<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<font size="+1"><i>July 28, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/07/27/fires-ravaging-parts-europe-show-forest-policies-failing/">The
fires ravaging parts of Europe show our forest policies are
failing</a></b><br>
Published on 27/07/2018<br>
The death toll in Greece and suffering right up to the Arctic Circle
must prompt a move to sustainable and resilient forest management...<br>
- - - -<br>
The <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/">official
map</a> charting the forest fires raging across Europe conjures
visions of an occupying army advancing malevolently across the
continent: swathes of orange (signifying "danger" areas) encircle
patches of dark red (places of "high danger"), and smaller black
blotches ("extreme danger").<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/07/27/fires-ravaging-parts-europe-show-forest-policies-failing/">http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/07/27/fires-ravaging-parts-europe-show-forest-policies-failing/</a></font><br>
- - -- <br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/">Emergency
Management Service </a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/applications/fire-news/">http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/applications/fire-news/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/effis_current_situation/public/index.html">http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/effis_current_situation/public/index.html</a><br>
- - - -<br>
[brand new global view]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/gwis_current_situation/public/index.html">Emergency
Management Service Global View</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/gwis_current_situation/public/index.html">http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/gwis_current_situation/public/index.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Planning ahead]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26072018/ferc-natural-gas-pipeline-approval-states-environmental-economic-cost-climate-change">7
States Urge Pipeline Regulators to Pay Attention to Climate
Change</a></b><br>
FERC is considering revising how it approves natural gas pipeline
projects. These states want it to focus more on costs to the
environment and consumers.<br>
Phil McKenna - New natural gas pipelines may not be needed and may
not justify damage to the environment, the attorneys general of
seven states and the District of Columbia argue in comments filed
Wednesday with federal regulators in charge of pipeline approvals.<br>
The comments came in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's request in April for comments on whether the commission
should revise its current policy for pipeline approvals, set in
1999...<br>
- - - - -<br>
<b>Environmental advocates are concerned that continued pipeline
approvals will lock in U.S. dependence on fossil fuels for decades
to come.</b><br>
"Building pipelines that are not needed will lead to billions of
dollars of stranded assets and slow down our process to building
cleaner energy solutions," Gillian Giannetti, an attorney with the
Natural Resources Defense Council, said. <br>
With the rapid decline in the cost of renewables, the economics of
building gas pipelines that are meant to last 40 to 60 years no
longer adds up, Jonathan Peress of the Environmental Defense Fund
said. "In 15 or 20 years, it is clear that alternatives to gas are
going to be more economic than building pipelines, but yet these
pipelines will still be under contract, people will still be paying
for them," he said...<br>
- - - -<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26072018/ferc-natural-gas-pipeline-approval-states-environmental-economic-cost-climate-change">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26072018/ferc-natural-gas-pipeline-approval-states-environmental-economic-cost-climate-change</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[abnormal is the new normal]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/extreme-global-weather-climate-change-michael-mann">Extreme
global weather is 'the face of climate change' says leading
scientist</a></b><br>
Exclusive: Prof Michael Mann declares the impacts of global warming
are now 'playing out in real-time'<br>
The extreme heatwaves and wildfires wreaking havoc around the globe
are "the face of climate change", one of the world's leading climate
scientists has declared, with the impacts of global warming now
"playing out in real time".<br>
Climate change has long been predicted to increase extreme weather
incidents, and scientists are now confident these predictions are
coming true. Scientists say the global warming has contributed to on
the scorching temperatures that have baked the UK and northern
Europe for weeks.<br>
The hot spell was made more than twice as likely by climate change,
a new analysis found, demonstrating an "unambiguous" link.<br>
Extreme weather has struck across Europe, from the Arctic Circle to
Greece, and across the world, from North America to Japan. "This is
the face of climate change," said Prof Michael Mann, at Penn State
