At COP28, wealthy nations commit $300M for climate loss fund

CLIMATE: On the first day of the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference, countries agree to put $300 million into a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable countries recover from and prepare for climate disasters, with the U.S. contributing $24.5 million. (Guardian)

ALSO:

• This year is ​“virtually certain” to be the hottest on record, the World Meteorological Organization confirms at COP28. (New York Times)
• The U.S. will insist on a global ​“transition away from fossil fuel emissions” at COP28, climate envoy John Kerry says, instead of calling for the end of fossil fuels altogether. (Inside Climate News)
• Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the climate summit, while President Biden isn’t expected to. (E&E News)

EMISSIONS: While countries have started to decarbonize power plants and cars, emissions from heavy industry remain on track to become the world’s largest source of planet-warming pollution, analysts predict. (New York Times)

TRANSITION: Economically disadvantaged communities and those formerly reliant on fossil fuels are benefiting most from the Inflation Reduction Act, a new analysis finds. (The Hill)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• After a successful strike against the Big Three automakers, the United Auto Workers announces plans to organize workers at 13 non-union companies building U.S. factories. (CNN)
• An annual Consumer Reports survey finds electric vehicles owners are more likely to report reliability problems than owners of gas-powered cars. (The Hill)
• Officials in Detroit unveil a newly paved, quarter-mile section of road that will wirelessly charge electric vehicles as they drive over it, a first-of-its-kind public demonstration project. (Detroit Free Press)
• Tesla begins deliveries of its Cybertruck, the long-awaited, much-discussed brutalist hunk of an electric vehicle. (E&E News)

COURTS:

• A group of New York City employees and a conservative nonprofit sue the city for deciding to divest of fossil fuel investments in the public pension, a court case that may be the first to test anti-ESG sentiments. (E&E News)
• Fossil fuel interests look to use the same legal playbook that toppled a gas hookup ban in Berkeley, California, to stymie similar legislation in New York. (City Limits)
• Young Montana advocates who won a landmark climate change case against the state earlier this year call on the courts to invalidate an air quality permit for a controversial natural gas plant near the Yellowstone River. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:

• A solar company says it’ll soon build arrays out of U.S.-produced materials, which could be the first projects to qualify for federal tax credits with domestic production requirements. (Bloomberg)
• Amazon is building a solar farm on a former coal mine in Maryland, its first on a brownfield site. (Utility Dive)

HYDROPOWER: Leaked documents indicate the Biden administration is willing to build new clean energy projects to replace hydropower lost if four Northwest dams are breached to help salmon recovery. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY: The federal bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are delivering crucial investments in clean energy infrastructure to support electric vehicles, sustainability nonprofit leaders write. (Energy News Network)