FIRST LOOK: 

HUD Finds Chicago Violated Civil Rights Of Latino, Black Residents: The city of Chicago took an "unusually active" role violating the civil rights of its own citizens by pushing to relocate polluting industrial facilities from wealthy and white to predominantly Black and Latino communities, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says. The findings — which could result in the city losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding if it does not stop violating its residents' civil rights — is a major win for the community groups that have fought the relocation plan for years, including The Southeast Environmental Task Force, People for Community Recovery and the South East Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke. “We knew from the get-go that the city was upholding environmental racism,” Gina Ramirez, SETF board president, told Block Club Chicago. The HUD investigation was sparked by opposition to the relocation of the General Iron metal shredding and recycling facility from the white and wealthy neighborhood of Lincoln Park on the city's North Side to a Latinx neighborhood surrounded by Black neighborhoods on the Southeast Side. In a letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, HUD outlined findings that city officials pushed General Iron to close its Lincoln Park facility, cleared the way for its relocation to the Southeast Side, knew that doing so would negatively impact residents of color there, and pushed ahead anyway, ignoring their own environmental justice initiatives. The racist relocation of polluting facilities, including the LIttle Village neighborhood's Hilco Redevelopment Partners warehouse project that opened last year, is a recurring theme in the Windy City. “We want to reiterate to these companies that we don’t want to add to the cumulative burden of pollution,” Ramirez said. “We’ve been sacrifice zones for long enough. Black and Brown communities are hardest hit with pollution, so we need to rethink how urban planning is developed in Chicago [and do it] through an equity lens.” (Chicago Sun-Times, Block Club Chicago, Chicago Tribune, NBC, FOX32)

A 'Not Normal' Amount Of Greenland's Ice Melted Last Weekend: So much ice melted in northern Greenland last weekend that the newly melted water could cover the entire state of West Virginia with one foot of water. Yes, you read that correctly. Even given the increasingly rapid melting of Greenland Ice, the 6 billion tons of water that melted each day July 15–17 is "not normal," according to Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, told CNN. While the UK and continental Europe sweltered under deadly heat, Kutalmis Saylam, a Univ. of Texas research scientist stationed in Greenland said, "It definitely worries me … yesterday we could wander around in our t-shirts." Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels is accelerating glacier and sea ice melt (in Greenland and elsewhere) and scientists are continuing to discover new mechanisms for ice loss that are increasing sea level rise dangers beyond what was previously predicted. "The chance of temperatures getting this hot is clearly linked to global warming," Univ. of Copenhagen climate scientist Aslak Grinsted told CNN. (CNN, CNN; Climate Signals background: Glacier and ice sheet melt, Sea level rise, Sea ice decline, Arctic amplification)

Biden Describes Climate 'Emergency' As 'Clear And Present Danger': President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, described climate change as an "emergency" and a "clear and present danger" and said his administration will take steps to address it. Sweating in 90°+ heat in front of a shuttered Massachusetts coal plant being converted into an offshore wind manufacturing facility, Biden said climate action would create jobs and spur the economy, but did not officially declare a national climate emergency, which would open the door for more ambitious actions to address the crisis. That declaration is coming, however, and is merely a "matter of timing," John Kerry, the president's international climate envoy, told the New York Times. The administration announced multiple executive actions Wednesday, inducing opening parts of the Gulf of Mexico to offshore wind development and increasing funding for cities to deal with extreme heat. (New York Times $, AP, Politico, ABC, CNBC, CNN, Grist, Bloomberg $, The Hill, E&E News, Reuters, Reuters, NBC, Politico, E&E News, Axios, Prensa Latina; Offshore wind: Reuters, Bloomberg $, The Hill; Cities: The Guardian)

After Harsh Criticism USPS Increases EV Order For Next-Gen Vehicles: The U.S. Postal Service now says more than 40% of its next-generation delivery vehicles will be electrically powered, a substantial increase from the plan it announced in February. The USPS was harshly and widely criticized for its plan to buy 50,000 new mail trucks from Oshkosh Defense with just 10% of those being EVs. USPS now says half of its Oshkosh vehicles will be EVs, bringing the total of all the new vehicles it is purchasing to more than 40% electric. (AP, Axios, E&E $, Politico Pro $, Protocol, The Hill, Canary Media)

US HEATWAVE: As heat waves kill thousands, Biden's office for climate health risks is broke (NBC), Extreme heat prompts alerts in 28 states as Texas, Oklahoma hit 115 (Washington Post $, Reuters, ABC, NBC, Axios, The Hill, Reuters), Nearly a third of the US faces excessive heat, with misery spreading to the coasts. (New York Times $), At least 21 homes destroyed by Texas wildfires (AP, CBS)

