FIRST AND FOREMOST:

Today marks the anniversary of the 1985 Philadelphia MOVE bombing that killed 11 people, including five children. Atmos recently spoke with a member of the organization's founding family, here.

Line 5 Pipeline Continues Operation, Violating Michigan Order: Enbridge continued operating its Line 5 oil pipeline through the environmentally ultra-sensitive Straits of Mackinac, defying an order by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to shut down the pipeline. The Canadian pipeline company's defiance of the order is a dramatic development in a long-running showdown between it and Michigan. Enbridge, which is also seeking to build the controversial Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota, said it would halt operations if a court told it to do so. Whitmer's office said the continued operation of the pipeline constitutes "intentional trespass" and that the state of Michigan will seize all profits Enbridge makes from operating the pipeline after the May 12 deadline. Earlier this week, Bay Mills Indian Community tribal council voted to banish Enbridge’s Line 5 pipelines from the reservation, citing the Treaty of 1836, which they say guarantees them the permanent right to hunt and fish in the territory. In addition to the environmental risks posed by the Line 5 pipeline, Whitmer's office said the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, "shows the danger of relying on a single energy supply" and emphasized the need for expanding renewable energy. (Detroit Free Press, Earther, AP, Michigan Live, Detroit News, The Guardian, WXYZ, OilPrice, UP Matters, 9and10 News; Political and international implications: New York Times $, E&E $; Bay Mills banishment: Indian Country Today; Canadian press: The Globe and Mail, CBC, CTV News) 

'An 8th-Grader Could Have Hacked' The Koch-Owned Colonial Pipeline, Auditor Says: Colonial Pipeline operators began restarting operations Wednesday evening but said it would take "several days" for the supply chain to return and warned some markets could continue experiencing "service interruptions." The mass panic caused by gasoline shortages and spiking prices across the East Coast — nearly 7 in 10 gas stations in North Carolina, and about half in Virginia and South Carolina, were out of gas Wednesday evening, according to GasBuddy — highlighted the vulnerability of aging U.S. energy infrastructure unable to handle 21st-century threats, even those known about far in advance. Founded as a joint venture by nine oil companies 59 years ago, Koch Industries currently owns the largest stake in the company. An outside audit of the Colonial Pipeline's cyberattack defenses, delivered to the company more than three years ago, described “atrocious” information management practices and “a patchwork of poorly connected and secured systems,” its author told the AP. “We found glaring deficiencies and big problems,” said Robert F. Smallwood, whose firm prepared an 89-page report after a six-month audit. “I mean, an eighth-grader could have hacked into that system.” Colonial Pipeline operators have been seeking to hire a cybersecurity manager for more than a month, with 32 applicants on LinkedIn. (Restart: Politico, Washington Post $, CNBC, Reuters, NPR, New York Times $, NBC, Wall Street Journal $, Axios; Gas prices: Axios, The Guardian; Koch ownership: CNN; Cybersecurity failure: AP, New York Times $, Utility Dive; Job Opening: Reuters, Al Jazeera)

The Sky’s Limit — CO2 Pollution Shrinking The Stratosphere: Human's combustion of fossil fuels is shrinking the stratosphere — the layer of air above the troposphere, in which we all live — illustrating the expansive nature of human's impact on the planet and potentially affecting satellites and radio communications, new research shows. The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, found increased carbon dioxide in the troposphere (0-20 km above sea level) has squeezed the stratosphere (20-60 km above sea level) by 400 meters, essentially 1%, since at least the 1980s when satellite data was first gathered. Without major emissions cuts, the researchers found, the stratosphere could be reduced by an additional kilometer in just 60 years. “It is shocking,” Juan Añel, a member of the research team from the University of Vigo, Ourense in Spain, told the Guardian. “This proves we are messing with the atmosphere up to 60 kilometres.” (The Guardian)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Advocates cite new evidence to block 'Cancer Alley' permit (E&E $), the everyday violence of Indian Country’s ‘bordertowns’ (High Country News)

DEMOCRACY: ‘Normal tourist visit’: Republicans recast deadly Jan. 6 attack by pro-Trump mob (Washington Post $), House Republicans oust Cheney for calling out Trump’s false election claims, minimize Jan. 6 attack on Capitol (Washington Post $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Dems urge DOJ to ditch Trump position in climate cases (E&E $), climate activists bring legal challenge over UK oil and gas strategy (FT $)

