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<font size="+1"><i>October 3, 2017</i></font><br>
<b><br>
Yale Climate Connections<br>
</b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/10/climate-change-poses-huge-risks-to-investors/">Climate
change poses huge risks to investors</a></b><br>
No industry is immune from its effects.<br>
"They see this as a risk to their portfolio and there's no way to
diversify away from this risk."<br>
That's Namrita Kapur, who leads finance strategy for the
Environmental Defense Fund. She explains that no industry is immune
to the effects of climate change. This means the typical strategy of
spreading out investments across various industries may be less
effective than in the past.<br>
Kapur says some investors are now examining companies' environmental
practices and demanding policies to address environmental risks.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/10/climate-change-poses-huge-risks-to-investors/">https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/10/climate-change-poses-huge-risks-to-investors/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/353417-poll-americans-want-government-to-fight-climate-change">Poll:
Most Americans want government to fight climate change<br>
</a></b>More than 6 in 10 Americans believe that climate change is
a problem that the federal government needs to address, according to
a new poll.<br>
The poll, conducted in August by The Associated Press-NORC Center
and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, found
a large majority of Americans in both major parties believe that
climate change is happening.<br>
But Americans' opinions are less clear when it comes to what action
they feel should be taken<br>
"Although half of households said they were unwilling to pay
anything for a carbon policy in their monthly electricity bills, on
average Americans would pay about $30 per month, as a meaningful
share of households report that they are willing to pay a
substantial amount," he said.<br>
"So, while the raw economics appears to be less and less of a
problem, the open question is whether it is feasible to devise a
robust climate policy that accommodates these very divergent
viewpoints."<br>
Opinions were not entirely clear on hot-button climate policy
issues, either.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/353417-poll-americans-want-government-to-fight-climate-change">http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/353417-poll-americans-want-government-to-fight-climate-change</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/02/forget-the-paris-agreement-the-real-solution-to-climate-change-is-in-the-u-s-tax-code/">Forget
the Paris agreement. The real solution to climate change is in
the U.S. tax code</a></b><br>
So when Trump said he wanted to "restore America's competitive edge
by passing tax cuts," he seemed to have at least one particular
industry in mind: oil.<br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">When the <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gop-tax-document-reveals-plan-for-massive-tax-cuts-preserves-key-deductions/2017/09/27/684ea40e-a387-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.4af560dada71">Republican
tax plan</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> came out</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">last week, it was short on details,
leaving much of the nitty-gritty for Congress to hash out. It
limits some benefits that oil companies traditionally rely on,
such as deductions for interest payments that make it easier to
raise money for expensive infrastructure like pipelines.</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">But the oil industry is still
calling it a win, citing proposals that would make it easier for
oil companies to recover their investments in exploration and to
shield profits earned from drilling overseas, in addition to
lowering the corporate tax rate to 20 percent.</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The oil and gas producers lobby
group,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Independent
Petroleum Association of America, </span><a
href="http://www.ipaa.org/on-tax-reform-capital-recovery-provisions-critical-for-independent-oil-natural-gas-producers/"><span
style="font-weight: 400;">called</span></a><span
style="font-weight: 400;"> it a "positive step forward," while the
American Petroleum Institute </span><a
href="http://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/news/2017/09/27/api-pro-growth-tax-policies-will-grow-economy-and-strengthen-us-energy-renaissan"><span
style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span
style="font-weight: 400;"> the reforms would "strengthen the U.S.
energy renaissance."</span><br>
The GOP tax plan gives little indication of keeping that commitment
- and that could have significant implications for U.S. oil
production and the climate.<br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Already, the U.S. oil industry
benefits from a dozen</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">specialized
subsidies </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">adding up to
about $4.6 billion per year, according to a <a
href="https://www.oecd.org/site/tadffss/publication/United%20States%20Self%20review%20USA%20FFSR%20Self-Report%202015%20FINAL.pdf">2015
review</a> by the Obama administration. Among other things, the
subsidies</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">reduce the costs
of labor and equipment involved in drilling - and shield some of
the profits earned on the oil itself.</span><br>
In other words, tax reform can help fight climate change - just not
the kind of tax reform Trump and Republicans are proposing.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/02/forget-the-paris-agreement-the-real-solution-to-climate-change-is-in-the-u-s-tax-code/?utm_term=.27e4508e6528">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/02/forget-the-paris-agreement-the-real-solution-to-climate-change-is-in-the-u-s-tax-code/</a><br>
