[TheClimate.Vote] January 11, 2021 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*January 11, 2021*/

[scientific optimism in a new book ]
*"Cautious optimism" about fighting climate change: Salon talks with 
author of "The New Climate War"*Climate scientist Dr. Michael E. Mann 
tells Salon that we aren't doomed — but we need to hold polluters 
accountable
By MATTHEW ROZSA - JANUARY 11, 2021
- -
  In his career, Mann has repeatedly worked to break down the science of 
global warming in comprehensive but accessible ways. His efforts to 
raise public awareness have always struck a balance between emphasizing 
the gravity of the situation facing the planet and expressing cautious 
optimism that, if we implement the right policies, we can stave off 
ecological catastrophe.

This is the goal of his new book, "The New Climate War: The Fight To 
Take Back Our Planet." Mann's thesis is clear: We must fight the people 
who lie about the threat of man-made global warming, whether out of 
financial self-interest, ideological dogmatism, or because they have 
been duped by others. At the same time, we must also avoid succumbing to 
the temptation to assume that all is lost. Instead it is necessary to 
push for bold policies that will address climate change in a meaningful 
way, from a revised version of the Green New Deal, effective carbon 
pricing, and making it so that renewable energy can compete fairly 
against fossil fuels...
- -
It's the fact that we see this nefarious, and in many ways more 
insidious, attack on climate action today, even as the impacts of 
climate change become so obvious to the person on the street that it's 
not credible to deny that it happened. The same powerful vested 
interests in the fossil fuel industry and those who do their bidding, I 
call them being activists because their agenda is one of climate 
inaction. For decades they've been denying that climate change is real, 
attacking the science, trying to undermine public understanding of the 
problems. And now that that's really not possible, they have turned to a 
whole new set of tactics in their efforts to block progress on climate. 
And that's really what the book is about. I felt it was important to 
talk about that as one who had sort of been in the cross hairs of 
climate change deniers for decades and witnessed firsthand their tactics 
and how they've evolved, sort of as a warning to people.

The battle isn't won yet. The forces of inaction are no longer denying 
the basic science, but they're doing all these other things to prevent 
action. And that's what the book is about. [There is] deflection of 
attention from the needed policies and systemic changes to individual 
behavior — as if it's just about us and our diet and how we travel, and 
the way to solve the climate problem is for us to just be better people. 
Of course, individual action is important. We should all do things that 
serve to decrease our environmental footprint and often they make us 
healthier. They save us money. There are lots of good reasons to do 
them, but they're no substitute for the needed policies at the very top, 
the massive decarbonization of our economy, which is necessary.

Now also by focusing attention on individual behavior, they get us 
fighting with each other, shaming people, pointing fingers at each other 
about their carbon impurity, and that divides the community. So they get 
climate advocates arguing with each other. That means there is no longer 
a unified voice calling for action. There is doom and despair-mongering, 
an attempt to convince some that it's too late to do anything about it 
anyway, so why even bother? Unfortunately a lot of climate advocates of 
good intentions and of goodwill have been hoodwinked and taken in and 
weaponized in that effort to despirit them to the point of 
disengagement, so they're no longer on the frontlines demanding action. 
There is also the promotion of false solutions like geoengineering or 
carbon capture, basically anything but solving this problem at its 
source, which is getting off fossil fuels, because that's inconvenient 
to the fossil fuel industry. So they'd rather have the discussion of 
solutions focus on all these distracting, fake solution to the problem...
- -
*Let's not be distracted or fooled. Let's focus on the matter at hand, 
which is making progress.*

I completely agree, but I actually do want to focus for a moment on the 
mob in Washington, because here is the thing: I would assume that people 
would get that passionately angry about the fact that a handful of 
wealthy people are emitting all of these greenhouse gasses, and are 
pushing for policies that make it harder for us to restrict greenhouse 
gas emissions, and that is gradually destroying the planet. My nephew is 
going to grow up in a world that is very different from the one that I 
grew up in as a result. Do you think that would be the sort of thing 
that makes people angry, and instead they're angry because President 
Donald Trump isn't allowed to steal an election?

It's a mnemonic, not a precise, scientific model, but sort of the 
reptilian brain and the way that Republicans are particularly effective 
at tapping into the circuitry of the reptilian parts of the human brain, 
preying on all of our worst instincts — selfishness, prejudice, all of 
that — to weaponize this mob that we're watching on television right now 
to do their bidding for them. And just as you alluded to earlier, Matt, 
the irony being that they are mobilizing, weaponizing, this army rabble 
to engage in actions that are completely detrimental to their own 
interests, in the present and ultimately down the road. I like to think 
that even these mob protesters in DC  care about their children, they 
care about their grandchildren. They want a better life for them.

And so in a sense, they've been manipulated. They are victims of a 
misinformation campaign. It's a disinformation campaign, enticed by red 
meat thrown out by Republican operatives to prey on their worst 
instincts. Sadly in many cases they are beyond help at this point, and 
we have to fight on knowing that for many cases they're not to be on the 
right side of this issue, but we don't need them. They're a fringe, 
they're not a majority. We can solve this problem without them. We just 
can't allow them to get in the way.

With the favorable change in winds and in Washington DC, we'll see what 
happens. I think that we're going to move away from this over the next 
couple of years. It will be rocky. It won't be easy, but I see the 
reason for cautious optimism that we're steering the ship in a different 
direction now...
- -
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/10/cautious-optimism-about-fighting-climate-change-salon-talks-with-author-of-the-new-climate-war/


[serious problem]
*Bushfires in Australia to Become More Frequent, Prolonged, Severe: Experts*
By IANS 4 days ago TWC India
Experts have warned that Australia's devastating 2019-20 "Black Summer" 
bushfires were a "wake up call" to the extreme effects of climate change 
in the country.

In a study published on late Thursday, a team from the Australian 
National University (ANU) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) 
Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes warned that bushfires will 
become increasingly more severe in the country as a result of global 
warming, reports Xinhua news agency....
- -
"When we look to the future we see southeast Australia continuing to 
become even hotter because of human-caused climate change. On top of 
that, climate change is altering our patterns of year-to-year climate 
variability so that we expect extremely hot and dry years to occur more 
often," she said.

"There are also indications that southeast Australia could continue to 
become drier in winter and experience more frequent weather fronts in 
summer that cause dangerous fire weather, but more research is needed to 
fully understand how these fire-relevant impacts of climate change might 
develop.

"All of those expected and possible climate change indicators point 
towards a rapidly increasing risk of catastrophic bushfires that are 
beyond anything we have experienced in the past."
  https://weather.com/en-IN/india/news/news/2021-01-08-bushfires-in-australia-to-become-more-frequent-prolonged-severe



[video recorded Sunday]
*His Holiness the Dalai Lama In Conversation with Greta Thunberg and 
Leading Scientists*
Jan 10, 2021
Dalai Lama
His Holiness the Dalai Lama in conversation on The Crisis of Climate 
Feedback Loops with Greta Thunberg (environmental activist), William 
Moomaw (lead author on reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change/IPCC, and the co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize) and 
Susan Natali (a renowned Arctic scientist) from his residence in 
Dharamsala, HP, India on January 10, 2021. The conversation is moderated 
by Diana Chapman Walsh, President emerita of Wellesley College and is 
organized by the Mind & Life Institute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9GXgOMMeTg



[from GIZMODO]
*There Is Such a Thing as Too Late*
Andrew Couts - 1-8-2021
No one needed to predict a frothing horde of Trump supporters would lay 
siege to the Capitol on Wednesday because they told us that was the plan 
all along.

They told us not just on Twitter, TikTok, and TheDonald in the weeks 
leading up to the attack. They’ve been telling us for years from the 
racists who showed up in Charlotteville in 2017 to the armed 
“protesters” who took over the Michigan Capitol last year. Experts 
listening sounded the alarm, and yet when the wave crashed into the 
Capitol, there was still a sense of shell shock and now, a scramble for 
justice.
- -
This scramble is not victory, it’s the luxury allowed by this particular 
crisis. The comforting self-righteousness of those who warned that Trump 
would lead us to disaster is the sour reward of waiting too long. But if 
we continue this opulent pattern of collective inaction, it will one day 
destroy not the windows of the Capitol building but life on Earth as we 
know it.

