TC Energy Announces Significant Pipeline Expansion in the Midwest: Appalachia Supply Project Joins Last Year’s Announced Northwoods Expansion and Will Include Looping

     TC Energy has two major pipelines in progress in the U.S. Midwest. These are last year’s announcement of its $900 million Northwoods Expansion Project and its recent announcement of its $1.5 billion Appalachia Supply Project.

     The Northwoods expansion project is set to add 0.4 Bcf/d of natural gas capacity in the U.S. Midwest by 2029. It is backed by a 20-year contract. It is geared toward addressing new demand, especially from data centers. The Northwoods project will include pipeline looping, which refers to running an additional section of pipeline along and parallel to another section of pipeline. They may be connected together with one used as storage and/or alternated during maintenance. The project will expand TC Energy’s ANR pipeline system. It will include 92 miles of looping, two new compressor stations, a new meter station, and other upgrades.

     François Poirier, President and CEO of TC Energy, noted:

“Northwoods exemplifies our disciplined strategy and our ability to capture high-value, low-risk opportunities across our portfolio.”

     As shown in the map below, the pipeline will run north-south through Wisconsin and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

 

The Appalachia Supply Project

     Just announced, the $1.5 billion Appalachia Supply Project will serve markets in Northern Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota.

“The Appalachia Supply Project, which is supported by a 20-year take-or-pay contract backed by a major utility, is designed to provide up to 800 Mcf/day {0.8 BCF/day} of capacity for natural gas-fired power generation and has an expected in-service date in 2030.”

“The project is capable of providing as much as 2 Bcf/day of gas day through future expansions, which could meet expected demand for electrification, economic development, and data centers in the U.S. heartland market, the company said.”

        The project was announced in TC Energy’s Q1 quarterly earnings report on May 1, 2026. I have not yet seen a map of the pipeline route and future expansions

References:

 

TC Energy posts Q1 beat, approves $1.5B Columbia Gas expansion project. Seeking Alpha. May 1, 2026. TC Energy posts Q1 beat, approves $1.5B Columbia Gas expansion project

TC Energy Approves $900 Million Northwoods Pipeline Expansion for U.S. Midwest. Pipeline May 2, 2025. TC Energy Approves $900 Million Northwoods Pipeline Expansion for U.S. Midwest

Northwoods Project. TC Energy. Northwoods Project

 

 

Kazakhstan and Other Central Asian Countries Plan Green Shield of Trees to Address Desertification and Protect Against Dust Storms

 

      Kazakhstan has proposed a regional “Green Shield of Central Asia” initiative to fight desertification and dust storms. They proposed this at the recent Regional Ecological Summit 2026. Researchers from Uzbekistan noted that desertification is increasing in the region, and about 9 square meters of land are desertified per minute in Central Asia. No doubt, they have been influenced by China’s success at greening some of its desert areas.

“Kazakhstan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yerlan Nyssanbayev said the initiative builds on the country’s experience in large-scale reforestation projects under harsh climatic conditions.”

“This result confirms that even in areas previously unsuitable for forestry, ecosystem restoration is possible when relying on science, long-term planning, and the professional work of foresters,” Nyssanbayev said, referring to the forest belt around the capital that has expanded to 102,000 hectares since 1997.

     The Aral Sea continues to shrink and evaporate, creating a source of exposed sand and soil, salts, and debris that can become fuel for dust storms. To combat this, the country has deployed large-scale planting of saxaul and other salt-resistant species on the dried seabed in recent years.

“To date, saxaul plantations and other salt-resistant species have been established on an area of more than 1.1 million hectares. This is not only a national project. It is a contribution to reducing transboundary dust storms, stabilising the regional ecological situation, and improving living conditions for the population of neighbouring countries,” Nyssanbayev said.

     Kazakhstan envisions a coordinated regional initiative where specific problems are identified and addressed. Forest belts will be planted to form a unified ecological barrier. He also noted that the plan will include measurable targets, implementation stages, and monitoring mechanisms, and tied it to broader sustainable development goals.

“Each country determines its own priority areas. Together, they form a unified regional system of green barriers capable of changing the ecological dynamics of Central Asia,” he said.

