FIRST LOOK:

Coal Millionaire Joe Manchin Shoots Down Build Back Better: Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who famously shot a literal hole through the 2009 Cap and Trade bill, said Sunday he “could not” vote for the Build Back Better Act, likely dooming the bill in its current form. His opposition, largely predicated on the bill’s price tag, came despite the bill being significantly scaled down to appease his concerns and assurances after the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill last month that he would negotiate in good faith. In a written statement, Manchin – a millionaire coal baron and former executive at rightwing polluter-friendly bill mill ALEC– rationalized his opposition to the bill by invoking disinformation falsely blaming renewables for gas- and climate-driven blackouts in Texas and California, claiming BBB would move us too quickly to a clean energy economy. On Sunday, many Democrats in Congress criticized Manchin’s position, but pushed to move forward with a vote on some version of the bill after the new year anyway. "Today, Senator Manchin has betrayed his commitment not only to the President and Democrats in Congress but most importantly, to the American people,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in a statement. “He routinely touts that he is a man of his word, but he can no longer say that. West Virginians, and the country, see clearly who he is.” (Associated Press, Vox, Politico $, Wall Street Journal $, New York Times $, Washington Post $, CNBC, CBS, Business Insider, MSNBC, NPR, MSNBC, The Hill, Slate, The Guardian; Climate: NPR, New York Times $, Axios, Vox, NBC News, NPR; Congressional reactions: Washington Post $, USA Today, Business Insider, MSNBC, Washington Post $, Business Insider, ABC, MSNBC, NBC, NBC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN; Opinion: Washington Post, James Downie, Washington Post, Karen Tumulty, Wall Street Journal Editorial)  

Typhoon & Floods Kill Hundreds, Displace Thousands: Extreme weather in several countries over the weekend has led to hundreds of deaths and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. The death toll from Category 5 Super Typhoon Rai, which hit the Philippines late last week, has now risen to more than 200. Officials are still assessing the full impact of the storm, which is one of the strongest to hit the region in recent years, displacing at least 300,000 people. Meanwhile, storms in Malaysia and Iraq also caused deadly flooding late last week and over the weekend. Malaysia got as much rain in one day as usually falls in one month, leading to severe flooding that killed at least three people and necessitated the rescue of more than 30,000. In Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, at least 12 are dead after torrential rains cause flash flooding. Human-caused climate change is making major cyclonic storms more intense and fueling increased rapid intensification, as well as increasing flooding risks by fueling extreme precipitation. “Disasters are getting worse and what the scientists have been saying in the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] – it has already been happening in the Philippines,” said Angeli Cantillana, a communications campaigner for Greenpeace South-east Asia. (Rai: New York Times, BBC, CNN, Associated Press, Reuters, Guardian, Axios, Al Jazeera; Malaysia: Reuters $, Al Jazeera, AFP, Independent; Iraq: CNN, Reuters $, Al Jazeera, AP; Climate Signals background: Flooding, Hurricanes)

Climate Chaos Causes Financial Instability: The Financial Stability Oversight Council warned about the risk climate change-driven extreme weather poses to the financial system for the first time in its annual report to Congress on Friday. “Increased frequency and severity of acute physical risk events and longer-term chronic phenomena associated with climate change are expected to lead to increased economic and financial costs,” the report stated. The council, which was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 to address gaps in coordination among financial regulators after the 2008 financial crisis, is chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and includes the heads of other regulatory agencies, though it has not authority to directly issue regulations. The report echoes recommendations from a similar report from October of this year, including improving data collection to assess climate risk and creating an inter-agency group to monitor the threats. The recommendations did not go as far as some advocates have called for, like limiting financing for fossil fuel companies. (New York Times $, Newsweek, Reuters $)

BUILD BACK BETTER: Goldman cuts GDP forecast after Sen. Manchin says he won’t support Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan (CNBC), does Joe Manchin know that build back better would extend vital aid for sick coal miners? (New Republic), Biden electric vehicle push hits setback in U.S Senate (Reuters)

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2021 brought a wave of extreme weather disasters. Scientists say worse lies ahead. (Washington Post $), code red, glacier blood, megadrought: the defining words of 2021 (Grist), in 2021, governments blew hot on 1.5C goal, colder on climate action (Reuters), the 21 Strangest Things About 2021's Weather (Weather Channel), Our most read climate explainers of 2021 (Economist), 2021: when the link between the climate and biodiversity crises became clear (The Guardian)

