California's sees record growth in battery storage

At the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Brazil, California Governor Newsom announced that California has reached a record level of battery storage, with 16,942 megawatts (MW) of capacity available. This is a massive buildout that's redefining grid reliability and accelerating the state's transition to 100 percent clean energy. 

The new total marks an increase of about 1,200 MW in the past six months and a 2,100 percent surge in storage capacity since 2019. California has now built one-third of the storage capacity estimated to be needed by 2045 to reach its clean energy goals. 

California has more installed battery capacity than every other jurisdiction on the planet except for China. Within the United States, California leads all states in installed storage capacity, followed by Texas which has roughly 9,000 MW of battery capacity. 

Local Columbus politics has officially “jumped the shark” and become a performance for the cameras. Like any blockbuster movie you need an endless budget (provided by the taxpayers), a script (distraction from mistakes and secrecy of purpose) and a master director: Shannon Hardin.

In any other sane world Emanuel Remy would have already stepped down from office, but the director wants to keep him in the cast to pretend to govern. Remy is just good enough to follow directions and not ask questions. The director will allow abusive behavior because he has unlimited money to pay off the victims and continue his reign. And that’s what it has all become. To Director Hardin we are just one of his movies.

Our local government is a stage performance riddled with dozens of positive and happy Facebook posts about how the Mayor and City Council love you. All cream and sugar; 24 hours a day paid for by your taxes.

Imam Ayman Soliman – the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain wrongly arrested by ICE earlier this year – spoke at an event in Columbus on November 15, telling an audience that even during the ordeal’s worst moments, there were activists who offered glimmers of hope that led to his release.

It was midnight on the day of his arrest when he was processed into the infamous ICE-contracted detention center in Butler County – a jail run by Sheriff Richard Jones, known as Ohio’s “mini-Trump.” From there, he may have been deported to his home country of Egypt. In 2014, he fled Egypt where he covered the Arab Spring as a journalist, and for that he was jailed and tortured. 

“There was an officer who had a child that had been treated at St. Ann’s Children’s Hospital, and they remembered my face,” he said. “He looked at me during this terrible time and said, ‘I am sorry you are here. I just wanted you to know I watched the news at 11 pm and everyone is protesting on your behalf.’

“You have no idea what that meant to me.”

Imagine your kitchen fridge is completely packed with ice, and the room is slowly warming up due to the heat from the fridge's motor and coils running continuously. The kitchen gets gradually warmer.

Now someone opens the fridge door and leaves it open.

What happens?

For a while, the kitchen actually gets cooler - even though the fridge motor is working harder than ever, pumping out more heat. The melting ice absorbs enormous amounts of energy, and cold air spills out into the room.

But here's the crucial point: this cooling is temporary. Once the ice melts away, the kitchen will become much hotter than it ever was before, because now there's no ice left to absorb energy, and the overworked motor is dumping even more heat into the room.

This is exactly what's happening with Earth's climate right now.

In response to the district’s ongoing budget shortfall and the possibility of additional school closures, the Columbus Education Justice Coalition (CEJC) and a broad coalition of parents, educators, students, and community members are demanding that the Columbus Board of Education adopt a new budget shortfall policy that centers transparency, equity, and community voice in all major financial and facility decisions.

Letters have been individually sent by educators, parents, students, and community members to Board members, urging the district to publicly discuss and consider the proposed Budget Shortfall Policy submitted by CEJC on September 8, 2025, and move toward formal adoption without delay.

The proposed policy calls for:

• A robust and transparent analysis of all projected costs and savings for any proposed school closure.

• Consideration of the full impact on students, families, educators, and communities, including staff and resource access.

• Creation of a representative decision-making committee with students, parents, educators, staff, and community organizers from each school region and high school feeder pattern.