[TheClimate.Vote] March 16, 2021 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Tue Mar 16 11:58:08 EDT 2021

/*March 16, 2021*/

[history]
*Climate crisis: recent European droughts 'worst in 2,000 years'*
Study of tree rings dating back to Roman empire concludes weather since 
2014 has been extraordinary
Damian Carrington - 15 Mar 2021
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Geoscience, 
analysed 27,000 growth rings from 147 oak trees. Living oaks were used 
for the last century, then timber from old buildings such as churches. 
For the middle ages, the researchers used oak that had been preserved in 
river deposits or gravel beds, and for the Roman period they used 
remains such as wood used to construct wells.

Previous climate reconstructions from tree rings used width and wood 
density to determine temperature. The Büntgen-led study used 
measurements of carbon and oxygen isotopes to show how much water was 
available to the trees, giving a record of droughts. This showed that 
the high frequency of recent European droughts was unprecedented, even 
compared with severe historical droughts such as the Renaissance drought 
in the early 16th century.

The wood samples come from the Czech Republic and Bavaria in Germany, 
and represent climate conditions across central Europe. High 
temperatures were the main cause of recent droughts, and these have been 
seen across Europe.

The climate crisis is also linked to extreme wet weather in winter. The 
rainfall in the UK on 3 October 2020 was the highest in records dating 
back to 1891, and a study published last Wednesday said this had been 
made three times more likely by global heating. The research by the UK 
Met Office also found that such downpours will be 10 times more likely 
by 2100 without major cuts to carbon emissions.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/15/climate-crisis-recent-european-droughts-worst-in-2000-years

- -

[source material Nature]
*Recent European drought extremes beyond Common Era background variability*

    Abstract
    Europe’s recent summer droughts have had devastating ecological and
    economic consequences, but the severity and cause of these extremes
    remain unclear. Here we present 27,080 annually resolved and
    absolutely dated measurements of tree-ring stable carbon and oxygen
    (δ13C and δ18O) isotopes from 21 living and 126 relict oaks (Quercus
    spp.) used to reconstruct central European summer hydroclimate from
    75 BCE to 2018 CE. We find that the combined inverse δ13C and δ18O
    values correlate with the June–August Palmer Drought Severity Index
    from 1901–2018 at 0.73 (P < 0.001). Pluvials around 200, 720 and
    1100 CE, and droughts around 40, 590, 950 and 1510 CE and in the
    twenty-first century, are superimposed on a multi-millennial drying
    trend. Our reconstruction demonstrates that the sequence of recent
    European summer droughts since 2015 CE is unprecedented in the past
    2,110 years. This hydroclimatic anomaly is probably caused by
    anthropogenic warming and associated changes in the position of the
    summer jet stream.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00698-0

[Says the Insurance Journal]
*How Everybody Ends Up Paying for Climate Crisis*
By David R. Baker and Mark Chediak | March 15, 2021
Fallout from last month’s deadly deep freeze in Texas has quietly spread 
to people living hundreds of miles away. Minnesota utilities have warned 
that monthly heating bills could spike by $400, after the crisis jacked 
up natural gas prices across the country. Xcel Energy’s Colorado 
customers could face a $7.50 per month surcharge for the next two years.

This is a subtle demonstration of the way Americans already share the 
collective financial burden of climate change, even if we don’t realize 
it. The national bill for global warming is here, and it’s rising.
Perhaps it’s easier to see this dynamic playing out beyond February’s 
Texas cold snap. That disaster left dozens dead, stranded millions in 
dark homes, and sent a shockwave of higher gas prices across the nation. 
But since there remains scientific uncertainty over the role of global 
warming, let’s examine two other calamities for which the climate link 
is clearer: wildfires and tropical storms.
The federal government spent about $2.3 billion fighting fires last 
year, roughly 10 times what it spent in 1985, an increase tied to the 
hotter, drier conditions of global warming has created in the western 
U.S. That money comes from taxes. So, too, does funding for the National 
Flood Insurance Program, which has piled up $20.5 billion in debt after 
a record-setting hurricane season across the Southeast and Gulf Coast. 
The program now pays about $1 million in interest per day, according to 
a recent federal report, and won’t be able to repay its existing debts 
in the next decade as warmer oceans bring more flooding.

