FIRST LOOK:

Egypt Will Likely Sell Gas to Europe Due To $500 Million Deal: The U.S., Germany and the EU, and Egypt announced a deal Friday in which Egypt will eschew burning 5 GW of methane gas in exchange for a $500 million finance package enabling the country to build 10 GW of renewable energy generation capacity. Though not touted in the announcement, the deal will also likely result in Egypt selling the methane gas it doesn't burn to Europe, which is desperate to find non-Russian sources of methane gas. At COP27, President Biden also said the U.S. would work with Egypt to reduce methane pollution by capturing gas currently flared, vented, or leaking from its gas operations. (Washington Post $, Politico Pro $, Climate Home, AP, Politico)

Fake Freeport Tweet Illuminates How LNG Exports Are Raising Methane Gas Prices: An apparently illegitimate tweet claiming "cracked pipes" had been discovered at the Freeport LNG terminal sent methane gas prices tumbling as traders worried the delayed restart of the LNG export facility would lower gas demand. The company told Bloomberg the tweet contained "false information." U.S. methane gas futures dropped precipitously when the facility, which accounted for about 20% of U.S. exports, exploded in June and the export terminal is set to resume operations soon. In addition to highlighting the volatile online information landscape caused by the turmoil at Twitter, the incident also highlights how LNG exports are driving up U.S. methane gas prices, which are contributing to higher expected winter home heating costs. A recent report from Climate Action Tracker also found the recent expansion of LNG export and import terminals is "incompatible" with pathways to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F). (Freeport tweet: Bloomberg $, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal $, The Facts; CAT report: E&E $; Twitter: New York Times $, Washington Post $)

Protesters Speak Up At COP: Hundreds of activists marched through COP27's UN-controlled "Blue Zone" on Saturday. The protesters demanded industrialized nations compensate those harmed by the impacts of climate change and called for the protection of gender and human rights as well as the cessation of crackdown on activists especially in developing nations. The protesters were protected by the fact that the area is governed by UN rules, as opposed to the far tighter restrictions on protest imposed by Egyptian authorities outside. Protesters also disrupted President Biden's speech on Friday, in which he mentioned indigenous knowledge. After being removed from the venue, one of those protesters, Jacob Johns, a member of the Akimelo’otham and Hopi nations, was prohibited from accessing the conference. “It’s just a great way to silence Indigenous voices nationally and globally,” Johns told the AP. (AP)

Iran Sentences Protester To Death: Iran's Revolutionary Court sentenced an unnamed protester to die on Sunday for their participation in anti-government protests. This is the first known death sentence meted out to a protester following the murder of a 22-year-old woman by the country's Morality Police about two months ago. The defendant faces charges of “disturbing public order and comfort, community and colluding to commit a crime against national security.” Five others were sentenced to five- to 10-year prison terms by another court, and at least 20 others face charges punishable by death, including “waging war against God.” About 1,000 people have been charged and an estimated 14,000 have been arrested or detained since the protests began. (AFP via Guardian, AP, Al Jazeera, Axios, BBC, CNBC, Deutsche Welle, Wall Street Journal $)

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS?: Climate confab heads into final week, warming goal uncertain (AP), Some countries have resisted 1.5°C goal in COP27 text, US says (Reuters), The world will likely miss 1.5 C. Why isn’t anyone saying so? (E&E News), What to watch in the COP27 draft text (Washington Post $)

BIDEN:  Biden announces largest US investment in green energy at UN summit (NBC, E&E News, New York Times $, Politico, The Hill, Axios, NPR, Politico, MSNBC, Washington Examiner, AP, Bloomberg $), ‘Everyone has to act,’ Biden tells COP27, as developing nations slam US (Washington Post $, The Guardian, CNN), Biden brings crumbs of support (Climate Home), Biden has had more climate wins than past presidents. but it will never be good enough (TIME, NPR), Biden says America is doing its part to prevent 'climate hell.' Is it? (Vox, Washington Post $), Biden says the climate crisis is about 'very life of the planet' (Reuters), Biden touts ‘unprecedented’ US actions at Egypt climate summit (Politico), Joe Biden’s flying visit to COP27 disappoints developing nations (FT $), US climate czar: Joe Biden delivered (Bloomberg $)

METHANE: Biden announces restrictions on methane emissions at COP27 (Wall Street Journal $, The Hill, AP, Bloomberg $, Houston Chronicle, Grist, Yahoo, Axios, E&E News, Politico Pro $), EPA to regulate methane leaks from oil and gas to fight climate change (Washington Post $), New EPA proposal to augment methane regulations would help achieve an 87% reduction from the oil and gas industry by 2030 (Inside Climate News), US targets methane in 'relentless' emissions focus (Reuters), Canada, Nigeria target oil and gas methane emissions with new laws (Reuters), China should put methane plan in its formal climate target - White House adviser Podesta (Reuters), Methane: war and international tensions make cutting potent greenhouse gas emissions harder (The Conversation)

