FIRST LOOK:

Join local water leaders, the WaterNow Alliance, the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland and the Water Center at Penn for the 2022 Tap Into Resilience Summit on April 13-14th, in Philadelphia, PA. More info is here.

Redlining's Racism Is Polluting The Air: 45 million people in redlined communities continue to breathe dangerously polluted air more than half a century after the racist practice was outlawed, a new study reveals. The research, published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, finds that communities redlined in the 1930s have worse air pollution today, including smog-causing nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate pollution (also known as PM2.5) from cars, trucks, power plants, and other industrial sources. The fact that Black and Latino Americans — across income levels — live in areas with higher pollution today, however, suggests other more recent racist and discriminatory policies continue to cause environmental inequities. The study confirms the lived experience of people of color around the country, Beverly Wright, head of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, told the Washington Post. “Any time we can get a study that takes the anecdotal stories of communities and we end up having scientific findings to support those anecdotal stories, that’s a good thing,” she said. “It supports community claims on the ground.” (Washington Post $, The Hill, New York Times $, The Guardian, EcoWatch)

Increased, Under-Appreciated Flood Risks Threaten Rise In Mortgage Defaults: The U.S. housing market is substantially overpriced because buyers are ignoring climate-driven flood risks, and a correction could cause an increase in mortgage defaults, a new analysis from Milliman indicates. Homes in previously redlined communities already face higher flood risks, and Black communities face disproportionately increasing flood risks. While the 2% overvaluation (more than half a trillion dollars across the entire market) is not as severe as what led to the subprime mortgage crisis that set off the Great Recession, the analysis finds mortgage defaults could still rise by as much as 40% by 2050. Flood risks are rising because of multiple impacts of climate change, caused primarily by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels. (E&E $; Climate Signals background: Flooding)

State Vehicle Pollution Waiver Has Major National Implications: The Biden administration, on Wednesday, restored California's authority to set its own, stronger, limits on pollution from cars, trucks, and SUVs. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. The move undoes a decision made by the previous administration and will have wide-reaching effects across the transportation sector. Not only does California account for a sizeable portion of the national car market, but 17 states plus the District of Columbia follow its regulations, which — under a rule currently being considered by the state Air Resources Board — would require 100% of new vehicles sales to be EVs by 2035. Improving fuel efficiency and EV adoption “is especially welcome news,” said LCV chair and former EPA administrator Carol Browner, "as international conflict drives up the price of oil and gasoline.” (Washington Post $, AP, E&E News, CNN, Axios, New York Times $, Politico, The Hill, Wall Street Journal $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: ‘Respect science’: Mona Hanna-Attisha shares climate lessons from Flint (Atmos)

'I'M MAD, I’M POWERLESS, I’M EXHAUSTED AND I'M ONLY 18': The unseen toll of a warming world (New York Times $)

WAR IN EUROPE: ‘This is a fossil fuel war’: Ukraine’s top climate scientist speaks out (The Guardian), Swap Russian gas for renewables, EU tells member states (Climate Home), Swift US response to Ukrainian refugee crisis spotlights anti-Blackness in immigration system (NewsOne), 'This crisis will accelerate the energy transition' (Politico), The EU's big energy moves show a new order is quickly emerging (Axios), Chernobyl plant disconnected from power grid; Ukraine demands cease-fire for urgent repairs (Washington Post $)

• GAS PRICES: Russia’s war is raising gas prices and roiling financial markets (New York Times $), Sick of high gas prices? Then it’s time to talk climate action (LA Times $), Why gas prices are so high and what Biden can do about it (Axios), Why president Biden banned Russian oil (TIME)
• THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG: Republicans wrongly blame Biden for rising gas prices (New York Times $), As Russia conflict pushes gas prices higher, House GOP leader blames Biden (The Hill, Washington Examiner), Republicans use EV hearing to knock Biden's clean energy policy as US bans oil and gas imports from Russia (Utility Dive), 
• SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: Ukraine’s conflict has rippled all the way to the Arctic Circle (TIME)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: US says $100 billion soon to help poor nations with climate (AP)

