FIRST LOOK:

Join an event showcasing successful climate justice partnerships in Chicago between local organizers and researchers featuring representatives from Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, who will share about their collaboration on a water and health study in the Little Village neighborhood. Wednesday, May 5, at noon ET.

Racist Teacher Triggered By Climate Change Discussion Launches Into Racist Rant At Black Students: A discussion about humans' role in causing climate change triggered Howard Zlotkin's racism last week. The white New Jersey teacher launched into a racist rant at his high school landscape and design class in which he, among other things, suggested George Floyd (who he described as a "fucking criminal") deserved to be murdered "because he wouldn't comply," and criticized the Black Lives Matter movement generally. He then ordered four Black female students to write essays and, the next day, when they refused to write it, Zlotkin personally attacked them again, telling one student, “I don’t think you can make a case. You know what, Timmia? You’re full of shit too." It was unclear what exactly in the conversation on human causation of climate change triggered Zlotkin's defense of his white privilege, but he did make his feelings clear. “If you think I’m privileged, then fuck you, because my daughter thinks I’m privileged, and I don’t speak to her,” he screamed. Zlotikin was suspended, after the second video surfaced, pending further investigation. (NBC New York, Black Enterprise, The Root, Jersey Journal, New York Times $, Washington Post $, AP, NBC, Insider)

Old Alaska Railroad Gambling Diversion Now Part Of Climate Record: A tradition begun more than a century ago is now an important part of the Alaskan climate record — and it shows spring river melt is happening earlier, Reuters reports. On Friday, April 30, at 12:50 p.m. Alaska Standard Time, the ice on the Tanana River in the Alaska community of Nenana melted enough to topple a wooden tripod, constructed in the same place and in the same manner every year since some (presumably pretty bored) Alaska Railroad engineers bet on when it would fall in 1906. It is valuable to scientists "because it's been done in the same weird way that no one would ever design today," Rick Thoman, of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, told Reuters. April ice breakups were considered early before the 1980s but have become common in recent decades with nine of the earliest 10 breakups occurring in the last 31 years. (Reuters)

Wealthy Texans Seek To Insulate Themselves From Grid Failures That Disproportionately Harm People Of Color: Texas who can afford it are flocking to solar+storage systems for their homes, Bloomberg reports, in the wake of the catastrophic failure of the grid and gas system that left millions of Texans without power. The outages, which disproportionately affected Texans of color and people with disabilities, lead to nearly a dozen deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune, NBC, and ProPublica. Left without heat and power, after the largely deregulated Texas grid left people freezing in their homes, many were forced to burn their furniture or light up their grills indoors for heat. More than 1,400 people sought urgent or emergency care for carbon monoxide poisoning during the outages — just 400 shy of the 2020 annual total. (Grid independence: Bloomberg $; CO poisoning (Texas Tribune, NBC, ProPublica)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: How Arizona’s attorney general is weaponizing climate fears to keep out immigrants (HuffPost), expansion of I-45 in downtown Houston is on hold, for now, in a traffic-choked, divided region (InsideClimate News), Black-led coalition demands DOJ investigation of Columbus police after Ma’khia Brown’s killing (NewsOne)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: How youth climate court cases became a global trend (Climate Home), UK students sue government over human rights impact of climate crisis (The Guardian)

DIVESTMENT: Methodist Church dumps Shell over ‘inadequate’ climate plans (FT $)

AGENCIES: SEC joins growing push for climate risk disclosure (Axios), Biden’s Wall Street cop feels progressives' heat after hiring blunder (Politico)

EPA: EPA expands toxics reporting to emphasize equity (E&E $), lawmakers turn up the heat on Michael Regan (E&E $), Regan to staff: guard whistleblowers; work with IG (E&E $), EPA to announce phase-down of powerful greenhouse gases (New York Times $)

DOI: First Native American chief of staff tops list of new hires (E&E $), with Haaland in charge, a push to name tribes' links to land (E&E $)

LAWSUITS: 19 states make 'long-shot bid' to curb EPA climate authority (E&E $)

THE HILL: Republicans took an ax to Obama's rules. Democrats are using a scalpel. (Politico), Democrats signal they’re open to concessions on infrastructure (Washington Post $), Democrats' next big fight: what exactly is clean energy? (Politico Pro $), progressives introduce infrastructure, climate bills (E&E $)

SENATE: “Long overdue”: the Senate just passed $35 billion for clean drinking water. (Grist), Carper urges tough US rules barring gas-powered cars by 2035 (AP), [Georgia] senators worry about mine project near Okefenokee (E&E $), bipartisan Senate bill would boost grid cybersecurity (E&E $), GOP senators see path to narrower infrastructure deal (Politico)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden is pledging steep carbon cuts – but isn’t explaining how he got there (Politico), Biden talks like the most pro-union president since the New Deal (Washington Post $), John Kerry discloses millions in income from finance, energy firms (Axios), White House finalizing plan to help polluted communities, council chair says (Reuters), White House says clean energy standards work. Is that true? (E&E $)

