Extreme weather worsened by climate change is a hidden cause of inflation, threatening to push up already high prices of everything from food and clothing to electronics.
Why it matters: Heavy rainfall, flooding, heat waves and droughts erode agriculture, infrastructure and workers' ability to stay on the job — all of which lead to supply-chain breakdowns and worker shortages.
A conservative group known for targeting "woke capitalism" has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign attacking BlackRock and its CEO Larry Fink for "weaponizing" retirement funds with its push for more ESG investments, which promote environmental, social and governance responsibility.
Why it matters: The campaign by Consumers' Research aligns with the posture of a growing faction of the GOP. House Republicans plan to make an assault on ESG a central part of their legislative and investigative agenda if they take back the majority in November's midterms.
U.S. and Chinese officials traded barbs on Twitter this week as China questioned whether the U.S. could make good on its new landmark climate bill and the U.S. called on China to resume the countries' bilateral climate talks.
Driving the news: Signed by President Biden on Tuesday, the bill includes huge investments in clean energy technologies and is set to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions.
