Axios

A heat wave featuring dangerous combinations of high temperatures and humidity is stretching from the Texas border with Mexico to New Orleans. About 40 million people are under extreme heat alerts Friday.

The big picture: The extreme heat is putting a strain on Texas' electric grid, with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issuing a “weather watch” for the anticipated record high energy use.

The Energy Department Thursday will award $135 million for 40 projects that help decarbonize heavy industries such as cement, metals and chemical production.

The big picture: While today's award isn't huge, it signals a wider recognition that heavy industry is a needed policy focus.

• Industrial activities are big CO2 sources — together over a quarter of the U.S. total — and often lack solutions at a cost-effective commercial scale.

A pipeline here and a drilling approval there won't stop the largest and deep-pocketed environmental groups from endorsing President Biden's reelection bid.

Catch up fast: On Wednesday, Biden scored simultaneous backing from the political arms of the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as the Sierra Club and NextGen PAC.

• Their joint announcement shouted out the Democrats' climate law — by far the biggest low-carbon energy boost in U.S. history — as well as White House environmental justice, regulatory and conservation initiatives.

What we're watching: Whether the groups and the Biden campaign's efforts can defuse a potential political problem for Biden — young, climate-focused voters angry about green lights for fossil fuel projects and permits.

• The most high-profile fights have been over ConocoPhillips' Willow oil drilling project in Alaska and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, an Appalachian gas project advanced in the debt ceiling compromise.

The big picture: Biden's backing from these Democratic leadership-aligned green groups was never in doubt. But the joint endorsement goes out of its way to appeal to youth.

• "By championing the most groundbreaking climate legislation ever witnessed in our nation's history, he has shown his attentiveness to the concerns of the younger generation," NextGen PAC president Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez said in a statement.

Quick take: The Sierra Club's endorsement is the most noteworthy.

• Among heavyweight green groups with longevity, it's the one that most straddles work with mainstream Democrats while rolling with the more confrontational (and leftist) wing of the climate movement.

Of note: Biden, in remarks at a League of Conservation Voters dinner last night, touted his record but didn't wade into decisions that have riled some activists.

• He made sure, though, to remind the audience that Republicans have sought to scuttle the climate law incentives.

The bottom line: Biden will have plenty of green group money, ads and organizing behind him. But the burst of endorsements didn't completely paper over recent tensions.

• In a separate statement backing Biden, the Sierra Club said "[W]e will continue to hold this administration accountable when it falls short," and that "destructive" projects like Willow and Mountain Valley "must not move forward."