[TheClimate.Vote] December 31, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest -

[Richard Pauli]

/December 31, 2018/

[Happy New Year as NBC catches up--better late than never]
*Meet the Press Devotes Hour to Climate. Proof that Shame works?*
December 30, 2018
*NBC full show*- 
https://www.nbc.com/meet-the-press/video/meet-the-press-1230/3850857
*YouTube 10 minute summary* - https://youtu.be/TDSsU5kukZc
Immediately after the dire National Climate Assessment projections were 
released a few weeks ago, NBC's Chuck Todd gave his Meet the Press 
national forum to a climate denier - a choice so drearily sad and 
familiar that it awakened a sense of shame and outrage that was loud 
enough, and long enough - to bring about an attempt to make good.
Today's MTP featured a full hour on climate. 20 years late, but it's a 
start.
Below,...non-scientist denial shill.
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1066711193170124800
John Whitehouse @existentialfish
Right-wing panelist on Meet the Press on climate change: "I'm not a 
scientist ... We need to also recognize we had two of the coldest years, 
biggest drop in global temperatures that we have had since the 1980s, 
the biggest in the last 100 years. We don't talk about that."
- - -
NBC Meet the Press
https://www.nbc.com/meet-the-press/video/meet-the-press-1230/3850857
- -
[YouTube 10 mins]
*How do we explain the urgency of climate change? - Meet The Press - NBC 
News*
NBC News Published on Dec 30, 2018
Dr. Kate Marvel, NBC's Anne Thompson, Craig Fugate, Michele Flournoy and 
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) join the panel in a special edition of Meet 
the Press to discuss how to get Americans to understand the urgency, and 
the cost, of climate change. https://youtu.be/TDSsU5kukZc


[new hope]
*How Can 2019 Bring Us Hope For a Healthy Climate Future?*
by Felix Kramer, Dec 28th, 2018
As 2018 ends, our climate expectations are complicated and uncertain. 
For me, after working and volunteering on climate awareness and 
solutions for 15 years, my outlook has improved.

In July I woke up and said, "Maybe we're not doomed!" How about you?

This fall's big reports -- the IPCC 1.5C Report, National Climate 
Assessment, and Arctic Report Card -- confirm that the effects of 
climate change are all around us. They say get ready for ever worsening 
climate-influenced extreme weather.

Two bookend events, September's Global Climate Action Summit and 
December's COP24 international conference, show strong global 
commitments to achieve the Paris Agreement's goals -- even as we 
recognize how far we are from being on track.

In contrast, the National Academy of Sciences Negative Emissions 
Technologies report previews many natural and technical solutions we've 
barely begun to evaluate or demonstrate. They point to the idea that we 
can actually solve climate change.

Meanwhile, 15-year old Greta Thunberg from Sweden inspired global 
student walkouts, when she said, "Since our leaders are behaving like 
children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken 
long ago."

Now we're seeing thrilling headlines from passionate and strategic small 
groups including (alphabetically) the Climate Mobilization, Extinction 
Rebellion, and the Sunrise Movement.  At last, people are standing up to 
say they're putting their own lives on the line. They're asking their 
communities, leaders, and countries to recognize we're in a climate 
emergency and finally end business as usual.

We hope soon that activists in these groups -- and in larger more 
established organizations -- will start to spread the word about hopeful 
solutions to actually restore our climate. They'll help us imagine going 
beyond avoiding the worst consequences we're now heading for. They might 
dare to ask and work for what we all really want -- a safe, just, and 
flourishing world!

The next step is for the Green New Deal for the incoming U.S. Congress, 
whose message and calls are still being shaped, to go far beyond getting 
off fossil fuels and protecting communities at risk. It can show how 
millions of us can ensure our future health and build our prosperity. 
Could such a message even be nonpartisan? Looking to 2020, we'll be able 
to ask every candidate and incumbent to commit to actions for a healthy 
climate.

Those are the big global and national stories. Back home, California can 
continue to break new ground on climate solutions. Could we see a 
Central Valley Carbon Project?

I take heart locally from the multitudes of people working on climate 
change. And from an emerging community centered on reversing global 
warming, and restoring our climate. It gained credibility and momentum 
from Drawdown, which incubated here. Now I"m strategic advisor to a new 
organization, the Healthy Climate Alliance (HCA), that focuses entirely 
on those goals.