MENTAL HEALTH: They survived the wildfires. Then came the PTSD. (Mother Jones)

MIGRATION: Climate change is killing migrants crossing the US border: study (The Hill)

SUPPLY CHAIN: Climate change is driving supply chain shortages — and your supermarkets are not prepared (Salon)

SUPERFUND: After decades, some of America’s most toxic sites will finally get cleaned up (Washington Post $)

NUCLEAR: Nuclear energy scares people. The climate crisis is giving it another chance (CNN)

BLM: Why Biden's new public lands chief has to 'walk a line' on climate policy (NPR)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden's big climate goal faces challenge with federal workforce (The Hill), Biden climate agenda now hinges on rules exposed to rewrite (Bloomberg $)

CITIES AND STATES: Activists rally for a healthy environment amendment. Could it pass in Arizona? (Arizona Republic), Wyoming community college joins effort to collect climate data with help from locals worldwide (Wyoming Public Media), stay or go? Louisiana residents are being forced to face climate crisis threats (The Advertiser), unleashed by warming, underground debris fields threaten to ‘crush’ Alaska’s Dalton highway and the Alaska pipeline (InsideClimate News)

IDA: Months after Ida flooded New York City, some residents still have no real homes for the holidays (CNN) 

NO SNOW: The US Mountain West could soon face snowless winters (Wired), dreaming of a white Christmas? chances are slim this year - and for years to come (Newsweek), climate change is shrinking the odds of a white Christmas (Washington Post $), ‘This new snow has no name’: Sami reindeer herders face climate disaster (The Guardian)

CHRISTMAS TREES: Tweaks to U.S. Christmas trees could help them survive climate change (Scientific American)

SOLUTIONS: This material uses a physics trick to keep roofs cool in summer and warm in winter (Popular Science), one farmer's seaweed discovery could help slow methane emissions — and change the world (CBS), climate research shifting to ‘solutions science’ (E&E News)

IMPACTS: The great danger of the tiny bark beetle (Wired), unprecedented die-offs, melting ice: Climate change is wreaking havoc in the Arctic and beyond (LA Times $), climate change is making nights warmer—and crops may never be the same (Civil Eats), warming trends: a potential decline in farmed fish, less ice on Minnesota lakes and a ‘Black box’ for the planet (InsideClimate News), climate change is going to be gross (The Atlantic), examining the role of climate change in a week of wild weather (New York Times $)

GLACIERS: The ‘doomsday’ glacier is on the brink of collapse (Popular Science), see Bill Nye's warning about 'doomsday' glacier (CNN), Himalayan glaciers melting at an ‘exceptional' rate because of global warming, study finds (USA Today)

RECORDS: United Nations confirms hottest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic (Smithsonian Magazine)

DROUGHT: Kenyan nomads’ age-old way of life falls victim to worst drought in memory – in pictures (The Guardian), drought overshadows other problems in the ranching industry (Wyoming Public Media), how bringing back the wild yam is feeding the hungry in drought-hit Madagascar (The Guardian)

WILDFIRES: Wildfire that prompted protection for huge General Sherman tree is fully contained (NBC), how melting sea ice increases wildfire risk in the Northwest (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

FLOODING: In pictures: South Sudan's worst flooding in decades (CNN)

HURRICANES: Drone sails into category 4 hurricane, sends back incredible video and data (Gizmodo)

WATER: In Hamburg, surviving climate change means living with water (Bloomberg $), water managers grapple with a smaller Colorado River as the climate changes (Nevada Independent)

FORESTS: The Amazon is the planet’s counterweight to global warming, a place of stupefying richness under relentless assault (InsideClimate News), 2021 was a game-changing year for trees (Vox)

TORNADOES: Recovering together: Along the path of destruction, resilient communities offer a glimmer of hope after tornadoes (Washington Post $), was the tornado disaster an effect of climate change? Scientists aim to find out (Today Show)

CALIFORNIA: California hit by record rain and heavy snow months after severe fires (FT $), California snow drought ends in dramatic fashion, while other states still deal with shortage (CNN), in California’s Central Valley, the water is contaminated and solutions are slow (High Country News)

YOUTH: Cancel culture fears stopping young people speaking out on climate crisis, study finds (Forbes)

SOLAR: China’s solar giants fall after U.S. climate plan failure (Bloomberg $), Biden’s China and climate goals clash over solar panels (Wall Street Journal $)

