Historic summer heat highlights AC inequities: States and the federal government have long provided aid to help people afford heat in their homes. But as climate change increases the number of extreme heat days and heat waves in parts of the U.S. unaccustomed to such high temperatures, vulnerable people in those areas are discovering they have nowhere to turn to beat the heat. Landlords in most states are not required to provide air conditioning in units, there is no federal requirement for air conditioning in public housing, and programs to help people to afford cooling their homes remain rare. About 70% of U.S. homes have central air conditioning, 10% lack any cooling, and the rest rely on window AC units. Roughly half a million public and low-income housing units have no central air conditioning, many in the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest. Studies repeatedly show that systemic racist policies, including redlining and other barriers to building generational wealth, have led Black people and Latine people to be more likely to live in homes without air conditioning, more likely to live in urban heat islands where the built environment can result in temperatures up to 10°F hotter than nearby (whiter and higher income) areas with more tree cover and parks, and more likely to experience health conditions that can turn deadly when compounded by extreme heat. These disparities follow children to their schools, many of which are delaying back to school days or dismissing students early if classrooms don’t have air conditioning installed, or if units are malfunctioning. According to a federal report from 2020, roughly 36,000 public schools nationwide lack adequate air conditioning, forcing schools from Connecticut to Texas to Puerto Rico to Minnesota to choose between holding school or attempting to teach distracted, irritable students in environments hostile to learning. (NPR)

Humans push Earth into critical condition: Human-driven activities have pushed Earth into the “danger zone” for planetary health, according to research that seeks to understand how far people can stress the limits of the world’s ability to handle anthropogenic impacts without disastrous results. Fourteen years after establishing nine “planetary boundaries” – defined as “processes that are critical for maintaining the stability and resilience of Earth system as a whole” – researchers say humanity has pushed six of those nine systems past safe limits. Those systems include: biodiversity, climate change, land and freshwater impacts, biogeochemical cycles, and synthetic chemicals and substances like microplastics; a seventh, ocean acidification, is nearing its boundary. Conversely, the ozone layer – which was in crisis in the 1990s – is now on track to completely recover after concerted global cooperation resulted in the Montreal Protocol, banning ozone-depleting substances. “We don't know that we can thrive under major, dramatic alterations of our conditions," lead author Katherine Richardson of the University of Copenhagen told a news conference Wednesday. “We can think of Earth as a human body, and the planetary boundaries as blood pressure. Over 120/80 does not indicate a certain heart attack but it does raise the risk.” (AP, The Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg $, CNN, Scientific American, Salon. Study: ScienceAdvances)

Auto workers union strike looms at midnight: Auto industry workers are preparing to walk off the job Friday if an agreement between the United Auto Workers and the ‘Big Three’ U.S. automakers is not reached by midnight Thursday. UAW President Shawn Fain said workers would strike “targeted locations” at all three – Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (Chystler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram) – in order to keep the companies off balance. At the heart of the negotiations is how the U.S. auto industry will adjust to the shift to electric vehicles as the automakers – with support from federal and state governments – pour billions into new generations of vehicles. Workers are demanding raises, return of pensions, and job security, as automakers cash in enormous profits spurred by incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act and private investment, demanding these benefits go to both assembly line workers and battery workers. Automakers argue they can’t both meet high demands from workers and invest in new technologies to spur the electric vehicle transition. To that, workers say they merely want a fair share of the profits – it says CEOs have enjoyed a 40% increase in pay since the last contract. “The electric vehicle transition must be as much about workers’ rights as it is about fighting the climate crisis,” Fain wrote in an op-ed in The Guardian with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. “We will not let the EV industry be built on the backs of workers making poverty wages while CEOs line their pockets with government subsidies.” (NPR, Washington Post $ Politico Pro $, Politico, NPR, E&E $, E&E $, The Guardian: Shawn Fain and Rep. Ro Khanna op-ed; Energy News Network: Marcie Pedraza and Gina Ramirez op-ed)

PSA: Green group to launch 'experts of color' database (E&E $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: How Black farmers are navigating climate change with limited federal support (Capital B), How the country’s largest climate bill threatens to leave Black communities behind (Capital B), How cities are working to improve ‘tree equity’ (Grist)

UNJUST TRANSITION: More U.S. households now need AC due to climate change — but some can't afford it (KNKX), African leaders don’t just want aid. They strive to be a partner in climate change solutions (WBUR)

