[TheClimate.Vote] November 15, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Thu Nov 15 07:16:32 EST 2018
/November 15, 2018/
[Politics restarting]
*Climate activists to Nancy Pelosi: go big or we won't go home
<https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/11/14/18094452/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-nancy-pelosi-protest-climate-change-2020>*
The struggle is on for control of the long-term Democratic climate agenda.
By David Roberts - Nov 14, 2018
On Tuesday, close to 200 climate activists crowded into the Capitol
Building offices of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who will
re-assume the position of House speaker when the new Congress is sworn
in come January.
The activists called on Pelosi to lead Democrats in developing an
ambitious, comprehensive plan to address climate change -- a Green New
Deal. Halfway through the protest, rising Democratic star and Rep.-elect
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited to show her support, which drew a
torrent of media coverage...
- - -
But now the 78 percent of Americans who say they support a clean energy
transition have something to rally around. Now there is an actual left
flank on climate change, a coalition of civic groups and elected
officials who take the IPCC's warning -- that we have only 12 years left
to take transformative action on climate change -- seriously.
And like it or not, having a left flank will inevitably mean that
Democrats in positions of power come under pressure and suffer criticism.
"Today's Republican Party is an organized alliance between fossil fuel
billionaires and white supremacists. They must be stopped, and we are
not confused about this in the least," says Weber. "Stopping the
Republican Party does not mean unconditionally supporting everything
that Democrats do; to the contrary, it means fighting for the party to
lead vocally and unapologetically on issues that matter to the majority
of Americans."
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/11/14/18094452/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-nancy-pelosi-protest-climate-change-2020
- - - -
[more Climate politics]
*A Democrat Ran on Climate Change in a Republican Stronghold--and Won
<https://newrepublic.com/article/152176/democrat-ran-climate-change-republican-strongholdand-won>*
Sean Casten's win in Illinois's 6th Congressional District is a lesson
for the Democratic Party.
By EMILY ATKIN
November 12, 2018
If Sean Casten had talked about climate change once during his campaign,
that would have been more than most Democrats running for Congress. But
Casten didn't talk about climate change just once, or even merely ten or
twenty times, as he sought to flip Illinois 6th Congressional District
from red to blue. He made it the center of his entire campaign.
"After years fighting climate change as an entrepreneur, I'm now
determined to fight it as the next member of Congress," reads Casten's
Twitter bio, updated to reflect his victory on Tuesday. A scientist,
environmental writer, and the founder of a successful renewable energy
business, Casten talked repeatedly about global warming on the campaign
trail and regularly called out his opponent--six-term incumbent
Republican Representative Peter Roskam--for being weak on the subject.
Casten's focus on climate was mostly overlooked in the widespread
coverage of his five-point upset of Roskam, who once referred to climate
change as "junk science." But it's an important factor, considering the
Democratic Party's prevailing logic on the subject. Knowing that global
warming can be a polarizing issue, most Democrats running in red or
purple districts this year strategically avoided talking about it. They
feared, according to The New York Times, that "highlighting climate
change risks handing conservative voters a motivating issue to turn out
against them."
So why didn't Casten heed that logic in Illinois' 6th, given that it's
been in Republican hands for more than 40 years?
"I've never run for any office before," Casten told me in a Friday phone
interview. "But what I have done is spent the last 20 years doing
something about climate change. So I wasn't going to suddenly turn into
a different beast on the day I ran for office." He said he didn't
receive any warnings from Democratic Party officials about his campaign
platform. "I think its a misconception that the party controls
messaging," he said.
Casten's professional background likely helped his case for voters, as
he's proven that reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be economically
profitable. The business he founded in 2007, Recycled Energy Development
LLC, focuses on improving the efficiency of energy production. "I've
found that, if I tried to convince people to address climate change for
purely environment reasons, that was hard," he said. "But running on
climate change as an economic opportunity is a fantastic can-opener."
Get the latest from TNR. Sign up for the newsletter.
