[TheClimate.Vote] December 10, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/December 10, 2018/

[forward great news]
*California has become the first state to require solar panels on all 
new homes*
https://www.techspot.com/news/77773-california-has-become-first-state-require-solar-panels.html


[infectious denialism]
*Australia's silence during climate change debate shocks COP24 delegates 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/australias-silence-during-climate-change-debate-shocks-cop24-delegates>*
Country accused of tacitly supporting oil allies' rejection of the 
latest science
- -
The UN climate conference commissioned the IPCC report, but when that 
body went to "welcome" the report's findings and commit to continuing 
its work, four nations - the US, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia, all 
major oil and gas producers - refused to accept the wording, insisting 
instead that the convention simply "note" the findings.
Negotiators spent two and a half hours trying to hammer out a compromise 
without success.
The apparently minor semantic debate has significant consequences, and 
the deadlock ensures the debate will spill into the second critical week 
of negotiations, with key government ministers set to arrive in Katowice.
Most of the world's countries spoke out in fierce opposition to the oil 
allies' position.
- -
"Australia's silence in the face of this attack yesterday shocked many 
countries and is widely seen as de facto support for the US, Saudi 
Arabia, Russia and Kuwait's refusal to welcome the IPCC report," Hare said.
Richie Merzian, climate and energy program director at the Australia 
Institute, said widespread goodwill across the Katowice talks was being 
undermined by "a handful of countries" trying to disconnect the science 
and urgency from the implementation of the Paris agreement.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/australias-silence-during-climate-change-debate-shocks-cop24-delegates


[Neil Young and Bob Dylan]
*Neil Young Angry About Dylan Show Announcement, Will Fight Sponsor 
Barclays For Funding Fossil Fuels 
<https://www.stereogum.com/2025512/neil-young-bob-dylan-show-sponsor-barclays-fossil-fuels/wheres-the-beef/>*
Julia Gray - December 9, 2018
Neil Young is scheduled to perform alongside Bob Dylan in London's Hyde 
Park this summer, and tensions will probably be high. Young has 
expressed some major disagreements with the show organizers, claiming 
that the event was announced ahead of schedule...
- -
Young also took issue with the show's sponsor, the "fossil fuel finding 
entity" Barclays. The post reads, "That doesn't work for me. I believe 
in science. I worry about the climate crisis and am deeply concerned 
about its massive global ramifications and my beautiful grandchildren's 
future…There's no doubt about it. It's been a massive fuck up!"...
- -
  "We have been talking about requiring a different sponsor as one 
option..."
https://www.stereogum.com/2025512/neil-young-bob-dylan-show-sponsor-barclays-fossil-fuels/wheres-the-beef/


[legal or ethical question]
*Right to end life on Earth: Can corporations that spread climate change 
denialism be held liable? 
<https://www.salon.com/2018/12/09/right-to-end-life-on-earth-can-corporations-that-spread-climate-change-denialism-be-held-liable/>*
If a corporation's propaganda destroys the world, doesn't that conflict 
with our right to live?
MATT ROSZA - DECEMBER 10, 2018
To facetiously paraphrase a line that I often hear from global warming 
deniers: Don't be offended, I'm just asking questions.
It's conventional wisdom that the right to free speech does not permit 
you to shout "fire!" in a crowded theater - but does that mean you have 
the right to claim there is no fire when a theater is ablaze?
- -
Kevin Trenberth, a distinguished senior scientist in the Climate 
Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, broke 
down the situation in a similar way.
"Yes but. The 'but' is the difficulty in doing so and how one assigns 
blame," Trenberth told Salon. *"I do think that the other countries in 
the world ought to put something like a 25% tariff on all American goods 
on the grounds that they were produced using artificially low energy 
prices. This comes back directly to the government policies (of getting 
out of the Paris agreement), for instance."*
"I doubt it will happen because of the might of the [money]," Trenberth 
continued. "I do think that politicians like Trump and the Republicans 
will go down in history as major bad guys (and gals)."
- - -
Tribe also acknowledged that, while it is questionable whether climate 
change deniers should be held financially accountable for spreading 
misinformation, *harsher consequences should be imposed on government 
officials who shirk their responsibility to the public.*
"I certainly favor holding government officials accountable for 
deliberately withholding information of public importance, let alone 
information about existential threats, when the release of that 
information would not genuinely threaten national security (e.g., by 
'outing' the identity of CIA operatives in the field)," Tribe pointed 
out. "Imposing such accountability on government officials furthers the 
values of free and open expression that the First Amendment protects and 
does not in any way entail the worries about censorship and its dangers 
that I mentioned in my first answer. On the contrary, it is settled that 
'government speech' is not shielded by the First Amendment at all. See, 
e.g., Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans (2015)."

