Heatwave Breaks Records, Threatens Human Health: Extreme heat shattered records up and down the West Coast over the weekend, threatening human health as well as the electricity grid. More than 45 million people across seven states were under heat alerts over the weekend. Extreme heat is the deadliest form of climate-related severe weather and compounds underlying societal inequities including racist housing policy. The heat is most dangerous for those experiencing homelessness or who otherwise are unable to access air conditioning, and high overnight temperatures are also especially dangerous because they prevent the human body from cooling down. “A lot of hot interior locations are not cooling down at night, so the human body doesn’t get a break,” NWS forecaster Brooke Bingaman told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Our challenge closer to the coast is we are dealing with a population where a lot of people don’t have AC.” High temperature records fell across the Bay Area with preliminary readings recorded Monday highs of 116°F in Fairfield (prev. record: 108°F) and 100°F in Oakland (prev. record: 95°F). Death Valley hit 127°F on Thursday; if verified, that would break the global record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in September. Some cities, like Los Angeles, have taken steps to mitigate the impact of extreme heatwaves, but those initiatives have not received the logistical and financial resources required. Marta Segura, named LA's first chief heat officer earlier this year on top of her full-time job as the city’s climate emergency mobilization director, told the LA Times, "If we don’t serve the most vulnerable frontline communities and invest in them … We’re not going to get to the climate solution for anyone.” (Multi-state heatwave: (CNN, Axios, Washington Post $, AP; Vulnerable populations: CBS; Records: (San Francisco Chronicle, KCRA Sacramento, Sacramento Bee $, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee $; Death Valley: Sacramento Bee $, CBS, Axios, Washington Post $, HuffPost; LA heat office: (LA Times $; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)
Russia Shuts Off Nord Stream Gas Indefinitely: Russia indefinitely cut off delivery of methane-based gas to Europe, Gazprom said Friday. The state-owned energy company blamed the Nord Stream 1 pipeline shutdown on maintenance issues, just hours after the G-7 announced a joint cap on Russian oil prices, itself an effort to reduce Russia revenue from foreign fossil fuel sales. The full shut down of Russian gas deliveries is a marked escalation of its leveraging of Europe's dependence on its methane-based gas in order to prevent a more forceful response to its invasion of and atrocities in Ukraine since late February. While increased energy prices across Europe have driven up inflation — as European leaders have to obtain energy from non-Russian sources and store up methane gas for the winter — those efforts have reduced Putin's leverage in the region. (Washington Post $, New York Times $, CNN, Reuters, Axios, USA Today, Axios, Newsweek, FT $, Wall Street Journal $, CNBC, Wall Street Journal $, New York Times $; G-7 Price Cap: The Hill, CNBC)
Cal. Grid Avoids Big Blackouts On Labor Day, Danger Still Looms: The California electrical grid avoided large-scale blackouts Monday as residents heeded officials' calls to reduce their electricity consumption amid the scorching heat. California's grid operator (CAISO) had warned the extra demand on the grid could force as many as 3 million households offline and warned projected peak electrical demand will be even higher on Tuesday with demand outstripping supply by as much as 5,000 MW. While not nearly as bad as when 2 million Californians lost power in August 2020 because PG&E mistakenly shut down a gas-burning power plant, not everyone's lights (and air conditioning) stayed on. Nearly 67,000 Bay Area customers lost power when transformers blew because of the extreme heat. Climate change is threatening the California grid — which, despite investments in renewable energy, is still powered largely by fossil fuels — in multiple ways in addition to increasing demand from air conditioning in the face of extreme heat. The historic megadrought across the American West is reducing hydroelectricity production from dams powered by shrinking reservoirs, and wildfires — supercharged by vegetation desiccated by heat and drought — threaten generating stations and transmission lines. Some 45 new wildfires ignited across the state on Sunday alone. “We designed the grid and wrote reliability requirements for the 20th century,” Mark Dyson of RMI told Vox. “We didn’t know that the weather was going to get a lot more extreme, both cold and hot. And what we’re seeing in particular is large, aging fossil fuel plants showing their weaknesses.” (Heatwave straining grid & demand reduction requests: Sacramento Bee $, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times $, San Francisco Chronicle, Axios, AP, LA Times $, E&E $, CNN, Grist, CNN, Bloomberg $, HuffPost, Bloomberg $, New York Times $, Reuters, Sacramento Bee $; Tuesday shortfall: AP; Overall climate grid threats: Vox; Transformer failures: Axios, NBC-Bay Area; Heat and fire grid threats: Wall Street Journal $; New wildfires: AP; Hydropower: TIME; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves, Wildfires, Western megadrought)
White House Climate & Energy Staffing Changes: The White House announced multiple climate and energy staffing changes on Friday. Gina McCarthy will officially leave her role as national climate advisor on September 16 and will be replaced by her deputy Ali Zaidi. John Podesta will also return to the White House as senior advisor to the President, overseeing the implementation of the climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. Podesta advised President Barack Obama on climate policy, served as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, and was chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Biden also announced plans to nominate NYU law professor Richard Revesz to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a pivotal role overseeing federal regulations. (Washington Post $, NPR, E&E News, Politico, The Hill, Reuters, New York Times $, HuffPost, Axios, New York Times $, CNBC, Axios; Revesz: Wall Street Journal $, The Hill) |
ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: The link between water quality and social inequality (NPR), Tackling inequality key to climate fight - study (Reuters)
- JACKSON WATER CRISIS: FEMA director says it's ‘too early’ to tell when Jackson will have clean water again (HuffPost), Water crisis in Jackson, Miss., raises concerns about environmental racism (The Hill), Water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, previews a wetter, hotter US future (Bloomberg $), Mississippi capital’s water woes are extensive (AP, explainer), Volunteers are getting water to Jackson, Mississippi recipients who can't drive (NPR), Jackson needed ‘godsend’ to fix water system. It never came (E&E News), City of Jackson ‘will be in an emergency even after water is restored,’ mayor says (Politico), Jackson's water emergency exposes a dilemma for Biden (Politico), Where things stand almost one week into the Jackson water crisis (Axios), Mississippi city says water pressure restored for now but setbacks possible (Reuters)
PAKISTAN FLOODING: Pakistan struggles to avert danger as floods rise, death toll tops 1,300 (Reuters), Pakistan's 'biggest calamity': Children displaced by 'monster' monsoon floods killed sleeping on a roadside (CBS), Pakistan’s melting glaciers are ‘erupting’ and worsening floods (CNN), Alarm bells as satellites reveal a third of Pakistan underwater (Mother Jones), Pakistan appeals for more aid for 33M affected by flooding (AP), Pakistan floods pose urgent questions over preparedness and climate reparations (The New Humanitarian), In flood-stricken Pakistan, rains damage archeological site (AP), Pakistan forecasts economic growth to halve following floods (Bloomberg $), Rich nations owe reparations to countries facing climate disaster, says Pakistan minister (The Guardian, Sherry Rehman interview)(Axios)(NPR), ‘No one is caring for us’: Pakistanis struggle for survival after floods (Washington Post $), UN refugee agency rushes aid to Pakistan amid raging floods (AP), How Pakistan floods are linked to climate change (BBC)
EAST AFRICA: ‘Famine is at the door’ in Somalia, UN warns (New York Times $), UN says part of Somalia will reach famine later this year (AP)
FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Why Europe faces climbing energy bills (Reuters explainer), Heat pumps take off in coal-loving Poland amid Ukraine war (Washington Post $), Energy citizenship: Europe’s communities forging a low-carbon future (The Guardian), Europe’s energy crunch squeezes world’s largest particle collider (Wall Street Journal $), India says it will look carefully at Russian oil price cap, rejects moral duty to boycott Moscow (CNBC), Three myths about the global energy crisis (FT $)
- GERMANY: Germany sticks to nuclear power deadline but leaves loophole (AP)(Reuters explainer)(Bloomberg $)(New York Times $), Germany to use windfall tax income to reduce energy prices for end consumers (Reuters), Germany warns Russian gas-supply woes will test European unity (Bloomberg $), Scholz promises 65 billion euros to shield Germans through tough winter (Reuters)
- FRANCE: Macron urges French to save energy, seeks 10% drop in use (AP), As Russia chokes Europe’s gas, France enters era of energy ‘sobriety’ (New York Times $)
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: As Africa’s climate warms, rich countries pledge more funds (AP), Collapse of G20 talks in Bali spark fears of ‘backtracking’ on climate pledges (Climate Home), Indonesia says G20 meeting fails to agree communique on adopting cleaner energy (Reuters), John Kerry ‘hopeful’ of China’s return to climate change talks (Bloomberg $), Nigeria pitches debt forgiveness for climate-change funding plan (Bloomberg $), The most ambitious climate plans are also the most credible (Bloomberg $), No longer a 1970s relic, price controls are back (Axios)
CLIMATE LITIGATION: Judge upholds $14 million fine in long-running citizen suit against Exxon in Texas (Inside Climate News), South African villagers win suit to halt Shell’s oil exploration (New York Times $)
DENIAL: Jordan Peterson, the climate crisis deniers’ new mouthpiece (The Tyee)
INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: 650,000 efficient houses and 7.2 million free heat pumps: How the Inflation Reduction Act will impact US homes (Fast Company), You may qualify for over $10,000 in climate incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. Here’s when you can claim them (CNBC), Next wave of nuclear-power plants sees new life in climate bill (Wall Street Journal $)
THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT: Trying to save the world is leaving young climate change activists exhausted and frustrated (USA Today)
EPA: EPA reverses course, rejects permit for massive oil exporting project offshore from Corpus Christi (Texas Tribune), EPA targets 'forever chemicals' in pesticides (E&E $), EPA head: Advanced nuke tech key to mitigate climate change (AP)
DOE: DOE moves to fund additional nuclear-coupled hydrogen projects (Utility Dive), White House announces regulations, DOE nominees (E&E News)
DOI: Federal oil leases slow to a trickle under Biden (Wall Street Journal $)
WHITE HOUSE: How Biden could help US reach climate goals on his own (Washington Post $), Biden emergency request seeks energy, disaster spending (E&E $), Biden endorses bill to help farmworkers organize, putting pressure on Newsom (LA Times $), What if the Biden administration financed the replacement of every coal plant in the US? (Energy Monitor), Forget gasoline: Biden’s new headache is natural gas (Politico Pro $)
THE HILL: What to expect on permitting reform as Congress returns (E&E News)
HOUSE: Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native heading to Congress, journeys home to the river (NPR)
POLITICS: Biden’s climate-bill win offers fresh chance to woo midterm voters (Wall Street Journal $)
ELECTIONS: Murkowski, GOP challenger clash over Haaland, drilling, roads (E&E News)
CITIES AND STATES AND DISENFRANCHISED COLONIAL TERRITORIES: 17 states weigh adopting California’s electric car mandate (AP), Adapting parks to keep them functional as the climate changes (NPR), Goodbye Big Allis? NYC’s largest power plant sets course for 100% renewable energy (Gothamist), 'Luma, get out': Puerto Ricans clash with police in protests against power company (Gizmodo)
- CALIFORNIA: Calif. passes slew of climate bills, but a big one fails (E&E $), California takes action to cut more plastics waste, including grocery produce bags (LA Times $), California legislature aims for 90% clean electricity by 2035 as part of sweeping climate package (Utility Dive), Lawmakers adjourn in heat wave, leave governor in hot seat (AP), California faces big power challenges — even if Diablo Canyon stays open (Canary Media), Sweltering California could become the first state to rank heat waves (San Francisco Chronicle)
IMPACTS: An algae bloom has killed thousands of fish in the San Francisco Bay Area (CNN), Could climate change alter the length of the day? (Wired), Deadly flash floods in UAE highlight need for resilience investment (Climate Home), Europe was once green and water-rich. Now, it’s more and more like California (LA Times $), Korea braces and the Atlantic churns; New Pacific system may affect Mexico and US (Yale Climate Connections), Mapping this summer’s extreme divide in rain and drought (Washington Post $), Sniffling more this allergy season? Scientists might have an explanation (Des Moines Register), Switzerland’s glaciers are becoming a front-row seat to climate destruction (Bloomberg $), The weather used to be good for small talk. Now it’s dead serious. (Washington Post $), 'Doomsday glacier,' which could raise sea level by several feet, is holding on 'by its fingernails,' scientists say (CNN)
- GEORGIA FLOODING: Northwest Georgia hit by severe storms and flash flooding (New York Times $), Governor declares emergency as flooding hits northwest Georgia (Axios)
- ISLE de JEAN CHARLES: Island could lose 98% of land from climate change. See how residents are responding (CNN)
- FLOOD MAPS: Climate change is overwhelming US flood maps, FEMA head says (Bloomberg $), US flood maps outdated thanks to climate change, FEMA director says (The Guardian), Your home may be in a flood zone, even if it's not on a FEMA flood map. Here's why (CNN)
HURRICANES: The first hurricane of the season arrived late, but don't let your guard down (NPR), Tropical Storm Earl brings rain and winds to eastern Caribbean (New York Times $)
HEAT: Dressing for hot: how a warming planet is changing what we wear (New York Times $), New Zealand has warmest winter on record for third straight year (Bloomberg $), Study finds that Mississippi river basin could be in an ‘extreme heat belt’ in 30 years (Inside Climate News), How to take care of your pets during a heat wave (NBC Bay Area)
WILDFIRES: Blazes erupt across California as state bakes in scorching heat (The Guardian), Punishing heat wave in west sets records, fuels fires (Washington Post $), Extreme heat waves are making L.A. firefighters sick, adding new dangers to job (LA Times $), Flashbacks: Charred California town no stranger to wildfire (AP)
DROUGHT: ‘We need rain’: Drought threatens the very foundation of some Boston buildings (Boston Globe $), Climate change is ravaging the Colorado river. There’s a model to avert the worst. (New York Times $), Drifting toward disaster: The (second) Rio Grande (Inside Climate News), Drought and disease threaten renowned date palms in Africa's hottest oasis (Reuters), Severe drought in Libya due to climate change (Prensa Latina), The summer drought’s hefty toll on American crops (Washington Post $)
WATER: Facing ‘dead pool’ risk, California braces for painful water cuts from Colorado River (LA Times $), A New Mexico city has less than 1 month of water left (HuffPost), Dirty water, drying wells: Central Californians shoulder drought’s inequities (LA Times $)
DEFORESTATION: Indigenous ‘forest guardians’ reported slain in Brazil (AP)
RENEWABLES: New Duke Energy CFO steps into role as utility considers sale of renewables business (Wall Street Journal $)
WORKERS: As green jobs boom, the Green Workers Alliance wants to make sure workers are paid fairly (Yale Climate Connections), Inflation Reduction Act could push workers toward the climate industry (CNBC)
BATTERIES: Making batteries out of crab shells may be a great idea (Gizmodo)
LNG: Delfin and Devon Energy sign LNG export deal (Offshore Energy)
OIL & GAS: A court blocks oil exploration and underwater seismic testing off South Africa’s ‘wild coast’ (Inside Climate News), As wealthy towns go electric, who will pick up the tab for aging gas infrastructure? (Energy News Network), Shell CEO prepares exit after nine years in role (Wall Street Journal $)
GAS EXPLOSIONS: Kern County jury awards local victims of PG&E natural gas explosion record payout (The Bakersfield Californian)
NUKES: Next wave of nuclear-power plants sees new life in climate bill (Wall Street Journal $), Nuclear power’s rebound causes rift among environmentalists (Wall Street Journal $)
COAL: A billion dollar plan to save coal (Indian Country Today), China's extreme drought is pushing the country to rely even more on coal (TIME), Hawaii closes its last coal-fired power plant (New York Times $), Norway is extending the life of its last Arctic coal mine (Gizmodo)
HYDROGEN: Billionaire Forrest’s hydrogen unit to speed expansion plans (Bloomberg $)
UTILITIES: A utility company locked thousands of customers out of their smart thermostats in Colorado (The Verge)
EVs: EV tax credit complexity in Biden’s climate law could throw cold water on car manufacturers (CNBC), Ford’s US sales rose 27% in August on strong EV demand (Wall Street Journal $), How electric vehicle manufacturing could shrink the Midwestern job market (CNBC), India’s electric vehicle push is riding on mopeds and rickshaws (New York Times $), It’s the end of the car as we know it (Vox)
DATING: ‘I couldn’t date a climate change denier!’ The couples who bond – and split – over love for the planet (The Guardian)
TOXIC MASCULINITY: Of barbecues and men: a summer storm brews over virility in France (New York Times $)
NEARLY-RETIRED FORMULA ONE DRIVERS: Sebastian Vettel believes world needs to ‘rethink our behaviors’ to tackle climate change (CNN)
WILDLIFE: After a climate catastrophe, these birds flocked to the moon (New York Times $), It was war. Then, a rancher’s truce with some pesky beavers paid off. (New York Times $)
INTERNATIONAL: China’s top climate cop says $19 trillion needed to meet targets (Bloomberg $), Chinese blackouts could power up grid stocks (Wall Street Journal $), Irish nuns bid to turn their convent green (Reuters), Italian scientists call for year-round summer time to cut energy costs (Reuters), Liz Truss’ (net) zero sum game (Politico EU), Nuclear power is key for Japan’s energy security and carbon neutrality goals, minister says (CNBC), Where's the beef? Brazil balances barbecues and forest protection (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
- CHILE: Chile says ‘no’ to left-leaning constitution after 3 years of debate (New York Times $), ‘Gigantic missed opportunity’: Chile rejects green constitution (Climate Home), A new constitution in Chile would provide groundbreaking protections for the rights of nature, if voters approve it (Inside Climate News)
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