[TheClimate.Vote] December 11, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Wed Dec 11 10:26:48 EST 2019

/*December 11, 2019*/

[TIME magazine]
*Time names teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg as 2019 Person 
of the Year*
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/12/11/time-person-year-2019-greta-thunberg-teenage-climate-activist/4396170002/

[ruthless briefing]
*Dr Peter Carter: summarising the lack of "climate emergency" at #COP25*
Dec 10, 2019
Dr Peter Carter - Director Climate Emergency Institute
IPCC expert reviewer
Co-author2018 Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game 
Changers for Survival
Interviewed by Nick Breeze at COP25 in Madrid, December 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa13KrOvE2s

[Wall Street Journal reports]
*Exxon Found Not Guilty of Fraud in Climate-Change Accounting Case*
New York attorney general didn't prove the company deceived investors, 
judge rules
Updated Dec. 10, 2019
A New York state judge found Exxon Mobil Corp. not guilty of fraud, 
saying Tuesday that the New York state attorney general had failed to 
establish the oil giant had deceived its investors about how it 
accounted for the cost of future climate-change regulations.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-found-not-guilty-of-fraud-in-climate-change-accounting-case-11575991792

[20 arrested, 100's joined the protest]
*Climate Activists Arrested Trying To Block Coal Train From Reaching 
N.H. Power Plant*
https://www.nhpr.org/post/climate-activists-arrested-trying-block-coal-train-reaching-nh-power-plant#stream/0

[Polling survey]
*Climate change ranks highest as vital issue of our time - Generation Z 
survey*
10 December 2019
Climate change was the most commonly cited among most important issues 
facing the world, in a survey of more than 10,000 young people
Young people living inside a "failed system", warns Amnesty International
Leaders are "betraying a generation" unless they act now
This is a wake-up call to world leaders that they must take far more 
decisive action to tackle the climate emergency or risk betraying 
younger generations further. - Kumi Naidoo
Climate change is one of the most important issues facing the world, 
according to a major new survey of young people published by Amnesty 
International today to mark Human Rights Day.

With the findings published as governments meet in Spain for the UN 
Climate Change Conference, the organization warns that world leaders' 
failure to address the climate change crisis has left them out of step 
with young people...
- - -
Coupled with the results that show that most young people believe voting 
in elections is an effective method for initiating human rights change, 
over and above going on strike or attending a protest, the results were 
not all bad news for leaders who are "willing to listen".

"If the leaders of the world are willing to listen carefully, they will 
notice that Generation Z are not asking for small tweaks. Young people 
are looking for fundamental changes in the way the world works. If 
leaders fail to take that seriously, they risk betraying a generation," 
said Kumi Naidoo.

"If the events of 2019 teach us anything, it is that younger generations 
deserve a seat at the table when it comes to decisions about them. 
Unless the voices of those on the frontlines are part of the discussion 
on how we tackle the challenges facing humanity, the crises we are 
witnessing in the world will only get worse.

"Above all, governments must begin the new decade with meaningful action 
to address the climate emergency, reduce inequality and put in place 
genuine reforms to end abuses of power. We need systemic changes, built 
on human-rights, to the economic and political systems that have brought 
us to the brink."
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/12/climate-change-ranks-highest-as-vital-issue-of-our-time/

[for media studies scholars]
*How the media covers fires*
What can they do to improve?
Alissa Cordner
The video below about how the media covers fires features professors 
from Whitman College and Oregon State University.  video - 
https://youtu.be/TzbQQUkJILc

They talk about the myth of how after a disaster there are often reports 
of widespread social upheaval and discontent, which may not be accurate. 
And the media, they said, tends to concentrate on the singular focus of 
damage and short term effects.

When a wildfire occurs, obviously what  you will see or read on the news 
will be the immediate effects, especially on populations near the fire. 
You will hear about homes burned, structures threatened, roads closed, 
people that have been injured or killed, and evacuations. And all that 
is appropriate as the incident develops.

The media also has a responsibility during the event to help spread 
information that can save lives. Too often we hear how government 
systems that are supposed to warn residents about an approaching fire 
have not been effective, were used improperly or not at all.

There may be examples of media outlets that exaggerate or hype the 
emergency to get ratings, but when covering fires most respected media 
organizations do their best to provide accurate information as quickly 
as possible. (Unlike the political reporting we see.) But we should keep 
in mind that breaking news may not be accurate news.

There are other aspects of fires that could be covered more throughly 
such as fire ecology, fire dependent ecosystems, "normal" fire return 
intervals, fuel management, prescribed fire, and the physical and mental 
health risk firefighters experience. Plus, of course, the five things 
that are the responsibility of homeowners and state and local 
governments to make structures and communities more resilient -- so they 
can live with fire.

The media sometimes reports on the costs of suppressing a fire, but that 
is only about six percent of the real long term cost, according to a 
study by Headwaters Economics. Those additional expenses may be missed 
by the casual observer or consumer of news.