CERAWEEK: Gas security a growing worry due to Russia's export dominance (Reuters), 'Energy transition? Leave us out,' say African energy leaders (Reuters), Equatorial Guinea energy minister pushes back on energy transition (Reuters), US energy secretary urges companies to boost oil, gas output (Reuters), Global LNG demand will keep growing: tellurian chair (Bloomberg $)

FLOODING DOWN UNDER: Australia declares east coast floods a national emergency (Reuters, The Hill, Wall Street Journal $)

JK LOL: Newly released email claims climate-friendly BlackRock 'didn't mean' the nasty things it said about big oil (Gizmodo, The Guardian)

AGENCIES: Blinken welcomes UAE support for increasing oil production (The Hill)

SOCIAL COST OF CO2, NO2, CH4: Judge won't stay injunction against social cost of carbon (Politico Pro $), GOP questions emissions' social cost after court rejection (E&E $)

EPA: Biden administration stops short of electric vehicle mandates for trucks (Inside Climate News)

DOE: Granholm calls on oil producers to boost output: 'We are on a war footing' (The Hill, Politico)

DOI: In Ohio, Interior Secretary Haaland stresses justice and jobs in mine and well cleanup plans (Energy News Network), D.C. Circuit nixes bid to fast-track Gulf Coast leasing case (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: The Air Force wants to blow up toxic military waste on a beach in Guam (Grist)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden adviser: US can meet fossil fuel needs without Russia (Axios), Biden and the oil industry are at odds, clouding effort to tame gasoline prices (Wall Street Journal $), Biden pushes Congress to help burn pit veterans (E&E News), Biden to oil industry after Russian ban: drill (E&E $), Biden's move against Russian energy heavy on symbolism (Axios)

• ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Biden admin remains steadfast on EJ promises — CEQ chair (E&E $), Biden leans into climate policy to undercut Putin (E&E News), White House plans EJ hires. Will they make a difference? (E&E News)

THE HILL: Lawmakers reach $1.5T deal on government funding package (The Hill, E&E News), ‘Travesty’: Left and right slam spending bill (E&E News), Congress spending bill boosts funding for energy and water programs (Politico Pro $), Omnibus includes small funding increases for EPA, Interior (Politico Pro $), Congressional pressure eases on Russian energy import ban (E&E $), 

HOUSE: Agencies, lawmakers call for federal climate adaptation (E&E $), Intelligence officials brief panel on Russian cyber threat (E&E $), House yanks Covid aid after bumps in drive to pass $1.5T gov funding plan (Politico Pro $)

SENATE: Democrats target oil companies with plan to tax windfall profits (Bloomberg Tax), GOP senator [Bill Cassidy] outlines proposal for 'Energy Operation Warp Speed' (The Hill)

POLITICS: Russia’s Ukraine invasion could break oil’s grip on US politics (TIME)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Biden taps head of the EPA's air office. Expect a tough confirmation fight. (Washington Post $, E&E $), Manchin confounds colleagues as he holds up Interior pick (E&E $)

TRIBES: Tribes push to co-manage public lands in historic hearing (E&E News)

CITIES AND STATES AND DISENFRANCHISED COLONIAL TERRITORIES: A company backed by this mega oligarch helped kill clean power in Maine (Daily Beast), Long-term changes to Texas power grid still up for debate, PUC official says (Houston Chronicle), Minnesota Senate GOP bill would block ‘clean cars’ standards (AP), New York releases disadvantaged community definition for clean energy funds. Here's the criteria being used. (Politico Pro $), Puerto Rico governor axes $8.3 billion power utility restructuring deal (Wall Street Journal $)