• IN SPACE!: UN to hunt sources of climate-warming methane from space (Reuters), UN to seek out methane emitters with data from space (AP)

DEFORESTATION: Congo Basin, world’s second-biggest rainforest, now reported to be facing rapid destruction (The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg $, EuroNews), Brazil's president-elect Lula will address protection of the Amazon rainforest at COP27 (NPR)

GOP & FOSSIL FUELS: Republicans tout benefits of fossil fuels at climate talks (AP, Bloomberg $), Gas producers using COP27 to rebrand gas as transitional fuel, experts warn (The Guardian), A fox in the henhouse: Hundreds of oil and gas lobbyists are at the UN climate talks (Boston Globe $, Climate Home)

LOSS & DAMAGE: Africa wants climate reparations now and debt help, Creecy says (Bloomberg $), UN climate talks reach halftime with key issues unresolved (AP), African nations push for funding to adapt to climate change (AP)

CLIMATE FINANCE: At COP27 climate talks, slow progress stokes worry over final deal (Reuters), HSBC boss finds himself on his own as big-bank peers skip COP27 (Bloomberg $), Carbon market under pressure to deliver billions in climate funding (Wall Street Journal $), Talks on carbon market rules off to slow start (Reuters)

CLIMATE MIGRATION: Climate disasters put plight of displaced in COP27 focus (Reuters)

HUMAN RIGHTS: Curbs on rights weaken Egypt's climate talks, campaigners say (Reuters)

FOSSIL FUEL NONPROLIFERATION: What is the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty? (The Guardian), From nuclear power to bamboo: The climate solutions at COP27 (Washington Post $)

CO2 EMISSIONS: Global CO2 emissions to rise again, climate goals at risk, scientists say (Reuters)

SCIENCE DAY: Science day at COP27 shows that climate talks aren’t keeping pace with planetary physics (Inside Climate News)

WAR IN UKRAINE: Russian oligarchs and companies under sanctions are among lobbyists at Cop27 (The Guardian), Ukraine uses COP27 to highlight environmental cost of Russia’s war (The Guardian), Biden, slamming Putin’s weaponization of fossil fuels, outlines new climate funding pledges (CNBC)

GAS DEALS: Al Gore says a new online platform curbs cheating from world's largest polluters (NPR)

USA: America just shrugged off Biden’s big climate law (The Atlantic)

EGYPT: State scrutiny and midnight disturbances make Egypt’s COP27 the most chilling of climate talks (Bloomberg $), UN probes Egypt police misconduct claims at climate talks (AP), Germany warns its delegation of Egyptian spies at COP27 (Reuters)

INDIA: India seeks COP27 deal to 'phase down' all fossil fuels (Reuters), Climate prize winner empowers women in India to become farmers and entrepreneurs (NPR)

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia has ‘green vision’ at COP27, critics unmoved (AP)

BRAZIL: Brazil will be climate leader, says ex-minister Marina Silva (AP)

SWEDEN: Swedish cyclist pedals to Egypt to raise climate awareness (AP) 

AFRICAN NATIONS: African nations demand more money for removing emissions (AP)

ALAA ABDEL FATTAH: UN climate summit leads to a rarity in Egypt: open protest (New York Times $), White House ‘doing everything we can’ to get British Egyptian released (Washington Post), Alaa Abd El-Fattah: Proof of life received, sister confirms (The Independent), Family: Egyptian hunger-striking activist drinking water (AP)

FOOD SECURITY: Farm climate innovation commitments double to $8 billion (Reuters), Food day finally arrives as sector faces crisis (Bloomberg $), Food firms’ plans for 1.5C climate target fall short, say campaigners (The Guardian), Vilsack promotes new tool for global climate-smart agriculture (Politico Pro $),

COP27 INCLUSIVITY: 'Digital portals' tackle COP27 inclusivity issues — somewhat (Axios)

IF YOU'RE THERE: At COP27, an artist asks attendees to feel climate change — literally (Washington Post $), Flowing sewage, bewildering signs, lack of water: COP27 faces logistics nightmares (CNBC)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) ABLEISM: Twitter was a lifeline for people with disabilities. Musk’s reign is changing all of that (TIME)

