FIRST LOOK:

LNG Exports Increasing, Undercutting Climate Goals: The U.S. is set to become the world's biggest exporter of LNG, overtaking Qatar, by the end of next year, new Energy Information Administration data show. Expanding U.S. liquefaction and export capacity will increase LNG export capacity to 11.4 billion cubic feet per day, pushing it past Australia and Qatar, with even more growth possible by 2024. Demand for U.S. LNG in Europe and Asia is driving up methane-based gas prices for U.S.consumers. LNG exports have come under increasing criticism from consumer and climate advocates. Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed the industry in a letter to top executives last week, blaming "record-setting natural gas exports” for high prices, which she said are "contributing to the high inflation rate, hitting consumers directly in their pocketbooks and increasing production costs for consumer goods." House Democrats have also introduced legislation barring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from approving new LNG export terminals unless doing so would also cut greenhouse gas emissions. Expanding LNG exports is also incompatible with the Biden administration's climate goals, especially its pledge to cut methane pollution by 30% by 2030, the main target of its highly-touted Global Methane Pledge. (Increasing exports: Houston Chronicle, S&P Global, S&P Global, Politico Pro $, Rigzone, Natural Gas Intel; Rising energy prices: Reuters; Dem. legislation: (Reuters, Bloomberg; Commentary: Barron's, Clark Williams-Derry op-ed)

Last Coal Plant Of Scotland Demolished: Coal power is officially, and physically, no more in Scotland. More than 1,500 pounds of explosives brought down the Longannet coal plant smokestack on Thursday. It was the last coal plant in the country and stopped generating power after almost half a century of coal combustion in 2016, but the demolition was "a symbolic reminder" Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon said, "that we have ended coal-fired power generation in Scotland, as we work in a fair and just way towards becoming a net zero nation by 2045." (The Guardian, The National, The Scotsman, Scottish Sun, STV, Fife Today)

Amazon Warehouses Harm Marginalized Communities: Amazon's quickly-growing legion of warehouses are disproportionately located in communities of color and low-income communities, a Consumer Reports investigation revealed. The siting decisions burden those communities with truck traffic, noise, and pollution — causing health problems to residents, damage to homes, and other issues. “Our communities are being sacrificed in the name of economic development,” José Acosta-Córdova, an organizer at the Chicago-based nonprofit Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, told Consumer Reports. Nearly 70% of Amazon warehouses are located in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Black and Brown residents than the surrounding area and 57% are located in neighborhoods with disproportionately low-income households, the report, based on cross-referenced data from the EPA, the Census Bureau, and a database of Amazon facilities that it purchased from a logistics consulting firm. To quote The Verge, "Go read this investigation on the environmental racism of Amazon warehouses." (Consumer Reports)

CARBON PRICING: Carbon prices, long in the dumps, surge in US and Europe (E&E News), years in the making, a global carbon market is finally here (E&E $)

FINANCE: The ESG mirage (Bloomberg $), investor group faults new Exxon board members on climate transition plan (Reuters), a legendary VC has a plan for solving climate change (The Atlantic), private equity's climate footprint gains focus (Axios)

ALL VERY NORMAL: Rift between senator and son shows the challenge of taxing the ultrarich (New York Times $), Republicans' new obsession is fighting 'woke capitalism' (Earther)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Historically excluded from Colorado River policy, tribes want a say in how the dwindling resource is used. Access to clean water is a start. (Colorado Public Radio)

YEAR IN REVIEW: The world promises change after another year of extreme climate disasters (Bloomberg, photos $)

AND YOU THOUGHT YOURS WAS BAD: ‘We have to use a boat to commute’: coastal Ghana hit by climate crisis (The Guardian)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Campaigners seek to curb UK oil production through the high court (Climate Home)

DENIAL: New artificial intelligence tool detects most common climate falsehoods (Washington Post $)

DON'T LOOK UP: ‘Don’t Look Up’ reminds us the rich will doom us all (Atmos)

FOSSIL VOLATILITY: Rural Minnesota hit hard by high cost of propane (Brattleboro Reformer)

🔥🙅🙅‍♂️ : A TikTok food star on why gas stoves are overrated (Vox)

INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS: How a billionaire benefited from a disastrous oil spill caused by her company (Gizmodo)

YOU KNOW WHAT ISN'T CHAOTIC? CLIMATE CHANGE.: Oil companies warn transition from fossil fuels could be chaotic, with skyrocketing prices (Houston Chronicle)

SEE?: UN chief: Climate change aggravates conflict and terrorism (AP)

CAN'T IMAGINE WHY: Young people worldwide are extremely anxious about the climate crisis: survey (HuffPost)

