FIRST LOOK:

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Lake Powell Water Levels Fall to Lowest on Record: Lake Powell fell to just 33% capacity Monday, marking the lowest level on record, in large part due to a climate-change driven drought in the region. The reservoir, which is the country’s second largest, is fed by the Colorado River and provides water for more than 40 million people across the region, including farmers, ranchers and native communities. Reduced snowpack, dry winters, and extreme heat are all worsening the region’s megadrought and contributing to the reservoir’s decline. Lake Mead, another critical reservoir along the Colorado River, also reached historic lows last month. The Colorado River’s flow has decreased 20% over the past century, half of which was due to climate change, and it could decrease by as much as 30% come mid-century. The low levels at both Lake Mead and Lake Powell are threatening the ability of the Glen Canyon Dam, a hydroelectric power plant, to supply power to several Western states. Federal officials are expected to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River for the first time next month, triggering cutbacks next year in Arizona and Nevada. "Over time, cities are going to need to conserve more and more water, and that doesn't get any easier with climate change,” John Fleck, the director of the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico, told CNN. (CNN, KUNC, AZ Central, Gizmodo, Las Vegas Review Journal, KDVR, Axios; Climate Signals background: Drought)    

Lawyer Steven Donziger Found Guilty by System Set Against Him: Environmental lawyer Steven Donziger was found guilty of criminal contempt by U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska Monday for refusing a judge’s order to hand over evidence. In 2011, Donziger won a $9.5 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador on behalf of Indigenous residents and farmers for pollution damage Texaco, an oil company Chevron bought in 2000, did to the Amazon rainforest. In 2014, that ruling was invalidated by a U.S. district judge who found Donziger was involved in racketeering, fraud and other misconduct. The judge granted Chevron seizure of Donziger’s laptop and phone, and when he appealed this, he was charged with contempt and placed under house arrest. The case has been marked by rule bending and bias. For example, when federal prosecutors declined to take the case, a private law firm that has represented Chevron moved to prosecute Donziger, a first for the American judiciary system. Additionally, Judge Preska was hand-picked by the judge who ruled on the 2014 case, rather than being randomly assigned as is standard. Preska is also an advisor to the Federalist Society, which receives major donations from Chevron. Donziger has been under house arrest for the past two years and now faces up to six months in prison. However, Donziger has said he will appeal the ruling on the basis that he did not receive a fair trial. (Gizmodo, Guardian, Reuters $, AP, Wall Street Journal $, Bloomberg $) 

EPA Moves to Undo Trump’s Coal Wastewater Rollback: The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is kicking off a new rulemaking process to pass stricter requirements for how coal power plants dispose of wastewater, undoing a major rollback implemented in the last year of the Trump administration. Wastewater pollution from coal plants is poured into nearby rivers and streams and often contains toxic metals including arsenic, lead and mercury, which seriously harm marine life and have been linked to cancer, heart disease and other health problems. Despite the change, the Biden administration said it does not plan to immediately reinstate the stricter requirements that were in effect before the rollback, and instead will allow the current system to stay in place while working to strengthen those rules. The administration said it feared asking a court to revert back to the pre-Trump standard, put in place by former President Obama in 2015, because it could result in reverting to a previous, even more lax 1982 standard. However, by not enforcing stricter rules now, toxic wastewater can continue flowing into waterways for several more years. “If their timeline is 2024, that’s four years of damage,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Washington post. “The industry is getting the better end of the deal out of this.” (Washington Post $, CNN, Reuters $, New York Times $, Bloomberg Law $, Courthouse News, The Independent)

DUST STORM:A dust storm caused one of the deadliest car crashes in Utah ever (Vice), deadly dust storm another reminder of extreme heat and drought scorching West (Deseret News), how are the Utah dust storms linked to the climate crisis? (The Independent)

