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<font size="+1"><i>May 27, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
[Desdemona Despair]<br>
Brazil drought - 24 May 2018<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2018/05/sao-paulo-faces-another-drought-as.html">Sao
Paulo faces another drought as Brazil's second corn crop yields
10 million tons less than last season - "We have learned little
or nothing from the crisis" </a></b><br>
By Roberto Samora and Ana Mano<br>
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A severe drought has compromised Brazil's
second corn, the country's largest crop of the cereal, which is now
expected to be 10 million tonnes lower than last season, consultancy
Agroconsult said on Thursday.<br>
The firm, which is leading a crop tour of Brazil's top producing
areas, forecast the second corn crop will likely fall to around 57
million tonnes, reducing its previous view by more than 3 million
tonnes.<br>
Brazil's second corn, which is planted after soybeans, accounts for
roughly 70 percent of the country's entire production and make it
the world's third largest producer after the United States and
China.<br>
"The drought eased," said Andre Pessoa, partner at Agroconsult,
during an event in Sao Paulo, referring to dryness during April and
early May, which caused significant losses.<br>
Still, he said Agroconsult's estimate may be cut further pending a
survey of fields in producing states like Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso
do Sul, Paraná and Goiás....]<br>
<font size="-1">More at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2018/05/sao-paulo-faces-another-drought-as.html">http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2018/05/sao-paulo-faces-another-drought-as.html</a></font><br>
- - - -<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.circleofblue.org/2018/water-climate/drought/sao-paulo-heading-to-another-dry-spell/">Sao
Paulo Heading To Another Dry Spell</a></b><br>
March 7, 2018/in Cities, Drought, Pollution, South America, Water
Management /by Kayla Ritter<br>
Three years after the megacity nearly ran out of water, signs of a
new crisis emerge. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.circleofblue.org/2018/water-climate/drought/sao-paulo-heading-to-another-dry-spell/">http://www.circleofblue.org/2018/water-climate/drought/sao-paulo-heading-to-another-dry-spell/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Word vectors]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://qz.com/1276282/corporate-social-responsibility-reports-show-oil-companies-becoming-passive-about-climate-change-say-linguists/">Linguistic
analysis shows oil companies are giving up on climate change</a></b><br>
Oil companies don't like talking about climate change. As the prime
movers of fossil fuels, they'd probably prefer not to mention it at
all. But sometimes outside pressure forces companies to do things
they don't like.<br>
That's where "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) reports come
in. Issued annually by many large companies, these reports assess
performance on measures that go beyond the bottom line, like
environmental protection or human rights.<br>
Oil companies don't have to release CSRs, but more than
three-quarters of them do anyway. This is where they address the
hairy issue of climate change, caused in no small part by their own
products. It's a topic they'd probably rather avoid, and
increasingly, that's exactly what they're doing.<br>
These companies are mentioning the phrase "climate change" less and
less in their social responsibility reports, as the chart below
shows. It's the result of a new paper by Sylvia Jaworska, a linguist
at the University of Reading in the UK.<br>
Jaworska created a dataset comprising the CSRs of every major oil
company that produces them, from 2000 to 2013. Altogether, it
includes 294 reports, and nearly 15 million words from the likes of
Gazprom, Exxon, BP, Sinopec, Norsk, and others.<br>
Beyond the "climate change" drop, the paper has several interesting
findings. It shows, for example, that these companies really don't
like the term "global warming," which is almost never used, except
for a brief jump in 2001. "Warming," after all, sounds worse than
nondescript "change."<br>
More generally, Jaworska's results reveal that oil companies are
gradually becoming more passive about climate change. It's not just
that they are using the term less; they're literally using more
passive language around the term "climate change."<br>
Jaworska parsed out the terms that frequently appear next to or near
"climate change" in these reports, or "collocations," as linguists
call them. At the peak of the chart, when companies were mentioning
climate change more often, collocations showed a relatively active
approach to global warming. The most frequently used word, for
example, was "combat."<br>
But as the term "climate change" began to decline in use, the top
collocations became "convention" and "risks."<br>
"Risks" is interesting. The rise of that term shows that oil
companies are presenting climate change less as an environmental
issue and more as a threat to their industry, Jaworska suggests. One
report says, "The raising awareness of the risks connected to
climate change can seriously affect energy demand," not mentioning
its possible effect on humans or nature...<br>
- - - -<br>
Oil companies indisputably play a role in causing climate change.