The district's unique voter makeup also likely contributed to his
success. As ThinkProgress noted in an August profile, Illinois' 6th
"covers an area that includes people who work for two different national
laboratories, Fermilab and Argonne National Lab." "It's a very
highly-educated, scientifically minded set of voters," Casten told
ThinkProgress. "They are people who value facts, and are generally
pretty centrist--bipartisan--in their world view."
There was another reason to believe Casten's message might resonate with
voters: Hillary Clinton won the district in 2016. Even so, it was an
undoubtedly risky strategy in trying to flip a seat held by Republicans
for nearly half a century. Could it be that Democrats' prevailing logic
on global warming--that talking about it is political suicide--is wrong?
Casten isn't sure, but he hopes so. "The idea of the businesses I've ran
was that the scale of climate change was too big for one company to
solve--but if we made money, maybe other people would follow," he said.
"So if that translates to politics, and the run-out of a six-term
climate denier makes Democrats want to run on that in 2020, that'd be
pretty awesome."
And even if polling doesn't suggest that it's a winning message, that
shouldn't discourage Democrats from talking boldly about solving climate
change, Casten argued. It's the government's duty to solve societal
problems, even ones that much of the citizenry denies or
ignores--perhaps especially those ones. "This isn't a question of
polling well, it's a question of how do you change public opinion,"
Casten said. "That's what leadership is--not to follow public opinion,
but to shape it."
Emily Atkin is a staff writer at The New Republic. @emorwee
https://newrepublic.com/article/152176/democrat-ran-climate-change-republican-strongholdand-won
[in fire your faith will be repaid]
*California’s wildfires are hardly “natural” — humans made them worse at
every step
<https://www.vox.com/2018/8/7/17661096/california-wildfires-2018-camp-woolsey-climate-change>*
We fuel them. We build next to them. We ignite them.
video https://youtu.be/OerszexsuLw
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/7/17661096/california-wildfires-2018-camp-woolsey-climate-change
[time to review the academic studies]
Natural forests that are not "managed" do better when there are fires:
*Does increased forest protection correspond to higher fire severity in
frequent‐fire forests of the western United States?
<https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.1492>*
Curtis M. Bradley Chad T. Hanson Dominick A. DellaSala
First published: 26 October 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1492
Abstract
There is a widespread view among land managers and others that the
protected status of many forestlands in the western United States
corresponds with higher fire severity levels due to historical
restrictions on logging that contribute to greater amounts of
biomass and fuel loading in less intensively managed areas,
particularly after decades of fire suppression. This view has led to
recent proposals--both administrative and legislative--to reduce or
eliminate forest protections and increase some forms of logging
based on the belief that restrictions on active management have
increased fire severity. We investigated the relationship between
protected status and fire severity using the Random Forests
algorithm applied to 1500 fires affecting 9.5 million hectares
between 1984 and 2014 in pine (Pinus ponderosa, Pinus jeffreyi) and
mixed‐conifer forests of western United States, accounting for key
topographic and climate variables. We found forests with higher
levels of protection had lower severity values even though they are
generally identified as having the highest overall levels of biomass
and fuel loading. Our results suggest a need to reconsider current
overly simplistic assumptions about the relationship between forest
protection and fire severity in fire management and policy.
Introduction
It is a widely held assumption among federal land management agencies
and others that a lack of active forest management of some federal
forestlands--especially within relatively frequent‐fire forest types
such as ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and mixed conifers--is
associated with higher levels of fire severity when wildland fires occur
(USDA Forest Service 2004, 2014, 2015, 2016). This prevailing
forest/fire management hypothesis assumes that forests with higher
levels of protection, and therefore less logging, will burn more
intensely due to higher fuel loads and forest density. Recommendations
have been made to increase logging as fuel reduction and decrease forest
protections before wildland fire can be more extensively reintroduced on
the landscape after decades of fire suppression (USDA Forest Service
2004, 2014, 2015, 2016). The concern follows that, in the absence of
such a shift in forest management, fires are burning too severely and
may adversely affect forest resilience (North et al. 2009, 2015,
Stephens et al. 2013, 2015, Hessburg 2016). Nearly every fire season,
the United States Congress introduces forest management legislation
based on this view and aimed at increasing mechanical fuel treatments
via intensive logging and weakened forest protections.
