[TheClimate.Vote] June 2, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News

[Richard Pauli]

June 2, 2017


    As Trump Exits Paris Agreement, Other Nations Are Defiant
    <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/world/europe/climate-paris-agreement-trump-china.html>

UNITED NATIONS - Leaders from around the world maintained a defiant 
front on Thursday after President Trump announced that he would withdraw 
the United States from the Paris Agreement.
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking in English before switching 
to French, said he believed Mr. Trump was making a mistake. He then 
extended an offer to Americans:
"Tonight, I wish to tell the United States: France believes in you, the 
world believes in you. I know that you are a great nation. I know your 
history, our common history. To all scientists, engineers, 
entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the 
decision of the president of the United States, I want to say that they 
will find in France a second home."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/world/europe/climate-paris-agreement-trump-china.html


    Trump announces US will exit Paris climate deal, sparking criticism
    at home and abroad
    <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-announce-us-will-exit-paris-climate-deal/2017/06/01/fbcb0196-46da-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html>

President Trump announced Thursday afternoon that he is withdrawing the 
United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, an 
extraordinary move that dismayed America's allies and set back the 
global effort to address the warming planet.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-announce-us-will-exit-paris-climate-deal/2017/06/01/fbcb0196-46da-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html

*CCS Statement: Decision to Withdraw from Paris Agreement Damages 
National Security 
<https://climateandsecurity.org/2017/06/01/ccs-statement-decision-to-withdraw-from-paris-agreement-damages-national-security/>*
The Center for Climate and Security (CCS), a security think tank with an 
Advisory Board <https://climateandsecurity.org/advisory-board/> of 
senior military and national security experts, believes that the 
President's stated decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement will 
have serious, negative strategic implications for the United States. 
Backlash to the decision will damage U.S. national security in a number 
of ways, and will afford the U.S. no security benefits. It is clear that 
the President's senior-most national security team understands this 
<https://climateandsecurity.org/2017/06/01/the-national-security-leaderships-message-to-the-white-house-take-climate-change-seriously/>. 
Further, it remains to be seen what 're-entry' after renegotiation 
means, as that is very unclear. It is therefore critical that the U.S. 
return to the international table in order to ensure that the U.S. both 
plays a leadership role in addressing the security implications of 
climate change, and maintains and broadens its strategic alliances and 
partnerships.
https://climateandsecurity.org/2017/06/01/ccs-statement-decision-to-withdraw-from-paris-agreement-damages-national-security/

*(video) The History of Climate Change Negotiations in 83 seconds* 
<https://youtu.be/B11kASPfYxY>
Animation  ** Ear Worm WARNING **    Earworm - catchy jingle is 
difficult to UN-hear
https://youtu.be/B11kASPfYxY


    What you need to know about the science of *climate change*
    <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-science-what-you-need-to-know/>

The president's announcement that the U.S. has pulled out of the Paris 
climate accord has renewed interest in the nearly two-year-old 
agreement... To understand why the Paris Agreement is important step in 
fighting global warming, you first need to understand the facts of 
climate change.
*THE CONSENSUS IS CLEAR*
Human activities are influencing and changing the climate in ways that 
humanity has never experienced before, and these changes pose clear 
risks to humans and nature...
*THE SCIENCE IS CLEAR*
The physics of how greenhouse gases affect the Earth's temperature (also 
called the Earth's energy balance) has been understood since the 19th 
century. ..
*THE SCIENCE BEHIND CLIMATE CHANGE IS OLDER THAN THE LIGHT BULB*
Many people wonder how we can be so sure that CO2 and human activity is 
the main cause of global warming.
*SO, WHAT ABOUT CO2?*
Consistent readings of how much CO2 is in the atmosphere have been taken 
atop the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1958; but, using tiny air 
bubbles trapped in glacial ice cores, we can reliably measure how much 
CO2 was in the atmosphere as far back as 800,000 years ago...
What's shocking, but clear, is the amount of atmospheric CO2 hasn't been 
this high in 800,000 years; that's long before human civilization began...
*THE PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD: PULLING TOGETHER*
The goal of the historic agreement, signed in 2015 by nearly 200 nations 
(in the words of the authors) is to hold "the increase in global average 
temperature to well below 2°C [3.6°F] above pre-industrial levels"...
*WHAT'S THE POINT, THEN?*
The hope is that even a nonbinding agreement can motivate governments 
and people to start acting on climate change, and to innovate along the 
way. ..
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-science-what-you-need-to-know/

