Hurricane Lee Strengthens To Cat 5 Monster In 18 Hours: Hurricane Lee exploded into an extremely powerful Category 5 hurricane on Thursday and is expected to strengthen into one of the strongest Atlantic Hurricanes on record — if not the strongest ever. The storm's wind speed doubled from 80 to 160 mph in just 18 hours — the official threshold for rapid intensification is an increase of 35 mph over 24 hours — just the seventh observed hurricane to intensify so rapidly. Climate change is driving an increase in the frequency of rapidly intensifying hurricanes, and Lee's breakneck intensification was fueled by record-hot ocean temperatures locally exceeding 85°F. Lee is currently churning over open ocean about 700 miles from the northern Caribbean and while it is expected to turn north, the point at which it will do so is not known and could bring the storm dangerously close to New England. (Washington Post $, AP, New York Times $; Path forecast: Washington Post $; Climate Signals background: Hurricanes, Sea surface temperature increase)

Climate Change Driving Up Crop Insurance: Climate change is a major factor driving soaring federal farm insurance payouts over the last two decades, with the vast majority of those payouts going to the country's biggest farms using fuel- and carbon-intensive methods, a report from the Environmental Working Group says. Crop insurance payouts skyrocketed 546% from just under $3 billion in 2002 to just over $19 billion in 2022. Crop insurance premiums are federally subsidized, and about 80% of those subsidies go to the biggest one-fifth of farms with about 75% of payouts over the last 20 years going to corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. As climate change continues to drive increasingly expensive farm-harming events, from flooding to drought to hail, those costs are expected to rise. “Our big concern here, when we see increases like this, is how sustainable the program is for both farmers and taxpayers,” Anne Schechinger, an agricultural economist and director at EWG, told Inside Climate News. “I can’t predict what it will cost in the future, but we know with climate change, it will get more expensive.” (Inside Climate News; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, Flooding, Drought, Storm intensity increase)

ERCOT Asks Texans to Grid And Bear It: The Texas grid was, again, stretched to emergency levels on Thursday, not seen since Winter Storm Uri in 2021. The high, heat-fueled demand and unexpected fossil fuel power plant failures forced the state's grid operator to ask residents to voluntarily reduce electricity use to keep the state's grid online for the 11th time this summer. Hot September evenings are especially hard on electrical grids. Houston, the state's biggest city, topped out at an official-record-breaking 102°F (with temperatures up to 109°F recorded at Hobby Airport) and roasting in 90°F+ temperatures well into the evening. The extreme heat caused peak demand 82,705 MW, smashing ERCOT's previous September record of 72,370 MW. More than 6,000 megawatts of coal- and gas-fired electricity generation was offline late Thursday morning — more than ERCOT, the state's grid operator expected — and demand was projected to exceed supply by 200 MW Thursday evening. (Houston Chronicle, Utility Dive AP; Heat record: Reuters; Hobby Airport: Fox26; Summer heat: Texas Tribune; Wednesday: E&E $; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Green groups release equity guide for $20B climate fund (E&E $), In Chicago, environmental justice was birthed by a Black woman. A new podcast tells her story. (Capital B News), 'Inherited' podcast tells of loss, resilience and survival amid climate disasters (WBUR), PragerU course depicts Indigenous people as savages (Black Wall Street Times), To spur clean energy, transmission buildout, NRDC calls for focus on affected communities (Utility Dive), Trump’s border wall caused ‘significant’ cultural, environmental damage, watchdog finds (Politico, E&E $), The Sierra Club hired its first Black leader. Turmoil over racial equity followed. (Washington Post $)

COP28: COP28 needs to show action not words for business, finance leaders (Reuters)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Europe's renewables push undermines Russian weaponization of energy: Kerry (Reuters)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Caribbean groups call on US for more climate finance (E&E $), Climate adaptation finance to Africa must increase tenfold, research shows (The Guardian), Neocolonial debt traps are forcing poorer countries to rely on fossil fuels (Truthout), Rich countries sink billions into oil and gas despite COP26 pledge (Climate Home), 'Summer of simmering': Guterres uses Asean summit to issue climate warning – video (The Guardian)