UK HEATWAVE: ‘Hellfire’: what the papers say about UK’s hottest ever day (The Guardian), Britain counts cost of historic heatwave as 13 die (Reuters), UK shatters heat record 3 times in a matter of hours (E&E News), Britain’s freakish heat demolished records. Here's what happened. (Washington Post $), Google and Oracle data centers are melting in the UK heat wave (Protocol), Storms threaten more disruption on heels of record-breaking UK heat (The Guardian)

• FIRES: ‘Absolute hell’: firefighters battle blazes across UK on record hottest day (The Guardian), Heatwave led to London firefighters’ busiest day since second world war (The Guardian)
• TRAINS: Britain’s rail services severely disrupted as heatwave damage is repaired (The Guardian), Resilience of UK rail network faces review after heatwave disruption (FT $)
• (MAL)ADAPTATION: London shows how unprepared northern cities are for a warmer world (New York Times $), UK weather turmoil spurs calls to adapt to climate change (AP), UK must learn to live with extreme weather, says cabinet minister (The Guardian)

EUROPEAN HEATWAVE: Blistering heatwave plays havoc with Europe’s strained energy system (FT $), Brutal heat dome moves east, with central Europe sweltering (Washington Post $), Europe heat wave's scorched lessons (Axios), Extreme heat piles on Europe’s summer travel chaos (Washington Post $), It’s so hot in Europe that roads are literally buckling (Vox)

• FIRES: Europe is burning like it’s 2052 (Vox), UN warns extreme heat to be new normal as wildfires spread across Europe (Axios, Reuters, AP, photos), How climate change drives heatwaves and wildfires in Europe (Reuters, explainer), New wildfires in Greece as Europe braces for more heat (AP), Five years on from wildfire tragedy, Portugal again at mercy of heat and drought (Reuters)
• BUILDINGS & HEAT PUMPS: Why European homes (usually) don’t have air conditioning (Washington Post $), Europe is overheating. This climate-friendly AC could help. (Washington Post $)

HEAT & WORKERS: The frontline workers at risk in Europe’s heat wave (Politico EU), Spanish worker’s death shows need to adapt to climate change (AP, Reuters), Searing heat tests China's ability to keep its factories running (E&E $)

FOSSIL FUELED WARS: War and warming upend global energy supplies and amplify suffering (New York Times $), Russia resumes gas flows to Germany after Nord Stream maintenance (Washington Post $), EU asks member states to start rationing gas due to Russia "blackmail" (Axios, Reuters, New York Times $, Wall Street Journal $, FT $, Politico Pro $, New York Times $), Europe's action in case Russian gas supply stops (Reuters, Factbox)

(CLIMATE) DIPLOMACY: UNEP chief Inger Andersen says it’s easy to forget all the environmental progress made over the past 50 years. Climate change is another matter (Inside Climate News), US demands talks on Mexican energy policies it calls unfair (AP, New York Times $)

DENIAL: Delay as the new denial: the latest Republican tactic to block climate action (New York Times $), 'Greenwashing is occurring,' SEC official tells House panel (E&E $)

FOSSIL VOLATILITY: Sky-high diesel prices squeeze truckers, farmers, consumers (AP)

FORCED MOVEMENT: Coup, Covid, climate: the triple threat chasing citizens from Myanmar’s rice bowl (The Guardian), Denying refugees and migrants healthcare violates rights, WHO says (Reuters), The deadly connections between climate change and migration (Yale Climate Connections)

SCOTUS: Impact of Supreme Court's [West Virginia v. EPA] climate ruling spreads (Politico)

EPA: Regan resumes 'Journey to Justice' tour (E&E $), Watchdog: EPA botched pesticide cancer review (E&E News)

DOI: Biden admin tosses Trump habitat rule (E&E News)

WHITE HOUSE: Congress failed on climate. What can Biden do now? (Vox), Biden searches for climate emergency ‘sweet spot’ (E&E News), Declaring a climate emergency could unlock potent tools for Biden — at a steep cost (Politico), NOAA administrator: WH investment in climate 'will save lives' (NBC), What Joe Biden declaring a climate emergency would mean for tech (Protocol)

HOUSE: House rejects GOP bid to reverse climate, energy spending (E&E $)