However, the fundamental premise for this fire management strategy has
not been rigorously tested across broad regions. We broadly assessed the
influence of forest protection levels on fire severity in pine and
mixed‐conifer forests of the western United States with relatively
frequent‐fire regimes to test this assumption. We used vegetation burn
severity data from all fires (greater than) 405 ha over a three‐decade
period, 1984-2014, in forests with varying levels of protection.
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.1492
[Important consequence - Like a self-licking ice cream cone]
*Permafrost Melt Fires may Accelerate Greenland Melt
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMydM-ffyx8>*
Climate State
Published on Nov 14, 2018
Dr. Nikolaos Evangeliou on climate change and wildfires (Oslo, August
2018). Evangeliou works at NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research
http://nilu.no
"If larger fires would burn, they would actually have a substantial
impact on melting," Stohl said. And, there's a greater chance of such
fires, if more of Greenland's permafrost melts and exposes peat --which
is actually the early-stage material used in coal formation, and so it
burns easily.
https://www.livescience.com/62297-greenland-biggest-wildfire-warning-sign.html
Original release via Cicero Klima, Temporal patterns and tendencies of
wildfires in relation to changing climate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ5xJFtzREc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMydM-ffyx8
- - -
[Activism Nov. 14th Sen Nancy Pelosi]
. at Ocasio2018 joins @SunriseMvmt in pounding on Pelosi's door for
#GreenNewDeal to #ActOnClimate
<https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/13/1812543/--Ocasio2018-joins-SunriseMvmt-in-pounding-on-Pelosi-s-door-for-GreenNewDeal-to-ActOnClimate>
This morning, hundreds of young people are taking action in DC to
deliver our climate demands to the newly elected Congress. The newest
science tells us we have just 12 years to transform society and our
economy to stop climate change. But recent comments have surfaced
showing that Dem leaders have no intention of fighting for a real
climate plan anytime soon.
We're on Capitol Hill taking action this morning because the only thing
standing in the way of a just future is the failure of political
leadership. Our demand is simple:
Champion a Green Jobs for All platform
to guarantee a job to anyone who wants one transforming our society over
the next decade to stop climate change and protect the lives of all
working people - black, brown, and white - from the ravages of disaster
and pollution.
Young people just helped flip the House with a record turnout. We can no
longer tolerate empty promises and words without action. We're not
expecting miracles; we understand that the GOP is corrupted by dirty oil
money and will stall us at every turn. Sweeping change might not be
possible until Trump is gone - but we need to start laying the
groundwork now. Thanks for your help - we'll be back in touch with more
to share soon.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/13/1812543/--Ocasio2018-joins-SunriseMvmt-in-pounding-on-Pelosi-s-door-for-GreenNewDeal-to-ActOnClimate
[Activism Nov 15th]
*BEYOND EXTREME ENERGY <https://beyondextremeenergy.org/>*
No new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure. Renewable energy NOW.
*STOP MCNAMEE ACTION!*
November 15th, Washington DC
Register here: https://bit.ly/2OfUHtf
On November 15 in the US Senate, coal-loving, climate denier Bernard
McNamee will appear for a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee. If Donald Trump gets his way, this will be the
first step on a path to his soon becoming a commissioner at FERC, the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Beyond Extreme Energy and allies will also be at the hearing, and we
urge you to consider joining us. Lets cause a ruckus and STOP McNamee!
The Senators and the press who will be there need to see that there are
a lot of us who want McNamee to be voted down!
