[✔️] October 13, 2023- Global Warming News Digest | War delays progress, Goats eat plants, rent a herd, Mental health California youth, Thin ice story, Wildfire talker, 2004 political lying

Fri Oct 13 09:41:28 EDT 2023

/*October *//*13, 2023*/

/[ Washington Post analysis --  War is not smart for adapting to global 
warming and the COP28 meeting ]/
*Why another war may further delay aid for nations ravaged by climate 
change*
Analysis by Timothy Puko with research by Vanessa Montalbano
October 11, 2023
The Climate 202
- -
Why another war may further delay aid for nations ravaged by climate change

Already facing steep challenges, the world’s big climate summit now 
confronts a war in the Middle East that is sure to complicate its path 
to success.

The summit already faces tensions over international aid to help poor 
and vulnerable countries deal with climate change. Rich countries 
responsible for most human contributions to a warming planet, especially 
the United States, have promised billions. But in many cases these 
countries have failed to come through, a pattern of unfulfilled pledges 
that has left many developing nations skeptical of the entire process.

Now just weeks before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, 
known as COP28, and with gridlock over a new budget already roiling 
Washington, war between Israel and Hamas is creating more competition 
for U.S. aid. Republicans who control the House have long opposed 
climate spending of all types. And with pressure mounting to further 
boost military support abroad, it is likely they will ignore President 
Biden’s requests for international climate aid, according to current and 
former U.S. officials.

“Unfortunately I don’t think global events and the current dynamics in 
the House will make it any easier for the administration to provide 
additional money for developing countries,” said Beth Viola, an energy 
lobbyist at Holland & Knight who had served in the Clinton 
administration and as an environmental adviser to both former vice 
president Al Gore and then-Sen. John F. Kerry.

*‘Lack of follow-through’*
If Washington funds its long-standing ally Israel instead, that also 
risks deepening mistrust within the developing world and undermining 
COP28 efforts in which all countries must agree to any deal. Many poor 
and vulnerable countries have been frustrated that the United States and 
other NATO governments approved so much military aid for Ukraine in the 
last 18 months while saying they couldn’t do the same on climate change. 
A repeat scenario with Israel could reinforce frustrations.

“All these resources have been mobilized for war instead,” said Michai 
Robertson, senior adviser on finance at the Alliance of Small Island 
States, a group of 44 islands and low-lying coastal states around the 
world that work in concert at international climate talks. “The lack of 
follow-through with [climate] commitments has huge implications on how 
we go about negotiating and building trust in the process.”

In recent days, Biden administration officials have said they are still 
committed to pursuing more international climate aid from Congress. But 
Congress’s prolonged budget negotiations already kept them on the 
sidelines of a major fundraising summit last week for the Green Climate 
Fund, one of the flagship vehicles to support climate-friendly projects 
in developing countries.

Former president Barack Obama had helped launch the fund by pledging $3 
billion in 2014, but Washington has still not provided all of that 
money. And on Thursday, the United States was among a handful of 
countries that didn’t join in on a new round of donating for the fund’s 
work in 2024 through 2027.

Two officials — who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did 
not have authorization to comment on the record — said the 
administration plans to keep pushing Congress on climate funding. But 
those officials also said they were already expecting Congress to forgo 
more climate aid, forcing the Biden team to look for smaller amounts of 
money to pull from other programs, acknowledging that those won’t close 
the gap and are unlikely to satisfy other countries.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/11/why-another-war-may-further-delay-aid-nations-ravaged-by-climate-change 

/[  Goats eat the plants that can fuel a fire  (and little lambs eat ivy 
) ]/
*GOATs help with fire prevention*
Hunter Bassler
October 12, 2023
New teams of wildfire prevention experts are sprouting up across the 
world, but they aren’t made up of hotshots or forest managers — they’re 
herds of goats.

Michael Choi is the creator of Fire Grazers Inc., a fire brush 
management company that deploys free-range goats in fire-prone areas 
around California to clear dead vegetation and prevent wildfires.

“Our goal is to assist in the management of fire-hazardous zones through 
fuel modification, thereby addressing an accelerating regional problem 
that threatens the livelihood and prosperity of many residents of 
California,” Choi said on his website. “Our grazing goats can clear an 
unbelievable amount of brush and weeds. A well-sized herd can complete a 
job in a single day that would take two or three times as long with a 
landscaping crew.”
Goats’ mountain climbing expertise gives them a leg up on other wildfire 
managers. Some areas that may be treacherous for humans are easily 
scalable for goats, including steep hillsides and canyons.

