Strong Support For Global Price On Shipping Pollution: A two-week convening of the UN shipping agency concluded late last week with a clear majority of member nations in favor of a global climate pollution levy. If adopted next year, that fee would be the first of its kind in any sector or industry. While details remain to be ironed out, support from Caribbean Island states was instrumental in building support for the measure, especially for a simplified fuel standard and universal price on greenhouse gas pollution. Thirty-four countries supported some kind of GHG pricing mechanism; 14 supported some form of credit trading system. Island states are some of the strongest proponents of a fee on climate pollution, with the Marshall Islands — the third-largest "flag state" — calling for a charge of $150 per ton of CO2-equivalent emissions. The final details are expected to be adopted by the UN International Maritime Organization next year. “The UN is on the edge of adopting the world’s first-ever global emissions price," the Ocean Conservancy's Sandra Chiri said, "but the policy will only be as successful as countries make it to be.” (Bloomberg $, CNBC, Bunkerspot, SupplyChainBrain, News Reports, Offshore Energy)

Judge SLAPPS Down Elon Musk's Lawsuit: A federal judge threw out Elon Musk's lawsuit against the Center For Countering Digital Hate, which documented the increase of racist, antisemitic, and extremist content on the website formerly known as Twitter following the Tesla founder's acquisition of the site. U.S. district judge Charles Beyer Musk, dismissed the lawsuit — brought by the self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" and Zambian emerald mining heir  — pursuant to California's anti-SLAPP law designed to protect the exercise of free speech from bad-faith attacks. "Today’s decision proves that even the world’s wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will," CCDH attorney Roberta Kaplan told reporters. (The Guardian)Washington Post $, AP, NPR, New Republic, The Globe and Mail, Variety, The Hill, Wall Street Journal $, Forbes, NBC, CNN, Deadline, FT $, Reuters, Bloomberg Law, AFP, New York Times $, Axios)

Groups Connect Home Efficiency Need With Resources In Virginia: Community groups in Harrisonburg, Virginia, are collaborating to connect low-income residents with to help improve home energy efficiency, Energy News Network reports. The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is working to build relationships with groups not necessarily focused on energy efficiency to build trust in the community and connect residents with services to help save money and improve the health of their home. The the volunteer-driven Comité Salvadoreño Paisanos Unidos (COSPU) has helped empower the region's vibrant and significant immigrant population with mentoring, education, and advocacy for 14 years and added its second (part-time) paid staff member thanks to a grant through CAAV to raise awareness about free home efficiency upgrades. “This is a creative, unique way to address this gap,” between families with high energy burdens and efficiency and weatherization resources, Everett Brubaker of Community Housing Partners, one of the groups that performs the upgrades, told EEN. “Having a total stranger come to the door can be intimidating for the people we serve," Crimson Solano, COSPU's Executive Director and its one other paid employee, said. "We have access and we have trust.” (Energy News Network)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Expectations mount as loss and damage fund staggers to its feet (Climate Home)

DENIAL: Florida is about to erase climate change from most of its laws (Grist)

SCOTUS: ‘Major questions’ lawsuits threaten Biden’s new clean car rule (E&E $)

AGENCIES: Partisan split emerges on Biden old-growth forest plans (E&E $)

EPA: Methane police' on patrol as EPA ramps up scrutiny of oil companies (Houston Chronicle)

DOE: Biden administration announces $6 billion to slash industrial emissions (HuffPost, The Hill), Exxon's Baytown, other area projects to receive hundreds of millions in Biden administration funding for climate (Houston Chronicle), Aluminum company says preferred site for new smelter is a region of Kentucky hit hard by job losses (AP)

SEC: The politics behind the SEC’s new climate disclosure rule—and what it means for investors (Inside Climate News)

TREASURY: Treasury hearing to showcase battle over ‘clean’ hydrogen (E&E $), Treasury issues clarifying guidance on the IRA’s energy community bonus credit (Utility Dive)