McNamee has been a longtime promoter of fossil fuels. In an op-ed for
The Hill newspaper, he wrote that fossil fuels had "dramatically
improved the human condition" - on Earth Day 2018 no less! And as the
head of the Department of Energy's Office of Policy, he worked on and
then defended in a Senate hearing Rick Perry's proposal for FERC to bail
out the coal and nuclear industries at the expense of renewables. This
plan was so obviously biased that even FERC voted 5-0 to deny it.
At three Senate hearings last year on FERC nominations, BXE members took
action. Some led to people being arrested, and others did not. That is
the general plan for this action. The key thing is that we have a good
turnout!...
https://beyondextremeenergy.org/
[this may be the first industry vs. industry suit]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 14, 2018
CONTACT: Noah Oppenheim, PCFFA, noah at ifrfish.org, 415-723-1801
*COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATION TAKES ON FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES
<https://www.sheredling.com/complaint-pcffa/>*
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations Files Lawsuit Over
Repeated Closures of West Coast Dungeness Crab Fishery
(San Francisco) - The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations (PCFFA), the West coast's largest commercial fishing
association, today filed a lawsuit to hold 30 fossil fuel companies
accountable for losses caused by four straight years of fishery closures
that have harmed crabbers, their businesses, their families, and local
communities in California and Oregon. The lawsuit was filed in
California State Superior Court in San Francisco asserting state law
claims, including negligence, defective product liability, nuisance, and
failure to warn about the dangers associated with products the fossil
fuel companies knew would cause, among other things, warming of the
oceans and atmosphere.
Americans are well aware of the damaging and sometimes catastrophic
effects of climate change. For crab fishermen, that means significant
portions of the Dungeness crab fishery have been closed repeatedly since
2015, including parts along the coast this year. The Dungeness crab
fishery contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy in
Oregon and California each year. But harmful algal blooms can cause a
buildup in crabs of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin that is a health
threat to people and an economic threat to the entire crab fishery. The
algal blooms and domoic acid flare-up's are linked to a warming of the
Pacific Ocean knowingly caused by the fossil fuel industry.
"We're taking a stand for the captains and crew, their families, and the
business owners that support the fleet," said Noah Oppenheim, PCFFA's
executive director. "The fossil fuel companies named in our lawsuit
knowingly caused harm, and they need to be held accountable. We are
seeking to implement measures, at the fossil fuel industry's expense,
that will help crabbers adapt to a world in which domoic acid flare-up's
will be increasingly common, and also help those crabbers who suffer
financial losses as a result."
The complaint states, in part:
Defendants have known for nearly 50 years that greenhouse gas pollution
from their fossil fuel products has a significant impact on Earth's
climate, including a warming of the oceans…. [PCFFA] represents
commercial Dungeness crab harvesters and onshore crab processors and
wholesalers that have suffered, and continue to suffer, substantial
economic losses due to those lost fishing opportunities. The severe
curtailment of the crab fishery, which is among the most productive,
lucrative, and reliable fisheries on the west coast, had damaging ripple
effects throughout California's and Oregon's fishing families and
communities, creating severe hardships that many fishermen and fishing
businesses, including Plaintiff's members, have struggled to overcome.
"We're out fishing all the time, and it's obvious the oceans are getting
warmer," said John Beardon, who fishes for Dungeness out of Crescent
City, CA. "That's bad for crabs and other fish, and it's bad for those
of us who make a living on the water. The last three years have been
really hard. Our community came together and held a fish fry to help our
crew members. But fish fries and disaster relief are no solution to
these closures we're now seeing year-after-year-after year."
A disaster relief appropriations package passed by Congress in 2018 will
aid affected crabbers, but it provides only partial relief, leaving a
substantial recovery gap.
There are nearly 1,000 Dungeness crab permits in California and Oregon,
and the crab fleet is responsible for thousands of jobs on the boats and
thousands more in the local businesses that support the fishery.
