California's Lake Tulare Refills, Flooding And Disaster Ensue: Before it was drained in the mid-20th century, Lake Tulare (too-LAIR-ee) in California's Central Valley was the largest body of fresh water west of the MIssissippi. Now, an onslaught of atmospheric rivers have overwhelmed some of the most engineered farmland in the country, submerging an area larger than all but one of the state's reservoirs and inflicting massive economic damage and disruption on the intensively agricultural area — it produces cotton, tomatoes, safflower, pistachios, milk and more. Impacts could remain, or even worsen, for at least two years depending on how the near-record Sierra Nevada snowpack melts. The rising floodwaters also threaten to inundate a waste conversion facility. “When the southwest corner of Tulare Lake floods, thousands of tons of L.A. County sewage sludge, containing toxic heavy metals, will become part of the mix in the newly formed lake,” said Tom Frantz, a retired local schoolteacher and environmental activist, told the LA Times. “You can’t grow food for humans where this waste has been spread.” The town of Pajaro, where many farmworkers are Indigenous and only speak languages like Mixteco from southern Mexico, illustrates the degree to which many communities across the country have been left on their own to deal with the overwhelming power of climate-fueled disasters. “The way it’s playing out is exactly as predicted,” Nancy Faulstich, founder of the local climate-justice advocacy group Regeneración, told the Washington Post. “The people with the fewest resources who are on the margins of society are going to experience these unnatural disasters. What’s clear is we are not prepared as a society for these shocks.” On Monday, President Biden signed a Major Disaster Declaration directing FEMA support resources to the town. (Lake Tulare: New York Times $, NBC; Sierra Nevada Snowpack: Washington Post $, AP, LA Times $, Mercury News, KVPR, CNN; Sewage plant: LA Times $; Pajaro: Washington Post $; Language interpreters: The Mercury News; Biden: KSBW, CBS)

UAE Climate Event Speakers Warned Not To ‘Criticise Corporations’: Organizers of a recent climate and health conference in the United Arab Emirates warned attendees not to criticize corporations or protest, raising alarm ahead of the country's hosting of the COP28 climate summit later this year, the Financial Times reports. Written guidance at the Forecasting Healthy Futures event last month in Abu Dhabi instructed speakers and panelists to “be aware and respectful of UAE laws,” warning, “Do not criticise Islam, UAE government, corporations or individuals,” and “do not protest.” Global climate conferences often bring large protests, and the large presence of fossil fuel lobbyists at previous conferences and the appointment of the CEO of the UAE's state-run oil company as president of COP28 were already concerns for climate advocates. “This is deeply concerning,” Collin Rees of Oil Change International told the FT. “The language circulated here cannot be acceptable at the climate talks. There should be strong pushback on this and the UN should provide as strong a place as possible for the upcoming COP.” (FT $)

Another Key Permit Tossed For Beleaguered MVP: The Mountain Valley Pipeline suffered yet another major setback on Monday when a federal appeals court threw out a key state approval, potentially pushing the beleaguered methane gas project even further behind schedule and further over budget. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sharply criticized the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for assuming construction operations would comply with relevant water quality safeguards despite having violated those safeguards dozens of times over the last two years, and "fail[ing] to dispel the tension between MVP’s checkered past and its confidence in MVP’s future compliance." Setbacks for the pipeline, including Sen. Joe Manchin's failure to clear the path for its approval during the last Congress, are mounting. “After countless violations of environmental safeguards and clean water protections, we know that MVP can’t be trusted to comply with the most basic standards of reasonable conduct," Patrick Grenter, head of the Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, told E&E. "With continuous legal setbacks, it has never been more clear that investors should stop throwing money at this doomed project and walk away.” (Washington Post $, E&E $, The Roanoke Times, West Virginia Public Radio, Charleston Gazette-Mail, S&P Global, Courthouse News, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, WBOY; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Majority-Black town fights to stop land being seized for gravel quarry rail link (The Guardian)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: EU launches LNG benchmark in attempt to tame price spikes (Reuters), Natural gas exporters skirt Washington's scrutiny of China (Politico Pro $), US, EU vow to combat any attempts to disrupt energy markets (Reuters)

DENIAL & DOOMERISM: Climate doomerism and solutions are the focus of Sage Lenier’s nonprofit (Teen Vogue), ‘Doomerism’: Why scientists disagree with Biden on 1.5 C (E&E News)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: 3 issues to watch on EVs and tax breaks (E&E News), Americans still don’t know much about Biden’s climate law. That spells trouble. (Heatmap $)

EPA: Federal judge in Kentucky dismisses WOTUS challenge (Politico Pro $)

DOE: DOE initiative aims to turn CO2 into e-fuels (E&E $), The DOE doubles its SolSmart program, with an aim to boost local solar (Canary Media)

DOI: The Endangered Species Act at 50: From popular to polarizing (E&E News)

• WILLOW: Alaska oil plan opponents lose 1st fight over Willow project (AP), What is Willow? How an Alaska oil project could affect the environment (Washington Post $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden offers $450M for clean energy projects at coal mines (AP)

