[TheClimate.Vote] September 6, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/September 6, 2019/

[clips from press release of defendant Ken Ward]
*WA STATE SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO REVIEW*
*APPEALS COURT REVERSAL OF "VALVE TURNER" KEN WARD'S CONVICTION*
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2019
Olympia, Washington - Yesterday, a three judge panel of the Washington 
Supreme Court unanimously denied a petition by the State of Washington, 
Skagit County, to review the April 8, 2019 Washington Court of Appeals 
decision overturning the conviction of Ken Ward for burglary in the 
second degree. The charges in the case stemmed from Ward's October 11, 
2016 action shutting down the Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline 
carrying Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Skagit County, as part 
of the multi-state "Shut It Down" climate action...
- - -
It creates a strong legal basis for climate protesters to justify their 
actions in a court of law, and to defend themselves against 
prosecutorial overreach. This is significant, given that the fossil fuel 
industry is increasingly attempting to squelch public opposition to its 
expansion projects."

The Supreme Court decision makes Washington the first state to 
affirmatively recognize the right of a climate activist to offer the 
necessity defense at trial.
Contacts
Ken Ward, defendant
kenward.brightlines at gmail.com

Alice Cherry, attorney, Climate Defense Project
alice at climatedefenseproject.org

Lauren Regan, attorney, Civil Liberties Defense Center
regan at cldc.org
see also https://climatedefenseproject.org/
and https://cldc.org/
https://cldc.org/valve-turners/



[Tallest lightning rod]
*Kamala Harris: Oil Industry Should Be Accountable for Climate Crisis*

    Considering that previous presidential campaigns were completely
    devoid of discussing climate change, Wednesday night's climate
    crisis town hall, televised by CNN, was notable for its mere
    existence. Sen. Kamala Harris made the biggest splash with her vow
    to treat the oil industry the same as the tobacco industry by using
    the courts to hold it accountable for what it knew about climate
    change for decades. "It's not about debating the science. It's about
    taking on powerful interests," Harris said. "Let's take them to
    court." Harris had unveiled her campaign's climate plan earlier in
    the day, and it included the idea of legal accountability for the
    industry that has profited handsomely as the planet overheats. She
    joined Bernie Sanders as the most vocal of the candidates on that
    issue (now that Gov. Jay Inslee has dropped out). It also sounded
    like the former prosecutor would be happy to take this issue to court.

By Dana Drugmand
Sen. Kamala Harris became the latest Democratic presidential candidate 
to include holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate 
change among her policies to tackle the issue if she is elected.

During a televised town hall event Wednesday night, Harris, a former 
prosecutor and attorney general of California, said she would work to 
hold the industry liable for the damage it has caused to the climate.

"It's not about debating the science. It's about taking on powerful 
interests," Harris said. "Let's take them to court."

Harris released the details of her climate plan earlier Wednesday. The 
plan calls for a $10 trillion investment to achieve net-zero emissions 
by 2045. One of the plan's five pillars is holding polluters 
accountable. According to the plan, "Kamala's Administration will hold 
accountable those responsible for environmental degradation, the 
misinformation campaign against climate science, and creating harm to 
the health and wellbeing of current and future generations."

While the plan does not explicitly mention prosecuting fossil fuel 
companies or pursuing liability litigation, Harris clarified during the 
town hall that she would support suing the companies that waged a 
tobacco-style disinformation campaign to undermine climate science.

"This is what we did to the tobacco companies. We sued them, we took 
them to court," Harris said in response to an audience question from 
consultant David Leon Zink. In drawing the connection between the 
tobacco industry's campaign to deny the health impacts of smoking and 
the fossil fuel industry's effort to undermine climate science, Zink 
mentioned that a family member died from smoking-related illness and he 
also lost his home to the Camp Fire that ravaged the town of Paradise, 
Calif. last year.

Harris, after briefly reflecting on the Camp Fire tragedy that claimed 
85 lives, brought the discussion back to her commitment to pursuing 
corporate accountability.

"They have to be held accountable. These are bad behaviors. They are 
causing harm and death in communities," she said.

CNN's Erin Burnett followed up with a pointed question. "So Sen. Harris 
would you sue them, would you sue ExxonMobil?"

