COP CITY: The deepening divide over Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ is drawing national attention (Capital B Atlanta), In Atlanta, a deadly forest protest sparks debate over ‘domestic terrorism’ (Washington Post $), Cop City: Forest defender killed by police in forest raid (On the Media)
TYRE NICHOLS: DA: 5 Memphis cops ‘all responsible’ for Tyre Nichols’ death (AP, Memphis Commercial Appeal, New York Times $, Slate, The Guardian), What we know about the death of Tyre Nichols (Memphis Commercial Appeal, CNN, CNN), Attorneys liken Tyre Nichols’ arrest to Rodney King beating (AP), Independent autopsy finds Tyre Nichols suffered "excessive bleeding" after encounter with police, family lawyers say (CBS, ABC), Tyre Nichols' death spurs internal investigation, review of specialized units, says Memphis police chief (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
- VIDEO RELEASE: Memphis police set to release video showing fatal beating of Tyre Nichols (NBC), ‘You’re going to see acts that defy humanity,’ police chief says, as officials urge calm when Tyre Nichols arrest videos are released publicly tonight (CNN)
COP28: Climate groups decry selection of oil chief to oversee COP28 (AP)
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Africa objects to US chairing UN climate fund, citing unpaid $2bn (Climate Home)
GOP vs. ESG: BlackRock retains Florida’s billions as DeSantis wages ESG fight (Bloomberg $), 25 red states sue Biden over 'woke' ESG rule (E&E $), One Republican stands between the far right and ESG (E&E News)
JFK MICROGRID: JFK airport's new terminal will be powered by a microgrid and the largest rooftop solar array in New York City (Business Insider, Bloomberg $, The Hill, PV Magazine, Canary Media), Carlyle, Schneider joint venture AlphaStruxure plans 11.4-MW microgrid at JFK airport terminal (Utility Dive)
UTILITIES: ‘We got lucky.’ A stronger 2022 storm season could have threatened grid recovery: EEI (Utility Dive), Utilities use customer dollars to pay for their lobbying. Here’s how lawmakers can stop it (Grist)
INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: How Biden’s climate law is charging US green spending and provoking Europe (FT $), Looking for Inflation Reduction Act rebates to go green? Get ready to wait (Bloomberg $)
SCOTUS: Oil industry takes offshore fracking case to Supreme Court (E&E News)
AGENCIES: 5 Biden admin officials to watch on agriculture and forestry (E&E $), Tongass takes center stage in Biden's forest, climate agenda (E&E $)
EPA: A green bank? EPA panel points to other options. (E&E $), Coal ash crackdown continues as EPA denies extensions for six power plants (Energy News Network), EPA proposes rejecting DTE, SRP and other generator requests to keep using coal ash basins (Utility Dive), Outdated EPA standards allow oil refineries to pollute waterways (Inside Climate News), Water sector, local officials blast EPA cybersecurity plan (E&E $)
DOE: New England states join forces to vie for DOE transmission funding (Politico Pro $), US Energy Department to allocate $118 mln to biofuels projects (Reuters)
TREASURY: Yellen says Africa to shape world economy as US reengages (AP), Yellen welcomes South Africa's energy transition, steers clear of Russia mention (Reuters)
THE HILL: Democrats launch caucus to 'play defense' on ESG (E&E $), US lawmakers seek repeal of Biden solar tariff waiver (Reuters), Bipartisan coalition moves to override Biden's solar tariff pause (Politico Pro $), Western Caucus seeks to use sway on energy, environment (E&E $)
HOUSE: McCarthy voted against bills tackling drought. Hear constituent’s message (CNN), Meet the top House recipients of oil and gas money (E&E News), E&C Republicans elevate climate in subcommittee shakeup (E&E News), House prepares votes on drilling, public lands, oil reserve (E&E $), Natural Resources Republicans put agencies on notice (E&E $), House GOP seeks new restrictions on use of US oil stockpile (AP), This Republican wants to make NOAA an independent agency (Washington Post $)
SENATE: A top Senate Republican promotes climate conspiracy theory (E&E News), McConnell rips into Manchin over EV bill (Politico Pro $)
POLITICS: The cost of US going over fiscal cliff is trauma then unending pain (Bloomberg $)
NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Two years in, Biden has prioritized nominating women of color as judges (The 19th* News)
TRIBES: Tired of being told to ‘adapt,’ an Indigenous community wrote its own climate action plan (Grist), First woman elected Speaker of the Navajo Nation (Indian Country Today), Much-needed moisture creates hardship for rural areas across Nation (Navajo Times)
CITIES AND STATES AND DISENFRANCHISED COLONIAL TERRITORIES: Why your electricity and gas bill is skyrocketing in Colorado (Axios), With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers (The 19th* News)
