FIRST LOOK: 

California’s Largest 2022 Wildfire Blazes Uncontained: A fast-growing wildfire, named the McKinney fire, has grown to more than 52,000 acres in two days, becoming California’s largest wildfire in 2022. Two people have been reported dead and nearly 3,000 residents have been asked to evacuate. It is 0% contained, although heavy smoke helped slow the growth on Sunday even as it kept most aircraft grounded. The fire began on Friday in Siskiyou County near the California-Oregon border, and has since exploded to more than 80 square miles, exacerbated by thunderstorms and high, windy conditions. Climate change is increasing the size, frequency, and intensity of wildfires as well as the length of the fire season. There are currently 53 large wildfires burning across the United States in California, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas. (Statesman Journal, Los Angeles Times, Oregon Live,  CNN, CBS News, BBC, New York Times $, Washington Post $, NBC News, AP, San Francisco Chronicle, Axios, CBS. Climate Signals Background: Wildfires)

Death Toll Rises in Kentucky: Meanwhile in Kentucky at least 28 people are confirmed dead, including four children. Governor Andy Beshear has warned of more rain in areas already besieged by flooding. The National Weather Service has projected rain totals of 1 to 3 inches over the next 24 to 48 hours, with as much as 4 or 5 inches in localized areas. Excessive heat forecast on Tuesday will bring little respite to the residents already struggling from power outages and lack of drinking water. "This is one of the most devastating deadly floods that we have seen in our history," Gov. Beshear said on NBC's "Meet The Press". Senate candidate Charles Booker said it was not  a coincidence that the hardest hit areas in Kentucky are some of the poorest in the country. “That is structural,” he said in a Tweet. Extreme precipitation events driven by climate change have increased significantly over the past 100 years. The U.S. National Climate Assessment finds heavy rainfall is now about 20% to 40% more likely in and around eastern Kentucky than it was around 1900. (Flooding: WSAZ, Axios, AP, Reuters, New York Times $, NPR, Washington Post $. Beshear: New York Times $, AP, The Hill, Washington Post $. Biden: The Hill, Washington Post $, Analysis: AP, Washington Post $. Climate Signals background: Flooding, Extreme precipitation increase)

OECD Confirms Rich Nations Failed to Deliver on $100B: According to a new analysis by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),  developed countries provided $83.3 billion in 2020 as climate finance. While it represents a 4% increase from the previous year, it still fell short of their pledge to transfer $100 billion per year to the vulnerable nations. The bulk of the funding, granted as loans, went to upper and lower middle income countries. Low income nations that are in most need of finance received just 8% of the funding. The report “confirms what was largely feared about climate finance in 2020: that developed countries failed to meet the $100 billion goal due that year; that mobilization of private finance has totally stagnated; and that despite a growing debt crisis most public climate finance remains in the form of loans,” said Joe Thwaites at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Climate finance remains highly contentious in climate politics and is expected to be high on the agenda again during COP27 in Egypt. “Honoring that commitment is central to renew trust," said Yamide Dagnet, Climate Justice Director at the Open Society Foundations. "We need developed countries to present credible plans to escalate their climate finance.” (AP, Climate Home, Reuters, Bloomberg)

CLIMATE BILL: Here’s what’s in the Senate’s $369 billion for climate and energy (Grist), The big new climate bill's most important provisions (Axios), Senate tax-and-climate plan hinges on streamlining energy projects (Wall Street Journal $), How the climate bill could save you money and change what you buy (Washington Post $), The two-week scramble that saved Democrats’ climate agenda (Washington Post $), What it means to have Manchin backing a bill to fight climate change (NPR), The promise and compromise of Senate Democrats’ climate change legislation (Marketplace), Manchin spending deal includes billions in taxes on oil sector (Bloomberg $)

