Under Pressure, NY Gov. Walks Back Methane Proposal: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday walked back a proposal to weaken the state's landmark climate law in the face of significant public pressure on the issue. The proposed changes, included in a budget proposal and made public just days before a key budget deadline, would have altered the timeline on which greenhouse gas, especially methane, pollution is calculated. Methane, the main component in so-called "natural” gas traps more than 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 20 year time frame. The Hochul-backed proposal would have used what critics derided as "magic math" to downplay the climate impact of methane — to the benefit of the gas industry. (New York Times $, Politico, New York Daily News, Albany Times Union, Bloomberg Law $, Spectrum Local News, Crain's New York Business, New York Post)

'Scary' Research Finds Glaciers Can Melt Way Faster: New research shows an ice sheet over what is now Norway melted as much as 2,000 feet in one day about 15,000 years ago — far faster than scientists had ever previously observed. The study published Wednesday in Nature, carries foreboding implications for the potential speed of climate-fueled ice melt today. “This is not a model. This is real observation. And it is frankly scary," Eric Rignot, a UC-Irvine glaciologist not involved in the study, told the Washington Post. The rapid melting was caused by the ice sheet lifting off the sea floor, allowing it to be melted from both above and below — a phenomenon already observed in Antarctica. “If temperatures continue to rise, then we might have the ice being melted and thinned from above as well as from below,” lead author Christine Batchelor, “so that could kind of end up with a scenario that looks more similar to what we had [off] Norway after the last glaciation.” (Washington Post $, The Guardian, Inside Climate News, BBC; Climate Signals: Glacier and ice sheet melt)

EPA Proposes New Coal Plant Pollution Limits: For the first time in more than a decade, EPA will strengthen limits on mercury and other toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants, the agency announced Wednesday. The new rule will cut mercury, lead, nickel, and arsenic pollution from coal plants by as much as 70% from the levels established by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards set out in 2012 and will also lower nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate pollution. The announcement comes two days after the White House announced it plans to disburse $450 million to aid the development of solar and clean energy projects on the sites of current and former coal mines. The EPA estimates the public health benefits of the rule will be between $2.4 billion and $3 billion due to the prevention of deaths or hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular disease and cost industry roughly one-eighth of that amount. The EPA's cost/benefit assessment of the rule could be strengthened by the Inflation Reduction Act. (Washington Post $, AP, E&E News, New York Times $, The Hill, Politico Pro $, Reuters; IRA E&E News)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: History of racism leaves Black Californians most at risk from oil and gas drilling, new research shows (Inside Climate News), Aside from Angel Reese, here are more examples of Black women athletes who've gotten racist backlash (The Root)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Migrant workers face risks building Europe’s new gas supplies in the UAE (Climate Home), US pledges to keep LNG flowing to Europe (E&E $), With Russia’s exit, Norway becomes Europe’s energy champion (New York Times $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: How a Texas abortion law could spur N.Y. climate lawsuits (E&E News)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: EU-US summit penciled in for October (Politico Pro $)

BRETTON WOODS: Banga vows to bring change to World Bank (Politico Pro $), US World Bank nominee Banga endorses lending expansion, pledges more (Reuters)

FINANCE: Zurich becomes second major insurer to quit climate alliance (Reuters), Climate resolutions on tap for bank shareholder season (E&E $)

GOP vs. ESG: The business community is terrified of the ESG backlash. It's just starting to fight back (TIME)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Battle brews over climate law credits for aviation biofuels (E&E News), Climate law spurs expansion of major wind turbine plant (E&E $), How the VP’s Zambia trip could affect your EV tax break (New York Times $)

AGENCIES: Federal agencies aren’t buying what Twitter is selling (E&E News), State's top environmental diplomat is stepping down (Politico Pro $)

EPA: In a first, EPA survey puts a number on lead pipes around US (AP)

DOI: Judge rejects bid to stop construction of highly contested Willow drilling project in Alaska (Democracy Now),  In pristine Alaska, an oil giant prepares to drill for decades (New York Times $), It’s not just Willow: Oil and gas projects are back in a big way (New York Times $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden eyes AI dangers, says tech companies must make sure products are safe (Reuters), Biden to spend more than $580 million to fix aging water systems in West (Washington Post $)

THE HILL: Carper, Pallone file brief in support of Biden car rule (E&E $)

HOUSE: House GOP’s Biden investigations sputter out of the gate (Politico)

SENATE: Romney calls replacing car lanes with bike lanes ‘the height of stupidity’ (The Hill)

ELECTIONS: What Chicago’s new mayor means for environmental justice (Grist)

CITIES AND STATES: Rhode Island lawmaker wants to require solar on new homes and parking lots (Energy News Network), Texas GOP proposes adding 10 GW of state-funded natural gas-fired backup generation (Natural Gas Intel), Bills aimed at adding more natural gas power to Texas grid clear Senate (Texas Tribune)

