FIRST LOOK:

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute will hold a briefing on Unlocking capital for climate solutions TODAY at noon ET.

Line 3 Protest Brings Hundreds of Protesters, Heavy Police Response: Hundreds of Native water protectors and supporters from around the country put their bodies on the line to protest and stymie the construction and expansion of the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline in Northern Minnesota yesterday. The action kicks off what Treaty People Gathering organizers say will be a summer of resistance against the pipeline sought by Enbridge, a Canada-based fossil fuel multinational. Police forces deployed increasingly aggressive tactics, including buffeting protesters with low-altitude rotor wash from a Border Patrol helicopter and sound cannon. Police in riot gear “broke through the steel fences and they just began arresting everyone,” Tara Houska, a tribal attorney and member of the Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe along the Canadian border, told the New York Times. “This is an act of violence on tribal land,” she said. More than 100 people were arrested, according to the legal nonprofit representing them, and arrests are expected to continue. Native attorneys are pushing President Biden to block the pipeline expansion, seeking to hold him to his word on campaign promises to strengthen equity for Native communities and take action on climate change — Biden cancelled the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline in his first week in office. Actress Jane Fonda held a sign with Biden's image and the words, "which side are you on?" The pipeline would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of highly-polluting tar sands crude oil per day through treaty-protected lands where several Ojibwe tribes hold rights to hunt, fish, and gather nutritionally- and culturally-important wild rice — all of which would be imperiled by a leak of the heavy oil carried by the pipeline. The same pipeline ruptured in 1991 and caused the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history. (New York Times $, Indian Country Today, MPR, AP)Washington Post $, CBS Local Minnesota, PBS NewsHour, InsideClimate News; Helicopter: Newsweek; Interviews: MSNBC, Jane Fonda and Tara Houska)

'The More You Intersect, The More Identities You Have, The More Easy Of A Target You Are': Brazillian land rights defender Fernando dos Santos Araújo was executed in January of this year, nearly four years after witnessing the massacre of his boyfriend and nine others by military police for cultivating land not legally their own. Araújo was a key witness in the investigation and was targeted, other land defenders believe, for both his courage to tell what he had seen and because he was gay. The sweeping feature explores the intersection of land rights, homophobia, deforestation, and societal inequities in the Brazillian landless workers movement. (Atmos)

Atmospheric CO2 Now 50% Higher Than Pre-Industrial Levels: The planet's atmosphere held more carbon dioxide at its annual May peak than at any time in the last 4 million years, and 50% more than prior to the Industrial Revolution, NOAA reported Monday. Scientists said the rate of CO2 increase, fueled primarily by the combustion of fossil fuels, showed "no discernible impact" of any pandemic-induced slowdown. Atmospheric CO2 levels peak cyclically every May before vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere wakes up from winter and pulls carbon out of the atmosphere, but overall CO2 levels keep rising because humans keep pumping 40 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution to the atmosphere every year. “Reaching 50% higher carbon dioxide than preindustrial is really setting a new benchmark and not in a good way,” Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, who wasn’t part of the research, told the AP. “If we want to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we need to work much harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions and right away.” (AP, Washington Post $, Axios, The Hill, E&E $, Bloomberg $, New York Times $, The Verge, Newsweek, Reuters, USA Today)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: As warming fuels disasters, relief often favors white people (New York Times $), Memphis pipeline rekindles eminent domain fight (E&E $), outdoor coalition launches diversity initiative (E&E $), where are the US’s natural gas pipelines? Often in vulnerable communities. (National Geographic)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Businesses brace for more climate cases after ruling on shell emissions (Wall Street Journal $)

COP26: G7 leaders told solidarity with poorer nations is critical to COP26 success (Climate Home)

NOT BAD FOR GOVERNMENT HELP: Majority of Colonial Pipeline ransom recovered, Justice Dept. says (New York Times $, NBC, AP, CNN, Washington Post $, ABC, Yahoo, CNBC, Politico Pro $), 'got to up our game' — Granholm sounds alarm on grid hacking (E&E $)

AGENCIES: Poor homeowners will pay less after flood insurance overhaul (E&E $), Chief scientist: NOAA is '$12 billion agency trapped in a $5.5 billion budget' (The Hill)

EPA: Acting air chief plots course for tackling Trump rollbacks (E&E $), EPA watchdog: pandemic didn't harm emissions testing (E&E $), EPA: copper project could pollute tribe's water (E&E $)

DOE: Granholm launches 'big, hairy, audacious' hydrogen plan (E&E $, Axios, The Hill), DOE scraps Trump guidance rule, cites climate push (E&E $), DOE picks EPA expert, professor for top legal position (E&E $)

DOT: PHMSA warns pipeline companies to get into compliance on methane leaks (Politico Pro $, Reuters)

LAWSUITS: DOJ slams red states suing over social cost of carbon (E&E $)

THE HILL: 'Big week' for transportation as time, patience run thin (E&E $), Bill Nye, big-city mayors to headline climate hearings (E&E $), lawmakers to question Colonial Pipeline CEO, cyber nominees (E&E $), trove of budget hearings to feature EPA, other agency heads (E&E $)

