Sweeping political changes are nothing new. While the recent U.S. elections pose challenges for climate progress, we must not waver. Now is the time to double down on efforts to zero out emissions. Here’s what’s top of mind for us at Speed & Scale: 🧵

PUMPING IRON 🧱 @HerthaMetals broke ground Oct. 8 on the first U.S. high-purity iron plant. Its process could cut costs 25 percent versus blast furnaces and, with green hydrogen, cut steelmaking emissions by up to 98 percent. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

U.S. disaster costs topped $100 billion in 2025. A case now before the Supreme Court could help decide who is responsible for paying for those costs. On Oct. 5, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Boulder's lawsuit against Suncor and ExxonMobil can go to trial in state court. The answer could open the door for dozens of similar cases. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

In a recent edition of Zeroing In, we look at where climate progress is scaling, including an increase in sustainable jet fuel use at FedEx and an expansion of carbon storage beneath the North Sea. Check it out: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

COAL STANDSTILL IN INDIA 💡 India's power-sector emissions have been flat since early 2024, its first two-year stretch without coal-power growth in more than 50 years, even as energy demand rose 7 percent. The next test is industry, where emissions rose 8 percent in the first half of 2026. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

Robots that clear fuel. Sensors that smell smoke. Satellites that spot fires. See the tools helping us get ahead of dangerous wildfires in Fixing The Planet, our series with @BBCEarth. Watch: youtube.com/shorts/d-NOWssLk…

In the U.S., lawns cover roughly half the area of every national park combined. Left unmown, a lawn nearly doubles its plant species in 18 months. Mowing every three months instead of every two weeks has been linked to a 170 percent rise in pollinators, critical contributors to our ecosystems. Watch the film with @BBCEarth here: youtube.com/watch?v=mlLnZhz7…

Reaching net zero requires new technology, but it also requires capital to be allocated to scale those solutions. Speed and Scale's @rypan and Quinn Marvin joined Professor @DrChrisWedding on the Climate CEOs podcast to discuss the Climate Tech Map. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/74x…

Today we're thrilled to launch Fixing The Planet, a new digital series with the @BBC. The series will reveal a climate story that rarely gets told: real progress is happening. First up is "5 Things": A deep dive on the handful of everyday choices that shape household emissions, spanning food, transport, fashion, and home. Watch it here: bbcearth.com/fixing-the-plan…

In a recent edition of Zeroing In, we look at where climate progress is scaling, from electric two-wheelers in Pakistan to the first U.S. commercial flight on carbon-based jet fuel. Check it out: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

CHINA TAKES THE WHEEL 🚗 China now builds roughly 75% of the world's EVs, and the scale shows: five-minute charging and battery swapping are becoming standard features. The competitive question is no longer whether China can build EVs. It's where the surplus goes. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

Contrails account for about 35 percent of aviation's climate impact, roughly 600 megatons of CO2e a year. In a trial with American Airlines, Google's AI model helped pilots reroute around them, cutting contrails by 54 percent at a cost of 0.3 percent more fuel across the fleet. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

In a recent edition of Zeroing In, we take a look at where climate progress is scaling, from an EV mandate in Delhi to a milestone in carbon removal. Check it out: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

RENEWABLES RISING IN THE EAST 💡 China's new five-year plan targets 370 GW of new wind and solar by 2030, enough for 70 million homes and half the country's total power capacity. China hit its last big renewables target six years early. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

Europe just had its fifth heatwave since May, revealing the need for a better cooling system. Global demand for space cooling is projected to rise more than 50 percent over the next decade. The latest heat pumps can already boost efficiency by up to 4x. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

In the latest edition of Zeroing In, we look at where clean energy is gaining ground, from EV sales in Germany to a record half-year for climate tech investment. Check it out: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

U.S. STILL IN THE GAME 🔋 China leads the battery storage market, but U.S. manufacturers are holding their own. Tesla ranks second globally and Fluence seventh, according to Wood Mackenzie. Meanwhile, Ford Energy plans to supply at least 20 GWh of U.S. battery storage a year, using a Kentucky plant to turn EV batteries into grid storage. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

The last total eclipse over mainland Europe was in 1999. On Wednesday it happens again, this time over Spain, where solar now supplies 18.4% of electricity. Two minutes without the sun, but the grid won't blink. Building storage is how that resilience scales. Read more: speedandscale.com/okrs/2-0-d…

The Iowa State Fair opens in just a few days and while it's open, roughly a million people will walk past prize corn, show cattle, and the machinery that produces both. What they won't see is the nitrogen. Roughly half the nitrogen applied to the world's fields as fertilizer never reaches the plant. Better growing practices and more precise application cut both the cost and the emissions related to fertilizer. Read more about Speed & Scale's OKR to fix food and cut emissions: speedandscale.com/okrs/3-0-f…

School's out, but climate class is in session. In the latest edition of Zeroing In, we visit @TED_ED's Earth School, whose top 30 climate animations have drawn nearly 30 million views. Read more: mailchi.mp/speedandscale.com…

Five years ago, only 415 of America's school buses were electric. Today it's about 5,100. Still just 1% of the country's 490,000 buses. As we approach the start of a new school year, progress will need to continue to meet Speed & Scale's KR 1.3 which sets a target of 2 million electric buses worldwide by 2035. Read more: electricschoolbusinitiative.… firstcoastnews.com/article/n…