New research charts out how improvements in aquaculture and sustainable fishing could significantly increase food production from the sea by midcentury.
Why it matters: Global demand for food and particularly protein is projected to rise in step with human population growth. With little new land available to be sustainably opened for farming, our best bet may be the oceans — provided we can better manage that resource.
The global rate of materials extraction is "unsustainable" and there's a need to untether economic growth from consumption, per a new public report from the consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
Why it matters: It argues major industries should embark on a "materials transition" — a phrase akin to the now-common term "energy transition" used to describe movement toward climate-friendly sources.
President Trump is trying to use California’s electricity woes as a political cudgel against Democrats nationwide heading into the election, blaming Democrats for rolling blackouts in recent days.
Reality check: The nonprofit California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid, is not a political entity.
A Morgan Stanley note Tuesday pegged the value of General Motor's nascent electric vehicle business at $20 billion, a tally well above the firm's assessment of GM's core gasoline-powered lines.
Why it matters: It signals analysts' view that revenues from electric vehicles and battery tech are going to be a big thing despite what's now a tiny market share, but it's unclear who the long-term winners will be.
Occidental Petroleum has teamed up with Rusheen Capital Management to advance plans by Canada-based Carbon Engineering to build a direct air capture plant in the Permian Basin — and eventually facilities elsewhere, too.
Why it matters: It's a step toward building a plant that the companies say would be the world's largest direct air capture (DAC) facility, with the capacity to remove up to 1 million metric tons of atmospheric CO2 annually.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency Tuesday to address multiple wildfires that are scorching the state during an extreme heat wave.
Why it matters: At least 30 wildfires are currently ablaze across California. Nearly a dozen of the fires started over the past two days thanks to excessive heat and lightning from a tropical storm system in the Pacific Ocean, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Newly releaseddata from the Transportation Security Administration show that U.S. air travel is slowly coming back but remains nowhere near pre-pandemic levels.
Why it matters: The massive global drop-off in air travel is one major reason why oil demand has fallen so much this year.
California on Monday avoided a repeat of the rolling blackouts imposed last weekend, as the state's grid operator cited lower temperatures and conservation.
Where it stands: The state is nowhere near out of the woods in the near term, and certainly not in the long term as officials scramble to shore up the grid against heat and wildfire threats. The California Independent System Operator's current "flex alert"calls for conservation steps and warns of outages remains in effect through Wednesday.
The decadeslong fight over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is nowhere near over, despite the Interior Department taking a big step Monday toward allowing development.
Catch up quick: The Interior Department issued a final plan — called a record of decision (ROD) — to allow exploration in the refuge's 1.6-million-acre coastal plain.
