UN Report Finds Global Temperature Increase Getting Closer To 1.5C: Planet Earth will likely experience a significant global warming milestone in the coming years, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO — The United Nations’ weather agency — says there’s a 2 in 3 chance that before 2027, the planet will register a year in which the global air temperature will be 1.5°C or more above pre-industrial levels, temporarily. This is due to a combination of global warming and natural variability, according to the WMO, as the oceans give up heat to the atmosphere during El Niño, which occurs naturally and is not part of anthropogenic warming. Following the El Niño event, average global temperatures are expected to head back down (temporarily) before ratcheting back up again as global warming marches on — unless and until net carbon pollution go down to zero. Importantly, the impacts associated with such a one-year event are not the same as the impacts associated with an average long-term rise of 1.5°C, the threshold that the Paris Climate Agreement guards against (a point of some confusion). “This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris Agreement, which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5 C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement. “We don’t expect the longer-term average to pass 1.5°C until the early-to-mid 2030s,” climate scientist Zeke Hausfather added in an email to the AP. The 2015 Paris climate accord, signed by close to 200 countries, set a goal of limiting average global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius and preferably no more than 1.5 degrees. (AP, CNN, CBS News, Fox Weather, Scientific American, Gizmodo, BBC, Guardian, USA Today, Fast Company, New York Times $, Wall Street Journal $, Washington Post $, Economist $)

US Power Grid Faces Tough Summer From Extreme Heat: The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is warning that much of the US is at risk for power outages if the summer is as hot as scientists are forecasting. This marks the agency’s most expansive warning yet as the coming heat could limit the western US from transferring electricity within the region, further straining electricity supply. Only a few regions of the U.S. may be spared from power outages, according to NERC. “The system is close to its edge,” John Moura, a director at NERC told the Washington Post. “More needs to be done to bolster the system’s resilience.” Investment in more and better electricity transmission is needed as a solution, but interstate disputes over transmission infrastructure siting and supply chain challenges have slowed the transmission permitting process. “There is a huge amount of wind and solar waiting in the queues,” Ric O’Connell, executive director of GridLab told the Washington Post. “We have not been able to bring it online fast enough to replace retiring plants. We need to move faster.” Climate change currently causes rare heat waves to be 3 to 5°F warmer over most of the U.S., and by 2050, U.S. heat waves could be an extra 3 to 5°F warmer. (Utility Dive, Bloomberg $, E&E $), Washington Post $; Climate Signals: Heat)

Capping Wells In Texas Could Create Tens Of Thousands of Jobs - Report: A study published by the University of Texas finds that regulating methane pollution from oil and gas sites in Texas could create as many as 35,000 jobs. Texas is the top methane polluting state in the country, and the state’s Permian Basin is one of the largest oil and gas producing regions in the world. The researchers find a significant workforce is needed to detect leaks, replace and fix components that are typically leaky parts of oil and gas wells, and plug and cap abandoned well sites. “We want to show that environmental policies are not job killers,” said Christopher Agbo told Inside Climate News. “You can create tens of thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs while also cutting back on emissions.” The EPA’s methane regulations that will be finalized later this year would cut methane pollution 87 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and the methane fee included in the Inflation Reduction Act is also slated to start in 2024. (Inside Climate News, Gizmodo, San Antonio Express $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: How to help Pacific Islanders cope with climate change and protect the environment (CNN)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) INJUSTICE: What happens to people after a disaster? (Yale Climate Connections), Minneapolis climate equity action plan: How is the city approaching climate justice? (Energy News Network)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Attorneys agree to pause federal litigation for water violations in Mississippi’s capital (AP)

EPA: EPA proposes crackdown on toxic coal waste at ‘legacy’ power plant sites (The Hill), EPA announces crackdown on toxic coal ash from landfills (New York Times $)

NREL: NREL energy audit tool may help cities meet climate, building decarbonization goals (Utility Dive)

WHITE HOUSE: White House pressed EPA to toughen power plant rule (Politico)

THE HILL: Manchin scrubs vote on energy agency nominee over gas stove rule (Bloomberg $), Manchin pulls support for Biden energy nominee over appliance efficiency rules (The Hill), Overhauling energy permitting is a heavy lift in debt-ceiling talks (Wall Street Journal $), Carper rolls out green-friendly permitting overhaul (E&E $)

