FIRST LOOK:

Join Peril & Promise and Nexus Media on Thursday evening for the digital premiere of the film “The Power of Us,” followed by a live conversation on intergenerational climate action. Feb. 4, 6:00-7:30 p.m.

ANTEEKSIPYYNTÖ:

Today’s word of the day is nolo, which means “embarrassing” in Finnish. In Friday’s Hot News, we spelled Finnish with one N, a very nolo thing to do. Our apologies to our readers and to the people of Salla, Finland. We wish them the best of luck in their Olympic bid.

CEOs Of Exxon, Chevron Discussed Merger: The CEOs of Exxon Mobil and Chevron discussed a merger in early 2020 as the novel coronavirus pandemic cratered oil and gas demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. The merger would have created a company second only to Saudi Aramco in size and production. The talks between the two largest corporate descendents of Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly were described as preliminary and are not ongoing, but could be restarted in the future, according to the Journal. They were sufficiently serious that legal documents were drafted over aspects of the merger, according to Reuters. Many in the oil and gas industry have called for increased consolidation in light of the pandemic, the Journal reports, and consolidation in the American oil and gas industry has accelerated, fueled in part by corporate debt bailouts by the Federal Reserve. (Wall Street Journal $, Reuters, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, CNBC, MarketWatch, Business Insider, Bloomberg $)

DOI Revokes 70 Improperly-Issued Drilling Permits: The Interior Department is revoking about 70 oil and gas drilling permits issued, invalidly, during the first days of the Biden administration, Bloomberg reports. The DOI effectively suspended the issuance of public lands drilling permits just hours after President Biden's inauguration under an order by the Acting Interior Secretary limiting the authority to grant such permits to senior Interior officials. The revoked permits were issued by agency staff without the newly-required approval from senior officials, a DOI spokesperson said. At least 33 offshore drilling permits have been authorized by top DOI officials since January 20. (Bloomberg $)

Black Farmers Central In Biden Administration Race, Climate Efforts: Two of the four interconnected crises prioritized by the Biden administration — climate change and systemic racism — converge on Black farmers, the New York Times reports. Decades of racial violence and racist lending and land ownership policies have nearly eliminated Black farmers in the U.S. — 2% of U.S. farms are run by Black farmers, down from 14% in 1920. The Biden administration has pledged to address and work to undo the decades of discrimination against Black, and other POC farmers and to make agriculture a key part of its efforts to fight climate change. “We’ve waited year after year after year. We’ve fought for changes,” Shirley Sherrod, a former Georgia state director for rural development at the Department of Agriculture who was fired in 2010 over a doctored and misleading video. “Now [the USDA], and this country, really needs to figure out how to do the right thing by Black people.” Tom Vilsack, who headed USDA for the entire Obama Administration and is currently nominated to run it again, promised Black farmers "a seat at the table" during a meeting with civil rights groups last month. In 2015, less than 0.2% of the $5.7 billion of microloans issued by the USDA went to Black farmers. (New York Times $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Hope and skepticism as Biden promises to address environmental racism (Georgia Public Broadcasting)

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: Navalny, WHO and Thunberg among nominees for Nobel Peace Prize (Reuters), a global fight for freedom: Black Lives Matter movement nominated for 2021 Nobel Peace Prize (NewsOne)

SCIENCE (DENIAL): The fight against Big Tobacco can teach us how to fight Big Oil (Slate), Marjorie Taylor Greene theorized space laser beam sparked California wildfire (HuffPost), combating misinformation when a loved one is caught in a web of conspiracies (NPR), Biden stokes hope among climate scientists (Washington Post $)

AGENCIES: Judge blocks Trump rule to limit health studies in EPA regs (AP), how the Departments of Energy and Transportation could revolutionize how we get around (Earther), D.C. Circuit nixes EPA ozone requirements (E&E $, Politico Pro $, The Hill), pipeline regulator [PHMSA] braces for Biden climate overhaul (E&E $), Biden's orders and DOE: What to know (E&E $), groups urge USDA to review Trump-era energy, timber projects (E&E $), Vilsack sees big shift in ag induced by climate (Storm Lake Times)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: How Biden's climate agenda aims to trigger a 'good-paying' jobs boom (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Biden signals major shift on regulations with first-day orders (The Hill), Biden's climate order moves the spotlight away from EPA (E&E $), the government agencies that became smaller, and unhappier, under Trump (New York Times $), Trump left Biden a $30 billion fund used for trade wars. Biden has other plans for it. (Politico)

THE HILL: The Man in the Middle [Joe Manchin] (Washington Post $), a tale of two Joes (Environmental Health News), Senator [Whitehouse] seeks criminal climate probe of Trump (E&E $)

POLITICS: Despite setting a new tone, Biden faces tough decision on dealing with Congress (NPR), White House won't meet with GOP senators over energy moves (Politico Pro $), Biden's biggest climate move: signaling that fossil fuels are not the future (TIME), fighting climate change in America means changes to America (AP), Biden unlikely to meet with Senate GOP on climate orders (E&E $), the backstory on [the Edison Electric Institute]’s shift on methane regulations (Washington Examiner), Biden's climate agenda: is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels? (BBC), with Democrats in power, an emboldened environmental movement confronts them (LA Times $)

