Today at 8:30am ET, the World Resources Institute will host a press call to take stock of where we stand on global climate action as we approach the doorstep of COP27 in Sharm-El Sheikh, Egypt in November. Register here!

Savvy texts help California avoids power outages: Record temperatures are expected to continue today in California as highs are forecast to peak around 110 degrees F, straining the electricity grid as homes and businesses crank air conditioners to overcome the sweltering heat. “We’ve never seen this kind of extreme heat for this extended period of time,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a conference in Beverly Hills. The state has narrowly avoided widespread power outages thanks to last minute text messages urging people to save energy. Power demand dropped roughly 2,600 megawatts within 45 minutes after a text alert went out earlier this week, helping power producers cope with the surging demand. Power demand in California peaked at a record 52,000 megawatts on Tuesday, and rising temps driven by climate change are predicted to raise energy demand even further - to as much as 78,000 MW by 2045. California's power resources were so tapped that grid officials instructed utility providers to prepare for rolling blackouts. “We were down to the last gallon,” Elliot Mainzer, the chief executive of the California Independent System Operator told the New York Times. (AP, CBS, CNN, Reuters, CNBC, The Verge, Utility Dive, San Francisco Chronicle $, LA Times $, New York Times $, E&E $)

UK’s new energy chief is a climate denier: Jacob Rees-Mogg, UK’s new energy secretary appointed by Prime Minister Liz Truss has a record of dismissing climate science. In 2013, Rees-Mogg falsely claimed that the effects of rising climate pollution “remains much debated” while in 2014, he suggested humanity should adapt to climate change “rather than going back to living in the stone-age by reducing people’s use of energy.” The former investment manager has also recently called for more fossil fuel extraction in the North Sea, and described fracking as an “interesting opportunity.” Rebecca Newsom, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, described the appointee as “the last person who should be in charge of the energy brief [and is in power] at the worst possible moment.” (CNBC, Climate Home, New Scientist, The Guardian, Reuters, DeSmog profile, Bloomberg $)

Greenwashing is in full effect for Big Oil, according to new report: InfluenceMap finds 60% of the $750 million annual budget for public communications messaging used by five major oil and gas companies contains at least one "green" claim, but those companies are expected to use just 12% of their capital expenditure budgets on low-carbon or renewable investments. The researchers find the oil and gas majors are engaged in a "systematic campaign to portray themselves as pro-climate to the public," InfluenceMap program manager Faye Holder told CNN. Shell had the biggest mismatch between pro-climate messaging and actual pro-climate investments - claiming they are a green company in 70% of their messaging while diverting only 10% of its spending on low-carbon investments. (CNN, InfluenceMap, E&E $)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Water crisis raises environmental racism concerns (The Hill)

JACKSON, MS: Regan visit keeps EPA focus on Jackson water crisis (E&E $), The crisis in Jackson shows how climate change is threatening water supplies (NPR)

THE HILL: Manchin says leadership pledged permitting reform in stopgap funding bill (The Hill), Manchin, Schumer vow to include reform deal in bill (The Hill). DNC weighs Manchin's permitting reform deal (Washington Post $), Schumer in tough spot over Manchin promise (The Hill)

CALIFORNIA: California’s battery problems heighten threat of power outages (Bloomberg $), ‘Extreme’ risk of dangerous fires in west amid record heat, lightning (Washington Post $), New chief heat officer helps Los Angeles prepare for more heat waves (Yale Climate Connections)

IMPACTS: A summer of climate disasters (New York Times $), Much of the Amazon rainforest has hit a tipping point and might not recover, major study finds (EcoWatch), Wildfires, floods, typhoons: 24 hours of photos show climate change threat (Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: How to save a forest by burning it (New York Times $)

FLOODING: As flooding death toll hits 1,325, Pakistan's unprecedented rains damage ancient ruins of world heritage site Mohenjo-daro (CBS), ‘A super-flood to beat all’: monsoon disaster piles misery on Pakistan (Financial Times $)

WATER: Water is now seen as a precious, vital and scarce resource in the global energy sector (CNBC)

