FIRST LOOK: 

ClimateVoices interviews Justin Gillis, formerly reporting on environment and climate science for The New York Times on his new book "The Big Fix" on how to solve global warming. (Hint: it’s policy and politics.)

Colorado River In Serious Crisis: The Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas, Nev., sold out for the first time ever this year, illuminating the magnitude of the water crisis across much of the Western U.S. — if the unprecedented low levels of Colorado River reservoirs and the dire warnings from the podium weren't enough. A century of unrealistic water supply expectations and unsustainable water usage have overtaxed the Colorado River for decades, while the worst megadrought in 1,200 years is threatening to push the region over the edge of catastrophic impacts. Federal officials have called on states to collaborate to cut their water consumption by 15% to 30%, an agreement preferable to federally-imposed cutbacks, but one states have been unable to commit to. More than 80% of Colorado River water is currently consumed by industrial agriculture. These factors combined with climate change, which made the megadrought 42% worse, could drop reservoirs at Lake Powell and Lake Mead to "dead pool" levels. This would not only cut off water to communities further downriver, but could also force the shutdown of hydroelectric power plants at the Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams. (LA Times $, AP, Washington Post $, E&E $, LA Times $)

Biden Buys SPR Oil While Offsetting Keystone Leak Disruption: The Biden administration will concurrently begin an effort to restock the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and release nearly 2 million barrels. The Biden administration released 180 million barrels of oil from the SPR earlier this year to stabilize oil markets upended by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and now plans to tap the SPR to bail out companies affected by the rupture of the Keystone Pipeline in Kansas. The cause of the Keystone Pipeline rupture that spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of oil across rural Kansas and into Mill Creek in Washington County is still unknown. "When a tar sands disaster like this happens, it is worse than a traditional oil spill. Because tar sands is much more difficult, expensive and much more toxic to clean up. We know that this is going to take years," said Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska. Tar sands oil is so thick it actually sinks in water, making clean up much harder. "It's a very thick substance that's almost peanut butter consistency," Anthony Swift, director of the Canada Project with NRDC, told NPR. (SPR restock: Reuters, Axios, Politico, The Hill, New York Times $; Keystone spill: NPR, Grist, Salon; Both: CNN)

Mold Lingers After Hurricane Ian: The lingering effects of Hurricane Ian are still destroying buildings and endangering human health, Earther reports. Mold flourishes in damp and waterlogged environments (like, for example, recently flooded drywall and the lumber behind it) and can take hold in a week, but not reveal the true extent of its infestation until months later. Mold remediation is not only very difficult, and very expensive, but it's also frequently excluded from insurance policies. Symptoms of mold exposure often resemble a cold. “[Mold] causes an inflammatory response in the body. You’re going to get an allergy or asthma trigger,” said Robert Maglievaz, an environmental administrator for the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County. “That’s consistently been what I hear when people call in and they say [that] their house is flooded.” Mold is a frequent, delayed impact of hurricanes, made worse by the lack of electricity to run clean up equipment and dehumidifiers in the immediate aftermath. (Earther)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Environmental justice cited in challenge to Indiana air permit (E&E $), Was your home once off-limits to non-whites? These maps can tell you. (Washington Post $)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: UK asks consumers to turn down their boilers to save scarce gas (Bloomberg $)

• THANKS A LOT, VLADIMIR: The world is burning more coal than ever before, new report shows (CNN, Reuters, AP, The Hill), Energy crisis fuels coal comeback in Germany (Reuters), Putin’s energy crisis in Europe has pushed global coal use to a historic high—but here’s why it won’t stay that way for long (Fortune), These gigantic mines may show how challenging it is to end use of coal (CNN)

JUSTICE DELAYED/JUSTICE DENIED: Their lives were ruined by oil pollution, and a court awarded them $9.5 billion. But Ecuadorians have yet to see a penny from Chevron (Inside Climate News)

COP15: Historic biodiversity agreement reached at UN conference (AP), Nations promise to protect 30 percent of planet to stem extinction (Washington Post $), 6 reasons why our planet might not be doomed after all (Vox), COP15 isn’t moving fast enough for Canada’s activist minister (Bloomberg $), Crucial talks on preserving nature are on now. Here are the key issues. (New York Times $)

2022: This year’s big breakthroughs on climate (New Republic)