"The families and businesses in our coastal communities should not
have to bear the costs when fisheries are closed because of domoic acid
flare-up's linked to fossil fuel companies and global warming," said
PCFFA's Oppenheim. "In addition to seeking compensation from fossil fuel
companies for losses suffered by crabbers and others from those
closures, we're demanding these companies pay for additional measures
that will help mitigate future impacts. Those costs should not fall on
the shoulders of hardworking fishermen, first receivers, and their
families when the only reason they're needed is because of what the
fossil fuel companies have done."
Some measures that might be available after further testing and
development include:
· holding crabs in depuration tanks until they rid themselves of domoic
acid; and
· rapid testing kits that would allow crabs to be tested individually,
instantly, and affordably, enabling the marketing of clean crabs even
during a domoic acid flare-up.
---- 30 ----
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) is the
largest and most active trade association of commercial fishermen on the
West Coast. PCFFA has led the fishing industry in protecting the rights
of fishermen and fishing communities since 1976. We constantly fight for
the long-term survival of commercial fishing as a productive livelihood
and way of life.
6. Defendants have known for nearly 50 years that greenhouse gas
pollution from their
fossil fuel products has a significant impact on Earth's climate,
including a warming of the oceans.
Defendants' awareness of the negative implications of their own
behavior corresponds almost
exactly with the Great Acceleration, and with skyrocketing
greenhouse gas emissions. With that
knowledge, Defendants took steps to protect their own assets from
these threats through immense
internal investment in research, infrastructure improvements, and
plans to exploit new
opportunities in a warming world.
7. Instead of working to reduce the use and combustion of fossil
fuel products, lower
the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, minimize the damage associated
with continued high use
and combustion of such products, and ease the transition to a lower
carbon economy, Defendants
concealed the dangers, sought to undermine public support for
greenhouse gas regulation, and
engaged in massive campaigns to promote the ever-increasing use of
their products at ever greater
volumes. Thus, each Defendant's conduct has contributed
substantially to the buildup of CO2 in
the environment that drives ocean warming.
- - -
14. Defendants are directly responsible for a large and substantial
portion of total CO2
emissions between 1965 and 2015. For example, based on Defendants'
direct extractions of fossil