AGRICULTURE: Kansas farmers are planting more cotton as climate change redraws agricultural maps (NPR), Demand for meat is destroying the Amazon. Smarter choices at the dinner table can go a long way to help. (Washington Post $)

EMISSIONS: Carbon dioxide emissions hit record high last year (Axios, E&E $), Carbon dioxide will have to be removed from air to achieve 1.5C, says report (The Guardian), 

IMPACTS: How climate change is disrupting the global supply chain (Yale Environment 360), Stunning photos of climate change (CBS), Not going with the flow: salmon ‘sue’ US city over harm to population (The Guardian)

DROUGHT: Klamath River basin drought prompts resource fight (E&E $), Lake powell is in big trouble (Gizmodo)

WILDFIRES: Wildfire covers 1,000 acres on North Carolina’s Outer Banks (AP)

ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE: On top of everything else, nuclear war would be a climate problem (The Atlantic)

RENEWABLES: China plans huge wind and solar power rollout in Gobi desert (Climate Home), Colorado steel mill goes solar (Yale Climate Connections), Russian resources fuel clean energy, too (Wall Street Journal $), The next bets for renewable energy (Wall Street Journal $)

OIL & GAS: Stranding of three whales in Corfu raises alarm over seismic testing for fossil fuels (The Guardian), Russia crisis may drive a US natural gas surge (E&E News), Alaska North Slope natural gas leak is under investigation (AP), Oil workers on foreign-flagged ships are at the mercy of corporations (HuffPost), What’s next for oil: Drilling boom, recession or more EVs? (E&E News), Why US oil production isn't growing even faster (Axios)

NICE OF THEM: Chevron Phillips agrees to reduce pollution at 3 plants in Texas (The Hill), Chevron Phillips fined $121M for polluting EJ communities (E&E $, Politico Pro $)

PIPELINES: Frackers say bottlenecks impede output boost as oil prices soar (Wall Street Journal $)

HYDROGEN: Hydrogen vehicles are finally starting to find their footing, but experts say we're late in the game (Houston Chronicle)

EVs: War shakes up market for EVs, batteries (E&E News), Which came first, the electric pickup or the charging station? (Daily Yonder)

BUSINESS: Amazon doubles down on clean construction (Axios)

CARBON CAPTURE: Carbon capture takes center stage, but is its promise an illusion? (Inside Climate News)

FINANCE: Arizona AG to use antitrust law to challenge green investors (E&E $)

INTERNATIONAL: Canada touts clean energy fix for Europe’s energy woes (Politico Pro $), Climate change group vows to disrupt UK oil refineries (Reuters)

• Fracked Gas in Appalachia won’t help Ukraine, but will hurt our communities (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Anaïs Peterson op-ed)
• NW Natural’s proposed rate hike unfairly saddles customers with costs of bonuses, profits (The Oregonian, Charlotte Shuff op-ed)
• It’s time to restore habitat for salmon runs, before it’s too late (CAL Matters, John McManus op-ed)
• Oil companies demanding slower transition to clean energy (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• What’s better than a ban on Russian oil imports? Ending our dependence on fossil fuels (LA Times, Editorial Board $)
• Climate mitigation isn’t just a matter of ethics; it’s life and death (Truthout, James Boyce interview)
• How to get Americans out of cars and onto electric bikes and scooters (Canary Media, Melinda Hanson interview)
• To build a thriving clean energy economy, we need strong federal government regulation (The Hill, Mindy Lubber op-ed)
• The Ukraine war is a decision point — banks should stop funding the fossil fuel industry forever (LA Times, Svitlana Romanko and Bill McKibben op-ed $)
• As the Emmett Till Antilynching Act becomes law, we owe a debt to the mother who never let us forget (The Grio, Touré op-ed)
• Investors are reevaluating the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Let's cancel it for good. (Truthout, William Limpert op-ed)
• The environmental law that is strangling California (Wall Street Journal, Chris Carr op-ed $)

Watts Fails, Koch Succeeds in Paying Students To Produce Climate Disinfo (Not Porn Stars, Though.) (Ok, Just That One.) 

