E2. Front Line Community Green

By Desmond Alugnoa and Ama Asiedu

For nearly a decade, the GAIA Africa team has been providing technical expertise and supporting movements across the continent, helping communities advance practical, just and people‑centred zero waste solutions. In 2025, we hosted the first-ever GAIA Africa Zero Waste Academy, with a simple but ambitious goal: to build the capacity of a new generation of African zero waste champions and create a growing platform for the practical implementation of zero waste solutions across the continent. One year later, that journey continues!

In 2026, the GAIA Africa Zero Waste Academy returned for its second edition, co-hosted withthe Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), in Ghana, a vibrant hub for youth‑led zero waste organising. This year’s Academy brought together 50 emerging and experienced climate and waste management practitioners from across Africa for a holistic journey of learning, exchange, movement building and action. More than 1,200 people applied to be part of the programme, reflecting the growing interest in locally led solutions to Africa’s waste and climate challenges.

A Movement That Keeps Growing

The Academy was created on the belief that Africa does not lack solutions to its waste crisis. Across the continent, communities are already composting, reusing materials, recovering recyclables, organising waste workers and developing alternatives to the extractive linear waste systems that perpetuate pollution and climate change. What is needed is to connect these experiences, strengthen the people leading them and create opportunities for learning across borders.

The 2026 Academy began with a five-week virtual programme, where participants explored movement building, waste characterisation, monitoring frameworks, climate and environmental justice, waste picker integration, community collection systems, composting, plastic pollution and methane. The learning was designed to go beyond theory. Participants were encouraged to examine the waste systems around them, understand the realities faced by waste workers and identify practical approaches they could adapt to their own communities, through hands-on weekly assignments to put their learning into practice.

As one participant, Bathseba Ratemo from Kenya, shared, the Academy offered an opportunity for “learning and unlearning, networking and sharing” a reflection that captures the spirit of the programme.

From the Virtual Classroom to Community Driven Action 

The in-person phase brought the cohort together in Ghana, creating space to deepen the learning through expert-led sessions, practical activities, field visits and conversations with people working directly within the waste sector.

Ghana provided a particularly fitting setting for this year’s Academy. In March 2026, Accra was recognised by the United Nations as one of 20 Cities Towards Zero Waste, highlighting the growing recognition of locally driven approaches to transforming urban waste systems. GAYO’s Zero Waste Accra Project has demonstrated how waste diversion, community action and the integration of informal waste workers can contribute to reducing pollution and methane emissions.

For Academy participants, visiting zero waste initiatives in Accra offered an opportunity to see these approaches in practice and consider how similar ideas could be adapted to their own contexts. But some of the most powerful learning came from witnessing movement building beyond the formal Academy sessions.

During the Academy week, participants attended the launch of the Federation of Informal Sector Waste Workers Associations of Ghana (FISWWAG). The launch marked an important step towards giving informal waste workers a stronger collective voice and advancing recognition, safer working conditions, fair pay and dignified livelihoods.

For participants, being present at this historic moment connected the Academy’s lessons on justice, organising and waste picker inclusion with a movement unfolding in real time. It was a powerful reminder that a just Zero Waste transition is not only about changing how we manage materials; it is also about ensuring that the people who collect, sort and recover those materials have a voice in shaping the systems they are part of.

Zero Waste Is About People

One of the strongest lessons from this year’s Academy was that zero waste cannot be separated from justice. Waste is not simply a technical issue. It is about livelihoods, health, dignity, climate and human rights.

Across Africa, waste pickers and informal waste workers recover valuable materials, reduce the amount of waste sent to dumpsites and landfills, and make important contributions to circular economies. Yet many continue to work without adequate recognition, protection or inclusion in formal waste systems.

This year’s Academy placed these realities at the centre of the conversation. Participants explored how waste systems can be designed to protect workers, recognise their knowledge and contributions, and ensure that the transition to zero waste does not leave anyone behind.

As GAIA Africa’s Zero Waste and Climate Programme Associate, Ama Asiedu, noted during the Academy, the programme is about more than managing waste better; it is about rethinking systems for climate resilience, green jobs and community health.

More Than a Training Programme

Perhaps the most valuable outcome of the Academy is the community that emerged from it. Participants did not simply leave with notes, presentations and certificates. They left with relationships, new ideas and a network of people working towards a common vision across the continent. The diversity of the cohort was one of its greatest strengths. Participants brought experiences from different countries, sectors and communities, but found common ground in the challenges facing Africa’s waste systems and the possibilities for change.

For us, this is what makes the Academy more than a training programme. It is a space where practitioners can learn from one another, challenge existing approaches, build solidarity and return home better equipped to act. The real test begins after the Academy.

From Ghana to the Continent

The second Africa Zero Waste Academy has shown us that the movement is growing and becoming more connected.

From Ghana to Uganda, Kenya to Nigeria, Senegal to The Gambia and beyond, people are already developing solutions rooted in their own communities. They are organising waste workers, building grassroots movements, advocating for stronger policies, reducing waste and demonstrating that our systems can work differently.

The role of the Academy is to connect these efforts, strengthen their capacity and create a community where knowledge can move freely across borders. We are grateful to GAYO Ghana for co-hosting this year’s Academy and helping create a learning experience rooted in African realities. We are equally grateful to the facilitators, partners, funders and everyone who contributed their time, knowledge and energy.

Most importantly, we are grateful to the 2026 cohort. You came from different places, carrying different experiences and facing different waste challenges. But you showed what becomes possible when people commit to change and learn together.

The Academy may have ended, but the work has only begun. The next chapter will be written in communities, cities and countries across Africa  through the projects participants implement, the policies they influence, the movements they strengthen and the people they bring along. Africa does not need to wait for a zero waste future. We are already building it.

