Fwd: White House renews attacks on climate science

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Loretta Lohman

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Jun 5, 2026, 1:14:34 PM (5 days ago) Jun 5

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Good morning. The Trump administration has renewed its attacks on climate scientists – though it’s running into opposition.

On Monday, a federal judge temporarily blocked a key component of the administration’s plan to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR. The center, as Bob Henson wrote in January, is “a premier national and global hub for weather, water, and climate-related research.”

Project 2025 architect and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought vowed in December to break up NCAR, describing it as one of the “largest sources of climate alarmism.”

But Senior U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson ruled this week that the administration’s actions may have been motivated by retribution over the imprisonment of Colorado election official Tina Peters, who was convicted on charges related to interfering with the 2020 election. Peters was released from prison this week after Democratic Gov. Jared Polis commuted her sentence.

Also on Monday, the Trump administration said it would rip out an ocean monitoring system that had been expected to continue operating for another 15 years. One station in the system “has been key to understanding changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a global conveyor belt of water that some scientists are concerned may be weakening as a result of climate warming,” The New York Times reported (gift link). (If you’re wondering just how scared you should be about a potential collapse of this vast loop of ocean water, we’ve got you covered here.)

Vought is also leading a White House effort to place federal grants under the control of political appointees rather than subject-matter experts who evaluate grant proposals on their merits. “Another way to put it is that it purports to end the current system which Congress created, in which the federal government provides funding for the sciences and medical research,” Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo wrote this week. “Instead, it makes the entire apparatus into a kind of political patronage system, with any research or research institutions liable to be immediately cut off if they offend the current occupant of the White House.”

Opponents of the change have said it is sure to be challenged in court.

Finally, a tidbit from April: A Chinese EV automaker has secured a patent for a voice-activated in-vehicle toilet concealed underneath a passenger seat. As Autoblog noted, there’s no guarantee that the toilet-car combo will ever be commercially available, especially given the inherent social hurdles: “Using a toilet inside a car – especially a silent EV – brings a whole new level of awkward.”

– Sara Peach, Editor-in-Chief

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How ‘balcony solar’ could help fight rising utility costs

Ben Tracy at our partner Climate Central reports:

If you feel like your electricity bill just keeps climbing, you aren’t imagining it. Since 2020, U.S. residential energy prices have surged by about 30%, making power the largest household energy expense behind gasoline, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But for residents like Alex Curtis, the days of feeling powerless against rising costs are coming to an end. Curtis is waging a war on his electric bill, and his new weapon of choice is a lightweight, thin-film solar panel.

“Oh, it’s super light too,” Curtis remarked as he unboxed the kit on the balcony of his condo in Sunnyvale, California. It weighs just about 10 pounds.

The ‘plug-and-play’ revolution

Unlike traditional rooftop solar, which requires thousands of dollars in upfront costs, specialized mounting hardware, and professional electricians, this system is designed for the everyday consumer. It’s a $400 kit from Bright Saver, a non-profit advocating for “plug-and-play” solar that works for renters and homeowners alike.

The setup is deceptively simple: You hang the panel on a balcony or prop it up in a backyard and plug it directly into a standard wall outlet.

“I did some rough math and this might save me like $30 to $50 a month,” Curtis said.

The magic happens behind the scenes. Once plugged in, a small inverter syncs the solar energy with the home’s existing electrical infrastructure. It took about 15 minutes to get it all set up. Bright Saver’s Rupert Mayer then pointed to a light on the inverter: “Ah, here it is, it’s blue.”

“This is it. Easy,” Curtis replied. Within minutes, he was generating his own clean energy. He estimates it will be enough to power an appliance like his refrigerator.

Cora Stryker, co-founder of Bright Saver, believes this technology is key to democratizing the green energy transition. It not only cuts an individual’s planet-warming pollution but also their electric bill.

“Clean energy actually is the cheapest form of energy around,” Stryker said, “and we the consumers should be benefiting from that.”

While these panels won’t take a home entirely off the grid, Stryker says the units can trim monthly costs by 10% to 25% depending on how many panels a user installs. More savings can be had if the panels are paired with batteries that can store excess solar energy.

“They cover a part of your energy bill and then you do need to draw the rest from the grid as you do now,” Stryker explained.

While the technology is just gaining a foothold in the U.S., it is already a cultural phenomenon in Europe. In Germany, these systems are so common they have a specific name: Balkonkraftwerk, or “balcony power plant.”

An estimated 4 million balcony solar units are currently installed in Germany. The U.S., however, has been slower to adopt the tech, largely due to a patchwork of utility regulations and bureaucratic red tape. Utilities in some states have pushed back against the use of these systems citing potential hazards to the safety of the grid and line workers.

“And that is patently ridiculous for these little systems,” Stryker said. “Those laws were intended for rooftop systems five to 20 times as large.”

A changing legal landscape

The tide is quickly turning. In 2025, Utah became the first state to officially authorize plug-in solar. Overall, 34 states and Washington, D.C., have introduced legislation to allow for use of the technology. It has passed in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Virginia. [Sara's note: New York's legislature approved a balcony solar bill last week.]

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