FIRST LOOK(S):

The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources will host a virtual workshop on March 3 for editors on covering environmental racism. Deadline for application is February 17.

Deadly Himalayan Glacier Burst Likely 'A Climate Change Event': A glacier in the High Himalayas burst Sunday, unleashing a torrent of water and debris in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. Social media videos show a major river surge sweeping down mountain gorges that have killed at least 19 and washed away two hydroelectric dams with at least 180 people still missing. The glacier burst, on India's second-highest mountain in the middle of February, is a clear symptom of climate change and poorly planned dam construction. Authorities said a piece of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off, releasing water trapped behind it. “This looks very much like a climate change event,” said Anjal Prakash, a professor at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad who serves on the IPCC, “the glaciers are melting due to global warming.” Glacial bursts can sometimes be caused by intense rainfall or earthquakes, but neither was the case here. "There is no doubt that global warming has resulted in the warming of the region," said Farooq Azam, a specialist in glaciology and hydrology at the Indian Institute of Technology in Indore, noting the thermal profile of glacier ice is now as much as 32°F higher than in the past, making it more susceptible to melting. Experts have also questioned the construction of a dam precariously close to glaciers that are among the world's least monitored and most vulnerable to warming. (CNN, Washington Post $, New York Times $, AP, News18, Times of India, Al Jazeera, Times Of India, ThirdPole; Climate Signals background: Glacier and ice sheet melt)

Native Americans Celebrate Biden Keystone XL Cancelation: Native American groups long at the forefront of opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline are cheering President Biden's revocation of a key permit, effectively shutting down the project, the Washington Examiner reports. Native Americans opposed the pipeline not only for its encroachment onto their land and the potential for toxic spills, but because of the dangers posed by "man camps" — temporary housing for workers building the pipeline. "Every time there's an extraction from Mother Earth, indigenous women are most impacted," Candi Brings Plenty, the Indigenous justice organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Examiner. Philimon Two Eagle, a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe in what is now Rosebud, South Dakota, said the pipeline would have added to the "historical wrong" against Native Americans and the long history of mistreatment by the U.S. government. "It is rare that a promise to our people is kept by the United States," said Harold Frazier, the chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. (Washington Examiner)

Report Carries Potentially Big Implications For Climate Refugees: A report commissioned by an executive order signed by President Biden last week could have major implications for people displaced by climate-related disasters, The Verge reports. An average of 21.5 million people are forced from their homes because of climate-related hazards — nine times the number of people who apply for political asylum. The report, due in early August, will address the impact of climate change on migration and include "mechanisms for identifying … individuals displaced directly or indirectly from climate change." The identification of those displaced by climate change is important because essentially no legal framework exists that allows a person displaced by climate change to apply for visa, refugee, or other protections. "Let’s make sure it’s not some sort of risk scenario and planning exercise," said Kayly Ober, climate displacement manager at the humanitarian organization Refugees International. "Let’s make sure this is about actually offering a solution.” (The Verge)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Despite Biden administration making inequality and climate change a priority, advocates for Black farmers skeptical real change will come (Atlanta Black Star), environmental groups’ greatest obstacle may not be Republican opposition (Politico), students protest firing of Arkansas teacher who called lawmakers out for being fragile AF over 1619 project curriculum (The Root), Republican state lawmakers want to punish schools that teach the 1619 Project (The 19th* News, NewsOne)

CORONAVIRUS: The murky connection between the coronavirus and climate change (Earther, CBS), researchers pitch building roads out of recycled masks (E&E $)

DENIAL: Nine years after filing a lawsuit, climate scientist Michael Mann wants a court to affirm the truth of his science (InsideClimate News)

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN: Big Oil gets to teach climate science in American classrooms (Bloomberg $)

AGENCIES: DOJ ditches Trump policies, restores focus on polluters (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: A visual breakdown of Biden’s barrage of executive actions in his first weeks (Washington Post $), Trump left behind a damaged government. Here’s what Biden faces as he rebuilds it. (Washington Post $)

THE HILL: Dems plan to 'beat the drum' on environmental justice (E&E $),

HOUSE: House OKs budget, strips some energy amendments (E&E $), House Democrats introduce tax bill expanding green energy, electric vehicle incentives (Politico Pro $, The Hill, E&E $), GOP taps Trump loyalist to help lead [House Oversight Environment Subcommittee] (E&E $)

SENATE: How Democrats may try getting around the filibuster on climate change (Washington Post $), Barrasso questions Interior's handling of drilling orders (Politico Pro $), Daines seeks to block Haaland confirmation to Interior (The Hill), Senate's late-night votes back Keystone XL (Politico Pro $), lawmakers rally around industry recycling proposal (E&E $), Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun will support Biden's EPA pick, but not his agenda (Indianapolis Star), the four Senate Democrats who have flipped on Keystone XL (Washington Examiner)

WEST VIRGINIA('S SENIOR SENATOR): West Virginia has everyone’s attention. What does it really need? (New York Times $), 'the Democratic version of John McCain' (Politico), Manchin resists partisan approaches to COVID-19, climate (E&E $), Manchin: Biden administration has started off on wrong foot, risks bipartisan progress on climate (Utility Dive), Manchin warns Democrats against pursuing a carbon tax (E&E $)