CITIES AND STATES: Conservationists: Indiana wetlands amendment would strip protections, worsen flooding issues (Chicago Tribune), The Texas legislature is considering some absurdly evil environmental bills (Gizmodo), Florida bill would bring bans on gender studies and critical race theory to colleges and universities (The 19th* News), California takes the lead on curbing big oil price gouging (Grist)

IMPACTS: ‘Losing your home is a massive thing’: How the climate crisis came to Norfolk [UK] (The Guardian), Rising Atlantic ocean engulfs fishing town in Brazil (Wall Street Journal $), Melting Antarctic ice may strangle vital ocean currents (Grist), What we know about how climate change affects tornado outbreaks (Axios), Severe storms, strong tornadoes to threaten central states again Tuesday (Washington Post $), On India's shore, rising salinity means daily water struggle (AP), Cost of disaster repairs rises for homeowners (E&E News)

HURRICANES: Upon further review, Hurricane Ian peaked as a rare Category 5 (Washington Post $, AP)

WATER: A wet winter won’t stave off the Colorado River’s water cuts (Washington Post $)

ZOONOTIC SPILLOVER: Why we should care about viruses jumping from animals to people (NPR), New Marburg outbreaks in Africa raise alarm about the deadly virus’s spread (New York Times $)

CFCs: Chemicals banned from air conditioners and refrigerators are making a comeback — and scientists don’t know why (The Verge)

RENEWABLES: The threat of new US solar tariffs is back (Canary Media), BSEE clears way for start of South Fork wind turbine construction (Politico Pro $), Feds warn of major climate risks to US hydropower (E&E News), Soggy California winter set to charge up state's hydropower sector (Reuters), Wind overpowers water in Kenya monthly energy mix (Business Daily Africa)

EFFICIENCY: Southeast US lags on energy efficiency — study (E&E $)

LNG: US LNG exports back on rising track, reached record in March (Reuters)

OIL & GAS: Gulf of Mexico oil worse for climate than thought, study (AP), Nat gas prices should bottom around the $1.40 to $1.75 range, says Skylar Capital’s Bill Perkins (CNBC),  Companies that frack for oil and gas can keep a lot of information secret – but what they disclose shows widespread use of hazardous chemicals (The Conversation)

• OPEC+: Saudi-led oil producers to lower output further (Wall Street Journal $), Oil prices jump following surprise production cut (Wall Street Journal $), What next for oil after surprise OPEC+ cuts? Try $100 a barrel (Bloomberg $), Here's why the OPEC+ output cuts took the industry by surprise (CNBC)

COAL: PacifiCorp plan hastens West's coal retirements (E&E $)

FUSION: The big idea: Will fusion power save us from the climate crisis? (The Guardian)

LIFE CHANGING: You need a bidet, but not for the reason you think (Washington Post $)

BOOKS: Radical eco-activists have made it into mainstream fiction. Is reality next? (Grist)

INSURANCE: Insurer quits climate alliance, citing legal fears (Climate Home)

FINANCE: Activist investors press corporations to take action against climate change (NPR)

ENGINES: Cummins to invest over $1 bln to upgrade US facilities to new clean energy tech (Reuters)

GEOENGINEERING: Solar geoengineering could be a century long proposition (E&E $)

WILDLIFE: Environmental groups withdraw lawsuit over last Maine salmon (AP), Lolita the orca will return to the sea after 50 years in a tank (Gizmodo)

INTERNATIONAL: Brazil's Indigenous protectors pin hopes for fresh start on Lula (Context), Australia critical mineral export revenue to match coal by 2028 - govt report (Reuters), India to issue tenders for 250 GW of new renewable capacity by March 2028 (Reuters), Japan breaks with US allies, buys Russian oil at prices above cap (Wall Street Journal $), Pacific trade deal ‘will make mockery of UK’s climate ambitions’ (The Guardian), Poland to spend big on power grid to meet renewables goals (Reuters), Uncertainty on renewable retraining frightens South Africa’s coal communities (Climate Home)

• Public transit demands more attention (The Hill, Sheldon Jacobson op-ed)
• The Amazon’s gold rush is a threat to law and order (Context, Carolina Andrade, Melina Risso, Robert Muggah, and Mac Margolis op-ed)
• We must stop deep-sea mining before it begins (Context, Daniela Fernandez and Matthew Gianni op-ed)
• Marine heatwaves need clear definitions so coastal communities can adapt (Nature, Dillon Amaya, Michael G. Jacox, Melanie R. Fewings, Vincent S. Saba, Malte F. Stuecker, Ryan R. Rykaczewski, Andrew C. Ross, Charles A. Stock, Antonietta Capotondi, Colleen M. Petrik, Steven J. Bograd, Michael A. Alexander, Wei Cheng, Albert J. Hermann, Kelly A. Kearney & Brian S. Powell)
• A lingering Trump-era regulatory trick could push orcas, salmon to extinction (Environmental Health News, J.W. Glass op-ed)
• Top cyber official on grid attacks, 'box-checking' regs (E&E, Jen Easterly interview $)
• How will the US deal with its water crisis? (The Hill, Jerry Haar op-ed)
• A GOP bill aimed lowering energy costs will do anything but that. Here’s why (Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Joseph Otis Minott op-ed)
• ‘The Last of Us’ is fiction: Deadly fungi outbreaks are, unfortunately, reality (The Hill, Marc Siegel op-ed)
• Phillips 66 CEO Mark Lashier talks energy transition, 'price gouging' and what's ahead for Houston refineries (Houston Chronicle, Mark Lashier interview)
• The 2020s don’t have to be a ‘lost decade’ (New York Times, Peter Coy column $)