And a diverse "carbontech" ecosystem is creating projects and building 
businesses to remove carbon. At its center is Manylabs, with over 1,000 
people in its Emerging Climate Technology Meetup group, and hundreds 
sharing information on Slack. Manylabs hosts HCA's Bay Area Climate 
Restoration Initiatives directory, highlighting dozens of projects, 
organizations, and companies where people are getting started to draw 
down carbon. We're inviting very successful entrepreneurs to see 
restoring our climate as their most compelling startup opportunity ever.

Ask climate activists, entrepreneurs, public and private 
thought-leaders, and many will tell you we're at a turning point. Hope 
is the missing ingredient. It will make all the difference. It will fuel 
our heartfelt urgency, not with fear, dread, and desperation, but with 
happy visions of a climate restored to health.
https://www.triplepundit.com/2018/12/can-2019-bring-hope-healthy-climate-future/


[2 minute video analysis ]
*2019 Forecast: Economic Impact of Climate Change*
University of Michigan - Published on Dec 13, 2018
Andy Hoffman, professor of management and organizations at the Ross 
School of Business and professor of environment and sustainability at 
the School for Environment and Sustainability, studies the relationship 
between environmental issues and organizations.
https://youtu.be/hljxn7NQ7t8


[classic video briefing on climate modeling]
*How Climate Scientists Predict the Future*
SciShow - Published on Nov 15, 2017
Over the years, scientists have made a lot of predictions about how 
Earth's climate is changing, but they don't just pull those predictions 
from thin air.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9EyFghIt5o


[video news from DownUnder]
*Extreme December Weather Footage Australia, U.S., Russia, Phillipines*
https://youtu.be/x1xtWTuu3dQ


[The Spinoff]
*From climate delusion to Taylor Swift to Rocket Lab: NZ scientists' 
2018 revelations*
https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/29-12-2018/2018-science-revelations/


[Why can't Republicans speak for themselves?]
*More Republicans Than You Think Support Action on Climate Change*
New polls suggest Republicans' views on global warming may be at a 
tipping point.

By Arlie Hochschild is a sociologist. David Hochschild is a member of 
the California Energy Commission.

Democrats and Republicans have clashed fiercely on many issues -- the 
Mueller investigation, immigration, gun control -- but can the two 
parties come together on climate change, the biggest issue of all?

Most analysts say no. After all, since President Trump took office, the 
terms "global warming" and "climate change" have been expunged from some 
government websites. Mr. Trump says his  "very high level of 
intelligence" has led him to reject the findings of 13 federal agencies, 
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the World 
Meteorological Organization.

But how many of his fellow Republicans agree? If we compare the extremes 
in each party -- liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans -- as 
the media often does, the split is clear. But if we compare all 
Republicans with all Democrats, we see a new and encouraging overlap.
- - -
Should the United States require fossil fuel companies to pay a carbon 
tax and use the money to reduce other taxes (such as income tax) by an 
equal amount? Eighty-four percent of Democrats and 56 percent of 
Republicans said yes.

Asked, "When there's a conflict between environmental protection and 
economic growth, which do you think is more important?" 85 percent of 
Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans said that environmental 
protection should come first.

The survey also found that majorities in both parties think the 
government should fund research into solar and wind energy, offer tax 
rebates to those buying energy-efficient vehicles and solar panels, and 
encourage schools to teach children about the causes and consequences of 
global warming, and potential solutions. A majority of Democrats and 
Republicans believe the United States should participate in the Paris 
climate accord and reduce greenhouse gas emissions regardless of what 
other countries do.

A study conducted in June by Stanford, ABC News and Resources for the 
Future uncovered a similar trend. It found that 66 percent of 
Republicans believe the increase in temperature is "mostly or partly 
caused by humans." Another poll, released last month by Monmouth 
University in New Jersey, found that most Republicans now support action 
on climate change.
- - -
So while Americans have been focusing on the split between Democrats and 
Republicans, the more important gap may now be between Republican voters 
and the leaders they elected.
Unpredictable weather is not new, of course, but recent events are 
making climate change harder than ever to ignore, let alone deny. Over 
the past two years, wildfires have burned nearly three million acres in 
California, while hurricanes have battered the Southeast with increasing 
intensity.

