Climate news on October 26, 2026

1. 0116:01 UTC

   Maryland opens $200M grant program for renewables and storage

   5 outlets · first: Capital Gazette Renewable energy

   Machine summary The state says the program will draw up to $100 million a year from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund and aims to add hundreds of megawatts, which officials estimate would serve more than 150,000 Maryland homes annually. Preliminary applications are due November 30, 2026, with second-stage bids due January 22, 2027, WMAR-2 News reported.

   Reported by Capital Gazette, WMAR 2 News Baltimore, wmar2news.com, WUSA9 and IndexBox.

   • Megawatts for Maryland
   • Strategic Energy Investment Fund

   Full coverage: every report, when each was published, and who was named (5 outlets)

2. 0200:28 UTC

   Janus Electric to pilot diesel-to-electric Class 8 conversions in Texas

   2 outlets · first: TradingView Ev

   Machine summary Janus Electric Holdings (ASX: JNS) announced a non-binding agreement with ConGlobal for a 20-truck diesel-to-electric conversion pilot at ConGlobal's Fort Worth Intermodal Logistics Centre. The announcement states that ConGlobal mechanics would earn Janus certification to convert Class 8 trucks, that selected facilities would host battery-swapping and maintenance, and that ConGlobal would manufacture containerised battery charge-and-swap stations to Janus specifications. Wider deployment across more than 31 locations in the US, Mexico and Costa Rica was described as conditional on the pilot and on definitive agreements.

   1. The pilot is to run at ConGlobal's Fort Worth Intermodal Logistics Centre, which the reports describe as an expansion of Janus' US operations beyond California.
   2. ConGlobal mechanics are to earn Janus certification to convert Class 8 trucks for local fleets and independent owner-operators, with selected sites hosting battery-swapping and ongoing maintenance.
   3. The partners said they intend to explore conversion, charging, battery-swapping, infrastructure fabrication and servicing capabilities at more than 31 locations across the US, Mexico and Costa Rica, subject to pilot success and definitive agreements.

   Reported by TradingView and smallcaps.com.au.

   • Janus Electric Holdings
   • ConGlobal
   • Battery-swapping
   • Containerised battery charge-and-swap stations
   • Fort Worth Intermodal Logistics Centre

3. 0306:22 UTC

   About a fifth of development aid now carries a climate tag

   2 outlets · first: Our World in Data Funding

   Machine summary Our World in Data reports that roughly one-fifth of development aid is coded as climate-related, based on the RioMarkers database of bilateral aid projects. The analysis counts bilateral aid, which the article says is around 90% of global development aid, against about $210 billion committed by donors in 2024. The author states that some projects carrying the climate label appear to be ones that would have happened regardless of climate change.

   1. Our World in Data, examining the RioMarkers database, finds that climate-related coding now applies to roughly one-fifth of development aid.
   2. The RioMarkers database covers only bilateral aid, which the article says makes up around 90% of global development aid
   3. Donors committed about $210 billion in bilateral aid in 2024, the article reports
   4. RioMarkers tags aid projects against four Rio Convention objectives: biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and desertification
   5. The article states that some projects coded as climate-related appear to be ones that would have happened regardless of climate change

   Reported by Our World in Data.

   • World Health Organization
   • World Bank
   • RioMarkers database
   • Our World in Data

4. 0408:45 UTC

   Michigan clean energy opponents back a Sunrise co-founder for Congress

   2 outlets · first: Grist Regulation

   Machine summary Steele, who also campaigns against solar farms, battery storage and transmission lines, met Lawrence in Lansing while lobbying for a data center ban; Grist describes Lawrence as a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement. She said he listened to her account of noise pollution and farmland loss, and weeks later appeared to her to echo her points in an interview.

   1. Steele, in her remarks to Grist, said her efforts have opposed solar farms, as well as battery storage systems and transmission lines, among them, a line being constructed on property next to hers, and that her focus these days is chiefly data centers.
   2. Steele was in Lansing lobbying Michigan state lawmakers for a data center ban when she met William Lawrence, a Democrat running for U.S. Congress in Michigan's 7th District, the report says.
   3. Lawrence is described by Grist as a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement.
   4. Steele said Lawrence listened and asked questions after she described noise pollution and the loss of prime farmland as consequences of clean energy development.
   5. Weeks after their meeting, Steele told Grist she saw Lawrence give an interview in which he appeared to her to repeat several of the points she had raised.

   Reported by Grist.

   • Data Centers
   • Grist
   • Sunrise Movement

Each summary and its key facts are a machine summary of the reports linked under it; the outlets, times and counts come from those reports' own records. How a rundown is built.