Fox Asks Climate Question In GOP Debate, and 'Hoax' Response Draws Boos: The second question asked in the first 2024 Republican Presidential primary debate, hosted by Fox News, was set up with reference to ongoing climate disasters, and introduced by a young Republican looking for reassurance that the candidates can calm "fears that the Republican Party doesn’t care about climate change.” When asked to raise their hand if they believe humans are causing climate change, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson started to raise his hand (reportedly the only one), before FL Gov. Ron DeSantis interjected to object to the question (complaining that they're not "school children'') and pivoted to attack Biden's response to the Maui fires. South Carolinian politicians Nikki Haley and Tim Scott nominally accepted the reality of climate change, but directed the responsibility to act on China and India, and then 38-year old political neophyte Vivek Ramaswamy called it "a hoax." Undeterred by the crowd's loud and sustained boo-ing, Ramaswamy continued, falsely claiming "the reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy” and stating that "more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change." While the World Meteorological Organization  announced earlier this year that 2 million people have died from extreme weather events worsened by climate change, and a 2021 Harvard study found some 8 million deaths were due to fossil fuel pollution in 2018 alone, the estimated number of deaths due to climate change policies currently stands at approximately zero. (New York Times $, HuffPost, E&E $, Politico, Rolling Stone, Florida Politics, Miami Herald, NBC, The Independent, The Hill)

As Amazon Threatens To Turn Into Carbon Source, Tropical Forests Face Risk of Overheating: Every two weeks for the last ten years, climate scientist Luciana Gatti of the National Institute for Space Research in São José dos Campos, Brazil, has collected air samples at five sites in the Amazon rainforest. Her team's latest findings, covered in depth in a Nature feature story, warn that the Amazon, once reliably capturing and storing carbon, is becoming a source of carbon emissions, instead, as deforestation and degradation erode the forests's ability to store carbon. In 2019 and 2020, under former Brazilian president Jair Boslonaro's policies of exploiting the forest, the region's carbon emissions doubled as trees were cut down and land burned for agriculture. “They are killing the forest to transform everything into soy beans.” Gatti said. "I’m observing the forest dying.” She's not alone. Another study published in Nature yesterday found that tropical forests are at risk for "total leaf death" if emissions are unchecked, leading to rising temperatures reaching the point at which leaves can no longer photosynthesize. The good news, according to professor Simon Lewis, is that "under low-emissions scenarios, almost all tropical forest tree leaves can avoid death from overheating and the trees will survive'' though they will still face overheating during heat waves. (Amazon: Nature, The Guardian, Reuters; Forests overheating: The Guardian, ABC, CNN, New Scientist, E&E $)

California Has Nearly 20x The Solar It Did 20 Years Ago As Cities, States Deploy Solar Solutions: This week the largest clean energy project at an airport broke ground, as DC/Northern Virginia's Dulles International Airport began construction on a $200 million solar farm. Instead of leasing the land from the airport, energy utility Dominion Energy is providing Dulles with 50 EVs, 18 E-Buses, EV charging stations, and solar carports. Meanwhile in Houston, the public transit system is exploring the idea of using solar-powered fans to cool down bus stops, as well as lights for nighttime riders and other amenities, while Maine legislation will reduce the cost paid by consumers for solar farms. Such policies are critical for a just clean energy transition, as evidenced by the nearly 20-fold increase in California solar power since 2012. The state now has sufficient solar power for 11 million homes, has more than 78,000 people working in the solar industry, and met its 2020 target of 34% renewables two years early. (Dulles: Electrek, Houston: Houston Chronicle, Maine: KTVZ, California: Clean Technica) 

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: As oil activities encroach on sacred natural sites, a small Ugandan community feels besieged (AP), Low-income areas at higher risk of power line fires — study (E&E $)

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST: Indigenous women of India set up collective to fight climate change (Devex), 17 Bronx students sent to India for climate change program (CBS)

FOSSIL FUELED ENERGY CRISIS: G20 poured more than $1tn into fossil fuel subsidies despite COP26 pledges – report (The Guardian), UK academics urge Royal Society to condemn fossil fuel industry (The Guardian), Two-thirds of conservative endowment fund directors are linked to fossil fuels and polluting industries (DeSmog)

