Lee Zeldin, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has announced a series of actions to roll back environmental regulations, including rules on coal-fired power plant pollution, climate change and electric vehicles, reports the Associated Press. It notes that the changes are subject to “a lengthy process that includes public comment”. Zeldin has written a comment for the Wall Street Journal setting out his plans, in which he says: “We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age.” The Guardian says the “extraordinary cavalcade of pollution rule rollbacks” was led by a proposal to overturn “a landmark 2009 finding by the US government that planet-heating gases, such carbon dioxide, pose a threat to human health”, known as the “endangerment finding”. The 2009 supreme court ruling required the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and “provides the underpinning for all rules” aimed at tackling them, the newspaper adds. In total, the EPA announced more than 30 deregulatory measures in “a dizzying succession of press releases”, reports Reuters. The first announced a narrowing of the definition of waterways protected under the Clean Water Act, it adds. Other Biden-era regulations that could be rolled back include those “expected to sharply increase the number of electric vehicles sold as well as speed coal plant closures”, reports the Hill. Regulations on the neurotoxin mercury coming from power plants, as well as general air pollution limits for “deadly soot” are also set to be rolled back, it adds. The EPA described the changes as “historic actions” that “will roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden taxes on US families”, reports Bloomberg. Zeldin “boasted” about the deregulation and said his agency’s mission is to “lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business”, reports the New York Times. Zeldin’s announcements start a process that could take months or years, reports Inside Climate News. It explains: “To undo regulations that go back decades, EPA staff would have to write proposals, gather public comments and possibly hold hearings and create a scientific and legal record justifying any decision.” The latter would have to defend against “inevitable lawsuits” at a time when the agency has been “severely hobbled by firings” and plans to “slash” funding, the outlet adds. The changes come as president Donald Trump and his administration “continue their push to dismantle or radically restructure the federal agencies they see as obstacles to their agenda”, says Al Jazeera.

In other US news, a federal judge has “lambasted” the EPA’s cancellation of $20bn in climate grants “after the Trump administration was unable to offer any evidence of wrongdoing”, reports Politico. The outlet quotes Judge Tanya Chutkan asking a US district court: “Can you proffer any evidence that [the grant] was illegal, or evidence of abuse or fraud or bribery – that any of that was improperly or unlawfully done, other than the fact that Zeldin doesn’t like it?” Separately, the Guardian reports that at the major oil and gas conference CERAWeek in Texas, companies have publicly retreated from “their flashy climate pledges of years past, redoubling their commitment to planet-warming fossil fuels”. A separate piece in the Guardian is titled: “Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ agenda could keep the world hooked on oil and gas.” A piece in the Financial Times looks at how global resources groups are “betting on a Trump mining revival” as part of a “dig, baby, dig” strategy. Finally, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is starting another round of job cuts, with more than 1,000 jobs set to be cut, reports the Los Angeles Times. 

A flash flood in Bahía Blanca, Argentina at the end of last week has killed 16 people and caused $400m in damages, prompting the government to declare three days of national mourning, Agence France-Presse reports. It says the port city, in the south of Buenos Aires province, registered a year’s worth of rainfall in just a few hours. It adds: “Environment official Andrea Dufourg said this weekend that the extreme weather event ‘is a clear example of climate change’.” La Nación reports that Argentinian president Javier Milei travelled to the city to oversee the response and contact those affected.

Meanwhile, Dialogue Earth covers how Latin America is undergoing power outages as extreme weather events continue to increase in the region. It cites a recent report by the Latin American energy organisation (Olade) saying that extreme events, compounded by climate change, “are reducing the efficiency of electricity systems”.

Elsewhere, COP30 president-designate André Correa do Lago released a letter on Monday outlining its vision about the next climate summit in Brazil this year, including a call for countries to “strengthen multilateral negotiations in the midst of wars that divert attention from climate negotiations”, O Globo reports. The newspaper notes that environmental organisations criticised the letter’s omission of a global phase-out of fossil fuels.

In other Latin American news, Mexico’s government along with the national forest commission are preparing for “an intense season of forest fires” this year, according to Excélsior.