HOUSE: Progressive rep [Jamaal Bowman]: 'Joe Manchin has become the new Mitch McConnell' (The Hill)

SENATE: Senate poised to approve Schumer innovation package (E&E $), hearings to probe impacts of 'forever chemicals,' DDT dumping (E&E $), how Joe Manchin survives as a Democrat in west Virginia (New York Times $)

WHITE HOUSE: In two opposite decisions on Alaska oil drilling, Biden walks a difficult path in search of bipartisanship (InsideClimate News), Biden administration moves to unkink supply chain bottlenecks (New York Times $)

AMERICAN JOBS PLAN: Infrastructure talks stuck on EVs, clean energy (E&E $), the global stakes of Biden's infrastructure negotiations (Axios), key Senate Dem [Whitehouse] fears climate is falling off the radar (Axios, The Independent), climate worries spill over as talks drag on (E&E $), dreams of ending the filibuster dashed, Democrats rethink strategy (New York Times $)

POLITICS: Pollster's private message to GOP: Win on climate (E&E $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Senators take up Biden picks for BLM, DOE, Indian Affairs (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: As leaders gather for G-7, a key question: Will rich countries help poor ones grapple with climate change? (Washington Post $), Maldives foreign minister elected as UN assembly president (AP)

CITIES AND STATES: For the third year in a row, North Carolina advocates push government efficiency bill. Could this time be the charm? (Energy News Network), New Orleans has a new clean energy standard. Now it wants a more modern transmission grid (Canary Media), drought-stricken Nevada enacts ban on ‘non-functional’ grass (AP)

TEXAS: Texas lawmakers tackle costs of winter freeze, say more action needed (Wall Street Journal $), wind and solar power is rapidly growing in Texas, but ERCOT limits how much goes to the grid (Houston Chronicle)

FERC: Lawsuit calls for axing FERC overhaul of Carter-era law [PURPA] (E&E $), Southern, Duke, Dominion seek to ease FERC fears over proposed Southeast market (Politico Pro $)

SCOTUS: Justices reject Endangered Species Act battle (E&E $)

IMPACTS: Record heat bakes Middle East as temperatures top 125 degrees (Washington Post $)

DROUGHT: "Mega-drought" takes dramatic toll on Colorado River system that provides water to 40 million people (CBS), Lake Mead's low water level prompts feds to consider declaration of Colorado River water shortage (CBS), Madagascar has 1.1 million people on brink of famine, UN says (Bloomberg $)

WILDFIRES: Pair of Arizona wildfires burns tens of thousands of acres (New York Times $, AP)

HOT AIR BALLOONS: Extreme heat can ground hot air balloons (Yale Climate Connections)

TRAINS: Warming could haunt hopes for coast-to-coast passenger rail (E&E $)

RENEWABLES: East Coast govs send Biden an offshore wind wish list (E&E $), Iowa solar installers forced to adapt as lawmakers let solar tax credit expire (Energy News Network), a devastating 2021 wildfire season would hamper Californian solar power (Energy Monitor)

BATTERIES & MINERALS: A rare flower is screwing up plans for a Nevada lithium mine (Gizmodo), mining companies call themselves green in push for investor cash (Wall Street Journal $)

STORAGE: How vehicle-to-grid technology could disrupt energy storage investment as we know it (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: Putting Big Oil's green spending in context (Axios), how bankruptcy lets oil and gas companies evade cleanup rules (Grist), natural gas in transition: US residential-commercial markets face uncertainty (S&P Global), Total [is the] latest oil company to rebrand as world shifts from fossil fuels (Houston Chronicle)

PLASTICS: Nurdlemania: Behind the climate crisis lurks the plastics crisis. Be ready. (Environmental Health News)

PIPELINES:  Biden sticks to 'ambiguity' on LNG amid climate push (Politico Pro $), feds approve expansion of North Dakota natural gas pipeline (AP)

UTILITIES: Avangrid faces tough questions from New Mexico regulators in final hurdle to $8.3B PNM merger (Utility Dive)

(ALLEGED) UTILITY SHENANIGANS: Missouri, Kansas utilities may use loophole to charge customers for fossil fuel lobbying (Missouri Independent)

GRID: Fate of Illinois nuclear plants in balance after PJM auction fail and stalled subsidy plan (Utility Dive), New England states push for governance changes in ISO-NE, ahead of anticipated MOPR reform (Utility Dive)

AVs: First driverless taxi service approved [in California] for free pickups (E&E $)

AGRICULTURE: The climate bill even Gig Ag loves (Mother Jones)

WILDLIFE: Great apes predicted to lose 90% of homelands in Africa, study finds (The Guardian)

INTERNATIONAL: Brazilian government may start paying farmers to conserve land (Modern Farmer)