AMERICAN JOBS PLAN: To promote his infrastructure plan, Biden revisits ‘Amtrak Joe’ days (New York Times $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Coast Guard and intel chiefs: Climate upgrades needed (E&E $)

POLITICS: 'The honeymoon is over': Biden faces tougher tasks ahead as progressives demand more (CNN), the unlikely climate president (Axios), can Pete Buttigieg deliver Joe Manchin? (New York Times/Sway podcast, Pete Buttigieg interview $), Biden faces pressure to drive gasoline and diesel cars out of the US (The Guardian)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Water wonk with Hill, Interior chops [Michael Conner] to lead Army Corps (E&E $), 4 takeaways from Beaudreau's confirmation hearing (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Climate finance targets top agenda for this week's G7 meetings (Reuters), U.S. national security adviser says China climate cooperation not a ‘favor’ (Reuters)

SCOTUS: A Supreme Court greenhouse gases petition worth watching (Axios), Dakota Access readies Supreme Court NEPA slugfest (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: ‘Climate emergency’: Hawaii is the first state to call it like it is (Grist), cities appoint ‘heat officers’ in response to warming threat (FT $), Montana is about to become the most dangerous place in America to protest fossil fuels (Earther), 2 years after passing a landmark climate law, New York has no plan to fund it (Grist), cities’ notable efforts on climate change (Yale Climate Connections), D.C. is working on a futuristic plan: Less parking, taller buildings and a transformed city (Washington Post $), four electric cargo cycles deliver packages in Miami (Yale Climate Connections), N.J. Democrats propose bill to restrict eminent domain (E&E $), Ohio Supreme Court orders Columbus to act on $87 mln renewable energy proposal (Reuters), state lawmakers draft plan to unlock northern Maine’s renewable potential (Energy News Network)

CALIFORNIA: CAISO launches stakeholder process to optimize market for storage (Utility Dive), California program overestimates climate benefits of forest offsets - study (Reuters), Newsom’s $1-billion wildfire plan favors logging over homeowners, critics say (LA Times $)

FERC: FERC urged to restore property rights in axed [Atlantic Coast] pipeline's path (E&E $)

IMPACTS: As extreme weather batters America’s farm country, costing billions, banks ignore the financial risks of climate change (InsideClimate News), our children face wars over food and water, EU deputy warns (The Guardian), Antarctica's springy bedrock could make sea level rise even worse (Earther), polar bear-grizzly hybrids, aka pizzly bears, may be growing more common due to climate crisis (Earther), the Arctic is greening, but it won't hold carbon (E&E $), why is it raining so hard? Global warming is delivering heavier downpours (Yale Climate Connections)

HURRICANES: The population of Lake Charles, La. shrank more than any U.S. city in 2020 (Southerly Mag), hurricane debris cleanup done on Louisiana state roadways (AP)

WILDFIRES: ‘Firefighters out there in the snow’: wildfires rage early in parched west (New York Times $), California’s wildfire season is expanding as the wet season becomes compressed (Washington Post $), firefighters vs. thinning — again — in wildfire debate (E&E $)

GLACIERS: ‘It’s like a rotting carcass of its former self’: funeral for an Oregon glacier (The Guardian), the man on a mission to reveal the ‘souls’ of vanishing glaciers (The Guardian), as glaciers disappear in Alaska, the rest of the world’s ice follows (The Guardian), glacial lakes threaten millions with flooding as planet heats up (The Guardian), glaciers in retreat: tracking the decline of the Earth’s ‘rivers of ice’ (The Guardian)

REAL ESTATE: Is your home in a flood-prone zone? In most states, you won’t find out until after you buy. (Grist)

TRANSIT: Public transit hopes to win back riders after crushing year (AP)

RENEWABLES: Chinese solar firm plans tours to rebut forced labor claims (Bloomberg $), ‘it’s highway robbery’: Tesla’s price increases on solar shingles irk customers. (New York Times $), investment in skills is key to realising the clean energy transition (Energy Monitor), the U.S. will need a lot of land for a zero-carbon economy (Bloomberg $), wind energy could generate 3.3 million jobs within five years, industry body claims (CNBC)

EFFICIENCY: In Minnesota, fighting climate change means changing how to heat buildings (Star Tribune $)

OIL & GAS: Exxon CEO says advancing U.S. carbon capture project with rivals, government (Reuters), Exxon posts $2.7B quarterly profit after unprecedented year (AP), Exxon, Chevron tout carbon strategies as oil price lifts profits (Politico Pro $), Michigan lawmakers propose $250 million fund to subsidize natural gas (Energy News Network), Vitol is near $1 billion-plus deal for hunt’s Permian oil wells (Bloomberg $)