HOUSE: Vance bill tightens safety standards for foreign-made gas cylinders (The Hill)

SENATE: Bipartisan Senate bill aims to preserve hydropower fleet, spur gigawatts of pumped storage (Utility Dive)

CITIES AND STATES: Work on Maine hydropower transmission line can restart, state says (AP), LNG lobbyists ghost wrote Louisiana officials’ letters supporting gas storage project (Louisiana Illuminator), Sempra LNG lobbyists ghost wrote Louisiana officials’ letters supporting gas storage project (DeSmog)

IMPACTS: It’s not just climate disasters. “Normal” weather is getting weirder, too. (Vox) 

HEAT: Buckle up because El Niño is almost here, and it’s going to get hot (The Verge), Climate change made Asia's April heat wave 30 times more likely to occur (TIME)

WILDFIRES: Wildfires burn millions of acres in Canada, send oil prices higher (CNBC)

MOCHA: Myanmar and Bangladesh begin cleaning up, counting casualties after devastating Cyclone Mocha (AP)

FLOODS: ‘The city was underwater’: quarter of a million Somalis flee flooded homes (The Guardian), ‘Catastrophic’ floods in Italy leave 8 dead and thousands homeless (New York Times $), Exceptional rains in drought-struck northern Italy kill 8, cancel Formula One Grand Prix (AP)

WATER: Western states and feds are closing in on a landmark deal to prevent Lake Mead from plummeting further (CNN)

BATTERIES: Energy storage farm could replace Hawaii coal-fired power plant (AP)

BUILDINGS: A billion new air conditioners will save lives but cook the planet (Bloomberg $), New York City may be sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers (Architectural Digest)

WIND: Criminal cases for killing eagles decline as wind turbine dangers grow (AP), Dutch claim international first as North Sea offshore wind farms powered down to protect migratory birds (CNBC)

OIL & GAS: A pipeline pushed to the limit preceded Keystone’s worst oil spill (Bloomberg $), BP subsidiary agrees to record $40M penalty and pollution-cutting steps at Lake Michigan refinery (AP), Canada’s wildfires have been disrupting lives. Now, oil and gas take a hit. (New York Times $), Chevron scrambles to batten down oil fields amid threat of Kern River flooding (LA Times $), Analysts expect 108 billion-cubic-foot rise in US natural-gas inventories (Wall Street Journal $), Methane emissions from landfills not being contained by EPA rules, environmental group says (Chicago Sun-Times $), Federal regulations fail to contain methane emissions from landfills (Inside Climate News)

CCS: Biden administration invests in carbon capture, upping pressure on industry to show results (AP)

TRANSMISSION: Biden’s got a plan for ramping up energy transmission (Canary Media)

GEOTHERMAL: Burning man becomes latest adversary in geothermal feud (New York Times $)

TV: The next cameo on your favorite TV show could be climate change (Grist)

AI: Shell to use AI to boost deep sea oil output (The Hill)

ACTIVISM: Best Day Ever: Youth climate activist Adah Crandall (Axios), Boots on the ground (Grist)

RECYCLING: UN agency provides path to 80 percent reduction in plastic waste. Recycling alone won’t cut it (Inside Climate News), UN calls on governments to reduce, reuse, recycle — for real this time (Grist)

GREENWASHING: Regulators crack down on corporate carbon neutrality claims (Climate Home)

CARS: Fewer Americans are buying new cars. That's a problem for the climate (TIME)

MINING: The green energy transition has a Chilean copper problem (Bloomberg $)

INTERNATIONAL: Top offset project must hand Zimbabwe revenue or close (Bloomberg $), Europe’s emissions fall below lockdown levels during energy crisis (Bloomberg $), France proposes tax credits for green technology (Climate Home)

• Biden’s fossil fuel turn is bad politics — and even worse science (The Hill, Basav Sen)

• US-EU deal could help create US jobs and global prosperity (Energy Monitor, Max Gruenig)

• Carolina market reforms would increase grid reliability and reduce customer costs (Utility Dive, Reese Rogers)

