FIRST LOOK: 

Joe Manchin Shoots Down Climate Legislation: Senator Joe Manchin III will not support legislation to address the climate crisis or increase taxes on rich people, the West Virginia coal millionaire told Democratic leaders Thursday. “There truly aren’t words, at least words that are suitable for printing in The New York Times, for how appalled and outraged we are,” LCV Sr. VP for government affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld told the Times. According to the Washington Post, Manchin cited inflation as his reason for not supporting climate provisions. In reality, addressing climate change would actually support the deployment of cheap renewables, lower American energy bills, reduce the economic impact of climate change, and wean the country off of inflationary fossil fuels. Manchin's declaration comes after years of negotiations in which the senator who received more campaign contributions from the mining, coal mining, gas transmission and distribution, and oil and gas sectors than any other legislator this election cycle has repeatedly offered vague, inconsistent criticisms of every proposal put before him. Any legislation to meaningfully address the climate crisis has been unanimously opposed by Senate Republicans. Manchin's rejection of climate action is a major blow to everyone on the planet who relies on and benefits from a stable climate, and especially those disproportionately harmed by — and least responsible for — climate impacts and pollution. Last month was essentially tied for the hottest June on record, and just this week, firefighters in California are struggling to protect sequoias that predate the time of Christ from wildfires supercharged by heat and drought, and Texas utility customers have been forced to voluntarily reduce consumption to protect an electrical grid strained by extreme heat — with even hotter temperatures forecast for next week. Fires rage and extreme heat stifles across Europe, while northern Italy — home to Joe Manchin's Maserati — is parched by its worst drought in 70 years. (Manchin: Washington Post $, New York Times $, AP, Rolling Stone, Slate, HuffPost, NBC, Bloomberg $, Business Insider, Politico, Axios, CNN, LA Times $, Electrek, Reuters, Wall Street Journal $; Climate goals: Washington Post $, The Hill, Grist; Disproportionate harms: Axios, The Hill, Nature; Hottest June: Washington Post $, Yale Climate Connections; Sequoias: Washington Post $, CNN; Texas heat and grid: Washington Post $, Utility Dive, The Verge; Italian drought: The Guardian)

DC Council Passes Building Electrification Bill: All new buildings and major renovations in Washington, D.C. would need to be built or undertaken with net-zero climate pollution by 2026 under legislation passed unanimously by the City Council earlier this week. Buildings account for nearly three-quarters of climate emissions in the city that pays federal taxes but does not have voting or proportionate representation in Congress despite having more residents than Wyoming and Vermont. The legislation also requires all new and substantially-renovated buildings to be fully electrified and applies to all commercial, condo, and apartment buildings as well as single family homes above three stories. (DCist)

Report Warns Of Global Copper Shortage: A shortage of global copper supplies could impede the buildout of clean energy technologies, a new report from S&P global warns. Copper, an excellent conductor of electricity, is an integral component of everything from batteries to power grids. The majority of copper demand will continue to be from products unrelated to the energy transition, and more copper will be needed in the next 30 years than the world has used since 1900. This means “Substitution and recycling will not be enough to meet the demands of electric vehicles (EVs), power infrastructure, and renewable generation,” the report says. Copper mining also brings heavy environmental, and environmental justice impacts but the report says supply shortfalls are expected even with assumptions of "aggressive capacity utilization rates and all-time-high recycling rates." (Gizmodo, Axios, Bloomberg $, Washington Post $, CNBC)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: How climate change could drive violence against women and minorities (The Hill), How climate change could drive an increase in gender-based violence (Nature), The unequal impact of climate change (Axios)

FOSSIL FUELED WAR: Will Europe get enough gas from Russia this winter? (Bloomberg $), Emerging nations warn high energy costs could threaten emissions targets (Reuters), Energy Security trumps climate as EU agrees to pipeline expansion (OilPrice), EU, Azerbaijan plan gas deal in pivot away from Russia (Reuters), Netherlands says it could withstand a halt in Russian gas flows (Bloomberg $), Russia aims to take control of oil pricing by creating benchmark (Bloomberg $), Yellen says price cap on Russian oil is ‘one of our most powerful tools’ to address inflation (CNBC), Germany hopes to outrace a Russian gas cutoff and bone cold winter (New York Times $)

(CLIMATE) DIPLOMACY: Critical minerals could become a geopolitical weapon (Protocol), Why Biden’s Saudi trip could nudge the kingdom on oil production (The Hill)

DENIAL: Angered by climate denial, a Times photographer embarked on a watershed journey (LA Times $)

SAUDI PLASTIC: As alarm over plastic grows, Saudis ramp up production in the US (Grist, Investigating Reporting Workshop, DeSmog, and Public Health Watch)

LOWKEY VOTER SUPPRESSION: ‘You can’t think about voting if you’re thinking about feeding your kids’ (The Real News)

