Italian Oil Major Knew It Was Causing Climate Change, Kept Greenwashing Anyway: Eni is usually found among the world’s top dozen richest oil companies, with an estimated market capitalization of almost $49 billion and reported profit more than $14 billion in 2021. Two Italian advocacy groups - Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon - and 12 private Italians from areas affected by extreme weather are suing the company for allegedly lobbying and greenwashing to extend the runway for fossil fuels despite knowing the link between their products and the climate crisis. A recently unearthed report found Eni’s research center warned company brass about the “catastrophic” risk of carbon dioxide pollution back in 1970, yet Eni continued to market products like methane and diesel as clean fuels. Eni’s own company magazine discussed climate change during the late 80s and 90s while simultaneously running ad campaigns describing methane gas as a “clean” fuel. “These findings reinforce and add to the pattern found in previous research: oil majors understood the catastrophic effects their products would have on the world, yet failed to warn the public, concealed their knowledge, denied the problem, and obstructed efforts to solve it,” said Ben Franta at the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme told the Guardian. (Guardian, Reuters, The Local, DeSmog)

Huge Methane Leaks In Turkmenistan And Gulf Of Mexico: Satellite data shows methane leaks in a fossil fuel field in western Turkmenistan have caused more global heating in 2022 than all of the carbon pollution from the United Kingdom. Turkmenistan is one of the largest methane hotspots in the world, according to recent research in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The number of “super emitting” methane sites in the country doubled between 2021 and 2022, with one site spewing methane for almost six weeks. Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov told regulators at the 2021 climate summit that Turkmenistan was paying special attention to the reduction of methane emissions, but has done little to address the leaking wells. Methane leaks are also ubiquitous among the 14,000 orphaned oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new study in Nature Energy. Plugging them could cost up to $30 billion, though 90 percent of the leaky wells are in shallower water and would only cost 25 percent of the $30 billion to plug. (Gulf Coast: ABC News, New Scientist, Gizmodo; Turkmenistan: Guardian)

Court Reverses EPA Decision Not To Regulate Military Fuel Found In Drinking Water: The decision by a federal appeals court reverses a 2020 EPA decision to not regulate perchlorate, a rocket fuel and explosive chemical that interferes with the thyroid gland and hormone production, presenting an acute risk for pregnant people and infants. The compound has been found to contaminate potable water near military installations and contractor facilities. The chemical was discovered in drinking wells in the 1990s, prompting public outcry for federal regulation. EPA initially said it would not regulate the compound in 2008, then reversed course in 2011, arguing it could be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The agency then failed to follow through on that determination, and a previous lawsuit resulted in a settlement that extended the runway for EPA to propose a standard until 2018. In 2020, the agency revoked its 2011 determination under President Trump and the current EPA staff affirmed that decision, prompting the current lawsuit by environmental groups. The court concluded that the EPA has the statutory authority to override the agency’s determination that the chemical must be regulated under the SDWA. (Reuters, The Hill, Independent, Bloomberg Law, E&E $)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Climate groups drop EPA suit after new draft climate regulations (Bloomberg Law)

AGENCIES: Feds behind science, environmental justice up for top awards (E&E $)

WHITE HOUSE: The nationalist dark side of Joe Biden’s climate policies (Vox), Climate on Biden's agenda during island visit (E&E $)

THE HILL: Republicans take aim at Biden’s climate plan in debt ceiling fight (The Guardian)

DRC: Thousands still missing as Congo flood survivors search for relatives (Reuters)

CITIES AND STATES: Vermont Senate overrides governor’s veto of clean heat bill (AP), Climate change scrambles the Florida Keys (Politico), The Texas GOP’s war on renewable energy (Texas Monthly), To build climate resilience, Detroit communities turn to long-neglected alleys (SmartCities Dive), Climate resolution voted down in El Paso after fossil fuel interests and other opponents pour more than $1 million into opposition (Inside Climate News), Texas House weighs Senate-approved plan to incentivize new gas plants as grid faces dicey summer (Utility Dive)

