Policy & regulation

Guides and how-tos

What are public utility commissions? A beginner's guide

Utility regulators hold the keys to the transition from fossil fuels. Here's how to engage with the clean-energy gatekeepers you've never heard of.

By Julian Spector . 12 October 2022
Air travel

193 countries pledge to slash air-travel emissions by 2050

It's the first international agreement of its kind for the hard-to-decarbonize aviation industry, but critics say the nonbinding target lacks teeth.

By Maria Gallucci . 10 October 2022
Guest essay

Big Steel starts prepping for a net-zero world

Key players involved in global steel — from major mills to big steel buyers to industry financiers — gathered in Pittsburgh to plot the industry’s low-carbon future.

By Adam Aston . 7 October 2022
Wind

Oil, gas or wind: What produces more energy per offshore acre?

Canary's chart of the week highlights some drastic differences in the amount of energy produced from a single leased offshore acre.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 7 October 2022
Batteries

Hawaii is paying home-battery owners to help the grid. How's that going?

Hawaii's main utility reached a deal with pro-solar groups to reward households for sharing their clean energy. We check in on the results at the six-month mark.

By Julian Spector . 6 October 2022
Just transition

The best policies to help coal towns weather the switch to renewables

A new report singles out Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico as trailblazers in just-transition laws. Could fossil strongholds Wyoming and West Virginia follow suit?

By Alison F. Takemura . 3 October 2022
Clean energy

Chart: Clean energy jobs still lag dirty ones, but they're growing fast

The U.S. had more than 600,000 jobs in carbon-free electricity and fuels in 2021. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, it’s poised to add millions more.

By Shel Evergreen . 30 September 2022
Marine transport

Zero-emissions cargo shipping catches on in cities and port communities

Los Angeles and Long Beach are now joined by Minneapolis, home to retail giant Target, in asking importers to slash all shipping emissions by 2030.

By Joseph Winters . 26 September 2022
Transmission

Manchin's permitting-reform bill splits Dems, pro-renewables groups

The transmission-buildout process is broken — but is the chance to fix it worth the perks and giveaways to the fossil industry?

By Jeff St. John . 23 September 2022
Emissions reduction

Chart: Net-zero targets have gone global — but how meaningful are they?

National pledges to cut emissions to zero now cover 91% of the global economy, but many of them are too vague and reliant on offsets and carbon removal.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 23 September 2022