FIRST LOOK

Milder Weather Allowed Texas Grid To Pass 'Easy Test' Last Weekend: The Texas electrical grid survived last weekend's cold snap without major blackouts mostly because the weather was milder than last year's Winter Storm Uri, not because of any improvements made since, experts say. There were localized outages caused by down power lines across the state, but not a similar breakdown of the state's gas system, which led to catastrophic blackouts that killed hundreds and left thousands huddled in the cold and even burning their furniture to survive a year ago. It is unclear to what extent efforts — if efforts were made at all — to winterize power generation infrastructure were actually effective. “Just because I have a student pass an easy test," said Daniel Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, "doesn’t mean that I’m confident they can pass the toughest test that I give them." (Texas Tribune, Dubious winterization efforts: New Yorker; Climate Signals background: February 2021 polar vortex breakdown)

U.S. Army Announces Military's First Climate Strategy: The U.S. Army released the military's first climate strategy on Tuesday. Along with announced goals to cut greenhouse gas pollution in half by 2035, transition its non-tactical fleet to all electric by 2035, and reach net-zero emissions (including from procurement) by 2050. The "roadmap of actions" includes a renewed focus on assessing and mitigating climate-exacerbated risks to soldiers in the field as well as Army bases and other operations. The military is a major GHG emitter — in 2017 alone it released 59 million tons of climate pollution, more than industrialized nations including as Denmark and Sweden. "We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in the strategy. "Climate change is making the world more unsafe and we need to act." (E&E News, CNN, Axios, Reuters, Politico Pro $, The Hill)

Cue The 'Hot Ticket' Puns: The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat watches for Los Angeles as it prepares to host the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 13. An excessive-heat watch is issued when "extremely dangerous" heat is likely within three days and the NWS warned visitors from cooler regions may be at heightened risk for heat-related illnesses. More frequent and extreme heatwaves are one of the clearest signals of climate change, which is primarily caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels. The unusual mid-winter heatwave — LA has only recorded seven 90°F days since 1948 — is proximately caused by a high-pressure system compressing, and thus heating and drying, the air over the region. (Washington Post $, NBC, SFGate, ABC7; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)

BATSIRAI: Cyclone Batsirai leaves devastation and death in madagascar (New York Times $)

PUBLIC OPINION: The world is on fire and our leaders are failing, poll finds (Politico)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: World to China: time to step up on climate (Politico Pro $)

ENERGY GEOPOLITICS: Europe readies for gas shortage in case Russia invades Ukraine (E&E $), What is Nord Stream 2 and can Biden kill it? (CNN), Biden on Russian pipeline: ‘We will bring it to an end’ (E&E News), Nord Stream 2 pipeline proves to be a sticking point in Biden and new German chancellor's show of unity (CNN), Why Germany pipes down when talk turns to Nord Stream 2 sanctions (Politico Pro $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Montana kids’ climate case may be first to go to trial (E&E News), In win for climate torts, 10th Circuit says Colorado suit belongs in state court (Politico Pro $, Bloomberg Law)

OLYMPICS: At winter games, a hard-bitten chinese coal town hunts for gold (New York Times $)

CULPABILITY: Climate change will be expensive. Who should pay? (Politico Pro $)

DON'T LOOK UP: ‘Don’t Look Up’ silences haters by scoring 4 Oscar nominations including, yep, Best Picture (Gold Derby, Variety, Courrier-Journal, IndieWire, Deadline), ‘Don’t Look Up’ or: how Netflix learned to stop worrying and love the discourse (Variety)

NET ZERO: Net-zero plans of the biggest global companies do not add up to net zero (Bloomberg $, Reuters, Nature, CNBC)

GLACIERS: Earth’s melting glaciers contain less ice than scientists thought (Bloomberg $), Glaciers have less ice than thought. 'Not looking great' (E&E $)

SCOTUS: The Supreme Court is set to weigh in on the Clean Water Act’s reach (High Country News), Supreme Court to weigh EPA authority on greenhoUSe pollutants (Yale Climate Connections)

AGENCIES: Feds will spend $1 billion to spur farmers and ranchers to fight climate change (CNBC), FEMA rolls out text feature to help Americans find open shelters during disasters (The Hill)

• USPS: Postmaster General says gas-guzzling mail trucks are here to stay unless Congress acts (Gizmodo, CNN, The Hill), The new USPS trucks would probably be illegal if they weighed one pound less (Vice)

EPA: Environmental justice lawyer [Robin Morris Collin] to lead EPA equity efforts (E&E $, Reuters, Politico Pro $), Study: EPA should focus on transport equity, decarbonization (E&E $)

DOE: IG details allegations of sexism, racism in DOE diversity office (E&E $)

DOI: Interior to release Willow Alaska oil project environmental draft review in spring (Politico Pro $), What states stand to gain if Biden hikes oil and gas royalty rates (Grist)

