FIRST LOOK:

Are you planning an event or preparing to release a report or study that Hot News readers should know about? Submit it to be featured as a First Look here!

Chicago EJ Advocates Notch Win After US EPA Warns Of Civil Rights Violations: Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot indefinitely delayed a permitting decision on the relocation of a highly polluting metal shredding and recycling facility after the U.S. EPA said doing so could violate the civil rights of Black and Latino people who live there. Research Management Group, which acquired the General Iron facility in 2019, is seeking to relocate it from the white and wealthy North Side neighborhood of Lincoln Park to a predominantly Black and Latinx community on the Southeast Side already plagued by numerous polluting industries. “When you take a company that has a terrible track record from a predominantly white and wealthy community to a community that is majority Latino and Black, then you’re sending a strong message that you value certain people over others,” Olga Bautista, a member of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, who organized against General Iron’s move to the Southeast Side, told WGN. The delay of the General Iron permit is a major victory for neighborhood and environmental justice groups that fought to protect Southeast Side communities from yet another source of industrial pollution — a campaign that included hunger strikes — but organizers said much more is needed. “Until we have the right policies in Chicago, we are all getting ready, taking this moment to catch our breaths and getting ready to work with the city to stop any companies trying to move in that don’t have our health in mind,” Bautista said. (Block Club Chicago, WGN, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, WTTW, WLS-Chicago; Commentary: Crain's Chicago Business, Wesley Epplin, Olga Bautista, and Linda Rae Murray op-ed)

New Safeguards Target California 'Diesel Death Zones': Southern California air quality regulators approved a rule on Friday to cut down on air pollution related to the approximately 3,000 logistics warehouses that have proliferated in the region, disproportionately in and around Black and Latino neighborhoods. Those living in communities near warehouses have higher rates of asthma, heart attacks, and poverty, an analysis by the South Coast Air Quality Management District found. The new safeguards aim to reduce pollution caused by diesel trucks that service the massive proliferation of warehouses in the Inland Empire where cheap land and proximity to port facilities have created "diesel death zones" that have only worsened as pendic-driven online shopping has increased. The 9-4 vote adopting the safeguard was welcomed by local residents and environmental justice advocates who have fought for such protections for years. “I’m just tired of living with warehouses, trucks — driving down the Sierra, having trucks pull up, having to put down your windows,” Daniel Reyes, a resident and member of Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, told the New York Times. “I’m tired of seeing warehouses next to schools. I’m over it, man.” (Diesel pollution rule: LA Times $, New York Times $, AP, CNN; campaign: LAist, LAist)

Colonial Pipeline Shut Down By Ransomware Attack: The largest U.S. fuel pipeline remains shut down following a massive ransomware cyberattack on Friday. The Colonial Pipeline, described by one analysis as "the jugular of the U.S. pipeline system," carries gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from Texas to New Jersey and supplies fuel to much of the Southeast. The attack and shutdown underscore the vulnerability of pipelines to cyber attacks. The Russian criminal group DarkSide is reportedly behind the attack. Operators of the Colonial Pipeline said they are in the process of bringing the system back online, but there was no indication of when that would happen from either company officials or outside experts. Sustained outages could have significant impacts on fuel supplies along the East Coast. The Department of Transportation declared a state of emergency for 17 states plus DC on Sunday to help ease fuel shortages. (Attack and shutdown: New York Times $, Washington Post $, AP, NBC, CNN, The Verge, Politico, Axios, Earther, Bloomberg $, CBS; Outage duration scenarios: CNBC; Market response: Reuters, NPR; Administration response: Axios, Bloomberg $, BBC)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Clean-energy loans trapped Black homeowners in debt. The [Missouri] legislature just started trying to fix the problem. (ProPublica)

CORONAVIRUS: Fossil fuels, climate change and India's COVID-19 crisis (TIME), COVID-19 snarled groundbreaking California wildfire safeguards (E&E $)

TRAGICALLY UNSURPRISING: Research links violence against women, natural disasters (E&E $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: The young people taking their countries to court over climate inaction (The Guardian)