Ends. 

The post From Online Learning to On-the-Ground Action: Africa’s Zero Waste Movement Grows Stronger first appeared on GAIA.

Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association lead top spending on lobbying 

Sacramento, Calif. — As they made huge profits in the second quarter of 2026, oil and gas corporations spent $6.7 million on California state lobbying and influence, totalling $17.1 million in the first half of the year. Oil and gas giant Chevron led with the highest spending, pouring over $2.5 million into lobbying efforts in the second quarter. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the powerful oil industry trade group, trailed closely behind with $2.3 million. 

Top 5 lobbying and influence spenders of Q2:

Company/Trade Association Amount  Chevron $2,550,280 Western States Petroleum Assn (WSPA) $2,280,267 Phillips 66 $379,401 California Resources Corp (CRC) $230,417 Marathon Petroleum $189,712

Chevron, California Resources Corporation, Marathon, Valero, and WSPA all lobbied against SB 1245, the California Fuel Affordability and Stability Act, which would lower gas prices at the pump and boost transparency in oil markets, while stabilizing California’s gasoline supply. Similarly, Marathon, Valero, CRC, WSPA, and Chevron all fought to kill SB 1259, the Refinery Transparency Act, that would require refineries to disclose estimated costs and timelines for closure and remediation.

Bills impacting refinery workers were also severely influenced by the oil industry. AB 605, the Refinery Closure Safe Staffing Act, and AB 2157, the Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund bill, both saw lobbying from Chevron, Valero, and WSPA. 

SB 982, which would have allowed the Attorney General to sue fossil fuel companies to recover climate-disaster costs, was killed following lobbying from several oil corporations, including Valero, Marathon, CIPA, CRC, Exxon, Chevron, and WSPA among others. SB 982 drew lobbying from more oil and gas entities than any other bill in Q2 of 2026.

As California’s transportation fuels transition, refinery closures, and affordability remain a priority issue for lawmakers in Sacramento, advocates continue to stress the importance of climate policies the oil industry is trying to kill.  

“With millions to spend year after year on lobbying and misinformation campaigns, it’s obvious that companies like Chevron don’t need any more state-funded handouts,” said Woody Hastings, Phase Out Polluting Fuels Director for The Climate Center. “It’s critical that Governor Newsom and the legislature stop giving billions to polluters through the Cap and Invest program. It’s time to hold polluting corporations accountable and invest in clean transit, clean air, and a healthy California.”

Other payments went to front groups, including Californians for Energy Independence, which received $1.2 million from Chevron (and nearly $3 million for the year), and firms like DDC Public Affairs, The Axis Agency, and Unearth Campaigns LLC. 

The massive lobbying spending comes as oil companies announce their second-quarter profits, with Chevron making over $12 billion — a nominal, all-time quarterly record, and five times its 2025 Q2 profits  — and Valero making $3.7 billion, more than five times its 2025 Q2 profits. ExxonMobil earned more than both Chevron and Valero in Q2, reporting a $14.5 billion profit, more than double its Q2 profits from the previous year. Q2 profits follow the ongoing war on Iran, which has driven months-long price spikes at the pump. Name brand gas stations like Chevron have been named by the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight for overcharging at the pump for the same gasoline sold at unbranded stations. Average gasoline prices in California topped $6 per gallon in May.

“Chevron isn’t spending $2.5 million fighting affordability bills because the oil industry is broke — they are spending millions because they’re scared of accountability and transparency,” said Faraz Rizvi, Policy and Campaign Manager with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN). “While our communities breathe toxic pollution from their refineries and pay sky-high prices at the pump, Chevron just posted a $12 billion quarter — five times what they made a year ago. That’s not a coincidence, it’s their business model: gouge us at the pump, kill the bills that hold them accountable, and pocket record profits while our neighbors get sick. Sacramento needs to see this for what it is.”

Additional information on Q2 lobbying activity is available upon request.

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Methodology: This report analyzes raw data from the California Secretary of State’s Political Reform Division as of Aug. 3, 2026. The analysis includes the lobbyist employers in the “oil and gas” category for the 2025-26 legislative session. The state’s definition of oil and gas lobbyist employers includes, in addition to traditional oil and gas firms, firms that advocate for biomass energy, compressed natural gas, and/or carbon removal. This press release’s numbers match the totals listed by the Secretary of State; however, Clean Energy and Kinder Morgan appear to have understated their Q2 spending, listing lobbying payments but reporting grand total spending at $0.

BAKERSFIELD

We acknowledge that Bakersfield is the traditional home of the Kitanemuk people of the Tejon Tribe. Part of our commitment to decolonizing ourselves, our language, and our organizations is a commitment to learning and better understanding the history of Indigenous Peoples of so-called California, including the history of contact, colonization and the extraction of resources from Indigenous lands which has been part of the continuation of modern colonization.

LOS ANGELES

We acknowledge that Los Angeles County is the traditional home of the Tongva, Chumash, and Tataviam people. Part of our commitment to decolonizing ourselves, our language, and our organizations is a commitment to learning and better understanding the history of Indigenous Peoples of so-called California, including the history of contact, colonization and the extraction of resources from Indigenous lands which has been part of the continuation of modern colonization.

SACRAMENTO

We acknowledge that Sacramento is the traditional home of the Maidu, Miwok and Nisenan people. Part of our commitment to decolonizing ourselves, our language, and our organizations is a commitment to learning and better understanding the history of Indigenous Peoples of so-called California, including the history of contact, colonization and the extraction of resources from Indigenous lands which has been part of the continuation of modern colonization.

SANTA BARBARA

We acknowledge that Santa Barbara is the traditional home of the Chumash people. Part of our commitment to decolonizing ourselves, our language, and our organizations is a commitment to learning and better understanding the history of Indigenous Peoples of so-called California, including the history of contact, colonization and the extraction of resources from Indigenous lands which has been part of the continuation of modern colonization.

