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PR Firms Played Outsized Role In Blocking Climate Action, Study Finds: Top PR firms have played a significant and overlooked role in denying and obfuscating the science of climate change while bolstering the reputations of major polluters, a peer-reviewed study in Climatic Change reveals. Researchers analyzed more than 2,800 "unique engagements" between PR firms and entities within five groups: the coal, steel and rail sector; the oil and gas industry; the electric utility sector; the renewable energy industry; and the environmental movement. Utilities and the oil and gas sector hired PR firms the most, and the environmental movement hired PR firms the least. While the fossil fuel industry's denial of climate science, efforts to shift responsibility for climate change to consumers, and obstruction of action to address climate change are well documented, "PR people become these kinds of glue or network builders among all of these different industries, and so their power is outsize[d] in that way," Melissa Aronczyk, a media studies professor at Rutgers University, told E&E. "How else would these different industries kind of speak to each other?" (E&E $, DeSmog) 

Climate Change Exacerbating Housing Crisis In UK: People experiencing homelessness are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, UK housing charities warn. Leaders of the UK's three largest housing charities warned the crisis, accentuated by acute dangers like flooding and heatwaves, highlights the need for housing justice and slashing climate pollution. The exceptional danger posed by climate change to people experiencing homelessness is not limited to the UK.  "We urgently need a guarantee, including funding, to get everyone off the streets to protect them from our increasingly extreme weather,” Polly Neate, head of Shelter, warned. “It’s clear the climate emergency is only making the housing emergency worse. Already, people who are sleeping rough are feeling the awful effects of flooding and heatwaves, while the fossil fuel energy price hike means many people are having to choose between heating their homes or paying their rent.” (The Guardian)

Billy Barr Sets The Standard For Rocky Mountain Snow Data: This could be the last winter Billy Barr measures snowfall in Gothic, Colorado. Barr, 71 years old and for decades the only resident of the abandoned mining town, has measured the amount and water density of snowfall since the 1970s. The same way. Every year. While far more technologically advanced methods are available, the value of Barr's dataset is its size, consistency, and the fact that snow in Gothic eventually melts and flows to the Colorado River. “The thing is, nowadays, there’s mountain weather stations all over the place,” Barr, whose aging hips are making cross-country skiing a painful challenge, told the Washington Post. “But there aren’t any from [back] then.” Barr is generous with his data and has been listed as a co-author on multiple papers on the effects of climate change on wildlife in the Colorado Rockies. “Back in the ’70s, there were winters where we had well over 100 days in a row where it didn’t get [above] freezing. Last winter, the most was nine,” Barr said. In part because of his meticulous data collection, a federally funded lab is setting up shop in Gothic with, among other equipment, lasers that can measure the size of snowflakes. Even so, biologist David Inouye told the Post, whenever Barr decides to hang up his skis, lab workers will continue measuring snowfall on his table made of PVC pipe and 2x4s. “I think the lab appreciates how valuable Billy’s observations have been, and how important it will be to keep them going," he said. (Washington Post $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: 'In the Navajo Nation there’s almost 10K homes that lack water': Velshi Across America tackles infrastructure failures in the Native American community (MSNBC), they knew industrial pollution was ruining the neighborhood’s air. If only regulators had listened. (ProPublica)

COP26: At COP26, a consensus that developing nations need far more help countering climate change (InsideClimate News), finance group fails to deliver at COP26 (Yale Climate Connections)

FOSSIL VOLATILITY: IEA’s Birol says energy producers are key cause of price spike (Bloomberg $)

WORDS AND IMPACT: Calling climate change a ‘crisis’ doesn’t do what you think (Grist)

FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES: Global movement of young climate activists vow to put greater pressure on world leaders (NBC)

IF YOU DON'T BREAK THE LAW, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE: National Police Association wants us to ‘stop filming and start helping’– stop laughing, they’re serious! (NewsOne)

SCOTUS: Supreme Court Medicare fight opens door to Chevron war (E&E News)

AGENCIES: [NLRB] calls for re-vote at Amazon warehouse in Alabama in major victory for union (Washington Post $)

DOI: Historically left out of Colorado River negotiations, 20 tribes urge Interior Secretary Haaland to include their voices (Colorado Public Radio), data shows dominance of coal, oil, gas in federal energy sales (E&E $), Interior report hardens battle lines on oil and gas leasing (E&E News)

