The Guardian reports that “more than 1,900 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine signed an open letter warning Americans about the ‘danger’ of the Trump administration’s attacks on science”. It includes the line: “The administration is blocking research on topics it finds objectionable, such as climate change.” Scientific American has published the full letter. The New York Times carries a warning from economists, who say that cuts to federal support for scientific research could undermine US competitiveness in “emerging” areas of research.

In other US news, Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has said he is closing the agency’s one-room museum, the New York Times reports. According to the newspaper, Zeldin claims the move will save taxpayers $600,000 per year. It continues: “Mr Zeldin described it as a ‘one-room, little-trafficked museum’ that is frequented mostly by agency staff members. He also noted that it included exhibits about environmental issues faced by poor and minority communities, issues the Trump administration has said should not receive special attention. He called those displays a ‘political agenda’ of the Biden administration.” The Associated Press says that Zeldin made the announcement in a video posted on Monday, in which he said: “This shrine to EJ (environmental justice) and climate change will now be shut down for good.” It adds that information about the museum was removed from the EPA’s website on Monday. Meanwhile, Inside Climate News reports that “American faith leaders and scholars reacted with confusion, sadness and anger” after Zeldin “made a defiant reference to ‘climate change religion’ in order to justify a plan to roll back environmental protections”. 

Elsewhere, the Guardian “asked 18 Republicans whose districts benefit most from Biden’s IRA climate law if they back Trump’s demands”. The newspaper says that “none of the 18 Republican representatives contacted by the Guardian would comment on whether they agree with Trump that clean-energy incentives should be scrapped”. Reuters reports that the White House is considering an executive order to fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters, which would let mining companies bypass a UN-backed review process. Inside Climate News reports that the governor of Vermont may change how the state counts greenhouse gas emissions in its inventory, to include carbon sequestration from forests and farms. Reuters notes that US crude oil production fell to an 11-month low in January. Bloomberg says oil executives are worried that increasing oil supply will drive down prices, putting them “at odds” with Donald Trump’s order to “drill baby drill”. Bloomberg reports that Trump said he will consider weakening emissions standards for automobiles, calling the curbs imposed by Biden “too onerous”.

New Scientist reports that a “recent surge in the rate of global warming has been largely driven by China’s efforts to reduce air pollution, raising questions about how air quality regulations are influencing the climate and whether we fully understand the impact of removing aerosols from the atmosphere”. The outlet adds: “This extra warming, which was being masked by the aerosols, accounts for 5% of global temperature increase since 1850. In the early 2000s, China had extremely poor air quality as a result of rapid industrialisation, leading to a public outcry in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In response, Chinese authorities fitted scrubbers to coal power plants to curb the dirtiest emissions and tightened rules governing vehicle exhausts, leading to a 75% drop in sulphate emissions. But there is a sting in the tail of this environmental success story. According to a new analysis, China’s dirty air had inadvertently been cooling the planet, and now it is gone we are starting to see a greater warming effect.” (It is important to note that the research, conducted by scientists at the CICERO Center for International Climate Research in Norway, is currently a preprint and has not yet been fully peer-reviewed.)

In other China news, the National Energy Administration (NEA) is seeking “public opinions” on new rules for the “green electricity certificates (GECs)”, reports International Energy Net. One GEC is issued for “every 1,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh) of renewable energy generated”. If the electricity consumption in the “current month is less than one green certificate, it will be carried forward to the next month”, according to the document. Industry news outlet BJX News also covers the story, saying that the new GEC rules apply to wind power, solar power, hydropower, biomass power, geothermal power and ocean energy power generation. Separately, Chinese president Xi Jinping chaired a meeting yesterday to review regulations on “ecological and environmental protection inspection”, state news agency Xinhua reports.

