[✔️] February 25, 2022 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[👀 Richard Pauli]

/*February  25, 2022*/

/[ McKibben opinion about now and Ukraine ] /

*If you care about freedom, shut up about high gas prices*
And put a solar panel on your roof
Bill McKibben
We’ve had an immense amount of nonsense in the last year or two about 
what constitutes freedom—mostly, it appears, freedom is the right to 
give others covid so that you’re not burdened with the unbearable 
sacrifice of wearing a square of cloth across your mouth.

But as of Wednesday night, the idea of freedom got a little more real. 
People in Ukraine are suddenly being killed for daring to want to choose 
their own leaders. And people in Russia—many thousands—are bravely 
taking to the streets to support that choice. Those are all extremely 
brave people, and they deserve our deep gratitude and admiration. And we 
should do what we can to help them.

We’re not being asked to do much. President Biden took the prospect that 
we might stand militarily with Ukraine off the table early—that was 
probably wise, since there’s clearly not an appetite in America for 
helping in that way, and since actual fighting with a nuclear-armed foe 
run by a dead-eyed zealot is no easy thing. In fact, Biden seems to me 
to be doing a very steady job in the deepest crisis since 9/11—our 
impulsive and rash reaction then led us down a terrible path of stupid 
wars. This time he’s corralling allies, drawing up sanctions, doing what 
he can to hold together a democratic world order against autocrats 
abroad (and Fox News at home).

But he’s fighting with one hand tied behind his back, because he feels 
he can’t do the most obvious thing, which would be to shut off the flow 
of Russian oil and gas to the world. And the reason, above all, is that 
he worries it would raise gas prices to a point where Americans would 
refuse to support our efforts. As one State Dept. official explained to 
the Wall Street Journal, “Doing anything that affects … or halts energy 
transactions would have a great impact on the United States, American 
citizens and our allies. So our intention here is to impose the hardest 
sanctions we can while trying to safeguard the American public and the 
rest of the world from those measures.”

This is sad. The last time a European autocrat sent tanks speeding 
across the plains to subjugate sovereign nations we (eventually) 
responded by sending millions of men off to war and sacrificing 
everything about our domestic economy in order to produce the armaments 
needed to fight. This time America’s burden involves…paying higher gas 
prices. And for many that’s too much. Continuing the uninterrupted 
enjoyment of our national fleet of grotesquely oversized SUVs and 
pickups is more important to some significant part of our population 
than standing beside brave people running real and terrible risks. There 
are Americans who can’t afford the fuel to heat their homes—we need to 
assist them. But the loudest whiners are people who have decided that 
freedom comes for free.

The way to square this circle, of course, is to rapidly build out 
renewable energy, and the electric vehicles that can use it. That step 
would make standing by the victims of this autocratic thug almost 
painless (along with, you know, helping save the planet). Once you have 
an EV gas prices are not a worry—electric rates do not jump up and down, 
and the fueling costs are radically lower anyway. Where once we built 
tanks to defend democracy, now we need to build air source heat pumps 
and EV chargers, along with electric buses and bike lanes. President 
Biden is warning the oil companies not to price-gouge, but of course 
they will—we need to break their power. And one way to do that is to 
quickly build out clean energy technology, everywhere we can.

But in the meantime, perhaps Americans could suck it up for a few 
months. Think about people who are paying a real price.
https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/if-you-care-about-freedom-shut-up?utm_source=url



[ we suspected, now we know ]
*Methane Is Killing Us. Does Anyone Care? Does Anyone Even Know?*
The latest research shows methane leaks are more dangerous to the 
environment than is generally believed.
By Steve Hanley
New satellites that are capable of seeing methane plumes from space are 
telling a chilling tale. Now all you fossil fuel apologists out there, 
listen up. Yes, we know methane burns cleaner than coal. But — and this 
is a huge “but” — exploring for, drilling, compressing, and transporting 
the stuff causes massive amounts of environmental damage. Some 
scientists estimate methane emissions in the atmosphere account for 30% 
of global warming.