But judging by the way they discuss climate change in their CSRs,
they're less and less sure about their role in stopping it.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://qz.com/1276282/corporate-social-responsibility-reports-show-oil-companies-becoming-passive-about-climate-change-say-linguists/">https://qz.com/1276282/corporate-social-responsibility-reports-show-oil-companies-becoming-passive-about-climate-change-say-linguists/</a><br>
</font><br>
<br>
[Racism joins denialism]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/05/26/the-weekend-wonk-weaponizing-the-worst-in-us/">The
Weekend Wonk: Weaponizing the Worst in US</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/05/26/the-weekend-wonk-weaponizing-the-worst-in-us/">https://climatecrocks.com/2018/05/26/the-weekend-wonk-weaponizing-the-worst-in-us/</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09644016.2018.1457287?journalCode=fenp20">Environmental
Politics:</a><br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09644016.2018.1457287?journalCode=fenp20&">The
spillover of race and racial attitudes into public opinion about
climate change</a></b><br>
Salil D. Benegal <br>
Abstract: <br>
<blockquote>The relationship between racial attitudes and public
opinion about climate change is examined. Public opinion data from
Pew and American National Election Studies surveys are used to
show that racial identification and prejudices are increasingly
correlated with opinions about climate change during the Obama
presidency. Results show that racial identification became a
significant predictor of climate change concern following Obama's
election in 2008, and that high levels of racial resentment are
strongly correlated with reduced agreement with the scientific
consensus on climate change. These results offer evidence for an
effect termed the spillover of racialization. This helps further
explain why the public remains so polarized on climate change,
given the extent to which racial grievances and identities have
become entangled with elite communication about climate change and
its related policies today.<br>
</blockquote>
- - - <br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10584609.2017.1380092?src=recsys">Elite
Domination of Public Doubts About Climate Change (Not Evolution)</a></b><br>
Michael Tesler<br>
Politically attentive conservatives, in fact, were more likely to
believe scientists about global warming than liberals were in the
1990s before the media depicted climate change as a partisan issue.
The United States is also the only nation where political interest
significantly predicts both conservatives' skepticism about, and
liberals' belief in, climate change. Finally, evidence from a
national survey experiment suggests that Americans would be less
skeptical of manmade global warming if more Republicans in Congress
believed in it, but a growing Congressional consensus about
evolution would not diminish doubts about its existence.<br>
<font size="-2"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10584609.2017.1380092?src=recsys">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10584609.2017.1380092?src=recsys</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Scientists talk about less-than-zero carbon emissions]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/negative-emissions-scientists-meet-sweden-first-international-conference">Negative
emissions: Scientists meet in Sweden for first international
conference</a></b><br>
This week, Gothenburg in Sweden played host to the first
international conference on "negative emissions".<br>
The three-day event brought together around 250 researchers at
Chalmers University of Technology to discuss the different ways to
remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it on land, underground or
in the oceans.<br>
The topics presented and debated ranged from "natural" solutions to
the technologically advanced, through to the potential limitations
and risks. Running parallel to the scientific discussions was a
focus on the policy challenges.<br>
Eva Svedling, Sweden's secretary of state for development and
climate, marked the occasion by launching a public enquiry into the
potential for forests, soil and bioenergy to provide carbon removal
for the country. Sweden already has a legally binding target to
reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.<br>
Carbon Brief was at the conference to watch the 11 keynote speeches,
140 presentations and three panel debates. A range of presenters,
such as Dr James Hansen and Dr Sabine Fuss, was asked on camera (see
below) what they each think is needed for negative emissions to
become a reality at scale...<br>
- - - -<br>
The "feasibility" of negative emissions was routinely raised by
presenters and questions from the floor. Policymakers, if they are
to implement regulations and incentives enabling NETs to be rolled
out at the scale the modellers indicate are required, need to know
answers to some key questions: which NETs work best? How much will
they cost? Where should they be located? What are the trade-offs and