The post Big Oil spends $17.1 million lobbying against climate policy in first half of 2026 appeared first on Last Chance Alliance.

The history

 

Phillips 66 has profited and polluted for over a century here in Carson. Now that the last barrel of oil has left the refinery, we finally have the chance to clean up the land, invest in good union jobs that protect our health and environment, and give residents a say in what happens next.

The stakes are high: Just because the refinery stopped refining oil doesn’t mean a century of pollution in the soil and groundwater will vanish overnight. There’s a “lake of oil” beneath the 233-acre Carson refinery site, made up of decades of petroleum sludge, toxins, and other pollution. 

Our communities know that back-room deals, shoddy cleanup, and greedy zoning decisions can lead to cancer, death, and huge cleanup bills down the line.

Lawmakers and regulators have a choice: let Phillips 66 and developers continue to take the lead – or can bring residents into the driver’s seat. They can allow Amazon warehouses, data centers, or ICE detention centers fill the gap left by the refinery – or create good union jobs for the city, with work that protects our health and environment.

Join us in fighting for a just transition in Carson, California. Tell the L.A Water Board: Capped toxins are still toxic.

Refinery communities deserve to see real cleanup today, not more promises from an unreliable corporate polluter.

Los Angeles: take action. Who we are We want to live, work, and raise our families in Carson, California, but with each passing year we’ve seen fossil fuel companies pollute the air and sicken our families.

Now, we’re organizing to demand that Phillips 66 pays to clean up their toxic mess – so that we don’t get left with the bill for cleanup. What we need from the City of Carson:

 

• Launch a Just Transition Taskforce – We need a real, staffed taskforce to guide refinery site cleanup, bringing together City planners, City building department, Los Angeles Waterboard, environmental and toxins experts, and frontline residents. 
• Conduct a Site Revisioning Process – Bring our neighbors and surrounding community into the site redevelopment with a visioning process for the refinery. Create an “open front door” with freely shared studies of the site. If Phillips 66 doesn’t pay, taxpayers will: we deserve to guide the process. 
• Champion Strong Community Benefit and Project Labor Agreements. Encourage strong Community Benefit Agreements and project labor agreements to ensure that unionized workers perform the decommissioning (tear-down) and remediation (cleanup).

What we need from the Los Angeles Water Board:

 

• Create a Strong Plan for Refinery Cleanup with Real Teeth –  Working together as the City and LA Water Board, we need a strong work-plan for cleanup that holds Phillips 66 to real standards. 
• Transparency & Real Input – Our neighbors deserve more information, updates, and a means of giving input on the site cleanup. The Water Board can and must hold public workshops to update residents; provide resources in the languages spoken and read by Carson residents; provide frequent opportunities for public comment and public forums; and establish an open door policy for site remediation data.

Phillips 66 Carson refinery site remediation estimated at nearly $1 billion

by TEAM APEN | Jun 5, 2026

For Immediate Release June 5, 2026 Contact:  Blake@sunstonestrategies.com, 310-894-6690   Phillips 66 Carson Refinery Site Remediation Estimated at Nearly $1 Billion   New report reveals Carson community at risk of shouldering millions in cleanup costs...

read more Holding Phillips 66 Accountable

by Jonathan Garcia | Jun 1, 2026

From engaging in door knocking campaigns to speaking at city council meetings, APEN's youth leadership in Carson plays an important role in our strategy to hold Phillip's 66 accountable for remediation of their Carson refinery. Through our advocacy, we were able...

read more Before the Last Drop: Lessons From the Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery Closure

by TEAM APEN | Dec 9, 2025

After years of asthma, sickness, and death for nearby residents, Los Angeles’ Phillips 66 refinery is on its way out.  Now, frontline communities are counting on elected officials and responsible agencies to clean up refinery sites and ensure the safety, health, and...

read more

The post We’re fighting for a future beyond oil here in Carson. appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

27 July 2026

Kpong, Ghana — The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA Africa) and the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) have commenced the in‑person segment of the Africa Zero Waste Academy 2026, a flagship program dedicated to training the next generation of zero waste practitioners, following the successful rollout of the online program last month.

Now in its second year, the Academy equips participants with practical skills to design localised zero waste systems that reduce emissions, create green jobs, and protect community health. 1, 200 climate and waste practitioners from across Africa applied, with careful selection ensuring gender and geographic diversity.

Globally, over 2.1 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste are generated annually. Localised solutions—such as organic waste management and separation of waste at source—are proving vital in tackling the waste crisis and its impacts on climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods.

Accra’s designation by the United Nations as one of 20 Cities Towards Zero Waste in March 2026 highlights the growing importance of zero waste models. GAYO’s award-winning Zero Waste Accra Project played a central role, preventing organic, plastic, and electronic waste from ending up in landfills and curbing methane emissions.

“This is not just about managing waste better; it’s about rethinking systems for climate resilience, green jobs, and community health,” said Ama Asiedu, GAIA Africa Zero Waste and Climate Program Associate.

The Academy is built on the understanding that waste and people are deeply connected. It introduces a way of thinking that protects and improves the lives of everyone who handles or is affected by waste. This work must be done through a lens of justice. By upholding human rights, safeguarding the livelihoods of waste pickers and waste workers, and designing systems that prevent harm from the very beginning.

‘’Zero waste is a systems transformation agenda that challenges us to rethink and redesign the economic and material systems that generate waste,’’ explains Fathia Selasi Charway-Glover, Project Coordinator, Zero Waste Cities, at GAYO. ‘’Achieving zero waste requires intentional investment in people, knowledge, policy coherence and inclusive infrastructure that recognises waste as a resource rather than a liability. The Academy represents a critical investment in that transformation by building the technical capacity and cross-sector collaboration needed to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.’’