Meanwhile, China’s energy storage sector is expected to experience “significant growth through 2027”, according to the state-run newspaper China Daily. The newspaper quotes Wang Shouxiang, a professor at Tianjin University, saying that China has achieved an “early global leadership position in the key technological field of new energy storage”. China Energy News reports that the Chinese government’s policy in 2025 for the new energy storage sector will “shift from focusing on ‘construction’ to the more specific ‘utilisation’ phase”, adding that the “15th five-year plan” will focus on China’s energy storage sector’s “quality and efficiency”. Another China Daily report says that the surge in power demand from data centres, AI and other “computing-intensive” sectors in China is challenging the country’s grid. Experts at 2025’s China EV100 Forum call on China’s battery industry to “prepare in advance and remain vigilant” as other countries seek to “overtake” China by developing the next generation of batteries, Science and Technology Daily reports. Chinese outlet Observer Net covers the same event. 

Elsewhere, China Daily says that domestic oil and gas output has been “playing a central role” in China’s energy “self-sufficiency”. It adds that “total oil and gas output surpassed 400m metric tonnes of oil equivalent last year”. China’s coal production has grown rapidly in the first quarter of the year, with coal imports reaching a “record high”, according to the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association, China Energy Net reports. The Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily publishes an article in its printed edition about China’s “green technology”.

Finally, business news outlet Caixin says that, despite the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the “global trend” toward low-carbon development remains “unchanged” and China may “gain a stronger voice in global climate governance, enhance its new energy industry and secure energy imports”. State-supporting newspaper Global Times says in a “GT Voice” article that China and the EU can “jointly explore” the global EV market by “leveraging their respective strengths” and collaborating in “energy-efficient manufacturing”. The US-based news outlet Inside Climate News publishes an article discussing the environmental impact of China’s deployment of “low-carbon investments” via its Belt and Road Initiative.

The Treasury is removing the exemption from vehicle excise duty for electric vehicles (EVs) from today, the Press Association reports. “That means all EV owners will be charged at least the standard rate, which will be £195 for the second year onward after a vehicle is registered,” the newswire says. It adds that, according to the Treasury, the new rules could “undermine consumer confidence” in EVs. The Times covers the news under the headline: “Electric car drivers face £425-a-year ‘luxury’ tax bill.” The newspaper says: “Motoring experts said that owners of 70% of electric cars, including many modest family cars, will be hit by the tax, which will be levied on models with a list price of more than £40,000…Until now electric vehicles have been exempt from additional vehicle excise duty. The government’s expensive car supplement will cost £425 a year for five years from the start of the second year of ownership.” 

In other UK news, BusinessGreen reports that the UK government and Environment Agency has announced £2.65bn in funding for flood defences. According to the outlet, more than 1,000 schemes will protect more than 52,000 homes and businesses from flooding. It continues: “During the first 12 months of the two-year investment programmes, £430m will be used to build new projects while a further £220m has been earmarked to reinstate flood defences to their full standard of service to help protect communities.” The Press Association reports that hundreds of saplings have been planted in the Dart Valley, “as part of a project to expand one of the south west’s last remaining temperate rainforest”. BusinessGreen covers a study which finds that 5% of UK buildings now have solar panels. The Press Association covers analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, which finds that “the UK will need to import around 20% more gas from abroad to meet home heating demand if the government fails to effectively implement policies to drive up heat-pump installations”. A senior Treasury minister tells the Financial Times that “he is confident private financing for the Sizewell C nuclear power station will be ‘teed up’ in time for a final investment decision in June over whether to proceed with the delayed project”. Politico speaks to experts about the options open to ministers to stop energy bills from rising. It says: “There are options for driving down bills. But, as the government is finding, each involves a fraught political trade-off.” BusinessGreen outlines new polling, carried out in the wake of the spring statement, which finds that “almost a third of the British public believe the push towards net-zero emissions will unlock economic benefits, while more than two-thirds regard clean technologies and low-carbon industries as key pillars of the economy”. 

