FIRST LOOK:

The U.S. formally rejoins the Paris Agreement today, and thousands of subnational leaders are coming together to launch America Is All In — an evolution of the coalitions that remained committed to subnational and corporate climate action during the Trump administration. Register to watch the event with John Kerry and Gina McCarthy at 10:00 a.m. EST here.

Renewable Energy 'Had A Pretty Amazing Year' In 2020': The American renewable energy sector shone brightly in 2020, blowing away previous records for new installed capacity, according to Bloomberg NEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, which released their Sustainable Energy in America Factbook on Thursday. U.S. wind energy capacity increased last year by 17 gigawatts, a whopping 85% more than was added in 2019, and solar energy capacity increased by more than 16 gigawatts — also a record. All told, the combined new 33.6 gigawatts of new renewable energy was more than 50% higher than the previous record set in 2016. Renewables "had a pretty amazing year," Ethan Zindler of BNEF told reporters. Methane gas remained the largest source of American power generation, though its growth from 2019-2020 was slower than its growth from 2018-2019. Overall, American energy use dropped 7.8%—the biggest drop in at least 30 years, because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Coal continued to fall to its lowest share of the U.S. power mix since World War II. The renewable sector's strong performance detailed in the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook is consistent with a report from the International Energy Agency released last November. (Earther, E&E $, Greentech Media, CBS, Utility Dive, Roll Call, The Hill, PV Tech)

America Is All In Paris (Again): The United States officially reenters the Paris agreement today, a symbolic and important step toward the aggressive action required to stem the tide of climate change. The day also marks the merger of two of the most prominent groups formed after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact — We Are Still In, a coalition of states, cities and businesses, and America's Pledge on Climate Change, which tracked their progress — into the new America Is All In, which will continue to push for accelerated action. (Washington Post $, E&E $, NBC, CBS, AP, Reuters)

Bankrupt Montana Coal Mining Company Dumps Labor Pensions After Giving Bonuses To Management: Bankrupt Montana coal mining company Lighthouse Resources will be allowed to offload $2.7 million of union pension funds to a federally chartered entity, E&E reports. Lighthouse says it cannot afford to cover the pension plan it promised to its unionized workers under a collective bargaining agreement struck in 2012. The company paid 11 "insiders" a combined $3.3 million, including at least $702,500 in bonuses, in the 12 months before filing for bankruptcy, the Casper Star-Tribune reported earlier this week. The United Mine Workers of America consented to the plan because it would allow its members to continue performing reclamation work on Lighthouse mines, a UMWA spokesperson told E&E. Clark Williams-Derry, an energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told the Star-Tribune Lighthouse's claim it couldn't afford to fulfill its promise to its workers because of cleanup costs was “disingenuous.” “When Lighthouse says we can’t pay for miners’ retirement because we have to pay for cleanup, it really sets up a false dynamic of the environment versus workers,” Williams-Derry said. “It hides the fact that company executives and insiders have given themselves golden parachutes and paid themselves generous salaries, bonuses and retirement contributions, when they don’t give those same financial benefits to their workers.” (E&E $, Casper Star-Tribune)

Missouri City Slammed By Skyrocketing Gas Prices: While Texans were burning their furniture and children's toys for warmth, other wider-ranging impacts of the energy crisis precipitated by Arctic temperatures across the U.S. will be felt for years. In Fulton, Missouri, which serves as a gas utility for its residents, skyrocketing methane gas prices over the last week severely taxed the city's ability to cover the cost. As of Tuesday, the city had spent more than $3 million of its $5 million gas reserve fund. "We know that some of our residents just can't pay these exorbitant prices," a city official told KOMU. Officials said absent outside relief it will take the city years to replenish the funds. Not everyone is suffering, however. The fracking company owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was able to maintain extraction despite the cold, making the week like "hitting the jackpot," according to its CFO. (Furniture and toys: NBC, WFAA,  BuzzFeed; Fulton, MO: KOMU, KMIZ/KOFX, KRCG; Jackpot: NPR, Bloomberg $)

DENIAL: After criticism, Facebook addresses climate disinformation (E&E $, The Guardian, Axios, The Hill, Bloomberg $, The Verge, CNBC)

BRONX GAS EXPLOSION: NYC mother throws baby off 2nd floor to neighbor after gas explosion; 6 kids among 10 hurt (NBC New York, New York Times $, WLNY-CBS New York, ABC, New York Post)

TEXAS BLACKOUTS: Power returns for many in Texas, but water crisis escalates as storm damage spreads (Washington Post $, Axios, CNN), 3 ways Texas could avoid another electricity crisis (Vox), CenterPoint cannot warn when power may be shut off, but says to expect outages into weekend (Houston Chronicle), power grid operator: Texas isn't "out of the woods yet," but system is stabilizing (Texas Tribune), nearly half the state experiencing water disruptions as power grid operator says it's making progress (Texas Tribune)