PUBLIC OPINION: Pew survey provides snapshot of immense partisan divide over climate (Axios)

TRANSITION, PERSONNEL: Biden environmental challenge: Filling vacant scientist jobs (AP)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: How Ukraine could be key to EU clean energy ambitions (Energy Monitor)

CITIES AND STATES: Michigan group helping to keep justice on the state’s environmental agenda (Energy News Network), car lanes to become bike lanes on 2 major New York City bridges (New York Times $)

FERC: Biden’s secret weapon to cleaning up energy is spelled FERC (Bloomberg $)

PHILANTHROPY: How women are changing the philanthropy game (New York Times $)

IMPACTS: Blocked migrant caravan leaves thousands trapped in hurricane-hit Honduras (Climate Home), thawing permafrost is full of ice-forming particles that could get into atmosphere (The Conversation), on the trail of the trillion-tonne runaway iceberg (The Guardian)

HEAT & WINTER: Heat killed a record number of people in Arizona last year, 'a staggering increase' (Arizona Republic), climate change ravaged the West with heat and drought last year; many fear 2021 will be worse (InsideClimate News), 2020 was officially the 2nd driest and 2nd hottest year ever recorded in Arizona (Arizona Republic), wild weather in a warming world (New York Times $), 15 of Yosemite’s iconic giant sequoias fall in most damaging storm in decades (HuffPost)

WILDFIRES: The Colorado River basin’s worsening dryness in five numbers (KUNC), East Troublesome Fire may signal new era of big blow-ups (AP), how climate change may affect your health (New York Times $)

WATER: Teen scientist seeks solution to our water crisis (Nexus Media News)

JUST TRANSITION: Biden’s climate change plan and the battle for America’s most threatened workers (CNBC), Appalachian Botanical Co. growing successful future on reclaimed West Virginia coal mine (WVNews)

RENEWABLES: Biden's call for 'doubling' offshore wind puzzles experts (E&E $), Siemens Gamesa expects more offshore orders in 2021 after shaky start (Reuters), the brewing battle for offshore wind turbines (Wall Street Journal $), new Game and Fish guidelines aim to reduce renewable energy impact (WyoFile), how solar panels are making Puerto Rico communities more resilient (Yale Climate Connections), Hawaii wind farm to fund research after bat, petrel deaths (AP)

OIL & GAS: ‘Sustainable energy’ proposal pitched for North Dakota (AP), Exxon reiterates support for methane norms after Biden's new climate orders (Reuters), Big Oil's lies are finally getting the public scrutiny they deserve on social media (Earther), Chevron posts quarterly loss to cap worst year since 2016 (Wall Street Journal $, Axios, Houston Chronicle), Phillips 66 posts $539 million loss in fourth quarter (Houston Chronicle), shareholders create coalition to pressure Exxon for change (Reuters)

ORPHANED WELLS: The impact of abandoned oil wells on the environment (OilPrice)

PIPELINES: Buoyed by Keystone XL, pipeline opponents want Biden to act (AP), Michigan approves Great Lakes oil pipeline tunnel permits (AP, Politico Pro $), Congresswoman Ilhan Omar hears Indigenous voices in opposition to Line 3 (The Globe), after a decade battling the Keystone pipeline, Faith Spotted Eagle moves to the next cause (Duluth News-Tribune), concerns over erosion impact of Mountain Valley Pipeline continue with project in limbo (Charleston Gazette-Mail), Michigan regulator approves permits for proposed Line 5 tunnel (Politico Pro $)

COAL: Montana miners warn of possible strike (E&E $)

HYDROGEN: With natural gas in peril, pipeline owners look to hydrogen (Bloomberg $)

UTILITIES: 'The people we serve are paying too much for energy:' Virginia lawmakers are targeting Dominion Energy (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

EVs: GM announcement shakes up US automakers’ transition to electric cars (New York Times $, Axios, E&E $), electric cars are coming, and fast. Is the nation’s grid up to it? (New York Times $), GM’s electric car push could put China in the driver’s seat (New York Times $)

DEFORESTATION: Former US climate leaders press Biden on Amazon deforestation (New York Times $)

AGRICULTURE: African Development Bank backs young 'agripreneurs' to beat climate change (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

BUSINESS: As companies chase net-zero, backers say carbon offsets are 'part of the answer' (Thomson Reuters Foundation), corporate pressure to cut carbon trickles down to law firms (Reuters)

FINANCE: Fed's Kaplan: need healthy fossil fuel industry during green transition (Reuters)

IN MEMORIAM: Paul J. Crutzen, Nobel laureate who studied ozone and named new ‘Anthropocene’ era, dies at 87 (Washington Post $)

WILDLIFE: Arctic seals experiencing dramatic weight loss as temperatures rise, study warns (CBS)

INTERNATIONAL: At elite French universities, students demand environmental action (New York Times $), New Zealand needs urgent action to cut emissions, says climate change commission (The Guardian)

