Donald Trump's rapid assault on Biden-era policies is the starkest case of policymakers or companies resetting on climate — but hardly the only one.

Why it matters: There are fresh signs that moving away from fossil fuels will go slower than many governments and C-suites once hoped — a trend we explored in Generate two months ago.

• Yet the world is nearing, or may have already surpassed, the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C aspirational target for avoiding some of the worst climate harms.

🗞️ Driving the news: A few developments since that Generate item ran...

• BP last week ditched plans to curb oil and gas production and said it's slashing planned low-carbon investment.
• Banking giant Wells Fargo on Friday abandoned its 2030 "financed emissions" targets for different industry sectors and its 2050 net-zero goal.
• The EU is "drastically curbing" its ambitions, Semafor's Tim McDonnell reports on the "policy reset that aims to halt the region's upward spiral of energy prices without scrapping its long-term decarbonization goals."
• Research firm BloombergNEF found that global growth in transition investment was much slower in 2024 than the preceding several years.

🖼️ The big picture: Sure, it's easy to cherry-pick, but a reset seems afoot in many places.

• Some could be actors feeling more empowered to say the quiet part out loud.
• Climate policy scholar David Victor said it has long been clear that aggressive targets have been mostly unachievable and that firms and governments would need to "blink."

"The problem is that blinking carries big political costs. With the hostility in the White House and softening of pressures in Europe this is less risky politically," Victor, a UC-San Diego public policy professor, said via email.

• "And in the US where firms are tripping over each other to suck up to the transactional White House, conspicuously dumping net zero goals that probably aren't achievable is an easy decision."

State of play: Victor sees a separate, "profound" shift in Europe. The bloc that has "reliably been a leader on climate" is grappling with the effects of climate regulation on industrial competitiveness.

💬 What they're saying: Energy analyst Arjun Murti said in a recent post that a "decisive return to energy pragmatism" is underway in key regions.

• Murti, a net-zero critic, is a Goldman Sachs vet who's now a partner at Veriten LLC.
• He recently joined the board of Liberty Energy, the oilfield services firm that Energy Secretary Chris Wright founded.

🔭 What we're watching: How many other companies moderate climate goals, and how the 1.5°C target is discussed in Brazil at this year's annual UN climate conference.

A significant storm system that threatens the South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic with severe weather — and heavy snow in the Midwest — is set to hit less than a week after NOAA saw layoffs that affected about 800 staff.

Why it matters: This will be the first test of whether the loss of expertise from the cuts and early retirements last week will affect forecast and warning accuracy.

Threat level: Lawmakers and meteorologists inside and outside of NOAA have warned that the cuts could compromise public safety and potentially lead to fatalities from extreme weather events.

• The staff reductions came as climate change is making certain types of extreme weather events, such as heat waves and heavy precipitation events, more frequent and intense.

The big picture: Computer model guidance shows the potential for a significant severe thunderstorm outbreak featuring strong, damaging winds and a few tornadoes in the Mississippi Valley tomorrow.

• A level 3 out of 5 "enhanced risk" zone covers the lower Mississippi Valley, while a Level 2 risk covers a broader area, from Memphis to New Orleans. Strong thunderstorms may hit New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
• As the potent area of low pressure tracks across the Midwest and Great Lakes, blizzard conditions are forecast across the Plains states tonight into Wednesday.
• Strong winds and heavy rains will hit the Southeast and East Coast on Wednesday and Thursday, with flight delays and power outages possible.

Zoom in: About a dozen forecast offices in NWS' Central Region, which stretches from Wyoming to Michigan, lost their meteorologist-in-charge to retirements last week, according to NOAA sources speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

• These are typically the most experienced meteorologists at a local forecast office.

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While a weak La Niña is taking place in the tropical Pacific Ocean, a unique phenomenon is developing along the South America's west coast.

Why it matters: It could have a big impact on the weather for millions of people.

Threat level: The waters off the coast of Peru are unusually hot, suggestive of the development of a local event known as El Niño Costero, or a coastal El Niño.

• This is unrelated to the broader state of the Pacific, which influences the weather in the U.S. and beyond.
• But it could have big effects more regionally. Past coastal El Niño events have caused damaging flooding in Peru and other parts of South America.

What we're watching: How much longer La Niña (featuring unusually cooler-than-average waters) hangs on more broadly, and how this local El Niño phenomenon evolves and affects Peru and neighboring countries.

President Trump is seeking more logging on federal lands via a new exec order that lists bioenergy and wildfire prevention among the reasons why.

Why it matters: Deforestation fuels global warming because trees absorb CO2.

• Forest management can slow wildfires that climate change is intensifying — or worsen the problem, depending on how it's done.

The big picture: The EO calls timber production "essential for crucial human activities like construction and energy production" and easing wildfire risk.

• But Randi Spivak of the Center for Biological Diversity said the order will worsen fire risks, drive species extinction, pollute waters and "destroy world-class recreation sites."

What's next: The EO demands specific steps from the Interior and Agriculture Departments.

• They include timber sales targets and using "categorical exclusions" from detailed environmental studies for logging.
• It also calls for those agencies to suggest legislative proposals to boost production and "streamline" Endangered Species Act reviews.

⚛️ Sam Altman-backed small reactor startup Oklo has tapped the CGCN Group, a well-connected GOP lobby shop.

• What's next: CGCN will lobby on Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DOE policies that affect advanced nuclear tech, tax policy, and more, a new filing shows.

⚖️The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday about whether the NRC can license private companies to temporarily stash used fuel away from reactors.

• Why it matters: It's a big question following the collapse of decades-old plans to create a permanent federal waste site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
• What we're watching: Whether this is among the areas in which the conservative judges look skeptically at agencies' running room when Congress may not have spoken directly on a topic.

That's daily U.S. crude oil production in December, a new record, per fresh data from the Energy Department's independent stats arm.