[TheClimate.Vote] June 12, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Wed Jun 12 10:35:13 EDT 2019

/June 12, 2019/

[big move, we'll see]
*Biden backs calls for 2020 debate focused on climate*
By Chris Mills Rodrigo - 06/11/19
Former Vice President Joe Biden is backing calls for a 2020 presidential 
debate focused solely on climate change a week after the Democratic 
National Committee (DNC) announced it would not host one.

"Yeah, I'm all in," the White House hopeful said Tuesday at a campaign 
rally in Iowa when asked about a debate dedicated to climate change...
Last week, the DNC informed Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who has 
built his 2020 campaign around environmental issues, that it would not 
hold a debate focused on climate.

That decision has been met with backlash, including from many other 2020 
contenders who say a climate-specific debate is warranted given the 
severity of the crisis.

According to Greenpeace, 16 Democratic candidates, including Biden, have 
called for a climate debate.

"Today, Joe Biden proved he's listening to the thousands of people 
across the country who have called for an official debate on the climate 
crisis," Greenpeace USA Climate Campaign Director Janet Redman said in a 
statement. "More people than ever are reeling from climate impacts, and 
they deserve an ally in the White House who's going to act with the 
courage and urgency this crisis merits."
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/448022-biden-endorses-2020-climate-debate
--
[hear Joe say it - in 43 seconds]
*Joe Biden Agrees There Should be a Climate Debate*
Greenpeace USA
Published on Jun 11, 2019
At a campaign stop in Ottumwa, Iowa on June 11, 2019 Joe Biden agrees 
there should be a climate debate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NHTqLeerBU

[Wall of Resilience - video]
*New York is building a wall to hold back the ocean*
Vox - Published on Jun 10, 2019
Climate change is leading to increasingly violent storms. Can seawalls 
hold back floods?
Staten Island recently received funding for a nearly 5-mile-long seawall 
to protect its coast. But the plan raises a lot of questions. We're 
living in a dangerously dynamic world: Hurricanes are getting worse, 
wildfires are rampant in California, extreme heat is melting roads in 
India, and sea levels continue to rise. Will a wall really be enough to 
protect our coastal cities?
Alissa Walker from Curbed talked to us about how it's too late to stop 
the changing climate, but not too late to change how we think about 
infrastructure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9asEJokafM

[Never ending effort at opinion manipulation]
*Revealed: Mobil sought to fight environmental regulation, documents show*
Oil giant looked to make tax-exempt donations to universities and civic 
groups in the early 1990s to promote the company's interests
Sharon Kelly in Philadelphia - 12 Jun 2019
Oil giant Mobil sought to make tax-exempt donations to leading 
universities, civic groups and arts programmes to promote the company's 
interests and undermine environmental regulation, according to internal 
documents from the early 1990s obtained by the Guardian.
The documents shine a light on the ways corporations have used their 
money to buy influence, amass prestige and shape public policy through 
grants to academic programmes and advocacy groups.

The documents come to light as ExxonMobil, formed when Mobil merged with 
Exxon in 1999, is now facing investigations by multiple state attorneys 
general over claims it failed to communicate known climate 
crisis-related risks to investors and the public.

The documents, dated in 1993 and provided to the Guardian by the Climate 
Investigations Center, show the Mobil Foundation justified spending by 
detailing major "benefits to Mobil" they expected in return for more 
than 80 proposed grants for 1994 – a practice not-for-profit experts 
said may have violated federal law.

The foundation wrote that its grants for not-for-profits could help 
Mobil fight environmental regulation, fund scientists whose work had 
been "favorably received by the industry" and prepare Mobil to defend 
itself against lawsuits following oil spills and industrial accidents...
For example, in a one-page entry listing past Mobil grants, the company 
was successful in "having the National Safety Council Board of Directors 
pass a resolution opposing the mandating of any alternative fuel", the 
foundation wrote. Grants for the council totalled nearly a 
quarter-million dollars, according to the entry, which recommended 
further grants for the coming year.
- - -
Corporate watchdogs said issues associated with private industry's use 
of not-for-profits to influence American policy have become more 
pronounced since the 1990s, particularly in the wake of the supreme 
court's Citizens United decision, which protected political spending by 
corporations and which critics say fuelled a rapid expansion of 
so-called "dark money" advocacy groups whose funding is more difficult 
to trace.

"It's extremely troubling," Lisa Graves, president of the board of the 
Center for Media and Democracy, said.

"One of the primary rules for nonprofits is that they're supposed to be 
in the public interest," she said, "not for private benefits."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/12/mobil-tax-exempt-donations-promote-interests-environmental-regulation-documents

[Political changes]
*Oregon senators call on Trump to honor climate agreement*
Intro bill to prevent using funds to withdraw

WASHINGTON - Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have introduced 
legislation with a group of 44 senators, directing the Trump 
administration to meet the standards established by the historic Paris 
Climate Agreement.