EUROPEAN HEAT ETC.: Temperatures soar to 115 in Europe as heat wave expands (Washington Post $, Bloomberg $), As Europe bakes in heatwave, wildfires rage from Portugal to Croatia (Reuters), As UK bakes, city ‘heat islands’ are straining the energy grid (Bloomberg $), Britain braces for ‘exceptionally’ hot weather (New York Times $), Southwestern Turkey wildfire under control, minister says (Reuters), Firefighters scramble to put out flames in heatwave-hit Portugal, Spain (Reuters)

PUBLIC OPINION: Biden is losing his base on climate change, a new pew poll finds. six in 10 Democrats don’t feel he’s doing enough (Inside Climate News), Democratic voters say Biden could be doing a lot more for the climate crisis (The Guardian), Poll: Americans divided on Biden's climate policies (E&E $), Republican[ voter]s want climate solutions — just not from Biden (Grist), Young voters are fed up with their (much) older leaders (New York Times $)

GOP vs. ESG: Sen. Tom Cotton targets ESG investing: BlackRock is a ‘climate cartel’ (CNBC), SCOTUS ruling fuels red states' challenge over corporate climate risk disclosures (Axios)

POLLUTION+HEAT: Smog levels in Texas surge during heat wave, bringing worst summer air quality in a decade (Texas Tribune)

SCOTUS: Race car fans say SCOTUS climate ruling fuels their claims (E&E $)

AGENCIES: Loggers as firefighters? Forest Service chief urges caution. (E&E $)

EPA: Congress wants more air monitoring. EPA can't keep up. (E&E $), EPA ‘forever chemical’ health advisory spurs lawsuit (E&E News)

DOE: Carbon capture projects, regional CO2 pipeline design to get $2.6B in DOE funding proposal (Utility Dive), Energy Department to fund initiatives focused on ‘barriers’ to clean energy tech (The Hill), The agency responsible for securing the US's toxic nuclear waste has its work cut out for it (Gizmodo)

DOI: 6 offshore wind lease areas in the New York Bight get first Interior Department regional analysis (Utility Dive), Haaland touts 'balanced approach' to offshore leasing (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden admin pushes slimmed-down innovation bill (E&E News), Biden administration unveils new funding for domestic solar manufacturing (Reuters), Here’s the full roster of White House climate office staffers (E&E News)

BUILD BACK BETTER ACT: How one senator doomed the Democrats’ climate plan (New York Times $)

HOUSE: Committee OKs bill to protect Boundary Waters from mining (E&E $)

POLITICS: For Democrats, trying to slow climate change is good politics (Washington Post $)

ELECTIONS: Hulu demanded Democratic candidate cut 'sensitive' issues like abortion and guns from campaign ad (Jezebel)

CITIES AND STATES: How Gov. Whitmer built a climate legacy in divided Michigan (E&E News), Illinois issues draft renewable energy access plan to prioritize equity in the energy transition (Utility Dive), Many community stormwater systems aren’t prepared for climate change (Yale Climate Connections), New Mississippi rule requires utilities to pay low-income customers up front for solar installations (Utility Dive)

• CALIFORNIA: Calif. ballot measure would fund EVs by taxing millionaires (E&E $), Environmental groups allege LA River Master Plan was approved without proper review (LA Times $)
• TEXAS BLACKOUT WATCH: Texas narrowly avoids rolling blackouts after 2nd conservation plea by ERCOT this week (Utility Dive), Texas’ fragile grid isn’t ready for crypto mining’s explosive growth (The Verge)

IMPACTS: It's getting harder for forests to recover from disasters (E&E $), Shifting sands: Carolina’s Outer Banks face a precarious future (Yale Environment 360), Utah's Great Salt Lake is drying out, threatening ecological, economic disaster (Reuters, Gizmodo), Mon dieu! No mustard. France stews without its beloved condiment. (New York Times $)

HEAT: Excessive heat scorches parts of US due to climate change (ABC), Extreme heat around the world in videos, photos and graphics (The Guardian), Metropolis meltdown: the urgent steps we need to take to cool our sweltering cities (The Guardian), On the front lines as record heat and historic drought plague the West (ABC)

WILDFIRES: Aircraft, firefighters battle wildfires along Croatia's Adriatic coast (Reuters), Wildfire threat becomes tool to fight home builders (AP)

HURRICANES: Atlantic hurricane season may get boost from lingering La Niña (Bloomberg $)

DEFORESTATION: Jungle in heart of Malaysia's capital hunts corporate cash to thrive (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

RENEWABLES: California went big on rooftop solar. It created an environmental danger in the process (LA Times $), China’s ambitious rooftop solar pilot helps drive ‘blistering’ capacity growth (Climate Home), Green tech boom threatened as solar prices surge to decade high (Bloomberg $), In a twist, old coal plants help deliver renewable power. Here's how. (New York Times $)

