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Heavy Rains, Flooding Hammer Drought-Stricken Southwest: Heavy rains set off significant flooding from Arizona to Texas that killed at least one person in Mesquite on Monday in a wild weather whiplash for a region that has seen drought and extreme heat this summer. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, is making both droughts and extreme precipitation events worse and more frequent. Rain totals considered a 1-in-1,000 year storm soaked the area. An estimated 10 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, turning streets into rivers, submerging cars, and breaking rainfall records across the region. Hundreds of people were rescued from submerged cars. The Dallas-Fort Worth airport also recorded a record 3.01 inches in one hour. Floodwaters also overtopped a century-old levee outside Duncan, Arizona and one hiker is missing after being swept away by floodwaters in Zion National Park. (Texas Flooding: Texas Tribune, Dallas Morning News, AP, CBS, Texas Public Radio, NBC, WKBN, Dallas Morning News, Washington Post $, Austin-American Statesman, ABC, Weather Channel, Reuters, CNN; Whiplash: CNN, Axios; Rescues: CBS; Photos and video: WFAA, Dallas Morning News; Arizona: AP; Hiker: AP, CBS; Commentary: Dallas Morning News, Editorial Board; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, Flooding)

IRA Language Undermines Key Element Of SCOTUS WV v. EPA Ruling: In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court's right wing supermajority decided Congress had never given the Environmental Protection Agency the explicit authority to transition the U.S. off fossil fuels, and then invoked its new "major questions" doctrine to rule EPA lacked authority under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to reduce power plant emissions. It has that authority now. The Inflation Reduction Act — the New York Times reports, citing legal experts and Democrats who helped write the law — explicitly grants EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gas pollution, as well as to encourage the transition to clean energy sources including wind and solar energy. Republicans, including Texas Republican Ted Cruz, agreed the language speaks directly to the Supreme Court's decision. "The Democrats are trying to overturn the Supreme Court’s [ruling on] West Virginia v. EPA," he told Fox News Business before the Senate Vote. (New York Times $)

China Heatwave, Drought Raise Alarms, Invite Desperate Measures: Huge swaths of China are broiling under an unprecedented heatwave, coinciding with severe drought, forcing electricity rationing and threatening agricultural outputs. Officials issued a "red alert" for heat for the 11th day in a row and an "orange alert" for drought on Monday (the highest and second-highest threat level, respectively). The country's heat and drought have received far less English-language press attention [including in Hot News – Ed.] than similar phenomena in Europe. More than 260 weather stations broke high temperature records last week and over the weekend, including in Mianyang where the Sunday daytime high of 105.8°F smashed the previous record by 4°F. In Chongqing (with a metro-area population just shy of 17 million) Saturday's overnight "low" was 94.8°F — hotter than its average August daytime high. Drought has shrunk the mighty Yangtze River, imperiling both agriculture and hydroelectric dams. Curtailed hydropower output across the country has led officials to shut down factories in order to route more electricity to residential areas. The drought has also forced drastic measures to save summer crops, including potentially using cloud seeding measures to kickstart rainfall. The heatwave and drought, both the worst in the country's 61 years of recordkeeping, come in the runup to a key Communist Party meeting this fall. (Reuters, NPR, OilPrice, Climate Home, Bloomberg $; Records last week: Axios; Weekend records: Axios; Farmers: AP, Reuters, AP; Cloud seeding: AP; Party meeting: AP; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves, Drought)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Long burdened by a coal plant, South Memphis residents say no to coal ash in their backyard (Energy News Network), Louisiana Republicans hold climate policy hostage over abortion (Gizmodo, Democracy Now), Many prisons in Texas lack universal air conditioning. Advocates want that to change. (Yale Climate Connections)

THE BEST JUDICIARY MONEY CAN BUY: How a secretive billionaire handed his fortune to the architect of the right-wing takeover of the courts (ProPublica and The Lever)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Energy crunch in Belgium drives spike in demand for renewable energy cooperatives (Reuters), Europe risks losing green hydrogen funding to US, industry leader says (FT $), Surging energy prices are starting to feel like the old euro crisis (Bloomberg $)

EMISSIONS: US emissions up 2.5% in first half of year (E&E News)

PRIME DAY DEALS TO DIE FOR: OSHA probe could put Amazon in hot seat (E&E News), Amazon upgraded warehouse AC system after saying worker’s death wasn’t heat-related (NBC, The Verge, Daily Beast)

GRAMMATICAL CONVENTIONS!: SOS! Scientists sound climate alarm with exclamation mark (Thomson Reuters Foundation) 

