[TheClimate.Vote] August 20, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Thu Aug 20 08:58:15 EDT 2020
/*August 20, 2020*/
[uh oh]
*California Fires Live Updates: State Hit by 10,000 Lightning Strikes in
72 Hours*
Fast-moving fires are spreading across Northern California, with
wind-whipped flames forcing people to flee their homes.
RIGHT NOWThe fires are spreading smoke across a wide region, with the
National Weather Service warning that air quality in the Bay Area could
be "very poor for the foreseeable future."
Here's what you need to know:
Raging wildfires are forcing evacuations in Northern California.
Woken at 2 a.m., a Vacaville resident fled with his dog and not much else.
Poor air quality is also a problem for many in Northern California.
The governor has declared a state of emergency.
California has faced rolling blackouts as a heat wave raises demand for
electricity.
Officials have been bracing for the challenge of fighting fires during a
pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/california-wildfires-vacaville.html
- -
[US smoke map ]
*NOAA HRRR-Smoke*
https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/#
[follow the money]
*'Climate Donors' Flock to Biden to Counter Trump's Fossil Fuel Money*
WASHINGTON -- In 2009, the Obama administration's environmental team
called a group of climate activists to the White House to deliver a
message: Climate change doesn't sell and only provokes economic attacks
from the right that are too difficult to counter.
As former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. prepares to assume the
Democratic Party's presidential nomination, the changing climate is now
a core campaign issue -- and a focus for fund-raising. Plans for
tackling rising global temperatures will be in the spotlight Wednesday
at the Democratic convention. And Mr. Biden has raised more than $15
million in candidate contributions from hundreds of new donors who
specifically identify with climate change as a cause...
- -
Betsy Taylor, president of the consulting firm Breakthrough Strategies
and a longtime adviser to climate donors, said the dynamics are
virtually unrecognizable from 2009 when she and other activists were
told that "clean energy jobs" and "energy security" were safer ways to
frame an environmental message.
"Back then the conventional wisdom was, 'Don't fund-raise with political
donors on climate change. Don't even talk about climate change," Ms.
Taylor said. Eleven years later, she said, Democratic donors "want
action" on fossil fuels.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/climate/climate-change-biden.html
[vote anyway]
*Democrats have made a puzzling decision to drop their demand to end
fossil fuel subsidies*
Democrats say climate change is a priority. The DNC platform dropped its
demand to end subsidies to dirty energy.
By Umair Irfan Aug 19, 2020*
*
The Democratic National Committee has removed a provision in its party
platform that called for an end to subsidies and tax breaks for the
fossil fuel industry.
First reported by HuffPost on Tuesday, the revelation comes amid the
party's convention this week, where fighting climate change has been a
recurring theme and where there has been a particular emphasis on
switching to cleaner alternatives and away from dirty energy sources
like coal and oil that emit greenhouse gases.
It's also an odd move during a campaign in which nearly every Democratic
presidential candidate put out a robust plan to deal with climate
change. While the plans differed on the specifics, almost all of them
specifically called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies. That includes
the plans of Democratic nominee for president, former Vice President Joe
Biden, as well as his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris.
The deleted provision read, "Democrats support eliminating tax breaks
and subsidies for fossil fuels, and will fight to defend and extend tax
incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy."
It was added over the summer to the party platform that was later
approved. But the final version of the platform released this week
omitted the line. The DNC told HuffPost the language was "incorrectly
included" and was removed "after the error was discovered."
But environmental activists were outraged when they discovered the
omission. "It's ridiculous that a common-sense policy endorsed by party
leadership was stricken from the platform at the eleventh hour," Ryan
Schleeter, a spokesperson for Greenpeace USA told Vox in an email...
- -
Policies for combating climate change aren't just necessary -- they're
popular
Fighting climate change has broad support, not just among Democrats but
across the US public. An April poll from the Pew Research Center found
that 60 percent of Americans say climate change is a major threat to the
well-being of the United States. A Gallup poll last year reported that
60 percent of Americans favor reducing fossil fuel use. A growing number
of power customers are now demanding 100 percent renewable energy from
their utilities.
At the same time, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute estimated
that the US directly subsidizes the fossil fuel industry to the tune of
$20 billion a year.