The legislation – the International Climate Accountability Act – would 
prevent the president from using funds to withdraw from the Paris 
Climate Accord. Instead, the bill directs the Trump administration to 
develop a strategic plan for the country to meet its commitment under 
the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which the United States joined with 
nearly 200 other nations.

The bill also makes clear that the Paris Climate Agreement is critical 
to strengthening international cooperation to reduce global greenhouse 
emissions and hold high-emission nations accountable, and recognizes the 
important role the Agreement plays in protecting and advancing U.S. 
economic interests and foreign policy priorities around the globe.

"No matter how much Trump tries to bury his head in the sand, climate 
change is real and it's here. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate 
Agreement will only set back America's environmental leadership and 
quicken the destruction of our planet," Wyden said. "If Donald Trump 
continues to deny science, Congress must force his hand."...
https://www.ktvz.com/news/oregon-senators-call-on-trump-to-honor-climate-agreement/1085035967

[Chamber of Commerce as villains]
*These senators are going after the biggest climate villains in Washington*
Sens. Whitehouse, Heinrich, and Schatz discuss how to hold the Chamber 
of Commerce accountable...
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/6/7/18654957/climate-change-lobbying-chamber-of-commerce

[Want to play a computer game?]
*En-ROADS*
En-ROADS is a fast, powerful climate simulation tool for understanding 
how we can achieve our climate goals through changes in energy, land 
use, consumption, agriculture, and other policies.

Built by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan's Sustainability Initiative, 
En-ROADS 2019 will be released later this year.
https://www.climateinteractive.org/tools/en-roads/en-roads-launch-interest/

[Making messages for children]
*Dan Siegel: "Presence, Parenting, and the Planet" | Talks at Google*
Talks at Google - Published on Jun 10, 2019
Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., is an internationally acclaimed author, 
award-winning educator, and child psychiatrist. He is currently a 
clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. His 
books include "The Yes Brain," "Mindsight," "The Developing Mind, "The 
Mindful Therapist," "Parenting From the Inside Out," and "The 
Whole-Brain Child."

In this session, we will explore three key aspects of our children's 
future that can help create the structure for effective parenting in our 
contemporary times. The field of attachment research reveals that 
parental presence--how a parent or other caregiver is open to and 
focused on the inner life of the child--is the best predictor of how 
emotionally and socially resilient a child will be as they develop into 
young adults. This parent-child relationship helps foster a secure 
attachment by providing the four S's of being seen, soothed, and safe to 
cultivate security.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouzb_Urt7LQ

[Interactive cartograms]
*Mapped: Fossil Fuel Production by Country*
June 11, 2019
By Jeff Desjardins
Fossil fuels exist as a double-edged sword for most countries.

On one hand, they still make up a dominant piece of the current energy 
mix, and oil is still seen as a crucial resource for achieving 
geopolitical significance. It's also no secret that fossil fuels are a 
driver for many economies around the world.

But with governments and corporations counting carbon emissions and 
mounting concerns about climate change, reliance on these same fuels 
will not last forever. As attitudes and policies evolve, they will 
continue to see a reduced role going forward.
Visualizing Fossil Fuels by Country

So, which countries are pumping out the most hydrocarbons?

Today's cartograms come from 911Metallurgist, and the animated maps 
resize each country based on their share of global fossil fuel production.
Below, you'll see four cartograms that cover oil, gas, coal, and total 
fossil fuel production...
- -
The United States produces 20% of all global fossil fuels, with Russia 
and Iran rounding out the top three. After that comes Canada, which 
produces just under 5% of all fossil fuels globally.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-fossil-fuel-production-by-country/

[Kate Marvel radio interview]
*Increased drought amid climate change & warming--Kate Marvel 
interview--Radio Ecoshock 2019-05-22*
Published on Jun 11, 2019
Columbia/NASA scientist Kate Marvel explains "hydroclimate" as rains and 
droughts go extreme. When it comes to your food, it's all about moisture 
in the soil when crops need it. That is changing as the Earth warms, 
according to new science published in the journal Nature. When we load 
up the atmosphere with carbon-based power, we get more drought and worse 
floods.

Our guest is the lead author of the new study "Twentieth-century 
hydroclimate changes consistent with human influence". Kate Marvel is 
with Columbia University and an Associate Research Scientist at NASA 
Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Following her PhD in physics at 
Cambridge, Kate investigated climate and energy at top research 
institutions like Stanford, Carnegie, and Lawrence Livermore National 
Laboratory. Kate is a communicator on various science shows, and has a 
regular column "Hot Planet" in Scientific American.

