Voluntary carbon standard operator Verra has announced a new module under its carbon capture and storage (CCS) methodology, it announced on Monday.

New Mexico has published a climate action plan proposing 45 policy measures to cut emissions 82% by 2050, including a clean transportation fuel standard and zero-emission vehicle mandates, while separately analysing a cap-and-invest programme as a market-based alternative to proposed policies.

Capped energy bills – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed the NY HEAT Act, repealing subsidies for gas infrastructure, according to a report by E&E News. The outlet wrote that the signing represented a minor win for environmental advocates after the Hochul administration approved a new gas pipeline and delayed the implementation of the building electrification law by one year. The bill caps energy bills at 6% of household income for low-income households and terminates the 100-foot rule, which required utilities to build gas pipelines to any building or home within 100 feet of existing gas mains at no cost to the customer. The 100-foot rule was criticised as a subsidy, paid for by ratepayers.

Linking linkage - Washington carbon market regulator Department of Ecology (ECY) published its quarterly linkage update on Monday. ECY plans to propose the draft rule facilitating linkage with the California-Quebec carbon market in spring 2026 and expects to adopt rule changes in summer 2026.

Power pivot – Two on-site solar projects at California Resources Corporation’s Mt. Poso and Kern Front oil and gas fields announced on Friday they will deliver a combined 30 MW of renewable power, aiming to cut energy costs and reduce carbon emissions from operations. Developed by San Diego-based renewable energy developer Luminia, the projects include a 12 MW system at Mt. Poso and an 18 MW system at Kern Front and have cleared all pre-construction and permitting milestones. Dispatch Energy has acquired the projects and will act as long-term owner, builder, and operator. The installations are designed to offset up to 30 MW of daytime grid demand and align with CRC’s stated efforts to lower the carbon intensity of its operations.

Brazilian prosecutors have called for the suspension of an improved forest management (IFM) project in the state of Amazonas, alleging it overlaps with traditional territories but failed to follow proper free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) standards.

Sewer success – A wastewater heat recovery project in Denver could help cities cut their emissions and energy costs if scaled globally, Interesting Engineering reported. Engineers used two sewer pipes that couldn’t be buried by incorporating them into the redevelopment of a massive event and education hub. They now heat and cool major parts of the facility.

Rural Colorado could host new firm, dispatchable clean power projects following coal plant retirements, according to a state-commissioned study, though high costs, transmission constraints, and federal tax credit timelines limit near-term options.

2025 came to a close with a series of political and policy decisions across Latin America that are likely to shape the trajectory of the region’s carbon markets well into the coming year.

Tinder - Nearly three-quarters of the western US is overdue for wildfires, according to research led by the New York-based Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, presented at the annual conference of scientific association AGU. Compared to the historical patterns of annual burn area, 74% of the western US is currently in a fire deficit. To make up that debt, 3.8 mln ha of forest would need to burn each year over a decade. That yearly burn area is three times the amount of forested area that burned in 2020, the current record year for wildfire burn area in the US.

Unsung minority - A select group of “climate contrarians” have been invited to write the next US National Climate Assessment, E&E News reported. The decision is expected to provoke a response from the hundreds of “mainstream” climate scientist who have worked on the report for years, the news outlet said.

The Trump administration has paused five wind projects being built on the eastern coast of the US, grinding to a halt projects meant to bolster RGGI-state grids.

Voluntary carbon credit retirements picked up las week, but December still looks set to record a low monthly figure compared to previous years.

A portfolio manager’s latest procurement round delivered more than $18 million in durable carbon removal (CDR) contracts across eight technology pathways, it announced Monday.

A greener internet - Cloudfare has compensated for 31,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions through investing in verified carbon credit projects, the cloud services provider said in its fifth annual Impact Report. The San Francisco-based firm claimed to have successfully completed its commitment to offset or remove all emissions associated with powering its network from its launch up until its first renewable energy purchase in 2018.