FEELINGS: The kids are not all right: How young people are dealing with increasing climate anxiety (CBC), Worried about our failure to stop climate change? There’s a name for it (San Francisco Chronicle), 5 reasons I’m convinced we can stop climate change (Outside), Why social emotional learning is critical for teaching climate justice (KQED), Is climate optimism dangerous? (The Week), An understudied emotion packs a surprisingly large climate action punch (Anthropocene Mag), On the climate crisis, it’s time to lean into pessimism (LA Times, Brian Kateman $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: US seeks focused, efficient fund for climate disasters (Reuters), COP28 Director-General speaks to CNN 100 days away from the climate conference (CNN), China, U.S. climate envoys hold video talks on climate-change cooperation (Reuters), China, Australia raise climate change, security at Pacific leaders summit (Reuters)

DENIAL: Conspiracy theorists and right-wing media fabricate evidence that Lahaina fire was deliberate (Media Matters) 

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: Only 4% of national TV news segments about Hurricane Hilary mentioned climate change (Media Matters)

PFASTARDS: Michigan appeals court upholds decision striking down water rules on ‘forever chemicals’ (AP), Saint-Gobain to close New Hampshire plant blamed for PFAS water contamination (AP)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: ‘It’s a beast’: landmark US climate law is too complex, environmental groups say (The Guardian)

OTHER HALF PROFITING OFF IT: Just half of CEOs see climate change as a risk to their business (Marketplace)

EPA: EPA chief visits Dorchester housing complex switching to cleaner energy (NBC Boston)

DOE: DOE reports tout potential of U.S. wind power amid cost, supply chain constraints (Politico Pro $)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden admin removes whale habitat from Gulf oil lease sale (E&E $)

ELECTIONS: Republicans attack Biden on climate change and energy, but claims mostly miss the mark (Politico Pro $)

CITIES AND STATES: Illinois environmental groups applaud vetoes by Pritzker (Inside Climate News), Colo. governor cites climate in push to reduce sprawl (E&E $), California is working on solutions to worsening climate change. Will they be enough? (LA Times $)

FERC: Solar developer calls FERC orders ‘abuse of discretion’ (Bloomberg Law)

IMPACTS: Tropical storm hits Caribbean, wildfires rage in Greece. What to know about extreme weather now (AP), Lough Neagh ‘dying in plain sight’ due to vast algal blooms (The Guardian), ‘Rare’ grand canyon flooding forces 100 to evacuate near park (Washington Post $), What a month of disasters tells US about climate change (Washington Post $), Climate change is making Minnesota's humidity more extreme (CBS), Dengue fever cases surge as temperatures rise (Grist)

HEAT: Swiss police warn that heat wave raises danger of falling ice, rock in the Alps (AP), Swimmable cities a climate solution? Amid scorching heat, cities rethink access to waterways (USA Today), Dangerous heat wave from Texas to the Midwest strains infrastructure, transportation (AP)

WILDFIRES: Heavy rain helps douse wildfires in Canada’s British Columbia (AP), Climate change doubled chances of conditions that fueled record wildfire season in Canada: research (The Hill, CBS), Volcanoes and wildfires offset 20% of global heating over eight years (The Guardian), Australians urged to prepare for most significant bushfire season since black summer (The Guardian), Wildfire outside Athens as hundreds of blazes ravage Greece (Reuters), Scenes from Greece, where hundreds of new fires burn (New York Times $), Greece battles its most widespread wildfires on record (New York Times $)

HURRICANES: Tropical Storm Franklin makes landfall and dumps heavy rain on Haiti and Dominican Republic (AP), Hilary took L.A.'s unhoused by surprise (HEATED)

DROUGHT: Drought affecting Panama Canal threatens 40% of global cargo ship traffic (CBS)

WATER: Rescuers evacuate over 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of Pakistan’s Punjab province in 3 weeks (AP), Climate change altering monsoon patterns, ringing in extreme weather: experts (Times of India)

RENEWABLES: Vestas wins US repowering order as older wind farms upgrade with climate law tax credits (Recharge News), Siemens Energy's wind turbine problems could cost 4.5 bln euros (Reuters), In quest for battery metals, U.S. takes on cobalt’s ‘inconvenient truth’ (Wall Street Journal $)

MISSING THE POINT: Norway: World’s biggest floating wind farm will power oil and gas platforms (EuroNews), The world’s largest floating offshore wind farm is officially online (Electrek), Equinor opens world's largest floating wind farm in Norway (Reuters)

OIL & GAS: Appalachian economy sees few gains from natural gas development, report says (Inside Climate News), 4 issues to watch in the gas ban wars (E&E $)

GRID: Texas opens grid to virtual power plants for first time (E&E $), Australia urgently needs a grid upgrade – but the march of new power lines faces a bush revolt (The Guardian)

EVs: EVs are everywhere in Norway. Why isn't oil demand falling faster?(E&E $), The cheapest option to get a car? EV leasing, study says. (E&E $)