SENATE: Democrats have no appetite for yanking Manchin’s gavel (E&E News), Manchin backs FERC oversight of hydrogen infrastructure (E&E $), Senate committee probes FERC regulation of hydrogen, but industry says tax credits are the priority (Utility Dive), Senate Dems shrug at long odds, vow renewed climate push (E&E News), Senate test vote is good news for DOE research funding (E&E $), Heinrich: Every Senate bill should include climate issues ‘all the time now’ (NBC), Democrats’ dilemma on Manchin: bash him, or bash Big Oil instead? (New York Times $)

ELECTIONS: Former Rep. Donna Edwards falls in House return bid (E&E $)

TRIBES: A Native Corporation wants to mine gold on the Kuskokwim River. Alaska Natives say no. (Grist)

CITIES AND STATES: Alarm as fastest growing US cities risk becoming unlivable from climate crisis (The Guardian), How cities are tackling extreme heat (Axios), At the Greater and Greener conference, urban parks officials and advocates talk equity and climate change (Inside Climate News), Fate of the Texas power grid depends on daily whims of the wind (Bloomberg $), Vermont moves to become first state to phase out linear fluorescent lights (Energy News Network)

FERC: Gas industry drags FERC into tussle over pipeline scheme (E&E News)

IMPACTS: Extreme rainfall will be worse and more frequent than we thought, according to new studies (Grist)

HEAT: As temperatures rise, ‘This is a preview.’ Will the warning be heard? (New York Times $), Sweta Chakraborty: ‘At some point we’re not going to be able to find solutions’ to extreme heat (MSNBC), The devastating economic toll of severe heat waves (CBS)

DROUGHT: The Rhine is inches from being too shallow for shipments (Bloomberg $, Gizmodo)

WILDFIRE FUEL: Amid drought, stressed trees fall victims of bark beetle (New Mexico Political Report)

WATER: Upper Colorado River Basin states offer no cuts to water use (E&E $)

(DE)FORESTATION: ‘In 10 years, we might not have forests’: DRC struggles to halt charcoal trade – a photo essay (The Guardian), How 'adopting' trees helps boost forests and incomes in Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Report: Brazil authorities pay no mind to deforestation (AP)

RENEWABLES: Solar power is helping Texas keep its air conditioning amid brutal temperatures (The Hill), Solar silicon cost rises for eighth week in blow to clean energy (Bloomberg $), WAPA approves interconnection request for ConnectGen’s 504-MW Wyoming wind project (Utility Dive)

BUILDINGS: Smart thermostats can drive higher peak electricity demand, Cornell researchers find (Utility Dive), Green upgrades could cut UK energy bills by £1,800 a year, finds study (The Guardian), Want to stay cool in the UK for 24 hours? It’ll cost households (Bloomberg $), 

COPPER: Copper price bounces higher as miners cut production forecasts (FT $)

TOXICS: How exposure to toxic chemicals in everyday products can impact reproductive health (The 19th* News)

OIL & GAS: If oil drilling ends in California, what happens to oil country? (New York Times $), Climate emergency and oil: What to watch (E&E News)

COAL: Gautam Adani ramps up share of coal imports as power crisis grips India (FT $)

HYDROGEN: Can green hydrogen save a coal town and slow climate change? (AP), UK moves to boost green hydrogen amid soaring gas prices (Bloomberg $)

UTILITIES: Hawaiian Electric proposes $190M of resiliency spending in first phase of climate adaption push (Utility Dive)

GRID: US power grid needs to focus on resilience as extreme weather events rise- NERC (Reuters), Pattern Energy acquires Southwest transmission line project (E&E $)

EVs: Here’s how the electric vehicle revolution is going (Washington Post $), As EVs go mainstream, a rush for share of home charger market (Reuters), Ford plans up to 8,000 job cuts to help fund EV investment (Bloomberg $)

AGRICULTURE: Huge rise in building on prime farmland in England stokes food security fears (The Guardian)

WILDLIFE: Polar bears scavenge on garbage to cope with climate change (Reuters), Leading wildlife monitor puts monarch butterflies on its endangered list (New York Times $)

INTERNATIONAL: [Australian] Greens want to ‘improve and pass’ Labor’s climate bill but remain critical of 43% target (The Guardian), Australian environmental report finally recognizes Indigenous knowledge (Grist), France's Macron pledges to step up fight against climate change as he visits wildfires (Reuters), Indonesian islanders sue cement producer for climate damages (The Guardian)

