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| Message From the Editor As gas prices have soared over the past few months, President Joe Biden has increasingly come under pressure to visit oil-producing Saudi Arabia, despite his campaign pledge to make the Kingdom’s leaders “pay the price” for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Today, he made waves when he greeted the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump. Even without a presidential visit, petrochemical companies with ties to the Saudi royal family already have a presence on U.S. soil and connections with America’s biggest energy company, ExxonMobil. This week, along with our partners at Grist and the Investigative Reporting Workshop, we published a deep dive by Mark Schapiro into a joint venture between Exxon and the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC). The two companies have banded together to build Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), a 16-acre facility in San Patricio County, Texas, that turns fossil fuels into the building blocks for plastics. The plant has been operating since last December, as Julie Dermansky previously reported for us, pumping chemicals, including cancer-causing benzene, into the air. Gulf Coast Growth Ventures is just one of eight facilities owned by SABIC in the United States — and it might not be the last. “It became apparent to me that the fossil-fuel industry is moving toward plastic because they’re losing market share in transportation and energy generation,” said Judith Enck, leader of the advocacy group Beyond Plastics. Apparently not on the agenda for Biden’s visit? The environmental and public health consequences of that shift. Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmog.com. Our UK team has been charting the fossil fuel ties of potential successors to Boris Johnson. Stay in the loop with our UK newsletter! Map credit: Julie Dermansky As Alarm Over Plastic Grows, Saudis Ramp Up Production in the US— By Mark Schapiro (16 min. read) —The flares started last December, an event Errol Summerlin, a former legal-aid lawyer, and his neighbors had been bracing for since 2017. After the flames, nipping at the night sky like lashes from a heavenly monster, came the odor, a gnarled concoction of steamed laundry and burned tires. Thus did the Saudi royal family mark the expansion of its far-flung petrochemical empire to San Patricio County, Texas, a once-rural stretch of flatlands across Nueces Bay from Corpus Christi. READ MORERapid Electric Heat Transition Will Save Oregon $1.7 Billion, Report Finds— By Nick Cunningham (5 min. read) —A speedy transition to electric heat pumps in homes and businesses in Oregon could translate into lower utility bills and faster reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report. Those findings bolster calls from environmental groups, who are asking state regulators to end consumer subsidies that allow utilities to expand gas infrastructure. READ MOREHow Tory Leadership Hopefuls Stack Up on Climate Change— By Phoebe Cooke, Rachel Sherrington, Adam Barnett and Michaela Herrmann (10 min. read) —The sprint for a new prime minister marks the latest act in the UK’s political drama. All of the remaining contenders were elected in 2019 on the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to “lead the global fight against climate change by delivering on our world-leading target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” READ MOREKemi Badenoch Gifted Tory Gala Ticket by Climate Denial Funder— By Adam Barnett (5 min. read) —A rising star in the contest for a new Prime Minister who has vowed to scrap the UK’s net zero target received a £1,000 gift from a funder of the UK’s main climate science denial group. Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch, a junior minister in the department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, received £1,000 from Michael Hintze for a ticket to a Conservative Party fundraiser in November, according to the register of interests. READ MOREThis ‘Gas Wizard’ Forecaster Peddles More Than Price Advice— By Taylor Noakes (4 min. read) —As gas prices continue to soar, Dan McTeague makes the rounds of Canadian media sharing tips and tricks to help buyers save a few bucks at the pump. The former Liberal MP is known as ‘Gas Buddy Dan’ or the ‘Gas Wizard,’ a level-headed media persona who offers gas price forecasts and expert commentary on price changes in gasoline and the impacts they’ll have on consumers. READ MOREFrom the Climate Disinformation Database: The Macdonald-Laurier InstituteThe Macdonald-Laurier Institute for Public Policy (MLI) is an Atlas Network partner based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. MLI describes itself as “Canada’s only truly national public policy think tank” and claims to be “rigorously independent and non-partisan.” Since its early days, MLI has promoted its policy positions by publishing “major” reports as well as “op-eds placed in local and national outlets, media appearances, speaking opportunities, and by directly engaging Aboriginal organizations and government officials.”
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