“There’s just no question that we’re paying the costs of climate change 
today—this isn’t something that’s going to happen to polar bears in 
2050,” said Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy program at 
Stanford University. “And in certain parts of the country, those costs 
are becoming more apparent than others.”...
- -

U.S. lawmakers over the past two decades have failed to enact a more 
cohesive approach to these costs. The government could impose a carbon 
tax, which would prod businesses to cut their emissions while creating a 
pool of money to help communities prepare for climate-related disasters. 
“A carbon tax is a prudent choice because we are already paying the 
climate disaster tax,” Grbusic said. “It’s just that most of us aren’t 
aware of it.”...
- -
While federal spending is spread out nationwide, residents of individual 
states may face their own climate costs. In California, for example, 
many wildfire-prevention efforts are now funded through utility bills. 
That socialization of costs came as a result of two decades that saw an 
increasing number of fires triggered by fallen power lines. The state 
has been warming up and drying out, leading Governor Gavin Newsom last 
year to label wildfires “a climate damn emergency.”

PG&E Corp., the state’s largest utility, tumbled into bankruptcy after 
its equipment sparked fires that killed more than 100 people and 
destroyed thousands of homes. The utility emerged from Chapter 11 last 
year, having settled claims for $25.5 billion that will be covered by 
the company’s shareholders. California’s three big investor-owned 
utilities could spend an estimated total of $40 billion on wildfire 
prevention over the next decade, according to a recent state report.

To pay for that work, the average California utility customer will see 
an additional charge on their bill this year that is estimated to be in 
the range of $96 to $144 a year, according to the state report. By 2030 
those charges will likely rise by another $30.

Handling those costs through utility rates presents a small part of a 
big climate problem: inequality. Rates tend to be more regressive than 
taxes, with a larger impact on low-income households than wealthier 
families. “We’re not thinking systematically on this,” Wara said.

Considering the costs Americans already incur responding to 
climate-related disasters, spending more to prevent them or reduce their 
impact may seem a hard sell for politicians. Roy Wright, chief executive 
officer of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, says 
such investments can “absolutely save money,” just as pre-emptively 
strengthening a roof can help a home survive a major storm.

“They don’t eliminate the storm, they don’t eliminate the wildfire,” 
said Wright, who used to serve as the chief executive of the National 
Flood Insurance Program. “But they can narrow the impact.”
–With assistance from Brian Eckhouse.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/03/15/605419.htm

[follow the real estate money]
*What happens when you buy a house in a disaster zone – and no one told 
you?*
In many states, laws don’t require sellers to disclose that a property 
is in a flood or wildfire area, leaving homeowners with unexpected 
damage and losses
n New Year’s Eve in 2015, a storm called Goliath helped raise the 
Meramec to a record historic crest of 44ft. Hayes heard a boom as water 
crashed through their doorway. Muddy water swallowed their basement. It 
covered the doorframe where she had marked the growth of four children 
in pencil.

“We would never live there if we could do it again,” Hayes, 45, says.

No laws require Missouri property owners to warn potential buyers about 
past flooding – even though the National Flood Insurance Program has 
paid out more than $813m in damage claims in the state, on 33 federal 
disasters over 40 years.

City ordinance prohibited the Hayes family from modifying their land 
with berms or levees, and the government refused to buy them out. Last 
year, after another record flood, the city of Sunset Hills ordered the 
house demolished.

Hayes refuses to sell her piece of the floodplain to a private buyer. 
“We don’t want somebody to build a house there and have this happen 
again,” she says. “It wouldn’t be right.”