Fire Grazers Inc. has been around since the early 2010s, but Choi’s 
technique is getting noticed across the world. Chile’s goat brigades 
have prevented both wildfires and erosion in the country’s forests, 
Nevada deployed goats in Reno through a state-funded program, and the 
City of Quesnel in central British Columbia announced in June it had 
deployed a herd of 132 goats to eat vegetation in and around designated 
Fuel Management Trails.
Quesnel’s strategy has been a success. While multiple wildfires burned 
around the area of the city in 2023, none threatened the city’s 
residents. The Quesnel Cariboo Observer reported that multiple wildfires 
west of Quesnel in August triggered evacuations in the nearby town of 
Eliguk Lake in August. Two other evacuations in July were triggered by 
the Townsend Creek Fire. British Columbia had its worst fire season on 
record in 2023, with over three million hectares burned.

Quesnel still stands. The city sits in one of the lowest-priority fire 
danger areas of the province, according to Canada’s Government. The 
goats are looking to keep it that way.
https://wildfiretoday.com/2023/10/12/goats-help-with-fire-prevention/

- -

/[ Rent-a-herd ]/
*Fire Brush Management is our specialty. Our happy, healthy, free-range 
goats service fire-prone areas around California.*
Our goats graze flat land, hillsides, steep slopes and hard-to-access 
terrain. Goats are natural mountaineers and can easily clear areas that 
are very difficult to access, and in far less time than a professional 
landscaping crew. The organic compost they leave behind also works to 
repair the soil.

We have worked in the past with homeowners' associations, city 
officials, fire departments, and conservancy organizations to clear 
invasive weeds while protecting native plant life.

Goat grazing has been proven to be an ecologically-sound, cost 
effective, and efficient means of fire-brush clearance.
Did you know? Three hundred goats can eat about an acre a day!

https://goatsrock.com/about-us.html

- -

/[ California deploys goats - video]/
*DWR Uses Goats to Help Prevent Wildfires*
California DWR
Jun 9, 2021
A herd of 350 to 400 goats from Hanski Family Farms LLC were used to 
successfully reduce hazardous fuels in nearly five acres near Lake 
Oroville. DWR partnered with the Butte County Fire Safe Council (BCFSC) 
on this grazing project to reduce the fire risk from grasses, leaves, 
invasive and non-invasive plants, and other vegetation.

This work is part of DWR’s Fuel Load Management Program, which was 
started in 2012 to reduce hazardous fuels within the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC) project boundary. DWR, along with partners 
CAL FIRE, the California Conservation Corps, BCFSC, Butte County 
Sheriff’s Office, and California Department of State Parks and 
Recreation (CA Parks), are all working together to accomplish the same 
common goal -- reduce wildfire risk, increase public safety, and enhance 
forest health in areas around Lake Oroville. To date, approximately 675 
acres have been treated around the Lake Oroville area by DWR and its 
partners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxwRtJFjGqo

- -

/[ See them chomp - view this YouTube video ]/
*Chile's firefighting goats protect a native forest from deadly blazes*
The Sun
May 14, 2023  #worldnews #chile
Chile is using goats as firefighters to prevent native forests from 
wildfires.

The co-founder of the initiative explained: "Through grazing, the goats 
eat the brambles, mainly, and other species under the forest, reducing 
the fuel available in the event of a fire, making it much easier to fight.

"Since the forest is clean, for the (firefighting) brigades it is much 
easier and more accessible. This prevents the fire from going up into 
the treetops."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRH76bAZnwk

/[ California youth freaking out  - text and audio play ]/
** *Climate change took them to ‘dark places.’ Now these Californians 
are doing something about it*
BY SHREYA AGRAWAL
OCTOBER 10, 2023

    *IN SUMMARY*
    The facts of climate change can lead to feelings of hopelessness and
    despair. Some California activists are creating communities for
    people to talk about those feelings.

Maksim Batuyev’s college studies on the climate crisis left him feeling 
depressed.

“I was questioning the sheer gravity of it all and how all of it is 
systemic. None of it has an easy solution,” he said. “That really 
started to bring me into some dark places.”

During his senior year at Michigan State University, he started talking 
online to people from around the world  about their emotions related to 
climate change, which ranged from feeling overwhelmed and scared about 
the future to grieving the parts of nature that have already been lost.