ARE YOU SLEEPING TOO WELL?: 2022 a 'record year' for carbon emissions as path to avoid worst impacts of climate change narrows: 'There's no time to wait' (CBS), Are climate change emissions finally going down? Definitely not (NPR), The biggest wild card in the climate crisis (CNN), (Boston Globe $)

NICOLE: Hurricane Nicole makes landfall in Florida, raising concerns about climate change (KPCC), After Hurricane Nicole, condo owners grapple with living beachside (New York Times $), Florida faces destruction once more as storm Nicole leaves 5 dead (Axios, Washington Post $, AP, New York Times $), Hurricane Nicole reiterates Florida's home insurance hardship (NBC)

EMISSIONS-GROWTH CORRELATIONS: How to slash carbon emissions while growing the economy, in one chart (Vox)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: What it looks like when Biden and Xi try to get along (Politico Pro $)

G20: Climate crisis solutions may also ease global financial shocks, [Australia PM] Albanese to tell business leaders (The Guardian), G-20 summit casts spotlight on Bali’s tourism revival (AP)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Europe poised for a warmer-than-normal winter, Copernicus says (Bloomberg $), Ukraine war’s environmental toll to take years to clean up (AP)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Utah youth to fight court loss in 'kids' climate case' (E&E $)

DENIAL: How oil & gas funding distorts energy research (Gizmodo)

GOP vs. ESG: What the midterm results mean for ESG investing (E&E News)

AGENCIES: She’s trying to shrink Uncle Sam’s carbon footprint (E&E News)

EPA: EPA employees' worries calm as red wave turns to ripple (E&E $)

DOI: Court to revisit decision approving road through wildlife refuge after [Jimmy] Carter opposition (The Hill, New York Times $), Interior announces $91M in conservation grants (E&E $)

LAWSUITS: 100 plaintiffs join lawsuit against Navy facility's fuel-tainted water (Axios)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden admin shakes up offshore energy team (E&E $), Biden to federal contractors: Make plans to cut your greenhouse gas emissions (Grist)

• CLIMATE FINANCE:  Biden celebrated a major victory on climate this year. But this issue could prove insurmountable (CNN)

THE HILL: Colo. Democrat Neguse running for House leadership (E&E $), Republicans seek new watchdog on energy, environment (E&E $), S.C. Republican makes pitch to lead House energy panel (E&E News), Zinke returns to face old Capitol Hill friends and foes (E&E News), Schumer may pull defense bill, focus on nominees (E&E $)

ELECTIONS: After clinching Senate, Dems eye the unthinkable: Holding the House (Politico, Politico Pro $), Democrats’ Senate victory hands Biden a critical guardrail against the GOP (New York Times $), Blue wins in governor’s races lift the hopes of US climate advocates (Bloomberg $), How Democratic state wins in the midterms could rev up climate progress (Canary Media), Luck or skill? How Dem candidates survived high gas prices. (E&E $), The biggest election wins and losses for America’s public lands (HuffPost), Weak GOP performance in midterms blunts possible attacks on Biden climate agenda, observers say (Inside Climate News)

TRIBES: Appeals court will rehear Izembek land-swap decision (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Arizona approves massive transmission line (E&E $), State’s largest electric utility seeks new generation sources amid energy transition (New Mexico Political Report)

• CALIFORNIA: ‘Needs more work’: Solar industry remains skeptical of California PUC’s new net energy metering proposal (Utility Dive), Calif. grid plan stirs concerns of a solar slowdown (E&E News), California produces disaster-readiness guides in more than 20 languages (Yale Climate Connections)

FERC: Manchin withholds confirmation hearing for FERC Chairman Glick, throwing second term in doubt (Utility Dive, Reuters), FERC to consider largest US dam removal next week (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: Climate change and human activity erode Egypt’s treasured antiquities (New York Times $), Chile’s reservoirs are evaporating thanks to climate change. This startup is trying to stop it (TIME), Climate reshapes life for tenacious gannets on Quebec isle (AP), Climate tipping points and the damage that could follow (NPR), For Brazil, devastating rain is an urban planning problem (Bloomberg $), Iconic Olmsted parks threatened around the country by all manifestations of climate change (Inside Climate News), 'It could just sweep us away': This school is on the front lines of climate change (NPR), Malaysia evacuates thousands as monsoon-season flash floods hit (Bloomberg $), New report paints dire picture of America’s future as climate crisis accelerates (CNN), New reports spell out climate urgency, shortfalls, needed actions (Yale Climate Connections), Rivers are drying up, but it’s not too late to help. Here’s where to start (CNN), Successive storms leave Filipino farmers wanting better response and aid (The New Humanitarian)

SENEGAL: Saint-Louis is being swallowed by the sea. Residents are bracing for a new reality (NPR)