BATTERIES: Panasonic picks Kansas for $4B EV battery factory (E&E News, Gizmodo, FT $), Offshore wind developer Equinor to acquire battery company East Point Energy (Utility Dive)

BUILDINGS: Greening a home — and the next generation — in Wisconsin (Energy News Network)

EFFICIENCY: How two college friends launched a company [Opower] that has helped save 32 terawatt hours of energy and more than $3 billion in energy bills (CNBC)

LNG: Vitol backs Delfin LNG project offshore Louisiana under 15-year supply deal (S&P Global)

OIL & GAS: 29 oil companies produce 50% of US emissions, report says (E&E $), Global natural-gas markets are getting scared (Wall Street Journal $), OPEC faces a near-impossible production task in 2023 (Bloomberg $), Why natural gas could ditch its ‘evil’ energy reputation (Politico Pro $)

COAL: Reopening European coal plants won’t sink climate goals (E&E News)

GRID: What an $8B Western grid project means for US clean energy (E&E News)

EVs: Some EVs now pay for themselves in a year (Inside Climate News), Cars may lose top CO2 polluter spot as EV numbers grow (E&E $), GM gives interstate EV charging a huge boost (Protocol), US electric car sales climb sharply despite shortages (New York Times $)

SEEMS NOT GREAT: The ever-growing risk of big dam failure (Energy Monitor)

SHIPPING: Cargo ships are notoriously dirty. A new bill aims to clean them up (Canary Media)

AGRICULTURE: Changing cows’ diets could curb emissions. Will farmers dig in? (E&E News)

INTERNATIONAL: ‘People are waking up’: fight widens to stop new North Sea fossil fuel drilling (The Guardian), Belgium vows more climate action on anniversary of deadly floods (Reuters), EU countries consider options to avoid carbon market fundraising plan (Reuters), India considers lowering windfall tax as global oil prices decline (Bloomberg $), Mexico blocks European solar and wind plants to favor state utility (Bloomberg $), UK oil and gas lobby group disappointed as windfall tax becomes law (Bloomberg $), Vietnam needs to spend $368 billion to avoid severe climate pain (Bloomberg $), German climate activists aim to stir friction with blockades (AP, Pacific island national leaders declare climate emergency (AP)

ART: New plays about race and climate change bloom in west Virginia’s wilds (Washington Post $), Kim Stanley Robinson on climate change, dropping acid and ‘psychogeology’ (New York Times, interview $)

TRAVEL: When it comes to green travel, impact matters more than words (Washington Post $)

• If Egypt won’t free Alaa Abd El-Fattah, it had better brace for an angry climate conference (The New Yorker, Bill McKibben column $)
• Climate change is a bigger threat to Pakistan than terrorism (Washington Post, Hamid Mir column $)
• The Amazon is burning — Biden can help save it (The Hill, Jennifer Molidor op-ed)
• The British still think heatwaves are fun — not for much longer (FT, John Burn-Murdoch op-ed $)
• While SCOTUS decision limits climate action, Congress still has an ace up its sleeve (The Hill, John Coequyt op-ed)
• Guest view: A platform for climate collaboration (Reuters, Mark Carney op-ed)
• To fight the drought, cities should pay farmers to get smarter about irrigation (Civil Eats, Robert Glennon op-ed)
• Extreme heatwaves are here to stay in the UK. It’s time for us to adapt (The Guardian, Vikki Thompson op-ed)

Students: Make An Easy $2,000 Telling Climate Deniers What They Want To Hear

Hey college students reading this because your professor made you sign up — want to make an easy $2,000?

Because after Anthony Watts failed to solicit a single student submission for his "do my job for me" contest of writing climate disinfo, he's trying again, re-opening up the "contest" in hopes of receiving a submission from anyone in a demographic that doesn't remember where they were when they heard that JFK was assassinated. 

The topic is "Is there really a climate crisis?" and in case you were wondering, the answer they're looking for is "No". 

"Write the best arguments," he charges students, "against the theory of man-made catastrophic global warming that would convince your neighbors that there is no climate crisis." 

You have until August 15th to put together your best impression of a climate denier, and send your draft over to Tony at wattsup@sbcglobal.net. 

Fortunately, you can remain anonymous, so long as you let WUWT staff verify your identity as a student, which means you won't be held accountable for taking a shot at making an easy $2,000 mocking them.

Second place is an $800 reward, and both prizes include an autographed copy of Watt's book, "plus up to 20 copies to distribute to other students" because Tony wants you to do his distribution work for him, too, in addition to drafting blog posts!  

So please, submit something, anything, because at this rate it feels like if he doesn't prove to his funders that he's serving climate disinfo to children, Tony will be piling those books up in a van and bribing schoolchildren at recess to take them by offering them free candy. 

(Oh, and please let us know if you do.)

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