Southern Heatwave Kills, Texas Inmates Left To Suffer: The climate-fueled heatwave broasting the southern U.S. has already killed at least 11 people in Texas, 21 people in northern Mexico, and an unknown number of migrants and people incarcerated in Texas jails. At least nine people incarcerated in Texas jails have died since the beginning of the heatwave, including Tommy McCullough, a 35-year-old who died of what the prison system says was cardiac arrest after mowing in the sun outside a Huntsville prison last Friday — a day on which the lowest temperature was 80°F. More than two-thirds of Texas prisons lack air conditioning or even adequate cooling — nevertheless the state prison system has not acknowledged a single heat-caused death in over a decade despite numerous wrongful death lawsuits and its agreement to install air conditioning in one facility in order to settle a civil rights lawsuit. McCullough told a friend the night before he died that prison guards refused to bring him water, his sister Kristie Williams told the Texas Tribune. It's a complaint many other inmates have relayed to their families in recent weeks. “He had so much life ahead of him,” Williams said. “There was so much he wanted to do and he was capable of doing. He just had to get this behind him.” (Heat deaths: CNN; Prison deaths: Texas Tribune, KXAN; Climate connection: New York Times $; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)

Wildfire Smoke Worsens Existing Inequities: The toxic wildfire smoke blanketing large swaths of the Midwest and eastern U.S. is exacerbating extant air pollution risks, especially for historically excluded communities. Racist policy decisions have resulted in polluting industries and highways to be located in or near color and low-income communities. Communities in Detroit, which is predominantly Black with a 30% poverty rate, saw some of the most polluted air in the U.S. on Wednesday. “The more breaths you’re taking, you’re inhaling, literally, a fire, camp smoke, into your lungs,” resident Darren Riley, who was diagnosed with asthma in 2018 a few years after moving to the city, told the AP. “Many communities face this way too often … And while this wildfire smoke allows, unfortunately, many people to feel this burden, this is a burden that far too long communities have faced day in and day out.” Smoke from the wildfires has reached as far as the Iberian Peninsula and is not expected to fully abate until the end of the summer. The fires have burned an area of Canada's boreal forests the size of South Carolina and have already broken the annual record for Canadian wildfire carbon emissions since records began in 2003. (Smoke impacts: AP; Detroit air quality: The Hill; Fires: Axios; Climate connection: New York Times $; Carbon emissions: Reuters; Climate Signals background: Wildfires)

Massive Hajj Takes Place In Extreme Heat: This year's Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, could be one of the biggest and hottest in history. More than 2.5 million people have made the pilgrimage — the first without pandemic restrictions — in a region heating twice as fast as the planetary average. Wet-bulb temperatures, a metric that reflects heat stress on the human body, in Mecca are nearly 3.6°F (2°C) hotter in Mecca than they were just 30 years ago — an increase largely attributable to climate change. The human impact of the climate-fueled heat is exacerbated by the Islamic calendar and the demographics of Hajj participants. The dates of the Hajj follow the lunar calendar and as such, the pilgrimage has taken place in Saudi Arabia's hottest months since 2017 and will continue to do so for the next three years. Hajj participants are also disproportionately elderly, having saved for decades to be able to afford to make the pilgrimage expected of every Muslim who is physically capable and has the financial means at least once in their lifetime. (Heatmap $, AP, Deutsche Welle, AFP via Barron's; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: POWER Interfaith proposes the ‘People’s Energy Plan,’ pushing PECO to use more renewable energy (Philadelphia Inquirer)

HEAT AND SMOKE: Heat and smoke are smothering most of the U.S., putting lives at risk (Washington Post $, The Guardian, Reuters), California set to face its first major heat wave of the year (Washington Post $), The emerging science of tracing smoke back to wildfires (New York Times $)

