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G7 Reaches Agreements On Goals, But Not Details: Leaders of the world's seven largest national economies made — sometimes halting and vague — commitments to address climate change at their summit in Cornwall, England, over the weekend. Amid a "festival" of protests on both land and sea, the G7 countries agreed to end international funding for coal projects without  carbon capture by the end of next year and to achieve an “overwhelmingly decarbonized” electricity sector by the end of the decade. But they also failed to agree on a date by which they would stop burning coal. While Germany and Canada pledged new money for developing countries to fight climate change, critics pointed out big countries are still well short of hitting an overdue target of providing $100 billion by 2020. On the final day of the summit, G7 leaders launched the Build Back Better for the World initiative to counter China's Belt and Road but they did not agree on what the "B3W" initiative would entail, nor on how it should be funded. They also pledged to speed the transition to electric vehicles but backed off from plans to set firm target dates. (Climate & coal: (New York Times $, Politico, Mother Jones, Politico EU, AP, Washington Post $, Politico EU; Transition funding: Reuters, The Guardian; B3W: FT $, Politico Pro $; Cars: Bloomberg $, Axios; Protests New York Times $, The Guardian, Politico, New York Times $; G7 overview: Reuters, factbox, NPR, New York Times $)

Antarctic Glacier Acceleration Raises Alarms: The ice shelf that holds Antarctica's massive Pine Island Glacier from collapsing into the Southern Ocean is breaking up faster than before as climate change weakens the natural barriers to glacial melting, a new study finds. The research raises alarms over the potential for further accelerated sea level rise. The Pine Island Glacier holds about 160 trillion tons of ice — enough to raise global sea levels by more than 19 inches. Scientists' analysis of satellite images, published Friday in Science Advances, revealed the glacier's speed as it flows to the ocean increased 12% over just three years from late 2017 to 2020. Over that time, the glacier's ice shelf lost one-fifth of its area, thereby reducing its ability to act as a proverbial cork holding the glacier in its on-land 'bottle.' The findings dramatically move forward the time window in which a wholesale collapse of the ice shelf is possible and increase concerns over the nearby Thwaites Glacier. “I’m not really a catastrophist,” Claciologist and report co-author Ian Joughin told the Washington Post. “But the integrity of the ice shelf is definitely in question." (AP, Washington Post $, Axios, InsideClimate News, Business Insider)

Biden To Undo Weakened Tongass Protections: The Biden administration will "repeal or replace" plans to lift logging and road building restrictions in the massive and largely pristine Tongass National Forest, the USDA announced Friday. The plans to open Tongass to logging activities were put in place by the Trump administration last October, and the details of exactly which protections will be reinstated are still to be determined. Most of the Tongass is in its natural state and is one of the largest relatively intact temperate rainforests in the world and is one of the largest carbon sinks on the planet, sequestering heat-trapping carbon dioxide that would otherwise fuel climate change. “In order for us to slow down runaway climate chaos, we need to do two things: get off fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and to store atmospheric carbon,” Dominick DellaSala, a scientist with the Earth Island Institute, told the New York Times. “Forests are the best at that and Tongass is the champ." (New York Times $, Earther, Washington Post $, AP, Vox, Rolling Stone, NY1, E&E $, Axios, Washington Examiner, Politico Pro $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Tackling 'energy justice' requires better data. These researchers are on it (NPR)

DENIAL & DISINFORMATION: A bizarre coal industry propaganda program is infiltrating K-12 classrooms (Earther), Revealed: rightwing firm posed as leftist group on Facebook to divide Democrats (The Guardian)

MEDIA: In ‘bittersweet’ moment, Darnella Frazier wins Pulitzer Prize citation for recording George Floyd’s murder (NewsOne, The Grio, The Root, Essence, MPR, Star Tribune $, CBS Local Minnesota, The 19th* News, MinnPost, The Cut, Vanity Fair, CBS, HuffPost, USA Today, Buzzfeed, Yahoo, The Verge, People, NPR, Fast Company, New York Magazine, ABC, Variety, NBC, New York Times $, CNN, Reuters, Hypebeast, AP, Politico)

MORE G7: [Australia PM] Scott Morrison arrives in UK for G7 amid protests for climate change action (The Guardian), environmentalist Attenborough tells G7: We need the will to tackle climate change (Reuters), G-7 summit: what is it and what does it do? (Wall Street Journal $), how far along are the G7 nations in their journeys to net zero? (Energy Monitor)

AGENCIES: Biden's first reg agenda lays out plans to roll back Trump environmental rules (Politico Pro $, E&E $)

DOE: Energy Secretary says US wants ‘responsible’ lithium mining (AP, E&E $)

DOI: Biden administration proposes offshore wind energy sale near NY, NJ (Reuters, E&E $, New York Times $, Politico Pro $)

DOT: NTSB releases report on Washington oil-train derailment (AP)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: U.S. Treasury’s Yellen says Congress needs to fund debt relief programs (Reuters)