   "Yes!" Harris responded. "I have sued ExxonMobil."

Harris alluded to bringing litigation against big oil companies like 
Chevron and BP as California AG. These cases were tied to environmental 
violations rather than climate impacts, but Harris has more recently 
signaled her support for climate liability investigations and lawsuits. 
In 2016, as California attorney general she initially indicated that she 
would pursue an investigation into ExxonMobil's alleged climate fraud, 
following her counterparts in Massachusetts and New York. She did not 
follow through on that promise as she ran for her Senate seat. As a 
senator, she has co-signed an amicus brief in support of Oakland and San 
Francisco suing fossil fuel companies to pay for climate damages.

Harris is not alone in supporting taking legal action against the fossil 
fuel industry. Bernie Sanders said he would hold it accountable in 
court, including pursuing potential criminal liability, in his climate 
plan.

During the town hall discussion on Wednesday, Julian Castron, the former 
Housing and Urban Development secretary and former vice president Joe 
Biden both referenced polluter accountability in response to audience 
questions.

"We wouldn't be afraid of taking these folks to court," Castro said.

In a question to Biden, a 27 year-old doctoral candidate at Northwestern 
University, Isaac Larkin, said fossil fuel corporations have "waged a 
decades long campaign of lying to the public about the science that has 
brought us to a crisis that threatens the entire human race.

"How can we trust you to hold these corporations and executives 
accountable for their crimes against humanity?"

Biden said he would support holding the industry accountable, "just like 
we did the tobacco industry who lied to the public, just like we did the 
opioid industry." He said he would do that not through litigation but by 
"changing the law."
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2019/09/05/kamala-harris-climate-change-accountability/



[Superb interviews - To the Point - NPR podcast 41 mins]
*National Security and Climate Change*
Hosted by Warren Olney Sep. 05, 2019
Rising oceans wildfires and water shortages threaten US military 
operations worldwide. At the same time, the Pentagon is a major emitter 
of greenhouse gases. Can the defense establishment clean up its act and 
keep America safe at the same time?
- - -
Jet aircraft, carrier task forces and tanks consume vast amounts of 
fossil fuel--while emitting vast amounts of greenhouse gases. The 
Pentagon's carbon footprint is bigger than those of many entire nations. 
Now, it's caught in the middle. It's a massive contributor to climate 
change, which is threatening its mission worldwide. Seaports and 
airstrips are being flooded or burned out, and restoring operations 
costs many millions of dollars.

Meantime, environmental damage is leading to instability and the 
prospect of international violence. Water shortages have increased 
tensions in the Middle East and caused new hostilities between India and 
Pakistan, two nuclear powers. Russia and China are taking advantage of 
changing conditions. Will politicians who scorn environmentalists and 
mistrust climate scientists listen to the warnings of military leaders?
https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/to-the-point/national-security-and-climate-change



[Future studies]
*THE MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR "CLIMATE SERVICES" INDUSTRY IS ALTERING ACCESS 
TO CLIMATE CHANGE DATA. CRITICS FEAR SOME MAY LOSE OUT.*
Will the rise of private climate services -- where companies sell data 
tailored to customers -- benefit society as a whole or only those who 
can afford to pay?
WRITER Geoff Dembicki
@GeoffDembicki
Climate journalist and author
August 2, 2019 -- How do we avoid a future in which the best data for 
saving lives and property from climate destruction are only available to 
those who can afford it?

That's the question some observers and critics of "climate services" are 
asking. The fast growth of this field in recent years marks a profound 
shift in how our society creates and uses science. Rather than focus 
broadly on the regional, national or global impacts of rising 
temperatures, providers of climate services create data tailored to 
specific decision-makers: the mayor of a coastal city, say, or the CEO 
of an energy utility.

This field is spawning an industry of climate services companies that 
sense the potential for massive profits by selling customized data to 
clients who want to learn in explicit financial detail where and how 
much climate change will affect them.

One of the industry's leaders, a Silicon Valley executive named Rich 
Sorkin, made the case for climate services in May to the U.S. House 
Subcommittee on Environment. He argued that taking the big-picture 
climate science produced by federal agencies and turning it into 
hyperlocal threat assessments is a crucial and effective way for cities, 
states, companies and investors to better prepare for the climate 
emergency.

