FIRST LOOK:

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute will hold its fifth Congressional Climate Camp TODAY at 2:00 p.m. ET on the Senate budget reconciliation process.

NOAA Predicts Coming Hurricane Season Will Be More Active Than Post-1990 Norm: The 2021 hurricane season will be more active than the normal post-1990 year, NOAA meteorologists said Thursday, as climate change continues to stretch the federal government's ability to respond to disasters as well as what can be considered usual, typical, or routine. If forecasts are correct, 2021 will be the sixth consecutive year with a hurricane season more active than normal. While less active than last year's record-shattering hurricane season, NOAA expects 2021 to see 13 to 20 named storms (14 is typical since 1990), 6 to 10 hurricanes (7 is typical), and 3 to 5 major hurricanes Category 3 or stronger (3 is typical). Warmer-than-normal Atlantic surface temperatures will fuel those storms. FEMA, however, is running on fumes, the New York Times reports. Still managing recovery from storms as far back as Hurricane Harvey in 2017, managing COVID-19 vaccination sites, trying to shelter children, and preparing for what experts say will be an exceptionally destructive, drought-fuelled wildfire season, the agency has 29% fewer emergency workers ready to deploy than it did at the beginning of last year's hurricane season. (NOAA prediction: AP, Washington Post $, New York Times $, USA Today, E&E $, Reuters, Politico Pro $, The Verge; FEMA: New York Times $; Climate Signals background: Hurricanes, 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Wildfires, Drought, Hurricane Harvey)

Texas Officials Knew Gas Was The Problem, Blamed Renewables For Blackouts Anyway: The chair of the Texas PUC and other top officials were already worried about gas shortages days before the widespread blackouts that lead to the deaths of at least 151 people, E&E News reports. During the blackouts, many leaders in the state blamed renewables and pushed climate denial talking points. The phone records and documents obtained by E&E show state legislators were already concerned the state's gas system was not sufficiently weatherized to withstand the winter storm, despite warnings after a similar event a decade earlier. They also show then-PUC chair DeAnn Walker warned Gov. Greg Abbott's office about failures at gas facilities forcing the shutdown of gas-fired power plants on February 15, the day before Abbott told Fox News the outages showed the dangers of the not-enacted Green New Deal. Gas plants accounted for the majority of power generation that failed during the freeze, which deprived millions across the state of heating, electricity, and water, with those outages disproportionately harming people of color and people with disabilities. (E&E News; Climate Signals background: February 2021 Polar vortex breakdown and Central US winter storms)

Biden Orders Agencies To Identify, Mitigate Climate Risks: President Biden on Thursday ordered agencies across the federal government to prepare for risks to the American economy posed by climate change. The harms inflicted by human-caused global warming are already being felt in the form of rising sea levels, extreme weather, wildfires, and droughts, but "these risks are often hidden," the White House said. The executive order directs federal agencies to identify and mitigate climate risks in order to protect worker pensions, improve the resilience of food, water, and emergency supplies, and prepare infrastructure for climate impacts. The order directs White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy and economic adviser Brian Deese to develop a government-wide strategy within four months to identify financial risks. The SEC is already working on climate risk disclosure regulations, which experts say will create an incentive for corporations to mitigate climate risks in order to avoid losing investors. (AP, New York Times $, Reuters, Politico, E&E $)

FUNDING FOSSILS: A New Climate Report Challenges Exxon and BlackRock (Bloomberg $)

CLEAN UP OUR MESS: Oil boom in New Mexico could stick taxpayers with cleanup costs (Reuters, New Mexico Political Report), will the dying coal industry leave its mess for others to clean up? (Canary Media) 

OPINION: Are we finally willing to limit the supply of fossil fuels? (LA Times, Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes op-ed)

IMPACTS' IMPACTS: Extreme weather was the biggest reason for people to flee homes in 2020 (Thomson Reuters Foundation, New York Times $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Big Oil's high court win reverberates in Delaware climate case (E&E $), [Florida] state court nixes youth climate case (E&E $)

THE. SIZE. OF. MAJORCA.: World’s largest iceberg breaks off in Antarctica as glaciers retreat (Bloomberg $, Earther, New York Times $, CNN, Reuters)

POLLUTION EXPORTS: 'Free-for-all' used car export threatens climate goals (E&E News)

ARCTIC: It's sundress weather in the Arctic (Earther), as Arctic broils, world leaders convene in Iceland to talk climate change (Grist, InsideClimate News), US, Russia at odds over military activity in the Arctic (AP, Politico), as record heat scorches western Russia and central Canada, climate alarm bells ring (Washington Post $)

HEALTH CARE COSTS: Air pollution costs each American $2,500 a year in healthcare - study (Thomson Reuters Foundation), health costs from climate change surpass $800 billion, report says (Politico Pro $, E&E $)

WHAT COLOR IS THAT PARACHUTE?: Ousted Nature Conservancy executive gets $1.2M payout (Politico Pro $)

AGENCIES: The federal government puts out a ‘help wanted’ notice as Biden seeks to undo Trump cuts (Washington Post $), the Biden administration releases its wildfire strategy as the climate threat grows. (New York Times $, Reuters)