LAWSUITS: American Petroleum Institute appeals ruling striking down Gulf of Mexico lease sale (Politico Pro $)

BUILD BACK BETTER ACT: Clean energy advocates demand action on ‘Build Back Better’ (E&E News), What’s next for the Civilian Climate Corps? (E&E News)

HOUSE: Democrats go after Big Oil climate pledges, calling them insufficient (The Hill), House passes shutdown patch to buy more time for 'close' spending deal (Politico Pro $)

SENATE: Senate deal on Nord Stream pipeline sanctions elusive (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Eric Lander’s resignation welcomed on and off Capitol Hill (E&E News), SEC bogs down on climate rule, handing White House fresh setback (Bloomberg $)

POLITICS: Biden's climate action window is closing (Axios)

ELECTIONS: How governors races may change energy, from EVs to renewables (E&E News)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Biden Fed picks get boost from dozens of economists (The Hill), Energy panel Republicans grill Biden Interior nominee on leasing in rare second hearing (The Hill)

CITIES AND STATES: Virginia Senate rejects Andrew Wheeler, Gov. Glenn Youngkin's pick for secretary of natural resources (Richmond Times-Dispatch, E&E News, HuffPost, AP, Washington Post $, The Hill, Politico Pro $), Bellingham sets strong standards for climate- and health-friendly electric buildings (RE Sources), Wind project off southeastern N.C. coast gets overwhelming support (Energy News Network), Lessons from New York: what makes a community turn against climate adaptation? (Grist), As states ramp up storage targets, policy maneuvering becomes key (Utility Dive), End to nuclear plant ban signed by West Virginia governor (AP), Is the California coalition fighting subsidies for rooftop solar a fake grassroots group? (Inside Climate News)

FERC: Clean energy coalition challenges FERC approval of Southeast utility market plan (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: An unexpected item is blocking cities' climate change prep: obsolete rainfall records (NPR), Extreme rainfall and more wet days will hamper global economy, study says (CNBC), Free online tool identifies climate risks in your neighborhood (Yale Climate Connections), It’s not just climate: are we ignoring other causes of disasters? (Yale Environment 360)

RENEWABLES: Biggest solar farm in Louisiana gets warm welcome from local community (Canary Media), Botswana aims to build its biggest renewable power plant yet (Bloomberg $), Geothermal startup Quaise raises $40M for ultra-deep drilling (Canary Media, Axios), Renewables for cement? Gates-backed startup eyes ‘missing link’ (E&E News), Coal-loving Australia just hit wind and solar power records (Gizmodo)

LNG: Australian LNG group unveils giant outback carbon capture reservoir (FT $), Venture Global gets OK on 4th LNG block at Louisiana Calcasieu plant (Reuters)

METHANE: Scientists raise alarm over ‘dangerously fast’ growth in atmospheric methane (Nature)

OIL & GAS: Ecuador's Indigenous groups have new power to protect their lands from destruction (Gizmodo), BP reports its highest profits in 8 years (Axios, CNBC), Brazil’s onshore oil renaissance: from stranded assets to spectacular returns? (Energy Monitor), Energy giant BP speeds up green makeover plan (Reuters), Oil and gas bankers confront their own energy transition (Reuters), US natgas output, demand to rise in 2022 -EIA (Reuters)

PIPELINES: Judge pressed to halt Army Corps pipeline permit program (E&E $)

NUKES: EDF's shares fall after French firm cuts nuclear output forecast (Reuters)

EVs: IEA: EV sales are soaring worldwide (E&E $), Biden touts Australian company's new electric vehicle charging plant in Tennessee (CNN), Electric truck deployments could jump tenfold as interest surges, study says (Utility Dive), GM shares tumble after Morgan Stanley downgrades stock on EVs, 2022 guIdance (CNBC), The electric vehicle revolution comes to auto service providers (Axios)

BLOCKCHAIN: How the World Wildlife Fund tried — and failed — to create an eco-friendly NFT (The Verge)

DIRECT ACTION: Environmental activists glue themselves to roadway in Berlin (Gizmodo)

AGRICULTURE: Cut meat and dairy output by a third to save climate, British farmers told (The Guardian)

FINANCE: Climate insurance startup kWh raises $20M (Axios), ECB has banks bracing for capital hit as climate risk is tested (Bloomberg $), ESG 'bubble' is a risk in crowded climate bet — Schroders CIO (E&E $), Travelers cuts underwriting for coal, oil sands (E&E $)

INTERNATIONAL: British households offered free electricity to cut consumption (FT $), Greenpeace boss Morgan to become Germany’s new climate envoy (AP, Reuters), Low energy efficiency standards cost owners of new homes £234m last year (The Guardian), Tories fighting net zero plans are dragging climate into new culture war, experts say (The Guardian)