CLIMATE BILL + REACTIONS: Joe Manchin defends tax increases in Democrats’ climate plan (Wall Street Journal $),  Climate deal is a ‘baby step,’ but world needs bigger action, diplomats say (Washington Post $), Manchin says Republicans in 'normal times' would be supporting energy, health care bill (CNN), Toomey says ‘Joe Manchin has been taken to the cleaners’ on climate deal (The Hill), Climate experts experience an odd sensation after the Manchin budget deal: optimism (NPR)

CLIMATE BILL + DRILLING: U.S. Senate bill could be death blow for Biden anti-drilling pledge (Reuters), Democrats got a climate bill. Joe Manchin got drilling, and more. (New York Times $)

CLIMATE BILL + AUTOS: Climate bill ‘transformative’ for auto and energy industries (New York Times $), Climate bill could be a huge help for EV buyers (Axios)

CLIMATE BILL + RENEWABLES: How Joe Manchin’s change of heart could revive the U.S. solar industry (Washington Post $), Climate bill stands to give green-energy investors a lift (Wall Street Journal $), Renewables welcome ’11th hour reprieve’ from Manchin (The Hill)

CLIMATE BILL + SINEMA: Sinema indicates she may want to change Schumer-Manchin deal (Axios), Manchin pitches Democrats’ tax-climate bill to silent Sinema (Bloomberg $)

FOSSIL FUELED WAR: War, climate change, energy costs: How the wheat market has been upended (New York Times $)

COP27: Egypt to fight against backslide of climate goals at COP27 (Bloomberg $)

DENIAL: ‘Wake-up call’ for climate-sceptic Czechs as blaze devastates national park (The Guardian), Tory MP urged to quit job as adviser to ‘climate denier’ US fossil fuel firm (The Guardian)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: New Biden program will bring solar to low-income families (Canary Media), Minnesota initiative aims to lower energy burden in manufactured homes (Energy News Network), Biden’s under-the-radar executive moves would make solar cheaper for low-income renters (Grist), Mass. environmental justice advisory council convenes after years of anticipation (Boston Globe $)

PACIFIC NORTHWEST HEAT: Dangerous Pacific Northwest heat wave suspected in 7 deaths (AP), Pacific Northwest restaurants struggle as temperatures spike (New York Times $), Pacific Northwest sizzles, a precursor to a nationwide heat wave (Washington Post $)

AGENCIES: Federal office focused on climate change and health has zero funding (Washington Post $)

EPA: Biden EPA to tackle coal industry carbon with rules on other pollutants (Reuters)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Vice President Harris to discuss climate change in Miami (CBS), Harris to announce $1B to states for floods, extreme heat (AP)

HOUSE: House approves bill to help West fight wildfires, drought (AP), House passes 48-bill wildfire-protection package (The Hill)

POLITICS: The gas industry is pumping money into a tiny local race to crush a climate champion (HuffPost), Gavin Newsom’s letter to Biden urges climate action (The Nation)

CITIES AND STATES: NYPA does not want new authority to build renewable generation, officials tell New York lawmakers (Utility Dive), Big Louisiana coastal restoration projects continue (AP), Massachusetts governor asks lawmakers to alter climate bill (AP), Maine cut greenhouse gas emissions 25% from ’90, report says (AP), Tennessee awards $5.2M for electric vehicle charging network (AP)

FERC: FERC proposes expanded ‘duty of candor’ obligation to increase market integrity, but pushback expected (Utility Dive), FERC, Kentucky regulators call for consumer protections, competition in transmission development (Utility Dive)

IMPACTS: Biggest environmental issues facing California? Drought, wildfires and climate change, according to new PPIC survey. (Capital Public Radio)

HEAT: Miami area's chief heat officer discusses her first-of-its-kind job (NPR), How the worst heat wave in US history prophesies our climate change–ravaged future (Salon), 7 movies in which heat is a main character (Gizmodo), Seattle, Portland set heat duration records during hot snap (AP), Officially, heat deaths are not very common in Colorado. The reality is more complicated. (The Colorado Sun)