EPA: Agency swamped with nominations for Science Advisory Board (E&E $), Regan vows to reduce FOIA backlog (E&E $), Trump EPA took eleventh-hour look at endangerment finding (E&E $)

DOE: Granholm: voluntary cybersecurity standards 'inadequate' (E&E $)

DOI: Interior 'working diligently' to address Trump offshore wind bans, agency says (Politico Pro $)

DOT: Buttigieg suggests public-private vision for EV charging (Politico Pro $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Biden charts climate course for Coast Guard (E&E $), DOD spent $8.5B since 2018 to rebuild from disasters (E&E $)

THE HILL: Biden officials lobby lawmakers for international funding (E&E $)

HOUSE: Lawmakers to propose tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel (Reuters, Politico Pro $)

SENATE: Biden’s old Senate colleagues don’t recognize his current economics. They’re cool with that. (Politico), Dems tell EPA to do better on health warnings (E&E $), Stabenow presses for more ag funding in infrastructure talks (Politico Pro $), Ted Cruz cites pipeline attack to push natural gas bill (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Gina McCarthy: nuclear energy isn't going anywhere (E&E $), White House to take proactive role in ransomware fight following Colonial, other cyberattacks (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Climate is high on agenda as Korean leader heads to White House (New York Times $), lawmakers bash Biden for waiving certain Nord Stream 2 sanctions (Politico Pro $, E&E $), why the world worries about Russia's Nord Stream pipeline (Bloomberg $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: [NOAA] nominee pledges to work on diversity, climate change (E&E $), Biden’s top scientist gets OK from Senate committee (Politico Pro $, E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: More solar panels coming to Southeast DC homes (DCist), Arizona may resurrect efforts to commit to 100 percent carbon-free electricity (Canary Media), a public park with ocean views to blossom on an oil patch in Newport Beach (LA Times $), Massachusetts gas facility needed to meet New England climate goals, backers say (Energy News Network), Michigan lawmakers propose $500M to repair dams after breach (AP), states are pricing carbon. Washington hasn't followed their lead. (Politico Pro $), Oregon OKs new temporary rules for cutting off power during wildfire season (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

CALIFORNIA: California weighs electric car mandate for Uber and Lyft (Energy News Network), renewables vs. grid stability: Calif. clash heats up (E&E $)

FERC: FERC approves two pipelines after compromise on greenhouse gas language (Politico Pro $), FERC sees ample power for summer, but the West remains at risk (Politico Pro $), Natural gas projects spark drama at FERC meeting (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: California facing drought crisis as water shortages mount and fire danger escalates (Washington Post $), Biden made [Lake Charles, Louisiana] a poster child for climate change. Then it flooded again. (Grist), humans have had a more powerful effect on the plant world than the last ice age (Bloomberg $)

DROUGHT: Where’s the water? Drought threatens California’s lifeline (New York Times $)

RENEWABLES: As banks shun coal, Vietnam emerges an unlikely solar champion (Bloomberg $), BP starts offshore wind recruitment push as green ambitions grow (Bloomberg $), China to add at least 90 GW wind and solar capacity to the grid in 2021 (Reuters), National Grid joins forces with RWE to target US offshore wind (FT $)

EFFICIENCY: Rapid 'energy efficiency as a service' growth belies financing, other difficulties, analysts say (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: French fund to vote against oil major Total's climate change policy (Reuters)

PIPELINES: While International Energy Agency calls for halt on oil and gas development, Minnesota builds more fossil fuel infrastructure (Red Lake Nation News), U.S. gives Williams more time to build Pennsylvania-NY natgas line (Reuters)

COLONIAL PIPELINE: Colonial CEO would love it if you could forget about his company (Earther), Colonial Pipeline CEO to testify about cyberattack before House panel June 9 (Politico Pro $)

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?: Battle of Blair Mountain centennial set in West Virginia (AP)

HYDROGEN: Coalition launches to build first U.S. green hydrogen 'hub' (E&E $), Dubai launches region’s ‘first industrial scale’ green hydrogen plant (CNBC)

UTILITIES: Elliott's proposed Duke split untimely, analysts say, as advocates warn of 'dangerous can of worms' (Utility Dive)

GRID: NextEra is blocking a major new clean power transmission project (Bloomberg $)

EVs: Experiencing the Ford F-150 Lightning through the eyes of a young journalist (Detroit Free Press), 'watershed': is Ford's F-150 an EV breakthrough? (E&E $), will the Ford F-150 Lightning turn Middle America onto EVs? (Grist), Ford F-150 Lightning is good, actually (Earther), Bill Gates-led fund invests in startup that helps scale EV charging (Bloomberg $), 6.5m households in UK plan to buy an electric car by 2030 (The Guardian)

AGRICULTURE: Carbon storage offers hope for climate, cash for farmers (AP)

FINANCE: IMF unveils plans to include climate, digital tech into economic assessments (Reuters), how debt-for-climate swaps can help fund the energy transition (Energy Monitor)