The climate crisis has followed a seemingly similar path. Just as the 
evidence of the past four years made clear the ugly culmination of 
Trump’s presidency, more than 100 years of scientific research has made 
clear that carbon emissions are warming our planet, resulting in rising 
seas, widespread wildfires, catastrophic weather events, mass 
extinction, human suffering, and death. Just like today, opportunistic 
politics and craven corporate greed have grease-stained the truth, 
creating a shimmering illusion that there is more than one side to reality.

But unlike a political crisis, with climate change, there is no voting 
out the problem, no bringing in new leadership, no investigation that 
will clarify a path forward. There is no last straw that allows you to 
realize the errors of your ways and make up for them. Climate change is 
a different kind of crisis—there is no going back once we’ve failed.

There is such a thing as too late.

If we allow carbon emissions to follow their current trajectory, the 
global temperature will rise roughly 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees 
Celsius) by century’s end, resulting in catastrophe the world over. The 
planet would be hotter, the weather (and society) more violent, and 
conditions would be unlike anything remotely close to resembling the one 
that humanity has thrived on. That’s the trajectory we’re on now.

The greatest contributor to the current warming is the extraction, 
production, and use of fossil fuels. To retain a habitable planet and 
prevent as much pain as possible, we must rapidly stop using oil, gas, 
and coal, which requires historic investment.

We can choose to make that investment to save ourselves before the 
unthinkable happens. We can choose to create a just transition for 
workers in polluting industries. We can choose to create safety nets for 
communities that will be impacted regardless of what steps we take today 
and tomorrow because of the inaction we’ve chosen to take thus far.

What we cannot do is wait until we pass critical warming thresholds and 
then scramble to fix the problem because with climate change, there is 
no quick fix. Once emitted, greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for 
decades, further warping the climate. That’s not say we just throw up 
our hands later—every ton of carbon not emitted matters—but our best 
option is to act now.

The challenges of meeting this moment stretch the limits of 
comprehension. The slow-burn nature of the climate crisis means 
devastating wildfires, monster hurricanes, and disappearing glaciers 
become normalized—just the way things are. The contentious divide in 
America—even with the White House and Congress about to be under the 
control of a single party that wants to implement climate policy—pushes 
desperately needed policy solutions to the edge of impossible. And even 
as a growing majority of Americans see climate change as a defining 
challenge, deniers, liars, and enablers stand in the way, ready to 
deflect your attention away from the truth about what’s needed in this 
moment.

Perhaps the most pressing and monumental challenge we face is that 
reality itself is a partisan choice. This, to me, is the most shocking 
element of Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol: The entire thing is, at 
least on its surface, founded on the lie of a stolen election. But no 
matter what the seditionist senators said to justify disputing 
President-elect Biden’s victory, believing something is true does not 
make it so. The same is true for climate change; Earth is warming 
regardless of what you believe.

As this week has made abundantly clear, there are 
always—always—justifications for failure. In this shocking moment, 
please, do not let this shock go to waste—hold onto it and fear it. Feel 
embarrassed by it. Mold that shock in your heart into shame and let it 
harden into anger. For enduring, collective, widespread anger is the 
only antidote to future inaction as we face an even greater threat—one 
that forbids the luxury of hindsight.
Andrew Couts - Deputy Editor, Gizmodo
https://earther.gizmodo.com/there-is-such-a-thing-as-too-late-1846012076


[ Important notion]
*“Bipartisanship” Is Climate Poison*
The last time Democrats controlled Washington, they blew their chance to 
address climate change. Will Joe Biden and Joe Manchin repeat the 
party’s mistakes?
Kate Aronoff - January 6, 2021
Democrats are about to enjoy the most power they’ve had in years. A 
president has just been elected with a huge popular mandate. The House 
and Senate are both under Democratic control. The country is in the 
midst of a crisis as great as any since the Great Depression, and its 
economic future is far from certain. Public concern about the climate 
crisis is higher than ever.

