DOI And DOE Make Tribes, Sage Grouse Moves: The Federal government will give tribal governments $120 million to address the impacts of climate change, the Department of the Interior announced Thursday. Indigenous peoples across what is now the United States are among the most harmed by climate change, compounding centuries of ethnic cleansing and myriad injustices. Worldwide, Indigenous groups represent just 5% of the population and safeguard 80% of the planet's biodiversity and the U.S. and state governments are increasingly using traditional knowledge to ameliorate the damage caused by climate change. Also Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management, a division of DOI, proposed limiting oil and gas extraction, mining, livestock grazing, and other operations in 67 million across the West to protect the greater sage grouse. The fossil fuel industry is expected to fight the proposal. The DOI announcements came one day after the Energy Department said it plans to issue an up-to $72.8 million loan guarantee to help finance solar generation and battery storage systems on the lands of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians near what is now Alpine, California. The loan guarantee is the first such commitment under the DOE's Loan Programs Office tribal energy financing program, the budget for which was increased by an order of magnitude to $20 billion by the Inflation Reduction Act. (Tribal funds: AP, Tribal Business News, E&E $, The Hill, Red Lake Nation News, HuffPost; Sage grouse: Washington Post $, E&E $, New York Times $, The Hill; Loan guarantee: E&E $)

Country's First Big Wind Farm Up And Running: The first commercial-scale wind farm off the U.S. coast is officially open and sending electricity the New York's electrical grid, its developers announced Thursday. The 12 wind turbines that make up South Fork Wind, 35 miles east of Long Island, can collectively produce 132 megawatts, enough to power more than 70,000 homes. “It’s great to be first, we want to make sure we’re not the last. That’s why we’re showing other states how it can be done, why we’re moving forward, on to other projects,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul told the AP. “This is the date and the time that people will look back in the history of our nation and say, ‘This is when it changed.’” (AP, E&E $, The Providence Journal, Electrek, Canary Media, The Providence Journal)

$3.3 Billion To Address Transportation Harms: Projects The Department of Transportation will disburse $3.3 billion of funding for 133 projects in 40 states intended to address harm to historically excluded communities by past transportation investments, President Biden announced in Milwaukee on Wednesday.  Much of the interstate highway system was intentionally sited in poor communities and communities of color with disastrous impacts on their health and economic wellbeing. “Too many communities across America faced the loss of land, wealth and possibilities that still reverberate today,” Biden said. “Today we’re recognizing that history to make new history.” Taken as a whole, safe transportation advocates say, the projects improve walking and biking infrastructure, but few actually reduce car-centric infrastructure. "This is a band-aid over current problems, not a new vision," wrote the Urban Institute's Yonah Freemark. (Announcement: SmartCities Dive, Courthouse News Service, Washington Post $; Local projects: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, KXAN, WKBW, CNYBJ, WHYY, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, WISN)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: As threats to Black cemeteries persist, a movement to preserve their sacred heritage gains strength (AP)

MORAL HAZARD: Gulf coast petrochemical buildout draws billions in tax breaks despite pollution violations (Inside Climate News), Report slams taxpayer dollars sent to polluting plastic plants (E&E $)

GAZA: Revealed: How the global oil industry is fueling Israel’s war on Gaza (The Guardian)

GENDER: Who are green jobs really for? (Atmos)

EPA: EPA’s hard-fought climate rule for cars expected next week (Politico), EPA curbs cancer-causing chemical used to sterilize medical devices (Washington Post $, The Hill, Grist, AP, New York Times $), Methane emissions are triple government estimates: study (Axios, E&E $)

DOE: US offers record $2.26 billion loan for Nevada lithium plant (Bloomberg $, E&E $)

SEC: SEC hit by lawsuit barrage over climate disclosure rule (E&E $), Chamber of Commerce sues SEC over new climate disclosure rules (Axios)

EX-IM BANK: US approves $500 million for Bahrain oil project, despite opposition (New York Times $), Lawmakers warn Export-Import Bank against fueling ‘climate chaos’ (E&E $)

THE HILL: Spending package to rescind Congress’ plastic-reduction rule (E&E $)

