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The report finds that while most US states meet the minimum legal requirements for Title V air permitting notices, there are substantial gaps in transparency, accessibility, and the actual influence of public input on final decisions. It highlights that many public notices are written at a college reading level and lack plain language, and that few agencies transparently report how public comments shape permit outcomes. The analysis suggests that states with specific environmental justice or cumulative impacts laws tend to have better engagement practices. It recommends that agencies adopt plain language, provide multilingual resources, and establish clear mechanisms for reporting how community input affects regulatory decisions.

The report identifies a 'planning gap' in deregulated U.S. power markets where short-term wholesale price signals and Clean Electricity Standards (CES) fail to incentivize long-lead time, capital-intensive technologies like nuclear, geothermal, and long-duration energy storage. To address this, the authors propose a 'hybrid market' approach called state-led planning, which consists of three core components: system needs assessments, technology development roadmaps, and state-led procurement. This framework allows states to provide the long-term revenue certainty required by investors while maintaining the operational efficiencies of competitive wholesale markets. The report highlights Illinois's Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act as a primary example of this approach in practice and discusses the role of FERC Order 1920 in improving regional transmission planning.

The 2026 State Healthcare Policy Review examines US state efforts to regulate private equity in healthcare, focusing on transparency, approval authority, targeted prohibitions, and the corporate practice of medicine. While several states enacted new disclosure and reporting laws, few expanded the power to block transactions, and many stringent proposals were narrowed or failed. Key developments include Maine's new administrative approval process and Connecticut's ban on hospital sale-leasebacks.

Mighty Earth's CEO asserts that JBS's decision to drop its 2040 net-zero target exposes the company's lack of a credible climate plan. The author claims the original target was deceptive, focusing only on Scope 1 and 2 emissions while JBS continued to drive large-scale deforestation and expand cattle slaughter in Brazil and Nigeria. The document calls for continued pressure from investors and governments to push JBS toward large-scale solutions like regenerative practices and animal-free protein.

July 2026 was tied for the warmest July on record globally and was the all-time warmest July for the contiguous U.S. This extreme heat, driven by human-caused climate change and a strengthening El Niño, has led to a significant increase in cooling degree days—a proxy for energy demand—across most major U.S. cities. The report also details widespread drought affecting at least 70% of the contiguous U.S. and record-low sea-ice extents in both the Arctic and Antarctic.

Between January and May 15, 2026, over 100 companies backed by asset management firms and venture capital notified labor departments of layoffs, resulting in nearly 13,000 job losses. The report highlights how private equity models—characterized by leveraged buyouts, dividend recapitalizations, and market consolidation—contribute to plant closures and bankruptcies. Specific examples include Walgreens, where Sycamore Partners added $13.3 billion in debt, and Albertsons, where Cerberus Capital Management received a $1 billion dividend payout despite ongoing layoffs. The report also notes a high concentration of layoffs in the manufacturing sector (34%) and discusses state-level legislative efforts in New Jersey, Maine, California, and Michigan to mandate severance pay and extend notice periods.

The report details a 50-year campaign by the natural gas industry to brand its product as "clean energy" and a "bridge fuel." It argues that this was a strategic fraud designed to protect residential markets from electrification and later to facilitate a massive expansion of infrastructure. The document highlights the role of industry-funded research, specifically the Gas Research Institute (GRI), and a flawed 1996 joint study with the EPA that underestimated methane emissions to legitimize gas as a climate solution. It further describes how the industry used voluntary programs like Natural Gas STAR to fend off mandatory regulations and co-opted environmental organizations to lend credibility to its claims.

The document outlines the technical processes of hydraulic fracturing and its associated risks, including greenhouse gas emissions during drilling and the release of carcinogens and radioactive materials in 'produce-water'. It synthesizes literature linking UOGD to adverse birth outcomes, childhood cancers, and increased mortality. Additionally, it criticizes the Nova Scotia government's Subsurface Energy Research and Development Investment Program (SERDIP), managed by Dalhousie University, for lacking a clear health research plan and allowing the government to control the publication of findings.

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.