COP26: Youth activists urge bigger say in decision making for climate-hit Africans (Thomson Reuters Foundation), chair says UN climate talks in Glasgow must be COVID-safe (AP), David Attenborough named COP26 People’s Advocate ahead of key climate summit (Reuters)

HER NAME IS VANESSA NAKATE: Erased from a Davos photo, a Ugandan climate activist is back in the picture (New York Times $)

CARBON NEUTRAL SNAKE OIL: Magic mushrooms: this scammer is twisting science in a scheme to save the world (Buzzfeed)

MALDIVES ATTACK: Maldives police say key suspect in Nasheed attack arrested (AP, BBC), ‘I’m good’, says former Maldives president Nasheed after surviving bomb blast (Reuters)

CALIFORNIA NIGHTMARE: A climate dystopia in northern California (The Intercept)

GAS STOVES: Why cooking with a gas stove is bad for your health (Better Homes and Gardens)

MINNESOTA: Minnesota judge OKs California Clean Car standard, potentially opening door to more electric vehicles (Duluth News-Tribune)(KARE)(MPR)(Star Tribune $)(The Hill)(Politico Pro $), Minnesota Republicans hold state parks, museums, zoos hostage over EV fight (Earther)

ACTIVISM: Women scientists launch ‘Science Moms,’ a climate campaign aimed at mothers (Yale Climate Connections), National Audubon employees move to unionize (E&E $, Politico Pro $), 3 arrested can challenge Louisiana pipeline trespass law (AP)

WATER: Advocates for tribal water access are asking Congress to earmark money for projects on Native land (KUER), Navajo-Gallup water delay spurs problem solving in arid Southwest (New Mexico In Depth), [river ice] breakup disrupts Alaska village’s temporary water treatment (AP), the whole system could fail' - [New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board] director paints dire picture for President Biden (4WWL-TV)

AGENCIES: Commerce chief cites climate for record NOAA spending (E&E $), NASA chief big on climate, hedges on moon date (AP, Bill Nelson interview), SEC chair tells Congress he plans new rules on climate risk, trading (Reuters), State Dept. gets temporary climate change 'support office' (E&E $)

EPA: Whistleblower complaint filed over Trump-era demotion (E&E $)

DOE: 4 takeaways from Granholm's Hill appearance (E&E $)

DOI: Interior withdraws midnight Trump proposal to ease Arctic offshore drilling safety rules (Politico Pro $, AP, E&E $, Reuters), Haaland: greens need to sell Biden conservation plan (E&E $)

THE HILL: Lawmakers propose expanded EPA grants as drought lifeline (E&E $), GOP slams 30x30: 'Dense on tag lines ... light on content' (E&E $)

HOUSE: Katie Porter preps hot seats for oil and gas execs (E&E $), committee eyes funding to replace 'crappy, old, slow trains' (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate bill would push EPA to curb plastic pellets (E&E $), Biden, Carper to talk infrastructure at White House (Axios)

WHITE HOUSE: New White House panel aims to separate science, politics (AP), ‘America the beautiful’ plan debuts the Biden administration’s approach to conserving the environment and habitat (InsideClimate News)

AMERICAN JOBS PLAN: Biden's Civilian Climate Corps would tackle climate change, care for public lands (NPR)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Army Corps takes alternate route to fund $26B Ike Dike project (Houston Chronicle)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Blinken jousts with China and Russia in UN meeting (New York Times $), what you should know about border carbon adjustments (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY, BRAZIL: Biden contemplates a climate deal with the ‘Trump of the tropics’ (Politico), destruction of Brazil's Amazon rainforest speeds up for 2nd straight month (Reuters)

CITIES AND STATES: Bill seeks to make Louisiana ‘fossil fuel sanctuary’ in bid against Biden’s climate plans (The Guardian), new law restricts local governments’ ability to address climate change (Indiana Environmental Reporter), bill to kill up to 90% of Idaho wolves signed by governor (AP, KTVB, HuffPost, National Geographic), ‘the state's erupting': Colo. governor angers climate allies (E&E $), New Jersey adopts climate change as part of core curriculum in all public schools (WBUR)