IT COULD HAVE BEEN … WORSE: Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say (Texas Tribune, Buzzfeed, The Hill)

BLEAK: Hospitals in Austin are running out of water, forcing some to transfer patients (Texas Tribune), no electricity, no water, Texans struggle through historic cold with more dark days ahead (Reuters), storm-ravaged South: 'We are close to running out of water' (E&E $), Texas hospitals are running out of water amid power outages. Some are evacuating patients for safety. (Washington Post $), Texas misery: Water problems follow blackouts (E&E $), winter storms bring deadly risks for the homeless (Bloomberg $), 'a disaster within a disaster': carbon monoxide poisoning cases are surging in Texas (NPR)

CLIMATE CONNECTIONS: A Times climate reporter answers questions about this week’s weather. (New York Times $), freak cold in Texas has scientists discussing whether climate change is to blame (Reuters, Vox), White House says severe winter storm freezing Texas likely due to climate change (Reuters)

LIES: Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans blamed green energy for Texas’ power woes. But the state runs on fossil fuels. (Texas Tribune), Republicans use Texas power outages to spread false claims about green energy (ABC), stop blaming the Green New Deal for Texas Blackouts (The Real News), Texas Republicans criticized for misleading claims that renewable energy sources caused massive outages (CNN)

GRID FAILURES AND FUTURE: The real reasons Texas went dark (E&E $), Biden official says Texas storm shows infrastructure need (Bloomberg $), DOE, White House: Don't blame wind for grid crisis (E&E $), why millions of Texans are still without heat and electricity (Houston Chronicle), why the massive power outages in Texas are so much worse than California's summer blackouts (San Francisco Chronicle), how Texas solar helped meet winter storm challenges, and could go even further (PV Tech), 'impossible to avoid.' years of grid warnings haunt Texas (E&E $), explaining the crisis in Texas (InsideClimate News), no, the Blackouts in Texas weren't caused by renewables. Here's what really happened (NPR), power experts cite gas constraints as main cause of ERCOT outages, but system planning questions remain (Utility Dive), Texas Democrats push to open state's electric grid (E&E $), Texas storms, California heat waves and ‘vulnerable’ utilities (New York Times $), Texas, the go-it-alone state, is rattled by the failure to keep the lights on (Washington Post $), what the Texas snowstorm tells us about America's energy infrastructure (NPR), why is Texas suffering power blackouts during the winter freeze? (The Guardian), wind power didn’t cause the Texas blackouts. But it wasn’t just fossil fuels, either (LA Times $)

ACCOUNTABILITY & LEARNING FOR THE FUTURE: Texans demand answers after dramatic collapse in power supply (FT $), House Democrats to probe catastrophic Texas power failure (Politico Pro $, E&E $, The Hill), Senate energy panel to hold hearing on Texas energy crisis (Politico Pro $), Texas grid failure ignites feud over Republican oversight of the energy industry (CNBC), Texas’ water problems started way before the winter storm (Grist)

FOSSIL ENERGY IMPACTS: Gulf Coast fuel makers could take a week to restart after freeze (Bloomberg $), energy crisis in Texas similar to Hurricane Katrina, Sankey says (Bloomberg $), oil and gas industry in Texas buckles under strain of Arctic blast (FT $), Texas refinery outages mount as cold freeze continues (S&P Global $), Texas’ natural gas production just froze under pressure (The Verge)

INTERNATIONAL IMPACTS: Texas energy crisis extends to sixth day, spills over to Mexico (Reuters, New York Times $, Bloomberg $, Reuters)

HOW TO HELP: How mutual aid groups are helping Texas (Vox), how to help winter storm relief in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana (New York Times $)

AGENCIES: 'It's serious': FEMA's disaster fund will be broke by April (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: White House rescinds Trump proposal to limit greenhouse gas consideration in infrastructure decisions (The Hill, E&E $), Biden admin appeals ruling that jeopardized 59 oil leases (E&E $), how a pipeline-loving agency could be the key to Biden’s climate plan (Grist)

THE FED: As winter sweeps the south, Fed officials focus on climate change (New York Times $)

THE HILL: Democrats eye climate in big infrastructure push (Washington Post $), Democrats put scrapping Trump rules on the back burner (E&E $), Manchin meets with advocates pushing for $15 minimum wage (The Hill), moderate Democrat [Kyrsten Sinema] taking over regulations panel (E&E $), Natural Resources leadership picks forecast ideological divide (E&E $)

