[✔️] June 20, 2023 . Global Warming News Digest | Montana Dramana, Zoom, BBC sees seas feel heat, Disinfo weapons, 1979 first solar on White House

Tue Jun 20 07:27:40 EDT 2023

/*June*//*20, 2023*/

/[PBS reports on The Montana Children's court case ]/
*Group of young people sue Montana over inaction on climate change*
PBS NewsHour
Jun 19, 2023
A first-of-its-kind trial is underway in Montana, where a group of young 
people argue the state's lawmakers aren't doing nearly enough to address 
climate change. Montana is one of the nation’s biggest coal producers 
and the industry there has strong political support. William Brangham 
reports how the plaintiffs are using a unique clause in the state 
constitution to try and force a change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3ZBk9a1u4&t=0s

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/[ See the video drama from the Montana court room live via Zoom -- 
starts at 9AM MT ]/
*The Live Zoom connection to   89337437466*
Single link to open Zoom in your browser 
https://fishercourtreporting.zoom.us/j/89337437466#success/

- -

/[ the Montana//-Dramana //]/
*Defense arguments to begin in youth climate trial in Montana*
June 19, 2023
By Ellis Juhlin
Attorneys for the State of Montana said Friday they will not call one of 
their top expert witnesses in the only youth climate lawsuit to make it 
all the way to trial in the U.S.

Climatologist Judith Curry, who disagrees with the scientific consensus 
that human activity is primarily responsible for dangerous warming of 
the planet, has provided written testimony, but will not be present in 
court this week.

Sixteen young Montana plaintiffs are suing state leaders in Helena, 
saying they've ignored scientific evidence and continue to promote 
fossil fuels, worsening climate change. They say that violates their 
right to a "clean and healthful environment," which Montana's 
constitution guarantees.

The state has tried multiple times to avoid going to trial, including 
two requests for the state Supreme Court to override prior rulings.

"We've had to fight so hard against an administration, a whole state 
that doesn't want us to be able to carry out our constitutional rights 
and has been avidly trying to deny us that opportunity throughout this 
whole process," says 18 year-old plaintiff Lander Busse, who has been 
waiting for three years for his day in court.

Busse and his family rely on hunting and fishing to stock their freezers 
for the winter. For him, this case is about saving what he loves about 
Montana.

When Lander and the other plaintiffs finally entered a Lewis and Clark 
County courtroom this past week, supporters lined the sidewalk outside 
to show support, clapping, cheering and waving signs.

Twelve of the plaintiffs took the stand, sharing their experiences 
living in Montana's changing climate.

"It's smokey, the world is burning," testified 20 year-old Claire 
Vlases, recounting summer wildfire smoke often blocks views of the 
mountains surrounding the Gallatin valley where she lives.

Thick smoke and burnt orange skies like the East Coast recently 
experienced have been a regular occurrence in Montana for years now.

Vlases says it sometimes feels like her lungs are full of fire.

"That sounds like a dystopian horror film, but it's not a movie. It's 
real life. That's what us kids have to deal with," she said.

Vlases and her co-plaintiffs are asking the state to set a limit on 
greenhouse gas emissions. Montana is America's fifth largest coal 
producer. The plaintiffs say both the legislature and executive branch 
continue to prioritize fossil fuels.

They called 10 expert witnesses, including University of Montana 
Researcher Steven Running. He contributed to a U-N Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change report which won a Nobel prize in 2007.

"Climate change is real," Running testified. "The earth is warming up 
and that the driver for this is burning fossil fuels."

Attorneys representing the state were generally deferential to the young 
plaintiffs. Their questions for the expert witnesses largely sought to 
cast doubt on Montana's ability to affect climate change.

"Montana's emissions are simply too miniscule to make any difference and 
climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana's 
role to that of a spectator," argued Montana Assistant Attorney General 
Michael Russell.

Attorneys for the state get the chance to present their defense. On 
Friday they announced they would not call one of their expert witnesses, 
a climatologist who disagrees with the scientific consensus on climate 
change.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/19/1182999615/defense-arguments-to-begin-in-youth-climate-trial-in-montana

/[  BBC - sees it's seas feel the heat  ]/
*Climate change: Sudden heat increase in seas around UK and Ireland*
June 19, 2023
- -
But the most dramatic increase in sea surface temperature right now is 
in the North Atlantic.

In May temperatures were 1.25C above the long-term average, the highest 
deviation ever recorded in a single month, according to the Met Office...
- -
It looks like the impacts of the exceptional temperatures in the North 
Atlantic are already beginning to be felt.

The eastern tropical Atlantic is the main spawning ground for North 
Atlantic hurricanes and the Met Office says an Atlantic tropical storm 
looks likely to form east of the Caribbean by the middle of this week.

Julian Heming, a tropical cyclone expert at the Met Office, says it is 
very unusual to see a storm developing in that area so early in the season.

Hurricane development is normally supressed during El Niño periods, but 
the Met Office's forecast suggests an above average season for tropical 
storms and cyclones in the North Atlantic basin this year because of the 
high surface temperatures.

The Met Office says we can expect the hot weather to continue.

It says there is a 45% chance - significantly higher than usual - that 
the UK will have what it describes as a "hot summer".
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65948544

/[ Peter Sinclair is a wise activist and global warming hero ]/
*Climate Denial Crock of the Week*
with Peter Sinclair
*How Conspiracies and Science Denial have Been Weaponized by the Fossil 
Fuel Oligarchs*
June 18, 2023
We’re living in a world of post-science and post-fact, in large part 
because, for 40 years, the long term project of the fossil fuel 
industry, and, critically, those authoritarian states that rely on 
fossil fuels to maintain their power, has been to degrade society’s 
respect for science as a source of guidance, and indeed, the very idea 
that there are facts that can be established, and that should guide good 
governance.
The goal is to reset subservience to raw power and wealth as the 
magnetic north for all politics.

The Role of conspiracy mentality in denial of science and susceptibility 
to viral deception about science – POLITICS AND THE LIFE SCIENCES • FALL 
2019

    Science denialism permeates society. Though adamant anti-vaxxers and
    resolute flat Earthers may be small in numbers, many more people in
    the United States deny climate change and/or evolution (at least 50%
    and 33%, respectively). And while scientists face public denial of
    well-supported theories, popular culture celebrates pseudoscience:
    Olympic athletes engage in cupping, “gluten-free” is trending (even
    among those without disorders like celiac disease), and
    unsubstantiated alternative medicine methods flour-ish with support
    from cultural icons like Oprah. Governments face furious opposition
    to fluoridated water (when it was added to prevent tooth decay), and
    popular restaurant chains, like Chipotle, proudly tout their
    opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (see
    https://www.chipotle.com/gmo; scientists stress that the focus
    should be on the risks and benefits of each specific product and not
    globally accepted or rejected based on the processes used to make them).

    Moreover, the emergence of social media has pro- vided a broad forum
    for the famous, not famous, and infamous alike to share and
    crowdsource opinions and even target misinformation to those who are
    most vulnerable. This allows so-called fake news to go viral. Yet
    who is most susceptible to denying science and/or believing
    misinformation? In the current study, we consider the extent to
    which conspiracy mentality leads people to (a) reject well-supported
    scientific theories and (b) accept viral and deceptive claims
    (commonly referred to as fake news) about science, two ways in which
    publics disagree with scientists.

    Why are there such gaps between what scientists have shown and what
    lay publics believe? One of the original models attempting to answer
    this question, the public deficit model,  poses that science
    denialism is fueled by a lack of science knowledge. In other words,
    if people simply understood the science, then they would accept the
    science. This model, however, oversimplifies a complex problem:
    despite the modest gains in acceptance that occur with scientific
    literacy, the relationship is often conditional on individuals’
    prior beliefs, attitudes, values, and worldviews (e.g., their
    “priors”; note that we are using the term “priors” colloquially—we
    do not intend to refer to Bayesian priors). While greater scientific
    knowledge can increase the likelihood of accepting scientific
    results for some, it can increase the likelihood of rejecting those
    results for others—the opposite of what the deficit model envisages.

Minor Eruption on Twitter this week as Joe Rogan promoted Robert Kennedy 
Jr and his Anti-Vax crusade, got challenged by Immunologist Peter Hotez, 
then suggested Hotez debate RFK Jr, whereafter the new Twitter boss, 
Elon Musk, pretty much came out as a full-on Anti-Vaxxer...
- -
https://climatecrocks.com/2023/06/18/how-conspiracy-and-science-denial-have-been-weaponized-by-the-fossil-fuel-oligarchs/

/[ The news archive - looking back at first time solar heat on the White 
House ] /
/*June 20, 1979*/
*June 20, 1979: Solar heaters are installed on the roof of the White 
House by President Carter. *
The panels would be yanked down by President Reagan in August 1986.
*A Road Not Taken*
FFreeThinker
Jul 7, 2010
http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ...  In 1979, Jimmy Carter, in a 
visionary move, installed solar panels on the roof of the White House. 
This symbolic installation was taken down in 1986 during the Reagan 
presidency. In 1991, Unity College, an environmentally-minded centre of 
learning in Maine acquired the panels and later installed them on their 
cafeteria roof.

In "A Road not Taken", Swiss artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller 
travel back in time and, following the route the solar panels took, 
interview those involved in the decisions regarding these panels as well 
as those involved in the oil crisis of the time. They also look closely 
at the way this initial installation presaged our own era.
- -
You may not remember this but in 1979, President Jimmy Carter installed 
solar panels on the roof of the White House West Wing. The panels, which 
were used to heat water for the staff eating area, were a symbol of a 
new solar strategy that Carter had said was going to "move our Nation 
toward true energy security and abundant, readily available, energy 
supplies." But in 1986, President Ronald Reagan removed the solar panels 
while the White House roof was being repaired. They were never reinstalled.

In 1991, the panels were retrieved from government storage and brought 
to the environmentally-minded Unity College about an hour southeast of 
Bangor, Maine. There, with help of Academy Award winning actress Glenn 
Close, the panels were refurbished and used to heat water in the 
cafeteria up until 2005. They are still there, although they no longer 
function.

Swiss directors Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller follow the route the 
panels took, using them as a backdrop to explore American oil dependency 
and the lack of political will to pursue alternative energy sources.

In the movie "A Road Not Taken", the filmmakers took two solar panels 
from Unity, placed them in the back of two students' 1990 Dodge Ram 
pick-up truck (which had been retrofitted to run on vegetable oil) and 
delivered one of them to the Jimmy Carter Library & Museum in Atlanta 
and the other to the National Museum of American History in Washington.

In 1979, Carter warned, "a generation from now, this solar heater can 
either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, 
or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting 
adventures ever undertaken by the American people - harnessing the power 
of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling 
dependence on foreign oil."
It turns out Carter's warning was at least partially correct: two of his 
solar panels are now a museum piece.
http://youtu.be/_88idk1VJGU

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