We apologize for the late newsletter this morning. There is a lot going on.

Climate Change Increased Ian Rainfall By 10% — Analysis: Climate change caused Hurricane Ian to dump 10% more rain on Florida than it would have otherwise, a rapid analysis using well-established methodology has found. The atmosphere can hold 7% more water for every extra degree celsius (1.8°F) it warms. That, plus water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico 0.8°C (1.4°F) above normal combined to push up total rainfall by 10%. Ponce Inlet got 31.5 inches. Though a few additional inches may not sound devastating, Kevin Reed, an atmospheric scientist at Stony Brook University who co-authored the analysis as well as a study establishing its methodology earlier this year, told the AP, it can be the difference between overtopping a levee, or coming across a home's threshold, or inundating water treatment facilities and releasing raw sewage (or phosphogypsum pollution) into nearby communities. Though extreme rainfall was the only aspect of Hurricane Ian assessed in the analysis, it was far from the only characteristic that is consistent with how climate change is making hurricanes more destructive. On top of making major (Cat. 3 and higher) hurricanes more frequent — Ian made landfall with wind speeds just a few mph below Category 5 — the storm also rapidly intensified, exploding from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in just 72 hours, and brought with it storm surge so extreme it submerged palm trees. (AP, CNN; Rainfall totals: Washington Post $; Rapid Intensification: Washington Post $; Climate connections: New York Times $, NPR, The Economist $, NPR, Democracy Now, Washington Post $; Raw sewage: New York Times $; Climate Signals background: Hurricanes, Storm surge increase, Coastal flooding increase)

Methane Pollution From Flaring 5x Higher Than EPA Estimates: Unburned methane released from oil and gas flaring operations is five times greater than EPA estimates, a new study in Science finds. This is at least the third study this year finding EPA is undercounting methane pollution. Methane, the main ingredient in so-called "natural gas," is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, trapping more than 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 20-year period and is responsible for about 30% of global temperature increases over the last century. Researchers assessed about 300 flares across the Permian and Eagle Ford fields (Texas and New Mexico) and the Bakken field (North Dakota and Montana) which together account for 80% of U.S. oil and gas extraction. While the EPA assumes flaring efficiency to 98%, the researchers found the actual efficiency is approximately 91%. That faulty EPA estimate, according to the study, means the equivalent of an extra 9 million cars-worth of climate pollution is being emitted every year, but not reflected in EPA pollution figures. Oil drillers "flare" (burn off) leaking methane gas to convert it to less-heat-trapping CO2, but when that combustion is incomplete, unburned methane is released directly into the air. Methane pollution, especially from oil and gas operations, especially in the Permian Basin, and especially from operations owned by private equity firms, is increasing — as is its prominence in global efforts to address the climate crisis. (Wall Street Journal $)

Ian's Destruction Only Beginning To Become Known: As Ian restrengthened into a hurricane over the Atlantic on its way toward South Carolina, the devastation unleashed across Florida began to become — but in no way has become — clear. Fourteen people have been confirmed dead so far, a number almost certain to rise. The destruction is severe and widespread. "It’s truly a nightmare," Bill D’Antuono of Naples told the Washington Post. "It’s something that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And it just happened to every single person I know.” More than 2 million utility customers remain without electricity this morning, and millions of Floridians could be without power for months after parts of the state's grid were damaged "beyond repair," FPL’s CEO told reporters. Large numbers of low-income residents — disproportionately Black, Latino, and Indigenous — were unable to evacuate, leaving them extra vulnerable. The storm "shredded" Fort Myers, city council member and mayor pro tem Liston Bochette, told CNN, and obliterated Fort Meyers Beach. "Essentially, if your home is not built out of concrete, to FEMA standards over the last five years, it's pretty much gone. There's literally nothing to come back to," council member Dan Allers told CNN. "It's total devastation." The storm also destroyed the bridges and causeways to Pine, Sanibel, and Captiva Islands, cutting off residents there. (AP, Washington Post $, New York Times $, CNN; Death toll: USA Today, CNN, Politico Pro $; Nightmare: Washington Post $, Axios; Unable to evacuate: Axios, CNN; Fort Meyers: CNN, CNN; Fort Meyers Beach: CNN; Barrier islands: AP; Pine Island: CNN; Sanibel Island: Weather Channel; Grid: CNN, Politico, E&E News, Utility Dive) [More coverage is below. —Ed.]