The field's growth "shifts the incentives for climate science away from 
the public interest towards the ongoing pursuit of profit." –Svenja Keele

Sorkin suggested that his risk-focused climate company Jupiter is 
uniquely suited to take on this job. "We believe the federal government 
should defer to the private sector in this area," he said in a statement.

That's not a universally held opinion, however. Earlier this year, the 
journal Climatic Change devoted a special issue to climate services, 
which included tough questions from critics. University of Melbourne 
researcher Svenja Keele argued in one paper that the field's growth 
"shifts the incentives for climate science away from the public interest 
towards the ongoing pursuit of profit."

University of Guelph assistant professor Eric Nost meanwhile asked, 
"when do climate services actually exacerbate existing vulnerabilities?"

Sorkin argues that companies like his -- which is part of an industry 
that in 2015 was valued globally at US$2.6 billion with 6% to 10% growth 
per year -- are nimble and innovative where government can be slow and 
cautious. "We're years ahead of what the public sector is doing," he says...
- - -
*Integrating Risks*
Mazzacurati founded Four Twenty Seven after Hurricane Sandy devastated 
New York City in 2012. "What struck me most was the chaos that [an] 
extreme weather event could bring to one of the wealthiest, most 
organized, most resourceful cities in the world -- and some of its most 
powerful businesses," she later recalled.

With parts of Manhattan flooded and without electricity, she wondered 
why financial organizations in particular -- which require a nuanced 
understanding of risk in order to survive -- failed to prepare for an 
obvious climate threat.
- - -
"Scientists were saying, 'We knew this could happen,'" Mazzacurati says. 
"[There was] a disconnect between the available data and projections 
around risks from climate change and the fact that those were not 
systematically integrated for most organizations."
Four Twenty Seven describes itself as a provider of "market 
intelligence." But it operates on the assumption that corporations and 
investors that learn about hyper-specific dangers they face from climate 
change -- whether that's a factory exposed to flooding or a high-carbon 
investment that could devalue a portfolio -- will not only protect their 
individual assets but push for wider climate solutions.

"We need both global policy action, and we need corporations to prepare 
for specific impacts," Mazzacurati says. "The realization of how complex 
[and costly] those impacts are … should help motivate greater policy 
engagement."

"When you change the narrative and you start discussing the impact that 
climate change will have on them rather than how evil they are … then 
you have a completely different conversation." –Carlo Buontempo

While managing the climate services team at the Met Office Hadley 
Centre, Carlo Buontempo did a project on the impact of climate change on 
corporations and oil companies.

"When you change the narrative and you start discussing the impact that 
climate change will have on them rather than how evil they are … then 
you have a completely different conversation," says Buontempo. "It's 
likely to trigger action."

But potentially only up to a point. In 2017, Royal Dutch Shell divested 
US$7.25 billion in investments from Canada's oil sands after learning 
about the financial damage a market shift to lower-carbon energy could 
have on its business model. Yet around the same time the company spent 
US$53 billion acquiring the fossil fuel giant BG Group, and The 
Economist recently reported that Shell is "earmarking most of its $30bn 
annual capital-expenditure budget over the five-year period [2021–2025] 
for fossil-fuel related projects."

*Replacement or Complement?*
Critics wonder if it's wise to assume that the self-interest of 
corporations and other powerful actors neatly align with the broader 
interests of society.

"We need to be alert to the possibility that [climate] service delivery 
models -- couched in the language of entrepreneurialism, efficiency, 
utility, customisation and flexibilization -- merely entrench the status 
quo … rather than support transformational and equitable responses to 
climate change," wrote Keele in Climatic Change.

Who will ultimately benefit from this involvement -- society at large, 
or the wealthy and well-connected?

Meanwhile, advocates question the underlying premise of such critiques: 
that the growth of climate services comes at the expense of traditional 
research. "We don't replace the fundamental science that government 
scientists and agencies perform," Mazzacurati says. "We're users of the 
data and we help bring it to market." In fact, the Trump 
administration's attacks on U.S. climate science -- including a proposal 
to slash US$1 billion from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration alone -- are unwelcome news to the industry.