University, and one the world's most eminent climate scientists. "We
literally would not have seen these extremes in the absence of
climate change."<br>
"The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle," he told the
Guardian. "We are seeing them play out in real time and what is
happening this summer is a perfect example of that."<br>
"We are seeing our predictions come true," he said. "As a scientist
that is reassuring, but as a citizen of planet Earth, it is very
distressing to see that as it means we have not taken the necessary
action."<br>
The rapid scientific assessment of the northern European heatwave
was done by Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, at the Royal Netherlands
Meteorological Institute and also colleagues in the World Weather
Attribution (WWA) consortium. "We can see the fingerprints of
climate change on local extremes," he said.<br>
The current heatwave has been caused by an extraordinary stalling of
the jet stream wind, which usually funnels cool Atlantic weather
over the continent. This has left hot, dry air in place for two
months - far longer than than usual. The stalling of the northern
hemisphere jet stream is being increasingly firmly linked to global
warming, in particular to the rapid heating of the Arctic and
resulting loss of sea ice.<br>
<br>
Prof Mann said that asking if climate change "causes" specific
events is the wrong question: <b>"The relevant question is: 'Is
climate change impacting these events and making them more extreme</b>?',
and we can say with great confidence that it is."<br>
<br>
Mann points out that the link between smoking tobacco and lung
cancer is a statistical one, which does not prove every cancer was
caused by smoking, but epidemiologists know that smoking greatly
increases the risk. "That is enough to say that, for all practical
purposes, there is a causal connection between smoking cigarettes
and lung cancer and it is the same with climate change," Mann said.<br>
<br>
Other senior scientists agree the link is clear. Serious climate
change is "unfolding before our eyes", said Prof Rowan Sutton, at
the University of Reading. "No one should be in the slightest
surprised that we are seeing very serious heatwaves and associated
impacts in many parts of the world."<br>
It is not too late to make the significant cuts needed in greenhouse
gas emissions, said Mann, because the impacts progressively worsen
as global warming increases.<br>
"It is not going off a cliff, it is like walking out into a
minefield," he said. "So the argument it is too late to do something
would be like saying: 'I'm just going to keep walking'. That would
be absurd - you reverse course and get off that minefield as quick
as you can. It is really a question of how bad it is going to get."<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/extreme-global-weather-climate-change-michael-mann">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/extreme-global-weather-climate-change-michael-mann</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[yes and yes. just follow the money]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://grist.org/article/is-climate-change-a-ratings-killer-or-is-something-wrong-with-for-profit-media/">Is
climate change a "ratings killer," or is something wrong with
for-profit media?</a></b><br>
By Zoya Teirstein - on Jul 25, 2018<br>
Environmental journalists came out in full force to set him
straight. The reason that newsrooms are failing to bring up climate
change has a lot to do with the way major news outlets are
structured (profits first, content second), they said, and less to
do with people's interest in climate change.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://grist.org/article/is-climate-change-a-ratings-killer-or-is-something-wrong-with-for-profit-media/">https://grist.org/article/is-climate-change-a-ratings-killer-or-is-something-wrong-with-for-profit-media/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
['Skeeter watch]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/mosquitoes-in-3-colorado-cities-test-positive-for-west-nile-virus/73-578008397">Mosquitoes
in 3 Colorado cities test positive for West Nile virus</a></b><br>
Mosquitoes in Erie, Louisville, and Longmont have tested positive
for West Nile virus.<br>
WNV is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. As always,
health officials urge residents in the area to follow these steps:<br>
<blockquote><b>DRAIN:</b> Mosquitoes breed in water. Drain any
standing water in your yard each week. Bird baths, clogged gutters
and kiddie pools are common breeding sites.<br>
<b>DRESS:</b> Wear lightweight, long-sleeved shirts and long pants
while outdoors. Spray clothing with insect repellent since
mosquitoes may bite through clothing.<br>
<b>DEFEND:</b> Apply insect repellent sparingly to exposed skin.
Use an approved repellent according to its label. Click here to
find the repellent that is right for you<br>
<b>DAWN/DUSK: </b>Limit time spent outdoors at dawn through dusk,
when mosquitoes are most active and feeding.<br>
</blockquote>
Mosquito season typically lasts from late April until mid-October.