The latest research by the International Energy Agency contains shocking 
news. Well, it should be shocking news to anyone who can put aside 
Tinder and TikTok long enough to pay attention. In its Global Methane 
Tracker report for 2022, it says actual global methane emissions are 70% 
greater than what the nations of the world are reporting...
-“At today’s elevated gas prices, nearly all of the emissions [of 
methane] from oil and gas operations worldwide could be avoided at no 
net cost. The IEA has been a longstanding champion of stronger action to 
cut methane emissions. A vital part of those efforts is transparency on 
the size and location of emissions, which is why the massive 
under-reporting revealed by our Global Methane Tracker is so alarming,” 
Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, tells The Guardian.

Last year, leaks from fossil fuel operations amounted to as much gas as 
Europe burns for power in a year. If that methane had been captured and 
used, the current gas crisis and soaring prices could have been largely 
avoided, the IEA says. Its findings show there are few excuses for 
countries to stall on plugging leaks, which come from poorly maintained 
pipelines and badly managed production facilities. The technology needed 
to eliminate leaks is widely available. Norway, for instance, has some 
of the world’s best oil and gas infrastructure, having introduced strict 
regulation on its industry.

Christophe McGlade, lead author of the IEA report, says governments 
needed to step in to ensure companies used the technology. “One reason 
companies don’t is a lack of awareness of the problem, or a lack of 
awareness of how cost-effective abatement is,” he said. In other cases, 
the company that operates the pipeline or facility may incur the cost of 
cutting leaks while the benefits accrue to the seller of the gas. 
“That’s why regulation is very important — policies are needed to 
correct the market failure, to take on the leaks.”

*Scary Government Policies*
How dare anyone suggest government policies. Don’t they know that the 
best government is the least government? If freedom means anything, it 
means being able to drive on the wrong side of the road if you want to. 
And to hell with those FAA regulations that tell airlines how frequently 
they must overhaul their engines or what altitude to fly. The free 
market — Adam Smith’s unseen hand — will magically cure all society’s 
ills. If planes crash, customers (those who survive anyway), will simple 
take their business elsewhere. Except in the case of methane emissions, 
that hasn’t happened. Hmm… maybe the free market doesn’t work quite the 
way the purists think it does.

The IEA report says the market value of the methane that escapes is 
greater than the cost of fixing all those leaks. Not only that, those 
costs are a one-time investment. Selling the gas that isn’t released 
straight into the atmosphere will create income from years or even 
decades. But still the industry can’t be bothered. It’s too hard and 
there’s so much methane around, no one feels the need to lift a finger 
to address the issue. See how well free markets work?
- -
*The Takeaway*
This topic is especially relevant today, as Russia has begun an armed 
invasion of Ukraine, a move which in turn has prompted Germany to cancel 
the permits for Nord Stream 2, a methane pipeline that would bring more 
of the stuff to Europe. Germany made an unholy alliance with Putin more 
than a decade ago to import methane to substitute for burning domestic 
coal. It also was a factor in Germany’s decision to shutter many of its 
nuclear generating stations early.

The flaw in the system is that Germany doesn’t care a fig if methane 
emissions in Russia are spiking. That’s not Germany’s problem, although 
it is very much a problem for  the world as average global temperatures 
inch ever upward. Maybe, just maybe, Germany and the rest of Europe will 
now realize that their salvation lies in renewable energy that is 
generated locally. An energy policy that relies on the good will of 
others is the opposite of energy independence. It is a situation that 
places one country at the mercy of another. When dealing with a snake 
like Putin, that is not a good position to be in.

There are signs that Europe has learned its lesson, but it will take 
years for it to build the renewable infrastructure it needs to secure 
energy independence for itself. It is learning a harsh lesson in 
geopolitics. It is hard to understand how the Continent allowed itself 
to be put in this position.
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/02/24/methane-is-killing-us-does-anyone-care-does-anyone-even-know/



/[  First try is why ] /
*White House science office to hold first event on countering climate 
change denial and delay*
Leading climate scientists will meet with officials in the White House 
Office of Science and Technology Policy.
By Maxine Joselow
Feb -24-22
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will hold a 
first-of-its-kind roundtable with some of the nation’s leading 
scientists on Thursday to discuss the urgent need to combat the climate 
crisis and to counter arguments for delaying climate action.

The event, which has not previously been reported, will bring together a 
diverse group of 17 climate scientists, social scientists, engineers and 
economists from 11 states and the District of Columbia. Jane Lubchenco, 
a marine ecologist who serves as OSTP deputy director for climate and 
environment and who ran the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration during President Barack Obama’s first term, will lead the 
discussion.

“Clearly, we see tangible evidence of climate change all around us with 
sea-level rise, increases in extreme heat, increases in drought, 
wildfires, ocean acidification [and] floods,” Lubchenco said in a phone 
interview.

“What we’re seeing now is a result of past inaction,” she said. “That 
past inaction is haunting us. And so the question is, how do we 
accelerate effective action?”

President Biden took office promising to take a whole-of-government 
approach to curbing the greenhouse gas emissions that are dangerously 
warming the Earth. But the event is being held as Biden’s massive 
climate and social spending plan, known as the Build Back Better bill, 
remains stalled on Capitol Hill...
- -
Those visiting the White House on Thursday include Michael Mann, a 
climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University who is known for 
creating a “hockey stick” graph of rising global temperatures, and Naomi 
Oreskes, a historian of science at Harvard University whose 2010 book 
“Merchants of Doubt” explored how a handful of high-level scientists 
denied the dangers of tobacco smoke and global warming.

Oreskes said she plans to tell White House officials that people who 
dispute the need to address global warming are, in effect, rejecting the 
reality of the climate crisis.

“To deny the urgency is to deny the science,” she said. “We have so much 
evidence now that serious extreme weather events like wildfires and 
floods and hurricanes have become substantially worsened by climate 
change. And it’s hurting people right here and right now.”
- -
“I’m excited for this event to happen because it will be the first time 
that the White House has recognized scientists who study the climate 
denial operation run by the fossil fuel industry,” Whitehouse said. “And 
that’s important, because we’ll do a better job fighting climate change 
if we are addressing the fossil fuel-funded obstruction apparatus.”

Ultimately unclear is what the event can and will accomplish. But 
Oreskes said the discussion could raise public awareness of climate 
disinformation and delay tactics, especially for Americans who would 
otherwise tune these scientists out in their daily lives.

“We live in an incredibly distracting world, so I don’t blame people for 
not being aware of these issues,” Oreskes said. “But I think it’s 
really, really helpful when an organization like the OSTP says, ‘Hold 
on, there’s something important that people need to know about.’ ”

The event is taking place amid a reckoning over the spread of climate 
disinformation on social media platforms. While Facebook pledged last 
year to attach “informational labels” to posts about climate change in 
the United States and other countries, the platform has labeled only 
about half of posts promoting climate denial, according to a report 
released Wednesday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a watchdog 
group.

Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, who testified before Congress 
in October, also has filed a pair of whistleblower complaints alleging 
that the company lacked a clear policy on climate disinformation as 
recently as last year, despite Facebook executives’ promising during 
earnings calls with investors that the company would fight the “global 
crisis.”

“My focus is going to be squarely on climate and how to counter the 
arguments that are delaying action,” Lubchenco said. “Some of that is a 
result of disinformation. Not all of it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/02/24/white-house-science-office-hold-first-ever-event-countering-climate-change-denial-delay/



/[   losing face - by the book and something obvious to nearly everyone ]/
*Facebook fell short of its promises to label climate change denial, a 
study finds*
RACHEL TREISMAN  -- February 23, 2022
Facebook is falling short on its pledge to crack down on climate 
misinformation, according to a new analysis from a watchdog group.

The platform — whose parent company last year rebranded as Meta — 
promised last May that it would attach "informational labels" to certain 
posts about climate change in the U.S. and some other countries, 
directing readers to a "Climate Science Information Center" with 
reliable information and resources. (It launched a similar hub for 
COVID-19 information in March 2020)...

But a new report released Wednesday from the Center for Countering 
Digital Hate (CCDH) finds that the platform only labeled about half of 
the posts promoting articles from the world's leading publishers of 
climate denial.

"By failing to do even the bare minimum to address the spread of climate 
denial information, Meta is exacerbating the climate crisis," said CCDH 
Chief Executive Imran Ahmed. "Climate change denial — designed to 
fracture our resolve and impede meaningful action to mitigate climate 
change — flows unabated on Facebook and Instagram."

The British watchdog group says that all of the articles it analyzed 
were published after May 19, the date that Facebook announced it would 
expand its labeling feature in a number of countries. Facebook says it 
was still testing the system at the time.

