WORTH REVISITING: 

Incarcerated people are especially vulnerable to harm from climate change impacts exacerbating the deep injustices of the American carceral system. A multi-part series led by Alleen Brown reported on the myriad disproportionate harms.

Big Oil Defends Shareholder Benefits, High Gasoline Prices: Big Oil executives tried to defend high gasoline prices, record profits, and stock buybacks and shareholder dividends before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday. Crude oil prices have fallen after a spike induced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but prices at the pump have stayed high. The companies (and their PACs) that appeared yesterday have given $383,000 to members of the Committee (97% which went to GOP members). Oil firms told the Committee the federal government needed to lease more land for oil and gas extraction, even though industry executives say they are not increasing extraction, which would lower prices, in order to keep their shareholders happy. The oil and gas industry is already sitting on 7,700 drilling permits on 13.9 million acres of federal land and API CEO Mike Sommers admitted last October, "it takes a long time to develop these leases." The IPCC report released Monday on climate change mitigation said all new fossil fuel infrastructure construction must cease immediately in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels and warned "status quo" actors and political barriers are the main obstacle to addressing climate change. Also Monday, ExxonMobil announced a $10 billion plan to drill for oil off the coast of Guyana. (Hearing: AP, E&E News, E&E News, Washington Post $, FT $, MarketWatch, New York Times $, Politico, HuffPost, ABC, CNN, CNN, The Hill, Houston Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Barron's, Wall Street Journal $, Reuters, Fox Business, USA Today; Wartime profits & shareholder benefits: Washington Post $; Campaign contributions: Forbes $; Permits: Bloomberg $; IPCC: Yale Climate Connections, The Guardian; Exxon: DeSmog)

Pinterest Sets Bar For Social Media Misinformation Standards: Pinterest announced Wednesday it will implement a new climate misinformation policy notable for its strength and contrast to less comprehensive measures taken by other social media platforms. The policy prohibits paid and organic "content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change," as well as false or misleading content regarding climate solutions. The new policy could also bar all content produced by entities funded by the Koch network. [See the Denier Roundup below for more. —Ed.] (New York Times $, Gizmodo, The Guardian, Tech Crunch, Reuters, CNN, Mashable, Yahoo, Wall Street Journal $, Quartz)

Legislation Introduced To Revitalize Clean Energy With Defense Production Act: Legislation introduced in both the House and Senate would use the Defense Production Act to invest $100 billion to revitalize clean energy in the U.S. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would also create a task force to work with environmental justice communities, manufacturers, unions, and scientists. Crow, a former Army Ranger, said his office has been in communication with the White House about the legislation and noted, "The president last week showed his willingness to use the DPA for these efforts with the EV battery issue." (Washington Post $, Truthout)

Fossil Booster Stands By Ethnocentric College Writings He Says Are Unfair Report On: Alex Epstein, a prominent promoter of fossil fuels, stands by ethnocentric and colonialist perspectives he pushed as a college student, the Washington Post reports. Epstein, who argues it is "immoral" to encourage renewable energy adoption in the developing world, wrote in 1999 that Duke students should be required to take classes on Western civilization, and described other cultures as "anti-reason" and said "their only academic merit lies in contrasting them to Western civilization as models of inferiority."  Epstein viciously attacked the Washington Post reporter ahead of its publishing of his writings, which were unearthed by Documented, in an attempt to discredit her work and get her fired. Epstein said reporting on his writings in college were "so beyond the pale in terms of false content." He also stood by his statements in a Youtube video posted last week in which he reiterated "Western culture is overall superior." Epstein has testified before Congress at the invitation of the GOP three times, and is scheduled to speak at a conference in June sponsored by Chevron, and his messages have been repeated by numerous Republican lawmakers and politicians. His self-described "for-profit think tank" does not disclose its funders, but Epstein has admitted fossil fuel firms pay him for consulting services. (Washington Post $)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: The little-known open-source community behind the government’s new environmental justice tool (Grist), Republicans slam 'identity politics' in disaster aid (E&E $)

FOSSIL FUELED WAR: Europe is weighing a ban on Russian coal. Here's what that could mean. (New York Times $, Fortune, NPR), UK to ban Russian coal and freeze assets of Sberbank (Reuters, Axios, Reuters), What would happen if Europe sanctions Russian oil? (Reuters, explainer, Reuters, Factbox), Germany seeks to boost renewable energy, cut Russian imports (AP), Greece to increase coal-fired energy production to cut gas needs (Bloomberg $, Reuters), What the war in Ukraine means for energy, climate and food (Nature)

DENIAL: The Sun’s pro-fracking poll was paid for by climate denial group (DeSmog)

