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<font size="+1"><i>December 22, 2017<br>
</i></font> <br>
[Republican Senator]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://juneauempire.com/news/state/2017-12-19/murkowski-introduces-bill-study-ocean-acidification">Murkowski
introduces bill to study ocean acidification</a></b><br>
Increase in carbon changes pH of oceans, spurring crab dieoff and
hurting salmon prey<br>
Global warming is causing ocean water to become less like baking
soda and more like milk, chemically speaking. It's a phenomena
called ocean acidification (OA) and it could have damaging effects
for marine life.<br>
A bill announced week by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski seeks to study
the effects OA would have on coastal communities. The Coastal
Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2017 would direct the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to assess the
vulnerability coastal communities have to ocean acidification. It
was introduced in the Senate on Dec. 14 and announced in a release
by Murkowski's office on Tuesday.<br>
"This proactively addresses a very real issue and will help us all
gain a deeper understanding of how ocean acidification is affecting
our coastal and subsistence communities throughout Alaska,"
Murkowski said in a statement. "This is significant legislation for
those living in a state or community whose livelihood greatly
depends on the health of our oceans."<br>
Ocean acidification could hurt Alaska's fishing communities,
especially those that depend on shellfish. The problem amounts to a
swift change marine life may not be prepared to deal with quickly,
explained NOAA Kodiak Lab Director Robert Foy. Our oceans are like a
sink, Foy said, which absorb 30 percent of the carbon dioxide humans
put into the atmosphere. That CO2 is driving OA....<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://juneauempire.com/news/state/2017-12-19/murkowski-introduces-bill-study-ocean-acidification">http://juneauempire.com/news/state/2017-12-19/murkowski-introduces-bill-study-ocean-acidification</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Washington Post]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/20/scientists-present-a-sweeping-new-estimate-of-how-much-humans-have-altered-the-planet/">Scientists
just presented a sweeping new estimate of how much humans have
transformed the planet</a></b><br>
By Chris Mooney December 20 at 2:34 PM <br>
Just as buried fossil fuels are filled with carbon from ancient
plant and animal life, so too are living trees and vegetation on
Earth's surface today. Razing forests or plowing grasslands puts
carbon in the atmosphere just like burning fossil fuels does.<br>
Now, new research provides a surprisingly large estimate of just how
consequential our treatment of land surfaces and vegetation has been
for the planet and its atmosphere. If true, it's a finding that
could shape not only our response to climate change, but our
understanding of ourselves as agents of planetary transformation.<br>
[ Nature <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25138.epdf">https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25138.epdf</a>
]<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/20/scientists-present-a-sweeping-new-estimate-of-how-much-humans-have-altered-the-planet/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/20/scientists-present-a-sweeping-new-estimate-of-how-much-humans-have-altered-the-planet/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[DeSmog]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/20/us-bank-oil-gas-pipeline-4-billion-loan-energy-transfer-partners-dakota-access">US
Bank Declares End to Oil and Gas Pipeline Loans - Then Quietly
Joins $4B Deal with Dakota Access Owner</a></b><br>
By Sharon Kelly December 20, 2017<br>
At a shareholder meeting this past spring, U.S. Bank announced it
would be the first large American bank to completely stop issuing
loans for oil and gas pipeline construction projects.<br>
Environmental groups, indigenous activists, and divestment advocates
hailed U.S. Bank's announcement as a triumph.<br>
Yet that triumph - and the bank's commitment - seems less sure with
the news that U.S. Bank has entered into a new $4 billion loan deal
with the company behind the contentious Dakota Access pipeline
(DAPL)...<br>
That's why it was so striking when Energy Transfer Partners quietly
announced in a December 1 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
filing that U.S. Bank was part of ETP's new $4 billion credit deal.<br>
ETP's projects include numerous controversial fossil fuel pipelines