~CALIFORNIA: Mangoes and agave in the central valley? California farmers try new crops to cope with climate change (CAL Matters)

IMPACTS: Greenland glacier discovery shows sea level projections are too low (Axios), Oil and gas production causes 7,500 premature deaths per year (Gizmodo), Hurricanes of data: the tiny craft mapping superstorms at sea (New York Times $), Climate change forces a rethinking of mammoth Everglades restoration plan (Inside Climate News)

WILDFIRES: Wildfires have burned nearly 1 million acres in western Canada (Grist)

PFAS: Oregon bans plastic foam and PFAS in food containers, promotes reusable alternatives (Grist)

RENEWABLES: The “electrify everything” movement’s consumption problem (The Intercept)

STOVES: Blue-state coalition goes after gas stoves (E&E $)

H2: The most valuable U.S. power company is making a huge bet on hydrogen (Wall Street Journal $), What is hydrogen, and can it really become a climate solution? (The Conversation), Xcel investigating ways to blend hydrogen into U.S. natural gas system (Natural Gas Intel)

OIL & GAS: Church of England to vote against Shell chair on climate (Bloomberg $), Aramco to boost payouts for Saudi government and investors (Bloomberg $), Aramco weighs LNG exports as hydrogen negotiations prove tough (Bloomberg $), Falling oil prices cause Saudi Aramco’s profit to slip 19 percent (New York Times $), Oil giant Saudi Aramco posts 19% drop in first-quarter profit (CNBC), Saudi Aramco’s profit slides as oil boom cools (Wall Street Journal $)

WIND: Long Beach releases plan for largest offshore wind turbine facility at any U.S. port (LA Times $)

SOLAR: BLM weighs Utah's largest proposed solar power project (E&E $), Silicon Valley Bank is back to financing community solar (Canary Media)

NUKES: U.S. regulators OK spent nuclear fuel facility in New Mexico (AP), U.S. support for nuclear power soars (Gizmodo)

UTILITIES: Duke energy sees writedowns for renewable unit being sold swelling to $1.5 billion (Bloomberg $), Income-based electric bills: The newest utility fight in California (Canary Media), NextEra Energy Partners to sell its natural gas pipelines, focus solely on renewable energy (Utility Dive), Xcel's plans in Becker would create one of largest solar plants in country (Star Tribune $)

EVs: Biden’s latest climate minefield: EV mineral deals (E&E $), Growing pains intensify for EV startups lucid and fisker (Wall Street Journal $)

METHANE: Near-record natural gas power burns and higher prices expected this summer, EIA says (Natural Gas Intel), EIA forecasts second-highest U.S. summer power demand on record for natural gas (MarketWatch)

“MEAT”: Lab-grown meat could be 25 times worse for the climate than beef (New Scientist), The environmental math of going vegan — and more (Washington Post $)

BUSINESSES: PennEnvironment releases list of state's 'Dirty Dozen' climate polluters (CBS)

JOYSTICKS: ‘Highwater,’ the new video game that immerses players in a dystopian world ravaged by climate change (Yale Climate Connections)

FINANCE: Biggest African bank cites energy needs in fossil fuel defense (Bloomberg $), He could uncork trillions to help fix the planet (New York Times $), Uganda sees climate finance needs at $28 billion through 2030 (Bloomberg $)

CCS: Greens want to slow Biden’s climate roll (Politico $)

GRANNIES: ‘Climate Grannies’ crusade for change (CNN)

MINING: Chile miner Codelco and BHP sign sustainable mining agreement (Reuters)

HOLLYWOOD: Adam McKay launches climate content studio yellow dot (Hollywood Reporter)

FORESTS: Helping ‘climate-compatible trees’ spread their seeds may benefit Europe’s forests (Carbon Brief), Urban trees lessen Impacts of climate change (NBC Bay Area)