CALIFORNIA: California proposal embraces all-electric buildings but stops short of gas ban (InsideClimate News), California fire victims see little payout from settlement (AP), California is the biggest producer in the world planning to go beyond oil (Climate Home)

NEW MEXICO: State says proposed rules combating ozone will make for cleaner air. No wells exempt in new draft. (Carlsbad Current Argus, New Mexico Political Report, E&E $)

TEXAS: As Texas went dark, the state paid natural-gas companies to go offline (Wall Street Journal $), ERCOT looks to 'restore trust,' identifies 3 unlikely summer blackout scenarios after winter disaster (Utility Dive, Houston Chronicle), Texas lawmakers propose electricity market bailout after winter storm (Texas Tribune), NRG discloses nearly $1B hit from Texas grid collapse (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Climate change brings changes to coastal wetlands' carbon absorption (NPR), 8 years after Sandy, $230M Hoboken flood plan gets kickoff (E&E $), surviving in isolation, where the steppe has turned to sand (New York Times $), NOAA's 'new normal' climate report is anything but normal (CBS

WILDFIRES: Wildfires are contaminating drinking water systems, and it’s more widespread than people realize (The Conversation), wildfire forces evacuations for 3 towns near Crown King [Arizona] (AP)

OCEANS: Fisheries disasters jump with warming. But feds fail to act (E&E $)

RENEWABLES: New survey finds surprisingly high percentage of unionized solar jobs (HuffPost), a just transition? On Brooklyn’s waterfront, oil companies and community activists join together to create an offshore wind project—and jobs (InsideClimate News), Biden wants to move energy offshore, but choppy seas are ahead (Washington Post $), what solar pioneer's turbulent path means for Biden (E&E $), public outcry drains pumped hydro's 'watershed moment' (E&E $)

EFFICIENCY: Is hydrogen our get out of jail free card? (Energy Monitor)

OIL & GAS: Scrap new gas infrastructure, says UN report (The Verge), to cut methane leaks — and maybe work on their image — 2 Pennsylvania gas drillers eye ‘responsibly sourced’ label (NPR), coal phase-down has lowered, not eliminated health risks from building energy, study says (InsideClimate News), Big Oil project in Africa threatens fragile Okavango region (Grist), Shell CEO: you need us on climate change (Axios), gas flaring declined in 2020, study finds (New York Times $), peak LNG looms in Europe with investors wary of new projects (Bloomberg $)

PIPELINES: TC Energy could be walking away from Keystone XL (E&E $, E&E $)

COAL: Wyoming stands up for coal with threat to sue states that refuse to buy it (The Guardian, E&E $)

UTILITIES: Arizona regulators toss 3-year effort for 100% clean energy mandate (Utility Dive), Could public ownership save the New York power system? (New York Focus), TVA sets 2050 net-zero carbon goal, doubles down on nuclear (E&E $), survivors stuck in limbo as  PG&E fire victim trust pays out $50 million in fees (KQED), PG&E gets greenlight for $7.5B wildfire securitization, but consumer advocates raise challenges (Utility Dive)

EVs: Electric cars ‘will be cheaper to produce than fossil fuel vehicles by 2027’ (The Guardian), Biden starting from almost zero in effort to turn the federal fleet electric (Washington Examiner), push to electrify mail trucks gains wide support, an unlikely win for both DeJoy and Biden (Washington Post $)

AGRICULTURE: Still open: One of [EPA]'s toughest jobs (E&E $), Biden conservation push could target vanishing farms (E&E $), restaurant-led ag effort aims to fight climate change (AP)

HAMBURGLERS: Red meat politics: GOP turns culture war into a food fight (AP)

BITCOIN: Environmental concerns arise over energy needed to mine bitcoin (NPR)

BEER: The beer of the future tastes like ass (Earther)

CARBON CAPTURE: Researchers envision 'super-sized' carbon capture network (E&E $)

CARBON PRICING: EU climate chief warns against curbing carbon price rally (Reuters)

FOOD: Impossible Foods eyes schools for new customers (The Verge) 

DIVESTMENT: Managers of monster endowments promote net-zero portfolios (E&E $)

