New England Utility Leaves AGA To 'Focus On Decarbonization': Eversource, the biggest energy utility company in New England, has split from the American Gas Association in order to "focus on decarbonization," WBUR reports. “Citing decarbonization, I think, is about as diplomatic as [Eversource is] going get to saying that AGA's climate policies weren't aligned with theirs," Charlie Spatz, a researcher with the Energy Policy Institute, told WBUR. "It’s a pretty clear way to say ‘it’s a climate thing’ without saying it.” Though the utility publicly stated its decision to leave the AGA was "not necessarily based on an incompatibility with the AGA" — a group with a long history of actively undermining climate action and undermining climate science — utility experts called the move unprecedented and said the split could augur future utility splits from the group, similar to utilities exodus from the trade group formerly known as the American Coalition of Clean Coal Electricity. “[The American Gas Association] has been on the front lines of delaying the clean energy transition,” UC-Santa Barbara professor Leah Stokes told WBUR. “To have a gas utility wake up and say, ‘you know what? We don't want to be part of the problem anymore. We want to be part of the solution’ — that's a really hopeful trend.” (WBUR)

Hawaiians Flee Into The Ocean As Wildfires Blaze: People are fleeing into the sea to escape raging wildfires on Maui and Hawaii's Big Island. “The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea told reporters. The fast-spreading blazes, fueled by winds from passing Hurricane Dora, forced evacuations, caused power outages, and burned at least two homes along with much of downtown Lahaina. “Buildings on both sides were engulfed. There were no fire trucks at that point; I think the fire department was overwhelmed,” Front Street business owner Alan Dickar told Hawaii News Now. “That is the most important business street on Maui.” Maui County officials said the people who fled into the ocean to escape the smoke and fire conditions were transported by the Coast Guard to a safe area. Maui County is one of the dozens of states and municipalities across the country suing fossil fuel companies for — allegedly — conspiring to deceive the public about climate science and the climate-heating impacts of their products. (CNN, Hawaii News Now, AP)

Climate Change Could Be Good For Oil Hedge Funds, Not As Much For Everyone Else: Extreme heat breaking Gulf Coast oil refineries, the hottest Atlantic ocean temperatures in 120,000 years potentially supercharging Atlantic hurricanes, and the ongoing war in Ukraine are all great news for hedge funds seeking to profit off the resulting higher gasoline prices. For people and businesses, however, the record-breaking 15 billion-dollar extreme weather disasters in the U.S. during the first half of this year are a major concern, to say nothing of the at least 113 people killed by those events. Concurrent extreme drought and heavy rain have combined to disrupt American wheat harvests — in a year of major wheat shortages caused by the Russian war in Ukraine, Kansas farmers expect their smallest harvests in more than 50 years. A survey released Tuesday by global insurance brokerage Gallagher found approximately 83% of U.S. business owners are actively, or will very likely seek additional insurance policies with 68% of business owners saying risks arising from climate change and natural disasters over the next 12 months are a major concern. (Hedge funds: Reuters; Billion-dollar disasters: The Hill, Weather Channel, KATC, Common Dreams; Farmers: New York Times $; Insurance: Reuters; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves, Sea surface temperature increase)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: On Chicago’s south side, neighbors fight to keep Lake Michigan at bay (Grist), Inundation and injustice: Flooding presents a formidable threat to the Great Lakes region (Inside Climate News)

COP28: Rich nations must meet $100 billion climate goal, COP28 director says (Bloomberg $), Host of UN climate summit moves to 'counteract all negative press' (Washington Post $)

VERMONT FLOODS: FEMA maps said they weren’t in a flood zone. Then came the rain. (Grist), Why so many Vermonters were blindsided by July's flooding (WBUR)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Leaders of Amazon nations gather in Brazil for summit on rainforest’s future (The Guardian, Wall Street Journal $, AP), Amazon countries, led by Brazil, sign a rainforest pact (New York Times $), Amazon nations fail to agree on deforestation goal at summit (Reuters), Brazil’s Lula pushes end to deforestation, stumbles on fossil fuels (Politico EU)

