FIRST LOOK

Please join a media briefing highlighting the findings on methane in the IPCC WGI report THIS MORNING at 10:30 EDT. Experts include: Rick Duke, Sr. Advisor and White House liaison for the Spec. Pres. Advisor on Climate Change; Dr. Ilissa Ocko, Sr. Climate Scientist at EDF; and Lisa DeVille of the Dakota Resource Council. 

IPCC Confirms Human Causation Of Climate Change, Warns Of Narrowing Window For Action: An alarming new IPCC report released this morning confirms, with "unequivocal" certainty, that the climate change causing the devastating phenomena hammering the globe is driven by human-sourced greenhouse gas pollution. While some impacts of climate change are now locked in due to past inaction, it also shows humanity can avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change with dramatic action. “This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet,” António Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned: “[This report] is a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable." Climate change, the report confirms, is fueling heat waves, intensifying droughts, stoking wildfire weather, supercharging tropical cyclones, increasing extreme rainfall, and driving coastal flooding. These disasters, exacerbated by the 2°F (1.1°C) of warming that has already occurred, represent the real-time cost of political inaction on climate change. The report also underlines the imperative of limiting warming to 2.7°F (1.5°C), warning of skyrocketing impacts as temperatures continue to rise — extreme heat waves will occur 14 times as often than they did in the past if warming rises to 3.6°F (2°C), for example. It remains possible to stabilize global average temperature below 1.5°C. Doing so, however, will require strict, rapid, and sustained reductions in carbon and methane pollution. “It’s now become actually quite obvious to people what is happening, because we see it with our own eyes,” Corinne Le Quéré, a professor of climate science at the University of East Anglia and a contributor to the report, told The Washington Post. “You don’t have to have a PhD. You don’t need to be a climate scientist. You just need to be a person who looks out the window.” (Washington Post $, New York Times $, NPR, Bloomberg $, CBS, The Guardian, CNN, E&E $, HuffPost, Buzzfeed, ABC, Clean Technica, AP, Fast Company, Axios, BBC, Boston Globe $, Brisbane Times, CNBC, CNET, CNN, Daily Beast, Deutsche Welle, Earther, FT $, InsideClimate News, Business Insider, AFP, National Geographic, NBC, Our Daily Planet, Politico Pro $, Quartz, Phys.org, Reuters, Reuters, The Conversation, The Conversation, The Hill, The Independent, The Independent, USA Today, The Verge, Wall Street Journal $, WBUR, Wired, Irish Times, Texas News Today, Evening Standard); Explainers: Yale Climate Connections, Washington Post $, AP, Bloomberg $; Commentary: TIME, Michael Mann op-ed

Dixie Fire Grows To Second-Largest In Calif. History: The Dixie Fire ballooned in size over the weekend, polluting air quality to dangerous levels across the West. The fire, the 6th-largest on record in California history just last Thursday is now the second-largest fire in California history and the state's largest-ever single-source fire with nearly 500,000 acres burned as of Sunday evening. At least five people are currently missing though that number could grow as residents, some armed, refuse to evacuate. Heat and drought, both of which are being made worse by human-caused climate change, have dried out the fire's fuel sources, leading to "fire activity that even veteran firefighters haven’t seen in their career,” Edwin Zuniga, a spokesman for Cal Fire told The Washington Post. “We're just in really uncharted territory.” Smoke from fires in California and across the West has dangerously polluted air in multiple major cities, including Denver and Salt Lake City where air quality levels were among the worst in the world. That smoke, ironically, kept the fire from growing even faster over the weekend, but conditions are likely to clear and become more dangerous in the coming days. (Washington Post $, New York Times $, Politico, Axios, NBC, ABC, CNN, BBC, NPR, NBC, The Hill; Evacuation refusal: LA Times $, New York Times $; Air quality: AP, KUTV, 9-NEWS Denver, AP, Washington Post $; Fire conditions: AP; Climate Signals background: 2021 Western wildfire season, Drought)

