Speaking in front of oil and gas executives on Monday, US energy secretary Chris Wright promised a “180 degree pivot” on climate policy, the New York Times reports. It says the former fracking executive told the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference that the “previous administration’s policy was focused myopically on climate change, with people as simply collateral damage”. He also said there is a “moral case for fossil fuels” to alleviate poverty and was “dismissive of renewable power, which he said played only a small role in the world’s energy mix”, the newspaper reports. According to CNBC, Wright said there is “simply no physical way that wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas”. The outlet says he also denied accusations that he is a climate sceptic and said: “The Trump administration will treat climate change for what it is – a global physical phenomenon that is a side effect of building the modern world.” The Guardian reports that Wright said the US is “unabashedly pursuing a policy of more American energy production and infrastructure, not less”. Wright also took a swipe at UK climate policy, saying it has caused “higher prices and fewer jobs”, the Financial Times says. Elsewhere, Reuters notes that Saudi Aramco’s CEO told the summit there is “more chance of Elvis speaking than energy transition plans succeeding”. The Washington Post reports on how quickly oil and gas companies at the summit “are rolling back their support for a rapid transition from carbon fuels to cleaner power”. However, the Financial Times reports that some companies at the summit urged US president Donald Trump to take a “steadier” approach to energy policies.

In other US energy news, Bloomberg interviews interior secretary Doug Burgum, who says the US is “eyeing emergency authority to bring back coal-fired plants that have closed and stop others from shutting”. The Associated Press is among publications reporting that the Supreme Court on Monday rejected a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in 19 states aimed at blocking climate change suits against the oil and gas industry from Democratic-led states. The Los Angeles Times reports that a nonprofit that was awarded nearly $7bn by the Biden administration to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects is suing Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, “accusing it of improperly freezing a legally awarded grant”. CNN speaks to workers and executives in the wind power industry who are “deeply worried as the Trump administration has moved to bring the once-booming business to a standstill”. E&E News reports on a letter from more than 20 House Republicans warning they will oppose the party’s budget bill if clean energy incentives are axed. Solar accounted for 84% of new US power in 2024, Reuters says.

NASA is laying off its chief scientist, climate science expert Katherine Calvin, along with 20 others as part of changes imposed by Donald Trump’s administration, the New York Times reports. It says the move “could be a harbinger of deeper cuts to NASA’s science missions and a greater emphasis on human spaceflight, especially to Mars”. According to the newspaper, during Trump’s address to Congress last week, he said: “We are going to lead humanity into space and plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond.” Calvin was appointed by Joe Biden to “spearhead NASA’s efforts on climate change”, Science says. The publication says that she was recently “prevented from travelling to a meeting of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in China, even though she co-leads its next major climate assessment”. (See Carbon Brief’s coverage of the meeting for more details.) It adds that the cuts cover the “office of the chief scientist, along with offices advising the agency on technology, strategy and coordinating its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts”.

Elsewhere, Reuters reports that the US military is cancelling more than 90 studies, including some that US defense secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed as “climate change crap”. Le Monde reports on how Trump is “sabotaging” climate science.

There is ongoing coverage of news that households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts on their energy bills of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year, under new government plans, BBC News reports. Energy secretary Ed Miliband tells the broadcaster this will be paid for by increasing average energy bills across the country by 80p. The Daily Telegraph describes this as “Millions fac[ing] higher bills to pay for Miliband’s pylon bribe”. The news about potential energy bill discounts is widely covered by UK publications including the i newspaper, Daily Express, Independent, Daily Mail and Sky News.

The idea forms part of the government’s planning and infrastructure bill, which will be formally presented to parliament today, the Financial Times says. It reports that the bill also aims to “shake up how clean power projects in Britain are connected to the National Grid as part of what [has been] billed as the biggest package of planning reforms in a generation”. The newspaper explains: “The government said on Monday that it would allow renewable energy projects to ‘jump to the front of the queue’ for grid connections, sidestepping current waits of up to 10 years to be linked to the system. Ministers said the ‘first come, first served’ process for joining the electricity grid would be replaced by a more efficient ‘first ready, first connected’ system, under which preferred projects will be fast-tracked if they are closer to completion.” The move is designed “to help stimulate growth through a step-change in housebuilding and by unblocking infrastructure projects from roads to windfarms”, Bloomberg says. The Daily Mail says Labour is consulting on whether to limit the number of bodies that can input into planning processes in a bid to speed up approval times. A frontpage story for the Daily Telegraph says the bill proposes measures to buy fields from farmers at under the market value if they are needed to build new homes or hospitals. The Daily Telegraph also reports that measures in the planning and infrastructure bill could allow for a more rapid rollout of onshore wind in Scotland. 

Elsewhere, the Times reports on an open letter to Miliband from 13 Scottish onshore wind developers warning the onshore wind industry faces “a de facto ban” in Scotland after 2030 because UK government plans do not allow for many new projects. The Daily Telegraph reports that the energy efficiency of Ed Miliband’s home was “only fractionally improved” by installing a heat pump. It has another article titled: “Heat pump believer or sceptic – which one are you?” The Economist examines why the UK pays “so much for electricity”.

