Crypto News: Washington is underwater

A week of relentless rain has created a disaster in the Pacific Northwest. It hasn't just fallen in the valleys; high temperatures mean rain also fell in the mountains, decimating snowpack and sending river levels to record flood levels. Today's newsletter gives you the latest on the unfolding disaster, including when the rains will finally die down.

Washington faces catastrophe

By Anna Edgerton

The Pacific Northwest is used to rain. In the fertile river valleys between the coast and the Cascade Mountains, people are even used to floods. But this week has seen higher elevations receive a foot or more of rain. The incredible volume of water has pushed nearly a dozen rivers across Washington state to record- or near-record high water levels.

In the Snoqualmie Valley, where I live, roads and schools were closed on Thursday. Unless you wanted to take a dirt bike on hilly gravel roads, there was no way to get to Carnation. The small town of 2,300 people located about 40 miles east of Seattle was cut off by the Snoqualmie River.

The river flowing past Fall City — normally a short drive from Carnation — was so strong, it carried massive trees as if they were toothpicks. A nearby blueberry farm was submerged over the tops of the bushes.

Store owners check on a flooded deli in Auburn, Washington, on Dec. 10. Photographer: John Froschauer/AP Photo

The Skagit River, which for much of the year runs green and clear between clearly defined banks, has turned into a roiling brown expanse flowing over farmland and through small town streets. Nearly 100,000 people living in the 100-year floodplain of the Skagit were ordered to evacuate. The river was forecast to crest two feet above the previous record. Local authorities warned residents to stay off the dikes and levees, which were showing signs of distress.

Other parts of the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia, have faced similarly destructive flooding. The rain stems from a persistent atmospheric river that has pounded the Northwest with tropical moisture since late last week.

It's been accompanied by abnormally warm temperatures, which have pushed the rain line high into the Cascades and caused snow to melt. That's putting additional stress on the region's rivers and streams. Rain-on-snow events are becoming more common in a warming world.

The rain drenching the Pacific Northwest is expected to subside by Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. But the relief will be short-lived: Another round of wet weather is expected to start on Sunday. —With assistance from Lauren Rosenthal

Read the latest coverage. Subscribe to Weather Watch for a weekly look at the market, business and economic impacts of extreme weather.

The biggest losers

41%

The percentage of US disaster damage since 1980 felt by three states. Florida, Texas and Louisiana have collectively seen $1.2 trillion in losses over that period.

'Undeniable'

"It is undeniable now that climate change is having significant effects on the drivers of the economy."

Sarah Bloom Raskin

Professor, Duke Law School

There are now tangible economic impacts of a warming world, from flooded businesses to smoke-damaged homes.

This week's Zero

When Canada elected Mark Carney as prime minister, there was hope that the country would pursue stronger climate policies. That hope was crushed after Carney signed a deal with the oil-producing province of Alberta that will roll back or dilute green regulations. As a result, Steven Guilbeault, Carney's culture minister, has resigned from cabinet. He was the environment minister under Justin Trudeau and was responsible for many of the policies at risk. This week on Zero, Guilbeault tells Akshat Rathi why the Alberta deal was the last straw.

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.

Washington diary

By Danielle Bochove

The White House Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg

A Boston federal judge has ruled that Trump's ban on new wind projects is illegal. The ruling adds momentum to efforts by more than a dozen US states to challenge the presidential directive, which Trump issued on his first day in office. Still, the decision may prove primarily symbolic as there is nothing to compel the administration to issue new leases or approve new projects.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has removed the fact that human activity causes climate change from some of its webpages. When asked about the alterations, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News that the agency "no longer takes marching orders from the climate cult."
The Energy Department has been ordered by a Boston federal judge to release documents tied to the report it published this summer downplaying climate change that experts say was riddled with misinformation. The order is tied to a suit filed by environmental groups that sued the administration for allegedly violating a federal law about advisory committees. The Trump administration has until December 22 to comply.
A meeting to determine the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was canceled. A council led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has spent months drafting a report about the future of the disaster response agency. A vote was scheduled to be held on Thursday, but it was postponed at the last minute.
The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the Interior Department for planning to feature Trump's face on next year's America the Beautiful pass for US residents. The pass, which covers entrance fees at national parks and other public lands, is legally required to showcase the winner of an annual photo competition. The 2026 non-resident pass will feature the award-winning photo of Glacier National Park, and the lawsuit argues Trump's visage violates the law.

More from Green

Texas is about to deploy a potential solution to the oil industry's toxic wastewater problem — but it's a move that carries environmental risks of its own.

State regulators are working to issue permits that would let four companies, including major landowner Texas Pacific Land Corp. and pipeline operator NGL Energy Partners LP, release treated wastewater from the Permian Basin into the Pecos River near New Mexico, regulatory filings show. At least one could be granted as soon as the first quarter of 2026, according to Texas Pacific.

Yet cleaning up the water would raise costs for producers grappling with low crude prices, dealing a blow to a basin that's crucial to President Donald Trump's goal of energy dominance. And the prospect of the oil and gas industry discharging wastewater into Texas rivers, even after treatment, is alarming environmentalists. Regulators have yet to prove such releases are safe amid growing concern about their effects on human health and ecosystems

"It's really dangerous," said Virginia Palacios, executive director at the Texas government watchdog Commission Shift. She doubts whether oil companies and state regulators can be trusted to fix an environmental liability they created in the first place.

Read the full story.

A chemist at the Texas Pacific Water Resources water filtration and laboratory site. Photographer: Kaylee Greenlee/Bloomberg

Is solar baseload power? Well, almost. Batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper, allowing energy captured from the sun to be used beyond daylight hours, according to new analysis from clean energy think tank Ember.

Sumitomo will invest 200 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in several Indian renewable energy projects that will take advantage of rapidly growing power demand from major industrial users.