POLITICS: 'A big promise': Biden's climate spending pledge faces early test (Politico), Sunrise Movement co-founder optimistic about Biden's initial climate actions (The Hill), top union leader: Biden's Keystone plan wrong, will cost U.S. jobs (Axios)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Green groups launch campaign for Biden's enviro nominees (E&E $), EPW vote on EPA nominee Regan scheduled for Tuesday (Politico Pro $), how long can EPA nominee's romance with GOP last? (Houston Chronicle), labor pick questioned over Keystone XL, miner safety (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Canada will be Biden’s ally in tackling the climate crisis (Grist), UN chief reappoints billionaire Bloomberg as climate envoy (AP)

TRANSITION, PERSONNEL: DOE official [Kathleen Hogan] who retired under Trump returns in top role (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: How states may drive — or foil — Biden's clean energy plan (E&E $), oil and gas cleanups are on Biden’s agenda. Will Texas embrace it? (Texas Tribune), an invisible, odorless gas is pitting Texas against the Biden administration (CNN)

PUBLIC LANDS: Biden's legal team has done its Bears Ears homework (E&E $)

IMPACTS: California’s famed Highway 1 collapsed last week. It’s sure to happen again (The Guardian), in California, a warming climate will help a voracious pest—and hurt the state’s almonds, walnuts and pistachios (InsideClimate News), penguins spared after mammoth iceberg splits into smaller pieces (Wall Street Journal $), what does climate change sound like? (New York Times $), wildfire smoke’s economic damage lingers after the flames (AP), recent blockbuster snow totals along East Coast may be tied to climate change (Washington Post $)

"SOLUTIONS": Planting trees sounds like a simple climate fix. It’s anything but. (HuffPost)

RENEWABLES: Floating wind turbines buoy hopes of expanding renewable energy (Wall Street Journal $), Iberdrola buys wind farm project portfolio in Ireland (Reuters), no roof to install solar panel? Buy one at a park (Reuters), offshore wind farms, big in Europe, could boom in U.S. under Biden (Wall Street Journal $)

BATTERIES: Building domestic supply chain for battery storage could be a priority for lawmakers, Senate aides say (Utility Dive), The battery is ready to power the world (Wall Street Journal $)

OIL & GAS: Could Biden really push oil companies into the red? (USA Today), judge denies requests to pause creation of Alaska oil field (AP), massive losses should be a warning to Big Oil that its bonanza is over (The Guardian), Rosneft’s green pledge with BP challenged by its Arctic plans (Bloomberg $)

"RENEWABLE" "NATURAL" GAS: Hogwash: making fuel from pig poop sounds exciting — unless you live nearby. (Grist)

PIPELINES: Dems want Keystone XL treatment for Dakota Access (E&E $), Mountain Valley Pipeline cited again for erosion and sedimentation violations (The Roanoke Times), White House: more pipelines under review (E&E $)

COAL: Active, abandoned coal mines emit more methane than previously thought (Mining.com), Midwest utility [Alliant Energy Corp.] to shut down large coal plant (E&E $), coal-fired power took a beating during the pandemic, study finds (New York Times $)

HYDROGEN: Woodmac on green hydrogen: it’s going to happen faster than anyone expects (Greentech Media)

UTILITIES: California utilities to spend billions to cut wildfire risk (AP), customers unable to pay utility bills face shut-offs as pandemic moratoriums end (Washington Post $)

WATER: Proposed river authority would assert Utah’s claims to the Colorado’s dwindling water (Casper Star-Tribune)

EVs: Goodbye, gas? The era of electric cars is coming faster than anyone thought. (Houston Chronicle), a Super Bowl ad that the Biden presidency made possible (The Atlantic), Big Oil is backing EVs: What is going on? (E&E $), charging your EV at home is super slow. That's finally changing. (Mashable), Ford doubles electric vehicle investment to $22 billion through 2025 (Electrek)

ARCHITECTURE: An architecture firm’s push to build net-zero apartments—on a budget (Wall Street Journal $)

FINANCE: Sovereign wealth funds sidestep climate change threat (FT $), asset manager BlackRock cuts stake in Occidental Petroleum (Reuters)

STONKS: Can Reddit do for clean energy what it did for GameStop? (Grist)

TRANSIT: One thing millennials aren't killing? public transportation (NPR)

METHANE MATH: A differential equation governing methane concentration in the atmosphere (Clean Technica)

WILDLIFE: Sloth lady of Suriname: for 16 years, Monique Pool and her group have worked relentlessly to rescue the slow-moving mammals and return them to the wild (Washington Post $)

INTERNATIONAL: China aluminium sector must shut inefficient coal power to meet climate goals - report (Reuters), German SPD targets climate-neutral economy in election campaign (Reuters), Queen's property manager banks huge windfarm bonanza (The Guardian), Russian court orders mining giant to pay nearly $2 billion for Arctic spill (The Hill), why Grenada had to nationalise its electricity for $60m to pursue renewables (Climate Home), Work resumes on disputed Russian-German undersea pipeline (AP)

