Insurers Flee From, Underwrite Climate Change: The insurance industry's efforts to grapple with climate change appear to be coming to a head, all while insurers continue to underwrite fossil fuel projects. AIG has joined State Farm and Allstate in refusing to sell homeowners' insurance policies in certain areas around the country. Despite the risks posed by climate change, however, many firms are still insuring fossil fuel companies and projects. Late last week, the Senate Budget Committee demanded answers from seven insurance firms — including AIG and State Farm — about their underwriting of the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, California insurance regulators will consider changing how climate change can be included in how property rates are assessed, and the Texas legislature passed a law targeting insurance companies' consideration of environmental, social, or governance (ESG) factors when setting rates. (Homeowners insurance: Bloomberg $, Wall Street Journal $; Senate letter: Washington Post $, E&E $, E&E $; California: E&E $; Texas: Floodlight, via Texas Tribune)

Puerto Rican Groups Blast Utility Bankruptcy Plan: A proposed plan to to restructure the debt of Puerto Rico's public electric utility (PREPA) would keep electricity costs so high it will force customers to leave the grid, or the territory altogether, a letter signed by dozens of Puerto Rican organizations warns. An increasing number of Puerto Ricans are installing their own solar energy systems to protect themselves against blackouts of the notoriously unreliable grid — made worse by decades of poor investment and the racist federal response after Hurricane Maria plunged the island into darkness. Despite its obvious renewable energy potential, the majority of Puerto Rico's grid is still powered by imported fossil fuels. (Utility Dive)

Heat Stifles Bangladesh Tea Pickers, India/Pakistan Prep For Cyclone: An "extremely severe" cyclone, named Biparjoy, is set to hammer India and Pakistan later this week, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Meanwhile, about 1,500 miles east across the subcontinent, extreme heat in northeast Bangladesh is harming tea pickers and their harvest while also depressing tourism in the region, Context reports. "It's too hot and I can't continue working," said Phul Kumari, 45, in Sreemangal. "I feel like I'm standing ... beside the cooker in the kitchen," she added. "I've never seen this situation in my entire life." Summer temperatures in the country's tea capital usually top out in the mid-80s Fahrenheit but feel cooler because of the rain, but that has changed in recent years. Temperatures soared above 100°F in May with just half the usual rain — all of this adds up to a harvest expected to be just half of last year's and a local tourism industry struggling to attract visitors even with 60% discounts. "We have heard about climate change many times," Kazi Shamsul Haque, general secretary of the Sreemangal Tourism Service Organisation, told Context. "Now we can see the impact in our area." (Cyclone: AP, Bloomberg $, AP; Bangladesh: Context; Climate Signals background: Cyclonic storms, Extreme heat and heatwaves) 

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Julian Aguon seeks climate justice through storytelling and the law (Yes Magazine), Queering climate change: These are the faces of the environmental justice movement (PennLive), 

CHARCOAL: In Uganda, a recent ban on charcoal making disrupts a lucrative but destructive business (AP)

CANADIAN WILDFIRES: South African firefighters do an emotional praise dance before fighting Canadian wildfires (Black Enterprise), Wildfires threaten Indigenous communities (Indian Country Today), Canada's wildfires offer glimpse into East Coast's future (E&E $), Canadian officials warn historic wildfires could "last all summer" (Axios), Did climate change cause Canada's wildfires? (BBC), US, Canada cities risk smoke as fires still burn: weather watch (Bloomberg $), Why Canada’s wildfires are extreme and getting worse, in 4 charts (Washington Post $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: A landmark youth climate trial begins in Montana (New York Times $, Prism, Inside Climate News, E&E News, NBC), Why Montana kids are suing the state over climate change (Vox)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Is the world making real progress towards net zero emissions? (Context, explainer), Poland to challenge EU climate laws before top court (Politico Pro $), US seeks to expand developing world’s influence at United Nations (Washington Post $)

GOP vs. ESG: Companies quiet diversity and sustainability talk amid culture war boycotts (Wall Street Journal $)

EPA: EPA administrator talks AI, environmental justice (Axios), EPA agrees to examine natural gas power plant pollution rule (Politico Pro $)

DOE: Granholm details views on climate law, gas, DOE staffing (E&E News), DOE’s Jigar Shah talks cleantech manufacturing with Canary Media (Canary Media, interview)

DOI: Protestors block roads into Chaco Culture National Historical Park, leading to change in venue for Haaland’s visit (New Mexico Political Report)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden backs Berkeley gas ban in court fight (Politico Pro $)

POLITICS: The Texas-sized roadblock to Biden’s methane cuts (Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: House GOP targets climate law's tax credits — again (E&E $), House panel to hold first FERC hearing focused on reliability (E&E $), Republicans try again with gas stove, regulation bills (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Red states are blocking blue cities from setting climate policies (Washington Post $), In North Carolina, housing affordability at center of debate over building codes (Energy News Network), Largest solar farm in Illinois will help Chicago’s city operations meet climate goal (Energy News Network), Nevada utility used 'loopholes' to meet renewable mandate (E&E $)