THE HILL: Dems eye legacy pollution cleanup in new bill (E&E $)

HOUSE: House sets vote on highway bill as more plans emerge (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate Democrats, Republicans prepare to sell nearly $1 trillion infrastructure deal to White House (Washington Post $), Bipartisan bill would scrap Trump-era tax on [water infrastructure] projects (E&E $), Carper ditching legendary minivan for a Tesla (E&E $), Schatz, Whitehouse prod SEC on climate risk (E&E $)

JOE MANCHIN: What drives Joe Manchin? Frustrated Democrats can look to West Virginia. (New York Times $), the wooing of Manchin: Granholm leans on personal history (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Joe Biden is already failing on climate policy (Earther)

INFRASTRUCTURE: ‘Climate denial masquerading as bipartisanship:’ Sen. Markey on infrastructure deal (MSNBC), go green or go bipartisan? Biden’s big infrastructure choice (AP), ‘time is running out’: Democrats split over Biden’s relentless focus on infrastructure (Washington Post $), Collins says new infrastructure offer won't include gas tax hike (Politico Pro $), why the bipartisan deal on infrastructure faces long odds (HuffPost)

POLITICS: Born on the left, Data for Progress comes of age in Biden’s Washington (New York Times $), 

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Biden taps environmental justice expert for EPA land office (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: UN Secretary-General’s climate warning: ‘We are at the verge of the abyss’ (NBC), With Trump gone, NATO wages war on climate threat (Reuters)

CITIES AND STATES: Could Pennsylvania gas preemption bill derail local climate action plans? (Public News Service), bipartisan effort to expel accused ex-speaker in Ohio begins (AP), Maine tries to shift some costs of recycling onto companies instead of taxpayers (Washington Post $)

UNREPRESENTED TERRITORIES: New company, same woes: Puerto Rico suffers power outages (AP), substation fire puts Puerto Rico's private grid operator to the test (Politico Pro $), DC mayor’s budget amplifies goal of reducing car travel in the nation’s capital (Washington Post $)

FERC: Glick: FERC to outline plan to tackle transmission 'certainly' by the end of summer (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: What climate change means for America's national parks (WBUR), ‘eating into their flesh’: Reef sharks with skin disease may be the latest victim of climate change (Washington Post $)

DROUGHT: 7 shocking satellite images reveal the West's megadrought (Earther), 90% of Utah in extreme drought as governor declares emergency, asks locals to conserve water (CBS), Lake Mead reaches lowest level on record amid exceptional drought (Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: Report: California encourages rebuilding in fire-prone areas (AP), warming climate amplifies the risks of wildfire season (NPR) crews trying to contain wildfire south Belen [New Mexico] (AP), Utah crews make headway in battling several wildfires (AP), Wildfires blaze in Siberia, Russian Far East (AP), crews make steady gains on wildfire in rural Arizona (AP)

HEAT: California tells public to prepare for heatwave; power prices soar (Reuters), PG&E warns of more blackouts during California’s wildfire season (Wall Street Journal $)

CRETACEOUS CARBON HISTORY: Scientists reveal the wild history of Earth’s CO2 since the dinosaurs died (Mashable)

RENEWABLES: First Solar plans factory expansion in Ohio, hands Biden administration a US manufacturing win (Canary Media), Massachusetts group tests new model for solar on affordable housing projects (Energy News Network)

BATTERIES: Lithium Americas delays Nevada mine work after environmentalist lawsuit (Reuters)

OIL & GAS: 13 refineries emit dangerous benzene emissions that exceed the EPA’s ‘action level,’ a study finds (InsideClimate News), energy transition forces LNG industry to cut emissions (OilPrice), earthquakes in U.S. oil fields set 4-year record (E&E $), judge nixes 600 oil and gas leases in sage grouse country (E&E $), Keystone XL is dead, but oil sands are waking up (E&E $), world oil demand ‘will rebound to pre-Covid levels by end of 2022’ (The Guardian, Axios), Shell weighs blockbuster sale of Texas shale assets (Reuters)

SHIYAN GAS EXPLOSION: Huge gas blast in central China leaves 12 dead and dozens injured (Axios, CNN, AP, Reuters)

CONSEQUENCES: As harsh financial realities emerge, St. Croix’s Limetree Bay refinery could be facing bankruptcy (InsideClimate News)

PLASTICS: Half of clothes sold by online fashion brands ‘made from virgin plastic’ (The Guardian), study: take-out food, drink litter make up vast majority of plastics in oceans (Axios)

PIPELINES: Small Minneapolis event eyes Klobuchar to help stop Line 3 (AP), Dakota Access foes seek environmental review updates from US (AP), five more oil and gas pipelines targeted by green activists (Washington Examiner)

SEEMS PRUDENT: Industry opposition threatens pipeline cyber safety bill (E&E $)

COAL: Company to shut down 3 coal plants in largest U.S. market [PJM] (E&E $)

