Doctors: Fossil fuel addiction is killing us

FOSSIL FUELS: One of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals declares that human health is “at the mercy of fossil fuels,” and likens the continued use of oil, gas and coal to an addiction. (Axios)

CLIMATE:
• A United Nations report finds most countries are falling short on their climate commitments, with the U.S. among those that didn’t step up its goals this year. (New York Times)
• Nearly all the world’s children will face frequent heat waves by 2050, a new report from UNICEF estimates. (Washington Post)

CLEAN ENERGY: Renewables made up a bigger piece of new global energy deployment last year than the year before, though fossil fuels still account for the majority of electricity use. (New York Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The Inflation Reduction Act allocated the U.S. Postal Service $3 billion to buy electric vehicles and build EV infrastructure, but the agency hasn’t yet detailed how it’ll use the money. (E&E News)
• California officials say sales of hydrogen fuel cell cars have plummeted, with only 153 sold in the third quarter of this year. (Inside EVs)

BUILDINGS:
• LEED-certified office buildings brought in 4% higher rents over the last three years compared to non-certified buildings, even when controlling for buildings’ location, age and renovations. (Bisnow)
• Maine will soon become the latest state to offer Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy loans, which let property owners pay for solar, energy efficiency and other projects through a line on their property tax bills. (Energy News Network)

GRID: Federal regulators find Texas’ grid is nearly as vulnerable to collapse as it was last year when a winter storm caused widespread outages; state officials say the report is inaccurate and that they’ve made improvements. (Austin American-Statesman)

SOLAR:
• Houston is building the country’s largest landfill-to-solar facility near a  majority-Black neighborhood, providing a model that may be replicated elsewhere. (Vox)
• A northern Minnesota tribal college’s solar certification program is training a broad spectrum of students for solar installation jobs as the industry experiences continued growth. (Sahan Journal)

POLITICS:
• Oil and gas companies are among the biggest donors to Republican congressional campaigns this election cycle. (E&E News)
• States’ midterm elections for gubernatorial, legislative, and regulatory posts will have huge clean energy implications. (Reuters)

PIPELINES:
• Environmental groups challenge West Virginia regulators’ approval of a permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross streams and wetlands after they’d already issued nearly 140 citations against it. (Roanoke Times)
• Once in opposition over the development of oil pipelines, South Dakota farmers and tribes now stand together against proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects. (NBC News)

NUCLEAR: Backers of small modular reactors pitch them as a rescue for coal towns, but a utility executive warns that while converting coal plants to nuclear is technically feasible, “significant challenges” remain. (S&P Global)

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