JENNIFER McDERMOTT

Green energy reporter

McDermott is a reporter on the Associated Press climate and environment team. She focuses on the transition to clean energy.

The BioHome3D is seen Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at the University of Maine, in Orono, Maine. The 600-square-foot single-family home was made by UMaine's original 3D printer in 2019. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The world’s largest 3D printer is at a university in Maine. It just unveiled an even bigger one

The university that boasts the world’s largest 3D printer developed one even bigger. A printer unveiled Tuesday at the University of Maine is four times larger than the current one and is capable of printing ever mightier objects.

FILE - People participate in a March to End the Plastic Era on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, on April 21, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Global plastic pollution treaty talks hit critical stage in Canada

Thousands of negotiators and observers representing most of the world’s nations are gathering in the Canadian city of Ottawa this week to craft a treaty to end the rapidly escalating problem of plastic pollution.

An assortment of vegan, organic, locally sourced, and wild caught food products all using plastic packaging, sit in a shopping cart at a grocery store in New Orleans, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. People are increasingly breathing, eating and drinking tiny particles of plastic, however, there are simple things people can do at the grocery store if they want to use less plastic. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Earth Day: How one grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’

Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too.

FILE - The turbines of America's first offshore wind farm are seen from a tour boat off the coast of Block Island, R.I., Oct. 17, 2022. The Biden administration approved a new offshore wind project off the Massachusetts coast Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Biden administration approves the nation’s eighth large offshore wind project

The Biden administration approved a new wind project off the Massachusetts coast Tuesday that is large enough it will provide more electricity than the state’s former coal-fired generating station.

In this image from Birmingham Police Department body-camera video, Carl Grant sits on the porch of a stranger’s home in Birmingham, Ala., after police were called there on Feb. 2, 2020. Grant, a Vietnam War veteran with dementia, went out to shop for groceries near his suburban Atlanta home but became disoriented and ended up driving over two hours away. Police were called when he tried to get inside houses in Birmingham that he thought were his. (Birmingham Police Department via AP)

A veteran with dementia got lost going shopping. He died months after an officer body-slammed him

Carl Grant, a Vietnam veteran with dementia, drove off from his Georgia home intending to shop for groceries. He became disoriented and wound up in Birmingham, Alabama.

This combination of photos shows, top row from left, Anthony Timpa, Austin Hunter Turner, Carl Grant, Damien Alvarado, Delbert McNiel and Demetrio Jackson; second row from left, Drew Edwards, Evan Terhune, Giovani Berne, Glenn Ybanez, Ivan Gutzalenko and Mario Clark; bottom row from left, Michael Guillory, Robbin McNeely, Seth Lucas, Steven Bradley Beasley, Taylor Ware and Terrell "Al" Clark. Each died after separate encounters with police in which officers used force that is not supposed to be deadly. (AP Photo)

Why did more than 1,000 people die after police subdued them with force that isn’t meant to kill?

Every day, police in the U.S. rely on common use-of-force tactics that, unlike guns, are meant to stop people without killing them.

Energy agency announces $6 billion to slash emissions in industrial facilities

The industrial sector is getting $6 billion in federal funding for projects that will slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, the largest-ever U.S. investment to decarbonize domestic industries.

Mike Vandrely, construction manager, checks on a battery storage pod at Orsted's Eleven Mile Solar Center lithium-ion battery storage energy facility Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Coolidge, Ariz. Batteries allow renewables to replace fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, while keeping a steady flow of power when sources like wind and solar are not producing. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Across the US, batteries and green energies like wind and solar combine for major climate solution

In the Arizona desert, a Danish company is building a massive solar farm that includes batteries that charge when the sun is shining and supply energy back to the electric grid when it’s not.

FILE - The first operating South Fork Wind farm turbine, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, stands east of Montauk Point, N.Y. South Fork Wind, America's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, is officially open. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

The United States has its first large offshore wind farm, with more to come

America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is officially open, a long-awaited moment that helps pave the way for a succession of large wind farms.

A Tesla charger is operates Monday, March 4, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. In campaigns for Congress and for governor around the country, candidates are talking about how green the grid should be. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Climate, a major separator for Biden and Trump, is a dividing line in many other races, too

The race for the White House isn’t the only one with big stakes for climate policy. In campaigns for Congress and for governor around the country, candidates are talking about how green the grid should be, too.

