[TheClimate.Vote] June5 , 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/June5 , 2019/


[Refreshing activism]
*I work in the environmental movement. I don't care if you recycle.*
Stop obsessing over your environmental "sins." Fight the oil and gas 
industry instead.
By Mary Annaise Heglar  Updated Jun 4, 2019

I'm at my friend's birthday dinner when an all-too-familiar conversation 
unfolds. I introduce myself to the man to my left, tell him that I work 
in the environmental field, and his face freezes in terror. Our 
handshake goes limp.

"You're gonna hate me …" he mutters sheepishly, his voice barely audible 
over the clanging silverware.

I knew what was coming. He regaled me with a laundry list of 
environmental mistakes from just that day: He'd ordered lunch and it 
came in plastic containers; he'd eaten meat and he was about to order it 
again; he'd even taken a cab to this very party.

I could hear the shame in his voice. I assured him that I didn't hate 
him, but that I hated the industries that placed him -- and all of us -- 
in the same trick bag. Then his shoulders lifted from their slump and 
his eyes met mine. "Yeah, 'cause there's really no point trying to save 
the planet anymore, right?"

My stomach sank.

Sadly, I get this reaction a lot. One word about my five years at the 
Natural Resources Defense Council, or my work in the climate justice 
movement broadly, and I'm bombarded with pious admissions of 
environmental transgressions or nihilistic throwing up of hands. One 
extreme or the other.

And I understand why. Scientists have been warning us for decades that 
humans are causing severe and potentially irreversible changes to the 
climate, essentially baking our planet and ourselves with carbon 
dioxide. A 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change warned that we had roughly 12 (now 11) years to make massive 
changes that could stop the worst impacts of climate change.

  Environmental activists demand solutions for climate change in Madrid, 
Spain. Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Once upon a time, perhaps, we needed a strong grasp of science to 
understand climate change, but now all we have to do is look at the 
daily headlines -- or out our windows. From the Camp Fire, a devastating 
California wildfire that was exacerbated by dry, hot weather, to 
Hurricane Michael, a storm that rapidly intensified due to increased sea 
temperatures, climate change is here.

I don't blame anyone for wanting absolution. I can even understand 
abdication, which is its own form of absolution. But underneath all that 
is a far more insidious force. It's the narrative that has both driven 
and obstructed the climate change conversation for the past several 
decades. It tells us climate change could have been fixed if we had all 
just ordered less takeout, used fewer plastic bags, turned off some more 
lights, planted a few trees, or driven an electric car. It says that if 
those adjustments can't do the trick, what's the point?

The belief that this enormous, existential problem could have been fixed 
if all of us had just tweaked our consumptive habits is not only 
preposterous; it's dangerous. It turns environmentalism into an 
individual choice defined as sin or virtue, convicting those who don't 
or can't uphold these ethics. When you consider that the same IPCC 
report outlined that the vast majority of global greenhouse gas 
emissions come from just a handful of corporations -- aided and abetted 
by the world's most powerful governments, including the US -- it's 
victim blaming, plain and simple.

When people come to me and confess their green sins, as if I were some 
sort of eco-nun, I want to tell them they are carrying the guilt of the 
oil and gas industry's crimes. That the weight of our sickly planet is 
too much for any one person to shoulder. And that that blame paves the 
road to apathy, which can really seal our doom.

But that doesn't mean we do nothing. Climate change is a vast and 
complicated problem, and that means the answer is complicated too. We 
need to let go of the idea that it's all of our individual faults, then 
take on the collective responsibility of holding the true culprits 
accountable. In other words, we need to become many Davids against one 
big, bad Goliath.

Greener than thou
When we think about climate change, we're almost never looking at the 
whole picture. Generally, we talk about the impacts at a scale so macro, 
it's almost impossible to fathom: rising sea levels, melting ice caps, 
acidifying oceans. In some perverse magic trick, it becomes both 
atmospheric and far, far away. Everywhere and nowhere.

But when we talk about the causes, the conversation suddenly narrows to 
our navels. In the aftermath of the 2018 IPCC report, the internet was 
awash in story after story after story about "what you can do about 
climate change." Change your lightbulbs. Bring reusable bags. Cut back 
on meat.

If the answers are all in our hands, then the blame can't be anywhere 
but at our feet. And where does that all lead?

A population beset with shame so heavy they can barely think about 
climate change -- let alone fight it.