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: California’s largest wildfire is burning near scarred communities (New York Times $), reducing California’s wildfire risk (Grist), California’s Dixie fire has now burned an area the size of New York City (Gizmodo), photos show scorched earth and destruction as California battles one of the largest wildfires in state history (Insider), scenes from America’s largest wildfire (New York Times $), firefighters struggling to contain Northern California’s Dixie Fire (NBC), California's largest wildfire overwhelms firefighters (CBS), scenes from America’s largest wildfire (New York Times $), fires continue to rage in Oregon, Northern California (Wall Street Journal $), as two California wildfires merge and a small community is threatened, firefighters face dangerous conditions (CNN), going to be a long haul': Massive Dixie Fire merges with Fly Fire, tears through small town as California burns (USA Today), massive luxury property planned in Northern California, but is it a fire risk? (NBC)

LAWSUITS: A solar company is suing to stop the U.S.’s first big offshore wind project (Gizmodo)

G20: The G20 nations couldn’t agree on the only climate goal that really matters (Quartz), countries deadlocked on need to phase out coal-fired power at close of key climate meeting (The Independent), strained G20 climate talks could yet deliver progress on coal (Reuters), G20 climate and energy ministers split over coal exit (Climate Home)

COP26: COP26 climate summit president says progress made, but not enough (BBC), governments must agree to end use of coal power, says UK’s COP26 president (The Guardian)

UN: Climate change, conflict are driving world hunger, inequality: UN chief (The Hill), UN chief: World hunger worsened by climate change, conflict (New York Post), climate change and conflict are fueling poverty and food prices, UN chief says (PBS NewsHour)

CLEAN ELECTRICITY STANDARD: Democrats hope to pass a clean energy standard that will force utilities to go green (CBS)

CHINA: As China boomed, it didn’t take climate change into account. Now it must (New York Times $), China blames U.S. for "stalemate" in first high-level meeting since Alaska (Axios), ‘the sky has fallen': Chinese farmers see livelihoods washed away by floods (Reuters), China avoids coal projects in belt and road for first time (Bloomberg $), ‘what can we do?’ Chinese discuss role of climate crisis in deadly floods (The Guardian), why giant coal mines are part of China’s plan to reduce its dependence on coal (Quartz)

DENIAL: As Jeff Bezos stresses climate change, Amazon promotes books saying it’s fake (LA Times $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Senior U.S. official visits China, in small thaw of relations with Beijing (Washington Post $)

CITIES AND STATES: This is why New Orleans suffers from the worst heat island effect in the U.S. (Times-Picayune), this Vermont utility is revolutionizing its power grid to fight climate change. Will the rest of the country follow suit? (TIME), Baker administration pushes legislature for climate resiliency funds (WBUR), rich New Jersey shore enclave says no to climate-change rail project (Bloomberg $)

IMPACTS: Heat dome expands across U.S. as monsoon rains drench Southwest (Washington Post $), in aftermath of German floods, fires burn in southern Europe as rains drench London (Washington Post $), drought, wildfires forcing cattle ranchers to sell off cows they can no longer feed (Newsweek), new ‘destructive’ level of extreme weather alert to be texted to phones from next month (The Independent), floods, heat, then floods again: England is battered by wild weather (New York Times $), a hunger crisis forces Guatemalans to choose: migration or death (National Geographic), toxic algae bloom on Florida's coast ravages marine life: "This is an absolute nightmare" (CBS), great Salt Lake’s water levels drop to historic low (Las Vegas Review Journal)

HEAT: Huge ‘heat dome’ expected to bring punishing temperatures to the US. Again (Grist), when will it get too hot for the body to survive? (Slate), why has western heat been so intense? it boils down to 5 reasons (Yahoo), more frequent, extreme heat waves linked to workplace injuries (Marketplace), why was Pacific Northwest heat off the charts? Recent research offers clues (New York Times $), record-breaking heat has led to widespread power outages in the Middle East (NPR), scorching temperatures and an incoming tropical storm the latest obstacles for Tokyo Olympics (ABC), more record-shattering heat waves are likely on the way due to climate change, scientists say (Good Morning America, The Verge, The Guardian )