WILDLIFE: A frightening virus is killing a massive number of wild birds (Vox)

INTERNATIONAL: Emergency declared, student missing in New Zealand floods (AP), Ecuador strikes a landmark deal to save nature, and some cash (New York Times $), We can’t solve the climate crisis without China, head of German environment body says (South China Morning Post)

• Oakland Teachers Strike for Climate Justice (Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board $)
• Let the post-pandemic city grow wild (New York Times, Ben Wilson $)
• Putting regenerative solutions in the Farm Bill would benefit us all (The Hill, Tenzin Seldon)
• Keeping the lights on is about to get less deadly (Bloomberg, Liam Denning $)
• How to think about green industrial policy (New York Times, Paul Krugman $)
• Maine can build offshore wind that protects our people and environment (Bangor Daily, Chip Curry)

Heartland Institute Reacts To Petro-Masculinity Concept With Pathetic Display Of Petro-Masculinity

In March, we wrote about the misogynistic harassment that women climate activists like Sophia Kianni and Greta Thunberg face online. In April, Kianni tweeted out quotes from the syndicated Red, Green, and Blue version of our post. Now in May, to bring us full circle, the Heartland Institute used one of Kianni’s tweets as fodder for an hour-long podcast titled, “Embracing Petro-Masculinity.”

Petro-masculinity is a term coined in 2018 by Virginia Tech political scientist Cara Daggett that helps explain “the historic role of fossil fuel systems in buttressing white patriarchal rule.” Fossil fuels are deeply embedded within other systems of oppression, so when confronted by calls for climate action, people who benefit from oppressive systems often lash out in a violent defense not only of fossil fuels but also of patriarchy and white supremacy.

This concept might seem confusing at first, but it’s very easy to see petro-masculinity in action. The same people pushing fossil fuel propaganda are also spreading hate. Jordan Peterson, for example, is a Canadian psychologist and employee of the fracker-backed Daily Wire who is most well-known for his sexist rhetoric, but who also routinely spreads absolutely stomach-churning racism, transphobia, and, yes, climate disinformation.

As Daggett puts it, “It is no coincidence that white, conservative American men – regardless of class – appear to be among the most vociferous climate deniers, as well as leading fossil fuel proponents in the West.” See the 2011 study "Cool dudes" if you don't believe Daggett!

The Heartland Institute’s podcast is a clear example of the way that fossil fuel interests defend other oppressive systems of power. In case you are blissfully unaware, the Heartland Institute is a climate change-denying, Big Tobacco-supporting, Big Oil-funded nightmare of a conservative think tank. Climate activist Sophia Kianni merely naming the idea of petro-masculinity threatens misogynistic, oil-stained organizations like Heartland because the concept reveals exactly what’s going on with these toxic groups.

In response to Kianni’s tweet, Heartland’s H. Sterling Burnett, Anthony Watts, and Linnea Lueken predictably rushed to the defense of fossil fuels and patriarchy, calling petro-masculinity a “ridiculous label to slur climate realists” and devoting an hour-long podcast episode to “[embracing] ‘petro-masculinity’ 100% and [pointing] out that without it, the world would soon collapse.”

And there it is! Their world of systemic racism, sexism, and fossil fuel pollution would indeed collapse without the intertwined evils explained by the term petro-masculinity.

In addition to parroting gas stove propaganda and attacking climate models, the podcast contains exactly the vile drivel you would expect, with Burnett ranting about “coal masculinity and yellow people” and obsessing about cars as phallic symbols, for example.

Heartland’s rabid, immature response to Kianni’s tweet of a quote from our post on petro-masculinity only proves one thing: Fossil fuel interests are threatened by the concept of petro-masculinity, and climate advocates must continue to point out the intersections between fossil fuels and other systems of oppression.

In any case, we can’t wait to see how the Heartland podcasters react to this post, since they seem to be such big fans of the Denier Roundup!

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