The Brazilian COP30 presidency has invited all presidencies of UN climate summits from COP21 in Paris to COP29 in Azerbaijan to form a “circle of presidencies” to enhance multilateral efforts to tackle climate change, the Times of India reports. The COP30 president-designate, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, sent a 10-page letter to all countries that are party to the UN climate convention setting out Brazil’s approach to hosting the summit, the newspaper says. It adds that Corrêa do Lago said Brazil aimed to “usher in a new era on climate” that goes “beyond negotiating talks”. Reuters says Corrêa do Lago highlighted the “limits” of UN climate summits in his letter, adding: “The Paris Agreement is working, but there is much more to do.” Bloomberg says the letter indicates Brazil is likely to push forest funding as a “climate quick fix” at COP30.

The sales of passenger vehicles in China “inched up” 1.3% year-on-year in January and February 2025, with a 26% year-on-year increase to 1.4m units in February offsetting a 12% fall in January, Reuters reports. The newswire adds that the sale of new energy vehicles (NEVs), which covers electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids, increased 80% to account for just under 49% of overall auto sales last month. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) quotes Li Song, China’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying that China wants to expand use of nuclear technology across a wide range of industries, which he says could add 400bn yuan ($50bn) to its economy by 2026. Industry news outlet BJX News reports that China has issued guidelines for a “2025 energy industry standardisation plan”, covering areas including the “electricity market, power supply services and demand-side management”. Industry news outlet China Energy Net says that China’s “dual-carbon economy” could be entering a “golden era” as several elements of China’s energy transition strategy shift from “policy blueprint” phases to “industrial practice”.

Meanwhile, the Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily publishes an article under the byline “Heyin”, a nom de plume indicating that it expresses the views of party leadership on international affairs, saying targets set during China’s recent “two sessions” political meetings “demonstrate its ambition and perseverance in…promoting green development”, contributing to the “global response to climate change”. Another article by People’s Daily using the Heyin byline says China is “transforming renewable energy from a ‘luxury’ into an accessible article of daily use”, accelerating global construction of “clean power infrastructure” while “slashing carbon-reduction expenses”. (The article also appears in Chinese.) The state-run newspaper China Daily covers the government’s pledges at the “two sessions” to tackle “green trade barriers”, quoting Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, saying that these barriers have some “valid components”, due to the fact they “align with global efforts to combat climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”. Liu Jieyi, a senior government official at the “two sessions”, says in an interview with China Daily that the world is still “falling short” of the need to address climate change in terms of green energy production, adding that it is not right to “confuse” China’s “competitiveness” with “overcapacity”. Foreign media-focused news outlet Reference News cites a report by the Spanish newspaper El País saying that China’s “green transition” commitments at the “two sessions” indicated that China’s “roadmap and long-term strategy” for the green transition remain “unchanged”. The state-supporting news outlet Global Times reports “green consumption” will be a “core driver” of economic growth.

Writing in the Times, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner lays out the details of Labour’s planning and infrastructure bill, being presented to parliament today. She says: “We will streamline consultation requirements for projects such as roads and railway lines while keeping them robust. Wind and solar projects will be prioritised for grid connections, helping us achieve clean power by 2030, with those living within 500 metres of new pylons given up to £250 a year off their electricity bills. And we’re fixing a system that both stops development going ahead and fails to protect our habitats and species. Developers will pay into a Nature Restoration Fund which Natural England experts can use to achieve better outcomes.” Elsewhere, an editorial in the Daily Telegraph says “planning reform must not be at the expense of local democracy”.

For Time magazine, reporter Simmone Shah examines what Canada’s new Liberal prime minister Mark Carney means for climate change. She says: “Carney has emerged as a leader in the climate space in recent years, bridging the financial sector and the climate fight…Since his time in the banking world, Carney has worked to bring the private sector into the climate fight towards net-zero emissions, calling the green transition ‘the greatest commercial opportunity of our time’ during a London event in 2020. He became a UN special envoy for climate action and finance in 2019, and in 2021 launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero, an initiative aimed at bringing together financial institutions to support the transition to a net-zero economy.” An editorial in the Financial Times says “Carney has shown a readiness to heed disaffected Liberal voters by pledging to ditch Trudeau’s widely-criticised carbon tax, replacing it with an industrial pricing system, and reverse a capital gains tax increase”. An editorial in the Times also notes Carney’s plans to “eliminate carbon taxes on families, farms and small businesses”.

Increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere could reduce the satellite carrying capacity of low Earth orbit by more than half by the end of the century, under a scenario of very high emissions, new research finds. The release of human-caused greenhouse gases is known to cause “cooling and contraction in the thermosphere”, which “results in a secular reduction in atmospheric mass density where most satellites operate in low Earth orbit”, the research explains. It uses modelling to assess changes to satellite carrying capacity under a range of emissions scenarios over 2000-2100.