• The electric future must begin now (New York Times, Sen. Martin Heinrich op-ed $)
• Fossil fuels are definitively the new tobacco (The Hill, Andreas Karelas op-ed)
• Households need help if they are going to deal with the climate crisis (The Independent, Sieren Ernst op-ed)
• Joe Manchin’s fixation on Republican validation ignores Black west Virginians (NewsOne, Anoa Changa op-ed)
• Social media is helping, not hindering, the energy transition (Energy Monitor, Dave Keating op-ed)
• Business as usual for PGW is bad for consumers, the climate, and even PGW (Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial Board)
• The West can end the water wars now (The Atlantic, Emma Marris op-ed)
• How Joe Manchin’s awful new stance could blow up in his face (Washington Post, Greg Sargent column $)
• Time to call Manchin’s bluff (Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin column $)
• Mitch McConnell’s plan is coming together perfectly (Washington Post, Paul Waldman column $)
• What is climate justice? A framework for understanding the world (Teen Vogue, Rhiana Gunn-Wright and Khristen Hamilton interview)
• Joe Goffman, acting head of EPA's air office (Politico Pro, interview $)

Aging Disgracefully: Climate Denial Doesn’t Hold Up To Test Of Time (Or Any Other Test, Really) 

Climate change denial is a professional’s pursuit, so we generally don’t pay much attention to its audience, the rank and file Republicans that make up a minority of the country yet somehow (entrenched white supremacy) hold the majority of the political power needed to move us off fossil fuels. 

But it can be important to distinguish between what organized denial is pushing and what its audience finds interesting, and a great bellwether for that has been a former blogger-turned-tweeter, Tom Nelson. If you’ve ever tweeted anything about climate change, there’s a decent chance @tan123 has shown up in your mentions asking for proof of climate change, and then ignored your response providing such evidence. 

Once a reliable source for daily updates on what climate denial’s popping, over the past year he’s gotten increasingly into COVID-19 conspiracies, and anti-mask and anti-vaxx content. (True to bellwether form, that transition is reflected across the climate denial network.) And unfortunately, that’s gotten him in trouble with Twitter, resulting in a 12-hour suspension last week for peddling some corona-cure pseudoscience posted about by Donna Laframboise, another climate denier turned covid (non-)expert. 

He recovered his account after that, and went on another standard tweet spree. But then something odd happened. After literally years of daily tweeting, his feed fell silent on June 3rd, the day after his return from suspension. Odd! But not totally earth-shattering, people take breaks, after all! 

So we went on, only to see others in the denial world retweeting an account “Nelson” @brd333, a user with an Albert Einstein avatar image who sure sounded a lot like Tom trying to evade a Twitter lock on his account. Sure enough, this account restarted and picked up posting at the same time @tan123 stopped, which made it a fairly quick scroll down to find that this is, in fact, the account Nelson started using when his other one was briefly banned back in 2015. 

Now, had Twitter just permanently banned him back then, he wouldn’t have been able to troll climate scientists and activists until eventually getting a harsher punishment for trolling vaccine scientists and doctors. But they didn’t, and so he did. And he’s hardly alone. 

Scrolling through Nelson’s old feed, we found a tweet that was exactly four years old as of yesterday, from denier and conspiracy theorist Tony Heller: “I predict a very rapid end to the global warming scam over the next few years.” Hmm, well it’s been a few years, and temperatures and sea levels are still rising, so the supposed “global warming scam” is unfortunately still going pretty strong! 

Heller provides another example of how banning one type of disinformation and removing serial disinformation agents has co-benefits for other types of online discourse. After years of climate conspiracies about the temperature record being faked, he’s recently gotten a YouTube ban for peddling COVID-19 disinformation, yet again illustrating that contrarians are often just habitually wrong and jumping from one fashionable issue to the next in their quest to make themselves feel smarter than someone. 

Case in point, today’s third expert on how to make a pseudo-brand out of contrarian pseudo-science is Steve McIntyre. These days he’s all about “auditing” Syrian chemical weapon use to inform Russian war crime apologia, and parsing Strzok emails to relive his climategate glory days. Recently, he's also been complaining about cancel culture after Indigenous people took down a statue of a man responsible for Canada’s boarding-school genocide of its First Nations people, spurred by the recent discovery of the remains of over 200 Indigenous children buried in an unmarked grave at a former British Columbia residential school.

But once upon a time the man behind Climate Audit blog fancied himself the only truly worthy judge of climate data (thus the name). His climate obsession was Dr. Michael Mann’s hockey stick, and the proxy science underpinning the iconic claim that recent warming is rapid and unprecedented for a thousand years of human history. For example, the most recent post on his “Climate Audit” blog is a piece about tree ring proxies posted March 2, but was actually written in 2015 and never published. “Seems just as valid today as when it was written,” he noted.

For years McIntyre’s conspiracy theory has been that Mann (and others) were rigging the studies by carefully selecting only those proxy records that support alarmism and discarding others. A new study published in Nature Communications on Monday that sought to double-check best practices actually serves as a great test for exactly this conspiracy theory. 

To ensure there wasn’t any bias in selecting which records to use, the scientists set up a double-blind system to assemble 15 different Northern Hemisphere summer temperature records. These randomly selected records were then fed into the computer models to calculate what that meant for temperatures at the time. They took that output and compared it to what the thermometer record showed, and sure enough, they’re accurate!

In a way, McIntyre’s introduction to his post is true. It is just as valid now as it was 6 years ago. His claim wasn’t valid then, and it’s still not valid now!

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