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Sustainable Switch

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

Another powerful winter storm has swept across parts of the United States, disrupting travel and leaving more than 300,000 homes and businesses without power as of Tuesday morning.

Before we get to the snow, here are some tech and governance stories on my radar, while today’s ‘Talking Points’ stories focus on sustainability and human rights policies:

A person walks through a winter blizzard snow storm in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Seven states declare emergency

A powerful blizzard dropped more than a foot of snow (30 centimeters) across parts of the U.S. Northeast on Monday.

At least seven U.S. states had declared states of emergency in response to the storm.

Parts of the Northeast could see up to two feet of snow and wind gusts could reach 70 mph, raising the risk of falling trees and power outages, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had activated 100 National Guard members to assist in Long Island, New York City and the lower Hudson Valley, areas expected to bear the brunt of the heavy snow and coastal winds. The storm forced the closure of the U.N. headquarters complex in Manhattan on Monday.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared an emergency and told state workers to stay home. Connecticut barred commercial vehicles from limited-access highways, exempting only emergency and essential deliveries.

Thousands of homes and businesses were without power and officials, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, ordered residents to stay off the roads so emergency crews could clear the streets. Many schools were closed throughout the region.

Many were astounded by the depth of the snowfall. In her 20 years or so living in New Hyde Park, on hard-hit Long Island, Sandra Wu has never seen a winter storm this bad. Her family cannot open the front door and can barely see out of some windows because of the high snowdrifts.

"My husband went out early through the garage to start digging us out, but it was pointless," Wu said.

Power outages

More than 385,954 homes and businesses across the U.S. were without power as of Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

The hardest-hit utilities included Eversource Energy in Massachusetts, where 230,774 of its nearly 3 million customers were without power, followed by National Grid with more than 39,000 of its customers affected.

The total number of power outages in Massachusetts stands at 254,117.

The storm has made travel along the East Coast difficult. Airlines cancelled thousands of flights, and officials urged people to stay off the roads.

Click here to check out our blizzard tracker for more.

Talking Points

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Human rights concerns: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned nations about the widespread abuses of international law when speaking at the opening of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Human rights are being pushed back deliberately, Guterres said, urging member states not to view international human rights as a menu to pick from.
EV policies in the EU: The European Union could achieve more than half of the electric vehicle (EV) sales it targets by 2030 and support carmakers if it tightened its rules on cars bought by large companies, according to a recent paper by the environmental lobby group Transport & Environment. The paper suggested that the EU should stick with a plan to abolish subsidies for petrol and diesel company cars, and limit tax benefits to EVs made in Europe to help domestic carmakers.
France energy and politics: France's far-right National Rally (RN) party submitted a no-confidence motion against the government following the adoption of a new energy law. The new law scaled down renewable energy goals and eased pressure on the state-run utility EDF by reversing a mandate to shut down 14 nuclear reactors. The motion is unlikely to succeed as the Socialist Party – a crucial swing vote in the fragmented assembly – indicated that it will not support the effort.
Argentina labor‑rights rollback: Argentina's lower house approved a contentious labor reform backed by President Javier Milei, despite a nationwide strike by unions. Opposition lawmakers and unions call it the steepest rollback of worker protections in decades. The bill would ease hiring and firing, cut severance pay, limit the right to strike through minimum‑service rules, extend the workday to up to 12 hours, and allow salaries to be paid in foreign currency.

ESG Spotlight

Workers install a solar panel on the rooftop of a private business establishment as Cubans grapple with an ongoing energy crisis. Havana, Cuba. REUTERS/Norlys Perez

In keeping with today’s main focus on power outages, our spotlight shines a light on Cuba, where residents are turning to renewables to solve their energy issues.

Cubans are increasingly turning to solar power to keep businesses running and basic household appliances on during long electricity outages, as fuel shortages make diesel generators and other stopgap options harder and more expensive to use. Click here for the Reuters video.

Sustainable Switch was edited by Alexandra Hudson.

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