Fossil-Fueled Lawyer Argues That Climate Lawsuits Should Stay Out Of State Courts

Little scares the fossil fuel industry more than climate lawsuits in state courts! That’s why we’ve seen numerous attacks against climate cases by Republican lawyers, a Trump administration official, and fossil fuel front group Energy In Depth.

The latest iteration of this social and legal influence campaign was a March 31 opinion piece in The Washington Examiner by attorney Andrew Ketterer. He argues that climate lawsuits belong in federal court, not state court, which would make it harder for people to sue the fossil fuel industry. He writes, “On a broader level, a Supreme Court decision that state courts will hear climate lawsuit cases could open the floodgates for plaintiffs’ attorneys everywhere to sue any industry just for providing products that people rely on.” 

The way Ketterer puts it, the fossil fuel industry sounds like a perfectly innocent and generous provider of helpful products! This type of propaganda is one of the industry’s favorite tactics: Shifting the blame for climate change off of corporations and onto individuals. Ketterer states this argument clearly, writing, “Carbon emissions come from sources across the world. They are produced by energy users, from farmers to builders to homeowners.”

The reality is that for decades, fossil fuel corporations have understood the dangers of climate change all too well, and instead of choosing to offer products without such horrifying side effects, they encouraged fossil fuel consumption and actively covered up the harm that their products cause. Burning fossil fuels is compromising the planet’s ability to sustain human civilization, and oil and gas giants have far more power to address this crisis than the average individual. After all, these corporations literally have billions of dollars in record profits they could choose to invest in clean tech! Suggesting that the fossil fuel industry isn’t the source of the problem is ludicrous and disgraceful.

Ketterer also parrots other fossil fuel industry talking points that transparently seek to discourage future climate lawsuits. “Through my three terms as Maine's attorney general, I concluded that courts cannot solve all of America’s problems,” he states, as though that's what anyone was claiming. “That’s especially true for climate change," Ketterer continues, smugly smashing the strawman.

Sound familiar? It should, as it's awfully similar to a line used by a Shell spokesperson: “We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change…” Ketterer’s rhetoric also mirrors the narrative pushed by industry defenders like Phil Goldberg, who said that “these are not the kinds of issues that we can decide in the courts,” and Rick Boucher, who also bravely fought the strawman, calling the legal efforts “a diversion and a distraction” that “creates false hope that lawsuits can solve the challenge of climate change.” 

Ketterer goes on to call climate lawsuits “meritless” and claim, “Pinning the entirety of global climate change on a handful of companies is illogical, which is why the two dozen climate suits filed so far have failed to succeed.” Unfortunately for Ketterer, this argument makes no sense, since just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Ketterer ends his article by letting everyone know that he’s not just a fossil fuel industry lackey; he’s also open to doing the dirty work for any other damaging industry! “Who knows which sector could be next?” he asks in a blatant attempt to drum up more work for himself. “For example, the door would be open to sue grocery stores for selling red meat that causes heart disease, which many would-be plaintiffs could inevitably claim.” If you’re a morally bankrupt industry that harms the planet, Ketterer might just be the amoral lawyer you need, although he isn’t even the first one to make this argument! 

But who is Andrew Ketterer, anyway? He’s an attorney at the Ketterer & Ketterer Law Firm, which is named that way because the firm only hires people named Andrew Ketterer as partners. Ketterer (not to be confused with his fellow law partner and son Andrew P. Ketterer) “successfully sued the tobacco industry” as Maine’s Attorney General before cashing out and representing “national and multi-national corporations that are regulated or sued by state Attorneys General in all 50 states.” The firm’s list of current and former clients includes “for-profit colleges, the firearms industry, pharmaceutical companies, automobile manufactures and petroleum companies,” proving that Ketterer & Ketterer primarily caters to businesses that exploit, pollute, or kill their customers.

On a positive note, researchers have found that climate litigation “is by no means doomed to failure” and that “even unsuccessful cases can contribute to articulating climate change as a legal and financial risk, which may help to guide climate change-responsive adjudication in the longer term.”

If climate lawsuits didn’t make a difference, the fossil fuel industry wouldn’t bother paying unscrupulous lawyers, lobbyists, and lackeys to try to undermine these landmark cases!

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