• SOUTHERN HEAT: Emergency room visits and 911 calls for heat illness spike during Texas heat wave (Inside Climate News), Solar power proves its worth as heat wave grips the state (Texas Tribune), Texas power use breaks record as heat wave continues to roast the south (Gizmodo, Axios), Texas’s nighttime temperatures are a symptom of a new, more dangerous kind of heat wave (CNN)
• WILDFIRE SMOKE: Expect a hot, smoky summer in much of America. Here’s why you’d better get used to it (AP), Canada wildfire smoke is drifting from the midwest to the east coast (Washington Post $, CNN PHOTOS, CNN, New York Times $, New York Times $), Canadian wildfire smoke prompts air quality alert issued for Kentucky (The Hill), Chicago air quality unhealthy as Canadian wildfire emissions reach record levels and send smoke to Europe (The Independent, Gizmodo, Democracy Now), What the smoke has in store for the midwest (Heatmap $), Rain hasn’t quelled Canadian wildfires, and more smoky haze is on the way, officials say (AP)

EAT YOUR PIE AND FUHGEDDABOUDIT: Here’s what’s actually happening with wood- and coal-fired pizza ovens in NYC (CNN)

MOUNTAINS: Warming causes more extreme rain, not snow, over mountains. Scientists say that’s a problem (AP, New York Times $)

THE HEADLINE WRITES ITSELF: California man gets prison for nearly $9M phony cow manure-to-green energy investment scheme (AP, New York Times $)

COP28: What’s next on the road from Paris to Dubai for climate finance (FT $)

MONTANA CLIMATE TRIAL: In a Montana courtroom, debate over whether states can make a difference on climate change, and if they have a responsibility to try (Inside Climate News, CNN), Meet the kids suing their state over climate change (CNN)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Marshall Islands, a nation at the heart of global shipping, fights for climate justice (The Conversation), EU calls for global talks on climate geoengineering risks (Reuters), EU renewable energy law clears first vote after French nuclear assurances (Reuters), US ‘still on the fence’ as nations debate global shipping emission tax (Climate Home)

GREENWASHING & DENIAL: Defining greenwashing (Bloomberg $)

GOP vs. ESG: To sidestep ‘weaponized’ ESG, do-good funds embrace a new label (Bloomberg $)

PIPELINES: FERC approves all construction on Mountain Valley (E&E News), Greens: Court should ax [Mountain Valley] pipeline provision in debt deal (E&E $) 

SCOTUS: Sackett fallout leaves wetlands’ fate to states (E&E News)

AGENCIES: Pressure builds for FEMA to declare deadly heat events as disasters (Washington Post $), Judge frustrates FOIA bid for Paris Agreement docs (E&E $)

EPA: US launches $7 billion program to bring solar to low-income households (Reuters, The Hill, Politico Pro $), EPA halts 'Cancer Alley' civil rights probe (E&E $)

DOE: DOE lab anticipates need for massive EV charger boost (E&E $), DOE: US energy sector jobs surge in 2022 (Politico Pro $), US to miss DOE's hydrogen goals by wide margin — report (E&E $)

DOT: Infrastructure funding is bringing zero-emission buses to communities that need them most (Grist), States get billions in DOT grants with a climate angle (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: White House takes its sales pitch to the road, touting legislative wins in GOP strongholds (Politico Pro $), Auto-industry group assails Biden’s plan to electrify America’s cars (New York Times $)

THE HILL: Democrats push EPA for more action on plastic waste (E&E $)

HOUSE: Mid-Atlantic lawmakers urge more offshore wind leasing (E&E $), 

ELECTIONS: ‘Central Park Five’ member is headed for a huge election win (MSNBC)

CITIES AND STATES: Former Ohio house speaker awaits sentence on $60 million bribery scheme (New York Times $), Hawai’i looks to tackle equity considerations of siting energy infrastructure as part of new docket (Utility Dive), Oregon lawmakers make a play for more federal climate money (E&E News), Maine's governor vetoes offshore wind bill, breaking with Biden's labor pledge (Washington Post $), Manhattan’s Battery Park City tries to protect itself from flooding a decade after Hurricane Sandy (Bloomberg $), How’s the weather up there? It’ll be harder for Alaska to tell as a longtime program goes off air (AP), ‘Does this mean that my existence is illegal now?’: New Kansas anti-trans law brings legal unknowns (The 19th* News), Los Angeles DWP to halt water and power shut-offs for all customers during extreme weather (LA Times $)