And that figure fails to encapsulate the full monetary value of current
fossil fuel policies: By failing to bill fossil fuel producers for their
greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting damage to the environment,
the International Monetary Fund calculated that the US gives an
effective subsidy of $649 billion to the industries that contribute most
to climate change.
These subsidies began as a way to shore up domestic energy production in
a world where global energy markets can be volatile. But they served to
extend the United States' dependence on fuels that harm the environment
by keeping prices artificially low. They have also propped up faltering
energy companies. The coal industry in particular is facing a
precipitous long-term decline the subsidies can't reverse.
Financially supporting a major cause of climate change while ostensibly
trying to fight it is incongruous, so it makes sense that people
concerned about rising average temperatures would want to end policies
that make it cheaper to use coal, oil, and natural gas.
But it's a problem Democrats have struggled to solve. Former President
Barack Obama repeatedly tried to reduce fossil fuel subsidies while in
office but was stalled by Congress. Ending fossil fuel subsidies was
also in the 2016 Democratic platform.
This makes the recent removal of language around ending fossil fuel
subsidies all the more bizarre, especially since shifting to cleaner
energy is a key part of the party's pitch to voters.
"Joe [Biden] will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and fight the
threat of climate change by transitioning us to 100% clean electricity
over the next 15 years," said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during a
virtual address to the convention on Tuesday. "These initiatives will
create millions of good paying jobs all across the country."
For their part, Biden's campaign says they are still on board with
cutting funding for dirty energy. Stef Feldman, the policy director for
the campaign said on Twitter on Wednesday that Biden "continues to be
committed to ending U.S. fossil fuel subsidies."
As the Democratic Party makes this platform change, the United States is
facing record heat, massive wildfires, and rising seas -- phenomena that
will continue to be exacerbated by rising average temperatures spurred
by human emissions of greenhouse gases. Climate change is already here
and it's only getting worse.
https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-platform-climate-change-fossil-fuel-subsidies
[Heat is on]
*From 'firenadoes' to record heat, California extreme weather a glimpse
of future*
In the last few days, a moisture-laden heat wave has unleashed extreme
weather in almost every corner of California.
In a single day, Northern California was hit with triple-digit
temperatures, as well as hundreds of lightning strikes that ignited
brush fires. The mercury hit 107 degrees Sunday in Santa Cruz, known for
its moderate climate, and Death Valley reached 130 degrees -- one of the
hottest temperatures ever recorded there...
Meanwhile, unusually muggy air made Los Angeles feel like Houston, and
warm nights failed to offer much relief. The Central Valley sweltered
with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. A fire-caused tornado touched
down near the Sierra Nevada community of Loyalton. And a pyrocumulus
cloud towered over Southern California, where heat and wildfires pushed
smog levels higher than they've been in years...
- -
"You can tough out being in the hottest place on Earth for two
consecutive days -- provided you've got air conditioning," Blacker said.
"But this is the last place on Earth you want to be without proper and
consistent power."..
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-18/california-heat-wave-brings-extreme-weather-and-a-glimpse-at-our-future-with-climate-change
[Greta reports]
*After two years of school strikes, the world is still in a state of
climate crisis denial*
We can have as many meetings as we like, but the will to change is
nowhere in sight. Society must start treating this as a crisis
by Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer, Anuna De Wever and Adelaide Charlier
On Thursday 20 August, it will be exactly two years since the first
school strike for the climate took place. Looking back, a lot has
happened. Many millions have taken to the streets to join the
decades-long fight for climate and environmental justice. And on 28
November 2019, the European parliament declared a "climate and
environmental emergency".
But over these past two years, the world has also emitted more than 80
gigatonnes of CO2. We have seen continuous natural disasters taking
place across the globe: wildfires, heatwaves, flooding, hurricanes,
storms, thawing of permafrost and collapsing of glaciers and whole
ecosystems. Many lives and livelihoods have been lost. And this is only
the very beginning.
Today, leaders all over the world are speaking of an "existential
crisis". The climate emergency is discussed on countless panels and
summits. Commitments are being made, big speeches are given. Yet, when
it comes to action we are still in a state of denial. The climate and
ecological crisis has never once been treated as a crisis. The gap
between what we need to do and what's actually being done is widening by
the minute. Effectively, we have lost another two crucial years to
political inaction.