VANESSA: We want justice' on climate, [Vanessa] Nakate says (AP) 

AGENCIES: FEMA restores climate consideration in strategic plan after Trump dropped it (The Hill), watchdog holds 'effectively impossible' job at EPA, Pentagon (E&E $)

EPA: A ‘polluter pays’ tax in infrastructure plan could jump-start languishing cleanups at superfund sites (InsideClimate News), EPA targets food waste as factor in climate change (E&E $)

DOE: New US energy standards would reverse Trump’s war on lightbulbs (The Guardian)

DOI: BLM deals blow to wind farm competing with would-be monument (E&E News)

DOD: Navy says petroleum contamination detected in second water source in Hawaii (The Hill, CBS), Toxic water forces shutdowns in Hawaii (ABC)

BUILD BACK BETTER ACT: Democrats' climate provisions meet the 'Byrd bath,' as Manchin targets the methane fee (Washington Post $), Castor warns Senate not to 'water down' climate provisions of spending bill (Politico Pro $), Manchin eyes ‘good adjustments’ to methane fee (E&E News, The Hill)

THE HILL: ‘It’s grotesque’: Inside the Hill methane fight (E&E News) 

HOUSE: Democratic plan would ban fracking, oil and gas exports (E&E $), Democrats among lawmakers asking Biden not to ban oil exports (Bloomberg $), White House not weighing oil export ban, source says, as lawmakers urge higher domestic output (Reuters), pro-drilling lawmakers reject oil export ban (E&E $), Dems focus on EJ, equity for doling out cleanup cash (E&E $), House votes to impose forced labor ban on goods made in Xinjiang (New York Times $, E&E $), calls grow to strip Rep. Boebert of committee positions for racist comments (Black Wall Street Times), caucasity queen Marjorie Taylor Greene says white capitol rioters are being abused ‘because of the color of their skin’ (NewsOne)

SENATE: Cortez Masto targets greens’ last hope to curb mining (E&E News), Senate Democrats eye bill change to ease carbon capture requirements (Politico Pro $), Republican Sen. Ron Johnson claims ‘mouthwash has been proven to kill the coronavirus.’ Yes, you read that right (NewsOne)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden order on emissions-free power, EVs sends market signals, experts say (Utility Dive, E&E $), Biden picks union attorney for mining panel (E&E $), executive order pushes PFAS-free federal purchasing (E&E $), taking stock of Biden's latest climate executive order (Axios)

CITIES AND STATES: ERCOT regulator promises Texas 'the lights will stay on' this winter (Houston Chronicle), New York's landmark Reforming the Energy Vision framework remains both vital and unfinished, analysts say (Utility Dive), Virginia governor-elect vows to exit [RGGI] cap-and-trade program (E&E News), 

TEXAS: Earthquakes linked to drilling are messing with Texas (E&E News), citizen enforcement of abortion law violates Texas constitution, judge rules (New York Times $)

CALIFORNIA: California tackles food waste with largest recycling program in US (The Guardian), in Bakersfield, many push for bringing back the flow of the long-dry Kern River (LA Times $), water shut-offs loom for thousands of Californians after agencies failed to apply for millions in relief (San Francisco Chronicle)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: The energy debate over "green colonialism" in Africa (Axios), Nord Stream Pipeline snarled in the US-Russia ‘fossil energy war’ (American Prospect)

SCIENCE: To learn about climate quality, scientists turn to drones (AP)

IMPACTS: A church retreat center is offering hope to victims of natural disasters in Canada (NPR), storms to pour precipitation into drought-plagued California and mountain west (Washington Post $), climate change is transforming how Angelenos live, breathe and escape the heat (LA Times $, The Hill), Hawaii has more snow than Denver? WTF?' (E&E $)

BOOZE: Frosts, heatwaves and wildfires: the climate crisis is hitting the wine industry hard (The Guardian), with lab help, whiskey distillers skip oak barrel-aging. But how does it taste? (Reuters)

FORESTATION: Tropical forests can recover from deforestation remarkably fast and on their own, new study finds (Washington Post $, The Guardian)

RENEWABLES: Advocates push offshore wind transmission planning study (Politico Pro $), utility giant proposes N.J. grid network for offshore wind (E&E $)

STORAGE: Energy Dome is the rare long-duration storage firm that’s moving fast (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: Oil execs expect more deals in Permian Basin amid volatile energy prices (Houston Chronicle), oil executives take to conference stage to rebut harsh portrayal on climate (Reuters), OPEC official hits at 'misguided' efforts to pare oil and gas (Reuters)

COAL: Australia’s coal-fired power plants likely to shut almost three times faster than expected, report suggests (The Guardian), Poland gets World Bank loan to help wean households off coal heating (Reuters), judge: Justice must pay $2.5M for environmental violations (AP)