IMPACTS: Climate crisis linked to rising domestic violence in south Asia, study finds (The Guardian), Global warming is disrupting humanity’s ‘Goldilocks zone’ on Earth (Yale Climate Connections), Mosquito that can carry viral infections spreads northward in US (Yale Climate Connections), People move to higher ground after selling flood-prone homes (E&E $), A couple’s quixotic quest to save their drowning island – one rock at a time (The Guardian)

WILDFIRES: Can Nepal get to grips with worsening climate-fuelled wildfires? (Context)

HURRICANES: Hurricane Adrian churns off the coast of Mexico in the eastern pacific (New York Times $

DROUGHT: Low water again hampers Rhine river shipping in Germany (Reuters)

RENEWABLES: Hydropower IPO tests appetite for weather risks (Reuters)

BUILDINGS: The race to Tesla-ify heat pumps (Heatmap $)

METHANE: Why won’t companies use this quick fix to reduce cow methane emissions? (Bloomberg $)

OIL & GAS: Analysts expect 82 billion-cubic-foot rise in US natural-gas inventories (Wall Street Journal $), Cheaper natural-gas prices in store this summer (Wall Street Journal $), Norway approves $18.5 billion investment in oil and gas projects (OilPrice, Reuters), Oil ticks up after EIA confirms huge crude draw (OilPrice), Uganda expects to start oil production from Tilenga project in 2025 (Reuters)

ORPHANED WELLS: Biden seeks to shield taxpayers from costs of cleaning up aging offshore oil wells (Bloomberg $)

NUKES: The nuclear industry’s big bet on going small (Vox)

UTILITIES: The spying scandal inside one of America’s biggest power companies (Wall Street Journal $), Ohio utilities could resume energy efficiency programs under bipartisan bill (Energy News Network), Activist investor Elliott seeks new NRG Energy CEO, revamped company strategy (Utility Dive)

EVs: EV jobs climb as union blasts electric shift (E&E $), As charging headaches persist, automakers turn to Tesla’s supercharger network (Grist), California ranks first on state EV score card (E&E $), Lordstown, an early EV darling, declares bankruptcy (E&E $), Right-to-charge laws bring the promise of EVs to apartments, condos and rentals (The Conversation), Threatened by shortages, electric car makers race for supplies of lithium for batteries (AP)

THE SOUND OF SAWZALLS AT MIDNIGHT: Jacked: How Tulsa cops brought down a $500 million catalytic converter crime ring (Bloomberg $)

AGRICULTURE: Why vertical farming just doesn’t work (Canary Media)

BUSINESSES: Nestle puts Kitkat carbon neutrality in greenwashing graveyard (Bloomberg $), Inflation, geopolitics, climate change and the AI revolution are top concerns for global CEOs: BCG (CNBC)

CARBON CAPTURE: Wyoming, Colorado to partner on developing carbon capture technologies (The Hill)

POP CULTURE: Hollywood grapples with how to use its climate superpowers (Bloomberg $)

DIVESTMENT (?): Divesting from fossil fuels would have saved US pension funds $21 billion (OilPrice), Your 401(k) plan may be worsening climate change, expert says (CNBC), Campaigners urge UK pension funds to review $112 billion fossil fuel investments (OilPrice)

FINANCE: 'Lack of ambition': Banks don't fight for climate policy — report (E&E $), Green energy investor CIP sees regulation, not cost, as biggest challenge (Reuters)

WILDLIFE: 'Unprecedented' number of sick sea lions washing up on California beaches (Axios)

INTERNATIONAL: ‘Whatever it takes’: The activists who risk prison to shatter Australia’s climate complacency (The Guardian), Environmental governance in the Amazon (Mongabay), Spain raises bet on green hydrogen, biogas in draft plan (Reuters), New Zealand says it’s the first to ban thin plastic bags from supermarkets (AP)

