FIRST LOOK

NJ Residents Left Homeless After Ida Housing Support Revoked: Lataiyyah Washington and her two sons lived in a hotel after the remnants of Hurricane Ida functionally destroyed their apartment complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey, which was the largest source of low income housing in the city. Last week, Elizabeth officials told her the city would no longer cover the cost of her temporary "housing" because she declined to be relocated to two locations that do not meet state subsidized housing standards for her family nor a two-bedroom apartment a two hour drive away — out of the question for Washington who does not own a car. “My kids go to school [in Elizabeth],” she told BuzzFeed. “Their doctors’ appointments are out here.” The city can continue to apply for FEMA reimbursements, but FEMA has not disbursed any funds to Elizabeth to cover temporary housing. “They are leaving these people out to dry,” Salaam Ismial, a community activist whose relative also lived in Washington's apartment complex and was killed during the storm. The dilemma illustrates the immediate human and financial costs of storms supercharged by human-caused climate change. Washington — beyond the overall stress of the situation — lost all of her sons' childhood pictures to the flooding and has been unable to get a job because she can't get childcare. Meanwhile, her sons lived in a rotation of hotel rooms while her teenager tried to e-learn over hotel wifi as his little brother ran around the room. It also points to the overarching dearth of affordable housing exacerbated by Ida — a phenomenon not unique to that storm or region. Washington and her two sons were evicted from the Embassy Suites on Friday, February 4. They are currently living with Washington's mother, who is risking her own housing if her daughter and grandchildren stay for too long. “I need my own apartment,” Washington told Buzzfeed yesterday. (BuzzFeed; Climate Signals background: 2021 Atlantic hurricane season)

EPA Science Advisors Call For Stronger PM2.5 Limits: A draft report released Friday by an EPA science advisory panel concludes the current limits on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution are insufficient. The EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee unanimously recommended strengthening those safeguards, an action the previous administration refused to take. People of color are disproportionately harmed by PM2.5 pollution. (The Hill, Politico Pro $)

America Cities Antagonize Bikers Of Color: Efforts to make Los Angeles, and other cities across the country, more bike friendly are ignoring one of the biggest obstacles to making cycling safer for BIPOC residents: Cops. “As transportation planners, we’ve gone straight to the physical infrastructure, when for Black cyclists—and there are growing numbers of them—it’s not about infrastructure so much,” Julian Agyeman, a professor of environmental policy and urban planning at Tufts University, told Prism Reports. “Cycling while Black is an issue. We are policing Blackness and brownness in these cities.” Cycling increased dramatically during the pandemic, especially in BIPOC communities, but that growth has not been mirrored in changes to cities' decision-making. Getting more people cycling is typically viewed as an unalloyed positive, but cities are failing to account for the fact that for many it also means more interaction with police. “When we’re talking about safety of Black and brown people, whether that’s on bike, whether we’re on foot, however, we’re deciding that we’re going to move through these public spaces, police have always been a problem,” said LA resident and cyclist Lena Williams. (Prism Reports)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: 10 books about the Black American experience that conservatives want banned (NewsOne), N-word: demands for Spotify to remove Joe Rogan grow, more than 70 podcast episodes removed (Black Wall Street Times), Spotify CEO apologizes to staff for Joe rogan racism, but makes it clear he is here to stay (NewsOne)

BATSIRAI: Madagascar cyclone kills 21, leaves homes and lives in ruins (Reuters, Al Jazeera, ABC, Washington Post $)

(ALLEGED) UTILITY CORRUPTION: FERC orders FirstEnergy to refund customers as bribery scheme costs surge (Politico Pro $), SoCalGas faces $10-million fine for fighting climate action (LA Times $, AP)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: China’s climate change record: Beijing tends to meet its targets, but sets the bar too low (The Conversation), Europe’s newest climate change problem: Russia (E&E News)

