Record GHG Levels Put Humanity 'Between A Rock And A Charred Place': Atmospheric levels of the three most important greenhouse gasses were higher in 2023 than they have ever been since the dawn of human civilization, according to a NOAA report released Friday. Last year saw the third-biggest jump in CO2 since precise record keeping began in 1959, reaching 419.3 parts per million: 50% higher than before the industrial revolution. Methane, the main component of so-called "natural gas," which traps more than 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 20-year time scale, increased by the third-largest amount on record to 160% higher than preindustrial levels. Nitrous oxide increased to 336 ppm, with those increases driven mostly by widespread nitrogen fertilizer use in industrial agriculture. “Methane’s decadal spike should terrify us,” Stanford climate scientist Rob Jackson, who heads the Global Carbon Project, but was not involved in NOAA’s report, told the AP. “Fossil fuel pollution is warming natural systems like wetlands and permafrost. Those ecosystems are releasing even more greenhouse gases as they heat up. We’re caught between a rock and a charred place.” (AP, The Guardian, Common Dreams)

Chinese Pollution, Deaths Tracked Together — Study: China is bracing for a wave of deaths related to particulate air pollution, new research finds. The study, published in Atmospheric Environment, tracks increases in a type of air pollution known as PM2.5 and deaths in China in the late 2000's, and subsequent decreases in both in the subsequent decade. The findings highlight the opportunity to further improve public health through actions slashing fossil fuel use, but they also augur danger for the country's aging population. “The same level of air pollution will have a greater impact on an older and less healthy population," Michael Brauer of the University of British Columbia, who was not involved in the study, told The Guardian. (The Guardian)

Notable 'Floatables' A … Fecal … Sign of Climate Crisis in Charleston: Human feces float through avid gardener Nell Postell's yard when it rains particularly hard, and it's a problem that will likely only get worse as the climate crisis worsens, Inside Climate News reports. The sewer access cover near Postell's home in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the weakest links in the low-lying coastal city's aging sewer system and when that system is inundated by rainwater it can back up, spewing overflow sewage — including human feces, officially denoted as "floatables" — across her yard and into a nearby pond. “It smells like you’re living in a portaloo,” Postell said in describing how the "gush" of sewage is her regular sign to call Charleston Water Systems, who douse her yard with disinfectant after the rains end. Postell wonders “if it’s a health problem… I don’t know whether my ground is contaminated.” “Climate change is really exposing the inadequacies of our existing systems to handle the new normal,” Catherine Wannamaker, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is threatening to sue Charleston over the overflows, told ICN. The problem is also widespread and worsening because “as the atmosphere warms it has greater water vapor capacity. So as our climate system warms, these storms have more water vapor available to them. That’s an ingredient for more intense rain,” explained J. Marshall Shepherd, director of the University of Georgia’s atmospheric sciences department. And it's not just Charleston, Shepherd added, as “this lines up with what we’re seeing all throughout the South when it comes to sewage and septic systems.” (Inside Climate News)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Chemical Safety Board probing Louisiana toxic air releases (E&E $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Help us build wind farms to beat Russian bombs, Ukraine tells EU (Politico Pro $)

DENIAL & DISINFO: Anonymous users are dominating right-wing discussions online. They also spread false information (AP), Latino voters are coveted by both major parties. They also are a target for election misinformation (AP)

SCOTUS: These cases face trouble if the Supreme Court axes Chevron (E&E $)

AGENCIES: Agriculture Department rolls out $1.5B in conservation funds (E&E $), DOJ charges California smog shops with running inspection-cheating ring (Politico Pro $), NWS: Biden budget could help fix radar, warning outages (E&E $)

EPA: EPA head Regan defends $20B green bank: ‘I feel really good about this program’ (AP), 3 things to know about the US ‘green bank’ (E&E $), Emissions model for aviation fuel will be ready 'in the very near future', says EPA administrator (Reuters), Regan pledges ‘robust’ EPA rules despite legal challenges, GOP attacks (Politico Pro $), Regan touts strides made with journalists (E&E $)

DOE: Biden changes course on a major power grid rule after backlash (HuffPost), Shah defends DOE support for carbon capture, hydrogen (Politico Pro $)

DOT: Pipeline agency announces $392M to fix methane leaks (E&E $)

SEC: The SEC climate fight enters a new round (Heatmap $), SEC pauses climate disclosure rule, cites litigation ‘complexities’ (E&E News, Politico Pro $, The Hill)

TREASURY: Yellen faces diplomatic test in urging China to curb green energy exports (New York Times $, New York Times $), Will China flood the globe with EVs and green tech? What’s behind the latest US-China trade fight (AP)

WHITE HOUSE: Court backs Biden NEPA ruling for Texas oil terminal (E&E $)

THE HILL: Greens fight to stop Biden-Johnson LNG export deal (E&E $)

HOUSE: House Republicans step up oversight of energy body (Axios)

POLITICS: 'Now they’re voting red’: A Pennsylvania fracking boom weighs on Biden’s re-election chances (Wall Street Journal $)

ELECTIONS: The outsized climate and environmental impacts of Ohio’s 2024 Senate race (Inside Climate News), Trump’s second-term blueprint would take a wrecking ball to public lands (HuffPost), No Labels packs it up, won’t put forth a presidential ticket (Politico, AP, The Hill, Al Jazeera, The Guardian)

