FIRST LOOK: 

House Staff Arrested In Schumer Office Sit In: More than a dozen congressional staffers, including six who were arrested, staged a sit-in in Chuck Schumer's office on Monday, calling on the Senate majority leader to continue pushing for and negotiating over climate legislation. "We Hill staffers are peacefully protesting Dem leaders INSIDE. To my knowledge, this has never been done. We’ve also never seen climate catastrophe, so we’re meeting the moment," tweeted Saul Levin, a policy adviser for Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and one of the six staffers arrested. The protests follow the apparent collapse of climate legislation when Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) blamed inflation for refusing to support climate action – prompting particular outrage from those who crafted the policies, including clean energy tax credits, they say would be deflationary. (E&E News, Axios, Gizmodo, The Guardian, Truthout)

Paradise, Gardiner Struggle Under Economic Toll Of Climate Change: Paradise, California, is at risk of defaulting on its municipal debt. The town's struggle to recover from the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed huge swaths of the town exemplifies the toll climate change is taking on municipalities across the country as it makes extreme weather disasters worse and more frequent. “A growing subset of investors are comfortable putting their thumbs on scale and saying ‘I don’t want anything with high climate exposure’,” Adam Stern, co-head of municipal research at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, told the Wall Street Journal. Though not incinerated, Gardiner, Montana, was cut off — physically and economically — when heavy rains set off mudslides that washed out roads and blocked the town's access to Yellowstone National Park last month, the Washington Post reports. The Post's in-depth piece examines the sometimes-hidden economic destruction of climate change not instantly captured in photos of washed out roads. (Wall Street Journal $; Washington Post $)

Colorado Localities Measure Air Pollution, Undermine Rosy Fracking Industry Claims: Oil and gas companies' claims that air pollution from their operations is decreasing are false, according to air monitoring performed by municipalities in Colorado's Front Range, the Colorado Sun reports. Not content to take fracking companies' at their word, Broomfield, Boulder County, Erie, and Longmont have all undertaken their own air pollution monitoring. Boulder County observed "no decline" in ground level methane, and Broomfield recorded benzene levels as high as 24x health standards with the worst pollution coming during drilling, fracking, and tubing of new wells — Broomfield residents living within a mile of well sites also report more frequent upper-respiratory problems, nosebleeds, and nausea than those living more than two miles from a well. Industry groups, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association and API-Colorado, say their data taken by satellite is superior to the municipalities' data collected, for example, next to the Erie community center and baseball field. (The Colorado Sun)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: How reproductive justice is climate justice (Atmos), People of color around the globe are fleeing areas because of climate change. Will the climate migration crisis hit the United States? (The Grio), Why climate change disproportionally impacts women (Fortune)

• CHICAGO: HUD claims city violated civil rights (Axios)
• HOUSING: Tight housing market has left little room for buyers to consider efficiency (Energy News Network), Why Louisiana residents struggle to get property insurance during hurricane season. (NPR)

FOSSIL FUELED WAR: Russia's Gazprom to slash gas to Germany, as Putin fosters uncertainty in Europe (Washington Post $), Back to black? Germany's coal power plan hits hurdles (Reuters), EU gas-cut fears prompt nations to seek watered-down plan (Bloomberg $), Europe fears a long, cold winter if Russia ends supply of natural gas (Wall Street Journal $)

• EXTORTION: Russia to cut Nord Stream gas flow [to 20%] in ominous sign for winter (Bloomberg $, Wall Street Journal $, New York Times $, Axios), Russian gas flow too low to fill Europe's storage (Reuters), Russian gas supply uncertainty sends asia LNG prices surging (Bloomberg $)

COLONIAL PIPELINE MAINTAINS REPUTATION FOR COMPETENCE: N.C. pipeline caused largest US gasoline spill, records say (E&E News), Teenagers spotted the largest gas pipeline spill in US history (The Verge)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Youth-led climate change lawsuits are a tactic to hold governments responsible (Teen Vogue)

DENIAL & DELUSION: Old video of Weather Channel co-founder fuels climate misinfo (AP), Maria Bartiromo says falling fossil fuel investment is emergency, not climate change (HuffPost)

HOPEFULLY MORE EFFECTIVE THAN A MIDDLE FINGER: A new tool in the battle to keep the bike lane clear (Bloomberg $)

WEATHER WHIPLASH: Pakistan's largest city battered by torrential rain as climate crisis makes weather more unpredictable (CNN)