     As noted, Kazakhstan has already succeeded in reforesting areas around its capital city, Astana, where the summit was held. The country’s current greening projects include the planting of 2 billion trees in the state forest fund and 15 million trees in populated areas.

     According to the Central Asian Climate Foundation:

“Together with colleagues from Central Asia, significant preparatory work has already been carried out: a draft resolution has been prepared and sites for creating forest plantations have been identified. The participants of the initiative include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. As key international partners, we consider relevant international organizations and ecological funds,” said Minister Yerlan Nyssanbayev.

“This initiative is directly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, including food security, climate change adaptation, sustainable natural resource management, and the development of regional partnership.”

      The summit was attended by representatives of Kazakhstan, China, Central Asian countries, as well as FAO, UNDP, GIZ, AFoCO, UNCCD, and other international partners.

 

References:

 

Kazakhstan proposes regional 'Green Shield' to combat desertification in Central Asia. Clare Nuttall. IntelliNews. April 24, 2026. Kazakhstan proposes regional 'Green Shield' to combat desertification in Central Asia

Green Shield of Central Asia: Regional System of Protective Forest Belts and Green Barriers (2026–2035). Central Asia Climate Foundation. April 23, 2026. Green Shield of Central Asia: Regional System of Protective Forest Belts and Green Barriers (2026–2035) - Central Asia Climate Fundation

Transitioning From Fossil Fuels Conference is an Alt Climate Summit for Those Who Implausibly Want to End Fossil Fuels

     Colombia recently hosted the first-ever Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. Representatives from 57 countries were in attendance. The early part of the conference claimed that fossil fuels receive $1.2 trillion in subsidies and “other forms of support” compared to $254 billion for clean energy. That assertion alone is incorrect, misleading, and shows that the conference is based on hype and is what geologist and energy expert Scott Tinker would call factually incomplete. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Kenya, Norway, New Zealand, and the U.K., as well as the European Union, were represented, but China, Russia, the UAE, and the U.S. were not invited. The conference seems to be mainly for climate activists and indigenous peoples allied to them. It is basically an alternative conference to the COP conferences, which they say do not do enough to move away from fossil fuels.

     According to the conference organizers:

“The objective of the Conference is to initiate a concrete process through which a coalition of committed countries, subnational governments, and relevant stakeholders can identify and advance enabling pathways to implement a progressive transition away from fossil fuels creating sustainable societies and economies. This process will be informed by the experience and perspectives of national and subnational governments, academia, Indigenous Peoples, Peoples of African Descent, peasants, civil society, workers, the private sector, and other key actors at different stages of the transition.”

     They say it is not a replacement for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but complementary to it.

     One outcome of the conference was the urge toward the development of roadmaps by country to end fossil fuel dependency. The conference mimics some of the IPCC approaches without the limitations they have.

     According to Mongabay:

“The contentious mechanism of investor–state dispute settlements (ISDS) was one legal obstacle discussed by participants at the conference. Under the ISDS system, fossil fuel companies and investors can threaten legal action against governments over climate or energy policies that they claim harm their businesses.”

      Some countries have opted out of ISDS. Bolivia was the first to do so in 2007. Colombia just decided to join them.

     An article in Latin Times notes about ISDS:

“While designed to protect against discrimination or expropriation without compensation, critics say that claims allow public-interest domestic policies to be challenged in foreign courts.”

     The following statement shows the difficulty and impracticality of demanding a faster transition away from fossil fuels. Despite the vast investments in clean energy, in the trillions over the past decade, we still make the vast majority of our primary energy with fossil fuels.

“Fossil fuels are still the world’s leading energy source, accounting for 87% of total energy supply. Oil is the most dominant, meeting 34% of total energy demand.”

     Ignacio Arróniz, a senior associate for the NGO Earth Insight, noted about the conference goals that even the transition to renewables involves environmental issues:

“As mining operations inevitably expand to meet the demand for transition minerals, we urgently need guardrails to protect people and nature from unnecessary harm,” he added. “Santa Marta was a strong beginning. But the architecture of cooperation needs to grow considerably from here.”

