Offshore Wind Could Meet Quarter Of US Elec. Demand By 2050 — Report: The U.S. has over 4,000 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, one of the best offshore wind resources in the world, a new report from UC Berkeley, Energy Innovation, and Grid Lab finds. If the correct policy actions are taken in the near-term, those resources could account for as much as one quarter of U.S. electricity generation in less than 30 years, employ up to 390,000 people, and generate up to $1.8 trillion in economic development — all without materially impacting electricity costs. Offshore wind resources are also located near some of the country's most populous regions. “The good news about this offshore wind potential is it is spread out across the country from the East Coast, West Coast to the Gulf, as well as the Great Lakes region,” UC Berkeley senior scientist Nikit Abhyankar said in a statement. “This will be a critical resource to diversify our clean energy supply.” The Biden administration has set goals of generating 30GW of traditional offshore wind by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind generation by 2035. (The Verge, Recharge News, Riviera, KCBX, reNEWS, Staten Island Live, EnergyPortal.eu, California Examiner)

LNG Export Terminals Polluting More Than Claimed: There is growing evidence that gas export terminals along the Gulf Coast consistently violate pollution limits, releasing more climate-heating methane and other toxins not previously estimated or accounted for, The Lens reports. Worryingly, the facilities are not required to make the residents aware of such leaks and accidents in real time, exposing them to respiratory and other issues. This threatens the lives and air quality of the overwhelmingly Black and Brown communities nearby, and calls into question the climate and community impact of 20 more terminals planned nationwide. The Louisiana-based Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass export facility, for example, exceeded hourly emissions limits of air permits over 100 times last year. And throughout its first year of operation, the Calcasieu Pass facility was out of compliance with its air permits for a whopping 286 days of the year. Now, like many other firms seeking to loosen public safeguards, the facility is lobbying the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to increase its carbon dioxide and toxic standards by 17%. “They’ve got significant problems all over the place,” Anne Rolfes, head of local environmental justice group Louisiana Bucket Brigade, said of Venture Global. “And then their response is not to fix any problems but then apply to the state to increase their permits.” (The Lens NOLA)

Accelerating EV Battery Demands Could Strain Supplies: The growing range and size of electric vehicles, including gargantuan 8,000 pound trucks, threatens to strain the supply of raw materials and supply chain capacity needed to keep up with battery demand, BlombergNEF's recent Electric Vehicle Outlook warns. Worldwide, average EV battery pack sizes have increased 10% annually from 2018 to 2022 and now average about 60 kWh, but the megalotrucks heavily marketed in the U.S. routinely include 100 kWh batteries. The outsized consumption of battery resources by trucks approaching the size of a WW2 tank is especially stark given the range penalty caused by the vehicles' colossal weight. A report earlier this year from the Climate and Community Project found reducing EV battery sizes, along with other transportation policy reforms and improved lithium recycling, could cut lithium demand by as much as two-thirds. (EV battery size increase: Bloomberg $; Critical minerals: Washington Post $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Schistostega pennata: grief & the luminous land (Scalawag Magazine), Cut off from nature, UK's ethnic minorities hit harder by heat (Context), Texas colleges already notice changes 1 month after governor bans DEI offices (Prism Reports)

PIPELINE PROBLEMS: Fourth aquifer rupture discovered along Line 3 in northern Minnesota (Star Tribune $, AP), Pipeline operators to pay $12.5M after spills in Montana, North Dakota (AP, E&E $)

COP28: US and UAE oil producers strike carbon capture agreement (E&E $)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Europe’s manufacturers are struggling to shift away from gas (Bloomberg $), Russia’s seaborne crude flows slump to the lowest since January (Bloomberg $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Caught between China and Russia, Mongolia seeks closer US ties (Wall Street Journal $), Germany hails breakthrough in EU talks on power plant plans (Reuters)

DENIAL & COMPLICITY: Students give top law firms an F on climate (E&E $)

MEDIA: Journalists can help explain climate’s role in extreme weather, even before all the data comes in (Nieman Lab)

FINANCE: Ratings firms struggle with climate risk in $133 trillion market (Bloomberg $)

🐦🗑️🔥: Anti-hate speech group accuses Elon Musk’s X Corp of intimidation over legal threat (The Guardian)

AGENCIES: Meet the $2.7 billion frog (E&E News), Why FEMA doesn’t respond to heat waves (Grist)

EPA: Biden’s EPA has resolved only one civil rights complaint brought since 2021 (Capital B News), 14 states slam EPA over 'insufficient' plastics plan (E&E $)

DOE: DOE eases proposed gas stove efficiency mandates amid GOP criticisms (Politico Pro $, E&E $), DOE finalizes efficiency standards for pool pumps and commercial water heaters, proposes boiler rules (Utility Dive), DOE makes $450M available for residential solar, battery systems in Puerto Rico (Utility Dive, E&E $)

• LIGHT BULBS: Bulb becomes a flashpoint as the sun sets on incandescent lights (New York Times $), It’s official: stores can no longer sell most incandescent lights (New York Times $, The Verge, Washington Examiner), The US just banned most incandescent light bulbs, and few people even noticed (The Week), What you need to know about the incandescent light bulb ban (CNN, The Hill)