• CHINA: China on track to blow past Xi’s clean power goal five years early (Bloomberg $), China to release millions of barrels of imported oil stuck at ports (OilPrice)
• UK: Climate watchdog slams UK government for backtracking on its fossil fuel pledges (AP, S&P GLobal, Climate Home), UK to run only one coal-fired power plant this winter (The Guardian, Reuters), High costs deterring legal challenges in England and Wales to protect environment, NGOs say (The Guardian)
• INDIA: India eyes cap on state transmission charges on green power purchase by industries (Reuters), India gears up for multibillion-dollar battery subsidies (FT $), India has raised issues regarding Germany's green hydrogen tender, official says (Reuters)

• So what if fossil fuel lobbyists have to declare themselves at COP28? That won’t curb their power (The Guardian, Amy Westervelt column)
• The rising ocean will extinguish more than land. It will kill entire languages (The Guardian, Anastasia Riehl op-ed)
• A community leader on why aid work is necessary to build climate resilience (Grist, Valencia Gunder interview)
• Business as usual? Heating and cooling in the EU's updated renewable energy directive (Energy Monitor, Duncan Gibb op-ed)
• The Guardian view on Rishi Sunak and net zero: a cowardly retreat (The Guardian Editorial Board)
• Lula risks a big loss in the Amazon (Bloomberg, Eduardo Porter op-ed $)
• Saving this fish means saving our tribe’s future (Civil Eats, Jeanine Pfeiffer and Ron Montez Sr. op-ed)
• Actually, your neighbors really do care about climate (Bloomberg, Mark Gongloff column $)
• AI - and a start-up mindset - can fast-track clean energy projects (Context, Owen Gaffney, Johan Falk, and Aaron Vaden-Youmans op-ed)
• How heat discrimination divides US cities — right down to the trees (FT, Patti Waldmeir op-ed $)
• Local solar and storage are essential to the electrification movement (Utility Dive, Robin Dutta op-ed)
• The risk of gentrifying queerness (Yes Magazine, Ale Pedraza Buenahora op-ed)

CFACT's Duggan Flanakin Is Officially Our Favorite Zonked Out Source Of EV Disinfo

Usually, monitoring disinformation is pretty much the opposite of fun. But now and again you get to come across someone really letting loose and taking advantage of the fact that there are zero editorial constraints at disinfo outlets, and that’s pretty entertaining to witness. 

When it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), as we noted last year, for every serious attack you can prepare for, there's a Duggan Flanakin of CFACT with an op-ed that comes from out of left field with some impressively ridiculous claim.

As you may remember, back in May, we suggested "maybe Flanakin’s just enjoying his easy job at CFACT a little too much" because his writing was so, like, you know, out there, dude. After all, and please bear with us for a moment here because this is going somewhere, he even "mixed the metaphors of the Hookah-smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland with Puff, the Magic Dragon." 

Then on top of those fun if muddled drug references, he "claimed 'Europeans may be rejecting the EV kool-aid','' and we noted “that metaphor was about a racist mass murder and not the LSD-laced electric kool-aid that we suspected Flanakin may have over-indulged in" a few months before. That's because in a prior February post, Flanakin combined AI concerns with EV fearmongering and a forced "Age of Aquarius" metaphor, and it seemed as though perhaps "it'd been written [by AI] in the style of an author who ate so much acid in the 70s that he's still tripping."

And now, as though he read that criticism and decided to lean into it with a brain-melting batch of Kool-Aid-flavored EV disinfo, Flanakin's latest RealClearEnergy op-ed is headlined "The EV Kool-Aid Acid Test." Once again, he digs into the groovy vibes of the '60s to try and make yet another repetition of anti-EV disinfo seem new and fresh and interesting.

According to Flanakin, the fact that the CEO of General Motors said, "Once you've experienced an EV … you're in" is similar to how "In his 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, author Tom Wolfe portrayed Ken Kesey as a man seeing [sic] to create a new religion… a new society based on psychedelic transcendence." 

Flanakin follows that logical leap from an oh-so-timely reference serving as his introductory news peg with fifteen paragraphs of standard anti-EV disinformation, before apparently remembering what the headline of the ramble, and tacking on "Kool-Aid, anyone?" to the end. 

…Yes? Or whatever it is you're having, Duggan, we'll take a double! 

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