In a new study Monday in Nature Energy, SEI researchers looked at
newly discovered U.S. oil fields that have not yet been put into
production - all 800 of them.<br>
The researchers found that about half of these undeveloped fields
would never go into production, (assuming an oil price of $50 per
barrel, close to where it is today) - if oil company tax breaks are
taken out of the picture. The study is based on the current range of
subsidies and doesn't account for changes that could result from the
new GOP plan.<br>
"It's very much underappreciated how these subsidies ultimately tilt
the balance to increasing oil production and increasing CO2
emissions," Peter Erickson, the study's lead author, said in an
interview. <br>
<b><a
href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-017-0009-8.epdf?referrer_access_token=kiiyzpca4OKwcK2ENMg1wtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0OyLLEcIVrbwv-XjMBX8LWWSQfaRxfzG3nveNLI28CX7UbsgPkfhffaHK8mlUkRukWeqPiCqhj7gXV7qJW8k4jGCJLBQiSmwR2QNuhKgW7DVtcC2sXhTECF9Xy4MeRgPN9OkHEH_LY8pLkSximcy5IYGvFFyiXVAq42FCd8T7QFONyWv70dH4wMIlcbGQyH3Ekf6nYQ7K3Yl3oeSMBYP5raCggsBOBnWPyfSljxL28OQYRmHd91ETlOe1ZBXjumjhIY85BBtOclOYvN6N4GliNB91rSpe3r0XWXWIRiCJBCn8TDv3UbhceBuquCdvFQyWdKl5fp6EGfACgfhtX5Ytc4&tracking_referrer=www.washingtonpost.com">Effect
of subsidies to fossil fuel companies on United States crude oil
production</a></b><br>
Peter Erickson Adrian Down Michael Lazarus Doug Koplow<br>
Countries in the G20 have committed to phase out 'inefficient'
fossil fuel subsidies. However, there remains a limited under-<br>
standing of how subsidy removal would affect fossil fuel investment
returns and production, particularly for subsidies to pro-<br>
ducers. Here, we assess the impact of major federal and state
subsidies on US crude oil producers. We find that, at recent oil <br>
prices of US$50 per barrel, tax preferences and other subsidies push
nearly half of new, yet-to-be-developed oil investments <br>
into profitability, potentially increasing US oil production by 17
billion barrels over the next few decades. This oil, equivalent <br>
to 6 billion tonnes of CO could make up as much as 20% of US oil
production through 2050 under a carbon budget aimed at <br>
limiting warming to 2 degrees C. Our findings show that removal of
tax incentives and other fossil fuel support policies could both
fulfil <br>
G20 commitments and yield climate benefits.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-017-0009-8.epdf">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-017-0009-8.epdf</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
Why the 97% climate consensus is important<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/02/why-the-97-climate-consensus-is-important">Some
have argued that consensus messaging is counter-productive.
Here's why they're wrong.</a></b><br>
The value of consensus is well understood by the opponents of
climate action, like the fossil fuel industry. In the early 1990s,
despite the fact that an international scientific consensus was
already forming, the fossil fuel industry invested in misinformation
campaigns to confuse the public about the level of scientific
agreement that human-caused global warming is happening. As has been
well-documented, fossil fuel companies learned this strategy from
the tobacco industry, which invested enormous sums in marketing and
public relations campaigns to sow doubt in the public mind about the
causal link between smoking and lung cancer.<br>
Opponents of climate action may reject scientific evidence
supporting the reality of human-caused climate change, but they have
diligently applied the social scientific evidence indicating how to
reduce public support for climate action. An analysis of
conservative op-eds found their most common claim was "there is no
consensus." An analysis of a six-month period in 2016 found that the
most-shared climate article on social media was about an online
petition designed to cast doubt on the scientific consensus. It's
why the Trump administration wants to televise a Red Team/Blue Team
climate debate.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/02/why-the-97-climate-consensus-is-important">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/02/why-the-97-climate-consensus-is-important</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-18849-after-hurricane-maria-puerto-rican-journalists-defy-collapse-communications-and-person">After
Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rican journalists defy collapse of
communications and personal losses to continue reporting</a></b><br>
Teresa Mioli, Evelyn Moreno / Knight Center for Journalism in the
Americas / Sep 30, 2017<br>
International and Puerto Rican media have set up shop in the Puerto
Rico Convention Center, creating a de facto newsroom in the same
building where officials give press conferences and citizens look
for resources.<br>
Aside from Internet and cell service, it is the place to find all
government sources who will provide updates on efforts to help the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/09/f37/Hurricanes%20Maria%2C%20Irma%20and%20Harvey%20Event%20Summary%20September%2029%2C%202017.pdf">95
percent of Puerto Ricans without power</a>, as well as the
thousands without <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/29/puerto-rico-crisis-supply-food-water">food,
water, fuel</a> and<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.npr.org/2017/09/28/554182929/in-puerto-rico-relying-on-luck-and-enough-gas-to-get-medical-care">
medical help.<br>
</a>A team of five reporters is moving throughout the island when
they are not in San Juan –to the center, the north coast and other
metropolitan areas.<br>
Once they leave the convention building, communication becomes more
difficult.<br>
"Outside of San Juan we have no phone connection, no messaging, no
WhatsApp, no nothing," Minet explained.<br>
Though the journalists are physically fine, Minet said some of them
