[✔️] Feb 2 2024 Global Warming News | Deluge over Calif, Cog dissonance, Solar getting better, Connecticut insurance state, Greta in trial, 1977 Pres Jimmy Carter
Richard Pauli
Richard at CredoandScreed.com
Fri Feb 2 08:50:59 EST 2024
/*February*//*2, 2024*/
/[ Atmospheric river flows into Los Angeles - more on Sunday ]/
*California sees heavy rain, rockslides and flooding*
CBS News
Feb 1, 2024
The first of two storm systems is drenching the West Coast, triggering
rock slides and flooding roads. CBS News correspondent Carter Evans
reports from Long Beach, California. Then, senior weather producer David
Parkinson joins with the latest forecast.
CBS News Streaming Network is the premier 24/7 anchored streaming news
service from CBS News and Stations, available free to everyone with
access to the Internet. The CBS News Streaming Network is your
destination for breaking news, live events and original reporting
locally, nationally and around the globe. Launched in November 2014 as
CBSN, the CBS News Streaming Network is available live in 91 countries
and on 30 digital platforms and apps, as well as on CBSNews.com and
Paramount+.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iae9xoOqm0E
- -
/[ NYTimes says waters rising -- ]/
*Coastal Cities Brace for Climate Change*
This week’s atmospheric rivers may only be the beginning.
By Manuela Andreoni
Feb. 1, 2024
Over the past few weeks, flooding from storms has battered cities in the
South and the East Coast, from Louisiana to New Jersey. Overlapping
atmospheric rivers over the West Coast have brought heavy rains that are
likely to come back in the next few days.
So far this week, Californians have not seen the kinds of
weather-generated disasters that struck last winter, with flooding in
Ventura County in December and in San Diego in January, my colleague
Jill Cowan reports.
Storms are part of the natural cycle that replenishes the water supplies
that several states will rely on during the drier months to come, Judson
Jones, The Times’s meteorologist, told me.
“The problem comes when there’s too much at one time,” he said.
Climate change makes that a lot more likely. Warmer air holds more
moisture, which means storms in many parts of the world are getting
wetter and more intense, as my colleague Ray Zhong explained during
deluges last year.
Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to climate change, not just
because of storms and floods, but from rising seas and erosion. These
factors put a tenth of the world’s population, the 896 million people
who live near the oceans, at risk. That includes one-fifth of Americans.
The good news is that there is a lot we can do. Urban Ocean Lab, a think
tank that promotes environmental policies for coastal cities, has
designed a framework that lays out dozens of solutions that governments
and communities can implement.
“So often people assume that we need more technological innovation, or
we need huge amounts of more money before we can actually do anything
meaningful,” the group’s co-founder, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, said. But,
she added, “There are so many solutions that we already have at our
fingertips.”...
*Getting ready*
Many U.S. coastal cities are large and influential but also have
vulnerable populations that are disproportionately affected by pollution
and global warming. Whatever cities decide to do can have a huge impact
on the climate and the lives of these communities.
Several policies can address both issues. Cities can put in place
programs to develop new work forces that will help build solar farms, or
redesign waterfronts in ways that are both resilient to climate change
and strengthen local economies.
City governments can also help take care of nature. Protecting and
restoring coastal ecosystems is a relatively inexpensive strategy to
both store planet-warming carbon and shield their residents, especially
the most vulnerable, from storm surges and sea level rise.
“It’s important to remember that there are solutions at every geographic
scale,” Johnson said. “From a city block to a whole city.”
*
The work has already started*
Over a third of U.S. cities have climate plans, according to research by
Urban Ocean Lab and Columbia University. But implementation has been
slow, and many cities are underestimating how much climate change will
transform their communities.
There is money to act. Urban Ocean Lab identified $21.7 billion in the
Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature climate bill, that
coastal cities could use to get ready for global warming.
There are cities already doing a good job on climate:
My colleague Michael Kimmelman recently reported on the progress he
has seen in flood-prone Hoboken, N.J., over the past decade. The
city is elevating power lines, building cisterns and new sewers and
redesigning to cope with rising seas and more intense rainfall.
New York City is working on a major environmental restoration
project in Jamaica Bay to return salt marshes and sand dunes to
their natural state to protect the ecosystem and the city.
Baltimore has implemented “resilience hubs,” places where people can
gather to talk about their communities, cool off or get food
supplies when disaster hits.