EU: EU reaches deal on emissions trading, social climate fund (AP)

🐦🗑️🔥: Twitter users vote for Elon Musk to step down as CEO in poll he launched (NBC, AP, Axios, The Verge, CNET, CNBC, CNN, BBC, The Guardian)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Joe Manchin meant to make electric car tax credits hard to get (Bloomberg $)

• SIDE DEALS: End of the line for permitting bill, but 2023 fight looms (E&E News), Manchin bid to speed energy permits to reemerge in 2023 (AP), Manchin’s permitting reform effort is dead. Biden’s climate agenda could be a casualty. (Vox)

SCOTUS: An ‘imperial Supreme Court’ asserts its power, alarming scholars (New York Times $)

AGENCIES: NASA launches satellite to study water cycle and impacts of climate change (CBS, TIME, CNN)

EPA: EPA overhauls chemical reviews to boost transparency (E&E News)

DOI: A rare Nevada flower gets ‘endangered’ status, raising questions for a proposed lithium mine (Grist), Interior's IG takes leadership role for federal watchdogs (E&E $)

TREASURY: EV tax credit complexity pressures deadlines on US Treasury rule-writing (Reuters), US Treasury's Morton steps down, sees growing recognition of climate change risks (Reuters)

THE HILL: Change buried in defense bill could make it harder to ship fuel in emergencies (Washington Examiner)

HOUSE: Report detailing ‘greenwashing’ ads on Google prompts Democratic lawmakers to write search engine’s CEO  (The Hill), GOP plans "collusion" probe into climate groups (Axios), The House's climate policy nerd eyes bigger stage (E&E $), What a Republican House means for water fights (E&E News)

SENATE: Sen. Susan Collins moves to block stricter rules protecting endangered whales (HuffPost), Senate approves spending stopgap, mine reclamation bill (E&E $), Manchin says "I have no intentions" of changing parties as of now (CBS)

POLITICS: The first climate change candidate: Inside Al Gore's oddly prescient 1988 presidential run (Salon)

CITIES AND STATES AND UNREPRESENTED FEDERAL DISTRICTS BIGGER THAN WYOMING: Dems will flex climate muscle after big wins in Mich., Minn. (E&E News), Texas Republicans want even more fossil fuels on the grid (Gizmodo), ‘Face it head on’: Connecticut makes climate change studies compulsory (The Guardian), NJ to force developers to account for climate change (E&E $), Virginia OKs cost cap for largest US offshore wind farm (E&E $, Politico Pro $), DC is making bus rides free. Will it cut CO2? (E&E $)

• CALIFORNIA: California regulators approve plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 (CNN, E&E News, KQED), California approved a very bold plan to cut planet-heating pollution (LAist), In Bakersfield, a lawsuit aims to turn a dry riverbed into a flowing river (LA Times $), Calif. rule overhaul shakes up solar industry (E&E News, Reuters)

FERC: FERC Chairman Glick to exit agency by early January, setting up possible tied-vote deadlocks (Utility Dive), FERC meeting: Pipeline win, transmission and Glick’s exit (E&E News)

IMPACTS: Death toll rises to 23 after landslide near campsite in Malaysia (CNN, Reuters), Floods in Lebanon leave Syrian refugees counting their losses (Context), In 2022, AP photographers captured pain of a changing planet (AP), India’s sugarcane farmers struggle to cope with droughts and floods (Climate Home), Scientists say they know why the Southern Hemisphere is so stormy (Washington Post $), The few fight for the Arctic (Politico Pro $), Unpleasant weather brings out unpleasant emotions on social media, study shows (The Verge), Winter storms are back — and scientists say climate change is making them a lot worse (Salon), Is solar power the future of electric vehicles? (NBC)

• KINCHASA FLOODING: Death toll after Congo capital floods rises to 169, U.N. says (Reuters)

OVERLAPPING CRISES: Study links hotter days with increased gun violence in U.S. cities (The Hill, The Guardian)

WILDFIRES: A village destroyed by fire vowed to rebuild the right way. Then the fights began.  (Washington Post $)

HURRICANES: After Hurricane Maria, many Puerto Ricans fled to Florida. Then Ian happened. (Grist)

DROUGHT: Recent rain and snow brought some relief to California’s historic drought. It’s still not enough (CNN)