side-effects? How can societies be persuaded they are required? How
can their performance be monitored and verified?<br>
[Video ] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/BSFMYGKDHAo">https://youtu.be/BSFMYGKDHAo</a><br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/BSFMYGKDHAo">How
can negative emissions become a reality at scale?</a></b><br>
Carbon Brief - Published on May 25, 2018<br>
Carbon Brief asked attendees at The International Conference on
Negative CO2 Emissions 2018, in Gothenburg, "What needs to happen
for negative emissions to become a reality at scale?"<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/negative-emissions-scientists-meet-sweden-first-international-conference">https://www.carbonbrief.org/negative-emissions-scientists-meet-sweden-first-international-conference</a><br>
With contributions from (in order of appearance):<br>
<blockquote>Dr James Hansen, director of Climate Science, Awareness
and Solutions at Earth Institute, Columbia University 0:00 - 1:26<br>
Prof Sally Benson, professor of Energy Resources Engineering,
Stanford Precourt Institute of Energy, Stanford University 1:27 -
3:00<br>
Dr Florian Kraxner, deputy program director of Ecosystems Services
and Management Program, International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis 3:01 - 4:41<br>
Dr Duncan McLaren, research fellow at Lancaster Environment
Centre, Lancaster University 4:42 - 5:48<br>
Dr Silke Beck, Department of Environmental Politics,
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, UFZ 5:49 - 7:54<br>
Dr Sabine Fuss, head of working group Sustainable Resource
Management and Global Change, Mercator Research Institute on
Global Commons and Climate Change 7:55 - 9:48<br>
Dr Rob Bellamy, research fellow at the Institute for Science,
Innovation and Society, University of Oxford 9:49 - 11:51<br>
Prof Detlef van Vuuren, professor of Integrated Assessment of
Global Environment Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht
University 11:52 - 13:10<br>
</blockquote>
Our Creative Commons license: you are welcome to reproduce unadapted
material in full for non-commercial use, credited 'Carbon Brief'
with a link to the original article. <br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://carbonbrief.org">http://carbonbrief.org</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/negative-emissions-scientists-meet-sweden-first-international-conference">https://www.carbonbrief.org/negative-emissions-scientists-meet-sweden-first-international-conference</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Do not scratch]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/what-you-need-know-about-lyme-disease-summer">What
you need to know about Lyme disease this summer</a></b><br>
By Nina Bai, UCSF<br>
May marks the beginning of the summer season when black-legged ticks
that spread Lyme disease are more prevalent - even in California.<br>
Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) reported that cases of tickborne diseases had more
than doubled from 2004 to 2016, from 22,000 to 48,000, and that Lyme
disease accounted for 82 percent of tickborne diseases.<br>
Moreover, due to underreporting, the actual number of Lyme disease
cases is estimated to be significantly higher - likely more than
350,000 in 2016. <br>
We talked to infectious disease expert Charles Chiu, M.D., Ph.D.,
about the rise in Lyme disease cases, better diagnostic tests on the
horizon and what you need to know to protect yourself from
infection. Chiu is an associate professor of laboratory medicine and
medicine and director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and
Discovery Center.<br>
<b>How common is Lyme disease in California? And why have rates been
increasing?</b><br>
In terms of reported cases, there are about 80 to 100 a year in the
state. Residents in or travelers to the northwestern coastal
counties - Trinity, Humboldt, and Mendocino - are at highest risk.
But because of underreporting, the actual number of Lyme disease
cases likely exceeds 1,000 cases a year, simply because most cases
of Lyme disease are not reported.<br>
There are several potential reasons why rates have increased in
California and nationwide. One is globalization. People travel
extensively, and for instance, someone could get infected while on
the East Coast and come back with Lyme disease.<br>
Another reason is climate change, in that the geographic range of
the tick vector, which is the Ixodesor black-legged tick, has
expanded westward from the northeast United States as well as
southward year after year. For ticks to be maintained in nature,
they need to have what we call an animal reservoir, essentially a
mammal such as a squirrel or rodent that can harbor Borrelia
burgdorferi - the bacterium in the tick that causes Lyme disease.
Therefore, expansion of the animal reservoir is also another reason
for increasing Lyme disease rates. On the East Coast, the reservoir
is the white-footed mouse. In California, the Western gray squirrel
harbors the bacterium. Lizards, while not a reservoir for B.