Every US state has seen high water in the last five years; flooding is 
the largest and most frequent disaster in the country. But in 21 states, 
homeowners are guaranteed little information about flood risk, according 
to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Columbia 
University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

“You can get a file on yourself from the FBI,” saysNatural Resources 
Defense Council (NRDC) attorney Joel Scata. “Why can’t you get the file 
on your property?”

When it comes to a property owner’s risk from disasters like flood or 
fire, “there’s a moral responsibility to ensure that anything that is 
knowable is known,” says Roy Wright, president of the Insurance 
Institute for Business & Home Safety and the former head of the National 
Flood Insurance Program.

Still, no one place, public or private, holds all that information, even 
as losses from natural disasters have risen over the last 40 years.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/sep/25/property-on-floodplain-laws-rights-climate-change 

[Where along the Great Lakes is the beach today?]
*Scientists: Don't be fooled by seasonal water level drops on Great Lakes*
Forecast calls for continued above-average levels, erosion concerns
By Sheri Mcwhirter  Mar 14, 2021
- -
Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit announced 
last week that water levels on all of the Great Lakes are tracking below 
last year’s. However, all but Lake Ontario are expected to remain well 
above long-term averages, records show.

“We do expect Lake Michigan-Huron to be near its seasonal low in the 
next couple of weeks and then the seasonal rise will begin in April,” 
said Deanna Apps, Corps physical scientist.

She confirmed the forecast for water levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron 
for the next six months suggests levels will be 9 to 11 inches below 
last year, but between 22 and 26 inches above long-term averages.

“We are still in that two-foot range above average,” Apps said...
https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/scientists-dont-be-fooled-by-seasonal-water-level-drops-on-great-lakes/article_732d71f6-828c-11eb-8992-7fd859b44956.html

- -

[Sea Grant Video]
*Winter on the Great Lakes: Ice, Evaporation, & Water Levels Impacts*
Mar 10, 2021
Michigan Sea Grant
Presenters explain the rather complicated interactions of ice, 
evaporation and water levels impacts here in the Great Lakes.
3:52 Dr. John Lenters (Michigan Technological University)
55:14 practitioners Jack Cox P.E. and Greg Weykamp (Edgewater Resources),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2CbZxc7sDk   (starts 6 mins in)

[it's called true-cost accounting]
*Accounting needs to be stepped up for climate change costs*
Clearer standards are needed on the financial impact of carbon emissions
- -
And the sums are not trivial for companies, particularly in sectors such 
as steel and cement which emit large amounts of carbon. If BP’s $100 
carbon price was used as a benchmark, steelmaker Arcelor Mittal and 
cement producer Buzzi Unicem generated emissions in 2019 worth as much 
as 3.5 times their earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and 
amortisation that year, based on FT calculations.

Many corporates will not want more expenses heaped upon them. Yet many 
shareholders should want a better idea of the financial risk they face. 
Financial directors as well as investors are keen to find some compromise.
https://www.ft.com/content/92bc2cf3-ef4c-4496-b339-ee178e01d796

[Dr Jennifer Atkinson podcast]
*Episode 2: Why Climate Emotions Matter *
Is reason or emotion more important in driving climate action? Will 
solutions to mass extinction come from the head or the heart? Or are 
these binaries themselves part of the problem? While some climate 
activists argue that we should focus on facts instead of feelings, 
others know that our intense emotional response to climate chaos is far 
from irrational. Moreover, feelings like anger, hope, anxiety, and fear 
profoundly shape our perceptions of the world, and can motivate us to 
act or shut down and retreat. To better understand how those mental and 
emotional states relate to environmental crisis and public perceptions 
of risk, this episode explores why emotions matter in the climate battle.

"It is not half so important to know as to feel."