Workers install solar panels at the under-construction Adani Green Energy Limited's Renewable Energy Park in the salt desert of Karim Shahi village, near Khavda, Bhuj district near the India-Pakistan border in the western state of Gujarat, India, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Nations have signed on to triple renewable energy by 2030. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Hottest year ever, what can be done? Plenty: more renewables and nuclear, less methane and meat

The shattering of global annual heat records last year is prompting people to ask: what can be done? There is a way forward.

FILE - Giant wind turbine blades for the Vineyard Winds project are stacked on racks in the harbor, July 11, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. The joint owners of the Vineyard Wind project, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, announced Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, the first electricity from one turbine at what will be a 62-turbine wind farm 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the coast of Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Two large offshore wind sites are sending power to the US grid for the first time

For the first time in the United States, turbines are sending electricity to the grid from the sites of two large offshore wind farms.

Workers install solar panels at the under-construction Adani Green Energy Limited's Renewable Energy Park in the salt desert of Karim Shahi village, near Khavda, Bhuj district near the India-Pakistan border in the western state of Gujarat, India, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023, in an effort to turn away from fossil fuels to stave off severe Earth warming and its effects. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

The year in clean energy: Wind, solar and batteries grow despite economic challenges

Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023, a trend that if amplified will help Earth turn away from fossil fuels and prevent severe warming and its effects.

FILE - A Block Island Wind Farm turbine operates, Dec. 7, 2023, off the coast of Block Island, R.I., during a tour of the South Fork Wind farm organized by Orsted. Unfounded claims about offshore wind threatening whales have surfaced as a flashpoint in the fight over the future of renewable energy. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

Contrary to politicians’ claims, offshore wind farms don’t kill whales. Here’s what to know.

Unfounded claims about offshore wind threatening whales have surfaced as a flashpoint in the fight over the future of renewable energy.

FILE - Hydrogen storage tanks are visible at the Iberdrola green hydrogen plant in Puertollano, central Spain, March 28, 2023. The Biden administration on Friday, Dec. 22, released its highly anticipated proposal for how the U.S. plans to dole out tax credits to hydrogen producers. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

Biden’s hydrogen tax credit unveiled as administration tries to jump start industry

The Biden administration released its highly anticipated proposal for doling out billions of dollars in tax credits to hydrogen producers Friday, in a massive effort to build out an industry that some hope can be a cleaner alternative to fossil fuel power.

US nuclear regulators to issue construction permit for a reactor that uses molten salt

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is issuing a construction permit for a new type of nuclear reactor that uses molten salt to cool the reactor core.

The first operating South Fork Wind farm turbine, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, 35 miles east of Montauk Point, N.Y. The turbine at the commercial-scale offshore wind farm is producing power for the U.S. electric grid for the first time. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Decades after Europe, turning blades send first commercial offshore wind power onto US grid

Off the coast of eastern Long Island, an 800-foot tall turbine has begun sending electricity onto the U.S. grid from what’s set to be the country’s first commercial offshore wind farm.

Workers, foreground, stand Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in an area that features a life-sized representation, behind, of a device that will use magnets to create the conditions for fusion to happen, at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak. Nuclear fusion, which would be a new source of carbon-free energy, melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

At COP28, John Kerry unveils nuclear fusion strategy as a source of clean energy

The United States will work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy, U.S.

A drill rig stands at a Fervo Energy geothermal site under construction near Milford, Utah, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. In Nevada, Fervo’s first operational pilot project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the state's grid to power Google data centers, Google announced Tuesday, Nov. 28. Fervo is using the Nevada pilot to launch larger projects like this one in Utah. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

New Google geothermal electricity project could be a milestone for clean energy

Google announced Tuesday that an advanced geothermal project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the Nevada electric grid to feed Google data centers there.

FILE - Muddy plastic bottles have flowed downstream and become lodged against fallen trees and within the dense foliage in Tisza River near Tiszaroff, Hungary, Aug. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)

At talks on cutting plastics pollution, plastic credits are on the table. What are they?

As countries meet in Nairobi to negotiate a treaty aimed at cutting plastics pollution, one of the tools that’s been discussed is plastic credits.

FILE - A boy walks on the plastic waste at the Badhwar Park beach on the Arabian Sea coast on World Environment Day in Mumbai, India, June 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)

Talks on a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution are advancing in Kenya’s capital

Efforts to create a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution are advancing at a meeting where participants are discussing the treaty’s draft language for the first time.

