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Deadly Flooding Ravages DRC Captial: At least 135 are dead in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa after heavy rains set off flooding and landslides. The official death toll is likely to rise, with many buried by landslides that wiped away entire homes. "There was no way of getting inside my house. I was only able to rescue one child," Kenga Mwamba told BBC News Swahili. "I saw my wife's body floating in the house. I saw my other three kids under the rubble, they were already dead. Neighbours came to help remove the bodies after the rain stopped." Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, makes extreme precipitation events more frequent and severe. The Democratic Republic of Congo is responsible for a negligible amount of climate pollution. A report from Earth InSight, released Monday at the UN biodiversity summit, found an area of undisturbed tropical forest larger than the state of Texas in the Congo Basin (and an area almost as large in the Amazon Basin) is slated for oil and gas extraction. (New York Times $, BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera, AP, Washington Post $, Deutsche Welle; Drilling threats to forests: Axios, OneEarth)

Green Groups Still Mostly White: Environmental groups are more racially diverse than they were five years ago, but they are still whiter than the national population, and far whiter than the communities harmed most by pollution and the impacts of climate change, the latest Green 2.0 report finds. Of full-time staff at environmental organizations, 36.5% identified people of color. Of senior staff, 34% identified as people of color, and 31% of groups were led by a person of color. “NGOs and staff are becoming more diverse, but the higher you go, diversity declines,” Johanna Chao Kreilick, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, told E&E. Released Tuesday, the annual survey includes data from 68 non-profits (64 of the 80 from which data was requested and four that volunteered) and 20 foundations (of the 40 from which data was requested). “It’s really important that as environmental groups, we’re not just looking at communities of color and saying, ‘This is what they need,’" said Green 2.0 executive director Andres Jimenez. “We really need to make sure that our organizations are as diverse as possible so that we’re bringing their voices to the table to speak about how climate change is impacting their communities.” (E&E $, Washington Post $)

NOAA Arctic Report Card Warns Of Destabilized Region: This year was especially volatile for the Arctic, as climate change — sometimes literally — destabilizes the region, according to NOAA's 2022 Arctic Report Card, released Tuesday. The past seven years have been the Arctic's hottest seven years since 1900, and the impacts are widespread and include everything from monster storms and supercharged wildfires, to permafrost melt and massive bison die-offs when winter rain freezes on top of the snow, blocking the animals from the plants below and starving them to death. “Our homes, livelihoods and physical safety are threatened by the rapid-melting ice, thawing permafrost, increasing heat, wildfires and other changes,” Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer (Inupiaq from Kotzebue, Alaska), author of the Report Card's chapter on local communities and head of climate initiatives for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, told the New York Times. The heatwaves this summer and fall — September temperatures in Greenland were 36°F above normal — also caused extreme ice melt that contributed to sea level rise. The region's destabilized climate is also altering the timing and supply of available food for birds that are "nutritionally and economically essential" to the region, Gay Sheffield, a U. of Alaska-Fairbanks biologist and Report Card co-author, told the AP. (Washington Post $, New York Times $, Gizmodo; Birds: AP, CBS; Author commentary: The Conversation)

LONG READS: Children of India's burning coalfields dream of a fire-free future (Context)

EAST AFRICA: Somalia battles hunger as it braces for famine during a prolonged drought (NPR), Somalis are dying of hunger. Officials say it’s not a famine. Why? (New York Times $)

GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPARATE IMPACTS: The surprising reasons parts of earth are warming more slowly (Washington Post $)

• FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: A costly winter looms. How much will the West be willing to sacrifice? (Christian Science Monitor), EU energy ministers fail to reach gas price cap deal (Politico Pro $), The year Russia turbocharged a global energy crisis (Reuters)

EU BORDER TARIFFS: EU seeks to pressure China on climate by taxing steel and cement (Washington Post $, New York Times $, Wall Street Journal $, Climate Home), Green tariffs: what are they and why do they matter? (The Guardian, explainer)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: US touts effort to build climate ‘early warning system’ with African nations (The Hill)

ALASKA GAS EXPLOSION: Wasilla explosion that injured man and demolished building likely due to gas leak, troopers say (Alaska Public Media, Anchorage Daily News, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, KINY, KTUU)

🐦🗑️🔥: Elon Musk’s Twitter gives climate misinformation a new lease on life (Texas Climate News), Twitter disbands online safety council (Black Wall Street Times)