Exxon Suspended From Carbon Tax Group It Helped Found: The Climate Leadership Council suspended ExxonMobil's membership in the group it helped found, Bloomberg and others reported Friday. CLC's decision to suspend Exxon's membership follows leaked audio of an Exxon lobbyist boasting that the oil major publicly supported a carbon tax — the main policy goal of the CLC — because it believed such a tax would never be enacted and its support is "a great talking point." Exxon was already under mounting pressure to prove its climate proclamations were more than greenwashing — especially given the defeat of three management-backed candidates in May by nominees put forward by an activist hedge fund — and is reportedly considering a plan to reach net-zero carbon pollution by 2050. (CLC suspension: Bloomberg $, E&E $, Axios, Politico Pro $, The Hill; 2050: Wall Street Journal $, E&E $, Earther)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: In three predominantly Black North Birmingham neighborhoods, residents live inside an environmental ‘nightmare’ (InsideClimate News), what do at-risk communities in the Pacific Northwest need to survive the changing climate? (Prism Reports), ‘lynchings in Mississippi never stopped’ (Washington Post $)

COP26: For a new global climate deal, all eyes are on COP26 (Bloomberg $), the world is on the brink of ‘catastrophe,’ leader of next UN climate talks warns (CNN)

OLYMPICS: ‘Hottest games ever’: At the Tokyo Olympics, elite sport met the climate crisis (Climate Home), [World Athletics president] says climate change could affect sports calendars (AP, Reuters), why the Olympics and sport will never be the same (Thomson Reuters Foundation), athletes break down under extreme heat at the Olympics (Earther photos)

RELEVANT ADVICE: How to fight climate despair (Vox)

ACTIVISM: The environmental justice logic behind Cori Bush’s fight for the eviction moratorium (Grist)

(MORE) DIXIE FIRE: ‘Where do I go?’: Thousands flee as Dixie Fire morphs into third-largest blaze in California’s history (Washington Post $), firefighters on the front lines of the Dixie Fire don't know if their own homes are still standing (CNN), six of California’s seven largest wildfires have erupted in the past year (Washington Post $), ‘nothing’s safe’ as wildfire tears through California town (AP)

GREEK WILDFIRES: Wildfires continue to rage across Greece, cutting island in half and forcing thousands to flee (Earther, AP, The Hill, Reuters), wildfires roar back to life near Athens as heat fans flames (Reuters, AP)

SIBERIAN WILDFIRES: One of the coldest places on Earth is on fire (Wall Street Journal $, AP), Russia evacuates 2 villages in Siberia because of wildfires (AP)

MASS GRAVES: Heatwave turns already arid Kazakh steppe into mass grave for horses (Reuters, Washington Post $)

FERC: More than 400 advocacy groups ask Biden to appoint environmentalist to energy commission (The Hill), the key climate appointment Biden hasn’t announced (American Prospect), appeals court hands FERC partial loss in market manipulation case (Politico Pro $), Midwest pipeline seeks reversal of court FERC ruling (E&E $)

AGENCIES: Regulators refuse to step in as workers languish in extreme heat (Politico)

EPA: EPA union to Congress: We need 20,000 workers (E&E $)

DOI: BLM senior staff shuffling begins; Alaska director out (E&E $)

LAWSUITS: DOJ urges Supreme Court to reject challenge to EPA authority (E&E $)

THE HILL: Republicans slam Biden car rule, predict higher costs (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate bill would help territories address climate change (E&E $), Senate Dems rallying behind Biden’s $3.5T budget vision (AP)

BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL: The infrastructure bill promises construction work. One amendment could open that up to more women (The 19th* News), Senate infrastructure bill slowed in last lap by lone Republican (Politico Pro $), White House emphasizes clean bus provisions in bipartisan infrastructure plan (Axios)

POLITICS: It’s never been easier to call your Senators and demand climate action (Earther), GOP Senate candidates align with Trump in bashing bipartisan infrastructure bill (CNN)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: USDA nominee pledges more work on fire-prone forests (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Inside the showdown between UN climate science and global politics (Bloomberg $), Argentina plans Latin America climate summit for next month (Bloomberg $)

CITIES AND STATES: California, New York, and Texas win big in new Biden climate grants (E&E $), what a Cuomo impeachment would mean for climate action in New York (The River)

CALIFORNIA: Big battle looms over California water rights (CAL Matters)

TEXAS: Texas grapples with gas, grid failures behind winter blackout (E&E $)

IMPACTS: Third hottest July ever shows how even modest global warming looks (Bloomberg $), what’s going on with extreme weather? (New York Times explainer $), 'we can see the impacts of climate change playing out now in real time': Michael Mann (ABC), allergy season is now more than a week longer, thanks to climate change (Yale Climate Connections), Colorado mudslides wreak havoc on major transportation route (AP), dead zones spread along Oregon coast and Gulf of Mexico, study shows (The Guardian)

