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The report finds that 91% of energy-related federal actions are categorically excluded from higher-level NEPA reviews, with higher scrutiny typically reserved for larger-scale projects. It provides quantitative evidence that tiered reviews can reduce timelines compared to standard Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). The analysis identifies the Department of the Interior as the central hub for interagency coordination on decarbonization projects. Additionally, it notes a modest reduction in EIS page lengths following the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, while highlighting significant gaps in federal data management and metadata standardization.

Analysis of cooling degree days (CDD) shows that 97% of 241 major U.S. cities experienced increased cooling demand since 1970, with an average increase of 37%. This trend, combined with a 31% rise in residential electricity prices between 2020 and 2025, increases the financial burden on households, particularly low-income families. In 2020, the ten states with the highest cooling costs saw average household expenditures between $378 in Hawaii and $712 in Arizona. Future projections suggest U.S. household cooling demand will rise 43% by 2050. The report also highlights systemic risks, including electricity grid strain, increased carbon emissions from fossil-fuel-reliant cooling, and the urban heat island effect caused by waste heat from air conditioners.

The report argues that while next-generation geothermal has vast potential to provide clean firm power, its growth is hindered by a 'missing middle' financing gap, subsurface uncertainty, and outdated regulatory frameworks. It proposes five deployment levers: characterizing subsurface resources through data digitization and mapping, governing through streamlined permitting and clarified property rights, financing via procurement standards and convertible loans, connecting through improved transmission planning and workforce development, and innovating through sustained R&D and testbeds.

Climate change accounted for 27% of the rate of heat-related emergency room visits in the U.S. during 2018-2025. August 2026 was the warmest August on record globally, with record warmth affecting 13.2% of global land and ocean areas. In the U.S., Summer 2026 was the warmest on record for the contiguous region, and August 2026 was the warmest August for average, maximum, and minimum temperatures since 1895. Drought affected at least 81% of the contiguous U.S. as of September 8, 2026, and nearly 8.3 million acres burned year-to-date, driven by increased 'fire weather' days. Attribution analysis using the Climate Shift Index (CSI) indicates human-caused climate change drove summertime warming trends in 91% of analyzed U.S. cities. Additionally, a strong El Niño event is projected to peak around February 2027, with global temperature anomalies potentially reaching 1.7C above pre-industrial levels.

Climate Central's analysis reveals that the average person globally lost nearly 56 hours of sleep annually due to nighttime heat from 2020 to 2025, with approximately six hours attributed to climate change. The most significant climate-linked sleep losses occurred in Middle Eastern cities, where residents in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE lost between 12 and 16 hours of sleep per year due to climate change. Globally, the amount of temperature-related sleep loss linked to climate change has at least doubled since the early 1970s, increasing from about two hours to five hours per year. Vulnerable populations, including adults over 65 and those in lower-middle-income countries, face higher risks, and while air conditioning provides some protection, access remains unequal and tied to income.

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 compares two pathways for meeting U.S. electricity demand growth through 2030: one relying on fossil fuels and another on clean energy. It finds that a clean energy scenario reduces the incremental cost of meeting demand by $5.1 billion annually in 2030 and offers greater protection against fuel price volatility. To realize these savings, the authors recommend setting ambitious clean energy targets, updating electricity system planning with market-based assumptions, reducing permitting and interconnection barriers, implementing fuel cost sharing to manage risk, improving grid utilization through technologies like surplus interconnection and high-performance conductors, and harnessing demand-side resources such as virtual power plants and distributed energy technologies.

The Multi-Family Housing Tracker documents the significant increase in private equity ownership of U.S. apartment complexes, noting that 228 identified firms own nearly 3 million units, or approximately 13% of the national total. The report highlights a heavy concentration in Sunbelt states and metropolitan areas, correlating these regions with sharp increases in 'cost-burdened' renters. It details a business model focused on rapid value increases through rent hikes and additional fees, while documenting widespread tenant complaints regarding poor maintenance, aggressive evictions, and the use of algorithmic pricing software like RealPage. The document concludes with recommendations for landlords, public officials, and institutional investors to implement rent caps, just-cause eviction protections, and responsible investment standards.

Climate Central analyzed data from 476 weather stations to track fire weather trends in the contiguous U.S. between 1973 and 2025. The analysis reveals a significant increase in fire weather days, particularly in the western U.S., where conditions are intensifying in spring and summer. While the eastern U.S. has seen smaller increases, some areas in the Southeast and Northeast are experiencing more frequent fire weather. The report highlights that climate change is driving these trends through warming temperatures and decreasing relative humidity, which prime landscapes for wildfires to ignite and spread.

The report argues that next-generation geothermal, specifically enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), can provide the 'clean firm' power California needs to reach its 2045 goals affordably. Modeling shows that EGS could reduce annual electricity supply costs by $10-44 billion and decrease the required pace of solar installation from 10 GW/year to 3 GW/year. While projects are currently being developed in other western states, the authors argue that in-state development would further save $3.5-5.5 billion annually and reduce interregional transmission needs by 28-53%. To overcome the 'missing middle' of financing for high-risk exploration wells, the report recommends California establish a public subsurface mapping and testbed program similar to the DOE's FORGE project in Utah.

