(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Who decides where we get electricity and how much we pay? Mostly White, politically connected men (Energy News Network)
JUST PLAIN RACISM: Oklahoma judge dismisses Tulsa race massacre reparations case filed by last known survivors (CNN)
INJUSTICE: Unhoused people still vulnerable to air pollution, and not just during wildfires (Truthout)
PRIDE: Drag queens are out, proud and loud in a string of coal towns, from a bingo hall to blue-collar bars (AP)
COP28: UAE’s al Jaber says COP28 will fast-track phase down of fossil fuels (Climate Home)
FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: Moscow says NATO leaders should discuss Ukraine nuclear plant (Politico EU)
CLIMATE LITIGATION: Juliana attorneys: Biden betrays climate goals (E&E $)
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Biden’s hydrogen bombshell leaves Europe in the dust (Politico), John Kerry to visit China to restart climate negotiations (New York Times $), Ukraine and the environment will top the agenda when Biden meets with UK politicians and royalty (AP)
DENIAL: An Iowa meteorologist started talking about climate change on newscasts. Then came the harassment (AP)
POLITICS AS USUAL: Meet the DC thinktank giving big oil ‘the opportunity to say they’ve done something’ (The Guardian)
FOSSIL VOLATILITY: At least two dead in oil platform fire in Gulf of Mexico (CNN)
GOP vs. ESG: Ramaswamy investments seem at odds with his position on ‘woke’ culture (New York Times $), Jim Jordan, Judiciary Republicans probe top asset managers on ESG efforts (Politico Pro $), House Republicans kick off anti-ESG campaign (E&E $), House Republicans move to silence Wall Street in climate fight (Politico Pro $)
GOP vs. DOJ: House Republicans target the Pentagon's use of electric vehicles (Washington Post $)
AIN’T NATURAL: Australian energy ministers to consider renaming natural gas to ‘fossil gas’ in law (The Guardian)
INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Transcript: Ezra Klein interviews Robinson Meyer (New York Times $), They opposed the infrastructure law. Now, some in the GOP court its cash. (Washington Post $)
SCOTUS: The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling could hamper Biden’s environmental justice agenda (Inside Climate News)
AGENCIES: US Forest Service and historically Black colleges unite to boost diversity in wildland firefighting (The Hill)
EPA: EPA methane reporting proposal sets stage for emission fees (E&E $), EPA green grant program attracts widespread interest (E&E $)
DOE: Tapping into DOE’s $250B of loan authority for projects that reinvest in US clean energy infrastructure (Utility Dive), DOE announces third SPR crude oil purchase date (Politico Pro $)
TREASURY: Janet Yellen urges China to boost funding to tackle climate crisis (The Guardian, Reuters, New York Times $)
EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Sweltering weather has left swaths of the US baking. A ‘heat tsar’ could help, experts say (The Guardian)
WHITE HOUSE: Biden to tout $500 billion invested in manufacturing and clean energy during his presidency (The Hill)
THE HILL: Markey, Frost introduce bill to require full Medicare coverage of climate-resilient medical equipment (The Hill), Permitting talks to resume as Congress returns (E&E $)
POLITICS: Trump attacks DeSantis in Iowa over ethanol stance (Politico), Trump says he’ll cancel every Biden policy ‘brutalizing our farmers’ within hours, if elected (The Hill), Worker concerns about EV manufacturing wages could become unlikely fodder for Republicans (The Hill)
ELECTIONS: These climate advocates don’t care about your carbon footprint. They care about whether you vote. (Grist)
NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: USDA nominee tops Senate return agenda as rail bill awaits (E&E $)
