Climate Nexus, Top Stories

Climate Change Threatens Blackouts Nationwide: Grid operators are warning summer heatwaves will cause rolling blackouts across the country, the Wall Street Journal reports. Concerns are especially high in California where heat waves drive electricity demand, drought threatens to shut off hydroelectric power stations, and wildfires (and the threat thereof) force outages. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, increases the intensity, duration, and frequency of extreme heat, heatwaves, and droughts and thus essentially supercharges wildfires by turning fuel into veritable tinder. While relatively few customers lost power in Texas over the weekend, concerns over the state’s notoriously independent grid's (in)ability to cope with impending summer temperatures are sure to grow. (Nationwide: Wall Street Journal $; California: Sacramento Bee $, AP, New York Times $, Reuters, Bloomberg $; Hydro: S&P Global; Texas: Ft Worth Star-Telegram, Gizmodo, Washington Post $; Weekend outages: Fox7-Austin; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves, Western US megadrought, Wildfires)



Doulas Fill Post-Disaster Gaps In System Failing Parents: A New Orleans-area doula collective is preparing to help new parents care for their infants as climate change supercharges major storms, The 19th* News reports. The Birthmark Doula Collective has prepared emergency infant feeding kits for years, working to fill gaps emblematic of larger societal failings to support children and families after a fetus is carried to term. The kits, which contain formula, ice packs, and nursing covers, now also include soap and bottle brushes and come in a bucket to wash everything — poorly sanitized bottles can cause diarrhea and dehydration, "especially scary for a baby that’s born prematurely or who has a weak immune system.” Malaika Ludman, a doula and certified lactation consultant with BDC, said. The collective has also set up an emergency hotline staffed with doulas, lactation counselors, and Spanish language interpreters to help parents in the wake of disasters. In a crisis, details matter and ensuring shelters have breastfeeding spaces, sinks for handwashing, and private rooms for pumping are key. Low-income people breastfeed at lower rates — for a range of reasons including deficient postpartum care and support and the lack of paid family leave — and feeding babies with formula becomes even more complicated when a hurricane hits. "Thinking about it as a human rights issue is really critical,” Sarah DeYoung, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware and disaster researcher, said. “And in the United States, it’s a racial justice issue as well, because minority populations are more likely to be exposed to disasters.” (The 19th* News)



Town Powered By Solar Energy Offers Bright Spot For Puerto Rico During Blackout: In early April, in the middle of Puerto Rico's densely forested mountains, residents of Adjuntas cooled off in an air-conditioned community center while the rest of the disenfranchised colonial territory was without power. The town weathered the massive blackout by relying on solar power and battery backups. “When you have energy security, you’re taking the weight off the shoulders of the employees as well as the families that come to the business,” said Ángel Irizarry Feliciano, owner of Lucy’s Pizza, which served pies through the outage. “It was a relief we could continue providing a service to our people without interruptions or having to reduce our hours.” The town is a success story in a largely-sun-drenched island that gets just 2.5% of its electricity from solar power. Even as Puerto Rico continues to suffer from unreliable power as it recovers from Hurricane Maria, illegal development is destroying mangrove forests and increasing its vulnerability to future hurricanes. “This is one of the biggest environmental crimes I’ve seen,” said Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz during a public hearing in late April. “It’s outrageous. A crime is being committed right in front of everyone.” (Solar: New York Times $; Illegal development: AP, NBC; Climate Signals background: Hurricane Maria)









FOSSIL FUELED WAR: EU rewrites oil ban to give Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic more time (Politico Pro $), G-7 leaders commit to banning imports of oil from Russia (Bloomberg $), Companies count the cost of ditching Russia (Reuters, Factbox), Germany should cut gas use in power generation to preserve supplies -industry (Reuters), Russia's Victory Day could be a crucial moment for oil (OilPrice), Thought sanctions on Russian oil were hard? Try gas. (Politico Pro $), European gas drops as Russia tries to calm clients over payments (Bloomberg $), Gazprom tries to reassure Europe clients they can still buy gas (Bloomberg $)



HAVANA GAS EXPLOSION: At least 30 dead as explosion rocks luxury hotel in Havana (Washington Post $, CNN, AP, The Guardian, BBC, New York Times $, ABC), Havana hotel death toll at 31 as dogs search for survivors (NBC Miami)



CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Climate summit and Ukraine focus talks between El-Sisi and Macron (Prensa Latina)



CLIMATE LITIGATION: Filipino inquiry finds big polluters ‘morally and legally liable’ for climate damage (The Guardian)



