Corbin Hiar
@corbinhiar.bsky.social
Climate and business reporter at POLITICO's E&E News. Also a dad, cyclist, union steward and lapsed Minnesotan. https://www.politico.com/staff/corbin-hiar Email: chiar@eenews.net | Signal: CorbinHiar.80
NEW: A conservative group is preparing to sue geoengineering startups — an effort that could turn the White House against potential important climate tech. “The president really likes conspiracies,” said a former Trump advisor. “He likes these kinds of stories.” www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
How a conspiracy-fueled campaign could turn Republicans against weather modification
The GeoFight is pursuing litigation, donations and social media hype to "shape the conversation" around sunlight-reflecting technologies.
politico.com
Which vehicles most endanger the drivers of other cars? Giant pickup trucks — and the Dodge Charger Source: www.iihs.org/news/detail/...
SpaceX shares erased one-fifth of their value since the record setting debut of Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company, as investors shunned riskier technology firms.
SpaceX Falls 20% Below IPO Price, Erasing $1.2 Trillion Value
SpaceX shares erased one-fifth of their value since the record setting debut of Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company, as investors shunned riskier technology firms.
bloom.bg
This week's YouGov/Economist poll gives Donald Trump a net approval of -28. Lowest of any YouGov/Economist presidential approval since the poll began in 2009
$10 million saved. But at what price? "Had that work been implemented, it would have been effective in stopping or slowing down these fires." wapo.st/4bd6kyE
‘We were shovel-ready’: A Minnesota forest hit by DOGE cuts is now ablaze
Officials said losing out on the ability to do vital prevention work at a perilous time for the region hindered them from being as prepared as they could have been.
wapo.st
Remarkable camera angle of President Trump as he listens to Wall Street Journal reporters receiving an award for their investigation into Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — which they pursued despite Trump’s threats and lawsuit.
JD Vance wanted Marine Two to fly his son to a golf lesson. Military chopper costs ~$24,600 an hour www.ms.now/news/veeps-s...
Vance’s security detail ‘fed up’ with hastily arranged personal and family travel requests
Secret Service sources said the Vance family asks included getting their young son to a golf lesson on a military helicopter.
ms.now
Trump admitting to investors that he is profiting off on his own insider information and now you can too!
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2w agoIndustry executives have balked at the fee and the potential legal risks of a new data service that would provide ‘faster’ access to posts from the top accounts on Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social. ft.trib.al/4gn0otB
Former Trump international energy advisor confirms the fears of solar geoengineering critics, who have long warned that the tech could slow the transition to clean energy. "It's a good insurance policy for continued fossil fuel use." subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: Trump ally floats Republican pitch for sun-blocking technologies
Embracing solar engineering research that could help reduce global warming might also provide a temporary lifeline for fossil fuels, a former Trump adviser said.
subscriber.politicopro.com
The U.S. Secretary of Defense just stated that—so far—the war with Iran has cost $37.5 billion dollars. That's since February. That same amount is how much the United States spent on planetary science from FY2013 through FY2026 inclusive. Thirteen years of planetary science or five months of war.
The American Geophysical Union comes to the defense of the National Academies: "This is science that protects and preserves lives and livelihoods. Calls for suspension or debarment from federal funding for this crucial information is dangerous and misguided." www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Trump threatens National Academies with debarment. Here's what it is.
The president invoked an obscure process to review the institution's federal grants over what he says is "climate fraud."
eenews.net
“Cancer doesn’t care what party you belong to.” @politico.com #IAsen www.politico.com/news/magazin...
"The credibility of research linking climate pollution to specific natural disasters got a major boost Thursday. But the multibillion-dollar battle over the implications of that finding is just beginning." www.eenews.net/articles/new...
New climate report adds fuel to billion-dollar legal fight
Groups on both sides of the political spectrum are using a National Academies review of attribution science to score points ahead of a landmark Supreme
eenews.net
In 2020, just two groups disclosed lobbying on wildfire technologies, according to a POLITICO review of filings. By last year, at least 17 outfits reported contacting policymakers about new wildfire management tools, including defense giant Lockheed Martin. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
As fire season looms, tech startups come calling in DC
Companies peddling smoke-spotting cameras, firefighting drones and forest-clearing robots are taking their pitch from California to the Capitol.
politico.com
Nice work, Red Devils: Brussels Airlines is flying its Trident-painted aircraft "to Spanish destinations including Madrid and Barcelona ahead of Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal between Belgium and Spain." www.politico.com/live-updates...
Belgian airline needles Spain ahead of World Cup quarterfinal
"We think the joke speaks for itself," said Belgium's flag carrier.
politico.com
Super excited to announce that @karlmathiesen.bsky.social and I won an award from @spj-posts.bsky.social for our coverage of solar geoengineering. www.spj.org/sdx25/#print... The judges said we had “important impact and compelling writing with each story.” youtu.be/793dRna5st4?...
Solar's sharp rise continues. As of April 2026, global solar capacity now exceeds 3 terawatt. 1 gigawatt → 1 terawatt: 20+ years 1 terawatt → 2 terawatt: 33 months 2 terawatt → 3 terawatt: 19 months
Orbital data center startups refuse "to embrace any inquiry into the impacts of their self-claimed epochal technology on the environment, science, economy, or other values. This is not just poor planning and a missed opportunity: it violates federal law." subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: Billionaires want data centers in space. Green groups want a federal review first.
Earth's orbit is becoming the next environmental battleground.
subscriber.politicopro.com
Nice appreciation of the dearly departed publication National Parks Traveler and its founder Kurt Repanshek, who is thankfully still kicking. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: A national parks traveler hangs up his boots
News site National Parks Traveler shut down after 21 years.
subscriber.politicopro.com
‼️ Record Shattering Heat Dome No exaggeration, this is the real deal. A behemoth Heat Dome embedded in a very amplified jet stream will bake the Northern Tier of States. Montana… checks notes… will reach 110°+ this weekend for actual temperature. Some spots will challenge all-time records… 1/
The White House has reconstituted the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which tracks climate change and produces the National Climate Assessment. The Trump version will focus on "positive" climate effects and be used to protect fossil fuel companies from lawsuits. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
The administration has a new climate change office. It’s headed by a climate critic.
The office that produces the National Climate Assessment has been reconstituted, after the administration gutted it last year.
politico.com
Correct your priors: Private money is going after clean energy, governments are using public money to prop up fossil fuels "About 59% of all money spent on the fossil fuel system came from taxpayers in 2015. By 2025, that climbed to 68% and spiked at 78% in 2022." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Who’s Really Keeping Fossil Fuels Alive? Taxpayers
To judge by the way many people discuss the energy transition, we’re engaged in a fight between green idealogues in government and academia on the one hand, and a more realistic private sector that re...
bloomberg.com
🇺🇸 For a tournament that started with so much promise, the United States journey at the World Cup ends exactly where it did in 2022, 2014 and 2010: The round of 16. This loss, unlike the others, was an ass-whooping. At a home World Cup... this is a disappointment.
Window into the mocking with which foreign media is treating the situation. The latest on the live of Le Monde, France’s paper of record: “We’re being told Trump wants to file an appeal with Infantino alleging that the Belgian team played soccer.”
Cloud-to-ground lightning, ground-to-cloud fireworks in DC.
