New Canary Media piece highlights findings from the latest UC Berkeley report: high electricity costs remain one of the biggest barriers to clean manufacturing—but rate reform, renewable energy, and thermal storage can help power the transition. Read more: www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

US factories are struggling to get cleaner heat. These ideas may help.

Many manufacturers burn fossil fuels to make snacks, materials, and chemicals. High electricity costs are complicating their efforts to switch to cleaner…

canarymedia.com

Utility Dive: Industrial electrification isn't just good for the climate—it's increasingly cost-competitive. New UC Berkeley research shows renewables and storage can economically power up to one-third of U.S. industrial heat demand. www.utilitydive.com/news/renewab...

Renewables, storage can meet one-third of US industrial heat demand: report

The UC Berkeley analysis should be welcome news for a manufacturing industry that is heavily reliant on natural gas, with its volatile prices, said Jose Dominguez, one of the report’s authors.

utilitydive.com

The Garden Grove chemical emergency raised an important question: What industrial pollution exists in our own neighborhoods that we never see? New in Voice of OC, Ayn Craciun explains why hidden boiler pollution deserves more attention—and action from SCAQMD. Read: voiceofoc.org/2026/07/crac...

Craciun: What Garden Grove Revealed About the Pollution We Don't See

The Garden Grove chemical emergency exposed industrial risks many Orange County residents never knew existed. Long before emergency alerts, thousands of industrial boilers have quietly polluted the ai...

voiceofoc.org

The experts featured in this episode: 🎙️ Terry Steagall, Retired Steelworker, @steelworkers.bsky.social activist 🎙️ @hilarylewis.bsky.social, Steel Director, @industriouslabs.bsky.social 🎙️ Roger Smith, Asia Lead, @steelwatch.bsky.social Thank you for joining us on Climate One!

“In a summer where we’re having really high levels of pollution & more dirty air days than we’ve seen in many years, we have a rule being upheld that will eliminate a lot of pollution and make it safer to breathe.” Read more from Alex Nieves in @politico.com: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

The electrification movement is cooking with gas

California’s push to electrify appliances got a major boost from two federal courts.

politico.com

BREAKING: Magnitude 7 Metals announced it will restart this year. This will bring jobs back to the Bootheel, but communities deserve more than a return to the old model. Clean air, clean water, and good jobs should all be part of the same industrial future. industriouslabs.org/archive/pres...

Press Release: Magnitude 7 Metals Restart Brings Jobs Back to Bootheel, Raises Questions About Long-Term Stability

Magnitude 7 Metals announced today plans to restart the first potline at its aluminum smelter in Marston, Missouri.

industriouslabs.org

Gary residents say US Steel is jeopardizing their jobs and air quality by failing to install modern furnaces

Gary residents say US Steel is jeopardizing their jobs and air quality by failing to install modern furnaces

chicagotribune.com

"We must seize this new opportunity and commit to a future of steelmaking that is safe and sustainable." - Councilwoman Lori Latham, Gary, Indiana. via @chicagotribune.com

Lori Latham: Steelmaking in the US is becoming cleaner. Will it happen in Gary?

Nippon Steel is opening a cleaner plant in Arkansas, but at Gary Works, it has only committed to relining blast furnace No. 14.

chicagotribune.com

"If these leaders truly believe faith and work build America, then the community that built this industry deserves the same justice and mercy being delivered to Arkansas." - Rev. Jackson, Gary, Indiana. via @chicagotribune.com

Rev. John E. Jackson Sr.: Gary awaits a jubilee of its own as Nippon Steel takes over US Steel

The Black struggle is inseparable from the story of American steel. Nippon Steel has inherited this debt. So far, it shows no intention of paying it.

chicagotribune.com

“We deserve the same modernization investments that are happening elsewhere,” Councilwoman Latham said. “Green steelmaking and cleaner technologies are possible, and they’re worth discussing. … The future of steel must include us. It must include our voices.” via @chicagotribune.com

