America Underinsured In Face Of Climate Threats: Increasing reliance on state-run 'insurers of last resort' to cover homes so vulnerable to climate impacts private insurers have fled the market represents a looming crisis with no good solutions when the next truly catastrophic fire or hurricane causes widespread destruction. The plans have become "a magic hiding place to disappear risk that just gets too big for the private market," Milliman actuary Nancy Watkins told Bloomberg. While mortgage lenders require borrowers to carry homeowners insurance, some who have paid off their homes are choosing to forgo purchasing expensive insurance, according to Inside Climate News, leaving them completely exposed if, and when, a major disaster hits. Nationwide, 39 million properties are vulnerable to flooding, hurricane, and wildfire risks that are not priced into their insurance policies, effectively creating an "insurance bubble," according to a new analysis from the First Street Foundation. These underinsured properties are especially common in coastal counties with no flood risk disclosure requirement and where individual homeowners are less concerned about climate change. Nearly 40% of people in the U.S. live near a coastline — precisely where new research published Wednesday in Nature finds current models are under-evaluating the risks posed by sea level rise and land subsidence. On Tuesday, FEMA and the National Association of Realtors, called on Congress to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program. (Looming crisis: Bloomberg $; First Street analysis: Inside Climate News; Coastal Risk: New York Times $; NFIP: E&E $)

SEC Takes Step For Climate Risk Transparency: The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules on Wednesday requiring publicly traded companies to disclose financial risks to their investors caused by climate change and efforts to address the crisis. The rule is at once one of the most far-reaching federal measures to protect investors and Americans' retirement savings from otherwise undisclosed climate risks, and is a watered-down version of an originally proposed rule that would have required companies to disclose Scope 3 emissions — those three-quarters of emissions released by their supply chain and customers. The revisions weakening the rule were made by the SEC in an effort to preempt or survive pending congressional repeal efforts and legal challenges by corporate interest groups, specifically those representing fossil fuel industries. "It’s ultimately better to finish this rule than not,” Public Citizen's David Arkush told The New Republic, “but losing Scope 3 is a big step backward, even though it’s still a step forward from the existing state of affairs.” (AP, Washington Post $, New York Times $, New Republic, Inside Climate News, Business Insider, NPR, CNN, Tech Crunch, Yahoo, E&E $, Barron's, CNBC, Houston Chronicle, Wall Street Journal $, The Hill, The Verge, Bloomberg $, Politico, FT $, NBC, The Guardian, Reuters, CNBC; Watering Down: New York Times $, Fortune, Utility Dive, Heatmap $, Wall Street Journal $; Commentary: Bloomberg, Mark Gongloff column $)

Global Warming Records Keep Getting Broken: Earth experienced its hottest February on record, breaking a monthly heat record for the ninth straight month, according to an analysis by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. A concurrent report released by Climate Central found more than half the global population (4.8 billion people) experienced unusually warm temperatures this winter, a phenomenon “that would be virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, is driving up both atmospheric and sea surface temperatures. “We are witnessing something extraordinary and unprecedented,” weather historian Maximiliano Herrera said Tuesday. “Several thousands of records pulverized all over the world in a matter of hours, with margins never seen before.” The warming is exacerbated by the El Niño cycle and is pushing ocean temperatures to new heights, raising concern over a potentially (extra) destructive Atlantic hurricane season. “These anomalously high temperatures are very worrisome,” Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald told the AP. “To avoid even higher temperatures, we need to act quickly to reduce CO2 emissions.” (AP, Washington Post $, New York Times $, CBS, LA Times $, The Guardian, CNN, Axios, Reuters, BBC, France24, Al Jazeera, Forbes, AFP via Barron's; Climate Signals background: Global Warming)

ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Industry poisoned a vibrant Black neighborhood in Houston. Is a buyout the solution? (Grist), Prisoners in Texas and Florida face biggest risk of increasingly deadly heat (The Guardian)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: The Māori climate activist breaking legal barriers to bring corporate giants to court (The Guardian)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: How developing nations battered by climate change are crushed by debt from international lenders (Inside Climate News), EU urged to provide effective climate finance for island states (Prensa Latina)

BIG DEMAND: Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power (Washington Post $)

SOLAR SUPPLY: Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII (Grist), Solar tops 50% of new US power generation for first time (E&E $), US deployed a record 32 GW of solar generating capacity in 2023: SEIA (Utility Dive, Politico Pro $)

LNG: One big downside of LNG exports: Price swings for US gas consumers (Canary Media), How this organizer is fighting the liquefied natural gas industry where she lives (Grist), Secrecy around LNG export terminals leaves public in the dark on dangers (Floodlight via KTBS)

EPA: US makes first arrest of greenhouse gas smuggler (E&E $), Nearly half the states sue EPA over new limits on deadly pollution (New York Times $)(AP)(E&E $)

