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Audubon Florida Climate and Energy News Roundup Today we share news about the new Inflation Reduction Act, an explainer about how the CHIPS and Science Act can reduce emissions, a new drone for hurricane resilience, and more.

Birds take flight over a wetland in the Everglades. Photo: Erika Zambello

The Inflation Reduction Act is a Big Deal. Here’s What it Means for Birds (And You) From Audubon.org “In a move that surprised nearly everyone on Capitol Hill (including, humbly, your friendly neighborhood National Audubon Society policy and comms shops), the Biden Administration’s effort to pass sweeping climate action is back on the table. The Senate has an opportunity to advance one of the most significant pieces of climate legislation ever in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It is, as Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Stephen Colbert, ‘a BFD.’… Overall, this bill represents a major step forward in the effort to meet our climate goals. In a bill this large, final passage will inevitably require negotiation and compromise.”   Read the entire article.

Congress Just Passed a Big Climate Bill. No, Not That One. From The Atlantic “Yesterday, President Joe Biden signed into law one of the most significant investments in fighting climate change ever undertaken by the United States. The new act will boost efforts to manufacture more zero-carbon technology in America, establish a new federal office to organize clean-energy innovation, and direct billions of dollars toward disaster-resilience research. Over the next five years, the CHIPS Act could direct an estimated $67 billion, or roughly a quarter of its total funding, toward accelerating the growth of zero-carbon industries and conducting climate-relevant research, according to an analysis from RMI, a nonpartisan energy think tank based in Colorado… One word of caution: The CHIPS bill only authorized much of its new clean-energy spending, but did not appropriate it, a legal distinction that means agencies must go back to Congress in the future to secure the right to put the funds toward specific purposes.”   Read the entire article.

FPL to Conduct Maiden Voyage of New Large-scale Drone From WGCU Public Media “Wednesday, Aug. 10 will mark the maiden voyage of a new large-scale drone that Florida Power & Light plans to use to better assess damage and restore power more quickly after a hurricane. At first glance, the $1.2 million FPLAir One more closely resembles a small airplane than a typical drone… Unlike other drones in the company’s fleet, the FPLAir One can fly in volatile weather conditions including tropical storm force winds. Aside from assessing damage after a storm, Schwartz said the new fixed-wing drone can be used as a proactive tool.” Read the entire article.

Climate Change-related Weather Hazards Linked to Nearly 60% of Human Diseases From USA Today “Everyone knows rats, bats, mold and mosquitoes can make people sick, but a new study out this week concludes such pathogens and hundreds more are made worse by the warming world. A group of University of Hawaii researchers put together a list of 376 human diseases and allergens, then looked at how they're affected by climate-related weather hazards, such as heat waves, flood, drought, fire and rain. They found nearly 60% of the known pathogens that make people sick have been aggravated by warming-related weather hazards, according to the study published this week in Nature Climate Change.” Read the entire article.

The Arctic is Warming Four Times Faster than the Rest of the Planet, New Research Shows From CNN News “As sea ice vanishes, Greenland melts and wildfires scorch the planet’s northernmost forests, new research confirms what scientists are sounding alarms about: the Arctic has warmed much faster than the rest of the world in the past several decades. The phenomenon, called Arctic amplification, is caused by the heat-trapping emissions from burning fossil fuels. The pace of the temperature increase around the North Pole in recent decades was four times higher than the rest of the planet, researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute found in a study published Thursday.” Read the entire article.

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