More than 100 gather for Gary green steel town hall

Northwest Indiana has carried the environmental burden of creating steel for decades, Gary Councilwoman Lori Latham, D-1st, said. Now, she believes it’s time for a change in the city. “We deserve ...

chicagotribune.com

More than 100 residents gathered at a town hall to discuss whether Northwest Indiana’s aging steel infrastructure will be modernized or left behind as companies increasingly invest in newer, cleaner technologies elsewhere. https://bit.ly/3PSAZtE

The Future of Gary Works Sparks Concerns at Town Hall - Capital B Gary

At a town hall, the community raised questions about pollution and the future of Gary Works.

gary.capitalbnews.org

New @volts.wtf episode with our Senior Fellow @betonyjones.bsky.social unpacking the Biden administration’s clean energy rollout. Betony points to permitting and implementation capacity—not community or labor standards, as some suggest—as the main bottlenecks that prevented greater success. 🎧⬇️

A limited defense of Biden's everything-bagel industrial policy

A conversation with Betony Jones.

volts.wtf

Let's get concrete about industrial decarbonization 🏭. As part of our new Voices of Impact series, we sat down with Dominique Thomas to unpack how @industriouslabs.bsky.social is building evidence-based, sustainable advocacy efforts to decarbonize industries: www.givinggreen.earth/post/voices-...

New survey: of the residents who support reopening Magnitude 7 Metals, 63% cite jobs + economic development as their main reason. Jessica Polk Sentell @renewmissouri.bsky.social unpacks the numbers here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-m...

@industriouslabs.bsky.social surveyed Bootheel residents about the future of the Magnitude 7 Metals smelter. 72% support reopening, in a community that lost nearly 500 jobs when it closed. Full breakdown from Renew Missouri’s Jessica Polk Sentell: www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-m...

What Missouri residents think of reopening the Magnitude 7 Metals smelter

Magnitude 7 Metals shuttered in January 2024, laying off more than 500 workers and hollowing out a community that once depended on the smelter for stable, good-paying jobs. Now, new survey data from I...

linkedin.com

Bootheel residents don’t see a data center as the best use of the Magnitude 7 Metals site. Most supporters, and almost 1/2 of opponents, want the smelter reopened instead — and many want it shifted to cleaner, modern power. Full breakdown from Jessica Polk Sentell: www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-m...

Our new survey of local residents shows they want the smelter back — but with strong safety standards, cleaner power, and real community benefits in place. Jessica Polk Sentell @renewmissouri.bsky.social breaks down the findings. www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-m...

What Missouri residents think of reopening the Magnitude 7 Metals smelter

Magnitude 7 Metals shuttered in January 2024, laying off more than 500 workers and hollowing out a community that once depended on the smelter for stable, good-paying jobs. Now, new survey data from I...

linkedin.com

“There seems to be bipartisan interest in reshoring and revitalizing the aluminum industry. But unless action is taken to support electricity for heavy industry, it’s not going to be able to compete.” @anniesartor.bsky.social subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

E&E News: Heavy industry competes with AI for grid access

The sale of a Kentucky aluminum smelter to a data center shows the race for cheap power.

subscriber.politicopro.com

Great stuff from @industriouslabs.bsky.social on rate design solutions to encourage electrification of industry in California. industriouslabs.org/archive/unlo...

Unlocking industrial electrification in California

A new study finds that California can achieve cleaner air, lower utility bills, and fewer climate emissions by modernizing the design of electricity rates.

industriouslabs.org

An AI-generated flood of comments killed clean air rules in SoCal that would have expanded pollution-free heat pumps. This manipulation of the public process is "deeply disturbing" and undermines legitimate democratic participation as the region considers 1146/1146.1. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Southern California air board rejected pollution rules after AI-generated flood of comments

SoCal’s pollution authority scrapped a plan to phase out gas-powered appliances after receiving more than 20,000 emails sent by an AI-powered platform called CiviClick.

latimes.com

Community concerns like these underscore a key lesson: any new industrial facility must be as clean and community-informed as possible. Clean production and strong community benefits agreements aren’t just good PR — they’re how projects earn trust and long-term success. www.fox23.com/news/inola-r...

