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Massive Penn. Gas Leak Was 'Lucky': Far from being an isolated incident, the massive leak from a southwest Pennsylvania underground methane gas storage well last month was indicative of widespread failures by Equitrans to safely operate its aging network of storage wells in the area, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. According to the Penn. Dept. of Environmental Protection, “Equitrans has failed to properly maintain and operate the wells, and its continuing failure to minimize the potential for well control emergencies constitutes an ongoing threat to the environment and to human health and safety.” In just 11 days, the leak in Cambria County released more than one-quarter of the gas leaked from Aliso Canyon in 118 days. The George L. Reade 1 storage well is one of 12 in the Equitrans storage field at Rager Mountain — subsequent investigations have discovered gas leaks from ten more. As of Dec. 9, the DEP had issued three orders to Equitrans, cited "a host of violations," per the Post-Gazette, and subpoenaed phone and text records between the Equitrans the contractor it hired to stop the leak. That contractor's actions are also under scrutiny; its hurried efforts to suppress the leak resulted in 50-100 barrels of heavy saltwater brine dumping around the gushing well, drenching the surrounding ground and turning trees black. The George L. Reade 1 well was a "single-point-of-failure" well, meaning that if the one layer of protection between the well and the soil surrounding it failed, the entire well would fail. It was one of 239 "single-point-of-failure" storage wells across Pennsylvania alone, many of them in far more populated areas. “Honestly, we got lucky in a way here,” Kurt Klapkowki, acting DEP deputy secretary for oil and gas management, told a technical advisory board investigating the Equitrans leak. “To be frank about it, there are gas storage facilities that are not in remote areas that are significant cause for concern.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette $)

2021 Gas Mileage Stagnated: New cars sold in the US in 2021 got no better fuel mileage than the year before, the EPA said Monday. The agency's annual Automotive Trends Report found model year 2021 vehicles got just 25.4 miles per gallon, reflecting weakened CAFE standards implemented by the previous administration. “Automakers won’t slash pollution and improve gas mileage unless strong standards make them do so,” Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign, said in a statement. Despite their highly-touted EV and hybrid options, carmakers are still selling far more pickup trucks and SUVs than all other vehicles combined. As recently as 2013, cars and station wagons accounted for half of new cars sold in the U.S. in 2021, they accounted for just 26%. New efficiency requirements will take effect in 2026. (AP, Detroit News, Washington Post $, Axios, CNBC, Bloomberg $, Reuters, Politico Pro $)

Easy Permian Shale Emptied, Drillers Move Into Towns: The proliferation of oil and gas wells in urban areas is a sign the shale below the Permian Basin is being tapped out, Bloomberg reports. During the early days of the shale oil and gas boom, drillers had no reason to bother with the safety requirements of operating in populated areas, but even after years of experience and improved techniques, they're blasting less oil out of each foot of rock than ever before. The explosion of Permian oil and methane gas extraction has accounted for 90% of global extraction increase over the last decade, as well as 80% of the increase of North American methane pollution. “We’re going to run out of inventory in the next four to six years,” James West, an analyst at Evercore ISI, told Bloomberg. “We probably saw it earlier in other shales, which is why we left those other shales and moved so much activity into the Permian. It’s now rearing its ugly head in the Permian.” (Bloomberg $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: A Gary, Indiana plant would make jet fuel from trash and plastic. Residents are pushing back (Inside Climate News), Flu hospitalization for Black Americans triples whites (Black Wall Street Times), Inside the fight for climate justice (The Intercept)

AFTERMATH: 'An exodus unlike any other: Why half the people in this community moved away after Hurricane Katrina (ProPublica, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate and WWL-TV)

WATER CRISES: Colorado River water users convening amid crisis concerns (AP), Parched Peru is restoring pre-Incan dikes to solve its water problem (Washington Post $), Bali’s water crisis threatens local culture, UNESCO sites (AP)

FUSION: US scientists set to announce fusion energy breakthrough (AP, Washington Post $, FT $, The Guardian, The Hill, NBC, New York Times $, Bloomberg $, Axios, CBS, Bloomberg $, NBC, Reuters, Grist), Why fusion could be a clean-energy breakthrough (AP, explainer, Bloomberg $, The Hill)