WHITE HOUSE: Judge suggests broad NEPA review for 'federal fossil fuel program' (E&E $)

SENATE: ‘Offensive’: Manchin slams Biden’s offshore wind incentive (E&E $), Senate preserves new EPA tailpipe rule — for a few weeks (E&E $)

POLITICS: Biden’s climate law is fueling a quiet competition among Democratic governors (Politico), Ex-Obama officials rue missed chances on climate action (E&E $)

TRIBES: How a dream to bring back wild buffalo is slowly decolonizing tribal land (HuffPost)

CITIES AND STATES: Imprisoned ex-Ohio Speaker Householder indicted on 10 new charges, 1 bars him from public office (AP), Householder hit with 10 more charges over ongoing HB 6 investigation (Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Dayton Daily News, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, New York Times $), Wyoming governor signs budget bill with anti-[Bureau of Land Management] amendment (E&E $)

FERC: FERC doesn’t act on dispute over Salt River Project’s rooftop solar rules, teeing up possible court battle (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: America’s climate boomtowns are waiting (The Atlantic), The era of 'climateflation' is here, study shows (Axios)

WILDFIRES: Forest fires burn in nearly half of Mexico’s drought-stricken states, fueled by strong winds. (AP), Fire suppression is exacerbating wildfire severity in the US West: Study (The Hill)

RENEWABLES: Wind and sun are free, but it’s harder to get renewable energy projects built these days. Here’s why (AP), China's hydro generators wait for the rains to come (Reuters), Geothermal is the hottest thing in clean energy. Here’s why (Canary Media), What is solar thermal? (Yale Climate Connections), Here are the big hurdles to the global push to build up renewable energy (AP)

BATTERIES: America's lithium laws fail to keep pace with rapid development (Reuters), China’s battery champion says geopolitical tensions won’t derail US expansion (Wall Street Journal $), Mining companies say they have a better way to get underground lithium, but skepticism remains (Inside Climate News)

BUILDINGS: Building affordable homes out of plastic waste (TIME)

STORAGE: US energy storage capacity rises 4.2 GW in Q4 2023, full-year additions up 90% over 2022 (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: Sudan war causes stoppages on South Sudan oil pipeline, officials say (Reuters)

PLASTICS: Plastic chemicals are inescapable — and they’re messing with our hormones (Grist), They save baby seals from fishing line and plastics. Millions watch. (New York Times $)

DAVY JONES’ MINERALS: The future of deep sea mining is being decided — without the US (Heatmap $)

TRAVEL: Vacation rentals: How to shrink your carbon footprint (New York Times $)

GRID: Court halts completion of disputed Midwest power line (E&E $, Politico Pro $)

EVs: Speed of EV growth slowing but trend remains, Northvolt CEO says (Reuters)

CARBON CAPTURE & REMOVAL: How funding and incentives under recent laws advance carbon capture technologies (Reuters)

PERSONAL FINANCE: Your 401(k) might be feeding the climate crisis (Yale Climate Connections)

WILDLIFE: Honey bee colonies at heightened risk of collapse in the Pacific Northwest: Study (The Hill)

INTERNATIONAL: A major European nature protection plan stumbles at the final hurdle. ‘How could we give that up?’ (AP, The Guardian, Reuters), Aruba embraces the rights of nature and a human right to a clean environment (Inside Climate News), MPs and activists challenge claim North Sea oil and gas supports 200,000 jobs (The Guardian), Starmer: Labour plan for state-backed offshore windfarms a ‘gamechanger’ (The Guardian)

• Massachusetts needs a regional drought plan (Boston Globe, Joan Meschino and Jamie Eldridge $)
• Grid technology could save billions but for a policy vacuum (Utility Dive, Neil Chatterjee op-ed)
• Groundwater levels are plummeting around the world (Boston Globe, Scott Jasechko and Debra Perrone op-ed $)
• The deadliest infectious disease isn’t a science problem. It's a money problem. (Washington Post, John Green op-ed $)

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