On Monday, Anthony Watts posted the first winning essay in his “do my job for me” contest to solicit essays about climate denial. Given that it’s from the “professionals” category, we expected the $2,000 prize would go to someone making an intelligent, science-based and professional-sounding argument. 

Instead, we got a rewrite of Jim Kelly’s 2019 Medium blog post detailing his issues with the IPCC’s First Assessment Report published back in 1990, most of which stem from his complete ignorance and misunderstanding of the IPCC, mixed with some troll-y alt-right cliches like attacking Greta and “SJWs.” Not exactly fresh content. 

While we wait to see if the “general public” category does any better than the professionals at making a new, accurate, or remotely professional argument, based perhaps on the science of the 21st century, we will say we’re disappointed that apparently Watts got absolutely zero entries in the student category. Zero! Zip! Zilch! 

Not a single student entered! Not even weatherweenie mistaken for a meteorologist Chris Martz was paying enough attention to Watts’s website to realize he could write “Greta bad” and send it in to make the first and easiest $2,000 of his surely inevitable career as a climate disinformer.

Watts’ failure to solicit essays from students in exchange for cash does not, unfortunately, mean that there isn’t a cadre of Koch Youth waiting in the wings. Quite the opposite, as the hub for all takes Koch-y, RealClearEnergy, recently ran not one but TWO essays from the Koch-y Young Voices “nonprofit” PR shop that pays students $1,000 for landing op-eds in school newspapers. We didn’t recognize the name, but that’s because it used to be the more descriptively named “Students for Liberty” before rebranding as a group training up the next generation of covert Koch (false) advertisers disguised as conservative activists, pundits, journalists and commentators who make up the media manipulation arm of the Koch influence machine. 

Now, say what you will about Young Voices being a corrupt front for brainwashing youths into a career serving as billionaire’s puppets, but we will genuinely give them kudos for one thing: being sex-positive. 

At least it seems that way, when we saw the SourceWatch section in the group’s entry is titled “Adult Film Actress Association.” 

Not every day you see an entry like that, so we were very curious to find out more about their work with Miriam Weeks. Some may know her better as Belle Knox, who went viral in 2014 as the “Duke porn star,” because she worked in the adult film industry to pay tuition while a student. 

Just months later, Weeks rebranded as a libertarian activist, with Young Voices’ (initial) support. But the updated Young Voices page no longer appears to include her entry, and it does not look like her rebrand was particularly successful, with the last of the Twitter posts from Young Voices welcoming and expressing their pride and support for her being from Feb. 5, 2015. (Perhaps the Koch PR training ground was not quite enough to overcome the misogyny of her intended audience, who no doubt enjoyed her films while condemning her attempts to move into a different career.)

Our additional cursory research on Weeks didn’t turn up much political press after that initial PR tour, though we did find out that there was a Lifetime movie in 2018, at which point Bustle reported that she was on track to graduate from Duke, having retired from the adult film industry in 2016. 

According to some creepy “reporting” based on some guy’s date with her that we won’t  link to out of respect for her renewed anonymity, as of 2019 she was in law school to become a civil rights lawyer. So there’s no evidence Young Voices was able to do its job well and build her up as a libertarian media figure -- but let us know if your research turns up something different!

Actually, jokes aside, though, don’t. Don’t doxx former sex workers who shouldn’t have to feel ashamed about living in a society where college is so expensive it puts anyone in such a position to choose work with such a societal stigma in the first place. And if you happen to go on a date with someone who’s obviously trying to now live in relative peace and anonymity, don’t blab to tabloids about it. That makes YOU the jerk!  

Because it’s not like adult actors are doing anything bad, dirty, gross or shameful, like selling their dignity and the planet’s collective future for paychecks from libertarian billionaires. 

That’s for Weeks’ fellow Young Voices alums to worry about.

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