UTILITIES: Environmentalists want New Jersey ratepayer advocate to focus less on rates (Politico Pro $), New Mexico regulators unanimously reject Avangrid-PNM merger, but observers see a second chance in 2023 (Utility Dive, Reuters), New Mexico regulators weigh transfer of power plant shares (AP)

EVs: Batteries got cheaper in 2021. So how close are we to EVs that cost less than gasoline vehicles? (InsideClimate News), battle over seabed mining could sway EVs’ future (E&E News), EV chargers are coming to a highway near you (Grist), Tesla is selling fleet of hundreds of Model 3 electric cars to New York City(Electrek, MSN)

EBs: Sweden's electric boat startup Candela makes waves (Axios)

OCEANS: Scientists say humans can move CO2 from air to oceans (E&E News, Earther, HuffPost)

ART: Earth is getting a ‘Black box’ to hold humans accountable for climate change (New York Times $), Kim Abeles turns the climate crisis into eco-art (New York Times $)

CARBON CAPTURE: Big Oil says carbon capture is critical to meet net-zero goal (Houston Chronicle)

CARBON REMOVAL: Iceland facility sucks carbon dioxide from air, turns it into rock (Yale Climate Connections)

INTERNATIONAL: Macron: France aims to complete carbon border tax during EU presidency (Politico Pro $)

• Three myths about renewable energy and the grid, debunked (Yale Environment 360, Amory B. Lovins and M. V. Ramana op-ed)
• 'We've often been viewed as expendable:' Failed infrastructure is to blame for Honolulu's water crisis (CNN, Brandon Tensley analysis)
• How will humanity endure the climate crisis? I asked an acclaimed sci-fi writer (The Guardian, Daniel Aldana Cohen op-ed)
• Stupid inflation tricks, round 2 (Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board $)
• Russian gas is a climate and security disaster (The Hill, Paul Bledsoe op-ed)
• Energy prices can’t find a middle ground. Here’s why. (Barron's, Clark Williams-Derry op-ed)

CO2 Coalition’s Newest Member Just Got Kicked Off Twitter for Covid Conspiracies

This is always embarrassing, but we need to correct something in yesterday’s roundup: we described Tony Heller as a “climate conspiracist in denial about being a debunked conspiracy theorist,” who is not formally affiliated with a professional climate denial organization. This was true when we were drafting it on the 8th, but later that day, Heller posted on this blog that he’s now a member of the CO2 Coalition, the group created because climate denial was toxic for the George Marshall Institute, and later revealed as a great place to park secret oil money. 

That means that 23 of the 30 active links were to fossil-fuel-front-group-affiliated entities, pushing the ratio of those to unbiased sources up from 73% up to 76%. Or in other words, instead of just over a quarter, it’s now less than a quarter of online climate denial sources that are independent from fossil fuel influence. 

In our defense though, had we been on denier Twitter later in the day, we still wouldn’t have seen it, because Heller’s account was suspended Wednesday night. Per a screenshot posted to Heller’s Gab account, the suspension was for “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.” 

Interestingly, Heller’s new CO2 Coalition friend Vijay Jayaraj seemed to disagree, tweeting a screenshot of the suspended account page with headline-styled caption “Suspended for Climate Truth” followed by “Desperation for climate control reaches new heights.” 

Not that we’d be mad if that were the reason, because climate disinformation is just as serious a threat to the public as the COVID disinformation Heller spreads, but it’s odd that someone who should ostensibly be best positioned to understand Heller’s situation, given his newfound coalition-ship got it wrong. And Vijay Jayaraj isn’t just a member, but is on staff for the CO2 Coalition as a Research Associate, so the fact that he was so quick to post without doing any research should tell you all you need to know. 

Anyway, we went looking at the CO2 Coalition’s about page to see who Heller’s fellow coalition members are, and were confronted with one of the longest lineup of old men's headshots we’ve seen since that time we signed Grandma up for the nursing home’s dating service. 

The CO2 Coalition's 13 founders, board of directors and executive director are all white men either greying, balding, or both. Two of its three founders have passed away, and the third, William Happer, is at the point where he’s accidentally giving interviews where it looks like the world is on fire behind him.

Of the 69 members of the CO2 “coalition” of which Heller is now one, there are only six women, and very little (apparent) racial diversity. To be honest, the membership looks like that of a pretentious and “exclusive” (wink wink) 1960’s country club. There are more white men named John (6), William (5), David (4) Jim (2), Patrick (2), Jeff (2), Larry (2) and more headshots of men in black and white (4) than there are Black men (0). 

The same era that most of their scientific training dates back to as well, not at all coincidentally!

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