OIL & GAS: U.S. gas exports likely more trickle than flood (Wall Street Journal $), universal disappointment': Duke's new energy plan still leans heavily into fossil fuels (Indianapolis Star)

EVs: The White House wants a robust electric vehicle charging network. Here's the plan (NPR), metals key for EVs will be pricier for longer after record year (Bloomberg $), how federal funds for EV charging could change the way the U.S. fuels up (Marketplace), EV system will require shift in car charging habits, lawmaker says (The Hill), electric vehicle maker Rivian to bring 7,500 jobs to Georgia (Axios)

GM: Fedex gets first of 500 electric trucks from GM’s EV unit in a major advance for green logistics (CNBC), GM to start shipping $113,000 electric hummer pickups to customers (CNBC)

CARBON REMOVAL: The cash behind carbon removal: Big Oil, tech and taxpayers (E&E News)

CARBON SEQUESTRATION: Soil carbon sequestration on farms alone won’t absolve our daily emission sins (The Guardian)

CONSUMERS: 3 tactics that engage consumers on climate (Greenbiz)

BAD IDEA: Plans to reopen St. Croix’s Limetree refinery have analysts surprised and residents concerned (InsideClimate News)

HOUSEBOATS: In Amsterdam, a community of floating homes shows the world how to live alongside nature (Washington Post $)

FINANCE: Nest dumps ExxonMobil over climate change risks (FT $)

HOPE: Ten ways to confront the climate crisis without losing hope – podcast (The Guardian)

ART: How Philly artist Arien Wilkerson’s new installation on climate change seeks out what’s at the core for us all (Philadelphia Inquirer), 15 bleak photos from 2021 that sum up the world’s climate crisis (Vice)

MUSIC: Did we figure out how to make good ‘climate pop’ songs in 2021? (Grist)

DON’T LOOK UP: Don’t look up nails the frustration of being a scientist (Wired), ‘Don’t Look Up’ is a climate change allegory. These docs reveal the reality. (NBC)

SPORTS: How Hurricane Katrina shaped Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Leonard Fournette (ESPN), Alejandro Agag’s Extreme E is the first sport with climate crisis at its heart (The Guardian)

VIDEO GAMES: Battlefield 2042 turns the climate crisis into a playground (Wired)

WILDLIFE: The biodiversity crisis needs its net zero moment (Wired), There's more than one reason monarch butterfly populations are declining (Michigan Radio)

INTERNATIONAL: Britain toughens up climate-related disclosures by companies and funds (Reuters), inside the deadly water crisis threatening Iran’s leadership (Bloomberg $), Egypt seeks to build $20,000 electric vehicles in green push (Bloomberg $), peat sales to gardeners in England and Wales to be banned by 2024 (The Guardian)

• Did California issue its last fracking permit? Let’s hope so (Los Angeles Times, Editorial Board $)
• Environmental nonprofits receive just 2% of charitable dollars. We need to change that (Fast Company, Michael Thomas op-ed)
• California isn’t on pace to meet its climate targets. Here are 3 ways to cut pollution faster (Los Angeles Times, Editorial Board $)
• For climate, safety, we should build a better transportation system (Portland Press Herald, Editorial)
• For Omicron and climate change, timing is everything (Bloomberg, Gernot Wagner Column $)
• Workforce solutions needed to accomplish Oregon forestry goals for climate change (Register-Guard, Amanda Astor op-ed)
• Yes, the federal government is setting an example on climate action (The Hill, Joel Clement op-ed)
• Humanity should not test whether Antarctica’s ice will hold out (Washington Post, Editorial Board $)
• Extreme weather demands warp-speed government-private Sector response (Washington Post, Tim Gallaudet, Kathy Sullivan and Marshall Shepherd analysis $)
• The climate crisis spells both risk and opportunity for the financial world (The Independent, David Callaway op-ed)
• What is 'disaster capitalism'? Giant oil company cashes in on climate crisis (Julia Rock, Newsweek op-ed)
• Electric vehicles — the political cop-out (FT, Cameron Allen op-ed $)
• To cut climate risks and keep 1.5 alive, wetlands are key (Thomson Reuters Foundation, Martha Rojas op-ed)
• ‘Green burials’ can change our relationship with death — and help the Earth (Washington Post, Mallory McDuff op-ed $)

We're off this week! See you in the new year. 

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