Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

Maine judge quashes Hydro-Quebec power line plan for now

Dec 17, 2021
The transmission line, in the works for years, would start in Quebec and bring hydro power through Maine to Massachusetts.
A view of Hydro-Quebec's Romaine 4 hydroelectric dam floor in the Côte-Nord Administrative Region of Quebec, Canada, on Oct. 5, 2018. Hydro-Quebec's plans for a hydro energy transmission line that would run through Maine into Massachusetts were put on hold by a judge.
LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images

Oil supply may finally catch up with demand. But what about emissions?

Dec 14, 2021
There's a disconnect between the ongoing demand for fossil fuels and White House messaging about reaching net-zero emissions.
Despite wanting and needing to reduce oil consumption, many countries are still largely fossil-fuel dependent. Above: An oil refinery operates in Houston, Texas.
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

The first great shock of the energy transition

Nov 4, 2021
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, editor at The Economist, on what energy shortages and rising fuel prices mean for the transition to clean energy.
An aerial view of a crude oil storage facility is seen on May 5, 2020 in Cushing, Oklahoma. Rising demand for crude oil along with rising gas prices has led to an "energy shock" as the world attempts to transition to clean energy.
Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Solar panels are shown in Dry Lake Valley, Nevada, in June 2021. Investments in clean energy would both help countries minimize average global temperature increases and make clean energy rival the oil market.
Ethan Miller via Getty Images

Infrastructure bill carries funding potential for clean energy

Aug 2, 2021
Federal money could be set aside for electric vehicles and charging stations. The solar industry, however, still has questions.
A new electric vehicle charging station is seen near San Francisco city hall.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Biden's pitch: tackling climate change will create lots of jobs

Apr 23, 2021
But will it create them where oil and coal jobs have been lost?
"A solar job being created in California does not replace a coal economy job in eastern Kentucky," said one expert.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Costs are falling for renewable energy stored in batteries

Jan 29, 2019
Battery storage is getting to houses through electrical lines, maybe even yours.
"We're talking about about 80-85 percent cost reduction over the past decade for battery storage [of renewable energy]," said Ravi Manghani, director of energy storage at energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

As Trump talks coal revival, China seeks props on the fuel's decline

Feb 28, 2017
We now have three years of data points on where China’s coal and carbon emissions are heading: downward. It may have to do with China’s economy becoming less energy-intensive as it moves away from infrastructure and heavy industry. It may also have something to do with policy. Beijing has shuttered coal plants already in construction. […]

Why Bill Gates thinks alternative energy research has bipartisan support

Dec 13, 2016
Gates also spoke to us about the future of energy innovation and clean tech.
Bill Gates speaks during Forbes' Philanthropy Summit Awards dinner last year in New York City.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Bill Gates on getting billionaires behind clean energy

Feb 23, 2016
The tech giant says "ruthless" private business thinking is necessary for energy innovation.
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, directed his attention towards 15-year-olds in his annual letter to followers of the foundation.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images