FIRST LOOK:

Please join more than 150 representatives of American cities, states, companies, and institutions for a virtual press briefing TODAY. Leaders of the America is All In coalition will share insights from a series of conversations with lawmakers about investment in climate infrastructure. TODAY at 12:30 p.m. ET/ 9:30 a.m. PT

Continental US Bookended By Fires, Heavy Rain: Not to be outdone by the climate-fueled disasters broiling and incinerating the West, parts of the Mid-Atlantic have been deluged by torrential rain this week. As much as 10 inches of rain fell in less than 4 hours in southeastern Pennsylvania on Monday, prompting “widespread and life-threatening flash flooding," according to the National Weather Service. Extreme precipitation is a clear signal of human-caused climate change — warmer air can hold more moisture and can thus dump more water when it rains. As of Tuesday morning, New York City saw rain on 9 of the 13 days so far in July for a total of 8.49 inches, and Boston's month has been even wetter with 8.9 inches. Meanwhile, more than 14,000 firefighters across the Western U.S. are battling to contain blazes in sweltering heat. Both extreme heat and wildfires are also clear signals of climate change. Numerous fires in the Pacific Northwest threaten Native American lands, including in what is now north-central Washington where residents of Nespelem on the Colville Indian Agency were ordered to leave because of “imminent and life-threatening” danger from five wildfires ignited by dozens of lightning strikes Monday night. (Rain: NBC, AP; Firefighters: AP; Tribal lands: AP, KREM; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, Extreme heat and heatwaves, Wildfires)

Senate Dems Strike $3.5 Trillion Infrastructure Blueprint: Top Senate Democrats announced a $3.5 trillion infrastructure spending agreement Tuesday evening. The budget blueprint includes spending to address climate change and support health care and tax breaks for families. Democrats plan to pass the package, without Republican support, through the Senate process known as budget reconciliation, which prevents Republicans from stalling the legislation with the filibuster. (AP, New York Times $, The Hill, Politico)

Tribe, Utility Forge New Model For Transmission Line Ownership: The Morongo Band of Mission Indians will own the portion of a $740 million Southern California Edison transmission project that will carry renewable energy across tribal lands, Indian Country Today reports. The innovative agreement will enable the tribe to earn revenue from the transmission lines well into the future while saving SoCal Edison as much as $500 million in up front costs to acquire the right-of-way through the critical Banning Pass. (Indian Country Today)

Embattled Pipeline Developer Says It Will Offset Some Of Pipeline's Climate Pollution: Developers of the already behind schedule and over-budget Mountain Valley Pipeline are hoping to head off mounting opposition to the controversial 300-mile project by promising to "offset" the greenhouse gas pollution caused by the gas pipeline's future operations. The offsets will not cover any methane releases from the extraction of the gas in West Virginia, nor any climate pollution resulting from the combustion of that gas by eventual consumers. The Monday announcement follows news the EPA urged the Army Corps of Engineers to reject a key water permit for the pipeline over concerns about hundreds of stream and wetland crossings along the route. Environmental advocates panned the announcement as greenwashing. (Politico Pro $, Roanoke Times, Pittsburgh Business Times, Charleston Gazette-Mail)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Communities of color in Houston will face another hurricane season without adequate flood control (Texas Observer), ‘some crumbs’: critics urge rejection of $641M Flint deal (AP), study reveals extraordinary scope of urban heat disparities (Axios)

DEADLY HEAT: More migrant deaths recorded in heat along Arizona border (AP), Oregon heat wave victims older, lived alone, had no AC (AP), the heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest (New York Times, The Daily)

LANDFILL METHANE COLLAB: Your trash is emitting methane in the landfill. Here's why it matters for the climate (NPR), EPA struggles to track methane emissions from landfills. Here’s why it matters (InsideClimate News), three Central Florida landfills rank among nation’s top emitters of a potent greenhouse gas. But the numbers may be garbage (WMFE)

SCIENCE: These scientists linked June's heat wave to climate change in 9 days. Their work could revolutionize how we talk about climate (TIME), what you know about Trump’s assault on science was just the tip of the iceberg (Scientific American)