DOT: Biden administration proposes 58 mpg fuel economy standard to help drive transition to EVs (Utility Dive), DOT should weigh climate in oil NEPA reviews, greens say (E&E $)

TREASURY: Yellen warns of growing climate dangers to US economy (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: White House takes a crack at much-needed permitting reform (Grist), White House to agencies: Tally projects’ financial damage to ecosystems (E&E News)

THE HILL: Republicans want to plant a trillion trees. Scientists are skeptical. (Washington Post $), Republican senators ask EPA to scrap power plant carbon rule (E&E $, The Hill)

POLITICS: Clean energy finds support with non-college voters — report (E&E $), The far right has a ‘battle plan’ to undo climate progress should Trump win in 2024 (Inside Climate News)

ELECTIONS: DeSantis targets EVs, ESG, regulations in presidential plan (E&E $), Trump charged in probe of Jan. 6, efforts to overturn 2020 election (Washington Post $)

CITIES AND STATES: A large gold mine you’ve probably never heard of is quietly preparing to start production in interior Alaska, despite critics’ objections (Alaska Public Media, Grist), Virginia makes exit from regional emissions program official, drawing appeal (The Hill, E&E $)

• CALIFORNIA: California’s ambitious 2030 climate target faces serious obstacles, regulator acknowledges (Sacramento Bee $), California sees success tying energy efficiency rebates to real results (Canary Media)

FERC: Federal regulators approve new rules to ease power connection backlogs (Virginia Mercury), FERC-backed grid forum ends with pushback from gas sector (E&E $), NYISO warns FERC waiver for Hecate’s 650-MW storage project could set bad precedent (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: As climate change leads to more and wetter storms, cholera cases are on the rise (AP, Grist), Brain-eating amoeba: Will the warming climate bring more cases? (The Hill), California winter waves may be boosted by climate change, imperiling fragile coast (The Hill), Climate change is raising the threat level on rain (Bloomberg $)

• EAST ASIA: A powerful typhoon pounds Japan’s Okinawa and injures more than 30 people as it moves toward China (AP, Bloomberg $), Beijing records 29 inches of rain from Saturday to Wednesday, its most in at least 140 years (AP), Typhoon Doksuri floods Beijing, kills dozens in China and Philippines (Washington Post, PHOTOS $)

HEAT: Climate change made July hotter for 4 of 5 humans on Earth, scientists find (AP), 4 factors driving 2023’s extreme heat and climate disasters (The Conversation), A new summer reality: Hospitals and ERs see more parents with heat-related illness (NPR), Iran shuts down for two days because of 'unprecedented heat' (Reuters), Miami is used to heat, but not like this (Inside Climate News), Iran orders nationwide shutdown because of ‘unprecedented’ heat (New York Times $)

• HOUSING: As Arizona builds to solve a housing crisis, will its homes withstand future heat extremes? (Arizona Republic), Withering heat is more common, but getting AC is still a struggle in public housing (NPR)
• WORKERS: As heat strikes, so do workers (Grist), How hot weather affects worker productivity -- and what that means for the economy (CBS), Miami workers fight for better labor conditions in the heat (Prism Reports)
• PHOENIX: Record monthlong string of days above 110 degrees finally ends in Phoenix (CBS), Phoenix is first US city with a monthly temperature above 100°F (Axios, The Hill, Bloomberg $)
• TEXAS: Texas power use hits record for sixth time this summer as heat wave lingers (Reuters)

WILDFIRES: America’s fire season has only just begun (Heatmap $)

• YORK FIRE: Progress made against massive California-Nevada wildfire but flames may burn iconic Joshua trees (AP, The Hill, AP, Axios), Crews balance firefighting and protecting a fragile ecosystem in containing California-Nevada blaze (AP)

HURRICANES: Florida hurricane recovery continues as oceans warm (AP)

GREEN GROUPS: Green group inks union contract after internal conflict (E&E News)

BOOZE: Spain's cava makers seek creative fixes as drought threatens grape harvests (Reuters)

RENEWABLES: Defunct Kentucky coal mine will become solar energy site (E&E $), Coast Guard veteran is on a mission for solar (Yale Climate Connections), NJ, Danish turbine developer sued over offshore wind tax break (E&E $), Young workers are flocking to renewable jobs, but the sector remains short on labor, reports show (Utility Dive)

BATTERIES: Why EV battery makers are so hungry for clean energy (E&E News)

BUILDINGS: The ‘future of housing’ has arrived in all-electric Colorado developments (Colorado Newsline), Did big expectations doom the tiny house movement? (Grist), Xcel must cut emissions from its gas business 22% by 2030. The role heat pumps can play is a point of dispute. (The Colorado Sun)

OIL & GAS: BP profit declines more steeply than peers’ as lower oil and gas prices bite (Wall Street Journal $), BP appeal requires more than short-term sweeteners (Reuters), OPEC output plunges by most since 2020 as Saudis deepen cuts (Bloomberg $), Why are gas[oline] prices rising? Experts point to extreme heat and oil production cuts (AP)