"We're very much … concerned over the budget cuts," Mazzacurati says.

Still, Sorkin acknowledges that a private sector approach -- at least on 
its own -- isn't likely to serve the needs of the planet's most 
vulnerable. "We don't really see underdeveloped communities or countries 
as profit generators for us," he says. Those types of projects, he says, 
only make financial sense with the government or NGOs as partners.

*Desperately Needed Shift*
No matter which side you come down on, the fact is that decades of 
warnings from climate scientists haven't yet produced the global action 
needed to avoid catastrophe. Buontempo says companies responding to 
narrow self-interest are one aspect of a desperately needed shift away 
from carbon-producing activities -- along with strategies for dealing 
with the impacts we're already locked into.

"The involvement of the private sector is for me inevitable," he says. 
"There are not enough academics working on climate to develop all the 
services that a society needs at this stage."

Whether or not that is the case, the question remains: Who will 
ultimately benefit from this involvement -- society at large, or the 
wealthy and well-connected?
https://ensia.com/features/private-climate-services-industry-environmental-justice-corporations-inequity/



[News from Russia]
*New Arctic partnership announces construction of 17 icebreaking LNG 
tankers*
A joint venture set up by Novatek and Sovcomflot will develop and run a 
powerful new fleet of Arctic carriers.
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2019/09/new-arctic-partnership-announces-construction-17-icebreaking-lng-tankers


[More news from the Barents Observer]
*It was the warmest ever Arctic summer*
The top of the world saw record-beating average temperatures flashing 
through all three summer months.
By Atle Staalesen
September 05, 2019
June, July and August have never been this warm in the Arctic. Data from 
Russian and U.S weather institutes show that all the three months beat 
the records.

According to Roshydromet, the Russian meteorological institute, it was 
the area between the peninsulas of Taymyr and Chukotka that had the 
biggest abnormality for the period. Average temperatures across the 
region were between 2-4 degrees Celsius above normal.

In certain areas, the abnormality was even bigger, the institute makes 
clear. Meteorological data from the region stretch back 130 years, 
Roshydromet informs.

Similar results are found in Greenland, Alaska and the eastern part of 
the Canadian Arctic.
There were also parts of the Arctic that had colder termperatures than 
normal. The Russian Kola Peninsula and parts of Northwest Russia had an 
average of 1 degree Celcius below normal...
- - -
The weather studies have been conducted jointly by Roshydromet and the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In parts of Siberia, this year's heat dried out vegetation and prepared 
the ground for major wildfires. According to the Copernicus Atmosphere 
Monitoring Service there were in June alone more than 100 intense and 
long-lived wildfires raging in areas north of the Arctic Circle...
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic-ecology/2019/09/it-was-warmest-ever-arctic-summer



[New CliFi novel]
*Divining Comedy*
Amitav Ghosh's new novel is set amid climate disaster--yet it steers 
toward the mythic and the comic
  conversation with the acclaimed novelist Amitav Ghosh -- truly one of 
the great literary masters alive today -- about his new novel, GUN 
ISLAND, and his previous book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and 
the Unthinkable.
https://thebaffler.com/latest/divining-comedy-stephenson




[Teach your children well]
TRUST ISSUES
*How can I teach my students about climate change?*
By Eve Andrews on Sep 5, 2019

Q. Dear Umbra,
I teach Earth Science, and my students always ask me who they should 
believe when it comes to climate issues. What do I tell them?
-- Trying to Educate As the Climate Heats

A. Dear TEACH,
The good news about young brains -- as anyone who's been even passively 
absorbing climate news over the past year probably knows -- is that the 
Teens Are Pretty On It...
- - -
But as I'm sure you're aware, it's not enough to have your students 
bookmark a few good news sites. It's absolutely crucial that they 
develop basic media literacy skills: in other words, rules to know whom 
to believe and whom not to believe. As I mentioned, there are a lot of 
outlets, businesses, and individuals out there who are actively working 
to downplay the urgency of climate change.

One thing you can do is make your students aware of their possible 
motivations for doing so: An outlet might be directly paid by the fossil 
fuel industry or other business interests, or they're trying to push a 
political agenda. Spotting the signs of fake news isn't just about 
scanning for poor grammar, old time stamps, or inflammatory word 
choices. Researching sites' (and individuals') funding sources can be 
equally, if not more, revealing when it comes to media bias.

