FIRST LOOK:

The 2023 Virginia General Assembly is around the corner. Join Generation180, Climate Cabinet Action, and Ceres for a virtual town hall event on key issues like transportation electrification. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 7:00 pm EST.

Hoosiers, Not Utilities, Paying The High Costs Of Fossil Fuels: In one of the most fossil fuel-dependent states in the country, Indiana utility customers' energy bills are continuing to rise as global price shocks and coal and gas plant unreliability drive up prices, the Indianapolis Star reports. Fossil fuel prices have increased everywhere, but Indiana's unusually high reliance on coal (58%) and methane gas (30%) to power its electricity grid, exposes customers to electricity bills nearly double what they were just two decades ago. Utilities are also forcing customers to pay extra because coal and methane gas plants are breaking down. The $600 million Eagle Valley gas plant broke just three years after opening and sat idle for almost a year, and another gas plant was shut down most of this year. A CenterPoint coal plant also broke in June and it's unknown when it will come back online, how much it will cost to fix, or even exactly what broke. In the meantime, what is known is who will be paying the bill. “The utilities have zero risk related to fuel costs, or wholesale power prices for that matter,” Ben Inskeep of the Citizens Action Coalition told the Star. “All of the risk is absorbed by ratepayers as the utilities are allowed to pass on 100% of those costs to customers.” (Indianapolis Star)

First Ever US Floating Offshore Wind Auction To Be Held Today: The Biden administration will hold the nation’s first-ever lease auction for commercial-scale floating wind energy leases today. The five deep-water lease tracts in two areas about 25 miles off the California coast have the potential to generate 4.5 GW of electricity, enough to power 1.5 million homes. Global interest in the lease sales is strong with 43 companies approved to bid. The cost of offshore wind has fallen in recent years and floating offshore wind, though new to the U.S., has been deployed in Europe. The Biden administration has set goals of 15 GW of floating OSW capacity by 2035. (AP, Forbes, CalMatters)

Whistleblower Says Biggest Wood Pellet Maker Lying About Sustainability: Enviva, the world's largest wood pellet producer, lies about its use of tree waste at its North Carolina production facilities and substantially overstates the environmental sustainability of its product, a whistleblower says, corroborated by Mongabay reporting. Demand for wood pellets has increased in recent years due to EU loopholes allowing power generators to count it as "renewable energy." The wood pellet industry in the American south is responsible for 60 to 80 tons of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution per year, a type of airborne pollution that can cause heart attacks and is damaging to human lungs. Extractive 'plantation' practices in the industry also mirror American slavery and the Atlantic trade of enslaved people. Enviva claims it only uses wood from forests that will be replanted and uses 'waste' wood, like branches and treetops, that would be discarded after normal lumber processing. Even if all its trees were replaced — a claim Mongabay's reporting refutes — the replanted trees would be a far cry from the forests they replace in terms of both biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Burning wood and other biomass has “wrongly been deemed ‘carbon neutral’” more than 650 scientists warned recently in a letter to world leaders in the runup to the COP15 UN biodiversity summit in Montreal, adding, "The best thing for the climate and biodiversity is to leave forests standing – and biomass energy does the opposite." The whistleblower, who left the oil industry and moved to Enviva in 2020, seduced by its claims of environmental sustainability, says Enviva is clearcutting forests and using wood from the entire tree — not just branches and treetops. “What a joke," the unnamed whistleblower told Mongabay. "We use 100% whole trees in our pellets. We hardly use any waste. Pellet density is critical. You get that from whole trees, not junk.” (Mongabay; Letter: The Guardian)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: 10 environmental justice wins in 2022 to celebrate (Atmos), Honoring the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 (Black Wall Street Times)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Advice for Europeans: Bundle up and get ready for outages (New York Times $), EU price cap on Russian crude marks shift to 'partitioned' oil market, Yergin warns (Houston Chronicle), Germany’s new favorite sport: Competing to save energy (Wall Street Journal $), Oil price wavers after Russia cap kicks in (Wall Street Journal $), Europe can ride out gas crunch this winter and next, Engie says (Bloomberg $)

• UK: Cold snap poses first test of Britain’s efforts to prevent winter power cuts (The Guardian), British Gas starts paying customers to use less electricity (Bloomberg $), How much is the UK government really spending on its new insulation plans? (Energy Monitor)

NC GRID ATTACK: FBI joins probe into armed attack on North Carolina power grid (The Hill), North Carolina residents could be without power for days after targeted gunfire attack (Wall Street Journal $)(AP)

GAS PROBLEMS: The US wants to slash carbon emissions from power plants. natural gas is in the way (NPR), Electricity companies throw a wrench in Biden's plans to eliminate greenhouse gases (NPR)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: UNICEF launches $10B appeal to fund climate, conflict, catastrophe recovery (The Hill)