TED CRUZ: Sen. Ted Cruz faces storm of controversy for flying to Cancún as Texas grapples with power outages caused by severe weather (Washington Post $, Politico Pro $, AP, Texas Tribune, Fox News, E&E $, Teen Vogue, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, NewsOne), Texas GOP leaves Ted Cruz hanging after Cancún vacation debacle (Talking Points Memo), Ted Cruz’s Cancún trip: family texts detail his political blunder (New York Times $), an exhaustive list of totally normal reasons to fly to Cancún and return less than 24 hours later (Earther)

POLITICS: Alicia Garza and Black to the future action fund on what Democrats owe Black voters (The Root), Biden allies to launch advocacy group to promote COVID-19 relief plan, other policies (Wall Street Journal $, The Hill), League of Conservation Voters adds racial justice issues to 2020 congressional scorecard (The Hill, E&E $), Native Americans ‘left out in the cold’ under Trump press Biden for action (New York Times $), winter storm confronts Biden with early leadership test (Washington Post $)

SCOTUS: Supreme Court loads up on environment cases (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Biden faces more Hill pressure on Nord Stream pipeline (E&E $), how Biden could use foreign and trade policy to protect the Amazon rainforest (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

TRANSITION, PERSONNEL: The Labor Department’s first Black woman chief economist has a plan to center racial equity (The 19th* News)

CITIES AND STATES: Top state lawmakers oppose Cuomo’s push to override NYC’s landmark climate law (New York Focus), Indiana lawmakers advance coal plant securitization, renewable siting bills (Energy News Network)

FERC: FERC closes docket on resiliency, starts new look at pipelines (Politico Pro $), Glick calls on Congress to 'rethink' Texas go-it-alone grid status (Politico Pro $), top Republican energy regulator criticizes party for blaming Texas crisis on frozen wind turbines (Washington Examiner)

UN: Human destruction of nature is 'senseless and suicidal', warns UN chief (The Guardian, AP), as Texas freezes, UN chief says 'complete ignorance' to reject climate change (Reuters)

AIR POLLUTION: Researchers link soot exposure, infertility (E&E $), Texas oil and gas plants quadruple air pollution as systems freeze up (Earther), air pollution led to around 54,000 premature deaths in New Delhi in 2020 - study (Reuters)

IMPACTS: Almost a quarter of all freshwater fish species are in peril, thanks to humans (Bloomberg $), this Austrian ski resort is preparing for a snowless future (Washington Post $)

RENEWABLES: Dandelion raises $30m to scale up home geothermal energy (Greentech Media), to maximize emission cuts, this Boston campus gets its power from the Midwest (Energy News Network), Vestas looks at wind turbines made of wood with startup stake (Bloomberg $), with Joe Biden’s backing, US offshore wind is poised for a breakthrough (Energy Monitor)

OIL & GAS: Why drilling the Arctic refuge will release a double dose of carbon (Yale Environment 360)

PIPELINES: Keystone XL pipeline steel may be sold off (Argus Media), Native American landowners push Eighth Circuit to order dismantling of oil pipeline (Courthouse News)

HYDROGEN: Equinor and Engie partner to produce blue hydrogen from gas (Reuters), nuclear power could produce a third of UK’s hydrogen by 2050 (Bloomberg $)

TRANSMISSION: The grid leaves us powerless (Washington Post $), US power line tensions grow over green energy surge (FT $)

EVs: EV battery maker [SK Innovation]: court ruling threatens Biden climate plan (E&E $)

AGRICULTURE: Winter storm is devastating Texas farmers and ranchers (Modern Farmer)

BITCOIN: Bitcoin miners allegedly steal $2 million of electricity in Mmalaysia: report (Earther)

BUSINESS: 'Leaving fossil fuels in the dust': How greener firms are outperforming the wider market (Business Green), energy CEOs launch net-zero alliance (E&E $)

CARS: Australia risks being left behind in petrol-fuelled 'parallel world' as other countries embrace electric cars (The Guardian)

NASCAR: Roush Fenway becomes 1st carbon- neutral NASCAR team (AP, Washington Post $)

DIVESTMENT: Wall Street leaders resist divestment push in climate fight (Politico)

WILDLIFE: The way we eat could lead to habitat loss for 17,000 species by 2050 (Vox)

INTERNATIONAL: Call to tax international flights to raise climate funds for poor countries (The Guardian), in India, a climate activist’s arrest shows shrinking space for dissent (Washington Post $), Pakistan plans first green bond to fund hydropower projects (Bloomberg $), under diplomatic pressure, India considers net zero – but major hurdles remain (Climate Home)