INDIA MONSOON: India monsoon flooding death toll climbs (Wall Street Journal $), scores die in India as monsoon rains swamp towns and send boulders tumbling (New York Times $), climate change behind excessive rains, floods, landslides across India; such events to become new normal: experts (Weather Channel)

DROUGHT: The western drought is a crisis for migrating birds, too (Bloomberg $), yet another lake in the Western U.S. drops to record-low water levels (NBC)

WILDFIRES: The climate change link to more and bigger wildfires (NPR), as wildfires worsen, firefighters are on the front lines of climate change (CNN), wildfire risk to surge with shift in Southwest monsoon (USA Today), at least 85 wildfires torch 1.5m acres across drought-hit US West (The Guardian), wildfires ravage Sardinia in ‘a disaster without precedent’ (New York Times $), rain brings crucial help against wildfire in Northeast Spain (AP), as wildfires worsen, firefighters are on the front lines of climate change (CNN), oh good, now there's an outbreak of wildfire thunderclouds (Wired), wildfire season is not as deadly as in recent years - but there's plenty to worry about (San Francisco Chronicle)

GLOBAL FLOODING: Floods in London are the latest sign big cities aren't ready for climate change (CNN), flash floods will be more common as climate crisis worsens, say scientists (The Guardian), Southern Europe battles wildfires as North cleans up after floods (Reuters), Myanmar floods, coup, complicate growing COVID-19 outbreak (Reuters), global shipping industry disrupted again, this time by floods in Europe and China (CNBC), much power restored in Western Germany after floods, 5,800 still cut off (Reuters)

US FLOODING: 3 dead, 1 missing after Colorado flood in area burned by wildfire (Washington Post $, CNN), intense flooding turns roads into rivers in Southern Nevada (Yahoo), Southwest monsoon rain bringing drought relief – but also dangerous flooding (USA Today)

BELGIAN FLOODING: Belgian party calls for investigation into deadly floods (PBS NewsHour), cars swept away as Belgian town hit by worst floods in decades (The Guardian)

FISH: Warming rivers in U.S. West killing fish, imperiling industry (NBC, AP), for first time, U.S. fishing law could include climate focus (E&E $)

AIR POLLUTION: How India’s air pollution crisis impacts the poor (Forbes)

SMOKE: Air quality alert issued for parts of Mass. as smoke from wildfires hovers over region (Boston Globe $), the impacts of wildfire smoke, and why you should pay attention to air quality alerts (KOAA), air quality affected by smoke from wildfires in West, Canada (AP), ‘this is alarming': Wildfire smoke chokes Lake Tahoe Basin (San Francisco Chronicle), historic climate fires create dangerous air quality throughout the U.S. (NBC)

RENEWABLES: Eni expands its clean energy business with wind, solar deals (Bloomberg $)

HYDROGEN: Big oil companies push hydrogen as green alternative, but obstacles remain (Wall Street Journal $)

EVs: Tesla poised for record earnings as it navigates global chip shortage (Wall Street Journal $) 

ACTIVISM: Greenpeace gets two new top lawyers amid climate change fight (Bloomberg Law)

CARBON TAX: John Kerry on border carbon tax: the U.S. doesn't want to push others away (TIME)

CARS: For second round of Volkswagen spending, N.C. looks to shift gears (Energy News Network)

PLASTIC: Insatiable demand for all things plastic has ethane skyrocketing (Bloomberg $)

BACHELOR FRANCHISE: The Bachelor’s commitment to excess is killing the planet (Gizmodo)

FINANCE: Fidelity to vote against climate, diversity laggards next year (Bloomberg $)

LABOR: US energy transition presents organized labor with new opportunities, but also some old challenges (InsideClimate News)

SHIPPING: What’s the true cost of shipping all your junk across the ocean? (Grist)

DINOSAURS: This dinosaur had an built-in AC inside its head (The Hill)

AI: Artificial intelligence could dramatically speed up climate action (Bloomberg $)

INTERNATIONAL: Britain’s climate defences need a flood of cash (The Independent)

