FIRST LOOK:

Climate Nexus is seeking to connect frontline, Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led (BIPOC) groups with resources through Energy Equity Grants. Grants range from $20,000-$40,000. Apply here (y en español aquí). For more information and social materials to spread the word, click here.

Harvey Front Page Photos Perpetuated Harmful Stereotypes — Study: Front page photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 reinforced harmful racial and gender stereotypes, a recent study published in Critical Studies in Media Communication finds. "If I only see images of people of color being given FEMA aid or being rescued from hurricane floods, it paints the community as incapable of having self-autonomy to persevere through problems on their own," Ever Josue Figueroa, the author of the study, told Axios. The analysis of 106 front page images from Texas-based and national newspapers found more than half included a "strong masculine hero," per Axios. The images also depicted women as 'damsels in distress' and people of color as displaced migrants, "while white men were represented as saviors and caretakers who brought order back to the chaos," a dynamic exacerbated by the fact that government officials and first responders tend to be white men. The study illuminates how choices of who and how to portray in the aftermath of climate disasters can perpetuate harmful false narratives. "Research on media representations of marginalized groups during natural disasters is important," Penn State professor Stefanie Kempton, who was not involved in the study, told Axios, "because we know these representations impact the way these groups are viewed in real life." The study's findings are consistent with a similar study of coverage of Hurricane Katrina. (Axios; Climate Signals background: Hurricane Harvey)

Nigeria's Worst Flooding In Over A Decade Kills 500: The worst flooding in over a decade has killed at least 500 people and displaced more than 1.4 million people in southern Nigeria this year. Officials reported more than 45,000 homes were destroyed along with more than 360,000 acres of farmland partially or totally destroyed, and NASA images showed floodwaters "inundated numerous communities." The Nigerian rainy season begins around June but deadly flooding began "around August and September" a government spokesperson told AFP. Heavy rains, as well as a dam release in Cameroon, have pushed floodwaters even higher than the 2012 flooding that killed 363 people and displaced 600,000. Sub-saharan Africa is disproportionately impacted by climate change, despite countries there, such as Nigeria contributing a negligible amount of historic climate pollution. (CNN, AFP, Democracy Now; Commentary and context: The Conversation; Climate Signals background: Extreme Precipitation increase)

BONUS EDITOR'S TIP: An opaque non-profit connected to major consumer brands and petrochemical trade groups, the feeling of being green, acronym alphabet soup, and the drama of the little numbers on plastic containers. Read Grist's reporting for the full story.

Southeast Australia Hit By Flooding With More To Come: Torrential rain across some of Australia's most populous regions has set off destructive flooding that's only going to get worse. More than four times October's monthly rainfall has dumped on some parts of the country in just 24 hours and communities in three southeastern states have been forced to evacuate including Victoria, which has been hardest hit. "I always said I wanted riverfront views, but not like this," Barry Webster, whose Melbourne home is now underwater, told The Age. "Going downstairs and seeing the lounge floating… it's a bit surreal, kind of like a movie." Flooding has killed at least 20 people so far this year across Australia, and more rain is forecast for the coming weeks, straining rivers (some) already flooded at their highest levels since 1974. The multi-year La Nina is partially to blame for the increase in rain. (The Guardian, The Age, Axios, NBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, BBC; 1974 flooding: Reuters; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Black and brown voters experience increasing wait times at the ballot box (NewsOne), The $1 billion verdict against Alex Jones is far from the end of online hate speech (The Root)

• AND ABLEISM: People with disabilities left out of climate planning (AP), A Katrina survivor with a disability tells her story (AP)

HURRICANE IAN: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' climate change policy is under scrutiny after Hurricane Ian (NPR), Florida water "looks like root beer, smells like dead fish rolled into compost" as environment reels from Hurricane Ian (CBS), Weak Florida planning law boosted Ian’s destructive power (E&E News), Why Ian may push Florida real estate out of reach for all but the super rich (New York Times $), Two beloved bald eagles are rebuilding their nest after Hurricane Ian (Washington Post $)