BITCOIN: Bitcoin’s growing energy problem: ‘It’s a dirty currency’ (FT $)

FILM REVIEWS: Those who wish me dead is a failure of a film in a world on fire (Earther)

WILDLIFE: Extreme weather may drive flying foxes to seek ‘climate refuge’ as far south as Tasmania (The Guardian), the US helped craft the most important international treaty to protect nature — but won’t join it (Vox)

INTERNATIONAL: ‘The living heart of Australia’: fracking plans threaten fragile channel country (The Guardian), China CO2 emissions 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels in Q1 -research (Reuters), expansion of English airports could threaten climate commitments – report (The Guardian)

• Why Ford’s F-150 Lightning could elevate green energy from the culture wars (Washington Post, Catherine Rampell column $)
• Minnesotans support climate action. Catch up to them, governor. (Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Grant Stevensen column)
• With the help of the White House and Congress, water shortage does not have to be a way of life (The Hill, Jennifer Pierre, Dan Keppen, and Dave Puglia op-ed)

'Fresh Face' of Polluter PR Alex Epstein Says We Need To 'Liberate' Fossil Fuels

There are few things in this world that the CEOs of powerful companies truly fear. With more money than they could ever need, the influence it buys and the power it gives them, they're immune to nearly all of life’s most daunting and anxiety-inducing dilemmas. Nearly. There is one thing that, clearly, and rightfully, terrifies them. It seems simple, just a white board and dry erase marker. But it’s the person wielding them that strikes terror in the hearts of CEOs everywhere: California Rep. Katie Porter. 

Over the past few years, Porter has used the whiteboard to show just how corrupt, ignorant and ignoble the often slickly-PR-trained executives are, and how their companies exploit the public. Recently, she’s turned her fearsome math on the fossil fuel industry. For example, in a recent hearing an oil executive got “bulldozed” by Porter for claiming the industry didn’t get special tax treatment. In a clip that’s gotten 90k likes on Twitter, Porter listed a few ways it absolutely does, told him to stop patronizing her, and offered to have Congress make his lie correct and get rid of that preferential treatment. (She also basically secured free COVID-19 testing for everyone in the U.S.)

So when we heard that Porter had invited more oil CEOs to find out what they’d done with the $115 billion in public bailout funds they’d gotten, we were giddy with anticipation! After all, 77 of the biggest polluters got $8 billion in tax bailouts, but then still turned around and killed nearly 60,000 jobs that money was intended to protect. 

Unsurprisingly though, the CEOs invited declined to show up, forgoing the chance to tell Americans why they deserved that bailout, and all the great things they did with it. Oh, and also avoided getting murdered on C-Span by Porter and her white board. Porter had been eager to ask, for example, why Devon Energy laid off nearly a quarter of its entire workforce after gobbling up $220 million in relief program funding. 

But who did show up to the hearing on Big Oil’s behalf? Alex Epstein, who fashions himself a philosopher (though his arguments are more like playdoh, than Plato’s) but in reality is just a sleazy fossil fuel PR man who runs a for-profit “think tank,” and runs around talking about how he loves fossil fuels. Literally. “I heart fossil fuels” is his whole schtick.  

In his opening statement, he said that climate policy is “giving unjust punishments to the incredibly life-giving oil and gas industry. If we can liberate this industry, America and the world will be far better places to live.” 

While the Republicans obviously lapped up this liar-for-hire’s slick pitch ignoring the fact that fossil fuels are heating the atmosphere and literally killing people and focusing solely on how pretty the rainbow in an oil slick can be, Rep. Jared Huffman was quick to point out the reality. 

The CEOs invited refused to show their own faces, so instead they sent the “fresh face” of Big Oil’s “disinformation campaign: A young, relatable guy in a t-shirt, no less, putting hipster gloss on a thick layer of sophistry hatched in one of the Koch-funded industries that pay him to bestow the banner of morality, no less, on their industry."

Huffman almost made up for the lack of a classic Porter whiteboard moment though, calling out how the industry, “instead of investing in clean energy, they’re investing in PR.” He went on to drive a stake through the heart of Epstein’s “see no evil” philosophy, saying it’s like “telling Mrs. Lincoln that if she just looked at it right, that night at Ford’s theater wasn’t so bad.”

Sick burns at Epstein’s expense aside, the reality is that there is no real defense for the fact that fossil fuels kill millions of people every year, and that the industry sucked up millions of dollars meant to save jobs during the pandemic and used it to give big bonuses to CEOs, and gave out pink slips to thousands of workers anyway.

Instead, Epstein wanted to talk about how we should “liberate this industry.” Which is an interesting choice of words, illustrating how Epstein very deliberately co-opts the language of progressivism and liberation, while selling a deeply regressive message about a product that disproportionately hurts communities of color. 

Even the name of his for-profit PR company does it: the Center for Industrial Progress. Why? Because if there were even a shred of honesty about what he does, why and for whom, then there’d be nothing to distinguish this “young, relatable guy in a t-shirt” from the other industry-funded hacks arguing that it’s fine for Black and Brown kids to get asthma from fossil fuels, because that pollution’s making someone rich!

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