MEDIA: ‘Native American’ or ‘Indigenous’? Journalism group rethinks name (AP)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: How COVID and Biden's climate law could usher in an era of green housing (Axios)

AGENCIES: Extreme heat is the deadliest natural disaster. FEMA can’t treat it like one (CNN)

EPA: Power-plant owners blast Biden’s emissions-cutting plan (Bloomberg $, Politico Pro $)

(Reuters, E&E $), Constellation Energy CEO ‘disappointed’ to see peers opposing EPA’s power plant carbon rule (Utility Dive), EIA hikes forecast for record US oil production (Politico Pro $), EPA chemicals director to exit (E&E $)

DOI: Greens press Biden to curb alfalfa exports to save Colorado River (E&E $), Judge upholds Interior ANWR oil leasing pause (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: White House deploys its 'best messenger' to sell climate law (E&E $), Most Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of climate change, poll shows (Inside Climate News)

• BAAJ NWAAVJO I’TAH KUKVEN NATIONAL MONUMENT: Biden creates new national monument near Grand Canyon, citing tribal heritage, climate concerns (AP, Grist, Bloomberg $, Axios, E&E News, Politico, Washington Post $), What you need to know about Biden’s new monument (E&E News), With national monument designation, Biden tries to balance electoral realities (New York Times $)

HOUSE: Colorado lawmaker introduces bipartisan measure to increase federal firefighters pay (The Hill), House Dems urge SEC to set 'strong and durable' climate rule (E&E $), House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ measures to must-pass bills (The 19th* News), House Dems urge SEC to set ‘strong and durable’ climate rule (E&E News)

SENATE: Manchin offers IRA praise with a big caveat (E&E $)

ELECTIONS: Oil executive Harold Hamm raises funds for DeSantis (E&E $), Pence rolls out energy plan with goal to make US top energy producer by 2040 (CNN),Ohio voters reject measure aimed at blocking abortion rights amendment (The 19th* News, Washington Post $, Bloomberg $, The Hill, Washington Post $)

CITIES AND STATES: Colorado gas rule ignites debate over pace of electrification (E&E News), Florida’s environmentalists are waging war — against each other (Heatmap $), Inside Pennsylvania's monitoring of the Shell petrochemical complex (Inside Climate News), Q&A: Dominion Energy, the regional greenhouse gas initiative and Virginia’s push toward renewables (Inside Climate News)

• CALIFORNIA: California judge pauses sweeping of homeless encampments amid heatwave (The Guardian), New California rule will cut carbon from baking Cheetos, chips and more (Canary Media)

IMPACTS: Afghanistan is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change (Prensa Latina), Torrent of water from Alaska glacier floods Juneau (New York Times $), After a glacial dam outburst destroyed homes in Alaska, a look at the risks of melting ice masses (AP, The Hill), Deadly floods hit China’s major grain-producing region, fueling food security concerns (CNN), European scientists make it official. July was the hottest month on record by far (AP), Floods, fires and torrential rains further bedevil Europe (New York Times $), Death toll in recent Beijing flooding rises to 33, with 18 still missing (AP), EU leader visits flood-ravaged Slovenia to discuss help in rebuilding (AP), Scientists look beyond climate change and El Nino for other factors that heat up Earth (AP), 59 countries could see credit ratings fall because of climate (E&E $), Storm Hans causes havoc in Norway with heaviest rain in 25 years forecast (The Guardian), What’s killing Florida’s coral reefs — and why you should care (Washington Post $)

ANTARCTICA: ‘Virtually certain’ extreme Antarctic events will get worse without drastic action, scientists warn (The Guardian), Antarctica risks ‘cascades of extreme events’ as earth warms, study says (Bloomberg $, FT $, AP)

