FIRST LOOK: 

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South Asian Heatwave Likely Made 100 Times More Likely By Climate Change: Climate change probably made the brutal, weeks-long heatwave blanketing northwest India and Pakistan 100 times more likely, the UK Met Office said Wednesday. The attribution study found — without climate change — an event like the region's 2010 heatwave would occur once in 312 years. With climate change, however, such an event could be expected to occur every 3.1 years. The widespread disruption and harm, especially for outdoor workers, is exacerbated by rolling blackouts, especially at night, when high heat and humidity prevent the body from cooling down. Meanwhile, in northeastern India, torrential rains and devastating flooding have killed at least 11 people, displaced 400,000 people, and swept at least one (empty) train off its tracks. "People don't have drinking water, there's limited food in stock, all forms of communications have been cut off and we don't have any means of transportation as all the roads have been washed away by floods and landslides," 10-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam, who is from the region, told CBS. "This is a real climate emergency." (Heat: Washington Post $, CNBC, The Guardian, Bloomberg $, CNN; Rain and flooding: CBS; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves, Extreme precipitation increase) 

Tesla Booted From ESG List: The S&P 500 index removed Tesla from its list of companies succeeding on ESG issues over allegations of racial discrimination and poor working conditions at it's primary factory in the U.S. Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, was also booted from the list. In response, Tesla's founder insulted S&P and echoed GOP and rightwing messaging, deriding assessing companies' environmental, social, and (corporate) governance performance as a "scam … weaponized by phony social justice warriors." (Wall Street Journal $, Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg $, CNN, New York Times $, MarketWatch, CNBC)

WMO Report 'A Dismal Litany Of Humanity's Failure To Tackle Climate Disruption': UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for countries to fast-track infrastructure and eliminate bureaucratic barriers to expanding clean energy adoption, Wednesday, as the international body issued an alarming report. Guterres also described, "The war in Ukraine and its immediate effects on energy prices [as] yet another wake-up call." The UN World Meteorological Organization reported record-breaking atmospheric CO2 levels, ocean temperatures, sea levels, and ice loss all in 2021 and amounted to "a dismal litany of humanity's failure to tackle climate disruption," according to Guterres. He also called for wealthy nations to make energy technology IP "freely available public good" and demanded an end to fossil fuel subsidies that dole out $11 million to coal, oil and gas companies "every minute of every day." About $9 million in the time it has taken you to read this paragraph. (Bloomberg $, CNN, AP, Axios, Forbes, Reuters, The Independent, Axios, The Hill, NBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters, The Guardian)

Climate Change Great For Winter Ticks, Very Bad For Moose Calves: More than 85% of Maine moose calves tracked by researchers last year died before their first birthday because of surging winter tick populations. Solid cold and sustained snow cover kill off winter tick larvae. Climate change, however, is lengthening autumn and shortening winter, allowing the ticks to move further north into moose populations otherwise unchecked by predators. "Winter ticks are acting as a predator in the system," said Henry Jones, the lead moose biologist with New Hampshire’s Fish & Game Department, "and they are enhanced by the shifting climate, by the warming climate.” (WBUR)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Communities of color in TX excluded from federal disaster relief (MSNBC), Why Indigenous communities need a seat at the table on climate (The Conversation), Women in rural Bangladesh pay more for rising cost of climate disasters (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

DOMESTIC TERROR: Ecoterrorism was a thing. Now threats come from the far right (E&E $)

FOSSIL FUELED WAR: Drought and soaring food prices from Ukraine war leave millions in Africa starving (NPR), The war in Ukraine is speeding Europe’s pivot to renewables (Bloomberg $), EU reveals its plans to stop using Russian gas (BBC), Why Germany is hooked on Russian gas (Vox), Europe rankles Gulf countries with energy transition push, while seeking oil, gas supplies (S&P Global)

• EU ENERGY PLAN & WIND NORTH SEA WIND: EU plans ‘massive’ increase in green energy to help end reliance on Russia (The Guardian, Reuters, AP, Wall Street Journal $), EU accepts it will burn more coal in move away from Russian gas (FT $), Europe has a radical new offshore wind plan (Protocol, AP)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Australia’s climate data to UN questioned as study finds land clearing in Queensland underreported (The Guardian)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Climate lawsuits poised for new Supreme Court fight (E&E News)

• TOXIC PATRIARCHY LITIGATION: Johnny Depp trial unlocks new way for abusers to exert power over survivors, experts worry (The 19th* News)

IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT: Your crushing anxiety about the climate crisis is normal (Smithsonian Magazine)

SOLAR TARIFFS: BNEF says Auxin misinterpreted its research in calling for solar tariffs (Canary Media), White House seeks to assure Senators on solar investigation (The Hill)