• There won’t be a Saudi Arabia of the green hydrogen age (Bloomberg, David Fickling $)

• There’s no escape from wildfire smoke (New York Times, David Wallace-Wells $)

• Audiences want a different climate change message. Hollywood should deliver. (Washington Post, Amanda Shendruk $)

Hoboken Aims For RICO As API Aims At Pennsylvania, Ohio And New York Campaigns In 2024

The American Petroleum Institute (API) — the lobby group funded and led by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, and other major oil companies — is one of the biggest and oldest climate disinformation operations around. That's why it's being sued for its climate disinformation campaign, and why Hoboken, New Jersey has just added an allegation of state RICO law violations, a possibility that popped up some years back.  

Here's how the new Statement of the Case for Hoboken's lawsuit begins: "Defendants have conspired to deceive the world for decades." And here's how they describe API: "API has participated in and led several coalitions and front groups, often in collaboration with the Fossil Fuel Company Defendants, that have organized deceptive advertising and communications campaigns that promote climate disinformation and denialism." 

Emily Sanders at ExxonNews explains: "API’s knowledge of climate change dates back to the 1960s, when the association formed task forces and committees to study the consequences of burning fossil fuels. But instead of disclosing what they learned to the public, API formed the so-called 'Global Climate Science Communications Team' (GCSCT) in 1998 — a group whose members included Exxon, Chevron, and other fossil fuel defendants in Hoboken’s case, but not a single actual scientist."

Twenty five years later, and API hasn’t exactly given up its sinful ways. As the news broke that API is getting charged with the same law New Jersey used to prosecute mobsters, the trade association was breaking news of its own that, it turns out, sort of validates the allegations that it’s at the center of a sprawling illicit influence campaign. 

On Twitter, API announced a "new analysis" that it paid PricewaterhouseCoopers to cook up (the "faking science" step of the disinfo playbook) that lets it claim the "industry supported 10.8 million jobs and contributed nearly $1.8 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2021." On its "Energy Builds America" webpage, there’s a job and economic breakdown for each state on a US map. But then only the top 15 states got individual, new, updated-for-2023 pages, as opposed to the old 2021 data for the national level. 

So why is API promoting a report with data from 2021 about the economy in 2019, in 2023? And why does the report only discuss a handful of the 50 states? As usual, the oil industry isn't obvious or direct, but it's not subtle, either. As one might expect from an organization charged with racketeering, it lets someone else do the dirty work. 

Specifically, API handed the job to Ramsey Touchberry at The Washington Times, who, to be clear, we are not in any way accusing of taking money from API or being formally part of any sort of RICO scheme. But while API's report and promotional material focused on the supposed value of the oil and gas industry to the country, it was Touchberry who revealed the report’s real strategic value, right in his headline: “How energy prices will shape key House and Senate races in 2024.” 

Touchberry described API's report as though it were a targeting and messaging guide for political operatives: "A report released Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute, the leading lobbyist group for the oil and natural gas sector, showed Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York — all of which have pivotal House and Senate races in 2024 — are among the top six states with the highest economic contributions from traditional energy sources." 

In case it wasn't obvious for whom the report is intended, Touchberry makes it clear: "Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are up for reelection in battleground races that will be crucial for their party to maintain its one-seat majority in the upper chamber. In New York, House Republicans need to hold onto swing districts like those represented by Reps. Mike Lawler and George Santos to keep their slim majority." 

And lest there were any remaining doubts that API is aware of and supporting this blatantly political interpretation of their product, Touchberry quotes API Media Relations Director Christina Noel, who said this is “why senators like Manchin, Tester and Casey are carefully navigating” energy issues in their reelection bids. 

Let's see if we can get this straight. The same day API was accused of breaking a law against using your power and money to influence others to do your dastardly bidding, the Big Oil-funded lobby shop released an updated version of a report it paid a top-dollar consultancy to produce that lauds its industry backers' benefits in key states. Then, a conservative columnist immediately turned API's Big Oil-funded content into political talking points that Republicans, whose campaign coffers are filled with oil money, can use to get elected. Those same elected Republicans will then no doubt proceed to use their power to help API's Big Oil backers' bottom lines. 

It may not meet the bar for RICO, but it sure reeks o' something bad! 

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