The smoking ruins of Paradise, Calif., and Houston's flooded homes, are 
as shocking and devastating, in their own ways, as the tragedy of Sept. 
11. Climate change is a different kind of emergency. It does not occur 
on a single day, and no one person gave the order. But in the long run 
its impact will be greater. It's time for us to join hands across party 
lines to address it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/29/opinion/sunday/republicans-climate-change-polls.html


[from DeSmogBlog]
*2018 Was a Year of Deadly Climate Disasters and an 'Ear Splitting 
Wake-Up Call'*
https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/28/year-deadly-climate-disasters-ear-splitting-wake-call-scientists
- - -
[from DeSmogBlog UK]
*Climate Heroes and Villains of 2018*
https://www.desmog.co.uk/2018/12/20/climate-heroes-and-villains-2018


[Beckwith video part 4]
*Arctic Darkening from Spring Snow Cover Loss Exceeds Sea-Ice Loss 
Effect: Part 4
*Paul Beckwith
Published on Dec 30, 2018
Recently released by NOAA, the Arctic Report Card 2018 details profound 
changes underway in the Arctic from rapid temperature increases.
"What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic." Quote: 
Beckwith, 2009
Many people know that accelerating sea-ice loss (12-13% per decade in 
September's) is darkening the region leading to Temperature 
Amplification. However, darkening from loss of terrestrial snow cover in 
Spring (23% per decade in June) is an even larger effect, and is rapidly 
accelerating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNRIsCqv5yY
- - *
*[classic lecture on the Arctic changes]
*Extreme Weather and the Arctic Meltdown - Jennifer Francis*
GlobalClimateNews - Published on Apr 28, 2018
Climate models for the future of our global weather.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaO1RVIjA40
- -
[Important vocabulary]
*Glossary - Blue Ocean Event *
A blue ocean event means a complete absence of Arctic sea ice, allowing 
the heat of the sun to fully penetrate the open waters of the Arctic, 
which would then dramatically accelerate the rate of warming in the 
Arctic.May 14, 2016.
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php?topic=1542.0

*
*

[Heros at the bar]
***2018 in Climate Liability: When a Trend Became a Wave*
By Dana Drugmand - December 30, 2018
Climate liability lawsuits exploded onto the world stage in 2018--a year 
that began with New York City suing five oil majors and ended with 
France facing a potential lawsuit for failing to make climate progress 
and the European Parliament announcing a probe into ExxonMobil's 
decades-long climate misinformation campaign.

 From litigation to investigations, the strategies for holding the 
world's biggest carbon polluters, including governments and 
corporations, accountable for climate damage are diverse and growing. 
They include suits to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the 
climate damage done by burning their products and force them to pay for 
the costs of those damages. Others are trying to require governments to 
strengthen climate policies to protect their citizens. And new avenues 
are being opened, including human rights arguments and even an industry 
imperiled by climate change taking on the fossil fuel industry. 
Together, they are creating optimism among climate activists that legal 
channels can make progress in fighting the climate crisis.

"It's clear that this is a genie that neither the governments nor the 
companies can put back in the bottle at this point," said Carroll 
Muffett, president of the Center for International Environmental Law.

*2018: A Cascade of Climate Cases*
The year was marked by a proliferation of legal action against fossil 
fuel companies and governments around the world. "What was remarkable in 
2018 was the rapid acceleration in the number of cases," Muffett said.

In the U.S., more than a dozen cities and counties--and one state--have 
filed lawsuits demanding the fossil fuel industry help cover the costs 
of increasingly severe climate impacts like sea level rise, more intense 
drought and more damaging extreme weather.

"Local governments continued to file suits for damages against fossil 
fuel companies as well as the first such suit filed by a state and a 
similar suit filed by commercial fishermen," said Dena Adler, climate 
law fellow at Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. 
"We saw the first dismissals of such suits in federal court, appeals of 
those dismissals, and are still waiting for initial decisions from a 
number of courts."

New York City made waves when city officials announced on Jan. 10 that 
the city was not only divesting its public pensions from fossil fuels, 
but also suing Big Oil. It was the first municipal climate liability 
suit to emerge from outside of California, and it had a ripple effect.

More suits quickly followed from Richmond, Calif.; the city and county 
of Boulder and San Miguel County, Colo.; King County, Wash.; and 
Baltimore. Rhode Island also sued fossil fuel companies in July, 
becoming the first state to do so. And in November, a West Coast 
commercial fishing association filed a climate suit of its own against 
oil companies, setting up the first industry vs. industry battle.

These suits are all ongoing. The NYC case and a suit brought by Oakland 
and San Francisco ran into early stumbling blocks as both were dismissed 
in federal court, but the cities are appealing. The judge who dismissed 
Oakland's and San Francisco's cases notably held a climate science 
tutorial in March that forced the oil companies to acknowledge climate 
change in a courtroom for the first time.

The state of New York is also suing Exxon for misleading investors about 
the business risks of climate change. The suit was filed by New York 
Attorney General Barbara Underwood in October following more than three 
years of investigating the company. The suit claims the company 
defrauded its own investors by overstating the value of the company's 
assets in a carbon-constrained world.

