FIRST LOOK:

EU Makes Surprise 'Final Offer' On Loss And Damage: The European Union, early Friday morning, agreed to key demands from developing nations on the creation of a loss and damage fund. The move by the EU, described by its climate chief Frans Timmermans as “a final offer,” further isolates the U.S. in its opposition to a fund. Representatives from developing countries said they were considering the proposal, with some unimpressed due to its limiting of compensation only to the “most vulnerable” nations. The EU proposal also says the fund would be supported by a “broad donor base,” suggesting high-emitting emerging economies like China would be required to contribute along with the wealthy nations responsible for the overwhelming majority of historic greenhouse gas pollution. (EU proposal: Bloomberg $, Reuters, AP; US isolation: E&E News)

Penn. Gas Leak Leaks 1 Billion cf Of Gas Into Atmosphere In 11 Days: A failure at a methane gas storage well in southwestern Pennsylvania pumped an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of gas into the atmosphere in 11 days. At 3,000 psi, the well — owned by Equitrans, which also holds a near-majority stake in the beleaguered Mountain Valley Pipeline — released about a quarter of the amount of methane gas released by the Aliso Canyon storage well (the biggest methane leak in history) in 118 days. Methane, the main component in so-called "natural gas" traps 80 times more heat in the atmosphere as CO2 over a 20 year period. “You know how an airplane goes over you and it’s real low?” Heather Shepherd, who lives two miles from the well in (what was) Pennsylvania's coal country, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of the sound made by the leak. The gas could be smelled miles away as well and multiple outlets reported residents experiencing headaches and burning in their throats. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette $, The Allegheny Front, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette $, WJAC, ABC23, The Tribune-Democrat, Reuters, Seeking Alpha)

'Incredible Day For Methane' At COP27: The list of countries pledging to cut their methane pollution by 30% in the next eight years swelled to 150 on Thursday. Though it did not fully join the Global Methane Pledge, China — in a surprise appearance at U.S. climate envoy John Kerry's press conference on methane — announced it is drafting a methane reduction plan. Quickly and dramatically reducing methane pollution is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. China's announcement was welcomed by Kerry, who said the U.S. is willing to provide technical assistance, as well as advocates like Johnathan Banks of the Clean Air Task Force who described its announcemnt as "icing on the cake for an incredible day for methane." The U.S. and the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development also announced $500 million for programs assisting small-scale farmers in applying practices that reduce methane emissions. (Pledge: Reuters, Bloomberg $, NPR; China: Reuters, Bloomberg $, Climate Home; US + UN: Modern Ghana)

DRAFT AGREEMENT: Climate negotiators in Egypt say they remain far from a deal (AP), What are the sticking points to reaching a climate deal? (Reuters), EU says COP27 deal needs 'tremendous amount of work' (Reuters), Getting rid of fossil fuels at a climate summit is harder than you’d think (The Guardian), UN chief warns of ‘breakdown in trust’ with no deal in sight at COP27 (The Guardian), As COP27 nears deadline, Europe makes ‘final offer’ of climate deal (Washington Post $)

• LOSS & DAMAGE: Climate-battered nations say their people expect help from COP27 (Reuters), Climate-hit nations say their people expect help from COP27 (Context), Vulnerable nations warn COP27 success rests on climate damage fund (Reuters), Confusion, finger-pointing, opposing views at Egypt’s COP27 (AP)

(NEO)COLONIALISM: Indigenous activists Tom Goldtooth & Eriel Deranger on the link between colonialism & climate crisis (Democracy Now), In Africa, fossil fuel exploitation is extremely focussed on the needs of the West (Le Monde)

CLIMATE FINANCE: Bankers bet billions on new wave of debt-for-nature deals (Reuters), COP27 tees up speed dating for climate investment deals (Climate Home), Multilateral lenders have failed poorest over climate - Commonwealth head (Reuters), EU accused of climate accounting tricks (E&E $), Republican gains quash hopes of US delivering on climate finance (Climate Home), Climate talks hit ‘breakdown’ over finance, fossil fuels as time dwindles (Washington Post $)

FOSSIL FUEL NONPROLIFERATION: 18 countries join US in government zero-emissions goal (E&E $), At COP27, oil and gas stay out of crosshairs — for now (Axios), Developing nations seek faster emission cuts from rich world at COP27 (Wall Street Journal $), Climate promises 'have never been fully honored': UN General Assembly president (ABC)