Expanding on Tribe's point, there is no reason that Republican Party 
politicians who have access to reliable information about the threat 
posed by man-made climate change and choose not to act on it -- or even 
actively suppress it -- should not be held legally accountable for doing 
so. While it is tempting to focus on President Donald Trump in this 
respect, it is important to remember that most of his fellow Republicans 
share his climate change denialism and likely would have acted similarly 
when it comes to stifling scientific research and ignoring the threat of 
global warming. While Trump should be held accountable for what he has 
done, it would be folly to forget that on this issue, his actions are 
entirely consistent with the will of his party.

And should that entire party be held legally accountable? Like Tribe, I 
would argue no, but the answer doesn't entirely sit well with me. 
Whether they ignore man-made climate change because they hate liberals 
and wish to defy them, or because admitting to its reality would force 
them to modify their economic philosophy, or for any other reason, the 
bottom line is that they are convincing people that the theater isn't on 
fire even as it continues to burn to the ground. The fact that the 
prevailing concepts regarding political freedom protect their right to 
abet the conflagration, but not the rights of those whose lives will be 
destroyed in the process, demonstrates that -- if nothing else -- our 
ideas about preserving freedom and justice in a civilized society need 
to be updated.
https://www.salon.com/2018/12/09/right-to-end-life-on-earth-can-corporations-that-spread-climate-change-denialism-be-held-liable/


[relentless folly volley]
*COP24: Climate Science Denial, Disinformation and Fake News at the UN 
Climate Talks 
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/05/cop24-climate-science-denial-disinformation-and-fake-news-un-climate-talks?utm_source=dsb%20newsletter>*
By Chloe Farand
In an age of "fake news" and disinformation, in which climate science 
deniers have been elected to the head of some of the world's largest 
governments, the UN climate talks continue to act as a stage for those 
who wish to cast doubt on the climate crisis.
And in Katowice, Poland, where the UN climate talks -- known as COP24 -- 
are underway, it was no different. A small group of climate science 
deniers tried to grab attention by hosting an event on the fringe of the 
conference, claiming to "present the science that debunks UN alarmism".
But this year, very few were paying attention.
Year after year, climate science deniers have attempted to use the 
climate talks as a platform to undermine the global climate negotiation 
process...
- -
The notorious Chicago-based climate science denial group The Heartland 
Institute, a long-standing visitor of the UN climate talks, came to 
Katowice on Tuesday to defend fossil fuels as "a cheap and abundant 
source of energy". But very few bothered to listen to what they had to 
say...
- -
The rise of fake news has given fresh oxygen to climate science denial.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of 
Sciences journal found that the structural shifts that have occurred in 
the media in recent years "have enabled unscrupulous actors with 
ulterior motives increasingly to circulate fake news, misinformation, 
and disinformation".

The study argues that this had led to "implicit ideological bias, 
political polarisation, and politically motivated reasoning" to prevail 
in the public sphere, leaving the door open for "scientific conclusions 
[to be] systematically perverted in the media through an internet-based 
campaign of disinformation and misinformation"...
- - -
While fringe climate science denial views are struggling for mainstream 
traction, in and around the negotiations climate disinformation 
continues to be used by fossil fuel organisations and lobbyists as a 
powerful tool to undermine climate action.

Bond acknowledged that there were "powerful vested interests at work to 
maintain the status quo and delay climate action -- with an estimated 
$25 trillion invested in fossil fuel assets around the world.

