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Climate

Phoenix Just Hit Another Grim Heat Record

On life at 100 degrees, the data center boom, and cow emissions

Phoenix Just Hit Another Grim Heat Record
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Ruins of the sunken village of Kallio have emerged from a dried up lake in drought-stricken Greece • AccuWeather reduced its 2024 forecast for the number of named Atlantic storms • It will be hot, humid, and rainy in Beijing today where U.S. climate envoy John Podesta will meet for climate talks with his Chinese counterpart.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Harris campaign reportedly hires a ‘climate engagement director’

Climate activists are pushing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to be more vocal about climate change on the campaign trail. E&E News reported that Michael Greenberg, founder of Climate Defiance, had a virtual meeting yesterday with a senior Harris advisor. “We want her to oppose fossil-fuel subsidies,” Greenberg told E&E. “We need to rapidly phase out fossil-fuel infrastructure, fossil-fuel use, fossil-fuel exports.” Harris has so far been relatively quiet about the climate crisis, but that might change with the rumored hiring of Camila Thorndike as campaign “climate engagement director.” Thorndike comes from Rewiring America where she was senior director of public engagement, and she also worked on the Inflation Reduction Act as a legislative assistant to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

2. Phoenix hits 100 degrees for 100 days straight

Phoenix, Arizona, recorded its 100th straight day of temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. The hot streak started in late May and is expected to go on for another two weeks. Temperatures this week are forecast to hit 113 by Thursday. At least 150 heat deaths have been recorded this year in the county that encompasses Phoenix, and 440 additional deaths are under investigation, The Washington Postreported. States up and down the West Coast are facing an intense heat wave, with some 26 million under heat warnings. In Oregon, where temperatures usually start to dip this time of year, temperature records could shatter as the mercury reaches 105 degrees in Portland.

Weather.gov

3. Competition from data centers causes trouble for Wyoming DAC project

In case you missed it: Project Bison, a large direct air capture facility proposed for Wyoming, has been put on pause because the company behind it can’t compete with data centers for renewable energy to power its operations. “We’ve seen growing competition for clean power amongst industries that are emerging much faster than anybody would have ever predicted,” CarbonCapture Inc.’s CEO Adrian Corless said in a statement posted on the company’s website. As a result, CarbonCapture is looking for a new home for Project Bison. The company was aiming to reach 5 million metric tons of carbon removal annually by 2030. Last year it was awarded $12.5 million from the Department of Energy to develop the Wyoming Regional DAC Hub. It is looking into whether the DOE will allow it to transfer its application to a new state.

Relatedly, Morgan Stanley released research yesterday that found the data center boom is expected to produce 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions through 2030. Altogether, the pollution produced to power data centers will amount to about 40% of annual U.S. emissions. “This creates a large market for decarbonization solutions,” the report said.

4. Report: Drought in Sicily and Sardinia fueled by climate change

New analysis from the World Weather Attribution found human-caused climate change made the devastating droughts taking place across Sicily and Sardinia twice as likely. Both of the Italian islands are under a state of emergency after a year of low rainfall and persistent heat triggered some of the worst droughts on record. Due to water shortages, the region’s farmers have been forced to sell or slaughter their livestock, and harvests of wheat and olive crops are expected to fall by half. While the region is used to hot and dry conditions, the WWA said this drought is worsened by evapotranspiration, or the evaporation of water from soil and plants. “Sardinia and Sicily are becoming increasingly arid with climate change,” said Mariam Zachariah, a climate and environment researcher at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute. “Searing, long lasting heat is hitting the islands more frequently, evaporating water from soils, plants, and reservoirs.” WWA has linked other recent extreme weather events to climate change, including Typhoon Gaemi, Mexico’s May-June heat wave, and Brazil’s historic floods.