“Fossil fuel companies are among the most frequent users of ISDS. By 2023, the sector had secured more than $77 billion in compensation globally. Claims often include not just sunk investments but projected future profits, inflating their size to sums that can exceed $1 billion, sometimes representing a significant share of national budgets.”

     I will note that Colombia has been facing some challenges in supplying oil & gas, which is mainly for export, including to the U.S. In this light, they have invested in more drilling as well as maintenance at existing fields to slow declining production. There have also been some important discoveries offshore Colombia, mainly by Brazil’s Petrobras. However, Colombia’s current leader, Gustavo Petro, has put a moratorium on approving new fossil fuel permits. However, according to Climate Action Tracker:

“Colombia remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels for fiscal revenue, exports, and investment,” making the transition from fossil fuels difficult.”

     Below are some snippets from the conference’s final statement:

“…the countries present in Santa Marta still have structural dependencies to overcome, including fiscal dependencies, debt constraints, the dependence of the financial architecture on fossil fuels and the need to enable fossil fuels-free trade systems.”

“Transitioning away from fossil fuels is more than replacing one energy source with another. It requires broad economic transformation to overcome structural dependencies, overcome debt constraints, expand reliable energy access, and support diversified, resilient economies. This must be planned with workers and communities, ensuring a transition that is fair, rights-based, and delivers tangible benefits for marginalized groups.”

     The conference called for more taxation of fossil fuels, claiming they were undertaxed. That simply means they want higher costs for oil, refined fuels, natural gas, and coal so that renewables can compete better. Consumers don’t want to pay more for the fuel products they need and use every day. Of course, if fuel prices rise, the cost of all products rises as well.

     There was a scientific pre-conference. The statement from it below, which recommends banning new fossil fuel infrastructure, is the same tired approach that threatens fuel and power shortages wherever it is implemented.

“Take immediate measures to prevent future emissions. Ban new fossil infrastructure, mandate deep methane cuts, accelerate electrification and inscribe fossil-fuel phase-down targets in NDCs and clean-energy pathways support to low and middle income countries.”

     Environmental orgs were optimistic about the conference, especially as it puts their goals at the top of the agenda. They support the banning of new fossil fuel infrastructure, which is needed in many places in the world. Instead, we should support energy access, economic, and industrial development in developing countries, which is best accomplished with fossil fuels. Trying to make fossil fuels less profitable does little more than make them more difficult to produce and more expensive for the nearly 99% of humanity that uses them in some form.

     Ireland and the island nation of Tuvalu are expected to co-host the 2027 conference. 

      

 

References:

 

Alternative climate summit seeks more action on global warming. Pete Dolack. Z Network. May 8, 2026. Alternative climate summit seeks more action on global warming

Colombia brings little-known legal mechanism to climate debate at First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. John Boscawen. Latin America Reports. Latin Times. May 10, 2026. Colombia brings little-known legal mechanism to climate debate at First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuel transition summit seeks progress beyond stalled COP talks. Mongabay. May 11, 2026. Fossil fuel transition summit seeks progress beyond stalled COP talks

U.S. House Passes Legislation Meant to Aid Hydroelectric Production, Trump Administration Directs FERC to Extend Construction Deadlines on Hydro Projects, and NYC Gets Power from Newly Completed Transmission Line to Deliver Canadian Hydro Power

      The U.S. House just passed a bill to build more hydro power in the country. The ‘Build More Hydro’ bill passed with unanimity in the Senate, and the House vote was 394 in favor to 14 against. Thus, there is a clear bipartisan goal of increasing hydroelectric power production. Rep. Newhouse noted:

“Once signed into law, this legislation will allow for the construction of nearly 40 projects totaling over 2.5 gigawatts of baseload power, improving grid reliability and lowering energy prices.”

     The bill also extends 'commence construction' deadlines for critical hydropower projects nationwide.

     The bill is expected to help decrease permitting times and relicensing requirements, which have long been sought by developers. In my previous blog, I wrote a post about the future of U.S. hydropower projects back in December 2016, nearly a decade ago, which, by the way, is how long it takes to get some of these projects approved.