Participants have completed a five-week virtual program covering movement building, waste characterisation, and monitoring frameworks. This week’s in-person session in Ghana consolidates their learning with expert presentations and site visits to Zero Waste projects in Accra.

“We believe each participant has a vital role to play in shaping sustainable practices and policies within their communities. The insights and knowledge exchanged here will drive significant change towards achieving a Zero Waste Africa,” added Ama Asiedu.

About the Africa Zero Waste Academy

The Africa Zero Waste Academy, by GAIA Africa, is a capacity-building initiative that equips climate and waste practitioners with the skills to implement Zero Waste solutions. By fostering the next generation of leaders, the Academy empowers communities to reduce waste, curb emissions, and build sustainable livelihoods across Africa.

Press contacts:

Ibrahim Khalilulahi Usman | khalil@no-burn.org

The post Africa Zero Waste Academy Champions Next Generation of Zero Waste Leaders to Tackle Climate Crisis  first appeared on GAIA.

By Lien De Brouckere, Global Batteries Lead, GAIA

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The typical story about second-life EV batteries goes like this: EV batteries degrade, and instead of being sent for recycling, innovative companies give the viable ones a next-best life as stationary energy storage for another 10+ years — storing solar energy, shaving peak demand, keeping the lights on during outages. It’s something that we at GAIA strongly advocate for, and that’s why I visited Moment Energy’s new Megafactory 1 outside Vancouver late last month. 

I went to understand the state of the sector, what’s working, and where policy is falling short. What I didn’t expect was to walk away with an even more compelling story: repurposing surplus new EV batteries, outcompeting recycling companies for feedstock, and the need for more education about the key role stationary batteries play – whether new or repurposed – in reducing reliance on fossil fuels.   

Moment Energy is one of a small number of companies worldwide repurposing retired EV batteries at commercial scale. Their new facility in Surrey, BC is the world’s largest second-life battery operation, manufacturing 1 GWh of battery capacity by 2030.  Sumreen Rattan, one of Moment Energy’s co-founders and Chief Operating Officer, graciously hosted me at their facility that had just been inaugurated the week prior; staff and equipment were still at their other facility. 

Lien and Sumreen in front of the Moment Energy Full Luna 1 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) — Photo by Matt Tonello. .stk-776650c {height:25px !important;} The Overproduction Problem

Here’s what caught my attention: today, Moment Energy’s primary feedstock isn’t retired EV batteries, because there are just not enough of those yet. It’s surplus battery production — cells and packs manufactured for EVs that were never installed in a vehicle, a direct consequence of the past few years’ massive overproduction. The large wave of genuinely end-of-life EV batteries is still ahead of us, with 953 GWh of capacity expected globally by 2030. Right now, the repurposing sector is partly running on the overflow from a manufacturing boom that outpaced demand.

Inauguration ceremony demonstration set-up of used EV batteries at Megafactory 1. — Photo by Matt Tonello.

This matters for how we frame the problem. Battery waste isn’t only about what happens at the batteries’ end-of-life — it starts upstream, with how many batteries are produced in the first place. GAIA has been drawing attention to the massive scale of battery overproduction – 2 to 5 times global demand – in our work on mineral demand reduction, and it was striking to see it show up so concretely on the factory floor.

.stk-dab987f {height:25px !important;} Outcompeting Recyclers — On Price

The other dynamic I learned about is how Moment Energy acquires batteries to repurpose. They work directly with OEM automakers, typically collecting retired batteries frequently at an average of 80% state of health. A battery leaving a car at that level of health isn’t worn out; it’s just no longer suited to the high-performance demands of an EV drivetrain. For stationary storage — where a battery sits in a stationary unit cycling energy, rather than accelerating a vehicle — it has potentially decades of useful life ahead.

Moment Energy covers all collection and transport costs, built into their business model. In some cases, they receive batteries at no charge, with logistics as the only cost. This means Moment Energy is competing with recyclers at the point of acquisition — and winning on economics. Recyclers typically charge OEMs for collection. Moment Energy doesn’t. For an automaker deciding where a battery goes, that’s a meaningful difference, and it’s one that policy should reinforce rather than leave to chance.

.stk-6a93e83 {height:25px !important;} What the Megafactory Does Differently

The facility is designed to operate under UL 1974 certification — the safety standard for evaluating and grading repurposed or remanufactured electric vehicle (EV) batteries — and backs its systems with a 10-year warranty. These aren’t incidental details. They’re the difference between a product that can be deployed in grid-connected places such as hospitals, airports, and commercial buildings and one that can’t. 

.stk-b43bf93 {height:25px !important;} Promotional video by Moment Energy — June 23, 2026. .stk-81e3b5c {height:25px !important;}

What is more, the Surrey facility is fully vertically integrated: batteries arrive, are tested at the cell level, assessed for second-life viability, repacked with Moment Energy’s own battery management system, assembled into commercial units, and shipped — all in-house.

One genuinely new capability is a cold environment chamber that accelerates battery degradation down to 60% state of health. This might sound like an obscure technical detail, but it matters: almost all existing industry modeling of battery performance stops at 80% SoH, the point at which a battery leaves an EV. Repurposers have largely been operating without good data on what happens after that. Moment Energy is building the testing infrastructure to understand the full second-life performance curve. No one else is doing this at commercial scale.

.stk-56e7529 {height:25px !important;} The Real Education Gap

One exchange from the visit has stayed with me. I asked whether the public and the market still needed convincing about second-life batteries — whether customer skepticism was a significant barrier. Sumreen Rattan pushed back on the framing.

