Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

Paris Is Waging War on SUVs

On new parking fees, LNG, and atmospheric rivers

Paris Is Waging War on SUVs
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Wildfires have killed at least 110 people in Chile • Large parts of Australia are bracing for another sweltering heat wave • Severe snow is disrupting travel in China ahead of this weekend's Lunar New Year holiday.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Atmospheric river drenches California

A powerful atmospheric river is slamming Southern California, bringing record-breaking rainfall, high winds, severe flooding, and mudslides. Flash flood warnings were issued for Los Angeles and surrounding counties, where rivers swelled and streets were submerged. Officials called the event "one of the most dramatic weather days in recent memory." More than 550,000 customers were without power as of Monday morning. Here are some numbers that may help put this historic storm in context

  • More than 11 million people in the state were at risk of “life-threatening flooding.”
  • States of emergency were issued in eight counties, covering some 20 million people.
  • The National Weather Service issued a hurricane force wind warning in San Francisco for the first time in decades.
  • Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for parts of Santa Barbara, San José, Los Angeles, and Ventura County
  • Long Beach could get a year’s worth of rain just this week
  • Parts of Los Angeles are forecast to receive half their total annual precipitation by Tuesday. Pasadena was expecting 10 inches of rain.

Scientists say climate change is making atmospheric rivers more severe. The current El Nino weather pattern is also “supercharging” the systems.

Flooded streets in Santa BarbaraImage: Mario Tama/Getty Images

2. Paris votes to make SUV drivers pay more for parking

Parisians voted in favor of tripling parking fees for “bulky, polluting” SUVs to 18 euros ($19) per hour on Sunday. The fees won't apply to city residents or taxis but instead target out-of-towners. The new rule, which could come into place in September, is part of an ongoing effort to make the city’s streets friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists. It’s also an attempt to improve air quality, but hybrid and electric vehicles aren’t exempt: Combustion-engine and hybrid SUVs weighing more than 1.6 tons will be subject to the fee, and so will EVs over 2 tons. Last year, the city voted to get rid of e-scooters. “Parisians have made a clear choice … other cities will follow,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. While 54.5% of voters approved the measure, turnout was very low, at just 5.7%.

3. Border security bill includes some funding for nuclear power

Senators on Sunday unveiled a long-awaited immigration bill aimed at reducing illegal border crossings. The measure also sends additional aid money to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. One eagle-eyed energy expert also spotted some energy funding in the text:

X/XanFishman

4. There may be ‘no right answer’ to LNG climate question

Just how bad is liquified natural gas (LNG) for the climate? That's the question of the hour. President Biden recently paused new LNG export terminals until the Energy Department can provide some insight. But in the meantime, Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin did his own investigation into the quandary and found that the answer is complicated and dependent on a number of ever-evolving factors, including the global energy mix and emissions levels. “The climate impact of U.S. LNG depends on what it replaces in countries — whether those alternatives have more or less emissions than U.S. LNG,” Arvind Ravikumar, a leading scholar on natural gas and energy policy, told Zeitlin. Indeed, in some cases, natural gas can replace coal and help reduce emissions. “There’s no right answer,” Ravikumar said. “It depends on who buys, what time frame, which country, and how are they using LNG.”

In a world that comes in under 1.5 degrees of warming, the emissions reductions from coal-to-gas switching peter out after 2035, Zeitlin said. If we don’t hit our Paris Agreement targets, or if developing countries prioritize cheap, available energy, then LNG export capacity turns from a potential “stranded asset” into an insurance policy. The DoE certainly has its work cut out.

5. What if a heat wave strikes the Paris Olympics?

The organizers behind the 2024 Paris Olympics are accounting for the possibility of a heat wave coinciding with the event, according to a report from AFP. "Heat waves and extreme weather events are factors that we take into account and that we are preparing for as much as possible, in order to take necessary action," a spokesperson said. Options include adjusting the times for some sporting events to avoid the hottest hours of the day. The athletes’ village is not air-conditioned, but organizers will offer portable A/C units. A recent study published in the journal Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science warned that there’s a decent chance Paris could experience a two-week summer heatwave worse than the one that killed 15,000 people in 2003. The city has seen blistering temperatures in recent years, and set a record high of 108.7 degrees Fahrenheit in 2019.

THE KICKER

Faced with lackluster customer demand, some plant-based meat companies are considering adding a surprising ingredient to their products: animal fat.

Yellow

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Climate

AM Briefing: California’s Insurance Hike

On the fallout from the LA fires, Trump’s tariffs, and Tesla’s sales slump

California’s Insurance Crisis Is Heating Up
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: A record-breaking 4 feet of snow fell on the Japanese island of Hokkaido • Nearly 6.5 feet of rain has inundated northern Queensland in Australia since Saturday • Cold Arctic air will collide with warm air over central states today, creating dangerous thunderstorm conditions.

THE TOP FIVE

1. China hits back at Trump tariffs

President Trump yesterday agreed to a month-long pause on across-the-board 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but went ahead with an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports. China retaliated with new levies on U.S. products including fuel – 15% for coal and liquefied natural gas, and 10% for crude oil – starting February 10. “Chinese firms are unlikely to sign new long-term contracts with proposed U.S. projects as long as trade tensions remain high,” notedBloomberg. “This is bad news for those American exporters that need to lock in buyers before securing necessary financing to begin construction.” Trump recently ended the Biden administration’s pause on LNG export permits. A December report from the Department of Energy found that China was likely to be the largest importer of U.S. LNG through 2050, and many entities in China had already signed contracts with U.S. export projects. Trump is expected to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Politics

Trump’s Little Coal Reprieve

Artificial intelligence may extend coal’s useful life, but there’s no saving it.

Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Appearing by video connection to the global plutocrats assembled recently at Davos, Donald Trump interrupted a rambling answer to a question about liquefied natural gas to proclaim that he had come up with a solution to the energy demand of artificial intelligence (“I think it was largely my idea, because nobody thought this was possible”), which is to build power plants near data centers to power them. And a key part of the equation should be coal. “Nothing can destroy coal — not the weather, not a bomb — nothing,” he said. “But coal is very strong as a backup. It’s a great backup to have that facility, and it wouldn’t cost much more — more money. And we have more coal than anybody.”

There is some truth there — the United States does in fact have the largest coal reserves in the world — and AI may be offering something of a lifeline to the declining industry. But with Trump now talking about coal as a “backup,” it’s a reminder that he brings up the subject much less often than he used to. Even if coal will not be phased out as an electricity source quite as quickly as many had hoped or anticipated, Trump’s first-term promise to coal country will remain a broken one.

Keep reading...Show less
Politics

Trump’s Other Funding Freeze Attacks Environmental Justice

Companies, states, cities, and other entities with Energy Department contracts that had community benefit plans embedded in them have been ordered to stop all work.

Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Amidst the chaos surrounding President Trump’s pause on infrastructure and climate spending, another federal funding freeze is going very much under the radar, undermining energy and resilience projects across the U.S. and its territories.

Days after Trump took office, acting Energy Secretary Ingrid Kolb reportedly told DOE in a memo to suspend any work “requiring, using, or enforcing Community Benefit Plans, and requiring, using, or enforcing Justice40 requirements, conditions, or principles” in any loan or loan guarantee, any grant, any cost-sharing agreement or any “contracts, contract awards, or any other source of financial assistance.” The memo stipulated this would apply to “existing” awards, grants, contracts and other financial assistance, according to E&E News’ Hannah Northey, who first reported the document’s existence.

Keep reading...Show less
Green