Black Children More Likely To Have Asthma Because Of Pollution Where They Live: Black children are more likely to have asthma than kids of any other race in America because racist housing laws placed Black communities near pollution hotspots like power plants and major roadways, and in rental housing riddled with mold and other triggers that go unremediated.  More than 12 percent of Black children in the US have asthma, compared to 5.5 percent of white children. Black kids also die at a much higher rate because of the disparities engrained in a housing system shaped by the longstanding and ongoing impacts of slavery and Jim Crow laws. “The majority of what drives disparities in asthma, it’s actually social and structural,” Sanaz Eftekhari, vice president of corporate affairs and research of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America told the AP. “People need to demand change for real and people need to not be reasonable,” Kamora Herrington, a community organizer in Hartford, Connecticut added. “At what point do you say, this is bull - - - -? White supremacy and racism have everything to do with it.” (AP)

Pressure Mounts For Oil Exec To Not Lead Next U.N. Climate Conference: More than  130 members of Congress and the European Parliament called for Sultan Al-Jaber, who runs the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to step down as president for the next U.N. Climate Change Conference that will be held late this year in the United Arab Emirates. “It’s pretty straightforward: The head of a national oil company should not be the president-designate of a climate conference,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told the Washington Post. “It’s a slap in the face to young climate activists.” Presidents of the U.N. climate talks help resolve disputes among delegates and diplomats, and ostensibly are supposed to ensure the final agreement is a step toward addressing the climate crisis in the timeframe needed to avoid the worst consequences of the warming planet. But U.S. climate envoy John Kerry previously voiced support for the appointment of Al-Jaber, describing him a “terrific choice” because of his role as an oil major leader. (AP, Reuters, TIME $, Washington Post $, Bloomberg $, Politico $) 

Protestors Stop Shell Shareholder Meeting: Climate activists stormed Shell’s annual shareholder meeting in London, calling for the oil and gas giant to stop contributing to the climate crisis and stop operations. The demonstrations delayed the meeting by over an hour, as several Shell shareholders also called out the company for greenwashing its commitments to delivering on its own climate targets. “Despite Shell posting record profits in 2022… its capital expenditure into renewables and low carbon energy is far lower than would be expected by a company seeking to shape a future in the transition,” The Church of England Pension Fund director Laura Hillis said at the meeting. “[Our] interests are not being served by the short term approach that the company appears to be taking,” she added. About a fifth of shareholders at the meeting voted for a resolution that would require Shell to adopt more ambitious climate pollution reduction targets. A 2021 ruling by a Dutch court requires Shell to cut its climate pollution 45 percent by the end of the decade, though the company is appealing that decision. (Reuters, CNBC, CNN, AP)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: 5 takeaways from AP’s series on health disparities impacting Black Americans (AP)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) INJUSTICE: Air conditioning can't stop climate migration (Bloomberg $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Emirati leaders invite Israel’s Netanyahu, Herzog, to join COP28 climate conference in Dubai (AP), Climate chaos will spread across ‘the entire planet,’ says US diplomat (The Independent)

EPA: US EPA recommends delaying electric vehicles biofuel program (Reuters)

DOE: US Energy Department funds small-scale clean energy on tribal land (Reuters)

FERC: Speeding up US power grid connection 'top priority', FERC chairman says (Reuters)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden climate warrior nominee who argued for higher energy prices has stake in oil and gas firm (Fox News)

CITIES AND STATES: Heat wave and blackout would send half of Phoenix to ER, study says (New York Times $), Orlando a favorite among best cities to avoid worst climate change impacts. Here are others. (USA Today), New report says wildfire risk has increased for New Jersey due to climate and increased development (WHYY), 
Climate change is making NJ and NY into wildfire hotspots (Gothamist)

~CALIFORNIA: What the Colorado River deal means for California (New York Times $), California emerges as big winner in Colorado River water deal (LA Times $), Melt from historic California snow may be less damaging than feared (Washington Post $)

MAWAR: Guam is on alert as Super Typhoon Mawar nears: weather watch (Bloomberg $), Guam braces for "direct hit" from intensifying, "powerful" Super Typhoon Mawar (Axios), A monster typhoon is barreling toward a US territory with deadly winds and 25-foot storm surge (CNN), Climate change makes Super Typhoon Mawar more dangerous (NPR)

HEAT: Current emissions trajectory could expose billions to extreme heat: study (The Hill), A fifth of the world could live with dangerous heat by 2100, new study warns (Inside Climate News), These countries will be dangerously hot within the next century (Washington Post $) 

WATER: At Lake Powell, record low water levels reveal an ‘amazing silver lining’ (Inside Climate News), What is produced water? (Inside Climate News)

BATTERIES: Biden administration decides not to award $200M to battery company amid Republican pushback (The Hill), Energy Dept. rejects $200M grant to battery maker after GOP criticism over alleged ties to China (AP)

BUILDINGS: The house of the future could be built with dirty diapers (The Verge), Can building with wood decarbonise construction? (Energy Monitor), The coming battle between Americans who want to go electric and their landlords (Washington Post $) 

SOLAR: Solar developers face uncertainty amid local pushback in Ohio (Canary Media)

STOVES: How do induction stoves actually work? (Canary Media),  GOP cooks up a new storm on gas stove rules (Politico $)

METHANE: Intensity of methane emissions by US oil and gas industry declined: report (Bloomberg $), Methane hunters tap new technology to reshape policing of U.S. greenhouse emissions (Reuters), The intensity of methane emissions from oil and gas sector has declined, study finds (CNBC)

OIL & GAS: Exxonmobil dips its oily toe into lithium mining (Gizmodo), Foreign exports, not domestic demand, to drive controversial gas expansion, agency finds (The Hill)

GRID: California’s ‘zonal’ approach could revamp clean energy planning, shrink interconnection queue: experts (Utility Dive)

RECYCLING: New research defends curbside recycling as an effective climate tool (Grist), Plastic bottles harm human health at every stage of their life cycle (Grist), Are you 'wish-cycling'? turns out you may be recycling all wrong. (HuffPost)

FINANCE: Companies object to proposed SEC rule requiring them to track emissions up and down their supply chains (Inside Climate News), Global carbon pricing schemes raised record $95 bln in 2022 - World Bank (Reuters), Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish set for Global Citizen’s ‘Power Our Planet’ show for climate financing (AP), Antin pledges $100 million to community clean-energy developer Pearlx (Wall Street Journal $)

CEOs: Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes on walking the walk on climate action (Axios)

CDR: JPMorgan Chase to spend $200 million on carbon dioxide removals (Reuters), ‘Leap of faith:’ Alaska pursues carbon offset market while embracing oil (AP), JP Morgan makes one of the biggest bets ever on carbon removal (Wall Street Journal $), ‘Worthless’: Chevron’s carbon offsets are mostly junk and some may harm, research says (Guardian)

TALKIES: This controversial sci-fi blockbuster about climate change still polarizes scientists today (Salon)

INSURANCE: Insurance firms need more climate change information. Scientists say they can help (NPR)

RICE: Reimagining rice, from the Mekong to the Mississippi (New York Times $)

ACTIVISM: Geneva airport briefly closed as climate activists protest private jet fair (AP)

HAHA: 18 times comedians joked about climate change (Yale Climate Connections)

YUM: José Andrés unveils US food and climate institute (Axios)

INTERNATIONAL: Lula set to improve Brazil’s climate target (Climate Home), Italy OKs aid mega-package for flooded north, with museum ticket surcharge to help pay for it (AP), Tempers rise as German government’s clean heating plans moved to back burner (AP)

• Billionaires contribute to climate change the most — and determine climate policy (Teen Vogue, Rebekka Ayres)

• California Teaches Florida and Texas a Lesson in ESG (Bloomberg, Matthew Winkler op-ed $)

A 10 Point Plan To Rein In Big Tech, Hate Speech, And Disinformation And #ReclaimOurRights!

Are you tired of being bombarded with online hate speech? Are you concerned about the role that Big Tech plays in amplifying disinformation and violating people’s privacy? Fear not, because Nobel Peace Prize laureates have a plan, and that landmark 10 Point Plan now has more than 275 signatories!

In 2022, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov created the 10 Point Plan to support responsible journalism and combat online hate speech and disinformation. Ressa stated, “The huge potential of technology to advance our societies has been hijacked by Big Tech and a model that deliberately promotes lies, anger and hate in the name of profit. Radical action is needed to detoxify these companies' business model to reclaim the internet for the public good.”

The plan calls on governments to enact data protection laws, commit funding to help independent media and journalists that are under attack, and require tech companies to carry out independent human rights assessments. It also urges the EU to enforce the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the EU General Data Protection Regulation, ban surveillance advertising, and safeguard journalists’ safety, media sustainability, and democratic guarantees in the upcoming European Media Freedom Act. Furthermore, the plan advises the EU to also cut off disinformation upstream and challenge lobbying machinery, astroturfing campaigns, and the recruitment revolving door between European government bodies and Big Tech. Lastly, the plan encourages the creation of a special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General focused on the Safety of Journalists.

Now, the plan has 276 signatories! Individual supporters include activist Bill McKibben, academic Shoshana Zuboff, multiple Members of the European Parliament, and multiple Nobel laureates. Notable organizations such as the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition, Friends of the Earth, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation , and Privacy International also endorse the plan.

If you’re ready to rally for change in the online information ecosystem, you too can be a signatory!

Maria Ressa will present the 10 Point Plan today in Washington, DC at the The Nobel Prize Summit: Truth, Trust and Hope.

The Summit’s jam-packed schedule also features nine Solution Sessions, including a discussion on how to combat disinformation hosted by the Embassy of Sweden, a panel on mis- and disinformation in Latin America, and a Wikipedia edit-a-thon.

When you’re doomscrolling, it can be easy to forget that things don’t have to be this way! Governments are perfectly capable of regulating Big Tech, combatting disinformation, and protecting people’s privacy, but they’re not going to act without public pressure. It’s time to #ReclaimOurRights!

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