This is where the victim blaming takes hold. All too often, our culture 
broadly equates "environmentalism" with personal consumerism. To be 
"good," we must convert to 100 percent solar energy, ride an upcycled 
bike everywhere, stop flying, eat vegan. We have to live a zero-waste 
lifestyle, never use Amazon Prime, etc., etc. I hear this message 
everywhere: the left- and right-wing media and within the environmental 
movement. It's even been used by the courts and the fossil fuel industry 
itself as a defense against litigation. In fact, industries have 
redirected the environmentalist narrative to blame consumers since the 
ever-so-problematic "Crying Indian" ad campaign of the 1970s. I hear it 
from my friends and family, strangers on the street, random people in 
yoga class.

And all this raises the price of admission to the climate movement to an 
exorbitant level, often pricing out people of color and other 
marginalized groups.

While we're busy testing each other's purity, we let the government and 
industries -- the authors of said devastation -- off the hook 
completely. This overemphasis on individual action shames people for 
their everyday activities, things they can barely avoid doing because of 
the fossil fuel-dependent system they were born into. In fact, fossil 
fuels supply more than 75 percent of the US energy system.

If we want to function in society, we have no choice but to participate 
in that system. To blame us for that is to shame us for our very existence.

Renowned shame researcher Brené Brown describes shame as the "intensely 
painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and 
therefore unworthy of love or belonging." This is not to be confused 
with guilt, which can actually be useful because it holds our behavior 
against our values and forces us to feel psychological discomfort. 
Shame, on the other hand, tells us that we are bad people, that we are 
beyond redemption. It paralyzes us.

As Yessenia Funes, a reporter at Earther, wrote, "I refuse to believe 
people should be shamed for living in the world we've built."

Consumer actions aren't enough
So what can we actually do about climate change? Well, to be crystal 
clear: I'm not advocating for any throwing in of towels. The worst thing 
you can do about climate change is nothing. Climate change is a huge 
problem, and to face it, we have to be willing to make personal 
sacrifices we can feel. It's our responsibility not only to future 
generations but also to each other -- right here, right now.

Furthermore, given the United States' outsize contribution to global 
warming, we have an ethical obligation to shrink our carbon footprints. 
The United States is the world's second largest emitter, only recently 
having fallen from first place. And our historical contribution is even 
more appalling. The United States is responsible for more than a third 
of the carbon pollution that has warmed our planet today -- more than 
any other single nation.

Given our enormous footprints, Americans' personal consumption choices 
are some of the most powerful in the world. So for us as Americans to 
say that our personal actions are too frivolous to matter when people 
died in Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, a country whose carbon footprint is 
barely visible next to ours, is moral bankruptcy of the highest order.

At the same time, though, the more we focus on individual action and 
neglect systemic change, the more we're just sweeping leaves on a windy 
day. So while personal actions can be meaningful starting points, they 
can also be dangerous stopping points.

We need to broaden our definition of personal action beyond what we buy 
or use. Start by changing your lightbulb, but don't stop there. Taking 
part in a climate strike or showing up to a rally is a personal action. 
Organizing neighbors to sue a power plant that's poisoning the community 
is a personal action.

Voting is a personal action. When choosing your candidate, investigate 
their environmental policies. If they aren't strong enough, demand 
better. Once that person is in office, hold them accountable. And if 
that doesn't work, run for office yourself -- that's another personal 
action.

Take your personal action and magnify it into something bigger than what 
kind of bag totes your groceries.

Here's my confession: I don't care how green you are. I want you in the 
movement for climate justice.

I don't care how long you've been engaged in the climate conversation, 
10 years or 10 seconds. I don't care how many statistics you can rattle 
off. I don't need you to be all-solar-everything to be an 
environmentalist. I don't need you to be vegan-er than thou, or me, for 
that matter. I don't care if you are eating a burger right this minute.

I don't even care if you work on an oil rig. In some parts of the 
country, those are the only jobs that pay enough for you to feed your 
family. And I don't blame workers for that. I blame their employers. I 
blame the industry that is choking us all, and the government that is 
letting them do it.

All I need you to do is want a livable future. This is your planet, and 
no one can advocate for it like you can. No one can protect it like you can.

We have 11 years -- not to start but to finish saving the planet.

I'm not here to absolve you. And I'm not here to abdicate you. I am here 
to fight with you.

Mary Annaise Heglar is a climate justice essayist and the director of 
publications at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York. Find 
her on Twitter or Medium.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/28/18629833/climate-change-2019-green-new-deal



[Fire defines fire season]
*Wildfire smoke from Canada increases in the midwest*
After a couple of days of decreasing wildfire smoke from Canada, on 
Tuesday the United States midwest is seeing heavier concentrations of 
the pollutant generated by fires in Alberta.
https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/06/04/wildfire-smoke-from-canada-increases-in-the-midwest/
- - -
http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents
- --  -
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/western-wildfires
-- - -
https://www.fs.fed.us/science-technology/fire/information
- - -
https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm
- - - -
https://google.org/crisismap/weather_and_events
  - - -
*11,000 people have been forced to evacuate as firefighters battle 
wildfires in Canada*
CNN News
June 4, 2019
Wildfires in Alberta, Canada, have burned more than 700,000 acres of 
land and have forced 11,000 people to evacuate, according to the 
province's government.

