Good Day, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
Scientists Drop Grim Verdict on Earth’s Life Support. Is Our Safe Operating Space Already Gone?
Sixty scientists at Germany’s Potsdam Institute released the 2026 Planetary Health Check. Of the nine planetary boundaries that keep this Earth livable, seven have now been breached, every one of them at the worst level recorded. Climate, freshwater, forests, ocean acidity, chemical pollution, all in the danger zone. Only the ozone layer and air pollution have improved. Lead author Boris Sakschewski says “The diagnosis is unambiguous.” The report warns the Amazon could tip into savannah and that the forests and oceans soaking up our carbon are starting to falter. This came out the same week corporations told organizers they’d attend Climate Week in New York, just not visibly. The planet is screaming, and the people with the power to act are whispering.
Bernie Sanders and Global Leaders Issue Open Letter. Can the Sun Save Us Before 2030?
While the planet flashes red, global leaders pointed at the answer hanging in the sky. As the UN gathers, signers from Bernie Sanders to Filipino climate champion Yeb Saño to South Africa’s Kumi Naidoo are demanding solar for everyone, everywhere, by 2030. The letter says the world’s been set ablaze by both war and warming, and the two are connected. The oil governments fight over is the carbon cooking the planet. They cite California burning half the gas for power it did 3 years ago, and Pakistan installing millions of panels in months. “The path forward is difficult, but the way is clear.” The only thing in the way is the fossil fuel industry and the politicians it owns.
Trump Pays Wind Companies $1.4 Billion to Quit. Will California and New York Stop the Backroom Deals?
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York’s Letitia James sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its scheme to buy back offshore wind leases. That’s $1.4 billion of your tax dollars paid to energy companies to quit. Invenergy paid over $111 million in 2022 for a Morro Bay lease meant for up to two gigawatts, and Trump’s paying them to abandon it. James led seven other states suing over that deal and a Bluepoint Wind deal off New York and New Jersey. James says “This administration would rather pay off energy companies than let us build.” Trump says he won’t let a single windmill get built. Your electric bills go up, the oil companies win, and you foot the payoff.
Researchers Test Why Time Speeds Up With Age, and the Popular Answer Falls Apart
Ever wonder why a summer lasted forever at age 10 and a whole year vanishes now? Scientists tested it, and the explanation most of us believe took a hit. The old theory says new experiences create more memories, so childhood feels long and routine adulthood feels short. A study in Memory and Cognition tested 120 people aged 20 to 91. Older folks did feel the last decade flew by. But it had nothing to do with how many memories they had, or how vivid. What did track was a reduced ability to form new memories. Back in 1877, French philosopher Paul Janet proposed each year is a shrinking slice of your life. The lesson may be that staying mentally engaged beats chasing novelty.
Scientists Find the Atlantic’s Great Conveyor Is Slowing Down. Are We Watching the Climate Break?
Researchers at the University of Miami found some of the clearest direct evidence yet that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, which includes the Gulf Stream, has been weakening for nearly 20 years. Using four seafloor arrays from the tropics to the mid-latitudes, they tracked deep water below 1,000 meters and found the same decline everywhere. That’s a real shift, not a local blip, in a system that moves enormous heat around the planet. Oceanographer Shane Elipot warns “A weaker AMOC can shift weather patterns, potentially leading to more extreme storms.” Add colder European winters, shifting rainfall, and faster sea level rise on our coasts. The warnings are clear, the solutions exist, and the only missing piece is political will.
And that’s the way it is, Today is Friday, September 25, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