LIMETREE BAY: Justice Department files civil complaint against shuttered oil refinery (The Hill), troubled refinery bankrupt after EPA shutdown (E&E $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Juliana kids skip 'high-risk' Supreme Court trip (E&E $)

HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY: Climate change is fueling mass-casualty heat waves. Here’s why experts say we don’t view them as crises (CNN)

BUSINESS: New report suggests corporate climate change pledges aren’t that valuable (The Verge), report: corporate giants have been lobbying against their own emissions targets (Grist)

NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT: White House taps EPA scientist [Allison Crimmins] to write major climate report (Politico Pro $, Washington Post $, The Hill, E&E $)

COST/BENEFIT: Benefits of clean energy far outweigh costs, report shows (Marketplace)

PUBLIC OPINION: New polling by Bill Gates group shows popularity of clean tech spending (Axios)

EU & CHINA: China to launch the world’s largest emissions-trading program (Wall Street Journal $), Europe plans aggressive new laws to phase out fossil fuels (New York Times $, Reuters, Wall Street Journal $, AP, Politico Pro $), EU plans new social fund to shield citizens from carbon costs - draft (Reuters), what do the EU's new climate policies mean for Europe? (Reuters Factbox), Europe rolls out vision for a carbonless future, but big obstacles loom (New York Times $)

AGENCIES: Research shows how cities 'game' FEMA flood program (E&E $), US plans for jobs, justice hinge on mine cleanup, Haaland says (Bloomberg Law), EPA brings aboard new political appointees (E&E $), watchdog finds 'critical deficiencies' in DOE cyber office (E&E $), Biden blows past Trump in approving oil, gas drilling permits (Politico Pro $, E&E $), Energy Department targets vastly cheaper batteries to clean up the grid (New York Times $)

PUBLIC LANDS: This designer drew the internet’s worst reviews of National Parks (Roll Call), NPS mulls 'Free Britney' rally permit for Lincoln Memorial (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Treasury's Yellen says carbon pricing can work, with caveats (Reuters)

LAWSUITS: Greens press court to dump Trump WOTUS rule (E&E $)

DOESN'T TALK IT SWEARS: Exxon lobbyists paid the 6 Democrats named in sting video nearly $333,000 (HuffPost), centrist think tanks are raking in Exxon cash (New Republic)

HOUSE: Panel OKs $19B hike to fund Dem infrastructure efforts (E&E $), panel backs $1B boost for NOAA climate research, forecasting (E&E $), panel OKs energy-water bill over Republican objections (E&E $)

SENATE: The vulnerable Democrat who an infrastructure deal could save (Politico Pro $), Senate's 'quiet' climate hawk sells a CES to moderates (E&E $), Hill braces for 'twists and turns' as two-pronged push unfolds (E&E $)

INFRASTRUCTURE BILL(S): Senators work on dual infrastructure proposals with time running out before August recess (CBS), Biden changes up the messaging strategy around his infrastructure agenda (Politico), Democrats promised “no climate, no deal.” but they haven’t decided what that means. (Mother Jones), Manchin says Dems 'need to pay for' their multitrillion-dollar spending plans (Politico, New York Times $, Washington Post $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Committee awaits BLM pick's response to tree-spiking incident (E&E $), Senate confirms top cybersecurity nominee [Jen Easterly] (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: A $100 billion promise holds the Paris Agreement together. Now, it’s coming apart (Grist), Biden wanted a climate alliance with Europe. He's getting a fight. (Politico)

CITIES AND STATES: [Pennsylvania] governor’s power-plant carbon-pricing plan nears finish line (AP), lawsuit says Alabama blocking solar power with unfair fees (AP), Maine joins debate over how to define environmental justice (Energy News Network), NC takes steps on carbon cap, multi-state pollution effort (AP)

CALIFORNIA: Faulconer calls for ‘war footing’ to fight California fires (AP)

TEXAS: ERCOT president pushes tough new rules to overhaul Texas power grid, but challenges lie ahead (Houston Chronicle, Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: This mother lost her home and livelihood to rising seas. Now she has nowhere to go. (Nexus Media News), climate change is shrinking Italy's iconic Lake Como, and fast (CBS), fierce storm inundates London, causing flash flooding (New York Times $), how many 500-year floods must Detroit endure in a decade? (Grist), scientists warn of climate change dangers as extreme weather hits the US (NBC), the end of glacier guides in New Zealand? (Yale Climate Connections)