HEAT: 4 issues to watch as heat disrupts the grid (E&E $), heat and COVID-19 pushed people into health emergencies (E&E $)

DROUGHT, NORTH AMERICA: California hydropower plant shuts down as a key reservoir drops to record low (Earther, CNN), Canada’s drought is forcing farmers to make once-unthinkable choices (New York Times $), from a raft in the Grand Canyon, the West’s shifting water woes come into view (InsideClimate News), how the California megadrought is affecting food prices (Earther), recreation at risk as Lake Powell dips to historic low (E&E $)

DROUGHT, ELSEWHERE: Drought compounds humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as conflict intensifies (Reuters), drought hits South America river, threatening vast ecosystem (AP)

WILDFIRES, US: In a summer of smoke, a small town wonders: ‘How are we going to do better than survive?’ (Washington Post $), [Berkely, CA] advises evacuating wildfire hotspot at first sign of danger (Bloomberg $), reconsidering outdoor travel in the west, as wildfires burn (New York Times $), summer smoke might be the new normal in Colorado (CNN)

WILDFIRES, CANADA: Second western Canada town destroyed by ‘exceedingly aggressive’ wildfire (The Guardian), ‘I came home to fight for my land’: First Nations battle Canada blaze that displaced them (The Guardian), Spurred by strong winds, aggressive fire at White Rock Lake jumps highway, burns homes (CBC)

GERMAN FLOODS: Germany’s wine country counts cost of devastating summer floods (FT $), after deadly floods, a German village rethinks its relationship to nature (New York Times $)

HURRICANES: Tropics awaken with two disturbances to watch in Atlantic (Washington Post $), Tropical Storm Kevin gains force in eastern Pacific (AP)

OCEAN CURRENTS RUN AMOC: A crucial ocean circulation is showing signs of instability. Its shutdown would have serious impacts on our weather (CNN, The Hill), how worried should you be about a key Atlantic current collapsing? (Earther)

SUBLIME: Snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere in hot, dry weather (The Conversation)

SCIENTISTS: This is why even scientists underestimate climate change (Bloomberg $)

RENEWABLES: A battle of green against green in this Texas community (Washington Post $), how a federal agency is blocking America’s largest wind farm (LA Times $), Saudi Arabia's first wind farm starts power generation (S&P Global), wind farm developer plans to bring manufacturing back to Baltimore’s Sparrows Point (Washington Post $)

OIL & GAS: The era of cheap natural gas ends as prices surge by 1,000% (Bloomberg $), Uganda pins hopes on burgeoning oil industry (FT $)

COAL: Canada blocks proposed Rocky Mountain coal mine on environmental grounds (Reuters), [German] activists [In Germany] form human chain demanding exit from coal mining (AP)

HYDROGEN: Entergy touts hydrogen as tool to meet industrial customers' green goals (Utility Dive), UK must double hydrogen output to reach net zero carbon target, say energy groups (FT $)

UTILITIES: California's biggest utility plans to bury 10,000 miles of power lines. How much will that cost residents? (Canary Media), Duke Energy's renewable portfolio hits 10,000 MW as utility reports Q2 earnings (Utility Dive), Exelon sets net-zero goal; warns it’s closing nuclear plants (E&E $, Utility Dive), Judge demands PG&E explain potential role in start of Dixie Fire (Mercury News, Redding Record-Searchlight, Washington Post $, Axios, The Guardian)

CO-OPS: Renewables are fast replacing coal, except in rural America (Wall Street Journal $)

EVs: Biden’s EV plan: Details, drama and doubts (E&E $), carmakers’ EV pledge gives burned environmentalists deja vu (Bloomberg $), Biden’s race to electrify cars lags Calif., Europe (E&E $), how Biden’s EV plan could help Tesla and squeeze Toyota (New York Times $), the long road to Biden's electric vehicle goal (Axios), Biden’s electric-car ambitions face real-world roadblocks (Wall Street Journal $), sales of hybrid cars are surging. That’s a good sign for the future of electric vehicles, experts say (Washington Post $)

AVIATION: Unlikely ingredient for clean jet fuel: Recycled CO2 (E&E $)

AGRICULTURE: 'It is costing us': crop insurance takes hit from climate (E&E $), weed’s dirty secret: It’s an energy villain (Politico Pro $), Yurok Tribe grows solutions in soil of crises (Indian Country Today)

FINANCE: Climate laggards could ‘let down’ Lloyd’s of London (FT $)