SCOTUS: This climate approach could win John Roberts’ approval (E&E News)

AGENCIES: FEMA: 1 in 5 will drop federal flood insurance by 2030 (E&E $), Obama DOE veteran joins GSA as climate adviser (E&E $)

EPA: EPA head to visit Puerto Rico on environmental justice tour (AP), Can EPA cut CO2 from gas plants in regulatory ‘new world’? (E&E News), US EPA seeks court sign-off on proposed June deadline for 2023 biofuel blending rule (S&P Global)

DOE: Energy Department to lend GM joint venture $2.5 billion for battery-cell plants (Wall Street Journal $)

DOI: The Bureau of Land Management lets 1.5 million cattle graze on federal land for almost nothing, but the cost to the climate could be high (Inside Climate News, E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: White House promises more climate action this week (E&E News), Climate activists protest outside Biden, Klain homes (E&E $), US to plant more trees as climate change kills off forests (AP), Biden administration announces plans to plant one billion trees (The Hill, E&E News), Trees are overrated (The Atlantic), As Texas grid falters, energy advocates urge Biden to declare climate emergency (Truthout), Biden executive order on power system cybersecurity leaves critical operations vulnerable, experts say (Utility Dive), Biden meeting fuels debate over cause of high gasoline prices (E&E $), Biden to announce steps on wildfires, extreme heat this week (The Hill)

THE HILL: Congress nears passage of innovation, research bill (E&E News)

HOUSE: House environmental justice bill to get committee vote (E&E $), Ocasio-Cortez gathers support for bill to overrule Supreme Court’s EPA decision (Truthout), Republicans oppose drought, wildfire package (E&E News)

SENATE: Senate committee sets vote on EPA, nuclear nominees (E&E $)

POLITICS: Climate action in Washington — or not (NPR), Why isn’t there a mass movement for climate action in the US? (Bloomberg $)

ELECTIONS: Dems fume at Disney’s Hulu for blocking ads on abortion, guns (Washington Post $, The Verge)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Senate committee takes up nuclear waste, carbon, EV bills (E&E $)

TRIBES (AND ETHNIC CLEANSING): Papal Visit: Apology at last in Canada (Indian Country Today)

CITIES AND STATES: Deal reached to rein in air pollution in Colo. oil and gas hub (E&E $), Miami Mayor Francis Suarez: Climate change is "not theoretical for us… it's real" (CBS), Mass. climate bill passes with bipartisan supermajority (E&E $), Lush Utah garden makes the most of a small amount of rain (Yale Climate Connections), Maine diverts $20m for climate change adaptation (Washington Examiner), Pennsylvania just lost a key tool to address its abandoned oil well problem (Grist), Cities respond to rising heat … with new hires (Marketplace), How one Los Angeles neighborhood is guarding against deadly heat (Bloomberg $)

• CALIFORNIA: Wildfire rages near Yosemite as Newsom steps up climate action (The Hill, CAL Matters, E&E $)

FERC: FERC must regulate small-scale LNG export projects to ensure safety, methane oversight, green groups say (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Climate change elevating risk of dangerous weather (CBS), Desert-like behaviors coming to world’s wet regions (The Hill), Hard choices ahead as Yellowstone rebounds from record flood (E&E News), Mideast nations wake up to damage from climate change (AP), 'No place like home': Climate change threatens Fiji's rugby nursery (Reuters), Saving Venice from flooding may destroy the ecosystem that sustains it (National Geographic)

HEAT: What's causing the recent US heat waves? (Reuters, explainer), Living through India’s next-level heat wave (The New Yorker $), Kathy Baughman McLeod: ‘We have to stop burning fossil fuels.' 'We’re just roasting ourselves.’ (MSNBC), Extreme heat is cutting into our sleep time (Axios), Zoe, the world's first named heat wave, arrives in Seville (TIME)

US HEATWAVE: Heat to wane in Northeast as Pacific Northwest prepares to roast (Washington Post $, AP), 50 million at risk: Monday's severe storms to bring deadly northeast heatwave to end (USA Today, HuffPost, NPR), US bakes in extreme heat as federal climate action flops (The Hill), What’s behind the heatwaves impacting the United States? (Al Jazeera), Extreme heat breaks daily records across the Northeast (E&E $), Is this a typical Texas heat wave or the coldest summer of the rest of our lives? (Texas Monthly), Texas factories stay on slow growth path despite heat wave-induced curtailments (S&P Global)