“The education we need to do isn’t really about second-life batteries,” she said. “It’s about batteries in general — helping customers understand how storage saves them money through peak shaving and demand charge reduction. Once they get that, the second-life question takes care of itself.”

The examples that brought this to life were instructive. Moment Energy’s systems have been deployed alongside diesel generators in remote locations — including an island resort where their battery reduced diesel runtime by 75%. 

I was accompanied on the visit by Matthew Tonello, Project Executive at Consigli Construction Co., Inc., who is exploring whether and how Moment Energy’s systems could replace diesel generators in a university and a playhouse project currently in the design phases. This was a concrete illustration of what Moment Energy is selling to commercial and industrial customers facing cost penalties when demand spikes. I learned that the goal isn’t simply to swap one power source for another. What Moment Energy is really selling, increasingly, is participation in a broader energy management logic: a system that can anticipate when a building or facility is about to hit a demand peak, automatically shift to drawing power from the battery, and dial back grid or generator draw before costs spike. This kind of automated load management builds a strong financial case for batteries within a smarter overall energy infrastructure system. 

This education gap is a useful corrective. The conversation in civil society and policy circles often centers on convincing people that repurposed batteries are safe and reliable. But for many potential customers, the threshold issues — why would I want any battery storage at all and how do I use it? — are important first questions to address.

.stk-e0d5900 {height:25px !important;} Sumreen shows samples of battery modules for testing. — Photo by Matt Tonello. .stk-65ac1d1 {height:25px !important;} Where Policy Is Falling Short

Moment Energy has an active policy team in the US and Canada, although this doesn’t yet extend to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). That’s not unusual for a company at their stage, and it makes it all the more important that civil society organizations are present in the rooms where these frameworks are being designed.

Sumreen shared three important policy gaps to address.

There is no waste management hierarchy. In most jurisdictions, nothing requires that a battery be evaluated for second-life viability before it goes to a recycler. Recyclers compete for the same feedstock and have well-established collection infrastructure that gives them a structural advantage. Codifying a highest-and-best-use principle — second-life before recycling — would change the incentive structure in ways that market economics alone won’t deliver.

Data doesn’t travel with the battery. Assessing whether a battery is viable for repurposing requires its history: state of health, charge cycles, active faults, internal monitoring data. That information typically lives with the automaker and isn’t transferred when the battery changes hands. Without it, repurposers are partly testing blind. Battery passport frameworks need to address this directly, and civil society should be pushing for provisions that make this data accessible to the repurposing sector.

Tax incentives are doing heavy lifting — inconsistently. In the US market, Investment Tax Credit eligibility has been decisive for Moment Energy’s competitiveness against cheaper imported alternatives. But ITC rules weren’t designed with second-life batteries in mind, and eligibility isn’t always certain. Explicit policy design here — rather than leaving repurposers to navigate rules built for new battery manufacturing — would do more to level the playing field.

.stk-385dabd {height:25px !important;} What Comes Next

The repurposing sector is further along than many people realize — commercially viable, technically credible, and already out-competing recyclers on price for batteries that have years of useful life remaining. The feedstock wave is coming. The infrastructure is being built. What’s lagging is the policy environment.

For those of us working on battery waste, the task is ensuring that the frameworks being developed now — on extended producer responsibility, battery passports, safety certification — treat second-life as a genuine priority not only for retired EV batteries, but to leverage surplus batteries. 

The post A Visit to the World’s Largest Second-Life EV Battery Megafactory first appeared on GAIA.

Law Will Impose Undue Burdens on Voters and Disproportionately Suppress the Democratic Rights of Communities Already Facing Environmental Harms 

Contact: kayla@unbendablemedia.com

Washington, D.C. – In response to the passage of the Save America Act through the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, which imposes undue burdens on voters by requiring them to show citizenship papers (like passports and birth certificates) when registering to vote and restricts mail-in voter registration, Climate Justice Alliance’s Executive Director KD Chavez issued the following statement:

“Undermining our voting rights and reducing access to the polls by attempting to strongarm states is an attack on democracy. Whether the Senate ultimately approves this remains to be seen, but Congress focusing on undemocratic measures like this right now is unacceptable.

At a time when our constitutional rights are rapidly being eroded, environmental and public health regulations are being undone, and scientific certainties like greenhouse gases exacerbating climate change are being denied, voting is a crucial tool in so many communities’ ability to participate in our democracy and choose representation that will address their concerns and issues. 

Many communities–including those on the frontlines–who face environmental racism and climate change often don’t have the identification cards required by the SAVE America Act. Less than half of American citizens have passports and nearly 9% of eligible voters don’t or would not have access to the necessary identification the SAVE America Act would require to vote. And for rural communities that will have to travel farther, trans individuals who have changed their names, and working class communities, the SAVE America Act’s impact is clear: significant barriers to voter registration and participation in the voting process. 

Rather than focusing where the real needs are: protecting public health, ensuring environmental protection, or bringing down costs of living for every-day families, the Republican Majority is using budgetary processes to shove through hateful policies that align with hate-mongerers and big business while imposing undue burdens on the very families and communities whose ancestors built this country. 

Congress must protect, rather than erode, the integrity of the voting process and not create undue and additional burdens on those who exercise their democratic and constitutional rights to participate in it.”

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The post CJA Condemns Congress’ Latest Attack on Democracy with the passage of anti-voting rights legislation in the House appeared first on Climate Justice Alliance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 20, 2026

Environmental organizations across Canada, part of the Canadian Zero Waste Coalition, have submitted joint comments to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) urging the province to reject a proposal that would classify waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration as renewable energy. If adopted, the proposal would amend Ontario’s Renewable Energy Approvals (REA) Regulation to expand the definition of biomass to include the biogenic fraction of municipal waste burned in waste incinerators. 