Last year, nine people in Boulder County tested positive for the
virus.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/mosquitoes-in-3-colorado-cities-test-positive-for-west-nile-virus/73-578008397">https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/mosquitoes-in-3-colorado-cities-test-positive-for-west-nile-virus/73-578008397</a></font><br>
- - - -<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local/number-mosquitos-dekalb-carrying-west-nile-virus-triples/5g920C47yiuN1GTEPgaBGN/">Number
of mosquitoes in DeKalb carrying West Nile virus triples </a></b><br>
The number of mosquitoes testing positive for the West Nile virus in
DeKalb County has tripled in one week.<br>
A total of 34 mosquitoes have tested positive for the virus as of
July 24, said the DeKalb County Board of Health. Last week, only 11
mosquitoes had tested positive.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local/number-mosquitos-dekalb-carrying-west-nile-virus-triples/5g920C47yiuN1GTEPgaBGN/">https://www.ajc.com/news/local/number-mosquitos-dekalb-carrying-west-nile-virus-triples/5g920C47yiuN1GTEPgaBGN/</a></font><br>
- - - -<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/west-nile-virus-spreads-to-11-south-dakota-counties/1326956887">West
Nile Virus Spreads To 11 South Dakota Counties</a></b><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/west-nile-virus-spreads-to-11-south-dakota-counties/1326956887">https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/west-nile-virus-spreads-to-11-south-dakota-counties/1326956887</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[video of moose in trouble]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.wmur.com/article/moose-in-nh-under-severe-threat-from-climate-change-expert-warns/22578202">Moose
in NH under severe threat from climate change, expert warns</a></b><br>
Shorter winters mean more ticks feeding on moose<br>
Video <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.wmur.com/620c506c-b9f6-48c4-b648-7b11f150ec30">http://www.wmur.com/620c506c-b9f6-48c4-b648-7b11f150ec30</a><br>
NEW HAMPTON, N.H.<br>
Climate change is threatening the survival of moose in New Hampshire
as the population of the iconic animal continues to shrink, experts
said.<br>
There were 7,000 moose living in New Hampshire when Kristine Rines
became the Fish and Game Department's first moose expert.
Thirty-five years later, the biologist said, the herd is less than
half that size and shrinking.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.wmur.com/article/moose-in-nh-under-severe-threat-from-climate-change-expert-warns/22578202">http://www.wmur.com/article/moose-in-nh-under-severe-threat-from-climate-change-expert-warns/22578202</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Nordhaus, the optimist says]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://aeon.co/ideas/the-earths-carrying-capacity-for-human-life-is-not-fixed">The
Earth's carrying capacity for human life is not fixed</a></b><br>
Today's warnings of impending ecological collapse mostly focus on
rising consumption, not population growth.<br>
- - - - <br>
Ultimately, one need not advocate the imposition of
pseudo-scientific limits on human societies to believe that many of
us would be better off consuming less. Nor must one posit the
collapse of human societies to worry deeply that growing human
consumption might have terrible consequences for the rest of
creation.<br>
But threats of societal collapse, claims that carrying capacity is
fixed, and demands for sweeping restrictions on human aspiration are
neither scientific nor just. We are not fruit flies, programmed to
reproduce until our population collapses. Nor are we cattle, whose
numbers must be managed. To understand the human experience on the
planet is to understand that we have remade the planet again and
again to serve our needs and our dreams. Today, the aspirations of
billions depend upon continuing to do just that. May it be so.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://aeon.co/ideas/the-earths-carrying-capacity-for-human-life-is-not-fixed">https://aeon.co/ideas/the-earths-carrying-capacity-for-human-life-is-not-fixed</a></font><br>
- - - - -<br>
[is this a debate?]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://undark.org/article/ted-nordhaus-carrying-capacity-ecology/">Ted
Nordhaus Is Wrong: We Are Exceeding Earth's Carrying Capacity</a></b><br>
The co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute has a cheery vision of
the future. If only that vision were plausible.<br>
07.26.2018 - BY Richard Heinberg <br>
IN HIS ARTICLE, "The Earth's Carrying Capacity for Human Life is Not
Fixed," Ted Nordhaus, co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute, a
California-based energy and environment think tank, seeks to enlist
readers in his optimistic vision of the future. It's a future in
which there are many more people on the planet and each enjoys a
high standard of living, while environmental impacts are reduced.