fuels, they are responsible for more than two hundred gigatons of
emissions representing over 15%
of total emissions of that potent greenhouse gas during that period.
Defendants are responsible for
significantly larger shares of emissions based on their production,
wholesale and retail sales of
their products. Accordingly, Defendants are directly responsible for
a substantial portion of
elevated ocean temperatures that caused the domoic acid
contamination on the west coast, which
in turn caused the substantial and material economic injuries
described herein.
Downloads/Links:
· *Full copy of the complaint
<http://email.prnewswire.com/wf/click?upn=mrW9aHhFe71WJxwxpgHxd7glOrCR6UvO8O1gTHIvUqQUXDxjhRuO4SCQJZzr7jjDh0bQ-2FfsqDhwhLxs5UhcIp4et8xEcqMMt2FihYUCggsT5XwmX-2FoxTQnlm39GJsnacstSFMvxf5a8P2DvqUMk3yhkXnKpHgkl14mjFjFqpkqD8Xc4uDu2PNAh949Wg4n50mRje9yIT39duOeEgtWQm0YphilhsyFooJdW2oaBM-2BeGTWqMP1AaGXhrVcwSq-2BSvf_Hcomczv99Nu1BylQX0x6o7hRHTkISn0xPG7FSzEECusvRTt2uQPr4AJaz4ASbVt0nKmS6Zw3DhiWzB3YjwCgU1u8wMiUEq1y6CZ8d0zKteGpFrXaikGGgNzvVt-2FFmgagO-2FuLPs29cXw1GTThgWuuZNFFsg2xsmCxHh3OmxCtWymaJzDW6t6wt1UVuZajfcLA-2FkcCQLb1nq868ZQzh-2BE6moNKVQjYQUl7bVzNzZNxNS9OSNn1cfZwi3ZEHAaVU1KhD4AL2iKaT9wqyYVUAWck-2FoDjE3lQNUUepRlzE75MnuxuYjnMsS6viDXehKHgdkXR>*
· Backgrounder
<http://email.prnewswire.com/wf/click?upn=mrW9aHhFe71WJxwxpgHxd7glOrCR6UvO8O1gTHIvUqQUXDxjhRuO4SCQJZzr7jjDh0bQ-2FfsqDhwhLxs5UhcIp4et8xEcqMMt2FihYUCggsT5XwmX-2FoxTQnlm39GJsnacstSFMvxf5a8P2DvqUMk3yhkXnKpHgkl14mjFjFqpkqD8Xc4uDu2PNAh949Wg4n50mRje9yIT39duOeEgtWQm0cGp5150y2YbsP-2BUn1-2F16TwDglq8sijsHxID81RyO-2Fk1_Hcomczv99Nu1BylQX0x6o7hRHTkISn0xPG7FSzEECusvRTt2uQPr4AJaz4ASbVt0nKmS6Zw3DhiWzB3YjwCgU1u8wMiUEq1y6CZ8d0zKteGpFrXaikGGgNzvVt-2FFmgagO-2FuLPs29cXw1GTThgWuuZNFFsg2xsmCxHh3OmxCtWyn79nQjMszMCCgTR5DVLCWMWiSLqI4pWK0JQk24X9jd6zcbuqA52It6BvVz6LrmgtoXFeCxp3vdGhp3iLqCcJqzbXQEnt0PT9r97azu-2Bml-2FIJFcquyGIWUK5PoXdyFFPm5nvmMmX0dvl6eYWCUsy8KX>
on the fossil fuel industry's role in warming oceans and crab fishery
closures
· Interactive timeline
<http://email.prnewswire.com/wf/click?upn=mrW9aHhFe71WJxwxpgHxd7glOrCR6UvO8O1gTHIvUqQUXDxjhRuO4SCQJZzr7jjDh0bQ-2FfsqDhwhLxs5UhcIp4et8xEcqMMt2FihYUCggsT5XwmX-2FoxTQnlm39GJsnacstSFMvxf5a8P2DvqUMk3yhkXnKpHgkl14mjFjFqpkqD8Xc4uDu2PNAh949Wg4n50mRje9yIT39duOeEgtWQm0QiiR7ilUSsgVy5co3hgufR7pFsN21JvYdR3oEGXGN5m_Hcomczv99Nu1BylQX0x6o7hRHTkISn0xPG7FSzEECusvRTt2uQPr4AJaz4ASbVt0nKmS6Zw3DhiWzB3YjwCgU1u8wMiUEq1y6CZ8d0zKteGpFrXaikGGgNzvVt-2FFmgagO-2FuLPs29cXw1GTThgWuuZNFFsg2xsmCxHh3OmxCtWylJxP5nPFbEdK-2Fp8g5noNBq2GW3gEjUAs9hJaYu9r3LTBXqJ3uMUlROEXi1AIgwUa-2Fo-2B8PcFurVSZr-2Fkvqxk-2B9GJIxqCrrfqr-2BGWhf6H2CVkLEDbwIO4B6Ui4qtmcIHFbTUfJ-2FyEG4Nnt-2F0f-2BJ2VpZC>
showing what the fossil fuel industry knew about the damage their
products would cause, when they knew it, and what they did (and didn't)
do about it.