CITIES AND STATES: In 31 states, utilities can shut off electricity for nonpayment amid heat waves (Truthout), Extreme heat wave bound for Phoenix and Southwest could be worst ever (Washington Post $), It’s toxic slime time on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee (New York Times $), ‘Science vs. politics’: Clash pits scientist against powerful Everglades Foundation (Miami Herald), What’s a Georgia summer without peaches? Not so sweet. (New York Times $), Illinois may lift historic ban on building nuclear power plants as state continues transition from coal and gas (Chicago Tribune), Citing racial disparities and rising gas rates, Illinois groups call for building electrification (Energy News Network), Minnesota PUC approves Xcel’s plan to install a 10-MW/1,000-MWh Form Energy battery system (Utility Dive), New Jersey's other wind farm developer wants breaks, too (E&E $), Commercial-scale wind farm off New Jersey coast approved (New York Times $), New York state built Elon Musk a $1 billion factory. ‘It was a bad deal.’ (Wall Street Journal $), A North Dakota coal plant is being retrofit for carbon capture. It will be a massive test (Fast Company), Hydrogen, nuclear among winners in last-minute changes to Ohio budget bill (Energy News Network), In Oregon timber country, a town buys the surrounding forests to confront climate-driven wildfires (Inside Climate News), Texas Supreme Court says buyout firms not liable for chemical plant explosion (Axios), Utah’s FORGE geothermal site proves it’s more than just wishing wells (Deseret News)
~ EVERYTHING (INCLUDING RENEWABLES) IS BIGGER IN TEXAS: Renewables help tame Texas electricity costs as heat wave swamps state (Axios, ABC, Utility Dive), Extreme heat and the toll of climate change on Texas (Texas Tribune)
~ CALIFORNIA: ‘It’s a disaster’: California farmer faces ordeal as pistachio farm sits underwater (LA Times $), Another heat wave is heading for California. Here’s a timeline of its impacts (San Francisco Chronicle), The planet saw its hottest day ever this week. Here's why the Bay Area stayed cool (San Francisco Chronicle), Amid water woes, solar is booming in the California desert (Grist), California, truck manufacturers strike deal on zero-emission plan (The Hill), ‘An insane amount of water’: What climate change means for California’s biggest dairy district (Modern Farmer), California's farmworkers are on the front lines of climate change (KQED)
IMPACTS: Dust storms are on the rise in the Southwest. That could harm health. (Yale Climate Connections)
FLASH: At least 1 dead as heavy rains set off flash flooding in New York (New York Times $), India floods: Monsoon rains leave 22 dead in north as Delhi sees wettest July day in decades (The Guardian)
HEAT: The new "abnormal": Experts agree climate change will intensify droughts and heatwaves in the future (Salon), El Niño + climate change = heat records (CNN), America's cruel summer (Axios)
HOT PO-TATERS: Hot weather really does pump up home runs. Here’s how, and why it matters. (Washington Post $)
HURRICANES: Hurricane forecast worsens, above-average activity expected this year, (The Hill), More storms this season? Mid-season prediction suggests hot Atlantic could cook them up (Miami Herald)
DROUGHT: ‘Swallowed by the sand’: Somalia’s coastal towns succumb to the desert (The Guardian)
DEFORESTATION: In Lula’s first 6 months, Amazon destruction has dropped 34%, reversing trend under Bolsonaro (LA Times $, EcoWatch), Colombia, Brazil presidents pledge cooperation to protect Amazon (Reuters)
BIODIVERSITY: The snow crab vanishes (Grist), Seabird die-offs linked to marine heat waves (EcoWatch), ‘Biosphere’ review: It’s the end of the world (and they caused it) (New York Times $)
LADIES FIRST: Trees like women best: Nepal's forests thrive with female bosses (Context)
RENEWABLES: Volcanoes: the fiery future of green energy (OilPrice), ‘Revolutionary’ solar power cell innovations break key energy threshold (The Guardian), In a US first, fossil fuel power plant workers will be retrained for offshore wind (Electrek)
BUILDINGS: How tech could turn our homes into renewable energy power stations (The Independent)