DOT: DOT sets a framework for its new EV charging programs, minus Tesla (Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: ‘Urban myth’: can Congress replace coal with renewables? (E&E News), Congress returns to tight deadlines on government funding, Biden's agenda and more (NPR), fashion industry emissions are a focus for congressman Ro Khanna (Teen Vogue), 'no appetite' for a shutdown as Congress readies funding fix (Politico Pro $)(Reuters)

HOUSE: House panel mulls oil and gas leasing's impact on emissions (E&E $)

SENATE: What to watch as Senate takes up reconciliation bill (E&E News), Senate Democrats’ Russian pipeline headache just won’t go away (Politico)

WHITE HOUSE: How Biden's strategic petroleum reserve sale will work and what it will do (Washington Examiner)

POLITICS: Democrats go on the offense with Biden's agenda to avoid a repeat of Obamacare battle (NPR), oil-and-gas leasing plan shows climate agenda's limits (Axios), study: Dems sidestepped climate damages in [2019 primary] town hall (E&E $)

ELECTIONS: Another Texas house primary showdown is coming, and it's all about climate policy and big oil donations (Washington Post $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Senate committee schedules votes on 4 EPA nominees (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Massachusetts’ new efficiency plan puts a priority on underserved communities (Energy News Network), Trump EPA chief [Andrew Wheeler] named to Virginia gubernatorial transition (E&E News)

FERC: 8 states, DC urge FERC to reject EEI, Eversource call to drop competition for transmission projects (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: As floods worsen, Uganda moves to protect its vanishing wetlands (Thomson Reuters Foundation), flood-drenched British Columbians fear this is the new normal (New York Times $), Phoenix on cusp of breaking November heat record set in 1949 (AP), climate change’s impacts on South Carolina (WISTV)

RESILIENCE: In the land of dikes, nature now reinforces flood defenses (Wall Street Journal $)

HEALTH: How toxic wildfire smoke affects pregnant people (Environmental Health News)

WILDFIRES: Wildfires are erasing western forests. climate change is making it permanent. (Grist), fire at Pilot Mountain State Park [North Carolina] burns hundreds of acres (AP)

HURRICANES: Lots of storms but a slow finish: busy 2021 Atlantic hurricane season ends today (USA Today)

LIFEWAYS: Chasing dreams and caribou (Atmos)

GEOENGINEERING: Think climate change is messy? Wait until geoengineering (Wired)

RENEWABLES: Meet the unstoppable entrepreneur bringing solar, EVs and jobs to his Native community and beyond (Canary Media), during tough times, C-PACE financing offers more potential ever, experts say (Energy News Network), Stacey Abrams nominated to board of solar energy firm (The Hill)

HANUKKAH SAMEACH: Hanukkah story can inspire energy conservation, rabbi says (Yale Climate Connections)

BATTERIES: Lithium from geothermal waste? US and California bet on it (E&E $)

METHANE: These Australian coal mines are methane super-emitters (Bloomberg $)

OIL & GAS: Oil markets lurch on new COVID threat (Axios), What the omicron variant could mean for oil prices (Gizmodo)

NUKES: Are we at the dawn of a nuclear energy renaissance? (HuffPost)

PIPELINES: Enbridge plan for full pipelines rejected by Canadian regulator (E&E $)

HYDROGEN: BP plans large-scale green hydrogen project in UK (Reuters), EU reaches for hydrogen stars as economics shift (Reuters)

GRID: Ending a tale of two power grids (New York Times $)

EVs: Carmaker Stellantis secures supply of battery-grade lithium (AP), Nissan makes its move on electric vehicles (Axios)

BUSINESS: 300 companies chart path for CO2-free energy technology (E&E News)

CARBON PRICING: Indonesia's carbon trade trial indicates taxable emissions (Reuters)

CARBON REMOVAL: Cautious hope for CO2 capture after 'false starts' (Axios)

FOOD: In Scotland, serving halibut for a better planet (New York Times $)

SHIPPING: UN shipping body agrees voluntary measures to cut black carbon in the Arctic (Climate Home)

MEN ARE WEAK: A New Zealand politician rode her bike to the hospital while in labor. She gave birth an hour later. (Washington Post $)