DOE: Building energy code revamps can get another $90M from DOE (Utility Dive)

TREASURY: Treasury finalizes direct pay for clean energy tax credits (Politico Pro $)

WHITE HOUSE: Manufacturing investment hit new peak in January as Biden bets on green transition (The Hill), Podesta pledges to build on Kerry's push for international climate action (Politico Pro $), Why has “Amtrak Joe” turned his back on trains? (New Republic)

THE HILL: Republican lawmakers suggest Podesta appointment unlawful without Senate confirmation (The Hill, Bloomberg $), House approves bill to elevate DOE grid security chief (E&E $)

POLITICS: State of the Union: Skittish Dems urge Biden to talk climate (E&E $)

ELECTIONS: Haley exit crushes moderate GOP climate hopes (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: Arizona’s health department has named the first statewide heat officer to address extreme heat (AP), Texas Republicans to introduce resolution opposing adding ERCOT to national grid (The Hill), New policy proposal dims hopes of reviving community solar in California (Canary Media)

FERC: Greens press FERC to review LNG effects on endangered whale (E&E $)

IMPACTS: Higher temperatures force New England fishers off ice early: ‘Global warming is real’ (The Guardian), In Mongolia, a killer winter is ravaging herds and a way of life (Yale Environment 360), Fewer fish and more algae? Scientists seek to understand impacts of historic lack of Great Lakes ice (AP)

WILDFIRES: A massive Texas wildfire is finally dying down. Its impact could last years. (Washington Post $, Texas Tribune), Texas panhandle wildfires wreak havoc on the state’s agriculture industry (Inside Climate News)

WATER: Risks ease for Colorado River reservoirs after wet winter, but long-term challenges loom (LA Times $, New Mexico Political Report), Upper Colorado River Basin states push for long-term guidelines based on real-time water conditions (The Hill), Talks to save the Colorado river just hit a logjam (Washington Post $)

RENEWABLES: Does rooftop solar actually help the climate? (Heatmap $), GE's energy spin-off eyes better days for offshore wind (Reuters), New Hampshire solar projects face widespread delays trying to connect to power grid (Energy News Network), Norway and the Sami people end a dispute over Europe’s largest onshore wind farm (AP, Reuters), Sinking solar prices seen as threat to US manufacturing (Bloomberg $)

BUILDINGS: Heat pumps are keeping homes warm in Maine (Yale Climate Connections), The obscure but extremely important battle over building codes (Volts)

EFFICIENCY: Top 3 US energy efficiency policy opportunities in 2024: ACEEE (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: BP tries to reverse Big Oil’s fortunes in Brazil (OilPrice), Exxon deals blow to Chevron-Hess deal with arbitration filing (Bloomberg $, Wall Street Journal $)

GRID: Midwest grid operator proposes massive transmission build-out (E&E $), National Grid cancels New England transmission project feted by DOE (E&E $)

EVs: EV charging points in America are finally making money (OilPrice), EV group Lucid admits it cannot rely on ‘bottomless wealth’ of Saudi owner (FT $)

METHANE: World’s biggest pollution monitor launches into orbit (CNN)

COP CITY: Cop City is a disability justice issue, too (Yes Magazine)

GEOENGINEERING: UN environment chief warns on lack of climate engineering controls (FT $)

CARBON REMOVAL: ‘Carbon casting’: the low-hanging fruit of carbon removal (Energy Monitor)

⚽: UEFA launches Carbon Footprint calculator for clubs (Reuters)

FINANCE: Fed likely to make ‘material’ changes to controversial bank capital proposals, Jay Powell says (FT $), Fed's Powell: Climate change real, but not focus of Fed's mission (Reuters), Fed likely to make ‘material’ changes to controversial bank capital proposals, Banks find clean-energy allies in fight against stricter capital rules (FT $)

ALL ABOARD: Climate-conscious travelers are jumpstarting Europe’s sleeper trains (AP)

IN MEMORIAM: Voyager 1, first craft in interstellar space, may have gone dark (New York Times $)

WILDLIFE: For the first time in centuries, a gray whale is spotted in New England (Washington Post $)

INTERNATIONAL: A new EU ecocide law ‘marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals’ (Grist), China steps away from 2025 energy efficiency goal (Climate Home), Poland keeps ambitious climate plan, isn't breaking election pledge, official says (Reuters)

• One of the worst methane gas leaks in US history happened in Ohio. It shouldn't happen again. (Columbus Dispatch, Lauren Wagner op-ed)
• Italy's power users pay the price for high reliance on natural gas (Reuters, Gavin Maguire column)
• John Kerry: ‘I feel deeply frustrated’ (New York Times interview $)
• ‘Dune’ is a climate story we can actually root for (Bloomberg, Mark Gongloff column $)
• Five reasons why investors have a financial duty to be acting on climate risk (Reuters, Mindy Lubber op-ed)

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