• AFRICA CLIMATE SUMMIT: Africa climate summit wraps up with seminal – but flawed – ‘Nairobi Declaration’ (Energy Monitor), You can't win without us': Africa leaders eye bigger climate role (Context), Catalyzing Africa’s climate potential (New York Times $)

DENIAL: A scientist manipulated climate data. Conservative media celebrated. (E&E News)

MEDIA: Nonprofits investing $500M to help struggling local newsrooms (The Hill), When covering car-cyclist collisions journalists often use passive sentences (NPR)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: New rules help to answer whether clean energy jobs will also be good jobs (Inside Climate News), How Biden's climate law is fueling the US battery boom (Axios, Politico Pro $), Democrats' climate law projected to drive record increase in US solar installations, report finds (Politico Pro $)

AGENCIES: FEMA gives special status to 500 climate-vulnerable neighborhoods (E&E $), Forest Service taps infrastructure bonanza (E&E $)

EPA: Groups seek EPA intervention on ‘Cancer Alley’ air pollution (E&E $), EPA boosts enviro justice efforts with FOIA rule update (E&E $), EPA adds 3, proposes 4 new Superfund sites (E&E $), New Biden WOTUS rule set to take effect Friday (Politico Pro $)

DOI: Biden to cancel ANWR leases, expand Arctic drilling protections (E&E News), Biden to cancel oil & gas leases in Alaska wildlife refuge, but Willow project remains (Democracy Now), Greens lobby Biden for new Oregon national monument (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden approved a big oil project. Now, he’s cracking down on drilling. (New York Times $), Podesta: Offshore wind economics 'will work out' (Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: 'I'm discouraged': Permitting overhaul on life support (E&E $)

HOUSE: Third House committee targets emissions reduction plans (E&E $), Willis blasts congressman’s ‘interference’ in Fulton Trump probe (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

SENATE: Popular Senate carbon tariff bill gains House champions (E&E News), Senate details spending plans, puts off energy bill (E&E $)

POLITICS: ‘Sickening’: GOP explodes at Biden over ANWR decision (E&E News), Utility group taps Trump official as next CEO. Is it backsliding on climate? (E&E News)

ELECTIONS: Can climate policy survive a future GOP administration? (TIME)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Senate confirms 2 Federal Reserve nominees (E&E $), Sources: Manchin backs FERC energy analyst for commission seat (E&E News)

CITIES AND STATES: WA’s carbon-pricing auctions collect nearly $1.5 billion as allowances reach record price (Seattle Times), Cities are advertising themselves as ‘climate havens.’ Experts say there’s no such thing (The Hill), How reflective paint brings down scorching city temperatures (Wall Street Journal $), Oil and gas industry adds billions to New Mexico's budget as economists warn of volatility (Carlsbad Current Argus), Heat and hurricanes: What keeps the NYC climate chief up at night (New York Times, Rohit Aggarwala interview $)

• CALIFORNIA: This California high school includes sustainability and green jobs in its curriculum (Grist)

FERC: Court upholds Trump-era rule that cuts funding to small solar (Politico Pro $)

SEEMS PRETTY BAD: Superbugs catch a ride on air pollution particles. Is that bad news for people? (NPR, NPR)

IMPACTS: Why the US is undercounting climate-related deaths and what it could mean for future prevention (WBUR), Antarctica warming much faster than models predicted in ‘deeply concerning’ sign for sea levels (The Guardian), At least 39 dead as cyclone hits Brazil's southernmost state (Reuters, CBS), Earthquakes in a warming world (Atmos)

• EAST ASIA: In photos: flooding from heavy rain inundates China (Washington Post $), Extreme rain in Hong Kong turns city streets into raging rivers (Washington Post $)
• GREECE/BALKANS: Flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria causes at least 15 deaths (Washington Post $, CBS), Severe flooding in Greece leaves at least 6 dead and 6 missing, villages cut off (AP), ‘A biblical catastrophe’: Death toll rises to four as Storm Daniel lashes Greece (The Guardian), Climate breakdown has begun': This summer was the hottest on record (E&E $)

HEAT: America could be in for a rough fall (The Atlantic), Creating a heat standard for vulnerable farmworkers could take years (NPR), Adriana Carillo’s life’s work is to find migrants lost in the desert (Yale Climate Connections), Heat wave in DC area is most intense on record this late in year (Washington Post $), Too hot to handle: As schools reopen in a heat wave, a warning of the climate future (Boston Globe $)