Show by Radio Ecoshock, reposted under CC License. Episode details at 
https://www.ecoshock.org/2019/05/at-t...

Stop Fossil Fuels researches and disseminates effective strategies and 
tactics to halt fossil fuel combustion as fast as possible. Learn more 
at https://stopfossilfuels.org

The press release from Columbia University sums it up:
"In an unusual new study, scientists say they have detected the 
fingerprint of human-driven global warming on patterns of drought and 
moisture across the world as far back as 1900. Rising temperatures are 
well documented back at least that far, but this is the first time 
researchers have identified resulting long-term global effects on the 
water supplies that feed crops and cities. Among the observations, the 
researchers documented drying of soils across much of populous North 
America, central America, Eurasia and the Mediterranean. Other areas, 
including the Indian subcontinent, have become wetter. They say the 
trends will continue, with severe consequences for humans. The study 
appears this week in the leading journal Nature."

You can follow Kate Marvel's work at http://www.marvelclimate.com/

Listen to more climate change and global warming Radio Ecoshock podcasts 
at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyuEATzj_iycIweK0VNbIWQLvlkDak87

[Wildfire season]
*Canada's wildfire season is off to a ferocious start*
June 11 at 3:20 PM
Crystal McAteer has watched ferocious wildfires chew through her home 
province of Alberta through the years, so she wasn't surprised when 
flames arrived on her doorstep.

Still, McAteer, the mayor of High Level, Alberta, a town of roughly 
3,200 some 460 miles north of Edmonton, had never seen anything like the 
Chuckegg Creek Fire.

An out-of-control blaze nearly the size of Rhode Island -- 50 percent 
larger than last year's record-breaking Mendocino Complex Fire in 
California -- it has jumped rivers with ease, blackened the rain with 
soot and colored sunsets as far away as Britain.

"When it took off, it had such a force," McAteer said, the fire having 
bypassed her town last month but still raging. "It was like a beast."

Wildfire season in Canada -- at least as destructive as in the United 
States -- is off to a ferocious start. Eighty-seven fires were burning 
in seven provinces and two territories Monday, forcing 4,415 people from 
their homes.

As the Canadian north grows warmer and drier for longer periods, the 
destruction is expected to get worse. Wildfires are now scorching more 
than 6 million acres of land here per year. That's twice what they 
burned in the 1970s -- and it's projected to double again by the end of 
the century.
- - -
Massive wildfires have become common in Alberta during spring, said Mike 
Wotton, a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada. There's a 
window -- after the snow melts but before vegetation grows -- when there 
can be plenty of dry material to fuel fire.

More broadly, analysts say, intense wildfire activity is increasing, and 
fire seasons are getting longer. They say climate change is at least 
partly to blame...

Climate change will make some parts of Canada hotter, drier and more 
prone to lightning, scientists say. It will melt snow pack faster and 
dry out fuels such as nettles, grasses and leaves.

It also acts as a threat multiplier for other drivers of shifting 
wildfire activity. Climate change has helped spread a mountain pine 
beetle epidemic, which has weakened trees across nearly 47 million acres 
of forest in Canada, making them more susceptible to blazes. (The beetle 
cannot survive cold winters.)

More people are being affected by wildfires than in the past because 
more and more of them are living and working in the wildland-urban 
interface -- areas where human development meets or is interspersed with 
fire-prone forests...

Even people who don't live in the immediate vicinity of major fires are 
waking up to their massive impact.

Smoke from the Chuckegg Creek and other fires in Alberta has drifted 
into U.S. states and even traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. In 
Edmonton, it has turned the sky dark sepia and prompted air quality 
warnings...

"We have to learn to live with fire," Flannigan said. "People don't like 
to hear this, but that's the reality. Fire is here to stay."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/canadas-wildfire-season-is-off-to-a-ferocious-start/2019/06/10/9d2d67bc-88a2-11e9-9d73-e2ba6bbf1b9b_story.html?utm_term=.642cb53115dd

[Classic, yet current...Naomi Oreskes video talk]
*Is Climate Change the End? And if so, the End of What?*
Published on Mar 28, 2019
Naomi Oreskes
Presented by: The Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc7RNrh8i-A

*This Day in Climate History - June 12, 1996 - from D.R. Tucker*
June 12, 1996: Unrepentant professional climate-change denialist 
Frederick Seitz wrongfully accuses climate scientist Ben Santer of fraud 
in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Seitz's claims are quickly debunked, but 
the op-ed forms the centerpiece of a years-long effort by the fossil 
fuel industry to destroy Santer's life, reputation and career.

http://www.odlt.org/dcd/docs/Seitz%20-%20A%20Major%20Deception%20on%20Global%20Warming.pdf
http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/WSJ_June25.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py2XVILHUjQ
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