PIPELINES: Groups urge Tennessee to ax [Byhalia Connection] pipeline permit over 'critical' gap (E&E $), [Trans Mountain] pipeline wins bid to hide insurers from activists (Bloomberg $), bipartisan group of senators presses FERC to advance pipelines (Politico Pro $), looming showdown as Michigan governor orders Canadian pipeline shut down (Washington Post $), moderate Dems join GOP in calling for faster permitting (E&E $)

COAL: ‘I’m not selling’: what happens when an Australian town is consumed by a US coalminer? (The Guardian), Wyoming backs coal with $1.2M threat to sue other states (Washington Post $)

UTILITIES: Duke Energy to triple renewables by 2030 (E&E $), PG&E will fight criminal charges tied to 2019 Kincade Fire, CEO Patti Poppe says (Utility Dive), regulators approve small Duke Energy solar project in western N.C. (Energy News Network), TVA to retire coal fleet by 2035, CEO says, with renewables, gas and nuclear on the table as replacements (Utility Dive), Xcel takes nearly $1B fuel cost hit from February storms but still sees Q1 profit rise (Utility Dive)

WATER: Amid drought, Interstate Stream Commission seeks federal support (New Mexico Political Report)

STOP US IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE: Plant Vogtle hits delays, may not come online until 2022 (E&E $)

EVs: Plugging in: the EV transition gains speed (Bloomberg $), Biden's conundrum: expand EVs without harming the Earth (E&E $), carbon price could hike coal use for EVs — study (E&E $), cobalt price jump underscores reliance on metal for electric vehicle batteries (FT $), electric car-charging business is doing everything but making money (Bloomberg $)

ALL ABOARD: How 'Amtrak Joe' Biden's infrastructure push could put rail back on track in the US (ABC)

ACTIVISM: Nine arrests in London as climate activists glue themselves to bridges (The Guardian)

HEAVY INDUSTRY: Cleaning up what can’t plug in (Grist)

BUSINESS: Berkshire shareholders reject climate change, diversity proposals that Buffett opposed (Reuters), On top of zero-emission vehicles, GM looks to clean up its own operations (Reuters)

CARBON CAPTURE: Solidia closes $78 million funding as carbon removal popularity grows (Axios)

FINANCE: Big oil is boosting ETF returns and ESG funds are no exception (Bloomberg $), how the clean-energy revolution is sweeping through markets (Bloomberg $)

IN MEMORIAM: Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk, pioneering nurse, dies at 89 (New York Times $)

INTERNATIONAL: Rare win for Nepal indigenous groups as EIB admits 'gaps' in hydropower project (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Britain's foreign aid cut: who will feel the impact? (Thomson Reuters Foundation), House coal and wet wood restrictions come into force in England (The Guardian), Canadian banks' approaches to getting to 'net-zero financing emissions' by 2050 (Reuters), NGOs call on [Asian Development Bank] to end fossil fuel loans amid climate reboot (Reuters)

GERMANY: Germany pledges to adjust climate law after court verdict (AP), German government proposes green funding tool to help industry cut CO2 (Reuters)

BRAZIL: Deforestation in Brazil is out of control. Bolsonaro is asking for billions to stop it. (Vox), Brazilian Amazon released more carbon than it absorbed over past 10 years (AFP), investors urge Brazil to use green bonds to save the Amazon (FT $)

• Power markets are not ready to maximize infrastructure investments (Utility Dive, Ben Hertz-Shargel op-ed)
• Dare we hope? Here’s my cautious case for climate optimism (The Guardian, Rebecca Solnit op-ed)
• Can 1% of Singapore's land feed its population? (Bloomberg, Daniel Moss op-ed $)
• A new deal for the young: saving the environment (FT, Editorial Board $)
• Covid-19 experience is a warm-up for the EU’s Green Deal (FT, Graham Weale op-ed $)
• ‘Nature is hurting’: Gojira, the metal band confronting the climate crisis (The Guardian, interview)
• The key word missing from the climate movement (CNN, Kyle Meyaard-Schaap op-ed)
• ‘Generations rarely have the opportunity to hit reset’ (FT, Maria Teresa Kumar interview $)
• To combat climate change, electric cars have to be cheaper (Axios, Amy Harder column)
• U.S. stimulus package needs to help communities face climate risks (Thomson Reuters Foundation, Mayors Francis Suarez, John Tecklenburg, Kenneth Cooper Alexander and Grover C. Robinson IV op-ed)

Denial Styles: Daily Caller Deflects, Breitbart Distorts, and Fox News Says In The End, Nothing Really Matters

Defined by a negative, climate denial can be hard to define concisely. But often, different outlets tend to express distinct editorial outlooks that reflect different styles of denial. Last week, three pieces from the Daily Caller, Breitbart and Fox News made for particularly illustrative cases of their brands' different approaches to their work. 