DEFORESTATION: The hope for slowing Amazon deforestation (NPR)

GEOLOGIC EPOCHS: For planet Earth, this might be the start of a new age (New York Times $)

A LOT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS: Here’s why you’re being inundated with Camp Lejuene ads (E&E News)

ENERGY TRANSITION: How to achieve a just transition for fossil fuel workers (Energy Monitor)

RENEWABLES: Arcadia raises $125M more to cap huge growth year in solar and software (Canary Media), Bill Gates-backed startup to build massive US solar factory (E&E $), BP invests millions in company that supplies ‘rapidly deployable’ solar tech (CNBC), Planned wind farm told it will need to shut down for five months a year to protect parrots (CNBC), Renewables provide 46.9% of power used in Germany in 2022 (Reuters), Rooftop solar: How homeowners should do the math on the climate change investment (CNBC)

LNG: Global LNG-Asian spot prices rise on as cold weather boosts demand (Reuters)

METHANE: Methane cloud over Australia coincided with pipeline gas release (Bloomberg $)

OIL & GAS: Oil industry confronts a growing threat: Newsom’s California (Politico Pro $)

PLASTICS: Amazon’s plastic waste soared in 2021, report finds (Gizmodo)

NUKES: Bill Gates-backed nuclear demonstration project in Wyoming delayed because Russia was the only fuel source (CNBC)

FUSION: Fusion breakthrough will lead to investments, but its use won’t come overnight (The Hill)

UTILITIES: Advocates want new solutions to reduce energy burden in Xcel’s rate case (Energy News Network), Arcadia wants to bring Venmo-like ease to managing electricity use (Bloomberg $), Connecticut is not the only New England state facing big electric rate increases (Maine Public Radio)

GRID: After substation attacks, FERC orders NERC to consider increasing grid security requirements (Utility Dive), Most of US electric grid faces risk of resource shortfall through 2027, NERC finds (Utility Dive), Tesla’s new virtual power plant lets Texans sell electricity back to the grid (The Verge), US grid faces a new threat as regulators balk at higher bills (Bloomberg $)

ALUMIN(I)UM: Bumper green aluminium output is good news for carmakers, and climate (Reuters)

EVs: PepsiCo to roll out 100 Tesla Semis in 2023, exec says (Reuters), Ford raises price of F-150 lightning for third time this year, to nearly $56,000 (Wall Street Journal $), The key to widespread adoption of EVs: Less range (Wall Street Journal $), There's a growing chance your next electric car will be built by the same company as your iPhone (Business Insider), Toyota chief says ‘silent majority’ has doubts about pursuing only EVs (Wall Street Journal $)

WORLD CUP: What would a more sustainable World Cup look like? (AP)

AVIATION: Airlines can price climate change into your flight. There are reasons to not buy it (CNBC), Clean jet fuel ready for takeoff (E&E $), How far can you fly a battery-powered jumbo jet? (Wired)

DESPERATE TIMES…: Some climate change protesters turned to vandalism in 2022. Why the chaotic and weird stunts? (USA Today)

BOOKS: 10 fiction books worth reading that imagine what climate change could look like (Business Insider), As the climate changes, climate fiction is changing with it (Inside Climate News)

VIDEO GAMES: There’s a small but growing push to make video gaming greener (Bloomberg $)

CARBON PRICING: Carbon-credit investors start to pay up for quality (Wall Street Journal $)

CARBON REMOVAL: Alaska, source of carbon-emitting fossil fuels, aims to raise money by storing carbon (Alaska Public Media)

FINANCE: Ending finance for new oil and gas drilling projects is the minimum banks should do (Quartz)

WILDLIFE: Canada's polar-bear capital Churchill warms too fast for bears (BBC), Changing rainfall patterns threaten insects in the tropics (Yale Climate Connections), More than 1 in 10 species could be lost by end of century, study warns (The Guardian), This bird is extinct, the government says. Not everyone is so sure. (Washington Post $)