The coalition argues that waste incineration is not renewable energy and should not be classified as such. Municipal waste is the product of a linear economy (not a renewable resource) that externalizes the costs of products’ full lifecycles onto municipalities, the public, and the environment. WTE does not advance Ontario’s climate or waste reduction goals and locks communities into costly, polluting, and outdated infrastructure. 

The coalition is calling on Ontario’s government to reject the proposed amendment and instead prioritize policies that encourage waste prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting. 

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The Canadian Zero Waste Coalition brings together environmental and community organizations from across the country to oppose waste incineration and advance zero waste solutions. Through collaboration, advocacy, and public education, we work to promote policies that reduce waste at its source, protect communities from pollution, and accelerate the just transition to a zero waste economy.

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) is a member-based, environmental justice network working at the intersection of waste, climate, and justice. In the United States and Canada, GAIA supports grassroots organizations that advance zero waste solutions, challenge the plastics and petrochemical industries, reduce methane emissions, and promote safe, sustainable practices for electric vehicle battery production and recycling.

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Press contact:

María Guillén, Communications & Network Development Manager, U.S. & Canada

mariaguillen@no-burn.org 

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The post Environmental Groups Urge Ontario’s Government Not to Classify WTE as Renewable Energy first appeared on GAIA.

Groups argue meaningful public participation leads to better projects and stronger outcomes, while the current proposal shifts environmental and public health costs onto taxpayers

Contact: kayla@unbendablemedia.com

Washington, D.C. – Today, Climate Justice Alliance, Earthworks, Food and Water Watch, Ironbound Community Corporation, and We Act for Environmental Justice joined 75 grassroots organizations and allies that represent thousands of communities across the nation, to send a letter to Senate democratic leadership urging lawmakers to reject any bipartisan permitting reform package that further weakens environmental protections or public participation. The coalition highlighted the dangers of passing a permitting reform package under the Trump Administration, and instead urged Members of Congress to work with environmental justice communities on a durable permitting reform package under a future administration that puts communities, transparency, Tribal consultation, and public health first.

“Environmental justice and allied organizations call on you to hold the line against any permitting package that weakens community engagement, environmental and public health analysis, Tribal consultation, transparency, or judicial review. At the same time we urge you to advance a proactive, long-term vision for modernizing federal permitting that strengthens public participation, agency capacity, scientific integrity, and coordination across government.” 

The letter also argues that, given the Trump administration’s record on environmental protections, there is little reason to believe a permitting package negotiated now would be implemented consistent with congressional intent or used to advance responsible clean energy deployment. Instead, the coalition urges members of Congress to oppose any proposal that weakens public participation, environmental review, Tribal consultation, transparency, or judicial oversight, and to engage with environmental justice communities and legal and scientific experts when pursuing long-term permitting reforms that strengthen agency capacity and community accountability under future administrations.

The full letter is available here.

Below, please find quotes from grassroots and climate organization leaders:

Mar Zepeda Salazar, legislative director at Climate Justice Alliance: “We must call this permitting package what it is: not reform, but a backroom deal that shifts risk from corporations onto the communities forced to live with the consequences. At a time when families are struggling with rising utility bills, mounting medical costs, and children are missing school because of extreme heat, wildfires and other climate-related events, Congress should be listening to its constituents, not fast-tracking yet another industry wish list. 

Administrations come and go. Corporations move onto the next project. But communities live with the consequences for decades. Congress has a responsibility to deliver permitting policies that protect public health, respect communities’ right to participate in decisions that affect them, and earn the public’s trust—not sacrifice communities in the name of speed that will only accelerate corporate profits.”

Raquel Dominguez, Earthworks circular economy policy advocate:  “All people have a right to health, dignity, and a liveable environment. Congress should never put short-term profit for corporations ahead of the long-term well-being of communities. Right now, families in America are breathing air that makes them sick, depending on dwindling or polluted water supplies, and watching public lands turn into industrial sites. Oil, gas, and mining companies are causing permanent harm to communities from the Appalachians to the desert Southwest. We cannot allow this administration to continue to gut our bedrock environmental laws. Permits are a permission slip from the government on behalf of the people. They ensure that companies act in ways that ensure our children have a healthier, safer and more prosperous future.”

Alejandra Torres, assistant director of advocacy and organizing at the Ironbound Community Corporation: “Environmental justice communities like the one in Ironbound, Newark, refuse to be sacrificed. We call on democratic leadership to build a permitting agenda that centers communities while ensuring responsible infrastructure development,” stated.

Drew Guillory, Food and Water Watch policy advocate: “‘Permitting reform’ is a disingenuous term for harmful deregulation of a polluting industry that will severely impact those that are already most vulnerable. With an administration that sprints rabidly towards corporate profit and destruction at every turn, it’s imperative that Congress stand for the American people and guard against ‘permitting reform’ and its many threats to human health and wellbeing.”

Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer of WE ACT for Environmental Justice: “Communities must have a say in the decision-making processes that impact their neighborhoods. While we face skyrocketing energy costs, deadly climate-driven disasters, and  Trump administration-fueled health crises, we cannot stand for deregulation that will only reinforce injustices and put people in even more danger. It is a tired lie that NEPA is to blame for permitting issues in our country. Permitting reform efforts that promote deregulation create false policy choices that miss the mark, and only further the fossil fuel industry’s use of environmental justice communities as sacrifice zones.

When communities are centered, we can make sure to protect people’s health and that projects actually benefit those communities. Environmental justice communities and advocates have long offered real solutions that ensure community input, use the best available science, and result in beneficial projects. Instead of spending time developing permitting legislation and trusting it will be implemented in good faith by an administration that boasts about historic attacks to environmental laws and public health protections, our leaders need to rebuild safeguards and democratic processes. We need to create a sustainable future that will actually provide opportunity and protect the health of everyone, not just the wealthy few.”