Inola residents concerned about proposed aluminum smelter, citing environment and health risks

Some Inola residents are raising concerns about a proposed aluminum smelter planned for the area, citing potential environmental and health risks.

fox23.com

"We waited too long to build out our clean energy. We've got an aging fleet of coal-fired power plants, an aging grid, and we need projects to help with the investments." -Lane Boldman, Executive Director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee. www.theedgebereaky.com/coal-country...

Coal country: too costly for factories, just right for data centers

Kentucky's lost smelter opportunity shows how reliance on fossil fuel repels new jobs, attracts big servers and secret deals in the high tech race to be the biggest AI company. Is Madison County ready...

theedgebereaky.com

Deep dive by @connorgiffin.bsky.social reveals a detailed timeline of how Kentucky ultimately missed out on the chance to host the country's first aluminum smelter in over 45 years. "We should have no trouble in getting a project like this. And yet we did." www.courier-journal.com/story/news/l...

How plans for a first-of-its-kind Kentucky aluminum smelter fell apart

Kentucky lost a multibillion-dollar aluminum smelter project and 1,000 jobs to Oklahoma, despite state efforts. It could be a sign of future challenges for Kentucky's economic development.

courier-journal.com

Join us to explore the Industrial Equity Mapper! 📊 🗓 2/19 ⏰ 1pm PT / 4pm ET Learn how to leverage rigorous data + powerful community stories that document the health and economic realities that people living near industrial facilities face. us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Explore the Industrial Equity Mapper. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

We’re currently witnessing growing efforts to suppress information about how industrial pollution affects real people and real communities. Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

us06web.zoom.us

Lane Boldman of the Kentucky Conservation Committee frames Kentucky’s loss of the new aluminum smelter as both a warning sign and a call to modernize the state’s energy system so it can compete for the next major industrial investment. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Loss of green smelter highlights Kentucky’s need for clean electricity

Century Aluminum chose Oklahoma, not Kentucky, for a new smelter. Some say it’s a "wake-up call" for the Bluegrass State to modernize – and decarbonize –…

canarymedia.com

“It’s been a huge barrier to electrification for manufacturers.” says Teresa Cheng of @industriouslabs.bsky.social. Even as surplus solar power grows, businesses face high electricity costs and demand charges. New industrial rate designs could change that. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

California has abundant solar power. Here’s how factories can use it.

High electricity costs in California have slowed industrial decarbonization in the state. New industrial rates and other fixes could change that, experts…

canarymedia.com

This week made it plain: data centers are beating heavy industry in the fight for power. Century Aluminum just sold its Hawesville smelter site to a data center: proof that in today’s economy, whoever can pay more for electricity wins. www.courier-journal.com/story/news/l...

Another data center project is coming to Kentucky. What to know

A long-idle industrial site in Hancock County will be redeveloped into a data center campus, according to the company that owned the land.

courier-journal.com

Kentucky passed over for big aluminum smelter project, which is going to Oklahoma

“But the bottom line was that aluminum is a heavy energy user industry, and it really comes down to the price of energy.” Lane Boldman of the Kentucky Conservation Committee is right: Oklahoma's potential to power the smelter w/ clean energy is far more than Kentucky's. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

Cost of power drives aluminum plant from Kentucky to Oklahoma

Kentucky was in line for the first aluminum plant in the country in decades. Instead, the project went to Oklahoma.

weku.org

Century Aluminum & Emirates Global Aluminium are teaming up on a new aluminum smelter. Huge test of whether the companies can find affordable, clean power fast enough to actually build a low-carbon aluminum backbone in the U.S. ✍🏽 @mariagallucci.bsky.social www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

It takes two aluminum firms to build one power-hungry smelter,…

Century Aluminum was eyeing Kentucky for a new smelter, but in a surprise move says it’s teaming up with Emirates Global Aluminium to build one in…

canarymedia.com