• Think climate change is scary? Try talking to your kids about it (LA Times, Tony Barboza op-ed $)
• A newborn held aloft in Pakistan sums up the sheer injustice of the climate crisis (The Guardian, Fatima Bhutto op-ed)
• Saving the bees isn’t the same as saving the planet (Bloomberg, Amanda Little op-ed $)
• The USDA’s approval of GE chestnut trees would be a step forward for threatened species conservation (The Hill, Erik Carlson op-ed)
• What would it take for the US to be the leader in floating offshore wind? (Utility Dive, Greg Matzat op-ed)
• Here is what is really strangling the energy transition (New York Times, Justin Gillis and Tyler H. Norris op-ed $)
• Climate intervention research: An insurance policy for near-term climate risks (The Hill, Kelly Wanser op-ed)
• Witness to paradise being lost: My year in the dying Amazon (The Guardian, Jonathan Watts essay)
• WA can lead the way for the world in climate-change fight (Seattle Times, Liz Lovelett op-ed)
• More nuclear power is what both parties want (Bloomberg, Matthew Yglesias op-ed $)
• For the Navy and Marines, weather readiness is climate readiness  (The Hill, Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet op-ed)
• We need fusion energy to advance our climate endgame (New York Times, Sabine Hossenfelder op-ed $)
• Natural gas and permitting reform are critical to a clean energy future (The Hill, Chad Zamarin op-ed)

Good Reporters Let Down and Laid Off By Broken, Fossil-Fueled News Organizations

People, by and large, are good. Organizations and institutions, by and large, are flawed. News media is no exception.

Far too often, the great work reporters do gets undercut by the advertising placed around their stories. Politico's energy and climate reporters are top-notch, while its ads are disinformation. Same goes for Semafor — sort of. 

Emily Atkin's always-excellent HEATED newsletter recently provided an update to October's news on Semafor’s misleading Chevron ads. The ads disappeared from the emailed newsletter, apparently at the request of their climate editor Bill Spindle. But they wouldn't remove them from the site, and as a result, Spindle is publishing on Substack these days instead.

Then this week, the Charleston Gazette-Mail, a Pulitzer-winning West Virginia newspaper, fired three of its reporters who criticized company President Doug Skaff’s chummy interview of coal CEO Don Blankenship,who was sentenced to a year in federal prison for conspiring to violate mine safety laws after a mine explosion in 2010. 

John Raby's AP story describes how Blankenship's comment that climate change is "an absolute hoax" is allowed to go "unrebutted, even though scientists say their confidence in the fact that global temperatures are rising and that the increase is caused by human activity is equivalent to the scientific certainty that cigarette smoking is deadly." 

It seems to have been more of a promotional event than a news interview, as "Blankenship also is asked to promote his 2020 book about the mine disaster, in which he repeats his claims of innocence and blames the administration of then-President Barack Obama." 

Yes, apparently it was Obama's fault that there wasn't sufficient ventilation in Blankenship's mine to prevent the "accumulations of coal dust and methane gas" from igniting because of a spark from the "worn and broken cutting equipment" being used. And apparently the then-president of the United States should have fixed and cleaned out the "broken and clogged water sprayers" in Blankenship's mine to prevent "what should have been a minor flare-up" from becoming "an inferno" that killed 29 people. 

Turns out that reporters at the Charleston Gazette-Mail like Ryan Quinn, Lacie Pierson and Caity Coyne, were not impressed, and they expressed their dissatisfaction on Twitter. Coyne, for example, previously covered the mine explosion for the paper and felt the interview was "a slap in the face" to the "families whose loved ones died" in the disaster that Blankenship baselessly blamed on Obama.

It turns out that while the paper wasn't impressed by its reporters expressing themselves, it might have also been ashamed of its interview, as it removed the video of the interview from its website.

Pierson told AP that she and her colleagues were fired because of their social media "insubordination," and Quinn said that he had been told he "publicly hurt the company." 

After the firing, Pierson tweeted that "Today I'm announcing my candidacy for any job in the world" after "joining Caity and Ryan as having spoken our principles and living to tell the tale." 

So if you know any news organizations good enough for them, it sounds like there's some great journalists ready to tell the truth to their audience, fossil fuel advertisers and coal CEOs be damned! 

No seriously, Big Oil and coal barons, and their intentional exploitation of media as a tool for their PR and disinformation campaigns can go to hell.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to receive Hot News every morning!

Send updates or feedback to nkauffman@climatenexus.org
Submit events and other items for consideration for a First Look using this form
Some articles require logins or subscriptions ($)