Last month, just ahead of the European council summit, we published an
open letter with demands to EU and world leaders. Since then, more than
125,000 people have signed this letter. Tomorrow we will meet the German
chancellor, Angela Merkel, and deliver the letter and demands, as well
as the signatures.
We will tell Merkel that she must face up to the climate emergency -
especially as Germany now holds the presidency of the European council.
Europe has a responsibility to act. The EU and the United Kingdom are
accountable for 22% of historic accumulative global emissions, second
only to the United States. It is immoral that the countries that have
done the least to cause the problem are suffering first and worst. The
EU must act now, as it has signed up to do in the Paris agreement.
Our demands include halting all fossil fuel investments and subsidies,
divesting from fossil fuels, making ecocide an international crime,
designing policies that protect workers and the most vulnerable,
safeguarding democracy and establishing annual, binding carbon budgets
based on the best available science.
We understand the world is complicated and that what we are asking for
may not be easy or may seem unrealistic. But it is much more unrealistic
to believe that our societies would be able to survive the global
heating we're heading for - as well as other disastrous ecological
consequences of today's business as usual. We are inevitably going to
have to fundamentally change, one way or another. The question is, will
the changes be on our terms, or on nature's terms?
In the Paris agreement, world leaders committed themselves to keeping
the global average temperature rise to well below 2C, and aiming for
1.5C. Our demands demonstrate what that commitment means. Yet this is
just the very minimum of what needs to be done to deliver on those promises.
So if leaders are not willing to do this, they'll have to start
explaining why they're giving up on the Paris agreement. Giving up on
their promises. Giving up on the people living in the most affected
areas. Giving up on the chances of handing over a safe future for their
children. Giving up without even trying.
Science doesn't tell anyone what to do, it merely collects and presents
verified information. It is up to us to study and connect the dots. When
you read the IPCC SR1.5 report and the UNEP production gap report, as
well as what leaders have actually signed up for in the Paris agreement,
you see that the climate and ecological crisis can no longer be solved
within today's systems. Even a child can see that policies of today
don't add up with the current best available science.
We need to end the ongoing wrecking, exploitation and destruction of our
life support systems and move towards a fully decarbonised economy that
is centred on the wellbeing of all people, democracy and the natural world.
If we are to have a chance of staying below 1.5C of warming, our
emissions need to immediately start reducing rapidly towards zero and
then on to negative figures. That's a fact. And since we don't have all
the technical solutions we need to achieve that, we have to work with
what we have at hand today. And this has to include stopping doing
certain things. That's also a fact. However, it's a fact that most
people refuse to accept. Just the thought of being in a crisis that we
cannot buy, build or invest our way out of seems to create some kind of
collective mental short circuit.
This mix of ignorance, denial and unawareness is at the very heart of
the problem. As it is now, we can have as many meetings and climate
conferences as we want. They will not lead to sufficient changes,
because the willingness to act and the level of awareness needed are
still nowhere in sight. The only way forward is for society to start
treating the crisis like a crisis.
We still have the future in our own hands. But time is rapidly slipping
through our fingers. We can still avoid the worst consequences. But to
do that, we have to face the climate emergency and change our ways. And
that is the uncomfortable truth we cannot escape.
- Greta Thunberg is a 17-year-old environmental campaigner from Sweden.
This article was co-written with youth climate activists Luisa Neubauer
from Germany, Anuna de Wever from Belgium, and Adelaide Charlier from
Belgium
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/19/climate-crisis-leaders-greta-thunberg
[listen in to XR activists discussing strategy in UK]
*REBELLION CHECK-IN (Updates + Q&A)*
8-19-2020
Extinction Rebellion
What's happening with the Rebellion? This is a weekly event and in this
session XRUK coordinators, Clare Farrell and Sarah Lunnon will go over:
- Latest updates
- Upcoming plans
- Q&A
This will be a great chance to meet some of the faces who are helping to
lead this rebellion and to ask them questions. This webinar is open to
via livestream XRUK social media pages such as Facebook and Youtube and
will be recorded. You will be able to ask questions online on social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5cPmHZ0gWU
- -
[documentary]
*The Troublemaker | Trailer*
Aug 19, 2020
Extinction Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4fq44LEGxQ
[nuke plants don't like the heat either]
*Nuclear Plants Face More Heat Risk Than They're Prepared to Handle*
A new report from Moody's shows that a warming world may cause more
service disruptions in the U.S...