*Yeah, the Weather Has Been Weird 
<http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/31/everyone-believes-in-global-warming-they-just-dont-realize-it/>*
*People already care about climate change – the trick is getting them to 
realize it.*
BY KATHARINE HAYHOE
...My reluctance must have shown on my face because Amstrup then said 
something that completely changed my perspective. "We care about the 
polar bears because they're showing us what's going to happen to us," he 
said. "If we don't heed their warning, we're next."...
The life of a polar bear revolves around sea ice. It's where they feed 
in the winter on seals, their preferred prey. But today, Arctic sea ice 
is in a kind of death spiral. As the top of the world warms, its ice cap 
thaws, exposing the ocean beneath it. That dark water absorbs more of 
the sun's energy than the reflective white ice - so the Arctic heats up 
even more, triggering a cycle that is causing the Arctic to warm twice 
as fast as the rest of the planet...
Many consequences of climate change are far more subtle than a famished 
bear inches from a third-grader, but they are no less proximate and 
life-threatening. And they impact us even more directly. From 1981 to 
2002, for example, it's estimated that warming temperatures were 
responsible for an average of $5 billion worth of wheat, maize, and 
barley losses each year around the world. These crop losses often happen 
in poor countries where people already live on a few dollars a day. When 
the price of food doubles, families go hungry.
Amstrup was right: What's happening to the bears is happening to people, too
... the most dangerous myth we've bought into is the idea that climate 
change is a future concern, one that we can address or ignore without 
immediate consequence....
And here is where we need to alter our approach if we're going to tackle 
climate change successfully. It's not a question of moving climate 
change "up" our priority list. I don't think climate change needs to be 
an issue on our lists at all. We care about a changing climate because 
it affects nearly every one of those things that are already on our 
priority lists...
Almost 7.5 billion of us have built our cities and our countries under 
the implicit assumption that climate is stable, and that the conditions 
we've experienced in the past are reliable predictors of the future. 
Today, though, that assumption is no longer true. Earth's climate is 
changing far faster than at any other time in human history. Two-thirds 
of the world's largest cities lie within a few feet of sea level.
. By assuming that the climate will continue to be stable, we have built 
our vulnerability to climate change into the very foundation of our 
infrastructure and socioeconomic systems...
In a recent Gallup poll, 68 percent of Americans surveyed said they 
believe humans are causing climate change, but only 42 percent agreed 
that global warming will pose a serious threat in their lifetime. When 
asked if we think climate change will affect us personally, fully 50 
percent of us respond with a resounding no.
Almost 7.5 billion of us have built our cities and our countries under 
the implicit assumption that climate is stable, and that the conditions 
we've experienced in the past are reliable predictors of the future. 
Today, though, that assumption is no longer true. Earth's climate is 
changing far faster than at any other time in human history. Two-thirds 
of the world's largest cities lie within a few feet of sea level. We 
can't pick them up and move them farther inland. We prepare for extreme 
events - the drought of record, or the 100-year flood. What happens when 
a stronger drought comes along, or much more frequent floods? When water 
resources dry up, in many places there isn't a new source to move on to; 
it's already taken. By assuming that the climate will continue to be 
stable, we have built our vulnerability to climate change into the very 
foundation of our infrastructure and socioeconomic systems....
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/31/everyone-believes-in-global-warming-they-just-dont-realize-it/