• Won’t address climate change for yourselves? How about for the guy who designs heat maps? (Washington Post, Alexandra Petri op-ed $)
• Anti-abortion proponents have their roots in pre-emancipation era white supremacy and efforts to control Black bodies (NewsOne, Anoa Changa op-ed)
• Australia green fail is global net-zero liability (Reuters, Antony Currie op-ed)
• Climate fight can take heart from an old oil maxim (Reuters, George Hay column)
• Record heat has terrifying impacts (The Hill, Kimberley Miner op-ed)
• Biden’s climate change ‘revolution’ isn’t coming (New York Times, Spencer Bokat-Lindell op-ed $)
• The political power of pro-choice protests (Yes Magazine, Mickey Huff and Nolan Higdon op-ed)
• Edwardian morals, Thatcher and bad design – why Britain’s homes are so hot (The Guardian, Phineas Harper op-ed)

Joe Bastardi Reviews 'Climate Change For Babies,' Gets Confused By Metaphors, And Cries About 'Degrowth Marxism'

Today we were going to write about the very serious issue of all the many deniers like Tucker Carlson deliberately misrepresenting the political uprisings in Sri Lanka and the Netherlands as a reaction to climate policies and not a whole suite of issues. Bjorn Lomborg, as usual, makes it pretty easy. "Long BBC story about Sri Lanka and tea" he tweeted, "and not one mention that the catastrophe was because the President decided to have Sri Lanka go organic on April 27, 2021. Almost as if this is not politically correct to say?"

No, Bjorn, it's just not regular correct to say! It's like blaming someone for screaming in terror at an avalanche for causing that avalanche! 

But before we could dive into debunkings from Media Matters and Bob Ward, we got distracted by a real grade-A denier tantrum that's too good to pass by: Climate change for Babies– Book review, by Joe Bastardi. 

"What is it with the leftists' trying to ruin kids even on topics such as climate?" he opens the post by asking. "Below is a book my daughter gave me as a lark," he continued, posting pictures of the cardboard-page-style baby book about climate change. 

For the benefit of CFACT's readers, Joe posts pictures of every page of the book, consisting of a cute picture of a cartoon Earth ("notice the cute face" he instructs his audience of very smart adults) above a sentence per page walking babies through the greenhouse effect using the metaphor of the atmosphere as a blanket. 

But when the book labels methane, CO2 and water as greenhouse gasses, that's where Joe starts getting upset. "Now the distortion starts" he writes, because water is ​​more of a GHG than carbon dioxide. For some reason he tosses in John Christy's fact-checked chart, to accompany a rant about "brainwashing kids" before moving on to the point that Venus "has a much thicker blanket and is too hot." That's where Bastardi says "the wheels start coming off" and indeed it's where his review really starts getting fun. 

Apparently comparing Venus to Earth is "absurd" because Venus has "250k more CO2 and the atmosphere is much denser" which certainly sounds like a not-baby way of saying "thicker blanket" like the book for babies does. 

And very much like a baby encountering something that scares them, Bastardi's wheels start coming off. "If CO2 is having such an effect, why are there no temperature correlation charts to CO2,  [a]nd just to water vapor? And what of the lapse rate of the earth? Why is that not changing if the increase in density by CO2 increase is causing a problem?" 

Great question, why doesn't this BABY book talk about that stuff? "Argue back radiation if you must, you have my ear," Joe writes, again, about a book for babies, "but this is simply nonsense." 

Surely because "this is truly about" something else entirely, according to Bastardi: "the Marxist Degrowth agenda." 

Yes, in a review of a book for babies with cartoon illustrations, Bastardi brings up some variation of "degrowth marxism" four times

"By the way what is that cow doing grazing on the arctic circle?" Joe asks, confused by a baby book's illustration that, ironically, could be a prediction if Bastardi has his way and fossil fuel pollution continues to turn frozen tundra in Canada and Russia into warm arable farmland.

We could go on, because Joe does, at length. But we'll skip to the conclusion, where Bastardi cowardly stops short of coming out and saying this is the work of the devil, instead writing that "If truth is noble, what is hiding the truth or distorting it (for those that believe in our heavenly father, if the truth is a trait of God, what is hiding or distorting it a trait of)?" 

Without stopping to ponder that too hard, his tantrum crescendos: 

They want to confuse kids as early as possible. This has nothing to do with science and weather. It has everything to do with the filtering down of a philosophy that the way to save humanity from itself is to do away with the very tenets that drive humans to be better, to freedom, hope, joy. And limiting not only what people can do, but how many people there are to do it. The fact that it is reaching down all the way to this level should alarm any objective, rational person, no matter what your feeling on the “science”.

I CAN’T BELIEVE THE WEATHER AND CLIMATE HAVE BEEN DRAGGED INTO THIS SEWER. Is there nothing they won’t touch?

Is nothing sacred? Joe should ask his fellow denier Anthony Watts, given he's so desperate to get students to write climate disinfo for him that he's offering $2,000! If a baby book is bad, surely that's worse, right?

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