The final days of the Biden administration and the momentum building for the start of the Trump administration have made for a busy news week at NetZero Insider.

On the federal beat, K Kaufmann reported on one of President Joe Biden’s parting initiatives ― an ambitious plan for co-locating hyperscale AI data centers and enough clean energy to power them on federal land. Biden’s plan calls for getting a portfolio of projects permitted by the end of 2025 and up and running by the end of 2027. 

Kaufmann then did double duty at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, covering confirmation hearings for Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for secretary of energy, and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, nominee for secretary of the interior. A few sharp questions from Democrats notwithstanding, both men are likely to be confirmed. 

Gov. Phil Murphy’s State of the State address grabbed headlines in New Jersey with the governor’s call for his goal of 100% clean energy by 2035 to be codified in state law, our Hugh Morley writes. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection also had good news with its announcement of $35 million in state funding for electric heavy-duty trucks. 

Cutting prices for New Yorkers was the top concern in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address, John Cropley reports, which means the state’s plan for a cap-and-invest program to cut greenhouse gas emissions will be on hold to allow “more space and time for public transparency and a robust investment planning process.” 

Moving south, Downing has a rundown of new bills Virginia legislators are introducing to tackle the state’s explosive growth in data centers and the resulting spike in energy demand. Proposed legislation would ensure that consumers are not picking up the tab to build out generation and grid infrastructure for new centers, and that these facilities are designed for high efficiency and put new clean energy online. 

In California, correspondent Elaine Goodman breaks out the numbers on climate and energy spending in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2025/26 budget. The list includes $325 million for wildfire mitigation, $228 million to prepare ports for offshore wind and $50 million for load reduction and backup generation to prop up grid reliability during extreme weather events. 

In our curated content, the California wildfires, and the climate whiplash of wet and dry seasons behind them, continue to produce heartbreaking and unsettling headlines, like The Washington Post’s analysis and maps of how the fires spread into urban areas previously thought safe. 

The Guardian also digs into the fossil fuel industry’s multimillion-dollar lobbying and ad campaign to kill a California “polluter pay” bill that would require them to pay into a fund to compensate the state for climate-driven disasters, like wildfires, that are “a major strain on the state’s budget.” 

The industry is also gearing up to fight New York’s new polluter-pay law, which Hochul signed at the end of 2024, according to Inside Climate News. 

On the industrial decarbonization front, Reuters reports on Germany’s efforts to use green hydrogen to produce zero-carbon steel, and why Thyssenkrupp, a major producer, says its plans for cutting emissions with hydrogen may not be affected by a likely change in administration following upcoming elections. 

Speaking of change in administration, Politico has the story on the power struggles already in the mix for Trump’s National Energy Council ― possibly to be renamed the National Energy Dominance Council ― over its leadership, budget, staffing and what it will actually do. 

But the success of the Inflation Reduction Act in channeling billions in federal dollars and creating thousands of jobs in cleantech industries in Republican states and districts continues to be seen as a potential roadblock for Trump-led rollbacks of the law, and California will continue to lead states in the electrification of transportation, Grist writes. 

Maine is another state potentially intensifying its focus on energy, with Gov. Janet Mills proposing to elevate the state’s Energy Office to a full cabinet-level agency, the Department of Energy Resources, with added authority to help move the state towards its 2040 target for 100% clean energy, according to E&E News. 

Read on for this week’s Intelligence Report: