[TheClimate.Vote] June 6, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*June 6, 2020*/

[CO2 levels]
*'Like Trash in a Landfill': Carbon Dioxide Keeps Piling Up in the 
Atmosphere*
Levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide reached another record in May, 
the month when they normally peak...
graph 
https://int.nyt.com/chartmaker/2020/06/05/20200604-nullnull/8/artboard-600px.png
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/climate/carbon-dioxide-record-climate-change.html


[Anti-fascism protests]
*Trump's Antifa Conspiracy Is a Threat to the Climate Movement*
Dharna Noor
In response to the nation's ongoing protests against the brutal killing 
of George Floyd by a police officer last week, cops have deployed tear 
gas, rubber bullets, and batons, and even killed a Black man in 
Louisville. To encourage even further repression, the Trump 
administration is blaming its favorite bogeyman, antifa, for the 
uprising. Last week, Trump tweeted that the U.S. "will be designating 
ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization."

He can't do that, not only because he doesn't have the authority, but 
also because antifa is not an organization at all--it refers to a shared 
ideology of anti-fascism. But because there's no singular formal group 
called "antifa," the Trump administration can use attacks on it to 
justify wide-ranging repression of any movements it deems dangerous to 
its allies. In this case, that's Black Lives Matter. And based on its 
record of defending the oil and gas industry, it could target climate 
protesters as well, putting a chill on the growing movement.

Between lobbying money and campaign contributions and board seats, the 
Trump administration and other politicians have their interests wrapped 
up in fossil fuel corporations. They can help preserve those companies' 
social license and business models by attacking their opponents under 
the guise of stopping a make-believe shadowy terrorist organization...
- -
As the climate movement has grown, so have state and federal policies to 
repress it. In the years since Standing Rock, 21 states have introduced 
criminal penalties for demonstrating near oil and gas infrastructure. 
Last year, the Trump administration proposed legislation that would 
prescribe up to 20 years in prison for "inhibiting the operation" of 
pipelines, or even just vaguely "conspiring" to do so. Law enforcement 
authorities have also continued to surveil environmental activists, 
include them on lists of extremists, and otherwise target them with 
so-called counter-terrorism measures. Many of the same measures have 
been used to target Black Lives Matter.

In their antifa conspiracy, the government has a new tool to surveil and 
harass environmental protestors and green-light an even more militarized 
response to dissenting voices. In the past week, the Trump 
administration announced the launch of an FBI investigation into "antifa 
and other similar groups" and also granted the Drug Enforcement 
Administration sweeping new authority to "conduct covert surveillance" 
on those "using Antifa-like tactics."

The new federal policies could also act as a signal to state and city 
police to ramp up attacks. Climate activists could face even more police 
violence, surveillance, and criminal penalties for trying to preserve a 
habitable planet. For activists of color who are disproportionately 
targeted by law enforcement, the risks will be particularly high...
https://earther.gizmodo.com/trumps-antifa-conspiracy-is-a-threat-to-the-climate-mov-1843909113


[techno-optimism]
*The Future of Solar Is Double-Sided Panels that Follow the Sun*
Most solar panels capture sunlight from only one side, meaning they can 
capture more or less of it depending on where the sun is in the sky. In 
recent years, they've become far more efficient, typically converting 
around 22 percent of the light they capture into energy...
- - -
Though double-sided solar panels and sun-following solar panels are both 
in use currently, models that combine the two technologies aren't widely 
available for commercial use. Solar experts predict explosive growth in 
the market soon, though. And the new study shows that their widespread 
use will come with big economic and energy advantages...
https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-future-of-solar-is-double-sided-panels-that-follow-1843867019



[Opinion/Observation]
*'No One Can Self-Isolate From Climate Change'; UK, French Central Banks 
Urge Action*
By Reuters
June 5, 2020
LONDON -- Governments must rebuild their economies after the coronavirus 
crisis to withstand the next shock heading their way - climate change, 
the central bank governors of Britain and France have said.

"Unless we act now, the climate crisis will be tomorrow's central 
scenario and, unlike COVID-19, no one will be able to self-isolate from 
it," Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and his French counterpart, 
François Villeroy de Galhau, wrote in a joint article published in the 
Guardian newspaper.