MARINE LIFE: Up to 90% of marine species could be at high or critical risk if greenhouse gas emissions continue as-is: Study (ABC, The Hill, Courthouse News)

LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS: Manchin’s permitting side deal highlights the energy transition’s central conundrum (Forbes), US to spend more than $500 billion on climate over a decade under three laws, study says (Reuters), What the climate bill does for the nuclear industry (CNBC), Will the Inflation Reduction Act jumpstart carbon capture? (Grist)

SCOTUS: Supreme Court climate ruling leaves EJ communities at risk (E&E News)

AGENCIES: NOAA funds climate resilience effort along Mississippi River (E&E $), Rising rates lead hundreds of thousands to drop FEMA flood insurance: report (The Hill)

EPA: EPA weedkiller crackdown draws Republican ire (E&E $)

DOE: Expansion of clean energy loans is ‘sleeping giant’ of climate bill (New York Times $), DOE to attack CO2 emissions with billions in funding from inflation reduction, infrastructure laws (Utility Dive), DOE poorly equipped to handle climate law cash — IG (E&E $)

DOI: Who's in Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s brain trust (E&E $), How climate change is affecting National Parks (ABC)

HOUSE: Dem bill would end tax breaks for Big Oil advertising (E&E $)

SENATE: Former astronaut Sen. Mark Kelly on seeing the impact of climate change from space (CNN)

ELECTIONS: Herschel Walker: ‘Don’t we have enough trees around here?’ (HuffPost, Washington Post $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: White House zeroes in on regulatory review shop pick (E&E News)

CITIES AND STATES: Texas' plan to protect gas system draws widespread criticism (E&E $), Ga. calls off utility elections, citing Supreme Court ruling (E&E $), New California rule will cut costs of home EV charging (Canary Media), New Hampshire’s latest energy strategy: blame other states for rising costs (Energy News Network), NM city, victim of government burn, now faces water shortage (AP), No more shore? Climate drives an overhaul of N.J. land use. (E&E $)

DROUGHT: Severe heat and droughts are wreaking havoc across the globe (Vox), Global cotton supply shrinks in face of drought, heat (E&E $), 'Spanish Stonehenge' emerges from drought-hit dam (CNN)

• EAST AFRICA: World food programme warns 20 million in horn of Africa at risk of starvation (Democracy Now)

WILDFIRES: Forest fires south of Moscow flare up amid heatwave, officials say (Reuters)

WATER: San Diego’s ‘drought proof’ water is proving ever more expensive (San Diego Union-Tribune), The trickle-down effect of empty rivers and reservoirs (FT $)

• COLORADO RIVER: Ariz. lawmakers want other states to share Colorado River cuts (E&E News), The Colorado River drought is coming for your winter veggies (Vox)

RENEWABLES: As Mexico stalls major solar projects, companies turn to smaller workarounds (Reuters), Offshore wind 'turbulence' may threaten deep-ocean ecosystem (E&E $), Shell weighs Australia wind expansion amid clean energy push (Bloomberg $), Sunrun CEO Powell sees need for more rooftop solar (AP)

MINERALS: Could Alaska help Biden with his mineral woes? (E&E News)

OIL & GAS: Second driller pulls out of ANWR oil lease (Politico Pro $), Early investors in Texas oilfields strike lucky (FT $), Fears of new quakes in Dutch gas field as energy crisis bites (The Guardian), Saudi minister says OPEC+ could cut production at any time (OilPrice)

NUKES: $60/MWh for advanced nuclear electricity is achievable, says GE Hitachi executive (Utility Dive), Bill Gates’ company raises record funds for advanced nuclear (E&E News)

COAL: China no closer to peak coal despite record renewable capacity additions (Reuters)

HYDROGEN: Broker Marsh launches world first insurance for hydrogen projects (Reuters)

UTILITIES: Transformer shortage hits utilities in storm season (E&E News), GreenHat Energy, traders to pay $181M to settle PJM market manipulation allegations (Utility Dive)

GRID: OPSI supports complaint against PJM that seeks tighter transmission project oversight (Utility Dive)

EVs: Big hurdles on the road to moving millions of US drivers into EVs (Washington Post $), Climate law leaves out EV chargers for federal fleet (E&E $), Ford to cut 3,000 jobs to fund shift toward electric vehicles (Bloomberg $, Washington Post $, Axios), In Indonesian mining region, the EV boom takes a heavy toll (Yale Environment 360)

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Is renting my clothes really the most sustainable shopping option? (New York Times $)