have family who lost homes or are stranded without water or gas.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-18849-after-hurricane-maria-puerto-rican-journalists-defy-collapse-communications-and-person">https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-18849-after-hurricane-maria-puerto-rican-journalists-defy-collapse-communications-and-person</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/can_we_really_limit_global_warming_to_well_below_two_degrees_centigrade">CAN
WE REALLY LIMIT GLOBAL WARMING TO "WELL BELOW" TWO DEGREES
CENTIGRADE?</a></b><br>
Yes, but only in a model. We have essentially emitted too much
carbon dioxide already, and the most feasible pathways to stay "well
below" two degrees all require removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere at an unprecedented scale.<br>
How can we stay "well below" two degrees?<br>
- Immediate implementation of strong climate policies in all
countries, causing emissions to reach their peak and driving deep
cuts in emissions from fossil fuels, industry, and deforestation.<br>
- Rapid expansion of new low carbon technologies to provide energy
for a growing population.<br>
- The development and large-scale deployment of technologies that
remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.<br>
- Deep emission cuts in all countries, regardless of their level of
economic development.<br>
Failing any one of these either increases the costs of keeping "well
below" two degrees, or even worse, makes the "well below" two
degrees target physically impossible.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/can_we_really_limit_global_warming_to_well_below_two_degrees_centigrade">http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/can_we_really_limit_global_warming_to_well_below_two_degrees_centigrade</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/movies/mother-darren-aronofsky-climate-change.html">Can
Hollywood Movies About Climate Change Make a Difference?</a></b><br>
And when climate change is depicted on screen, it's often in an
onslaught of fire and brimstone, an apocalyptic vision that hardly
leaves room for a hopeful human response.<br>
That, climate researchers and social scientists say, is exactly the
wrong message to give.<br>
"Typically, if you really want to mobilize people to act, you don't
scare the hell out of them and convince them that the situation is
hopeless," said Andrew Hoffman, a professor at the University of
Michigan who is the author of "How Culture Shapes the Climate Change
Debate."<br>
But that is just the kind of high-stakes film that Hollywood loves
to produce - like "The Day After Tomorrow," which depicted New York
City as a frozen dystopian landscape. Or "Geostorm," due Oct. 20, in
which the climate goes apocalyptically haywire, thanks to satellites
that malfunction.<br>
Copious research shows that this kind of dystopian framing
backfires, driving people further into denial and helplessness;
instead of acting, they freeze.<br>
"You have to frame these things so people feel like they have an
entry point," said Max Boykoff, a professor and director of the
Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University
of Colorado-Boulder.<br>
"We try not to create programming that is a cause for despair, but
rather an opportunity." Because, he added: "The greatest goal of
climate change programs is to first find a new audience and stop
preaching to the converted. At the end of the day, we're trying to
find new converts."<br>
One bright spot in showing environmental alarm onscreen is
children's programs, Ms. Levin said, which "work beautifully for
everyday practices and overall awareness. Parents often watch with
them, and they learn together." And climate change is a frequent
topic of visual artists and writers, where the genre known as cli-fi
is growing.<br>
One thing too few people do, according to Mr. Boykoff, the
University of Colorado researcher, is laugh about climate change.
Alexander Payne's forthcoming "Downsizing," in which people are
shrunk to tiny versions of themselves - thereby using less resources
- takes a swing at that approach. <br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/movies/mother-darren-aronofsky-climate-change.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/movies/mother-darren-aronofsky-climate-change.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_lizza?printable=true#ixzz11K5nMoZ9">This
Day in Climate History October 3, 2010</a> - from D.R.
Tucker</b></font><br>
October 3, 2010: NewYorker.com posts Ryan Lizza's analysis of the<br>
demise of climate legislation in the Senate earlier in the year. The<br>
piece, which also appears in the October 11 edition of the New
Yorker,<br>
notes that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was concerned about being<br>
rhetorically assaulted by right-wing media entities for supporting
the<br>
climate bill:<br>
<blockquote>"At a climate-change conference in South Carolina on
January 5, 2010,<br>
Graham started to sound a little like Al Gore. 'I have come to<br>
conclude that greenhouse gases and carbon pollution' are 'not a
good<br>
thing,' Graham said. He insisted that nobody could convince him
that<br>
'all the cars and trucks and plants that have been in existence
since<br>
the Industrial Revolution, spewing out carbon day in and day out,'<br>
could be 'a good thing for your children and the future of the<br>
planet.' Environmentalists swooned. 'Graham was the most
inspirational<br>
part of that triumvirate throughout the fall and winter,' Michael<br>
Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said. 'He was<br>
advocating for strong action on climate change from an ethical and
a<br>
moral perspective.'<br>
"But, back in Washington, Graham warned Lieberman and Kerry that
they<br>
needed to get as far as they could in negotiating the bill 'before
Fox<br>
News got wind of the fact that this was a serious process,' one of
the<br>
people involved in the negotiations said.'"<br>
</blockquote>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_lizza?printable=true#ixzz11K5nMoZ9">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_lizza?printable=true#ixzz11K5nMoZ9</a></font><br>
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