nationwide, including not only Dakota Access, but also Mariner East
2, Rover, Bayou Bridge, and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil pipeline.<br>
Asked whether Energy Transfer Partners had passed muster during the
additional due diligence in U.S. Bank's much-lauded environmental
review policy, U.S. Bank's spokesperson Cheryl Leamon declined to
comment. "As a matter of policy, we do not discuss customer
relationships," she told DeSmog in an email.<br>
Environmentalists hoped that this was a chance for U.S. Bank to end
its dealings with ETP. StopETP.org, a coalition of national and
local environmental and indigenous rights groups, wrote a letter to
the bank in November, urging it to use the chance to cut ties with
ETP, which was seeking to renew its $4 billion credit line in a deal
involving numerous major banks.<br>
But U.S. Bank has apparently refused, said Food and Water Watch
senior researcher Dr. Hugh MacMillan, "after having scored praise
back in May for its new pipeline finance policy."<br>
U.S. Bank did not respond when asked about the types of law-breaking
that might cross the line and cause a borrower to fail the bank's
new due diligence requirements.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/20/us-bank-oil-gas-pipeline-4-billion-loan-energy-transfer-partners-dakota-access">https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/20/us-bank-oil-gas-pipeline-4-billion-loan-energy-transfer-partners-dakota-access</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[the Hill]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/365587-mining-giant-to-leave-coal-group-over-climate-change">Mining
giant to leave coal group over climate change stance</a></b><br>
Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., one of the world's largest coal
companies, said Tuesday it would leave an international coal
association over the group's positions on climate change.<br>
BHP, which is headquartered in London and Melbourne, Australia, is
also considering exiting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over climate
policy as well, the company said.<br>
The announcement that BHP is leaving the World Coal Association
(WCA) came after it conducted an extensive review of its association
memberships, examining each group and looking for conflicts in
positions...<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/365587-mining-giant-to-leave-coal-group-over-climate-change">http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/365587-mining-giant-to-leave-coal-group-over-climate-change</a></font><br>
<br>
<b><br>
</b>[Youth activism]<b><br>
</b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpvdv/the-teen-rapper-suing-the-us-government-for-climate-change-negligence">The
Teen Rapper Suing the US Government for Climate Change
Negligence</a></b><br>
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a 17-year-old who describes himself as "a
rapper in disguise as an activist," has mixed feelings when people
say he should run for president one day. It's a sweet sentiment, he
told me over the phone, but he wishes folks had more imagination
about the ways to change the world.<br>
"Why do I have to be the most powerful man in the country in order
to make a difference?" he asked. "Everything I'm fighting for right
now is to disprove that, to say that I don't need to be a politician
to make a difference. I can be an artist, a people's champion, and a
community organizer, and make a difference."..<br>
[video <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/27gtZ1oV4kw">
Xiuhtezcatl, Indigenous Climate Activist at the High-level event
on Climate Change</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/27gtZ1oV4kw">https://youtu.be/27gtZ1oV4kw</a>
]<br>
"If we look at how climate change threatens our democracy, our
economies, our people, our communities, our major cities-the effect
that this crisis has is beyond an environmental issue," he told me.
"A lot of people are not going to act until sea levels have risen to
their doorstep, which is really unfortunate because by then it will
be too late for the rest of the world. We have a lot of work that
needs to be done immediately to readdress and reshape the way we
take action."...<br>
"If you look back through history, movements have songs," he said.
"Artists have been, sometimes, the most prominent revolutionaries.
Bob Marley was singing about peace and love, but also standing up
for your rights."<br>
"[Rapping] engages and wakes people up in a different way from when
I'm speaking, and unlocks a different audience," he added...<br>
In addition to sharpening his performance skills, Martinez is also
road-testing new legal strategies to advance environmental advocacy.
