FIRST LOOK: 

Join EPIC for a conversation on climate policy in the developing world with Indian MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, fmr. US Dep. Climate Envoy Jonathan Pershing, and EPIC Director Michael Greenstone. The event will be moderated by New York Times reporter Lisa Friedman. TODAY at 6:30pm ET.

Abortion Bans, Fossil Fuels Compound Threats For Pregnant People: Fossil fuel pollution and right-wing justices the industry helped install on the Supreme Court are combining to compound health and legal risks for pregnant people, Atmos reports. Climate change and pollution caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels (and wildfires) increase the risk of stillbirth (miscarriage after 20 weeks of pregnancy), preterm birth, and low birth weight. It is virtually impossible for a doctor to distinguish a miscarriage from an abortion. With the Supreme Court poised to strike down the federal right to obtain an abortion — and 26 states likely or certain to ban criminalize abortion once it does — people whose pregnancies end in miscarriage could face police investigations and even prosecution for something over which they had no control and in many cases never wanted to happen. Black people are also three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white people, and people of color are increasingly giving birth at home, in part to avoid the entrenched cultural racism of the U.S. health care system. The threat of criminalizing both spontaneous miscarriage and abortion (and even the use of contraception) puts Black, Indigenous, and pregnant people of color at even greater risk because these communities are disproportionately targeted by police forces. The draft opinion could also seriously undermine the ability of the federal government to limit industrial pollution, further exacerbating the vicious cycle of pollution and pregnancy threats. (Climate-abortion intersection: Atmos; Health care racism: NewsOne; Impending criminalization: The 19th* News; Contraception: The Guardian, Today, Mother Jones, Forbes, Idaho Statesman, Washington Post $)

Basically A Coin Flip Whether Earth Hits 1.5°C In Next Five Years — WMO: Earth stands a 48/52 chance of heating, if temporarily, 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels within the next five years, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said Monday. Fossil fuel pollution is the main driver of global warming. While the annual temperature average of 1.5°C may recede back below the target threshold, above which scientists say the destructive impacts of climate change will worsen beyond what they are even now, the milestone is significant in no small part because of the stark trend in which it is situated. “We’re going to see continued warming in line with what is expected with climate change,” UK Met Office senior scientist Leon Hermanson, who coordinated the report, told the AP. (AP, The Guardian, Axios, BBC, Reuters, FT $, Forbes)

South Asian Heatwave Ends School Year Early, Overwhelms Glacial Dams: As schools across India close early for the summer — unable to operate amid the extreme heat and resulting power shut offs — a massive glacial lake outburst in Pakistan wiped out a bridge, two power plants, and flooded a village as the record-breaking, months-long heatwave grinds on. Record-high temperatures accelerated ice and snow melt, feeding a lake near the Shishpar glacier in northern Pakistan's Hunza District so quickly it breached its ice dam and dumped 10,000 cubic feet of water per second down the valley. Residents had sufficient warning to evacuate, but the flooding destroyed agricultural land, power projects and some homes. “This glacier melting is worrisome because it’s now happening on an almost annual basis,” Hunza Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Usman Ali told the Washington Post, noting that many regions of the country are affected. “All of this is related to climate change.” (Heat wave: PBS NewsHour, Washington Post $; Schools: TIME; Dam-busting glacier melt: Washington Post $; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves, Glacier and ice sheet melt)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Study finds Black farmers have lost $326 billion in land (Modern Farmer)

WE'VE CROSSED THE GAS BRIDGE: Avoid using gas as ‘transition’ fuel in move to clean energy, study urges (The Guardian)

JUKING THE STATS: Oil giants sell dirty wells to buyers with looser climate goals, study finds (New York Times $)

PIPELINES: Enbridge takes the gloves off in Line 5 battle (Indian Country Today), An Iowa powerbroker plans to make a windfall from piping ethanol emissions (Mother Jones), Colonial Pipeline faces nearly $1M in penalties as federal regulator discloses probable violations (Utility Dive, E&E News)

KIDS THESE DAYS: Listen up! Here are the finalists of the 2022 student podcast challenge (NPR)

