[TheClimate.Vote] December 22, 2017 -- Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Dec 22 10:46:38 EST 2017
/December 22, 2017
/
[Republican Senator]
*Murkowski introduces bill to study ocean acidification
<http://juneauempire.com/news/state/2017-12-19/murkowski-introduces-bill-study-ocean-acidification>*
Increase in carbon changes pH of oceans, spurring crab dieoff and
hurting salmon prey
Global warming is causing ocean water to become less like baking soda
and more like milk, chemically speaking. It's a phenomena called ocean
acidification (OA) and it could have damaging effects for marine life.
A bill announced week by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski seeks to study the
effects OA would have on coastal communities. The Coastal Communities
Ocean Acidification Act of 2017 would direct the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to assess the vulnerability coastal
communities have to ocean acidification. It was introduced in the Senate
on Dec. 14 and announced in a release by Murkowski's office on Tuesday.
"This proactively addresses a very real issue and will help us all gain
a deeper understanding of how ocean acidification is affecting our
coastal and subsistence communities throughout Alaska," Murkowski said
in a statement. "This is significant legislation for those living in a
state or community whose livelihood greatly depends on the health of our
oceans."
Ocean acidification could hurt Alaska's fishing communities, especially
those that depend on shellfish. The problem amounts to a swift change
marine life may not be prepared to deal with quickly, explained NOAA
Kodiak Lab Director Robert Foy. Our oceans are like a sink, Foy said,
which absorb 30 percent of the carbon dioxide humans put into the
atmosphere. That CO2 is driving OA....
http://juneauempire.com/news/state/2017-12-19/murkowski-introduces-bill-study-ocean-acidification
[Washington Post]
*Scientists just presented a sweeping new estimate of how much humans
have transformed the planet
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/20/scientists-present-a-sweeping-new-estimate-of-how-much-humans-have-altered-the-planet/>*
By Chris Mooney December 20 at 2:34 PM
Just as buried fossil fuels are filled with carbon from ancient plant
and animal life, so too are living trees and vegetation on Earth's
surface today. Razing forests or plowing grasslands puts carbon in the
atmosphere just like burning fossil fuels does.
Now, new research provides a surprisingly large estimate of just how
consequential our treatment of land surfaces and vegetation has been for
the planet and its atmosphere. If true, it's a finding that could shape
not only our response to climate change, but our understanding of
ourselves as agents of planetary transformation.
[ Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25138.epdf ]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/20/scientists-present-a-sweeping-new-estimate-of-how-much-humans-have-altered-the-planet/
[DeSmog]
*US Bank Declares End to Oil and Gas Pipeline Loans - Then Quietly Joins
$4B Deal with Dakota Access Owner
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/20/us-bank-oil-gas-pipeline-4-billion-loan-energy-transfer-partners-dakota-access>*
By Sharon Kelly December 20, 2017
At a shareholder meeting this past spring, U.S. Bank announced it would
be the first large American bank to completely stop issuing loans for
oil and gas pipeline construction projects.
Environmental groups, indigenous activists, and divestment advocates
hailed U.S. Bank's announcement as a triumph.
Yet that triumph - and the bank's commitment - seems less sure with the
news that U.S. Bank has entered into a new $4 billion loan deal with the
company behind the contentious Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL)...
That's why it was so striking when Energy Transfer Partners quietly
announced in a December 1 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
filing that U.S. Bank was part of ETP's new $4 billion credit deal.
ETP's projects include numerous controversial fossil fuel pipelines
nationwide, including not only Dakota Access, but also Mariner East 2,
Rover, Bayou Bridge, and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil pipeline.
Asked whether Energy Transfer Partners had passed muster during the
additional due diligence in U.S. Bank's much-lauded environmental review
policy, U.S. Bank's spokesperson Cheryl Leamon declined to comment. "As
a matter of policy, we do not discuss customer relationships," she told
DeSmog in an email.
Environmentalists hoped that this was a chance for U.S. Bank to end its
dealings with ETP. StopETP.org, a coalition of national and local
environmental and indigenous rights groups, wrote a letter to the bank
in November, urging it to use the chance to cut ties with ETP, which was
seeking to renew its $4 billion credit line in a deal involving numerous
major banks.
But U.S. Bank has apparently refused, said Food and Water Watch senior
researcher Dr. Hugh MacMillan, "after having scored praise back in May
for its new pipeline finance policy."
U.S. Bank did not respond when asked about the types of law-breaking
that might cross the line and cause a borrower to fail the bank's new
due diligence requirements.
https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/20/us-bank-oil-gas-pipeline-4-billion-loan-energy-transfer-partners-dakota-access
[the Hill]
*Mining giant to leave coal group over climate change stance
<http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/365587-mining-giant-to-leave-coal-group-over-climate-change>*
Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., one of the world's largest coal
companies, said Tuesday it would leave an international coal association
over the group's positions on climate change.