“They sounded just like me,” he said. “And it sounded like too much for 
one person to take on.”

He decided to do something about it. In 2022, he and climate activist 
Cindy Pace started informal gatherings in Los Angeles to talk about 
climate emotions. These groups, commonly known as climate cafes, 
encourage various kinds of people to come together and talk about their 
climate feelings in moderated discussions.

“We don’t have time to train every therapist and can’t afford to give 
everyone a therapist, so we shouldn’t be acting like those are our only 
options,” Batuyev, 25, said. “You don’t need to be certified to ask how 
someone’s doing.”

Those meetups represent one of the small ways young Californians are 
beginning to address the global climate crisis as a mental health 
crisis. Grassroots organizations and nonprofits are offering 
community-based therapy solutions, such as climate cafes, urban gardens 
and other events where people can come together and talk.

Some are turning to nature-based therapy, also known as ecotherapy, 
which involves spending time in nature to enable growth and healing.

And, more formally, the Newsom administration has taken some small 
steps, including funding a $6 million environmental justice program in 
San Mateo County schools that includes group activities to build social 
and emotional resilience against the climate crisis. Supporters hope it 
becomes a model for a statewide program.

But mental health advocates say the largely grassroots-driven efforts 
are not nearly enough to meet the needs of younger generations. Mental 
health advocates say they need more resources and funding to build 
stronger community-based systems and provide a good alternative to 
therapy, which can often be expensive and less accessible.

“Without having a place to express their feelings, people can really go 
into a trauma response and can even get to a point of shutdown,” said 
Maia Kiley, a certified ecotherapist in Los Angeles. “It can even lead 
to depression and suicidality. It can feel like a really deep hopelessness.”

In California, 80% of youth between ages 14-24 have experienced some 
form of climate distress, according to a 2022 study by Blue Shield of 
California. Climate distress refers to the range of negative emotions 
people can experience due to thinking about the climate crisis or 
experiencing it, including grief, anger, stress, anxiety, hopelessness 
and depression.

“It’s clear young people are focused on climate change and for good 
reason. A lot of past policies, actions, and inactions have created a 
situation that has folks very worried about the future, and I share that 
worry,” said state Sen. Ben Allen, the Redondo Beach Democrat who 
sponsored the 2021 budget item that funded the school program. “I hope 
that elected officials, industry leaders, and others in positions of 
power listen to what they’re asking for and respond with the urgency it 
demands.”

*Mental health crisis at California schools*
At Redondo Union High School south of Los Angeles, students bring up 
their emotions about the climate crisis to counselor Rachel Andrews “at 
least once a day.”

“My students say, ‘Okay, so now, not only am I worried about finishing 
my homework, but I have to be one of the people that fixes this huge 
crisis,’” she said.

In her experience, kids start experiencing climate distress around 5th 
or 6th grade. While this encourages them to be environmentally 
conscious, she said, they also find it hard to manage their emotions.

“They feel angry, they feel guilty, thinking, ‘Did I contribute to 
this?’” she said. “And they feel cheated, because their planet is at 
risk, other people did it and they have to figure it out.”

Lian Zeitz, cofounder of the nonprofit Climate Mental Health Network, 
said educators who teach about environmental issues notice strong 
emotional reactions among their students, but they “often aren’t 
equipped with tools and resources on how to navigate these very complex 
emotional landscapes on topics that are experienced differently by very 
different people.”

The California Association of School Counselors, meanwhile, is building 
a curriculum that includes discussions on how to address climate change. 
But California is facing a school counselor shortage, with one counselor 
serving an average of 509 students during the 2021-2022 school year. The 
American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of at least one 
counselor for 250 students.

Zeitz is working on a state-funded environmental justice program in San 
Mateo County for K-12 grades as a partnership with environmental 
literacy nonprofit Ten Strands. His role is to ensure that all these 
programs have social learning and mental health focuses embedded in 
them. “We’re asking educators to welcome the range of emotions that 
young people are experiencing, and teach them how to feel safe when they 
experience them,” he said.

One way the program makes space for climate emotions is by having 
activities that encourage social connection and healthy coping skills. 
It includes a climate emotions wheel based on the feelings that people 
usually experience related to the climate crisis. By asking students to 
identify how they are feeling using the emotions displayed on the wheel, 
educators can check in with them and encourage them to talk as part of a 
group, Zeitz said.