• What so many of the misleading narratives about Texas miss (Talking Points Memo, Daniel Cohan analysis)
• The US is back in the Paris Agreement. Now what? (CNN, Alok Sharma op-ed)
• For economy’s sake, it’s time for Wyo to cut some deals (WyoFile, Dave Dodson op-ed)
• Elon Musk should come clean: Tesla’s emissions are rising (Bloomberg, David Fickling column $)
• Texas storms and power cuts: preparing for the worst (The Guardian, Editorial Board)
• Fox host Tucker Carlson's comments on Biden's marriage, explained (MSNBC, Emily Atkin op-ed)
• There’s one big problem with electric cars (New York Times, Farhad Manjoo column $)
• Texas is making the case for the Green New Deal (Washington Post, Helaine Olen column $)
• Texas, land of wind and lies (New York Times, Paul Krugman column $)
• Texas is a reminder: We’re much more willing to pay for cures than prevention (Washington Post, Philip Bump analysis $)
• No state is an island — Transmission keeps the lights on (Utility Dive, Rob Gramlich op-ed)
• Recycling: Not your father's environmental issue (The Hill, Roger Ballentine op-ed)
• Congress needs comprehensive agenda to battle climate change (The Hill, Sarah Ladislaw op-ed)
• After throwing his wife, his dad, his state, his country, his name, and his nuts under the bus, Ted Cruz throws his daughters there, too (The Root, Damon Young commentary)
• ERCOT chief: Texas was seconds from 'uncontrolled blackout' (E&E, Bill Magness Q&A $)
• Ted Cruz’s excellent adventure: at least he didn’t bring up the green new deal. (New York Times, Jamelle Bouie column $)

Can President Biden’s Empathy And Michael Regan’s Experience Heal A Traumatized EPA?

Since this week has been nothing but wall-to-wall Texas disinformation (the Wall Street Journal has yet another editorial tripling down on the lie, and a column doing the same) today we’re catching up on a great piece from last week. 

Zahra Hirji spoke to a variety of EPA veterans for Buzzfeed to get a sense of just how bad it was under Trump, and how things are feeling now that President Biden has taken office. 

Gary Morton, for example, worked at the EPA for 26 years before retiring in 2019, and told Hirji that when Trump came in and began “dismantling the existing framework of environmental protection” that he “had never experienced an attack like that.” But you know who wasn’t feeling any pressure from Trump’s EPA? Polluters. 

Trump officials scrapped preemptive measures, “so now companies no longer had to take preventative measures to ensure a spill didn’t occur.” Enforcement officers like Morton were also required to get permission from the Administration to even request data from polluters. 

Morton was one of 800 EPA staff who left during the Trump administration’s hostile reign, where he told Hirji that Trump appointees “came in and created an atmosphere of intimidation and fear over the employees.” 

For example, the only time Trump bothered to make the trip from his hotel, all the way across the street to the EPA, was to undo Obama’s Clean Power Plan at an event the EPA staffers only learned of that day. “It was basically just a slap in the face,” former water chief Elizabeth Southerland said. But, she added, “it wasn’t just climate change these guys went after. It was an all-out assault, across the board, on all statues.” 

One of the most reprehensible and cross-cutting assaults was the tobacco industry’s “secret science” rule. The official EPA point of contact for someone seeking more information about the rule was Tom Sinks, who at the time was the director of the Office of the Science Advisor. But he “had never seen a draft of the rule until it was released to the public. The only secret about the ‘secret science’ rule was that the rule was drafted behind closed doors by individuals who were never named.” (Probably because even the Trump administration would’ve been embarrassed to put defender-of-deadly-industries Steve Milloy’s name anywhere official.) 

EPA Attorney and union leader Joyce Howell made it clear agency staff still bear the scars of that mistreatment — “How do you build trust with people who have basically been traumatized?” Environmental engineer and union rep Undine Kipka said that people are still “rattled” and “shocked” at the extent of “what they could not do or say under the past administration.” Part of rebuilding the EPA will require addressing the uncomfortable fact that “there’s not a lot of trust in the middle management group that has colluded with the old administration,” EPA lawyer and union leader Nicole Cantello told Hirji.

While it’s easy enough for the Biden administration to clear out the obvious idiots, rebuilding trust and staff will be a top priority for Biden, and his EPA chief Michael Regan. It’s a tricky job, but Regan might be the best one to do it. When he became head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, it was in a similar situation, gutted by Republican leadership. Specifically, his predecessor Donald R. van der Vaart, who was a Trump science advisor (lol) and considered by Trump for EPA admin, likely because of his experience systematically dismantling NC’s DEQ. 

At his Senate Committee hearing, Regan noted that when he “inherited the Department of Environmental Quality in 2017, morale was low. Decisions had been made that we didn’t believe were transparent and didn’t bring forth the proper science and data.” 

Sound familiar?

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 ($)