Climate Point: Government declares hot is the 'new normal'

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.

A "new normal."

It's the phrase of the week, as it's where we find ourselves with temperatures, sea levels and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations all rising. Every decade, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the federal government, releases an updated "U.S. Climate Normals" report, which studies 30-year trends. The latest version just dropped, and its findings show weather getting more extreme in much of the country.

Doyle Rice at USA Today reports that the Great Plains cooled slightly in the study period. Otherwise, warming was widespread across the nation. "The USA's normal is not just hotter, but also wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier," he wrote.

And journalists around the country dug in. Miguel Otarola of Colorado Public Radio reported that, while Colorado's Front Range has seen relatively stable precipitation, the Western Slopes and southwestern corner experienced a huge drop. Over in Arizona, Ian James of The Arizona Republic wrote that the Southwest had the most pronounced warming of any part of the country. Average temperatures across the region rose between 0.5 degree and 1 degree Fahrenheit, and many areas also were hit by a more than 10% drop in precipitation.

Here's some other important reporting....

MUST-READ STORIES

Making moves. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it would float a new regulation to decrease the use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are a powerful greenhouse gas. These chemicals are often key in air conditioning and refrigeration, ironically making them more commonly used due to rising temperatures, even as they help trap that heat in the atmosphere. NPR has the details.

Unplugged. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that 1,600 orphaned or abandoned oil and gas wells near McKean County, Pennsylvania — among 200,000 around the state — are sitting unreclaimed after two companies came to a deal with the state to clean them up. But when work was supposed to begin, the companies couldn't find the money they were supposed to put up for the plugging operations. The state and feds are now investigating where it went. Give this story of intrigue, corporate maneuvering and alleged fraud a read.

Potential road forward. For The Desert Sun, I've got the details on a fight over a California mega-warehouse project that could span 40.6 million square feet, or about 705 football fields laid out one after the other. Despite the developer's controversial past, the green groups that signed onto the settlement to drop lawsuits against the project are praising the deal as being a big win that will lead to investment in electric trucks and solar power. It's an important deal across all Southern California, where the presence of a multitude of warehouses means diesel-powered trucks help fuel climate change and deadly air pollution.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

Shoot for the moon. Bill Nelson, a Democrat and former Florida senator, was unanimously confirmed to lead NASA, according to Florida Today. During his confirmation hearing, Nelson acknowledged that private companies have a major role to play in NASA's missions, and he stuck to the space program's official line that it can get humans back to the moon by 2024.

Cozy collaboration. A new story from HuffPost, drawing on emails uncovered by the Energy and Policy Institute, found that state oil and gas trade groups had inside access to the Democratic governors of Louisiana and New Mexico. Together, the governors and trade groups pushed back against President Joe Biden's freeze on certain federal oil and gas leases.

Turn down for what. A mining company called Volunteer Sand and Gravel has operated for months along the shores of the highly biodiverse Duck River, according to AP. The company's president argued it doesn't need a permit to mine, but the Tennessee Valley Authority, which oversees the river system, has been demanding it cease and desist for months.

QUICK HITS

Mars mission. Science News reports that NASA's Ingenuity helicopter — which is currently on Mars alongside its compatriot, the Perseverance rover — has performed so well that its mission is now being extended.

Electric buses. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is proposing a nearly $90 million spend on electric vehicles and related infrastructure, with an emphasis on replacing buses with electric models.

Water reductions. The Arizona Republic reports that "painful" is the word on everyone's lips in the Copper State, as the Colorado River's largest reservoir is 38% full and cutbacks are imminent.

Ice hockey. The Desert Sun reports that a $300 million hockey and entertainment arena is set to move forward in the desert after a planning commission upvoted it.

Greenwashing. E&E reports that Warren Buffett helped beat out a shareholder resolution that was meant to inform Berkshire Hathaway's investors of their climate change impacts, furthering highlighting how Buffett's stances are not as environmentally friendly as previously thought.

New solar. City News Service reports that the U.S. Department of the Interior gave final approval to a $550 million solar farm near Blythe, which sits on the California-Arizona border.

AND ANOTHER THING

Parched. And finally, KUNC and Aspen Journalism teamed up to report on the complexities of regulating water purchases in Colorado and determining whether buyers mean well or are merely speculating . "At the direction of state lawmakers, a work group has been meeting regularly to explore ways to strengthen the state’s anti-speculation law," they wrote. Under state law, water rights holders must use the resource for a beneficial good, but in a time of increasing drought and climate change, what does that actually mean? Take a read and a listen.

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. Mask up, and get vaccinated if you can! Cheers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate Point: The government declares hot is the "new normal"