Edition 12: April 18, 2025

If we ignore the dumpster fire that is the United States for a second, there is progress to be found when it comes to fossil fuel litigation, phasing out coal, and expanding public transit networks.

Apr 18, 2025

Jury Orders Chevron to Pay Over $700 Million

Plaquemines Parish is located along the Gulf of Mexico in Southeastern Louisiana. Chevron and other fossil fuel companies have been drilling for oil and gas there for decades, and the surrounding environment has suffered because of it. Coastal wetlands, in particular, have been disappearing at staggering rates, and it can be tied directly back to the fossil fuel industry – both due to the regulatory negligence of their local operations and how their overall operations are one of the main drivers of climate change. Plaquemines Parish originally filed a lawsuit against Chevron back in 2013 asking for $2.6 billion in damages, but after years of trial delays, a civil jury recently ordered Chevron to pay over $744 million in damages. $575 million will be used to address land loss, $161 to remediate contamination, and $8.6 million to clean up abandoned equipment. This landmark verdict sets an important precedent when it comes to holding the fossil fuel industry accountable, and dozens of other pending lawsuits against oil and gas companies in Louisiana plan to use this verdict to argue that damages should be paid. Chevron, of course, has appealed the decision, but it is expected to hold up in court due to the long and well documented history of the company skirting environmental regulations.

Source: Maya Yang writes for The Guardian

Thailand Becomes Latest Country to Build High Speed Rail

A new high speed rail line will connect three major cities in Southeast Asia. The Thailand-China Railway Project will connect Bangkok, Thailand, to Vientiane, Laos, and then to Yunnan, China. Despite major delays due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is now on track to be operational by 2030. It is being partially funded by the Belt and Road Initiative – which is a global development strategy China adopted a little over a decade ago aimed at improving connectivity and trade. Essentially, China is helping fund infrastructure projects all over the world much like the United States did until earlier this year. The Thailand-China Railway Project will be Thailand’s first high speed rail line, and the country is already working on a more extensive high speed rail network that will eventually connect with the main line. Trains will travel at speeds of around 155 mph which isn’t very fast in terms of high speed rail, but it is still faster than any other train in Thailand. All three countries the rail line will run through hope the finished project will reduce air travel and emissions as well as grow the economy – because despite what opponents say, public transportation is good for the economy. Perhaps one day the United States will realize that high speed rail is the future instead of canceling grants for feasibility studies.

Source: Cassidy Lovell writes for The Cool Down

Finland Phases Out Coal Ahead of Schedule

Back in 2019, the Finnish government adopted a law outright banning the use of coal for energy by 2029. At the time, it was viewed as a lofty goal, but now the country has completely phased out coal-fired power plants four years ahead of schedule. Earlier this month, the last remaining coal-fired power plant was officially decommissioned in Helsinki, but there are a few inactive plants that will remain on standby just in case. Finland was able to quickly move away from coal due to both a rapid deployment of wind projects and the desire to end their reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Wind power has more than doubled since 2020, and coal power has declined 73% during the same period. That rapid deployment can be tied directly back to everyday activists demanding coal plants close ahead of schedule, utility companies and investors working together to scale up domestic clean energy manufacturing capabilities, and the government handing out €23 million in funding to help communities adhere to the coal phaseout law. This just goes to show that a quick transition to clean energy is possible when the people, government, and businesses work together towards a common goal!

Source: Rosie Frost writes for EuroNews

Morocco Orders Hundreds of New Electric Trains

Morocco will be hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup alongside Portugal and Spain, and they are working on expanding their passenger rail network to handle the crowds. Hosting major international events like the World Cup requires expansive public transit systems in order to not cause massive traffic jams for residents. Paris, for example, significantly expanded their own passenger rail before they hosted the Summer Olympics last year. In the case of Morocco, they recently spent $2.9 billion to purchase 168 electric trains. 18 will be used for high speed rail, 40 for intercity rail, and 110 for urban rail. Morocco isn’t just making these purchases in preparation for the World Cup, though — they hope their rail network will be able to serve 87% of their population by 2040. That will be no small feat considering how geographically diverse the country is, but they are nevertheless pushing forward to prove that even Africa can have effective public transit systems.

