Clean Energy Growth Doubled, But Not Enough To Outpace CO2 Pollution: Global climate pollution rose 1.1% in 2023, with dramatic gaps between cuts by wealthy economies and increases in many developing markets, the International Energy Agency said in its annual emissions report, Friday. "Far from falling rapidly — as is required to meet the global climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement — CO2 emissions reached a new record high," the IEA warned. While advanced economies cut carbon pollution by 4.5%, "a record decline outside of a recessionary period," carbon pollution rose in developing markets. The clean energy sector has grown twice as fast as fossil fuels over the past five years, the IEA said, but "We need far greater efforts to enable emerging and developing economies to ramp up clean energy investment," IEA head Fatih Birol said in a statement. (Reuters, Axios, E&E $, Politico Pro $, Wall Street Journal $, Climate Home, FT $, Electrek, The Verge, Barron's, Forbes, Deutsche Welle)

Defend Environmental Defenders, UN Report Urges Governments: Laws designed to criminalize environmental protest and protect fossil fuel operations are proliferating globally, threatening basic human rights and democracy, Inside Climate News reports. A UN position paper published last week by Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst argues governments must engage with environmental activists' demands instead of repressing peaceful civil disobedience actions via harassment and intimidation campaigns. Currently in the U.S., which has refused to sign the convention that houses Forst's office, 42 laws are on the books restricting the First Amendment protest rights of those opposing fossil fuels, including many so-called "critical infrastructure" laws, with another 27 pending. Globally, on average three environmental activists are killed every week. (Inside Climate News)

Methane Satellite Leave Polluters 'No Place To Hide': A satellite with the power to track methane pollution from oil and gas industry operations across wide areas will launch this afternoon from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The MethaneSAT project, headed by the Environmental Defense Fund in collaboration with  global partners from numerous sectors, will be capable of monitoring 80% of global methane gas production with sufficient precision to identify individual pollution sources — and unlike other extant methane-tracking satellites, the data will be made publicly available. Methane traps more than 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 20-year period and slashing methane pollution is widely regarded as the most cost-effective way to cut climate pollution in the short term. "Some call it the low-hanging fruit — I like to call it fruit lying on the ground. We can really reduce those emissions, and we can do it rapidly and see the benefits,” EDF's Steven Hamburg told reporters Friday. “There’s going to be a lot of public data on methane emissions, so companies will have very strong incentives to figure out the problem and fix it,” Ben Cahill, a climate expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Washington Post. “Soon, there will be no place to hide." (Washington Post $, New York Times $, E&E $, Canary Media)

OAK FLAT: A US appeals court ruling could allow mine development on Oak Flat, land sacred to Apaches (AP, Reuters)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Rich countries resolve dispute over delayed climate disaster fund (Politico Pro $)

DENIAL & DISINFO: Zombie climate myths that refuse to die (feat. Bob Henson) (Yale Climate Connections)

SOLAR PANELS IN THE RAIN FOREST: In the Amazon, a new way to live off nature (Washington Post $)

HEATAHS AND LOBSTAHS: Why mainers are falling hard for heat pumps (New York Times $), Lobster catch dips to lowest level since 2009 as fishers grapple with climate change, whale rules (AP)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: IRA implementation is still suffering from regulatory uncertainty, executives say (Utility Dive), A Biden subsidy is meant to create jobs. In this Nevada town, it didn’t. (Wall Street Journal $)

EPA: EPA wins tussle with White House over climate rule (E&E News), Inside the EPA decision to narrow two big climate rules (New York Times $), EPA fights push to regulate noise pollution (E&E $), Influential EPA air advisory panel faces turnover (E&E $)

SEC: Chamber targets SEC in Exxon anti-climate initiative case (E&E $), SEC to vote on climate disclosure rule next week (Utility Dive)

TREASURY: Yellen sees big jump in US imports from Chile, eyes progress on green transition (Reuters), Yellen vows to work for closer ties, work on green energy in visit to Chile (Reuters)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: The fossil-fuel-promoting agency that Biden seems powerless to stop (Politico)

WHITE HOUSE: A White House advisor and environmental justice activist wants immediate help for two historically Black communities in Alabama (Inside Climate News), Biden just caved on a bunch of climate rules. Or did he? (Heatmap $), Biden knows tariffs won’t stop Chinese EVs (Heatmap $), Meet Biden’s stopgap energy and climate team (E&E $)

KERRY: John Kerry reflects on time as top US climate negotiator and ‘major breakthrough’ in climate talks (AP), What John Kerry’s exit means for the global climate fight (Washington Post $)

THE HILL: US seeks to boost nuclear power after decades of inertia (New York Times $, Heatmap $), Lawmakers explore solutions to EV fires at House hearing (E&E $)

ELECTIONS: He helped turn west Virginia red. Now he’s running as a Democrat. (Wall Street Journal $)

CITIES AND STATES: New York awards new contracts for Equinor, Ørsted offshore wind projects (Utility Dive), South Carolina poised to transform former coal-fired plant into a gas utility as public service commission approves conversion (Inside Climate News), US cities could be capturing billions of gallons of water per day (Mother Jones), Why most red states will soon have climate plans (E&E $)