- Rachel Carson
https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/facing-it

[Ariz newspaper on climate trauma]*
**Between anger and sadness: How the climate crisis has become a mental 
health crisis*
Erin Stone
Arizona Republic
- -
Surveys have found that 47% of Americans aged 18 to 34 feel that stress 
related to climate change impacts their daily lives. That number is even 
higher for teens, at 57%. Climate anxiety is increasingly being seen as 
a public health issue, especially for young people and children.
There's good reason to be anxious, experts say. In 2018, scientists 
warned world leaders they needed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 to 
avoid the worst effects of climate change. The world is not on track to 
reach that goal.

As a result, scientists say extreme heat, wildfires and other disasters 
will likely become more frequent and destructive. Rising sea levels, 
civil unrest and food shortages could displace billions by 2050 if 
human-caused greenhouse gas emissions aren’t severely cut.
“I think younger people are generally more affected because they know 
they’re going to see these changes actualized in their lifetime,” said 
Collin Hagood, a therapist in Flagstaff who has seen the issue come up 
with his clients.

“It's an anticipatory grief,” Hagood said. “I think it’s really 
important that we all are part of this conversation, being open about 
it, being expressive about it, trying to connect with one another and 
most importantly connect to nature so we can recognize why this is such 
a big deal.”

While climate grief is not the primary reason people come to see Hagood, 
it's often an exacerbating factor. As climate change increasingly 
becomes part of the news cycle, even those who are not yet physically 
affected are feeling the effects mentally and it has real-world 
consequences.

A 7-year-old Tucson boy questioned the purpose of living in the face of 
the mounting crises, leaving his parents to desperately seek support for 
him. A Tucson mother talked with her two children about how the world 
may not be a fit place to have their own children. A Phoenix woman 
became estranged from her mother and watched her marriage nearly fall 
apart over the issue.
'It's going to have consequences'
More and more, researchers are studying the mental health implications 
of climate change outside the direct effects of environmental disasters 
fueled by global heating.

As ice melts and species suffer in the Arctic, Inuit communities are 
facing higher rates of suicide and addiction, in part related to these 
changes, research found. In the Maldives, where rising sea levels are a 
short-term threat, a study found that children widely experience 
existential anxiety. In Ghana, withered crops and "loss of beauty" 
driven by climate change trigger strong emotions of sadness...
In much of the U.S. and other wealthy countries, mental distress is less 
about the physical effects of climate change and more about uncertainty 
for the future.

University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm has made this phenomenon a 
priority in her research. In a study published in 2017, she found that 
some people experience high levels of stress, and even depression, based 
on their perception of the threat of global climate change.

She surveyed 342 parents of young children and identified three primary 
concerns: climate change's direct effects on the individual; concern for 
humanity in general; and concern for nature, plants and animals.
- -
Helm’s most recent work has focused on how this worry affects the 
decision to have children. There are increasing reports that people in 
high-income countries question having children because of climate 
anxiety, but there is little empirical research. Helm wanted to fill 
that gap...
She conducted interviews with a sample of people in the U.S. and New 
Zealand between the ages of 19 and 35. Most worried that having children 
would only further the effects of overconsumption and overpopulation, 
exacerbating global heating.

“It's heartbreaking that that is a consideration people actually have to 
have,” Helm said. “And if this reaches a broader level in society, it's 
going to have some substantial consequences, not only on mental health."

*The pandemic as a case study*
Climate change is always on Ronda Seifert’s mind. It permeates small 
talk about summer heat in Phoenix. Conversations about a happy 
retirement. Chats with family and friends about their grandchildren.

“It makes me so sad that I’m worried about having grandkids, not because 
I would not love to have my children have children, but because I know I 
will love them so much and I don't want to watch them suffer,” Seifert 
said, her voice faltering as she spoke through tears. “It's like a 
pretend button. I'm going to participate in these conversations like 
we're on the same page when we're not on the same page at all. It’s very 
alienating.”

For Seifert, 52, the coronavirus pandemic has only heightened that 
worry. The combination of science denial and lack of action leading to 
deadly harm is a microcosm of the longer-term consequences of climate 
change. The similarities have been difficult for her to watch.
“It's like a sped-up version of climate change reactions,” Seifert said. 
“How do you help save people who won't do what is recommended because 
they believe in a totally different reality even when the truth is right 
in front of them?”

She puts it like this: She’s on a beach with friends, family, coworkers, 
neighbors. The tide’s gone out, but nobody notices except for her. She 
doesn’t want her loved ones to panic, but she desperately wants them to 
get off the beach.
“I felt like everywhere — at work, with my neighbors, even with my 
husband — I needed to act like the tsunami's not coming,” Seifert said. 
“I'm going to pretend that we're going to talk about this great 
retirement in the future, or how lovely it is that you've got 
grandbabies, when in my head I'm thinking, 'oh my God, are they going to 
be OK?'”

The pandemic brought an immediacy to global disaster to people around 
the world almost simultaneously. When it comes to climate change, that 
sense of urgency is much less, especially in countries like the U.S., 
the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

Most individuals — and government officials — are not yet directly 
experiencing the consequences. For many in the U.S., the worst effects 
of climate change will be decades down the line, making serious action 
hard to come by.

“COVID-19 is reminding us that there are a lot of people suffering, and 
that those of us who have privileges shouldn't turn a blind eye to those 
who don't,” said Paul Hirt, a historian and former professor at Arizona 
State University. “If you are worried about the future, you can either 
stick your head in the sand, get depressed and look the other way, or 
you roll up your sleeves and get busy trying to make sure the worst-case 
scenario doesn't happen.”

Seifert refuses to stick her head in the sand, though she finds it 
exhausting to be surrounded by people who don’t see how urgent the issue 
is. It has estranged her from her mother. She and her husband attended 
couple’s therapy because of the tension their conflicting degrees of 
concern caused.

To cope, she does as much as she can at an individual level. She joined 
Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan climate action group. Recently, 
she’s found hope in regenerative agriculture, which can increase 
ecosystems’ resilience and sequester carbon. She started a backyard 
garden. She and her husband added solar panels to their home and bought 
an electric vehicle.

Though she once considered moving out of Phoenix because of the 
worsening heat, Seifert’s heart remains in the place she calls home. She 
grew up poor with unstable housing near 29th Avenue and Buckeye Road. 
She and her mother and brother bounced between homelessness and living 
in old rentals that couldn’t keep out the heat. Sometimes their utility 
bills were so high they struggled to pay them. Too often they had to 
choose between food and utility payments, relying on help from family or 
food banks.

“I know what it's like to not be able to afford a utility bill that is 
going up and up and up,” Seifert said. “I want to try to think of ways 
to help our communities that are experiencing a greater burden.”

Still, she fluctuates “between anger and sadness and guilt and sometimes 
empowerment when I do something I feel makes a difference, and I'm OK 
for a while.”

“It's an ongoing struggle,” Seifert said. At times, she achieves that 
elusive middle ground between grief for the future and joy for the present.

“Those of us who are facing this, we're brave,” Seifert said. “Even 
though it's hard and it's scary, we refuse to turn away. I can't do that 
because of my children. But I also have to find ways to enjoy the 
moments we have right now.”

*Finding hope in activism*
A band of activists crosses the intersection of Tatum and Shea 
boulevards as they advocate for climate change solutions during a 
weekend vigil.
In March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, First Friday was 
bustling in downtown Phoenix. Along Roosevelt Row, music melted together 
from block to block. Flat Earthers set up shop next to Catholic truth 
vendors. Couples held hands as kids skateboarded through the crowd.

The evening was warm and joyful, a world that feels far away from that 
of today.

On a quieter stretch of sidewalk, a cardboard cutout of a kangaroo 
leaned against a fence. There were tears drawn on its face and a sign 
with the words “CLIMATE EMERGENCY” slung around its neck. A photo of a 
mother and baby koala rested against its feet. At a table, images of 
Australian animals were placed besides candles. People stopped and took 
matches from the table to light them.