BUSINESS/OFFSETS: Emission impossible (NPR) 

INTERNATIONAL: Angela Merkel will leave a mixed climate legacy. Other leaders will fare far worse (TIME), can Canada's oil-rich Alberta capture a low-carbon future? (Thomson Reuters Foundation), climate shifts and rising demand leave Turkey battling growing water stress (Thomson Reuters Foundation), french demonstrators demand more action on climate change (AP), German climate ruling huge opportunity for Europe, von der Leyen says (Reuters), campaigners say UK airport expansion plans must be suspended amid new climate goals (The Guardian), UN head calls on global funding agencies to shun fossil fuels (Bloomberg $)

LET'S NOT COUNT OUR CHICKENS: Climate change, chaos, and cannibalism: Forty eight years ago, a sci-fi thriller predicted a future with all three—in the year 2022. (Environmental Health News)

• Humans already have the tools to combat climate change but we lack leadership (The Guardian, Dave Lowe op-ed)
• Moderate Republicans should support a clean electricity standard (The Hill, David Wooley op-ed)
• The world is waking up to the truth that natural gas is dirty (New Republic, Kate Aronoff column)
• Putting Extinction Rebellion activists on trial isn’t in the public interest, so let’s stop (The Guardian, Peter Hain op-ed)
• Investing in coal power would be an expensive mistake (The Guardian, Trent Zimmerman and Philip Dunne op-ed)
• Mitch McConnell's own alma mater knows he doesn't know WTF he's talking about when it comes to the 1619 Project (The Root, Zack Linly column)

With China Emissions Report, Denial Media Focuses On One Lap, Ignoring That The  Climate Challenge Is A Marathon

Imagine tuning into a race, and seeing a still-fresh-looking runner overtake a group of runners who are feeling the effects of the exertion that put them into the lead. You cheer for the underdog-turned-leader of the pack, and immediately begin talking trash about how the rest of the tired looking racers should just give up. "It’s all over," you taunt.  "Time to throw in the towel." 

Then the announcer points out that your newest idol is actually 4 laps behind that whole pack of other racers, who courteously let the actually-quite-behind runner pass them as a show of good sportsmanship for the laggard. That would be pretty darn embarrassing, right?  

Right. So keep that scenario in mind, because last week, the researchers at Rhodium released a report showing that in 2019, China’s greenhouse gas emissions were a quarter of the global total, and an amount greater than that of the rich countries combined. Conservative outlets like the New York Post, Breitbart and Town Hall were happy enough to run with the narrative that “communist” China is the leading polluter in the world.  

Only the Washington Examiner even hinted to its audience that there was more to the picture, with Josh Siegal’s story mentioning, in its last sentence, that “Despite China’s huge emissions growth, the U.S., which industrialized before China, has contributed the most cumulative emissions of any country.” 

Oh well what do you know, maybe there’s more than one lap in this race, and China’s acceleration past OECD countries isn’t quite the lead it may look at first! Yes it’s zooming at quite an alarming rate, pushed by a brutally authoritarian central government and at the expense of human rights and local and international environmental concerns. 

But, it turns out, all those rich countries have lowered their own emissions in part by outsourcing polluting industry to China and keeping the profits, and together have put four times as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. 

And since climate change is caused by the cumulative emissions, and not just the latest yearly contribution — the most recent lap of a long race, so to speak — China's 2019 emissions in no way justifies jingoistic claims that the U.S. can sluff off its historic responsibility to clean up pollution that it still has produced more of than any other nation in the world.

Yes, one of the few things the United States is actually #1 in, is having polluted the air the planet’s life relies on for survival. 

So keep an eye on deniers who are hoping you’ve just tuned in, so you’ll buy it when they blame a country that would need to quadruple its output just to catch and use it as an excuse to quit trying all together. 

Just like Stephen Miller jumping into the last lap of a high school girls track race to prove that men are athletically superior to women absolutely does not prove that, China's greenhouse gas pollution does not mean the U.S. is off the hook. 

But the fact that Stephen Miller believes both of those things absolutely does tell you everything you need to know.

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 ($)