• DOING THE DIRTY WORK: Undocumented immigrant workers are helping clean up Florida after Hurricane Ian (NPR)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: European gas settles lower after Norway supply scare eases (Bloomberg $), France sends gas to Germany to offset Russia supply cuts (New York Times $), How the EU can slash industrial gas use (Protocol), Kosovo's power utility donates coal to its workers for heating (Reuters), Threat against gas plant in Norway rattles tense European markets (Wall Street Journal $), French strike may presage a winter of discontent for Europe (New York Times $), Germany got rich on exports and cheap Russian gas. Now it’s in trouble. (Washington Post $)

WINTER HEATING BILLS: EIA raises retail electricity price forecast for this year and next, signaling more pain for consumers (Utility Dive), ‘All that money’s gone’: Utility hikes set off scramble to pay for heat this winter (NBC), Get ready to pay (a lot) more to stay warm this winter (WHEC), Connecticut consumers could face higher electric, energy bills this winter (The Middletown Press)

COP27: BlackRock, Citi CEOs won't attend global climate talks (E&E $), US seeks deals to wean countries off coal ahead of Egypt talks (Bloomberg $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: UN: conservation shouldn’t cost Indigenous lives (Grist), Build your climate disclosures for companies from global standards, FSB tells G20 (Politico Pro $), How the G-7 can avoid a 'rich countries' climate club (E&E $)

• BRETTON WOODS: Protesters outside IMF, World Bank meeting venues demand urgent climate action (Reuters)

INSURRECTION ACCOUNTABILITY: Jan. 6 panel votes to subpoena Trump as it wraps up its case (New York Times $, AP, Washington Post $, NPR, Rolling Stone, Black Wall Street Times, CNN, USA Today, Politico, Reuters, TIME, ABC, Al Jazeera, Axios, CBS, NBC, CNBC, USA Today, CBS, FT $, BBC, The Hill)

SCOTUS: SCOTUS may side with offshore energy worker in overtime case (E&E $)

EPA: Chemical in pet collars endangers children — EPA (E&E $), The Clean Water Act at 50: Big successes, more to be done (Yale Environment 360)

DOE: 2 former DOE chiefs on Biden, EVs and Russia (E&E $), Coal to clean energy? DOE launches critical minerals program. (E&E $), Meet the DOE official helping solve the nuclear waste impasse (E&E News)

DOI: New research indicates Endangered Species Act is toothless (Gizmodo)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: After Malpass fray, Yellen says World Bank must 'lead' in global energy transition (Reuters)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden administration examining cybersecurity of water, communications, health care sectors (Politico Pro $), Biden hints at action on gas prices (E&E News), How Biden's national security strategy centers climate change (Axios), White House says it disputed Saudi Arabia's economic rationale for oil supply cut (Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: Republicans search for the next Solyndra (E&E News), Warren, Dems seek answers on crypto impact on Texas grid (E&E News)

ELECTIONS: Leading GOP megadonor [Miriam Adelson] to stay neutral in 2024 primary (Politico), Zinke's Washington scandals follow him to Montana House race (Politico Pro $)

CITIES AND STATES: States will play key role in implementing climate law (Washington Post $), A Brooklyn neighborhood’s long fight for green jobs is paying off (Canary Media), A University of Maryland center just gave most state agencies Ds and Fs on an environmental justice ‘scorecard’ (Inside Climate News), Alaska snow crab harvest canceled for first time ever (CBS), Connecticut energy and environment chief outlines updated clean energy plan on path to zero emissions (Utility Dive), Victims of a Colorado wildfire can choose a green rebuild that's within their budget (NPR), The mystery lurking in California’s $8 gas prices (Washington Post $)

• CALIFORNIA: Super-dry California is set to approve a $140 million water desalination plant (Gizmodo)

FERC: Glick: White House, Schumer 'confident' his confirmation will move forward (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: Canada's drought-stricken British Columbia bracing for floods when rains return (Reuters), Extreme heat waves are stunting kids’ growth in West Africa, study finds (Yale Climate Connections), Here's another way warming drives Greenland melting (E&E $), Pakistan floods: ‘Everything we own has been washed away’ – in pictures (The Guardian), The uninsurables: How storms and rising seas are making coastlines unliveable (The Guardian)

