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Climate

Multiple Heat Records are Falling in Texas

On linger heat waves, Ford’s big decision, and carbon credits

Multiple Heat Records are Falling in Texas
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: The remnants of Hurricane Ernesto are headed toward Scotland • Unusually warm winter weather is raising wildfire risks in Australia • An August cold snap could bring snow to California’s Sierra Nevada this weekend.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Texas heat dome breaks multiple temperature records

Heat advisories remain in effect across most of the state of Texas. The National Weather service says “numerous new records” are being set as temperatures climb into the triple digits. Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera counted at least four new monthly heat records in various cities, and one all-time high of 113 degrees Fahrenheit in Abilene:

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The heat dome is expected to linger through the end of the week before things cool down slightly over the weekend. The heat will then move north, bringing some weather whiplash to the currently-cool Midwest and raising temperatures by up to 30 degrees by early next week.

2. Ford pumps the breaks on EV plans

Yesterday Ford announced it is canceling its much-anticipated three-row EV crossover and producing it only as a hybrid, and delaying the release of a new medium-sized electric pickup truck to 2027. The moves deal a substantial blow to the company’s future EV offerings and mean “the North American car market may not see the explosive growth of EV options — the kind of efflorescence already happening in Europe and China — until the end of this decade,” said Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer.

U.S. sales of electric vehicles actually reached a record high in the second quarter of 2024, hitting 330,463. That’s a 11.3% rise year-over-year, and a 23% jump compared to the first quarter. Ford’s quarterly EV sales were up 61% year-over-year. “The growth will, at times, be very slow, as all-time horizons in the automobile business are vast, but the long-term trajectory suggests that higher volumes of EVs will continue over time,” said Cox Automotive Industry Insights Director Stephanie Valdez Streaty. “As EV infrastructure and technology improve, and more models are launched, many shoppers sitting on the fence will eventually choose an EV.”

3. Climate activists protest Exxon Mobil at DNC event

Tensions were a little bit heightened at the Democratic National Convention yesterday after climate activists infiltrated an event hosted by Punchbowl News that featured conversations sponsored by fossil fuel giant Exxon Mobil. The activists chanted “Exxon lies, people die” before being removed. Climate groups including Friends of the Earth, Climate Hawks Vote, and Oil Change U.S. released a statement slamming the event and warning that Big Oil is trying to “shape the policies of the Democratic Party.”

4. Study: Antarctica at risk of contamination as ice melts

A new study published in the journal Global Change Biology warns that Antarctica’s ecosystems may be at risk of contamination from man-made pollution and non-native species that float down from places like Australia, South Africa, and South America. The problem is made worse by the shrinking sea ice, which acts as a barrier. “If the recent decline in Antarctic sea ice continues, then living things floating at the surface, or attached to floating objects, could have an easier time colonizing the continent, which may have big impacts on ecosystems,” said Dr. Hannah Dawson, who led the study as part of her PhD at UNSW Sydney.

5. Carbon removal registry Isometric delivers first credits

Carbon removal registry Isometric today announced its first verified delivery of CO2 removal credits to companies including JPMorganChase, Stripe, and Shopify, which were purchased through bio-oil sequestration firm Charm Industrial. Isometric aims to “raise the bar for quality in carbon markets” by using robust monitoring, reporting, and verification measures to certify the credits after the carbon has been removed, rather than before. The verification is paid for by buyers instead of suppliers to avoid conflicts of interest. Buyers pay Isometric a flat fee, “ensuring one credit is always equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide durably removed from the atmosphere.”

THE KICKER

Renewables now make up 30% of total U.S. power generating capacity, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

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Economy

AM Briefing: Tariff Turmoil

On stock selloffs, coal production, and shipping emissions

Trump’s Tariffs Are Here, and Financial Markets Are in Turmoil
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: States left flooded from recent severe storms are now facing freezing temperatures • Firefighters are battling blazes in Scotland due to unusually warm and dry weather • Hospitals in India are reporting a 25% rise in heat-related illnesses compared to last year. Yesterday the country’s northern state of Rajasthan reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit, about 13 degrees higher than seasonal norms.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Markets in turmoil as Trump’s new tariffs come into effect

President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs came into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, rattling the world’s markets and raising the risk of a global trade war. The levies, which include a 104% tariff on Chinese imports, triggered a mass sell-off in U.S. Treasury bonds, hiking yields as investors worry about a potential recession and flock to alternative safe-haven investments. The price of oil fell for the fifth day in a row to its lowest since 2021, with Brent futures at about $61 per barrel, well below the $65 level that oil producers need in order to turn a profit drilling new wells nationwide. As Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer explained recently, the tariffs are an outright catastrophe for the oil industry because they threaten a global downturn that would hurt oil demand at a time when oil cartel OPEC+ is increasing its output. Trump’s slate of tariffs will impact the cost of just about everything, from gasoline to e-bikes to LNG to cars. China imposed retaliatory tariffs, increasing them from 34% to 84% in response to the U.S. escalation. Meanwhile, the European Union will vote today on whether to impose its own retaliatory fees. European shares plummeted, as did Asian and Australian stocks.

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Podcast

How China’s Industrial Policy Really Works

Rob and Jesse get into the nitty gritty on China’s energy policy with Joanna Lewis and John Paul Helveston.

Xi Jinping.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

China’s industrial policy for clean energy has turned the country into a powerhouse of solar, wind, battery, and electric vehicle manufacturing.

But long before the country’s factories moved global markets — and invited Trump’s self-destructive tariffs — the country implemented energy and technology policy to level up its domestic industry. How did those policies work? Which tools worked best? And if the United States needs to rebuild in the wake of Trump’s tariffs, what should this country learn?

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Energy

A Net-Zero World Will Have Fewer Trade Wars

That’s according to new research published today analyzing flows of minerals and metals vs. fossil fuels.

A handshake and clean energy.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Among fossil fuel companies and clean energy developers, almost no one has been spared from the effects of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. But the good news is that in general, the transition to clean energy could create a world that is less exposed to energy price shocks and other energy-related trade risks than the world we have today.

That’s according to a timely study published in Nature Climate Change on Wednesday. The authors compared countries’ trade risks under a fossil fuel-based energy economy to a net-zero emissions economy, focusing on the electricity and transportation sectors. The question was whether relying on oil, gas, and coal for energy left countries more or less exposed than relying on the minerals and metals that go into clean energy technologies, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and uranium.

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