"The influential rightwing lobby group the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) is driving a surge in new state laws to block boycotts of the oil industry. The group’s strategy, which aims to protect large oil firms and other conservative-friendly industries, is modelled on legislation to punish divestment from Israel."

"Over 70 member organizations in the coalition received charitable contributions in 2020 worth $1.67 million from big California utilities that see solar as the competition."

"Democrats who control the [Virginia] state Senate thwarted a Republican effort on Tuesday to revive the Cabinet bid of former Trump administration official Andrew Wheeler, leaving Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) embattled appointee in limbo."

"Negotiators from around the world will start work this month on a treaty to reduce plastic pollution, in what diplomats say is the most ambitious round of climate diplomacy since the 2015 Paris agreement that focuses on global warming."

"President Biden vowed Monday that a major European energy pipeline would be abandoned if Russia sends forces into Ukraine, intensifying pressure on the Kremlin as Western leaders attempt to stave off a renewed assault on the continent’s eastern edge."

"Some of the world’s best-known corporations have clamored to show how seriously they are taking climate change, with an increasing number pledging to eliminate their carbon footprints in the decades ahead. But many of those firms are not yet doing nearly enough to back up their promises, according to a new analysis by the New Climate Institute, an independent organization based in Germany that promotes measures to slow Earth’s warming."