DROUGHT: Drought in Western US forces ranchers to sell cows at fastest pace in decade (New York Post), NASA photos show dramatic shrinking of Lake Mead (The Hill), The Rio Grande is running dry in Albuquerque (Gizmodo), UK facing drought in August following extreme heat (The Guardian)

GREENLAND: Greenland ice melt kicks into high gear (Axios)

WILDFIRES: Alaska experiencing wildfires it’s never seen before (AP), Wildfires continue to burn across France and Spain You need to register to keep reading (The Guardian), Hundreds of firefighters battle blazes in Germany, Czechia (AP), Grass fire destroys or damages 20 homes outside Dallas (New York Times $, AP)

• OAK FIRE: California’s largest wildfire slows after exploding near Yosemite (New York Times $, AP, Washington Post $, CNN, Gizmodo, CNBC, Bloomberg $), Massive wildfire near Yosemite is most volatile this season (NBC), Thousands evacuate as California's Oak Fire explodes in size (CBS), Thousands flee large wildfire (ABC)

RENEWABLES: China owns the solar supply chain, jeopardizing the energy transition (Canary Media), NextEra plans to shift away from Chinese solar panels within 2 years, company leaders say (Utility Dive), Greek quest to save on energy bills spurs island-owned renewables (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Solar manufacturing picks up in the US despite lack of policy support (Canary Media), Sesame solar is selling mobile disaster relief units powered entirely by clean energy (CNBC, CNBC), South Africa may exempt 1GW renewable plants from licensing (Bloomberg $),

BATTERIES: ‘Shocking.’ Kansas secures no jobs or pay commitments in Panasonic’s $4B battery plant (Kansas City Star), Redwood materials plans $3.5 billion battery-materials plant in Nevada (Wall Street Journal $)

EFFICIENCY: France orders air-conditioned shops to save energy by shutting doors (The Guardian)

LNG: US becomes top LNG exporter in first half of 2022 - EIA (Reuters)

OIL & GAS: Could gas leak fixes thwart climate goals? (E&E News), Earnings, Fed to provide direction for oil markets (Houston Chronicle), Gas in Africa: still a ‘transition fuel’ (Energy Monitor), Searching for more oil as the world heats up (CNN), Shell to proceed with jackdaw natural-gas project as UK, Europe seek new supply (Wall Street Journal $), Congo to auction land to oil companies: ‘our priority is not to save the planet’ (New York Times $)

PIPELINES: TC Energy seeks 3 more months to finish Louisiana XPress gas pipeline project (S&P Global)

HYDROGEN: Leaks threaten CO2 benefits of clean hydrogen, report says (E&E $)

UTILITIES: Ameren Illinois ordered to explore possible benefits of shifting from MISO to PJM (Utility Dive), Oregon utilities outline plans to prevent and mitigate wildfires in their service territories (Utility Dive)

EVs: Chase launches EV education website to help consumers navigate the electric vehicle purchase decision (SmartCities Dive), General Motors wants to fill the ‘EV knowledge gap’ with a free online chat tool for all (CNBC), One barrier to electric cars: Slow fleet turnover (Axios)

PFAS: Scientists, lawmakers say N.H. company spewed more ‘forever chemicals’ than acknowledged (Boston Globe $)

LOBSTAHS: Seaweed helps Maine lobstermen ride the storm of climate change (Washington Post $)

MAGIC KINGDOM OF CLIMATE DESTRUCTION: Disney VIP world tour will produce 6.2 tonnes of carbon for each guest (The Guardian)

SCIENCE: How genomics can impact climate change (CNN)

PUBLIC OPINION: Younger Republicans significantly more concerned about environment than older ones: Gallup (The Hill)

CARBON REMOVAL: California hopes to fight global warming by pumping CO2 underground. Some call it a ruse (LA Times $), Students build a car that removes carbon from the air as it drives (Jalopnik)

FINANCE: One fund, three names and lots of questions for ‘ESG’ (Bloomberg $)

IN MEMORIAM: ‘Don’t be afraid to stand up,’ the legacy of Tim Giago (Indian Country Today), Memories: Tim Giago ‘made us all better’ (Indian Country Today)

INTERNATIONAL: Albanese government bolsters climate bill in attempt to win support of teal independents (The Guardian), German lessons for the energy transition (Wall Street Journal $), South Africa to ‘open floodgates’ for private power generation (Bloomberg $), Climate emergencies in other countries have been 'wholly symbolic,' activists say (Washington Post $)

