South Seattle Climate Action Network

09/05/2026

Every high speed rail line ever built has drawn its electricity from a grid that somewhere up the chain burns fossil fuel to maintain baseload supply. China just broke that chain entirely across 2,800 kilometers of high speed rail network that generates its own solar power from panels integrated into stations, maintenance centers, sound barriers, rooftops, and energy facilities built along the entire route. The electricity powering the trains, the lighting, the signaling systems, and the station operations comes from infrastructure the railway already required to exist and the fossil fuel that previous rail networks accepted as an unavoidable operating input has been removed from the equation at every point the system touches.

2,800 kilometers of solar powered high speed rail is not a pilot project or a demonstration line. It is a fully operational national transport artery carrying millions of passengers annually at speeds exceeding 300 kilometers per hour powered entirely by the sun falling on the land it crosses. Every transport ministry, every rail authority, and every government still planning fossil fuel powered rail expansion received the same blueprint this week. China did not prove that solar powered high speed rail is theoretically possible. It proved it by building 2,800 kilometers of it and running trains on it today and the 1st line it completed is already the evidence that every rail network built after it has no credible reason to depend on fossil fuel for the electricity that moves its trains.

08/26/2026

AOC wants a timeout on new AI data centers. With Sen. Bernie Sanders, she introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act (H.R. 9442) — a temporary nationwide pause on building or expanding large sites until Congress sets rules for economic, environmental, and community impacts. Backers cite strained power grids, heavy water use, and higher utility bills. Critics warn it could slow innovation and hand rivals an edge.

08/16/2026

In the richest country in the history of the world, it is unacceptable that our nation’s public housing is in a state of chronic disrepair. It is unacceptable that hundreds of millions of Americans are facing the disastrous impacts of climate change while the fossil fuel industry makes huge profits. And it is unacceptable that far too many Americans are working multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their head. What the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act does is say that yes, we can create decent and affordable public housing for more than 1.5 million Americans that is based on energy efficiency and sustainable sources of power. And that when we do that, we can also create hundreds of thousands of good-paying, union jobs.

08/16/2026

Australia's solar revolution has reached its agricultural heartland — with farmers across Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria installing agrivoltaic systems that are simultaneously increasing crop yields, reducing water consumption, and generating electricity revenues that rival the income from the crops themselves.

Australian agrivoltaics differs from its European equivalents in scale and ambition. Where French or German agrivoltaic projects typically cover tens of hectares, Australian installations are advancing at hundreds to thousands of hectares — matching the scale of Australian broadacre farming. The Riverina region of New South Wales, the Darling Downs in Queensland, and the Mallee of Victoria are all seeing agrivoltaic developments that are among the largest of their type anywhere in the world.

The climatic logic is compelling in Australia's context. Australian summers regularly deliver heat stress events that reduce crop yields and livestock productivity — prolonged periods above 35 degrees Celsius that are becoming more frequent and severe with climate change. Solar panels at appropriate heights and density reduce under-panel temperatures by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius during heat events, providing thermal relief for crops, sheep, and cattle simultaneously. Woolgrowers in the Riverina report reduced heat mortality in sheep sheltering under agrivoltaic canopies during heat waves that historically caused significant flock losses.

The financial transformation is equally significant. A 2,000-hectare property generating 200 megawatts of solar alongside its existing agricultural production earns approximately $4 million annually in electricity revenue — more than the property's agricultural income in average years and a reliable income source that does not fluctuate with commodity prices or seasonal rainfall. Australian agricultural banks are beginning to offer specialised agrivoltaic financing products, recognising that the combined income stream reduces farm debt risk to levels that conventional farm finance cannot achieve.

Source: Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) / National Farmers' Federation, 2024

08/14/2026

08/11/2026

The hockey stick / exponential curve = stunningly ever faster growth of solar globally:

https://ember-energy.org/data/wind-and-solar-capacity-data-explorer/

08/11/2026

China is Using Solar-Powered Robots to Turn Deserts Green

China has deployed autonomous, solar-powered tree-planting robots across the edges of the Mu Us Desert as part of the country's Three-North Shelterbelt Program, the world's largest afforestation initiative. According to a comprehensive report by China Daily, these intelligent machines are now being used in real-world operations to help slow the spread of the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts while restoring degraded land.

Powered entirely by solar energy, the robots can operate independently in remote, off-grid deserts without fuel or electricity. Using AI, GPS, cameras, and terrain sensors, they map the landscape, identify the best planting locations, and complete the entire planting process (including loosening the soil, placing a sapling, watering the roots, covering it with sand, and compacting the soil) in just 5 seconds per tree.

The automated planting vehicles deliver major economic and productivity advantages. Each robot can perform 10 times more work than a human laborer in a single day while reducing operating costs to just 30% of traditional manual planting. Precision planting depths and immediate root watering have also improved the survival rates of drought-resistant species such as willow trees.

China's reforestation system extends beyond ground robots. Large agricultural drones work alongside the planting machines by transporting and dropping bundles of seedlings across vast sand dunes, allowing the autonomous vehicles to continue planting without relying on trucks or large human crews. This coordinated ecosystem of robots and drones enables continuous, large-scale restoration across challenging desert terrain.

China's decades-long anti-desertification efforts have already helped slow the rapid expansion of the Gobi Desert. While advanced robotics and AI are dramatically increasing the speed and efficiency of tree planting, experts emphasize that long-term success still depends on selecting native drought-resistant species, managing scarce water resources, and maintaining healthy ecosystems so newly planted forests can survive for generations.

08/11/2026

China's solar expansion is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China added more than 216 GW of new solar capacity in 2023, accounting for well over half of all global solar installations that year. By 2025, the country's total installed solar capacity had surpassed 1 terawatt (1,000 GW), making China by far the world's largest producer of solar electricity.

For Instance, China's Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park in Qinghai Province is one of the world's largest solar power facilities. Spanning more than 600 square kilometers (about 230 square miles), the project has an installed solar capacity of around 2.2 gigawatts (GW). Combined with energy storage and supporting hydropower infrastructure, it supplies enough clean electricity to power millions of homes while helping reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The enormous solar park is so large that it is easily visible in satellite images from space. Located on the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the region receives strong sunlight and has vast open land, making it ideal for utility-scale solar projects. The installation demonstrates how large renewable energy facilities can transform remote landscapes into major clean energy hubs.

The rapid growth has been driven by China's massive manufacturing industry. Chinese companies produce the majority of the world's solar panels, helping push module prices to record lows. Since 2021, global solar panel prices have fallen dramatically, with some Chinese-made modules selling for less than $0.10 per watt in 2024. Lower costs have made solar energy one of the cheapest sources of new electricity in many countries.

China's investment in large-scale solar projects and manufacturing is reshaping the global energy market. Affordable solar technology has enabled countries around the world to expand renewable energy much faster than previously possible. As governments continue investing in clean energy and electricity demand rises, China's solar industry is expected to remain a major force driving the worldwide transition toward lower-carbon power generation.

Sources:
National Energy Administration China
Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association
Bloomberg

08/05/2026

I’m leading an amicus brief to the Supreme Court with Senator Whitehouse to allow states and local communities to hold Big Oil accountable for knowingly contributing to and lying about climate change.

No immunity for Big Oil.