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS: The American chestnut tree is coming back. Who is it for? (Grist), In 2022, a land defender was killed every two days (Grist), Tribes press Biden admin for equal role in Colorado River planning (E&E $)

YIKE: Climate change is un-burying graves. It's an expensive, 'traumatic,' confounding problem. (USA Today)

DENIAL: Climate disasters are on the rise. So is disinformation. (Mother Jones), Inside Exxon’s strategy to downplay climate change (Wall Street Journal $)

AND ITS OPPOSITE: Meet the oil man in charge of leading the world away from oil (New York Times $)

HEAD-IN-SAND: 'Peak oil' could be on the horizon, but new fossil fuel projects are pushing ahead (NBC News)

GET REAL: Bill Gates-funded climate change venture doesn’t call for razing 70 million acres of trees (AP)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: US renewable energy capacity could triple in 10 years on IRA boost: Wood Mackenzie (Reuters), Biden’s climate law is reshaping private investment in the United States (New York Times $)

EPA: EPA boss, climate scientist among Time's 100 influencers (E&E $)

DOE: DOE rule breakthrough? Industry, greens reach deal. (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Biden administration announces largest recycling investment in 30 years (The Hill), Biden admin to spend $100M on EV charger repairs (E&E $)

🤔: White House chief of staff’s wealth and connections collide with Biden’s clean energy strategy (The Intercept)

LAWSUITS: Court decisions could upend Biden's electric vehicle agenda (Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: We're in trouble': Spending fight paralyzes House (E&E $)

HOUSE: House lawmakers clash over 'critical' label for minerals (E&E $)

IN MEMORIAM: Plane crash kills husband of Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola (E&E $)

SENATE: Markey introduces bill to tighten pipeline standards (E&E $), Senators urged to take action on heat, protect workers (E&E $)

WOO-WOO: GOP: Outsiders funding lawsuits against energy projects (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: The fight for worker safety protection heats up at the Phoenix airport (Grist), Florida Republicans walk fine line on disaster aid, as shutdown looms (Washington Post $), Kansans rally to pressure Evergy into keeping green energy promises (Kansas Reflector), Groups say New Mexico is failing on its climate goals (New Mexico Political Report), Climate change threatens Lake Champlain's historic shipwrecks (WCAX), Ohio injection wells suspended over ‘imminent danger’ to drinking water (Inside Climate News)

~CALIFORNIA: How California’s landmark emissions bill could change global standards (FT $), California is moving to outlaw watering some grass that’s purely decorative (LA Times $), California gets ahead of SEC in forcing firms’ carbon disclosure (Bloomberg $), San Francisco considers lifting the ferry building by 7 feet to save it from the sea (NPR)

FERC: FERC staff rejects pressure to weigh in on EPA, other agency rules (Politico Pro $), FERC official rejects Republican bill targeting Biden rules (E&E $)

LIBYA: Rescue efforts continue in Libya’s inundated Derna as bodies line the ground outside main hospital (Democracy Now), Libya and Morocco: A quick breakdown of north Africa’s double disaster (The New Humanitarian), How war left Libyans vulnerable to deadly floods (Heatmap $)

HELP: How to support Storm Daniel flood victims in Libya (Al Jazeera)

IMPACTS: Climate disasters will happen everywhere, anytime (Vox)

HEAT: Climate change made U.S. summer hotter for almost everyone (Axios), Most Americans experienced record heat this summer: ‘It’s just daily life now’ (The Guardian), Employers turn to ice vests, sweat stickers to cope with extreme heat (Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: Evacuation orders expand amid wildfires in western Canada (Washington Post $), Why wildfires are at their deadliest in more than a century (Washington Post $)

FLOODING: Flood-prevention projects can enhance people’s well-being in underrecognized ways (Yale Climate Connections), Why floods can turn so deadly, so fast (New York Times $), Climate change exacerbates deadly floods worldwide (NPR)

RENEWABLES: Solar sector calls for €100M E.U. bailout as China pushes it to brink (E&E $), Is the future of energy ... pouring water on hot rocks in the ground? (Vox)

RESILIENCE: Renewable backup power key to energy resilience in disasters, says new report (TechXplore)

BATTERIES: Tesla unveils Powerwall 3, this time with a built-in solar inverter (The Verge)

BUILDINGS: Redesigning school buildings to stand up to climate change (EdSurge)

OIL & GAS: With CEO out, BP faces choice of whether to abandon push to go green (Wall Street Journal $), BP sticking with energy transition strategy, says interim CEO (Reuters)

WHAT’S IN A NAME: Project Canary taking on ‘differentiated’ natural gas mantle to expand emissions measurements (Natural Gas Intel)

HYDROGEN: Chevron bets big on massive U.S. 'green' hydrogen project (E&E $)

NUKES: Nukes are back, but uranium is in short supply (Wall Street Journal $), Nuclear gets a boost from Europe's new green energy targets (Reuters)

EVs: EU risks trade war with China over electric vehicles (Politico EU)

ACTIVISM: Youth can help reshape poor urban environments (FT $)

BOOKS: From "massive squishings" to the insect apocalypse, roads are terrorizing nature (NPR). 12 new climate change books for professors and teachers (Yale Climate Connections)

CARBON REMOVAL: Sole U.S. power plant CCS project restarts after 3 years (E&E $), Carbon capture draws millions in lobbying, billions in federal subsidies (Open Secrets News)

CARS: High gas prices fuel August inflation spike (The Hill)

FINANCE: Al Gore calls out the bankers ‘profiting hugely’ from big oil (Bloomberg $)

UN-INSURANCE: Citing climate change risks, Farmers is latest insurer to exit Florida (Washington Post $)

INFRASTRUCTURE: US dams are old, poorly maintained, threatened by climate change (KCRW)

TECH: How technology is accelerating the effort to find climate change solutions (Washington Post $), New iOS 17 feature will help users rely more on renewable energy (AppleInsider), Apple’s new CO2 neutral products are cool, but don’t let them distract you from the big picture (Gizmodo)

FEATS: Athlete, 53, swims 315-mile length of NY’s Hudson River in a month: ‘I’ve been dreaming about this’ (NY Post)

WATCHDOGS: Net zero watchdog revamps its organization and board (Bloomberg $)

WILDLIFE: Are NC's 'ghost forests' a canary in the coal mine for upcoming coastal change? (Star News Online)

GET ‘EM! Breeding program enlists modified mosquitoes to fight dengue (E&E $)

LIKE I SAID: Restoring California wetlands and fighting climate change? Leave it to beavers (LA Times $)

INTERNATIONAL: Why India is rebuffing a coal-to-clean deal with rich nations (Climate Home), U.K. wind energy capacity overtakes gas generation for first time (E&E $)

~EU: EU's von der Leyen pledges more support for wind industry (Reuters), EU states must bridge ‘planning gap’ in order to hit climate targets, report warns (The Guardian), EU boosts green fuels for aviation: 70% of fuels at EU airports will have to be sustainable by 2050 (AP)

• We can’t normalize climate catastrophe. Biden must act. (The Hill, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Jean Su) 
• Gas exports are America's hidden national security vulnerability (Newsweek, Russel Honoré)
• What Arizona and other drought-ridden states can learn from Israel’s pioneering water strategy (The Conversation, Clive Lipchin)
• Despite Von Der Leyen’s reassuring words, the EU green deal is in trouble (Energy Monitor, Dave Keating)
• Debt relief must break dependence on fossil fuel exports (Climate Home, Sarah Colenbrander)
• Home insurance and climate change have collided — and we’re all going to pay for it (LA Times, Anita Chabria, Erika D. Smith $)
• How can businesses help the climate change fight? They can’t, so government must force them (South China Morning Post, Graeme Maxton)
• Greece’s record rainfall and flash floods are part of a trend – across the Mediterranean, the weather is becoming more dangerous (The Conversation, Ioanna Stamataki)
• Libya’s floods are result of climate crisis meeting a failed state (The Guardian, Patrick Wintour)
• An economic case against environmental doomsayers (New York Times, Peter Coy $)
• Summer 2023 was the hottest on record – yes, it’s climate change, but don’t call it ‘the new normal’ (The Conversation, Scott Denning)
• The rise of solar and batteries is upending our renewable future (Bloomberg, David Fickling $) 

Pro-UAE Propaganda Campaign On Reddit Appears To Be Latest In Long History of PR Tactics

The United Arab Emirates' efforts to bolster its reputation ahead of the annual UN climate negotiations it's hosting in December haven't gone particularly well this year. They've been playing the long game, Cartie Werthman uncovered for DeSmog yesterday, as lobbying disclosures document how the head of the UAE's national oil company, Sultan Ahmed "Al Jaber’s ascent to the highest levels of climate diplomacy began 16 years ago, and Edelman, the largest public relations firm in the world, played a crucial role." 

This week, we spotted what appears to be another petroganda effort: an unusual post on Reddit's "climate skeptics" page, standing out among the links to dumb memes, decade-old YouTube videos, and denial blog posts. It's a stock image of a tree, half dead and half lush, with the caption: "The UAE is keen to achieve what ensures development and sustainability in the Arab countries and for the benefit of all their peoples through continuous work to achieve climate neutrality." 

It got only one upvote, which makes sense, because it's greenwashing the UAE instead of the main purpose of the subreddit: climate denial. So who's this user who apparently thinks the subreddit dedicated to spreading climate "skepticism" would be a good place for a message about the UAE's commitment to climate action? 

Well, remember the discovery of that network of fake accounts with AI-generated profile pictures posting praise for the petrostate's climate leadership back in June? Now it appears the UAE's fan club is trying the same thing on a different platform.

Buckle up, because we’re going deep: /u/ShamaAlR0maithi has had an account since September 2020 and has racked up over 40,000 post karma, a tally of the net number of upvotes their posts have received. They're not getting highly upvoted for posts praising the UAE's climate efforts or UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, but instead gaining karma by (re)posting the standard sort of content you'd expect to find on /r/funny or /r/happy or /r/cats, as in the case of one picture supposedly of the user and their cat, which you can also buy from a stock photo website. 

Curious, we searched for other posts about Mohammed bin Zayed and the UAE’s oil and energy company head (and COP28 president) Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and sure enough, there were a bunch of accounts promoting these two influential figures. User /u/karlatomas4 has spent a year posting a mix of non-COP-specific pro-UAE content and random clickbait, whereas /u/janaelfrajni only started posting last month, first with images of nature and then with pro-UAE content to subreddits like /r/UAETeenagers.  

There's even a subreddit dedicated to pro-UAE content, /r/UAE_Achievements, which was created in November 2020 and seems to be purely filled with propaganda like this post promoting Masdar, the national renewable energy company. By comparison, the general /r/UAE page appears to remove these types of posts, and is populated by regular users posting normal content (such as questions for one another about living in the UAE). 

Interestingly, the account that created the /r/UAE_Achievements subreddit, /u/hesamzy, as well as the most recently added moderator who shares a name with a Dubai Police Colonel and had a pro-UAE greenwashing and wokewashing posting history, have since had their accounts suspended by Reddit. 

Of the remaining two moderators, /u/M_Hussein_ doesn't appear to have posted or commented anything, ever (or they've since deleted their content), while the fourth moderator, /u/Gmilazyd, appears to be the only active account of the four and posts a variety of pro-UAE content and normal Reddit fare to mixed results, as content often gets removed from mainstream subreddits by diligent moderators strictly enforcing user-generated rules against spam and the like. 

The other posters in /r/UAE_Achievements seem to have a similar pattern of posting a mix of both pro-UAE propaganda consisting of an image and caption and mundane Reddit-bait pictures to maintain a pretense of being a regular user. 

In just the span of a few hours yesterday, there were green and woke-washing posts by auto-generated-named users like /u/Mundane_Reveal_6588, /u/MotherFee2562 and /u/These_Wallaby3140 (whose Aug '23-created profile comes complete with a stock photo headshot), as well as more "real" usernames like /u/danamoustafa1, /u/rofidasoltan, /u/nourmohamed25, /u/ALiaabinzaied, /u/RetalAli1, /u/fatemasaleeh, /u/lamiaa_radwan, /u/Hana_fahmy, and /u/banenkhaled, who also commented last week that "The UAE is the world's beacon for reducing carbon emissions. It has always worked through initiatives to promote the environment and climate." 

Now it may be that these are all normal, if aggressively patriotic, ADNOC-loving UAE citizens who just so happen to have identical posting patterns, but given that the UAE is making its way through the entire list of state-sponsored propaganda tactics, employing a network of Reddit accounts to promote the country doesn't seem entirely out of the realm of possibility. 

In fact, at this point confirmation that it's got a Reddit promotion scheme going would be a Mundane_Reveal_6588.

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