Riot Charge Against Amy Goodman Dismissed: A North Dakota judge dismissed the “riot” charges against Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman for her reporting on the Dakota Access pipeline. The criminal complaint, filed by the state prosecutors against Goodman, drew widespread criticism for attacking the freedom of the press. The Dakota Access pipeline itself has drawn nationwide protests for suppressing tribal rights and subverting the country’s action against climate change. Documentary filmmaker Deia Schlosberg was also recently arrested on similar charges. (News: Guardian, Grist, Gothamist, InsideClimate News, ThinkProgress, New York Times $, Fortune, Democracy Now!, Salon, CNN Money, Independent, Color Lines, Mother Jones, NPR. Commentary: LA Times, Michael Hiltzik column $; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tony Norman column)

September Continues Record Heat Streak: Last month was the hottest September ever recorded, beating 2014’s previous record by 0.004°C. According to new NASA data, temperatures were 1.6°F (0.91°C) above the 1951-1980 average. NASA’s Gavin Schmidt said it “seems locked in” that 2016 will be the hottest year ever with temperatures approximately 1.25°C above the late 19th century average. (News: Climate Central, Mashable, New York Magazine, IB Times $, Independent. Commentary: Discover, Tom Yulsman column; Minnesota Public Radio, Paul Huttner column; ThinkProgress, Joe Romm column)

• For Clinton and Trump, there’s little debating a climate change divide (New York Times $)
• US ignored rising-sea warnings at radar site (AP)
• Missouri sues Volkswagen over diesel emissions (Reuters)
• Warm water in Gulf blamed for sanctuary’s bleached coral (AP)
• It could be the nation’s first carbon tax. And environmentalists are fighting over it (Washington Post $)
• Mayor de Blasio, FEMA announce plans to revise NYC flood maps (ABC)
• Sea level rise upping ante on ‘sunny day’ floods (Climate Central)
• David Letterman (and his beard) shop at Target these days (New York Times $)
• Marco Rubio won’t discuss climate change at Florida senate debate (Huffington Post)
• In new ozone alert, a warning of harm to plants and to people (Environment 360)
• Robotic mussels track rising temperatures for climate research (New York Times$)
• Court rules against EPA in case over coal job losses (The Hill, Politico Pro $)
• Greens urge Clinton not to name Colo. governor to Interior post (The Hill)
• Wind & solar power creeping up on natural gas in USA (Clean Technica)
• 5 charts that show how coal is getting killed in Texas (Greentech Media)
• With a $12 million utility bill, KU efforts to conserve energy starting to pay off (Lawrence Journal World)
• An ancient drought-friendly farming process could become the next organics (Quartz)
• MIT nuclear fusion record marks latest step towards unlimited clean energy (Guardian)
• Dairy farmers in California say anti-flatulence law stinks (CNBC)
• Skeptic files Texas lawsuit against ‘climate alarmism’ (Climate Home)
• Feds update oil, gas royalty system for federal land (The Hill)
• DOE invests $80M to showcase ‘supercritical’ CO2 turbines (E&E News $)
• DOE mounts defense of contentious loan program (Greenwire $)
• Comments sought on protections for snow-loving wolverines (AP)
• Pennsylvania ruling on eminent domain puts contentious pipeline project on alert (InsideClimate News)
• Big Power’s tech partnerships drive Georgia energy push (EnergyWire $)

World News

• IEA: Despite efficiency gains, global climate goals at risk without more action (UtilityDive)
• UN: Global agriculture needs a ‘profound transformation’ to fight climate change and protect food security (Washington Post $, BBC)
• Wind could supply fifth of world electricity by 2030: group (Reuters)
• Global governments, loath to change, are wasting oil with subsidies (New York Times $)
• Oil groups ‘threatened’ by electric cars (Financial Times $)
• ‘Give us the powers to raise climate change funds’, say world’s mayors (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
• Greenland calls on Denmark to clean up toxic waste buried in melting ice sheet (Mashable)
• Diesel farms set to win lucrative contracts to back up National Grid (Guardian)
• Rich nations say on track for promised $100 billion climate finance (Reuters, Climate Home)
• Sweden floats options to strengthen EU’s ailing carbon market (Bloomberg)
• The world’s poorest most at risk from drought, conflict (Climate Central)
• U.S. Senate could block landmark HFC climate treaty (Climate Central)
• Green groups sue Norway over Barents Sea oil drilling (AP, Financial Times $)
• Modi said to plan $3.1 billion boost for India’s solar factories (Bloomberg)
• UN continues to support DiCaprio’s work on climate change (AP)
• As China shifts from exporter to importer, fortunes change (New York Times $)
• Wall set to share Saskatchewan’s plan to fight climate change (Regina Leader-Post)
• Climate change conveyed through art (Christian Science Monitor)
• Green subsidies to push UK energy bills higher than planned (Guardian, Bloomberg)
• In parched Sri Lanka, biggest shortage is of water policy: experts (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
• Dams close to glacial lakes in Himalayas under flood threat (IANS)
• Carbon trading could cut climate action costs by a third -World Bank (Carbon Pulse $)
• Coal: after the $100 per tonne boom, how long until the bust? (Reuters)
• Dakar’s threatened ‘green lung’ gets reforestation boost (Thomson Reuters Foundation)