[TheClimate.Vote] September 18, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/September 18, 2019/

[Germany]
*Climate Revolt: Thousands disrupt International Motor Show in Frankfurt*
9/17/2019
25.000 DEMONSTRATORS COMPRISING 7,000 PEDESTRIANS AND 18,000 CYCLISTS 
INTERRUPTED THE FIRST OPEN DAY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW IN 
FRANKFURT, LEADING TO THE LARGEST MASS MOBILISATION AROUND THE MOTOR 
SHOW IN ITS 120+ YEAR HISTORY, AND ONE OF THE LARGEST-EVER PROTESTS 
AGAINST THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.
https://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/27222/climate-revolt-thousands-disrupt-international-motor-show-in-frankfurt



[rate of increase is increasing]
*Earth to warm more quickly, new climate models show*
Greenhouse gases thrust into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels are 
warming Earth's surface more quickly than previously understood, 
according to new climate models set to replace those used in current UN 
projections, scientists said Tuesday.
- - -
A core finding of the new models is that increased levels of CO2 in the 
atmosphere will warm Earth's surface more easily than earlier 
calculations had suggested.
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-earth-quickly-climate.html



[Naomi Klein interviewed on Democracy Now]
*Naomi Klein on the Case for a Green New Deal, Greta Thunberg, & The 
Rise of Ecofascism*
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Democracy Now!
Amid mounting climate disasters across the planet, from the fires 
ravaging the Amazon to Hurricane Dorian's destructive path through the 
Bahamas, we speak with renowned journalist, author and activist Naomi 
Klein. In her new book, "On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New 
Deal," Klein looks unsparingly at the rise of ecofascism, as Western 
countries fortify their borders and white supremacy surges around the 
world in response to the climate crisis. Klein tips her hat to 
16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg, praising her for her "moral 
clarity" as one of many youth voices that "burst through the 
bureaucratic language with which we shield ourselves from the reality of 
the stakes, the extraordinary stakes, of our moment in history." Klein 
also lays out a path forward for mankind in which we meet the challenge 
of global warming with radical and systemic transformation. "We do know 
that if we are going to lower our emissions in time, it is going to take 
transformations of how we live in cities, how we move ourselves around, 
how we grow our food, where we get our energy from," Klein says. 
"Essentially, what the Green New Deal is saying: If we're going to do 
all that, why wouldn't we tackle all of these systemic economic and 
social crises at the same time? Because we live in a time of multiple, 
overlapping crises."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IARezGmhWr0
- - -
*Naomi Klein: By Not Holding Climate Debate, DNC Fails to Grasp 
"Intersectional Nature of the Crisis"*
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Democracy Now!
Renowned activist and author Naomi Klein evaluates the 2020 Democratic 
presidential field and the climate platforms of leading candidates. She 
says the Democratic National Committee's refusal to hold a debate 
specifically on the climate crisis reveals "a fundamental failure to 
understand the intersectional nature of this crisis," making it crucial 
for the candidates to be vocal about their plans.

"If you say you support a Green New Deal … then you can't wait for the 
moderator to ask you specifically about climate change. This is your 
economic plan, this is related to what your foreign policy is, this is 
related to your racial justice platform," Klein says. "This is really 
the story of the next economy, so the candidates need to seize the reins."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCd03MisktI
- - -
*Ecofascism: Naomi Klein Warns the Far Right's Embrace of White 
Supremacy Is Tied to Climate Crisis*
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Democracy Now!
Renowned climate activist and author Naomi Klein addresses the rise of 
ecofascism, the marrying of environmentalism and white power, which she 
says manifested in the Christchurch, New Zealand, white supremacist 
terrorist attack, where the shooter identified himself as an ecofascist. 
In her latest book, "On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal," 
Klein writes, "My fear is that, unless something significant changes in 
how our societies rise to the ecological crisis, we are going to see 
this kind of white power eco-fascism emerge with much greater frequency, 
as a ferocious rationalization for refusing to live up to our collective 
climate responsibilities."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqUUTP5i_nU



[Activism Strike https://digital.globalclimatestrike.net/] *Global 
Climate Strike, 20-27 Sept.*
We've endured another summer of record-breaking heatwaves, floods, and 
refinery explosions. Enough is enough. No more government inaction and 
half-measures.

It's time to build a renewable energy economy that works for everyone. 
Join us in the streets September 20 and the week after to demand climate 
justice for all.

    [catchy Facebook music video ]
    *"We're gonna strike for you, Will you strike for us?"*
    https://www.facebook.com/350.org/videos/495832824311358/
    Global Climate Strike, 20-27 Sept.