The Phoenix chapter of Extinction Rebellion, a climate action group, was 
raising awareness about the climate crisis as unprecedented bushfires 
raged in Australia. The fires would kill nearly three billion animals 
and some ecosystems will likely never recover. The bushfires sparked 
intense grief in people all over the world.

Heberling, the tornado survivor, stood at the table, wearing a black 
dress, fishnet leggings and black platform boots. She joined Extinction 
Rebellion during a severe bout of depression after a trip to Germany in 
2019. She had lived in the country in her early 20s, but when she 
returned a mere four years later, she was appalled by the changes she 
saw in the landscape.

“Immediately I noticed that something was wrong with the trees,” 
Heberling said. “They had this sickly brown yellow color. Seeing 
everything look like that was really jarring. I thought I was going crazy.”

But she wasn’t. In the prior two years, Germany had experienced uncommon 
heat and prolonged drought, putting the country’s iconic forests in 
danger. Since 2018, hundreds of thousands of acres of trees have died, 
driven by rising temperatures caused by human-caused emissions.

“I had a really, really intense emotional reaction,” Heberling said. 
“Not only is this place that’s so special to me going through something 
like this, but the whole world is, too.”

Then an event popped up on her Facebook feed: A group called Extinction 
Rebellion was hosting a climate strike. She decided to pull herself out 
of bed and join.

Young people have found solace and hope by joining the climate movement. 
But when the pandemic hit and climate action initiatives had to stop, 
many were tossed yet again into a sense of hopelessness.

“Students have been greatly impacted during the pandemic,” said Brian 
Mecinas, a 19-year-old organizer with Arizona Youth Climate Coalition 
and a sophomore at Arizona State University.

“Things may have changed in their home life, whether that be their 
employment, their parents’ employment, not having a quiet work 
environment,” Mecinas said. “And on top of that, still feeling that 
responsibility to deal with the climate crisis that everyone seemed to 
forget about for a large chunk of this pandemic.”

Brian Mecinas, 19, at Arizona State University's Tempe campus on Dec. 
30, 2020. Mecinas has dealt with mental health challenges as a climate 
activist.
Mecinas tried to keep organizing, but the activism itself became 
overwhelming. He had been heavily involved since high school, organizing 
climate strikes and showing up at local meetings to push for action. But 
amid a pandemic, school and a job to support himself, it became too 
much. He hit a wall, falling into lethargy and depression.

“I don't have the same motivation anymore that I had last year,” Mecinas 
said. The fact he couldn’t will himself to push through the lethargy 
only compounded his depression.

“There is a mourning that I feel for the loss that is happening, has 
happened, will continue to happen,” Mecinas said. “It seems like a very 
uphill battle to prevent any more loss and pressure leaders to do what 
needs to be done. At the same time, who am I to feel I can stop doing 
this work when I'm one of the lucky few that doesn't have to be feeling 
the effects of the climate crisis right now?”

When the burnout infiltrated other aspects of his life, Mecinas realized 
he needed professional help.

“There’s not always a lot of space to talk about this kind of thing when 
there's so much work to be done,” Mecinas said.

Daylight saving time affects Arizonans even though we don't observe it. 
Here's how
COVID-19 in Arizona exposed health inequality. Will the new awareness 
prompt long-term changes?
Between anger and sadness: How the climate crisis has become a mental 
health crisis
Scottsdale City Council expected to pass anti-discrimination ordinance. 
Here's what it would do
With the help of a therapist and psychiatrist, Mecinas is slowly 
regaining his energy. Heberling, too, is taking a break, but she plans 
to return to the movement.

“I’m realizing that the process of fighting and winning is important, 
but it’s also important to enjoy the process of living,” Heberling said. 
“That's the hard part, knowing how to balance those two things. I guess 
it's a matter of trying to learn to enjoy the simple things. Spend time 
with the people we care about. Take time to have fun. That's the ideal I 
want to strive for.”