HEAT: Mediterranean marine heatwaves threaten coastal livelihoods (Reuters), Israel rushes to protect marine life as Mediterranean warms (AP)

HURRICANES: After hurricanes, program aims to help alleviate stress (AP)

DROUGHT: In brutal drought, Kenyan herders look for hope underground (AP), As California’s wells dry up, residents rely on bottled water to survive (Washington Post $)

(DE)FORESTATION: How Nepal grew back its forests (New York Times $)

BOOZE: How droughts in Mexico could shape the future of the beer industry (New York Times $)

RENEWABLES: ‘Deep geothermal’ promises to let drillers go deeper, faster and hotter (Wall Street Journal $), Coming soon for homeowners: Solar panels that actually look attractive (Wall Street Journal $), Minnesota solar installers say it still takes too long to connect to Xcel’s grid (Energy News Network), US blocks more than 1,000 solar shipments over Chinese slave labor concerns (Reuters)

BATTERIES: A proposed lithium mine presents a climate versus environment conflict (NPR), Koch teams with startup to build giant battery factory in Georgia (Wall Street Journal $)

STORAGE: To store renewable energy, some look to old mines (Wall Street Journal $)

METHANE: A new study from China on methane leaks from the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines found that the climate impact was ‘tiny’ and nothing ‘to worry about’ (Inside Climate News), New Zealand targets cow burps to help reduce global warming (AP)

OIL & GAS: US outlines effects of withdrawing land from oil drilling (AP)

NUKES: US, Centrus Energy in pact to make next-generation nuclear fuel (Reuters), What role does nuclear power play in the US effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions? (NPR)

UTILITIES: Moody’s adopts negative outlook for regulated utility sector, warns on gas prices, economy and cost recovery (Utility Dive), Utility backs solar farm atop capped Kentucky coal ash pit (AP)

GRID: The US electric system is leaning on customers to avoid blackouts (Wall Street Journal $), US West faces power reliability issues from growing use of renewables (Reuters)

EVs: China’s top EV wastes no time getting traction in Indonesia (Bloomberg $), Electric vehicles need more—and faster—charging stations. How do we get them? (Wall Street Journal $), Electric vehicles start to enter the car-buying mainstream (New York Times $), Elon Musk, Tesla board members to defend CEO's pay in court (Wall Street Journal $), Shift to electric cars happening too slowly to avoid 'climate catastrophe,' report finds (CBS)

HIGHER ED: US colleges talk green. But they have a dirty secret (Reuters)

PARADIGM SHIFTS: Degrowth: A dangerous idea or the answer to the world’s biggest crisis? (CNN)

ARTSY ACTIVISM: Famed painting ‘The Scream’ targeted by climate activists (AP), Is eco-vandalism an effective way to raise awareness about climate change? Experts weigh in. (ABC), World’s museums urge climate activists targeting ‘irreplaceable’ art to stop (Washington Post $)

BEARS. BEATS. BATTLING CLIMATE CHANGE.: Rainn Wilson 'changes' his name to raise awareness for climate change (CBS, CNN), You, too, can have a rad name like ‘Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson’ (The Verge)

AVIATION: Unmanned, solar-powered US space plane back after 908 days (AP)

AGRICULTURE: Cocoa farmers fear climate change lowering crop production (AP), Droughts, rising seas put Cuba's agriculture under threat (AP), Farm lenders slow to respond on climate change, survey shows (E&E $)

VIDEO GAMES: This city-building video game takes on climate change (Bloomberg $)

BUSINESSES: Energy security doesn’t trump climate concerns, says former Unilever CEO (CNBC)

FINANCE: ‘Huge regime shift’: Active managers see boost from the energy trade (CNBC), This former BlackRock executive says ESG investment model is broken (Wall Street Journal $)

INTERNATIONAL: Barcelona students to take mandatory climate crisis module from 2024 (The Guardian), Can Germans save their beloved Rhine? (New York Times $), The battle to save Seoul's green spaces (Bloomberg $), Climate protesters in Portugal storm building, urge minister to step down (Reuters), German lawmakers OK delay in switching off nuclear plants (AP), German parties agree to ratify CETA, quit energy charter (Reuters), Gulf Arab states can’t give up oil. But they can slash their emissions (CNN), Is China doing enough to combat the climate crisis? (The Guardian), Mexico ups target for cutting emissions, boosting renewables (AP)