BHP, which is headquartered in London and Melbourne, Australia, is also
considering exiting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over climate policy as
well, the company said.
The announcement that BHP is leaving the World Coal Association (WCA)
came after it conducted an extensive review of its association
memberships, examining each group and looking for conflicts in positions...
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/365587-mining-giant-to-leave-coal-group-over-climate-change
*
*[Youth activism]*
**The Teen Rapper Suing the US Government for Climate Change Negligence
<https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpvdv/the-teen-rapper-suing-the-us-government-for-climate-change-negligence>*
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a 17-year-old who describes himself as "a rapper
in disguise as an activist," has mixed feelings when people say he
should run for president one day. It's a sweet sentiment, he told me
over the phone, but he wishes folks had more imagination about the ways
to change the world.
"Why do I have to be the most powerful man in the country in order to
make a difference?" he asked. "Everything I'm fighting for right now is
to disprove that, to say that I don't need to be a politician to make a
difference. I can be an artist, a people's champion, and a community
organizer, and make a difference."..
[video Xiuhtezcatl, Indigenous Climate Activist at the High-level event
on Climate Change <https://youtu.be/27gtZ1oV4kw>
https://youtu.be/27gtZ1oV4kw ]
"If we look at how climate change threatens our democracy, our
economies, our people, our communities, our major cities-the effect that
this crisis has is beyond an environmental issue," he told me. "A lot of
people are not going to act until sea levels have risen to their
doorstep, which is really unfortunate because by then it will be too
late for the rest of the world. We have a lot of work that needs to be
done immediately to readdress and reshape the way we take action."...
"If you look back through history, movements have songs," he said.
"Artists have been, sometimes, the most prominent revolutionaries. Bob
Marley was singing about peace and love, but also standing up for your
rights."
"[Rapping] engages and wakes people up in a different way from when I'm
speaking, and unlocks a different audience," he added...
In addition to sharpening his performance skills, Martinez is also
road-testing new legal strategies to advance environmental advocacy. He
is one of 21 young activists who sued the US federal government
<https://www.law360.com/cases/55cb74a857d2c95910000001> in 2015, arguing
that its negligence regarding climate change violated their
constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. The lawsuit,
called Juliana et al. v United States et al. carried over from the Obama
era to the Trump administration, which has notably deprioritized climate
change as an issue
[video The 15-Year-Old Environmental Activist Suing the Government over
Climate Change <https://youtu.be/gXBR5ZrKdws> https://youtu.be/gXBR5ZrKdws ]
Ultimately, though, Martinez thinks appealing to our leaders through
lawsuits, elections, and protests is just one avenue to create change.
What's most important for him is that people recognize that their own
choices, which may seem insignificant and mundane, have an enormous
cumulative influence on the planet, and its future.
"The change starts within," he told me. "That can sound corny, and it's
not saying that you have to be the epitome of a sustainable lifestyle in
order to get involved. It's about awareness that just the way you live,
every day, has an impact on the world."
"That's what I'm trying to do-plant a seed and have people water it on
their own," he said. "I'm just one small piece of a huge puzzle. There's
so many other young people that are like me who have a voice, interests,
and excitement, and who are so fired up and ready to be a part of it."
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpvdv/the-teen-rapper-suing-the-us-government-for-climate-change-negligence
[migrants/refugees]
*Devastating climate change could lead to 1m migrants a year entering EU
by 2100
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/21/devastating-climate-change-could-see-one-million-migrants-a-year-entering-eu-by-2100>*
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/21/devastating-climate-change-could-see-one-million-migrants-a-year-entering-eu-by-2100
[lawsuit news]
*Latest California Climate Liability Lawsuit Filed by Santa Cruz
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/12/20/california-climate-lawsuit-santa-cruz/>*
By Lynn Zinser
The city and county of Santa Cruz joined the growing number of
California communities seeking to hold fossil fuel companies responsible
for the impacts of climate change, filing two new lawsuits in California
Superior Court on Wednesday.
The latest suits, however, go further than previous ones, calling on
restitution from the fossil fuel industry not just for the impacts of
sea level rise, but also damages to the hydrologic cycle and its
resulting increase in severe weather, drought and wildfires.
"With miles of coastlines and steep, forested mountains, Santa Cruz
County is particularly vulnerable to impacts from climate change,"
County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty said in a statement. "It's time for Big
Oil, who chose profit over people and the environment, to be held
responsible. It's time for oil companies to pay for the damage they've
caused, rather than ask local residents to pick up all the costs
associated with protecting us from sea level rise, increasing fires, and
severe weather."
The latest suits target 29 companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP
and Shell, and are led by the same law firm, Sher Edling, leading the
lawsuits filed this summer by San Mateo and San Marin counties and the
city of Imperial Beach. Like the previous suits, they are filed in state
court and seek compensatory and punitive damages. They allege a list of
claims, including public nuisance, liability for failure to warn, design
defect, negligence and trespass.