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Can energy justice be measured? A new research project aims to do just that (Energy News Network)

LIFE & DEATH: Report: 200 environmental activists killed globally in 2021 (AP), Mexico is world's deadliest spot for environmental activists (AP)

PAKISTAN: A trip to cover Pakistan’s destructive floods, and what’s left behind (New York Times $)

HURRICANE FIONA: Officials detail Hurricane Fiona damage to Puerto Rico grid (AP), Small protests appear in Havana over islandwide blackout (AP)

EAST AFRICA: Climate Migration: Blind and homeless amid Somalia's drought (AP)

HURRICANE IAN: Ian’s rampage across Florida leaves a trail of ruin (Yale Climate Connections), Hurricane Ian batters Florida's Gulf Coast with catastrophic fury (Reuters), Hurricane Ian leaves 'trail of destruction' as Florida power restoration efforts begin (Politico Pro $), Florida health care facilities evacuate patients after Ian (AP), Storm scenes: Voices of fear, hope as Ian lashes Florida (AP), Water drains from Tampa Bay from Ian’s winds, then refills (AP), NOAA's man in the eye of the storm faces Ian's fury (E&E $), Ian leaves path of destruction (Washington Post photos $, CNN photos)

• INSURANCE: All Florida policyholders will have to pay if insurers can’t cover Ian’s destruction (Broward Sun-Sentinel), Ian will ‘financially ruin’ homeowners and insurers (E&E News), Florida's shaky insurance market may not be able to handle Hurricane Ian (Gizmodo), Hurricane Ian could cripple Florida's home insurance industry (ABC), Hurricane Ian’s toll is severe. Lack of insurance will make it worse. (New York Times $), Ian threatens Florida’s already unstable insurance market (AP), Ian inflicts staggering losses on Florida's growth machine (Politico Pro $)
• RELIEF AND RECOVERY: A Florida town rebuilt after one hurricane endures another (Reuters), Hurricane Ian shows once again the grid isn’t ready for climate change (Protocol)Florida begins recovery efforts as Ian moves through state (Axios), Ian ravaged one of the fastest-growing areas in the US (E&E News), Woman braves Hurricane Ian flood to check on stranger’s mom (AP), Key Florida port unscathed by Ian, allowing fuel deliveries to continue (Politico Pro $)
• (NOT) POLITICS: DeSantis, once a ‘no’ on storm aid, petitions a president he’s bashed (New York Times $), Biden says political disagreements with DeSantis ‘irrelevant,’ plans to visit Florida (The Hill), Biden says he will visit Florida and Puerto Rico, repeats warning against gasoline price gouging (Politico Pro $), Biden warns of 'substantial' deaths from Hurricane Ian (Reuters), Biden: ‘Our country hurts’ after Hurricane Ian slams Florida (AP), Biden: Ian could be ‘deadliest hurricane’ in Fla. history (E&E News)The Hill), DeSantis says Ian was ‘basically a 500-year flood event’ (The Hill)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Poland allows use of brown coal to heat homes amid supply crisis (Reuters), Germany's measures to protect consumers from rising energy prices (Reuters Factbox), Germany agrees 200 billion euro package to shield against surging energy prices (Reuters), Germany to cap energy prices as industry is pushed to the brink (Wall Street Journal $), Germany's Leag eyes 1,000 MW solar park in renewables expansion (Reuters), Greek utility clinches winter LNG deal with TotalEnergies (Reuters)

• NORD STREAM SABOTAGE: European security officials observed Russian Navy ships in vicinity of Nord Stream pipeline leaks (CNN), NATO formally blames sabotage for Nord Stream pipeline damage (Wall Street Journal $), Nord Stream spill could be biggest methane leak ever but not catastrophic (Washington Post $), Sweden clarifies there are four leaks in Nord Stream pipelines (Politico Pro $), US vows vigilance after European pipeline leaks (E&E $), Methane blast in Baltic Sea highlights global problem (AP)

(CLIMATE) DIPLOMACY: Barbados' leader has a plan for climate, global inequity (E&E $), Small Pacific islands leaders wooed with White House summit, assistance (Wall Street Journal $), US imposes oil sanctions against Chinese companies accused of aiding Iran (The Hill)

DENIAL & DELUSION: Tucker Carlson's latest bizarre conspiracy theory: Hurricanes (HuffPost)

• WORLD BANK: ‘There’s no executioner’: The plot to replace World Bank boss stalls (Politico Pro $), Progressives demand World Bank chief's resignation (E&E $),  House Democrats demand resignation of World Bank chief over climate remarks (The Hill),

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: How to implement the climate law? Go on hiring spree. (E&E News)

• SIDE DEALS: After Manchin failure in Senate, is permitting reform dead? (Houston Chronicle), Activists gird for round two in Manchin permitting fight (E&E News), 'An uphill climb': Manchin's permitting bill faces tough path forward (Washington Post $), Manchin seeks new energy-project permitting route after Senate setback (Wall Street Journal $, The Hill)

CLIMATE COMMUNICATIONS: ‘It makes climate change real’: how carbon emissions got rebranded as ‘pollution’ (Grist)