Additional costs can include:

    Short and long term landscape rehabilitation
    Lost business and tax revenues
    Home and property loss
    Depreciated property values
    Property, energy, and infrastructure repairs
    Degraded ecosystem services
    Aid relief and evacuation

https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/12/10/how-the-media-covers-fires/

[Boston Globe opinion]
*The 2020 election must be a time of reckoning on climate change*
American voters should make climate change the priority at the polls
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/08/opinion/2020-election-must-be-time-reckoning-climate-change/

[clips from Dave Roberts analysis]
*John Kerry and the climate kids: a tale of 2 new strategies to fight 
climate change*
The two campaigns will test contrasting theories of change.
By David Roberts at drvox david at vox.com  Dec 10, 2019, 10:00am EST
- - -
Like many youth movements, Sunrise recognizes that the right has become 
a dumpster fire. It is committed to building a grassroots army that can 
amass the political power necessary to pressure Democrats into the same 
kind of intense unity around pushing climate solutions that the right 
shows in blocking them. The idea is to eventually bring Republicans to 
the table not through persuasion but through fear. Republican 
office-holders will come to the table when they are scared to lose their 
jobs.

Lovers of bipartisanship are forever saying that a truly comprehensive 
solution to climate change is only possible with bipartisan support, and 
that may be true. But unified Republican opposition is making bipartisan 
cooperation impossible, and there's no time to wait.

The strategy that has won tangible policy victories at the state and 
city level is the opposite of bipartisanship: it consists in electing 
overwhelming majorities of Democrats. That's the only strategy that's 
worked in the last decade to produce decent climate policy of almost any 
sort at almost any level...
- - -
This is what Sunrise has done: conduct big, flashy, media-friendly 
events and protests and then follow them up with intensive one-on-one 
efforts to absorb participants into an ongoing movement. It is 
high-touch, hands-on work, which is one reason the organization is 
opening all those regional field offices.

The media environment of 2019 is one of near-lawless information 
warfare, fought over attention. Persuasion, in such an environment, does 
not primarily involve outreach and education. Anyone who wants another 
explanatory slideshow can easily find one online.

It primarily involves visible demonstrations of intensity, purpose, and 
authenticity. That's what people hear about; that's what they want to be 
a part of...
- - -
Time will tell whether Kerry can do better along those lines than 
elite-driven climate campaigns of the past, whether, as he puts it, the 
grass-tops can be genuinely helpful to the grassroots. He says he agrees 
"wholeheartedly" with the critique of conventional top-down campaigns 
and is actively seeking to avoid them.

It is at least possible that WWZ could work in synergy with the youth 
movement, spreading the climate message among audiences the left can't 
or won't reach, without stepping on any toes or working at cross 
purposes. It's possible that WWZ will figure out how to reach 
underserved communities and generate greater public engagement to 
complement the intensity created by Sunrise and its cohort. Regardless, 
it's worth trying -- it's an all-hands-on-deck situation.

But in the current atmosphere of epistemic and political lawlessness, 
with climate catastrophe bearing down and US institutions in shambles, I 
have less faith in micro-targeted messages of urgency than I do in a 
clear policy vision, recruitment, and mobilization.

What's needed above all is power. That's what the climate kids are 
trying to build. Whatever else other campaigns may do, I just hope they 
don't get in the way.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/10/20996651/climate-change-john-kerry-world-war-zero-sunrise-movement

[movie for the kids]
*In 'Frozen II,' Anna and Elsa fight climate change instead of bad guys*
By Miyo McGinn on Dec 6, 2019
This post contains spoilers for Frozen II, a charming children's film 
that you'll probably be able to guess the ending of halfway through anyway.

If you want to learn how your favorite movies and shows are secretly 
about climate change, there's a pretty good chance we've got it covered. 
Getting from any topic to climate change in the fewest possible steps is 
kind of a hobby of mine, so when I heard that Frozen II had some serious 
climate overtones, I went to the movie theater looking for signs of them.

The film offered plenty of clues that it's a parable for our planetary 
crisis. Arctic ice caps re-form over a choppy sea, Queen Elsa visits a 
glacier (!!!) to learn the secrets of the past, and, uh, Disney said so. 
Songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez told the L.A. Times that the 
filmmakers were thinking about our rapidly heating planet when they 
developed the storyline...
- - -
And Olaf, the magical, animated snowman, is more than just comic relief; 
he articulates some of the confusion and anger that young people today 
might feel as the world heats up due to events beyond their control. 
"This will all make sense when I am older," Olaf sings, as he observes 
the natural world changing in ways that strike him as deeply wrong but 
don't seem to bother anyone else. "This is fine," he says, stepping 
around a hole that suddenly opened in the ground in front of him. And 
then finally, realizing that the people he trusted had told him 
everything was OK when it actually wasn't, he tells Anna, "I sense some 
rising anger." Sound like any young climate activists you know?