END IN SIGHT: "Stand and deliver," UN chief tells faltering COP27 climate summit (Reuters), Climate talks are wrapping up. the thorniest questions are still unresolved. (NPR), COP27 climate talks reach crunch time with big rifts remaining (Reuters), What happened on day 10 – in pictures (The Guardian), Meet the ‘closer’ who finds the right words when climate talks hit a wall (New York Times $), Crunch time for UN climate talks as Friday deadline looms (AP)

WAR IN UKRAINE: War in Ukraine gives country's scientists platform at COP27 (WBUR)

GAS DEALS: Draft COP27 agreement fails to call for ‘phase-down’ of all fossil fuels (The Guardian)

USA: Energy secretary touts US announcements at UN climate conference (The Hill)

CHINA: China has plan to curb methane emissions in sign of progress (Bloomberg $), Resurrection of US-China ties boosts COP27 climate talks (Wall Street Journal $)

UK: Majority of Britons say UK should pay for climate action in poor countries (The Guardian), 

EGYPT: Egypt takes heat for hosting chaotic UN climate summit (Washington Post $)

MEXICO: At COP27 Indigenous land defenders from Mexico, guatemala warn “green capitalism” creates violence (Democracy Now)

BARBADOS: Barbados spearheads push on climate disaster financing (AP)

AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES: Activists hoped Egypt’s COP27 would bring a focus on Africa. They were disappointed (CNN)

BRAZIL: Amazon leader welcomes climate vow from Brazil’s lula to end deforestation with Indigenous help (Democracy Now), 

VENEZUELA: ‘Asking an arsonist to put out a fire’: climate offender Maduro makes COP27 comeback (The Guardian),
 

EGYPT: Egypt takes heat for hosting chaotic UN climate summit (Washington Post $)

ALAA ABDEL FATTAH: Family of Egyptian political prisoner says he had near-death experience (New York Times $), Family: Egypt activist very, very thin after hunger strike (AP)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Jackson's water crisis has gone on so long that the EPA is setting up shop there (Gizmodo), Virginia is changing the way it teaches history, social studies. Here’s how. (Washington Post $)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Europe needs luck to escape the worst of gas crisis (Wall Street Journal $), Europe’s energy risks go beyond gas (New York Times $), Egypt dims the lights in Cairo to free up more gas for Europe (Wall Street Journal $), High energy prices lead to coal revival in Czech Republic (AP)

• (CLIMATE) DIPLOMACY: China wants America's natural gas. Some lawmakers are worried. (Politico Pro $)

CARBON PAWPRINTS: Wet pet food is far worse for climate than dry food, study finds (The Guardian), A new study ranks the climate pawprint of different types of pet food (TIME)

THE (OTHER) TALK: Coping with climate change: advice for kids — from kids (NPR)

GOP vs. ESG: It's just beginning.' Republican House to target ESG (E&E $)

LIVING CITIES: Carbon sucks in Stockholm — Dutch cycling boost — Urban climate migrants (Politico EU)

PUBLIC OPINON: Pew poll: 42% of religious Americans pray for the environment (Grist), Poll: Religious Americans less worried about climate change (AP), Polling finds rising public worry over wildfires (E&E $)

WINDFALL TAXES: Will taxing the windfall profits of oil giants fix countries’ economies? (New York Times $)

GFANZ: Too few rules on fossil fuels? The limitations of Mark Carney’s GFANZ alliance (Energy Monitor)

[INSERT DAM PUN HERE]: ‘Momentous:’ Feds advance largest dam demolition in history (AP, E&E News, San Francisco Chronicle, The Hill, Reuters)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Inflation Reduction Act upends utility resource planning tenets: NARUC panelists (Utility Dive)

AGENCIES: Farmers of color are suing the US government (Modern Farmer), FDA clears lab-grown meat for human consumption (The Hill, Gizmodo, TIME, Wall Street Journal $), SunRun among 240+ companies pressing Commerce Department to reject Auxin solar tariff petition (Utility Dive), US regulators could be pressured by slim Republican House control (Reuters)

EPA: EPA reverses Trump rollback of Wash. water protections (E&E $), EPA watchdog to probe lead alerts, water funds (E&E $), Hill aide to lead EPA's congressional shop (E&E $)

• LIMETREE BAY: EPA orders Virgin Islands refinery to obtain costly permit before restarting (Politico Pro $, E&E $)
• PM2.5: Tiny soot particles from fossil fuel combustion kill thousands annually. Activists now want Biden to impose tougher standards (Inside Climate News)

