Americans Just Don’t Agree on Climate Change: Partisan polarization on climate change has widened over the years, raising the stakes for voters this election. In a new analysis, researchers found that there is now a 41 percent gap between Democrat and Republican opinions on whether climate change is caused by humans, compared with a 17 percent gap in 2001. “Whether, and how, individual Americans vote this November may well be the most consequential climate-related decision most of them will have ever taken,” lead author Riley Dunlap wrote. (News: Phys.org. Commentary: DeSmog, Graham Readfearn column)

Renewables Can Power a Third of the Eastern Grid: The power grid in the Eastern US could support 30 percent of its electricity from wind and solar sources annually by 2026. A new study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory used a detailed model to prove the Eastern Interconnection (EI) — the single, sprawling power grid that reaches from Maine to New Mexico and serves more than 240 million people — can incorporate the variable generation of wind and solar using technology available today without compromising service or reliability.  At present, wind and solar make up less than 7 percent of EI’s annual electricity mix. (Vox, Greenwire $, Greentech Media)

• Gov. Jerry Brown, state lawmakers reach last-minute deal on spending cap-and-trade revenues (LA Times $)
• California’s zero-emission vehicle program is stuck in neutral (Reuters)
• Lawmakers approve new climate plans to help California’s disadvantaged communities (LA times $, AP)
• SolarCity disappointed in exclusion from Nevada solar rate case (Reuters)
• 2 months later, flood-ravaged West Virginia town rebuilds (AP)
• Five years after Hurricane Irene, Vermont still striving for resilience (InsideClimate News)
• SolarCity advisor Lazard made mistake in deal with Tesla (Reuters, Wall Street Journal $)
• Hermine could end Florida’s unusual 11-year hurricane drought (USA Today, ABC News)
• Sen. Chuck Grassley: Trump can get rid of wind energy ‘over my dead body’ (Washington Examiner)
• Three ‘Raging Grannies’ arrested for blocking oil and coal trains (Spokesman-Review)
• California drought: Water guzzlers to face new penalties, possible public disclosure of names (San Jose Mercury News)
• U.S. universities using less coal for heat, power (Fuel Fix)
• Lamar smith seeks to affirm Exxon climate subpoenas with hearing (InsideClimate News)
• The cost of slashing greenhouse gas emissions (Wall Street Journal $)
• SunEdison yieldco avoids event of default on 2023 and 2025 notes (Bloomberg)
• Methane release by oil and gas industry threatens health, study says (Star Telegram)
• Iowa’s new $3.6b wind project could be one of many ‘mega’ wind orders (Greentech Media)
• U.S. funding for fighting Zika virus is nearly spent, C.D.C. says (New York Times$)
• Bird deaths at Nev. plant remain a mystery (Greenwire $)
• Musk talked merger with SolarCity CEO before Tesla stock sale (Bloomberg)
• Coal Ash: 1,000 homes to get new water supply or filtration (AP)
• Dominion says it is near finish of waste coal project (AP)
• The greening of superyachts (New York Times $)
• Biofuels may be good for the climate — but they could be bad for bees, research says (Washington Post $)
• Climate change ‘tug of war’ keeps scientists guessing on storm track (Phys.org)

World News

• Sources: Obama, China aim to formally join Paris climate pact ahead of G-20 (Politico)
• G20 will blow the Paris climate targets – report (Climate Home, BusinessGreen)
• Chinese people want renewable energy more than anyone, but nobody’s selling it to them (Quartz)
• Too much coal, too few takers; government revokes Coal India’s 1-bt target (Economic Times)
• Pope urges Christians to save polluted planet from ‘debris, desolation and filth’ (Reuters)
• Thousands of UK churches ditch fossil fuel electricity (Guardian, Financial Times$)
• Australia sues Volkswagen unit over alleged emissions fraud (BBC)
• UK government needs stronger response to VW emissions scandal: committee (Reuters)
• Oil glut to ease by 2017, clean energy investment to rise – IEA’s Birol (Reuters)
• How sea ice is making the Southern Ocean less salty — and what that might mean for the rest of the world (Washington Post $)
• Mexico, Canadian provinces agree to cooperate on carbon markets (Bloomberg)
• Countries near agreement on opt-in start to airline carbon market (Carbon Pulse$)
• Farmer’s son witnesses climate change in the Sunderbans, turns the island’s fate for the better (News18)
• Kerry makes plea for enhanced Indian leadership on global stage (VOA News)
• UK urged to ratify Paris climate deal by close of 2016 (Climate Home)
• Bank of America, Reuters, foreign airlines fined by UK govt for EU ETS breaches (Carbon Pulse $)
• UK’s poor electric car sales hit climate change targets (Financial Times $)
• Senate calls on Coalition to rule out financing Adani’s Carmichael coalmine (Guardian)
• Green Climate Fund needs ideas with low-carbon wow factor: ex-head (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
• Silicor sees cost advantage in $1 billion Icelandic solar plant (Bloomberg)
• Can we ever convince people to eat less meat? (BusinessGreen $)
• Sri Lanka to sign Paris Agreement to minimize climate change (Business Standard)
• A car made from tequila? Ford Motor Co says it’s good for the planet (Guardian)
• Planting trees is a complicated way to stop climate change (ThinkProgress)
• Liberia’s land law could protect forests, people and the climate (Motherboard)
• Despite major melt, Arctic sea ice will miss record low (Climate Central)
• Nuclear power plants prepare for old age (Nature)
• Forests on the Tibetan plateau may be growing faster thanks to climate change (Popular Science)
• Greenland fossils may be the earliest evidence of life on Earth (Mashable, AP)