BIG PICTURE: Climate change is making big problems bigger (New York Times $)

SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram explains, apologizes for MMIWG erasures (Indian Country Today)

TEXAS GAS: Gas lobbying raises fears of another blackout crisis (E&E $)

COLONIAL PIPELINE: How a major oil pipeline got held for ransom (Vox), here’s how the Colonial Pipeline carries multiple fuels at once (Bloomberg $), critical infrastructure flaws surface after years of underinvestment in energy, other sectors, analysts say (Utility Dive), Colonial Pipeline disconnects operational technology systems to silo ransomware IT threat (Utility Dive)

COLONIAL PIPELINE, ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE: White House seeks to calm panic buying as southeast gas stations run dry (Politico, E&E $, The Hill), Biden team moves swiftly to tackle pipeline political peril (Washington Post $, Axios)

COLONIAL PIPELINE, FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE: Buttigieg: Infrastructure plan will only fund projects with cyber protections (Politico Pro $), the grid needs to smarten up to reach clean energy goals (The Verge), ransomware attacks could reach ‘pandemic’ proportions. What to know after the pipeline hack. (Washington Post $)

EPA: Biden team vows 'new era' for protecting children's health (E&E News), US has entered unprecedented climate territory, EPA warns (Washington Post $), EPA issues first climate data update since 2016 (Bloomberg $, E&E $), Regan dumps Trump-era approach to guidance documents (E&E $), EPA planning summer listening sessions on scope of WOTUS (Politico Pro $, E&E $), EPA yanks Trump rule on guidance docs (Politico Pro $), EPA: Jackson water safe to drink, despite system problems (AP), states urge Biden to revive state Clean Water Act powers (E&E $), probe reveals toxic workplace in enforcement office (E&E $)

DOI: Biden looks to restart fracking on Ohio public lands (E&E $), lawsuit: BLM ignored Colo. fracking's climate risk (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Fed privately presses big banks on risks from climate change (Reuters)

THE HILL: Hill Democrats may have more time to scrap Trump rules (E&E $), Lawmakers call for expanded DOE pipeline oversight (E&E $)

HOUSE: After Colonial attack, E&C leaders push modest bipartisan pipeline security bills (Politico Pro $)

SENATE: The other targets of Biden's bipartisan outreach: Manchin and Sinema (Politico), in infrastructure talks with Biden, Capito faces fraught path to deal (New York Times $), Biden is set to meet with Senate Republicans, with no clear bipartisan path forward on infrastructure (Washington Post $), Senators urge changes to innovation bill before vote (E&E $), Senators: user fees on the table in White House talks (E&E $)

POLITICS: Big business pushes climate action in infrastructure package (E&E $), Republicans draw ‘red line’ for Biden in Oval Office showdown (Politico Pro $)

CES OPPOSITION: Progressive groups bash Clean Energy Standard as false climate solution (Politico Pro $), the fight to define what ‘clean’ energy means (Earther)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: EPA water nominee commits to 'enduring solutions' in confirmation hearing (The Hill)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Kerry on China's CO2 goal: 'the lack of trust is real' (E&E $), Kerry says trusting China on climate would be 'stupid and malpractice' (Politico Pro $)

CITIES AND STATES: New York adds $30 million to EV subsidy fund (Electrive), Pritzker’s energy proposal gets first legislative hearing (Chariton Leader), new Florida law seeks to protect state from sea level rise (AP), some energy transition funding project proposals include fossil fuels (New Mexico Political Report)

CALIFORNIA: The California Air Resources Board challenges our carbon credits investigations. We respond. (ProPublica)

IMPACTS: Cheers? Rising temperatures could make Michigan the next great wine hub (Grist), what if space junk and climate change become the same problem? (New York Times $), Alaska salmon have shrunk so much that a famed Seattle restaurant is rejecting some and Whole Foods overhauled its guidelines (Anchorage Daily News), 

WILDFIRES: The worst time of year is upon us (Atmos), Santa Fe women built homemade air purifiers to help protect people from wildfire smoke (Yale Climate Connections)

HURRICANES: 2020 tied a record for the most major hurricanes in the Atlantic, after further review (Washington Post $)