- - -
[No, the first may have been in 2008]
*AES v. Steadfast - The First Climate Change Liability Coverage Battle
and the Future of Climate Change Coverage Disputes
<https://www.bna.com/aes-v-steadfast/?amp=true>*
...In a major victory for insurers, the Virginia Supreme Court held that
insurance companies do not have to defend utility companies accused of
intentional wrongdoing in connection with climate change liability
lawsuits...The decision in AES has important implications for both
insurers and companies with potential exposure to climate change-related
tort claims.
http://climatecasechart.com/case/steadfast-insurance-co-v-the-aes-corporation/
- - -
[next reckoning]
*As Wildfires Rage, California Faces the Next Reckoning: Costs
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/11/14/california-wildfires-costs-utilities/>*
But as insurance providers look to minimize losses--some are dropping
coverage for properties in high-risk areas--there is concern that an
insurance crisis is not far off. Insurers lost almost $16 billion last
year from California wildfires, and this year's blazes could exceed that...
PG&E informed the SEC on Tuesday that it has maxed out its revolving
credit, already borrowing $3 billon. The utility said it plans to use
the cash for "highly liquid short-term investments" and for "general
corporate purposes." PG&E also noted in its SEC filing that it could
face "significant liability in excess of insurance coverage" if it is
found to be responsible for starting the Camp Fire.
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/11/14/california-wildfires-costs-utilities/
- - -
[more and more interesting]
*Why a Supreme Court Ruling on Lead Paint Could Impact Climate Cases
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/11/13/lead-paint-supreme-court-climate-liability/>*
On the surface, a liability verdict involving lead paint poisoning might
not seem like it has much to do with climate change, but a recent
Supreme Court decision has legal experts drawing some important parallels.
The decision, in which the Supreme Court let stand a verdict against two
paint companies*for knowingly selling a dangerous product*, could have
an impact on climate liability cases currently being pursued against
fossil fuel producers that may eventually also wind their way to the
Supreme Court.
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/11/13/lead-paint-supreme-court-climate-liability/
- - - -
[more legal]
*California Utilities, Climate Change and Wildfires: A Liability
Quagmire
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/03/12/climate-change-wildfires-california-utilities/>*
The three biggest utilities are linking climate change to wildfires in a
bid to persuade the Public Utilities Commission to let them pass on some
of the ballooning firefighting and legal costs to their customers.
The utilities say a constitutional doctrine called inverse condemnation
has compelled them to settle lawsuits from property owners, firefighting
agencies and local governments. They believe the doctrine entitles them
to recoup some of the expenses by raising rates. The commission disagrees.
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/03/12/climate-change-wildfires-california-utilities/
*This Day in Climate History - November 15, 1999
<http://www.resilience.org/stories/2004-06-08/full-text-dick-cheneys-speech-institute-petroleum-autumn-lunch-1999>
- from D.R. Tucker*
November 15, 1999: Speaking at the London Institute of Petroleum, former
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney declares:
"From the standpoint of the oil industry obviously and I'll talk a
little later on about gas, but obviously for over a hundred years we as
an industry have had to deal with the pesky problem that once you find
oil and pump it out of the ground you've got to turn around and find
more or go out of business. Producing oil is obviously a self-depleting
activity. Every year you’ve got to find and develop reserves equal to
your output just to stand still, just to stay even. This is true for
companies as well in the broader economic sense as it is for the world.
A new merged company like Exxon-Mobil will have to secure over a billion
and a half barrels of new oil equivalent reserves every year just to
replace existing production. It's like making one hundred per cent
interest discovery in another major field of some five hundred million
barrels equivalent every four months or finding two Hibernias a year.
"For the world as a whole, oil companies are expected to keep finding
and developing enough oil to offset our seventy one million plus barrel
a day of oil depletion, but also to meet new demand. By some estimates
there will be an average of two per cent annual growth in global oil
demand over the years ahead along with conservatively a three per cent
natural decline in production from existing reserves. That means by 2010
we will need on the order of an additional fifty million barrels a day.
So where is the oil going to come from?
"Governments and the national oil companies are obviously controlling
about ninety per cent of the assets. Oil remains fundamentally a
government business. While many regions of the world offer great oil
opportunities, the Middle East with two thirds of the world's oil and
the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies, even though
companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be
slow."
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2004-06-08/full-text-dick-cheneys-speech-institute-petroleum-autumn-lunch-1999
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