They said countries around the world were far from meeting their climate 
goals and the coronavirus pandemic had shown that reacting to a crisis 
at its height brought huge costs.

"To address climate breakdown, we can instead take decisions now that 
reduce emissions in a less disruptive manner. That requires us to be 
strategic. To build back better," they said.
Central banks have increasingly put the risks of climate change into 
their assessments of the health of the financial services firms that 
they monitor.

A group representing central bankers and regulators - the Network for 
Greening the Financial System - will publish climate reference scenarios 
in the coming weeks which Bailey and Villeroy said would "raise the bar 
for the financial sector".

The article was co-written with Frank Elderson, chair of NGFS who is an 
executive board member of the central bank of the Netherlands, and with 
former BoE governor Mark Carney, who is the United Nations' special 
envoy for climate action and finance.
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Nick Macfie)
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/06/05/world/europe/05reuters-climate-change-banks.html



[voices video short for children]
*Whoopi Goldberg's Dramatic Call For Climate Action | Extinction Rebellion*
Extinction Rebellion
Whoopi Goldberg has teamed up with Extinction Rebellion in a beautiful 
new animation set in the future, entitled 'The Gigantic Change'. The 
film, released as part of World Environment Day, looks back from 2050 to 
show how people came together to save the world from the climate and 
ecological crisis.

Visit https://www.thegiganticchange.com to find out how you can take 
action today.

As we start to plan how to rebuild our world post-Covid, the film shows 
that a brighter future really is possible. But this won't happen on its 
own; we must all take action today. The climate and ecological crisis is 
an existential threat to people of all ages and backgrounds. The need 
for collective action has never been greater.

The team behind The Gigantic Change, together with Passion Pictures – 
who created the famous Orangutan advert for Iceland – knew that Whoopi's 
iconic voice would bring a perfect sense of gravitas to the performance. 
She is a prominent campaigner on environmental issues, so she had the 
power to inspire many of her followers to take action.

The urgency of the situation clearly resonates with her, and many 
others, but the challenge is to communicate this urgency to the wider 
public. This is the primary purpose of The Gigantic Change. After seeing 
the film, viewers are invited to visit 
https://www.thegiganticchange.com, a simple website outlining the most 
effective actions they can take to save the environment.

Whoopi Goldberg has appeared in such films as The Color Purple, Ghost, 
and Sister Act. She became the first African American woman to host the 
Academy Awards and only the second African American woman to actually 
win one. Today she has a strong voice on climate issues and is an active 
supporter of the School Strikes.
https://youtu.be/wf6VXXNjML0 and TheGiganticChange.Org



[Australian Activism video]*
**Honest Government Ad | Economic Recovery*
Jun 4, 2020
thejuicemedia
The Australien Government has made an ad about its Economic Recovery 
Plan, and it's surprisingly honest and 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CMUtKWubxginformative.



[or call it a test]
*We Are in an Unprecedented Climate Experiment*
The pandemic has shut down the most polluting industries around the 
world and turned us all into more adaptable consumers. That still isn't 
enough.
Heather Hansman - May 27, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has frozen the whole world in place as we try 
to keep ourselves and each other safe. We're in the middle of an 
unintentional global experiment that has shut down entire nations and 
industries. That has put a spotlight on how our personal choices and 
global systems affect climate change and what we need to do to flatten 
the curve of emissions...
- -
Do I keep bringing up policy and regulation? That's because 
forward-thinking governmental action could make a real difference for 
long-term sustainability. I get sick to my stomach when I think about 
how hard that will be to achieve when the defining features of the 
United States' current political era are partisan gridlock in Congress 
and a president with a record of opposing sustainable environmental 
policies and regulations. The situation would almost feel satirical if 
people weren't already dying and likely to continue to die because of it.

But we're at a climate inflection point. The pandemic has underscored 
the fact that no one can save the planet alone, because even with a 
near-total shutdown of transport and industry, we are only barely 
approaching our climate emissions goals. It's deadly to inject money 
into damaging industries to jump-start the economy--that's exactly what 
happened after the 2008 recession, and by 2010, global emissions were 
higher than ever.

We have to support the changes we want to see. They will not happen by 
accident. But the pandemic will be twice the tragedy if we don't adapt 
to its economic and cultural shocks with a better sense of global 
solidarity and sustainability.

It's still early in this experiment, but we can learn from it. We have to.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2413374/coronavirus-pandemic-shutdown-climate-change



[Florida nightmares]
*Poisonous Toads Invade South Florida in Latest Sign of the Apocalypse*
Yessenia Funes
First, there were murder hornets. Now, invasive, poisonous toads are the 
latest bizarre creature to go wild in the U.S. As South Florida enters 
its wet season aka hurricane season, the cane toad--an ugly, warty, 
brown amphibian with poison can kill pet dogs--is thriving. That's not 
only concerning for pet owners. These toads are highly destructive to 
the environment.

The cane toad is native to South America, Central America, and parts of 
southern Texas. Florida, though? Nope. Humans are to blame for the 
species' presence there. In 1936, people brought about 200 of these ugly 
boys to Florida in an attempt to keep insects from damaging sugarcane 
fields. That failed miserably as the cane toads just ate, well, everything.

The toads decimate the food available for other native species that 
contribute to a healthy ecosystem, including insects and other small 
lizards. At the same time, their poison protects them from any 
predators. The Fish and Wildlife Service designated them in 2018 as a 
"high" risk species due to the damage the animals inflict on the 
environment...
- -
The toxins that fill their glands can kill a pet that might decide to 
lick or bite it. Humans can also suffer if the poison gets into a mucous 
membrane like the eyes, where it can cause "intense pain, temporary 
blindness and inflammation." Suffice to say, Floridians are not 
welcoming these gross-looking toads into their yards. One local mom 
referred to them as "monsters" in a Facebook posted the Miami Herald 
reported on. I can see why. Last year, the animals made news, too, as 
their numbers exploded after a wet winter in Florida. The baby toads 
emerged from their underground burrows only to clog up pool filters, 
cover driveways, and take over lawns.

What sucks even more is that climate change could make these toxic toads 
more common. As the atmosphere warms, it can hold more water. That's 
increasing the odds of extreme rain events throughout North America. 
That's bad news for many parts of the country because heavier deluges 
can threaten infrastructure and harm human life. It could unfortunately 
be good news for these weird poisonous cane toads that kill pets and 
seemingly eat everything. Unless the state implements a proper plan to 
get rid of these pests, the cane toad appears to be there for the long 
haul...
https://earther.gizmodo.com/poisonous-toads-invade-south-florida-in-latest-sign-of-1843921959



[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - June 6, 2001 *
The AP reports:

    "In a study commissioned by the White House, the National Academy of
    Sciences said Wednesday that global warming 'is real and
    particularly strong within the past 20 years' and said a leading
    cause is emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels.

    "The report was requested to help prepare Bush for his trip to
    Europe next week, but the academy was not asked for policy
    recommendations and it made none.

    "In Europe Bush has meetings on global warming scheduled with
    various officials. Many Europeans protested vigorously after Bush,
    citing looming energy shortages, in March reversed a campaign
    promise to limit CO2 emissions from power plants.

    "The 24-page National Academy of Sciences report, an assessment
    based on previous studies about the phenomenon, says, 'The primary
    source, fossil fuel burning, has released roughly twice as much
    carbon dioxide as would be required to account for the observed
    increase' in temperature.

    "The report also blames global warming on other greenhouse gases
    directly affected by human activity: methane, ozone, nitrous oxide
    and chlorofluorocarbons."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010606/aponline204019_000.htm 

http://www.heatisonline.org/contentserver/objecthandlers/index.cfm?id=3711&method=full 


/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

/Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
<https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html> 
/
https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote

/To receive daily mailings - click to Subscribe 
<mailto:subscribe at theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request> 
to news digest./

*** Privacy and Security:*This is a text-only mailing that carries no 
images which may originate from remote servers. Text-only messages 
provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender.
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used for democratic 
and election purposes and cannot be used for commercial purposes.
To subscribe, email: contact at theclimate.vote 
<mailto:contact at theclimate.vote> with subject subscribe, To Unsubscribe, 
subject: unsubscribe
Also you may subscribe/unsubscribe at 
https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote
Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Pauli for 
http://TheClimate.Vote <http://TheClimate.Vote/> delivering succinct 
information for citizens and responsible governments of all levels. List 
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously restricted to 
this mailing list.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/attachments/20200606/2525da4a/attachment.html>