The overlapping crises are everywhere

We’ll get to the new U.S. climate law in a moment, but first: A combination of heat, drought, war and other calamities is wreaking havoc on energy systems and manufacturing across the globe, Ben writes.

The big picture: The signs are evident from China to Europe to the American West — among other hotspots — as energy providers and manufacturers grapple with the kind of problems worsened by climate change.

In Europe, multiple regions face price and supply shocks driven by extreme weather and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

• This morning the Norsk Hydro-ownedSlovalco aluminum plant in Slovakia said it’s closing next month, citing high power prices.
• The Financial Times notesit’s part of a trend of industrial output cuts and now closures that “highlight the pressure that heavy industry faces from gas prices that have soared to fresh all-time highs.”
• Meanwhile, drought has sent water levels in the Rhine River, a key industrial lane for many goods including coal, to dangerously low levels that impair shipping volumes.
• The AP carries commentsfrom an official with Germany’s main industrial lobbying group, which warns, “It’s only a question of time before facilities in the chemical and steel industry have to be switched off” and “petroleum and construction materials won’t reach their destination.”

In China, Bloomberg reports that battery giant CATL and Toyota are temporarily halting operations at plants in Sichuan province “as a drought-induced power crisis worsens.”

• The province is highly reliant on hydropower, making it vulnerable to heat that pushes up energy demand and drought, the story notes.
• More broadly, Reuters (citing state media) reportsthat China’s heat wave has now lasted 64 days, “making it the longest since full records began in 1961.”
• Oh, and a new FT piecenotes that risks to hydropower could further tilt China’s economy toward coal, already a massive CO2 source.

In the U.S., federal officials yesterday said they are proceeding with reductions in Colorado River water allotments for Arizona and Nevada amid the ongoing drought.

• But the Washington Post notesthat Interior Department officials “left unresolved the looming question of how seven Western states will divide what’s left of the dwindling river in the years ahead.”
• The announcements and continued negotiations underscore the challenge of “getting competing states to cut vital water supplies that sustain cities, agriculture and hydropower for millions,” it reports.

 Πηγή: axios.com