Climate Point: FBI probes bailout of Ohio nuclear, coal plants; will Nevada be bombed again?

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and environment news from around the Golden State and the country. In Palm Springs, Calif., I’m Mark Olalde.

Let's jump right in with an FBI investigation into alleged corruption tied to nuclear and coal subsidies in Ohio. Who said energy policy isn't exciting? Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and several others were arrested this week and "charged in a racketeering conspiracy after allegedly taking $60 million from FirstEnergy," a major utility company, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The purported scheme was centered on HB 6, a highly controversial bailout of nuclear and coal power plants that passed under mysterious circumstances last year with energy experts calling it a boondoggle.

Leah Stokes, an assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara, dug into the juicy details in this helpful explainer in Vox. "Spending a few million to get more than a billion dollars? Not a bad return on investment," she wrote.

Here's some other important reporting...

MUST-READ STORIES

Bombing Nevada, again? The Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, the nation's largest refuge outside Alaska, has been caught in a political back-and-forth, as the Air Force wants to turn a huge swathe of it into a bombing range. The House of Representatives, however, recently passed an amendment to keep it away from the military, at least for now. The St. George Spectrum & Daily News has the story.

It's getting hot in here. If "We Essentially Cook Ourselves" isn't a headline that grabs your attention, then I don't know what is. A new report from the United Nations shows that switching the world over to energy-efficient air conditioning — technology that we already have — would eliminate 460 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the next four decades. "For context, that’s roughly eight times the amount of greenhouse gases the entire world emitted in 2018," Gizmodo reported on the findings.

Water wars. There are few things more politically fraught in the West than access to and control over Colorado River water. Southern California's Imperial Irrigation District is the single largest water user on the river, so it often finds itself at the center of legal tussles. A years-long court battle has thrown the water district's place in the power structure into question, as a judge in 2017 ruled that it might not have ultimate say over water in its region. But, a recent ruling may finally have put the matter to bed. I've got the details for you in The Desert Sun.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

Showing coal the door. President Donald Trump has gone just about as far as he can to try to save the U.S. coal industry, which has seen its production plummet for more than a decade. But his efforts have made little difference as the industry continues to slide, and now Democratic attorneys general, Native American tribes and environmental groups are targeting some of Trump's regulatory rollbacks. The AP reports that a coalition filed new litigation against the rollbacks this week, with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra leading the charge.

Politicking in PA. After Pennsylvania's shift from blue to red in the 2016 presidential election, the labor stronghold has emerged as a key swing state in 2020. While Trump's pro-industry, climate change denying messaging is clear, former Vice President Joe Biden is walking a tightrope in trying to please both environmentalists as well as fossil fuel workers. Zack Colman of Politico has the story as Biden waffles, especially on the question of fracking.

Investigating paper water. Did the Army fabricate a story of water conservation in order to get approval for its continued use of the San Pedro River? That's the question Arizona Republic reporter Ian James set out to answer when the Center for Biological Diversity approached him with internal documents alluding to a potential scheme. Litigation is ongoing and the Army won't talk, but documents paint a fascinating picture about how far water users will go to control the vital commodity in the arid Southwest.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Crossing borders. A startling new project from ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine predicts that "the greatest wave of global migration the world has seen" is imminent. This impending, mass movement of humanity is driven in large part by hunger, as increasingly extreme droughts, floods and temperatures make agriculture more difficult and send people fleeing from their land. Clear a few minutes of your time and sit down with this must-read that puts in perspective just how dire climate change really is, especially for those with limited resources and options.

Making money off bankruptcy. Even as the coronavirus pandemic and associated business closures have helped push a number of companies over the brink and into bankruptcy, many of these businesses handed out massive bonuses to their executives. This practice of shifting limited assets to the already best-paid employees, although problematic, isn't illegal and has been used across industries. The oil and gas industry, which has been deeply exposed by the pandemic, is quick to use this tactic, according to a new Reuters investigation.

When environmental justice fails. It's been 12 years since Connecticut passed an environmental justice law aimed at leveling the playing field in terms of pollution in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. But, InsideClimate News reports that little has changed in the interim, and several state politicians are now pushing for a new law that would go further in forcing companies looking to develop to account for air and water pollution.

AND ANOTHER THING

Reckoning with the past. Overt racism in the birth of the American conservation movement and an ongoing lack of diversity have sat in plain sight for some time, but the death of George Floyd and the resulting protests have finally forced the movement to take a long look in the mirror. The Washington Post reports that the Sierra Club's executive director on Wednesday owned up to the fact that the organization's founder "was not immune to the racism peddled by many in the early conservation movement."

Scientists agree that to maintain a livable planet, we need to reduce the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration back to 350 ppm. We’re above that and rising dangerously. Here are the latest numbers:

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter at @MarkOlalde. You can also reach me at molalde@gannett.com. You can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here. And, if you’d like to receive a daily round-up of California news (also for free!), you can sign up for USA Today’s In California newsletter here. Mask up. Cheers.