HOUSING: How ailing strip malls could be a green fix for US housing crisis (Yale Environment 360)

1 IN 6 DEATHS: Pollution blamed for 9M premature deaths per year (E&E News, Grist)

FILLING GAPS BY MEASURING LEAKS: Community methane monitoring fills gaps left by EPA (E&E News)

EPA: 3 EPA proposals clamp down on common air pollutants (E&E $), In unusual move, EPA backtracks on air quality designations (E&E News), Senators question Regan about ‘climate chaos’ (E&E News)

DOE: DOE: Small-scale wind could provide 50% of US energy (E&E $), US extends application deadline for nuclear power rescue program (Reuters)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: SEC to consider sustainable investing rules (E&E News)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden warns of ‘another tough hurricane season’ this year (AP)

THE HILL: Time running out on the 'one opportunity' for a climate bill (Roll Call), Clean energy tax package shows signs of life (E&E $)

HOUSE: House member [Katie Porter] aims to curb price gouging at the pump (MSNBC)

Anti-price gouging bill might lack votes to pass House (E&E News), 'Price gouging' bill aimed at oil companies draws opposition from some Texas Democrats (Houston Chronicle)

SENATE: In West Virginia, the clean-energy transition rests on Joe Manchin (Washington Post $), Manchin calls for 'North American minerals alliance' (E&E $), Sen. Sullivan looks to curb power of giant investment firms embracing ESG (Washington Examiner)

ELECTIONS: Cawthorn unseated; hot Pennsylvania race remains too close to call (E&E News)

CITIES AND STATES: Colorado, Arizona local governments partner on carbon removal technology (The Hill), New York policymakers mull landmark shift in renewables ownership (Politico Pro $), California to join $8 billion hydrogen hub race among US states (Bloomberg $)

• TEXAS: ERCOT says grid is ready for summer, but extreme weather and generator outages could challenge reliability (Utility Dive), Seven ways climate change is already hitting Texans (Texas Tribune)

FERC: ‘What the FERC!’ Republican group drags agency into campaign (E&E News), FERC’s Glick says he’s ‘bullish’ on energy storage, aims to prioritize regulations for hybrid projects (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Climate change boosted cost of Japan storm by $4 billion, study shows (Bloomberg $), Earth’s atmospheric CO2 hasn’t been this high in millions of years (The Real News), Rocket launches could be polluting our atmosphere in new and unexpected ways (Gizmodo), Winds, dryness raise fire concerns in Northern California (AP)

HEAT: Sweltering summer heat in Texas to swell into eastern US (Washington Post $), The air conditioning paradox (Vox)

DROUGHT: Desperate lawmakers discuss piping ocean water to fill Great Salt Lake (Gizmodo)

WILDFIRES: Forests often regenerate after wildfires. Why the climate crisis could change that (Arizona Republic), Firefighters slow growth of massive New Mexico wildfire (AP)

HURRICANES: Bad news for the 2022 hurricane season: The Loop Current, a fueler of monster storms, is looking a lot like it did in 2005, the year of Katrina (The Conversation, The Independent), Hawaii hurricane season forecasted to be slow with La Nina (AP)

WATER: Colorado, Nebraska jostle over water rights amid drought (AP)

(DE)FORESTATION: Australia’s tropical rainforests have been dying faster for decades in ‘clear and stark climate warning’ (The Guardian), Foresters hope 'assisted migration' will preserve landscapes as the climate changes (NPR)

CARBON BOMBS: 'Carbon bomb' projects are hurting any hope of meeting climate goals (NPR)

TECH CASH: Why tech giants’ cash is a hidden source of greenhouse gas emissions (The Verge)

RENEWABLES: It’s now cheaper to switch from coal to renewables instead of coal to gas, report shows (CNBC), Indiana experiment highlights wind siting challenge (E&E News), Siemens Energy eyes buyout offer for troubled Siemens Gamesa (Bloomberg $), World will spend an estimated $1 trillion on offshore wind power by 2031 (Bloomberg $)

BUILDINGS: What if apartment listings had to include energy-efficiency scores? (Grist), Can a new concrete mixture help reduce the construction industry's carbon footprint? (NPR), Dutch homes will have to install hybrid heat pumps from 2026 (Bloomberg $), How to install heat pumps in millions of European apartments (Bloomberg $)

LNG: US LNG is quickly becoming the world’s hottest commodity (OilPrice)

OIL & GAS: Gasoline could top $5 a gallon this summer, causing more pain for consumers (CNBC), High gas prices not impacting most workers’ decisions to return to office (The Hill), Households are now spending an estimated $5,000 a year on gasoline (CNBC)