IPCC: More citizen science, please (Atmos), 'Ridiculous' length? How to make IPCC climate science reports an easier read (Thomson Reuters Foundation), The 1.5-degree goal is all but dead (The Atlantic), UN report details how moves to address climate change could affect key sectors (Wall Street Journal $), UN highlights potential of broad electrification as it stresses the role of cities in tackling climate change (Utility Dive), What we learned from the IPCC report (FT $)

• METHANE: One weird trick for fossil fuel companies to actually do something right (Gizmodo)

OIL RESERVES: IEA countries agree to release another 60 million barrels of oil (Axios, NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg $, The Hill, Reuters, MarketWatch, Washington Examiner)

PUBLIC OPINION: Americans are far more likely to say climate crisis is a threat after facing recent extreme weather (CNN)

SCOTUS: Supreme Court reinstates Trump rule limiting state water authority (Politico Pro $, Washington Post $, AP, New York Times $, The Hill, E&E News), The Supreme Court’s attack on the Clean Water Act was too extreme for John Roberts (Slate, The Week), Opponents warn of ‘chaos’ as Supreme Court revives Trump permit rule (E&E News)

CAFE STANDARDS: Biden’s fuel rules leave space for gas guzzlers in EV push (Bloomberg $)

EPA: Regan defends EPA spending hikes on Capitol Hill (E&E $)

SENATE: Cantwell mulls Enron-like transparency mandates for petroleum (E&E News), Democrat presses EPA administrator on climate rule pace: ‘How long do you think you have?’ (The Hill)

POLITICS: Business-GOP alliance crumbles over climate (E&E News)

CITIES AND STATES: Wu announces that Boston will buy 20 electric school buses (Boston Globe $, AP), Pennsylvania court blocks governor’s carbon emissions plan (AP, NPR)

CALIFORNIA: Report to California legislature: prepare for sweeping effects of climate change (CAL Matters)

FERC: FERC likely to pursue market rule boosting low-carbon, flexible power resources (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: Storms batter aging power grid as climate disasters spread (AP)

HEAT: Record heat to bake California as April snowpack nears 70-year low (Washington Post $, LA Times $, AP, Weather Channel)

DROUGHT: Punishing Bay Area drought prompts calls for major water rethink (KQED), Klamath irrigators vote for water deliveries even if it puts federal drought funding at risk (Jefferson Public Radio)

MAPLE SYRUP: How climate change is making maple syrup less sweet—and sapping production in NY, NJ (Gothamist)

WEATHER PREDICTION: National Weather Service faces helium shortage for weather balloons (Axios)

FAMILY PLANNING: Some young adults are worried about having kids (Yale Climate Connections)

EMISSIONS CUTS: Does the US lead in cutting greenhouse gases? It depends on how you look at it (PolitiFact)

RENEWABLES: Jobs of the future (Indian Country Today), US wind energy just hit a major milestone (CNN), FWS’ toad protections highlight threat from geothermal project (E&E News), How green laws stop green projects (NPR), Land defenders face violence and repression. Clean energy could make it worse. (Grist), Portugal's floating solar energy auction sets world record negative price (Reuters), Wind energy company kills 150 eagles in US, pleads guilty (AP, Washington Examiner)

• SOLAR TARIFFS: To understand why Biden extended tariffs on solar panels, take a closer look at their historical impact (The Conversation), SEIA reports 'rapid degeneration' of solar sector following federal anti-dumping investigation (Utility Dive, E&E News, Politico Pro $)

BATTERIES: Koch industries’ bet on batteries (New York Times $)

STORAGE: Brand new problem': California grid operator considers ways to integrate long-duration storage (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: ConocoPhillips releases details about major Arctic gas leak (E&E $)

UTILITIES: New coalition presses TVA to align with Biden's CO2 goals (E&E $)

VEHICLES: Revolutionary changes in transportation, from electric vehicles to ride sharing, could slow global warming – if they’re done right, IPCC says (The Conversation)

• POSTAL SERVICE: GAO: Postal service used questionable assumptions to make case for continuing gas-powered fleet (Utility Dive), Postal Service fleet plan sparks hearing climate fight (E&E $)
• ELECTRIC: Honda and GM to collaborate on 'millions of EVs' (E&E $), Electric taxis set loose in New York (New York Times $)

BURNING THINGS: Porsche backs venture that taps wind to make gasoline substitute (Bloomberg $, CNBC, Reuters)

XR UK: Activists aiming to cut petrol supply to south-east England occupy oil terminal (The Guardian)

AVIATION: Greens call for stronger aircraft pollution rule (E&E $)

AGRICULTURE: 

BOOKS: 12 books on racial, gender, and environmental/climate justice (Yale Climate Connections), 'The Vortex' investigates how climate catastrophes can have unexpected consequences (NPR)

BUSINESS: IKEA invests $373 million in solar park projects in Germany, Spain (Reuters, Bloomberg $)