     This week, Trump signed legislation directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend construction deadlines for roughly three dozen hydro power projects delayed due to the pandemic and supply chain shortages.

“Today’s law is a breakthrough that delivers 2,600 megawatts of clean hydropower and $6.5 billion in private investment critical to powering American homes, businesses, and industries,” Malcolm Woolf, the president of the National Hydropower Association, said in a statement.

     In other important hydropower news, the 339-mile transmission project to bring hydropower from Canada to New York City has been completed and tested.  The transmission project is known as the Champlain Hudson Power Express, and it will bring up to 1250 MW of power capacity to the city. The startup date was planned to be in August, but it will start ahead of schedule, likely in June, ahead of summer heat waves. This should help grid reliability in the greater NYC metro area.

“We didn’t think it was possible. The state didn’t think it was possible. We were counting on capacity coming online in August, but that’s way too late,” Peter Rose, the senior director of stakeholder relations for Hydro Quebec, told me on a call last night. “We have heat waves in July. It’ll be good for New York City to count on that 1,250 megawatts of capacity going into July.”

     During testing, hydropower from the project provided up to a third of the city’s power. Of course, that was in a low-demand period, but the testing went well, and this should be a great source of grid stability for the region.  

 An October 2025 article in Canary Media noted that:

“Nearly 450 hydroelectric stations totaling more than 16 gigawatts of generating capacity are scheduled for relicensing across the United States over the next decade. That’s roughly 40% of the nonfederal fleet (the government owns about half the hydropower stations in the U.S.).”

     Some of those plants will shut down because the requirements and costs for relicensing are too much for them to bear. The relicensing bureaucracy, as it has become known, drastically slows down relicensing as it must be signed off on by several federal agencies and includes new NEPA reviews. Clearly, something needed to be done about this a decade or more ago. The article notes that, as it stands, the average time period for relicensing is eight years. Some take up to 20 years! That is way too long. In comparison, it takes 18 months to license a new nuclear plant, they note.  

     Woolf noted in that article:

“We know we’ve got load growth. We know we’ve got grid variability from renewables and extreme weather. The flexibility of hydropower offers clean, firm generation that is unique,” Woolf said. ​“At the same time — through quirk of history — we’ve got so much of the fleet at relicensing and at risk of surrendering permits. This could be an amazing opportunity.”

  

 

References:

 

The U.S. passes law to boost the hydroelectric sector. Heatmap AM. May 12, 2026.

NYC’s biggest electricity project comes online early, shoring up the grid ahead of summer heatwaves. Heat Map AM. May 14, 2026.

House Passes Newhouse/Daines Bill to Build More Hydro, Heads to President's Desk. Rep. Dan Newhouse. House Passes Newhouse/Daines Bill to Build More Hydro, Heads to President's Desk | Congressman Dan Newhouse

US hydropower is at a make-or-break moment. Alexander C. Kaufman. Canary Media. October 1, 2025. US hydropower is at a make-or-break moment | Canary Media

River Deltas Around the World Are Sinking Faster Than Sea Level is Rising: Groundwater Withdrawal, Reduced Sediment Supply, and Urban Expansion Are the Causes

    

      A new study published in Nature in January 2026 notes that there are river deltas around the world that are sinking faster than sea level is rising. The study examined 40 deltas and found that in 18 of them, the land elevations were subsiding (dropping) faster than sea level rise, and in nearly every delta studied, there are areas where subsidence is exceeding sea level rise. This is increasing the flooding risks for about 236 million people.

     Advanced satellite radar systems were used to measure changes in surface elevation across deltas on five continents. In particular, the Mekong, Nile, Chao Phraya, Ganges-Brahmaputra, Mississippi, and Yellow River deltas are experiencing rapid elevation loss.

     Three major causes are to blame for the subsidence, and all are caused by humans. These are groundwater withdrawal, reduced sediment supply, and urbanization. The study indicates that groundwater depletion is the chief cause, although the main causes vary by region.

     The study was overseen by Virginia Tech geoscientists Manoochehr Shirzaei and Susanna Werth and led by former Virginia Tech graduate student Leonard Ohenhen, now an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine.