*You can act, too.*
A big part of Johnson’s message is that communities need to be
organized, and governments need to include them in the decision-making
process, for any strategy to address climate change to work.
That means you, and your neighbors, too.
It’s a lot easier to influence municipal policy or a City Council race
than it is to affect the outcome of a presidential election, Johnson said.
“Community organizations can certainly approach city government and have
an influence on how resources are allocated, how policy and regulations
are developed,” she said. “There is a lot of citizen power at the local
level.”
That may mean showing up to seemingly inconsequential meetings that
could ultimately decide how our cities are protected (or not) from
climate change.
“Extreme weather doesn’t have to be a disaster,” Johnson said. “It’s the
infrastructure and the built environment and where people live and how
people live that determine how bad the impacts of something are.”
- -
*Where do the U.S. and China go from here?*
This week we learned that John Podesta is replacing John Kerry as
President Biden’s adviser on international climate policy. That raises
some questions, including where the U.S.-China relationship is headed
when it comes to climate.
The world’s two biggest economies are also the world’s two biggest
polluters. The speed at which the U.S. and China agree to reduce
emissions sets the tone for the world at large.
Kerry, 80, had a strong relationship with his Chinese counterpart, Xie
Zhenhua. Even as the U.S. and China were at odds over security, trade
and more, Kerry was able to restart climate talks last year. Those talks
paved the way for a deal in November between the two countries to ramp
up renewables, providing a jolt of ambition ahead of COP29.
Podesta, 75, also has a long history of dealing with China. As my
colleague Lisa Friedman reported, Podesta helped to broker a landmark
2014 climate agreement between the United States and China during the
Obama administration, was an architect of the 2015 Paris climate accord
and has close ties with climate leaders around the world.
But there are also potential sources of tension ahead. For the past two
years, Podesta has led the implementation of the Inflation Reduction
Act, a climate law that is fundamentally designed to help the U.S.
compete with China on solar panels and sources of renewable energy.
In any case, the U.S. and China are unlikely to strike another big
climate deal this year. And if former President Donald Trump regains the
White House in November, the U.S. may not have a climate adviser for
much longer.
But at least for now, Podesta’s appointment “reassures the international
community that the United States will continue to lean into leadership
on global climate action,” Manish Bapna, president of the Natural
Resources Defense Council, told Lisa. — David Gelles
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/climate/coastal-cities-brace-for-climate-change.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SU0.CzhL.Nm445EZrH3FT&bgrp=g&smid=url-share
/[ study of weird opinions - of cognitive dissonance, of mushrooms and
the self. Do we give up on logic? ]/
*The Cognitive Dissonance Crisis | Sarah Stein Lubrano*
Planet: Critical
Jan 31, 2024
What do W.E.I.R.D countries have in common?
Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic. The citizens of
these countries exhibit markedly more extreme psychological
characteristics than those of non-WEIRD nations. One of the weirdest
characteristics is a belief in a fixed “self’ which will behave in a
reliable and predictable manner no matter the environment. The belief in
this unchanging self is what makes it very difficult for us to change
our minds—and even concoct wild rationalisations to justify our
behaviour. Welcome to the age of cognitive dissonance.
Sarah Stein Lubrano, a researcher at Oxford University, joins me to
explain the cognitive dissonance phenomenon, its roots in the alleged
security granted to us by a fixed sense of self, and why it’s so hard to
change our beliefs. She then reveals what neurophilosophy tells us about
how to help others change our minds, the power of storytelling, and the
importance of social infrastructure for creating cohesive, fluid and
non-judgemental communities. It is these brave communities which dare
examine themselves, their beliefs about the world—and change their
maladaptive behaviours. This is an episode about how to dare change our
minds.
00:00 Teaser
00:59 Intro
01:33 Guest Introduction: Sarah Stein Lubrano
03:58 Why is the world in crisis?