ACTIVISM: Environmental activists pressure US regulators to halt JBS listing (Reuters)

AGRICULTURE: Climate change is threatening farms across New England. Here’s how farmers are responding. (NHPR), B.C. winery owners talk about how climate change is affecting their operations (CBC)

FINANCE: Bank lobbying on climate doesn't match green goals — report (E&E $), How oil and tech giants came to rule a vital climate industry (Wall Street Journal $)

WILDLIFE: Legislators press DNR policy board appointees on wolves, pollution, sandhill crane hunt (AP), Climate change isn't only hammering species that live in cold places (New Scientist), Damselfish in distress: warmer seas might be clouding their brains (New York Times $)

INTERNATIONAL: Massive economic pain for Australia if temperature rises exceed 2C, intergenerational report predicts (The Guardian, Bloomberg $), Woodside heads off Australian labor dispute roiling gas markets (Wall Street Journal $)

• How to fight climate change — one state constitution at a time (Baltimore Sun Editorial)
• Why did Alberta put the brakes on its booming clean energy industry? (Common Dreams, Tzeporah Berman op-ed)
• To fight climate change, we need a better carbon market (New York Times, Peter Coy column $)
• Climate change means more heat waves are coming. For now, here's how to cool it. (St Louis Post-Dispatch, Editorial Board)
• Climate action has brought investment to Illinois. Our lawmakers should strive for more. (Chicago Tribune, Joe Tedino and Mark Reynolds)
• US power system gets gasier, but not much cleaner, in 2023: Maguire (Reuters, Gavin Maguire)
• Bushfires focus public attention on climate change for months, but it’s different for storms and floods (The Conversation, Christopher Crellin, Robert MacNeil op-ed)
• It is no longer possible to escape what we have done to ourselves (New York Times, Serge Schmemann column $)
• I'm an evangelical Christian who believes Louisiana should do more on methane (NOLA.com, Jeannette Thompson)
• Coral reefs: How climate change threatens the hidden diversity of marine ecosystems (The Conversation, Julia K. Baum, Samuel Starko)
• Why is medicare saving paying for Teslas? (Wall Street Journal, Mark Merritt op-ed $)

Even Most Republicans Aren't Deniers Any More, Consider Climate A Problem, Want Gov't Action

Why would a specific demographic of people overwhelmingly believe something that's false? There are many possible reasons, but a big one is that billions of dollars have been spent to cultivate the particular false view that climate change isn’t a problem. 

For example, the Washington Post’s coverage of recent polling from WaPo and University of Maryland carried the headline, "Democrats and Republicans [are] deeply divided on extreme weather." 

The polling was not exactly shocking, finding that while lots of people have experienced extreme weather lately, their understanding of its climate context is politically filtered. 

"Since 2019, the polling shows, Republicans haven’t budged from their skepticism about climate change being a major factor in heat waves, while the percentage of Democrats making the link has increased from 79 percent to 85 percent." 

"In 2023, 87 percent of Democratic-leaning adults say extreme weather is becoming more severe, up slightly from 82 percent in 2019. By contrast, 37 percent of Republican-leaning adults say extreme weather is becoming more severe — ticking down from 42 percent in 2019." 

"More than 9 in 10 Democrats (93 percent) agree with the scientific consensus that human activity is causing changes to the world’s climate, compared with 55 percent of Republicans."

In other words, those who consume partisan, fossil-fueled media continue to deny the scientific reality of climate change, while those responsive to the real world become increasingly aware of climate impacts. 

But that's not to say all Republicans are in denial! Quite the contrary: climate denial is a minority position, even within the party, with 55% of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents saying that human activity is changing the climate and causing warming. 

The fossil fuel industry spends so heavily on disinformation because it needs to inflate the perceived relevance and popularity of denial. It uses money as a megaphone, amplifying sympathetic voices over those not toeing the party line. 

But that wasn't in the Washington Post’s story. Nor were some other interesting factors found in the cross tabs.  

Per Question 9, 44% of Republicans respondents said climate change is “a crisis” (9%) or "a major problem but not a crisis" (36%), and another 39% considered it at least "a minor problem." Only 17% replied that it was "not a problem at all," which is effectively the stance of the Republican Party. That’s probably why, per row 104, 51% of Republicans don't trust the Republican party "much" or "at all" to address climate change in the US. 

In row 108 you can see that 51% of Republicans also answered that, "all else equal," they'd prefer the next president to be "someone who favors government action to address climate change" over "someone who opposes government action to address climate change."

While the Post is technically correct in asserting that "Democrats and Republicans [are] deeply divided on extreme weather," the outlet could've also just said that "Republicans are deeply divided!" 

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