Source: Ahmed Eljechtimi writes for Reuters

Oil Demand in China Slowing Down for First Time Ever

New data from the International Energy Agency shows that oil demand has peaked and will start to decline by the end of the decade. That’s great news considering oil is the second largest source of carbon emissions in the country and China is the second largest consumer of oil behind the United States. Normally China accounts for at least 60% of global oil demand, but last year it fell to under 20%. This jump can be directly attributed to the country quickly scaling up clean energy projects. In fact, China alone was responsible for 64% of new global clean energy capacity last year, and that is because they significantly scaled up domestic manufacturing for clean energy technologies in recent years. Despite this, oil demand still remains quite high, and that is because of the amount of oil the country uses to produce plastic goods. However, all that might change soon because between the time I started writing this edition and the time I finished it, China has announced they will be importing 90% less oil from the United States due to Trump’s trade war.

Source: Ben German writes for Axios

Liverpool Takes Back Control of Its Bus System

Nearly four decades ago, Greater Liverpool privatized their bus system as part of Margaret Thatcher’s corporate takeover of publicly-operated services. This privatization ultimately hurt the British people while lining the pockets of corporations and the investors behind them, but now that is beginning to change. Greater Liverpool has become the second city region in the United Kingdom outside of London to nationalize their bus system, and they are doing so in order to expand service. Under the new system, the government will control timetables, routes, and fares in a way that prioritizes passengers over profit, and it is on schedule to go into effect in 2027. The government has set aside £119 million to purchase all-electric buses, build new stations, and improve existing infrastructure, and they hope these improvements will increase ridership in order to reduce congestion and emissions throughout the metropolitan area. Services like public transportation should be controlled by the public, for the public – because after all, it’s right there in the name! I imagine we will see more communities throughout the United Kingdom bring back public ownership of public transit networks if Liverpool’s bus network nationalization is anything like Manchester’s.

Source: William Thorpe writes for Cities Today

World Record for Most Powerful Wind Turbine Broken Again

Move over billionaire-backed space tourism – the new space race is actually for clean energy. The world record for the most powerful wind turbine has been broken again less than a year after it was most recently broken. MingYang had previously held the record with a 20 MW turbine that went into operation last summer, but Siemens Gamesa just installed a 21.5 MW turbine at a test facility in Demark. It is a prototype of an offshore wind turbine that the company hopes to begin installing at actual wind farms as soon as the manufacturing can be scaled up. This one turbine has the capacity to power over 77,000 homes – which is more homes than my entire county in East Tennessee has. But Siemens Gamesa may not be the record holder for long; MingYang will start building 22 MW turbines this year, and Dongfang Electric Corporation is in the process of installing a 26 MW turbine. The next step is to get more wind developers to commit to using these powerful turbines, but that shouldn’t be a problem considering it will cut down on the number of offshore wind foundations and platforms that need to be built. Isn’t it amazing how quickly clean energy is becoming more efficient, powerful, and sustainable?

Source: Matthew Bliss writes for Renew Economy

Canada Announces Over $1 Billion in Public Transit Funding

Last year the Canadian government officially launched a new scheme aimed at improving public transportation. It’s called the Canada Public Transit Fund, and it will invest $21.9 billion in transit projects over the next decade. What makes this scheme unique is that it is helping pave the way to make it easier to build dense, affordable housing right along public transit networks. This, in turn, will help reduce emissions by making the more sustainable transit options the most accessible. Over $1 billion has been allocated to dozens of projects across the country in the first round of funding, and it will support both urban and rural transit systems. Whistler, for example, will use the funding to improve its rural transit network for year-round residents, and Quebec City plans to build a tramway as well as expand passenger rail service between them and Montreal. The Canada Public Transit Fund still isn’t enough to adequately fund the robust public transit systems needed to effectively reduce emissions, but it is still expected to improve ridership numbers across the country – which is already on the rise.

Source: Brandon Lewis writes for Mass Transit

BONUS STORIES

What is your favorite story from this week’s edition? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll produce a video about whichever story is the most popular!