• Texas' early season heat wave in May exposed the myth of fossil fuel reliability (Houston Chronicle, Dennis Wamsted and Seth Feaster op-ed)

• Joe Manchin’s Senate swipe pushes US climate action into a dead end (China Dialogue, Tan Copsey op-ed)

• Climate change is not negotiable (New York Times, Editorial Board $)
• Climate change is taking thousands of lives — and could suck $178 trillion from the global economy (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• If Biden isn’t willing to really fight the climate crisis, he shouldn’t run in 2024 (The Guardian, Daniel Sherrell op-ed)
• Want to fight climate change and drought at the same time? Bring back beavers (LA Times, Chris Jordan and Emily Fairfax op-ed $)
• Thousands of heat-related deaths: Europe’s clarion call for climate action (The Hill, Dr. Georges C. Benjamin op-ed)
• No time for Biden to dither on climate emergency (Seattle Times, Editorial Board)
• It’s hot and getting hotter. We need to find novel ways to keep cool. (Washington Post, Eugene Robinson column $)
• Congress must act to solve an urgent crisis on our coasts (The Hill, Jerry Theodorouis and Portia Mastin op-ed)
• Elements: Putin, natural gas and democracy (Bloomberg, LIam Denning column $)
• How to talk about ‘extreme weather’ with your angry uncle (New York Times, Margaret Renkl op-ed $)
• Yosemite’s sequoias survived the latest wildfire. Not all national parks will be so lucky (LA Times, Mark Butler op-ed $)
• Lack of policy to broaden regional transmission investment opportunity is holding development back (Utility Dive, Matt Lacey op-ed)
• This column is about climate change. What might get you to read it? (Seattle Times, Naomi Ishisaka op-ed)
• Global citizens: We may have to sue our way out of the climate crisis (The Hill, Stuart P.M. Mackintosh op-ed)
• China's mooted end to Australian coal ban will have zero market impact (Reuters, Clyde Russell column)

New Front Group Alert: American Consumer Institute Getting (Back) Into Climate Disinfo

Yesterday, we found an op-ed in the climate disinfo hub RealClearEnergy by Steve Pociask, president of the American Consumer Institute, arguing that Biden should roll back environmental regulations, for sake of (wait for it!) ... drumroll please … "his campaign pledges to create 5 million new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and fight climate change."

This is the latest of the emerging new genre of climate disinfo, calling for policymakers undo environmental protections to improve the environment. In this case, Pociask is essentially saying that the Toxic Substance Control Act should give manufacturers even more deference when it comes to toxic substances, because some of them are necessary for wind and solar tech.

It's a stupid argument, and only stupid people will fall for it. But the people putting it forward aren't stupid to do so. They know the Democratic party (nominally) controls the House, Senate and White House, so they're trying to appeal to the desire to Get Something Done in hopes Biden et al. don't notice the "something" is just rolling back regulations that inconvenience polluters (who also happen to make a component or two for renewable energy). 

But who does Steve Pociask and the American Consumer Institute represent? By their own account, simply "consumers," but scratch beneath that surface and it's obvious that they're a big business front group. 

And there are indications it's a Koch connection. Aside from the op-ed in the Koch-funded RealClear, they also used the Koch network recruiting service "Talent Market" to hire a communications staffer. Looks like they found a former Cato institute crony Rachel Altman for the gig, joining Krisztina Pusok, who was previously at the Koch-funded Reason dot com. 

During the Trump administration, Ben Jervey at DeSmog reported the American Consumer Institute led a coalition of mostly Koch groups to attack California's authority to set standards for auto pollution: "The ACI letter to Pruitt, dated March 28, 2018, was signed by representatives from 11 groups, eight of which have known ties to the Koch network, and all of which are routine commenters on conservative issues."

Jervey details all those koch-nections, and points to a 2014 VICE article about how cable companies were using front groups to oppose net neutrality: "ACI, like Broadband for America, is financed by an ISP lobby group. Annual tax returns show that a foundation controlled by lobbyists from the cell phone industry, called MyWireless.org, has contributed to ACI since 2010."

These days though, Trump climate guy and dark money darling George David Banks is one of their experts, which perhaps explains their re-entry into the climate disinfo sphere. 

But that's about all we know- let us know if we missed anything! 

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 ($)