Compound Impacts Compound California Threats: California's record-breaking, building-crushing snowpack threatens to bring dangerous flooding to California's Central Valley in the near-term and through the rest of the year — dangers exacerbated by recent wildfires and illustrative of the compounding and inequitably-felt damage caused by climate change. “All the flooding we’re seeing right now is just a taste of what is likely to come, because these flows that are high right now are mainly high based on the melting that occurred a while back and precipitation that fell a long time ago,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. With snow in Mammoth Lakes 30-feet deep, already-scarce affordable housing is especially threatened as the snowpack literally crushes homes. As one longtime real estate agent told the LA Times, “the best structural engineers in town are helping build mansions.” On the other side of the Sierra Nevada, flooding has already begun refilling long-drained Lake Tulare with disastrous impacts for the migrant farmworkers in the region. The dangers posed by melting snow are even further heightened by burn scars, wide swaths of mountainside denuded of both tree cover to slow snow melt and root systems to limit catastrophic erosion. The devastating landslides set off by intense precipitation and snowmelt in burn scars are only set to become more frequent because of climate change. “Collectively, post-wildfire hydrologic hazards — debris flows and flash floods — are going to be increasing in a warming climate,” Swain told the San Francisco Chronicle. (Snowpack flooding: LA Times $, Washington Post $; Mammoth Lakes: LA Times $; Compound impacts: San Francisco Chronicle; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase; Wildfires)

Record Number Of Shareholder Resolutions Expected; Will Face Opposition: As annual sharehold meetings approach, public companies are expected to face a record-number of environment- and climate-related shareholder resolutions, but major firms are pushing back against them, Bloomberg reports. Approximately 30% of all votes will likely be related to climate and enevironmental issues, including those brought by advocacy and institutional shareholders of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs. “An absolute reduction target aligned with a science-based net-zero emissions pathway is critical for [JPMorgan] to achieve its net-zero commitment and more fully address its climate risks," the New York City Comptroller said. Shareholder resolutions do not necessarily need to win majorities to achieve their desired outcomes; strong showings of support can push a company to voluntarily adopt (some of) the measures called for in a resolution. Regardless of corporate opposition, however, Danielle Fugere, head of As You So, told Bloomberg, “the urgency around climate change is only going to increase, and that means there is going to be more financial pressure on banks, and almost all companies, to address the growing environmental risks.” (Bloomberg $)

Ember Report On Global Power Sector Outlines Qualified Optimism: Wind and solar energy accounted for the vast majority in new electricity demand worldwide, limiting global climate pollution growth from the power sector even as coal-fired generation rose slightly, Ember's annual Global Electricity Review shows. The report, which analyzed the power sectors of 78 countries responsible for 93% of global electricity demand, offers points of qualified optimism. “It is the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel age,” Ember analyst Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka told Bloomberg. Coal-fired generation rose 1.1%, in part because of the methane gas crisis set off by the Russian war in Ukraine, and part because of an increase in Chinese coal-fired power. That ending must accelerate, however. Ember's Dave Jones, another of the report's authors, told the BBC. Jones said China could reach peak coal generation "earlier than 2025, which would be significant. But  University of Bergen professor Jessica Jewell, who was not involved in the report, cautioned, "The earliest peak of coal power generation was in the UK in 1979 [and] the UK still used a bit of coal in 2022, 43 years past the peak. In order to reach clean energy goals we don't have 40 or even 30 years, we need to fully decarbonize electricity in a much shorter time." (BBC, Bloomberg $, CNBC, Reuters, OilPrice, New Scientist)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Black farmers say Tennessee trying to hustle them off their land (Black Wall Street Times)

• TENNESSEE THREE: Justin Pearson reappointed to Tennessee House of Representatives by Shelby County Commission (Memphis Commercial Appeal, The Guardian, CNN, NPR, NBC, AP, BBC, The Hill, Forbes, Mother Jones, Wall Street Journal $, CNN, New York Times $, Axios, Buzzfeed, Vox, Yahoo), Expelled Tenn. lawmaker started by stopping an oil pipeline (E&E News)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Pressure builds on Big Oil to hand over profits for Ukraine’s reconstruction (Politico Pro $), How the Russia-Ukraine war is turning natural gas into the 'new oil' (S&P Global), After months of Russian attacks, Ukraine’s grid resumes electricity exports to EU. How did it survive? (Utility Dive), Netherlands plans to end Russian LNG imports, minister says (Bloomberg $), Turkey opens gas link with Bulgaria to blunt Russian dominance (Bloomberg $), Ukraine accuses Hungary of funding Russian war crimes with energy deals (Politico Pro $)