Eight miles of Amazon rainforest are being cleared to allow the development of a four-lane highway to the city hosting this year’s COP30 climate summit, reports the Times, following up an article published yesterday by BBC News. The road is designed to ease traffic to the city of Belém ahead of hosting 50,000 people in November for COP30, with the state government touting the highway’s “sustainable” credentials, the broadcaster says. It notes that the road has been under discussion for more than a decade but adds: “Now a host of infrastructure projects have been resurrected or approved to prepare the city for the COP summit.” It continues: “The Amazon plays a vital role in absorbing carbon for the world and providing biodiversity, and many say this deforestation contradicts the very purpose of a climate summit.” This story was also covered by the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, the Daily Telegraph, the New York Post and others. An editorial in the Sun uses the story as an opportunity to attack the “insane self-harm of ceaseless COP climate summits”.

In other news, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley has called on developing countries to work together on tackling climate change “as a way to counteract absent leadership and cuts in funding from rich countries”, reports Bloomberg. It says Mottley, who has “pioneered” the use of innovative financial instruments to address climate change and whose speeches at COPs “routinely make headlines”, urged leaders to focus on ensuring universal access to clean, cheap and reliable energy. It quotes her saying at an event in Bridgetown: “We need to create opportunities for each other, and I genuinely believe that that is entirely possible.”

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) jointly issued guidelines to accelerate the “high-quality development” of the country’s “environmental protection equipment manufacturing sector”, according to state news agency Xinhua. The news agency adds that China aims to “significantly” expand the market share of “advanced environmental technologies” by 2027 and strengthen China’s “leadership in global markets” by 2030. Industry news outlet BJX News reports that, in February, 46 thermal power projects in China were approved, connected to the grid or put into operation, with the growth rate rising “compared to the previous month”. News outlet Science and Technology Daily says Chinese oil giant Sinopec has recently expanded its “hydrogen fuel cell supply center”, which is the largest of its kind in southern China and has a “daily production capacity of 15 tonnes”. Xinhua reports that China planted more than 4m hectares of forest last year.

Meanwhile, state-run newspaper China Daily quotes Nan Cunhui, chairman of solar and electronics company Chint Group and delegate at the recent “two sessions” meetings, saying that China should “propel the…green transformation of industries” through technological breakthroughs. Another China Daily report says China should provide policy support and push technological innovation to “stimulate green consumption”. Zheng Guoguang, former vice minister of emergency management, says in an interview with National Business Daily during the “two sessions” that carbon neutrality does not mean that anthropogenic carbon emissions must be reduced to zero, adding that “increasing forest biomass and adopting carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies” can offset carbon emissions. Zheng also says the energy transition “must not overlook energy security” and achieving China’s climate goals does not mean “simply phasing out the use of coal”, the newspaper adds. State-supporting newspaper Global Times says Chinese president Xi Jinping showed “great care of environmental protection and ecological conservation” in his meetings at the “two sessions” gathering. 

Elsewhere, Glenn Youngkin, Republican governor of the US state of Virginia, said on Tuesday that the US must “expedite its development of fusion energy or risk falling behind China on energy dominance”, Reuters reports. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) says that, following the US’ tariffs on steel and aluminium, the EU has confirmed that it will impose new restrictions on Chinese steel and aluminium exports to “stop them being re-routed from American ports to Europe”.

Swedish battery maker Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy, “capping the downfall of a company once regarded as Europe’s best hope of competing in an industry dominated by China”, reports the Financial Times. The newspaper says the company, whose backers included Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, announced that it had been unable to secure financing to continue operations and a court-appointed trustee would sell its assets. Northvolt sought US chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2024, “as its cash pile dwindled, trying to secure funds that would allow it to fix persistent problems in scaling up output at its flagship plant in northern Sweden”, reports Reuters. Shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy last year, its chief executive stepped down, noting it needed to raise between $1bn (£800m) and $1.2bn to restore its business, reports the Guardian. The article quotes the company’s interim chair Tom Johnstone calling this “an incredibly difficult day” and adding “We set out to build something groundbreaking – to drive real change in the battery, EV [electric vehicle] and wider European industry and accelerate the transition to a green and sustainable future.” This story is also covered by RTE, Bloomberg Law, the New York Times and others.

In other EV-related news, global EV sales are up 30% and US EV sales are up 28% this year, reports Ars Technica. In the UK, a study by the University of Exeter found that growing interest in second-hand EVs means the market is growing close to a “tipping point” where they could become more popular than petrol and diesel cars, reports BusinessGreen. 

Futures for UK emissions permits jumped on Wednesday following comments by a Treasury minister about the potential of linking the country’s carbon trading system with the EU, reports Bloomberg. The article says Spencer Livermore, financial secretary to the Treasury, told lawmakers in the House of Lords that the UK continues “to explore all options to improve trade and investment with the EU, which includes the UK and EU giving serious consideration to linking our emissions trading schemes”. It says that he did not elaborate further. The comments led the benchmark UK carbon futures price for the end of this year to rise by as much as 11%, the article continues, with “investors are eager to hear more from the government on whether it wants to unite the two emissions regimes”.

In other UK news, a “capacity market” auction designed to ensure sufficient capacity to meet demand in the winter of 2028-2029 cleared at £60 per kilowatt, reports Bloomberg, adding that this was “close to the all-time high reached last year”. It adds that this means the country will continue to subsidise gas-fired power plants into the second half of this decade, with RWE and SSE being among the auction’s “main winners”. Drax won £24m in the auction for its pumped hydro asset, the Cruachan power station, reports the Times. Separately, supermarket Tesco will give shoppers free food in an effort to cut waste to reach its net-zero targets, reports the Daily Telegraph in a story trailed on its frontpage. In Scotland, plans to “force homebuyers” to replace gas boilers with lower-carbon heating systems have been “shelved”, reports the Times. Finally, Turkish newswire Anadolu Agency covers Carbon Brief’s analysis on the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK falling 3.6% in 2024, to its lowest level since 1872.

A Lex opinion piece in the Financial Times discusses the “heavy blow” of Northvolt declaring bankruptcy. The announcement had a “sense of inevitability” it says, after the firm declared chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, had to secure $1bn to keep its only existing plant running and following the failures of other battery start-ups in Europe. The article continues: “Northvolt’s bankruptcy raises a legitimate question over whether Europe can still – or should even try to – create a domestic battery champion.” It highlights that Chinese and Korean companies account for nearly 99% of electric vehicle battery sales in the EU, according to the International Energy Agency. It says: “The greater lesson from Northvolt for European policymakers might be back those green industries where Europe is not starting from scratch.” In contrast, the piece points to the nascent small modular nuclear reaction industry, which it says “is at least one area where there is a battle still to win”.

In other comment, Thea Riofrancos, associate professor of political science at Providence College in Rhode Island writes for the Financial Times that the “‘critical minerals’ rush could result in a resource war”. Focusing on the EPA rollbacks in the Hill, Noah Mihan and Stephen Lezak, climate researchers at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford write: “Republicans want to repeal Biden’s climate legacy. Good luck with that.” Finally, a comment for Reuters by columnists Afiq Fitri Alias and George Hay is headlined: “How the World Bank can defend itself from Trump.”

Raymond T Pierrehumbert, professor of planetary physics at the University of Oxford and Michael E Mann, presidential distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania, write in the Guardian that “injecting pollutants into the atmosphere to reflect the sun would be extremely dangerous”. The article discusses the increasing attention being given to solar geoengineering as a potential climate “fix”. They continue: “The fix is more like taking aspirin for cancer, treating symptoms but leaving the underlying malignancy to keep growing.” They particularly focus on the Aria geoengineering programme in the UK, which they call a “dangerous distraction from the work that needs to be done to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions”. They conclude: “It is not too late to halt this juggernaut, but to do so will require vigorous pushback that starts right now.”

In other UK comment, Financial Times chief UK business columnist John Gapper looks at clean energy spending in relation to military spending, following comments from prime minister Keir Starmer. In the Guardian, historian Richard Power Sayeed asks: “Why is Labour making so much anti-green noise?” Finally, Daily Mail economics commentator Alex Brummer argues that “tariffs couldn’t have come at a worse time for Britain’s ailing steel industry”, which he claims is “already under threat from Whitehall’s onerous climate change agenda”.

The “record-shattering” increase in sea surface temperatures in 2023-24 would have been “practically impossible” without climate change, a new study finds. Researchers estimate that the temperature rise – which was on average 0.25C above the previous record in 2015-16 – would occur approximately once every 500 years under current rates of warming. Using climate model simulations, the findings suggest that the 2023-24 increase was “an extreme event after which surface ocean temperatures are expected to revert to the expected long-term warming trend”. Sea surface temperatures will likely return to previous levels by September this year, they conclude.