CARBON PRICING: Does the nation’s first CO2 cap and trade system work? (E&E News)

CARBON REMOVAL: Carbon removal ‘unavoidable’ as climate change alarm bells ring (FT $), CO2 capture company wins record funding (E&E $), Occidental is eyeing California’s clean fuels market to fund Texas carbon removal plant (Inside Climate News)

FINANCE: High energy prices challenge Wall Street’s green shift (Wall Street Journal $)

INTERNATIONAL: South Africa seeks proposals for renewable energy projects (Bloomberg $)

UK: UK bets big on nuclear, offshore wind in energy security push (Bloomberg $, FT $), UK to defy net zero targets with more oil and gas drilling (The Guardian), UK to renationalise electricity system oversight (FT $)

• Why is the UK government backing nuclear power when onshore wind is so much better? (The Guardian, Alethea Warrington op-ed)
• To rebuild influence in Africa, the US should go green (Bloomberg, Bloomberg Editorial $)
• US needs a strategic reserve for green energy (Bloomberg, Conor Sen op-ed $)
• Carbon removal isn’t the solution to climate change (New Republic, Genevieve Guenther op-ed)
• Climate-change ‘solutions’ that are worse than the problem (Wall Street Journal, Jason De Sena Trennert op-ed $)
• How advocate tries to be sustainable: seasonal eating and used books (Washington Post, Lucia Priselac perspective $)
• Yes, we can reduce global plastic pollution (The Hill, Monica Medina op-ed)
• The end of the world is coming, even if you’ve heard it all before (LA Times, Nicholas Goldberg column $)
• Climate scientists are desperate: we’re crying, begging and getting arrested (The Guardian, Peter Kalmus op-ed)
• The simple, big reason Colorado’s rivers are drying up (The Colorado Sun, Rica Fulton and Jen Pelz op-ed)
• Europe’s wartime dash for lng complicates US-China trade (Energy Monitor, Seb Kennedy op-ed)

Pinterest Proves Platforms Can Create Climate Misinformation Policies

It’s not news that Facebook is terrible, and could be doing much better on climate misinfo (and everything else), particularly if it weren’t for Republican operative Joel Kaplan’s chokehold on the company. But it doesn’t need to be that way, nor does its unwillingness to constrain climate denial mean that other social media companies can’t touch it either. 

And Pinterest just proved it when they announced they have incorporated climate misinformation into their community guidelines which, because they apply to not just ads but also organic content, goes well beyond Google’s demonetization policy. The new guidelines make Pinterest something of a leader in an admittedly quite dismally slow race. 

Pinterest’s climate misinformation definition is directly informed by the climate disinfo community, with whom they consulted when building the policy. Unlike SOME companies that love to waste people’s time at meetings that actually don’t matter because Joel Kaplan doesn’t let them do anything good anyway, Pinterest appears to have actually listened to experts it met with, and clearly took their advice to heart.  

Pinterest’s new community guidelines are explicit that they don’t welcome “content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change, the human influence on climate change, or that climate change is backed by scientific consensus,” which is a solid start that precludes the most egregious deniers. 

It then indicates that Pinterest isn’t a place for fake solutions: “false or misleading content about climate change solutions that contradict well-established scientific consensus” will not be allowed, either. That means, assuming the company dutifully enforces these policies, which is of course the issue that remains to be seen, it’s going to get real tricky for any attempts at corporate greenwashing or promoting rightwing calls to cut down trees to solve climate change. 

Pinterest also will remove “content that misrepresents scientific data, including by omission or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate science and experts,” so the folks who love quoting just a line or two from thousand-page reports in order to claim they actually say the opposite of what they really say will not find purchase at Pinterest, either. (Sorry, Steve Koonin!) 

Finally, the policy prohibits “harmful false or misleading content about public safety emergencies, including natural disasters and extreme weather events,” essentially cutting off those who capitalize on moments of uncertainty during disasters to push their disinformation. 

And while the policy is focused more on climate misinformation, it does happen to include, general “misinformation” on election and health content, a point about disinformation: “Content that originates from disinformation campaigns, including about climate change or civic participation.” 

This category could be huge. Steve Milloy’s “JunkScience” account is named for a tobacco disinfo campaign. Climategate emails were spread as part of a disinformation campaign. Everything produced by the hundreds of millions of dollars Koch has plowed into Universities over the past couple decades originates from disinformation campaigns. 

Though obviously it takes a certain amount of expertise to discern what narratives originate from disinformation campaigns, tracking those things down isn’t impossible, and there’s already plenty that’s been well-documented. 

Other social media companies could adopt simply that rule — no disinformation campaign narratives — and it would cover everything that counts in the world of climate disinfo, and so much more from anti-vaxxers, election-traitors, war criminals, and many others who may also deal in all those things, like many climate deniers.

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