FIRST LOOK

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm joins Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) to discuss the EV transition, American jobs and strengthening the US industrial base TODAY at 3:00 pm ET. Register here.

Tropics, Home To 40% Of Global Population, ‘Uninhabitable’ By 2050: The world’s tropics could become uninhabitable if global warming exceeds 1.5ºC (2.7°F) above pre-Industrial levels, a new study published Monday in Nature warns. The study finds that at or above 1.5°C, the combination of high heat and humidity called wet-bulb temperature (TW) will exceed 95°F TW in the 3,000-mile band of the planet around the Equator. Because sweat cannot evaporate and the human body cannot cool itself down above 95°F (35°C) TW, prolonged exposure to those conditions can be fatal – and potential health risks can occur even at 1°C increase. The tropics are home to 3.3 billion people – about 40% of the world’s population – a proportion that is expected to grow to reach about 50% by 2050. (New York Times $, The Guardian, Reuters, Earther)

Offshore Wind Project Soon To Be Martha’s Vineyard’s Newest Neighbor: The first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S. cleared a final hurdle on Monday when the Interior Department  announced it has completed the Vineyard Wind project’s final environmental review. The $2.8 billion project, repeatedly delayed by the Trump administration, would be constructed a dozen miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and will consist of 84 turbines generating about 800 megawatts of energy, enough to power 400,000 homes in New England beginning in 2023. The project must still receive final sign-off from the Army Corp of Engineers and NOAA in no more than 30 days. BOEM Director Amanda Lefton hailed the approval as a “really significant step” in the U.S. offshore industry, which lags far behind its European counterparts. “This is the day the U.S. offshore wind industry has been anxiously awaiting for years,” said the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s Liz Burdock. “Today's announcement provides the regulatory greenlight the industry needs to attract investments and move projects forward.” (AP, Washington Post $, Politico Pro $, Reuters, E&E, Financial Times, SPG Global, The Hill)

Musk’s Next Gambit: Texas-Sized Battery: Almost a decade after moving into the electric vehicle industry, Elon Musk’s Tesla is supersizing its plans to bring its battery technology into the power storage game. Gambit Energy Storage LLC, a Tesla subsidiary, is building a 100 megawatt energy storage project in Arlington, Texas, outside of Houston. The giant battery will plug into the Texas power grid, providing backup to a system that last month suffered a devastating failure when a severe winter storm knocked generation offline at the same time as demand soared. Tesla introduced its Powerwall home batteries in 2016; the Gambit battery would store enough energy to power 20,000 homes during summer peak hours, and is expected to be operational on June 1st. Blackouts are becoming increasingly common as climate change exposes the energy grid’s vulnerability to climate change, and battery-supported microgrids are increasingly seen as a critical backup for lifesaving systems. (Bloomberg $, NPR)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Far from White House, Caribbean refinery to test Biden's promises on poverty and pollution (Reuters), opponents suspect environmental racism in pipeline project (ABC), Will race, income inequalities trip up Cascadia’s fight against climate change? (Jefferson Public Radio)

...AND SEXISM: ‘Climate ninjas' overlooked as little finance reaches women (Reuters)

JUSTICE: NY State Senate passes landmark legislation protecting environmental justice communities (Harlem World Magazine), two pioneers chart paths to energy justice (Greenbiz)

CORONAVIRUS: How bad was 2020 for tourism? Look at the numbers. (New York Times $)

VROOM: Electric food truck reborn as mobile vaccine unit (Axios)

STIMULUS: A glowing accomplishment: NTUA finishes CARES Act electrical projects (Navajo Times)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: On a mission to save the climate with legal knowhow (FT $)

DEPT. OF ENERGY: DOE reviving loan program, Granholm says (AP), Jigar Shah’s plan to manage DOE’s $40b loan program (Greentech Media), Granholm on coal, carbon capture, DOE's net-zero playbook (E&E $), Energy Department announces $76 million toward carbon capture, industrial assessment centers (The Hill)

AGENCIES: EPA investigates toxic 'forever chemicals' in pesticides (The Hill), How Biden is betting on Buttigieg to drive a new era of racial equity (Politico)

HEROES: How scientists scrambled to stop Donald Trump’s EPA from wiping out climate data (The Verge)

LAWSUITS: Twelve states sue Biden over climate change order (Washington Examiner)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Biden team races to assemble new climate-change strategy (Wall Street Journal $), Biden's new climate adviser: 'We're all dealing with plan B' (E&E $), Biden team tosses Trump-era opinion that gave industry a free pass to kill birds (HuffPost)

SOCIAL COST OF EMISSIONS: Twelve states sue Biden over Green New Deal emissions cost (Courthouse News, Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: Energy and climate move closer to center stage on Capitol Hill (Axios), House GOP presses Biden on Nord Stream 2 sanctions (Politico Pro $)