METHANE: Melting glaciers reveal bubbling springs of methane (E&E $), Little publicized but treacherous, methane from coal mines upends the lives of West Virginia families (Inside Climate News)
OIL & GAS: Natural gas is the pillar of the US electric grid. It’s also unreliable (Canary Media), U.S. oil boom blunts OPEC’s pricing power (Wall Street Journal $), Exclusive: How US oil extraction plans will scupper global climate goals (Energy Monitor)
SHELL GAME: Shell boss under fire for saying cutting fossil fuel production is ‘dangerous’ (The Guardian), Shell backtracks on greenwashing, renews commitment to drill, baby, drill! (Gizmodo)
PLASTICS: Q&A: What to do about pollution from a vast new Shell plastics plant in Pennsylvania (Inside Climate News)
COAL: Underground coal mines the ‘clear losers’ as pollution caps tighten (Sydney Morning Herald)
FUSION: Will tech breakthroughs bring fusion energy closer to reality? (Yale Environment 360), Biden admin backs world’s largest fusion project (E&E $)
(ALLEGED) UTILITY CORRUPTION: Pepco to repay ratepayers $800,000 after solar violation (DCist), National Grid to pay $5.38M for damages caused by Mass. plant (E&E $)
GRID: Soaring temperatures test electric grid in transition (E&E $)
JOBS: America’s green skills gap raises concerns about energy transition (Wall Street Journal $)
EVs: Mercedes-Benz adopts Tesla’s NACS charging standard (Tech Crunch), Nikola production declines after fire at headquarters (Wall Street Journal $), Rivian shares climb after EV deliveries outpace estimates (Wall Street Journal $), Hackers already infiltrate EV chargers. It could only get worse. (Grist)
TIRED OUT: Why tires — not tailpipes — are spewing more pollution from your cars (Washington Post $)
MINING: No country can solve critical mineral shortages alone (FT $)
AI: AI systems could help US speed up extreme weather forecasting, studies show (Gizmodo)
ACTIVISM: Climate protesters disrupt Wimbledon tennis matches, shut down Welsh coal mine (Democracy Now)
AVIATION: Japan Airlines to rent clothes in effort to lower carbon emissions and ‘promote sustainable tourism’ (EcoWatch)
AGRICULTURE: Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers on the front lines of a warming Earth (AP), Future demand for wood will undermine efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions (LA Times $), Scientists say poisonous pea could be made vital climate crisis crop (The Guardian), A wake up call: The world needs to prepare for massive crop failure (Gizmodo), Study: Crop failure risk is underestimated in climate models (Axios)
WINE: Climate change wreaks more havoc on wine growers with spring frost (Washington Post $)
BOOKS: ‘It’s not climate change, it’s everything change’: Sci-fi authors take on the global crisis (The Guardian), A global warming book for the streaming age (New York Times $)
TV: Climate change is our reality — so why wouldn't it appear on reality TV? (NPR)
MUSIC: Greener gigs? How the music business is tuning into climate action (Context)
SUSTAINABILITY: Low-water landscape and garden designs for water-wise yards (EcoWatch)
BUSINESSES: How the metaverse can help companies cut emissions (TIME)
GEOENGINEERING: The U.S. and EU take cautious steps toward geoengineering (Axios)
MANUFACTURING: The remarkable upsurge in US clean energy manufacturing, in charts (Canary Media)
RESTAURANTS: What’s the future of wood-fired pizza in New York? (New York Times $)
TRUCKING: U.S. truckmakers reach deal to phase out polluting diesel big rigs (Washington Post $)
INTERNATIONAL: Canada's Trudeau and Alberta Premier Smith look for agreement on climate policies (Reuters), Chinese scientists are trying to shield melting glaciers from the sun (Bloomberg $), Chinese cities open air raid shelters for heat relief as extreme temperatures lead to deaths (AP), Oil is hard to quit, even in Norway where electric cars rule the road (Bloomberg $), South Africa power cuts may end sooner than expected (Bloomberg $), Is it too much to ask that Syrians receive the aid they need? (The New Humanitarian), Developing nations decry risk of UK breaking climate finance pledge (Climate Home)