- CALIFORNIA: Calif. cities plan gas phaseouts to tackle air pollution (E&E $), How California’s ambitious new climate plan could help speed energy transformation around the world (The Conversation), California approves local plans to phase out gas appliances (E&E $)
- PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico hands control of its power plants to a natural gas company (Inside Climate News, E&E $)
IMPACTS: Church helps mining community evolve in dark, warming Arctic (AP), Four possible consequences of El Niño returning in 2023 (The Conversation), From China to Japan, deadly cold is gripping East Asia. Experts say it’s the ‘new norm’ (CNN), If a megaflood strikes California, these dams might be at risk (Yale Climate Connections), In North America’s snowiest place, residents dig out as tourists flow in (New York Times $), You call that snow?! See how this winter stacks up (New York Times $), Storm Cheneso picks up in Madagascar, more flooding to come (AP), DC's lack of snow is nearing a record amid very mild winter so far (Washington Post $)
WILDFIRES: Colorado lawmakers look to AI to detect wildfires earlier (AP)
DEFORESTATION: Human activity and drought ‘degrading more than a third of Amazon rainforest’ (The Guardian), The best way to save forests? Legally recognize Indigenous lands. (Grist)
COLORADO RIVER: The Colorado River is overused and shrinking. Inside the crisis transforming the Southwest (LA Times $), A river guide’s view of Lake Powell’s decline and the depths of the Colorado River crisis (LA Times $), Inside the water crisis: A journey across the Colorado River Basin (LA Times $), The Colorado River: Where the west quenches its thirst (LA Times $), As the Colorado River shrinks, Washington prepares to spread the pain (New York Times $)
RENEWABLES: Proactive transmission planning for offshore wind buildout could save up to $20B, experts say (Utility Dive), Solar for Good: Arrays keep rolling out in Wisconsin, thanks to innovative program (Energy News Network)
PEAK FOSSILS? When will we hit peak fossil fuels? Maybe we already have (Inside Climate News)
BATTERIES: Here’s a plan for cutting US demand for lithium by up to 90% (Canary Media), Xcel Energy plans to install battery in Becker to store electricity (Star Tribune $)
BUILDINGS: This Maine home can stay 70 degrees without a furnace, even when it's freezing outside (Maine Public Radio)
STORAGE: Demand for Tesla storage products exceeds supply as Q4 deployments rise 152% to 2.5 GWh (Utility Dive)
LNG: Freeport gets US OK to begin steps to restart LNG plant in Texas (Reuters, OilPrice)
METHANE: Methane leaks on public land worth $500M a year, report says (E&E $)
OIL & GAS: Chevron pledges $75 bln for share buybacks as cash grows (Reuters), How just 25 oil companies are set to blow the world’s 1.5°C carbon budget (Energy Monitor), Qatar in talks to join TotalEnergies' $27 bln Iraqi energy project -sources (Reuters), Shell launches strategic review of home energy retail unit (Bloomberg $), US natural gas falls below $3 for first time since may 2021 (Bloomberg $)
PIPELINES: This company is suing the US over the Keystone pipeline cancellation. Taxpayers are footing the bill. (New Republic)
HYDROGEN: Hydrogen firm HH2E announces second major plant in Germany (Reuters), World’s largest renewables developer eyes hydrogen push (E&E $), Germany hopes to get ‘green hydrogen’ from Australia by 2030 (AP)
EVs: Climate adviser: EV sales tripled under Biden (E&E $), Elon Musk rebuts doubts about Tesla profits, Twitter (E&E $), Hyundai unveils $8.5 billion spending plan amid EV push (Bloomberg $), Toyota names new CEO as Tesla-led EV shift threatens its dominance (Bloomberg $)
ACTIVISM: This scientist was fired for her activism. She says it’s not going to stop her (Gizmodo)
AGRICULTURE: Food, feed and fuel: global seaweed industry could reduce land needed for farming by 110m hectares, study finds (The Guardian)
BOOKS: Lessons of lost worlds (FT $)
BUT MAKE IT FASHION: ‘Vegan,’ ‘sustainable’: How to spot misleading fashion claims (Washington Post $)
INDIVIDUAL ACTION: A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging (AP)
FOOD: Climatarian? Regenivore? New diets take aim at climate change (Axios)
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Simple energy-saving tips for winter (Yale Climate Connections)
FINANCE: Big banks see opportunity in unlisted emerging market ESG companies (OilPrice)
INTERNATIONAL: Africa has become ‘less safe, secure and democratic’ in past decade, report finds (The Guardian), English farms to get post-Brexit subsidies for going greener (Bloomberg $), Norway sees oil and gas tax revenue triple to record $89 billion (OilPrice), Power surge crashes Pakistan grid, plunging millions into darkness (Reuters), Tanzania squeezes Maasai by seizing livestock, report says (AP), UK climate minister received donations from fuel and aviation companies (The Guardian)