GRETA: IPCC report: Greta Thunberg says world ‘must be brave’ to overcome climate emergency (The Independent)

WILDLIFE: ‘Olympian’ bat’s flight offers climate change clues (AP), the case against the concept of biodiversity (Vox), invasive insects and plants spread northward (Wall Street Journal $)

INTERNATIONAL: Cenovus chief urges Trudeau to pay for greening of Canada’s oil sands (FT $), Europe really wants to fight climate change. So why are other countries so unhappy? (Washington Post $), millions of children go hungry in insurgency-hit northeast Nigeria (Reuters)

• The bipartisan infrastructure deal is a return to the old way of politics. That’s a problem for the climate (TIME, Michael Mann op-ed)
• The exodus of federal scientists puts our safety and health at risk (The Hill, Jacob Carter op-ed)
• A labor leader is gone, and the road ahead for unions is steep (New York Times, Steven Greenhouse column $)
• You eat meat from factory farms. Why not a lab? (Bloomberg, Amanda Little column $)
• Fracking in Pennsylvania used toxic ‘forever chemicals’ as Pa. officials maintain willful ignorance (Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial Board)
• President Biden’s electric car plan is missing this key policy (Washington Post, Editorial Board $)
• The news is bad – so take care of yourselves (Hot Take, Georgia Wright)
• Climate science may change minds. Climate sadness can change hearts. (Washington Post, Emily Balcetis commentary $)
• Cause of Dixie Fire raises a familiar question: When will PG&E get its act together? (San Francisco Chronicle, J.D. Morris column)
• Sooner or later, climate change is coming for your wallet (Barron's, Jennifer Marlon and Bianca Taylor op-ed)
• Business must scrutinise three areas of UN climate report (FT, Leslie Hook op-ed $)

Can Hate Speech Laws Be Adapted To Protect Scientists From Organized Attacks? Do  They Need To Be? 

On Friday, a post on Watts Up With That caught our eye with the headline Science Journal Demands ‘Hate Crime’ Laws to Shield Scientists from Public Criticism.

Did the storied peer-reviewed journal Science write an editorial throwing its weight behind a call for hate crime laws to make scientists uncriticizable? 

No, not at all. 

It’s a opinion piece in PLOS Biology by Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher who wrote about the “mounting antiscience aggression in the United States.” Hotez details how attacks on scientists are coming from “far-right extremism,” festering in conservative media but really boosted by “a band of ultraconservative members of the US Congress and other public officials with far-right leanings” who are “waging organized and seemingly well-coordinated attacks against prominent US biological scientists. In parallel, conservative news outlets repeatedly and purposefully promote disinformation designed to portray key American scientists as enemies.” 

The result is that many scientists “receive threats via email and on social media, while some are stalked at home, to create an unprecedented culture of antiscience intimidation.” 

Hotez then goes over how Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green, Ron Johnson, Madison Cawthorn, Lauren Boebert and others in the GOP have targeted vaccine researchers and public health experts with a deliberate campaign of aggression that will certainly sound familiar to anyone who’s spent some time at the intersection of climate science and conservative politics. 

Hotez suggests two steps to stop the aggression. The first is a statement of support from the President and other science leaders, which isn’t going to do anything to stop Republicans from attacking public health figures, but would be some nice kudos for the scientists. 

The second thing Hotez offers is that “we should look at expanded protection mechanisms for scientists currently targeted by far-right extremism in the United States,” like Rep. Paul Tonko’s Scientific Integrity Act of 2021, which Hotez notes “needs to be extended for scientists at private research universities and institutions.” 

He then, in a single sentence before his concluding thoughts, added that “still another possibility is to extend federal hate-crime protections.” 

Ah hah! So the supposed “Science Journal” “demand” to “shield scientists from public criticism” is in reality a single scientist’s single-sentence suggestion that a possibility to protect scientists from an organized campaign of harassment by powerful US lawmakers and far-right media would be to extend hate-crime protections. 

The Hotez opinion piece doesn’t dive into the certainly debatable question of whether scientists should be considered a protected class, or if there are perhaps more simple ways to cut off disinformation from the public sphere, or what a theoretical expansion of hate speech laws to cover scientists might even look like. 

That doesn’t matter to deniers though, because obviously they don’t care what the content is actually about, they have outrage to generate for a hybrid conservative and social media ecosystem that rewards engagement at any cost.  

Which is, perhaps, itself the larger problem that really needs to be addressed.

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