CITIES AND STATES: Wetlands protection at issue in Maine offshore wind plans (E&E $), Barr-backed business lobbying group sues California over truck emissions rule (The Hill)

FERC: Don’t count on FERC as the ‘big sugar daddy’ for new transmission, generation: Commissioner Christie (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Does climate change cause earthquakes? (Heatmap $), The race to keep an Amtrak train from falling into the Pacific (Wall Street Journal $), ‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe (The Guardian)

HURRICANES: 2024 hurricane season's dark omens (Axios)

WATER: As messy side effects of Klamath River dam removal continue, officials stress that short-term pain will yield long-term gain (Inside Climate News)

RENEWABLES: ‘Valuable and largely overlooked:’ Interest in virtual power plants grows (Rhode Island Current), Con Edison, NGV propose offshore wind project for New Jersey (Reuters), Hydro giant shakes up Western grid market plans (E&E $), Networked geothermal is catching on in Minnesota. New legislation aims to push the technology further (Energy News Network), Renewable energy is shattering records. Will it continue? (E&E $)

BATTERIES: EJ and lithium aren’t mixing just yet (Politico)

BUILDINGS: Africa is on the verge of a building boom. Will it be green? (Context), Want a climate-friendly home? You might need a new breaker box. (Yale Climate Connections)

OIL & GAS: Brent boosted by geopolitics, jumps over $90 (Axios), Conflicts could put West Africa's oil supply at risk (OilPrice), The oil industry's trash could become desert riches as wastewater recycling gains traction (Houston Chronicle)

PLASTICS: Amazon has increased plastic packaging in US despite global phaseout: oceana report (EcoWatch)

PIPELINES: Six things everyone should know about the Mountain Valley Pipeline (Truthout)

COAL: More federal money to speed repair of historic mining harms in Pennsylvania (Inside Climate News)

GRID: How Monday's total solar eclipse affects US grid operators (Reuters explainer), Geopolitical turmoil has ‘significant ramifications’ for North American electric grid: NERC (Utility Dive), Solar eclipse offers test for a renewable-heavy grid (E&E News), Sunnova expands virtual power plant accessibility in 6 states and Puerto Rico (Utility Dive), Tensions at home and abroad pose a growing threat to the US power grid (Politico Pro $), Total solar eclipse will reduce solar production but not expected to impact Texas grid reliability (Houston Chronicle)

EVs: China top EV forum to be held in California in May (Reuters), EV adoption has brought modest, but measurable, declines in Bay Area emissions: Study (The Hill)

• TESLA: Tesla stock seesaws as Musk denies report cheap EV will be scrapped (Axios), Chart: Tesla’s EV charging lead isn’t going anywhere (Canary Media), Is Tesla even a car company, anymore? (Heatmap $)

CLOTHING: Why you should spend more money on underwear (Washington Post $)

ACTIVISM: 'We want to help': Why climate activists are trying something new (NPR)

XR: Extinction Rebellion co-founder avoids jail term for drone action near Heathrow (The Guardian)

AGRICULTURE: Farmers in India are hit hard by extreme weather. Some say expanding natural farming is the answer (AP), World Bank’s funding of ‘hog hotel’ factory farms under fire over climate effect (The Guardian)

AVIATION: Why an energy company is building the world’s biggest plane (TIME)

BOOKS: Elmer and the climate crisis: Lost story by David McKee set to be published (The Guardian), New climate fiction author Sarah Ruiz-Grossman’s favorite cli-fi books (HuffPost)

CARBON REMOVAL: Policy push for carbon removal credits lures finance, aviation (Reuters), The unassuming material that could soak up carbon emissions (Washington Post $)

GRETA: Dutch police have detained activist Greta Thunberg at a climate demonstration in The Hague (AP, Reuters, Teen Vogue, France 24, BBC, The Hill)

IN MEMORIAM: Norman Beddington obituary (The Guardian)

WILDLIFE: As Florida smalltooth sawfish spin and whirl, a new effort to rescue them begins (Inside Climate News), Wind resistance: Can Colombia overcome opposition to get its green energy plan back on track? (The Guardian)

NOT EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLE: A California dog missing since the summer is found in Michigan (AP), Thousands of salmon spilled in truck accident make it to creek to start new lives (HuffPost)

• Environmentalism could stop the clean-energy transition (Washington Post, Editorial Board $)
• Bangladesh power system gets dirtier on rapid coal use growth (Reuters, Gavin Maguire column)
• Big Oil ignores millions of climate deaths when billions in profit are at stake (Truthout, C.J. Polychroniou op-ed)
• Protecting California’s children and communities from leaded aviation fuel pollution (Environmental Health News, Caroline Menjivar)
• Nigeria’s path to net zero should be fully lined with trees – and fairness (Climate Home, Chukwumerije Okereke op-ed)
• I never found closure after my son’s death. I found something else. (New York Times, Liz Jensen essay $)
• We built 7 EV chargers in 2 years. That’s actually not the problem. (Washington Post, Matt Bai column $)
• Why Republicans will regret their crusade against electric cars (Politico, Mike Murphy op-ed)
• China’s flag is red, not green (Wall Street Journal, Thomas Duesterberg, op-ed $)

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