MIGRATION: Climate migrants flee Iraq’s parched rural south, but cities offer no refuge (Washington Post $), Climate migration: Kenyan woman loses nearly all to lake (AP)

RENEWABLES: Clean energy projects surge after climate bill passage (New York Times $), Can community energy save lives this winter? (Energy Monitor), Climate change puts availability of vital renewable energy source at risk, research reveals (Phys.org), U.S. looks to tap 1950s law to boost clean technology (Wall Street Journal $), Solar power saved the EU €29bn this summer (Carbon Brief), Report: Forced labor law squeezes supplies for U.S. solar industry (Politico $)

EIA: U.S. power use to reach record high in 2022 as economy grows (Reuters)

FARMS: Ag’s challenging future in a changing climate (Yale Climate Connections)

FORESTS: Europe is sacrificing its ancient forests for energy (New York Times $)

OSW: N.Y. offshore wind farm will help track endangered whales (E&E $)

INDUCTION: What’s the true cost of an induction stove? (Grist)

METHANE: ‘Huge amount of money' in climate law could spawn gas bans (E&E $), Why so many LNG terminals are adopting carbon capture (E&E $), Natural gas buyers hoarding fuel at sea to prepare for winter (Bloomberg $)

SUPPLY CHAINS: Climate change could worsen supply chain turmoil (New York Times $)

OIL & GAS: Oil prices continue to drop even after OPEC production cut (Wall Street Journal $), In dispute over gas project, evidence includes sacred dances on remote Australian island (Wall Street Journal $)

TIDAL: How waves could power a clean energy future (CNBC)

CELEBS: Kim Kardashian has people to worry about climate change for her, apparently (Gizmodo)

UTILITIES: It wasn’t just oil companies spreading climate denial (The Atlantic) 

EVs: As Elon Musk backs fossil fuels, one strategist sends a warning over EV sales (CNBC), China’s electric car startups put a dent in legacy automaker market share (Bloomberg $), Few states have comprehensive plans to integrate the expected surge in EVs. ACEEE wants to change that (Utility Dive), This New England utility will soon pay EV owners to help to back up the grid (Energy News Network), EVs aren't straining the electric grid — and they just might save it (Axios)

FINANCE:  Fed to launch climate risk analysis for big banks next year, top official says (Washington Examiner), Fed vice chair says bank will launch pilot climate risk analysis next year (The Hill), New fed banking chief targeting crypto and climate change as top priorities (CNBC), We’re exiting an oil stock — continuing to reduce energy exposure and locking in a big profit (CNBC), BlackRock pushes back on GOP’s ‘inaccurate’ ESG attacks (Bloomberg $), Anti-ESG activist investor urges Chevron to increase oil production (Wall Street Journal $)

BOOKS: New climate fiction offers visions for environmental justice (New York Times $)

OCEANS: Southern ocean takes on the heat of climate change (Phys.org)

BEAVERS: California says the beaver can be superhero in fighting climate change (LA Times $)

EU ENERGY CRISIS: Europe’s summer of record solar power saved billions of euros (Bloomberg $), Europe’s energy-crisis relief measures come with high risks attached (Wall Street Journal $), Energy crisis pushes Europe toward pricing experiments (E&E $), The E.U. weighs a Russian gas price cap and other measures to rein in ‘astronomic’ energy prices (New York Times $), The U.S. can't solve Europe's energy crisis (Axios)

INTERNATIONAL: China reports ‘most severe’ heat wave and third driest summer on record (The Guardian)

• Pakistan’s vulnerability to disaster was through the roof. Then came the floods. (New York Times, David Wallace-Wells $)

• What Antarctica’s disintegration asks of us (New York Times, Elizabeth Rush $)

• The left’s electric vehicle push is about freedom (The Hill, Katie Pavlich)

• Who should foot the bill for climate disasters? Rich nations, of course (CNN, Paul Hockenos)

• Gavin Newsom’s dirty energy secret (Wall Street Journal, The Editorial Board $)

• No car loans from Bank Australia, unless it’s an EV — and the US may do the same (The Hill, Sarah Rehberg)

• We got rid of the grass to help keep the planet green (CNN, Christian Vescia)

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg Gives GOP's Infowars Investors a Capitalism 101 Lesson: Making Money Good, Losing Money Bad

"Are you a right-wing, free-market type who believes that Fortune 500 CEOs have devolved into a gaggle of eco-friendly squishes? Do you like paying high expenses for stock market returns that lag the S&P 500? Would you trust a former tobacco executive and a junk science to manage your money? Then have I got a mutual fund for you! The Free Enterprise Action Fund."