SUBURBAN SPRAWL: The climate impact of your neighborhood, mapped (New York Times $)

BILLIONAIRES: For better or worse, billionaires now guide climate policy (Washington Post $)

KEYSTONE SPILL: Keystone has leaked more oil than any other pipeline in US since 2010 (Bloomberg $)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: EU could face gas shortage next year, IEA warns (Reuters, AP, The Hill), Von der Leyen says EU is ‘safe this winter,’ but worries about gas supplies next year (Politico Pro $), Europe must boost grid to cope with renewable power surge, warns Eon chief (FT $), Germany at risk of gas shortages as consumption cutting target missed (The Guardian)

• UK COLD: UK's National Grid cancels standby notice for two coal units (Reuters, FT $), Snow and cold bring parts of UK to a standstill (New York Times $), Why is it so cold in the UK right now? (The Guardian, explainer)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: EU seeks deal on world-first carbon border tariff (Reuters), EU struggles to counter Joe Biden’s big green push (FT $), G7 establishes climate club to fight global warming (AP), EU seeks to break deadlock over capping natural gas prices (Bloomberg $)

🐦🗑️🔥: Twitter abruptly dissolves safety council moments before meeting (The Guardian)

WORLD CUP: The 2022 World Cup may emit more than any international sporting event in the last 12 years (Energy Monitor), Are Qatar’s World Cup stadiums the future of sports in a warming world? (New York Times $)

GOP vs. ESG: Ohio ‘green’ natural gas bill motivated by ESG investing concerns, lawmaker says (Energy News Network)

AGENCIES: Forest service discovers mass fir tree die-off in Oregon (Gizmodo), USDA climate-smart agriculture projects now top $3 billion (AP, Reuters)

EPA: Environmental advocates sue EPA for failure to update NOx standards for new gas plants (Utility Dive), EPA soot proposal could shy away from specific emissions cut (E&E $), EPA's PFAS drinking water limit could have long coattails (Politico Pro $)

DOE: Biden announces $2.5B loan for electric vehicle battery hubs in three states (The Hill)

DOI: Biden admin advances Va. and N.Y. offshore wind projects (E&E News), BLM doc shows 25% of staff positions vacant (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Behind Biden's overseas mining funding (Axios), Biden adviser calls Wall Street opposition to shale drilling ‘un-American’ (FT $, The Hill, Reuters, FT $), Biden to throw support to African Union to become G20 member -Washington Post (Reuters)

THE HILL: Congress enters pivotal week on spending, other priorities (E&E News), Republicans seek to sabotage year-end spending bill (CNN), The biggest missed opportunity of the lame-duck Congress so far (Vox)

HOUSE: House to vote on public land, conservation bills (E&E $), Takeaways from the Democrats’ Big Oil investigation (E&E News)

SENATE: The time is right to ban uranium mining in the Grand Canyon. But the Senate needs to hurry. (Grist)

POLITICS: Democrats’ move on Iowa caucus tests politics of ethanol (E&E News)

ELECTIONS: Why the 2022 election was historic for Muslim women’s representation (The 19th* News)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Biden's nominee for a top role at interior is in limbo. Will Schumer act? (Washington Post $)

CITIES AND STATES: 'A new chapter' - Richmond removes the A.P. Hill statue, the last Confederate monument owned by the city (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Black Wall Street Times, Axios, AP), Pennsylvania lifts ban on gas production in polluted village (AP), What to expect from California’s new rooftop-solar plan? More batteries (Canary Media), Texas grid proposals tee up new natural gas fight (E&E News), Senator proposes ‘climate negligence’ bill based on Texas abortion law (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: Ladakh herders endeavor to save future on climate frontier (AP), Climate change is driving millions to the precipice of a ‘raging food catastrophe’ (Inside Climate News), How climate change impacts children's health (ABC), Puerto Rico's shoreline changes after Hurricane Maria heighten coastal flooding risk for residents (NBC), Scientists link 1 in 100 heart disease deaths to weather extremes (The Hill)