He is one of 21 young activists <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.law360.com/cases/55cb74a857d2c95910000001">who
sued the US federal government</a> in 2015, arguing that its
negligence regarding climate change violated their constitutional
rights to life, liberty, and property. The lawsuit, called Juliana
et al. v United States et al. carried over from the Obama era to the
Trump administration, which has notably deprioritized climate change
as an issue<br>
[video <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://youtu.be/gXBR5ZrKdws">The 15-Year-Old Environmental
Activist Suing the Government over Climate Change </a> <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/gXBR5ZrKdws">https://youtu.be/gXBR5ZrKdws</a>
]<br>
Ultimately, though, Martinez thinks appealing to our leaders through
lawsuits, elections, and protests is just one avenue to create
change. What's most important for him is that people recognize that
their own choices, which may seem insignificant and mundane, have an
enormous cumulative influence on the planet, and its future.<br>
"The change starts within," he told me. "That can sound corny, and
it's not saying that you have to be the epitome of a sustainable
lifestyle in order to get involved. It's about awareness that just
the way you live, every day, has an impact on the world."<br>
"That's what I'm trying to do-plant a seed and have people water it
on their own," he said. "I'm just one small piece of a huge puzzle.
There's so many other young people that are like me who have a
voice, interests, and excitement, and who are so fired up and ready
to be a part of it."<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpvdv/the-teen-rapper-suing-the-us-government-for-climate-change-negligence">https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpvdv/the-teen-rapper-suing-the-us-government-for-climate-change-negligence</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[migrants/refugees]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/21/devastating-climate-change-could-see-one-million-migrants-a-year-entering-eu-by-2100">Devastating
climate change could lead to 1m migrants a year entering EU by
2100</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/21/devastating-climate-change-could-see-one-million-migrants-a-year-entering-eu-by-2100">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/21/devastating-climate-change-could-see-one-million-migrants-a-year-entering-eu-by-2100</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[lawsuit news]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/12/20/california-climate-lawsuit-santa-cruz/">Latest
California Climate Liability Lawsuit Filed by Santa Cruz</a></b><br>
By Lynn Zinser<br>
The city and county of Santa Cruz joined the growing number of
California communities seeking to hold fossil fuel companies
responsible for the impacts of climate change, filing two new
lawsuits in California Superior Court on Wednesday.<br>
The latest suits, however, go further than previous ones, calling on
restitution from the fossil fuel industry not just for the impacts
of sea level rise, but also damages to the hydrologic cycle and its
resulting increase in severe weather, drought and wildfires.<br>
"With miles of coastlines and steep, forested mountains, Santa Cruz
County is particularly vulnerable to impacts from climate change,"
County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty said in a statement. "It's time for
Big Oil, who chose profit over people and the environment, to be
held responsible. It's time for oil companies to pay for the damage
they've caused, rather than ask local residents to pick up all the
costs associated with protecting us from sea level rise, increasing
fires, and severe weather."<br>
The latest suits target 29 companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron,
BP and Shell, and are led by the same law firm, Sher Edling, leading
the lawsuits filed this summer by San Mateo and San Marin counties
and the city of Imperial Beach. Like the previous suits, they are
filed in state court and seek compensatory and punitive damages.
They allege a list of claims, including public nuisance, liability
for failure to warn, design defect, negligence and trespass.<br>
"Defendants, major corporate members of the fossil fuel industry,
have known for nearly a half century that unrestricted production
and use of their fossil fuel products create greenhouse gas
pollution that warms the planet and changes our climate," the
complaint reads. "They have known for decades that those impacts
could be catastrophic and that only a narrow window existed to take
action before the consequences would be irreversible. They have
nevertheless engaged in a coordinated, multi-front effort to conceal
and deny their own knowledge of those threats, discredit the growing
body of publicly available scientific evidence, and persistently
create doubt in the minds of customers, consumers, regulators, the
media, journalists, teachers, and the public about the reality and
consequences of the impacts of their fossil fuel pollution."...<br>
"These companies not only understood the consequences of fossil fuel
use on global climate change, but their own scientists did much of
the early, groundbreaking research, and issued detailed warnings
decades ago," Santa Cruz Mayor David Terrazas said in a statement.