HEAT: Hotter days bring out hotter tempers, research finds (Washington Post $), Report: Extreme heat will hit urban poor the hardest, worsening inequality (Grist)

WILDFIRES: Fires in S. America's Pantanal harmed jaguar population, threaten survival - study (Reuters)

HURRICANES: Hurricane evacuation responses: The rules … and the go or no-go responses (Yale Climate Connections)

• KARL: Tropical Storm Karl headed for Saturday landfall in Mexico (Yale Climate Connections), Rain warning for Mexico’s south Gulf coast as TS Karl nears (AP)

WATER: Super-dry California is set to approve a $140 million water desalination plant (Gizmodo, NBC-LA), Stressed Colorado River keeps California desert farms alive (AP)

RENEWABLES: Greece says its entire electrical grid ran on 100% renewables for the first time (NPR), Inside America’s groundbreaking solar-powered health facility (The Guardian), New offshore wind best-practice guidance seen speeding project approvals, boosting worker safety (Utility Dive), Nigerian company turns e-waste into solar powered lanterns (Reuters), Southeast market set to shake up renewables in 12 states (E&E News)

BATTERIES: Meet the CO2 battery cozying up with a wind energy giant (The Verge)

OIL & GAS: Divert to provide renewable natural gas for BP from food waste digesters via 10-year contract (Utility Dive), OPEC+ supply cut could tip global economy into recession, IEA says (Wall Street Journal $), See where toxic PFAS have been used in Pennsylvania fracking wells (Environmental Health News)

PIPELINES: Africa's longest oil pipeline takes shape in Niger (AFP)

UTILITIES: Colorado green justice groups hail Xcel Energy’s $32.8 million community solar plan (The Colorado Sun), Duke Energy, 3 other utilities to join Southeast Energy Exchange Market ahead of next month’s launch (Utility Dive), State gas utility’s rate hike approved (Arkansas Online)

GRID: Puerto Rico to probe power bill complaints following outage (AP)

EVs: EU, US eye level playing field for EU electric cars in US market (Reuters), Honda, LG Energy Solution $3.5B battery plant joint venture set for Ohio, part of ‘EV hub’ (Utility Dive), How a new ‘battery data genome’ project will use vast amounts of information to build better EVs (Inside Climate News), Scientists may have just cracked the code on fast electric car charging (TIME), US, EU agree to speed up steel talks, keep discussing EVs (Reuters), US trade rep confident electric vehicle tax credit concerns can be resolved (Politico Pro $)

ACTIVISM: Video: Meet the changemakers bringing clean energy to their communities (Canary Media), International climate change bodies win humanity award (AP), Voter registration isn’t enough, youth organizations say (Teen Vogue)

AGRICULTURE: Australian wheat yields plummet after decades of global heating, study finds (The Guardian)

BOOKS: An Appalachian elegy, hillbillies not included (New York Times $)

FINE ARTS: Review: The sea is rising, but the dance goes on (New York Times $)

BUSINESSES: How small businesses can have a big impact in the climate fight (TIME), US CEOs rethink climate efforts amid recession worries (E&E $), Urgent progress needed on company climate disclosures, G20 task force says (Reuters)

CARBON PRICING: Carbon credit use could curb company climate action, warns UK advisers (Reuters)

CARBON CAPTURE: We’re entering the decade of carbon capture thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (Houston Chronicle)

CARBON REMOVAL: Why the $100 per ton target for carbon removal may be 'pure fantasy' (Protocol)

OZONE: Ozone hole grows this year, but still shrinking in general (AP)

WILDLIFE: Wildlife populations have declined by 69% since 1970, new report says (Axios), Climate change and habitat loss is driving some primates down from the trees and toward an uncertain future (Inside Climate News), 'Double whammy' could wipe out carnivorous plants (Gizmodo), Feds say rising seas could extinguish these Florida snakes (E&E $), Scientists just discovered a new whale. Now they fear it may go extinct. (Washington Post $), See the buzzworthy winners of the wildlife photographer of the year competition (NPR), Urgent action is required if losses to nature are to be reversed, WWF report shows (NPR)