“When groundwater is over-pumped or sediments fail to reach the coast, the land surface drops,” said Werth, who co-led the groundwater analysis. “These processes are directly linked to human decisions, which means the solutions also lie within our control.”

     The authors created a high-resolution map where each pixel corresponds to 75 square meters of the surface. Some deltas are sinking at a rate double that of sea level rise.

     As the abstract below notes, along with flooding risks and land loss, there are also risks of salination of freshwater. This high-resolution study is an important step toward understanding the issue, its causes, and its possible mitigation. As noted in the quote below from the abstract, relative sea level rise is dominated not by climate change but by subsidence.

“…we find that contemporary subsidence surpasses absolute (geocentric) sea-level rise as the dominant driver of relative sea-level rise for most deltas over the twenty-first century. These findings suggest the need for targeted interventions addressing subsidence as an immediate and localized challenge, in parallel with broader efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change-driven global sea-level rise.”

 

References:

 

Sinking river deltas put millions at risk of flooding: Some of the world’s biggest megacities are located in river deltas threatened by subsidence due to excessive groundwater extraction and urban expansion, compounding the threat they face from sea-level rise. James Woodford. New Scientist. 14 January 2026. Sinking river deltas put millions at risk of flooding | New Scientist

Major river deltas are sinking faster than sea-level rise: A new study published in Nature finds human-driven land sinking now outpaces sea-level rise in many of the world’s major delta systems, threatening more than 236 million people. Kelly Izlar. Virginia Tech. January 14, 2026. Major river deltas are sinking faster than sea-level rise | Virginia Tech News | Virginia Tech

Major river deltas are sinking faster than sea-level rise. Geology Page. May 2, 2026. Major river deltas are sinking faster than sea-level rise | Geology Page

Global subsidence of river deltas. L. O. Ohenhen, M. Shirzaei, J. L. Davis, A. Tiwari, R. Nicholls, O. Dasho, N. Sadhasivam, K. Seeger, S. Werth, A. J. Chadwick, F. Onyike, J. Lucy, C. Atkins, S. Daramola, A. Ankamah, P. S. J. Minderhoud, J. Oelsmann & G. C. Yemele. Nature. Volume 649, pages 894–901 (2026). Global subsidence of river deltas | Nature

The Minerals Processing Gap is Huge: China Has Mineral Processing Dominance and It Will Take Time for the U.S. and Other Countries to Catch Up

     The Trump administration has emphasized U.S. energy dominance, economic dominance, and technological dominance. However, there is one area where China, in particular, has dominance. That is in the sphere of critical minerals, especially minerals processing or refining. In many cases, minerals mined in the U.S. and other countries are sent to China to be processed and then sent back. This is expensive and emissions-intensive but usually still economical. The U.S. and other countries are working on domestic minerals mining and processing ventures, but they will take time. An undesirable part of doing that is that mineral processing is often polluting and has serious environmental impacts. When we outsource and offshore minerals processing to China, we also offshore the associated environmental impacts.

     A new article in The Conversation by academics from the Universities of Maryland and West Virginia explores the issue of the U.S.’s minerals processing capacity and infrastructure. The authors explain:

“Between mining and the finished product lies a complex chain of separation, refining and advanced manufacturing. Since the 1990s, however, the United States has lost much of its critical mineral processing capacity.”

“Rebuilding domestic mineral supply chains will depend not only on resource availability and funding, but also on whether the U.S. can rebuild the technical expertise and industrial systems required to process those materials on a large scale.”

     The Mountain Pass Mine in California’s Mojave Desert used to be the world’s biggest, rare-earth mine and processing facility, but environmental and regulatory issues in the 1980s and 90s led to its being eclipsed, and rare-earth mining and processing shifted to China. The graph below from Wikipedia shows the changes in REE production from 1950 to 2000.

     By the early 2000s, U.S. REE production was nearly zero as China developed and patented new processing techniques and came to dominate the industry. Roughly 90% of the REEs produced in the U.S. and allied countries are shipped to China for processing. The U.S. relies on China for about 80% of its REEs now. The graph below shows selected critical minerals sources and the level of U.S. import reliance for each mineral.