*The five worst things Donald Trump has done on climate change – so far* 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/31/donald-trump-worst-things-climate-change-environment>
As the US president weighs up whether or not to withdraw from the Paris 
climate agreement, we look at his most frightening actions on global warming
*1. Nominating Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator*
Scott Pruitt infamously said about carbon dioxide that "I would not 
agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we 
see"... Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief has deep 
ties to fossil fuel interests.
*2. All change at the EPA*
Trump's proposed budget would cut the EPA's budget by nearly a third... 
Climate and clean energy programs are earmarked for the scrapheap, with 
even the data collection process for companies' greenhouse gas emissions 
wound down.  Climate considerations in federal permitting have been 
abolished, measures to reduce methane emissions have been halted and new 
standards to improve fuel efficiency of cars and trucks have been suspended.
*3. Starting the demolition of the clean power plan*
An executive order in March demanded a review of the clean power plan in 
order to remove "regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy 
production". Trump has repeatedly vowed to dismantle the plan, which 
aims to curb carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.
*4. Open up federal land and waters to drilling*
Trump has instructed the interior department to review dozens of 
national monuments to see if they could be scrapped or resized to allow 
better access for oil and gas drilling. A moratorium on coal mining on 
federal land has been lifted while a bar on offshore drilling off the 
Atlantic coast is being reviewed. Trump's budget also calls for drilling 
in the Arctic national refuge in Alaska,
*5. Approve pipelines*
Trump called for the rapid approval of the controversial Keystone and 
Dakota Access pipelines. The two oil-carrying projects are now pushing 
ahead, with the Dakota Access pipeline already registering its first 
leaks before it is even fully operational.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/31/donald-trump-worst-things-climate-change-environment

*New Yorker AU REVOIR: TRUMP EXITS THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT 
<http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/au-revoir-trump-exits-the-paris-climate-accord>*
Elizbeth Kolbert
Many commentators have suggested that the U.S., in withdrawing from 
Paris, is ceding its leadership role in the world. But the sad fact is 
that the U.S. has never been a leader in addressing climate change; this 
is one of the main reasons that the Paris accord is so weak. The U.S. 
has only been a leader in producing climate change. (On an annual basis, 
America is now the world's second-greatest carbon emitter, behind China, 
but on an aggregate basis it's responsible for more of the excess CO2 in 
the atmosphere than any other country.) When Barack Obama helped forge 
the Paris accord, he was trying to make up for decades of American 
inaction. Trump has now nullified that effort. The just result would be 
that it is the U.S. economy that ends up suffering.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/au-revoir-trump-exits-the-paris-climate-accord


/*This Day in Climate History June 2, 2008 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/business/02trade.html?pagewanted=all> 
-  from D.R. Tucker
*/June 2, 2008: The New York Times reports:

    "Some of the most powerful corporate leaders in America have been
    meeting regularly with leading environmental groups in a conference
    room in downtown Washington for over two years to work on proposals
    for a national policy to limit carbon emissions.

    "The discussions have often been tense. Pinned on a wall, a large
    handmade poster with Rolling Stones lyrics reminds everyone, 'You
    can’t always get what you want.'

    "What unites these two groups - business executives from Duke Energy,
    the Ford Motor Company and ConocoPhillips, as well as heads of
    environmental organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council
    - is a desire to deal with climate change. They have broken with much
    of corporate America to declare that it is time for the federal
    government to act and set mandatory limits on emissions."....

    ...At a time of sharply rising prices, oil executives say this is
    not the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Better, they argue, to
    raise fuel efficiency requirements directly or set up a low-carbon
    fuel standard.

    The other big fight splitting corporations and environmental groups
    is whether to set a maximum price on carbon credits.

    Many environmental groups oppose this, fearing it might jeopardize
    the ultimate goal, which is to reduce emissions. They say that if
    the price is artificially kept too low, companies would have fewer
    incentives to cut emissions.

    But business groups say a ceiling would keep prices from
    skyrocketing. Some fear that higher energy costs would reduce
    companies' ability to compete globally and could drive jobs to
    countries that do not limit carbon. John Engler, president of the
    National Association of Manufacturers, said the climate bill
    amounted to “economic disarmament.”

    As the fight escalates, trade groups are planning ad campaigns to
    make their case against a climate policy. One ad, produced by the
    United States Chamber of Commerce, shows a man cooking breakfast
    over candles in a cold, darkened house, then jogging to work on
    empty highways, asking: “Is it really how Americans want to live?”

    Setting a price for carbon will raise energy costs throughout the
    economy, experts said. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated
    recently that a cap-and-trade bill could reduce gross domestic
    product by 0.9 percent to 3.8 percent by 2050.

    “The reality is that cutting emissions is going to cost money,” said
    Peter C. Fusaro, chairman of Global Change Associates, an energy and
    environmental consulting firm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/business/02trade.html?pagewanted=all

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