9:37 🚂 TO THE PETROCHEMICAL DYSTOPIA: Trucks are still taking tainted waste out of East Palestine. One spilled this week. (Washington Post $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Somalis suffering from climate crisis they did nothing to create, UN chief says (Reuters), New India-born World Bank chief: Real change or rebranding? (AP)

MEDIA: Where to find training, fellowships, and classes on climate journalism (Yale Climate Connections), NPR to suspend Twitter use after ‘government-funded’ label (New York Times $, AP, NPR, Washington Post $, CNBC, CNN), Dominion judge sanctions Fox for withholding evidence, plans to appoint special master in latest blow to network (CNN), (NBC, LA Times $, Washington Post $, New York Times $, Reuters), Fox attorneys to be investigated for lying in court on brink of blockbuster trial (NPR, AP)

AGENCIES: Federal workforce's morale dips — study (E&E $), FEMA sued over lack of renewables in rebuilding Puerto Rico’s power grid (Reuters, The Hill), The FTC is expected to crack down on 'greenwashing' (Washington Post $)

EPA: Federal court halts Biden WOTUS rule in 24 states (Politico Pro $), Judge blocks Biden WOTUS rule in 24 states (E&E $, The Hill), EPA targets cancer-causing emissions from medical sterilization facilities (Grist), EPA standards miss many chemicals in drinking water, study says (Wall Street Journal $)

• TAILPIPE EMISSIONS: Biden to remake US auto industry with toughest emissions limits ever (Washington Post $, E&E News, Politico, Canary Media, Democracy Now, E&E News, Politico Pro $, CNN, Bloomberg $, Utility Dive, FT $, OilPrice), 3 things to watch in the EPA's emissions rules for cars (Washington Post $), 4 big takeaways from the EPA’s electric vehicles push (Heatmap $), Regan says auto industry can meet EPA's 'historic' climate targets (Politico Pro $), Regan plugs in EPA plan to accelerate move to EVs (E&E News), The nerd’s guide to Biden’s newest electric vehicle push (Politico)

DOE: High energy costs threaten climate goals, Energy Secretary Granholm warns (Wall Street Journal $), US plans to refill SPR if advantageous to taxpayers this year - Energy secretary (Reuters)

DOI: BLM clears way for $3B TransWest Express transmission project to start construction this year (Utility Dive), 

• COLORADO RIVER: Interior offers extremes on Colorado River cuts to spur compromise (E&E News), Federal government outlines next steps for addressing dwindling Colorado River supplies (New Mexico Political Report), Feds’ Colorado river choice: California’s rights or Arizona’s future? (Grist), Wet winter ices crisis? Feds give Colorado River states time to plan. (E&E $)

TREASURY: Yellen to press for additional reforms at World Bank this year (Reuters, E&E $), Treasury is urged to tighten definition of 'green' hydrogen (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden team braces for Hill blowback over tailpipe rule (E&E $), White House bolsters review process for power sector, other rules with expanded cost-benefit analysis (Utility Dive)

SENATE: Feinstein asks for Judiciary replacement after calls for resignation (The Hill)

POLITICS: Green tax credits are likely to be more popular—and expensive—than expected (Wall Street Journal $)

ELECTIONS: Senator Tim Scott launches presidential exploratory committee (Black Wall Street Times)

TRIBES: Tribes want US protection for areas next to the Grand Canyon (AP, E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Chicago elected a new mayor. Is more climate action next? (E&E $), Gov. Lujan Grisham vetoes N.M. climate subsidies despite oil windfall (E&E $), Legislative proposal in Colorado aims to tackle urban sprawl, a housing shortage and climate change all at once (Inside Climate News), Maryland set to adopt one of the biggest offshore wind goals in US (Canary Media), Massachusetts group seeks on-ramp to electric vehicle industry for Black-owned businesses (Energy News Network)

• CALIFORNIA: California denies bid from home solar company to sell power as a ‘micro-utility’ (Inside Climate News), Newsom seeks to punish California city for refusing to adhere to housing laws (The Hill)

IMPACTS: Record-breaking rain in Fort Lauderdale causes flooding, closes airport (Washington Post $, AP), ‘Sticky doors’ could be a warning sign for this dangerous natural disaster (CNN), ‘Even in the realms of extreme, it’s extreme’: How UK music festivals are planning for freak weather (The Guardian), Argentina’s epic drought is pushing economic crisis to new extremes (Bloomberg $), Louisiana’s vanishing coastlines, captured from above (Bloomberg $), Philippines braces for first storm of 2023 that may hit capital (Bloomberg $), The forest growing in the world’s hottest sea (CNN), Australia’s most powerful cyclone in 12 years to cross coast (AP)

