Axios

The Coast Guard estimates that nearly 25,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled in an offshore pipeline leak in Southern California, AP reports.

Why it matters: The estimate is on the lower end of what officials initially feared when the state's Justice Department began investigating the massive oil spill off Orange County's Huntington Beach coastline. Officials originally thought the leak to be at least 25,000 gallons and no more than 132,000 gallons.

Because of higher fuel prices, the Energy Information Administration is forecasting that U.S. households will spend more to heat their homes this winter.

Driving the news: When looking at winter forecasts, there are reasons to be concerned that parts of the U.S. — not to mention Europe, which is fully in the grips of an energy crisis, will see significant cold snaps.

Richard W. Spinrad is the first Senate-confirmed administrator of NOAA in five years, which has its advantages in Washington.

What they're saying: “That immediately gets doors open and gets me access,” Spinrad told Axios in an interview following an interagency climate and equity roundtable in Detroit on Tuesday.

Higher home energy prices heading into the chilly months are the latest energy-related problem facing Joe Biden at a sensitive time in his young presidency.

Driving the news: The Energy Department's independent stats arm projects heating bills this winter will rise thanks to higher commodity prices and predictions of a colder winter.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry says COP26 may not get all the results he has been working toward, in part because Congress has yet to act on President Biden's ambitious climate agenda.

Driving the news: In an interview with the AP, Kerry says the negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland, may fall short of securing commitments from major emitters to stop burning coal and commit to aggressive near-term emissions cuts.

Decades after Pacific Islanders first raised the alarm, the rest of the world is finally catching up: The climate crisis is here, and it's accelerating.

Why it matters: Pacific Islanders, whose nations face an existential threat from climate change, were a major force behind the Paris Agreement. Heading into November's UN climate summit, they are calling for greater urgency in meeting the goals of the accord, and more direct action from world leaders — especially President Biden.

An energy crisis around the world is hitting households and manufacturers that were already struggling to recover from the global pandemic.

Why it matters: This is a perfect storm of crises. It features supply shortages, especially from China; inflation; slowing growth; labor shortages; Russia’s continued geopolitical muscle-flexing and, of course, the fear that the world will burn to a crisp.

More than 1,300 California firefighters are working to contain the wind-driven blaze that triggered new evacuation orders and far-reaching power shut-offs, officials said.

The big picture: The Alisal Fire, which ignited near the Alisal Reservoir on Monday, now spans more than 15,000 acres and is only 5% contained, according to Inciweb, an inter-agency incident information site.

The Biden administration plans to identify and lease federal waters along seven coastal areas to offshore wind power developers over the next few years, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: The new plan constitutes an aggressive push by the federal government to reach its goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind-generating capacity in U.S. waters by 2030.

A major new report provides a stark warning ahead of the UN climate summit: Yes, clean-tech deployment is really surging, but energy systems are still transforming far too slowly to rein in global warming.

Driving the news: The International Energy Agency is out with its big annual World Energy Outlook, a 386-page trove of data and analysis.

Google Cloud is partnering with five sustainability-focused companies to offer public and private sector customers new ways of anticipating and reducing their climate risk exposure, among other applications, the company announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: With more climate and sustainability-related data being generated than ever, a premium is being placed on finding ways to gain insights from the firehose of information.

Indian auto heavyweight Tata Motors is planning a major expansion of its electric vehicle lineup, staked by the big TPG Rise Climate fund and Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund ADQ.

Driving the news: Tata is creating a new unit that aims to develop a portfolio of 10 EVs over the next five years and, working with Tata Power, build out charging infrastructure in India, the company said.

About 100 Central California properties and a shuttered oil refinery were under threat overnight from a rapidly growing wildfire that forced the closure of a major highway near Santa Barbara, per the Los Angeles Times.

The big picture: The Alisal Fire that ignited near the Alisal Reservoir on Monday has grown to 13,400 acres with 5% containment, officials said. Nearly 800 firefighters are now battling the wind-driven blaze that caused thousands of people to evacuate.

This year is bringing the second-largest global carbon emissions jump on record as fossil fuel use rebounds after 2020's pandemic-fueled downturn, a new International Energy Agency report finds.

Why it matters: It shows how, despite surging renewables, the global energy system remains far from an emissions-slashing pathway that achieves Paris agreement goals for limiting global warming.

The Biden administration on Tuesday revamped its main climate science website, climate.gov, and launched a push into developing new tools that can provide people with information about the climate risks they face.

Why it matters: The push into what the administration defines as "climate services" comes in response to a mandate from President Biden to put more actionable climate intelligence into the hands of local leaders and everyday Americans.