    [YouTube video call to action https://youtu.be/FBHKkWsp9nk]
    *I Strike Because...*
    Published on Sep 11, 2019
    On Sept 20-27, millions of people around the world will take to the
    streets for the Global #ClimateStrike.
    https://digital.globalclimatestrike.net/


Most of America's greenhouse gas emissions come from burning oil, coal 
and gas, also known as fossil fuels. These greenhouse gas emissions, and 
the fossil fuel billionaires responsible for them, are pushing our 
climate to the brink of collapse and hurting our communities in real 
time. This is especially true for those of us who are poor, people of 
color, and otherwise marginalized.

All forms of inequality get magnified by climate change. From housing to 
healthcare, everything gets worse when a wildfire or hurricane is at 
your doorstep, or when oil and gas billionaires come to town to build a 
pipeline or a refinery in your backyard. While we suffer, our elected 
officials keep pandering to the billionaires responsible for this crisis.

It doesn't have to be this way. Working together, we can take action 
within our communities and across differences to build a more just and 
sustainable future. For over a year, youth across America have been 
catalyzing the work to do just that. On September 20th, all of us are 
called to join young people in the streets to demand climate justice for 
all. In the week that follows, we'll continue to mobilize to create the 
changes, and the solutions, we know we need.
Use the map below to find and RSVP for an event near you.
https://globalclimatestrike.net/usa/



[Beckwith video talks]
*Record Setting Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) Over Antarctica: 
Causes and Consequences*
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Paul Beckwith
I shift gears from the Arctic to chat about the Southern Hemisphere and 
Antarctica. Since the last week of August, the stratospheric polar 
vortex first became elongated and then completely destabilized, with 
some regions warming up abruptly from about -70C to an incredible +13C, 
causing the high altitude vortex to morph into two and then even three 
vortices. My understanding is that rapid loss of Antarctic sea ice in 
some regions and gain in others caused an asymmetry of sea ice around 
the continent, thus causing asymmetry and breakdown of the vortex.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m82Qk2b0dgU
- - -
[continued from above]
*Antarctica's Sudden Stratospheric Warming Disrupts Weather in New 
Zealand, Australia, South America*
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Paul Beckwith
Since 2014, Antarctica has been losing large areas of perennial sea ice, 
whereas before then sea ice was growing about 1.5% per decade. I suspect 
asymmetric sea ice loss will lead to an increase in the frequency, 
severity, and duration of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events. 
Southern SSWs are very rare; this one is big, with an 80C rapid rise. 
Consequences will likely be unusually extreme cold and precipitation in 
New Zealand, Southern Australia, and Southern South America, and 
excessive heat and also drought slightly northward in Australia and 
South America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7OdYbPeRI0



[Opinion]
*Not just Kavanaugh: Another alarming reason to fear the Supreme Court*
By Greg Sargent - Opinion writer
September 16, 2019
The long conservative takeover of the Supreme Court is getting another 
round of scrutiny in light of new allegations against Justice Brett M. 
Kavanaugh. Though they are inadequately sourced, the New York Times's 
latest reporting has also raised legitimate new doubts about the shallow 
FBI inquiry into his background that helped smooth his confirmation.

This, along with the pocketing of Neil M. Gorsuch's seat, helped 
President Trump entrench a further-rightward shift on the high court -- 
albeit one overshadowed by questions about its legitimacy.

But beyond the ugly tactics that produced this particular majority lies 
a looming question: What will the long-term consequences of this 
takeover be?

A new study offers an alarming answer to that question. It concludes 
that even if Democrats win the White House and Congress, the high court 
will likely strike down much of what they do to address the climate 
change crisis, even as the window for action is closing, perhaps 
exacerbating the threat of civilizational catastrophe.

The study represents a serious effort -- one undertaken by two 
well-known academics -- to develop a realistic projection of how the 
conservative justices might rule on climate legislation. As such, it may 
also fuel discussion among the Democratic presidential candidates about 
their various proposals to expand the court.
"Climate change legislation," the report starkly concludes, is "unlikely 
to survive judicial review," at a time when "leading scientists have 
concluded that only twelve years remain to avoid planetary climate 
change catastrophe."

What makes the study interesting is that it uses the justices' past 
rulings, as well as other conservative legal scholarship, to elaborate a 
picture of the specific legal doctrines they might employ to strike down 
efforts to legislate against global warming. The study concludes that 
their records clearly demonstrate they will have many such doctrines to 
weaponize in this fashion.

