCrunch The tech giant handed over the personal information of a journalist and student who attended a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024. This is the latest example of ICE using its controversial subpoena power...

More reports of Gmail turning over email content to ICE are coming out now.
techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/g...

So many helicopters flying over Bondi Beach and the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney the past hour. Feel like I’m in LA.

Why Some Republicans Voted for More Carbon Emissions Tracking As the Trump administration seeks to roll back pollution reporting rules, some lawmakers see a low carbon footprint as a competitive edge for US exports.

New: As the Trump administration slashes climate science and eliminates mandates to report industrial carbon emissions, Republicans passed a bill Trump signed to assess greenhouse gas emissions from steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizer. Here's why. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Compared with the 1st year of previous admins, including Trump’s 1st term, the current admin has taken fewer polluters to court & settled fewer existing court cases, per a new review of federal court records by the nonprofit EIP.

Story @bloomberg.com w/gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Winter Olympics Faces New Climate Reality Unpredictable conditions are limiting where it’s physically and financially possible to host the Winter Olympics.

What happens when the Winter Olympics can't rely on winter?

For one, all the cities that staged the Winter Games since 1950 have heated up in the years since by an average of 2.7C.

Read the full story w @hayleywarren.bsky.social via @bloomberg.com for FREE

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Why Hospitals Are Phasing Out a Popular Operating Room Anesthetic Desflurane, which has put patients to sleep for decades, has an outsized footprint, and health care providers are switching to less-polluting alternatives.

When you go in for a medical procedure, the gas putting you to sleep may also be warming the planet. That's prompting regulators and hospitals around the world to move to less-polluting alternatives.

Read more in @bloomberg.com:

Trump’s Project Vault Gives US Critical Mineral Startups a Boost Venture capitalists and companies see the planned $12 billion fund as a way to unlock more investments in the sector that’s also crucial to clean tech.

As Trump's Project Vault came to light, we asked investors and startups what they think of this new initiative designed to stockpile critical minerals. And this is what we've learned: www.bloomberg.com/news/article... w/Emily Forgash for @bloomberg.com #criticalminerals #ProjectVault #climatetech

To Lower Electricity Costs, Consumers Quietly Install DIY Solar Popular in Germany, “plug-in solar” has remained in the shadows in the US because it’s largely unregulated. Legislation recently introduced in many states aims to promote adoption.

Fascinating case of Utah beating out New York and California to first enact a law allowing plug-in solar without utility approval.

@toddwoody.bsky.social has the story @bloomberg.com, sharing with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

To Lower Electricity Costs, Consumers Quietly Install DIY Solar Popular in Germany, “plug-in solar” has remained in the shadows in the US because it’s largely unregulated. Legislation recently introduced in many states aims to promote adoption.

Legislation introduced in some two dozen states, including California and New York, would legalize “plug-in solar” systems (also called "balcony solar"), jumpstarting a nascent market for an affordable source of renewable energy for renters, homeowners. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Data Center Surge Has a Hidden Source of Carbon Emissions Tech companies are turning to green concrete to help reduce the massive environmental footprint of building out data centers.

Data center energy and water use have gotten a lot of (rightful) attention. But there's another issue that's getting less attention than it should: The immense amount of carbon-intensive concrete needed to build them 🎁🔗

What Democrats Can Learn From the Trump Energy Playbook Democrats shouldn’t be afraid to take more aggressive actions on clean energy, former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

"Don't be afraid to break some eggs," former Biden-era Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said to the next Democratic administration at the BloombergNEF Summit in SF:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program

A life well lived. Read this if you want to feel better about people.

Trump’s Rare Earth Push Extends Lifeline to Green Tech The industry saw record funding in 2025 as the US looks to build out a supply chain of elements crucial to the defense and energy sectors.

The US rare earth industry saw record venture funding in 2025 as the US looks to build out a supply chain of elements crucial to the defense and energy sectors. My latest for @bloomberg.com w/ Emily Forgash www.bloomberg.com/news/article... #rareearths #climatetech #investment

Why Climate-Friendly Beef Labels Fall Short A study by an environmental nonprofit found beef producers aren’t providing enough evidence for their green assertions.

Exclusive: Can beef products be carbon neutral? Shoppers are increasingly seeing products calling themselves that, but they're not providing the information needed to back these claims up, finds a new @worldresources.bsky.social report.

Clashing with the state, L.A. City moves to adopt lenient wildfire ‘Zone Zero’ regulations The L.A. City Council moved to adopt relatively lenient "Zone Zero" laws for homes in fire danger zones, measures that do not align with the plans that state agencies are working to enact.

A year after the L.A. fires, Los Angeles City Council continues to resist state-level "zone zero" regulations that most experts say would reduce the odds of homes burning in fires: www.latimes.com/environment/... via @nohaggerty.bsky.social

Time series chart from NOAA Climate at a Glance showing California statewide Nov-Dec temperatures. The 2025 value is the highest on record by a wide margin, and the long-term warming trend is evident.

In California, both Dec & Nov-Dec periods were warmest on record--and by a considerable margin, too. The Central Valley, however, was *not* record warm due to the damp chill associated with weeks-long tule fog episodes (making statewide record all the more remarkable!). #CAwx

A chart back to 1970 showing the global average temperate rise, which matches the warming effects of CO₂, methane and other warming gases, until an anomalous heat spike after 2023.

Heat and greenhouse gas pollution rise in lock-step — until 2023, when the thermostat goes bonkers.

🎁🔗 The 2025 climate numbers are in.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

Interesting to see the Guardian's @dpcarrington.bsky.social weighing in on this. My take, as someone covering microplastics heavily for the past year (and currently sitting at a 200+ person conference with many of the scientists in question):

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

EPA Will No Longer Consider Value of Human Health Benefits in Setting Air Pollution Rules The agency is abandoning a longstanding policy to calculate the monetary savings in avoided deaths and disease from cutting certain pollutants.

The EPA will no longer calculate the monetary value of saving human lives, among other health impacts, when setting new clean air rules. It quietly debuted this new approach in a version of a new final rule for power plant emissions published online last week.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Congress Moves to Save EPA’s Energy Star from Trump Cuts The US House approved a budget bill that rejects proposed cuts to the energy efficiency program.

NEW from me: The US House on Thursday passed a bipartisan 2026 spending package for environmental agencies that includes roughly $33 million in the Environmental Protection Agency budget for Energy Star, a program co-managed by the Department of Energy.

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New US Dietary Guidelines Are Heavy on Meat and Carbon Emissions The inverted food pyramid encourages Americans to eat meat and dairy products for higher protein intake.

RFK Jr.'s new MAHA-coded food pyramid elevates meat and dairy products, which are high in protein but also in carbon emissions, compared to (say) beans or lentils. More from Emma Court (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

As Food Costs Rise, Chefs Turn to Trash for $160 Tasting Menus Scraps have never been more valuable, as restaurants use tech and ingenuity to keep edible food out of the bin.

Trash isn't something you often think about when eating at high-end restaurants. But they're generating a lot of it, and a new generation of chefs is trying to change that. My latest for @bloomberg.com: