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Ian Hammers Southwest Florida: Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida Wednesday afternoon as a very strong Category 4 storm and has caused catastrophic flooding and widespread damage, knocking out electricity for more than 2.5 million utility customers, trapping people in their homes, ripping the roof off a hospital ICU, and generally wreaking destruction across the area. The heavy rainfall (more than 14 inches had already fallen on Lehigh Acres by 10:00 pm Wednesday), on top of extreme storm surge at least 12 feet above normal, caused widespread flooding. “I’ve lost my house. I have water and gas flowing through my bottom floor. My neighbors have very little breathing room in their one-story house," Thomas Podgorny of Fort Meyers told CNN from the second floor of his home, from which he saw several vehicles floating away. Nick Underwood, a NOAA aerospace engineer who has flown 76 times through 22 storms and, "Out of all of those," he told CNN, his flight through Hurricane Ian Wednesday morning "was absolutely the worst." Nearby communities and environmental advocates are also alarmed over the potential inundation and release of billions of tons of pollution from phosphate fertilizer industry operations in the form 24 phosphogypsum "stacks" around the state. (AP, Axios, E&E News, Reuters, The Hill, Yale Climate Connections, NBC, NBC; ICU: AP; Homes: CNN; Storm surge: Axios, NBC, Grist; Flight: CNN; Phosphate pollution: AP) [More coverage is below. — Ed.]

Nord Stream Methane Release 'Catastrophic For The Climate': The apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 methane gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea released enormous amounts of heat-trapping methane gas into the atmosphere and could signal a dramatic escalation in tensions between Russia and Europe. Methane traps more than 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 20 year period. Neither of the pipelines were actively transporting gas at the time of the explosions, as Russia has throttled back gas deliveries to tighten the screws on European nations as winter approaches, but massive amounts of the extremely potent greenhouse gas were still released. Estimates vary on the exact amount released, but the analysis contacted by the AP all agreed it was the worst in history. "That's one thing that is consistent with these estimates,” Andrew Baxter, a former chemical engineer in the offshore oil and gas industry now with EDF, told the AP, “It’s catastrophic for the climate.” (AP, The Guardian, New York Times $, Politico Pro $, CBS, Reuters, Climate Home; Methane and global warming: Reuters explainer; Geopolitics: Washington Post $, Politico, FT $, New York Times $, The Hill, Reuters, CNBC, The Hill)

Swiss Glaciers Lost 6% Total Volume This Year, Nearly 2x Previous Record: Glaciers in the Swiss Alps lost more ice this year than in any year in over a century of recorded data, as low snowfall and two brutal heatwaves combined to melt off 3 cubic kilometers — 6% of their total volume. The amount of ice lost was nearly double the previous record, set in 2003, the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) reported. "We are seeing model results expected a few decades in the future are happening now," GLAMOS head Matthias Huss told Reuters. "I did not expect to see such an extreme year so early in the century." Switzerland is home to more than half the Alps' glaciers where temperatures are rising at about double the global average. Glaciologists across Europe also told Reuters glaciers in their countries are also on track for record losses. The melting ice was also spurred on by dust blown north from the Sahara. (Reuters, AP, Al Jazeera, Reuters; Climate Signals background: Glacier and ice sheet melt)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Hurricanes ‘disproportionately’ harm Black neighborhoods–it’s because of environmental racism (NewsOne), NAACP says Mississippi officials violated Jackson residents' civil rights (The Root), Jackson can’t ‘trust’ Mississippi to fix water crisis, mayor says amid calls for civil rights investigation (NewsOne), Gadsden county commissioner appointed by Gov. DeSantis resigns after KKK costume photo emerges (Tallahassee Democrat, NewsOne)

HURRICANE FIONA: Some 349,000 still without power in Puerto Rico after Fiona (Reuters), “Hurricane Maria never finished leaving us”: the aftermath of Fiona in a Puerto Rican town (The New Yorker $), DHS waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico to supply fuel after hurricane (Politico), ‘They are the roots’: Puerto Rico’s elderly, hit hard by Hurricane Fiona, are also its heroes (Miami Herald), As Ian batters Florida, Puerto Ricans fear being forgotten (Politico)

HURRICANE IAN: Six big threats Hurricane Ian poses now that it has come ashore (Bloomberg $), Tampa Bay isn’t safe from any hurricane — especially not Ian (Grist), How Hurricane Ian compares to the strongest hurricanes that hit Florida (Axios), Ian brings air travel to a halt (ABC), Hurricane Ian puts electric vehicles to the test amid power outages (Today Show)

• CLIMATE FINGERPRINTS: Storm surge becoming more dangerous due to global warming, scientists say (NBC, Grist), Climate change is helping to rapidly turbocharge storms like Hurricane Ian (TIME), Hurricane Ian’s rapid intensification is part of a trend for the most dangerous storms (CNN), Joy Reid on Hurricane Ian: There's no doubt our earth is getting warmer and feeding these beasts (MSNBC), 
• CUBA: Cuba recovering from Hurricane Ian damage (NBC), Cuba begins to turn on lights after Ian blacks out island (AP), Cuba migrant boat sinks off Florida, 23 missing (Bloomberg $, AP)
• BASIC HUMANITY: DHS says it won't conduct immigration enforcement at Hurricane Ian relief sites (Axios)
• PRECARIOUS DEVELOPMENT: Hurricane Ian is about to crash into a very crowded Florida (Vox), ‘We need to build smarter, take climate change seriously’ expert says as Hurricane Ian hits (MSNBC)
• OIL GOUGING: Don't ‘gouge the American people,’ Biden warns oil industry as Ian nears (Politico, The Hill, AP)
• WHAT'S NEXT?: Ian moves north (New York Times $)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: How Germany's industrial giants are preparing for winter (Reuters factbox), EU announces Russian oil price cap in new sanctions plan (Politico Pro $), Europe likely to end winter with enough gas, CBA says (Bloomberg $), Germany extends run times for coal-fired power plants to boost supply (Reuters), Protests in Prague signal a troubled winter ahead in Europe (New York Times $), Solar panels piling up in warehouses in energy-starved Europe (Bloomberg $)

COP27: Egyptian hosts urge leaders to set aside tensions over Ukraine (The Guardian)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Biden looks to win over Pacific Island leaders at summit (AP), NZ foreign minister says superpowers must listen to needs of Pacific (Reuters)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Thinking of buying an EV? Hurry up … and wait … or? (Yale Climate Connections)

• SIDE DEALS: Making sense of the Senate permitting collapse (Axios), US clean energy backers: Permitting bill imperative in climate fight (Reuters), Manchin’s permitting overhaul: Not dead yet (E&E News, Politico Pro $), Bill McKibben: victory over big oil as Sen. Manchin forced to drop “hideous deal” on energy (Democracy Now), What is the Joe Manchin permitting reform fight about? (The Hill), Without Manchin deal, can US develop enough clean energy? (E&E News)

SCOTUS: Pivotal Supreme Court term begins with WOTUS war (E&E News)

AGENCIES: Asteroid diversion? Earth is still “careening headlong into climate catastrophe,” says NASA scientist (Democracy Now), Billions in USDA conservation funding went to farmers for programs that were not ‘climate-smart,’ a new study finds (Inside Climate News)

EPA: As the EPA introduces environmental justice office, the ‘mother of the movement’ remembers the Black women who led the battle (The 19th* News), Data gaps could hobble EPA's environmental justice push (E&E $), EPA: Hazardous waste cleanups spur billions in benefits (E&E $), Judges skeptical of challenge to EPA interstate ozone rule (Politico Pro $)

DOE: DOE charts path for 'around the clock' solar plants (E&E $), DOE official hints at plans for direct air capture sites (E&E $)

DOT: EV charging network plans approved for all 50 states (Utility Dive)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: DHS waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico to supply fuel after hurricane (Politico)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden team preps for post-midterm departures (E&E News), John Kerry: Putin is more in a corner than anyone would like him to be (MSNBC)

THE HILL: Bill to restrict stock trading by lawmakers, presidents unveiled by Democrats (Bloomberg $)

HOUSE: Another committee scrutinizing Puerto Rico energy woes (E&E $), DeFazio: SCOTUS water case could send US back to ‘bad old days’ (E&E $), House panel rolls out a trio of methane tracking bills (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate advances spending bill: What's in and what's out (E&E $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Committee puts off vote on EPA air chief for a third time (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Texas is now the nation’s biggest emitter of toxic substances into streams, rivers and lakes (Inside Climate News), Report details alarming levels of toxins being dumped in Maryland waterways (Maryland Matters), Newsom signs farmworkers union bill after pressure from Biden (The Hill)

DROUGHT: The drought dangers of blowing past Paris (Axios), Drought-hit Mississippi river puts US farm trade flow at risk (Bloomberg $)

WILDFIRES: Clearing California’s landscapes is critical to stopping megablazes. Why is it taking so long? (The Guardian)

HURRICANES: How hurricanes cause dangerous, destructive storm surges (Reuters explainer), After Fiona, climate experts urge Canada to fix flagship adaptation strategy (Reuters), Here are 10 of the worst hurricanes to hit the US (The Hill), Hundreds of thousands evacuated as Typhoon Noru makes landfall in Vietnam’s Da Nang (CNN), What we know about hurricanes and climate change (The Hill)

WATER: Feds will spend billions to boost drought-stricken Colorado river system (Inside Climate News)

FORESTS: Could an Indigenous funding boost revive stuttering forest pact? (Context)

RENEWABLES: How will residential solar + storage fare in a blackout? Berkeley Lab looks to historical data for insight. (Utility Dive), Manhattan’s largest rooftop solar array is about to come online (Canary Media), Shell acquires Nigerian solar firm in first Africa power buy (Bloomberg $, Reuters, FT $), Port of Albany drops federal funding for offshore wind port (Politico Pro $), Total CEO doubles down on renewables amid a global energy crisis (Bloomberg $), BPU overrides Ocean City, making way for New Jersey's first offshore wind power line (Politico Pro $)

WORKERS: Industrial Policy Without Industrial Unions (American Prospect)

BATTERIES: GE to work on converting old, gas-fired power station in Britain into a battery storage facility (CNBC), Tesla grid battery fire shows young industry’s failures and successes (Canary Media), The EV battery race: inside the struggles of Britishvolt (FT $)

OIL & GAS: As long as the world needs oil and gas, we’ll give it, says UAE climate change minister (CNBC)

PIPELINES: The huge expansion of oil pipelines is endangering the climate, report says (Grist, Mother Jones)

COAL: Looking back at the San Juan Generating Station and those who fought against it (New Mexico Political Report)

UTILITIES: Advocates want guarantee Dominion’s offshore wind project will live up to its promise (Energy News Network)

GRID: 'There is no such thing as a hurricane-proof power grid’ (E&E News), Central US grid operator sees record queue for renewables (E&E $)

EVs: BP and Hertz to develop national EV charging network (Utility Dive), Nikola founder bought Utah ranch with ‘worthless’ stock options (Bloomberg $)

AMMONIA: Europe’s hunt for clean energy in the Middle East has a dirty secret (Bloomberg $)

AVIATION: Airlines eye direct air capture to meet net-zero targets (E&E $), Revealed: 5,000 empty ‘ghost flights’ in UK since 2019, data shows (The Guardian), Rick Perry hits campaign trail in bid to secure GOP majority (E&E News)

AGRICULTURE: Food versus energy: Can agrivoltaic farming solve both crises? (Energy Monitor)

FILM: Invisible Demons review – pollution nightmare in Delhi means apocalypse now (The Guardian)

BUSINESSES: Facebook and Bain have a new tool to help employees track their contributions to climate change (CNBC), Microsoft lays out its climate advocacy goals (Protocol)