Earthjustice's Counter/Act report details its multifaceted legal and advocacy response to the second Trump administration's environmental policy rollbacks. The organization has scaled up litigation, launched a dedicated enforcement team to fill gaps in federal oversight, and shifted focus toward state-level protections for clean energy and public health. Key achievements include defending electric vehicle infrastructure, challenging the repeal of the endangerment finding, and securing state-level wins on landfill emissions in Colorado and environmental justice laws in New Jersey.

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.

The report argues that traditional conservative utility planning, which bases connection decisions on worst-case load scenarios, creates lengthy delays for electric truck charging sites. Flexible service connections (FSCs) offer an alternative where customers agree to limit charging during peak hours to ensure grid safety, reducing energization timelines from years to months. RMI's analysis of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and National Grid data shows that FSCs are most effective on feeders with sharp, narrow late-afternoon peaks, typically near large population centers. In PG&E territory, just four hours of load shifting could theoretically support more medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles than have been sold to date in California. The report highlights the role of managed charging and on-site battery storage in making FSCs operationally viable for fleets and calls for regulators to standardize these offerings.

The United States is well-positioned to lead the next-generation geothermal supply chain due to significant overlaps with the oil and gas industry, though gaps remain in superhot rock (SHR) compatible rigs and power conversion turbomachinery. While investment in the sector grew from $22 million in 2018 to $2.2 billion in 2025, the report warns that equipment supply chains could become a bottleneck for national-scale adoption. Developing a domestic supply chain could create over 100,000 jobs in wellfield and plant operations and catalyze manufacturing growth in regions like Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina. To secure this advantage, the report recommends expanding the 45X advanced manufacturing production tax credit to geothermal and improving data on equipment capacity and production costs.

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 substituting tax-exempt public debt for investor-owned utility (IOU) equity and taxable debt can significantly lower transmission costs for ratepayers in New England. It identifies two primary paths: strengthening existing quasi-public entities or creating a new purpose-built transmission authority. The author emphasizes that any such vehicle must have a clear statutory mandate for FERC-jurisdictional transmission, non-recourse revenue-bond authority, the ability to form public-private partnerships, and governance structures that ensure state accountability and risk control.

The report argues that New England's transmission costs are the highest in the U.S., driven by a lack of cohesive planning and a reliance on expensive private capital. It proposes replacing private equity and debt with low-cost, tax-exempt public financing, which could save ratepayers up to $8.3 billion on new transmission and $1.1 billion on asset condition projects. The authors suggest several implementation pathways, including integrating public financing into ISO New England's Longer-Term Transmission Planning (LTTP) process or creating new state transmission authorities.

The report details how private equity firms have acquired Medicaid contractors to capitalize on government-backed revenue, often leading to operational failures. It highlights systemic payment errors and wage theft allegations at Public Partnerships, LLC; massive debt-driven cost-cutting and fraud allegations at Gainwell Technologies; and delays in care authorizations and the use of offshore labor at Acentra Health. The document also warns of the risks associated with AI-driven analytics and the offshoring of sensitive patient health information to India.

The report highlights that over 66 million people in the US live near freight facilities, with higher concentrations of warehouses linked to increased cancer risks and air pollution. It advocates for Indirect Source Rules (ISRs), which require facilities to mitigate the 'indirect' emissions they attract, citing California's WAIRE program as a successful model for increasing zero-emission vehicle adoption and infrastructure.

The report identifies that over 66 million people in the U.S. live near freight facilities and corridors, with those near clusters of 11 or more facilities facing a 32% higher cancer risk from air toxics than the national average. It advocates for Indirect Source Rules (ISRs), which require facilities to mitigate the pollution attracted by their operations, as a tool to address these disparities. The author details best practices for ISR design and proposes various compliance options, including the deployment of zero-emission vehicles, charging infrastructure, and innovative solutions like using wastewater treatment plant methane for port power.

RMI and OTS R&D conducted laboratory tests on residential split systems and packaged rooftop units to determine if reclaimed R-410A refrigerant, processed to AHRI 700 standards, performs differently than virgin refrigerant. The results showed no statistically significant differences in heating capacity, cooling capacity, or energy efficiency across all tested operating conditions. The report argues that scaling refrigerant recovery and reclamation is essential to bridge the structural gap between declining HFC production under the AIM Act and the ongoing servicing demand for existing equipment, particularly for R-410A, which served approximately 85% of US residential and 92% of light commercial cooling systems in 2022.