FIRST LOOK:

HAPPENING NOW: IEEFA’s annual Energy Finance Conference brings together energy & financial experts, community leaders, environmental advocates, investors, philanthropists, and journalists to explore advances in the global energy transition.

'Cancer Alley' Activist Recognized For Fight 'To Breathe Clean Air And Drink Clean Water': Lifelong Louisiana resident, retired teacher, and grassroots activist Sharon Lavigne was awarded the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize for her victorious and continued environmental justice activism in "Cancer Alley." Lavigne, founder of the faith-based advocacy organization RISE St. James, successfully blocked the construction of a $1.25 billion plastics manufacturing plant in St. James Parish in 2019 and is continuing the campaign to oppose a $9.4 billion complex proposed by Formosa Plastics. Lavigne sees her work as intertwined with the larger Black Lives Matter movement. “They're trying to make our area a sacrifice zone,” she told Bloomberg of the petrochemical industry and state and local officials who support it. “They’re killing Black people with guns and stuff, and with us, they're killing us with poison in the air and in our water. It's still a killing.” Lavigne was awarded what is often described as the "Green Nobel" for North America; winners in other regions were honored for their work on a range of issues including deforestation, coal power plants, and toxic pollution. "I'm doing this to save our community. I'm doing this to breathe clean air and drink clean water. I wasn't looking for recognition," Lavigne told the New Orleans Advocate. "I had no idea people could win awards for this." (Lavigne: E&E $, The Advocate, Bloomberg $, Louisiana Illuminator, The Guardian, Insider, National Catholic Reporter, Insider; Other winners: Thomson Reuters Foundation)

California Drought Reveals 1960's Plane Crash: Climate change is worsening heatwaves and droughts, fueling wildfires and stressing electrical grids [See links below -- Ed.] but it's also helping to solve 56-year-old mysteries. So there's that? Historically low water levels at California's Folsom Lake enabled the discovery of an airplane bearing a remarkable resemblance to the Piper Comanche 250 that crashed into the lake on New Year's Day of 1965, killing four people. Usually the lake at that point is so deep sonar imaging could never reach it, but the outlines of the plane are clearly visible in what is now only 160 feet of water. Only one victim's body was ever recovered, but Katherine Radican told ABC news her husband Frank Wilcox, who died just three years ago, spent nearly his entire life searching the area for signs of his brother who perished in the crash. Local officials will meet with the company that discovered the plane to evaluate the possibility of recovering it. (ABC, Earther, CBS, The Guardian, New York Post, The Independent, Insider, CBS LA, CBS Sacramento; Climate Signals background: Drought)

Fed. Judge Pauses Biden Pause Oil & Gas Leasing: A federal judge on Tuesday effectively paused the Biden administration's pause on new oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters. The preliminary injunction applies nationwide and is a blow to a high-profile component of Biden's sweeping executive actions on climate change, taken soon after assuming office. The administration said it would comply with the order but did not say when lease auctions would resume. And while the judge criticized a lack of explanation for cancelling lease sales, it also said an Interior Department review of the policy is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. (AP, Reuters, Washington Post $, New York Times $, Wall Street Journal $, Politico Pro $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Auckland chapter of New Zealand’s School Strike 4 Climate group admits racism and disbands (The Guardian), infrastructure and social justice meet in Detroit neighborhood demolished to build interstate (NBC)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: ‘The People vs Arctic Oil’: Climate activists target Norway at human rights court (Reuters)

THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP: G7 summit photos do not show satanic rituals; they show protesters demanding climate action (Reuters Fact Check)

WESTERN HEATWAVE: US West swelters in record-busting heat, risking wildfires (AP), wind whips up fires as heat grips parts of Montana, Wyoming (AP), heat wave enveloping West will shatter records, spark wildfires (Axios)

...AND TEXAS(-SIZED) GRID WORRIES: 'Outrageous.' Texas grid scare reignites blackout concerns (E&E $), Texas power grid, strained last winter, now faces an early heat wave (New York Times $), Electric grid operator asks Texans to stop blasting AC as unplanned outages and heat collide (CNN)

ACTIVISM: They marched 266 miles to deliver letters from people who lost everything in wildfires (Mother Jones, The Hill)

#OFCOURSE: The Big Oil Instagram influencers are here (Earther)

EPA: It's raining PFAS: EPA faces pressure on 'forever chemicals' (E&E $)

DOE: Biden DOE efficiency plan attacked from unlikely corners (E&E $), Granholm touts plan to move SPR to cyber office (Politico Pro $)

DOI: Utah lawmakers want answers on Haaland's restoration plan (E&E $)

SEC: 'Battle lines are being drawn' on climate disclosure (E&E $), climate scientists' prescription for climate risk disclosure (Axios), investors sue SEC over Trump-era rule restricting shareholder votes (Politico Pro $, Reuters)