"Defendants, major corporate members of the fossil fuel industry, have
known for nearly a half century that unrestricted production and use of
their fossil fuel products create greenhouse gas pollution that warms
the planet and changes our climate," the complaint reads. "They have
known for decades that those impacts could be catastrophic and that only
a narrow window existed to take action before the consequences would be
irreversible. They have nevertheless engaged in a coordinated,
multi-front effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge of those
threats, discredit the growing body of publicly available scientific
evidence, and persistently create doubt in the minds of customers,
consumers, regulators, the media, journalists, teachers, and the public
about the reality and consequences of the impacts of their fossil fuel
pollution."...
"These companies not only understood the consequences of fossil fuel use
on global climate change, but their own scientists did much of the
early, groundbreaking research, and issued detailed warnings decades
ago," Santa Cruz Mayor David Terrazas said in a statement. "The fact
that they later worked hard to discredit the science is extremely
troubling, and may well have delayed actions that could have prevented
serious, global impacts. This lawsuit raises serious issues and deserves
a full public discussion."
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/12/20/california-climate-lawsuit-santa-cruz/
[MIT CoLab]
*Work with people from all over the world to create proposals for how to
reach global climate change goals. <www.climatecolab.org>*
MIT Climate CoLab (www.climatecolab.org) is an online crowdsourcing
platform of over 90,000 members from around the world, sourcing
innovative proposals on how to address climate change. Topic areas
range from climate adaptation, reducing emissions from buildings and
transport, behavioral change strategies, and many more.
37 Finalists were recently announced on the platform from among the
nearly 300 proposals submitted to the contests earlier this fall. Now
the public has the opportunity to vote for the most promising Finalists'
proposals.
From December 18, 2017 until January 15, 2018, anyone from around the
world can vote for one proposal per contest. Entries with the most votes
at the end of the voting period, will be given the Popular Choice Award,
and invited to present at MIT.
Please feel encouraged to spread the word about the public voting
opportunity to your networks. Sample content is included below for your
convenience.
Best,
Annalyn Bachmann
Climate CoLab Project Assistant
www.climatecolab.org
[The Week UK]
*Global warming brings jackals to Western Europe
<http://www.theweek.co.uk/90578/global-warming-brings-jackals-to-western-europe>*
Dec 21, 2017
Warmer weather and decline of rivals are driving westward migration from
Asia Minor
Jackals have been spotted in Western Europe, driven across the Alps by
global warming and the decline of rival species. Sightings were reported
by hunters in the Haute-Savoie region of France and confirmed by mammal
experts at the University of Geneva who analysed footage from automatic
camera ...
About one third the size of wolves, golden jackals have been slowly
migrating westward from their native Asia Minor since the early 1980s.
Moving through the Balkans, they have flourished in central European
countries such as Hungary and Romania, due to a combination of warmer
weather and the decline of the indigenous wolf population. They have
more recently settled in Germany, Switzerland and Italy...
http://www.theweek.co.uk/90578/global-warming-brings-jackals-to-western-europe
*
*
*This Day in Climate History December 22, 2011
<http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/22/conservatives-climate-change-facts/>
- from D.R. Tucker*
December 22, 2011: In Commentary magazine, former George W. Bush
administration official Peter Wehner writes:
"Our task is to win the debate on the merits, to employ, as best we
can, honest and credible arguments in order to ascertain the reality
of things. And if the science shows that Earth is warming and that
humans have played a role in that, then we need to accept it, even
if that puts us on the same side with some individuals we don't find
particularly appealing. What matters is where the truth lies, not
the company we find ourselves in...
"In 2006, the Climate Science Program, a federal program under the
direction of the Bush White House and sponsored by agencies
including NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, found 'clear evidence of human influences on the
climate system.' There are several others I could cite.
"The point is that these reports are sober, measured and serious.
They make a scientific, not a polemical, case for AGW. It's possible
they are wrong. But their case has been made in a persuasive and
empirical manner...it matters that all the world’s major science
academies have said that AGW is occurring, and they have supplied
the empirical case for their findings. The challenge for
conservatives is to engage the most serious and honest arguments of
those who believe in AGW, not simply lock in on the global
alarmists. And the temptation conservatives need to resist is to
portray the entire climate change movement as consisting of
individuals who are more interested in ideology than science...for
some on the right...to insist that AGW is a hoax, the product (more
or less) of a massive conspiracy, is, I believe, damaging to
conservatism. That is something I do care about. And more than that,
it is, from what I can tell, a position at odds with where the
evidence leads. Contemporary liberalism can do as it will. But for
conservatism, facts–those stubborn facts–need to be our guiding star."
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/22/conservatives-climate-change-facts/
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