California transplants who moved to Texas no doubt thought they had escaped electric power outages. Think again. Texans this week were told to crank up their thermostats amid a brutal heat wave to avoid rolling blackouts. Some ultimatum: Swelter, or bake without power.

As a union with thousands of members working in the energy industry—and with thousands more whose jobs depend on reliable and affordable energy across other sectors—the Boilermakers are acutely aware of the uncertain future of fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Concerns about carbon emissions and nuclear accidents have driven many governments, NGOs and climate activists to urge abandoning fossil and nuclear power as rapidly as possible.

Much has been written about the disadvantages of wind and solar renewables in terms of their intermittency, their large footprint on land (and water), the extra costs to connect them to the energy grid, the requirement for duplicative back-up power sources, and other concerns. But as green energy advocates push to massively expand renewables across the globe, the potential for severe environmental and social harm comes more sharply into focus.

"The critical debate over hydrogen development is how best to extract it at scale."

As we continue to follow energy-related developments that impact our members, the rapid growth of hydrogen production is of particular interest, with implications for Boilermaker jobs and the continued use of fossil fuels with carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS).