Texas School Board 'Politicizes' Climate Science; or, Don't Mess With Tex(tbook)s: The Texas State Board of Education changed its guidelines last month to "emphasize the 'positive' aspects of fossil fuels in science textbooks," Scott Waldman reported yesterday. The Republican-controlled board approved changes proposed by climate denier Patricia Hardy, who wants teachers to offer "both sides" of climate science. The edits aim to "portray the Earth's warming temperatures as the result of natural fluctuations," Waldman wrote, "flying in the face of the consensus among climate researchers that humans are causing it by burning fossil fuels." While the board guide isn't legally binding, "it certainly deters school districts" from covering climate because they "try to play it safe" and "don't want to weigh into politics generally," according to Carisa Lopez of the Texas Freedom Network, adding that it "certainly politicizes, deeply, climate change. It politicizes science.” The Texas State Board of Education consists of five Democratic party members and 10 Republicans, including a Shell Oil lawyer Will Hickman and oil-field service company CEO Aaron Kinsey, who worked with Hardy on the changes. "Our schools are paid for by the fossil fuel industry for the most part," Hardy told Waldman. (Scientific American via E&ENews, Gizmodo)

Musk's Starlink Helping Illegal Loggers and Miners Destroy Amazon Rainforest: Nearly a year after alleged sexual harasser Elon Musk visited Brazil with a promise of Starlink internet for "19,000 unconnected schools in rural areas & environmental monitoring of Amazon," only three schools received 12-month trial installations, and instead of protecting the Amazon, Starlink is also helping illegal loggers cut down the rainforest, and illegal miners pollute it. In the last five weeks, Brazil's environment agency told AP, authorities have found seven Starlink terminals being used to coordinate illegal activity in Brazil's indigenous Yanomami territory. Having access to the new portable, satellite-based internet connections "really improves the ability to manage an illegal mine," a Brazilian official told the AP. "You can manage hundreds of mining sites without ever setting foot in one." (AP)

Shell Board A Nope On Scope 3 Emissions: Next week, Shell shareholders will vote on a resolution to have the company set climate targets that would meet the Paris agreement goals, which would require reducing pollution from customers' use of its products, known as Scope 3 emissions. But before they do, the Shell board wants them to know that "it would be against the financial interests of our shareholders" to try and reduce Scope 3 emissions, which comprise around 95% of the company's pollution output. In a report published yesterday, Shell Chairman Andrew Mackenzie claimed that reducing the greenhouse emissions from Shell's fossil fuel products "would not help mitigate global warming" because Shell reducing its pollution would mean "effectively handing over customers to competitors." This report comes after the Board of Directors was hit with a lawsuit over its climate-denying business plan and an SEC complaint regarding its greenwashing, a class action suit brought by 13,000 Africans for Shell oil spills, and while Shell is in the process of appealing a 2021 ruling by a Dutch court compelling the company to cut emissions 45% by 2030. (Reuters)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Toxic air, explosions: inside the bitter battle between Texas residents and Exxon (Washington Post $), Green Climate Fund credibility hangs over response to violence in Nicaragua project (Climate Home), As climate woes worsen, Africa's economies suffer, UN says (PoliticoPRO $)

TRAGIC: Survivors in shock as Cyclone Freddy toll passes 400 in Malawi, Mozambique (Reuters, CNN, PoliticoPRO $)

WILLOW: The dubious economic calculus behind the Willow project (Grist), The real debate over the Willow oil project, explained (Washington Post $), Biden climate legacy at stake after backlash over Willow (AP), Willow oil project approval intensifies Alaska Natives rift (AP), What's next for Alaska's Willow oil project? AP explains (AP), How big of a climate betrayal is the Willow oil project? (New York Times, David Wallace-Wells column $)

9:37 🚂 TO THE PETROCHEMICAL DYSTOPIA: How to 'make some good' out of East Palestine, Ohio, Rail Disaster? Ban Vinyl Chloride, former EPA official says (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: DOJ throws support behind communities suing Big Oil (ExxonKnews, PoliticoPRO $, Reuters, Guardian)

EU OUGHTA KNOW: EU Commission releases Net-Zero Industry Act (PoliticoPRO $), EU moves on clean technology; subsidies up, free market down (AP), 5 things to know about Europe’s bid to stay in the clean energy race (PoliticoPRO $), EU enters clean-energy arms race against the US (PoliticoPRO $), Germany, Spain push to keep nuclear out of EU renewable energy goals (Reuters), Austria not rowing back support for EU's car CO2 law, minister says (Reuters), Parliament’s Metsola slams Germany’s bid to resolve car ban standoff (PoliticoPRO $)

DENIAL: Leading denier think tank uses AI image of dead whale and wind turbines (Earther), Russell Brand is the latest to platform climate conservative Bjorn Lomborg's 'reckless' net-zero cost claims (The Guardian), Tucker Carlson says we're ignoring the good parts of climate change (Daily Beast, Media Matters, Fox)

GOP vs. ESG: Red state dilemma: Banning ESG could cost billions (PoliticoPRO $), Kansas anti-ESG push slowed by debate over private investors (AP), Ron DeSantis' crackdown on 'woke' banks could help a big Ron DeSantis donor [GEO Group] (Popular Information)

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Analysis: US grid could be 90% carbon-free by 2030 with IRA tax credits (The Hill), EIA: US carbon emissions set to drop, but miss Biden goals (PoliticoPRO $)

BLOWHARD: Against the wind: Why Jeff Van Drew, co-chair of the wind caucus, is taking on the industry (PoliticoPRO $), GOP lawmakers beat the anti-wind drum in beach-side hearing (PoliticoPRO $)

OK, BUT, RUDE?: Big, stinky blob of algae takes aim at Florida beaches. What's causing it? Is it climate change? (USA Today)

LAST GAS-P: NY Lawmakers near first gas ban for new building (PoliticoPRO $), San Francisco Bay Area to phase out natural gas furnaces and water heaters (The Hill, Reuters), Boston seeking to limit fossil fuel use in new buildings (AP)

STEAMED HAMBURG: Pumping heat a mile underground is helping one city cut carbon (Bloomberg)

LORAX APPROVED: Give mature trees same protection as heritage buildings, say campaigners (Guardian), The poignant music of melting ice: have a listen (New York Times $), Climate activists are turning their attention to Hollywood (The Atlantic), UN announces new advisors to bolster young voices on climate (AP), Waste pickers collect food waste, help combat climate change (AP)

NOT AS BIG AS BP'S: How big is your carbon footprint? (Guardian) 

SEATED: The truth about Big Toilet Paper (HEATED)

AGENCIES: Judge wants plan to protect Humpback Whales from fishery (AP), FERC approves supply chain cybersecurity standard (PoliticoPRO $), Vilsack: USDA needs flexibility, not more climate money (PoliticoPRO $) 

WHITE HOUSE: Biden plans to name Nevada's Spirit Mountain area a National Monument (New York Times $, Washington Post $), Public health vs. economic growth: Toxic chemical rules pose test for Biden (New York Times $) 

HOUSE: What is in House Republicans' energy policy package? (The Hill), Permitting overhaul in Congress draws shrugs from industry (PoliticoPRO $)

CALIFORNIA: California regulators to investigate high gas prices (Bloomberg), Floods fill some of California's summer strawberry fields (AP), Nearly two-thirds of California is now drought-free (The Hill), A very wet winter has eased California's drought, but water woes remain (New York Times $), California's levee system under strain after string of storms (WSJ $) 

IMPACTS: In the deluged mountains of Santa Cruz, residents cope with compounding disasters (Inside Climate News), Arctic sea ice winter peak in 2023 is fifth lowest on record (CarbonBrief), Hypoxia emerges as growing threat to coral reefs (PoliticoPRO $) 

WATER: Global fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, say experts (Guardian), Locals in and around Sedona deal with flooding aftermath (AP)

RENEWABLES: Puerto Rico town celebrates 'first-of-its-kind' solar microgrid (Grist), These small- and medium-sized states punch above their weight in renewable energy generation (Inside Climate News), Don't leave Global South out of green tech growth, UN warns (AP)  

BATTERIES: Volkswagen to invest in mines in bid to become global battery supplier (Reuters)

BIOGAS: Recycling America's chicken poop sounds great - unless you live next door (Guardian)

BILLIONAIRES: Tussling billionaires join chase for stalled Sun Cable project (Bloomberg $)

LNG: As Louisiana’s delegation is set to let LNG loose, some are pleading to rein it in (NOLA)

OIL & GAS: Pimco sees banking turmoil as threat to US oil, gas production (Bloomberg), Oil set for worst week this year as bank turmoil takes its toll (Bloomberg)

ORPHANED WELLS: State and US officials tout spending to plug 'orphan wells' (AP)

PESTICIDES: Roundup, the world's favorite weed killer, linked to liver, metabolic diseases in kids (Inside Climate News)

COAL: Death toll from Colombia coal mine explosion climbs to 21 (Reuters)

NUKES: Jeremy Hunt wants nuclear power classed as 'sustainable': is it? (Guardian)

• US banks are sacrificing poor communities to the climate crisis (Guardian, Ben Jealous and Bill McKibben op-ed)
• Battery recycling is key to a clean energy future (The Hill, Yan Wang op-ed)
• Is the Western drought finally ending? That depends on where you look (The Conversation, Dan McEvoy op-ed)
• Heat pumps work in NY. Don't believe misinformation– climate change is real (LoHud, Richard Schrader op-ed) 
• Farmers are mobilizing for action. It's not the first time (Washington Post, Michael Foley op-ed $)
• How El Niño may test the limits of our climate knowledge (TIME, Adam Sobel op-ed)
• Axios fires reporter for calling out Ron DeSantis event as 'Propaganda' (Esquire, Charles Pierce column)
• We'll only beat climate change if we help small businesses cut emissions – and fast (Reuters, Jesper Brodin and Maria Mendiluce op-ed)
• 3 reasons the Willow Arctic oil drilling project was approved – it’s the latest battle in a long fight over Alaska’s North Slope (The Conversation, Scott Montgomery op-ed)
• Climate change education is waste of resources (News-Review, Letter to the Editor)
• The Rideau Canal Skateway: How can we promote resilience in the face of a changing climate? (The Conversation, Shawn Kenny op-ed)
• Germany is holding up Europe's ban on combustion engines. Good. (Bloomberg, Andreas Kluth column $)
• Environmental purists and the fight against climate change (St. Louis Dispatch, Ken Schechtman op-ed)
• Did ESG help sink SVB? [No.] (WSJ, Kimberley Strassel column $)
• LA Times, Editorial)

Breitbart Accidentally Fact-Checked Itself On 'Woke' SVB, But Intentionally Called Out Koch's Train Rule Lobbying

After losing most of its real advertisers, Breitbart has been limping along and, as a result, relies heavily on syndicated content from the AP and AFP to fill out the site, with sometimes amusing results.

For example, this week, the outlet ran multiple stories blaming the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on it 'going woke' and supposedly focusing more on diversity and ESG than investing. It was then amusing to see Breitbart post the AP's "Fact Focus," which explains that there's "no evidence" of such an impact and that the real reason the bank failed was that it "had not properly managed the risk on large investments it had made in recent years." What's more, "SVB wasn't even all that diverse," as the "executive team was all white and mostly male and its board of directors had just one Black member and one LGBTQ member." 

Who could have guessed that scapegoating minorities wasn't accurate? (Everyone.) 

What's actually surprising, though, was the original piece produced by Breitbart reporter John Binder, headlined, "Koch-Linked Groups, Including One Funded by Norfolk Southern, Line Up Against J.D. Vance’s Rail Safety Reforms." 

Since when is Breitbart running pieces that are critical of Koch-linked groups and supportive of government regulation of business? 

Well, Breitbart is criticizing these groups because they’re opposing a bill co-sponsored by J. D. Vance, the “douchey,” Peter Thiel-backed, and fascism-friendly freshman Ohio senator. Vance previously made his MAGA name with Hillbilly Elegy, a book that's "woven through with dog whistles about class and race [and] gender," according to (at least) one expert on Appalachia. 

There has always been a somewhat friendly rivalry between Breitbart and the Koch network disinfo outlets like the Daily Caller or Signal, which pander to the same crowd with often overlapping propaganda campaigns. However, there's also a palpable rift between the Koch network (and traditional Republicans) and the more alt-right camp represented by Steve Bannon's Breitbart and backed by Thiel and the Mercers. Essentially, the Koch network would prefer that Breitbart quit saying the quiet (racist) parts out loud. 

While the Koch network uses political ideology as a means to prevent regulations and protect profits, the Thiel and Mercer fortunes aren't reliant on pollution remaining unchecked. Instead, the regressive white supremacist political ideology is Thiel’s and the Mercers’ end goal, and capturing the Republican party is the means to enforce that worldview. 

Immigration is the clearest example. Because immigrants are an easily exploitable source of cheap labor, the Koch network and its Big Business backers are more eager to welcome immigrants into the country than the "populist" (racist) wing of the party that supported frauds who wanted to build a wall, and as reflected Breitbart's decidedly unflattering coverage of immigrants. 

Now we're seeing a new rift open up, as J. D. Vance capitalized on the Ohio train derailment and petrochemical disaster to offer up some reasonable-sounding regulations — with some bipartisan support. With right-wing disinfo buzzing about the disaster being a Biden failure, it's an obvious choice for Vance to try and position himself as being the one to fix the train problem. 

But just because Vance and Breitbart are the enemies of our enemies in the Koch network, there is no reason to start treating them like friends. 

This is especially true given that historically, fascists’ promises to get trains running on time were actually more a matter of propaganda than punctuality. 

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