It's a cheery vision.<br>
If only it were plausible.<br>
Nordhaus's argument hinges on dismissing the longstanding biological
concept of "carrying capacity" - the number of organisms an
environment can support without becoming degraded. "Applied to
ecology, the concept [of carrying capacity] is problematic,"
Nordhaus writes, arguing in a nutshell that the planet's ability to
support human civilization can be, one presumes, infinitely tweaked
through a combination of social and physical engineering.<br>
<br>
Few actual ecologists, however, would agree. Indeed, the concept of
carrying capacity is useful in instance after instance - including
modeling the population dynamics of nonhuman species, and in gauging
the health of virtually any ecosystem, be it ocean, river, prairie,
desert, or forest. While exact population numbers are sometimes
difficult to predict on the basis of the carrying capacity concept,
it is nevertheless clear that, wherever habitat is degraded,
creatures suffer and their numbers decline.<br>
<br>
The controversy deepens in applying the carrying capacity concept to
humans. Nordhaus seems to think we are exceptions to the rules.
Still, as archaeologists have affirmed, many past human societies
consumed resources or polluted environments to the point of
collapse. Granted, societies have failed for other reasons as well,
including invasion, over-extension of empire, or natural climate
change. Yet in cases where societies depleted forests, fisheries,
freshwater, or topsoil, the consequences were dire.<br>
<br>
But that was then. The core of Nordhaus' case is that we are now
living in a magical society that is immune to the ecological law of
gravity. Yes, it is beyond dispute that the modern industrial world
has been able to temporarily expand Earth's carrying capacity for
our species. As Nordhaus points out, population has grown
dramatically (from less than a billion in 1800 to 7.6 billion
today), and so has per capita consumption. No previous society was
able to support so many people at such a high level of amenity. If
we've managed to stretch carrying capacity this much already, why
can't we do so ad infinitum?<br>
To answer the question, it's first important to understand the basis
of our success so far. Science and technology usually glean most of
the credit, and they deserve their share. But sheer energy - the
bulk of it from fossil fuels - has been at least as important a
factor.<br>
- - - -<br>
EVISE YOUR own scorecard. What warning signs would you expect to see
if we humans were pressing at the limits of global carrying
capacity? Resource depletion? Check. Pollution? Check. Dying oceans?
Check. Human populations subjected to increasing stress? Double
check.<br>
<br>
Here's one more that we probably should be paying more attention to:
Wild terrestrial mammals now represent just 4.2 percent of
terrestrial mammalian biomass, the balance - 95.8 percent - being
livestock and humans. Maybe we could make some inroads on that
remaining 4.2 percent, but it's pretty clear from this single
statistic that we humans have already commandeered most of the
biosphere.<br>
<br>
Optimism is essential; it draws us toward the best possible futures.
But when it turns into wishful thinking, it can blind us to the
consequences of our present actions. In the worst potential case,
the results could be collectively suicidal.<br>
<font size="-1">Richard Heinberg is the author of 13 books and a
Senior Fellow with the Post Carbon Institute. His essays and
articles have appeared in print or online at Nature, Reuters, The
Wall Street Journal, The American Prospect, Public Policy
Research, the Quarterly Review, Resilience, The Oil Drum, and
Pacific Standard, among other publications.</font><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://undark.org/article/ted-nordhaus-carrying-capacity-ecology/">https://undark.org/article/ted-nordhaus-carrying-capacity-ecology/</a></font><br>
- - - - -<br>
[Nature sustainability paper]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0021-4">A good
life for all within planetary boundaries</a></b><br>
<blockquote>We find that no country meets basic needs for its
citizens at a globally sustainable level of resource use. Physical
needs such as nutrition, sanitation, access to electricity and the
elimination of extreme poverty could likely be met for all people
without transgressing planetary boundaries. However, the universal
achievement of more qualitative goals (for example, high life
satisfaction) would require a level of resource use that is 2-6
times the sustainable level, based on current relationships.