LEFT IN THE DARK: Report: Indiana utilities shut off electricity to Hoosiers 265,000 times during pandemic (Indianapolis Star)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: The plan to ensure Indigenous peoples have a voice at the UN (High Country News, Indian Country Today, and Grist), Europeans want fairer, greener, more agile EU, report says (Reuters)

WILDFIRES: Southwest faces 'extremely critical' wildfire threat as record heat hits Plains (Axios, Washington Post $, Wall Street Journal $, AP, Washington Post $), Calf Canyon Fire grows to 2nd largest in New Mexico history, burning 275 square miles (Democracy Now), New Mexico wildfire puts spotlight on use of prescribed burns (E&E News), Wildfires rage in Siberia, killing at least 10 (Gizmodo), Putin urges stronger action to prevent wildfires (AP)

FOSSIL FUELED WAR: Germany prepares crisis plan for abrupt end to Russian gas - sources (Reuters), Ship loaded with Russian coal docks in Spanish port of Gijon (Reuters), Spain has EU green light for gas price proposal - spokesperson (Reuters), Spain, Portugal to approve gas price cap on Tuesday, PM Costa says (Reuters)

EPA: EPA water guidance roils industry, enviros (E&E News), Ex-Hill aide, Seattle deputy mayor to lead EPA Region 10 (E&E News), Why EPA might make new gas plants catch carbon (E&E News)

DOI: BOEM finds no impact from potential wind lease offshore northern California (Renewables Now), Haaland advances grant funding for urban park projects (E&E $), Sage grouse struggle as BLM and states search for answers (E&E News), Court hearing: Did Biden legally suspend oil lease sales? (AP)

SEC: Companies would omit emissions under SEC rule — research (E&E $), SEC extends comment periods for rules targeting climate, private funds, trading systems (Politico Pro $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden sidelined global energy partners with record emergency oil release (Reuters)

THE HILL: 5 issues to watch this week in Congress (E&E News), Democrats split with Biden and push for quick offshore leasing program approval (Washington Examiner), Vilsack, Buttigieg, Raimondo to headline budget hearings (E&E $)

HOUSE: House panel takes up roadless-area timber harvest limits (E&E $)

SENATE: In Manchin's home state, wind energy finds bipartisan support (Washington Post $), Lawmakers to question White House CEQ chief (E&E $), Manchin says he'd pass parts of Biden's agenda. But Democrats may have to write the bill for him. (NBC)

POLITICS: A new Trump-tied PAC has entered the right-wing war against Biden’s conservation goals (HuffPost)

ELECTIONS: In Pennsylvania’s hotly contested 17th Congressional District, climate change takes a backseat to jobs and economic development (Inside Climate News)

CITIES AND STATES: Environmental justice law in New York could prevent new pollution in hard-hit neighborhoods (Grist), To equitably confront climate change, cities need to include public health agencies in planning adaptations (Inside Climate News), How the war in Ukraine could slow Texas’ energy transition (Texas Observer), N.M. becomes latest state to adopt Calif.'s clean car rules (E&E $), State regulators back reforms to address renewable backlog (E&E $), States band together to push for nationwide fleet electrification (Utility Dive), California revisits proposal on reforming rooftop solar policy (Reuters)

FERC: FERC, state regulators eye options for clearing up interconnection ‘quagmire,’ allocating upgrade costs (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: China's sea levels touched new high in 2021, government study shows (Reuters), Coral reefs provide stunning images of a world under assault (AP)

DROUGHT: It’s not even summer, and California’s two largest reservoirs are at ‘critically low’ levels (LA Times $), More human remains found in Lake Mead, which continues to recede amid drought (LA Times $, NPR, AP, BBC, CBS, Gizmodo, The Hill, NBC, The Independent, CNN, USA Today), Bodies surfacing in Lake Mead recall mob’s time in Las Vegas (AP)

• NOW IT'S REALLY A CRISIS: Facing a new climate reality, southern California lawns could wither (Washington Post $)

FLOODS: Red River becomes Red Sea as US breadbasket floods (E&E $), Drowning in dirt: How homebuilders are making floods worse (E&E News)

DEFORESTATION: Soaring demand for palm oil puts rainforests at risk again (Wall Street Journal $), Brazilian groups want direct access to U.S. forest funding (AP)