• TENNIS: It's so hot at the US Open that one participant is warning that a player is 'gonna die' (CBS, NPR), Climate protester glues feet to floor at US Open, interrupts Coco Gauff’s semifinal win over Muchova (AP, New York Times $, The Guardian), Stopping tennis to call attention to climate change (New York Times $)

OCEANS: Scientists want to treat coral like Walt Disney’s head in Futurama (Gizmodo, Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: Scientists identify ‘opportunity hotspots’ to tackle wildfire-related carbon loss in the US West (The Hill), In a charred moonscape, a band of hopeful workers try to save the Joshua Tree (NPR), US air quality hit as 1,008 wildfires burn across Canada (Axios), Alaska firefighters experiment with targeting blazes to save carbon (Washington Post $)

• MAUI: In fire-stricken Maui, sustainable land management is key (Modern Farmer), Maui beckons tourists, and their dollars, to stave off economic disaster after wildfires (AP)

HURRICANES: Jova becomes Western Hemisphere's strongest hurricane so far in 2023 ... for now (AccuWeather), Man struck by tree while cleaning hurricane debris is third Florida death from Hurricane Idalia (AP), President Biden declares 3 Georgia counties are eligible for disaster aid after Hurricane Idalia (AP), Tropical storm Margot is forecast to become a hurricane (New York Times $)

WATER: In Minnesota, thirsty crops put ground water levels at risk (MPR)

DEFORESTATION: Amazon deforestation continues to plummet (Grist)

RENEWABLES: America’s wind-farm revolution is broken (Wall Street Journal $), Climate tech investors push past politics in deal boom (Axios), Residential solar installations slow in Texas as US is on track for record growth (Houston Chronicle), Sun Cable: Mike Cannon-Brookes takes charge of ‘world-changing’ solar project (The Guardian), US solar growth to surge 50% in annual record — report (E&E $)

• AFRICA: Africa’s vast solar and mineral resources at risk of being left untapped, IEA warns (Wall Street Journal $), Africa presents challenges, solutions in clean energy transition (Reuters)

'RENEWABLES': What are biofuels and why is it so confusing whether they are a source of clean energy or not? (AP)

OIL & GAS: The real reason that gas prices may soon climb — again (HuffPost)

PIPELINES: South Dakota regulator rejects Navigator CO2 Ventures carbon pipeline application (Reuters, E&E $)

UTILITIES: As Duke Energy rate hikes loom in N.C., deal could lessen blow for energy burdened (Energy News Network)

EVs: California scales back electric car rebates to focus on lower-income car buyers (CAL Matters) Toyota, a hybrid pioneer, struggles to master electric vehicles (New York Times $)

ICE-Vs: Stellantis sees long road ahead for internal combustion engine cars (Reuters)

AVIATION: 'It's delicious': Ryanair boss hit with cream cake in climate protest – video (The Guardian, The Guardian)

AGRICULTURE: In the Netherlands, pitchforks fly for an empire of cows (Mongabay)

BOOKS: EVs will save the planet — but not roadkill (Heatmap, Ben Goldfarb interview $)

FOOD: ‘Major disruptor’: El Niño threatens the world’s rice supplies (The Guardian)

CATS: ‘Savvy’ cat reunited with owners weeks after floods destroyed Alaska home (Washington Post $)

CARBON REMOVAL: The business of carbon removal (NPR)

FINANCE: Bezos Earth Fund's Steer calls for more creative climate finance (Reuters), IMF, World Bank to step up cooperation on climate, debt, digital transition (Reuters)

IN MEMORIAM: Joseph Fiordaliso, who championed clean energy as head of New Jersey utilities board, dies at 78 (AP)

WILDLIFE: Another sea cucumber smuggling bust reveals ongoing problem (E&E $), Judge orders an ESA do-over for eastern hellbender (E&E $, AP)

INTERNATIONAL: Blow to Rishi Sunak as offshore wind auction appears to have zero bidders (The Guardian), Japan prosecutors arrest ex-vice foreign minister in bribery case linked to wind power company (AP)

