Climate Change

Axios reports: Three of the biggest investment firms in the world were sued by 11 states last week, in a case that not only could transform the way trillions of dollars is managed, but could also hobble global efforts to transition to a sustainable level of carbon emissions. Texas AG Ken Paxton, along with 10 of his colleagues, is attempting …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Donald Trump’s campaign-trail vow to end President Biden’s signature climate law is running into a cold reality: Too many Republican lawmakers want to keep it. The Inflation Reduction Act has channeled billions of dollars to renewable-energy projects across the country, with Republican-led states getting the lion’s share of the funding. Even though not a single …

Reuters reports: The FBI has been investigating a longtime Exxon Mobil consultant over the contractor’s alleged role in a hack-and-leak operation that targeted hundreds of the oil company’s biggest critics, according to three people familiar with the matter. The operation involved mercenary hackers who successfully breached the email accounts of environmental activists and others, the sources told Reuters. Some environmental …

The Associated Press reports: President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named Chris Wright, head of a Denver-based oilfield service company who has disputed the role of climate change in causing extreme weather, to head the Energy Department. Wright, a major Republican fundraiser, would be one of the loudest voices in the administration against the confirmed science that greenhouse gas emissions are …

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: AccuWeather predicts that Hurricane Sara could form as early as Friday morning, shortly after it becomes a tropical storm. From there, it’s expected to take less than 24 hours for the storm to become a major hurricane. Where could Hurricane Sara ultimately end up? Florida, of course. Sara will likely be a major Category 3 hurricane …

The Washington Post reports: There’s a growing chance that a new storm will form in the Caribbean late this week. And, while uncertainty remains, the system could strengthen into a hurricane by this weekend and emerge in the Gulf of Mexico next week. It’s an ominous sign for this late in the hurricane season, which has already featured five U.S. …

CNN reports: Last month, two major storms, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, caused a total of between $51.5 billion and $81.5 billion of property damage, mostly to Southeastern US states, according to estimates from CoreLogic. That’s a lot of damage – but it’s only a small fraction of what climate change has cost people around the world. A new report …

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: The National Hurricane Center has increased the chances of a tropical disturbance furthering development in the southwestern Caribbean Sea over the next seven days. A tropical depression could develop over the weekend or early next week as the system drifts into the central or western Caribbean, where conditions will likely be conducive for further strengthening. Tropical …

ABC News reports: Twenty-six people remain unaccounted for in hard-hit North Carolina, weeks after the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene, officials said Monday. At least 95 of Helene’s fatalities were in North Carolina, officials said. Gov. Roy Cooper called Helene “the deadliest and most devastating storm” in the state’s history. After misinformation spread about recovery efforts and the availability of …

Florida Politics reports: During an interview on Clay & Buck, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott urged listeners to “look at these storms we’ve had, and what if we have another storm Nov. 4? What’s going to happen? You don’t want to take a chance.” Scott, who holds a margin-of-error lead over Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in polls released by the University of …

USA Today reports: A storm system in the Caribbean rapidly escalated Saturday from a tropical storm into Hurricane Oscar, the 10th hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters said Oscar’s winds were much stronger than previously thought and declared the system a hurricane at 2 p.m. ET. Oscar’s maximum sustained winds were about 80 mph with stronger gusts, which …

Via press release from the AARP: Recent statistics reveal concerning shifts in migration patterns, and since this data reflects 2023, it predates the peak of the property insurance crisis, the recent challenges posed by new homeowner association rules, the aftermath of two major hurricanes and the rising cost of housing in our state. In 2023, the Census reports, Florida’s net …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Flesh-eating bacteria cases have surged in the last few weeks since Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton swept through, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. Vibrio vulnificusa, a naturally occurring but potentially fatal bacterial infection, thrives in warm floodwaters when hurricanes and tropical storms push brackish water along the coast and into rivers and …

NBC News reports: Fresh off the one-two punch of Helene and Milton, hurricane victims in Florida — even those with insurance — face a challenging recovery. The insurance industry is categorizing the storms as two separate events, meaning anyone who did not or could not document damage from Helene could face even greater odds that their claim will be denied …

Florida Politics reports: More than 1.5 million remain without power almost three days after feeling the first effects of Hurricane Milton. Most major utility providers have now provided timelines for when service should come back online. Outages include more than 581,000 Duke Energy customers, almost 428,000 Florida Power & Light (FPL) accounts and more than 420,000 Tampa Electric Company (TECO) …

Reuters reports: The brutal wind and torrential rainfall of Hurricane Milton that killed 16 people in Florida this week were worsened by human-caused climate change, a team of international scientists said on Friday. Global warming made wind speeds around 10% stronger and rainfall greater by between 20% and 30%, according to an analysis by World Weather Attribution. Previous scientific analyses …

“People had their property. They have a right to do with what they want to do with it. And it is tough when you have two back-to-back storms. No question. “The reality is people work their whole lives and work hard to be able to live in environments that are really, really nice. “And they have a right to make …

USA Today reports: As of Friday morning, 2.2 million Floridians were still without power, according to the USA TODAY power outage tracker. The west-central coast continues to be the hardest hit, with 483,225 residents in Hillsborough County and another 460,544 in Pinellas County still in the dark. In Pasco County, 113,745 power outages were reported. Further south, 152,471 residents in …

Florida Politics reports: Despite the massive onslaught of tornadoes from this late-season storm, DeSantis noted that it is “kind of normal” with each storm and “to be expected” that with “every hurricane we have a lot of tornadoes spun off,” as “things churn off with these weather systems.” And climate change or global warming? Nothing to do with it, said …

CNN reports: The eye of Hurricane Milton, which traveled overnight from near the Tampa Bay area east toward Orlando and Cape Canaveral, is now moving past the Florida peninsula and exiting the east coast, according to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. But the storm – currently a Category 1 hurricane – is still slamming parts of the coast with onshore …