• NEW YORK: New York City will charge drivers going downtown. Other cities may be next (CNN), How New York state could unlock billions for climate finance (New Republic), 

FERC: ‘Recipe for chaos’: FERC’s Clements blasts agency decision to approve PJM capacity auction delays (Utility Dive), FERC declines to weigh climate in LNG decision, draws dissent from Democrat (S&P Global)

IMPACTS: California is living between ever-widening climate extremes (New York Times $), High temperatures and low oxygen choke out thousands of fish in the Gulf (Gizmodo), The planet’s coldest, saltiest ocean waters are heating up and shrinking, report finds (CNN)

HEAT: Extreme weather targets Texas with heat indexes near 115, severe storms (Washington Post $), Heatwave lays bare Vietnam's structural electricity woes (Reuters)

• UK: Britain puts coal plant on standby as warm temperatures ramp up demand (Reuters), UK heatwave prompts National Grid to fire up coal plant to meet aircon demand (The Guardian)

WILDFIRES: California wildfires are five times bigger than they used to be (Bloomberg $)

WATER: Could Mother Nature cut off California’s water guarantee? (E&E News)

RENEWABLES: 6 key takeaways about the US clean energy manufacturing boom (Canary Media), Energy platform Athein seeks up to $300 mln for solar projects (Reuters), In a first, wind and solar generated more power than coal (E&E $), Solar power provider seeks $100 million for Nigeria expansion (Bloomberg $), Solar power has a wildfire smoke problem (Heatmap $)

BUILDINGS: Why this NYC apartment complex will use a giant underground heat pump (Canary Media), The world’s biggest chocolate bar factory has a sweet secret: Heat pumps (Washington Post $)

LNG: There will be more LNG tankers than oil supertankers by 2028 (Energy Monitor), Nigeria’s LNG sales slump amid security and investment challenges (OilPrice)

METHANE: Satellites, drones join fight against air pollution in Pennsylvania (Bay Journal)

OIL & GAS: Goldman Sachs slashes oil price forecast by nearly 10% as Russian supply recovers (CNBC), Goldman sachs slashes year-end oil price forecast to $86 (OilPrice), Iraq gets US. approval to clear $2.76 billion gas debt to Iran (OilPrice), Natural gas prices steady, held together by Texas heat (Wall Street Journal $), Shell CEO's new strategy sees a long-term future for natural gas (Bloomberg $)

HYDROGEN: Billions of dollars are being invested in pricey ‘green’ hydrogen. Is it a viable climate solution? (PolitiFact)

EVs: Tesla’s EV charging coup squeezes feds (Politico Pro $), Why it’s hard to build EVs for range instead of power (Heatmap $), Saudi Arabia signs $5.6 bln deal with Chinese EV company - state media (Reuters, OilPrice), Toyota boss faces pushback over EV strategy in shareholder vote (Wall Street Journal $), Zero-emission trucks show promise, but more support needed (E&E $), Japan’s Toyota announces initiative for all-solid state battery as part of electric vehicles plan (AP)

CARS: Electric Ubers could make cities less pleasant — study (E&E $)

PFAS: Companies knew the dangers of PFAS 'forever chemicals'—and kept them secret (TIME), Chemical companies used Big Tobacco tactics to hide 'forever chemical' risks (E&E $)

MINING: Mining critical to renewable energy tied to hundreds of alleged human rights abuses (Inside Climate News)

AGRICULTURE: Climate-smart cowboys hope regenerative cattle ranching can heal the land and sequester carbon (Inside Climate News)

BUSINESSES: Net zero targets proliferate as credibility lags: data (Axios)

CARBON CAPTURE: Removing carbon from the air enters its awkward teen years (Bloomberg $)

FINANCE: Investors in biggest climate pressure group don't like to pressure (Reuters)

PHILANTHROPY: George Soros hands his $25 billion empire to his 37-year-old millennial son (Fortune)

INTERNATIONAL: Italy must add 190 GW of renewables by 2035 to meet G7 pledge -study (Reuters), More than half of China’s power capacity is now non-fossil fuels (OilPrice), UK tax sweetener won't stop plummeting North Sea oil, gas output (Reuters), Vatican court orders climate activists to pay almost 30,000 euros (Reuters), Bank of England's Mann sees case for UK carbon tax (Reuters), India says plants using imported coal to operate at full capacity till September (Reuters),

• More logging won’t curb wildfire smoke (The Hill, Chad Hanson op-ed)
• Nuclear power is no silver bullet to wean us from fossil fuels (Chicago Sun-Times, Ben Jealous op-ed)
• Electricity highways' are needed for the future in Iowa (Des Moines Register, Libby Jacbos op-ed)
• Looking at the White House through wildfire smoke (The New Yorker, Bill McKibben column $)
• Carbon markets will not save our planet (Context, Hemantha Withanage op-ed)
• Shipping tax could yield $100 bln climate windfall (Reuters, Hugo Dixon column)
• Be angry about the wildfire pollution – but be angry at the right people (The Guardian, Kate Aronoff column)
• Finding a new path to water conservation for the next millennium, for California and the world (LA Times, Peter Gleick op-ed $)
• How Africa could become a climate savior, not a victim (Bloomberg, Lara Williams op-ed $)
• President Biden’s focus on environmental justice has a crucial blind spot (Washington Post, Carly Krakow op-ed $)
• LGBTQ+ ‘state of emergency’ is no PR stunt (Bloomberg, Michael Arceneaux op-ed $)