MEDIA: New Year to bring leadership changes to Yale Climate Connections (Yale Climate Connections)

#GOALS: US climate goals a 'heavy lift' — analysis (E&E $)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Climate law could spur 60% clean power for largest US grid (E&E $), White House says climate law will fuel import boom (Politico Pro $)

SCOTUS: Which wetlands to protect? Supreme Court will soon decide (Yale Environment 360)

EPA: Meet Jahi Wise, EPA’s new rainmaker (E&E News)

DOE: US Energy Department to spend $3.7 billion on carbon removal (Reuters)

• FUSION: DOE hails fusion technology breakthrough on path to achieving abundant zero-carbon energy (Utility Dive, MSNBC, AP, Axios, Politico, Wall Street Journal $, ABC, CBS, Reuters, Reuters, The Hill, The Guardian, Reuters, New York Times $), The US nuclear fusion breakthrough is a huge milestone—but unlimited clean energy is still decades off (TIME, Canary Media, NPR), What to know about the DOE's big nuclear fusion announcement (Gizmodo, Politico, CBS)

WHITE HOUSE: White House joins international critical mineral alliance (E&E $)

THE HILL: Water sector angles for climate funds (E&E News), Appropriators prep stopgap spending bill after positive talks (E&E $)

HOUSE: House approves conservation, pipeline relocation bills (E&E $), N.M. green plans to follow moderate path in the House (E&E News), Republicans to probe Biden climate collusion claim (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate to vote on Manchin’s permitting overhaul (E&E News), Senate investigation of medical abuse at Georgia ICE facility confirms women’s stories (Prism Reports)

ELECTIONS: In Louisiana, an electoral upset could mean a breakthrough for renewables (Grist)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Biden’s judicial nominations have set records for diversity, but dozens remain unconfirmed (The 19th* News)

CITIES AND STATES: Western Pennsylvania can meet its climate goals — if the region stops subsidizing natural gas (Environmental Health News, Inside Climate News), Fayetteville, Arkansas, establishes fund to support climate refugees (Yale Climate Connections), New Jersey launches competitive solar incentive program, aiming for 300 MW annually through 2026 (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Climate gentrification threatens poor New Yorkers (E&E $), Vegetable prices soar 40% as crops fail under extreme weather (Gizmodo), 15 million under winter weather alerts as major storm sweeps US (Axios), Massive US storm brings tornadoes to South, blizzard threat (AP), Tornadoes hit north Texas as storms sweep the South (New York Times $), US storm brings tornadoes, blizzard-like conditions; 2 dead (AP)

HEAT: Study: Heart disease deaths linked to extreme temps (Axios), Heat exhaustion up 53 percent from 2016 to 2021 (The Hill)

HURRICANES: ‘This will take years’: Florida’s beekeepers reel from Hurricane Ian (New York Times $)

WATER: Water wells go dry as Calif. feels warming impacts (E&E $)

DEFORESTATION: Deforestation of Brazilian savanna surged some 25% in a year, sources say (Reuters)

RENEWABLES: Solar installations to decline by 23% this year — report (E&E $)

BATTERIES: As California guts solar net metering, batteries emerge as a moneymaker (Canary Media), Developers, power plant owners to boost US utility-scale battery storage capacity nearly fourfold by 2026: EIA (Utility Dive)

BUILDINGS: How you can easily cut your energy bill by $100s, according to experts (Newsweek)

PLASTICS: The myth of plastic recycling (NPR)

HYDROGEN: Energy giants, Bill Gates back effort to map ‘clean’ hydrogen (E&E News)

GRID: Power companies rush to install batteries in Texas, California, amid concern over grid reliability (Houston Chronicle)

EVs: German car giants and Asian battery kings: A match made in Hungary (Reuters), Lyft offers its ride-sharing drivers incentives to switch to EVs (Utility Dive), Western countries forge green alliance for getting electric vehicle minerals (Reuters)

CHEMICALS: Industry's big bet on chemical recycling is sparking policy fights across the country (Politico Pro $)

FOOD AND CULTURE: Reimagining our recipes, preserving our histories (Atmos)

AVIATION: EPA approves canola oil for jet fuel (E&E $)

AGRICULTURE: Midwest soil is eroding faster than ever. Modern farming could be to blame. (Grist)

