California’s “Park Fire” has burned 360,000 acres of land, becoming the largest active blaze in the state, the Independent reports. According to the outlet, the fire began last Wednesday and is still only 12% contained. The paper adds that a man accused of starting the fire by pushing a burning car into a gully has been arrested on suspicion of intentional arson. The Daily Mail reports that nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, which has forced some 4,200 people to evacuate their homes. Forbes reports that the fire is now the state’s sixth-largest wildfire on record and the second biggest in the US this year. The Times says: “At least 100 structures have been destroyed or damaged and 4,000 more remain under threat, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.” It adds that evacuation orders have been issued to more than 8,000 people, but some are refusing to leave their homes. NBC News, NPR and Le Monde also report on the fire. 

Elsewhere, BBC News reports that Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park in Tennessee has been hit by flash flooding after a “strong thunderstorm” hit the state. It says: “Video from inside the park shows fast-flowing water cascading past rides and flooding souvenir shops. In the car park, people waded through waist-high water to get to cars that were partially submerged.” The Associated Press says that nearly five inches (10cm) of rain fell in the area in about an hour, according to a Dollywood spokesperson. CNN adds that “a flash flood warning had been issued at 5:39 pm for central Sevier County in east Tennessee”. The New York Times and the Independent also cover the story. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that “damaging earthquakes that rocked West Texas in recent days were likely caused by oil and gas activity in an area that has weathered tremors for decades, according to the US Geological Survey”. Elsewhere, the Washington Post reports that six million residents in DC “are being asked to be careful with their water use after the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments issued a drought watch on Monday”. In other extreme weather news, the Associated Press reports that “authorities on Monday ordered multiple evacuations due to a wildfire on the island of Evia in southern Greece, with conditions worsening after nightfall when firefighting planes and helicopters were unable to operate”. And the Independent reports that “North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has surveyed flood-hit areas on the country’s border with China in a luxury car, as he accused officials of negligence for allowing heavy rains to plunge the isolated nation into a ‘grave crisis’.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced yesterday that around 10 million pensioners will stop receiving winter fuel payments, BBC News reports. The outlet says: “From this autumn, those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payments, worth between £100 and £300.” It adds that the measure forms part of Reeves’ plans to fill what she called a “£22bn hole in the public finances” left to Labour by the Conservative government. The Guardian has published warnings from campaigners, who say that up to two million pensions could struggle to pay their heating bills without the extra help. It continues: “Potentially millions of affluent pensioners will lose winter fuel payments of between £100 and £300 for each person, designed to help people aged 67 or over pay heating bills in the coldest months of the years. In the winter of 2022-23, some 11.4 million people received them, alongside extra one off cost of living payments of up to £300.” Reuters reports that the cuts to winter fuel payments could save the government £1.5bn. Sky News outlines some of Reeves’ other announcements, including a decision to review or scrap plans to restore old railway lines and build 40 new hospitals. The i newspaper and Independent also cover the news. In a piece previewing Reeves’ speech, BusinessGreen says that it could “fuel concerns [that] Labour’s green plans could be undermined by the attempt to tackle the budget black hole, with a number of rail projects expected to be shelved and fears that key departments could face further spending cuts”. The Daily Telegraph reports on Reeves’ speech, saying that “Labour’s bonfire of big projects risks dooming Britain to another lost decade”. BBC News reports that the North Ireland Assembly “will have to decide whether to follow the UK government’s decision to restrict winter fuel payments”.  BusinessMatters reports that Reeves has also “followed through on Labour’s election pledge to impose harsher taxes on oil companies by increasing the energy profits levy”. It quotes Russell Borthwick, chief executive of the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, saying: “The new government is pushing the North Sea dangerously close to ‘game over’ territory, jeopardising our energy transition.” The outlet continues: “[Reeves] also abolished an ‘unjustifiably generous’ allowance that permitted companies to deduct a portion of their investments in new oil and gas fields from their tax obligations…A separate allowance for investment in green energy projects will continue to be deductible from the tax. The chancellor’s decision was met with fierce criticism from oil and gas companies, who branded it ‘reckless, wrong, and economically ruinous for the North Sea.’” The Daily Telegraph also quotes Borthwick’s “game over” comments in its headline, adding: “Reeves said the levy, originally imposed by the Conservatives, will now run for two further years, expiring at the end of March 2030, while the headline rate will rise from 75% to 78%.”

Elsewhere, the Guardian reports that energy regulator Ofgem wants to encourage the flexible use of cheap, off-peak electricity. The paper says: “The energy regulator for Great Britain has put forward proposals to encourage flexible electricity use in the home by creating a single register in which flexibility service providers (FSPs) can access more markets and better rates for owners of energy assets such as EV chargers and battery storage systems. The move is part of a drive to shift consumers and businesses to more flexible energy use as demand increases and the grid becomes more reliant on intermittent low-carbon energy sources such as wind turbines.” And the Daily Telegraph reports that “the government and others are encouraging households to ditch their gas boilers in favour of electrified alternatives such as heat pumps”, but adds that “the question of who will pay and how is coming fast down the track towards Ed Miliband, the energy secretary”. The paper continues: “The government’s own plan intends 300,000 households per year to ditch their gas boilers for heat pumps by 2028. There is a risk that too few people will be connected to the gas network by the 2040s to ensure investors get all their money back.”

