[TheClimate.Vote] September 11, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*September 11, 2020*/

[500,000 fire domestic refugees]
*Oregon wildfires: Half a million people flee dozens of infernos*
More than half a million people in the US state of Oregon are fleeing 
deadly wildfires that are raging across the Pacific Northwest, 
authorities say.

Fanned by unusually hot, dry winds, dozens of fires are sweeping the 
state, and at least one is being treated as suspected arson.

Governor Kate Brown said the exact number of fatalities was not yet 
known, though at least four were confirmed.

More than 100 wildfires are currently scorching 12 western US states.

The worst affected are Oregon, California and Washington, where entire 
towns have been destroyed.

Some 4.4 million acres have been razed, according to the National 
Interagency Fire Center - an area larger than Connecticut and slightly 
smaller than Wales.
more at - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54113416

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[Interactive maps current data]

*National fire and smoke map*
https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=47.7167616&lng=-122.3262208&zoom=10
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*Fires: Current Conditions*
https://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=topics.smoke_wildfires
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*PM2.5 Air Quality Index*
https://tools.airfire.org/airtools/v1/pnw-smoke.html?lat=44.0&lng=-118.2&zoom=6 

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*Wind and heat mapped by Earth NullSchool*
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=temp/orthographic=-115.26,41.88,3000

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[today's 9-11 danger]
*Video shows dramatic rescue from encroaching fire in Washington state*
Sep 10, 2020
Global News
Dramatic video shows a family being rescued in Tacoma, Wash., as flames 
from a nearby wildfire encroached on their home.
U.S. Coast Guard veteran Steven Biles ran from his car upon seeing the 
fire, and finding residents still in their home urged the couple to 
quickly get out.
Biles said the family was unable to find a hotel room because so many 
have been displaced by the fires, but said he believes they are staying 
with a neighbour.
Thousands of people have been left homeless as a result of wildfires in 
Washington state, Oregon and California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dheJfmbCNk

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[2001 anniversary of 911 - the 2020 version of the bomber plane]
*Almeda Fire: A plane flies over a house in Talent, Oregon and drops 
fire retardant*
A plane drops fly retardant over a neighborhood in Talent during the 
Alameda fire
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/videos/news/2020/09/09/almeda-fire-oregon-jackson-county-fire-retardant-plane-flyover-talent-house/5757035002/

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[Democracy Now criticizes mass media reportage]
*This Is Climate Change": West Coast Fires Scorch Millions of Acres & 
Blot Out the Sun*
Sep 10, 2020
Democracy Now!
The skies of the Bay Area and Northern California turned a dark orange 
as 90 major fires burn in the western United States, from San Diego to 
the Canadian border. At least seven people have died as a result of the 
fires, which have already burned 2.5 million acres in California alone. 
Despite heavy coverage in the mainstream media, however, few outlets are 
highlighting the link between the blazes and the accelerating climate 
crisis. "The fact is that TV news is completely abdicating its 
responsibility when it comes to telling the truth of what the West is 
dealing with right now," says Leah Stokes, assistant professor of 
political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a 
researcher on climate and energy policy. "This is climate change. It’s 
not rocket science. And when will the media start calling it that?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW1MYQqvED4

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[ABC News]
Death toll growing in explosive wildfires in the West
Sep 10, 2020
ABC News
At least eight people in Oregon, California and Washington are dead as a 
result of the devastating wildfires with 35 fires active and more than 
954,000 acres burned in Oregon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS1EDAU8ETY



[Wait, wait, what?  Could that be so? brief video]
*Organised. Criminalised. | Extinction Rebellion UK*
Sep 10, 2020
Extinction Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtVc81GkQDc



[renewed activism]
*Jane Fonda: 'Climate activism saved me from depression'*
Hollywood star Jane Fonda has written a book about how people can get 
involved in climate change activism.
The actress has been arrested several times during protests, and hopes 
her actions have raised awareness.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-54094170



[Opinion contributors]
*A socially and environmentally just way to fight climate change*
BY JAMES E. HANSEN AND DANIEL H. MILLER, 09/09/20

A majority of the public is in favor of action on climate change, and 
putting a fee or tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels is generally 
accepted -- including among conservatives -- as a key method for 
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, while the cost of climate 
solutions was a major issue preventing action in the past, now some 
progressives insist that climate action also meet the goals of social 
and environmental justice. Because of that, some progressive groups such 
as the Climate Justice Alliance have come out against "putting a price 
on carbon."

These progressive groups oppose carbon pricing because they view it as a 
regressive tax that disproportionately affects lower income people who 
must spend a higher percentage of their income on heating, cooling and 
transportation. This was one of the reasons that the Sierra Club did not 
support a Washington State carbon pricing initiative.

While it is true that most carbon taxes are regressive, there is one 
carbon pricing policy that is actually anti-regressive and helps lower 
income people the most. It’s called Fee and Dividend and it is quite 
simple: A fee is collected from fossil fuel companies at the point where 
fossil fuels enter the domestic market -- at the mine, well or port of 
entry. The fee starts small -- about $15 per ton of carbon dioxide 
embedded in the fuel – and goes up $10 every year.

What does that mean for consumers? By the time it reaches $100 per ton, 
the fee will raise gasoline prices 90 cents per gallon. It will also 
raise the price of every product or activity that relies on fossil 
fuels. This higher price will spur development of low carbon energy and 
products made with little or no fossil fuels, driving a transition to a 
clean energy economy.

Here is the key to Fee and Dividend: The money collected -- every penny 
-- is distributed as a dividend to all legal residents on an equal 
basis. You and Bill Gates get the same amount, received every month in 
your bank account, or on a debit card if you have no bank. The dividend 
will be substantial -- a $100 per ton carbon fee with today’s fossil 
fuel use translates to about $5,500 per year for a family of four -- a 
significant sum for lower income Americans.

Because wealthy people generate much more carbon dioxide than poor or 
middle-class people do, the dividend for almost all lower income people 
will exceed the increased prices they pay due to the carbon fee. In 
fact, the U.S. Treasury Department estimates that the bottom 70 percent 
of households by income will make money under Fee and Dividend, with the 
poorest

having the biggest increase. The top 30 percent of households will pay 
more in higher prices than they get in the dividend, but it won’t be a 
big relative cost for them.

The most important point about Fee and Dividend is its "border 
adjustment" -- a duty on products imported from countries that don’t 
have an equivalent price on carbon pollution.

This not only protects American businesses, but it will cause most 
nations to put their own price on carbon since they won’t want their 
exports to be at an economic disadvantage.

The voluntary Paris Accord is simply wishful thinking and is having 
little impact on global emissions. Fee and Dividend will be the most 
effective and direct underlying force for a global climate solution.

An economic study by Regional Economic Models Inc. shows that Fee and 
Dividend over 20 years will create 2.8 million U.S. jobs and grow GDP by 
$1.4 trillion, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions more than 50 
percent. The policy makes sense, regardless of one’s belief about the 
urgency of addressing climate change.

And, while Fee and Dividend is a progressive policy, it is also a 
conservative policy. It is revenue-neutral and does not pick winners or 
losers. Republican statesmen such as James Baker and George Shultz are 
strong supporters of Fee and Dividend, as well as Democrats such as Adam 
Schiff and Pete Buttigieg.

A Fee and Dividend bill now stands before Congress -- The Energy 
Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Some politicians suggest using some 
of the collected fee for specific programs, but that makes the policy 
regressive. Other people want income restrictions on who receives the 
dividend, but that makes the policy more complex and makes it harder for 
everyone, including poor people, to access the dividend.

Fee and Dividend policy is simple, efficient and socially and 
environmentally just. It will create millions of jobs, spur the economy 
and drive down global emissions. We have no time to waste. It is 
imperative that we implement Fee and Dividend promptly -- at the latest, 
with the new Congress in January.
Dr. James E. Hansen is director of the Program on Climate Science, 
Awareness and Solutions at Columbia University and is also an adjunct 
professor at Columbia University. He is the former director of the NASA 
Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Daniel H. Miller is managing director of The Roda Group, a venture 
capital group that focuses on clean and sustainable technologies. He is 
a noted speaker on climate change and an advocate for carbon pricing.
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/515624-a-socially-and-environmentally-just-way-to-fight-climate-change

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[Classic essay from Jim Hansen]
*Young people's burden: requirement of negative CO2 emissions*
James Hansen, Makiko Sato, [others]
Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, Columbia University Earth 
Institute, New York, NY 10115, USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut 
Hill, MA 02467, USA
Published: 18 Jul 2017
*Abstract. *

    Global temperature is a fundamental climate metric highly correlated
    with sea level, which implies that keeping shorelines near their
    present location requires keeping global temperature within or close
    to its preindustrial Holocene range. However, global temperature
    excluding short-term variability now exceeds +1 relative to the
    1880–1920 mean and annual 2016 global temperature was almost +1.3 C.
    We show that global temperature has risen well out of the Holocene
    range and Earth is now as warm as it was during the prior (Eemian)
    interglacial period, when sea level reached 6–9 m higher than today.
    Further, Earth is out of energy balance with present atmospheric
    composition, implying that more warming is in the pipeline, and we
    show that the growth rate of greenhouse gas climate forcing has
    accelerated markedly in the past decade. The rapidity of ice sheet
    and sea level response to global temperature is difficult to
    predict, but is dependent on the magnitude of warming. Targets for
    limiting global warming thus, at minimum, should aim to avoid
    leaving global temperature at Eemian or higher levels for centuries.
    Such targets now require negative emissions, i.e., extraction of CO2
    from the air. If phasedown of fossil fuel emissions begins soon,
    improved agricultural and forestry practices, including
    reforestation and steps to improve soil fertility and increase its
    carbon content, may provide much of the necessary CO2 extraction. In
    that case, the magnitude and duration of global temperature
    excursion above the natural range of the current interglacial
    (Holocene) could be limited and irreversible climate impacts could
    be minimized. In contrast, continued high fossil fuel emissions
    today place a burden on young people to undertake massive
    technological CO2 extraction if they are to limit climate change and
    its consequences. Proposed methods of extraction such as bioenergy
    with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or air capture of CO2 have
    minimal estimated costs of USD 89–535 trillion this century and also
    have large risks and uncertain feasibility. Continued high fossil
    fuel emissions unarguably sentences young people to either a
    massive, implausible cleanup or growing deleterious climate impacts
    or both.

https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/8/577/2017/


[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - September 11, 2018 *

NPR connects the climate dots in a discussion of Hurricane Florence.

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/11/646313648/climate-change-drives-bigger-wetter-storms-storms-like-florence 



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