HOUSE: Democrat says green pin ditched by GOP had hidden message (E&E News), House Oversight chair digs deeper into Podesta appointment (E&E $), 

SENATE: Senators accuse Chamber of ‘lying’ about climate action (E&E $), Barrasso moves to block Biden’s old-growth forest plan (E&E $), Republicans turn up pressure on farm bill ‘conservation cliff’ (E&E $)

POLITICS: Biden’s climate agenda is actually popular (Heatmap $), This Democratic senator says Biden’s climate efforts are falling short — and young voters are noticing (Politico)

CITIES AND STATES: States grapple with how to grow in drying West (E&E News), Fight over Michigan EV plant spurs bipartisan House bill (E&E $), Here’s how North Carolina could cut climate emissions two-thirds by 2030 (Energy News Network), Maine replaces bill to halt natural gas expansions with plan to study industry’s future role (Energy News Network), New Jersey voters may soon decide whether they have a right to a clean environment (AP), Pa. governor’s plan would shake up renewable energy, CCS (E&E $)

• CALIFORNIA: California votes to consider health and environment in future energy planning (Inside Climate News), Is CARB staff blocking reform at California’s clean transport program? (Canary Media)

FERC: Court scraps last-minute FERC rule change in largest power market (E&E $)

IMPACTS: Colorado snow storm knocks out power for thousands even as I-70 reopens (AP), DC-area tree pollen is surging because of abnormally warm weather (Washington Post $), This $600k defense against sea level rise could have lasted 3 years. It was destroyed in less than a day (CNN), We just had the warmest February on record (Yale Climate Connections)

WILDFIRES: In Texas, as in California, big fires lead to big lawsuits (Grist), GAO: Wildfire recovery 10 times harder than hurricanes (E&E $), Wildfires used to die down after dark. Drought has changed that. (E&E $)

WATER: In Mexico, a once glittering lake is being sucked dry by development, drought and lawlessness (AP)

RENEWABLES: First Solar CEO warns senators of ‘collapse’ in solar cell, module pricing (Utility Dive)

METHANE: Fossil fuel industry under pressure to cut record-high methane emissions (Climate Home), 

OIL & GAS: AI promises faster oil drilling and even more US crude supply (Bloomberg $), 'You are not an ally. You are a murderer': Climate defiance confronts Chevron CEO Mike Wirth (Democracy Now),Chevron’s huge Kazakh oil project to cost $48.5 billion (Bloomberg $), Shell waters down emissions cut pledge despite crucial climate decade (The Guardian), Ukraine, stalled on the battlefield, targets Russia’s oil industry (New York Times $)

COAL: Coal power plunged again in 2023 and is fading away in the US so what replaces it? (Inside Climate News)

OFFSETS: New report slams carbon offset project in Cambodia for violating Indigenous rights (Grist)

GEOENGINEERING: Effects of geoengineering must be urgently investigated, experts say (The Guardian)

BUSINESSES: What about nature risk? (New York Times $)

CARBON REMOVAL: CarbonCapture wants to take carbon removal down the cost curve (Canary Media)

SUMMER COOKOUT SZN: Want a more sustainable meat for the grill? Try a 13-foot python steak. (Washington Post $)

TEA: Climate change brews trouble for tea industry, but circular solutions await (Mongabay)

WILDLIFE: Climate change and boat strikes are killing right whales. stronger speed limits could save them. (Grist)

INTERNATIONAL: Europe must quicken green efforts after election, EU climate chief says (E&E $), Farmers disrupt traffic to Belgium’s major ports in protest of environmental rules (AP), UK scheme to spur take-up of heat pumps delayed after gas lobby pressure (The Guardian)

• We’re already seeing more creative efforts to make it harder to vote this year (CNN, Andrea Hailey op-ed)
• How a California climate win could end up destroying rainforests — and what to do about it (LA Times, Colin Murphy and Daniel Sperling op-ed $)
• As China’s EVs approach, japan’s carmakers must step on the gas (Bloomberg, Gearoid Reidy column $)
• Permitting reform budget request should push Congress to negotiate a bipartisan deal (Utility Dive, Liam deClive-Lowe and Paolo Mastrangelo op-ed)

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 ($)