     The U.S. has been working for nearly a decade now to bring back critical minerals mining and processing, citing national security concerns, but these kinds of projects take a lot of time.

“These facilities require years of permitting, highly specialized equipment and a workforce trained in metallurgy, chemical engineering and industrial systems operation. The time from investment decision to production can stretch across a decade.”

     The U.S. currently has two producing rare earth mines: Mountain Pass in California and another in southeast Georgia, which extracts rare earth elements as a byproduct of heavy mineral sand mining. The U.S. has also lost much of its mining and processing expertise as college programs for these skills have shrunk. Mining employment has fallen from 300,000 people in 1990 to less than 200,000 today. Of course, since coal is included in those numbers, some of that is due to shifts to more mechanized mining.

“Specialized skills in areas such as rare earth separation, metallurgical testing and environmental systems design require years of training and practical experience. And while mining can produce high-paying jobs, the industry also has a reputation for environmental damage and hazardous conditions.”

     Wastewater from minerals mining is a serious environmental issue and one that has limited minerals mining and processing ventures in the U.S. China notoriously polluted surface water, groundwater, and soil when it ramped up mining and processing beginning in the 1990s.

“Operating a refinery or separation facility in compliance with regulatory standards today requires expertise in pollution control, waste treatment and sustainable process design. That requires a workforce skilled in materials science and engineering and with knowledge of environmental systems. Without environmental expertise, operational risks, regulatory challenges and project delays can increase, affecting long-term viability.”

     The authors note that Canada’s mineral processing strategy links mining and processing to the companies that use them for funding and developing the necessary supply chains. The same is happening in the U.S. as battery manufacturing facilities are located near mining facilities.

     Workforce training is important since mining engineering enrollment has been steadily dropping over the past decade.

“The United States has many of the key ingredients needed to rebuild its processing capacity, including research universities and workers with transferable industrial skills. Land-grant and technical universities could expand programs that integrate mining, materials science, environmental restoration and recycling. In regions such as Appalachia, where coal’s decline has left workers with skills but few job opportunities, retraining programs for new mineral recovery jobs could help people transition to a new industry.”

     Research hubs are cropping up to address the issue and rebuild U.S. processing capacity. Federal programs are supporting this effort. The article goes on to stress the importance of developing a competent workforce. More domestic investment and policy changes, such as permit reforms, will also help.

“A successful domestic supply chain will require workers who know how to separate neodymium from praseodymium, operate solvent extraction circuits and maintain hydrometallurgical plants within regulatory standards. These are highly specialized skills that take years to develop.”

     It will take time for the U.S. to rebuild its minerals mining and processing capacity and infrastructure, but it is happening. Geopolitics is spurring it as China has put export controls on some of its minerals, using these as leverage in negotiations.

 

    

References:

 

The missing link in America’s critical minerals push isn’t mining – it’s processing expertise. Hélène Nguemgaing, University of Maryland and Alan Collins, West Virginia University. The Conversation. May 11, 2026. The missing link in America’s critical minerals push isn’t mining – it’s processing expertise

Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine. Wikipedia. Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine - Wikipedia

Trade Over Aid: Emphasizing Trade is Fine, but It Can’t Treat Dire and Immediate Issues Like Aid Can

     On April 27, 2026, the U.S. Mission to the UN launched its Trade Over Aid initiative. At the first of the year, the U.S. State Department put out its Agency Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2026-2030, which included at the end a short section entitled Promote and provide trade, not aid. The goal is to shift public sector aid to private sector trade. The problem with that approach is that people in dire need of life-saving aid do not have time to wait for the results of that trade to trickle down to them, assuming that it even will. There is a lot of corruption in the world that favors the affluent and government-connected over those with the most need. That said, ‘promoting and providing trade’ is a great idea, but “not aid” is a bad idea. The two should not be mutually exclusive. While this doctrine is a part of the MAGA philosophy, I think it has serious flaws. Studies have already shown that the shutdown of USAID has led to dire circumstances for the people with the most need, including many unnecessary deaths. That life-saving aid, however inefficient and sometimes misplaced it was, gave the U.S. a kind of “soft power” that allowed us to be a leader in compassionate aid around the world. Since the Trump administration is always asserting goals of U.S. dominance – energy dominance, technological dominance, and economic dominance in particular, one could say that the U.S. exhibited compassionate aid dominance or soft power dominance before USAID was dissolved.