DROUGHT: Amid a megadrought, federal water shortage limits loom for the Colorado river (NPR)

WILDFIRES: Wildfire smoke is clogging skies in the Western US, Canada (Washington Post $), wildfires prompt mandatory evacuation of town of Nespelem [Washington] (AP), planes dump water on Siberian wildfires as residents plead for help (Reuters), Bootleg Fire, nation’s largest, grows to over 200,000 acres as evacuations expand to Lake County (The Oregonian), 'if you don't leave, you're dead': fleeing Oregon's bootleg fire (Yahoo)

HURRICANES: Company: insured losses from Elsa could be $290 million (AP)

FARM(WORKER)S: For Central Valley farmworkers, no escape from stifling heat (Mother Jones), farmers worry that their crops won't survive this summer's heat waves (NPR), the US wheat crop is in trouble (Earther)

GRID: Western officials reckon with reliability challenges as heat and 'wildcard' wildfire threaten grid (Utility Dive)

MOON WOBBLE: Moon’s wobble will intensify flooding along US coasts by the mid-2030s, research suggests (Earther, CBS)

RENEWABLES: Elon Musk defends Tesla solar deal in court, calls opposing lawyer ‘a bad human being’ (Washington Post $, Reuters), SPACs are helping tougher renewable businesses find the light (Wall Street Journal $), US ramps up warnings of business risks in China's Xinjiang region (Reuters)

BATTERIES: Battery startup SES to go public in $3.6 billion SPAC deal (Axios)

OIL & GAS: Shell abandons push for oil spill case to be heard in Nigeria (Bloomberg $), OPEC spat spotlights Saudi Arabia’s struggle to kick oil dependency (Wall Street Journal $), record natural gas prices give power markets a jolt (Wall Street Journal $), Shell unveils carbon capture project in Canada's Alberta province (Reuters), Tellurian terminates Total agreement on Louisiana Driftwood LNG plant (Reuters), wave of bullish oil bets drives big price moves (Wall Street Journal $)

PIPELINES: Line 3 and the canceled Keystone XL: How similar are they? (Energy News Network)

COAL: EU floats coal finance ban for OECD members (Politico Pro $)

HYDROGEN: How much renewables expansion is needed for a global green hydrogen economy? (Canary Media)

UTILITIES: Southern California Edison plans for 38,000 EV charging stations, in largest IOU effort of its kind (Utility Dive), Houston-based Rhythm to sell electricity plans supporting specific renewable projects (Houston Chronicle)

EVs: DOE researchers eye EV breakthrough in the lab — and factory (E&E $), Britain to ban all new diesel and petrol heavy goods vehicles from 2040 (Reuters)

PFAS: Chemical companies to pay Delaware $50 million over PFAS contamination (Politico Pro $), firefighters face hurdles in quest for PFAS-free gear (E&E $)

ACTIVISM: Tiktok for the planet (Atmos)

AVIATION: Universal Hydrogen in zero-carbon plane deals with Icelandair, others (Reuters), United Airlines, Mesa Air Group to buy 200 electric planes (Axios)

ARCHITECTURE: The climate-safe houses of the future (Earther)

CARBON PRICING: EU ready to roll out plans for first-ever carbon border tax (E&E $), Why pricing carbon is still more theory than reality (Bloomberg $)

FINANCE: How long do companies have to cut CO2? 6 years — report (E&E $)

OCEANS: Seagrass can help reduce ocean acidification at local scales (Yale Climate Connections)

INTERNATIONAL: Germany hikes 2030 power consumption forecast by at least 9% (Reuters), how will Brazil's energy privatization law affect climate change? (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Peru's indigenous tribes use tech tools to track Amazon deforestation (Thomson Reuters Foundation), why clearing Brazil's forests for farming can make it harder to grow crops (NPR)