DOE: DOE awards $74M to EV battery recycling projects (E&E $)

DOI: Biden admin announces Atlantic offshore wind areas (E&E $), Feds grant lesser prairie chicken ESA protections (E&E News), GAO: Interior must establish offshore oil cybersecurity measures 'immediately' (Politico Pro $), Greens urge National Park Service to ban lead (E&E $), Interior: Oil ban around Chaco Canyon would block 47 wells (E&E $)

DOT: Texas activists sit-in at DOT in Washington over offshore oil export plans (Inside Climate News)

THE HILL: GOP infrastructure feud could hinder bipartisan deals (E&E News), Olympic cross-country skier Gus Schumacher pushes Congress to act on climate (Yale Climate Connections)

HOUSE: 5 energy, environment issues in bull’s-eye for House GOP (E&E News), Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Politico Pro, interview $), House Democrat eyes legislation to bar Trump from office under 14th Amendment (The Hill), Republicans promised a new approach on climate. Now they won the House, what’s next? (Houston Chronicle), What a Republican House means for energy (E&E News), What's next for infrastructure spending as Republicans gear up to retake the House (WBUR), Will Hakeem Jeffries be Democrats’ next house leader? Key members of Congress support him (NewsOne)

• PELOSI: Nancy Pelosi, the first and only woman to serve as House speaker, will step down from leadership (The 19th* News, Washington Post $, E&E News, NPR, Politico, Black Wall Street Times, Reuters), ​​Portrait of a Speaker: Nancy Pelosi’s most enduring moments (New York TImes $), Nancy Pelosi's groundbreaking tenure opened up doors for women (Bloomberg $)

POLITICS: Senators float audit of Rick Scott's NRSC (Politico), Wait, why wasn’t there a climate backlash? (The Atlantic), Why did Democrats vote with the GOP to end the COVID national emergency? (Truthout)

ELECTIONS: What the unusual midterm elections mean for climate action (New York Times $), GOP crushes state regulator races and strengthens grip over nation’s energy future (HuffPost), Climate hawks say midterms prove environment is a top voter issue (The Hill), Democrats worry about their losses in farm country (E&E News), Karen Bass wins election to become first Black woman mayor of Los Angeles (NewsOne, The 19th* News, LA Times $), 

• GEORGIA: Georgia runoffs were inspired by racism — how Black voters can still overcome (The Grio), Sen. Raphael Warnock, Democrats sue to challenge Georgia law that bans Saturday voting after Thanksgiving ahead of runoff against Herschel Walker (Atlanta Black Star), GOP civil war spreads to Georgia runoff (Politico)

TRIBES: Tribes, greens eye wildlife bill passage bill this year (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES AND DISENFRANCHISED COLONIAL TERRITORIES: Colorado air regulators vastly underestimated ozone pollution from some oil and gas operations due to a data error (Colorado Public Radio), In storm-hit Puerto Rico, local communities fill US disaster response gaps (The New Humanitarian), New York voters approved $4.2 billion for climate infrastructure. Now what? (Washington Post $)

• CALIFORNIA: Calif. releases blueprint for achieving carbon neutrality (E&E $), Solar industry, utilities, ratepayer advocates clash over California net energy metering proposal (Utility Dive)

FERC: FERC chair says Manchin decision 'beyond my control' (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: ‘We saved the cat’: flood-hit NSW town of Forbes could be divided for days (The Guardian), Climate change linked with worsening neurologic diseases: review (The Hill), How climate stress contributed to collapse of ancient Egypt (Washington Post $), The Dead Sea is drying up because of overexploitation and climate change (NPR), ‘Do you really want to rebuild at 80?’ Rethinking where to retire. (New York Times $), In this world cup ski season, climate change is winning (Washington Post $)

• AGRICULTURE: Climate change sparks Alaska farm boom (CBS), Egypt's Nile Delta farmland salts up as temperatures, and seas, rise (Reuters)
• THOUSANDS OF WORDS: See the ties that bind Antarctica and Louisiana through one photographer's lens (NPR)

DISPLACEMENT: Climate, migration and the far-right (NPR), Climate Migration: Filipino families to flee amid typhoons (AP), 

WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?: ‘Vast’ mass of microbes being released by melting glaciers (The Guardian)

