[TheClimate.Vote] December 7, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sat Dec 7 09:09:58 EST 2019
/*December 7, 2019*/
[early summer is hottest and driest]
*Australia bushfires north of Sydney 'too big to put out'*
A "mega blaze" raging across a 60km (37 mile) front north-west of Sydney
cannot currently be put out, Australian fire officials have warned.
The fire across almost 300,000 hectares (1,150 sq miles) is an hour's
drive from the nation's most-populous city.
People who cannot defend their property from approaching fires have been
told they should leave immediately.
- - -
The severity of the blazes so early in the fire season has caused alarm,
and prompted calls for greater action to tackle climate change...
- - -
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said: "There is an absolute lack of
moisture in the soil, a lack of moisture in the vegetation... you are
seeing fires started very easily and they are spreading extremely
quickly, and they are burning ridiculously intensely."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50690633
[Friday demonstration]
*'Nothing else matters': Climate protesters cause traffic headache in DC*
As part of national and global demonstrations meant to call attention to
climate change, protesters blocked traffic in D.C. early Friday morning
at the height of rush hour.
"We're going to be hopefully stopping some people from getting to work
and inconveniencing them and getting people out of the rhythm of the
normal workday," protester Tess Goddard told WTOP.
"This might be an inconvenience…but the climate crisis is going to
actually change our lives fundamentally. If we don't solve the climate
issue, literally nothing else matters."
A few dozen protesters, many of them college students, gathered at
George Washington University at 7:30 a.m. and marched to the World Bank
headquarters along Pennsylvania Avenue in Northwest between 17th and
19th streets.
The demonstrators made their way along H Street and Pennsylvania Avenues
and disrupted traffic along K street, demanding that the World Bank
fully divest from fossil fuels.
"Their money is directly contributing to the death of our world," Bryce
Maples, a protester, told WTOP.
At one point, protesters were physically removed from the streets.
"Not only do the leaders of the major financial institutions know that
they are contributing to the biggest existential crisis of our lifetime;
they are preparing for it," said organizer Raegan Davis.
"We know we can stop climate chaos and if financial institutions would
rather profit than help us, then we will shut them down until they
change their minds."...
https://wtop.com/dc/2019/12/more-climate-change-protests-planned-for-dc-friday/
[a video glimpse from Paul Beckwith]
*Swarms of Silly Adults with Big Cameras Mob Greta as she hangs out with
young kids at COP25 Madrid*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWR_3N_VEuI
- - -
[media frenzy imparts importance]
*Climate change: Greta Thunberg mobbed at UN climate talks*
Matt McGrath
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was mobbed by press and
delegates as she made her first visit to UN climate talks in Madrid.
Ms Thunberg joined a youth demonstration inside the conference which was
quickly swamped by spectators eager to catch a glimpse of Greta.
Amid shouts of "leave her alone" from concerned observers, she was
escorted away by UN security staff.
She is due to take part in a climate protest march in Madrid later.
- - -
Even the Pope is concerned.
"We must seriously ask ourselves if there is the political will to
allocate with honesty, responsibility and courage, more human, financial
and technological resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate
change," Pope Francis said in a message to participants here.
- - -
The hope from many is that here in Madrid, the developing nations would
be heard and a mechanism with funding would be set up to deal with loss
and damage.
Again, there's been very little progress.
Of course the question of climate justice is not just between countries
but often within countries as well.
"The ones who contributed the most are the ones who feel the impacts the
least," said Isadora Cardoso from campaign group GenderCC - women for
climate justice.
"Even within developed countries the poorest are the most affected
whenever there are climate disasters or impacts, but they are not the
ones who consume more and contribute the most to the causes of climate
change."
There is still time to ensure a strong outcome in Madrid and the arrival
of ministers next week will increase the sense of urgency - but right
now there's a big disconnect between the size of the task and the
willingness of countries to step forward with the pledges and the money
needed to deal with the biggest challenge facing Planet Earth.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50680781
- - -
[serious video analysis]
*COP25 video: What needs to happen by COP26 to keep the Paris Agreement
on track?*
As negotiations at COP25 in Madrid progress slowly, Carbon Brief has
been asking a range of scientists, party delegates and NGO
representatives for their views on the year ahead.
With the first week offering little in the way of outcomes, attendees
were asked what must happen before the critical talks in Glasgow next
year if the Paris Agreement is to remain on track.
The negotiations so far have largely been dominated by clashes over
Article 6 carbon markets - the last remaining section of the Paris
"rulebook" to be completed - and how to support countries irreversibly
harmed by climate change (so-called "loss and damage").
Meanwhile, there is a wider conversation taking place about how these
talks can ramp up the ambition of national climate pledges ahead of next
year's deadline. And technical talks rumble on in the background around
"common timeframes" and a "second periodic review"...
https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop25-video-what-needs-to-happen-by-cop26-to-keep-the-paris-agreement-on-track
[*American Lands and Waters Climate Solution Act* purportedly will put a
12 month pause on any new fossil fuel leases on federal lands and
waters, while the Interior Department and Forest Service analysis shows
how new permits will meet increasingly stringent emissions reduction
targets. If DOI and USFS can't publish a plan for reaching net zero,
then no new leases.]
*Chair Grijalva, Committee Democrats to Introduce Landmark Climate
Change Legislation Slashing Emissions *From Public Lands and Waters
Washington D.C. - Chair Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and several members
of the Natural Resources Committee will lead a press conference at 12:00
p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to unveil their flagship
legislation to fight the climate crisis. Members will discuss the
legislation's importance and describe the path it provides to end our
public lands' and waters' contribution to climate change by 2040.