AGENCIES: DOJ taps 2 to lead Wash. environmental justice initiative (E&E $)

EPA: Brownfields hearing focuses on EJ, rural areas (E&E $)

DOI: Frustrated Republicans want to keep Haaland busy next year (E&E News), Court questions oil industry challenge to Obama royalty rule (Politico Pro $)

DOT: Feds approve Indiana electric vehicle plan despite concerns from racial justice alliance (Indianapolis Star)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Fed announces plan to assess climate risks to banks (New York Times $, Reuters, Washington Examiner), Even as oil prices ease, US keeps tapping strategic reserve (New York Times $)

THE HILL: Committee passes climate adaptation, resilience bill (E&E $)

HOUSE: House panel adds climate to fisheries law for first time (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate approves bipartisan wildfire, disaster bills (E&E $), Senate approves stopgap bill to fund government, provide more Ukraine aid (Wall Street Journal $), Senate passes bill to aid Ukraine and avert government shutdown (New York Times $)

CITIES AND STATES: Chicago passes updated building energy code to support decarbonization (Utility Dive), Urban greening can reduce impact of global heating in cities, finds study (The Guardian)

• CALIFORNIA: Calif. throws out parking mandates to fight climate change (E&E $)

• NEW YORK: New York to mandate zero-emission vehicles in 2035 (The Hill)

• MODEL CITIES: In one tiny German town, nobody worries about energy bills (AP),Tiny Oregon town hosts 1st wind-solar-battery ‘hybrid’ plant (AP)

FERC: With Manchin bill stalled, will FERC ever site power lines? (E&E News)

IMPACTS: Heat deaths, scorched trees and civil unrest: Life on the climate frontline in 2022 (The Guardian), Tropical rains flood parts of Thailand, 5,000 seek shelter (AP), Arctic Ocean acidifying up to four times as fast as other oceans, study finds (The Guardian), How public art is helping Miami Beach reckon with sea-level rise (Yale Climate Connections), Zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 and monkeypox will become more common, experts say (NPR)

WILDFIRES: Fighting California’s fires requires carceral reform and a Just Transition (Prism Reports), This program is blazing a trail for women in wildland firefighting (The 19th* News)

HURRICANES: How the climate crisis is driving stronger storms further inland (The Guardian), Hundreds of coastal hospitals at risk of flooding from hurricanes: study (The Hill), What is storm surge, and what contributes to the deadly hurricane hazard? (CBS)

WATER: The Colorado river water shortage is forcing tough choices in 7 states (NPR)

RENEWABLES: As more solar panels enter the US waste stream, producer responsibility standards emerge (Utility Dive), Brookfield Renewable ploughs $1.54 billion in buyouts to boost clean-energy portfolio (Reuters, Wall Street Journal $), How will residential solar + storage fare in a blackout? Berkeley Lab looks to historical data for insight. (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: A petroleum PR blitz in New Mexico (Inside Climate News), Lawsuit demands drilling ban on 'rapidly aging' Calif. rigs (E&E $)

NUKES: These ‘nuclear bros’ say they know how to solve climate change: ⚛️ (Washington Post $)

UTILITIES: Utilities may need to rethink their company structure to achieve climate goals, Xcel executive says (Utility Dive)

EVs: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV: the future is electric (Wall Street Journal $), BP and Hertz to develop national EV charging network (Utility Dive), Feeling overwhelmed about going all-electric at home? Here’s how to get started (Inside Climate News), Lordstown Motors starts making electric trucks at Ohio plant (AP)

CARS: Ocean oil pollution is growing — and not from oil spills (Grist)

CRYPTO: Bitcoin’s climate damage is similar to beef and crude oil, says new study (The Verge), Bitcoin climate impact greater than gold mining, study shows (The Guardian)

AVIATION: Prototype electric airplane takes first flight (E&E $), Watchdog charts flight plan for slashing airline emissions (E&E $)

AGRICULTURE: Lives destroyed as armyworms invade Philippine 'onion capital' (Context), Pumpkin farms adapt to improve soil, lower emissions (AP)

FINANCE: One of the hottest trends in the world of investing is a sham (New York Times $)

WILDLIFE: Half of world’s bird species in decline due to human actions: report (The Hill)

INTERNATIONAL: ‘It sounds like you don’t know’: Liz Truss falters on fracking consent question (The Guardian), Could a digital twin of Tuvalu preserve the island nation before it’s lost to the collapsing climate? (The Guardian), What four years of ‘non-existent’ climate action has done to Brazil (Energy Monitor), Australia withdraws threat of gas-export curbs after deal with producers (Wall Street Journal $), Australian government strikes deal with gas suppliers to avoid winter shortfall (The Guardian)