06:00 Understanding Cognitive Dissonance
10:02 The Impact of Psychedelics on Perception of Self
13:08 The Concept of Self in Different Cultures
24:26 The Role of Self in the Fear of Death
30:43 The Paradox of Self in Western Culture
34:10 The Power of Embodiment in Activism
39:00 The Challenge of Contradictions in Our Actions
43:41 The Limitations of Debate in Changing Minds
52:11 The Power of Deep Canvassing in Changing Views
01:01:07 Conclusion
🔴 Sarah's website: https://www.sarahsteinlubrano.com/
🌎 Support Planet: Critical: https://www.patreon.com/planetcritical
🌎 Subscribe: https://www.planetcritical.com/
🌎 Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrisisReports
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYPBzHLjgw4
/[ Solar is constantly improving -- here's most trusted advice on
installing solar ]/
*Avoid Solar Industry Scams! w/ Alternative Methods to Install a
Professional System On A Budget*
DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse
Jan 30, 2024
If you need more help to avoid getting ripped off, check out our forum!
https://diysolarforum.com
We also have a section to post your resume if you are an installer:
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Also here is my tesla referral link: https://ts.la/william57509
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Check out my best-selling, beginner-friendly 12V off-grid solar book
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If DIY is not for you, but you love solar and need an offgrid system,
check out EnergyPal! They will price out a system and get your house
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euOonc2RFhU
/[ Connecticut is the Insurance State. -- Are you insured? Assured? ]/
*As climate disasters become more frequent, insurance companies are
abandoning us*
As billion-dollar climate disasters become more frequent, too many
people are left traumatized by the devastating shortcomings of the
insurance industry.
by Sharon Lewis
February 1, 2024
Despite spending decades in the insurance industry, a few years ago I
found myself in a position I never thought I’d be in: uninsured after
heavy rains flooded my basement with sewage and untreated stormwater.
More than a year later, I still lack the resources to return home.
I’m not alone. As my home state of Connecticut and the Northeast get
battered by another storm, more and more individuals, communities, and
even states in climate-vulnerable areas are being abandoned by insurance
companies. Others, post-disaster, find they were inadequately insured as
companies shift risk through low property value assessments or new
coverage exclusions. As billion-dollar disasters become more frequent,
too many people are left traumatized by the devastating shortcomings of
the insurance industry.
see the graphic
https://i0.wp.com/ctmirror-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-billion-dollar-disaster-map.png?resize=1568%2C1045&ssl=1
Homeowner insurance premiums have been skyrocketing across the nation,
with insurers doubling premiums and limiting coverage — insurers are
proposing a whopping 42% rate increase in North Carolina, for example.
Regulators, lawmakers, and everyday Americans need to ask why these
companies pass on climate costs to consumers while continuing to breathe
life into the very industry responsible for climate change.
Without insurance, the industries polluting communities across the U.S.,
especially communities of color, and heating up the entire planet could
neither be built nor continue business as usual. Instead, insurance
companies like Travelers, W.R. Berkley, and Liberty Mutual continue to
insure new fossil fuel projects, designing loopholes in their climate
commitments to do so, while insurers like State Farm and Berkshire
Hathaway provide crucial support through their significant fossil fuel
investments. Insurers also get help from fossil fuel industry lobbyists
and trade associations that work to hinder climate-related regulations.
As insurers continue to fuel the crisis, low-income and communities of
color will be hit first and hardest by the devastating impacts of
climate change. Due to a history of government-sanctioned racist
policies such as redlining and restrictive covenants, these communities
face heightened exposure to climate impacts like wildfires, flooding,
hurricanes, and sea-level rise. Living in the wake of fossil fuel
devastation now comes with the added insult of disappearing coverage and
unaffordable insurance costs.
But racist policies aren’t solely a concern of the past. These
communities still confront exclusionary underwriting and claims
practices that make it harder to obtain adequate, affordable insurance
and fair claims. Despite the ban on using race in underwriting, various
tactics, like using credit scores as a surrogate for race, enable
insurers to sidestep scrutiny. Low-income and communities of color are
often targeted by exploitative credit schemes and predatory lending,
leading to consistently low credit scores due to difficulties meeting
associated payment deadlines.
What makes this crisis so dire is that practically every financed
transaction requires insurance. Consequently, systemic insurance
failures are positioned to trigger both a mortgage and a more extensive
financial crisis. The scarcity of insurance options will drive up
premiums as ever-growing demand outstrips available supply. This will
continue to have a calamitous impact, with reductions, withdrawals, and
claim denials disproportionately affecting low-income and communities of
color. The inability to pay insurance premiums in these communities will
lead to higher foreclosure rates, rendering certain areas uninsurable
and uninhabitable, causing a substantial decline in property values and
exacerbating existing wealth disparities.
Addressing the problem starts with recognizing and rectifying the
insurance industry’s unique lack of transparency. Without public data to
study the impacts of climate change on insurance markets, how can we
discern when insurers raise prices due to climate change or to exploit
crises for profit? A recent effort by the Treasury Department to collect
this data is a step in the right direction, but specific attention
should be paid to marginalized communities. Advocacy groups also urge
timely action from regulators to prevent insurers from leaving the
public responsible for a bailout, as emphasized in a recent letter to
Secretary Janet Yellen.
