FIRST LOOK: 

Hot News will return Tuesday, January 3. In the meantime, have a safe, healthy, restful, and delicious Holiday break. 

Climate Change Threatens Antarctic Biodiversity: With attention generally trained on activities at the North Pole, new research warns the continued extraction and combustion of fossil fuels could kill off nearly two-thirds of Antarctica's native species by the end of this century. The study, published Thursday in PLOS Biology finds the impacts of pollution and climate change are dramatically changing the island continent. Rapidly disappearing sea ice is especially dangerous to multiple penguin species, including the emperor and Adélie penguins that rely on summer sea ice for nesting. These threats of irreversible damage to Antarctic biodiversity can be mitigated, if not completely undone, but rapid action to slash greenhouse gas pollution. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Jasmine Lee, lead author of the study, told CNN. “We’re at this huge turning point now not just for Antarctica, but globally, when it comes to climate. We’ve got the opportunity to stop it and if we don’t do something now, then the impacts are going to be much, much worse than what they could be.” (CNN, The Guardian, ABC AU, The Independent, The Conversation; Climate Signals background: Sea ice decline)

Pakistan Still Reeling From Fossil Fueled Year Of Crisis: Pakistan remains in urgent need of international assistance after a year of pummeling devastating climate impacts and the ripple effects of global fossil fuel dependence. Pakistan was at the forefront of the push for a loss and damage fund at COP27, and its prime minister is calling for additional aid ahead of an international donors conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 9. Extreme heat in the spring and early summer, at least 30 times more likely because of climate change caused devastating damage and dropped birds from the sky. The country faced blackouts because Russia's exploitation of Europe's dependence on it for methane gas set global prices skyrocketing. And finally, superlative-exausting flooding exacerbated by climate change killed more than 1,700 people, wiped out cotton crops, destroyed 2.2 million homes, and affected 33 million Pakistanis — and then set off a "beyond bleak" crisis of waterborne disease. (Bloomberg $, AP, Bloomberg $, The New Humanitarian)

Nigerian Floods Forcing Children To Leave School: Even after the flood waters across Nigeria have receded, their long-term harm continues being felt as children are forced to drop out of school to help their families rebuild or earn income, the Guardian Reports. The region's worst floods in over a decade — set off by rains 20% heavier and 80 times more likely to occur than they would have been without climate change — killed more than 800 across West Africa, including at least 600 in Nigeria and set off an outbreak of waterborne diseases including cholera. Families of children as young as 12 are being forced to keep them home so they can earn money to eat.  “The classrooms are empty in the communities that were affected by flood, as children are understandably choosing survival over education,” an education official in Obubra said. “We work from 7am to 5pm every day and are not allowed to eat until we finish the job for the day,” Timothy Ojong, 16, who left school to work on a cocoa farm in October told the Guardian. “Many children have been fainting as a result of exhaustion.” (The Guardian)

ARCTIC BLAST: Winter weather brings pre-holiday chaos (Yale Climate Connections), Bomb cyclone and nationwide Arctic blast put 300 million under alerts (Axios), Biden urges Americans to heed warnings in “life-threatening” storm (Black Wall Street Times, The Hill), Great lakes blizzard underway as frigid air overtakes eastern US (Washington Post $), A 47-degree drop in Denver in 2 hours. Here are some of the other dramatic temperature changes (CNN), Preparations as winter storm set to unleash severe weather across US (Washington Post $, PHOTOS), Six maps that show severity of Arctic blast and winter storm (Washington Post $)

• CLIMATE & METEOROLOGY: How climate change can supercharge snowstorms (New York Times $), The most severe blizzards in US history, explained (Washington Post $), What is a bomb cyclone? (The Hill), What is the polar vortex? and other cold-weather climate questions (New York Times $)
• TEXAS: Texas shelters prepare for twin emergencies: Arctic cold and an increase in migrants (Texas Tribune), Texans should prepare for “life-threatening” wind chills, but officials remain confident in power grid (Texas Tribune)
• WATCH OUT FOR REPTILES: Look out for falling iguanas as temperatures drop (Washington Post $)

COP27: Inside the final moments of loss and damage at COP (E&E News)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Can Europe's new Social Climate Fund protect poor from rising carbon cost? (Context), Germany's reliance on coal keeps growing (Bloomberg $, Bloomberg $)

(CLIMATE) LITIGATION: 7 cases that reshaped environmental law in 2022 (E&E News)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Mexico plans to ask US for up to $48B for solar projects (AP)

DENIAL: A new discipline pushes back against sowing doubt (Wired), Fauci’s warning to America: ‘We’re living in a progressively anti-science era and that’s a very dangerous thing’ (LA Times $), Inhofe’s legacy: A vast alumni network on climate, energy (E&E News), Nobel-nominated vaccine expert warns of Covid complacency: ‘We’re still losing too many lives’ (The Guardian)

