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New research from Climate Central indicates that climate change accounted for 27% of the rate of heat-related emergency room visits in the U.S. during the warm seasons from 2018 to 2025. The study found that all U.S. regions experienced increased visit rates due to climate change, with the highest rates occurring in southern and western states. A notable peak occurred during the June 2021 northwestern U.S. heat wave, where daily visit rates were approximately 50 times higher than the regional average, with 27% of that rate attributed to climate change.

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute describes the role of lithium in the energy transition, its global supply chain, extraction methods, and the environmental and social impacts associated with its production.

The report examines the growth of private equity (PE) in the autism therapy sector, highlighting a pattern of aggressive acquisitions and debt-driven management. It argues that PE-backed providers often prioritize profit over patient care by using standardized treatment plans, pressuring parents for more therapy hours, and engaging in fraudulent billing. State audits in Massachusetts, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Colorado reveal millions of dollars in improper Medicaid payments and inadequate staffing. The document concludes with policy recommendations, including facility-level licensure and rules to ensure a high percentage of Medicaid payments go directly to care worker compensation.

The document outlines technical adjustments made to the ReEDS database for a study on data center threats in Louisiana. Key modifications include restricting wind power deployment in Louisiana until 2029 due to slow growth and interconnection delays, and updating retirement dates for several coal and gas plants in Louisiana and Arkansas to reflect current utility filings and legal settlements.

The Cities4Forests initiative mobilized $115 million to restore 320,000 acres of forests and watersheds across 15 US states, utilizing innovative financial tools like the Forest Resilience Bond and green bonds. These efforts aim to mitigate the $900 billion in annual losses caused by wildfires, which now burn over 7 million acres annually. Key projects include restoration in the Tahoe National Forest, the Upper Weber River watershed, and around Lake Maumelle, collectively supporting 260 jobs and avoiding over 10 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

The review finds that neonicotinoid seed treatments (NSTs) often fail to provide statistically significant increases in yield or profitability for North American farmers, particularly in colder regions like the Midwest and Northern U.S. where early-season pest pressure is lower. While some positive returns on investment (ROI) were observed in the U.S. South due to milder winters and higher pest pressure, these results were inconsistent year-to-year. The document highlights significant ecological harms, including the reduction of predator insect populations, damage to pollinators, and disruption of soil decomposition. It argues that a shift from prophylactic use to an 'assess-and-decide' approach based on actual pest pressure would save farmers money without reducing yields.

The document challenges the narrative that wind and solar power drive up electricity costs, asserting that real-world data from multiple global markets often shows an inverse relationship. It highlights that in the US and EU, regions with higher-than-average renewable shares frequently have lower-than-average household power prices. While acknowledging that factors like transmission costs, wildfire mitigation, and market liquidity can influence prices, the briefing concludes that renewables generally lower wholesale costs by displacing expensive fossil fuels.

The document reports that 2025 is virtually certain to be among the top five hottest years globally, driven by rising carbon pollution from fossil fuels. In the U.S., record high temperatures significantly outpaced record lows, and the year saw a record-costly start for billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, including the most expensive wildfire event on record in Los Angeles. Globally, carbon pollution intensified Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Jamaica. The report also highlights a trend of 'hydroclimate whiplash' contributing to both the Los Angeles fires and deadly flash floods in Texas, while noting that the U.S. has rolled back key clean energy policies and is set to withdraw from the Paris Agreement by January 2026.

The U.S. pulp and paper industry, which accounts for 9% of industrial energy consumption, offers significant potential for net-negative emissions through CCS due to its reliance on waste biomass. A new mapping tool evaluates facilities based on capture costs, capture potential, storage costs, infrastructure clustering, and co-benefits. The analysis identifies the Gulf Coast—specifically Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—as having the highest opportunity scores. While private sector interest is growing, the document argues that the 45Q tax credit requires enhancement and regulatory certainty for transport infrastructure is needed to scale these technologies.

The Next California project, now operating through the Delta Ag Alliance, seeks to increase specialty crop acreage in the Mid-Mississippi Delta from 0.19% to 3% by 2034. This transition is designed to unlock $3.2 billion in annual farmgate revenue and protect US food security as climate change forces production shifts away from California. The project employs a four-pillar strategy: farmer-led discovery, innovative funding structures (including operating loans and infrastructure funds), support for farmer-entrepreneurs, and public sector research alignment. Early pilots like Delta Harvest have demonstrated the economic viability of specialty rice, while other ventures like Peebles Organics and Delta Dirt Distillery showcase the potential for organic produce and value-added processing. To scale these efforts, the alliance is focusing on bridging the 'chasm' between early innovators and the early majority through targeted capital and the development of regional processing infrastructure.

