Brian Eckhouse

Deep Freeze and Drought Are Fueling a Massive Florida Wildfire An area larger than Manhattan is on fire near the Everglades, sending plumes of smoke swirling across southern Florida.

First ice, then fire: A big blaze at the edge of Florida's Everglades ecosystem has its roots in a recent deep-freeze event, compounded by extensive drought. Gift link 🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

From California to Texas, electric utilities are struggling to manage mounting fire risk in a warming climate. They are spending more than ever before on lawsuits and settlements, as well as on preventative measures, such as undergrounding lines. 1/5

US Climate Forecaster to Be Absorbed in Weather Agency Reshuffle The US climate forecasting service will be absorbed into other federal departments as part of a re-organization announced to staff Thursday.

Scoop: The Climate Prediction Center is being folded into other agencies overseen by the National Weather Service

The change follows moves by the Trump administration to dismantle climate science programs

By @weathersullivan.bsky.social & @laurenthal.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AI Lost Out to Traditional Models in Forecasting NYC's Blizzard Two days before New York's biggest snowstorm in a decade began, forecasters were still unsure how much snow would fall. One traditional US model had consistently predicted a major hit, while newer art...

Why wasn't AI more helpful in predicting this week's giant snowstorm for New York and much of the Northeast? As one scientist put it, "there’s no perfect model yet -- that's the problem." Gift link 🔗

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US Clean Energy Deals Face Financing Risk as Big Banks Hold Back JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are among leading investment banks hesitating to provide a critical source of financing for US renewables projects.

New from me: Big investment banks are hesitant to offer so-called tax-equity financing to wind, solar and battery projects because of uncertainty over new restrictions on ownership ties to China. It's obstacle for the US renewable industry.

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

By @michellema.bsky.social @laurenthal.bsky.social

By @mchediak.bsky.social

One Year After LA Fires, Recovery Is a Battleground The price tag for the costliest blazes in US history is still climbing and disputes over who will pay are escalating.

A year after the LA wildfires, the price tag for the costliest blazes in US history is still climbing. Who pays is uncertain.

Our story on how risk and damage have spread beyond burned neighborhoods and the fight to limit losses and shift liability: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Update: As it turns out, the meeting is not currently happening

bsky.app/profile/did:...

Cajun Navy groups may raise a few million dollars in a good year, collectively. As President Trump weighs major changes to FEMA - like shutting it down - some leaders say they wouldn't be able to replace it. Or simply aren't interested.

As one put it: "We don't want to end up sucking like them."

A DHS spokesperson said workers who publicly signed the Katrina Declaration "were wrongly and without authorization reinstated by bureaucrats acting outside their authority."

As one whistleblower lawyer put it: "I've never seen a retraction on a retraction like this."

Story w/ @zhirji.bsky.social

FEMA Puts Whistleblowers on Leave Shortly After Reinstating Them Days after reinstating a group of Federal Emergency Management Agency employees who raised concerns about the government’s disaster preparedness, federal officials have placed those whistleblowers bac...

In a reversal from this morning, FEMA puts whistleblowers back on leave after reinstating them

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Massive Wildfire Liabilities Push Utilities to Use AI to Stop Blazes Power companies are turning to tech firms that can spot fragile trees and map high-risk areas before fires start.

PG&E, National Grid and other big utilities are using AI models to pick out relatively cheap, targeted fixes that cut the risk of sparking a deadly fire -- think individual poles to replace and trees to trim back. Story w/ @joewertz.bsky.social (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Tesla Co-Founder Straubel’s Battery Startup Redwood Fires Dozens Tesla Inc. co-founder JB Straubel’s battery recycling firm Redwood Materials Inc. cut dozens of jobs as the startup scales back some of its ambitious projects to refocus on tapping into demand for gri...

Scoop: Tesla co-founder JB Straubel's battery recycling firm Redwood Materials laid off dozens of staff, as the company shifts its focus to energy storage and critical minerals. This comes a month after Redwood raised $350 million for an over $6 billion valuation. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

FEMA Chief Resigns After Six Months, Criticism Over Floods The Trump administration’s top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, David Richardson, resigned on Monday after about six months on the job.

Outgoing FEMA leader David Richardson told @bloomberg.com he "agreed to be the acting administrator through hurricane season when others wouldn’t." As season ends, "I can now leave for other opportunities." From @zhirji.bsky.social, Myles Miller + me: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Data Centers in Nvidia’s Hometown Stand Empty Awaiting Power The fate of two facilities in Santa Clara, California, highlights a major challenge for the US tech sector and indeed the wider economy.

Two of the world’s biggest data center developers have projects in Nvidia's hometown that may sit empty for years because the local utility isn’t ready to supply electricity.