burgdorferi, are common hosts for the black-legged tick in
California so increase the risk of infections to humans by
maintaining the tick population in the wild.<br>
<b>How is Lyme disease transmitted, and is it contagious between
humans?</b><br>
B. burgdorferi causes asymptomatic infection in these small mammal
reservoirs. When the ticks feed on mammals carrying B. burgdorferi,
these ticks get infected. They can then transmit the infection to
humans. <br>
However, humans are considered a dead-end host because the
efficiency of transmitting the bacterium to other humans is
extremely low. The period during which you can find the bacterium in
blood is very brief, generally a few days at most, and blood-borne
transmission of B. burgdorferi, such as by transfusion, has never
been reported. B. burgdorferi is also not excreted in other body
fluids such as sweat, urine, saliva, or respiratory secretions. Lyme
disease is therefore not considered contagious.<br>
<b>Compared to other infections, is Lyme disease more difficult to
detect and diagnose?</b><br>
It does appear that Lyme disease is harder to diagnose, and it's
because the Borrelia burgdorferivery rapidly leaves the blood and
disseminates into the lymph nodes and into tissues. As a result,
blood tests for early Lyme disease have low sensitivity.<br>
<b>Why is it important to accurately diagnose Lyme disease?</b><br>
Timely and accurate diagnosis of Lyme disease can help prevent
potential complications, which include encephalitis, a brain
infection; myocarditis, a heart infection; or endocarditis, a heart
valve infection.<br>
<b>Is it true that it takes at least 24 hours for a tick to transmit
Lyme disease to you?</b><br>
Yes, this is true. The CDC recommends that patients who notice the
tick and remove it within 24 hours do not need antibiotic
prophylaxis with doxycycline to prevent Lyme disease transmission.
The tick typically needs to be on you, basically sucking your blood
and attached to you for 36 to 48 hours, during which the B.
burgdorferi migrates from the tick gut to its salivary glands,
before it can transmit the Lyme pathogen.<br>
<b>So it's definitely important to find the ticks early and get them
off you.</b><br>
Yes, I recommend that after you go hiking or camping or are
otherwise potentially exposed to ticks, that you always do a tick
check. The ticks that are most likely to transmit the bacterium are
young nymphal ticks. They're about the size of a poppy seed, so
they're extremely small.<br>
<b>Be careful of the grass - ticks like to "quest."</b><br>
Ticks do not jump or fly. What they do is called "questing," which
means that they wait at the ends of grass or foliage and when you
brush by, they'll immediately latch onto your leg or onto your
clothing. But you really need to conduct a tick check all over your
body because you won't necessarily get bitten by the tick where the
grass contracted your leg. Ticks can crawl to your armpit or groin
and bite there, for instance.<br>
<b>What percentage of black-legged ticks carry Lyme?</b><br>
It can be fairly high, anywhere from 2 percent to 15 percent among
nymphal ticks in California, depending on the geographic location
and season.<br>
<b>How accurate are the current diagnostic tests for Lyme disease?
And why do many cases remain undiagnosed?</b><br>
The current approved testing for Lyme disease is a two-tier
serologic test that looks for the generation of antibodies in
response to the infection.<br>
But the key limitation of the serologic test in early Lyme disease
is that typically an infected individual may take several weeks
before he or she is able to mount an antibody response. Therefore,
in early Lyme disease, the test sensitivity is only about 30 to 40
percent.<br>
Now after a person generates antibodies after three to four weeks,
then the two-tiered serologic test tends to be very sensitive and is
good for determining whether a patient was infected.<br>
The take-home message is that we do not have an accurate test for
early Lyme disease, and this is why the diagnosis is generally made
clinically by a physician and also why there is so much
underreporting.<br>
If a patient presents with fever, a bull's-eye rash, and during tick
season with tick exposure, this, according to CDC criteria, is
enough to make a diagnosis of Lyme disease. Part of the reason why
laboratory testing isn't an essential criterion for the diagnosis of
Lyme disease is that we simply don't have a test that is conclusive.<br>
<b>Your lab is working on better diagnostics for Lyme disease. How
is your new test different?</b><br>
- - - -<br>
The big area of clinical need is the ability to diagnose early Lyme
disease before you can reliably detect it by antibody testing.