*Climate-aware therapy *
Outside of classrooms and counseling, some young Californians are 
seeking alternative therapies as they address their climate anxiety. One 
of the approaches to climate-aware therapy is nature-based therapy or 
ecotherapy. Many kinds of ecotherapy exist, from structured sessions in 
nature with an ecotherapist to community gardening or outdoor yoga.

“Climate-aware therapy is where people feel that they can really share 
about their climate distress,” said Kiley, the Los Angeles ecotherapist. 
“Feelings are like ocean waves that pass through, so we are really 
making sure people know how to take care of and manage their feelings so 
there can be more charge over what’s happening and some perspective.”

But many California youth may not be able to receive therapy for climate 
distress for several reasons. Not all therapists are trained to 
specifically deal with climate emotions. The Climate-Aware Therapist 
Directory by the Climate Psychology Alliance North America lists just 
over 100 certified climate-aware therapists all over the United States 
and Canada.

Batuyev believes traditional therapy with a counselor or psychologist is 
insufficient to deal with climate distress. He views climate-related 
emotions as a collective concern that cannot be addressed with only 
medication or traditional therapy.

“Being compassionate and empathetic, that’s not a pathological disorder. 
This is a rational response to our environmental challenges,” he said.

*Therapy alternatives for climate change *
Zeitz said while people should acknowledge that the climate crisis can 
create a sense of collective distress among youth, it is important not 
to “pathologize” people’s emotional responses to the climate crisis.

“The model is not more psychiatrists or psychologists to support people. 
We need to strengthen community systems that are able to tend to 
people’s needs better,” he said.

To fill this gap, several grassroots efforts, including climate cafes 
and community gardens, have opened that emphasize community-based 
discussions about climate distress. One of them is Climate Cafe LA, run 
by Batuyev and Pace.

“It’s a thinking and feeling space,” Pace said about climate cafes. 
“This is where people get together and really get into our emotional 
responses to the climate crisis.”

Pace and Batuyev have partnered with UCLA and other public spaces such 
as libraries and cafes to host climate discussions. They also host a 
virtual cafe each month. But being the only climate cafe in Los Angeles, 
they feel their impact is limited.

“This is not something owned by any one person, so I want to help 
students start them,” Batuyev said. “We need to start thinking more 
seriously about building resiliency and informal support groups like 
this can be a tool that people have to start engaging around the 
emotional side of these issues.”

But the ultimate cure to eco-anxiety, Batuyev said, is “to solve the 
climate problem.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works 
to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need 
it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.
https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/10/climate-change-california-youth-mental-health/

/[ targeted-information example -- promoting beer drinking to 
risk-taking-adventurists -- and many beer drinkers may be concerned 
about global warming ]/
*Melting Away — Ice Fishing on LSD While Your World Dissolves*
Words + Photos by Mark LaFaro
October 10, 2023
All content ©2020 Good Beer Hunting. A strategic venture of Feel Goods 
Company.
"Good Beer Hunting®" is an international registered trademark of Good 
Beer Hunting LLC.
https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/blog/2023/10/10/ice-fishing-on-lsd-while-your-world-dissolves

/[  Lessons about wildfires - 15 min of a talking-head video - with NO 
images or artwork.   Just play the audio ]/
*Introduction to Fire Behavior | Wildfire Insider Ep. 26*
Holt Hanley
Oct 12, 2023  #weather #wildfire #california
Wildfires typically spread through ground fires, surface fires, crown 
fires, or a combination of all three.
One way to think about the rate of spread on a wildfire is through the 
heat source/heat sink model.
Here's a few new wildfire vocab words for you…
Flaming Front, Residence Time, Rate of Spread, Flame Depth, Flame 
Height, Flame Length, Fireline Intensity.

Fire in California’s Ecosystems,
Ch. 4 Fire as a Physical Process (pg. 45-47)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkINnyYZ9_Y

/[The news archive - looking back at candidates debates ]/
/*October 13, 2004 */
October 13, 1988: In the second presidential debate, Republican 
candidate and Vice President George H. W. Bush declares himself an 
environmentalist and "an outdoorsman and a sportsman all my life," while 
Democratic candidate and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis states 
that Bush was "[a] charter member of the environmental wrecking crew 
that went to Washington in the early '80s and did a job on the EPA."

(65:00--69:05)

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/4256-1

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Every weekday morning, in time for your morning coffee, Carbon Brief 
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