FIRST LOOK: 

Texans Oppose Premature Reopening of Exploded Gas Export Facility: Freeport, Texas residents on Saturday scrutinized the response of federal energy regulators to the massive Freeport LNG explosion last June, and questioned whether officials have required the company to do enough to ensure the export terminal is safe to resume operations. "We're concerned about them getting close to reopening. I'm hoping FERC and PHMSA kind of slow down the process of allowing them to reopen," Melanie Oldham, one of the roughly 100 residents who attended the community meeting, told Reuters. No representatives of Freeport LNG bothered to show up at the local high school, home of the "Exporters," to hear from or talk to the community. Federal regulators at the meeting detailed the litany of safety failures, including inadequate operating and testing procedures, operator fatigue, and failing to follow up on a safety warning just two days before the blast that took about 20% of U.S. LNG export capacity offline. FERC gave Freeport LNG approval to start loading ships with LNG late last week, but the terminal is not expected to be back operating at full capacity for months. LNG exports, along with the increasing impacts of extreme weather often fueled by climate change, are raising U.S. energy prices and making the methane gas market even more volatile. (Freeport: Reuters, Bloomberg $; Market volatility: Wall Street Journal $)

(Some) Deadpool Options For Glen Canyon Dam Considered: Federal officials are weighing multiple options for how to respond to dropping water levels at Lake Powell, above the Glen Canyon Dam, but some advocates say an important option is being left off the table, E&E reports. Officials from the Bureau of Reclamation, a division of DOI, have presented options to stakeholder groups in recent days, all of which would seek to enable the dam to continue to produce hydroelectricity. With all of those options requiring significant time and money, however, advocates like Kyle Roerink, head of the Great Basin Water Network, say Reclamation should be open to ending hydroelectric generation there and focus on improving the health of the Colorado River overall by ensuring water is able to continue flowing to the Lower Basin and Fort Mead above the Hoover Dam. Systemic overuse, and a climate-fueled megadrought have dropped water levels at the Glen Canyon dam to near the deadpool point at which water can no longer flow over the dam to produce electricity. "We have to ask: Is it worth keeping Glen Canyon an industrial zone for power generation when the river is begging us to stop being so wasteful?" Roerink said. (E&E $)

DOE Proposes Stronger Appliance Efficiency Requirements: The Department of Energy proposed new efficiency standards for home appliances it says will save users $3.5 billion per year and reduce carbon pollution over the next 30 years by about the annual equivalent of 29 million homes. The innovation resulting from stronger efficiency standards are projected to save users about $295 over the life of a washing machine and $130 over the life of a new fridge. DOE has increased efficiency standards for refrigerators three times over the last 50 years and a typical refrigerator now uses 75% less electricity. The appliances covered by the proposal, including refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers and for top-loading and front-loading residential clothes washers, account for about 8% of U.S. residential electricity use. (Washington Post $, The Hill, Politico Pro $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Cop City, gentrification, and Young Thug: Atlanta's uneven war over greenspace in 'The City of the Forest' (Scalawag Magazine)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Russia retaliates for sanctions by announcing oil output cut (Bloomberg $, Politico Pro $, The Hill), Soaring energy bills shock struggling consumers around the globe (Bloomberg $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: IMF says public support needed to change climate policies (Bloomberg $), UK must quit climate-harming energy charter treaty, experts say (The Guardian), Why climate-conscious EU could exit the Energy Charter Treaty (Context)

DENIAL & MONETIZED DELUSION: How Republicans are echoing climate change conspiracy theories (Newsweek)

BUSINESS CLAIMS: Report: Companies’ climate targets not what they claim to be (AP)

STOVES: Worried about your gas stove? This comic will show you other ways to cook. (Washington Post $), I want to switch to an electric stove. Can the board stop me? (New York Times $), Most mayors oppose gas stove bans, survey finds (E&E $)

BIG GREENS: As the Sierra Club reckons with its past, a new leader charts a more inclusive future (NPR, NPR)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: A subsidy arms race is kicking off between Europe and America (CNN), Against ‘Buy American,’ Trudeau ministers make their case in D.C. (Politico Pro $)