We called the developers and utility in question to find out why: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Jamaica’s Grid Was Not Ready for Hurricane Melissa The massive storm underscores the challenges in keeping up with the quickening pace of climate change.

After Hurricane Beryl devastated Jamaica’s grid last year, officials at the island’s sole utility vowed to fortify it. But the company’s initiatives were only in the planning + early implementation stages when Hurricane Melissa hit.

Story @bloomberg.com, gift link:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Rocket Tech Is Poised to Generate Clean Power for Data Centers Founded by SpaceX alumni, Arbor Energy’s technology runs on natural gas and uses carbon capture.

Arbor Energy was founded as a carbon removal company that uses waste biomass to create electricity and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Now, the company is pivoting to generating carbon-free electricity with natural gas, supported by a $55M Series A.

Our story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Deadly Alaska Storm Hit After a Month of Wider Forecast Errors Scientists say outages at federal monitoring sites in the state may have contributed to confusion over the storm’s predicted track.

NEW: Weather models were performing worse ahead of a devastating storm in Alaska compared to a year ago. As one scientist @ecmwf.int put it, "the fact that all the models mis-captured this event tells us something." From me + @joewertz.bsky.social (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

GAS TURBINE SHORTAGE 🚨⚡

Orders for turbines for natural gas power plants are vastly outpacing supply, threatening the world’s ability to keep pace with rising electricity demand

🧵 Thread on how we got here and what it means for power-hungry nations

www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Trump Set to Cancel West Coast Hydrogen Hubs Amid Shutdown Fight The Trump administration is planning to cancel billions of dollars earmarked for hydrogen projects in California and the Pacific Northwest as part of its first tranche of funding cuts following the go...

SCOOP: The Trump administration canceling billions of dollars earmarked for hydrogen projects in California and the Pacific Northwest as it seeks to pressure Democrats in shutdown fight.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Commodities Editor and Calgary Bureau Chief

We're hiring:

bloomberg.avature.net/careers/Publ...

By @michellema.bsky.social

Nations Rethink Plans for Brazil Climate Summit as Costs Soar The countries most vulnerable to climate change face a dearth of rooms and steep rates to attend the COP30 meeting in the Amazon.

Barely a month before COP30, the main topic remains "logistics". There's barely been any discussion about what the US, which is set to leave Paris Agreement in January, will be doing to make negotiations harder.

🎁 link www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AI-Powered Model Gives Energy Traders Hourly Forecasts Seven Months Out The tool from tech firm Amperon provides a more granular look at the weather and its impact on power markets.

Utilities + traders are "craving" more detailed forecasts as power demand gets harder and harder to predict. Using AI, a tech firm is pushing to predict swings in weather - down to the hour - months in advance.

Story with @naurtorious.bsky.social (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Drought Gripping the US Northeast, NYC Raises Fears of Autumn Wildfires Waterways and wells are running dry in parts of New England and trees in New York City are already shedding their leaves as a late-summer drought engulfs the US Northeast, raising the risk of wildfire...

It's officially fall! And more than 80% of the Northeast is in drought or teetering on the edge of it. Why that's cause for concern: (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Drought Gripping the US Northeast, NYC Raises Fears of Autumn Wildfires Waterways and wells are running dry in parts of New England and trees in New York City are already shedding their leaves as a late-summer drought engulfs the US Northeast, raising the risk of wildfire...

More than 80% of the region is now abnormally dry or in drought, compared to just 11% this time last September. Some parts of the Northeast have gone weeks without significant rains — akin to conditions less than a year ago that led to a historic outbreak of brush fires.

By @laurenthal.bsky.social

Trump Is Dismantling Climate Science at a Dangerous Pace The White House has blocked efforts to measure, respond to and fight global warming. That puts all Americans at risk.

🚨Hot off the press🔥
LIGHTS OUT
How Trump's war on climate science is weakening the US

A feature about the White House's "cluster-bomb approach" to dismantling the world's most sophisticated scientific apparatus. By @zhirji.bsky.social @blkahn.bsky.social and me

🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Trump’s Ex-FEMA Chief Says Killing Agency Puts Public at ‘Extreme Risk’ Cameron Hamilton’s tenure was short and marked by a struggle over the agency’s future.

Trump's ex-FEMA chief Cameron Hamilton speaks out against push to abolish the agency.

“I cannot get behind this position that abolishing FEMA is the answer,” Hamilton said on Disaster Tough podcast, calling such a move "an extreme risk" to the American people.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Soaring Power Bills in Largest US Grid Pose Risk for Republicans Surging utility bills in key battleground states are threatening to become a political liability for Republicans heading into upcoming elections.

Surging utility bills in key battleground states are threatening to become a political liability for Republicans heading into upcoming elections.

🎁 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...