INTERNATIONAL: Are the Tories right that British oil and gas is greener? (The Guardian, fact check), Bhutan holds high-altitude race to highlight climate dangers (Reuters), More African countries implementing ESG finance policies - study (Reuters), Multimillion-pound UK road scheme facing legal action on climate grounds (The Guardian), South Africa's Gold Fields bets on solar to cut costs and carbon (Reuters), Spain pulls out of energy treaty over climate concerns (Politico EU, Reuters), India’s energy future is looking green, report says (AP)

MORDOR: Could Mount Doom exist? The volcano science behind ‘the rings of power.’ (Washington Post $)

BY BUILDING SAFE, WALKABLE INFRASTRUCTURE?: How to treat, not trick, the planet with your Halloween candy (Washington Post $)

• How to electrify everything, and why (Newsday, Larissa Johnson op-ed)
• The Guardian view on Tory environment chaos: turning back the clock (The Guardian, Editorial board)
• Charging Up: A chat with Kavita Patel, principal at MUUS Climate Partners (Canary Media, interview)
• Solar farms a 'blight on the landscape'? Research shows they can benefit wildlife (The Conversation, Angie Turner, Eleanor Harrison, Zoe Robinson op-ed)
• Now even science grants must bow to ‘equity and inclusion’ (Wall Street Journal, Lawrence Krauss op-ed $)
• How not to punish the Saudis on oil prices (Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board $)

Infowars Investing Gets Serious, Even As It Gets Stupider. 

Newly billionaire-endowed conservative activist who engineered the takeover of SCOTUS Leonard Leo is moving against "woke capitalism," some CEOs are supposedly discontented with ESG, as activists work to put a "pro-fossil fuel board member" on Exxon Mobil's board (lol), and Louisiana and South Carolina are divesting from BlackRock as a way of anti-virtue-signaling about "woke capitalism" (because it turns out conservative criticisms of activists calling for fossil fuel divestment aren't sincere).

But even as the anti-ESG movement fighting the finance industry's Environmental, Social and Governance measures designed to reduce investment risks is getting serious attention from elected officials, it's also living up to the Alex Jones Investing moniker. 

For example, a bootlicking Daily Signal write-up of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt's Fox News interview attacking standards that companies should not be racist, polluting and corrupt as "anti-American," did contain something of value: a link to Heritage's new ESG page, ESG Hurts. 

It’s designed not for suit-and-tie Wall Street types, but instead to explain the issue to their base audience that they're definitely not condescending to with a buzzfeed-style "ESG Score" quiz to see if you'd be "canceled" by an "ESG social credit score" – an entirely made up conspiracy theory applying the financial regulatory lingo to a credit score concept. We took the quiz, but before we could get our score Heritage demanded an email address so they could send updates, sooo… 

That's not the only attempt to mainstream the anti-ESG campaign. Over at the Federalist, even TV gossip is being pegged to ESG, with the issue being shoehorned into a story about Nextar Media Group buying The CW. "The WEF abused the pandemic to push for more globalist operations and it’s working," Jessica Maria Baumgartner warns. "The CW will no longer be a silly station offering campy content." Because as executives "leave, this opens up room for Nexstar to implement its equity values in hiring practices. Gone are the days when talent and hard work made the grade; now TV programming is all about politics and social credit scores designed to control the market and tell audiences what to think." 

Again the social credit scores! An entirely made up concept, pushed by programs like — hey, wuddya know?  — the Alex Jones Show! What a coincidence entirely predictable circumstance, the Infowars investing strategy also echoes the Infowars conspiracy theories!  

And where does an Alex Jones approach get you? Fame and fortune in the short term, perhaps, but as of this week, lies admittedly more odious than social credit scores but no less a lie, which cost him nearly a billion dollars. 

Food for thought!

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