Author: Alex Tabibi

Texas Is Heating Up: Why the Lone Star State Is the Next Geothermal Giant Somewhere outside Pecos, where the desert hums quietly and the horizon barely blinks, a crew drills deep into the earth. But it’s not oil they’re after this time, but heat — steady, renewable heat that could power homes, charge electric vehicles, and keep Texas running cleanly long after fossil fuels fade. For a state known as the heartbeat of America’s oil and gas industry, that shift might sound surprising. Yet Texas is quickly becoming a hotspot for one of the planet’s oldest—and most dependable—energy sources: geothermal.…

Congestion pricing — the idea that drivers should pay to enter the most crowded parts of a city — is often portrayed as a radical new experiment but in reality, it is the product of more than a century of thinking about how to manage scarce urban space, dating back to the dawn of the automobile age. The concept first appeared in economic theory in the early 20th century. British economist Arthur Pigou argued in the 1920s that road users impose hidden “social costs” on everyone else by creating congestion, delays, pollution, and accidents. If those costs were reflected in…

How Cheap Renewable Energy is Finally Flattening Emissions Every time we turn on a light, charge our phone, or drive to work, we rely on energy captured long ago from the sun — fossil fuels that were once living organisms, now burned (in my opinion wasted) to power our world. But that era is beginning to fade with humanity making a historic transition from ancient solar energy stored in coal, oil, and gas to current solar energy that shines on us each day and produces the winds and climate that allow for wind, geothermal, hydropower and waves to power humans…

Global Solar Additions to Fall for First Time in 2026 For many years now we have seen consecutively larger increases in the solar additions but it looks like this is coming to an end (halt?). Introduction to BNEF’s Solar Forecast BloombergNEF (BNEF) has long been one of the most trusted names in clean energy research, tracking how renewables reshape the global energy system and when their analysts speak, investors, policymakers, and sustainability leaders usually lean in. So when BNEF recently projected that global solar additions will decline in 2026 — the first drop in years — it raised both eyebrows…

Why We Must Urgently Target Methane In the 1980s, the world faced a terrifying scientific revelation — a gaping hole in the ozone layer, the atmospheric shield that protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays. Fast forward four decades, and a new invisible threat is intensifying: methane. It’s colorless, odorless, and, in climate terms, dangerously potent. Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados has called this our next global wake-up call — another “ozone layer moment.” The message? We must act swiftly, or the damage will become irreversible. Understanding Methane: A Critical Greenhouse Gas Carbon dioxide often steals the spotlight in climate…

Green Stocks Are Big Winners as Tech Boom Drives Energy Demand Introduction to Green Stocks and Their Rise in Popularity A few years ago, investing in green stocks might have seemed like a niche pursuit — the kind of play reserved for idealists or early adopters. Today, they’re among the market’s brightest stars. Green stocks, broadly speaking, represent companies advancing renewable energy, sustainable technology, electric vehicles, and cleaner industrial processes – like firms building solar panels, producing wind turbines, or developing new battery chemistries. Over the past decade, growing awareness of climate change, supportive government policies, and let’s face…

Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Order Halting Wind Energy Projects A federal judge has struck down former President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to pause wind energy development on federal lands and waters — marking a decisive win for renewable energy advocates and state governments fighting to uphold their clean energy investments. The ruling underscores the growing tension between political efforts to roll back green infrastructure and the momentum of America’s renewable transition. A Legal Blow to Trump’s Anti-Wind Agenda On Monday, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s January 20th order, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and…

Synthetic Chemicals in the Food System A statistic that always haunts me is that in the EU there ae about 400 chemical additives and preservatives while in the US that number is 10,000 – a staggering number. Not long ago to me “processed food” simply meant something like canned beans or frozen peas. But today, it’s a different story with our food system is steeped in synthetic chemicals — from fertilizers that boost crop yields to preservatives that stretch shelf life and colorants that make snacks glow like neon signs. These are lab-made substances designed to improve flavor, texture, and…

AI’s Water and Electricity Usage: Separating Truth from Myth Artificial intelligence has become one of the most transformative forces of our time, reshaping industries and influencing daily life. But as AI models like ChatGPT and others have grown in scale, a pressing question has emerged: what is their real environmental footprint? Specifically, how much water and electricity does AI actually use — and how much of what we hear is misleading? The conversation around AI’s resource consumption is complicated, and it’s easy for numbers to be twisted in ways that sound alarming or trivial depending on the storyteller. At the…

Your Brain Is Plastic(s): How Nanoplastics Are Quietly Rewiring Humanity When we talk about the threats facing the planet, climate change tends to dominate the conversation with rising seas, wildfires, and vanishing biodiversity command headlines. Yet, beneath this global crisis is another — quieter, microscopic, and disturbingly rapidly increasing invasion of nanoplastics into the very tissues that define our humanity — our brains. Recent research has revealed something astonishing: the human brain, that intricate organ of memory and emotion, now contains measurable amounts of plastic. How measurable? A helluva lot more that I had ever thought conceivable. Read on…. The…