BUFFALO SNOW: ‘Paralyzing’ snow predicted in Buffalo; state of emergency declared (Washington Post $, AP), Here’s what to know about the lake-effect snow set to wallop buffalo (Washington Post $), NFL moves Browns-Bills game to Detroit due to snowstorm (ESPN)

HEAT: Extreme heat will change US (New York Times $), An economic argument for heat safety regulation (NPR)

WILDFIRES: Experts discuss how wildfire smoke harms human health (Yale Climate Connections)

HURRICANES: Even weak hurricanes are getting stronger — research (E&E $)

DROUGHT: Iraqi farmers driven to suicide as drought steals livelihoods (Context), Politics, climate conspire as Tigris and Euphrates dwindle (AP)

WATER: Western US cities to remove decorative grass amid drought (AP)

BIG TECH: Big tech's implosion could save the planet (TIME)

RENEWABLES: Tax breaks for solar power ineffective for low-income Americans, but other incentives do work, study finds (EcoWatch), Enel to build massive solar panel factory in US (Wall Street Journal $), Onshore wind to become Sweden's largest power source by 2030 - Rystad (Reuters), Solar-powered Wi-Fi helps African refugees to become entrepreneurs (Context), US official warns against efforts to defy forced-labor crackdown (Wall Street Journal $)

BATTERIES: Current readings on lithium in clean-energy transition (Yale Climate Connections)

• …AND INDUCTION STOVES: This startup is adding a battery to induction stoves (Canary Media)

STORAGE: The crucial need for energy storage is key to the future of clean energy (NPR)

METHANE: Industrial meat and dairy is destroying the planet (Gizmodo)

OIL & GAS: As evidence mounts, new concerns about fracking and health (Yale Environment 360), Mexico's Pemex risks fines rather than fix violations (Reuters)

PLASTICS: CPChem, QatarEnergy will build $8.5B plastics facility in Texas (Houston Chronicle)

HYDROGEN: Greener pastures: Is South Africa ready to profit from green hydrogen? (Reuters)

UTILITIES: Regulators debate utilities' role in transmission projects (E&E $)

GRID: US grid faces 'unprecedented' reliability risks this winter: NERC (Politico Pro $)

EVs: EV revolution? Don't forget about 'shared mobility.' (E&E $), GM aims to lower EV battery cost, locks up supply deal with Vale (Reuters), GM CEO Barra says electric vehicles to be profitable by 2025 (AP), US aims for zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles by 2040 (Reuters), US EV adoption likely to get 20% boost by 2030 from Inflation Reduction Act: BloombergNEF report (Utility Dive)

WORLD CUP: Qatar claims the 2022 FIFA World Cup is carbon neutral. It’s not. (Grist)

MUSIC: In the devastation of climate change, Daniel Bachman captures what's left behind (NPR)

AGRICULTURE: Feed maker ForFarmers to utilise food waste amid rising calls for sustainable farming (Reuters)

FOOD: The climate impact of the Thanksgiving meal might surprise you (Washington Post $)

🗑️🔥 : What is Mastodon and what does it mean for ‘climate Twitter’? (Grist)

PHILANTHROPY: Gates Foundation pledges $7 billion for Africa as Ukraine war diverts donor cash (Reuters)

FINANCE: Carlyle seeks $1.6 bln for second renewable energy fund -sources (Reuters)

WILDLIFE: Scientists try to bolster Great Barrier Reef in warmer world (AP)

INTERNATIONAL: Colombia decision on new oil and gas exploration not yet taken -government (Reuters), Government plans £6bn to insulate UK houses and gives go-ahead for Sizewell C (The Guardian)

• Vanessa Nakate, UNICEF goodwill ambassador, wants to center climate frontline communities (Teen VOGUE, op-ed)
• Nancy Pelosi, badass (New York Times, Michelle Cottle op-ed $)
• Plan to fix Texas' power grid benefits fossil fuels - the industry that caused the freeze (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• As we make buildings greener, residents and workers need a voice (Context, Ambet Yuson and Amol Mehra op-ed)
• Fossil fuel interests are playing us for fools (The Hill, Robert Taylor and Craig Smith op-ed)
• Young voters are not the future of the Democratic Party — they are the here and now (The Hill, Tom Steyer op-ed)
• 'Key decision-makers are presenting decarbonisation as something expensive and difficult' (Energy Monitor, Bertrand Piccard interview)
• China’s fast-growing renewables limit coal generation (Reuters, John Kemp column)
• Kicking our growth addiction is the way out of the climate crisis. This is how to do it (The Guardian, Larry Elliott op-ed)
• I’m an art historian and climate activist: Just Stop Oil’s art attacks are becoming part of the problem (The Guardian, Lucy Whelan op-ed)
• Nancy Pelosi was the Trump foil we sorely needed (VOGUE, Michelle Ruiz commentary)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans run counter to the Biden climate agenda (The Hill, Rep. Steve Cohen op-ed)
• Representation matters. But a Mayor Karen Bass means more for Black women in L.A. (LA Times, Erika Smith column $)

Election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and GOP (but we repeat ourselves) coming to terms with Midterm results.