• Hurricane Ian exposes an insurance crisis that's much bigger than Florida (MSNBC, Jarvis DeBerry column)
• Pakistan’s flood crisis could be an opportunity for real change (Washington Post, Josh Rogin column $)
• A hurricane is not a political indictment (Gizmodo, Molly Taft commentary)
• Don’t believe Wall Street’s social responsibility hype (New York Times, Hans Taparia $)
• The California energy problem is structural, not political (Utility Dive, Brad Viator op-ed)
• Growing heat waves make geothermal energy vital to reducing grid demand (The Hill, Charles C. Copeland and Tristan Schwartzman)
• Meet the lawyer behind the next big Supreme Court case (E&E, Damien Schiff interview $)
• Grassroots climate organizers led the way to scrapping Manchin’s dirty deal (Truthout, Denali Sai Nalamalapu op-ed)
• Can the hurricane TV reporters come inside now? Please? (NPR, Eric Deggans commentary)
• Congress: Plan for climate impacts to protect national security (The Hill, Rachel Jacobson and Susanne Torriente op-ed)
• Hurricanes like Ian are a growing national security threat — we need better prediction (The Hill, Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet (ret.) op-ed)
• ESG and the ‘long-run interests’ dodge (Wall Street Journal, Vivek Ramaswamy op-ed $)
• For coastal communities, the canary is a sparrow (The Hill, Melanie Gárate op-ed)
• We miscalculated our climate tipping points: This decade is critical (The Hill, Paul Andrew Mayewski and Anders Beal op-ed)
• You can’t eat without natural gas (Wall Street Journal, Heidi Heitkamp op-ed $)
• Honestly? The link between climate change and hurricanes is complicated (The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer commentary)

Deniers Cry 'Censorship' When Scientists Criticize Paper They Like, Then Demand Censorship of Paper They Don't Like

On Wednesday, denier blog Watts Up With That posted something by Russell Cook, a man who for years has been on a quixotic crusade to attack every example of the scholarship showing how the fossil fuel industry created and funds climate denial and disinformation. This time, Cook set his sights on a recent study about the US electric utility industry's role in spreading climate disinformation, which we also talked about recently. 

Cook claims, "if I had been permitted to fact-check review this paper, I would have barred it for publication because it contains a minimum of six major errors" that "are enough to warrant a retraction request." 

What are these egregious errors? First is that supposedly the denial campaign wasn't actually about denial, and wasn't by a front group because one of the ads placed "to show the public that there was another side to the issue" happened to admit it was funded by coal companies and electric utilities. 

The other supposed errors aren't any more damning- Russell has quibbles with the origins of the documents, as though who and where they were kept is pertinent to what happened, whether a group can co-found something and then not run it (of course, that's what "found" means!); whether the totally-not-denial campaigns really "collapsed" or were just "terminated", a difference without distinction; and our personal favorite, that the not-a-front group was actually called the "Information Council for the Environment," not "on the Environment," as the paper wrongly names it. 

None of this changes any of the findings, most of it is just a matter of Cook being in denial about climate denial, and the only "real" error is a preposition in a name with no bearing on the campaign of climate disinformation discussed.

But, it does establish that WUWT is not opposed to criticizing a peer-reviewed paper's findings and discussing retraction if there are errors identified after publication. 

Which is relevant because two days later, WUWT ran a piece headlined Climate Scientists Want to Ban Dissenting Views. In this context, criticizing a paper's findings, and discussion retraction due to errors, is "the worst sort of censorship." 

Surely you can guess why the stark difference in takes. This time, it was (real) climate scientists telling AFP that a study claiming climate change isn't influencing extreme weather "isn't good scientifically," in the words of Peter Cox. Per Richard Betts, it "gives the appearance of being specifically written to make the case that there is no climate crisis, rather than presenting an objective, comprehensive, up-to-date assessment." 

The authors claiming there's no evidence of a climate crisis "simply ignore studies that don't fit their narrative and have come to the opposite conclusion," according to Stefan Rahmstorf. Specifically, Friederike Otto pointed out, "they do not have a section on heat waves," only referencing them in passing, despite that being one line of evidence "where the observed trends are so incredibly obvious." 

Even still, the AFP story notes that Rahmstorf and Otto said the study should be withdrawn from the journal, but Betts "stopped short" of that. Cox was also concerned that retracting the study would "lead to further publicity and could be presented as censorship."

And sure enough, the story in which one of the scientists specifically says the "not good scientifically" study shouldn't be withdrawn out of fear of backlash, still generated backlash! 

Because no matter what the actual substance, deniers are always going to complain that climate scientists "want to ban dissenting views" when they criticize shoddy science, even after themselves trying to pretend that a meaningless "for" and "of" switch in a name is "warranting a retraction request."

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