LABOR SOLIDARITY: Biden faces 'balancing act' advancing clean energy alongside labor allies (NPR), how Biden’s solidarity emboldened a liberal push for power in Alabama (New York Times $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Climate change: Kerry urges top polluters to cut emissions now (BBC, AP)

TRANSITION, PERSONNEL: Fisheries expert in line for top Biden post (Indian Country Today)

(NOT JUST) TEXAS MESS: Jackson residents are going on week four without water in Mississippi (Truthout), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calls on ERCOT to reverse $16B error during winter storm (Houston Chronicle), Texas legislators split on federal response to energy crisis (Politico Pro $), after California and Texas blackouts, environmentalists push for faster transition to renewable energy (San Francisco Chronicle)

LUCY’S FOOTBALL: GOP stumbles give Democrats new hope in Texas (The Hill)

CITIES AND STATES: Minnesota grant proposal aims to help cities prepare for climate change (Grand Forks Herald), a Pennsylvania county went from bust to boom times with natural gas. Now, it’s nearly broke. (PennLive), West Virginia's oil and gas industry looks to the future following hard hit 2020 (WVNews)

CALIFORNIA: Plan to allow thousands of California oil wells faces vote (AP)

FERC: Despite past dissents, FERC’s chairman says he’s not opposed to natural gas pipelines (Natural Gas Intel)

CRYSTAL BALL: What's the most climate-safe place in the world? (Earther), when climate change and other emergencies threaten where we live, how will we manage our retreat? (Phys.org)

CAPITALISM: How climate change and capitalism conspired to make everything more expensive (Mic)

TOO MUCH/NOT ENOUGH WATER: Millions of U.S. homes face an expensive flooding threat (NPR), multiyear drought builds in western US with little relief in sight (CNN), rising sea levels inundating coastal economies four times faster (Bloomberg $), Humans are altering Earth’s tides, and not just through climate change (Popular Science)

OCEANS: Arctic ocean was much warmer than average during February (Bloomberg $)

WILDFIRES: Wildfire smoke is more toxic than other forms of air pollution, study finds (EcoWatch)

RENEWABLES: A just energy transition in action: Developing 1G of wind power with tribes (Greenbiz)

OIL & GAS: ‘Drill, baby, drill is gone forever': Saudis bet against U.S. shale (Houston Chronicle), oil giants prepare to put carbon back in the ground (New York Times $)

ORPHANED WELLS: A better way to cut the orphan well backlog? (RigZone)

PIPELINES: Report questions business case for Mountain Valley Pipeline (Pittsburgh Business Times $, Charleston Gazette-Mail), Enbridge pipeline to Wisconsin draws protests (The Cap Times), largest U.S. gas spill in 20 years – 1.2 million gallons – happened at a cracked pipeline in North Carolina last summer (Weather Channel)

COAL: Despite February storm, US coal plant retirements likely to continue (SPG Global), Coal India approves 32 mining projects worth $6.4 billion (Bloomberg $)

HYDROGEN: The race to scale up green hydrogen (FT $)

LEGAL CRIMES: Deregulation aimed to lower home-power bills. For many, it didn’t. (Wall Street Journal $), North Carolina solar dispute pits a rare alliance against ratepayer advocate (Energy News Network)

(ALLEGED) CORRUPTION: Ameren plant's coal ash ponds polluting Mississippi River, documents allege (St Louis Post-Dispatch), Greensill’s key clients included West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal company (Fox Business)

EVs: Electric vehicles are the U.S. auto industry’s future—if dealers can figure out how to sell them (Wall Street Journal $), why Japan is holding back as the world rushes toward electric cars (New York Times $)

ACTIVISM: Indian activist’s arrest spotlights crackdown on dissent (AP)

AGRICULTURE: Food systems responsible for ‘one third’ of human-caused emissions (Carbon Brief), monarch butterfly population down so it’s not too early to plan your urban monarch garden, local researchers say (Chicago Tribune), Cambodia's dwindling fish stocks put spotlight on changing rivers (Reuters), Climate change impacts freshwater fish and ecosystem (NBC Washington)

LESS MEAT: China’s appetite for meat fades as vegan revolution takes hold (The Guardian)

BITCOIN: Bitcoin’s other high price: the surging currency is leaving a massive carbon footprint (Fortune)

BUSINESS: The risky business of climate risk: 'Stop predicting the future' (Greenbiz), Amazon is the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy (Quartz), climate change will reshape Silicon Valley as we know it (Wired)

AND YOU THOUGHT ZOOM SUCKED: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg thinks smart glasses could help combat climate change (CNBC)

CARBON PRICING: The petroleum industry may want a carbon tax, but Biden and congressional Republicans are not necessarily fans (InsideClimate News)

FINANCE: Wells Fargo pledges net-zero emissions by 2050 (Politico Pro $)

FOREST FOR THE TREES: How Mexico’s vast tree-planting program ended up encouraging deforestation (Bloomberg $), two-thirds of tropical rainforest destroyed or degraded globally, NGO says (Reuters)