Atmos Zero: The Startup Electrifying Industrial Steam and Redefining Clean Manufacturing When most people think about electrification, they picture cars, homes, and gadgets running on clean electricity. But there’s a less visible player behind every manufactured good — industrial steam. From brewing beer to making chemicals, steam is the lifeblood of factories worldwide. And until recently, producing it without burning fossil fuels was considered nearly impossible. That’s changing fast, thanks to a Colorado-based startup called Atmos Zero. In less than four years, Atmos Zero has achieved what the industrial sector has struggled with for over a century: generating high-temperature steam…

For decades, coal has been at the heart of industrial power generation, but the emergence of low-cost, high-performance sodium batteries is setting the stage for a massive shift in global energy economics — one that could push coal’s long-standing dominance closer to extinction. As costs plunge and new projects scale up, sodium-based energy storage is emerging as a game-changing technology that complements wind and solar power, while accelerating the decline of fossil fuels. To ensure a sustainable transition, understanding the role of government policy can be pivotal in shaping recycling habits and energy policies. The End of Coal’s Comeback In…

Some good news is welcome for a change. In a groundbreaking move for marine conservation, nations worldwide have ratified the first-ever global treaty aimed at protecting ocean life. This monumental agreement seeks to combat the severe biodiversity loss and environmental degradation that threaten marine ecosystems. We finally have – through collective action, countries which are now poised to collaborate on preserving the health of our oceans. Why the Treaty Matters The Earth’s oceans are crucial for maintaining ecological balance. This cannot be underestimated as they absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide, regulate weather patterns, and provide habitat for countless species.…

Australia is a country I have been following for a few years now as they have done such a good job with home solar. In fact as of May 2025, over 4.1 million solar power systems were installed on Australian homes and small businesses, representing almost 40% penetration. Now Australia – known for its vast reserves of coal and other fossil fuels (as well as iron ore etc), is stepping into the spotlight with its ambitious commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 62% by 2035. The decision underscores a pivotal shift not only within Australia’s domestic policies but also…

Unfortunately but not surprisingly more bad news for environment from the Trump Admin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration has decided to halt its efforts to track emissions from the country’s largest polluters. This decision has sparked significant concern among environmentalists and scientists, especially considering the global importance of tackling climate change. Monitoring emissions is crucial, as it allows policymakers to make informed decisions that could mitigate the effects of climate change and guide us toward a more sustainable future. Background on Emissions Monitoring Monitoring emissions involves tracking the release of greenhouse gases such as…

Understanding the Essential Role of Coral Reefs If you have had the good fortune of seeing a vibrant coral reef system let’s say ten years ago –  you should not take it for granted that they are still alive today  – or that they will be in short order. It is estimated that the oceans have absorbed as much as 90% of the energy of climate change – thus sparing us on land from even more heat that we would experience otherwise.. But the result is that below the surface finely tuned systems are suffering the significant warming of the…

Introduction to Iran’s Water Crisis This is a personal subject for me as I spent a few years in Iran as a child and I have friends who still live there and I hear their personal stories too. Today – across much of Iran, taps are running dry including in the capital, Tehran – a metropolis of 15 million people who have a sword hanging over their heads with talks of even an evacuation if rain does not come soon. Reservoirs sit low, with several at below 5% – while farmers watch as cracked earth replaces once-verdant fields, and towns…

Introduction to Global Temperature Rise Scientists released another sobering update: the world is still heading toward a 2.6°C rise in average global temperature this century. On a planetary scale, it’s enormous and in some locations the change is much greater. More importantly extreme heat events have already skyrocketed and will continue to do so – having now effectively accelerating past 1.5 degrees (which it kinda has). The difference between a livable Earth and one facing cascading environmental instability often falls within just a few degrees just like the human body. Imagine if your body is running at 2.6°C above normal.…

Facing the Heat: Understanding America’s Growing Climate Challenge As the summer sun blazes down each year, bringing with it the promise of barbecues, beach trips, and outdoor fun, there’s a darker side to this warmth that often goes unnoticed: the rising threat of extreme heat. We have all felt it – extreme heat when you start to feel bad and as if you cannot do anything to reduce your core temperature. Well, recently parts of the U.S. have experienced heat waves that are not just sweltering but sometimes deadly. The impacts of these scorching temperatures reach far beyond merely making…

Energy Policy and Fossil Fuel Promotion When you look out at the globe, you see many countries moving rapidly toward renewable sources of energy, with capacity expected to double worldwide by 2030. While this global “greenification” of energy production is often framed as a political or environmental movement, its true momentum stems from economics: solar and wind power are now among the cheapest forms of energy available, often undercutting coal and gas on price while producing far fewer emissions. Yet even as the world charts this encouraging trajectory, the second Trump administration has taken deliberate policy actions that threaten to…