• TENNESSEE: Tennessee GOP begins expulsion process for 3 Democrats, House session devolves into chaos (The Tennessean, AP, New York Times $, CNN, Vox, USA Today), House Speaker calls for expulsion of three Democrats, but 'can't prove' claims of violence (News Channel 5), Progressive legislators rally to defense of Tennessee Democrats facing expulsion (NBC), Expulsion vote thrusts Tennessee politics onto the national stage, could set precedent (The Tennessean)

FERC: LS Power, other Illinois power plant owners ask FERC to nix $275M in PJM Winter Storm Elliott penalties (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Charleston warily eyes the rising seas. Just don’t say climate change. (Heatmap $), For Uganda’s vanishing glaciers, time is running out (Yale Environment 360), Gulf Coast most vulnerable to climate change, index shows (E&E $), Lake Mead water level rises, defies projections (The Hill), See a California town buried in record-breaking snow (Gizmodo), Sudan's fishermen fear for future as climate change reduces hauls (Context), The stinky seaweed blob approaching Florida is absolutely humongous (Gizmodo), Warming temperatures trigger earliest spring on record in parts of eastern US (Grist), You’ll be able to ski this summer in California after historic snow (Washington Post $), Missouri tornado kills multiple people, sows destruction (AP), More severe storms are on the move through central US (Gizmodo), Severe storms including hail, tornadoes hit Midwest, South (AP), Dramatic photos show how storms filled California reservoirs (AP), Missouri tornado kills 5 in latest wave of severe weather (AP), Senegal struggles with loss of fish central to diet, culture (AP)

WILDFIRES: Massive wildfires are taking a toll on Western snowpack, research finds (Yale Climate Connections)

RENEWABLES: Are wind farm tours the Hoover Dam trip of the 21st century? (Heatmap $), Can the oil-and-gas industry crack geothermal energy? (Wall Street Journal $), The Brooklyn Navy Yard has become a lab for planet-saving tech (New York Times $)

BUILDINGS: Low-interest loan program helps homeowners finance clean energy upgrades (Yale Climate Connections)

LNG: US natgas futures up 3% on daily output decline, rising LNG feedgas (Reuters), More on golden age of liquefied natural gas (Forbes)

OIL & GAS: Change in Brent puts Texas at the center of global energy (Houston Chronicle), Exxon quits drilling in Brazil after failing to find oil (Wall Street Journal $), Safety risks remain 13 years after Deepwater Horizon -- report (E&E $)

PIPELINES: Court throws out crucial water permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline (Grist, The Hill)

COAL: India's power output grows at fastest pace in 33 years, fuelled by coal (Reuters, Reuters), Coal capacity climbs worldwide despite promises to slash it (AP, Grist, Houston Chronicle), Will W.Va. sacrifice one coal plant to save another? (E&E $)

HYDROGEN: States and companies compete for billions to make hydrogen (AP)

UTILITIES: More than 2 dozen utilities, power groups back Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+ initiative (Utility Dive)

GRID: NYC’s grid is stressed. A ​‘smart’ EV charging program aims to help (Canary Media)

EVs: Tesla's dominance fades as EV adoption grows (Axios), America is missing out on the biggest EV boom of all (The Atlantic), In Ohio, electric cars are starting to reshape jobs and companies (New York Times $), Ram’s new electric pickup aims for battery range of 500 miles (Wall Street Journal $), Stellantis, BMW in talks with Panasonic over new EV battery plants (Wall Street Journal $), Unleash the deep sea robots? A quandary as EV makers hunt for metals (Washington Post $)

ACTIVISM: This activist put his life on the line for the health of his community. Now, he’s figuring out what’s next. (Grist)

AVIATION: Dutch court nixes plan to reduce flights at Schiphol Airport (AP), Fasten your seatbelts: what you need to know about turbulence (New York Times $)

AGRICULTURE: Global Seed Vault becomes more important than ever as climate change threatens crops (PBS NewsHour), Texas ranchers, farmers turn to carbon credits to keep fields, pocket books green (Houston Chronicle), UK cows could get 'methane suppressing products' in effort to reduce farm greenhouse gas emissions (CBS)

BOOKS: Mikaela Loach: ‘The world as it is now will not continue’ (Dazed), Jenny Odell is reimagining time to tackle climate change (Atmos)

MOVIES: ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ explores vigilante eco-sabotage (AP), Will we call them terrorists? (New York Times $), A documentary follows a Malawian farmer seeking climate justice (Yes Magazine)

MUSIC: Senegal’s Baaba Maal returns after years with new album (AP)

BUSINESSES: Amazon, despite climate pledge, fought to kill emissions bill in Oregon (Boston Globe $), Apple says more suppliers committing to renewable energy (Reuters)

CARBON CAPTURE: Exxon eyes CCS as it hunts for low-carbon returns (E&E $, Axios), Will Colo. direct air capture facility be a national model? (E&E $)

ROBOTS: AI experts disown Musk-backed campaign citing their research (Reuters)