The government of Alberta said that at least two out-of-control 
wildfires are burning in the area -- the Chuckegg Creek Wildfire and the 
Jackpot Creek Wildfire.

The Chuckegg Creek Wildfire, burning in Mackenzie County just two miles 
south of the town of High Level, has burned nearly 692,000 acres, while 
the Jackpot Creek Wildfire, near Steen River, has burned more than 
61,000 acres, government officials said.

While some areas in the fire zone may see rain Thursday and Friday, 
accompanied by cooler temperatures, there is no meaningful rainfall 
expected the rest of the week at Chuckegg Creek and Jackpot Creek.

The fires started in late May and have continued to grow because of dry 
conditions in the area.

Schools in the affected area remain closed as evacuation orders 
continue, with some announcing they would stay closed for the rest of 
the school year.

There were 21 wildfires burning in Alberta as of Tuesday morning, 
according to Alberta Wildfire. Eight of them were burning "out of 
control."...
https://kpax.com/news/national-news/2019/06/04/11000-people-have-been-forced-to-evacuate-as-firefighters-battle-wildfires-in-canada/
- - -
*Forecasters predict the potential for large wildfires will be higher 
than average on the west coast this summer*
Areas to watch will be Northern California and the west sides of Oregon 
and Washington
https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/06/01/forecasters-predict-the-potential-for-large-wildfires-will-be-higher-than-average-on-the-west-coast-this-summer/
- - -
*Trump Administration to Close Oregon Forest Service Job Training Center 
Ahead of Wildfire Season: "It's a Slap in the Face"*
Sen. Jeff Merkley [Democratic Senator] says cutting the program, "harms 
thousands of students and puts every state facing another disastrous 
wildfire season at further risk."
https://www.wweek.com/news/2019/05/31/trump-administration-to-close-oregon-forest-service-job-training-center-ahead-of-wildfire-season-its-a-slap-in-the-face/



[NPR offers audio and transcript]
*The 'Great Dying' Nearly Erased Life On Earth. Scientists See 
Similarities To Today*
June 4, 2019
Heard on All Things Considered
CHRISTOPHER JOYCE
There was a time when life on Earth almost blinked out. The "Great 
Dying," the biggest extinction the planet has ever seen, happened some 
250 million years ago and was largely caused by greenhouse gases in the 
atmosphere. Now scientists are beginning to see alarming similarities 
between the Great Dying and what's currently happening to our atmosphere.

Scientists are highlighting that similarity in a new exhibit at the 
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The crown jewel of the Deep Time exhibit is the museum's first real 
Tyrannosaurus rex. Its skeleton stands over the bones of a prone 
triceratops, with one clawed foot holding down the hapless herbivore and 
jaws clamped onto its head, ready to take a bite the size of a manhole 
cover.

"We like to say, 'Come for the dinosaurs, stay for everything else,' " 
says Scott Wing, one of the curators.

The theme of the exhibit is actually the interconnectedness of life 
through geologic time. The exhibit shows, for example, how plants at the 
bottom of the food chain supported everything from insects to 20-ton 
apatosauruses and how insects helped shape the kind of forests that 
evolved and changed over millions of years.

Wing likes that -- he's a botanist. "I'm a photosynthesis chauvinist," 
he says. "The whole ecosystem is based on photosynthesis." And because 
life, from toadstools to tyrannosaurs, is connected from the bottom up, 
the whole fabric can disintegrate when something big happens to the 
Earth. And that happened due to global warming.

It's explained in the exhibit's section on the Great Dying. About 250 
million years ago or so, an enormous volcanic field erupted in what is 
now Siberia. It spewed lava that burned though limestone and coal beds 
and filled the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and pollution, possibly 
for millions of years. That in turn warmed the planet, made the oceans 
acidic and robbed them of oxygen. More than 90% of species in the oceans 
died out as did two-thirds of those on land.

There have been other mass extinctions, like the one that wiped out the 
dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, but this one, at the end of the 
Permian Period, was mostly caused by too much carbon dioxide rising into 
the atmosphere. And the Smithsonian notes often in its exhibit that the 
current warming of the planet is déjà vu all over again.