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The post 75 Grassroots Climate Organizations Call on Democratic Leaders to Hold the Line on Permitting Reform and Stand with Communities, not Corporations appeared first on Climate Justice Alliance.

June 6, 2026

Read new San Francisco Gate story:

“US Navy finds radiological material in unauthorized storage in San Francisco”

June 2026:

Bayview Hunters Point Community Call to Action and Demands issued by Greenaction and the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, Inc.

June 24th noon rally at San Francisco City Hall to support community demands for health, justice, and full cleanup of all contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund Site.

June 24, 2026 Call to Action for Bayview Hunters Point

Check out “Censored News” coverage of May 16

Protest in Utah against Energy Fuels uranium mines and mill

“CENSORED NEWS: Shut Down Energy Fuels — Uranium Mining and Radioactive Dumping on Native People”

May 26, 2026: Read Truthout investigative article featuring Veronica Aguirre, Greenaction’s Central Valley Organizer and Program Coordinator:

“Residents of polluted areas say Trump’s rollbacks are getting really scary.”

Click here to read the article on Truthout.org

May 14, 2026:

See CBS TV coverage of

Greenaction Blasting Navy’s latest radioactive scandal at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund Site

Click here to watch

May 14, 2026—Politico’s Eric He reports on Gov. Newsom’s May Revise budget proposal, which calls for deferring $3.9 billion in Proposition 98 school funding despite revenues coming in $16.5 billion above projections. The move has drawn swift condemnation from teachers unions, school boards, and Democratic lawmakers who argue the constitutionally-guaranteed funding is urgently needed — including by Los Angeles Unified, which is counting on state dollars to honor $1.2 billion in new union contracts. On the positive side for education advocates, the governor preserved $1 billion for community schools expansion. Public Advocates Managing Attorney John Affeldt weighed in on the deferral, saying that while restraints are warranted, it’s “not a crazy maneuver given the volatility of our revenue picture.”

Read the Story

The post Politico Pro: Newsom sticks with controversial funding deferral in mixed-bag schools budget appeared first on Public Advocates.

May 15, 2026 Read the story on MSN.com Greenaction blasts the Navy over continued botched “cleanup” at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund Site Click here to read the Article on MSN.com

May 14 2026

Bay City News Article on the Latest Scandal with the U.S. Navy and the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund Site

Click Here to read the Bay City News Article

“SF: Cabinet Storing Radiological Materials Discovered At Former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard”

May 15, 2026 Read Capital & Main news story with Greenaction and allies: California Hazardous Waste Rules Criticized as Years Late and Polluter Friendly

May 1, 2026—EdSource reporter John Fensterwald covers Governor Newsom’s May Revision and its mixed implications for California schools—including a higher COLA, a historic $2.4 billion special education increase, and a $5 billion discretionary block grant, offset by the governor’s continued withholding of $3.9 billion in Proposition 98 funds that school groups say belongs in classrooms now. Managing Attorney John Affeldt is quoted warning that the budget’s reliance on AI-driven tax revenues is not a stable foundation: “Our state cannot continue to rely on temporary AI stock market bubbles.” Affeldt calls for more robust, permanent revenue streams—and makes clear that the same teachers being asked to transform students’ lives are being priced out of the communities they serve.”

Read the Story

The post Edsource: California schools could get billions more in Newsom’s final budget plan — with one catch appeared first on Public Advocates.

May 13, 2026,

Moab Times Independent article
“Protest Planned near La Sal over Uranium Mining Concerns”

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/protest-planned-near-la-sal-over-uranium-mining-concerns/

Thursday, May 14, 2026
Press Contact: Sumeet Bal, Director of Communications, 917-647-1952, sbal@publicadvocates.org

California Can’t Lead the World While Leaving Workers Behind

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California enters this May Revision in a moment of unexpected abundance—and familiar avoidance. 

Tax revenues are more than $16 billion above forecast. The state’s cash position has hit record highs. California dominates the global technology economy, leading the world in IPOs, artificial intelligence, Fortune 500 companies and innovation. But California cannot claim to lead the world while its teachers, nurses and essential workers are being priced out of the communities they sustain. Dominating in technology while losing ground on economic security for working families is not a strong legacy—it is a contradiction that demands solutions. The question this May Revision must answer is not whether California can dominate. It already does. The question is who that dominance works for.

California already knows how to build the things families need—the governor’s commitment to increasing per-pupil funding, investing in our educators, and expanding community schools proves that. When the state chooses to invest directly, boldly and consistently, it changes lives. Community schools are doing that now, in the communities that need it most. 

Housing and transit deserve the same commitment—not threats, not red tape reduction alone, but direct state investment that meets the scale of the crisis. Without substantial and sustained funding for affordable housing, low-income Californians will continue to struggle, regardless of how much development streamlining or local government oversight the state pursues. Meanwhile, the state’s basic protections against rent gouging and arbitrary evictions, the Tenant Protection Act, will expire in 2030 unless a governor with the courage to fight for and strengthen it steps forward. At the same time, without an infusion of state money, our public transit network is in danger of collapse. 

Abundance is not the same as security—AND it is not the same as justice. The working families at the center of our state’s story are experiencing a cost of living crisis that no IPO can solve—and they are waiting to see whether California’s record revenues will reach them, or pass them by once again. The question is made more urgent by federal cuts stripping millions of Californians of healthcare, food assistance, and housing support, and a proposed restructuring of Cap-and-Invest revenues that could cut affordable housing, transit, and clean air programs in half—redirecting dollars from low-wealth communities to fossil fuel companies. Seven years ago, the governor promised to fix the state’s boom-and-bust tax system. The boom is here. The question is whether he will use it for the Californians who built this state—and can no longer afford to live in it.