ENERGY GEOPOLITICS: Biden vows to stop Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine (Washington Post $), European LNG already near capacity, limiting options for Biden on Ukraine, report says (Houston Chronicle), German official: "Of course" Nord Stream 2 is an "existential threat" to Ukraine (Axios), Macron meets with Putin as france tries to flex diplomatic muscle over Ukraine (Wall Street Journal $), Weaning Europe off Russian gas will take time (Wall Street Journal $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Date set for first youth-led climate trial in US history (NBC)

DENIAL & DISINFO: An FYI consulting presentation pulls back the veil on fossil fuel PR (DeSmog), Rightwing lobby group ALEC driving laws to blacklist companies that boycott the oil industry (The Guardian)

OLYMPICS: China’s Winter Olympics are carbon-neutral — how? (Nature), Climate change is a threat to winter sports, skier Schumacher says (Reuters), No snow? No problem. How Beijing made the white stuff in time for the Olympics (NPR), How China got blue skies in time for Olympics (AP, explainer)

FOOD: ‘A sense of crisis’ for wasabi, a pungent staple of Japanese cuisine (New York Times $)

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION: Emory to teach climate in all 4 years of medical school (E&E $)

NET ZERO: Google, Walmart, and other big companies are half-assing their climate plans (Gizmodo, AP, Wall Street Journal $, Axios, The Hill), What is 'net zero' and why does it matter? (Thomson Reuters Foundation, Explainer)

TERF WARS: No climate justice without trans rights (Atmos)

GLACIERS: Mountain glaciers may have less ice than estimated, straining freshwater supply (Washington Post $, Reuters), Mountain glaciers may hold less ice than previously thought – here’s what that means for 2 billion downstream water users and sea level rise (The Conversation)

AGENCIES: USDA to spend $1 billion to promote climate-friendly agriculture (Reuters, Politico Pro $)

EPA: Power plant rule signals future environmental justice tack (E&E News), EPA nears deal with Wyoming over massive coal plant (E&E News)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: USPS electrification supporters face bumpy road ahead (Washington Post $)

THE HILL: ‘Big problem’: Spending snarl delays infrastructure money (E&E News)

HOUSE: Huge boost for US science funding inches closer to reality (Nature), US House set to debate bill extending stop-gap funding through March 11 (Reuters)

• HAPPENING TODAY: Committee to study Big Oil emissions pledges (E&E News)

SENATE: How Manchin used politics to protect his family coal company (Politico)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden plan to spend $725M to clean up abandoned coal mines (AP, Reuters), Biden administration promises 'a year of action' in drive to 100% renewables for Puerto Rico (Utility Dive), Biden administration sees carbon capture as key tool in climate fight (Reuters, Factbox), Biden extends solar tariff 4 years, eases Trump-era requirements (Utility Dive)

• PERSONNEL: Kerry taps Richard Duke as No. 2 climate negotiator (Politico Pro $, Reuters), Biden science adviser [Eric Lander] apologizes for "demeaning" behavior toward staff (Axios, E&E News, Politico), Biden’s top scientist resigns after it’s revealed he repeatedly bullied staffers, colleagues (Daily Beast, AP, Axios, CBS, NBC)

POLITICS: EJ groups on guard for inequity in infrastructure spending (E&E $), Environmental group [Evergreen Action] says 'time is up' for Democrats to act on climate change (The Hill)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Senate committee sets vote on OMB pick Shalanda Young (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Kentucky PSC considers fining AEP subsidiary for seeking FERC approval for power plant deal (Utility Dive), Virginia legislature to weigh plan to leave regional carbon market (Politico Pro $), Adding solar to California apartments could get easier — if regulators go along (Canary Media)

IMPACTS: Climate change is stretching Mumbai to its limit (The Atlantic), Tybee Island residents see more flooding as sea levels rise (Yale Climate Connections)

MENTAL HEALTH: Disaster news on TV and social media can trigger post-traumatic stress in kids thousands of miles away – here’s why some are more vulnerable (The Conversation)