HEAT: Early-season heat dome bringing record warmth, fire danger to lower 48 (Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: Have money or insurance? You'll rebuild faster from wildfire. (E&E $), Insurance woes plague efforts to cut growing wildfire risks (Context), Wildfire forces some people to leave homes in Juneau County [Wisconsin] (AP)

DROUGHT: Drought will cause crop failures in Spain, farmers warn (AP)

RENEWABLES: Making clean power in US gets pricier on average but cheaper for big firms, Lazard finds (Reuters), The ‘90s cellphone law that could  speed up the renewables rollout (Heatmap $), Europe needs energy. Moroccan solar may be a clean solution. (Washington Post $)

STORAGE: US energy storage needs national standards and regulations to thrive amid clean energy transition: GAO (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: China's Sinopec to take stake in Qatar's North Field East (Reuters), Conoco forecasts big cash flow gains, up to 5% output growth (Reuters), Diamondback is exploring sale of non-core west Permian assets (Bloomberg $), Oil drillers see costs peaking in fields from Texas to Canada (Bloomberg $), Oil markets paying a price for Rrench pension rage (Bloomberg $), Texas grid proposals spur Calpine to build new gas plants (Bloomberg $), Use of ‘forever chemicals’ is widespread in New Mexico drilling operations, report finds (The Hill)

COAL: US coal plant contribution to electric grid plummets to smallest in history: report (The Hill)

GRID: Biden’s EV plan needs transmission lines that haven’t been built (Bloomberg $)

EVs: ‘Grid-friendly’ standards for EV supply equipment could help ensure power system reliability: NERC (Utility Dive), 8 things we learned on an EV road trip (Politico), General Motors bets on domestic lithium supply with $50 million funding round (OilPrice), Polls show American anxieties about EVs, transmission (E&E $), Roughly 6 in 10 say EVs only help address climate change a little or not at all: Gallup (The Hill), Who’s thrilled by electric cars? The trend that could help or hurt Biden’s climate agenda. (Politico), Why America’s EV chargers keep breaking (Politico), Confused about electric cars? We have some answers. (New York Times $)

CFCs: Emissions from banned ozone-destroying chemicals are mysteriously rising (Gizmodo)

CONSERVATION: Fortress conservation: A legacy of violence (Grist)

ACTIVISM: Inside climate activists’ uneasy relationship with ‘net-zero’ (Grist)

AVIATION: European aviation industry claims bill of €‎800bn to reach net zero emissions (FT $)

RELIGION: The climate apocalypse is also a religious crisis (Vox)

BOOKS: ‘House of Cotton’ uses horror and fairy tales to weave a story of abortion and Black women’s lives in the South (The 19th* News)

BUSINESSES: Apple expands investment in fund focusing on carbon removal projects (S&P Global), JPMorgan and H&M join big tech’s carbon removal effort (Bloomberg $)

CARBON CAPTURE: Texas company set to build first big CCS gas power plant (E&E $)

IN MEMORIAM: Virginia Norwood, ‘mother’ of satellite imaging systems, dies at 96 (New York Times $)

INTERNATIONAL: Why a clean energy transition is so important to G7 chair Japan (Reuters, explainer), Campaigners call for EU to tax fishing industry to fund decarbonisation (The Guardian), China braces for more summer power shortages as demand rises (Bloomberg $, OilPrice), EU falls behind global average in wind energy growth, still ahead on renewables overall (Energy Monitor), German government rejects new call to delay nuclear shutdown (AP), Italy greenlights the sale of a Russian-owned refinery (OilPrice), Japan climate group urges more renewable energy, effective carbon pricing (Reuters), Road-building spree will derail UK’s net zero targets, warn campaigners (The Guardian), Prosecutors: German climate demo didn’t cause cyclist death (AP)

• Want to tackle gun violence? Think about trees. (Philadelphia Inquirer, Pamela Darville op-ed)
• A new tool could make Russia pay for environmental damage in Ukraine (FT, Svitlana Andrushchenko op-ed $)
• Data deficiencies can impede America’s plans for ‘climate-smart’ agriculture (The Hill, David Hayes and Andy Jarvis op-ed)
• Europe's stunted hydro & nuclear output may hobble recovery drive (Reuters, Gavin Maguire column)
• New tailpipe rules will choke big auto’s profits (Bloomberg, Liam Denning column $)
• Biden’s EPA just proposed historic tailpipe emissions rules: will the auto industry walk its talk? (Forbes, Margo Oge op-ed)
• Climate crisis means aviation must change — whether it likes it or not (FT, Peggy Hollinger column $)
• Why I keep my eyes — and my mind — on the South (New York Times, Tressie McMillan Cottom column $)

Drilled Puts The (Im)Moral Case For Fossil Fuels 'In A Coffin' And Bangs 'The Lid Shut With Big Old Nails' 

If you prefer your discussion of deniers and disinfo to be in podcast form, then Amy Westervelt's Drilled podcast is probably right up your alley! But for the visual learners among us, the Drilled website also offers written content, such as this debunking of the myths behind the supposedly "moral" case for fossil fuels. 