• Animals don't have AC (TIME, Adam Welz op-ed)
• Three big, bold ideas to douse the flames of a world on fire (Washington Post, Bono and Lawrence Summers op-ed $)
• The Guardian view on electric vehicles: UK boom could run out of juice before it begins (The Guardian, Editorial Board)
• Triple threat to Texas power grid will keep it vulnerable (Bloomberg, Liam Denning column $)
• The elusive ‘value of resilience’: Why every utility is asking for it and why it’s so hard to pin down (Utility Dive, Mishal Thadani op-ed)
• A wolf in sheep’s clothing: Why Africa should shun carbon markets (Climate Home, Mohamed Adow op-ed)
• G20: battle for influence as US seeks to rival China in the Global South (The Guardian, Patrick Wintour analysis)

PragerU And Jordan Peterson Demonstrate How Billionaire-Backed Disinfo Spreads On Social Media

For years now, people have been pointing out that PragerU is turning funding from fracking billionaires into Christofascist propaganda and climate disinformation on social media.

For years now, Facebook has been waffling on the problem, pretending to act but not really doing much because it's helmed by Republican election-stealing climate denier Joel Kaplan.

And for years now, researchers have pointed out that PragerU spends those frackbucks on Facebook advertisements to boost its reach and artificially inflate its views. 

But all that only seems to have encouraged Texas (and Florida and Oklahoma) to (maybe) approve PragerU content for use in schools, despite the fact that it is factually wrong and "insanely racist." 

Apparently, though, that's fine for advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Media Matters for America recently found "Meta is allowing PragerU Kids — which misleadingly promotes right-wing propaganda as educational materials for children — to circumvent its advertising policies and run ads related to 'social issues, elections or politics' without the required transparency." 

Media Matters "identified dozens of these ads that ran on Meta's platforms since July 11 and promoted content that right-wing organization PragerU claims provides 'the solution to woke education' by protecting kids from 'radical ideas about gender, race, and anti-Americanism.'" 

Where's PragerU getting the money to run these ads? Well, fracking billionaires and Christian anti-LGBTQ+ extremists Dan and Farris Wilks have given "at least $8m to PragerU," Peter Stone reported for The Guardian this week. Texas campaign finance analyst Chris Tackett told Stone that their agenda was "to advance a dominionist ideology by funding far-right organizations and politicians that seek to dismiss climate change as ‘God’s will’, remove choice, demonize the LGBTQ community, and tear down public education, all to turn America into a country that gives preference to and imposes their extreme beliefs on everyone.”

Funding for PragerU isn't limited to the $8 million from the Wilks though, as Stone reported in a second story for The Guardian. According to tax disclosures, "PragerU has flourished financially in recent years as the Prager University Foundation raised $196m from 2018 thru 2022. That growth is underscored by revenues rising from $17.9m in 2018 to $65.1m in 2022." 

But it's not just PragerU that’s pushing right-wing propaganda using fossil fuel industry funding! One of Farris Wilks' other major investments is The Daily Wire, and its biggest digital draw, Jordan Peterson, is generating millions of views for climate deniers, Geoff Dembicki reported for DeSmog on Tuesday. Just five figures, "Judith Curry, Steven Koonin, Richard Lindzen, Alex Epstein and Bjorn Lomborg," who have little to no YouTube audience themselves, "have collectively garnered nearly five million views" on Peterson’s channel.

The success of PragerU and The Daily Wire in promoting propaganda on compliant social media websites seems to have inspired monied interests in the UK as well, as Peterson has been tapped for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), a new lobby group that "appears to be the latest attempt by national populist forces to shape culture and politics," Adam Barnett and Joey Grostern reported for DeSmog. 

"Peterson is joined on the ARC advisory board," they write, "by Tony Abbott, a director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) the UK’s principal climate science denial group, the writers Bjorn Lomborg and Michael Shellenberger, both of whom have written books downplaying the threats posed by climate change, and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently claimed that the green agenda is a 'hoax'." 

Behind ARC? The same Dubai-based investment firm, the Legatum Group, which owns disinfo-spreading GB News. 

Since the popularization of mainstream media fact checks, it's become difficult for deniers to get on air. Instead of being more honest, they're unfortunately just getting more money to spread disinfo on social media. And companies like Facebook and Google appear all too happy to take their money and help them pollute their platforms with propaganda. 

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 ($)