Usually that window is zero to one month following the tick bite.<br>
About two years ago, we did RNA sequencing of blood samples from
patients with Lyme disease to look at the human host response. We
looked at the pattern of gene expression in patients following
infection, comparing the gene signature of Lyme disease to that for
control patients. And we found that Lyme disease, interestingly
enough, has a very distinct pattern of human gene expression in
response to the infection.<br>
We used this data in a follow-up study - which is currently
unpublished - to develop a test with more than 90 percent accuracy
in diagnosing early Lyme disease in patients presenting a fever and
rash, generally seven to 10 days after the tick bite.<br>
It's really a completely new category of diagnostic tests made
possible because of advances in sequencing over the past several
years.<br>
<b>What is currently the best standard of care for treatment of Lyme
disease?</b><br>
The standard of care for early uncomplicated Lyme disease
recommended by the CDC is 10 to 21 days of doxycycline, which is an
oral antibiotic that you take twice a day. Patients admitted to the
hospital with severe complications of disseminated Lyme disease,
such as meningitis or endocarditis, typically receive a two- to
four-week course of an intravenous antibiotic such as ceftriaxone.<br>
<b>If you get Lyme disease once, can you get it again?</b><br>
Yes, you can, because protective antibody immunity can wane after
several years and you may also be infected by a different strain of
B. burgdorferi.<br>
<b>There's a Lyme disease vaccine for dogs, why isn't there one for
humans?</b><b><br>
</b><b> </b>There actually was a vaccine called LYMErix that was
approved by the FDA in 1998. But four years later, it was withdrawn
from the market. At the time, there were questions involving the
safety of the vaccine, concerns raised by anti-vaccine groups, cost,
burdensome vaccination schedule (three doses a year), uncertainty
regarding efficacy and need for boosters, and low public demand.<br>
I think that there are now some efforts underway to bring back
either this vaccine or other vaccines onto the market, especially
given the rise of Lyme disease. This is a disease that infects more
than 300,000 people a year, so it's certainly something for which a
vaccine would be really helpful.<br>
<b>Why do some patients with Lyme disease show persistent symptoms,
even after being treated for the disease with antibiotics?</b><br>
A small percentage of patients with Lyme disease - depending on the
study, 5 to 15 percent - exhibit persistent symptoms after
treatment, which can include chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain,
headaches, episodes of "dizziness" or blackouts, cognitive
difficulties and/or arthritis. After six months, given significant
impairment in quality of life, these patients may be diagnosed with
PTLDS (post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome).<br>
We don't know the cause of PTLDS, or why some patients develop this.
Some hypotheses are that the B. burgdorferi bacterium causes
persistent infection somewhere in the body or that the symptoms are
due to an aberrant immune response to Lyme infection, such as
autoimmune disease.<br>
<b>What do you see as the next step in Lyme disease research?</b><br>
Part of the reason why we haven't been seeing, clinical trials,
vaccines, or drugs for Lyme disease is that we don't have an
accurate diagnostic test, and we would have no way of monitoring,
for instance, effectiveness of a prospective vaccine or drug therapy
in a clinical trial. We really need the diagnostic test to guide our
potential treatments or prevention methods for the bacterium. I
think it's really going to be the development of better diagnostics
that will drive potential therapies forward.<br>
A second critical next step is identifying why is it that a
proportion of patients with Lyme disease exhibit persistent symptoms
that can last for months to years. We need to identify both the
cause of PTLDS and identify potential treatments.<font size="-1"><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/what-you-need-know-about-lyme-disease-summer">https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/what-you-need-know-about-lyme-disease-summer</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
Australia Opinion [Same in the US?]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.cnet.com/news/green-energy-renewables-governments-climate-change/">When
it comes to climate change, our governments are letting us down</a></b><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.cnet.com/news/green-energy-renewables-governments-climate-change/"><br>
</a>Commentary: At the cutting edge of green energy tech, there's a
common thread: Governments aren't doing enough to secure our future.<br>
BY MARK SERRELS - MAY 25, 2018<br>
For the past few months, the CNET team has been working on a series
of stories about green energy and the role technology and innovation
play in pushing renewable energy to the forefront.<br>
We called the series "Fight the Power" because there was a clear
common thread. Almost everyone we interviewed in green energy
projects cited a lack of government support. It was a constant
theme: Change was occurring, but it was occurring in spite of
Australia's federal government. The support wasn't there. These
people were literally fighting the power.<br>
With Fight the Power, we wanted to shine a spotlight on those trying
to rescue the environment from the people who govern it.<br>
- - - -<br>
To date, Australia is the only developed country to establish, and
subsequently repeal, its own carbon tax. Roger Jones, a research
fellow at the Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies,
called it a "perfect storm of stupidity."<br>
It was a decision that tells you everything you need to know about
the discourse surrounding environmental issues in Australia. We're
in a strange place.<br>
- - - - -<br>
We're heading in the wrong direction. We're ignoring the
possibilities. A future powered entirely by renewable energy is not
only within reach, it's already possible. Countries like Iceland,
Costa Rica, Albania, Ethiopia, Paraguay, Zambia and Norway are
already at 99 percent or 100 percent.<br>
It's difficult, and it requires a complete rethinking of
infrastructure, but it can be done.<br>
And in all likelihood it will be done. Eventually, you'd hope.