For nearly a decade now, Alex Epstein (a white supremacist and bargain basement racist) has been putting his philosophy degree to good use at his for-profit think tank where he spreads the good news about fossil fuels. 

While he used to simply stand in the middle of climate marches with a dumb "I <3 Fossil Fuels" sign to troll activists for content, or walk around conservative events trying to make "climate thinker" happen, these days Epstein's MLK-appropriating-not-attacking persona puts a "fresh face" on climate disinformation. Worse, his talking points are now finding purchase with Republicans eager to excuse the failings of their fossil-fueled financial benefactors and turn Big Oil propaganda into policy.

To accompany season 8 of Drilled, Westervelt has published a discussion guide that covers the seven key myths underlying the "moral case" for continued fossil fuel use, which were popularized by Epstein’s second book and the accompanying PR campaign. 

First is the claim that fossil fuels extend life expectancy and quality of life, usually illustrated by a comically simple graph showing people living longer over the course of the last 200 or so years. However, it turns out that, according to actual science and not Epstein's hand-waving philosophical sophistry, "growing consumption of energy and fossil fuels over four decades did not play a significant role in increasing life expectancy across 70 countries." Not clear enough for you? Study author (and IPCC AR6 Lead Author) Dr. Julia Steinberger told Westervelt that "we can conclusively put" the idea that fossil fuels are good for life expectancy "in a coffin, [and] bang the lid shut with big old nails." And once more without the metaphor for good measure, Dr. Steinberger added, "We do not rely on fossil fuels for improvements in our living standards." 

The second myth is that you can't do anything about climate change without sacrificing people's overall quality of life, something charlatans will say that climate alarmists ignore. Unfortunately for Epstein et al, serious researchers will tell you that the IPCC dedicated an entire chapter to that topic. IPCC report Lead Author Dr. Joyashree Roy explained to Westervelt that "40 to 70% of 2050 level of projected emissions can be reduced" by measures to simply save energy with efficiency upgrades or reduced consumption "without reducing employment" and "without reducing human wellbeing." 

Next, there's the lie about fossil fuels being cheap and plentiful, which is only true when you don't include the cost of carbon pollution or the massive government subsidies, and certainly isn't true when you compare dirty energy to renewables, which are now often cheaper to install new than it is to keep a coal plant running. 

Myth four is the claim that "if climate people were serious they would support nuclear and hydro," to which Westervelt responds by pointing out that polling shows most do (though they shouldn't.) Myth five is the claim that "the Global South desperately wants fossil fuels," but Guyanese lawyer Melinda Janki points out that most Global South countries don't actually want more oil. She explains, "In every single former colony, people are saying, Stop the oil. We don't want it in places like Uganda and Mozambique… they're putting their lives on the line to stop oil." 

Coming in at number six in this countdown of Greatest Disinfo Hits is the claim that if "the climate movement would just back off," then developing countries could get rich with fossil fuels. This is the sort of argument that only makes sense if you've never actually looked at what happens to places where fossil fuels are discovered and extracted. If you have, then you're probably familiar with "something economists call the 'resource curse'-- the tendency of economies that are overly tied to a particular commodity to focus everything on that commodity, make a small handful of elites rich and eventually tank the economy." And fossil fuels are no exception: in fact, they have their own "particular strain of the resource curse." According to UCLA professor Michael Ross, "Petroleum produces the largest problems for the greatest number of countries. The resource curse is overwhelmingly an oil curse." The countries afflicted by it, Westervelt writes in summarizing Ross' book The Oil Curse, "tend to have less democracy, less economic stability, and more frequent civil wars than countries without oil."  

This makes myth seven pretty easy to bust at this point: Climate advocacy calling for the end of fossil fuel use isn't going to "block development progress in the Global South." Quite the opposite, actually! "In the same way that tobacco companies turned to the Global South as their customers once the Global North cracked down on smoking" the fossil fuel industry is hoping for a lifeline, and "pushing for long-term infrastructure there that will lock in coal, oil and gas use for decades to come, not only ensuring that Global South citizens will continue to pay too much for energy, but also that they will be late to the energy transition, left stuck with the most stranded oil and gas assets while the rest of the world moves on." 

But all you really need is this one takeaway to crush most of Epstein’s flawed arguments: "Despite producing nearly 10% of the world’s oil and gas, more than 600 million people still lack access to electricity across [Africa]. If fossil fuels were the fix for energy poverty… why would we still have so much energy poverty in the world?"

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