AGRICULTURE: Big agriculture and the Farm Bureau help lead a charge against SEC rules aimed at corporate climate transparency (Inside Climate News), Cows in forests? Indigenous practice reborn as climate tool (E&E News)

FINANCE: Finance groups risk being kicked out of Mark Carney-led climate coalition (FT $)

INTERNATIONAL: Cholera tragedy in Indian village sheds light on power debts (Thomson Reuters Foundation), French minister calls for restrictions on flights by private jet (FT $), Net zero will make or break one of the UK's wealthiest cities (Bloomberg $)

• Make Indiana's electric vehicle infrastructure plan equitable (South Bend Tribune, Jorden Giger op-ed)
• We do not want to continue leaving Black, Brown and low-income communities behind' (South Bend Tribune, Alyssa Lee and Jorden Giger Q&A)
• Whether you’re a climate ‘doomer’ or ‘appeaser’, it’s best to prepare for the worst (The Guardian, Bill McGuire column)
• Calm LNG volumes contrast with spot price turmoil (Reuters, Clyde Russell column)
• The power of capital markets can be harnessed to drive the green transition (FT, Emanuel Faber op-ed $)
• This summer shows America must prioritize climate resilience (The Hill, Alice Hill and Forbes Tomkins op-ed)
• Truss and sunak promise climate regression (Energy Monitor, Nour Ghantous op-ed)
• Passing IRA was half the battle, now the real work begins (The Hill, Sterling Howard op-ed)

$1.6 Billion To New Right-Wing Front Group Puts It On Par With Entire Koch Network

A couple weeks ago, we made fun of political reporters who fell for Koch's attempted rebrand, as it turned out the network spent at least $1.1 billion dollars on the 2020 elections. 

Turns out that Koch was hardly the only game in town. Yesterday the New York Times' Kenneth Vogel and Shane Goldmacher reported that Barre Seid, billionaire maker of power strips and other electronics, sold his company Tripp Lite to Irish publicly-traded company Eaton for $1.65 billion in 2021, and donated 100% of the shares to a new 501c(4) nonprofit called the Marble Freedom Trust. It "received all of the proceeds from the sale, in a transaction that appears to have been structured to allow the nonprofit group and Mr. Seid to avoid paying taxes on the proceeds."

And if effectively stealing the $400 million in taxes owed to the public on a $1.65 billion dollar sale wasn't evil enough, the person running this new conservative propaganda production facility is Leonard A. Leo, "an activist who has used his connections to Republican donors and politicians to help engineer the conservative dominance of the Supreme Court and to finance battles over abortion rights, voting rules and climate change policy." 

You'll likely recognize him from his SCOTUS-corrupting work with the Federalist Society, long a player in the climate disinformation game (and occasionally scared of strong cartoon women). 

Interestingly, the Times claims that's on par with "the total of $1.5 billion spent in 2020 by 15 of the most politically active nonprofit organizations that generally align with Democrats, according to an analysis by The Times," which supposedly "dwarfed the roughly $900 million spent by a comparable sample of 15 of the most politically active groups aligned with the Republican Party." 

But since the Koch network alone spent $1.1 billion, a few hundred million more than the "measured in millions not billions" spend by the top 15 Democratic groups, clearly the Times had a little trouble counting all that money in a way that provided an accurate picture instead of a skewed "both sides" narrative. It will be interesting to see if, after the Times reports on this billion-dollar bonanza, its Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak carries through with his plans to moderate a Federalist Society panel on the Supreme Court.

Anyway, the Times uploaded the Marble Freedom Trust's 2020 990 tax form, where you can see $228,600,000 of Seid's tax-dodging-donations went out as grants to other groups, funding an undisclosed number of conservative disinformation operations, leaving the "charity" with some $1,413,208,131 in net assets. 

Where'd that measly two-hundred-mil go? Well, $41.1 million went right to the other big conservative "charity" money concealing-then-donating machine, Donors Trust, while $153 million went to the Rule of Law Trust, which appears to be another Leo-controlled, former Federalist Society-staffed front group. 

While everyone who opposes dark money covertly influencing politics and the courts should be outraged about this, we're probably not quite as angry as the folks over at the Heartland Institute. 

Because they used to be Barre Seid's baby, some ten years ago it was revealed that he was almost certainly their biggest funder, giving over $13 million between 2007 and 2011. Seems he was holding back, and in the intervening years Heartland failed to impress him in the ways that Leonard apparently did. 

So no matter how badly you may screw up in life, at least you know you didn't perform so poorly that your sugar daddy gave $1.6 billion to your competition!

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