"The fact that they later worked hard to discredit the science is
extremely troubling, and may well have delayed actions that could
have prevented serious, global impacts. This lawsuit raises serious
issues and deserves a full public discussion."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/12/20/california-climate-lawsuit-santa-cruz/">https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/12/20/california-climate-lawsuit-santa-cruz/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[MIT CoLab]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="www.climatecolab.org">Work with
people from all over the world to create proposals for how to
reach global climate change goals.</a></b><br>
MIT Climate CoLab (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.climatecolab.org">www.climatecolab.org</a>) is an
online crowdsourcing platform of over 90,000 members from around the
world, sourcing innovative proposals on how to address climate
change. Topic areas range from climate adaptation, reducing
emissions from buildings and transport, behavioral change
strategies, and many more. <br>
37 Finalists were recently announced on the platform from among the
nearly 300 proposals submitted to the contests earlier this fall.
Now the public has the opportunity to vote for the most promising
Finalists' proposals.<br>
From December 18, 2017 until January 15, 2018, anyone from around
the world can vote for one proposal per contest. Entries with the
most votes at the end of the voting period, will be given the
Popular Choice Award, and invited to present at MIT. <br>
Please feel encouraged to spread the word about the public voting
opportunity to your networks. Sample content is included below for
your convenience. <br>
Best, <br>
Annalyn Bachmann<br>
Climate CoLab Project Assistant <br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.climatecolab.org">www.climatecolab.org</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[The Week UK]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/90578/global-warming-brings-jackals-to-western-europe">Global
warming brings jackals to Western Europe</a></b><br>
Dec 21, 2017<br>
Warmer weather and decline of rivals are driving westward migration
from Asia Minor<br>
Jackals have been spotted in Western Europe, driven across the Alps
by global warming and the decline of rival species. Sightings were
reported by hunters in the Haute-Savoie region of France and
confirmed by mammal experts at the University of Geneva who analysed
footage from automatic camera ...<br>
About one third the size of wolves, golden jackals have been slowly
migrating westward from their native Asia Minor since the early
1980s. Moving through the Balkans, they have flourished in central
European countries such as Hungary and Romania, due to a combination
of warmer weather and the decline of the indigenous wolf population.
They have more recently settled in Germany, Switzerland and Italy...<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/90578/global-warming-brings-jackals-to-western-europe">http://www.theweek.co.uk/90578/global-warming-brings-jackals-to-western-europe</a></font><br>
<b><br>
</b><br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/22/conservatives-climate-change-facts/">This
Day in Climate History December 22, 2011</a> - from D.R.
Tucker</b></font><br>
December 22, 2011: In Commentary magazine, former George W. Bush
administration official Peter Wehner writes:<br>
<blockquote>"Our task is to win the debate on the merits, to employ,
as best we can, honest and credible arguments in order to
ascertain the reality of things. And if the science shows that
Earth is warming and that humans have played a role in that, then
we need to accept it, even if that puts us on the same side with
some individuals we don't find particularly appealing. What
matters is where the truth lies, not the company we find ourselves
in...<br>
<br>
"In 2006, the Climate Science Program, a federal program under the
direction of the Bush White House and sponsored by agencies
including NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, found 'clear evidence of human influences on the
climate system.' There are several others I could cite.<br>
<br>
"The point is that these reports are sober, measured and serious.
They make a scientific, not a polemical, case for AGW. It's
possible they are wrong. But their case has been made in a
persuasive and empirical manner...it matters that all the world’s
major science academies have said that AGW is occurring, and they
have supplied the empirical case for their findings. The challenge
for conservatives is to engage the most serious and honest
arguments of those who believe in AGW, not simply lock in on the
global alarmists. And the temptation conservatives need to resist
is to portray the entire climate change movement as consisting of
individuals who are more interested in ideology than science...for
some on the right...to insist that AGW is a hoax, the product
(more or less) of a massive conspiracy, is, I believe, damaging to
conservatism. That is something I do care about. And more than
that, it is, from what I can tell, a position at odds with where
the evidence leads. Contemporary liberalism can do as it will. But
for conservatism, facts–those stubborn facts–need to be our
guiding star."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/22/conservatives-climate-change-facts/">http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/22/conservatives-climate-change-facts/</a><br>
<br>
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