EPA: Court allows EPA to revisit contested Ohio air decision (E&E $), EPA announces second $1 billion round of infrastructure funding for Superfund cleanup (The Hill, AP, Politico Pro $), EPA's refinery exemptions denial not subject to Congressional Review Act, GAO says (Politico)

WEIRD WAY TO SPELL 'SEXIST': Nevada Gov. Lombardo's awkward moment with Energy Secretary Granholm (Politico)

DOI: NPS completes largest move of Yellowstone bison to tribal land (E&E News), NPS under fire for plan to clear D.C. homeless encampment (E&E News), Interior brings on board new staffers (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden and Lula project unity on democratic values and climate change (Reuters), Biden’s clean tech measures will aid global fight against climate change, US envoy says (Bloomberg $), Obama climate spokesperson to lead Biden comms shop (E&E $), With Biden aid, Nevada dreams of a ‘lithium loop’ (E&E News), Biden is pushing contractors to cut emissions. They're pushing back. (Washington Post $)

THE HILL: Can Congress find consensus on mining overhaul? (E&E News, Houston Chronicle),  Lawmakers revive offshore wind revenue-sharing bill (E&E $)

HOUSE: Committee OKs oversight plan over Dem climate objections (E&E $), Former Trump aide to lead House environment panel (E&E $), 'Red line': GOP warns against using crop insurance for climate (E&E $)

SENATE: First-term Republican senators land prominent EPW slots (E&E $), Senators urge guidance to clarify offshore wind tax credit (E&E $), Senators weigh USDA disaster assistance, climate concerns (E&E $)

POLITICS: As federal cash flows to unions, Democrats hope to reap the rewards (New York Times $)

CITIES AND STATES: Climate activists demand clean energy solutions at [Vermont] statehouse (WCAX), Electric rates in NJ going up as much as 6.9% this summer, state says (NJ.com), How Biden's climate spending could transform Nevada (Politico), In Northern Virginia, a coming data center boom sounds a community alarm (Inside Climate News), Most US states lag California in EV adoption by at least 5 years (Utility Dive)

• HEY, I KNOW YOU'RE BUSY, BUT…: Pennsylvania environmental officials took 9 days to inspect a gas plant outside Pittsburgh that caught fire on Christmas day (Inside Climate News)
• PUERTO RICO: New debt plan proposes spike in Puerto Rico power bills (AP)
• CALIFORNIA: California’s biggest environmental cleanup leaves lead contamination and frustration (LA Times $)

FERC: FERC to weigh New England market rules, cold weather standards next week (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: A climatologist explains what's causing this winter's erratic weather (NPR), ‘Exceptional’ warming: January temperatures 2.2 degrees higher than average in Europe (CNN), Natural disasters, boosted by climate change, displaced millions of people in US in 2022 (NBC), Dramatic photos show Lake Oroville’s rise after epic storms (LA Times $), New Zealand city grinds to halt as deluge from cyclone looms (AP)

• UP HIGH: An event high above the Arctic may turn winter sharply colder in US, Europe (Axios), Climate breakdown could cause British apples to die out, warn experts (The Guardian), Seven northeastern states saw warmest January as US and Europe baked (Washington Post $)
• DOWN LOW: Antarctic researchers report an extraordinary marine heatwave that could threaten Antarctica's ice shelves (Inside Climate News)
• TOO SLOW:  Maple syrup’s $1.5 billion industry splinters as winters get warmer (Bloomberg $)
• NO SNOW: The ‘last ice area’ is already disappearing (Grist), Where’s the snow? Climate change affects ski racing season (AP), In Ottawa, it's been too warm to skate on the world's longest naturally-frozen skating rink (NPR), Skiers seek climate change moves: ‘The seasons have shifted’ (AP)

HEALTH: Long-term exposure to air pollution may raise risk of depression later in life, study says (CNN)

WILDFIRES: Wildfire smoke may worsen extreme blazes near some coasts, according to new research (Inside Climate News)

WATER: After January storms, some California communities look for long-term flood solutions (NPR)

(DE)FORESTATION: Want to live longer? Consider planting a tree. (Washington Post $), Instead of planting trees, give forests back to people (The Verge), Judge halts LA plan to destroy trees for sidewalk repairs (AP)