*Taking on Governments*
Other climate lawsuits instead have targeted governments for either 
failing to enact effective policies to combat climate change or for 
enabling the continued reliance on fossil fuels. These suits have 
emerged around the globe, with a surge in suits this year in Europe and 
North America.

The ongoing youth-led climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, faced 
numerous hurdles and ended the year on hold as the Ninth Circuit Court 
of Appeals agreed to consider an extraordinary interlocutory appeal. 
That was a significant victory for the Trump administration, which had 
been relentlessly trying to have the case thrown out before it could 
proceed to trial. The Supreme Court issued a brief stay, then revoked 
it, and the Ninth Circuit rejected the government's four requests for a 
writ of mandamus, an extremely rare pre-trial appeal, but its most 
recent decision keeps the proceedings on hold.

Meanwhile, youth plaintiffs supported by Our Children's Trust, the same 
legal activist organization steering the federal case, brought new 
state-level lawsuits in Washington, Florida and Alaska. State judges 
dismissed the cases in Alaska and Washington, but both sets of 
plaintiffs are appealing.

Canada and Latin America also saw youth bring climate lawsuits in 2018. 
Recently, the Quebec-based environmental education group ENvironnement 
JEUnesse initiated a class-action lawsuit against the Canadian 
government on behalf of all Quebec citizens under 35. Earlier, a group 
of 25 youth plaintiffs supported by the organization Dejusticia sued the 
Colombian government claiming it is violating their fundamental rights 
by allowing deforestation. Colombia's Supreme Court ruled on April 5 in 
favor of the youth plaintiffs and ordered the government to implement a 
plan to halt deforestation in the Colombian Amazon.

Climate litigation may have gained its most significant traction in 
Europe, thanks to a landmark appeals court ruling in October holding the 
Dutch government responsible for cutting emissions to protect its 
citizens. That decision, by the Hague Court of Appeals upheld the 
initial historic verdict of 2015 in Urgenda Foundation v. The 
Netherlands that ordered the government of the Netherlands to live up to 
its promise to cut emissions 25 percent by 2020. While the Dutch 
government said it remains committed to those promises, it continues to 
argue in its latest appeal to its Supreme Court that courts should not 
have the power to enforce those promises.

"It remains to be seen what the Dutch Supreme Court does with it, but 
for now it represents the first and so far only judicial decision that 
imposes a duty on government, based on human rights law, to take action 
to reduce emissions by a specified amount," said Vermont Law School 
Professor Patrick Parenteau, adding that the October decision of the 
Dutch Court of Appeals might be the high point of the year for climate 
change litigation.

In the wake of Urgenda's success, other European suits have tried 
similar approaches.

A group of 10 families from six countries brought a lawsuit dubbed the 
"People's Climate Case" against the European Union in May, arguing the 
EU's current target to reduce carbon emissions 40 percent below 1990 
levels by 2030 is not enough to protect their rights to life, health, 
occupation, and property. The case is proceeding as the EU General Court 
officially accepted the case in August.

Germany and France are also facing suits challenging their lack of 
progress on cutting emissions. Other cases against the governments of 
Norway and the United Kingdom were dismissed but are being appealed.

Another major development of the past year was the investigation by the 
Philippines Commission on Human Rights into potential human rights 
violations by 47 fossil fuel companies for their role in climate change. 
The commission held hearings around the world in 2018 and will issue a 
report on its findings by June 2019.

*What's Ahead in 2019: Cases Move to the Merits*
Environmental law experts say the year ahead will bring both key 
decisions in pending cases and will bring important evidence to the 
public. "That's going to be the real sea change in this work in 2019," 
Muffett said. "The findings from the Philippines are going to come out, 
and more of these cases are going to move from the procedural battles to 
actually engaging on the merits."

The Juliana v. United States plaintiffs are hoping their case finally 
goes to trial in 2019. "My government has refused to be accountable to 
future generations and has actively tried to evade this lawsuit for 
three years," said 19-year-old plaintiff Vic Barrett. "The country that 
prides itself in its freedom, bravery, and strength has been running 
away from a group of young people armed with the truth."

Whether this case sees the courtroom will be the first big decision to 
watch for in 2019, Parenteau said.

The liability suits targeting fossil fuel companies are also in a 
procedural battle that should be decided in the coming months. The Ninth 
Circuit Court of Appeals will decide in a consolidated set of California 
municipal cases whether federal or state courts are the proper venue for 
the issue. "There's at least a 50-50 chance those cases will get sent 
back to state court for what promises to be the real trial of the 
century in terms of the evidence that will be adduced, the legal talent 
that will be on display, and the amount of money at stake," Parenteau said.