RIVERS: How much is the world’s most productive river worth? Here’s how experts estimate the value of nature (The Conversation)

WILDLIFE: Is global warming helping loggerhead turtles colonise the Med? (Reuters), Why lawmakers want to save snot otters (Washington Post $), US rolls out funding for wildlife crossings along busy roads (AP)

INTERNATIONAL: Britain passes the buck on wind power (Energy Monitor), India plans green hydrogen incentives of at least 10% of cost -source (Reuters), Kenya's community-first climate approach lets locals pick projects (Context)

• Whale tales: To block wind farms, Big Oil is hiding behind big mammals. (Boston Globe, Yvonne Abraham op-ed $)

• Achieving true environmental justice requires moving beyond the rhetoric (The Hill, Bruce Strouble op-ed)

• We need a new farm bill—for my Iowa farm and beyond (Civil Eats, Wendy Johnson op-ed)
• The clean-energy war goes local (The Hill, William Becker op-ed)
• Countries agreed to ban ozone-depleting chemicals in the 1980s – but we found five CFCs increasing to record levels in the atmosphere (The Conversation, Luke Western and Johannes Laube commentary)
• Health care itself is worsening climate change. One small switch can help. (Washington Post, Leana Wen op-ed $)
• Take it from a Canadian, ticks aren’t nice – and climate change means they’re thriving in the UK (The Guardian, Stephen Buranyi op-ed)
• Joe Manchin gets another blow (Wall Street Journal Editorial Board $)

Twitter & Facebook Fail To Protect Climate Scientists From Harassment

International human rights nonprofit Global Witness released the results of a survey of climate scientists this week in a report called Global Hating, which found that Twitter and Facebook are utterly failing to protect these scientists from harassment. 

The report found that 39% of the polled scientists have been targets of online harassment. For scientists who have over 10 publications, the figure jumps to 49%. Even worse, 73% of those appearing in the media at least once a month have been subjected to abuse, creating a pretty clear incentive for scientists to stay in their ivory tower. 

Almost all of the abuse included attacks on the scientists’ credibility (81%) or work (91%). However, while only 3% of men experienced gendered attacks, 34% of scientists who identified as women said their sex or gender was targeted, and were three times more likely to receive ageist abuse and threats of sexual violence. 

Overall, nearly a fifth of female climate scientists reported receiving threats of physical violence, as did 16% of male scientists. 

This violent rhetoric has an impact: "51% report anxiety caused by the abuse, and 21% of women report physical illness resulting from the stress," the report states. "Over a fifth end up dreading work, and nearly half (48%) report a loss of productivity." 

There's also another chilling effect: "41% of affected scientists polled said their experience had made them less likely to post on social media about climate issues."

Fortunately, there are those who, like us, run on spite: "23% of affected scientists reported that their experience had made them more likely to do so, which suggests many scientists are determined to communicate climate topics on social media in spite of the risk they may receive harmful content." But still, no one should have to consider getting harassed a job duty. 

"People being racist, calling all sorts of colourful names, and bullying – these are not uncommon," Dr. Shouro Dasgupta told Global Witness as one of four case studies. "Most of the harassment I receive is racist in nature partly because they can’t question my expertise, so they question and attack what is unnatural to them, which is race."

Most of this harrassment "happens in private messages, which is why many researchers keep their direct messages closed." Potential collaborations that could've been started by an easy and casual DM introduction get cut off, reporters can't easily reach scientists who may otherwise not have readily available contact information, and scientists have to weather repeated attacks. 

Dr. Mark Maslin said, "I might get 1,000 likes for a tweet and maybe 10 nasty comments – but it is those comments we remember." And it's not like it's on outlandish content, either. For Dr. William Colgan, the "most hate-filled" episode lasted for months after Greta Thunberg retweeted him, "and it was just a random tweet saying 'Hey, here we are at climate strike' on a random Friday, a little video of kids walking through the streets in Copenhagen." 

"It happens on a regular basis," Dr. Helene Muri explained. "The more extreme cases are comments in the direction that I should kill myself in such and such a way. Or the worst one is when they say that they are going to hunt me down and do various things to me." This abuse doesn’t stop her, though it does mean she'll turn some opportunities down. But certainly not all of them, as Dr. Muri remained grounded, saying "I still try to engage as much as I can because climate change is a much bigger issue than the consequences that I am experiencing from actively engaging in communication." 

Scientists shouldn't have to wonder if, on top of everything else, social media use means exposure to dangerous people who threaten to literally kill the messenger bearing bad news. 

And while groups like the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund can offer some assistance for those experiencing legal harassment, the real responsibility here lies with Facebook and Twitter, the platforms on which most of the abuse happens. Global Witness’ report goes through the reforms and recommendations that are possible, but for the sake of space, we'll sum it up in one sentence: When a rowdy patron gets too drunk and starts harassing customers, it's up to establishment security to remove him, not leave it to the guests to figure it out themselves.

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