• Vulnerable people need to be front and center in state’s climate crisis plans (CAL Matters, Nancy L. Cohen op-ed)
• Western drought highlights need for action to reduce wildfire risk (US News & World Report, Jonathan Wood op-ed)
• How do we manage a hotter reality and deadly heatwaves? (The Hill, Kristie L. Ebi, Howard Frumkin, and Jeremy Hess op-ed)
• The California salmon wipeout is even worse than you think (LA Times, Editorial Board $)
• A path to climate, economic and environmental justice is finally on the horizon (The Hill, John Podesta And Michele Roberts op-ed)
• This is how extreme weather events and climate change are connected (The Hill, Gary Yohe op-ed)
• Biden and Congress are so close to a grand plan for climate action and economic recovery (USA Today, Mitchell Bernard op-ed)
• Heat waves, wildfires, floods — what’s with all the extreme weather?  (LA Times, Ned Kleiner op-ed $)
• Humanity is caught in a doom loop (Bloomberg, Mark Gongloff op-ed $)
• A new national climate army (Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board $)

Did Exxon Stop Funding Heartland, Or Is It Just Using Shadowy Orgs To Fund Other Shadowy Orgs?  

Yesterday we talked about the Heartland Institute’s Jim Lakely taking umbrage at the mention that the organization might be a shadowy group ExxonMobil has used to spread climate disinformation. After taking issue with two points, Lakely objected to the idea that the hundreds of thousands of dollars Exxon gave Heartland between 1998 and 2006 had anything to do with the organization’s climate (denial) efforts in the years since.

Lakely points to the climate (denial) conferences the organization has convened, and climate (denial) reports published, and claims that “none of that work, spanning decades, was due to any financial support from Exxon.” 

Well, his next sentence admits that, yes, “Exxon was a donor to Heartland, from 1998 to 2006,” but downplays that the company’s “contributions of about $50,000 never exceeded more than 5 percent of our annual budget.” Which is probably true, given that Heartland was busy taking money from the tobacco industry, among others. (And in case you’re wondering, yes, they’re clearly still working on the issue.)  

But he admits they got some money from Exxon, so what did Heartland do with it? Surely Exxon was getting something in return?  

Lakely does not disclose what work Heartland did with the funding Exxon provided. What he says instead is that after Exxon ended its funding to Heartland in 2006, the organization still worked on the climate issue. 

So Lakely really wants us to know that it’s not Exxon who funded a bunch of their recent climate denial. But Carter wasn’t talking about their recent work, as just prior to mentioning Heartland he was talking about how “the most interesting thing” he found from the sting was “the admission that day regarding Exxon’s battle against early climate science.” And then contrasting those early efforts (where they used Heartland as part of “this vast network of think tanks and other pressure groups”) Carter went on to say that he thinks “what Exxon does now is work through groups like the American Petroleum Institute or American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers” to advance their interests. 

Now the question is, if Exxon isn’t funding the group’s current climate denial efforts, then who is? Well, know that despite the financial hit the organization took as a result of an alleged mismanagement of funds by its former president, Heartland’s gotten plenty of dirty money in recent years. It gets millions from various conservative billionaires like surge protector magnate (?) Barre Seid and the the Insurrection-y Mercers, plus funds concealed through the “dark-money ATM” of DonorsTrust, which we know Heartland uses to hide its donors because they were caught on camera offering to do exactly that when an undercover investigator asked. 

But on top of that, in 2017 Heartland got $75,000 from none other than the group Carter mentioned as Exxon’s newest tool, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. 

Okay, so Heartland isn’t necessarily one of the shadowy groups that ExxonMobil is funding to lobby officials and propagate climate denial. Instead Lakely wants us to know that it was funded by ExxonMobil, and it does lobby officials and propagate climate (dis)information. 

And then folks should be careful to note that the funding that supports Heartland's more recent efforts to lobby officials and propagate denial isn’t still coming from ExxonMobil, but instead came from one of the other shadowy groups ExxonMobil funds to lobby officials and propagate climate denial.

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