The communities are fighting to have these cases decided by state courts 
using state law, widely considered a more likely route to success. 
That's because federal court have traditionally ruled that the executive 
and legislative branches of government are responsible for climate 
policy--as they did in dismissing the suits by New York, San Francisco 
and Oakland--and that remedies should be sought through the 
Environmental Protection Agency. If the California suits stay in 
California courts, That decision, Adler said, it will impact other carry 
sway in whether more communities considering file similar suits.

One case scheduled to go to trial in 2019 is the investor fraud case 
against Exxon, slated to begin on October 23. It is a high-profile case 
that could garner a lot of attention. It's based on New York's Martin 
Act, which gives the state unusual power to hold companies accountable 
for securities fraud, but experts say it will reverberate beyond that state.

"It has relevance to the core element in all of the public nuisance 
cases re: what the oil companies knew and what they did to deceive the 
public and stymie efforts to mitigate the harm," Parenteau said.

Muffett agreed, saying "Lots of evidence will go into the record leading 
up to that trial. I think that's going to ripple across jurisdictions 
here in the U.S. and around the world."

Muffett said that while the New York case rests on claims that Exxon 
misled investors, another attorney general-led case from Massachusetts 
is looking into whether Exxon also misled consumers. An appeal is 
currently before the Supreme Court as Exxon has failed to have it 
dismissed in Massachusetts state courts.

"If the Massachusetts investigation moves forward, then we're no longer 
talking about how Exxon misled investors," Muffett said. "We're going to 
start seeing documents about how Exxon misled consumers and the public. 
That is a much wider audience and a much vaster universe of victims and 
of potential plaintiffs. I think that case is really one to watch closely."

*The Global Outlook*
Internationally, several cases have the potential to create momentum in 
the liability movement. A case involving a Peruvian farmer suing a 
German electric utility company over its greenhouse gas emissions is 
proceeding into the evidentiary phase after an appeals court accepted 
the farmer's claim. That case is unique in that it considers climate 
impacts far from the source of the emissions, and the German court 
agreeing to hear it was a significant development in the field.

In Ireland, citizens supported by the organization Friends of the Irish 
Environment will see their lawsuit against the Irish government proceed 
to court for a full hearing starting Jan. 22. Parenteau, who has spent 
the past semester on a Fulbright fellowship at Ireland's University 
College Cork, said Irish legal experts believe the case faces steep odds 
of succeeding in ordering the government to take specific action. 
"Something good could come of it," he said. "Ireland is the first nation 
to enact a law requiring fossil fuel divestment. But it is way off 
target on emissions reductions … and is due to see significant rise in 
CO2 unless serious steps are taken."

Another hearing that will generate much attention will be the European 
Parliament's look into the alleged climate misinformation campaign 
staged by Exxon and other fossil fuel companies. That brings the 
American-style liability campaign to a new continent and a significant 
parliamentary body.

2019 could also see the first lawsuit filed by nations most vulnerable 
to climate change against large carbon-emitting nations and/or against 
fossil fuel companies. The Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is asking 
other small island states to join it in a climate liability lawsuit. "I 
think that speaks to both the sense of urgency and to the growing 
diversity that we're seeing in this litigation," Muffett said.

Overall, the next year will likely be filled with new developments in 
climate liability litigation and investigations. Big decisions will be 
made and new suits may be filed.

According to Parenteau, the outbreak of climate lawsuits that 
characterized 2018 and will likely continue in 2019 is not at all 
surprising. "Of course the defendants should have seen it coming. Many 
did and have been girding for the long battle to come in court, in 
Congress, in elections and referenda, and of course in the media," he 
said. "The battle for Planet Earth is well underway and the outcome is 
very much in doubt."
SHARE THIS: 
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/12/30/2018-climate-liability/


*This Day in Climate History - December 31, 2013 - from D.R. Tucker*
December 31, 2013: The Guardian also reports:

"Temperature rises resulting from unchecked climate change will be
at the severe end of those projected, according to a new scientific
study.

"The scientist leading the research said that unless emissions of
greenhouse gases were cut, the planet would heat up by a minimum of
4C by 2100, twice the level the world's governments deem dangerous.

"The research indicates that fewer clouds form as the planet warms,
meaning less sunlight is reflected back into space, driving
temperatures up further still. The way clouds affect global warming
has been the biggest mystery surrounding future climate change."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/31/planet-will-warm-4c-2100-climate?view=desktop
http://youtu.be/1YytqEeS6f4
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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