(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Federal judge finds Flint, Michigan, in contempt over lead water pipe crisis (AP), How the Flint water crisis set schoolchildren back (Washington Post $), ChatGPT is more likely to sentence people who speak African American English to death, researchers say (Gizmodo), OpenAI’s GPT is a recruiter’s dream tool. Tests show there’s racial bias. (Bloomberg $)
CLIMATE LITIGATION: Belgian farmer takes TotalEnergies to court, seeking climate damages (Reuters)
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: After destructive floods, EU sues Greece for failing to revise risk plans (Reuters)
AGENCIES: FEMA disaster fund projected to go broke this summer (E&E $), Biden admin releases first-ever plan for EV freight truck charging (E&E $), Biden targets freight emissions in infrastructure push (Axios), DOE awards $750M for ‘clean’ hydrogen technology (E&E $), Why the SEC climate rule might not standardize emissions reporting (E&E $)
EPA: EPA launches new Alabama civil rights investigation (E&E $), Here comes $20B in climate finance (Politico)
TREASURY: Yellen says Biden tax credits boost clean energy investment in coal country (Reuters)
SENATE: Senate passes bipartisan recycling, composting bills (E&E $), Sherrod Brown working on tweak to energy tax credit (E&E $)
POLITICS: Want clean electricity? These are the overlooked elected officials who get to decide. (Yale Climate Connections)
CITIES AND STATES: A Massachusetts town spent $600k on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days later (AP), Cash rolls in for campaign to protect Washington state carbon market (E&E $), Laws in 2 Midwest states make it hard for local governments to reject green projects (NPR), New York City bill would mandate solar panels on public buildings (Utility Dive), Pennsylvania governor backs a new plan to make power plants pay for greenhouse gases (AP)
IMPACTS: Climate change threatens Maryland's historic Black cemeteries (CBS), Archaeological sites in North Carolina under threat from sea level rise and storms (Yale Climate Connections), Australia faces a hot autumn with Sydney sea temperatures warm enough for a tropical cyclone (The Guardian), Major snowstorm hits Colorado, closing schools, government offices and highways (AP, Washington Post $)
CORAL: Fatal heat wave strikes unspoiled swath of Great Barrier Reef (Washington Post $, Inside Climate News), As climate change kills coral reefs, cancer patients are also in danger (CBS)
HEAT: Arizona’s most populous county has confirmed 645 heat-associated deaths in metro Phoenix last year (AP, NBC)
WILDFIRES: Old power lines plus climate change mean a growing risk of utilities starting fires (NPR), Wildfires are becoming night owls — and that’s a big problem (NBC, Vancouver Sun, GlobalNews.ca)
WATER: Researchers expect ‘underperforming’ spring runoff for Colorado River (E&E $)
(DE)FORESTATION: Deforestation poses ‘existential’ threat to Sweden’s reindeer, warn Indigenous herders (TIME), New study shows planting trees may not be as good for the climate as previously believed (Inside Climate News), Seven times size of Manhattan: the African tree-planting project making a difference (The Guardian), Can Europe save forests without killing jobs in Malaysia? (New York Times $)
RENEWABLES: Orsted sells stakes in US wind farms for $300 mln (Reuters)
"RENEWABLES": Wood pellet producer Enviva files for bankruptcy and plans to restructure (AP)
BUILDINGS: Failure to insulate UK homes costing thousands of lives a year, says report (The Guardian), Private well at site of deadly house explosion does not appear on state mapping system (WPXI)
COPPER: The copper tradeoff: Protecting today's lands versus preserving tomorrow's climate (WBUR)
UTILITIES: US electricity prices outpace annual inflation (Utility Dive)
AVIATION: How the world’s biggest plane would supersize wind energy (Wall Street Journal $)
AGRICULTURE: Massachusetts cranberry bogs were hit hard by climate change. Now, they’re a tool in the battle against it. (Boston Globe $, Boston Globe $)
MOVIES: How to Blow Up a Pipeline: an eco-thriller Australia urgently needs (The Guardian)
FINANCE: Bank climate group to report capital markets related emissions (Reuters)
WILDLIFE: The lowly sea cucumber may be helping to protect coral reefs against disease (NPR)
INTERNATIONAL: China's booming air con use lifts mid-year power emissions (Reuters), UK plans to adapt to climate crisis ‘fall far short’ of what is required (The Guardian), Farmers disrupt traffic to Belgium’s major ports in protest of environmental rules (AP)