HOUSE: Haaland replacement to join Natural Resources Committee (E&E $), House expands environmental disclosure bill (E&E $)

SENATE: Schumer vows 'bold' climate action as pressure grows (E&E $), top senators press Biden to do more on forest management to counter wildfires (Washington Examiner), Senate unanimously votes to make Juneteenth a federal holiday (Black Wall Street Times, AP, NPR, Washington Post $, New York Times $, USA Today, Politico, Wall Street Journal $, Business Insider, Yahoo, CNN, BBC)

JOE MANCHIN: Manchin cites 'grave concerns' about US 'going to the EV' (Detroit News, Politico Pro $), Manchin eyes loan program for building upgrades (E&E $), Manchin, Murkowski team up to boost building efficiency (Politico Pro $), to understand Joe Manchin, look at West Virginia’s transformation (Wall Street Journal $)

INFRASTRUCTURE BILL(S): ‘We need more’: Democrats frustrated as agenda faces hurdles (AP), are Democrats falling into a Republican trap on Biden’s biggest priority? (Slate), Congressional Democrats wary of US Senate infrastructure plan (Reuters), Democrats to Biden: No climate provisions, no vote for infrastructure deal (Reuters, Washington Post $, New York Times $, Washington Examiner, Politico, Wall Street Journal $, The Hill), Republicans plot an infrastructure 2-step: Spend more, then kill Biden’s agenda (Politico)

POLITICS: White House features McConnell home state in videos highlighting crumbling infrastructure (The Hill)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Schumer files cloture on Beaudreau to be Interior deputy (Politico Pro $), Two-pronged attack on BLM pick [Tracy Stone Manning]: Personal loans, 'extreme' ties (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: 4 sore points between the US and EU on climate (Politico Pro $), G7 brightens outlook for new nature pact but pandemic threatens deadline (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

CITIES AND STATES: US cities put trust in community hubs to counter climate, social shocks (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Colorado touts climate wins, but critics say it's not enough (E&E $)

CALIFORNIA: California utilities object to fossil fuel requirements in proposed 11.5 GW procurement package (Utility Dive), California grid operator projects demand will eat into reserve power (Politico Pro $), San Francisco nearing vote to drastically cut refinery pollution with new tech (Reuters)

FERC: FERC threatens Cheniere over pipeline, landowner fight (E&E $)

IMPACTS: June heat wave 'obliterated' records in Twin Cities (E&E $), during wildfires and hurricanes, a language gap can be deadly (Grist), how oysters and seagrass could help the California coast adapt to rising seas (Grist), making hot sauce and working to save wetlands (AP)

DROUGHT: Tulare County’s never-ending drought brings dried up wells and plenty of misery (CAL Matters), drought prompts state to cut off water to thousands of farms, water agencies (San Francisco Chronicle)

WILDFIRES: Colorado, Wyoming forests face most blazes in 2,000 years — study (E&E $), some residents remain evacuated by rural Arizona wildfire (AP), the latest tool in fighting wildfires is homes that won’t burn (The Verge)

HURRICANES: Tropical system to drench Gulf Coast, while Tropical Storm Bill zips toward Newfoundland (Washington Post $, Yale Climate Connections, AP)

IMPACTS' IMPACTS: Climate could force a retreat from rural Canada — report (E&E $)

WATER: Final plan for water releases into Sacramento River could kill up to 88% of endangered salmon run (San Francisco Chronicle), Lake Powell pipeline plans to tap water promised to the Utes. Why the tribe sees it as yet another racially based scheme. (Casper Star-Tribune)

METHANE: In push to find methane leaks, satellites gear up for the hunt (Yale Environment 360)

FOOD: Protein-filled, with a low carbon footprint, insects creep up on the human diet (InsideClimate News)

WINE: Costly frost in France attributed to climate change (AP, Axios) 

RENEWABLES: US solar has largest first quarter ever (Axios), GE announces European partnerships to advance full wind turbine recycling (Utility Dive), Heliogen raises $108M for solar-powered industrial heat (Canary Media), Why collaboration is key to scaling up wind energy (Energy Monitor)

BATTERIES: Solid Power joins the battery SPAC fray with plan to go public at a $1.2B valuation (Canary Media)

ELECTRIFICATION: Electric heat pumps use much less energy than furnaces, and can cool houses too – here’s how they work (The Conversation)

EFFICIENCY: OhmConnect bets $100M that free smart thermostats can prevent summer blackouts in California (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: Interest in Shell's Permian assets seen as a bellwether for shale demand (Reuters), Equinor to spend more on renewables as oil output rises (Reuters), major traders see oil staying above $70/bbl, $100 not impossible (Reuters), Report: New Mexico threatens North Dakota’s No.2 oil ranking (AP)

COAL: Setbacks to San Juan coal plant retrofit plans raise feasibility questions (Albuquerque Journal)

NUKES: What happened at China’s Taishan nuclear reactor? (Reuters explainer)