However, he argued that while climate experts and campaigners had spent 
the past 15 years fighting climate science denial, "that battle has now 
been won"...
- -
...[F]ossil fuel companies have found "subtler, more insidious ways to 
distort climate science and deceive the public" by relying on trade 
associations and lobby groups which "spread disinformation about climate 
science and seek to block climate action" while "allowing  companies to 
justify their business-as-usual practices".
Read more - 
https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/05/cop24-climate-science-denial-disinformation-and-fake-news-un-climate-talks?utm_source=dsb%20newsletter


[ice melt]
*Greenland's ice sheet is melting at its fastest rate in centuries 
<https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/12/8/18129132/greenland-ice-melt-sea-level-climate-change>*
The ice on Greenland would raise global sea levels by 20 feet if it were 
all to melt.
By Umair Irfan - Dec 8, 2018
The ice that sits atop Greenland spans an area more than three times the 
size of Texas and almost two miles deep at its thickest. If this frigid 
white expanse ridged with crystal blue rivers of meltwater were to thaw 
completely, it would raise global sea levels by more than 20 feet.
Which is why it's alarming that scientists are reporting this week that 
this sheet of ice is thawing, and doing so at an accelerating rate not 
seen for more than 350 years. Already, scientists have found that 
Greenland's ice melt is the main reason the rate of average sea level 
rise has sped up since 1993...
- - -
There is a lot of grim news for the Arctic climate
The latest findings aren't all that surprising for scientists, but they 
do give us greater insight into the unprecedented changes underway at 
one of the most important polar ice sheets.

The Arctic region as a whole is warming faster than the rest of the 
world, and we're seeing the consequences of climate change throughout 
the Arctic Circle, not just Greenland. Sea ice in the Arctic is 
declining at its fastest rate in 1,500 years. Earlier this year, we saw 
a heat wave in the Arctic. That heat in turn helped fuel wildfires in 
the Arctic.

And as temperatures rise further, scientists expect these shifts to 
become more drastic. In another paper last month published in Nature 
Climate Change, Trusel and his co-authors pointed out that the world is 
now committed to a huge amount of melting in the Greenland ice sheet as 
well as the Antarctic ice sheet, even if we manage to limit warming to 2 
degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

However, letting temperatures get any higher could lead to "irreversible 
mass loss due to the surface mass balance-elevation feedback, whereas 
for Antarctica, this could result in a collapse of major drainage basins 
due to ice-shelf weakening."

Trusel explained that there is likely a tipping point in the ice melt 
mechanism that we'll cross in the 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degree 
Celsius range of warming, so to protect coastal areas, it makes sense to 
cut greenhouse gas emissions aggressively as possible to limit climate 
change.

However, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change pointed out in 
October, capping warming this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius would 
require an unprecedented global coordinated effort. We're nowhere close 
to getting on that pathway. And some countries, including the United 
States, are actually taking steps to move in the opposite direction.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/12/8/18129132/greenland-ice-melt-sea-level-climate-change


[obvious or insight?]
*Here's a way to fight climate change: Empower women 
<https://grist.org/article/heres-a-way-to-fight-climate-change-empower-women/>*
By Emily Dreyfuss  - Dec 9, 2018
"Gender and climate are inextricably linked," said environmentalist and 
author Katharine Wilkinson on stage at TEDWomen last week, a gathering 
of women thought leaders and activists in Palm Desert, California.

Women, she says, are disproportionately affected by climate change. When 
communities are decimated by floods or droughts, tsunamis or fire, the 
most vulnerable among them suffer the most. Because women across the 
world have fewer rights, less money, and fewer freedoms, in those 
moments of extreme loss, women are often hit the hardest. "There's 
greater risk of displacement, higher odds of being injured or killed 
during a natural disaster. Prolonged drought can precipitate early 
marriage, as families contend with scarcity. Floods can force 
last-resort prostitution as women struggle to make ends meet. These 
dynamics are most acute under conditions of poverty," she says.