GEOENGINEERING: Supporters of a controversial climate solution say it could be key. Critics believe it is the path to catastrophe (CNN)

WETLANDS: A fifth of the world's wetlands have been destroyed (E&E $)

RENEWABLES: BP names new onshore renewables head after latest departure (Reuters), Female solar workers can face prejudice. This woman wants that to change. (Yale Climate Connections), How to run your house on clean electricity, no solar panels required (Washington Post $), Imagining a world without fossil fuels (Inside Climate News)

BATTERIES: Electric vehicle batteries require precious minerals. That old cellphone may be the solution (ABC)

BUILDINGS: EU panel backs ranking system for building emissions (E&E $), Foam panels can turn old abodes into energy-efficient homes of the future (Canary Media)

LNG: 50 years ago today: LNG tank explosion kills 40 workers (Staten Island Live)

OIL & GAS: Big Oil profits put tax hikes back on Europe's agenda (E&E $)

• BUT THEY MADE SO MANY NICE ADS…: Why oil majors are cutting back on renewables (E&E $), Inside BP’s decision to dial back its green transition (Wall Street Journal $), BP's green u-turn shows exactly why the energy transition is so hard (TIME), Exxon retreats from major climate effort to make biofuels from algae (Bloomberg $)
• SHELL GAMES: Shareholders sue Shell, saying it's too obsessed with fossil fuels (Gizmodo, E&E $), A lawsuit against big oil gets personal (New York Times $)

GAS LEAKS: Everything we know about the gas leak in the L.A.-Las Vegas pipeline (Axios)

PLASTICS: The Ohio train derailment underscores the dangers of the plastics boom (Grist)

HYDROGEN: Nikola constructs hydrogen fuel network to power zero-emissions trucks (Wall Street Journal $), The fight to define green hydrogen, with billions of dollars at stake (Wall Street Journal $)

NUKES: Court rejects New Mexico challenge to NRC interim nuclear waste approval (Politico Pro $)

UTILITIES: Dominion stops pursuing ITCs for contracted solar, joining Duke in Q4 renewables impairment charge (Utility Dive), Duke Energy's net-zero plan boosts natural gas, solar (E&E $), PG&E Corp., utility subsidiary credit outlook improves to ‘positive’ on wildfire mitigation efforts: Moody’s (Utility Dive)

GRID: Fight over role of tree-trimming in Austin ice outages highlights risks to nation’s grid (The Hill)

EVs: Electric vehicles could match gasoline cars on price this year (New York Times $), Vocal Tesla shareholder Ross Gerber plans board run (Axios), To tap U.S. government billions, Tesla must unlock EV chargers (Reuters, Washington Post $, Clean Technica), Where EV trucks are going to hit the road first (CNBC)

CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE TEEVEE: Climate crisis fuels new wave of TV ‘eco thrillers’ (The Guardian)

CARBON CAPTURE: Landmark US CCS coal project may restart (E&E $)

CARBON STORAGE: La. governor asks EPA for answer on CO2 wells (E&E $)

HOW THE TURN TABLES: Conservatives are pissed at Chick-Fil-A's 'woke' sandwich (Gizmodo)

FINANCE: Investors urge European banks to end new oil and gas financing (Reuters)

RICH WHITE GUYS: Bill Gates: Nuclear waste is not a reason to avoid nuclear energy (CNBC), Bill Gates says flying on a private jet doesn't make him 'part of the problem' because he invests billions into fighting climate change (CBS)

WILDLIFE: As climate change disrupts ecosystems, a new outbreak of bird flu spreads to mammals (Grist), Can giving the ocean an antacid help curb climate change? (NBC)

INTERNATIONAL: ‘We create changemakers’: The new UK college dedicated to climate crisis (The Guardian), As Brits reel from a cost-of-living crisis, the UK stock market quietly booms to an all-time high (CNBC), Brazil held talks with Mexico, Chile, Germany over green bond project (Reuters), Europe’s next energy test: Wrestling solar back from China (Wall Street Journal $), In Kenya, an electric transport plan for clean air, climate (AP), Labor’s unlimited use of carbon offsets could lead to rise in [Australian] emissions, report says (The Guardian), Why the climate fight will fail without India (E&E News)