VICES: Indoor weed farms are hotboxing the planet (Earther, New Scientist; Hot takes: The Conversation), whiskey’s future may look like wine’s present (Modern Farmer)

SHE’S HOW OLD?!? 14-year-old environmental scientist kickstarts her career (AccuWeather)

GRETA: Greta Thunberg says Biden isn’t doing ‘nearly enough’ on climate change (The Independent)

INTERNATIONAL: Colombia targets 30% reduction in deforestation; 2020 figures 'positive': minister (Reuters), Turkish olive farmer battles to save her land from coal mine (Reuters)

• Fighting climate change denial with facts is a lost cause (The Highlander, Thuy-Tien Bui)
• Biden's executive orders on climate have broad public support (Yale Climate Connections, Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Ben Santer, and Richard Richels column)
• Net zero’? More like not zero (Wall Street Journal, Robert Hargraves op-ed $)
• Texas has lessons for all of us on infrastructure resilience (The Hill, Shalini Vajjhala op-ed)
• Texas freeze shows climate change is here (Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati Enquirer, Doug Bell and Mark Reynolds op-ed)
• The world may need a bad bank for coal (Bloomberg, Clara Ferreira Marques op-ed $)
• Five-Year Plan lacks climate ambition (E&E, Jean Chemnick op-ed $)
• To win the climate battle, we need the intelligence community (The Hill, Karen Monaghan, David Rubin and George Little op-ed)
• Pumped storage hydropower can help fuel the clean energy transition (FT, Malcolm Turnbul op-ed $)

Denier Propaganda Part II, Deprogramming: How Someone Who Succumbed To Denial Finally Opened Their Eyes

Yesterday we talked about how the fossil fuel industry uses (supposedly) everyday people to shore up support for itself in the face of impending action on climate change. But what about the actual everyday people on the receiving end of this propaganda? How are people who are already bought into denial brought back to reality? 

Turns out VICE ran a piece by a climate denier who changed his mind recently, and it’s instructive not because it’s particularly unique, but because it sounds so common. And unfortunately, it suggests that the trick to ending denial isn’t a perfectly persuasive argument, or dangerous experience with extreme weather, but something far more personal. 

The pseudonymous Oscar, the former denier, describes and entry into denial ideology that sounds plenty familiar: He “fell in with a group of libertarians” while an economics major in 2001, and a professor pointed him to “a website he wrote for, run by a right-wing organization called the Ludwig Von Mises Institute.” (That’s a group founded by exiled Cato Institute co-founder Murray Rothbard, and as its namesake suggests, is all about the Austrian school of economics, which, in a nutshell, uses austerity and economic rhetoric as a disguise for racist, anti-working-class policies.)

At first, he was just there for the “free-market economics, but there were pieces on all sorts of subjects, including climate change,” he wrote. “I blanked out some of the more unsavoury things contributors posted that, in hindsight, scare me now — like apologism for the Confederacy — but the skepticism about climate change seemed to make sense to me.” 

From there, he describes his life as a denier: “I would parrot ideas I’d read,” and when he “ran out of arguments,” he’d resort to “a cop out” and then “quickly change the subject — but not my mind.” He felt as though he “had access to secret information.” He also describes “what’s so seductive about these spaces — especially if you don’t feel like you fully fit in anywhere else — is that suddenly you belong to a group.” It’s that feeling of being special, of being one of the (persecuted) few who know The Real Truth that was so appealing. 

So what turned him around? What amazing argument or perfect messenger changed his mind? 

None. Because his mind didn’t change first. In 2010, he “moved to Washington DC for a woman who left me the day I arrived. Suddenly, I found myself in a dingy basement apartment, totally at sea. I was surrounded by a much more diverse mix of people, places and cultures…” It was only then, after turning his life upside-down, did he realize “everything I had believed ideologically, for the past six years, wasn’t making me happy. I didn’t feel like a good or decent person.” 

He changed his wardrobe, changed his news and political media diet, “actually examined the impact that the economic policies I’d previously espoused had when they were enacted, and started questioning everything I knew.” 

Then, “the second major shift” for him came in 2013, when he took a vacation with his now-wife to the U.S. Virgin Islands and took in the beauty of the Caribbean. “It suddenly hit me that a lot of this could be gone, or so ravaged by hurricanes that the environment was completely destroyed,” he said. 

Now, looking back, what frightens him is how the free-market economics content where he first found climate denial “was window dressing for other people who are now selling a racist agenda.” 

Climate denial is a problem originated by the fossil fuel industry’s propaganda, and spread by social and mass media. But once people are consumed by it, or QAnon, or any other politically-driven conspiracy theory, there’s no real mass media or digital persuasion powerful enough to change their mind. Because it’s not a rational position resulting from an examination of empirical evidence. 

As “Oscar’s" experience showed, his life changed, his living situation changed, and his emotions changed. 

Then his mind changed.

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