'THEY’RE PAYING ME A LOT OF MONEY PER SIGNATURE': Pro-oil petition drive in California under question (AP)

🐦🗑️🔥: Musk’s frequent Twitter polls are at risk of bot manipulation (Bloomberg $)

2022: 2022 through the lens of Atmos contributors (Atmos), Five charts that capture the state of global energy in 2022 (Bloomberg $), How green lobbyists helped drive unprecedented EU climate action in 2022 (Energy Monitor)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Britain joins EU in criticising Biden’s green subsidies package (FT $), Climate law boost for renewables hits barrier on tribal lands (E&E News)

AGENCIES: 5 new laws strengthen federal response to climate change (E&E $), The tricky business of putting a dollar value on a human life (Vox)

EPA: The US has a new pollution rule for heavy-duty trucks for the first time in 2 decades (Grist)

DOE: Energy Dept. to invest up to $72M to expand clean energy workforce efforts (Utility Dive)

DOI: Environmentalists sue to stop US oil and gas auction off Alaska coast (Reuters, E&E $), Oil group alleges conflict over Haaland family's advocacy (E&E $)

TREASURY: Insurance industry pushes back on US climate risk data demand (FT $)

WHITE HOUSE: Here's what some newly-elected Black mayors want from the White House (The Root), The January 6th committee is about to spill all of the tea (The Root)

THE HILL: ‘Carbon neutral’ scores another victory in omnibus (E&E News), Congress announces $600m grant to fix Jackson's water crisis (NewsOne)

HOUSE: ‘Road map to justice’: Jan. 6 committee outlines case against Donald Trump (NewsOne), Top House Republican wants NOAA to be independent agency (E&E $)

SENATE: Senate passes $1.7 trillion spending bill, in bid to avert government shutdown (New York Times $, Politico, The Hill), Republican senators propose overhaul of Federal Reserve amid concerns about politics (Reuters), Toomey blasts USTR 'green steel club' plan as trade power abuse (Politico Pro $)

ELECTIONS: Va. Democrats pick candidate to succeed McEachin (E&E $), ‘A whole new perspective’: Jennifer McClellan could become first Black woman to represent Virginia in US House (The 19th* News)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: New majority of Biden picks confirmed to US utility’s board (AP), Senate confirms [Evelyn] Wang as new head of ARPA-E (Politico Pro $), Senate confirms Revesz for regulatory czar post (Politico Pro $)

TRIBES: Defending Native sacred sites from Elon Musk and SpaceX (Yes Magazine), Conservation deal protects land wanted by Pebble mine developers (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: New Mexico city ends bid to retrofit coal-fired power plant (AP), Illinois will be the first state to eliminate cash bail. Here’s why women led the push for reform. (The 19th* News), How California’s new rooftop solar rules will affect you (LA Times $)

FERC: 3 states challenge FERC review of Northwest gas pipeline (E&E $), D.C. Circuit sides with greens in FERC dam fight (E&E $)

IMPACTS: Climate tipping points possible at current heating levels: study (The Hill), Social connections save lives during climate emergencies (Yes Magazine), Spain records hottest year ever in 2022 (AP)

WILDFIRES: Hundreds of homes burned in massive wildfire in Chile's Vina del Mar (Washington Post $)

DROUGHT: Watch: Panhandle cotton farmers, rural economies struggle under “exceptional” drought conditions (Texas Tribune)

WATER: ‘Full on crisis’: Groundwater in California’s Central Valley disappearing at alarming rate (LA Times $), Arizona battles for better billing in Colorado River fight (E&E News), Arizona restricts farming to protect groundwater supply (AP), Amid drought, Arizona contemplates a fraught idea: Piping in water from Mexico (Washington Post $)

RENEWABLES: Octopus Energy to expand renewables development in Spain and enter Portugal (Reuters), The UK produced a record amount of wind power in 2022, easing gas crisis (Bloomberg $)

BATTERIES: Form Energy to build long-duration battery plant in West Virginia (Reuters, AP), Gates-backed venture plans to build $760 million battery plant (Bloomberg $)

BUILDINGS: Coca-Cola, Walmart and Salesforce call on Indiana utilities to offer green tariffs (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: Oil falls in light trading despite tightening crude supplies (Bloomberg $)

HYDROGEN: Has green hydrogen sprung a leak? (Reuters), Germany’s Uniper and Masdar to build green hydrogen plant in UAE (Bloomberg $, Reuters)

NUKES: What’s boosting nuclear power? War and climate change (Bloomberg $), Japan adopts plan to maximize nuclear energy, in major shift (AP)