Fox News opinion columnist Liz Peek seized on a comment President Biden made when he acknowledged the global part of global warming, that the US can’t solve it alone and we need to work with others. Even if, Biden said, “we do everything perfectly, it’s not going to matter” without the rest of the world’s cooperation in reducing emissions. Strip the comment of that context though, and you can make it sound like there’s no point to anyone taking action, as opposed to the reality that we all need to do everything it takes to reduce emissions to zero. 

As a leader in rightwing propaganda, Fox knows what its doing — appealing to its base’s base denial that climate action is worth anything, much less the infinity dollars they say it will cost, while also sending a demoralizing signal to those adjacent to its base. If you’re not sure about climate change, but hear that even the President admits it’s pointless to act, then it’s easy to justify simply tuning out on the issue all together. 

Meanwhile at the much newer Daily Caller, their strategy is still to try and appear as legitimate and mainstream-friendly as possible, but while serving up decidedly right-leaning opinion as news. They have to make themselves seem as credible as possible, because their history as a bootlicking tool of the Koch marketing department and a suspicious fundraising and tax shelter gimmick means anyone too smart will see them as the blatant conservative propaganda they are. But this projection was on full display last week with their publishing of their co-founder and publisher Niel Patel’s op-ed about how the ”misinformation about climate change foisted on the American people” in the mainstream media’s climate reporting is worse than the right’s lies about Biden banning burgers. 

(He wrote it for Creators.com, and totally coincidentally the only two outlets that seemed to run the syndicated piece, as of Sunday evening, were the Caller and RealClearPolitics, part of the RealClear group that’s now also collecting Koch checks.) 

Patel is mad about the beef lies, saying that “conservatives need to be more careful on the facts,” but not because facts are important but because they “walked into a hailstorm of criticism that could easily have been avoided.” Got that? It’s not that lying is bad, it's that lying so badly that there are headlines like “Nation’s Imbeciles Lose Their Minds Over Fake News Biden Is Taking Their Red Meat Away” is counterproductive to their political goals. 

That pretense of politeness is what often separates the Daily Caller from some of its peers, for example the much more openly racist Breitbart. The brand known for its “Black Crime” tab isn’t exactly known for subtlety, and as it lacks dirty energy’s dirty money, it doesn’t address climate all that often. The two exceptions are the racist-loving racist and UK columnist James Delingpole, and when climate can be used in their culture war. For example, John Notle published a whole screed last week, doing his best Paul Revere impression and warning that “the environmental war against live concerts has begun”! 

Nolte excerpts four sentences from a Guardian story he doesn’t link to about how virtual “global livestream” events instead of a leg of a tour “is one possibility,” and that “tours could be routed more efficiently” and local artists supported better. The horror! 

So while the Guardian story that he doesn’t link to is about about how many in the music industry are thinking about the climate crisis as concerts start becoming an option again, Nolte  claimed to discover that “fascist greenies have fallen in love with how the government’s terrible, anti-science lockdowns decreased carbon emissions and now they want to seize this opportunity by guilting DJs and bands and their fans into staying home… forever.” 

In this piece, which Nolte opens with a paraphrasing of Charles Dickens then spends like ten paragraphs hand-wringing about his imagined fear that someone’s coming for his concert tickets, he laments “all this hand-wringing” by artists over the climate hoax and the idea that artists would make use of livestream is “just more proof that these tyrants have zero respect for and concerns about the human spirit. People gathering for a shared experience is something as old as mankind itself.” 

Now, some might argue that opening up a concert to people who can’t be there in person is actually widening the circle of those who can be part of that shared experience. People can now share the show, even during a global pandemic. It also is a way to provide access for people with a physical disability, or a lack of finances for a pricey ticket, or those who may not have time to go out in the evening because of family but can still watch and listen, or those that just prefer it because there’s never a line for the bathroom on Couch Tour and the drinks are cheaper! 

But not Nolte. For him, it’s “anti-fun,” and apparently streaming a concert online just like how “we can’t tell jokes anymore… Tobacco is evil. Ogling beautiful women is ‘rape.’ Flirting proves you’re a ‘predator.’”

Are you angry (about the fascist greenies) yet? No? Well then apparently you’re not Nolte’s target audience: easily-triggered, tobacco-smoking perverts. 

Y’know, now that we think about it, the one thing missing from the livestream experience is the ability for skeevy men to rub up on captivated young women in the crowd. Of course, we're not saying Nolte is pissed because he wants to go to concerts so that he can assault women. But if we were, it’d just be a joke, so Nolte couldn’t be mad about it, right?

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