HEAT: ‘Lose, lose, lose’: Oil-producing Persian Gulf faces extreme heat (E&E News), A crisis of isolation is making heat waves more deadly (Grist), Brutally hot summer becomes proving ground for new heat alert system (NBC), Can unions save workers from the heat? (Heatmap $), Hottest July on record kills hundreds of cows (Gizmodo), How doctors treat extreme heat (Grist), The heat tracker (Heatmap $), Robot mimics human reactions to extreme heat (ABC)

OCEANS: Missing ice and bleached coral: the sudden warming of the oceans (FT $), Recovery of Great Barrier Reef stalls as scientists point to bleaching, disease and starfish attacks (The Guardian)

WILDFIRES: Temperatures soar in Iberia as wildfires force the evacuation of 1,400 in Portugal (AP, The Guardian)

BOOZE: Champagne sales are booming. But its taste could soon change forever — thanks to climate change (CNBC)

RENEWABLES: Bright raises $32M to speed up rooftop solar installation in Mexico (Canary Media), Fishing group urges slowdown for Maine offshore wind (E&E $), 

• OFFSHORE WIND: Soaring costs threaten offshore wind farm projects (FT $), Siemens Energy warns of €4.5bn loss from ailing wind turbine division (FT $), Siemens Energy CEO on $2.4 billion wind turbine hit: We were ‘going too fast’ with new products (CNBC)

BATTERIES: Piedmont Lithium's plans to supply Tesla face skeptical North Carolina officials (Reuters)

BUILDINGS: Landmark Washington gas ban survives legal challenge (E&E $, Utility Dive), The humble heat pump blows a green wave across Europe (FT $)

LNG: Norway approves connection of Western Europe's largest LNG plant to grid (Reuters, Bloomberg $)

METHANE: Climate-heating methane released from dozens of Australian fossil fuel sites, environmental group claims (The Guardian, Renew Economy)

OIL & GAS: Alaska court dismisses challenge to ANWR drilling halt (Politico Pro $), US oil output to hit record this year, helping counter saudi cuts (Bloomberg $)

HYDROGEN: West Virginia coal plant changes hands for hydrogen experiment (E&E $)

UTILITIES: EPRI launches initiative to ready grid for increased EV loads, joined by Amazon, Xcel, ConEd (Utility Dive, E&E $), PG&E’s CEO wants electric vehicles to save California’s power grid (Bloomberg $), Weird weather hits utility profits and a blistering summer is little help (Bloomberg $), Your electric bill is likely headed lower, just not as low as before (Wall Street Journal $)

EVs: GM will add backup power function to its electric vehicles (New York Times $, Utility Dive), Electric vehicle tech maker Proterra files for bankruptcy (Bloomberg $), Proterra, biggest EV bus maker in the US, files for bankruptcy protection (Canary Media), Rivian will build 52,000 EVs this year, more than planned (Bloomberg $), Solar canopy charges electric buses in Montgomery County, Maryland (Yale Climate Connections)

WORKERS: UAW calls Stellantis contract offer 'trash' (Reuters), UAW demands would add $80 billion to US carmaker labor costs (Bloomberg $)

AVIATION: Curbing contrails: A climate solution in the skies (New York Times $)

ART: Art in the aftermath of disasters (Yes Magazine)

FILM: ‘It’s not just Appalachia’s problem’: Imagining a future without coal (The Guardian)

CARBON REMOVAL: At least 13 projects vie for $1.2B in carbon removal (E&E News)

CARS: American cars are developing a serious weight problem (Bloomberg $)

WILDLIFE: Study pins bird deaths more on gunshots than on power lines (E&E $)

INTERNATIONAL: Canada says provinces must aim for clean power grid to access tax credits (Reuters), Descendants of enslaved Africans seek land rights in the Amazon (Context), Indonesia falls short on peatland restoration, risking destructive fire season (Climate Home), Ottawa to premiers: “The future is indeed electric” (Politico Pro $), Sydney’s drinking water quality under threat from climate crisis, report finds (The Guardian)