“It emphasizes mutually beneficial trade, investment, and private-sector engagement as the primary tools for fostering economic growth in developing countries, rather than relying on traditional foreign aid programs.”

     The section in the State Department’s strategy document cautions against reliance on multilateral institutions and global non-profits for aid. I would argue that life-saving aid is life-saving aid, wherever it originates. It matters not to a hungry person where their food comes from, only that it comes.

     That section also argues against other forms of aid that can produce dependence, such as what has happened with China’s aid, where what has become known as ‘debt-trap diplomacy.’ They call that an exploitive model and seek instead to provide nations with American technology and:

“…secure local buy-in, catalyze private capital, and ensure that development projects benefit from the discipline of market principle.”

     That is, of course, a good idea, and I hope it is helpful to developing countries. However, it does not address the immediate needs of real people at all.

     In ‘Remarks by Under Secretary William Kimmitt at the Trade Over Aid Launch Event', the undersecretary reiterated the themes of dependency, mutual exclusivity of aid and trade, and private-sector problem solving.

“Aid can serve a purpose, but no nation ever became prosperous because it was permanently dependent on aid. Nations become prosperous when they produce, trade, build, invest, innovate, and compete. That’s the foundation of this initiative.”

     I can’t see anyone believing that aid alone could make a country prosperous.

“Too many of our trading partners have distorted global markets through subsidies, state direction, forced technology transfer, weak regulatory enforcement, non-market behavior, and other practices that prevent true free, fair, and reciprocal trade.”

     Sure, some of those issues can be adjusted in the countries’ favor. He goes on to say basically that developing countries should develop, including developing effective free markets that do not distort the wider global market, urging them to:

“…build more productive industries, attract investment, and rise through fair competition.”

     The heart of the matter is commerce for mutual benefit. This is due in part to the America First strategy, which always asks: How do Americans and American companies and institutions benefit? In other words, what’s in it for us? That is fine for economic development, but not for life-saving aid.

“When developing economies become more prosperous, they become better customers, better investors, better partners, and better allies. This is how shared prosperity is created—not through dependency, but through production and exchange.”

     That is fine and dandy and a good idea. It is pure Trumpism, where everything is transactional, but it does not apply to dire need, which seems to be the elephant in the room that is not being addressed.

     The summary below is very good, and I agree with it, but again, I don’t think that giving life-saving aid was meant or expected to improve the economies of developing countries. I think that a better overall approach would have been ‘More trade, less aid.’

References:

 

Trade Over Aid. U.S. Mission to the United Nations. April 27, 2026. Trade Over Aid - United States Mission to the United Nations

Agency Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2026-2030. U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE. January 2026. Agency Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2026-2030

Remarks by Under Secretary William Kimmitt at the Trade Over Aid Launch Event. April 27, 2026. Remarks by Under Secretary William Kimmitt at the Trade Over Aid Launch Event

The Ivanpah Thermal Solar Power Plant, Once a Marvel of Technology, Has Become an Expensive Boondoggle: Some Want it Shuttered, but California Says It is Still Needed

     The Ivanpah Thermal Solar Power Plant in the Mojave Desert in California near the Nevada border has been operational since 2014. Once the U.S. flagship for thermal solar power, the project has become obsolete, some argue, since solar PV technology has improved to the point where it is more economical than Ivanpah. Basically, the project has become a stranded asset, more expensive to operate than deploying and operating existing solar PV tech. The current debate about closing it down or not is basically a debate about who pays the $1.6 billion government loan payments, taxpayers if it is closed, or electricity ratepayers if it remains open. It also shows the irony that all the hoopla about fossil fuel assets becoming stranded assets can be applied to some clean energy projects as well. In this case, it is a very expensive project with $2.2 billion in government funding.