PLASTICS: 'Chasing arrows' plastic recycling symbol may get tossed in the trash (CBS), Indonesia cracks down on the scourge of imported plastic waste (Yale Environment 360)

COAL: A sweltering world is likely to match record coal use of 2022 (E&E $)

HYDROGEN: Xcel Energy on its way to a 'carbon-free' future (Prairie Public News)

NUKES: US marks major nuclear milestone as Georgia reactor enters commercial operation (HuffPost), New Mexico residents impacted by Trinity Test may get compensation (Axios)

UTILITIES: Top US utility group opposes emissions plan for existing gas plants-source (Reuters)

GRID: Audubon maps out ‘bird-friendly’ transmission expansion (E&E $)

EVs: The Wild West of luxury EVs (Heatmap $)

AVIATION: Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia tests palm oil-blended jet fuel (Reuters)

CARBON PRICING: Carbon offset market opens to small southern timberland owners (Wall Street Journal $)

CARBON CAPTURE: Occidental, Adnoc agree to review carbon capture investments (Bloomberg $)

FOOD: Lab-grown chicken coming to restaurant tables and, eventually, stores (CBS)

HERITAGE: UNESCO recommends adding Venice to list of world heritage sites in danger (Reuters, New York Times $)

WILDLIFE: Once nearing extinction, Brazil’s golden monkeys have rebounded from yellow fever, scientists say (AP)

INTERNATIONAL: Australia’s green rules rile key gas buyers (Bloomberg $), Brazil seeks European trade advantages in return for Amazon protection (Climate Home), Cash-strapped Egypt swelters as power outages pile on the pain (Bloomberg $), EU-Mercosur trade deal stalls on climate concerns (Energy Monitor), In Brazil, the legal theory that could strip Indigenous peoples of their land (Yale Climate Connections), Israel holds over 1,200 detainees without charge. That’s the most in 3 decades, a rights group says (AP), UK's North Sea move shows tensions between energy security, climate (Axios), UK sets out support to make Nigeria's agriculture sector more climate-resilient (Reuters)

• Wind farms off California’s coast should be the future of the state’s clean energy grid (LA Times, Michelle Solomon and Taylor McNair op-ed $)
• It’s time for the US to chart a new path for offshore wind (Forbes, Michelle Solomon op-ed)
• Deep inside mountains, work is getting much more dangerous (New York Times, Drew Harris op-ed $)
• GMO corn won’t save US from climate change (Bloomberg, Amanda Little op-ed $)
• House GOP fiddles while America burns (The Hill, Bill Press op-ed)
• Interregional transmission: The US is the tortoise, China is the hare (Utility Dive, James McCalley op-ed)
• As Guyana shows, carbon offsets will not save the Amazon rainforest (Climate Home, Joe Eisen op-ed)
• Offshore wind industry is caught in a financial hurricane (Bloomberg, Liam Denning column $)
• It’s getting too hot for airplanes (Bloomberg, Mark Gongloff column $)
• Energy permitting is broken: New analytics can fix it (The Hill, Elan Sykes and Paul Bledsoe op-ed)
• Climate change hasn’t set the world on fire (Wall Street Journal, Bjorn Lomborg op-ed $)

If Your Lightbulbs Disappear This Week, Blame Biden… (If They Don't, You'll Know Who's Lying) 

Yesterday, an Indiana ban on abortion went into effect, one of many such laws Republicans are pushing in states across the country in the wake of the Leonard Leo-packed Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v. Wade last year. 

"So much for getting government out of our homes and lives," tweeted Sarah Fields, President of the Texas Freedom Coalition. But she wasn’t talking about dystopian restrictions on reproductive rights! She was referring to the Biden administration's new regulations going into effect yesterday phasing out the sale of inefficient lights… 

Yes, even as the Republican Party inserts government restrictions between Americans and their own reproductive health, the professional complainer class has been hard at work lamenting Big Government's oppression of incandescent light bulbs. 

Fox News helpfully turned the tweets into what it considers journalism, with @SarahisCensored Fields' quote as a headline. Robby Starbuck, "a former Republican candidate for Congress" (long way of spelling "loser") apparently tweeted that it's "just plain stupid.” “I have LED but the government has no place telling us what kind of light bulb we can buy. States should immediately refuse compliance with this ridiculous government overreach." 

Bob Good of Virginia, a Republican who actually managed to get elected, tweeted, "It's impossible for Democrats to leave us alone. States must fight back." 

Yes! Of course! States’ rights! What a perfect banner behind which small government conservatives can rally, as they fight for the right to buy energy wasting light bulbs, and deny abortion access. 

Whether the question is about slavery or light bulbs, the conservative answer is apparently the same. The invocation of "states’ rights" regarding the Civil War was always a lie. The fact that conservatives are trotting it out to defend light bulbs shows how deeply unserious the opposition to common sense regulations has become. Apparently states should fight the federal government over light bulbs!

And when this week comes and goes without all the incandescent light bulbs in the country simultaneously going dark, it'll be just one more reminder that if someone invokes states’ rights, you can probably ignore them.

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