In other UK news, BBC News reports that eight people have been arrested in the UK after Just Stop Oil protesters targeted Gatwick Airport’s departure gates. It says that seven members of Just Stop Oil entered Gatwick’s south terminal around 8am on Monday and “used suitcases with lock-on devices to block the departure gates”. The Independent reports that according to the group, the demonstration “is a part of the international campaign Oil Kills”, adding that 21 groups across 12 countries have demonstrated at 17 airports so far. Sky News and Le Monde also cover the news. The Times reports that “activists will hold protests at more than 40 National Trust sites this week in an effort to stop the charity from banking with Barclays, over its links to the fossil fuel industry”. It adds that a former chair of the National Trust has described the plans as “virtue signalling”. And BBC News reports that “the UK’s hottest day of the year could be seen in some areas on Tuesday, potentially bringing an official heatwave”. 

Air New Zealand has dropped its 2030 emissions reduction target, making it “the first major airline to row back on climate aspirations”, Reuters reports. According to the newswire, the airline had promised to reduce its carbon intensity by 28.9% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels. The newswire says the airline cited “delivery delays of fuel-efficient aircraft and high green fuel prices” in its decision, but said it was still committed to the industry-wide target of reaching net-zero by 2050. The outlet continues: “Climate has been a significant part of Air New Zealand corporate messaging for some time. It wants to conduct a demonstration flight of an electric plane by 2026 and in December ordered an all-electric five-seat plane. The airline’s 2023 sustainability report describes the 2030 target as aspirational and challenging, with some factors out of its control.” Al Jazeera reports that the airline “will also withdraw from the Science Based Targets Initiative, which assists companies in reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement”. It adds: “New Zealand’s flagship airline said it was considering a new near-term carbon emissions reduction target that would better reflect the challenges relating to aircraft and alternative jet fuel availability within the industry.” MailOnline and the Australian Financial Review also cover the story.

Wind and solar power generated 30% of the European Union’s electricity in the first half of this year, overtaking fossil fuels, the Guardian reports. The paper continues: “Power generation from burning coal, oil and gas fell 17% in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period the year before, according to climate thinktank Ember. It found the continued shift away from polluting fuels has led to a one-third drop in the sector’s emissions since the first half of 2022…The report found EU power plants burned 24% less coal and 14% less gas from the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024. The shift comes despite a small uptick in electricity demand that has followed two years of decline linked to the pandemic and Ukraine war.”

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) says thousands of people have been evacuated in Hunan province, in central south China, as local rivers “breached” their banks “in the wake of Typhoon Gaemi”. At least 15 people were killed and six others injured after a severe landslide was triggered by heavy rain brought by the typhoon in the province, adds the newspaper. State news agency Xinhua reports that Hunan province is “actively carrying out rescue and relief work”. Another Xinhua report says that 766,900 residents in coastal Fujian province have been affected by the Typhoon. Reuters reports that China’s state planner has “issued 500m yuan ($69m) from the central budget to support the recovery of five provinces following a typhoon and torrential rains”.

Meanwhile, a Bloomberg article cites Chinese media the Economic Information Daily, saying that State Grid Corporation of China, the country’s main grid operator, will now “increase spending 13% to 600bn yuan ($83bn)” in 2024 to “ease” China’s electricity “transmission bottlenecks”. Xinhua reports that Chinese premier Li Qiang has met Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Beijing, with both sides “vowing to promote pragmatic cooperation” in many fields including new energy. Reuters also covers the story. State-run newspaper China Daily reports that as European automakers keep “entrenching themselves in the Chinese market”, with many “supporting suppliers” also setting up factories in China. Elsewhere, Chinese solar panel manufacturer Jinko Power is planning to sell its solar farm project in Spain to “pursue a strategy of lighter assets”, Yicai reports. 

Finally, state-supporting newspaper Global Times carries an opinion article by Dennis Munene, the executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute, who argues that the west’s narrative of “overcapacity on Chinese green products” is “false” and “is also an attempt to hinder Africa’s green energy production”. Africa needs China’s “much-produced solar panels to boost renewable energy in its grids” and “reduce carbon emissions”, adds the article.

“Kamala Harris performed her first big political backflip of the presidential campaign on the weekend, reversing her support for a ban on fracking for oil and gas,” says a Wall Street Journal editorial. The paper describes Harris’s decision as “political damage control”. It notes that when she ran for president in 2019, Harris said “there’s no question I’m in favour of banning fracking”. The paper notes that a “president can’t ban fracking on private and state land or limit existing production on federal land”, but says that President Biden used many other regulatory tools to curtail oil and gas production. It notes that Biden tried to pass a moratorium on new lease sales on federal lands, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tightened methane regulations, and the Biden administration “sought to reduce demand for oil and gas with rules that effectively mandate more electric vehicles and bar new natural gas power plants”. It continues: “The EPA has also proposed regulations that would force existing gas power plants to close. It has floated designating Texas’s Permian Basin in violation of ozone standards, which would require substantial reductions in production. Does Harris plan to finish these rules? She would have to go further to achieve the administration’s goal of a carbon-free electric grid by 2035. Biden’s climate ambitions have been constrained by the political imperative of winning West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s support for his nominees. Harris might not be similarly encumbered.”