With several new reports painting an increasingly bleak picture of the 
state of the world's climate, Wilkinson is delivering her message at a 
time when leaders on the global stage are looking for solutions. As 
thousands of people gather this week at a major climate summit known as 
COP24, Wilkinson is making a plea to open people's eyes to one fact: 
Women's rights are Earth's rights. "In my experience, to have eyes wide 
open is to hold a broken heart every day," she says.

But she has hope. Though women feel the effects of climate the most, 
they also represent an opportunity. "To address climate change, we must 
make gender equity a reality. And in the face of a seemingly impossible 
challenge, women and girls are a fierce source of possibility," 
Wilkinson says. She and her team at the nonprofit Project Drawdown have 
been studying the real-world steps people can take to fix climate 
change, resulting in a best-selling 2017 book highlighting the top 100 
solutions to reverse warming.

Her argument is that if women are empowered in three distinct ways, the 
downstream effects on the environment will make a huge difference in the 
fight for climate change. She argues that if women were treated more 
equally professionally, they'd have fewer kids and the land they farm 
would be more efficient, all of which would help save the planet.

"Women are the primary farmers of the world," Wilkinson says. They 
produce 60 to 80 percent of the food in lower-income countries, she 
says, on small plots. These farmers are known as "smallholders."

Yet due to local laws and entrenched biases, women farmers are given 
fewer resources and support from their governments, and they have fewer 
rights to their own land. For example, in some countries women are not 
allowed to own their own land, which makes it impossible for them to use 
the land as collateral for a loan to buy farming equipment. In other 
places, women are are not able to borrow money without a man's 
signature. These restrictions hamper their ability to run their farms 
efficiently, leading to lower yields.

This is a problem not just for their earning potential, but for the 
Earth. Every year, humans clear-cut forests to create more agriculture 
land to grow crops to feed the world's growing population. In turn, this 
deforestation increases the rate of climate change.

Instead of clear-cutting new land, why not work to make the existing 
farms run by women more efficient? "Close that gap and farm yields rise 
by 20 to 30 percent," says Wilkinson. "Support women smallholders, 
realize higher yields, avoid deforestation, and sustain the life-giving 
power of forests." If women's farms yielded as much on average as farms 
run by men across the world, it would stop approximately 2 billion tons 
of CO2 from entering the atmosphere between now and 2050. "That's on par 
with the impact household recycling can have globally," she says.

Besides addressing inequality in agriculture, Wilkinson says giving 
women access to high-quality voluntary reproductive health care would 
have tremendous benefit for the climate.

"Curbing growth of our human population is a side effect," she says -- 
one that would reduce global emissions. Do that by making birth control 
and medical care more available to women across the world.

And do it by educating women. Wilkinson notes that more than 130 million 
women worldwide are denied access to school. Yet the more education a 
woman attains, the fewer children she has. From a conservation 
perspective, empowering women to have smaller families is an objectively 
positive outcome. "The right to go to school effects how many human 
beings live on this planet," says Wilkinson.

With these three changes -- empowerment of women farmers, increased 
global access to family planning, and the right to an education -- 
Wilkinson and her team at Project Drawdown predict that by midcentury, 
improving gender equality could equal 1 billion fewer people on Earth.

"Gender equity is on par with wind turbines and solar panels and 
forests," Wilkinson says, adding, "This does not mean women and girls 
are responsible for fixing everything. But we probably will."
https://grist.org/article/heres-a-way-to-fight-climate-change-empower-women/


[comedic attack on Trump about climate]
*Colbert Monologue Touches on Grim Climate Facts 
<https://climatecrocks.com/2018/12/09/colbert-monologue-touches-on-grim-climate-facts/>*
December 9, 2018
This pirate vid is up for now, includes the whole monologue from the 
other night that I couldn't find on the Late Show channel - they chose 
to omit some of the more gallows humor on climate, apparently.
https://climatecrocks.com/2018/12/09/colbert-monologue-touches-on-grim-climate-facts/


*This Day in Climate History - December 10, 2008 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaGun1X8E2s> - from D.R. Tucker*
December 10, 2008: On MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," Brian Hardwick 
of the Alliance for Climate Protection denounces a 
borderline-blasphemous holiday marketing campaign by the coal industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaGun1X8E2s
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