DROUGHT: What are 'flash droughts' and why are they so destructive? (Gizmodo)

FLOODING: Heavy rain causes deadly flooding across Iran (New York Times $), Because of climate change, inland flooding is becoming more common (NPR), Flooding in Las Vegas has submerged the strip (Gizmodo), Iran flash flooding and mudslides leave at least 69 people dead (CNN)

WILDFIRES: Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park razes at least 135 structures (Axios), We know wildfire smoke is terrible for you. But what does it do to cows? (Mother Jones), Spreading like wildfire getting terrifying new meaning in the California of climate change (CBS)

NOT THE PEACHES! Climate change challenges Georgia peaches (Axios)

HURRICANES: New Hurricane Frank gains force over eastern Pacific (AP), Hurricane season to allow some companies to showcase their technology (Axios)

WATER: ‘People are worried it will happen again’: the English village whose water ran out (The Guardian)

LOBBYING: Oil companies are steering campaign fundraising toward Democrats (Houston Chronicle $)

ENERGY: Dry fountains, cold pools, less beer? Germans tiptoe up the path to energy savings (New York Times $), ‘The clock is ticking’: PG&E exploring possibility of keeping Diablo Canyon open to boost reliability: CEO (Utility Dive), America’s new energy crisis (Wall Street Journal $)

OIL & GAS PROFITS: Chevron, Exxon post record quarterly profits as commodity prices boom (CNBC), Soaring gas prices help Origin Energy net $1.59bn from Queensland pipeline (The Guardian), Phillips 66 revenues jumped to $49.3B as gasoline prices soared (Houston Chronicle), Big Oil companies post record profits (The Hill)

EUROPE: Cold showers and more: German city turns off the hot water to survive Putin’s gas cuts (CNBC), Germany argues over nuclear shutdown amid gas supply worries (AP), With Russia using energy as leverage, the quest in many parts of Europe is to shrink demand. (New York Times $), Drill, baby, drill' is back in Europe as gas crisis looms (CNN), As Putin squeezes gas supplies, Germany is falling back on coal (Washington Post $)

COAL: 3 reasons US coal power is disappearing – and a Supreme Court ruling won’t save it (Salon), This nation is scorching in a heat wave and wildfires, yet it's returning to planet-baking coal (CNN), Hawaii gets its last shipment of coal, ever (Gizmodo), Coal communities are changing, so a project is capturing residents’ stories (Yale Climate Connections)

GRID: How to move more power with the transmission lines we already have (Canary Media)

EVs: EVs recalled more often than gas engine vehicles (Axios), Ford CEO offers more clues about automaker’s ambitious electric vehicle plans (CNBC), Manchin sets high bar for Tesla and GM electric-car tax credits (Bloomberg $), The barriers to an EV revolution (Axios)

ACTIVISM: Ikiya Collective and allies shut down Congressional Baseball Game demanding climate emergency (Indian Country Today), Farmer protests in The Netherlands show just how messy the climate transition will be (TIME)

ADAPTATION: Living without air-conditioning? Here’s how to stay cooler at home. (New York Times $)

BUSINESS: Profits over planet? Experts eye companies at crucial moment for climate change fight (USA Today)

CARS: Why can’t congressional Democrats imagine a world in which fewer people drive cars? (Mother Jones)

CELEBRITY FLIGHTS: Taylor swift responds to report slamming her private jet emissions (HuffPost), Drake defends his short private jet flights – by saying plane was empty (The Guardian)

EXXON: ExxonMobil is counting on Trump-chosen judge to undermine right to sue polluters (Truthout)

FOX: Working Americans 'are going to pay the price' for Biden's climate change agenda: The Big Sunday Show (Fox News)

FINANCE: Billions pulled from Europe’s controversial ESG investing fund category (Bloomberg $), Europe to put key plank of ESG rulebook on hold amid infighting (Bloomberg  $)