HEAT: A/C climate spikes could send blackouts across grid — study (E&E $)

WILDFIRES: The fastest population growth in the West’s wildland fringes is in ecosystems most vulnerable to wildfires (The Conversation)

RENEWABLES: Colleges see untapped potential in geothermal district energy systems (Energy News Network), Court win for rooftop solar may have national ripple effects (E&E $)

MINERALS: Here are the minerals we need for batteries, solar and other clean energy tech (Canary Media)

METHANE: Study: maintenance is a major driver of unaccounted-for emissions (Grist)

OIL & GAS: Ecuador high court sides with Indigenous groups in dispute over drilling and mining (Democracy Now), Documents show major gaps in Texas gas inspections (E&E News), Flaring at Valero refinery produces black smoke over East Side (Houston Chronicle), Geopolitical worries may be outstripping fundamentals in oil markets (Houston Chronicle), Oil markets await data and Iran talks amid price surge (Axios)

PLASTICS: Plastics production is skyrocketing. a new UN treaty effort could cap it. (Washington Post $)

MERAUX PIPELINE SPILL: Pipeline’s safeguards not working in Louisiana diesel spill (AP)

HYDROGEN: Companies plan to build CCS, hydrogen hub in Appalachia (E&E $)

UTILITIES: Vermont gas utility has a new service: helping to electrify your home (Energy News Network)

EVs: California warns Tesla over racial discrimination allegations (Axios), General Motors to invest $7 billion in manufacturing electric vehicles (NBC), Lucid Air: a fresh face with 500 miles to a charge, and horsepower to spare (New York Times $), Tesla receives subpoena from US securities regulator over 2018 settlement (Reuters), Why this could be a critical year for electric cars (New York Times $)

TRANSPARENCY: Activists urge the International Energy Agency to remove paywalls around its data (Inside Climate News)

BUSINESS: Microsoft, Google, other corporate buyers get creative as demand for renewable energy spikes (Utility Dive)

SHIPPING: Why should shipping come under the EU's carbon trading system? (Reuters, explainer)

CARBON REMOVAL: Projects to capture carbon emissions get new boost despite dismal record (Wall Street Journal $)

FINANCE: Green startups stumble, accelerating selloff of risky stocks (Wall Street Journal $)

INTERNATIONAL: ‘Cutting through the greenwash’: Australian energy retailers ranked on climate action (The Guardian)

• Curb methane pollution, aid cause of justice (Scranton Times-Tribune, Rabbi Daniel Swartz op-ed)
• FlorIda’s congressional redistricting maps spotlight how much the right to vote is under attack (NewsOne, Jasmine Burney-Clark op-ed)
• Operational extreme weather event attribution can quantify climate change loss and damages (PLOS Climate, Michael Wehner and Kevin Reed commentary)
• Electric vehicles are getting bigger and heavier. why? (Bloomberg, Chris Bryant op-ed $)
• Rio's dreadful workplace report may boost cost of energy transition: Russell (Reuters, Clyde Russell column)
• 2022 electric market resolution: Changing how we approach the RTO/ISO debate (Utility Dive, Ray Gifford and Matt Larson op-ed)
• ‘Affirmative action’ for wealthy, white students: why colleges’ legacy admissions must end now (NewsOne, Shavar Jeffries op-ed)
• Lost time means a steeper climb on climate (The Hill, Susan Joy Hassol and Michael Mann op-ed)
• Shifting mining from the Global South misses the point of climate justice (Foreign Policy, Thea Riofrancos op-ed)
• California’s solar-power welfare state (Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board $)

Billionaire-Funded, Climate Denying Federalist: Knowing things is stupid unless it’s that women in media should appeal to the male gaze

Yesterday we talked about a story that should have been a headliner across a conservative pseudo-media system built to attack liberals and the environment, but because that “media” machine is less “media” and more “propaganda” staffed less by “journalists” and more by “lazy partisan hacks,” nary a peep was made about wildlife groups’ NFT-y new (and short-lived) fundraising scheme.

