FIRST LOOK:

Integrated Policies for Ocean Climate Action and Building Coastal Resiliency in the U.S. is part of the myriad climate action discussions taking place at Climate Week NYC September 20-26.

Nicholas Pours Drenching Rain On Already Battered Gulf Coast: Nicholas, now a tropical depression, crawled over southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana Tuesday night. The storm dumped more than a foot of rain on Houston. Climate change, caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, warms the atmosphere, enabling it to hold and then dump more moisture, leading to increased severe precipitation events. The National Hurricane Center said the storm may continue to slow and even stall over Louisiana and the Deep South in the coming days, bringing with it heavy rainfall and potentially life-threatening flash floods. Much of southern Louisiana, still just recovering from Hurricane Ida, is saturated with nowhere for the new rainwater to go, and southwest Louisiana faces a rarely-issued "high risk" of flash flooding, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and the western Florida panhandle could see heavy rainfall as well. (AP, Washington Post $, Reuters, Democracy Now, AP, Bloomberg $, NPR, ABC, CBS, NBC; Flash flood risks: Axios; Texas power outages: Houston Chronicle; Oil prices: Houston Chronicle, Bloomberg $; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, 2021 Atlantic hurricane season)

This Week in Black History: Greenpeace USA Names First Black Person As Executive Director: Ebony Twilly Martin will take over as co-executive director of Greenpeace USA, the group announced last week. Twilley Martin is the first Black person to serve at the head of the US arm of the international environmental group, and will also be its first co-executive director. “It's time that we created space for folks like me – folks who have lived experiences, folks who have been on the frontlines of these crises, folks that have solutions ... but haven't always been listened to,” Twilley Martin told Thomson Reuters. While her position is new, Twilley Martin’s commitment to the environmental movement is not. After joining the organization in 2013 as its Senior Talent Acquisition Manager and Director of Human Resources, she would soon become Greenpeace USA’s first Black woman Chief Officer of People and Culture before being named Chief Operating Officer in 2018. Twilley Martin’s work as part of the environmental movement began on the day her family pediatrician identified environmental pollution as a key factor in her son’s asthma. "The science shows Black and Brown communities are placed in those regions specifically where climate destruction is the worst," she told Thomson Reuters. . (NBC, Sister2Sister, Thomson Reuters Foundation)

Rooftop Solar Systems Survived Hurricane Ida, Big Energy Companies Not So Much: Hurricane Ida shutdown all of Entergy's electricity transmission into New Orleans and left hundreds of thousands across the region to suffer a week — or longer — in the heat and darkness. But the Hazlett family's 37 rooftop solar panels made the blackout caused by Entergy's failures after Ida bearable. While not powerful enough to run the central air conditioning during the day, the family’s solar panels did allow them to run fans throughout their home, distribute ice to the neighborhood, and even power their elderly neighbor's refrigerator and oxygen machine. "During this whole Ida incident, I didn’t have to chase gas, I didn’t have to worry about carbon monoxide, I didn’t have to worry about extension cords," Jewell Hazlett told NOLA.com. "The sun came to me." More than 19,000 in Louisiana with solar panels. According to SEIA, the state ranks 38th in the U.S. for home solar panel installations. (NOLA.com)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Fairy Creek: Indigenous-led blockade of old-growth logging is now Canada’s largest civil disobedience (Democracy Now), how extreme heat hits our most vulnerable communities the hardest (CNN), EPA confirms climate impacts are more adverse for racial minorities in the Southwest (Nevada Current), Brooklyn pipeline disproportionately harms communities of color, complaint alleges (Grist)

COP26: The fraught sprint to the UN climate summit (Axios)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Vermont sues 4 oil companies, alleges false info on climate (Washington Post $)

(MENTAL) HEALTH: The kids are not alright (Gizmodo), 75% of the young people around the world are frightened of the future because of climate change (TIME), nearly half of young people worldwide say climate change anxiety is affecting their daily life (CNBC), humanity is doomed (Politico),  people around the world increasingly see climate change as a personal threat, new poll finds. (Washington Post $)

AGENCIES: What to watch this fall at DOE, Interior, FERC (E&E $), 2 climate hawks join financial agencies (E&E $)