The German parties CDU and SPD (Union), which will form the new coalition government, are proposing using Germany’s reserve gas, coal and oil power plants more frequently to stabilise electricity prices, which RWE, the country’s largest power producer, opposes, reports Der Spiegel. These plants have been on standby for emergencies, but the new plan aims to bring them online more often to, “not only to prevent supply bottlenecks, but also to stabilise electricity prices”. However, RWE warns it could harm the energy market by pushing newer, more flexible plants and battery storage projects out, notes the newspaper. The article emphasises that relying on outdated power plants could hinder investments in renewables, which are expected to “dominate” Germany’s energy future. Experts, including Agora Energiewende, suggest the plan could hinder long-term cost reductions in the power sector, adds the outlet. 

Meanwhile, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports that consumer energy prices in Germany have risen significantly compared to pre-Ukraine war levels. The outlet details that in the second half of 2024, gas prices were nearly 80% higher than in 2021, while electricity prices were up by 25%. However, the Union and SPD parties have agreed to lower electricity taxes and grid fees, FAZ details. Die Tageszeitung carries an article quoting Volker Treier from the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, who suggests that Germany should strengthen its energy partnership with Canada to “reduce its dependence on the US”. Euractiv reports that Germany “currently lacks more than 200,000 skilled workers in STEM fields for the renewable sector – a shortage likely to get worse in the future”. 

Finally, Politico discusses the outcomes of the recent national election for the German Greens, “once the great hope of the European climate movement”, who came a “disappointing” fourth place, leaving them “with nowhere to go, but back to their activist roots”. 

William Becker, a former regional director at the US Department of Energy, writes in the Hill that Donald Trump is “imposing short-sighted, irrational and profoundly destabilising energy policies on this and future generations of Americans”. He says that Trump “dwells in a fantasy land where there are no downsides to America’s fossil-fuel addiction”, adding that he “still calls climate change a hoax”. Becker calls partisanship the biggest obstacle to “sane national energy policy” and argues that Congress “should depoliticise climate change and the transition to clean energy”. In other US comment, Reuters energy columnist Ron Bousso says: “The Trump administration’s proposed plan to revive American shipbuilding by penalising Chinese ships arriving at US ports could end up making US oil and gas less competitive and significantly disrupt the global energy market.” Jennifer Skene – director of global northern forests policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council – writes in the Guardian that Trump is “taking an axe” to protections for US forests. 

Meanwhile, in UK comment, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat writes in the Daily Telegraph that “Labour’s blind spot on nuclear power will cost Britain dearly”. He says that Britain needs a “resilient and independent energy supply”, and argues that “the clear solution is nuclear power”. He continues: “Ed Miliband has chosen virtue signalling green and ignoring the only true carbon-free economy possible…Labour’s neglect of nuclear power doesn’t just leave us exposed to hostile states; it actively undermines Britain’s nuclear legacy.” Tugendhat concludes: “The Conservatives have always been the party of pragmatism and national resilience. Now is the time to prove it – by putting nuclear back at the heart of Britain’s energy strategy. Separately, the controversial climate-sceptic author ​​Jordan Peterson writes in the Daily Telegraph: “Mark Carney is another Justin Trudeau: a woke, broke, net-zero fanatic”. Richard Littlejohn, a climate-sceptic columnist for the Daily Mail, writes: “In pursuit of reducing carbon emissions, traditional steelworkers are being replaced by eco-friendly electric arc furnaces, which are incapable of producing metal strong enough to make tanks, shell and other kit”. [Carbon Brief’s Simon Evans has debunked the misleading claim that high power prices for UK steel industry are “primarily” due to high wholesale prices.] Paul Goodman – a senior fellow at Policy Exchange – writes in the Daily Telegraph that “Labour faces a serious threat from Gaza independents and the Greens”. 

Climate change has played a dominant role in destabilising communities of plankton, microorganisms that form the basis of the food web for marine wildlife, new research finds. The research reconstructs changes to plankton stability and analyses the drivers using plankton DNA derived from Lake Chagan, a seasonally frozen lake in northeastern China. The research “identified the mid-1990s as a critical tipping point, marked by substantial shifts in nutrient levels and annual average temperatures” and “demonstrated that the temporal network stability of plankton communities was predominantly compromised by climate warming, followed by nutrient enrichment”.