Writing in the Times, economics editor Mehreen Khan asks whether chancellor Rachel Reeves was right to rule out tariffs on imports from China. She says that Reeves has confirmed that the country will not impose a levy on Chinese electric vehicles, in a decision which makes Britain a “transatlantic outlier”. She notes that the Biden administration imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, while the EU has imposed levies of up to 38%. Khan continues: “Labour’s justification for staying away from tariffs echoes the Conservatives, who also invoked the benefits of free trade and open markets. However, Labour hasn’t used the more contentious claim that China is providing a global public good in driving down the cost of green technologies. This justification is cited by climate activists and by some progressive economists, who note that China should not be punished by richer nations for an industrial policy that the rest of the world, especially poorer countries, ultimately will benefit from by accelerating global decarbonisation. The most-cited case is solar panels, where China has stolen a march on industrial powerhouses such as Germany with huge state-subsidised investment in photovoltaic panels over the past decade.” Khan writes that “the numbers involved in China’s emergence as a green energy superpower are staggering”. She continues: “The question for western nations, including Britain, is whether Beijing will turn out to be a benevolent energy superpower or one that will tie countries into a pernicious dependency. America clearly thinks the latter and European nations are slowly being convinced of it, too.”

In other UK comment, former Conservative leader William Hague writes in the Times that “Labour’s careful political plan has seen them through their first month”, but adds that “they will need a more coherent economic plan to survive the coming years”. On chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announcement yesterday, Hague says: “The thrust of the Reeves statement, generous on pay but cutting back on some infrastructure projects, does not provide immediate confidence that the new government will have a coherent approach to economic growth.” He adds: “Renewable energy is a much-vaunted policy, but the signs are growing that Ed Miliband’s approach will make energy more expensive in the short term, limiting the growth of the rest of the economy while sucking in more Chinese imports in the dash to decarbonise the grid.” Separately, Sir Ian Cheshire, chair of the We Mean Business Coalition, writes in a comment for Reuters that “Labour’s green growth agenda has made it the UK’s party of business”. He says: “It’s part of UK tradition that the Conservatives are the party of business. But as the party moved away from a position of leadership on climate, business started to look elsewhere for a consistent partner…For businesses, aligning with this new government’s green agenda is a strategic move for long-term economic sustainability and business viability. Net-zero policies can open new revenue streams, cut operational costs through energy efficiency, and enhance brand reputation. They can also reduce energy costs for consumers, in their homes and on the roads and rails. By positioning itself as the champion of clean energy by 2030 and a green economy, the new government can change the story on climate action – pulling it away from doubters and naysayers and towards a clearer narrative of action that is good for business, for workers, consumers and our planet.”

Elsewhere, Daily Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore writes that Cressida Gethin – a Just Stop Oil (JSO) activist who is now serving four years in prison – “shouldn’t have been sent there in the first place”. Moore expresses her dislike of JSO protests, saying that “in trying to draw attention to the climate emergency, these ‘zealots’ are apparently the selfish ones as they plan to cause a ‘summer of chaos’”. However, she adds: “Our prisons are so over-crowded that many inmates are being let out early to ensure the entire system does not collapse…Gethin could have been heavily fined or tagged, and her considerable skills – she’s a Cambridge University music student – could have been used as part of compulsory community service.” Separately, Times contributor and journalist Melanie Philips writes that “Just Stop Oil’s idea of justice is a danger to all”. She says that the co-founder of the Just Stop Oil movement, Roger Hallam, “gloated” over the four-year sentences handed out to JSO protestors, saying they would “galvanise further protests”. Journalist Clive Aslet writes in the Daily Telegraph that “the National Trust is about to discover that you cannot appease the mob”. He says that the Trust is already taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint, arguing that “the charity’s whole philosophy should be an inspiration to climate activists the world over”. He says: “Eco-activists outraged at their affiliation to Barclays Bank aren’t the first progressive group to turn against their own side.” Finally, a brief editorial in the Sun comments on JSO protests at airports saying: “Middle-class Carbonystas have no idea of how much hard-working families need a sunshine break. The eco-loons Just Don’t Get It.”

Increased rainfall due to climate change is expected to have a larger impact on Colorado river flow than previously thought, new research says. The study analyses rainfall, surface temperature and streamflow in the upper Colorado River basin since 1895, “revealing precipitation to be the largest contributor to runoff variability while temperature variability has been a much smaller contributor”, the research says. It adds: “The overall precipitation-induced [Colorado River] flow changes span from −25% to +40% [in 2026-50], contrasting with a range from −30% to −5% from expected warming effects only. Consequently, extreme low and high flows are more likely.”