At the end of the day, Frozen II was made for children, and the film 
ties everything up in a neat bow. Sure, it doesn't lay out how to build 
popular support and political will for climate action or replace fossil 
fuel infrastructure … but it's a kids' movie. If you want to talk to 
your kids about some of the thornier elements of the climate crisis, 
like how it's overwhelmingly scary or rooted in historical exploitation 
-- and don't mind sitting through 103 minutes of singing cartoon 
characters and dancing reindeer first -- this could be just the movie 
for you.
https://grist.org/climate/in-frozen-ii-anna-and-elsa-fight-climate-change-instead-of-bad-guys/

[looks like a column of wafers]
*ASU carbon-capture technology named one of 2019's best innovations*
December 4, 2019
A unique carbon-capture machine developed by Klaus Lackner, an Arizona 
State University professor and the founding director of the Center for 
Negative Carbon Emissions, was recently hailed as one of the most 
important engineering innovations of 2019 by Popular Science.

Dubbed "mechanical trees" for their ability to remove carbon dioxide 
from the air a thousand times more effectively than actual trees, the 
columnal machine works by utilizing sorbent-filled disks that bind 
carbon dioxide from the air that touches the disks. After collecting 
carbon diozide, the disks are lowered back into a container where the 
CO2 is released, purified and can be put to other uses. Lackner, who is 
also a senior sustainability scientist in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global 
Institute of Sustainability summarizes the function of the device in the 
following way:

    "Carbon dioxide is a waste product we produce every time we drive
    our cars or turn on the lights in our homes. Our device can recycle
    it, bringing it out of the atmosphere (to) either bury it or use it
    as an industrial gas."

image: 
https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/best-engineering-innovations-2019/
Recently, ASU and Silicon Kingdom Holdings, a Dublin-based startup 
entered into a partnership to deploy Lackner's carbon capture technology 
at scale. SKH plans to deploy the technology in a pilot CO2 farm 
targeting 100 metric tons of CO2 per day. The technology will then be 
deployed to full-scale CO2 farms in multiple locations, each capable of 
removing 3.8 million metric tons of CO2 annually. At less than $100 per 
metric ton at scale, the cost of capture is the lowest in the industry 
and will make it both commercial and impactful toward reducing global 
warming.
https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/news/archive/asu-carbon-capture-technology-named-one-of-2019s-best-innovations/

[different view - Reuters report and slideshow]
*Victoria Falls shrink to a trickle, feeding climate change fears*
VICTORIA FALLS, Zambia (Reuters) - For decades Victoria Falls, where 
southern Africa's Zambezi river cascade down 100 metres into a gash in 
the earth, have drawn millions of holidaymakers to Zimbabwe and Zambia 
for their stunning views...
Stretches of this kilometre-long natural wonder are nothing but dry 
stone. Water flow is low in others.

STARK REMINDER
Data from the Zambezi River Authority shows water flow at its lowest 
since 1995, and well under the long term average. Zambian President 
Edgar Lungu has called it "a stark reminder of what climate change is 
doing to our environment".
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-drought-zimbabwe/victoria-falls-shrink-to-a-trickle-feeding-climate-change-fears-idUSKBN1YA1HC

[Report from Germany DW media]
*Save the planet from global warming? Climate isn't my job! | DW 
Documentary (climate documentary)*
Dec 10, 2019
DW Documentary
Record heat, forest fires, drought -- global warming is increasingly 
noticeable in Europe too. The climate crisis appears unavoidable. But 
most people are continuing to eat, fly and consume just as they always have.

In Germany, many are talking about the need to protect the climate, but 
few are taking action. This report asks: can humanity still save itself? 
Dedicated climate activists are seeking to hold a mirror up to society 
through protests and blockades, resorting to drastic measures at times. 
Their protests may grab the headlines, but to what extent do they 
resonate with those attending the Cruise Days in Hamburg or the IAA 
motor show in Frankfurt? Then there's always the question of how much 
can one person actually do to stop climate change, and how much is down 
to the politicians? And does banning things really help? One problem 
that stops effective action in Germany is the lack of public trust in 
politicians. In the eastern state of Thuringia, for example, citizens' 
initiatives were set up to protest the building of the 'Suedlink' 
underground power line, designed to transport wind-generated energy from 
the north to supply areas in the south. It's one of the key 
infrastructure projects in Germany's planned switch to a low-carbon, 
nuclear-free economy. Residents along the route don't want the landscape 
in their area being dug up for energy that wouldn't benefit them 
personally. Clearly it's not easy to introduce measures to stop climate 
change in a society with insufficient public trust and little sense of 
solidarity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQuGnQEPJPs

*This Day in Climate History - December  11, 1985 - from D.R. Tucker*
The New York Times reports:

    "A group of senators and scientists today called for national and
    international action to avert a predicted warming of the earth's
    climate resulting from a buildup of carbon dioxide and other
    man-made gases in the atmosphere.

    "They warned at a Senate hearing that such an effect, like that of a
    greenhouse, would produce radical climate changes and a subsequent
    rise in ocean levels that could have catastrophic results in the
    next century unless steps were taken now to deal with the problem.

    "Senator Albert Gore Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, said he would
    introduce legislation to expand and focus scientific efforts on this
    greenhouse effect.

    "At a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Toxic Substances and
    Environmental Oversight, Mr. Gore said his bill would call for 'an
    international year of scientific study of the greenhouse effect and
    would request that the President take steps to begin this worldwide
    cooperative investigation.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/11/us/action-is-urged-to-avert-global-climate-shift.html 

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