FILE - NuScale Power chairman and CEO John L. Hopkins, listen outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, following the energy executives' meeting with President Donald Trump on Feb. 12, 2019. A project to build a first-of-a-kind small modular nuclear reactor power plant was terminated Nov. 8, 2023, another blow to the Biden administration's clean energy agenda following cancellations last week of two major offshore wind projects. Oregon-based NuScale Power has the only small modular nuclear reactor design certified for use in the United States. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

First-of-a-kind nuclear project is terminated in a blow to Biden’s clean energy agenda

A project to build a first-of-a-kind small modular nuclear reactor power plant was terminated Wednesday.

Oil Pump jacks work at dusk near Barnes City, Texas, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Despite frequent and devastating heat waves, droughts, floods and fire, major fossil fuel-producing countries still plan to extract more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than is consistent with the Paris climate accord’s goal for limiting global temperature rise, according to a U.N.-backed study released Wednesday, Nov. 8. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Governments plan more fossil fuel production despite climate pledges, report says

A United Nations-backed study finds that the major fossil fuel-producing countries still plan to extract more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with the Paris climate accord’s goal for limiting global temperature rise, despite frequent and devastating heat waves

FILE - The five turbines of America's first offshore wind farm, owned by the Danish company, Orsted, are seen from a tour boat flying the American flag off the coast of Block Island, R.I., Oct. 17, 2022. The cancellation of two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey is the latest in a series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, jeopardizing President Joe Biden's goal of powering 10 million homes by towering ocean-based turbines by the end of the decade. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Offshore wind projects face economic storm. Cancellations jeopardize Biden clean energy goals

The cancellation of two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey is the latest in a series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, jeopardizing President Joe Biden’s goal of powering 10 million homes by towering ocean-based turbines by the end of the decade.

In this photo provided by the Morgan & Morgan law firm, utility contractors remove a charred Hawaiian Electric utility pole stump in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii on Aug. 29, 2023. Investigators are examining this and other pieces of evidence as they seek to solve the mystery of how a small, wind-whipped fire sparked by downed power lines and declared extinguished flare up again hours later into a devastating inferno. (Morgan & Morgan via AP)

Takeaways from AP report on Maui fire investigation

Melted remains of an old car tire. Two burned trees. A stump of an abandoned utility pole. These are among the pieces of evidence investigators are examining as they seek to solve the mystery of last month’s Maui wildfire: How did a small fire sparked by downed power lines and declared extinguished

FILE - The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP, File)

An old car tire, burnt trees and a utility pole may be key in finding how the Maui wildfire spread

Melted remains of an old car tire. Two burned trees. A stump of an abandoned utility pole. These are among the pieces of evidence investigators are examining as they seek to solve the mystery of last month’s Maui wildfire.

FILE - Electric crews work on power lines in the aftermath of a devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Lawyers for Lahaina residents and business owners told a court Tuesday, Sept. 5, that cable TV and telephone companies share in responsibility for the wildfires that devastated the island. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Lawyers claim cable TV and phone companies are also responsible in Maui fires

Lawyers for residents and business owners of the Hawaiian town devastated by last month’s fires on Maui told a court that cable TV and telephone companies share responsibility for the disaster.

FILE - A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 21, 2023. Hawaii’s electric utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby and become the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Hawaii power utility takes responsibility for first fire on Maui, but faults county firefighters

Hawaii’s electric utility acknowledged Sunday night its power lines started a wildfire on Maui but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby and become the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century.

Utility poles stand in Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii, Aug. 16, 2023. When the winds of Hurricane Dora lashed Maui Aug. 8, they struck bare electrical lines the Hawaiian electric utility had left exposed to the elements. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Bare electrical wire and leaning poles on Maui were possible cause of deadly fires

In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows -- those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact.

FILE - Homes consumed in recent wildfires are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. With a housing crisis that has priced out many Native Hawaiians as well as families that have been there for decades, concerns are rising that Maui could become the latest example of “climate gentrification,” when it becomes harder for local people to afford housing in safer areas after a climate-amped disaster. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

In Hawaii, concerns over ‘climate gentrification’ rise after devastating Maui fires

The fires that broke out on Maui last week have exacerbated Hawaii’s housing crisis as more than 3,000 buildings in Lahaina were damaged or destroyed, leaving many wondering if homeowners can afford to rebuild.