• Supporting Central American migrants at US borders and beyond (The Hill, Daniel Speckhard op-ed)
• Biden's climate plan can work if it's sea to shining sea (The Hill, David Helvarg and Jason Scorse op-ed)
• The task ahead for Biden on climate (New York Times, Editorial Board $)
• Invasive insects and diseases are killing our forests (New York Times, Gabriel Popkin op-ed $)
• Let's seize the day': [Sen. Tom] Carper outlines his agenda (E&E, interview $)
• The new environmentalism must demand systemic change (Truthout, James Gustave Speth op-ed)
• FERC's new Republican on CO2 price, batteries and 'Spinal Tap' (E&E, Mark Christie interview $)
• This climate deal is good for earth and the economy (New York Times, Stephen Yurek and Bob Keefe op-ed $)
• Don’t wait until 2030 to electrify NYC buildings: De Blasio is onto something, but his timeline is too timid (NY Daily News, Stephen Mushegan op-ed)
• Q&A with Sen. Ed Markey (Politico Pro $)

Senate Climate Solutions Caucus Co-Founder Mike Braun (R-Ind) Opposes Climate Solutions That Won’t Profit Him, Personally

During last week’s vote-a-rama, Indiana Republican Senator Mike Braun introduced an amendment to try and prevent President Biden from banning fracking (which he has hasn't done, and has said, repeatedly, he won't do, to the chagrin of many on the left), using the power of the purse to prohibit CEQ or EPA from working on blocking fracking. It passed with the votes of seven Democrats, but was then stripped out anyway as part of the budget reconciliation process. So it was a purely symbolic move, like the other 800 or so amendments; a futile gesture of political posturing. 

While it would usually be par for the course for a Republican to loudly oppose a climate solution, Senator Braun is the co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus. 

Hmmmm so if an obvious solution, stopping one of the main activities that causes the problem, is off the table, what solutions would Braun prefer? 

Thankfully, Braun did an interview with the Indianapolis Star in which he laid out just that. Because while he will vote for President Biden’s EPA pick Micahel Regan, Braun said he didn’t support the Biden agenda on the environment. He’s worried that Biden’s actions will set back “all the progress we’ve made in the Senate Climate Caucus'', and that they’re “going to lose some of the people we got on the caucus.” 

What progress have they made, exactly? Good question! We haven’t noticed any. And if anti-anti-fracking Braun is the co-chair, how much more staunchly pro-causing climate change could other senators even get? (And how would they even be helpful participants in a "climate solutions" caucus?)

Well, as it turns out there is a solution that Braun supports. He told the IndyStar the "trillion trees" effort is “very doable and doesn’t cost much.” The story helpfully informs readers unaware of his background that Senator Braun “is one of Indiana's largest timber land owners.” 

KA-CHING! Just like his trillion-tree-supporting Republican colleague in the House Bruce Westerman, Braun’s got a pretty direct connection to the tree-chopping industry. 

Apparently, Braun said, it’s vital that the trees are “where we need to begin, otherwise it won’t be bipartisan. It will be another failed big government program.” 

What an amazing coincidence! The senator demands that supporting an industry from which he personally profits be the starting point of policy, otherwise he’ll oppose it — in fact, he's already calling it a failure. 

Well, at least the "solution" Braun supports (and would profit from) actually would help climate change, or — at least — wouldn't make it worse. Right? 

It turns out that the climate benefits come less from planting trees to store carbon than it is in letting them grow. That’s the bottom line of a great HuffPo piece by Kyla Mandel published on Friday. Because while it seems like such an easy solution, it turns out that it’s not quite as easy as Johnny Appleseed’s carefree scattering might suggest. 

According to the co-author of a review of trees and other natural climate solutions, Alison Smith, “the expansion of forestry framed as a climate change mitigation solution is being used for corporate greenwashing, as an excuse for continued use of fossil fuels.” 

To really be done right, trees need to be carefully planted in formerly forested areas; otherwise it just disrupts a different ecosystem. It also can’t just be one type of tree, in neat rows, a la timber industry practice, because that’s not going to create a resilient ecosystem. 

And the trees have to survive for decades to deliver the long-term carbon capture benefits, which is why UC-Santa Cruz professor Karen Holl says we shouldn’t think about it as planting, but instead “tree growing.” She acknowledged that people may want “to plant our way out of climate change. But if we do not aggressively reduce our emissions, then tree growing is not going to get us out of this.” 

Hear that, Senator Braun? If we’re not reducing fossil fuel emissions, then subsidies for the timber industry certainly aren’t going to be a climate solution. And if an unhelpful greenwashing plan is the best "solution" the co-founder of the "Climate Solutions Caucus" can endorse, then the caucus may as well be about preventing climate solutions instead of deploying them.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to receive Hot News every morning!

Send updates or feedback to nkauffman@climatenexus.org
Submit events and other items for consideration for a First Look using this form
Some articles require logins or subscriptions ($)