• Carbon markets are booming. Here’s how to ensure they work (Thomson Reuters Foundation, Ann Florini & Gordon LaForge op-ed)
• Nuclear must bring down prices to help with climate change (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• Financial climate risks are minimal (Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board $)
• The UK’s nuclear plan is a financial, environmental and political risk (Energy Monitor, Jon Whiteaker op-ed)
• Colorado is letting oil drillers off the hook for cleanup of their plugged wells (The Colorado Sun, Ramesh Bhatt op-ed)
• Alex Jones is facing a reckoning. Let it be a warning to other conspiracy theorists. (Washington Post, Editorial Board $)

Fossil Fuel Propagandists Rebranding As Social Justice Warriors Protecting Poor, BIPOC Communities (That Fossil Fuels Pollute) 

The fossil fuel industry is increasingly engaging in what Amy Westervelt described as “woke-washing.” It's a form of reputational propaganda that wants you to believe that the industry responsible for inflicting a truly incredible amount of pain and pollution on poor and BIPOC communities is actually their savior and only hope for living happy, healthy lives. 

It hasn’t come out of nowhere. For at least the last seven years, we’ve been warning about the increased use of the “energy poverty” rhetoric the fossil fuel industry has propagated to suggest that the transition to clean energy will be bad for poor people, particularly those in developing countries. In 2015, Alex Epstein’s “moral” case for fossil fuels was finding traction among deniers, while the Guardian’s Suzanne Goldberg exposed how Peabody Coal was exploiting both poverty and the Ebola virus in advancing its argument that fossil fuels are actually good for the people who can’t afford it anyway and are dying from its pollution. 

In 2016, we saw Shell continue its cringy 'How do you do, fellow kids?' campaigning with celebs bringing light to Africa, and by 2018 Big Oil was building a distinctly racial element into its corporate ventriloquism. Derrick Hollie has been the go-to Black guy saying fossil fuels are good, for example, in 2019 with his Green New Deal opposition, and in 2020 when he (accidentally?) teamed up with Chevron. 

Rounding out 2021, and the industry’s efforts to cast itself as a “climate savior” here to protect poor and marginalized communities from expensive renewables are only growing. We saw them exploit Ethiopian children in the Koch-funded RealClear, while polluter efforts to co-opt Black leaders were exposed by the NAACP, even as SoCalGas tried to buy off Hispanic communities to support methane gas. Most recently, we’ve seen it coming from no less than CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. 

And, unsurprisingly, Derrick Hollie has continued to find traction for his strategy of presenting a white argument while in a Black body, for example, with an article in RealClear last week arguing that the global fossil energy shortage — resulting from a global pandemic and oil and gas producers intentionally limiting supply to keep prices up — is actually due to President Biden’s fossil fuel policies, which of course hurt poor people the most. 

Hollie’s also working hard for Canadian pipeline company Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, as Nick Cunningham’s DeSmog piece covered last week. In a press release pushed out by Project 21, an industry front group designed to look representative of African-Americans, Hollie is quoted attacking the Biden administration. The administration, per Hollie, “cannot say it supports environmental justice when it is preparing to effectively accelerate energy poverty,” invoking the term coal giant Peabody was exposed for pushing years ago. 

But does Hollie actually represent the communities he attempts to portray? Of course not! That’s why someone has to pay him in the first place! “The Black community is not benefiting. We have been suffering all along,” community organizer Theresa Landrum told DeSmog. 

“In my community, we have a high rate of cancer, asthma, and COPD. We have more than 42 major and minor polluting sources that are impacting our community and more are opening up every day.” When asked specifically about Project 21, Landrum explained why this was such a personal issue for the community and why the front group is clearly unconcerned: “They don’t even know what it’s like to live in the shadows of an oil refinery when you have an explosion. They don’t know what it is like to have pollution controls shut down during a blackout, and you don’t know if you should leave your home for safety or shelter in place, and no one is giving you any information.”

Ultimately, Landrum said, “they’re paid to comment. We’re not paid to comment. You have to follow the money. Money corrupts opinions. Money corrupts voices. We’re not sitting around drinking coffee in a suit and tie every day, being paid to say this crap.”

And they’re not the only ones, as you may recall that Enbridge is also attempting to co-opt indigenous communities to support the Line 5 project. 

Perhaps if Enbridge, and indeed the extractive industry as a whole, were half as dedicated to actually improving the lives of Black and Indigenous peoples as it were improving its image by exploiting them, it would stop killing them, and instead rebuild the burned-down houses of environmentalists under siege by miners and the government in Brazil. 

If, of course, it cared more about the people hurt on the front lines than those sitting around drinking coffee in a suit and tie every day…

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