• Dear White Enviros: You can't fight climate change without communities of color (The Hill, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva and Andrés Jimenez op-ed)
• Unequal impact: putting justice at the heart of the climate fight (Yale Environment 360, Beverly Wright interview)
• California's omission of community solar from distributed energy policies is short-sighted (Utility Dive, Anna Brockway and Duncan Callaway op-ed)
• Erratic weather requires new water policy approach (CAL Matters, Dan Walters commentary)
• Fact-checking COVID-19 posts isn’t working. There’s a better way. (Bloomberg, Faye Flam op-ed $)
• To counter Russian gas, look to the Eastern Mediterranean (The Hill, Frank Fannon op-ed)
• Ukraine crisis should end rapid US decarbonization (The Hill, Grady Means op-ed)
• BP’s climate plans are the best defence against a tax raid (FT, Helen Thomas column $)
• US Federal Reserve’s policy mandates and climate change: time for a debate? (Reuters, Henry Engler column)
• Climate disasters are like another 9/11 for insurers (FT, Patrick Jenkins commentary $)
• The whole world should be worried by the ‘siege of Ottawa’. This is about much more than a few anti-vaxx truckers (The Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi op-ed)

House Big Oil Disinformation Hearing Features Plenty of Disinfo, Even Without Big Oil Board in Attendance

Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee and Environment Subcommittee held a hearing on Big Oil’s climate pledges, and whether they were in any way adequate, meaningful, honest, or well-intentioned — or just the latest move in a decades-long disinformation campaign.

During the three and a half hour hearing, most of the witnesses, like Public Citizen’s Tracey Lewis and climate scientist Michael Mann, were very clear about the damage done by the industry’s millions of dollars of funding for decades of disinformation. And the Democratic members appeared prepared to tackle the issue, with (sometimes too-) long questions detailing the industry’s deceptions, the Republican party’s denial, and the real-life harms of disinformation. 

But because Big Oil board members declined to attend (at this time) there wasn’t a whole lot of grilling going on, as in their stead they sent a front group stooge, this time the “whipping boy” was (industry-funded, MAGA-usurped) Heritage Foundation’s Katie Tubb. 

Tubb wasn’t there to defend the disinfo industry of which she is an active part. What became painfully clear was that she was there so that after a Republican gave a four minute speech about how very angry they are that the noble oil and gas industry is being demonized by mean nasty “Democrat” socialists, they could ask Tubb if she thought high energy prices are good or bad and if dirty energy in Russia and China is worse than clean American fossil fuels. 

She would say 'high prices bad, American fracking good,' and try to find a reason to mention something about “Energy Freedom” the new rebrand of “American Energy” that takes Canadian and Mexican oil into account, and of course little different from when they wanted to call it “Freedom Gas.” (But just as stupid.) 

The disrespect for Tubb probably wasn’t personal, though it kind of seemed that way, what with at least two of the Republicans not even bothering to get her name right and repeatedly calling her “Tubbs.” (One of the Democratic members made that mistake, but then apologized and corrected themself.) But it seems the GOP just doesn’t care about what its witnesses actually say, and merely uses them as rhetorical set pieces. 

The second Republican to give an opening statement was South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman. He clearly has a bad case of Fox News brainworms, saying something about “our cities are on fire” and that Biden “doesn’t know what month it is”, and also very clearly lied about the testimony of a prior witness. That, or didn’t actually bother to listen to it. 

Because key to the Republican counter-programming was the shameless pivot to energy prices and inflation, essentially blaming the cancellation of KXL plus a mystery scapegoat assortment of policies that don’t exist or haven’t yet been enacted, for the existing prices. Somehow the Green New Deal is so powerful that, once passed into law, it will go back in time to retroactively cause these price spikes that have nothing to do with the economic ups and downs involved with a global economy navigating a global pandemic — or even the volatile nature of fossil fuel prices themselves.

And so in referencing last year’s hearing on this issue, Norman said at the last hearing like this they heard from “an unemployed Keystone pipeline worker. Out of a job, does not have a paycheck.” 

Someone being out of a job for over a year would be tragic. If it were true. But it’s not! According to that no-longer-out-of-worker pipeline worker! At that very hearing Norman describes! 

“Now, I have got to be truthful, and I have got to be fair”, Mr. Crabtree told Republicans last time around, when multiple Representatives asked him exactly when he was laid off, despite his addressing it in his opening statement, “I have got to work since then, but most of the work that we are doing now is kind of maintaining the aging infrastructure of the pipeline systems that we have in this country now.” 

Which means he does have a job, and does have a paycheck, and Rep. Norman is being neither truthful nor fair, according to the testimony of the Republican-picked witness he cites.   

Even when in a hearing challenging disinformation from the oil industry, deniers apparently can’t help but deliver more oil industry disinformation.

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