Surely. 20 years from now? 50 years? But if we get there, if we
finally reach that goal, we won't have our elected officials to
thank.<br>
The ones who fight the power will save us in the end.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.cnet.com/news/green-energy-renewables-governments-climate-change/">https://www.cnet.com/news/green-energy-renewables-governments-climate-change/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[so there IS a conspiracy]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/emails-show-collaboration-among-epa-and-climate-change-deniers">Emails
show collaboration among EPA and climate-change deniers</a></b><br>
Nation May 25, 2018 5:13 PM EDT - Updated on May 25, 2018 5:32 PM
EDT<br>
WASHINGTON - Newly released emails show senior Environmental
Protection Agency officials collaborating with a conservative group
that dismisses climate change to rally like-minded people for public
hearings on science and global warming, counter negative news
coverage and tout Administrator Scott Pruitt's stewardship of the
agency.<br>
John Konkus, EPA's deputy associate administrator for public
affairs, repeatedly reached out to senior staffers at the Heartland
Institute, according to the emails.<br>
"If you send a list, we will make sure an invitation is sent,"
Konkus wrote to then-Heartland president Joseph Bast in May 2017,
seeking suggestions on scientists and economists the EPA could
invite to an annual EPA public hearing on the agency's science
standards.<br>
Follow-up emails show Konkus and the Heartland Institute mustering
scores of potential invitees known for rejecting scientific warnings
of man-made climate-change, including from groups like Plants Need
CO2, The Right Climate Stuff, and Junk Science.<br>
The emails underscore how Pruitt and senior agency officials have
sought to surround themselves with people who share their vision of
curbing environmental regulation and enforcement, leading to
complaints from environmentalists that he is ignoring the
conclusions of the majority of scientists in and out of his agency
especially when it comes to climate-changing carbon emissions.<br>
They were obtained by the Environmental Defense Fund and the
Southern Environmental Law Center, which sued to enforce a Freedom
of Information request and provided them to The Associated Press...<br>
<font size="-1">More at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/emails-show-collaboration-among-epa-and-climate-change-deniers">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/emails-show-collaboration-among-epa-and-climate-change-deniers</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Classic video discussion]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UuSxiCJ0co">Climate
Documentary: The Cross of the Moment</a></b><br>
Climate State - Published on Sep 18, 2016<br>
The Cross of the Moment attempts to connect the dots between Fermi's
Paradox, climate change, capitalism, and collapse. Interviews with
top scientists and public intellectuals are woven together into a
narrative that is challenging, exhausting, and often depressing as
it refuses to accept the easy answers posited by other
overly-simplistic climate change documentaries.<br>
Directed by Jacob Freydont-Attie<br>
Official website <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.crossofthemoment.com/">http://www.crossofthemoment.com/</a>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UuSxiCJ0co">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UuSxiCJ0co</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[data visualizations]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2018/warming-stripe">Warming
stripes</a></b><br>
A new set of climate visualisations, communicating the long term
rise in temperatures for particular locations as a changing set of
colours from blue to red. Each stripe represents the temperature of
a single year, ordered from the earliest available data to now.<br>
Annual temperatures in central England from 1772-2017<br>
The colour scale goes from 7.6 degrees C (dark blue) to 10.8 degrees
C (dark red) [data]<br>
<br>
Annual temperatures for the contiguous USA from 1895-2017<br>
The colour scale goes from 50.2 degrees F (dark blue) to 55.0
degrees F (dark red) [data]<br>
<br>
Annual temperatures in Toronto from 1841-2017<br>
The colour scale goes from 5.5 degrees C (dark blue) to 11.0 degrees
C (dark red) [data]<br>
<br>
Annual global temperatures from 1850-2017<br>
The colour scale represents the change in global temperatures
covering 1.35 degrees C [data]<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2018/warming-stripes/"><font
size="-1">http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2018/warming-stripes/</font></a><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/business/27exxon.htm">This
Day in Climate History - May 27, 2008</a> - from D.R. Tucker</b></font><br>
May 27, 2008: The New York Times reports: <br>
"The Rockefeller family built one of the great American fortunes by
supplying the nation with oil. Now history has come full circle:
some family members say it is time to start moving beyond the oil
age."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/business/27exxon.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/business/27exxon.html</a> <br>
<br>
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