Strategies to improve physical and social provisioning systems,
with a focus on sufficiency and equity, have the potential to move
nations towards sustainability, but the challenge remains
substantial.<br>
</blockquote>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0021-4">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0021-4</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Classic essay, print version title: "Hear no climate evil"]<br>
August 2014<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329820-200-understand-faulty-thinking-to-tackle-climate-change/">Understand
faulty thinking to tackle climate change</a></b><br>
The amorphous nature of climate change creates the ideal conditions
for human denial and cognitive bias to come to the fore<br>
By George Marshall<br>
DANIEL KAHNEMAN is not hopeful. "I am very sorry," he told me, "but
I am deeply pessimistic. I really see no path to success on climate
change."<br>
Kahneman won the 2002 Nobel prize in economics for his research on
the psychological biases that distort rational decision- making. One
of these is "loss aversion", which means that people are far more
sensitive to losses than gains. He regards climate change as a
perfect trigger: a distant problem that requires sacrifices now to
avoid uncertain losses far in the future. This combination is
exceptionally hard for us to accept, he told me.<br>
<br>
Kahneman's views are widely shared by cognitive psychologists. As
Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University says: "A psychologist could
barely dream up a better scenario for paralysis."<br>
<br>
People from other disciplines also seem to view climate change as a
"perfect" problem. Nicholas Stern, author of the influential Stern
Review on the economics of climate change, describes it as the
"perfect market failure". Philosopher Stephen Gardiner of the
University of Washington in Seattle says it is a "perfect moral
storm". Everyone, it seems, shapes climate change in their own
image.<br>
<br>
Which points to the real problem: climate change is exceptionally
amorphous. It provides us with no defining qualities that would give
it a clear identity: no deadlines, no geographic location, no single
cause or solution and, critically, no obvious enemy. Our brains scan
it for the usual cues that we use to process and evaluate
information about the world, but find none. And so we impose our
own. This is a perilous situation, leaving climate change wide open
to another of Kahneman's biases - an "assimilation bias" that bends
information to fit people's existing values and prejudices.<br>
<br>
So is climate change really innately challenging, or does it just
seem so because of the stories we have shaped around it? For
example, the overwhelming and possibly hopeless struggle portrayed
by the media and many campaigners provokes feelings of
powerlessness. Scientists reinforce distance with computer
predictions set two generations in the future and endless talk of
uncertainty. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change uses the word "uncertain" more than once per page.<br>
<br>
Discussions about economics, meanwhile, invariably turn into self
defeating cost-benefit analyses. Stern offers a choice between
spending 1 per cent of annual income now, or risking losing 20 per
cent of it in 50 years' time. This language is almost identical to
that Kahneman used two decades earlier in his experiments on loss
aversion. Is it surprising that when a choice is framed like this,
policy-makers are intuitively drawn towards postponing action and
taking a gamble on the future?<br>
<br>
"Is it any surprise that policy-makers are tempted to postpone
action and gamble on the future?"<br>
If cost and uncertainty really are universal psychological barriers,
it is hard to explain why 15 per cent of people fully accept the
threat and are willing to make personal sacrifices to avert it. Most
of the people in this group are left wing or environmentalists and
have managed to turn climate change into a narrative that fits with
their existing criticisms of industry and growth.<br>
<br>
Conservatives may justify climate inaction on the grounds of cost
and uncertainty but they, too, are able to accept both as long as
they speak to their core values. As former US vice-president and
climate sceptic Dick Cheney said: "If there is only a 1 per cent
chance of terrorists getting weapons of mass destruction, we must
act as if it is a certainty."<br>
<br>
Strongly held values can explain the convictions of those at the
ends of the political spectrum, but they do not adequately explain
the apparent indifference of the large majority in between. If
asked, most agree that climate change is a serious threat, but
without prompting they do not volunteer it.<br>
<br>
This silence is similar to that found around human rights abuses,
argued the late Stanley Cohen, a sociologist at the London School of
Economics. He suggested that we know very well what is happening but
"enter into unwritten agreements about what can be publicly
remembered and acknowledged".<br>
<br>
Our response to climate change is uncannily similar to an even more
universal disavowal: unwillingness to face our own mortality, says
neuroscientist Janis Dickinson of Cornell University in New York.