Deniers Desperately Claim Wildfire Smoke Is Just As Safe As Cigarettes Or Fossil Fuels 

Last week, a thick blanket of wildfire smoke covered the northeast US, plunging NYC into an apocalyptic-looking orange and red haze and covering DC with a slightly less dystopian filter of dismal gray. The health impacts of breathing that smoke are obvious to anyone who got a lung full of soot and immediately began coughing it back up, giving the East Coast a taste of what West/Left/Best coasters have had to swallow for some years now. 

Mainstream media is predisposed to treat issues impacting NYC and DC with more attention than those regularly occurring in the West, so it did a pretty good job of covering the many dangerous health effects of breathing in smoke and smog. In response, deniers worked double time to distract and deny with disinformation. 

Predictably, Fox News led the charge and platformed air-pollution-denier Steve Milloy, who was once fired from Fox for failing to disclose his tobacco industry work. Amusingly, many pointed out that the man who professionally lied about the health impacts of secondhand smoke before a career change to professionally lying about the health impacts of fossil fuel smoke was probably not the best choice to provide unbiased or accurate commentary on the health impacts of wildfire smoke. As it turns out, all three sources of smoke are bad! 

Whether you're burning a "low-tar" cigarette, "clean" coal, oil, diesel, methane ("natural") gas, or a Canadian forest, the resulting soot is extremely hazardous to human health, as the tiny bits of char, or particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5 in the technical jargon), work their way deep into lung tissue where they can cause or worsen respiratory issues, and even all the way into the bloodstream. 

The fact that tobacco, fossil fuels, and forests all emit this dangerous pollutant when burned is the through line for Steve Milloy's whole career as a denier. His "JunkScience" project began and still serves as an effort to deny the harms of secondhand smoke and prevent regulations on smoking. When that failed, he took his PM2.5 denial to coal companies, and worked for them to deny the science showing the harms of their product. He attempted to integrate his approach into the federal government during the Trump administration, though thankfully even there his rank denial was too unpalatable to survive long-term. 

That certainly hasn't stopped him from making right-wing media appearances, however, and even worse, Milloy was hardly the only professional polluter apologist platformed by Fox "News." 

Fox ran the climate-denying Wall Street Journal's climate disinfo to downplay the link between the Canadian wildfires and climate change and distort the multiple studies making the connection along with NOAA. 

The network had "walking conflict of interest" David Bernhardt on to defend his clients by denying the climate component and blaming forest management instead, which is a classic way to both reject climate solutions and help out the timber industry that's eager to chop down the forests to harvest timber in the name of wildfire prevention.   

Fox also handed the mic to Koch crony Daniel Turner of Power the Future, the polluter lobby shop that denies its own lobbying, and he immediately attacked AOC, because of course. Last and definitely least, the Ingraham Angle platformed Heartland Institute Senior Fellow Anthony Watts, who also belittled Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a "bartender turned politician" and contrasted himself as an expert without an agenda who just looks at the data.  

For the record (and please forgive us for the ivory tower snobbery that we're only indulging because Anthony broached the issue to trade on his supposed expertise), Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez worked her way through college, yes, as a bartender, to graduate cum laude with a double bachelor’s in international relations and economics from Boston University, before being elected to the US House of Representatives. 

In contrast, Anthony Watts, who wanted Fox viewers to believe that he, not "bartender turned politician" AOC, was the ultimate arbiter of climate science, has yet to earn a university degree despite being decades older than the subject of his derision whose credentials he minimizes. And after a career on local TV news reading the weather off a teleprompter, Watts is now in retirement as a paid employee of the Heartland Institute, a group that has taken funding from the fossil fuel AND tobacco industries to deny the harmful impacts of fossil fuels and tobacco. 

The tobacco and fossil fuel industries have spent decades seeding disinformation operations across the media landscape, so Fox News had plenty of options for people to bring on to mislead viewers about climate change and the health impacts of breathing in smoke and soot, the dangers of which have been regulated at least since AT LEAST the age of King Edward I, who banned the burning of "sea coales" in London because of pollution during his reign around the year 1300. For over 700 years, we've understood that breathing in smoke is bad, but that's not stopping Fox. 

And while we might not go quite so far as his successor, King Edward II, who tortured those who polluted, by the late 1300s, the more reasonable mind of Richard II simply levied a tax to reduce the pollution. 

What a concept! Someone should tell Republicans about it; surely they're not more anti-science and willing to sacrifice the lives of their constituents than literal monarchs in the Dark Ages, right? 

…Right?

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 ($)