"We can learn from studying the past," Wing says. "They're also the 
processes that are being observed by Earth scientists today."

One of them is Curtis Deutsch at the University of Washington, whose 
research helped inform the Smithsonian curators. "The very same things 
that caused the Great Dying are happening right now in our ocean today 
as a result of human activities," he says, "not to the same degree, but 
in the same direction."

Currently, the planet has warmed to almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit on 
average above what it was before the Industrial Revolution, though at 
the current rate it could warm several degrees more. The Great Dying saw 
a warming increase of four or five times that.

But it happened gradually. So Deutsch thought, Why not re-create the 
hothouse of the Great Dying in a computer, a model that simulates the 
warming, and see how present-day species in the ocean would fare? He 
could crank up the carbon dioxide -- that would in turn raise 
temperatures and lower oxygen in the oceans. Then he could watch as 
parts of the ocean started to become deadly.

"The first thing that happens is that you start to see a local loss of 
species as they begin to move in response to the climate heating up," he 
says.

But some parts of the planet were more forgiving. "We discovered 
something that was kind of surprising and new, I think," Deutsch 
explains, "and that is that extinction was very strong everywhere, but 
it was even stronger near the cold parts of Earth, near the polar 
oceans, than it was in the warmer tropical oceans."

It makes sense, he says. Animals that live near the equator can migrate 
toward the poles to find cooler water, but those that already live in 
cold, oxygen-rich waters nearer the poles have very little room to run.

Deutsch says the experiment is a window on the future -- even the 
present: Marine species are already migrating. And to Deutsch, that 
migration looks familiar. "We see responses of marine species to those 
changes today that look like what we think happened at the end of the 
Permian," he says.

The Smithsonian exhibit makes explicit references to the threat from 
human-caused climate change; it also received funding from industrialist 
David Koch, who is known for supporting groups that contest the 
scientific consensus on climate change.

Wing, the curator, says making the connection between the Great Dying 
and what's happening now is a message that needs to be heard. "We have 
exceeded the frame of our own history," he says of the human race. 
"Because we are so powerful, we are basically a geologic force now as 
well as a human force."

A force that's changing the conditions for life on the planet.
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729341362/the-great-dying-nearly-erased-life-on-earth-scientists-see-similarities-to-today 




[Environmental law students - yesterday's important court arguments]
*Kelsey Rose Juliana v. USA*
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Published on Jun 4, 2019
The United States appeals the district court's denial of its motion to 
dismiss an action brought by a plaintiff group of minor children against 
federal officials for allegedly violating their rights under the 
Constitution and a purported federal public trust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlQR_sqGt5k



[Heatwave in India]
*Temperatures pass 50 C as grueling India heat wave enters 2nd week with 
no end in sight*
By Eric Leister, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
With monsoon rains still several weeks away, intense heat will maintain 
a firm grip on northern India, as well as neighboring Pakistan into the 
middle of June.

The heat began to build across central and northern India during late 
May and intensified further last week as many locations, including New 
Delhi, reported their highest temperatures of the year.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were the hottest days so far this year in 
the National Capital Region (NCR). Temperatures soared to 46.8 C (116 F) 
on Thursday at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Friday 
and Saturday saw similar conditions with a high around 46 C (115 F) both 
days.

Widespread high temperatures of 42-47 C (108-116 F) will persist across 
northern India and Pakistan through at least the coming week. 
Temperatures can reach 50 C (122 F) in the hottest locations.

The city of Churu endured such heat from Saturday into Monday as 
temperatures reached or exceeded 49 C (120 F) each day.

Other locations that will endure daily dangerous heat include Hyderabad, 
Nagpur, Patna, Indore, Lucknow and New Delhi.

Farther west, the temperature rose to a blistering high of 51.1 C (124 
F) in Jacobabad, Pakistan, over the weekend.

The heat will not be quite as extreme this week; however, daily high 
temperatures of 44-49 C (112-120 F) are forecast.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/temperatures-pass-50-c-as-grueling-india-heat-wave-enters-2nd-week-with-no-end-in-sight/70008441


*This Day in Climate History - June 5, - from D.R. Tucker*
June 5, 2007: At a GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire, Rudy 
Giuliani declares:

    "I think we have to accept the view that scientists have that there
    is global warming and that human operation, human condition,
    contributes to that. And the fact is that there is a way to deal
    with it and to address it in a way that we can also accomplish
    energy independence, which we need as a matter of national security.
    It's frustrating and really dangerous for us to see money going to
    our enemies because we have to buy oil from certain countries. We
    should be supporting all the alternatives."

http://youtu.be/Wlqb1D9pDIs

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