• On dates, I now look for climate compatibility (New York Times, Erica Berry op-ed $)
• As Europe burns, the centre-right is backing away from climate action. Why? (Energy Monitor, Dave Keating op-ed)
• In China, it’s already cheaper to buy EVs than gasoline cars (Bloomberg, David Fickling column $)
• A healthy environment fuels the economy (The Hill, Mary Anna Mancuso op-ed)
• The UK must not abandon the evidence on climate goals (FT, Piers Forster op-ed $)
• Inconvenient truths about the green transition (FT, Rana Foroohar column $)
• How small cities can become the biggest leaders in the climate fight (The Hill, Svante Myrick op-ed)

Passive Aggression: Regulations Don't Find Enemies And Climate Didn't Politicize Itself

Ever since Radley Balko's 2014 column on "the curious grammar of police shootings," the phrase "officer-involved shooting" has become the most obvious example of why journalists are taught to avoid passive voice, particularly the "past exonerative" tense that excuses misdeeds without acknowledging responsibility. McSweeney's even did a satirical guide on "how to use the past exonerative tense to uphold white supremacy." 

By contrast, active voice ensures that the actors responsible are properly identified and described. 

We see examples of passive voice far too often in climate media, particularly in headlines. For example, last Friday a Guardian story explained "how electric cars became a battleground in the culture wars." They "became a battleground"? Are electric cars also Transformers, capable of changing into a culture wars battleground? Obviously not! 

Then on Monday, Paul Krugman and/or his editors at The New York Times decided on a headline that told readers "Climate is now a culture war issue." Did "climate" just happen to become "a culture war issue"? Or did a very specific set of actors politicize the issue as part of a long-term strategy to prevent regulations? Krugman pretty much explains that it’s the latter, yet writes the "cultural dimension of climate arguments has emerged at the worst possible moment." 

Climate change didn't "emerge" all on its own as a social issue; it was thrust into that framing very deliberately by fossil fuel industry-funded lobby groups to build political opposition to otherwise popular policies to address pollution. Similarly, the Guardian's EVs didn't drive themselves to the culture war battleground!

Then, an NPR interview from Tuesday with Trump-era EPA staffer turned fossil fuel-funded front group staffer Mandy Gunasekara: “If Republicans win the White House in 2024, climate policy will likely change.” Though NPR does a fine job setting out the facts in the interview, and the headline does at least mention Republicans, the headline is still written as though "climate policy" is an actor with its own agency that will somehow naturally respond to GOP leadership. In reality, Republicans wielding power will intentionally change climate policy. 

Worst, though, was this headline to an otherwise solid piece of reporting by Jean Chemnick in E&E News: “EPA climate rule finds new adversaries.”

To be clear, Chemnick's a great reporter, and the story makes it clear that among the “new adversaries” there are groups representing "power companies that are overwhelmingly dependent on fossil assets." And to her credit, Chemnick also quotes a policy expert debunking the arguments being made by the climate adversaries as well as an energy industry expert who debunks the claim that the new EPA rule is unreasonable. 

So readers who make it all the way through the story will know that the climate rule didn't seek out or randomly discover it had enemies. But whoever wrote that headline, most likely an editor and not Chemnick, did readers a disservice with the passive voice that hides the true players. 

After all, the EPA climate rule didn't sprout legs, eyes, and a bad attitude like a punk version of "I'm Just A Bill" to roam the streets of DC looking for trouble. It's a rule that would impact the profits of polluters, and those polluters have attacked the regulation in exactly the same way that they have obstructed every single attempt to regulate them since the dawn of the EPA.

In each example, headline writers opted to ignore a cardinal rule of journalism, one that even Google teaches developers to use in their technical writing: to use active voice instead of passive voice. And in each case, the outlets’ decision to do so obscures a bad actor wielding power in a very deliberate manner. 

Fossil fuel-funded disinformation made climate change into a culture war issue. Climate didn't volunteer!

Fossil fuel-funded Republicans will change climate policy. Policy doesn't change itself!

Fossil fuel-funded utilities find excuses to oppose the new EPA climate rule. The rule didn't go looking for a fight! 

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