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The report argues that outsourcing critical school functions to private equity-backed firms prioritizes short-term profit over student wellbeing and worker stability, leading to lower service quality, increased staff turnover, and risks to student data privacy.

The document examines the role of faith, particularly Christianity, in driving climate action. It notes that while a vast majority of Christian leaders believe in human-caused climate change, few discuss it with their congregations. It also highlights the systemic influence of faith-based organizations through land ownership, financial investments, and initiatives like the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and the World Council of Churches' efforts to hold fossil fuel financiers accountable.

The Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program is designed to demonstrate localized hydrogen production and end-use to create a synergistic national hydrogen economy. The author warns that planned funding cuts by the Trump administration would jeopardize an estimated 334,280 jobs and tens of billions of dollars in private sector investment. The document emphasizes that a network of hubs is necessary to create a viable market for hydrogen-fueled equipment and to maintain U.S. leadership in low-carbon hydrogen production and technology exports.

The document argues that private equity firms continue to acquire US nursing homes despite industry claims to the contrary, with ownership estimates ranging from 5% to 13%. It highlights how profit-driven practices, high debt, and complex ownership structures lead to bankruptcies and degraded care, citing specific cases like LaVie Care Centers and Goldner Capital Management. The report notes that while the Biden administration increased scrutiny, the Trump administration's focus on deregulation shifts the burden of protecting patients and workers to state legislatures.

The briefing distinguishes between attributional accounting, which allocates emissions responsibility, and consequential assessment, which estimates how specific corporate actions change total greenhouse gas emissions. It argues that while attributional reporting is necessary for inventories, it fails to quantify real-world abatement or value actions like grid storage. By adopting modernized consequential methods, companies can prioritize interventions—such as siting solar projects in coal-heavy regions—that drive faster grid decarbonization.

The report argues that private equity firms continue to acquire US nursing homes despite industry claims to the contrary, often using complex ownership structures to avoid transparency. It highlights a pattern of high debt, real estate monetization through REITs, and private credit risks that correlate with increased patient mortality, reduced staffing, and facility bankruptcies. Case studies of companies like LaVie Care Centers and Gulf Coast Health Care illustrate 'harrowing conditions' and regulatory failures. The document concludes that federal deregulation under the Trump administration makes state-level legislation the most viable path for protecting patients and workers.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) argues that private equity's business model in the US healthcare sector—characterized by high leverage, sale-leasebacks, and dividend recapitalizations—prioritizes short-term investor returns over patient care. The document details how these strategies lead to increased healthcare costs, reduced staffing, and hospital bankruptcies, citing case studies of Prospect Medical Holdings, Steward Health Care, and Apollo Global Management's Lifepoint and ScionHealth. PESP advocates for state-level policy solutions including robust merger reviews, financial transparency requirements, and bans on debt-funded dividends to protect healthcare infrastructure.

The report examines 26 state-level Priority Climate Action Plans (PCAPs) submitted under the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, finding that most plans rely on generalities and high-cost incentives rather than sector-specific strategies. It argues that states must transition from high-level commitments to tailored, long-term roadmaps that prioritize cost-effective tools, such as operating-cost supports and regulatory standards, while leveraging co-benefits like public health improvements and workforce development to maintain American industrial competitiveness against international peers like China and the EU.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) urges the Connecticut General Assembly to pass HB 6873, arguing that private equity's business model—characterized by high debt and profit extraction—threatens healthcare stability. PESP cites the 2025 bankruptcy of Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns three Connecticut hospitals, as a primary example of how private equity ownership can lead to financial distress and diminished care quality. The testimony highlights that in 2024, 21% of healthcare bankruptcies involved private equity-owned companies. PESP supports HB 6873 because it would expand the 'notice of material change' statute to include joint ventures and sale-leaseback transactions, preventing firms from evading antitrust scrutiny or stripping assets through real estate deals.

The document argues that private equity ownership of hospitals, specifically Apollo Global Management's ownership of Lifepoint Health, prioritizes short-term profits over patient care. It highlights a decline in CMS star ratings and poor clinical outcomes across several Lifepoint hospitals in North Carolina, including high mortality rates for heart failure and pneumonia, and significant issues with catheter-associated urinary tract infections. The report also details Lifepoint's use of joint ventures with academic and nonprofit entities to expand its market reach.