5. Study finds U.S. beef industry could cut emissions by 30% with mitigation practices

New research published in the journal Nature Food investigates how America’s beef producers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The study produced some interesting insights. For example:

  • The U.S. beef industry accounts for about 3.3% of the nation’s total emissions.
  • 64% of emissions from the sector are produced during the grazing stage.
  • About 30% of the industry’s emissions could be mitigated with the implementation of new practices such as adding trees to grazed lands, managing when and where animals graze to improve plant health, cover cropping, and using methane-reducing feed additives.

THE KICKER

The U.S. now has 192,611 public DC Fast and Level 2 EV charging ports, up from about 95,000 in 2021.

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Climate

AM Briefing: A Win for Nature

On COP16, NOAA firings, and the Apple Watch

A Biodiversity Summit Ended with a Sliver of Good News for Nature
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Thousands are without power and drinking water in the French Indian Ocean territory of Réunion after Tropical Cyclone Garance made landfall with the strength of a Category 2 hurricane • A severe weather outbreak could bring tornadoes to southern states early next week • It’s 44 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Washington, D.C., where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Trump today to sign a minerals deal.

THE TOP FIVE

1. COP16 ends on a high note for nature conservancy

The 16th United Nations Biodiversity Conference, known as COP16, ended this week with countries agreeing on a crucial roadmap for directing $200 billion a year by 2030 toward protecting nature and halting global biodiversity loss. Developed nations are urged to double down on their goal to mobilize $20 billion annually for conservation in developing countries this year, rising to $30 billion by 2030. The plan also calls for further study on the relationships between nature conservation and debt sustainability. “The compromise proved countries could still bridge their differences and work together for the sake of preserving the planet, despite a fracturing world order and the dramatic retreat of the United States from international green diplomacy and foreign aid under President Donald Trump,” wrote Louise Guillot at Politico. The decision was met with applause and tears from delegates. One EU delegate said they were relieved “about the positive signal that this sends to other ongoing negotiations on climate change and plastics that we have.”

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Spotlight

New York’s Battery Backlash Catches Fire

Did a battery plant disaster in California spark a PR crisis on the East Coast?

battery
Heatmap Illustration

Battery fire fears are fomenting a storage backlash in New York City – and it risks turning into fresh PR hell for the industry.

Aggrieved neighbors, anti-BESS activists, and Republican politicians are galvanizing more opposition to battery storage in pockets of the five boroughs where development is actually happening, capturing rapt attention from other residents as well as members of the media. In Staten Island, a petition against a NineDot Energy battery project has received more than 1,300 signatures in a little over two months. Two weeks ago, advocates – backed by representatives of local politicians including Rep. Nicole Mallitokis – swarmed a public meeting on the project, getting a local community board to vote unanimously against the project.

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Hotspots

Bad News for Agrivoltaics in Ohio

And more of the week’s top conflicts around renewable energy.

Map of renewable energy conflicts.
Heatmap Illustration

1. Queen Anne’s County, Maryland – They really don’t want you to sign a solar lease out in the rural parts of this otherwise very pro-renewables state.

  • County officials this week issued a public notice encouraging all residents to consider the economic impacts of taking farmland out of use to build solar farms.
  • “The Queen Anne’s County Commissioners are concerned that large-scale conversion of farmland to solar energy facilities may impact the long-term viability of agriculture in the county and surrounding region,” read the notice, which told anyone approached by a solar company about their land to immediately consult an attorney and think about these “key considerations.”
  • “As more farmland is transitioned to solar use, the demand for these agricultural support services diminishes. If enough land is taken out of production, it could create serious challenges for those who wish to continue farming.”
  • It’s not immediately clear whether this was related to a specific project or an overall rise in renewables development that’s happening in the county. But there’s a clear trend going on. Officials said in an accompanying press release that officials in neighboring Caroline County sent a similar notice to property owners. And it seems Worcester County did something similar last month.

2. Logan County, Ohio – Staff for the Ohio Power Siting Board have recommended it reject Open Road Renewables’ Grange Solar agrivoltaics project.

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