DENIAL & GREENWASHING: New study details Coca-Cola’s big influence on public health organizations, conferences and events (Environmental Health News)

GOP vs. ESG: Florida to divest $2B from BlackRock in ESG protest (E&E $), Texas may offer exit path for sanctioned financial firms (Reuters)

PUBLIC OPINION: Religious Americans worried about climate change are diverse (Axios)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Why the US Inflation Reduction Act has Europe up in arms (Reuters, explainer), EU urges Biden to show 'political courage' to solve EV trade fight (Politico Pro $), US and Europe gird for trade spat over Washington’s push for domestic investment (Wall Street Journal $), Could Biden’s climate agenda trigger a new trade war? (New York Times $), US, EU agree to intensify talks on ‘green subsidies’ dispute (AP)

• SIDE DEALS: Biden backs adding Manchin energy bill to must-pass defense measure (Bloomberg $), Top Dems weigh adding permitting reform to defense bill (E&E News)(Grist), Lawmakers await revamped permitting bill (E&E News), “Fire Drill Friday”: Climate protesters target Sen. Manchin’s “dirty deal” on permits (Democracy Now), Progressives ready to block defense bill over permitting (E&E News), Odd bedfellows fight Manchin's permitting deal (Washington Post $)

SCOTUS: Student debt relief brings ‘major questions’ back to SCOTUS (E&E News)

AGENCIES: DOJ appointee eyes 1-year window for Jackson water upgrades (AP)

EPA: EPA proposes closing PFAS reporting loophole (Politico Pro $), EPA releases tighter limits for highly toxic pesticide (E&E $), EPA taps White House aide to helm Green Bank (E&E $), Regulators propose closing PFAS loophole (E&E News), EPA head visits WVa city that had 10-year water advisory (AP)

• 'TROUBLED' = 'MADE IT RAIN OIL': EPA eyes chemicals removal at troubled refinery (E&E $)

DOI: Ranchers, greens on edge as BLM rewrites grazing rule (E&E News)

THE FED: Fed proposes climate guidance for big banks (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: VP Harris’ husband to host talk on antisemitism, hate speech (Black Wall Street Times)

THE HILL: Congressional Democrats have a new plan to combat plastic pollution (Grist), Republicans launch probe of Biden energy policies (E&E News)

HOUSE: Dems allege 'potential bribery' over Hammond pardons (E&E $), House climate committee to hold 'capstone' hearing (E&E $)

SENATE: Senators to vote on judicial, administration nominees (E&E $)

POLITICS: The shadow race is on to succeed Feinstein (Politico)

ELECTIONS: What is at stake in Georgia's US Senate runoff? (Reuters, Factbox), Character issues, Biden's record dominate Ga. runoff (E&E $), Biden's primary calendar could elevate environmental justice (E&E $)

TRIBES: ‘A soul wound’: A First Nation built its culture around salmon. Now they have to fly it in frozen (The Guardian)

CITIES AND STATES: Clean-water plea suggests new Pennsylvania governor won’t tolerate violations by energy companies, advocates say (Inside Climate News), Study: Maine is a leader in New England when it comes to preparing for climate change (Energy News Network), Tennessee lawmakers push $300 fee for owning an electric vehicle (Gizmodo)

• CALIFORNIA: California lawmakers to consider penalties on oil companies to fight high gas prices (Wall Street Journal $), California requires permits for large natural gas projects to enable environmental and cost scrutiny (Utility Dive), Green group sues to block Calif. oil well permits (E&E $), Los Angeles bans new oil wells, plans to close existing ones (E&E $), Newsom, accusing oil industry of price gouging, unveils plan to cap refinery profits (LA Times $)

FERC: Court hands win to renewables in FERC transmission case (E&E $), Federal appeals court orders FERC to rework MISO interconnection funding decision (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Climate and social pressures pincer Bangladeshi shrimp farmers (Context)

• PLEASE DON'T THROW ALASKA IN THE TRASH: December serving up baked Alaska and warming most of Arctic (AP)

DROUGHT: Drought affecting more than half of US as water scarcity reaches crisis (CBS), Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million ‘shot in the arm’ (Grist)

HOT NEWS MAKING THE NATIONAL TEAM FOR 2026? ALSO A 'CHALLENGE': For a sweltering petrostate, a ‘carbon neutral’ World Cup is a challenge (Washington Post $)

DEFORESTATION: EU seeks deal on law preventing import of deforestation-linked goods (Reuters)(AP)

RENEWABLES: Clean energy groups dismayed by Commerce’s preliminary determination in solar panel tariff case (Utility Dive), Enel turns to Sicily to take on China's solar dominance (Reuters), How offshore wind won over (most of) the Hamptons (E&E News)

BATTERIES: GM venture to invest another $275M at Tenn. battery plant (E&E $)

STORAGE: Private equity’s energy-storage bets begin to pay off (Wall Street Journal $)