RENEWABLES: Botswana invites bids to build 200 MW solar plant (Reuters), EU plans one-year renewable energy permits for faster green shift (Reuters), GE's union: Build offshore wind turbines in Schenectady (Albany Times-Union), How Biden's solar trade probe is providing a lifeline to fossil fuel plants (Politico Pro $), Record wind power generated in Ireland in April (Irish Examiner), $1B hydropower project’s fate rests with Maine supreme court (AP), Portugal set to start up Europe's largest floating solar park (Reuters)

BATTERIES: Obama Interior official lobbying for lithium mine developer (E&E $)

EFFICIENCY: Heat pumps do work in the cold — Americans just don’t know it yet (Grist)

OIL & GAS: Activist investor Third Point continues push for Shell to restructure (Wall Street Journal $), Capital for oil, gas producers were extremely scarce a year ago. Today, the outlook has changed. (Houston Chronicle), Mexico’s oil gets even dirtier as flaring continues to soar (Climate Home)

PLASTICS: Tracking plastic pollution hot spots (Axios, E&E $)

HYDROGEN: China readies for post-2025 green hydrogen boom (Energy Monitor)

UTILITIES: Utility eyes offshore wind exit after blockbuster lease sale (E&E News)

EVs: Hyundai plans US EV plant, in talks with Georgia - sources (Reuters), Ford sells about 8% of its stake in electric-vehicle startup Rivian (Wall Street Journal $), Report: EVs may strain grid, fall short on net-zero targets (E&E $)

CARBON PRICING: A carbon tax won’t fight climate change, but will make life more expensive (Forbes)

FINANCE: UN climate czar Carney in new bid to get private equity onboard (Reuters), Religious leaders urge banks to stop financing drivers of climate change (Reuters), Climate-data startup arcadia raises $200 million (Wall Street Journal $)

WILDLIFE: Volunteer pilots rescue sea turtles stunned by cold water (Yale Climate Connections)

INTERNATIONAL: [New Zealand] cen[tral ]bank reaffirms support for plans to tighten climate risk disclosures (Reuters), Colombia must promote hydrocarbons or face importing oil, says industry group (Reuters), Bulgaria says will veto EU oil sanctions on Russia if it does not get derogation (Reuters)

• White House climate and economic justice screening tool misses a key factor: race (Baltimore Sun, Sacoby Wilson op-ed)
• Oil and gas are Texas' weapons against tyranny. But Big Oil focused on profits, not drilling. (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• To fight inflation, we must fight climate change (The Hill, David Super op-ed)
• A corpse in a barrel in a drying reservoir (Environmental Health News, Peter Dykstra column)
• As Earth heats up, the world must consider sunlight reflection (The Hill, Stewart Patrick and Sherri Goodman op-ed)
• What is America’s energy plan? (The Hill, William Becker op-ed)
• As US marks 1 million COVID deaths, Biden has dropped most pandemic protections (Truthout, Analilia Mejia op-ed)
• Rural America is not a lost cause for the Democratic party (Teen Vogue, Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward op-ed)
• 100 million new COVID infections could be just months away (Truthout, William Rivers Pitt op-ed)

2% of the Time, It Works Every Time:  Facebook Only Correctly Labeled Two Of 100 Climate Disinfo Posts

Every time Facebook gets called out for being a bastion of election-stealing climate denial, it points to its fact check program, wherein it defers to fact checkers to moderate content. 

Which might be an okay system, if they actually enforced it. But … they don’t! Facebook can hire the smartest engineers in the world, but somehow preventing obvious liars from exploiting the platform escapes them. (Probably because that’s what election-stealing climate denier Joel Kaplan wants!) 

The latest example comes from Media Matters, who looked at the top 100 Facebook posts from climate denial spreading accounts between September 2021 to April 2022, which racked up over 5 million interactions for false claims about climate and energy, particularly the false “energy independence” disinformation narrative.  

Of those 100 posts, only two carried a fact check label, yet they still got 176,000 interactions! 

Another 37 posts made similar claims but weren’t fact checked, and got 1.5 million interactions. 

Not exactly a convincing record of success! 

As Allison Fisher of Media Matters told Brian Kahn at Protocol, “this research and content illustrate that the policies that have been in place to address climate misinformation are inadequate. They’re just not working, either because they’re not being enforced, or they’re just inadequate to begin with.”

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