It took a little while for all the votes in the midterms to get counted, but that doesn't seem to have given the rightwing disinformation machine a chance to coalesce around a particular line of attack. Instead, they're trying everything to see what works. 

Here's the latest from COP, Look, Listen: 

Right-wing media is struggling to create cohesive messaging around climate change and energy, both in the context of Biden’s trip to COP27 and meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Indonesia. Republicans’ repeated and misleading messaging on US “energy independence”, blaming Biden’s green policies for high gas prices, and outright climate change denial did not yield electoral gains in the Senate, and a supposed landslide in the House is now projected as a knife-edge win. 

Radical, election-denying candidates who have also opposed climate action, such as Kari Lake (715k followers on Twitter), Doug Mastriano (121k followers on FB), Blake Masters (253k followers on Twitter), and Joe Kent (143k followers on Twitter), lost their respective races. Other known figures such as convicted fraudster and conspiracist Dinesh D’Souza (2.6m followers on Twitter) and pundit Jack Posobiec (1.8m followers on Twitter) have been supplementing their election misinformation with pro-fossil fuel, anti-scientific claims leading up to and during COP27 (examples here, here and here). 

In October 2022, D’Souza made the claim that “climate fanatics'' would help “the GOP sweep the midterm elections”, and as recently as July argued that the science of climate change was “not settled”. These tweets received over 15k Likes and 3k Retweets.  Before the midterms, Jack Posobiec bemoaned coal plant closures in an apparent appeal to Pennsylvania voters. Featuring a video from Townhall.com, this tweet received over 47k Likes and 23k Retweets. Both are prime examples of how, as noted in CAAD’s ‘Deny, Deceive, Delay’ report, climate narratives are becoming ever-more enmeshed in broader identity and grievance politics. 

Post-Midterms, US right-wing media has turned its focus to Biden’s actions abroad. Fox News Outnumbered host Dagen McDowell expressed outrage over the fact that Biden focused on climate action during his meeting with Xi Jinping in Bali instead of interrogating him about the COVID-19 lab leak conspiracy theory. In addition, McDowell cited Michael Shellenberger to claim the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) would make China richer - this is despite the fact that the IRA explicitly encourages domestic clean energy competition with China, as have other moves by the Biden administration. 

Congressman Dan Crewnshaw (1.2m followers) had three recent posts criticising the Democratic Party for their failure to combat the US “energy crisis”. On November 7, he tweeted that Democrats were “obsessed with climate radicalism and woke ideology”, and that they do not care about basic energy, economic and border security. Three days later, Crenshaw criticised Nancy Pelosi’s discourse supporting ESG and diversity at COP27, arguing that lowering gas prices and “giving people basic energy reliability and security” were the real priorities. On November 11, he shared a video of his participation at the summit, claiming that his motivation to attend was to “advocate for real solutions to America’s energy crisis”. In the clip Crenshaw argues that society cannot be fooled into thinking a “solar and wind” energy future could be reliable, and that the US needs to be “energy independent” (i.e. return to fossil fuels). 

In the past, the Congressman has railed against ESG, claiming that corporate climate commitments are to blame for the energy crisis and high energy prices. He was also among the many right-wing figures that falsely stated renewable energy was to blame for widespread blackouts in Texas in 2021. Crenshaw currently sits on the House Energy & Commerce Committee and boasts a social media following of over 2 million across Twitter and Facebook. He also hosts a podcast where he invited a fossil gas producer to attack "radical environmentalism" and ESG standards, and according to financial disclosure reports has received $841,917 from the Oil & Gas industry since 2017. 

That'll do it for this week! Next week we may have some additional COP27 disinfo wrap-ups for you, or we might just collapse and sleep straight through until Thanksgiving. 

Thanks for reading, and we hope you liked these very special editions! 

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