DENIAL: ​Climate denial is dead on Facebook. What replaced it is more insidious. ​(Protocol)



WHY? ARE PEOPLE FEELING UNEASY?: How climate scientists keep hope alive as damage worsens (AP), On climate ‘doomism’: Heart & mind reasons to resist it (Yale Climate Connections)



ALL ABOARD!: People vs. cargo: How a battle over Amtrak’s Gulf Coast line could shape the future of passenger rail (Grist)



EPA: Trump broke the EPA. Biden is struggling to fix it. (Buzzfeed)



DOE: Biden administration proposes new commercial water heater efficiency rules (The Hill), Energy Secretary explains why feds are spending $2.5 billion on carbon capture (CNBC), Investigation into solar tariffs could threaten US 2035 clean energy goal, says DOE’s Granholm (Utility Dive), On the record with DOE's cleantech finance boss (Axios, Jigar Shah interview)



DOJ & CEQ: A new office of environmental justice is announced (Grist), Biden’s new EJ czar got her start by working 14-hour shifts (E&E News), Biden administration announces plan to crack down on pollution in poor, minority areas (The Root), New Department of Justice office will target climate disparities (Gizmodo, Grist, E&E News, The Root, Gizmodo)



EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Tai: US and Canada exploring 'all options' over Mexican energy policy (Politico Pro $), US commerce head aims to move ‘swiftly’ on solar trade probe (Bloomberg $)



WHITE HOUSE: Biden’s trade team: RIP globalization (Politico), Rich nations must stick to climate promises, says US envoy Kerry (Reuters), White House aims to tackle environmental injustices, but challenges loom (Washington Post $), White House alarmed that commerce probe is ‘smothering’ solar industry (Washington Post $), Biden nutrition conference may fire up climate debate on meat (E&E News)



THE HILL: Bipartisan climate talks pick up steam (The Hill), Democrats fear Manchin’s bipartisan energy push is a stalling tactic (The Hill), Manchin says he'd pass parts of Biden's agenda. But Democrats may have to write the bill for him. (NBC)



TRIBES: ‘Please listen to us’: Diné allottees try to reclaim Chaco Canyon (Navajo Times), Muscogee Nation turns to cows to build for the future (Yes Magazine)



CITIES AND STATES: New Mexico’s Clean Car Rule will go into effect July 1 (New Mexico Political Report, AP), Moms push Massachusetts utilities to transition to renewable heat sources (Yale Climate Connections), Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. DeWine over redacted nuclear records (The Hill) CALIFORNIA: A bid to stop freeway expansions in California hits a roadblock: Organized labor (LA Times $) VERY LEGAL AND VERY COOL: Louisiana legislator pushes bills benefiting the oil and gas industry — and her husband (The Guardian)



IMPACTS: 5,000 hospitalized in Iraq as another severe dust storm strikes (Democracy Now), As conflict and climate change bite, are high food prices here to stay? (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Climate change is leaving its mark on Indigenous-owned food businesses (Prism Reports), Coral reefs provide stunning images of a world under assault (AP)



HEAT: 'Bad boys' are back: India doubles down on coal as heatwave worsens power crisis (Reuters), An unprecedented heat wave in India and Pakistan is putting the lives of more than a billion people at risk (Inside Climate News), The world has no choice but to care about India’s heat wave (The Atlantic), India tries to adapt to extreme heat but is paying a heavy price (Washington Post $)



DROUGHT: The two largest reservoirs in California are already at 'critically low levels' and the dry season is just starting (CNN) LAKE POWELL: Climate change is drying up biggest reservoir in US (CNN, Reuters), What Israel, Las Vegas and other places can teach SoCal about using a lot less water (LA Times $)



FLOODING: Life in a Minnesota ‘fishbowl’: Water everywhere, except inside town (New York Times $)



WILDFIRES: ‘Stripped of everything,’ survivors of Colorado’s most destructive fire face slow recoveries and a growing climate threat (Inside Climate News), Fire suppression fueled California’s destructive 2020 wildfires (Bloomberg $), As fires scorch new Mexico, the west braces for another hellish summer (Grist) NEW MEXICO: Villages told to evacuate as New Mexico wildfire pushes north (Reuters), ‘Potentially historic’ wildfire event threatens new Mexico, southwest (Washington Post $, Reuters, Axios, AP, Washington Post $), Fire-ravaged New Mexico villages cling to faith, ‘querencia’ (AP)