UTILITIES: Contract deal lifts Virginia utility’s cap on public entities’ solar aspirations (Energy News Network), housing developers and utilities join forces to create the next generation of microgrids (Canary Media), NARUC task force: COVID-19 highlights states' need for emergency planning tools (Utility Dive)

EVs: Americans are curious about electric trucks, but low cost, durability come first -Reuters/Ipsos poll (Reuters), Ohio’s ‘Voltage Valley’ looks to develop workforce for electric vehicle industry (Energy News Network), is Lordstown the beginning of the end for EV startups? (E&E $), Lyft launches EV rental pilot program for ride-hail drivers in Northern California (Reuters), speeding up clean car sales can make EVs mainstream — group (E&E $), over hill, over dale: driving an EV on Colorado’s scenic byways (New York Times $)

FINANCE: Investors ‘bullish about US renewables market’ (reNEWS), Britain's biggest investor drops AIG, others from some funds over climate (Reuters), companies spend big on ESG investments, hoping for long-term payoff (Wall Street Journal $)

A CARBON EMITTING SERIES OF TUBES: How to cut the internet’s big carbon footprint (Yale Climate Connections) 

HEALTH: Following up with families from ‘Fractured,’ EHN’s fracking investigation in western Pennsylvania (Environmental Health News)

TRASH: Electronic waste will go down because of COVID, but for all the wrong reasons (Grist)

INTERNATIONAL: Tons of toxic cargo: How a fire aboard a container ship has caused one of the worst environmental disasters Sri Lanka has ever seen. (Washington Post $), ‘our fight is more visible’: Goldman environment prize winners see shift in political winds (The Guardian), EU court: Czechs want Poland fined for ignoring mine ban (AP), Spain hopes to jumpstart electric car industry with EU funds (Washington Post $)

• FERC points PJM toward a 21st-century reliability approach (Utility Dive, David Littell and Michael Hogan op-ed)
• How Biden can get the infrastructure bill through Congress (The Hill, Glenn Altschuler op-ed)
• Liberals start to draw the line on infrastructure negotiations (Washington Post, Peter Stevenson analysis $)
• Hydrogen isn't as clean as it seems (The Hill, Robert Howarth op-ed)
• Transcript: Climate Solutions: A Conversation with Sylvia Earle (Washington Post, Sylvia Earle op-ed $)

If Texas Goes Dark (Again), It’ll Likely Be Because Of Climate Change, Fossil Fuels and Deregulation (Again)

On Monday, Texans were asked to reduce their electricity usage during a heat wave this week, so that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) could ensure they had enough juice to keep the A/C’s on across the state through the (climate-changed) 90+ degree weather. 

Given that last time extreme weather caused a massively lethal blackout in Texas, fossil fuel fans prematurely blamed renewables, it’s likely they’ll do it again this week. Nevermind that it was false when they said it about Texas, and false when they said it about California last year, too. 

Edward Klump and Mike Lee of E&E contacted ERCOT, and spoke with its senior director of system planning Warren Lasher. He told them that while variability in renewable sources of power is “somewhat large,” it’s also “well-known,” so they can plan for it. 

But what’s unexpected “is the forced outages in the thermal [gas and coal] fleet.” It’s not the predictable swings of wind and solar power that’s causing issues, but the outages from nuclear and fossil fuel plants that seem to have caught them off guard—8,000 of the 11,000 MW of power generation that was down on Monday was thermal plants. (Wind, by contrast, was only down 1,500 MW, and is expected to pick up over the course of the week.) 

What is to blame? Lasher said they expect power plants “would be able to make their plants available under conditions such as this,” and the current failures are “not consistent with fleet performance over the past few summers.” 

Beyond the regular failures of fossil fuel infrastructure, Texas power plant operators may have learned an unfortunate lesson this year, when energy companies raked in millions and billions of dollars by nailing customers with five-figure energy bills — bills for which the state PUC lifted shutoff protections last week. 

Because the Texas grid is independent of a larger regional one, and is largely deregulated, it wouldn’t be difficult for unscrupulous companies to manipulate prices. Similar to how Enron did in California, if these companies shut off a power plant and declare it offline, prices will rise. Then, they can “fix” the plant to bring it back online and then sell their power at a much higher rate, explained energy economist Ed Hirs. “We teach this in school,” the University of Houston professor told E&E. 

Which just leaves the question of whether these thermal plants, whose supporters promote them over climate-friendly alternatives in part based on their supposed reliability, are going offline because they’re not actually reliable, or because their operators are deliberately exploiting Texas’s deregulated grid. Either way, it’s not a great look. 

ERCOT certainly wants to know, though, as Lasher told E&E they “will be doing a thorough investigation to understand what the issues are and to assess what the implications are for the grid.” 

Unfortunately, deniers aren’t exactly known for waiting around for the facts to come in…

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 ($)