So begins a 2006 piece by Daniel Gross in Slate, describing Thomas Borelli and Steve Milloy's attempt to exploit investors via political shenanigans designed to prop up loser industries. How did it end? Per Gross, "in the short term, it looks like Borelli and Milloy are essentially paying the fund for the privilege of using it as a platform to broadcast their views on corporate governance, global warming, and a host of other issues." 

And in the long term? Well just a few years later, in 2009, the fund merged with the Congressional Effect Fund, which according to its website is now all about the cryptocurrencies, another bet almost as sure as the long term viability of the oil and gas industry. So like the other ill-fated denier effort to crowdfund a pro-fossil-fuels hedge fund back in 2016, Milloy's attempt to fight the finance world's drive to avoid bad investments fell flat. 

Either the third time's the charm, or the same fate awaits Vivek Ramaswamy, the Alex Jones of Investing, and his Strive fund targeting Environmental, Social and Governance risk assessments in investing. 

Unfortunately, unlike past efforts, these days the Republican party is so thoroughly enmeshed with and dependent on the fossil fuel industry's Citizens United-unleashed donations that even state treasurers are playing politics with their state's investments. 

But it's not going to go great for them either. Because even as the Wall Street Journal's opinion page runs op-eds promoting the stupid idea that ignoring risks is smart investing by such wise and definitely-not-biased voices like Strive advisor Jed Rubenfeld, or Hudson Institute fellow William Barr, the real investing story is a little different. And you don't even have to trust the liberal media to find out- even the WSJ itself reports as much! 

Because off the opinion page and into the real world, in covering the GOP's bad business investment strategy for the WSJ, Amrith Ramkumar points out that Ramaswamy's energy investment fund "is nearly identical" to one from BlackRock, the big, supposedly "woke" investor Vivek is attacking. Not only is Ramaswamy a hypocrite for investing in the same way as the group he criticizes, but he's also stupid, because as a graph Ramkumar includes shows, clean energy stocks are outperforming fossil fuel firms. Whoops! Surely now the opinion page will reflect this reality, and stop misleading its audience, right? 

If you don't trust the WSJ for your financial coverage though, you can also find a similar rebuke at Bloomberg, where Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Matthew Winkler shows that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's crusade against ESG investing fails its own metric of making investment decisions based solely on profits. Why and how? 

Because the biggest ESG Exchange-Traded Fund has "increased its assets 4,700 times to $24 billion since its inception in 2016 and 80 times the past three years." Oh!

Why do investors love ESG? Well, per Winkler, "a big reason why ESG is attracting so much investment is because it’s crushing the traditional investment benchmarks," as "the total return of the Bloomberg ESG Index is more than six times greater than the largest ETF investing in traditional energy since 2014." 

Investors are putting lots of money into ESG funds, and they're getting even more profit back. 

That basic factual reality is why billionaire climate guy Michael Bloomberg wrote his own op-ed, headlined, "On climate change, Republicans need a crash course in capitalism." He then provides it, and if you can't get past the paywall, you can basically read it on FoxNews, where they excerpted it heavily and barely pushed back, because, well how could they? 

Bloomberg writes, in his best explain like I'm 5 tone, how understanding the ESG risk factors the anti-wokesters claim to oppose is basically "investing 101, and either Republican critics of ESG don’t understand it, or they are catering to the interests of fossil fuel companies. It may well be both."

That sass! 

Hey Mike, if you're bored of the billionaire thing and looking for a new gig being snarky about ESG disinfo, it's not too late to send us an application!

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