GRID: PJM seeks mid-auction capacity market rule change to address anomaly that led to ‘unjust’ price (Utility Dive)

EVs: EV makers update their safety manuals after battery fires (E&E $), Feed highway EVs from transmission lines, study says (E&E $), Rule delay makes big EV tax credit possible early next year (AP), Tesla offers $7,500 discount in rare move to lift deliveries (Bloomberg $)

HOLIDAY GATHERING CONVERSATION STARTERS: Can capitalism and nature coexist? (Vox)

AGRICULTURE: How changing diets leave us exposed to shocks (Bloomberg $), Hybrid wheat hitting US fields as war, climate threaten global food supplies (Reuters)

CARBON CREDITS: In Peru, Kichwa tribe wants compensation for carbon credits (AP), Forest carbon credits aim to offset pollution (AP explainer)

CARBON CAPTURE: World's largest CCS proposal dies in New Mexico (E&E $)

FINANCE: JPMorgan announces new climate targets covering aviation, cement (Bloomberg $), BlackRock’s pitch for socially conscious investing antagonizes all sides (New York Times $)

WILDLIFE: In a famed game park near the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, the animals are giving up (Inside Climate News)

INTERNATIONAL: Political uncertainty in Fiji after disputed election (Reuters, Factbox), Five Facts on Fiji's Prime Minister Bainimarama (Reuters, Factbox), Amid opposition to gas price caps, Australia’s resources companies make record profits (The Guardian), Australia’s energy industry hits out at natural gas price cap (OilPrice), BHP set to face $12 billion UK suit over Brazil dam disaster (Bloomberg $), Canada blocks Glencore's proposed coal mine project in British Columbia (Reuters), China’s abrupt COVID shift hits supply chains from solar to coal (Bloomberg $), Defying expectations, EU emissions plunged this fall (The Hill, The Guardian), Five ways Brazil's Lula can reset green policy as president (Context), Latin America's 'pink tide' may have hit its high-water mark (Reuters)

• Your gas stove is an expensive chain-smoker (Pinal Central, Eve Shapiro op-ed)
• Self-driving cars are a natural fit for rural America (Bloomberg, Adam Minter op-ed $)
• The hidden barrier to V2X: How states and utilities can open the floodgates for bidirectional EV charging (Utility Dive, Ed Burgess and Dan Bowerson op-ed)
• Climate change will become a CEO dealbreaker (Reuters, John Foley op-ed)
• Climate progress can — and must — continue under divided government (The Hill, Lindsey Baxter Griffith op-ed)
• Europe’s new carbon tariff won’t help the climate (Bloomberg, Mihir Sharma op-ed $)
• Why Sean Hannity’s dishonesty matters (Washington Post, Philip Bump column $)

Cow Farts and Cold Waves: Disinfo in '22 Ends the Year Like Any Other

In August 2016, California's dairy lobby fought against climate policy by talking about cow farts.

In spring and summer of 2019, cow farts became a centerpiece of the opposition to the Green New Deal.  

In October 2021, PolitiFact had to have an expert explain that "there's no 'cow fart tax'" being considered in Congress. 

In November 2022, a USAToday fact check in response to a viral post claiming otherwise confirmed that "all mammals, including cattle, produce greenhouse gasses." 

And now, in December 2022, Breitbart is at it again, this time turning its attention to New Zealand, where the government is apparently planning "to tax livestock farts plus burps to spare the environment from emissions of methane and nitrous oxide." 

It seems that New Zealand’s agricultural industry is none-too-pleased that the country's market-based emissions pricing policy might soon start applying to the 10 million cows and 26 million sheep they're profiting off of.  

Meanwhile, back in the US, the country that Breitbart is based in and generally cares most about when there isn't a foreign female prime minister to criticize, a cold snap is just on the horizon. This dangerous weather threatens to push the Texas power grid to its limits, risking a repeat of the fatal blackouts during Winter Storm Uri in 2021. While hundreds of Texans were dying, fossil fuel-backed actors sowed disinformation and made memes falsely blaming renewables for the disaster. In reality, solar actually outperformed expected output during the worst of the 2021 Texas freeze while methane gas was mainly responsible for the catastrophic and deadly blackouts.

Fortunately, the state added 7,325 megawatts of new wind, solar, and energy storage projects to its grid in 2021. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the lights on, since renewables tend to be much more resilient than fossil fuels, especially during climate-induced weather events. If not, we're sure there will once again be more attempts to use disinformation to deflect blame away from the fossil fuel industry. In fact, they're trying to sow the narrative already. 

This will be the last Denier Roundup of 2022, but with the cold snap once again testing Texas's power grid and Breitbart making a stink about attempts to regulate methane emissions from cow farts, what's the point of keeping track of time when it just keeps repeating itself? 

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