OIL & GAS: How one field has transformed Norway’s oil fortunes (Energy Monitor)

TRASH GAS: This natural-gas bonanza is in the dumps (Wall Street Journal $)

HYDROGEN: Hydrogen's many colours (Reuters, Factbox), 'Green gas' finds a home in Houston (Houston Chronicle)

UTILITIES: 10 must-read utility sector stories from 2022 (Utility Dive), New Mexico’s largest electric provider seeks rate hike (AP)

GRID: ISO-New England says power system is prepared for mild winter, but plans would change in a cold snap (Utility Dive)

EVs: ‘Buy America’ timeline threatens to delay EV charger network (E&E News), Highway EV charging will need a ton of power — sooner than you think (Canary Media), Tesla's electric Semi faces a long, slow, uphill climb (Axios)

MY HS BIOLOGY TEACHER IS SO PROUD: Don't call it dirt: The science of soil (NPR)

AGRICULTURE: A tiny Wisconsin town tried to stop pollution from factory farms. Then it got sued. (Grist)

BOOKS: Fictional ‘Two Degrees’ aims to engage 8 to 14 year olds on climate (Yale Climate Connections), 8 books that NPR critics and staff were eager to tell you about in 2022 (NPR)

FINANCE: ClimateCheck inks deal with Black Knight for climate risk analytics (Axios)

WILDLIFE: The missing mammal that may have shaped California’s kelp forests (New York Times $), What is the '30 by 30' goal - and can it save global biodiversity? (Context)

INTERNATIONAL: Mexico pledges to complete huge elevated train in one year (AP), Documents reveal ‘scramble’ to rubber-stamp NSW bill targeting climate protests (The Guardian), Many Australian businesses will scale back climate action when economy slows, survey finds (The Guardian)

FARM TO TABLE: Best albums of 2022 (New York Times $)

• Buildings are a massive climate problem, new federal climate disclosure rules can help (Propmodo, Don Anderson op-ed)
• The Trump GOP’s desertion of ‘law and order’ crosses a new threshold (Washington Post, Aaron Blake analysis $)
• Friendshoring makes sense if done in the right way (Reuters, Hugo Dixon column)
• Wherever you stand on Violet Coco, her jailing raises the stakes for climate protest (The Guardian, Adam Morton op-ed)
• Hey Kanye, Black people were murdered by Hitler's Nazis, too (Black Wall Street Times, Deon Osborne op-ed)
• Mo Ibrahim on impact of climate change in Africa and global COP27 talks (Washington Post, interview $)
• Advocating for a strong media must be part of broader racial justice work (NewsOne, Jennifer Farmer op-ed)
• We won’t stop biodiversity loss without transforming food systems (Context, Oliver Oliveros and Alison Blay-Palmer op-ed)
• How Japan can avoid Europe’s energy mistakes (Wall Street Journal, Rahm Emanuel op-ed $)

As Jordan Peterson Posts Denial On Musk's Twitter, Study Warns Of Increasing Polarization

Jordan Peterson, the psychology professor who refused to honor students' pronouns turned fracking-funded Daily Wire contractor, is one of the many voices turning Twitter into a toxic cesspool of rightwing disinformation and hate, according to The Guardian. On Monday, Peterson even quoted the Guardian story and shared links to multiple professional climate deniers, as if to reiterate his dedication to disinformation. 

Peterson's turn to climate denial is indicative of a larger shift that has been identified in white papers before, and is now confirmed by a new peer-reviewed study on the increasing polarization around climate change on social media

A team of UK and Italian researchers studied the conversation around the United Nations Conference Of Parties negotiations on climate change from 2014 to 2021 and found "a large increase in ideological polarization during COP26, following low polarization between COP20 and COP25." 

What changed? The authors wrote that "this increase is driven by growing right-wing activity."   Since the Paris Agreement was signed at the COP21 in 2015, there has been “a fourfold increase” in right-wing Twitter engagement relative to pro-climate groups.

This right-wing activity has led climate disinformation and "accusations of hypocrisy" against the climate concerned to "become key themes in the Twitter climate discussion since 2019."  And all that was before Elon Musk welcomed violent rightwing conspiracy theorists and neo-nazis back on Twitter. 

The researchers found that COP21's Twitter conversation was dominated by accounts like @UN and @LeoDiCaprio, with only a few climate deniers like Bjorn Lomborg, Tony Heller, and Steve Milloy in the top 300 list. For COP26, though, there were 56 oppositional accounts, of which six were climate-focused. The most popular accounts were actually non-climate-specific disinformation sources, like GB News and Infowars' Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet). 

The study also found that, based on how climate-specific accounts were retweeted compared to the generalists, "the promotion of climate-contrarian views is shifting away from climate-focused accounts towards a broader set of non-specialized influencers."

Jordan Peterson may be anti-science, but even still, he can't help but prove some science right!

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