RENEWABLES: China solar giant to hire auditor as Xinjiang scrutiny grows (Bloomberg $), Silicon Valley getting a rare new US solar-manufacturing plant (Bloomberg $), Biden bets offshore wind will fix his climate jobs problem (E&E $), US offshore wind projects test strength of Joe Biden’s green jobs promise (FT $), Illinois pork plant powered by the sun, thanks to C-PACE financing (Energy News Network), renewable energy didn’t just survive 2020 — it thrived (Grist)

OIL & GAS: A US Virgin Islands oil refinery had yet another accident. Residents are demanding answers (InsideClimate News), Big Oil and its green ambitions could be about to get a serious reality check (CNBC), fracking 101: what you should know (EcoWatch), proxy advisor PIRC recommends vote against Chevron CEO (Reuters), rare plants to be reviewed amid New Mexico oil and gas fight (AP)

COAL: Coal-hauling rail industry arrives at climate crossroad (E&E $), Japan's SMFG to halt all new financing of coal-fired power plants (Reuters), US coal use to jump, despite renewable shift — report (E&E $)

HYDROGEN: Too cold to handle? Race is on to pioneer shipping of hydrogen (Reuters), Linde, Keppel and others to study hydrogen supply chain in Singapore (Reuters)

UTILITIES: Can Philadelphia’s gas utility survive in a climate where fossil fuels are shunned? (Philadelphia Inquirer)

WATER: Des Moines Water Works fears drought, toxic algae will limit supplies as summer water demand explodes (Des Moines Register)

EVs: A fee on electric vehicles would offset less than 2 percent of transportation funding gap (Politico Pro $), businesses urge Michigan governor to go all-in on EVs (E&E $), Daimler to ‘pick up speed’ in electric car transition (FT $), shift to electric vehicles poses threat to US union jobs (FT $), Subaru EV will be called Solterra, arrives in 2022 (Car and Driver)

BOOKMARK THIS: The EV transition gains speed (Bloomberg $)

OFFSETS: Startup that rates carbon offsets finds almost half fall short (Bloomberg $)

AGRICULTURE: The one crucial thing missing from Biden’s climate plan (Vox)

BUSINESS: ‘transition washing’ is the newest sustainability dodge (Bloomberg $)

CARBON PRICING: EU confirms carbon market surplus grew in 2020 (Reuters)

CARBON CAPTURE: Netherlands pledges $2.6 billion subsidy to bury CO2 under the sea (Bloomberg $)

BUT HOW ELSE WILL WE ROLL COAL?: Crackdown on emissions ‘defeat devices’ has amateur racers up in arms (New York Times $)

FINANCE: The newest climate pressure on Big Oil (Axios), Big Oil won’t become major investors in renewable technology even as investment soars, IEA analyst says (CNBC), clean energy will win out ‘over decades, not days,’ ETF manager says as trade loses steam (CNBC), Tesla seeks entry into US renewable fuel credit market - sources (Reuters)

BITCOIN: Tesla stops accepting bitcoin, citing ‘great cost to the environment.’ The cryptocurrency’s value sank. (Washington Post $, New York Times $, AP, CNN)

RELIGION: Young Evangelicals push to 'build a bigger choir loft' for US climate action (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

INTERNATIONAL: Canada’s oil dependence tests Trudeau’s green ambitions (FT $), Clean tech offers breath of fresh air for carbon-reliant Canada (FT $), EU to tighten pollution laws to clean up air and water (Reuters), Germany maps path to reaching 'net zero' emissions by 2045 (Washington Post $, Reuters), Germany aims to introduce air ticket price floor, finance minister says (Reuters), rolling blackouts hit Taiwan after accident at power plant (New York Times $)

• Biden is reaching out to Republicans. But his real target is Joe Manchin. (Washington Post, Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent op-ed $)
• Trespass activity on Indian allotments is spiraling out of control (Indian Country Today, Terry Beckwith, Quinault, op-ed)
• A wind farm off Massachusetts should be just the start (LA Times, Scott Martelle op-ed $)
• It’s time to kick gas (The New Yorker, Bill McKibben column $)
• Time to ask new, hard questions about role of natural gas (Bloomberg BNEF, Logan Goldie-Scot analysis)
• Here’s how good climate policy could go bad (Bloomberg, Andreas Kluth op-ed $)
• Climate change requires population stabilization for America (The Hill, Joseph Chamie op-ed)
• China's emissions now eclipse the developed world — preventing climate protection (The Hill, Paul Bledsoe op-ed)
• How to make manufacturing net zero (Energy Monitor, Sonja van Renssen op-ed)

Deniers Scramble to Blame Greens For Colonial Pipeline Problems As Hydrocarbons Prove Unreliable Once Again

The ransomware hacking of the Colonial Pipeline is exactly the sort of uncertain energy-relevant situation that climate deniers love to exploit with disinformation. This time though, they seem to be having a bit of trouble blaming this fossil fuel infrastructure problem on climate activists. Not that they’re not trying. 