• Just how ‘divisive’ are Biden’s executive actions, really? (Washington Post, Aaron Blake op-ed $)
• Oil and gas needs to accept climate reality, Biden help in winding down (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• Republicans should embrace an ‘Operation Warp Speed’ for climate change (Washington Post, Henry Olsen column $)
• Paula Glover uses her energy post to promote racial justice (E&E, interview $)
• Ex-Obama adviser Heather Zichal on Biden, wind and horses (E&E, interview $)
• Corporate monopolies are a racial justice issue. We need federal regulation now (The Root, Jade Magnus Ogunnaike op-ed)
• Can we all stop trusting the market now? (New Republic, Kate Aronoff op-ed)
• As a mom and a scientist, I’m standing up against climate change (Blavity, Melissa Burt op-ed)
• Speed up transition to electric vehicles (Gainesville Sun, Nathan Crabbe op-ed)
• Dizzying pace of Biden's climate action sounds death knell for era of denialism (The Guardian, Oliver Milman analysis)
• The Biden administration’s landmark day in the fight for the climate (The New Yorker, Bill McKibben column $)
• A new day for the climate (The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert commentary $)
• Biden sweeps away Trump’s climate-change denialism (Washington Post, Ishaan Tharoor analysis $)
• Louisiana Republicans slam Biden on oil actions (AP, Melinda Deslatte analysis)
• House Appropriations Interior and Environment Chair Chellie Pingree (Politico Pro, interview $)

Is Q-Anon Congresswoman’s Jewish Space Laser Conspiracy Theory The New Republican Normal. Or Is It The Same As It Ever Was? (Yes.) 

Newly elected Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sparkling reputation as Congress’s newest Q-Anoner had a string of embarrassments last week that have only strengthened calls for her ouster. One was her school shooting denial, and harassment of Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg. Another was her “support for executing” Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. And then finally there’s the resurfacing of a 2018 Facebook post (h/t Media Matters) in which she alleged a cabal of powerful Jews started the deadly Camp Fire in California with a space laser, in order to clear the way for a train. 

Now, if you’re not someone whose life has been reduced to ashes thanks to these climate-juiced wildfires, this might sound very amusing. And indeed, it is laughable and ridiculous to sincerely suggest that former Governor Jerry Brown conspired with a PG&E board member (((and Rothschild banker))) to use a PG&E partner project’s orbiting solar panels to shoot “lasers or blue beams of light” down to Earth to start the fires that were supposedly in “the same projected areas” of Brown’s high speed rail project. 

Some have suggested that Taylor Greene’s incendiary, conspiratorial, racist, Trumpian style represents a new normal for the GOP, a sad sign of where the party’s headed if it doesn’t clean up its act and rid itself of the extremists in its midst, and at its head.

But you can only think that if you’ve managed to forget, ignore, or deny the decades of incendiary, conspiratorial, sexist, homophobic, and racist politics that’s motivated the right. The paranoid style in American politics has been as well-documented as it has been right out in the open. The difference between Republican dog-whistles about welfare queens or nefarious bankers, and Trump’s denigration of “shithole countries” is one of style, not substance. 

As historian Rick Perlstein explained in a recent Vox interview with Zack Beuchamp, while people often point to the prominence of the John Birch Society in the ‘60s, conspiratorial thinking goes as far back as the “founding of the republic,'' calling it “part of our national patrimony.” For example, “the slavocracy, and the segregationist outlook of the 20th century” would have you believe that enslaved people “were perfectly content with their lot,” so the conspiracy held, it must be “outside agitators' who were actually behind abolitionism. 

Then there was the KKK in the 1920s, who Perlstein says “could not have had its strong presence” of “millions of members and mass marches down Pennsylvania Avenue,” even capable of “controlling the statehouses in a couple of states,” had it not been for “the conspiracy theory that Catholicism was a plot to take over the United States” and that all the priests and nuns in the country “were ready to turn into these ninja operatives at the pope’s command.” 

How different is that, really, from the January 6th insurrection, where a confederate flag was in the Capitol building? This time, it was the kids and grandkids of those Klansmen — many of whom, just like their forebears, were prominent, well-off members of their communities — embracing the lie that a baby-eating Catholic president was part of a plot to take over the country with Black Lives Matter activists and Antifa supersoldiers. 

And bizarre as it seems, even laser-based climate denial isn’t a new thing! Just a couple months before Taylor Green’s post, in August of 2018 infowar-riors suggested the last-minute movement of a hurricane away from Hawaii was the result of some sort of energy beam shot out of a secret base in Antarctica. And who had happened to be in Antarctica within the last couple of years? None other than “John ‘Skull and Bones’ Kerry”! (Now that he’s back in government, let’s hope he can crank up that laser to prevent another record hurricane season...) 

So it’s weird, for sure. Outlandish? Definitely. Is it something to mock and ridicule, to “be laughed out of town, before they make their way to the Capitol”, as PJ Grisar wrote in Forward? 

Yes, absolutely.  

But is it in any real way a new normal, and not the same unfortunate normal?

Sadly, no.

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