- -
Nuclear plants are cooled by water, and in times of intense heat and
drought, water resources can become either too warm or too scarce,
forcing shutdowns. This has already happened, and not just in the South:
in 2012, Dominion Energy Inc.'s Millstone nuclear plant in Waterford,
Conn. The report predicts that nuclear plants in the Rocky Mountain
states, the Colorado River region, and California face the highest
levels of water stress risk going forward.
Kamran said in an interview that this report wasn't about estimating the
risk of a meltdown. Currently, he said, most U.S. plants are
sufficiently resilient not to face a catastrophe, even in the event of
exceptionally severe weather.
Instead the report was meant to highlight the extent of the
environmental pressures plants will have to adapt to withstand if they
want to operate consistently in the coming decades. Resisting those
stresses is potentially expensive-- even more expensive than the plants
have currently estimated, he said: "In certain cases they will need to
make investments to further reinforce their plants and they need to have
money in their cap-ex funds to do that."...
more at -
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-19/climate-change-threatens-nuclear-power-due-to-global-warming
[not Dems, Dams]*
**Climate change: Dams played key role in limiting sea level rise*
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent - 19 August 2020
The construction of large-scale dams has played a surprising role in
limiting rising seas, say scientists.
Over the past century, melting glaciers and the thermal expansion of sea
water have driven up ocean levels.
But this new study finds that dams almost stalled the rising seas in the
1970s because of the amount of water they prevented from entering the
oceans.
Without them, the annual rate of rise would have been around 12% higher...
- -
The 1950s to 1970s saw a building boom with several large-scale
constructions completed, including the Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe, the
Bratsk Dam in Siberia and the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.
When the full impact of these giants came on stream in the 1970s, their
ability to block water from going into the sea slowed the ongoing rise
in global sea level.
"A large part of this dip is because sea level [rise] was almost brought
to a halt because of the amount of water stored in dams," said lead
author Dr Thomas Frederikse, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California.
"So by building dams, we almost stopped sea level rise for a decade or
so."...
- -
The 1950s to 1970s saw a building boom with several large-scale
constructions completed, including the Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe, the
Bratsk Dam in Siberia and the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.
When the full impact of these giants came on stream in the 1970s, their
ability to block water from going into the sea slowed the ongoing rise
in global sea level.
"A large part of this dip is because sea level [rise] was almost brought
to a halt because of the amount of water stored in dams," said lead
author Dr Thomas Frederikse, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California.
"So by building dams, we almost stopped sea level rise for a decade or so."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53836018
[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - August 20, 2011 *
Several dozen climate activists are arrested in Washington, DC at the
start of a two-week civil-disobedience campaign against the Keystone XL
pipeline. Over 1,200 are arrested by the time the campaign concludes.
*65-70 Protesters arrested in front of the White House w video & photo
update*
So far most of the MSM is been been omitting any coverage whatsoever of
today's Protests against the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline, with the
exception of the Murdoch mouthpiece WSJ.
Sixty-five arrested outside White House in oil pipeline protest
Police arrested 65 environmentalists outside the White House Saturday as
they staged a demonstration urging President Obama to block a proposed
pipeline that would bring oil from Canada's oil sands projects to Gulf
Coast refineries.
The civil disobedience launched two-weeks of White House demonstrations
- with more arrests to come - as activists seek to increase political
pressure on Obama over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
While police said 65 people were arrested, the protest organizers put
the number at 70 in an account on their website Saturday.
McKibben, a key organizer of the protests, calls the Obama
administration decision a referendum on the president's climate change
record, noting the decision rests solely with the executive branch.
"He doesn't have to go through the crazy climate deniers in Congress to
be able to do the right thing," McKibben said in Lafayette Square
Saturday morning.
"If Barack Obama mans up, says no to this thing, it will send a surge of
electricity through all of the people that voted for him three years
ago. It will be the reminder of why we were so enamored of this guy in
2008," McKibben said...
The decision on the Keystone pipeline is up to President Obama. No one
else. Its time he stepped up to the plate to address Climate Change.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/08/20/1009012/-65-70-Protesters-arrested-in-front-of-the-White-House-w-video-photo-update
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