It started incoherently, with Clear Energy Alliance tweeting Tuesday: “Like the #GreenNewDeal? We'll ask again later if the #ColonialPipelineHack isn't fixed by the end of the week. Deep, deep cuts to #energy usage is a tactic being used by activist groups and the politicians they control. The goal? To control you.” 

Hmm, yes, maybe these Russian ransomware hackers are actually the Sunrise kids in disguise! 

Kyle Smith at the National Review had a similarly insane thought, suggesting the hackers “are just environmentalists” and that “Biden is an ardently pro-fuel-limits guy in a moment when fuel is limited.” Uh huh. Apparently, Smith thinks that had Biden not cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, which would’ve brought Canadian oil to the Gulf of Mexico for export, or put a pause of federal leasing of public lands for fossil fuel extraction, which wouldn’t start pumping for years, this problem of distributing refined petroleum products wouldn't be so bad. 

“Maybe it would be nice to have more energy supply rather than less,” he writes, as though this were a problem of supply and not one of delivery. 

Always one to one-up conspiratorial nonsense, Marc Morano excerpted Smith’s piece for a post at Climate Depot. Before you can get to the post itself, though, you have to wade through a literally 341-word-long header that really calls into question Morano’s wellbeing. The headline itself is actually two headlines, both Smith’s NR headline, plus a “flashback” one from 2013: ‘Maybe the Pipeline Terrorists Are Just Environmentalists’ – Flashback: ‘We will dismantle the Pipeline…by any means necessary’. 

That’s followed by a sub-head consisting of a bolded 163-word excerpt of Smith’s post, which is itself followed by four “flashback” links to old Climate Depot posts from 2013 about pipeline protests and former NASA climate head James Hansen’s supposed encouragement of “eco-terrorism,” complete with two different image illustrations. 

Only after scrolling through that hodge-podge of formatting chaos do you get to the post’s actual byline and date, and then you have to read a tweet promoting Smith’s post, and then you can get to the actual excerpt of Smith’s National Review piece. One that you know is entirely divorced from reality from the start because one of the first things Smith writes is that “Donald Trump’s presidency was just about crisis-free, for the first three years anyway.” 

Yes, of course, notoriously calm and undramatic Donald Trump, known for his even keel, aversion to drama, and master handling of crises. (If that’s got you laughing and rolling your eyes, pop on over to the American Thinker, where they’re very mad at DOE secretary Jennifer Granholm for smiling too much.) 

Speaking of Trump, it was his advisor Larry Kudlow that really went hardest on the conspiracy theory angle for Fox Business. He didn’t attack environmentalists, though. Instead, he somehow connected it to Gaza bloodshed: “I believe the cyber hacking in the U.S. Southeast is absolutely linked to the Hamas shooting war on Israel.” 

How? Well, ironic as it may be for the Trump administration alum to blame Russia for cybercrimes, Kudlow said, “As far as Hamas is concerned, Hamas, of course, a terrorist state of Iran. Iran, itself, is a terrorist country. Now, who’s Iran’s biggest backer? You guessed it – Russia. At every turn, Russia makes mischief on behalf of Iran and against the U.S., and Israel, and the Abraham Accords. By the way, let’s give China some credit too, because they are a large financier and oil buyer of Iran.”

Now, listing a bunch of countries is not exactly a coherent conspiracy theory. But that’s why Tucker Carlson makes the big bucks. He can distill that sort of nonsense down to five words: “They did this on purpose.” Not to be outdone in the crazy conspiracy department, Glenn Beck, long having abandoned his brief “I’m sorry for Trumpism” image rehabilitation attempt, thinks that maybe it’s all part of the left’s plan to nationalize the oil and gas industry. 

Which means that the conspiracy theories have officially gotten so crazy they’ve come around again, and might actually be starting to make sense!

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 ($)