The report warns that 'relining' seven aging coal-based blast furnaces in the US Great Lakes region is a multi-billion dollar risk that locks in high emissions and health-harming pollution for another 20 years. While these plants represent only about a quarter of US steel production, they generate approximately 75 percent of the industry's emissions. The authors argue that instead of spending $150M to $425M per furnace on relines, companies should invest in hydrogen-ready Direct Reduction (DRI) coupled with electric arc furnaces (H2-DRI-EAF), which can achieve near-zero carbon emissions. Although a new DRI plant costs more ($600M to $800M) and faces a near-term energy cost gap of approximately $2.50/kg H2 compared to coal, the transition is projected to protect skilled union jobs and create additional employment in renewable energy and hydrogen production. The report concludes that federal and state support—via tax credits, grants, and infrastructure investment—is necessary to close the remaining economic gap and avoid stranded assets.

The Federal Hydrogen Hub Program aims to establish a national hydrogen network through seven regional hubs, with funding distributed across four phases over 8-12 years. While hubs claim local economic and environmental benefits, the guide notes that many proposed projects may increase pollution or waste energy. As of January 28, 2025, the DOE has instructed all recipients to cease activities related to Community Benefits Plans, pending further guidance.

The U.S. hydrogen regulatory landscape is characterized by a fragmented system involving multiple government agencies across federal, state, and local levels. Federal oversight is distributed among agencies such as the EPA, DOE, and DOT, while states like Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota have assumed specific permitting responsibilities, such as Class VI Underground Injection Control primacy. There is currently no federal regulation specifically governing the siting and operation of pure hydrogen pipelines, leaving such oversight to state and local authorities. To address these complexities, the DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office has funded projects to identify permitting and safety challenges across the value chain.

In 2024, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) focused on defending U.S. EPA pollution standards in court, advancing superhot rock geothermal and nuclear energy, and reducing global methane emissions. The organization also worked on simplifying renewable energy siting in the U.S., analyzing the efficiency of hydrogen and carbon capture, and addressing high capital costs for clean energy in Africa. In Europe, CATF influenced the EU's 2040 climate targets and the Net Zero Industry Act, while continuing state-level implementation of federal funding in the U.S.

Earthjustice reports a series of legal victories in 2024, including a landmark settlement to decarbonize Hawaii's transportation system by 2045, the cessation of coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, and a historic Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling requiring Peru to remediate lead pollution in La Oroya. The organization also secured wins against cryptomining operations in New York, fossil fuel infrastructure expansion in New Jersey, and the loss of wetlands protections following the U.S. Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA decision, notably helping Colorado pass legislation to reinstate wetland protections in May 2024. Additionally, the report highlights efforts to regulate PFAS in plastic containers, limit lead wheel weights, and protect endangered species such as the Cook Inlet beluga whale and Pacific sardine.

The document introduces energy parks as a strategy to meet rising electricity demand by integrating wind, solar, and storage with co-located loads like hydrogen electrolyzers and data centers. It outlines the evolution from simple solar farms to complex hybrids and identifies key barriers, including interconnection queues and utility monopolies. The authors propose a 'digital resource' paradigm shift and new state legal frameworks to enable these projects.

The report examines a range of legislative and regulatory efforts to address private equity's role in the US healthcare system, highlighting a shift toward increased oversight of mergers and acquisitions at the state level. It details successful laws in Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico, and New York, while noting failures in states like California and Massachusetts. Federally, it discusses proposed acts to penalize corporate looting and increase transparency, alongside CMS rules on staffing and spending. The document also tracks antitrust and fraud enforcement actions and concludes with policy recommendations to curb financialization through stricter transparency, debt limits, and joint liability.

The article examines the impact of private equity ownership on US hospitals, specifically detailing how leveraged buyouts, dividend recapitalizations, and sale-leaseback transactions with real estate investment trusts (REITs) drain resources from healthcare operations. Using Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings as primary examples, the author illustrates how these financial tactics lead to understaffing, reduced quality of care, and bankruptcy. The document calls for increased state and federal regulation, including joint liability for private equity firms and restrictions on debt-funded dividends, alongside healthcare worker organizing.

The report identifies approximately 900 private equity-owned healthcare locations in the Greater Philadelphia area, with significant concentrations in physical therapy, behavioral health, dental care, and home health services. It argues that private equity's 'roll-up' strategies and debt-funded dividend extractions increase the risk of bankruptcy, reduce quality of care, and drive up costs for patients. The document details specific local examples, such as the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital and the financial decline of Crozer Health, while calling for increased federal and state regulatory oversight of healthcare acquisitions.

Representative Chrissy Houlahan issued a statement in the Congressional Record congratulating the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) on its 40th anniversary. She highlights EESI's role as a nonpartisan partner to the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, providing science-based resources on topics such as carbon sequestration, natural climate solutions, and the Farm Bill to help policymakers develop durable climate legislation.