But this isn’t 2021, when historic runoff wins by Raphael Warnock and 
Jon Ossoff seem to have handed Democrats back control of the Senate. 
It’s 2009, and it doesn’t end well...
- -
The current moment isn’t identical to 2009. Joe Biden ran on a promise 
to Build Back Better and—under pressure—melded his jobs program and 
climate program, linking lowering emissions with economic prosperity in 
a way Democrats conspicuously failed to in 2009. He’s appointed 
cabinet-level posts intended specifically to deal with climate change. 
Still, there’s not much suggestion he’s wavered from what may well be 
his only abiding political commitment: bipartisan compromise. “I think 
the nation’s looking for us to be united, much more united,” he told 
Stephen Colbert recently. “But look, I think I can work with Republican 
leadership in the House and the Senate. I think we can get things done.” 
Needless to say, the GOP doesn’t seem poised to compromise. In Congress, 
even with what now looks like double Democratic wins in Georgia’s Senate 
runoffs, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s outsized swing vote could 
be treated as an excuse for moderation. Manchin himself urged 
bipartisanship Wednesday as vote counting continued in Georgia, hours 
before right-wing rioters breached the Capitol.

In their closing arguments on the campaign trail, though, Warnock and 
Ossoff voiced as good a model as any for climate policy: give people 
stuff. After Mitch McConnell blocked the possibility of $2,000 checks, 
they promised voters that a Democratically controlled Senate would 
deliver. They won, batting off racist and anti-Semitic attacks painting 
both candidates as “radical liberals.” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer now 
says he intends to make those checks happen.

Climate legislation should operate by a similar ethos. Rather than 
making devil’s bargains with industry and Republicans, it can offer 
tangible gains through jobs and investments—all in time to keep the GOP 
and its fossil fuel backers from retaking the House in 2022. Biden 
should sign the $2,000 checks Democrats send out and slap a federal 
government plaque on every new infrastructure project Congress 
greenlights. The message shouldn’t be that a corporate executive in a 
suit endorses a thousand-page bill nobody can understand. It should be 
that big government is back and it’ll give you a job.

Likewise, instead of watering down climate policy for Manchin’s benefit, 
a climate package could deliver concrete gains to West Virginia—a good 
in and of itself. Manchin’s state has one of the highest poverty rates 
in the country and is sorely in need of the sorts of federal investment 
that previous West Virginian Democratic senators were known for shaking 
down. A climate bill could be Manchin’s chance to deliver, promising 
better, less dangerous jobs to replace the old coal ones that will never 
return, climate policy or no. And such a jobs-forward bill could also 
give Manchin incentive to support repealing the filibuster, which 
otherwise threatens keep good policy off the table.

The amount of power Manchin is about to wield over the Senate may be 
wildly undemocratic. But climate policy should look out for the coal 
mining communities that helped build this country. Democrats should make 
the case that it can.
Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at The New Republic.
https://newrepublic.com/article/160813/bipartisanship-climate-poison



[YouTube video discussion]
*Michael Dowd - Post-doom Compost Theology*
Jan 10, 2021
thegreatstory
This video has Michael Shaw interviewing me (Michael Dowd) in December 
2020, as the first installment in his new podcast series, "Living in the 
Time of Dying".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H1fqThnT54



[New energy idea from old physical force - see video]
*Gravity Energy Storage : A very uplifting technology!*
Jan 10, 2021
Just Have a Think
Gravity energy storage is not actually a new concept. We've been doing 
it with pumped hydro for more than a century. But that's very expensive 
to build and needs an awful lot of space. Now though, two new companies 
have developed systems that mimic the effect of pumped hydro by raising 
and lowering extremely large and heavy weights up and down over huge 
height distances. So, do we have yet another addition to the growing 
grid scale energy storage family?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh1--ftWWvY



[Digging back into the internet news archive]

*On this day in the history of global warming - January 11, 2013 *

Media Matters notes: "After ignoring reports that 2012 was the hottest 
year on record in the U.S., Rush Limbaugh and Fox Business host Stuart 
Varney tried to push back against well-established evidence of climate 
change by citing instances of cold weather."

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/01/11/conservatives-once-again-cite-extreme-cold-to-d/192202


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