JUST IN TIME FOR COP- The Biden administration has sold drilling rights in Wyoming on auction yesterday for USD 3.4 mn, the first in a series of similar sales the administration intends to make. This comes just days before world leaders are set to meet in Dubai for the UN’s COP28 climate summit, which Biden will not be attending himself, but is sending top US officials to attend in his stead.

This has garnered a hefty amount of criticism from environmentalists, reports Reuters, claiming that Biden “continues to support the expansion of fossil fuels.”

While Biden had pledged to tackle climate change by moving away from fossil fuels, even going so far as to make it a central focus of his campaign, the Washington Examiner marks this as the latest in a series of disappointments from the president’s administration.

Last year, Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, a legislation meant to combat climate change. Shortly after, he approved the ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil project in Alaska — a drilling expedition estimated to produce 576 mn barrels of oil over 30 years.

ON THE FLIP SIDE: Republican officials have criticized Biden’s measures to reduce future production, believing that it will weaken “America’s energy dominance” and compromise their ability to “lead on the global stage.” American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers believes that this reduces consumers’ access to affordable energy.

FYI-Mid-grade gas prices have reached USD 4.9 per gallon in some states, the equivalent of EGP 151.4.

ACROSS THE POND… King Charles III has vocally advocated for sustainable energy over the past six decades and he has continuously warned about the destructive processes of fossil fuels, and has championed initiatives striving for a greener future, earning himself the nickname “ Climate King.” He will be attending COP28 to deliver an address during the opening ceremony.

SPEAKING OF KING CHARLES- K-Pop band BLACKPINK was honored by the king with Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) medalsmedals in recognition of their role as COP26 Advocates for the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Why? Part of their appointment as COP26 Advocates by the UK Government in 2021 involved the band releasing videos aimed at educating young people about climate change, Reuters notes. And they succeeded at being able to increase young people’s engagement with the Summit. They have also been appointed as global Ambassadors for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

His Royal Majesty likes K-culture. Aside from praising South Korean technological progress, King Charles gave a nod to their “artistic creativity” citing their series Squid Game as an example.

LITTER-PICKING WORLD CUP? Britain has won the first-ever litter international competition held in Tokyo. The inaugural SpoGomi (‘spo’ for sport and ‘gomi’ for trash) World Cup was held in Tokyo this week, with teams from around the world gathering to collect garbage with the aim to raise awareness about environmental protection and reducing plastic waste in the ocean, according to Reuters.

The UK team, The North Will Rise Again, beat the Japanese team by earning 9,046.1 points and collecting 83.7 kg of rubbish. Morocco was the only country representing our neck of the woods.

The total amount picked up was 3.9k kg of garbage by 21 participating teams. This may be one spec in comparison to the 8.3 bn tns of waste thrown into our oceans from the 1950s, but getting people excited about litter-picking will do more good than harm.

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