FERC: Biden taps 3 for FERC seats amid concerns over potential lack of quorum (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: At least 36 die in Pakistan as heavy winter rains collapse buildings and trigger landslides (AP), Deaths increase for weeks after natural disasters, study says (E&E $), February's extreme weather and climate events reshaped US winter (Axios), Ski resorts’ era of plentiful snow may be over due to climate crisis, study finds (The Guardian), Winter is warming almost everywhere. See how it’s changed in your town. (Washington Post $)

ATTRIBUTION: ‘High possibility’ climate change influenced devastating Philippines floods (E&E $)

HEAT: In a rural California region, a plan takes shape to provide shade from dangerous heat (AP)

WILDFIRES: California wildfire smoke impacts Indigenous communities nearly 2x more than expected (EcoWatch), In Hawaii, coral is the foundation of life. What happened to it after the Lahaina wildfire? (AP)

SMOKEHOUSE CREEK FIRE: Wildfires spread across western Oklahoma and Texas panhandle (Black Wall Street Times), Texas Panhandle ranchers face losses and grim task of removing dead cattle killed by wildfires (AP), Texas wildfire burns more than one million acres (AP), What are the largest wildfires in US history? (New York Times $), Texas wildfires: two killed in historic blaze as up to 500 structures destroyed (The Guardian, AP), The largest wildfire recorded in Texas is still burning. Here’s what to know. (Washington Post $, AP, Axios), Xcel Energy utility equipment started Texas wildfire, homeowner says in lawsuit (Reuters)

SIERRA BLIZZARD: California monster blizzard batters Tahoe, Mammoth, Sierra amid avalanche warnings (LA Times $), Major storm dumps snow on the Sierra as California chases an average snowpack (KQED, PBS NewsHour, Washington Post $, Axios)

DROUGHT: ‘It makes me so sad’: Church reemerges from reservoir as Spain faces droughts (The Guardian)

RENEWABLES: Iceland is closing the circle on geothermal (Energy Monitor)

OIL & GAS: OPEC+ extends oil cuts, with Russia bolstering its effort (Bloomberg $), Qatar’s gas boost will bring energy dominance — and lots of cash (Bloomberg $), Record US oil and gas production keeps prices under pressure (Reuters)

HYDROGEN: Plug Power to see demand for hydrogen-based power backup systems from data centers (Reuters)

GRID: States urge quick fix to aging power lines as clean energy grows (E&E $)

EVs: Olympian motors is making minimalist EVs for drivers sick of screens (Bloomberg $), Chart: Gas-powered cars are losing market share to EVs and hybrids (Canary Media), Tesla’s superchargers just got a whole lot busier (Heatmap $)

ACTIVISM: ‘Stop insuring fossil fuel’: Activists target London insurers in week of action (The Guardian)

SEE THEM BEFORE THEY'RE GONE?: It just got easier to visit a vanishing glacier. Is that a good thing? (New York Times $)

GEOENGINEERING: Solar geoengineering proposal withdrawn at UN summit (E&E $)

BOOKS: Could a new mythology save the United States? (New York Times $),  ‘The War Below’ review: Digging for minerals (Wall Street Journal $)

CONSCIOUS UNCOUPLING: How to ‘decouple’ emissions from economic growth? These economists say you can’t. (Grist)

FOOD: This diet swap can cut your carbon footprint and boost longevity (NPR)

WORKERS: ‘Two worlds colliding’: Berlin transport workers and climate activists unite over rights (The Guardian)

FINANCE: A $1.5 trillion ‘ESG’ debt market has started bleeding clients (Bloomberg $), Actually, clean tech investment is still going strong (TIME), Step aside, ESG. BlackRock is doing ‘transition investing’ now. (Wall Street Journal $)

WILDLIFE: New research shows emissions from cars and power plants can hinder insects' search for the plants they pollinate (Inside Climate News)

INTERNATIONAL: EU presses countries to rescue drowning solar industry (Politico EU), EU warns of winter energy price hike as Russia-Ukraine gas deal ends (Politico Pro $), Human rights panel holds first US hearing on climate crisis-driven migration in the Americas (Democracy Now), What it’s like to live in the most polluted place on Earth (Bloomberg $), What’s really happening with emissions and the climate crisis in Australia (The Guardian)

• Fossil fuel executives need to stop their disinformation campaigns (Buffalo News, Rahwa Ghirmatzion op-ed $)
• With solar, we can solve non-profit hospitals’ carbon and community benefit problem simultaneously (The Hill, David Introcaso op-ed)
• Everyone would be poorer without the WTO. Biden needs to rescue it. (Washington Post, Editorial Board $)
• EV madness and the Chinese menace (Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. op-ed $)
• Former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy on new air pollution regulations—and women’s roles in bringing them about (Inside Climate News, interview)
• AI’s craving for data is matched only by a runaway thirst for water and energy (The Guardian, John Naughton op-ed)
• The fires sweeping across Texas offer a terrifying warning (New York Times, John Vaillant essay $)

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