HYDROGEN: Germany prepares to set up hydrogen accord with Australia (Reuters), Japan’s big bet on hydrogen could revolutionize the energy market (Wall Street Journal $)

UTILITIES: 'An eye for an eye': the electric sector's defense will depend on federal government's might, says Southern CEO (Utility Dive)

GRID: Cyberattack disrupts access to Puerto Rican grid operator's customer portal (Politico Pro $)

EVs: At least 1.2M chargers needed for [California's] EV goals (E&E $), grants go to electric vehicle chargers in 7 Alabama counties (AP)

NUKES: How Biden might transform nuclear power (E&E $)

SHIPPING: Shipping is tough on the climate and hard to clean up – these innovations can help cut emissions (The Conversation)

FINANCE: How ESG stocks perform depends on who ranks them (Wall Street Journal $), The hedge-fund manager who did battle with Exxon—and won (Wall Street Journal $)

BITCOIN: Musk says Tesla will accept Bitcoins when miners use more clean energy (Reuters), what you need to know about El Salvador’s plan to use volcano-powered Bitcoin as legal tender (Washington Post $)

INTERNATIONAL: All hot air: UK commits to climate action but not to new funding (The Guardian), Germany to increase climate funding for developing countries (Reuters), Norway eyes expansion of oil and gas industry under policy proposal (Climate Home), Sri Lanka testing for oil in waters near stricken cargo ship (AP), Swiss reject law to help country meet Paris carbon emissions goal (Reuters, AP), the EU's carbon club of one (Politico Pro $)

• Deb Haaland: My grandparents were stolen from their families as children. We must learn about this history. (Washington Post, Sec. Deb Haaland op-ed $)
• The Keystone XL pipeline is dead. Next target: Line 3. (New York Times, Bill McKibben op-ed $)
• Smart money says the latest bipartisan infrastructure effort will fail. Biden should prove that wrong. (Washington Post, Editorial Board $)
• Is your gas stove destroying the planet? (Bloomberg, Justin Fox column $)
• Is it time for a national climate service? (Forbes, Marshall Shepherd op-ed)
• Darnella Frazier's Pulitzer citation is not enough (CNN, Mikki Kendall op-ed)
• NATO is about to launch a formal strategic review. Here’s what that means. (Washington Post, Garret Martin and Balazs Martonffy analysis $)
• Nobel winner’s evolution from ‘dark realist’ to just plain realist on climate change (Washington Post, William Nordhaus interview $)

Chamber of Commerce Still Fighting Climate Action, Spurring Call For Companies To Drop Their Membership

Last week, Change the Chamber, a student-led coalition of 100+ youth groups supported by more than two dozen national climate organizations, sent an open letter to companies still paying dues to be part of the Chamber of Commerce, calling on them to leave the trade group if it doesn’t stop lobbying against climate action. 

The letter highlights the “two unacceptable risks” created by companies that support the Chamber, given its lobbying on climate. First is the obvious risk the warming planet poses to their bottom line as extreme weather complicates supply chains and drought, fires and other extreme weather events upend years-long corporate plans. The second is the reputational risk posed by their membership in the anti-climate-policy-lobby-group. 

“Youth, journalists, civil society groups, shareholders, and consumers are increasingly turning their attention to how trade associations play a key role in diluting science-based climate action. Prominent brands that fund obstructionist lobbying groups,” the letter warns, “will ultimately be held to account.” 

But wait, some might say the Chamber has already improved! After all, in the past couple years it’s acknowledged climate change, and totally changed its approach to politics (by subverting democracy and protecting polluters) so shouldn’t they just get the benefit of the doubt? 

Mmmm, no, not really- “even Royal Dutch Shell recently critiqued the U.S. Chamber” the letter explains, because the lobby group hasn’t even bothered to state a position on net zero or nature-based carbon-capture policies, or make statements in support of carbon pricing, or against weakening fuel economy standards set by California. 

Yes, that's an oil company’s assessment that the Chamber’s supposedly pro-climate position is nothing more than words on a website

The Change the Chamber letter links to a list of the business lobby’s most recent actions to obstruct climate action. They have 10 different examples of the Chamber of Commerce filing legal briefs in favor of polluters like Enbridge, pleading for more coal use, lobbying against Biden’s agenda with API, and making statements against climate-friendly decisions. 

The kicker is that the 10 examples are all just from the first quarter of 2021. In just a handful of months, the US Chamber of Commerce has repeatedly proven its loyalty is to polluters. 

As such, the letter calls on companies to make their own statements to distinguish themselves from the Chamber’s position. It also requests meetings with the companies to pressure them to support climate action or leave the Chamber. 

And that’s really where it’s headed, because clearly the Chamber is more interested in looking like it’s changing on climate change than it is actually changing its position. So as Senator Whitehouse said, “Change the Chamber or QUIT the Chamber” because “We need climate action NOW.”

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