• MOVING EAST: Western storm to trigger blizzard, tornadoes as it rolls into central US (Washington Post $, AP), Storm blankets Sierra Nevada in heavy snow, brings rain across California (LA Times $), Millions in central US brace for snow, rain and floods (AP), More Americans are moving into dangerous wildfire zones (E&E $)
• INSURANCE: Severe storms push Florida home insurer FedNat to bankruptcy (Bloomberg $), Fla. looks to stabilize teetering property insurance market (E&E $)
• CLOUDS: One of climate change’s great mysteries is finally being solved (Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: PG&E needs to find billions of dollars for wildfire prevention (Wall Street Journal $), PG&E cuts thousands of workers ahead of winter wildfire maintenance (Grist)

DEFORESTATION: New EU anti-deforestation law falls short, Indigenous leaders say (Context)

RENEWABLES: How a solar microgrid became a town’s lifeline in Blackout-prone Puerto Rico (Bloomberg $), 9 offshore wind states want plan to compensate fishing industry (Politico Pro $), A giant drill near a Hamptons beach marks offshore wind’s arrival in the US (Bloomberg $), Croatia's coast turns to solar in bid to become energy-sustainable (Reuters), Utility’s interconnection demands stall Virginia community solar project (Energy News Network)

MINERALS: Peru keeps churning out copper and zinc despite political chaos (Bloomberg $)

BATTERIES: Five pressing questions for the future of lithium mining in Bolivia (Mongabay)

BUILDINGS: What is a heat pump and should I get one? (Washington Post) Project to upgrade heat pump system at two Kandiyohi County buildings goes forward with $2.1M bid award (West Central Tribune) Harvest Thermal wants to make heat pumps mainstream (Bay Area Business Journals)

STORAGE: Long duration energy storage has attracted more than $58B in global commitments since 2019: WoodMac (Utility Dive)

LNG: China shipyards feast on record LNG tanker orders as South Korea builders are full up (Reuters, OilPrice), Can New England keep on the lights without LNG? (E&E $)

METHANE: Countries try to weaken EU clampdown on methane emissions -documents (Reuters)

OIL & GAS: Natural gas prices surge 10% on cold temperatures (OilPrice)

COAL: Banks have loopholes to keep financing coal, study says (Bloomberg $), Coal plant tied to W.Va governor faces $1M fine (E&E News)

HYDROGEN: How a new subsidy for ‘green hydrogen’ could set off a carbon bomb (Grist), Germany to help Kenya hit 100% renewables, export hydrogen (AP), Will new US incentives for ​‘green’ hydrogen actually reduce emissions? (Canary Media), Trade body urges UK to commit to 15 million hydrogen-ready homes (H&VNews)

GRID: Transmission as a reliability and affordability strategy drives CAISO and SPP regional market ambitions (Utility Dive)

EVs: Electric vehicle tax credit comes with major restrictions (NBC), Mercedes plans 1.3 billion-euro electric van plant in Poland (AP), Rivian pauses talks with Mercedes on joint van factory in Europe (Wall Street Journal $)

CRYPTO:  FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas after US files criminal charges (CNBC)

AGRICULTURE: Climate change outside pushes veggie crops inside (Bloomberg, Adam Minter op-ed $)

FILM: Citizen Nobel review – chemistry prize winner becomes charismatic climate crusader (The Guardian)

CARBON REMOVAL: US carbon farming takes root - but do the economics add up? (Context)

MENTAL HEALTH: Finding the antidote to climate anxiety in stories about taking action (Inside Climate News)

FINANCE: Asset Management: Norwegian oil fund turns more aggressive on ESG (FT $), Responsible investment group rejects activist complaint over TIAA (Reuters)

FOOD: Confusion over food labels creates unnecessary waste and pollution (Yale Climate Connections)

WILDLIFE: Indigenous activists rally to demand strong COP15 commitment (Democracy Now), UN nature summit puts industry on alert to disclose more (Reuters explainer), Governments split on ditching nature-harming subsidies in Montreal (Climate Home), Investors with $3 trillion launch nature-protection campaign (Bloomberg $)

INTERNATIONAL: Climate activist Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco freed from prison while she appeals 15-month jail sentence (The Guardian), Australia steps up action to drive down energy prices (Reuters Factbox), Germany's 2022 renewable power production rises but still behind 2030 target (Reuters), India's industrial output drops to 26-month low as rate hike hits demand (Reuters), UK ministers face legal challenge over North Sea oil and gas licences (The Guardian, FT $)