"We combat climate change misinformation by connecting people to 
reliable information in many languages from leading organizations 
through our Climate Science Center and working with a global network of 
independent fact checkers to review and rate content," Facebook 
spokesperson Kevin McAlister said in a statement provided to NPR.

"When they rate this content as false, we add a warning label and reduce 
its distribution so fewer people see it. During the time frame of this 
report, we hadn't completely rolled out our labeling program, which very 
likely impacted the results."

*Researchers examined posts with false information about climate change*
The CCDH published a report in November finding that 10 publishers, 
labeled "The Toxic Ten," were responsible for up to 69% of all 
interactions with climate denial content on Facebook. They include 
Breitbart, the Federalist Papers, Newsmax and Russian state media.

Researchers used the social analytics tool NewsWhip to assess 184 
articles containing false information about climate change, published by 
"The Toxic Ten" and posted on Facebook, where they collectively 
accumulated more than 1 million interactions.

*How decades of disinformation about fossil fuels halted U.S. climate 
policy*
Using Meta's CrowdTangle analytics tool, researchers identified the top 
public Facebook post for each article in the sample and documented 
whether or not it was labeled.

They found that 50.5% of the most popular posts associated with articles 
in the sample did not have labels. Those 93 articles had 541,877 
Facebook interactions, which researchers say amounts to 53% of total 
interactions with articles in the sample.

It highlighted several examples in a press release, including a 
NewsBusters article referring to "alarmist climate propaganda" and a 
Daily Wire article claiming "the Left is spreading global warming alarmism."

*Environmental advocates are calling for better regulation*
The CCDH and other advocacy groups are calling on lawmakers to do more 
to regulate the platform and crack down on disinformation.

"Facebook has consistently shown they can't be trusted," said Michael 
Khoo, co-chair of the Climate Disinformation Coalition at Friends of the 
Earth. "Facebook needs to open the books and lawmakers must step in to 
require full transparency from them and other social media platforms."

Alaphia Zoyab, the advocacy director of Reset, called for Facebook's 
algorithms to be "reined in," noting growing European efforts to hold 
social media companies accountable for disinformation shared on their 
platforms.

Lawsuit alleging oil companies misled public about climate change moves 
forward
CLIMATE
Lawsuit alleging oil companies misled public about climate change moves 
forward
As NPR's Shannon Bond has reported, European regulators are moving 
relatively quickly to counter Big Tech compared with the pace of efforts 
on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have introduced a slew of bills targeting 
misinformation and other aspects of social media, but it remains to be 
seen whether any of them will become law in the near future.

Notably, the release of the CCDH report comes just a week after Facebook 
whistleblower Frances Haugen reportedly filed two additional complaints 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that Facebook 
misled investors about its efforts to combat misinformation about 
climate change and COVID-19.

"CCDH's strong research echoes the exposés by Frances Haugen and others: 
Facebook will say one thing, and yet do another," Khoo added. "Facebook 
should not be trusted and must be regulated, especially as they attempt 
to escape to the metaverse."

*Editor's note: Facebook's parent company, Meta, pays NPR to license NPR 
content.*
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/23/1082561725/facebook-climate-change-label




/[ The news archive - looking back to see if anything has changed ]/
*On this day in the history of global warming February  25, 2005*
February 25, 2005: In a piece on state-level efforts to address carbon 
pollution, the Boston Phoenix's Deirdre Fulton notes:

"Though the United States accounts for almost 25 percent — more than
any other single country — of the world’s global-warming emissions,
advocates say there’s been little federal action on this issue since
at least 2001. That’s when George W. Bush, echoing concerns that had
also been voiced by his predecessor Bill Clinton, opted out of
Kyoto, citing national economic concerns and calling on developing
nations to commit to greater sacrifices than they do under the
current agreement. No wonder China, India, Mexico, and Brazil signed
on, say US and Australian leaders. They have much less to lose as
more stringent emissions regulations go into effect for other
nations worldwide.

"The US position may or may not be fair, but we do know this much:
it doesn’t move us very far toward addressing the looming problem of
global warming. And that makes regional and state-level efforts all
the more important."

http://web.archive.org/web/20050315235150/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multi_3/documents/04495072.asp


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