"There are ample implausible doctrines that conservative justices will 
invoke," Aaron Belkin, a political science professor at San Francisco 
State University who co-wrote the study, told me. The other author is 
Samuel Moyn, a professor at Yale Law School.

The study, which is sponsored by Take Back The Court -- a group 
advocating court expansion -- details numerous such ways this might happen:

Construe agency authority narrowly. The study details the conservative 
justices' history of very narrowly construing the discretion of agencies 
to interpret statutes, as part of a broader hostility to agency authority.

Kavanaugh and Gorsuch have a history of hostility to Chevron deference, 
the idea that courts should defer to agencies' interpretation of 
statutes, the study notes, adding that Kavanaugh has implausibly 
construed agency authority too narrowly in striking down climate 
regulations as a circuit-court judge.

The key thing noted by the study is that this is one way the justices 
might strike down future climate legislation.

Imagine that a Democratic president and Congress were to enact some sort 
of Green New Deal-oriented program that includes extensive investments 
in green energy technologies, and new regulations on greenhouse gas 
emissions by both industry and the agricultural sector.

Such efforts would be implemented by agencies such as the Environmental 
Protection Agency and the Agriculture Department. No matter how clearly 
the statutory commands to these agencies are written, the study argues, 
"a determined Court can undermine attempts to realize the legislation by 
reading agencies' statutory authority extremely narrowly."

Construe regulations as violations of the takings clause. The study 
posits that the conservative justices could invalidate climate 
legislation through a creative reading of the Fifth Amendment's 
prohibition against taking private property for "public use" without 
"just compensation."
For instance, the study notes, the court might narrowly construe what 
counts as a "public purpose," as previous conservative justices have 
suggested in dissents. In this scenario, the court might strike down 
legislation dramatically restricting oil drilling as an unconstitutional 
"taking" from a corporation engaged in it.

"Though oil companies arguably are implicated in wreaking affirmative 
harm on society," the study concludes, the court might simply deny that 
the policy in question would actually serve a public purpose. How? By 
concluding that it "would not remedy the affirmative harm that climate 
change poses to society," or worse, that "climate change does not pose a 
sufficient harm in the first place."

Another possibility is that the conservative justices might be animated 
by a newly emerging doctrine called "regulatory takings." This doctrine 
reads not just eminent domain but also certain regulatory acts as 
"takings" requiring compensation.
Imagine a law that requires new levels of monitoring on fossil-fuel 
drilling sites to keep extractions below a certain threshold. The study 
posits that the justices might allow that the regulation does serve a 
public purpose, so it can stand, but also that it's still a "taking" and 
thus requires compensation.

"Requiring the government to pay to regulate could pose problems for the 
fiscal feasibility of climate change legislation," the study concludes.

Other possibilities suggested by the study: Congress's authority to 
regulate interstate commerce underpins many environmental laws, but the 
conservative court could invalidate, say, new regulations affecting 
natural resources by arguing that the commerce clause does not authorize 
intrusions into regulatory authority typically reserved to the states.
Or the conservative court could invalidate, for instance, new regulatory 
standards created for states by concluding that the mechanism to do so 
runs afoul of an "anti-commandeering doctrine" developed by 
conservatives to limit the federal government's ability to exert 
influence over state governments.

The bottom line subtext of the study: In response to the climate crisis, 
the federal government is going to have to exercise its powers to a much 
greater degree -- and a major collision between this and the 
conservative court majority is inevitable.

"The next president needs to explain how they will protect their climate 
proposals from a partisan court," Belkin told me. "It's not enough to 
have big, bold ideas, or even to enact those big, bold ideas."

This is likely to lead to more discussion of various proposals for 
expanding the courts in response to the norm-shredding nature of the 
conservative takeover of it -- a topic for another column.
In the end, we face a situation that's in some ways similar to the New 
Deal. The country faced an emergency at the time, yet proposed 
government responses were blocked by a Supreme Court driven by doctrinal 
opposition to many such actions (not to mention fealty to plutocratic 
interests) until the dam was broken.

"The court will clearly not allow Congress to solve problems," Belkin 
told me. "The country is facing a range of policy emergencies."
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/16/not-just-kavanaugh-another-alarming-reason-fear-supreme-court/



*This Day in Climate History - September 18, 2006 - from D.R. Tucker*
September 18, 2006: Air America's "EcoTalk with Betsy Rosenberg" becomes 
the first radio show focused on green/climate change issues to go to a 
daily format in 40 markets.
http://blogsofbainbridge.typepad.com/ecotalkblog/2006/09/ecotalk_daily_s.html
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