• How a warming Yukon forced its farmers to adapt (Bloomberg, Adam Minter op-ed $)
• What happens when a cascade of crises collide? (New York Times, Thomas Homer-Dixon and Johan Rockström op-ed $)
• The Guardian view on Britain’s electric vehicle industry: Slow-motion car crash (The Guardian, Guardian Editorial)
• Don’t dump on US coal plan. Make it better! (Reuters, Hugo Dixon op-ed)
• Xi Jinping downplays climate change, risking his own priorities (The Hill, Kenneth C. Brill op-ed)
• The Farm Bill can build climate resilience (The Hill, Lloyd Ritter op-ed)
• Tough questions for the World Trade Organization at COP27 (The Hill, Marc L. Busch op-ed)
• The clock is ticking: Urgent steps New York must take to achieve its climate targets (Utility Dive, Mary Barber op-ed)
• ESG shows free markets are working (The Hill, Nathan Fabian op-ed)
• America’s tactical nuclear stand-down (Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board $)
• Natural gas: A wellspring for the US and global energy future (The Hill, Jason Hayes and Timothy Nash op-ed)
• Venezuela joins the great climate con (Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O’Grady op-ed $)
• Freeing EVs from the dealer cartel (Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board $)
• The most eloquent speaker at the climate summit is Alaa Abd El-Fattah (New York Times, Yasmin El-Rifae op-ed $)

Gross Weirdos and Professional Posters Attack Greta, While Fraud Sells Gas, Baby, Gas for Africa

Welcome to week two of COP27! We're back with a sample of the disinfo readout from over the weekend, and friends, things are not pretty. 

Greta Thunberg is no stranger to being harassed, but across social media sites, CAAD's monitoring found that "posters questioned or 'joked'” about whether Thunberg was a biological woman, allegedly ‘exposing’ the teenager and her mother as secretly male. Some also claimed she was somehow related to George Soros or the Rothschild family, to add some anti-semitic conspiracism into the cis/hetero-normativity." And that's just the start. 

Because while people like Michael Shellenberger "doubled down on attacks after the narrative that Thunberg was out to destroy capitalism," which was dismissed by Thunberg via her Twitter account on November 2, the fringe online outlets Elon Musk wants Twitter to emulate were far worse. 

A warning: The links out in this next section contain extreme and disturbing content. While some "initially attacked Greta due to her climate activism or alleged declarations against capitalism," others on 4chan have "descended into sexually targeting the 19-year-old activist." It's not just there, either. Turns out "sexual content was found on platforms such as Gettr and Telegram alongside explicit calls to violence - one post suggests Thunberg should be incinerated, while on Gab a 'cartoon' depicts Greta as a mermaid being blown up while sabotaging the Nord Stream pipeline." 

And "if content is not attacking Greta, it will often shamelessly co-opt her advocacy, using critiques of COP27 to validate pushback on negotiations and wider climate action… US climate denier, and founder of Climate Depot, Marc Morano is attending the summit in Sharm el-Sheik with live updates on social media - last week he appeared on OANN claiming he would be ‘supporting Greta’s message that this is a scam for greenwashing, lying and cheating.’”

Speaking of cheating, would you trust a convicted fraud who's telling you 'gas is good, actually'? No? Well good, you shouldn't! And neither should the UN, which is why Chloé Farand's recent bombshell at ClimateHome caused such a commotion. Farand reported last week that NJ Ayuk of the African Energy Chamber and (until Farand's story broke) involved with a UN-linked project, was "convicted of fraud in the US for impersonating a congressman" and "investigated for money laundering by Ghana’s central bank." After that, he got into trouble with his oil and gas-brokering law firm after "Ayuk showed up at a branch with two bags containing $2.5m in cash, to deposit." 

In response to this reporting, the African Energy Chamber "published a press release 'reply' in which Ayuk falsely labels Farand, a professional journalist, as "a very wealthy activist with close ties to radical group Extinction Rebellion." Ayuk also uses the well-worn technique of disinformers to "just ask questions" regarding her funding. ClimateHome discloses its biggests sponsors on the About page, which Ayuk clearly visited as he references the ‘whiteness’ of the organisation to distract from their reporting on his fraud conviction and money laundering investigation." 

It turns out "The Pan African Communications Consultancy, APO Group, distributed and amplified the article via the PR distribution service Accesswire, which has (paid) access to several news outlets… CAAD’s research has identified 170 articles repurposing the text of their press release (link). Notably, Yahoo and the Associated Press picked up the article and published the press release with the mention “Paid content from Accesswire.” 

And the best/worst/funniest part? The African Energy Chamber’s original release also used the wrong photo illustration, including a picture of E3G researcher Sonia Dunlop instead of Farand - multiple syndicated outlets followed suit, failing to update when AEC eventually corrected itself and swapped the images.

They can't even figure out which woman they're attacking! 

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