Mental health resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental 
health crisis, here are some available resources:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.
Text “HOME” to 741-741.
Maricopa County Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 1-800-631-1314 or 602-222-9444.
Teen Lifeline: 602-248-TEEN (8336).
More resources are listed here: 
https://www.azahcccs.gov/BehavioralHealth/crisis.html
Erin Stone covers the environment for The Arizona Republic and 
azcentral.com. Send her story tips and ideas at 
erin.stone at arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @Erstone7.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2021/03/14/how-climate-change-worries-affect-young-peoples-mental-health/3956269001/

[WaPo poo-poo talk]
*Kentucky Senate votes to criminalize insulting police in way that could 
cause ‘violent response’*
March 12, 2021
By Marisa Iati
The Washington Post
Kentucky’s Republican-majority Senate on Thursday moved forward a bill 
that would make it easier to arrest protesters for insulting a police 
officer, a measure that critics say would stifle free speech.

The bill, passed two days before the anniversary of the fatal police 
shooting of Breonna Taylor, would make it a misdemeanor to taunt or 
challenge an officer with words or gestures “that would have a direct 
tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a 
reasonable and prudent person.” Conviction would be punishable by up to 
90 days in jail and fines of up to $250.

State Sen. Danny Carroll, a Republican, who sponsored the bill, said it 
would enable officers to arrest someone inflaming them before the 
encounter turns violent. The provision is meant to apply to comments 
that are “obviously designed to illicit a response from the officer — 
something to push them to making a mistake, pushing them to violence,” 
he said, although courts would have the final say in interpreting the rule.

“You don’t have a right to accost a police officer,” Carroll said.

In addition to criminalizing taunting police, the bill would expand the 
category of protest behavior considered illegal, heighten sentences for 
offenses related to “riots” and prevent early release for those 
violations. It comes as Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, prepares 
for hundreds of people to gather downtown Saturday to recognize the 
anniversary of Taylor being fatally shot during an early-morning raid.

Hundreds of people were arrested in Louisville during last year’s 
protests — most on misdemeanor charges, but some on felony allegations.

The national battle over police accountability is playing out in 
legislatures across the country, as several states roll out bills that 
seek to protect law enforcement by expanding their immunity to lawsuits 
or reducing funding to localities that shrink police budgets. But many 
Democratic lawmakers have pushed measures that would make officers more 
liable for misconduct, and the U.S. House also passed a bill this month 
that would increase officers’ legal liability. Its fate in the Senate is 
uncertain.

Tyra Thomas-Walker, co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and 
Political Oppression, said she felt that her state’s bill attacks the 
constitutional right to peacefully protest.

“Some people are just emotional, and they’re saying things because 
they’re angry, they’re mad, they’re traumatized, but they’re not acting 
on it,” she said. “Why criminalize someone for their words? We have to 
protest now with tape over our mouth?”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky called the measure “an 
extreme bill to stifle dissent” with broad and ambiguous language.

“It’s criminalizing speech in a way that’s directed at protesters and 
people who are speaking out against police action,” said Corey Shapiro, 
ACLU of Kentucky’s legal director. “It is a bedrock principle of the 
First Amendment that people should be able to criticize police action, 
even if it’s using offensive speech.”

The provision of the bill that would ban insulting police was modeled on 
laws in other states prohibiting comments that could reasonably push a 
person to violence, said Carroll, himself a former police officer. Those 
statutes, which are not specific to anti-police comments, rely on an 
exception to the First Amendment known as the “fighting words doctrine,” 
which holds that words inciting immediate violence are not 
constitutionally protected.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/kentucky-senate-votes-to-criminalize-insulting-police-in-way-that-could-cause-violent-response/

[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - March 16, 2011 *

March 16, 2011: CBS News reports on the aggressive anti-science 
attitudes of the 112th Congress.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-reject-climate-change-science/

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