Severe storms in the U.S. have become significantly more costly, with billion-dollar events increasing more than five-fold between 2005–2024 compared to 1985–2004. While the overall frequency of severe and tornadic thunderstorms has not changed significantly since 1979, tornado activity is concentrating into more frequent and extreme outbreaks, and 'Tornado Alley' has shifted eastward. Projections suggest a 5-20% increase in conditions favorable to severe thunderstorms per 1.8°F of warming, with one study projecting a 6.6% increase in supercell frequency by the end of the century.

The Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker details the involvement of private equity firms in the US mass incarceration system, covering facility management, healthcare, food services, telecommunications, and surveillance tools. It highlights how profit motives lead to cost-cutting in critical services, high markups on basic necessities, and the deployment of controversial surveillance technologies.

The report evaluates the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) as an economic development tool. Using the Energy Policy Simulator, Energy Innovation estimates that the fund's $24 billion in financial assistance will generate 36,000 to 41,000 annual jobs, $21.3 to $23.9 billion in wages (2025-2031), and $52 billion in consumer energy savings over 20 years. The GGRF operates through national-scale 'Green Banks' via the National Clean Investment Fund and local-level initiatives like the Solar For All and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator programs to mobilize private capital and support disadvantaged communities.

An event attribution study found that human-induced climate change increased the likelihood of the April 2025 extreme rainfall in the Central Mississippi river valley by approximately 40% and its intensity by 9%, though observational data suggests these increases could be as high as a factor of 2 to 5 in likelihood and 13-26% in intensity. The event caused at least 24 fatalities and estimated economic damages between $80 and $90 billion, with significant agricultural losses in Arkansas. The study highlights that while climate change amplified the event, effective early warnings from the US National Weather Service prevented a larger catastrophe, despite current staffing shortages in NWS field offices.

The document argues that repealing federal technology-neutral electricity tax credits (§45Y and §48E) would significantly increase household energy bills across the United States. Drawing on analyses from multiple research groups, it estimates that national annual household energy bills would rise by $40–$60 in 2030, $56–$150 in 2035, and $140–$220 by 2040. The report highlights that these credits lower costs by reducing investment expenses for wind, solar, battery, nuclear, and geothermal projects, savings which utilities are regulated to pass on to consumers. Repeal would likely lead to substantial price hikes in specific states, with some households facing increases over $500 annually.

The document outlines how the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program, part of the US Department of Energy's Title XVII authority, provides low-cost, long-tenor debt financing to help oil and gas companies repurpose ceased operations or reduce emissions from active infrastructure. It details specific transition opportunities across the upstream, midstream, and downstream value chains, such as lithium extraction from brine, enhanced geothermal systems, and the conversion of refineries to sustainable aviation fuel production. The brief emphasizes that the current high-interest rate environment makes this government financing particularly attractive, though the opportunity is time-constrained as loan authority currently expires in September 2026.

The United States saw a 60% increase in major weather-related power outages during the heat season between 2014-2023 compared to 2000-2009. The South region experienced the highest number of these events, with Texas and Michigan recording the most outages at the state level. These outages compound health risks for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and children, particularly when overlapping with extreme heat waves. Proposed solutions for grid resilience include the implementation of microgrids, smart grid technologies, and physical hardening of infrastructure.

The report argues that decentralized election administration in the US has created a patchwork of transparency policies that can undermine democratic legitimacy and disproportionately affect marginalized communities. It provides specific recommendations for improving the accessibility and accuracy of voter files, the transparency of ballot processing and tracking, and the implementation of robust ballot curing and risk-limiting audit procedures.

The report outlines a multi-phase strategy to establish a specialty crop industry in the Mid-Mississippi Delta (Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee) as a climate-resilient alternative to California's production. It identifies suitable crops, analyzes labor and infrastructure gaps, and proposes innovative, equity-focused business models to ensure wealth creation for underserved farmers. The project has transitioned from research to action through the 'Collective Impact Framework' and the launch of the Delta Harvest pilot project.

The 2024 WWF Plastic Policy Summit highlighted the urgent need for a coordinated, multi-sector approach to end plastic pollution. Key recommendations include implementing legally binding global and national policies, such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), prioritizing environmental justice for fenceline communities, and shifting from voluntary initiatives to legislative mandates for reduction and reuse. The report emphasizes that while data gaps exist, current evidence justifies immediate action through product redesign, the activation of existing U.S. federal authorities, and the scaling of reuse infrastructure in cities.