The landmark bill - authored by Grijalva and cosponsored by a team of
Committee members - is the culmination of a year of hearings,
roundtables, public forums and other public outreach efforts to learn
more about how best to tackle climate change. Since taking the House
majority, Natural Resources Committee Democrats have spent much of the
past year tackling climate change from every angle.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, climate-harming emissions from
public lands account for nearly a quarter of the U.S. total. The new
bill seeks to reduce that figure while simultaneously promoting positive
climate actions so that the total net contribution of public lands to
greenhouse gas emissions is zero by 2040.
In February, the Committee kicked off a historic month of climate change
hearings to hear from impacted communities, launched an online platform
to hear from the American people about how climate change has impacted
them, and held 22 hearings in 2019 focused on climate change to hear
from experts, community members, Indian Country, scientists, and advocates.
The feedback gathered through these efforts has consistently underscored
the urgent need to limit climate pollution as soon as possible, and to
help impacted communities adapt quickly.
The bill is endorsed by multiple stakeholders and public interest
advocacy groups, who will provide remarks at the press conference.
Event details: When: 12 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Dec. 10
https://naturalresources.house.gov/media/press-releases/chair-grijalva-committee-democrats-to-introduce-landmark-climate-change-legislation-slashing-emissions-from-public-lands-and-waters_
[Video: The Atlantic on Disaster Capitalism]
*The Climate Hellscape Is Coming, and Capitalism Can't Save Us*
Dec 5, 2019
Video by The Atlantic
In her 2007 book, The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein coined the term
disaster capitalism, which refers to the tendency of free markets and
governments to respond opportunistically to catastrophic events. This
phenomenon of extreme capitalism has troubling implications when it
comes to climate change. As the staff writer Alexis C. Madrigal
suggests, you can't buy your way out of a warming planet.
In a new episode of The Idea File, Madrigal explains how disaster
capitalism will manifest as weather conditions become more dire. In some
places, this has already begun to happen--Kanye West and Kim Kardashian,
for example, turned to private firefighters to protect their mansion
from the Woolsey fire in California. And in the aftermath of the fires,
an emerging market of gadgets targeted the intersection of consumer
culture and catastrophe.
"I think there are moral implications to taking things that were
collective and making them individual," Madrigal says in the video.
"Richer people are going to get better service than poor people, across
the board."
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/602995/disaster-capitalism/
[the oil industry knew in 1970]
*Imperial Oil Files: How a Canadian Oil Giant Followed Exxon into
Climate Denial*
Imperial Oil Limited, Exxon's Canadian subsidiary, took a very different
path from Exxon in the U.S. 30 years ago, revealing the vulnerabilities
and strategies of being an oil company in the age of climate crisis.
While Exxon was laying low in the late 1980s and early 1990s, biding
time in the U.S. during the George H.W. Bush administration, Imperial
was forced to react to urgent policy initiatives on climate change being
forwarded by the Canadian government.
The digital release and analysis of Imperial Oil documents obtained by
DeSmog and the Climate Investigations Center from a Canadian archive
offers a window into the company's work to undermine the Canadian
government and stop measures that would impact the company economically,
while appearing to be a thoughtful participant in the dialogue around
climate change.
This new collection of over 300 documents, which includes numerous
documents never before published online, marks the most in-depth look at
Imperial's climate science and policy history to date, helping to shed
new light and add context to previous reporting on Exxon's and
Imperial's climate change legacy and documents by InsideClimate News and
the Los Angeles Times with the Columbia Journalism School in 2015 and 2016.
https://www.desmogblog.com/imperial-oil-archive-canada-exxon-climate-denial
- - -
[read the source materials]
*Introduction to the Imperial Oil Archival Document Collection*
This collection of documents was gleaned from the Glenbow Museum's
Imperial Oil Archive, over the past several years. The original
documents are now housed at the University of Calgary. This is the most
comprehensive collection of these documents published on the internet to
date and were collected by researchers at DeSmog.
http://www.climatefiles.com/bp/introduction-to-the-imperial-oil-archival-document-collection/
ABOUT CLIMATE FILES
Climate files is an archival database of news, information and
documents. The information compiled here is collected from various
sources and is based on more more than 20 years of research and data
collection.
http://www.climatefiles.com/
[new release of encouraging, informative document ]
*A Global Rescue*
Safeguarding the World's Crop Wild Relatives
https://www.cwrdiversity.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/global_rescue_170x240_spread.pdf
[the Chase obit- corrected link]
https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/obituary/carl-and-susan-chase/
*This Day in Climate History - December 7, 1999 - from D.R. Tucker*
The New York Times reports:
"In a concession to environmentalists, the Ford Motor Company said
today that it would pull out of the Global Climate Coalition, a
group of big manufacturers and oil and mining companies that lobbies
against restrictions on emissions of gases linked to global warming.
"Ford's decision is the latest sign of divisions within heavy
industry over how to respond to global warming. British Petroleum
and Shell pulled out of the coalition two years ago following
criticisms from environmental groups in Europe, where there has been
more public concern than in the United States. Most scientists
believe that emissions from automobiles, power plants and other
man-made sources are warming the Earth's atmosphere.
"British Petroleum and Shell were so-called general, or junior,
members of the lobbying group. Ford is the first company belonging
to the board that has withdrawn, and the first American company to
leave the coalition, said Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the coalition."
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/07/business/ford-announces-its-withdrawal-from-global-climate-coalition.html
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