Scientists: Climate change supercharged Texas flooding

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TEXAS FLOODS

• “This is not a one-off anymore”: Climate scientists say the heavy downpours that led to fatal Texas floods were intensified by a warming atmosphere and could be a sign of more extreme weather to come. (Inside Climate News, ProPublica)

• A Texas county’s repeated requests for help updating its flood warning system were rejected by state officials — but lawmakers will likely consider better monitoring and warning systems at an upcoming special session. (Houston Chronicle, Grist, Houston Chronicle)

• The National Weather Service defends its forecasts and warnings in advance of the deadly Texas floods that led to more than 100 deaths. (Politico, Washington Post)

• Severe flooding in Texas prompts the Trump administration to reconsider the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the president previously suggested it should be phased out. (Politico)

• The rapid Texas flooding that killed at least 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic shows how climate change threatens summer camps and presses organizers to fortify their infrastructure. (Inside Climate News)

WIND

• A late shift in language in Trump’s budget bill to make the phaseout of clean energy tax credits more gradual ensures the legislation won’t affect credits for Dominion Energy’s offshore wind farm near Virginia, which is now 60% complete. (Virginian-Pilot)

• A Kentucky county board moves to obtain more information about Cordelio Power’s proposed wind farm after several residents express concern. (WFIE)

SOLAR

• Virginia farmers worried about land loss are skeptical of new state regulations that require new solar projects that produce less than 150 MW and disturb more than 10 acres to purchase conservation easements. (WHRO)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Tennessee residents who oppose the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to build a gas-fired power plant hope that country singer John Rich’s opposition might influence the Trump administration after the Secretary of Agriculture responded to him on social media. (WKRN)

• The Trump administration approves permits for a proposed coal mine in Tennessee using an expedited process for federal environmental reviews. (Reuters)

• A Memphis economic development group hosts a public meeting about xAI supercomputer facilities after a county health department approved a permit for 15 permanent natural gas turbines to be used as backup power. (WHBQ)

OVERSIGHT

• An Alabama judge rules that state regulators don’t need to allow public comment when deciding how much Alabama Power can charge customers for fuel costs. (AL.com)

• An Alabama lawyer announces his candidacy for the three-member Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. (AL.com)

CARBON CAPTURE

• A Louisiana parish board votes to suspend enforcement of an ordinance regulating carbon capture and storage projects after ExxonMobil files a lawsuit over it. (KALB)

• Texas oil billionaire Ben ​“Bud” Brigham partners with a pro-fossil fuels philosopher to push Republicans to slash tax credits for carbon capture as a wasteful distraction from the industry’s core mission of producing oil and gas. (Wall Street Journal)

GRID

• North Carolina regulators schedule a fall conference to address grid reliability concerns as Duke Energy increases its demand projections and after more than two dozen recent load loss events related to data centers and cryptocurrency mines in the Southeast. (Utility Dive)

• Dominion Energy returns to cutting dozens of trees along the 46-mile Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Virginia after previously pausing the project due to residents’ concerns. (WJLA)

EQUITY

• A new analysis finds a higher percentage of low- to moderate-income Gulf Coast households have to curtail ​“basic household needs” to pay their electric bills, as Republicans move to further dismantle programs to help them. (Houston Chronicle)

CLIMATE

• As Tropical Depression Chantal causes record-breaking flooding in North Carolina, Republican lawmakers try to muster enough votes to overturn the governor’s veto of a bill to exempt Duke Energy from an interim emissions reduction goal. (Carolina Public Press, Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY

• A columnist suggests extreme heat must be affecting the thinking of Virginia lawmakers who want to shift away from the state’s clean energy goals to allow the burning of fossil fuels to power data centers. (Virginia Mercury)