BOOKS: 'The light pirate' depicts a dystopian Florida amidst climate catastrophes (NPR)

BUSINESSES: Far too many' companies fail to disclose environmental data, CDP shows (Reuters)

HOLIDAY GIFTS: 2022 climate-conscious gift guide (Yale Climate Connections), Holiday gift ideas for the doomsday preppers in your life (Gizmodo)

FINANCE: Climate change could cost pension funds billions, EU watchdog says (Reuters), Climate Asset Management raises $650 mln to invest in nature projects (Reuters)

WILDLIFE: ‘Red list’ warns all West Coast abalones could go extinct (E&E $), COP15 debates whether biodiversity credits can put a value on nature (Reuters)

INTERNATIONAL: German climate activists raided over oil refinery protests (AP)

• The fusion breakthrough suggests that maybe someday we’ll have a second sun (The New Yorker, Bill McKibben column $)
• Nuclear fusion triggers an overreaction (Reuters commentary)
• Vulnerable communities must call the shots on loss and damage fund (Climate Home, Zoha Shawoo and Inès Bakhtaoui op-ed)
• How to address the unequal demographics of climate change (The Hill, Shanna Edberg op-ed)
• Those adorable endangered creatures are not the point (New York Times, Michelle Nijhuis op-ed $)
• Conservation, weatherization steps will help homeowners beat high energy costs this winter (MassLive, William Stack op-ed)
• Dam, that’s a lot of men (Energy Monitor, Nour Ghantous op-ed)
• Wind set to ease Germany's power crunch, for now (Reuters, Gavin Maguire column)
• The carbon-free energy of the future: This fusion breakthrough changes everything (The Guardian, Arthur Turrell op-ed)
• The West must help Ukraine outlast Russia (Wall Street Journal, William Galston op-ed $)

GOP's Greenwashers Claim Climate Compromise Coming Next Congress, but GOP Says to Expect More Conspiracy Craziness

Last month, we noticed that the ongoing conservative greenwashing of the Republican party was ramping up after midterms, with the rhetoric making it sound like compromise might be possible, even though "Science is fake"-style fossil fuel fundamentalism is still their policy platform. 

Then on Friday, Nick Sobczyk at E&E/Politico covered how ClearPath and related conservative "pro-climate” groups have "helped prod Republicans on climate change, moving the party away from outright denialism." 

Sobczyk does at least cover the funding behind these groups, unlike most other journalists who take this bait, and also notes that Republicans "still don't support new regulatory regimes or even a carbon tax" and "vehemently opposed the Inflation Reduction Act" and all its clean energy funding. 

But he then quotes Quill Robinson of the falsely-named American Conservation Coalition who claims that while he's "heard all the different criticisms," he still thinks "back to 2018 and the state of the conversation then," and says "we're living in a completely different world." 

Are we though? As Sobczyk aptly follows, "many in the environmental community see attempts to develop a Republican climate policy as misguided at best and disingenuous at worst." 

It is very clearly disingenuous, and it shouldn't just be environmentalists who notice that. Sobczyk's colleague Scott Waldman's story on Monday proves exactly this point. 

While the climate conservatives are thrilled that incoming House leader Kevin McCarthy has "a climate plan," it's not a plan to help the climate so much as it is a scheme to make the problem worse by unleashing fossil fuels and attacking those who are actually trying to help. 

Here's Waldman's lede: "Republican lawmakers plan to conduct an investigation into the conspiracy theory that falsely claims Russia is behind President Joe Biden’s climate policies." 

Yes, the supposedly improving GOP is trotting out an "8-year-old allegation" that "has never been supported by any evidence." As we and other fact-checkers have pointed out, this claim never had any evidence to begin with, then it was thoroughly debunked by leaked financial records in 2017, which were then confirmed by the donors themselves in 2018. 

Conservative greenwashers want you to think the party has grown and learned and gotten more moderate since 2018, the year that we laid to rest the conspiracy theory that Putin funds anti-fracking groups. But that's exactly the conspiracy theory Republicans are planning to investigate in 2023 using their House authority. This disinformation has gotten even more obviously and verifiably wrong since 2014, but that's the best they can do. 

Which is why the idea that Republicans are on the cusp of real climate policy is clearly "misguided at best and disingenuous at worst."

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