Votes are still being tallied, but Maine voters appear to be opposing construction of a new transmission line to carry hydropower from Quebec to New England.

If “yes” wins, it’ll be a loss for the Biden administration, whose energy secretary urged a “no” vote. New Yorkers — whose state government just greenlit its own Quebec hydropower transmission line — look likely to overwhelmingly approve adding a constitutional right to clean air, water and a healthful environment.

Exxon lobbyists gave the six Democratic senators named in the recent sting video nearly $333,000 over the past decade, per a new analysis.

Ethics expert told me: "We have to ask ourselves what do they expect and what did they get in return."

huffpost.com/entry/exxon-mo… The analysis by @OilChangeUS's @collinrees takes a uniquely broad look, including in its total donations some Exxon lobbyists gave before the oil company hired them. Including them, he said, paints a fuller picture of the influence Exxon's money spurred -- and that attracted it.

India demanded rich nations like the U.S. (and apparently China, too) go beyond net-zero and adopt negative emissions targets , in other words start sucking CO2 out of the air.

That, experts told me, is new and could signal a shift in climate politics.

huffpost.com/entry/india-cl… There are many factors at play, but one to consider is the G-2 talks between the U.S. and China that preceded and basically laid the groundwork for the Paris Agreement. They created a bipolar carbon world, and sidelined India and showed how much faster China had grown.

Nauseating. Some of the best people in the business -- some of the closest and most impressive friends I've made as an adult -- just lost their jobs and a secure paycheck in a time of economic upheaval. HuffPost will be weaker without them. I envy the newsrooms that hire them.

https://twitter.com/HuffPostUnion/status/1369343563998388230

Victor is one of the finest and funniest people and most effective administrators I've ever had the privilege of working with:

https://twitter.com/recordedvoice/status/1369347963798106126

The Biden admin waded into a fight over green building codes, asking the International Codes Council to hold off on an industry-backed policy change that'd eliminate city governments' right to vote on codes.

The ICC says it's moving ahead as planned.

huffpost.com/entry/building… Context here is this story from Friday which examines the ICC's proposal to end local government voting on energy-efficient construction codes.

huffpost.com/entry/climate-…

The move came after the record voting on the most recent codes angered the construction and gas industries.

A quick story:

In summer 1986, as a heat wave roasted Georgia, an elderly man living "alone in a small apartment in a rundown part of town" said this to a NYT reporter:

''I'm 72 years old, soon to be 73, and I've never seen it this hot in my life. It's really, really bad.'' A 53-year-old widow took to washing dishes nearby just to cool down: ''It's got to where I can't breathe. It gets so hot that I go over to a restaurant near here and wash dishes for them, just to be where it's cool.''

The heat wave killed dozens. Most were poor and Black.

Should the lawyer defending Shell against climate lawsuits be Biden's Supreme Court litigator?

Despite vowing to "strategically support" states and cities suing oil giants over climate, Biden is considering David Frederick for solicitor general.

huffpost.com/entry/biden-so… Frederick has some notable progressive victories under his belt. He won back wages for Tyson meatpacking workers, beat cigarette companies, and twice defeated oil giants on behalf of states.

But advocates say his work over the past 4 years for Shell should be disqualifying.

Ohio is about to be the 14th state to pass a law threatening fossil fuel protesters with long jail sentences and crushing fines.

The bill holds groups like churches liable for individual protesters, and could bankrupt tiny congregations in Appalachia.

huffpost.com/entry/ohio-fos… It's yet another version of the ALEC-designed bill that started appearing in state legislatures after #NoDAPL. The legislation is deeply unpopular. Yet roughly half a dozen states quietly passed it into law since the pandemic began. It's meant to have a chilling effect.