If we do not move away from this dependency on fossil fuels,
then I can promise everybody it will be a permanent crisis
Dan Jørgensen, EU Energy Commissioner, speaking to Financial Times
A federal judge in New York ruled that the state’s new climate “superfund” law, which would force fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion to help cover the costs of climate change, was unconstitutional. The decision on Wednesday, reported in The New York Times, ruled on a challenge by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. Vermont and New York are the only states to have passed climate superfund laws, but they have been proposed in several other states. A legal challenge to Vermont’s law is also pending.
Politico reports that the European Commission has unveiled an environmental rating scheme for data centres that power artificial intelligence. “The new rules, which will apply from August 2027, oblige big data centers to display a label grading them on their energy efficiency, water usage and clean power uptake on a scale of A to G, much like the EU’s influential appliances ranking. “This will add a lot of transparency and hopefully provide the incentives for these data centers to be as sustainable as possible,” said Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen in an interview with POLITICO.”
The New York Times reports that New Jersey has fined a data centre’s operator, DataOne, $1.07 million for violating the state’s Air Pollution Control Act. When inspected, the data centre had 62 tractor-trailer size 2000-kw natural gas-powered generators. None of the generators had the required permits to be installed or operated at the site. There was more. “The Cumberland County Health Department has issued violation orders to DataOne for excessive noise.” There was some criticism of the state’s penalty. One mother of two local teenagers said: “What’s $1.07 million? They should have done it for each generator they were running, illegally. They’re billionaires. It’s like pocket change.”
The Washington Post reports that Trump’s war in Iran has inadvertently led to a cut in carbon emissions. “President Donald Trump dismisses climate change as a hoax. He calls federal policies aimed at curbing it a wasteful “Green New Scam.” His administration has worked furiously to gut such policies and unleash unbridled consumption of fossil fuels. But the Trump agenda has inadvertently dealt a sizable blow against global warming. . . . His war on Iran, now in its seventh month, has led to a plunge in the consumption of oil and gas around the world as fighting disrupts production and transportation.” The Post article cites International Energy Agency: “The IEA analysis suggests global demand for oil in 2026 will decline 2.5 percent compared with last year. That would erase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created by 42 million internal combustion engine cars.”
This is an important event for you to attend this coming week. As Europe prepares to invest hundreds of billions of euros annually in its future energy system, two European consortia with 13 partners covering 9 countries are demonstrating how decision-makers can better assess the impacts of energy efficiency investments and systematically compare demand-side solutions with investments in energy-supply infrastructure, to choose the options the most beneficial to society. On 1 October 2026 in Brussels and online, the EU-funded LIFE projects SEED MICAT and ENEFIRST Plus will illustrate the importance for assessments to consider broader perspectives to inform policy design and investment decisions, and for stakeholders of various fields to work together. The programme and registration are available here.
To ensure the momentum of the zero carbon energy transition, we need a new generation of experts to continue the good work. EiD encourages all young researchers (born after 1991) in energy efficiency and biomass to submit contributions for next year’s Young Energy Researchers Conference next March 2nd as part of World Sustainable Energy Days, March 2-5, 2027 in Wels, Austria. Altogether there are five dedicated conferences and a trade show packed into the four days. See the overview of the conferences. The young energy researchers conference has 2 tracks, one for energy efficiency and one for biomass. Submissions (in English only) are welcome from all scientific fields (e.g. technology, engineering, economics, social sciences, architecture, law, arts). The deadline for submissions for all the events is October 9th.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- Check out the European night train map 2026.
- There’s never been a more important moment to travel right in Europe with masses of overdevelopment, cruise ships, walking pollution and captive cetaceans still hot topics when it comes to responsible tourism issues in Europe. Check out the Responsible Travel website.
- Experience the beauty of Scotland this autumn.
- Autumn is the best time for a cycling trip in Europe because the summer heat is gone, the roads are quiet, and the trees turn bright red and gold. Check out Bike Tours in Europe for some inspiration.
Ogden Nash (1902-1971), an American poet well known for his light verse and declared by The New York Times to be the country’s best-known producer of humorous poetry, gives us his views on achieving happiness: “There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New EEA briefing on progress towards sustainability by exploring rapidly developing digital trends and technologies
- China shows how to defuse an oil crisis: use less oil
- When net zero becomes a political dividing line
- Germany’s answer to energy insecurity: phase out fossil fuels
- Canada faces 5°C of warming by the end of the century – unless the world changes course
- New publication from the UNECE showing data centres don’t have to be a burden on the grid
- Quebec’s patient capital bet on the energy transition
- The circular economy cannot stop at the border
- Europe’s renewable energy transition needs more than solar
- UN Secretary-General launches Global Grids Accelerator to power growth and clean energy in Africa and South-East Asia
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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