     Ivanpah’s land footprint is quite large at 4000 acres. It contains 350,000 mirrors on 170,000 heliostats. The mirrors blinded aircraft with the glare, so plane routes had to be diverted around them. While its capacity is nearly 400 MW, since it is a solar plant only operational during the day, its actual output was likely closer to 100 MW. A 400 MW natural gas plant would have an output closer to 250 MW.

     Michael Dorgan of Fox News wrote a detailed article about the issues facing the plant. He noted some of the environmental issues that the plant has triggered, including significant wildlife impacts:

“The project has also faced scrutiny over its environmental impact, with thousands of birds killed after flying through the plant’s concentrated solar beams — along with the destruction of large areas of desert land and displacement of desert tortoises.”

     Thus, while its environmental benefits compared to a comparable 100-200 MW natural gas unit are great in terms of air pollutants and carbon emissions, its large land footprint, desert impacts, and hot concentrated solar beams that are deadly for birds make it not so great for the local environment.  

     Dorgan notes that between $730 million and $780 million of the $1.6 billion government loan is left to be paid. The project also received a $539 million government grant that funded 30% of its construction. Keeping the plant open may require up to $100 million per year from ratepayers compared to currently available solar alternatives.

“Officials under both the Trump and Biden administrations, along with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) — which buys electricity from the plant — have supported shutting it down. PG&E has described the contracts as part of an effort to reduce "uneconomic resources" in its energy portfolio, according to regulatory filings.”

     The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rejected efforts to break the power contracts that the plant has with buyers. Shutting down the plant could create another stranded asset, that being the $300 million sunk into transmission to deliver its power, which was funded by ratepayers. CPUC also cites potential threats to grid reliability in light of increasing demand due to AI data centers as reasons to keep it open.

     Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at the University of California, Berkeley, told Fox News Digital that:

“…the project reflects the risks of investing in emerging energy technologies at scale.”

Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University energy systems expert (and an avid anti-fossil fuel advocate – I add),

“…contended the technology itself is not inherently flawed but lacks key features used in newer systems.”

"There’s no role for a concentrated solar plant without storage," Jacobson told Fox News Digital, noting that modern systems typically store energy for use at night — something Ivanpah cannot do.

“Jacobson added that while the plant may no longer be competitive with new projects, that does not necessarily mean it should be shut down.”

"It’s already built," he said. "So the question is whether it’s cheaper to keep it running than to replace it."

     Ivanpah has also suffered operational issues, which have further degraded its output. In 2023, the plant had a capacity factor, or utilization rate, of just 17%, making it comparable to a 68 MW power plant working 24 hours. When it was built, it was hoped that its capacity factor would be steady between 25 and 30%.

     The plant is about 50 miles from the nearest town, and people there say their own power bills are very high.     

     It was an interesting project in its time, but I am guessing it will be shuttered before too long, although nobody knows when. I wonder what they will do with all those mirrors when the plant is decommissioned. It doesn’t seem likely that the stranded transmission will be useful or fully powered except for other solar projects and perhaps geothermal projects. It was an early experiment that sort of worked but had issues and then succumbed to better tech, namely PV solar plus storage.

     Dorgan published another article a week later detailing the wildlife impacts of the plant, including evidence that the concentrated solar beams scorched birds. The final environmental impact statement for the project noted that there would be bird deaths and that they would be monitored. No penalties or fines are issued for the deaths as they are considered to be incidental. However, if someone were to intentionally kill some of those bird species, they could be heavily fined, up to $15,000 per bird. There have been some mitigation attempts, but mostly, there is just monitoring. It is estimated that over one thousand birds are killed annually.

 

    

 

References:

Obama-backed $2.2B green energy boondoggle leaves taxpayers on the hook. Michael Dorgan. Fox News. May 2, 2026. Obama-backed $2.2B green energy boondoggle leaves taxpayers on the hook

Regulators allow Obama-era solar plant to kill thousands of birds annually, investigation finds. Michael Dorgan. Fox News. May 9, 2026. Regulators allow Obama-era solar plant to kill thousands of birds annually, investigation finds