UTILITIES: Advocates say Duke Energy’s North Carolina climate plan relies too heavily on fossil fuels (Energy News Network)

GRID: Vast swath of US at risk of summer Blackouts, regulator warns (Bloomberg $, Washington Examiner, Reuters)

EVs: EVs are shoving aside real volumes of oil (Axios), Inside the race for a car battery that charges fast — and won’t catch fire (Washington Post $)

CRYPTO: Cryptocurrency’s climate conundrum (E&E News), Crypto crash unlikely to reduce its climate impact, expert says (The Guardian)

ART: Artists organize to offer new visions for tackling climate change (The Conversation), Australian women document climate crisis in visual petition – in pictures (The Guardian)

CATS: Scientists have found a feline solution to the climate crisis (The Independent)

FOOD: Iceland restaurant with tomato-based menu embraces renewable energy (ABC)

DIRECT ACTION: Jessica Reznicek set fire to Dakota Access pipeline construction. Is she a terrorist? (Grist)

AVIATION: Do airline climate offsets really work? Here's the good news, and the bad. (New York Times $)

BUSINESS: Corporate clean energy procurement on track for another record year after adding 11 GW in 2021 (Utility Dive)

CARBON REMOVAL: In the fight against climate change, seaweed could be a surprising — but vital — weapon (CNBC)

FINANCE: Al Gore's investment firm unveils $1.7 billion sustainable fund (Bloomberg $)

WILDLIFE: Michael Strahan goes whale watching in Iceland (ABC), Plant species can migrate in response to climate change – by hitching rides in animal bellies (Yale Climate Connections), These animals are thriving under climate change (Gizmodo), Wild tulips need love, too: research highlights ignored 'plight' of spring symbol (USA Today), 

INTERNATIONAL: Century-old canal project sparks opposition in South Sudan (AP), Australian conservative party faces teal independent threat (AP), Climate could change the course of Australia's election (TIME)

• Is carbon removal finally getting serious? (Bloomberg, Bloomberg Editorial Board $)
• Catherine coleman flowers on America’s dirty secret (Atmos, Catherine Coleman Flowers Essay)
• Climate lessons from faltering Texas power grid (The Hill, Daniel Cohan op-ed)
• The Department of Justice’s strategy to advance environmental justice (The Hill, David F. Coursen op-ed)
• Heat waves are killing Californians in their homes. Cooling standards could save lives (LA Times, Los Angeles Times Editorial Board $)
• Hey adults, the climate movement needs you (The Oregonian, Adah Crandall op-ed)
• I'm a middle-aged Black father. I want to ask White teen males this question (CNN, Keith Magee op-ed)

Biden Admin's Disinfo Panel Paused In Face Of Coordinated Disinfo Attack, Because Of Course

In late April, the Biden Administration's Department of Homeland Security created a Disinformation Governance Board to "coordinate countering misinformation related to homeland security", specifically attacks from hostile foreign powers. 

Predictably, the disinfo-dependent Republican party and its disinfo-spreading outlets attacked it, and its director Nina Jankowicz, so relentlessly that the Biden administration has "paused" the effort, and Jankowicz resigned. 

As Taylor Lorenz at the Washington Post reported, "Jankowicz’s experience is a prime example of how the right-wing Internet apparatus operates, where far-right influencers attempt to identify a target, present a narrative and then repeat mischaracterizations across social media and websites with the aim of discrediting and attacking anyone who seeks to challenge them. It also shows what happens when institutions, when confronted with these attacks, don’t respond effectively." 

The "1984" takes spread across the rightwing disinfo ecosystem at the obvious speed, despite the fact that, as Lorenz notes, "neither the board nor Jankowicz had any power or ability to declare what is true or false, or compel Internet providers, social media platforms or public schools to take action against certain types of speech." 

The board, then, was explicitly NOT the "ministry of truth" disinfo-spreaders feared. It couldn't censor anyone online or off, and had no influence on schools or social media. "In fact," Lorenz clarified, "the board itself had no power or authority to make any operational decisions." 

While deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates told the Post that “these smears leveled by bad-faith, right-wing actors against a deeply qualified expert and against efforts to better combat human smuggling and domestic terrorism are disgusting," the administration apparently told Jankowicz to be quiet and not defend herself from the online onslaught … and otherwise failed to prepare others to defend Jankowicz. 

As one Hill staffer told Lorenz, “The irony is that Nina’s role was to come up with strategies for the department to counter this type of campaign, and now they’ve just succumbed to it themselves. They didn’t even fight, they just rolled over.” What's the point of setting up a board to advise on disinformation, if you're going to let disinformation spike the effort?

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