Parched California Enters New Water Year: California’s 2016 water year ended Fridaywith lower-than-expected rainfall and a “snow drought” as the state’s snowpack measured well below average. Water year 2016, which ran from Oct. 1st to Sept. 30th, was officially categorized as “dry” statewide, continuing California’s five-year drought. The onset of the new water year has brought attention to the record reliance on groundwater by farmers and water wars between corporations and residents. (News: LA Times $, Lake County News, New York Times $, Sacramento Bee, San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Commentary: Wired, Nick Stockton column; Fresno Bee editorial)

India Ratifies Paris Agreement, Nearing Entry Into Force: India, the world’s fourth largest carbon emitter, officially ratified the Paris Agreement on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, Oct. 2nd. With 62 countries accounting for 51.89 percent of global emissions having formally joined, all eyes are on the European Union, whose members agreed to fast track ratification on Friday. The EU collectively contributes 12.1 percent of global emissions and their expected ratification by October 7 would mean the Agreement would enter into force just in time for 22nd Conference of the Parties in Marrakech. (India: AP, Reuters, Washington Post $, Climate Home, BBC News, NPR, Hindu, Times of India, Independent, TIME, IB Times $, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera. EU: AP, Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg, InsideClimate News, Wall Street Journal $)

• How the next U.S. president will control the fight against climate change (Bloomberg)
• Gubernatorial hopeful’s coal mines settle with feds (AP, The Hill, Politico Pro $)
• A curious plan to fight climate change: Buy mines, sell coal (New York Times $)
• Huge Rush Creek wind project gets PUC OK (Denver Post)
• After record heat, California fires burn into the fall (NPR)
• EPA amps up phaseout of heat-trapping chemicals (ClimateWire $)
• How the West was lost: Ranchers devastated by fossil fuel boom (TakePart)
• For oysters, challenges and hope in the changing ocean (Science Friday)
• Louisiana flood of 2016 made worse by growth-focused policies (The Times-Picayune)
• The U.S. is getting closer to Hillary Clinton’s vision of a ‘clean energy superpower’ (Washington Post $)
• Volkswagen reaches $1.2 billion settlement with U.S. dealers over emissions scandal (LA Times $)
• Ugly fruits and vegetables — coming to an emoji keyboard near you (Think Progress)
• Americans should eat less meat, but they’re eating more and more (Vox)
• Hundreds rally for action on climate change (KTVB)
• 8 cartoons that expose climate denial  (Scientific American)
• Shipping port for Montana and Wyoming coal advances (Montana Standard)
• Exxon suit opens a new front in the climate change fight (ClimateWire $)
• Tesla deliveries up 70 percent but may fall short of 2016 forecasts (LA Times $)
• After Revenant … Leonardo DiCaprio stars as eco-warrior in climate battle (Guardian)
• BP oil disaster might have hurt Bluefin tuna rebuilding, study says (The Times-Picayune)
• Clean-up continues at NY nuclear plant after oil spill (AP)
• How a rural corner of North Carolina could dominate the region’s wind market (Southeast Energy News)

World News

• Poor countries call for help in getting green stuff into climate projects (Guardian)
• Countries near aviation emissions deal, but greens see few gains (Politico Pro$, All Africa, EurActiv, Guardian)
• Clean(ish) air is increasingly a preserve for wealthy nations (Washington Post $)
• 10 places to visit before they’re lost to climate change (Conde Nast Traveler)
• Child labor taints production of batteries for electric carmakers, Amnesty says (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
• App zeros in on loss of equatorial glaciers (Climate News Network)
• Russia plans to kill a quarter-million Siberian reindeer amid anthrax fears (Washington Post $)
• China’s $450 billion farm plan could determine our fate (Grist)
• Bangladesh poultry sector hit by climate change (Global Meat News)
• Norway to research ways to capture carbon from industrial plants (Reuters)
• $1 coal mines become jackpots after prices surge (Bloomberg)
• Butterfish is a big problem for little puffins (Guardian)
• Villagers in eastern India vow to keep up coal mine protest after four killed (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
• Reykjavík: the geothermal city that aims to go carbon neutral (Guardian)
• ADB signs risk-transfer deal that lifts its lending capacity (AP)
• Medical staff in dark about policies to mitigate health risks of climate change, study says (Guardian)
• Hydrogen cars and electrolysers: the dawn of Australia’s hydrogen economy? (Guardian)
• UK air pollution linked to car accidents (Financial Times $)
• BEIS energy update: Coal power nears rock bottom (BusinessGreen $)
• Asian firms muscle in on region’s oil patch as western companies retreat (Wall Street Journal $)
• Rift speeds up across Antarctic ice shelf (Climate Central)
• The frozen beauty of Antarctica (Mashable)
• India wasting Rs 3 lakh crore on new coal power plants (Money Control)