VX News is the editorial voice of the annual VerdeXchange Conference, featuring in-depth interviews with industry leaders and policymakers driving innovation in clean energy, water, transportation, and climate policy.
California Needs Water. El Niño Might Bring Too Much.
California enters what forecasters expect to be one of the strongest El Niños on record. The season will test a decade of state investment in stormwater capture and groundwater recharge, after Governor Newsom declared an early state of emergency. VX News here republishes The New York Times reporting on whether the state can bank a potential deluge underground rather than lose it to the Pacific, as recharge has fallen sharply since 2023 and groundwater storage remains 8.1 million acre-feet below 2019 levels. Read the article here.
VX Excerpt: National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Attributes Extreme Weather and Climate Events & Their Impacts to Human Caused Climate Change
As extreme weather grows more frequent and costly, the scientific ability to link a specific heat wave, flood, or drought to human-caused climate change has become central to how governments, insurers, and courts assess responsibility and risk. VX News here excerpts Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's 2026 consensus study, chaired by James W. Hurrell of Colorado State University, which updates the Academies' 2016 assessment of extreme event attribution (EEA) science and extends the analysis into the emerging field of extreme event impact attribution (EEIA) — evaluating how much climate change shapes not just an event's physical severity, but its human and economic toll.
The 14 Climate Signals That Will Define 2026 (Bloomberg Excerpt)
As the world enters the latter half of a decisive decade for climate action, Bloomberg News identifies fourteen global signals shaping climate, energy, and policy outcomes in 2026. In sharing this excerpt, VX News points to a fragmented transition, driven less by coordinated diplomacy and more by geopolitics, infrastructure constraints, and market forces.
NEDO Chairman Tamotsu Saito on Japan–California Collaboration
At VerdeXchange Conference 2025, Tamotsu Saito, Chairman of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), underscored the critical role of international innovation partnerships in navigating an era of climate and geopolitical uncertainty.
Mark Gold Named CalCOFI’s New Director By Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Mark Gold has been named the new director of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program. Gold's focus will be on strengthening the program's partnerships to overcome challenges like reduced federal funding. He plans to leverage CalCOFI's extensive data to address the impacts of climate change, offshore wind development, and coastal pollution on the marine environment.
LADWP’s New Ratepayer Advocate — Meet Tim O’Connor
Tim O’Connor, newly appointed Executive Director and Ratepayer Advocate for the Office of Public Accountability (OPA) at LADWP, outlines his vision with VX News for modernizing the role to meet today’s affordability, climate, and infrastructure challenges.
White House Executive Order 14260: Protecting American Energy from State Overreach
On April 8, the White House issued an executive order directing the U.S. attorney general by June 7 to identify and take action against state and local laws “burdening” domestic energy development, especially laws addressing climate change, ESG, and environmental justice
Steve Westly on the Accelerating Cleantech Opportunity
With cleantech investment skyrocketing from $2.9 billion in 2014 to over $100 billion today, Steve Westly, Managing Partner of The Westly Group, in this VX News interview unpacks the seismic shifts reshaping energy, mobility, and the built environment.
Climate Change and LA28 Olympics Prioritize LA County Public Works Director Pestrella’s Agenda
In this comprehensive interview with Mark Pestrella, Director of the Los Angeles County Public Works, Pestrella delves into the multifaceted responsibilities of overseeing the largest public works agency in the United States.