Yet amid this transparency crisis, industry-funded Republicans want to
derail industry oversight and data collection by eliminating the
oversight office altogether. When you follow the money, it all makes
sense. Patrick McHenry, House Financial Services Committee Chairman,
received $413,400 from the insurance industry during the 2021 – 2022
election cycle. Eight other Republican committee members also received
hundreds of thousands of dollars each....
In the long run, we can only solve this issue by adapting
climate-resistant building codes, retrofitting infrastructure, and
reducing carbon emissions — which ultimately means drastically reducing
the use of fossil fuels. The insurance industry must do its part by
agreeing not to insure and finance new fossil fuel projects.
Finally, Congress should collaborate with impacted communities to craft
solutions that prioritize investments in mitigation, resiliency, and
premium assistance for low-income and communities of color, ensuring
that those who contributed the least to the risk do not incur the
highest costs.
If we don’t figure this out soon, we’ll all be under water.
Sharon Lewis is the Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition for
Environmental and Economic Justice (CCEEJ).
https://ctmirror.org/2024/02/01/insurance-companies-climate-change/
/[ABC News report ]/
*Climate activist Greta Thunberg goes on trial in London for blocking
oil conference*
Climate activist Greta Thunberg is on trial for protesting outside a
major oil and gas industry conference in London last year
By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press
February 1, 2024,
LONDON -- Climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke defiantly about her
mission outside court Thursday on the first day of her trial for
refusing to leave a protest that blocked the entrance to a major oil and
gas industry conference in London last year.
Thunberg, 21, was among more than two dozen protesters arrested on Oct.
17 after preventing access to a hotel during the Energy Intelligence
Forum, attended by some of the industry’s top executives.
“Even though we are the ones standing here ... climate, environmental
and human rights activists all over the world are being prosecuted,
sometimes convicted, and given legal penalties for acting in line with
science," she said. “We must remember who the real enemy is. What are we
defending? Who are our laws meant to protect?”
The Swedish environmentalist, who inspired a global youth movement
demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change, and four other
protesters are in the middle of a two-day trial in Westminster
Magistrates’ Court on a charge of breaching a section of the Public
Order Act that allows police to impose limits on public assemblies. She
and four Fossil Free London protesters have pleaded not guilty.
Thunberg and other climate protesters have accused fossil fuel companies
of deliberately slowing the global energy transition to renewables in
order to make more profit. They also oppose the U.K. government’s recent
approval of drilling for oil in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland.
Thunberg sat in court in a black T-shirt and black pants, taking notes
as a police officer testified about efforts to disperse demonstrators
who had blocked several exits and entrances for hours outside the luxury
InterContinental Hotel in central London.
“It seemed like a very deliberate attempt ... to prevent access to the
hotel for most delegates and the guests,” Superintendent Matthew Cox
said. “People were really restricted from having access to the hotel.”
Cox said protesters were lighting colorful flares and drummers were
creating a deafening din outside the hotel as some demonstrators sat on
the ground and others rappelled from the roof of the hotel. When
officers began arresting people, other protesters quickly took their
places, leading to a “perpetual cycle” that found police running out of
officers to make arrests.
The protest had gone on for about five hours when police issued an order
for demonstrators to move to an adjacent street, Cox said.
Thunberg was outside the front entrance of the hotel when she was given
a final warning she would be arrested if she didn't comply, prosecutor
Luke Staton said. She said she intended to stay where she was.
If convicted, the protesters could receive fines of up to 2,500 pounds
($3,170).
Outside the courthouse before the trial began, protesters held signs
saying “Make Polluters Pay,” and “Climate protest is not a crime.”
Thunberg rose to prominence after staging weekly protests outside the
Swedish Parliament starting in 2018.
Last summer, she was fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police and
blocking traffic during an environmental protest at an oil facility. She
had already been fined for the same offense previously in Sweden.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/greta-thunberg-trial-london-climate-protest-oil-gas-106857782
/[The news archive - Remember Pres Jimmy Carter - early wisdom ]/
/*February 2, 1977 */
*February 2, 1977: In a (literal) fireside chat, President Carter
discusses his plans to establish a national energy policy that
emphasizes conservation.*
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7455
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/153913-1
=== Other climate news sources ===========================================
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