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Aditi
Bhandari, Eva Xiao and Kenza
Bryan, Financial Times
More
than half of the US is in
drought “as extreme heat and a
persistent lack of rain and
snow raise the spectre of
water shortages and fire risk,
while scientists forecast the
return of the El Niño warming
cycle”, reports the Financial
Times. The newspaper adds:
“Early spring temperatures
have been at near-record
levels in parts of the
northern hemisphere, and the
naturally occurring Pacific
Ocean warming cycle could
intensify the heat driven by
climate change in the second
half of the year. The global
average temperature for March
was 1.48C above preindustrial
levels, the European Earth
observation service Copernicus
reported on Friday. Arctic sea
ice was at its lowest extent
on record for March, while sea
surface temperatures
approached historic
highs…Stoked by high
temperatures and dry
conditions since the start of
the year, swaths of land
across the US Midwest have
already burnt in wildfires.”
The FT quotes Carlo Buontempo,
director of the Copernicus
Climate Change Service,
saying: “Each figure is
striking on its own –
together, they paint a picture
of a climate system under
sustained and accelerating
pressure.”
MORE
ON US
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The
EPA on Thursday “proposed
weakened rules governing
the safe disposal of ash
produced by burning coal”,
a Biden-era rule aimed at
curbing coal pollution,
says the Guardian.
-
Volkswagen
on Thursday announced that
it will this month end its
electric car production at
its Tennessee factory to
“focus on manufacturing a
large, gasoline-powered
sport utility vehicle”,
reports the New York Times.
-
The
New York Times
and Politico
both have features from
the gathering in
Washington of
“once-fringe”
climate-sceptic lobbyists,
where Environmental
Protection Agency chief
Lee Zeldin appeared as a
keynote speaker on
Wednesday.
Liv
McMahon and Zoe Kleinman,
BBC News
There
is widespread coverage in the
UK of the news that
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is
“pausing” a
multi-billion-pound
data-centre project, “citing
concerns about high energy
costs and regulation”,
according to BBC News. The
“Stargate UK” project included
a large data centre in
north-east England and “making
thousands of powerful chips
for AI development available
as part of a partnership with
tech firms Nvidia and Nscale”,
according to the broadcaster.
The Financial Times
says that the decision to put
the project on hold “marks the
latest shift in OpenAI’s
investment strategy, despite
completing a record $122bn
fundraising just last month”.
The newspaper continues: “In
recent weeks, OpenAI has also
scaled back its commitments to
its flagship Stargate data
centre in Abilene, Texas, and
shut down its AI video app,
Sora, as it seeks to refocus
resources on competing with
Anthropic and a resurgent
Google.” The FT adds that
“OpenAI said concerns about
the UK government’s AI policy,
in particular a decision to
delay contentious changes that
would have made it easier for
AI companies to include
copyrighted content in their
training data, contributed to
the delay” and that it remains
committed to expanding its
projects in London.
Right-leaning
outlets misuse the story to
continue to push their
anti-net-zero narratives. The
Daily Mail
runs a frontpage titled: “Ed
Miliband's 'mad dash' to
net-zero is blamed for OpenAI
shelving a multi-billion-pound
investment into Britain”,
which quotes a Tory business
spokesperson claiming:
“Miliband's suicidal energy
policy has just cost us
another huge investment.” On
Twitter, shadow energy
secretary Claire Coutinho
claims the UK has “lost our
share” of the project because
of “our insane energy prices”.
There is further coverage of
the story in the Times, Daily Telegraph,
Guardian
and Bloomberg.
Elsewhere
in the UK, several
publications cover a new
report from the Tony Blair
Institute, the thinktank
fronted by the former UK prime
minister, calling for the
government to approve the
Jackdaw and Rosebank
oil-and-gas fields. The Independent
notes that the institute has
previously called for the
government to expand North Sea
drilling in the past and cited
the energy crisis to reiterate
this message. There is further
coverage in the Daily Mail,
Daily Express,
Times and Daily Telegraph.
[See Carbon Brief’s
factcheck of “nine false or
misleading myths about North
Sea oil and gas”.]
MORE
ON UK
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Financial Times:
“North Sea oil prices hit
record high as Iran keeps
hold over Strait of
Hormuz.”
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The
UK has broken its record
for solar generation twice
in the last week, says BusinessGreen.
-
A
Somerset factory due to
supply batteries to make
electric Range Rovers and
Jaguars is to receive a
£380m government grant,
says the Guardian.
-
Financial Times:
“Chinese carmakers double
share of UK market in
March.”
-
The
Times:
“Green investors face 50%
losses as eco fund winds
down.”
-
Byline Times
reports on former coal
sites being turned into
“renewable power houses”.
Yicai
The
two largest grid operators in
China invested a combined
$24.5bn in the country’s
electricity grid in the first
quarter of 2026, reports
business news outlet Yicai.
The outlet adds that
investment from the two power
distributors, State Grid and
China Southern Power Grid,
increased by around 37% and
50%, respectively. State Grid
said first-quarter spending on
new energy grid-connection
projects rose more than 50%
year-on-year, which ensures
that “electricity from big
solar and wind projects can be
connected to the grid and
absorbed in time”. Wan
Jinsong, deputy director of
the National Energy
Administration (NEA),
has called for maintaining the
“positive momentum” of
investment growth in the “new energy”
sector during a meeting,
reports energy news outlet International
Energy Net.
MORE
ON CHINA
-
China’s
new energy
vehicle (NEV)
exports jumped 140% in
March from a year ago as
the war in Iran “renewed
interest” in NEVs,
reports Bloomberg.
-
China
has completed the 1-GW
solar project in Laos, one
of Southeast Asia’s
largest projects, reports
the South China
Morning Post. Guancha
also covers the story.
-
China
is considering “financial
relief” for its struggling
state-run airlines as the
war in the Middle East
“sends fuel costs
soaring”, reports Bloomberg.
-
The
University of Oxford’s
Amir Lebdioui tells Global Times
that China has been
“successful” at
integrating “green goals”
into industrial
strategies.
-
The
MEE has
announced several new
engineering technology
centres, including one
focused on low-carbon
utilisation of coal,
reports BJX News.
Damian
Carrington, The Guardian
The
“mass drowning of emperor
penguin chicks as sea ice is
melted by the climate crisis”
has led the International
Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) to declare the
species officially in danger
of extinction, reports the
Guardian. It continues:
“Emperor penguins rely on
‘fast’ ice – sea ice that is
firmly attached to the coast –
for nine months of the year.
It is where their fluffy
chicks are hatched and grow
until they have their
waterproof feathers. Adults
moult every year and also need
a safe haven while their
swimming feathers regrow.
However, global heating has
led to record lows in
Antarctic sea ice since 2016.
When sea ice breaks up early,
entire colonies can fall into
the ocean, leaving the chicks
to drown. Even if some
penguins escape the water,
they are soaked and will
freeze to death. Four of the
five known emperor penguin
breeding sites in the
Bellingshausen Sea collapsed
in 2022, with the loss of
thousands of chicks. Another
colony in the Weddell Sea
collapsed in 2016. Researchers
called the catastrophes ‘grim’
and ‘extraordinarily
distressing’.” There is
further coverage in theWashington Post,
USA Today,
Times, Daily Telegraph
and Press
Association.
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