• Equity and fair shares in a net-zero world (Yale Climate Connections, Tom Athanasiou commentary)
• Jeff Bezos is going to space as climate change threatens life on earth (Teen Vogue, Kandist Mallett op-ed)
• Rolling back Trump’s methane rules isn’t enough: we need a methane tax to buy time to decarbonize (Forbes, Mark Agerton, Ben Gilbert, and Jim Krane op-ed)
• The Green New Deal does not, strictly speaking, exist (The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer commentary)
• Direct air capture is a crucial bipartisan climate policy (The Hill, Carlos Curbelo and John Delaney op-ed)
• How Australia came to be ranked worst in the world on climate action (Washington Post, Tim Flannery op-ed $)

ExxonMobil and WSJ (Accidentally) Show Exactly Why Centrist Pundit’s ‘Climate Left’ Hippie Punching Is Stupid

On Monday, Substack blogger and professional centrist contrarian Matthew Yglesias took his latest ill-founded shot at the Sunrise Movement and the “climate left” for daring to push President Biden to do more on climate change. (He also gets big mad about implications that he’s maybe just a lil' racist, just because he’s so vocally anti- an anti-racist approach to climate politics.)

Since Yglesias’s strategy is to say wrong things just cheekily enough to drive engagement but still maintain a veneer as a Respectable Centrist Pundit, we won’t bother driving any further traffic to his feeds (though, if you must, here it is). But we will point out that there were other, more good faith attempts to understand Sunrise’s strategy for breaking neoliberalism, because privatization, deregulation and personal responsibility are concepts designed to elevate economic interests over the public welfare and therefore are fundamentally incompatible with addressing the size and scale of the climate crisis. And then Yglesias’s basic point — that the poorly-funded but highly energized Sunrise and other climate justice organizations are actually a potemkin village supported by funders but not the grassroots — is the complete opposite of reality, and, as Micah Sifry writes, shows “he is completely out of touch.” 

And indeed, one needn’t look far to find examples of how the centrist approach will fail, because it’s already failing, because it’s designed to fail. Meanwhile, the much-derided “climate left” policies of economic socialization are thriving. 

We know the moderate, centrist approach to climate action is designed to fail because one of its designers is the fossil fuel industry. As Kate Aronoff discusses, the ExxonMobil lobbyist recently exposed by Greenpeace described in great detail how the company funds explicitly centrist organizations. And while Brookings and the Center for Strategic and International Studies are certainly a far cry from Heartland or Heritage, as Aronoff concludes, ExxonMobil “is not pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars a year into centrist think tanks for fun. The oil giant already maintains an impressive official lobbying operation, and donates generously to politicians. But by funding the institutions that help define ideas about what constitutes a reasonable climate debate, the company may be exerting more influence over public discourse than the public realizes.” 

An even more compelling condemnation of the (white) centrist approach to climate politics of “let’s leave race and class out of it and just focus strictly on building renewables” is that such an approach doesn’t actually make it easier to build renewables.

A recent story in, of all places, the Wall Street Journal, shows why the sort of structural changes to our capitalist, white supremacist society that Sunrise calls for are necessary to build out the renewable energy infrastructure required to address the climate crisis. 

The Journal’s London reporter Benoit Faucon recently surprised us by covering local community protests against renewables in a relatively fair way, namely without gratuitous quotes from the fossil-fuel-funded groups that professionally oppose all renewable projects. 

But around the world, the fishing industry considers offshore wind farms a threat to their livelihood and often win concessions, while farmers and Indigenous communities can be displaced to make room for onshore wind and solar installations. The result is a relatively classic development dynamic, in which governments and industrial giants are seizing land and otherwise trampling local communities in the pursuit of profits (from renewable power). 

This is exactly the sort of dynamic that the “climate left” identifies as a major obstacle to the necessary build-out of renewable infrastructure. So what’s the answer? 

Faucon contrasts the protested power proposals in Colombia, Mexico, the US and UK with successful projects in South Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany. The difference? “Local residents are being given stakes in clean-energy projects.” South Korean residents of wind farm counties have gotten 30% of the shares “which could yield as much as $270 million in annual dividends, according to government estimates.” In the more decidedly democratic socialist states of Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, 75% to “90% of wind farms are community-owned in some regions and their dividends make a significant contribution to pensions.” 

Socializing the renewable energy industry by giving local communities a stake in the profits is exactly the sort of “radical” policy that neoliberal status-quo-above-all-else centrists claim are unrealistic. Unfortunately for them — and all of us, really — the only thing that's unrealistic is the durability of the status quo.

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