Instead, they stuck to the classics: College bad! Climate bad! Strong lady scary!  

That’s the TL;DR of the Federalist trio on the menu today, the apparent best that hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of billionaire funding can buy. 

First up, let’s take a look at Executive Editor Joy Pullman’s “Young Americans: Leave Those Creepy College Covid Camps And Start Your Careers Now.” Interestingly, the piece’s web title, which appears in your browser’s title bar and is tightly tied to SEO metrics, swaps “Covid” for “Concentration,” and reads “Young People, Leave The College Concentration Camp And Start Life Now,” because who can resist a little “genocide is just like dorm life” joke? It’s a play on “concentration camp” meaning “a place for students to live and study”, and “concentration camp” meaning “where Nazis systematically exterminated eleven million Jewish and other minority peoples.” 

Hey-oo! How Swell. Funny stuff. What light-hearted fun! Definitely not the type of joke that would fly on touchy liberal college campuses these days, right folks? Yuck yuck yuck. 

As you would be right to assume, Pullman is pro-ignorance, anti-liberal-education, and says “colleges have turned into internment camps.” So she stopped a little short of the webtitle’s “college concentration camp” in the text, only invoking atrocities a step down from the full Nazi tier. 

But it still leaves the question of why The Federalist’s editors would put it there in the first place, other than seeking out the clicks of users who have “concentration camp" as one of their key words? (Admittedly, you probably don’t need a college degree to figure that one out!) 

Next up, we turn to the climate content, a column claiming that everything from Egypt’s 2011 revolution to the Kazakhstan unrest is really due to pro-climate policies that restrict fossil fuels, taking the “college is for dummies” sort of approach The Federalist loves to the complexities of geopolitics. Think of a bad thing. Got it? Well, turns out it’s bad because of solar power, and it was only ever good because of fossil fuels. Congrats! Now you’re caught up. 

Because the real star of the Federalist lineup is a guest post by Christian podcaster Jeff Wright, a “family man, teacher, and pastor” according to his byline, who apparently believes that it is very very bad that a woman in a cartoon is very very strong. 

“‘Encanto’s’ Luisa Is Way Too Beefy For A Woman” blares the headline of a piece that is impossible to parody because it’s already even more ridiculous than you could believe. He is Big Mad that “Luisa’s hulky physiology is the most immediate aspect of her characterization” and he really hates that “she has a jawline to rival Dick Tracey” (what a current reference!).

“Scouring the entirety of the internet,” Wright writes, “for a handful of women who can resemble Luisa under special circumstances,” which he definitely didn’t do for three days locked in his office, “is to prove the rule by demonstrating how scarce the exceptions are.”

Ah-hah! Makes sense. By getting the concepts of representation and “cause and effect” exactly 180° backwards, Wright argues that the lack of representation of broad-shouldered women in media is evidence that they don’t exist, not that they simply aren’t represented by an art and animation industry long-dominated by men and their point of view. This, even though he’s responding to the outcry of support from people who have expressed joy and gratitude for finally seeing a new representation of women in animation through Luisa.  

(We're waiting with bated breath for the gasket he's going to blow when he finds out about Doc McStuffins and finds out that toys can talk, and also that Black women can be doctors!)

Now we are entirely and unironically positive that Wright did a lot of research to discover that cartoon women might not always have totally realistic body shapes, and are impressed by his dedication to protecting children from women who are portrayed as physically strong and not, as he concludes “wonders of God’s creative goodness and wisdom” which apparently can’t be housed in anything but an exaggerated hourglass figure.  

Which, to be fair, does seem to prove Pullman’s anti-college piece wasn't 100% wrong; specifically, the claim that “many employers will take almost any warm body that moves.” 

There must be some truth to that — after all, the Federalist published Jeff Wright!

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