• Fossil fuels aren’t the answer to European energy crisis—peace is (Atmos, Wiktoria Jędroszkowiak interview)
• Don’t wait up for nuclear fusion (Bloomberg, David Fickling column $)
• Australia's gas and coal price cap needs sober debate, not emotion (Reuters, Clyde Russell Column)
• How sexism influenced corporate governance (New York Times, Peter Coy column $)
• How heats pumps could help CT’s energy challenges (Hartford Courant, Adam Gallaher op-ed)

'Science is Fake' is Latest Admission from Outfit That Once Claimed 'Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings'

"Science Is Fake" is a headline clearly designed to 'trigger the libs,' so it's the kind of thing we'd usually file as 'trying too hard' and ignore. Plus, Michael Knowles' job at the fracker-backed Daily Wire is basically to say outrageous, hateful, and false things for attention, so we're loath to give any to the click-bait-titled adaptation of his recent remarks to the Franciscan University of Steubenville. 

But the speech is noteworthy in its honesty. Although Ben Shapiro, Knowles’ boss at the Daily Wire, has the catchphrase "facts don't care about your feelings," Knowles now admits to being "anti-science" when it comes to "coronavirus, gender, global warming, etc" and complains that conservatives pretend to base their political positions on facts! They’ll "recite a litany of scientific arguments for why hankies on our faces wouldn't stop a pandemic," Knowles decried, or say "'Nuh-uh, you're anti-science!' [before citing their] own statistics on sea levels and storms and temperatures.” (As if there are conservative and liberal statistics!)

Knowles is "sick of it" and doesn't "care if the libs call [him] foolish, or ignorant, or a knuckle-dragging troglodyte." He "will not play their game" or "worship their false god" any longer, instead openly proclaiming that "'Science' is fake" and that "conservatives may not be 'anti-science,' but we should be." 

He then gives a nice history lesson that conveniently ignores the Scientific Enlightenment, misrepresents the scientific process, and otherwise confirms he's not just kidding about being anti-science, foolish, and ignorant. 

But his speech wasn't stupid. Longwinded, wrong, and laced with anti-trans bigotry, yes, but not stupid. Because what he lays out is a worldview that many share, but few admit so proudly. 

For Knowles, science is fine, but religious beliefs are better. And, of course, the ‘best’ beliefs are those that align with reactionary politics, are openly hostile to the LGBTQ+ community, and favor building literal racist structures (border walls) over being "woke" to structural racism. To top it off, Knowles’ anti-science arguments regularly reject the reality that fossil fuels are causing the climate crisis, reflecting the fossil fuel industry’s funding of both his employer and the larger disinformation landscape. 

So what's the alternative to this horrifying political philosophy?

For that, we turn to Siva Vaidhyanathan at The New Republic who puts forward a vision for "a fully democratic, cosmopolitan republic that finally rejects white supremacy as an organizing American ideology... that values and strengthens deliberation as the chief instrument of decision-making [and that emphasizes] that we have a shared fate—not only as Americans but as humans on a threatened planet." 

Vaidhyanathan further describes this idea as "a vision for the best possible America for this century, one that acknowledges that people, money, goods, and expressions are going to flow across borders and oceans, but that embraces justice and human flourishing as the ends of that process instead of morally vacant values like efficiency or productivity.” He argues, “We should imagine and promote an America that embraces 'xenophilia,' as cultural theorist Leela Gandhi advocates: a full embrace of the other, the foreign, the different, as something that adds value to life. It would mean escaping from the zero-sum idea of the other 'taking' something from 'us.'" 

While there's a ton of other great stuff in Vaidhyanathan's piece, that's what really stuck with us. Because so much of the conservative propaganda and climate disinformation we see relies on the pretext of a toxic, resource-scarce, “us versus them” worldview. 

And maintaining that mindset requires constantly fighting off reality, which is why it's also so fundamentally anti-science. 

"Knuckle-dragging troglodyte" though he may be, at least Knowles is no longer pretending otherwise and instead admits his conservative feelings don't care about facts. 

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