HOMEBUYERS: Flood and wildfire risks: Translating risk ratings into future costs can help homebuyers and renters grasp the odds – and act on them (The Conversation)

IN MEMORIAM: James Lovelock: the scientist-inventor who transformed our view of life on Earth (The Conversation, TODAY)

INFLATION: Energy prices may keep inflation high for years (Wall Street Journal $)

OPTIMISM: Meet a scientist who’s optimistic about climate change (Yale Climate Connections)

PESSIMISM: Is accepting the end of humanity the key to climate action? This scholar thinks so. (Grist)

TREES: How forests lost 8,000 years of stored carbon in a few generations – animated maps reveal climate lessons for tree-planting projects today (The Conversation) 

WILDLIFE: A bellwether of climate change, puffins are struggling to survive in a warming Gulf of Maine (Boston Globe $), As species recover, some threaten others in more dire shape (AP)

INTERNATIONAL: Egypt to fight against backslide of climate goals at COP27 (Bloomberg $), Britain to keep coal-fired power plants open this winter (Reuters), Saudi Arabia and France to boost renewable energy cooperation -SPA (Reuters)

• The climate bill offers a boost to Biden. Can it change the equation? (Washington Post, Dan Balz Analysis $)
• In compromise, the climate left may be vindicated (New York Times, David Wallace-Wells op-ed $)
• Surprise Senate deal on climate change should be only the beginning (LA Times, Editorial Board $)
• The climate bill won’t stop global warming. but it will clean the air. (Washington Post, Chris Mooney analysis $)
• Climate bill stands to give green-energy investors a lift (Wall Street Journal, Amrith Ramkumar column $)
• This heatwave is a reminder that grass lawns are terrible for the environment (The Guardian, Akin Olla op-ed)
• Carbon capture won’t work, but it will funnel billions to corporations (Truthout, Wenonah Hauter op-ed)
• Why I’m changing my consumption—Even though climate policy is more important than personal choice (New Republic, Aaron Regunberg analysis)
• Climate change and the Supreme Court’s version of police abolitionism (The Hill, Andrew Koppelman op-ed)
• The climate crisis is so boring – but I also hate the idea of burning to death (The Guardian, Sofie Hagen)
• The case against commercial logging in wildfire-prone forests (New York Times, Chad Hanson and Michael Dorsey op-ed $)
• The Kentucky flooding is horrific. So is some Democrats’ lack of sympathy. (Washington Post, Courtney Lucas op-ed $)
• Joe Manchin is throwing Joe Biden a surprise party (New York Times, Gail Collins and Bret Stephens column $)
• The climate crisis almost destroyed my town — yours could be next (The Hill, Devin Middlebrook op-ed)
• Why forest managers need to team up with Indigenous fire practitioners (LA Times, Don Hankins, Scott Stephens, and Sara A. Clark op-ed $)
• The answer to high energy prices isn’t new taxes, but new supplies (The Hill, Jeffrey Kupfer op-ed)
• Russia is making heaps of money from oil, but there is a way to stop that (New York Times Editorial Board $)
• As my son choked on bushfire smoke it was clear our most vulnerable are feeling our climate negligence (The Guardian, Nic Seton op-ed)
• We can’t ignore the devastation of deadly heat — for nature or ourselves (The Hill, Rebecca Shaw op-ed)
• Taylor Swift may be an inconsiderate climate vandal. Capitalism makes us all complicit (The Guardian, First Dog on the Moon comic)
• West Virginia vs. political banks (Wall Street Journal Editorial Board $)
• Greens vs. electric vehicle tax credits (Wall Street Journal Editorial Board $)
• Senate reconciliation must end leasing in America’s Arctic Refuge (The Hill, William K. Reilly op-ed)
• Why pretend green pork will stop climate change? (Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. op-ed $)
• Biden’s climate plans are unsustainable (Wall Street Journal, Stuart Gottlieb op-ed $)

[Editor's Note: The Denier Roundup is on vacation this week. Will return on August 9th!] 

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