Education: A Legacy Built, A Problem Unaddressed

“Governor Newsom’s historic community schools investments will cement one of his enduring legacies, just as LCFF defined Jerry Brown’s,” said John Affeldt, Managing Attorney for Education Equity. “The research is showing that California’s community schools have cut chronic absenteeism by 30% compared to similar schools, reduced suspensions by 15% overall and delivered learning gains in English equivalent to 151 extra days of instruction for Black students.”

“But the governor’s May Revise failed to address one of the key equity challenges remaining for him—the state’s unconstitutional discrimination against low-wealth school districts in modernizing facilities. The State’s program for renovating dilapidated schools substantially favors high-wealth communities who are able to raise much more in matching funds, leaving students in poor districts in overheated portables and leaky classrooms amidst black mold and unremediated asbestos. The governor has acknowledged ‘you can’t look in the eyes of these kids,” but today, he chose to look away—and to keep fighting them in court,” added Affeldt, a lead counsel in a Public Advocates’ lawsuit suing the State over the issue.

“As far as moving forward into the future, our state cannot continue to rely on temporary AI stock market bubbles. To his credit, the governor proposed some modest new taxes, but to build a budget that will enable our residents to thrive, California needs more robust permanent revenue streams to support our schools and healthy communities. We cannot ask teachers to transform students’ lives while those same teachers are being priced out of the communities they serve.”

Higher Education: Affordability Crisis Threatens College Access & Completion?

“California’s economy is growing because generations of students had a path to affordable higher education. But too many low-income students are still being left behind as the cost of education and living continue to rise. If we want a future powered by innovation, we need to make sure opportunity isn’t reserved for those who could afford college anyway. We call on the governor and the legislature to strengthen and expand Cal Grant to keep the door to economic mobility open for the students coming after us—and ensures California’s future includes everyone,” said Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton, Director of Higher Education.

“For low-income Black and Latinx students, affordability is the difference between access, completion and attrition,” said Jetaun Stevens, Deputy Director of Higher Education Equity & Senior Staff Attorney. “Housing is the largest cost students face when pursuing higher education, and California’s housing crisis makes higher education out of reach for many low-income students. With 60% of community college students facing housing insecurity and nearly a quarter of community college students facing homelessness, we need greater investment in housing. We call on the governor and legislature to invest in additional projects through the Higher Education Housing Grant program—including reinvesting funds from withdrawn projects—and open up access to part-time community college students. We encourage the governor and legislature to make greater investments in affordable housing and homelessness prevention to improve economic opportunity for all low-income Californians, including supporting the Senate’s proposal to invest $1 billion in Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program 7 (HHAP) and an additional $1 billion for HHAP 8.”   

Housing Relief Deferred, Renters Left Behind

We welcome the inclusion of $500 million in HHAP 7 funds—California’s primary homelessness assistance program—in the governor’s proposal, but we are concerned about new requirements to receive that funding. Requiring a local funding match will shut out many jurisdictions. Requiring a Prohousing Designation is even more limiting: only 47 jurisdictions would currently qualify. Further, a Prohousing Designation is substantially based on how friendly a jurisdiction’s development environment is for market-rate developers—a standard which should not impede aid to people experiencing homelessness. Consistent, predictable funding is what moves people from the streets to stability. The Senate’s “Foundation for the Future” budget priorities letter reflects this, committing $1 billion for HHAP 7 and $1 billion more for a subsequent 8th round of funding. The governor should match that commitment—without the barriers.

Governor Newsom’s proposal also fails to address what his administration’s proposed changes to Cap-and-Invest would do to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program (AHSC), the largest source of affordable housing funding in the state. When asked directly, the governor said it wouldn’t be addressed in his proposal. That is not an answer. Redirecting Cap-and-Invest money away from affordable housing and transit to fossil fuel companies and other polluters is a choice—and it demands a response.  Now is the time, however, for Governor Newsom to propose funding to backfill the affordable housing and transit funding that will be lost if his proposal to redirect AHSC money to polluters moves forward.

The human cost of inaction is not abstract.  More than half of California’s 6.1 million renter households spend more than 30% of their income on rent. Nearly a third spend more than half. Evictions have now surpassed pre-pandemic levels. “Housing is the largest item in a family’s budget and the governor’s housing proposals in his final budget do not address the problem or deliver the help renters desperately need,” said Michelle Pariset, Director of Legislative Affairs. “Governor Newsom will leave office without securing his legacy on rent stabilization and just cause for eviction, as the state’s basic protections against rent gouging and arbitrary evictions are set to expire in 2030. He could have worked with the legislature to remove this sunset on the Tenant Protection Act—permanently shielding renters from gouging and no fault evictions. Instead, renters will face that fight with a new governor and a legislature freshly-drenched in real estate industry campaign spending.”

Transit: When Transit Fails, Working Families Pay

The future of public transit in California hangs in the balance at the same time the rising costs of transportation is hurting low-income families. Citizens in multiple regions are collecting signatures for ballot initiatives to maintain critical service, but the state must do its part. “The governor’s proposed CARB regulations for the Cap-and-Invest program would eliminate over $600 million a year in critical state transit funding—funding for service, lower fares for seniors and students, electric buses, and infrastructure upgrades. These are cuts that the Californians who depend on transit cannot afford,” said Laurel Paget-Seekins, Senior Transportation Policy Advocate. “This governor’s proposal would leave a massive multi-year budget hole for transit and affordable housing at a time when Californians need additional investment to address rising costs of housing and transportation.” 

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Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice.

The post Press Statement: California Can’t Lead the World While Leaving Workers Behind appeared first on Public Advocates.