Since I am no classroom teacher (I admire what you do, but find the 
pressure of helping young brains actualize themselves to be paralyzing), 
I asked my wise and trustworthy educator friend Sophie Date for some 
advice on this front. "In my history class, I make perspectives and 
analysis a center of every course that I teach," she said. 
"Unfortunately, it's not as simple as saying 'this source has bias, this 
source doesn't.' I work really hard to help kids pull out the gray area 
of who is believable, through primary sources, debate, and discussion."

To be clear, Sophie isn't suggesting that climate change is up for 
debate, as over 97 percent of actively publishing climate scientists 
confirm. She's advocating for being able to defend the veracity of your 
sources!

But while it's smart to look to the translated research of scientists 
who study planetary physics and ecology and oceans and anything else 
that contributes to our growing body of climate knowledge, I believe 
it's also important to communicate to your students that trust isn't 
placed so much in the individuals as it is in the practice of science as 
a whole. As acclaimed science historian Naomi Oreskes said in a 2014 TED 
talk, "Science … is not based on any individual, no matter how smart 
that individual may be. It's based on the collective wisdom, the 
collective knowledge, the collective work of all of the scientists who 
have worked on a particular problem."

And unlike other scientific topics of interest like extraterrestrials or 
string theory, climate change is not theoretical -- it's already a very 
significant threat to their communities. Helping teens recognize how 
it's affecting their personal sphere might be the most effective way to 
get them to connect and trust in it.

"I think when youth question climate change, they're navigating around a 
lot of the noise and asking the really relevant questions: 'How does it 
show up for me in my life, what does it mean for me?'" said Heidi Roop, 
lead scientist in science communications at the University of 
Washington's Climate Impact Group. Roop, who advises the state's 
initiative to train its teachers on this exact question, says that an 
excellent way to address kids' desire for focus is to bring in a local 
expert, like someone from the local forest service, or a fisherman, or a 
civil engineer.

Students tend to believe people in their own community, because they 
share the same home and the same experience. Hearing from people who are 
preparing for and dealing with climate impacts already, right now, in 
their hometown is a pretty sure way to get them to understand its 
importance.

"It's less about the greenhouse effect, which is fundamental, but more, 
'What does this big issue mean? How does it show up in your home?'" Roop 
said.

But sometimes the home factor can work against a young person's 
understanding of climate change. While most parents say they want their 
kids' schools to address global warming, you may be sensitive to 
potential conflicts that could arise from teaching the subject to 
children who may, for whatever reason, be exposed to some climate denial 
at home.

Luckily, I have some good news on that front, too! The kid-parent 
relationship isn't necessarily a one-way route of trust or knowledge. 
When young people learn about climate science, or more importantly the 
impacts of climate change, and relay that information to their parents, 
studies show those adults are more likely to appreciate the risks and 
urgency of the whole crisis.

"Not only are youth leading international conversation around climate, 
evidence suggests they have a strong influence on their parents," Roop 
told me. "That's true even in places where there is a perceived 
disbelief in climate info and lack of concern."

So know you're fighting the good fight, TEACH. It can feel isolating and 
challenging to try to clue kids in to the dire nature of their future -- 
trust me, I know! -- but you're hardly alone in doing it. Keep pointing 
your students toward trustworthy adult sources. And, of course, consider 
giving a shout out to their peers who are rightfully shouting about it 
every day.
Scholastically,
Umbra
https://grist.org/article/how-can-i-teach-my-students-about-climate-change/



*This Day in Climate History - September 6, 2011 - from D.R. Tucker*
September 6, 2011: On MotherJones.com, investigative journalist Brad 
Friedman posts audio from a secretive June 2011 conference in Colorado 
hosted by climate-change-denying libertarian billionaires Charles and 
David Koch. In one clip, Charles Koch compares President Obama to Saddam 
Hussein. That evening, Friedman discusses the conference on MSNBC's "The 
Ed Show."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/exclusive-audio-koch-brothers-seminar-tapes/ 

http://youtu.be/7qLiEB4Ed_E
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