In May 2026, the United States experienced slightly below-average temperatures overall, with an average anomaly of -0.2°F across 192 cities. Despite this, the western U.S. saw above-average temperatures, and the Northern Rockies and Plains region was the warmest, averaging more than 1.6°F above normal. Long-term data indicates that 185 of the 192 analyzed cities have warmed since 1970, with Reno, Nevada, showing the greatest increase at 7.5°F. Climate attribution analysis shows that San Juan, Puerto Rico, had the highest number of days (28) where temperatures were at least two times more likely due to climate change (CSI level 2 or higher).

The report provides a detailed analysis of the power sectors of seven major countries and regions in 2025, which collectively represent 72% of global electricity demand. Key trends include China's unprecedented solar growth and first absolute decline in power sector emissions since 2015, the US seeing wind and solar overtake nuclear power for the first time, and the EU's wind and solar generation exceeding fossil generation. India saw renewable growth double its demand increase, while Brazil maintained one of the cleanest systems globally with 87% renewable generation. Conversely, Russia and Japan continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels, with Russia's wind and solar remaining marginal at less than 1% of its mix.

The policy brief advocates for system-wide transmission planning over the customer-by-customer load interconnection process to manage rapid electric load growth. It highlights that system-wide planning, which evaluates needs over 5 to 20 years, leads to more efficient grid design and higher benefit-to-cost ratios. To manage the risk of anticipated load not materializing, the document recommends scenario planning to identify "least-regrets" projects and phased, modular investment strategies with built-in triggers, illustrated through case studies from the Southwest Power Pool, ERCOT in Texas, and NV Energy in Nevada.

In Q4 2025, U.S. clean energy investments were characterized by significant uncertainty driven by a record 43-day government shutdown, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), and Department of Energy (DOE) funding cuts. While utility-scale solar and storage remained strong, with $18 billion in actual investments, other sectors like wind, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) faced substantial project cancellations. Nuclear energy showed signs of growth through large-scale partnerships and DOE loans, while the manufacturing sector saw $8.4 billion in EV supply chain cancellations, partly due to shifting federal incentives and corporate pivots toward gas and hybrid vehicles.

As of March 30, 2026, the western U.S. is experiencing a historic snow drought, with snow water equivalent at its lowest record for April 1 and 65% below the 1991-2020 normal. This condition is attributed to a record-warm winter and a record-shattering March heat wave fueled by heat-trapping pollution. Long-term trends from 1955 to 2023 show an 18% average decline in April 1 snowpack across 652 monitoring stations, with snow droughts growing 28% longer between 1980 and 2018. These trends increase risks for water supplies, hydropower, and wildfires, with projections suggesting a further 25% decline in snow water equivalent by 2050.

The report advocates for reconductoring as a primary solution to the U.S. energy grid's capacity crisis, which currently stalls 2,500 GW of clean energy projects. By replacing traditional steel-core cables with advanced composite conductors, the grid can double its transfer capacity at less than half the cost of building new lines, with installation times of 18-36 months compared to 10-15 years for new construction. The document highlights the potential for $180 billion in system savings by 2050 and a 3-4% reduction in wholesale electricity costs. It details technical improvements, such as trapezoidal wires and carbon-fiber cores, and cites successful implementations in Texas, Nevada, California, and Minnesota, as well as international adoption in Europe and Asia. The report concludes by urging policymakers to support legislation like the High-Capacity Grid Act and the REWIRE Act to incentivize the adoption of these technologies.

The report analyzes a record-shattering heatwave in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico in March 2026, finding that such an event would have been virtually impossible without anthropogenic climate change. Using a combination of observation-based data and climate models, the study estimates that the intensity of 1-in-100-year March heat events has increased by 2.6°C and their likelihood has increased by a factor of approximately 800. The document highlights the extreme vulnerability of non-acclimatized populations and the risk of accelerated snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada and Colorado mountains.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, human-caused climate change significantly influenced global temperatures, with more than one in six people daily experiencing temperatures at least twice as likely due to climate change. In the United States, a sharp divide occurred: western states saw record-breaking warmth, with nine states experiencing their warmest December-February on record and Casper, Wyoming, recording the highest temperature anomaly globally among 960 analyzed cities. Conversely, the eastern U.S. faced below-average temperatures and cold snaps that the Climate Shift Index (CSI) indicates were made less likely by climate change. The record warmth in the west has led to low snowpack in Oregon, Colorado, and Utah, threatening water supplies and increasing wildfire risks.

March 2026 was the warmest March on record for the contiguous U.S., characterized by a historic snow drought in the West and extreme heat that increased cooling energy demand. Globally, the month was the second-warmest on record, with Arctic sea-ice reaching a near-record low maximum. In the U.S., severe drought affected 77% of the contiguous region, while Hawaii experienced record-breaking precipitation due to Kona lows.

A review of fifteen large private equity evergreen funds reveals they significantly underperformed the S&P 500 and MSCI ACWI indexes in 2025 and over a three-year period, despite charging median expense ratios of 3.76% compared to 0.03% for the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The report notes that the private equity industry is seeking a regulatory safe harbor from the US Department of Labor to limit lawsuits as it targets 401K retirement savings, a shift occurring as global fundraising fell 11.0% in 2025 and several US state pension funds—including those in Alaska, Texas, and Ohio—reduced their private equity allocations due to dwindling returns and liquidity risks.