• An open letter to Rep. Chuck Edwards about climate change and politics (Asheville Citizen-Times, Dick Needleman op-ed)
• In Kutztown schools, the right’s culture warriors block a book on climate change (Philadelphia Inquirer, Will Bunch Column)
• I’m a big wave surfer, and I’ve never seen anything like I did this year (New York Times, Tyler Fox op-ed $)
• Oil majors flush with cash have changed their spending priorities (Bloomberg, Liam Denning column $)
• A huge, uncharted experiment on the US economy is about to begin (New York Times, Robinson Meyer commentary $)
• Can the EPA strategically buy its way to waste reduction and increased recycling? (The Hill, Jeremy Pare op-ed)
• US gas prices slump to maximise power burn (Reuters, John Kemp column)
• The world bank must take bolder action on climate (Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg op-ed $)
• The Supreme Court could doom Biden’s environmental agenda (The Hill, Dan Reich op-ed)
• Hydrogen is elemental to US-EU green compromise (Reuters, Rebecca Christie op-ed)
• Maximizing the climate benefits of natural gas exports (The Hill, Paul Bledsoe op-ed)
• The climate crusaders are coming for electric cars too (Wall Street Journal, Allysia Finley op-ed $)

National Oilheat Research Alliance: Congressionally Sanctioned Lobbying and Disinformation 

The National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) getting caught lying in the Washington Post about heat pumps in Maine raises the question of whether this Congressionally-sanctioned body established to research and improve oil heat should still exist, given its track record of spending the public's money on disinformation to lobby for public support for oil heat, instead.

Is there really a valid purpose for its activities, like its full-page ad in the Maryland Realtor magazine which calls heating oil "super-efficient" and "ultra-low sulfur," evoking "super-efficient" "clean coal" and "ultra-low-tar cigarettes"? Perhaps these activities serve to quiet some fears, as NORA was emphatic that "heating oil does not and cannot explode." This ad was co-sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association as part of the Partnership for Realty and Oilheat Success, an effort to help realtors overcome buyers' objections to oil-heated homes, something NORA also does in South Carolina.  

When revived in 2014, NORA was given strict guidance to spend at least a third of its money on research and development (up from 5.8%) and no more than a third of its money on consumer education (which was nearly 64% of its spending between 2001 and 2008, per the GAO). It's 2022 and 2023 budgets show that the trade association is following the letter of the law exactly, spending precisely the same amount on each, maxing out its marketing spending and putting the bare minimum into research so that both figures are exactly the same: $1,859,697.02 for each in 2022 and $1,803,096.11 for each in 2023. NORA is doing exactly as much marketing and as little research as it legally can, down to the last 2 cents. 

But NORA spent its research budget on products that it used to lobby against electrification and heat pumps. For example, in New Jersey, where the trade association lobbies for biofuels, NORA claimed that heat pumps "fall short" of being able to heat homes comfortably in its response to NJ's 2019 Energy Master Plan. 

A 2010 statement from a democratic senator on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee summarized a GAO report on NORA and the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC), saying that "the programs have taken liberties in defining ‘consumer education,’ which in [GAO's] view includes activities that most of us would call lobbying."  

The GAO staff testimony explained that NORA spent its money mostly on "consumer education," did far less on training or research, and definitely lobbied. But, to paraphrase, since Congress didn't spell out exactly what "no lobbying" meant, who's to say? 

Well, NORA's longtime former president John Huber is described in HVAC industry press as "the lead lobbyist" responsible for NORA's creation, and prior to and during his 18 non-consecutive years of being president of the National Oilheat Research Alliance, his LinkedIn also lists that he was the Chief Lobbyist for the National Association for Oilheat Research and Education. And prior to that, he spent 12 years as a VP and lobbyist for the Petroleum Marketers Association of America. Furthermore, the first job he lists on LinkedIn, from all the way back in 1985, is"Special Assistant to the President" of the Transportation Institute, a position in which Huber "lobbied on behalf of [the] maritime industry." 

So, NORA, a group that wasn’t supposed to lobby, definitely lobbied in the past, according to disclosures of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in lobbying, clearly still lobbies today, and was run by a lobbyist who lobbied to create the group. Surprise, surprise!

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