INTERNATIONAL: Australia set to face high power prices as coal plants retire (Reuters), Australia’s coal state makes $40 billion push into renewables (Bloomberg $), Haiti: An island nation whose environmental troubles only begin with water (Mongabay), IMF gives damning verdict on Britain’s tax cuts (CNBC), Peru indigenous groups block river in the Amazon after oil spill (Reuters), UK must continue to use water wisely as drought remains -drought group (Reuters)

• The climate crisis is making the Pacific Islands uninhabitable. Who will help preserve our nations? (TIME, Kausea Natano op-ed)
• How Hurricane Ian intensified so quickly (The Hill, Daniel Gilford op-ed)
• Peak oil has finally arrived. No, really (Bloomberg, David Fickling column $)
• Earth is under threat, yet you would scarcely know it (The Guardian, George Monbiot column)
• Use vaccine logic to reduce climate’s flooding harm (The Hill, Jeff Opperman op-ed)
• America’s hardest-hit communities need Biden to declare a climate emergency (The Guardian, Mustafa Santiago Ali op-ed)
• Corporate pushback against climate action is getting desperate (Climate Home, Thomas Hale op-ed)

New Front Groups Tried To Hide Behind Whales To Align Against Offshore Wind, But Heartland and CFACT's Stench Gave Them Away

As offshore wind finally starts getting the policy support it needs to grow, we've been watching and waiting for signs that the fossil fuel industry is setting up front groups to sabotage its growing competitor. We expected to find innocuous-sounding groups making surface-level arguments to pretend their opposition is rooted in care about animals, not fossil fuel profits. 

What we did not expect was for one such group to pop up and make its debut hand in hand with two of the most-discredited climate disinformation operations around, Heartland and CFACT. 

But that was the case this week, when the tobacco-funded Heartland Institute, disgraced ever since its backfired "Unabomber" billboard campaign a decade ago, teamed up with Marc "Climate Lockdowns are coming so we should storm state capitols like Jan 6th" Morano's CFACT, to announce a new effort to consider filing a lawsuit to block an offshore wind project as part of the "American Coalition for Ocean Protection." 

With press releases from both Heartland and CFACT, the ACOP effort is not exactly starting from a clean slate, and reporters immediately began mocking them. Chris D'Angelo from HuffPost, for example, quickly noticed that "the very green-sounding 'American Coalition for Ocean Protection' appears to be little more than an anti-wind org, run by a former Trump EPA transition team member." 

Specifically, that would be David Stevenson, who used to be a DuPont executive, but is now the executive director of the Caesar Rodney Institute, a Delaware-based "free market" industry front that's argued in favor of offshore energy production — so long as it's oil drilling. 

And it's not like the arguments Stevenson is making now, against offshore wind, wouldn't apply just as much to offshore oil. They're not claiming that offshore wind farms are in any way inherently dangerous for right whales, but instead just that the increase in boat traffic will lead to collisions and inconvenience for the whales. 

Which might be true! And if it is, it's also definitely true for offshore oil drilling, which also has additional impacts of, you know, heating and acidifying the oceans in which right whales live, and disrupting their habitats and food chain in myriad ways — and that's just when things are going well and oil rigs aren't leaking or exploding.

And that's exactly the sort of thing that will be in the Environmental Impact Statement that the anti-wind coalition is looking to comment on and sue over. But here's the funny thing: There was no reason for them to announce this! They could have just quietly submitted their comment, under the coalition's name, and it would have made just as much of an impact on the regulatory process as this public fanfare. 

What it wouldn't have done, though, is given professional fossil fuel promoters an excuse to attack a fossil fuel competitor in the media … if any reporters were naive enough to fall for their press release in the first place. 

Which, thankfully, it doesn't seem there were. Heartland and CFACT's reputation preceded them, marking the effort as a fraud like how the aviator shades and polished jackboots on the supposed hippie at a concert gives them away as ACOP. 

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