EPA: EPA pesticide ban overlooks some farmworkers (E&E News)

DOI: Trump officials used secret Twitter account to rip enemies (and make fart jokes?) (HuffPost)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Biden points to wildfires to push for big rebuild (AP),

Biden turns to Colorado to pitch investments in clean energy (AP)

THE HILL: Biden's spending bill could be Democrats' last hope of achieving meaningful climate action as crisis worsens (CNN), unpacking fresh details from Congress’ green energy plan (FT $)

HOUSE: House committee to vote on expanded EV and clean energy tax credits, including storage, hydrogen (Utility Dive), committee OKs methane fee, launches debate on climate plan  (E&E $), House Democrats’ tax plan fails to eliminate domestic fossil fuel subsidies (Truthout), House committee approves Democrats' centerpiece clean electricity climate plan (Washington Examiner), House Democrats work to keep centrists on board with methane fee (Washington Examiner)

SENATE: Senate Democrats press ahead despite Manchin warning (E&E News), Schumer pledges climate action amid Democratic divide (The Hill), Manchin puts foot down on key climate provision in spending bill (The Hill)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden turns to Colorado to pitch investments in clean energy (Washington Post $)

POLITICS: More than 80% say they’d change their behavior to fight climate change, but U.S. conservatives lag (CNBC)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: US, Europe seek to end export financing for coal (Wall Street Journal $), U.S., EU seek global pledge to slash methane emissions by 2030 (Wall Street Journal $)(The Hill), AFC plans debut $2 billion Africa climate resilience funds (Bloomberg $), 

CITIES AND STATES: New Mexico groups call for tighter restrictions on oil and gas methane emissions (Carlsbad Current Argus), how climate change is killing small towns (New York Times $), Vt. plans public meetings about climate action plan (E&E $), in Florida, coastal counties fuel population rise—and climate concerns (Wall Street Journal $)

IMPACTS: Will the summer’s extreme weather change climate policy in Europe and the US (Energy Monitor), rare Arctic hurricane dampens historic Greenland melting (E&E $), Biden says climate inaction endangers firefighters (E&E $), climate migration 'hot spots' expected within a decade (E&E $)

WILDFIRES: California fires are burning at higher elevations than ever, creating new dangers (LA Times $), wildfires rage in Sequoia National park and forest, sending flames into grove of giant trees  (LA Times $)(New York Times $), Caldor Fire damage inspection complete; Dixie fire near million acres (Sacramento Bee $), anatomy of a wildfire: how the Dixie Fire became the largest blaze of a devastating summer (Washington Post $),as wildfires burn, are U.S. cities spending too much on their fire departments? (TIME), how a blistering housing market could be making wildfires even more dangerous (NPR), rainfall helps firefighters control southern Spain’s inferno (AP)

RENEWABLES: U.S. solar gets more expensive in threat to climate change fight (Bloomberg $), firm behind ‘world’s most powerful tidal turbine’ to head up new $31 million energy project, solar installations soar in second quarter but set to miss White House targets (The Hill), Chevron sees clean energy making just as much money as oil does (Bloomberg $), solar prices jumped in the second quarter, reversing recent trends, on material costs and supply chain issues (CNBC)

LNG: Driftwood LNG developer Tellurian to drill 13 wells in 2022, upstream chief says (S&P Global)

METHANE: US, EU pursuing global deal to slash planet-warming methane -documents (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

OIL & GAS: Despite green talk, pre-COVID oil demand seen returning soon (Reuters), Chevron triples low-carbon investment, pledges $10 billion through 2028 (Reuters), researchers toilet-trained cows in hopes of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (Gizmodo), despite green talk, pre-COVID oil demand seen returning soon (Reuters)

COAL: Most plans for new coal plants scrapped since Paris agreement (The Guardian), when Wall Street came to coal country: how a big-money gamble scarred Appalachia (The Guardian), as climate talks near, pressure grows on Asia to cancel new coal projects (Thomson Reuters Foundation), U.S. to co-sponsor OECD proposal to end unabated coal power export financing (Reuters), new coal-fired power projects dwindle worldwide (Axios)

BUSINESS: The company behind Tide and Bounty pledges net zero emissions by 2040 (CNN)(Wall Street Journal $)

CARBON REMOVAL: Firms sucking carbon from air see boost from 'code red' climate crisis (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

FINANCE: Chevron vows big increase in low-carbon spending (Axios), new outlet backed by Bill Gates will tackle climate change (Axios), climate risk firm Jupiter Intel announces financing and expansion (Axios), banks at bigger risk from climate than subprime mortgages, researcher says (The Hill), Chevron to triple low-carbon investment (Wall Street Journal $), BP taps renewable power specialist in green energy push (Wall Street Journal $)

INFRASTRUCTURE: Puerto Rico wants clean energy. Will the Biden administration listen? (Canary Media, Yesenia Rivera; Ruth Santiago)

WILDLIFE: Scientists say they could bring back woolly mammoths. but maybe they shouldn't (NPR)

INTERNATIONAL: Germany's election and energy/climate policy (Reuters), Barbados pursues ‘Norwegian model’: going green at home and drilling for oil (Climate Home), Russia could fuel U.S. nuclear plants without political fix  (E&E $), Britain’s winter energy crisis Is about to get worse (Washington Post $), most citizens in rich nations support individual climate action (Bloomberg $), most in the developed world think the US is doing a bad job on climate, Pew poll finds (CNN), policy smog is holding back UK net zero progress (FT $), Germany's election and energy/climate policy (Reuters), EU pursuing global deal to slash planet-warming methane -documents (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

• How to lessen suffering after the worst hurricanes? Outfit restaurants with solar panels and batteries. (Washington Post, Devin De Wulf op-ed $)
• Will the horrors of this century surpass those of the last? (The Hill, David Helvarg)
• Carbon pricing will ensure a just and equitable net-zero future (The Hill, Gregory Barker)
• We have a final opportunity to respond to climate change. Will we take it? (CNBC, Kristalina Georgieva and Patrick Verkooijen)
• Oil and gas drilling is getting dangerously close to our national parks (The Hill, Matt Kirby and Steve Kandell)
• How Should We Parent in an Era of Climate Disaster? (New York Times, Sarah DeBacher $)

US Chamber of Commerce Keeps Fighting For Polluters, Despite Supposed Climate Conversion

The US Chamber of Commerce, which represents major industrial polluters (and not your local mom and pop), has spent the last few years trying to rehabilitate its image as a climate villain. 

It hasn’t been going great for them, but mostly because they seem to think that putting up a webpage claiming to totally take climate seriously and definitely really support a carbon tax will make people simply forget their decades of denial and delay. And to be fair, it does seem to work on some.

But not everyone is so forgiving, and the student-led organization, Change the Chamber, is not buying the Chamber’s conversion story. And not because they’re cold-hearted cynics, but because they simply watched the Chamber of Commerce's actions. 

For example, in an update documenting anti-climate lobbying from the Chamber in early 2021, they have a new report on the organization’s continued denial and destruction. From filing amicus briefs in support of the Line 5 pipeline, to opposing efforts to limit a carcinogenic chemical, to working hand-in-hand with the American Petroleum Institute to try and keep a Trump-era rule, and trying to undercut the Biden administration’s Social Cost of Carbon and Methane accounting, just the month of June 2021 was packed with examples of how the Chamber is still nothing more than a hired gun for polluters. 

It’s their opposition to the Budget Reconciliation package, though, that Change the Chamber is targeting. Because accompanying the report is a letter from Change the Chamber and a coalition of over 100+ student groups and green groups like the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters, calling on the Chamber’s member companies to live up to their (greenwashing) rhetoric and force the organization to stop trying to tank the budget reconciliation package. 

In a press release, student activist Nina Jacobs explained that as “the largest dark money, pro-fossil fuel trade association in the country,” the US Chamber of Commerce “has an extensive history of problematic behavior, including lobbying against climate legislation, supporting climate deniers, backing the fossil fuel industry, and spreading misinformation about climate change. During the 2019-2020 election cycle alone, the group spent nearly $160 million on congressional lobbying.”

But, she continued, “Youth are fighting back with Change the Chamber. We are calling on companies who claim to care about the future of our climate to break with the Chamber’s climate obstruction and push for climate policies in Congress at the scale that science demands.”

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