Unpacking New York State’s Rollback of its Landmark Climate Law
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On May 26, as part of the FY 2026-27 budget, New York State enacted significant revisions to its 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA or Act). The amendments amount to a substantial rollback of the Act’s ambition. Annual temperature change in New York from 1895-2023. Source: earthstrips.org For the last seven years, the […]
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DeBriefed 5 June 2026: UK eyes 2040 emissions cut | US ‘dismantling’ oceans research | China’s solar slump
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week UK proposes new emissions target ‘ON COURSE’: The UK government has proposed reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to 87% below 1990 levels by 2040, reported the Associated Press. The newswire cited scientists saying that the goal […]
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Chart: Why China’s solar boom is slowing down
Solar power has been a major element of China’s renewables buildout since the mid-2010s. The country installed 315 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in 2025, adding more than half of all new solar globally. The year before, it added 277GW. But the picture in 2026 to date is very different. Installations in March fell 56% […]
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PATH to boost AI training and career opportunities for industry-aligned jobs
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MIT, in collaboration with Georgia State University and a growing network of educational institutions, has announced expanded work under PATH (Pathways for AI Training and Hiring) — a multiyear initiative designed to scale effective, affordable, industry-aligned AI training for entry-level and current workers, with a particular focus on transforming community colleges into engines powering an […]
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NSF renews support for MIT-led AI and physics institute, expanding a new model for discovery
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The MIT-led Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) has received renewed support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for an additional five years, increasing annual funding from $4 million to $4.98 million. The renewal marks a new phase for IAIFI, which has spent its first five years building a research model and an […]
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Project aims to tackle biofouling in floating offshore wind
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Floating offshore wind developers are increasingly focusing on the impact of marine growth on offshore infrastructure, and a new EU-backed project seeks to address this problem, and thereby improve the reliability and commercial viability of floating wind farms in deeper waters. Engineering company Alfa Laval has joined the ESOMOOR project, a European initiative aimed at […]
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Finnish firm wins €2.5m award for water monitoring tech
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Sensmet CEO Dr Toni Laurila. Water technology firm Sensmet, which has developed a unique water quality monitoring technology, has been awarded a €2.5m grant in the latest round of the EIC Accelerator. The EIC award is recognised as a mark of excellence, and builds on a recently announced additional investment of €1.5m. The group said […]
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Superconducting motor brings electric flight closer
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The superconducting aviation motor demonstrator (image credit: University of Strathclyde) Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have demonstrated a 100kW fully superconducting aviation motor, in what seems a noteworthy advance in the development of future zero-emission aircraft propulsion systems. The prototype, developed by the University’s Applied Superconductivity Laboratory (ASL) in Glasgow, is believed to be […]
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Analysis: China’s CO2 climbs 2% in early 2026 due to ‘wasted’ wind and solar
China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions grew by 2% in the first quarter of 2026, after a rise in the amount of “wasted” wind and solar power. The country used more coal and gas to generate electricity than in the same quarter a year earlier, despite a record amount of new wind and solar capacity being […]
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Teaching AI agents to ask better questions by playing “Battleship”
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In 2026, the hype for artificial intelligence agents is louder than ever before. These semi-autonomous programs can “think” and execute well-defined tasks in areas like customer service and software development, typically using language models (LMs). But fields like medical diagnosis and scientific discovery require them to inquire about a vast range of solutions in uncertain […]
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Tod Machover receives George Peabody Medal for contributions to music and technology
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Tod Machover, the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media, faculty director of the MIT Media Lab, and director of the Opera of the Future research group, will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America — the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute of the Johns […]
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Cropped 3 June 2026: Highway through the Amazon | El Niño impact | State of CO2 removal
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight. This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here. Key developments Amazon updates RECORD-LOW LOSS: Amazon deforestation rates have fallen to their lowest level since 2019, according to […]
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Q&A: How UK’s seventh carbon budget will deliver ‘£865bn’ in economic benefits
The Labour government wants to cut UK greenhouse gas emissions to 87% below 1990 levels by 2040, which it says will deliver £865bn in economic benefits. The target has been set out in draft legislation for the seventh “carbon budget”, a legally binding limit on emissions during the five-year period from 2038-2042. The government says […]
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MIT researchers teach AI models to interpret charts
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To accelerate and refine decision-making in a fast-paced, global marketplace, enterprises may deploy generative artificial intelligence models to help summarize and interpret the charts that often fill market summaries and financial reports. But even the latest vision-language models sometimes struggle with this task, since it requires a model to integrate visual, numerical, and linguistic understanding. […]
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Why Civil Construction Is Vital for Infrastructure Projects
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Civil construction builds the roads, bridges, drains, pipes and public spaces people use each day. It keeps towns moving. It helps homes, farms and local firms stay linked. It also helps growing areas deal with more people, more trucks and heavy rain. This work is very important in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. The area […]
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Tips for Finishing and Powder Coating Your Laser Cut Aluminium Components
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A clean finish on aluminium rarely comes down to the final pass in the oven.It starts earlier, in the small decisions that shape how the material behaves once heat is applied. With laser-cut aluminium, those decisions determine everything.The cut edge, the alloy, and even the way the part is handled between steps all leave their […]
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Q&A: The current state of ‘carbon dioxide removal’ around the world
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies will need to be deployed at rates even faster than those seen for solar power, if the world is to have a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C by 2100, says a new report. Nearly all pathways to meeting the Paris Agreement’s highest ambition of keeping global temperatures to […]
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Data Center Regulation: What Local Governments Should Know about Large-Load Tariffs and Clean Transition Tariffs
The proliferation of data centers across the United States represents new “loads” (i.e., sources of demand) on the electrical grid. Data centers require enormous amounts of energy to power and cool their computing systems that operate continuously or near-continuously. To meet this demand, new energy infrastructure—both generation and transmission—will need to be developed. For local […]