She argues that overt images of death and decay along with the
deeper implications of societal decline and collapse are powerful
triggers for denial of mortality.<br>
<br>
There is a great deal of research showing that people respond to
reminders of death with aggressive assertion of their own group
identity. Dickinson argues that political polarisation and angry
denial found around climate change is consistent with this "terror
management theory". Again, there is a complex relationship between
our psychology and the narratives that we construct to make sense of
climate change.<br>
<br>
For all of these reasons, it is a mistake to assume that the
scientific evidence of climate change will flow directly into action
- or, conversely, that climate denial can be dismissed as mere
misinformation. The systems that govern our attitudes are just as
complex as those that govern energy and carbon, and just as subject
to feedbacks that exaggerate small differences between people. The
problem itself is far from perfect and the situation is not
hopeless, but dealing with it will require a more sophisticated
analysis of human cognition and the role of socially shared values
in building conviction.<br>
<font size="-1">This article appeared in print under the headline
"Hear no climate evil"</font><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329820-200-understand-faulty-thinking-to-tackle-climate-change/">https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329820-200-understand-faulty-thinking-to-tackle-climate-change/</a></font><br>
- - - - -<br>
George Marsahll's Climate Change Denial blog<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://climatedenial.org/2015/05/06/get-radical-engaging-conservatives-about-climate-change-1/">GET
RADICAL- ENGAGING CONSERVATIVES ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE: 1</a></b><br>
George Marshall<br>
I regard myself to be a radical. However, I now believe that the
most radical thing that I can do is to break out of the safety zone
of left/liberal environmentalism and actively engage with
conservatives.<br>
<br>
I have two decades in the radical environmental movement, and I
believe strongly that the crisis of climate change requires systemic
changes. I make no apology for this and am utterly convinced, from
my reading of history, that these changes will only emerge from
strong and outspoken political movements.<br>
<br>
But no movement will win unless it has strength of numbers and
influence. We should not delude ourselves that a highly motivated
minority - what Marxists used to call the vanguard- can ever win
this. This issue is far too large to be overcome without a near
total commitment across society.<br>
<br>
Yet, throughout the Anglophone world there is a dangerous political
polarisation around climate change. In one particularly disturbing
US poll, attitudes to climate change were a better predictor of
respondents' political orientation than any other issue- including
gun control, abortion and capital punishment. Denial of climate
change is not just an opinion, it has become a dominant mark of
people's political identity.<br>
<br>
This is no small problem. People with conservative values (some of
whom may also vote for centre-left parties) constitute the majority
in almost all countries. In US surveys people who identify strongly
with these values outnumber those who identify with liberal/left
values by a factor of 2:1.<br>
<br>
In my book, Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to
Ignore Climate Change, I argued that climate change exists for us in
the form of socially constructed narratives built upon our values
and identity. It is these narratives- not the underlying science or
even the evidence of our own eyes- that leads us to accept or reject
the issue.<br>
<br>
Unfortunately one of the dominant values in the climate movement is
a disregard , if not outright contempt, for the right-leaning
mainstream and their concerns. Activists often talk with disgust of
the selfishness, greed and stupidity of conservatives. This is
intolerant and unpleasant. The denigration conveniently ignores the
diversity of opinion and life experience among conservatives. A
struggling rural family, an elderly Christian on a small pension, a
community shopkeeper and a Wall Street Banker are combined into one
faceless enemy.<br>
<br>
More often, though, conservatives are just ignored. Few people in
the climate movement want to deal with them, talk to them, or find
out more about them. They simply don't exist.<br>
<br>
Last week I led a communications workshop for one of the largest
international environmental networks: one I respect and have worked
with for many years. I asked them "do you think that the climate
change movement has a problem with its diversity?" Absolutely, they
replied, it's too dominated by middle aged men, too white, too
middle-class, not enough involvement from minorities or indigenous
peoples, not many disabled people. Nobody mentioned the absence of
conservatives, and certainly no-one in the room was admitting to
being one.<br>
<br>
Diversity' is a powerful frame for progressives but its components
have been entirely defined by the struggles of marginalised groups
for representation. It makes us blind to our own failure to involve
the majority of our fellow citizens.<br>
<br>
Last year I was thrilled to attend the People's Climate March in New
York (I think I can justify the carbon-I was there on a six -state
book tour). 350,000 people marched with placards declaring "To
Change Everything We Need Everyone". But, just as diversity only
includes the groups that conform to the progressive ideology, the
definition of everyone excludes the majority of the population.
There was a great deal of progressive diversity at the march:
indigenous peoples headed it up, followed by environmental justice
groups of all colours and ethnicities and labour unions. As someone
who has campaigned for over twenty years for indigenous rights, and
led large programmes with trades unions, I was thrilled to see such
broad representation.<br>
<br>
But as I watched the banners and placards pass by, I imagined how
this would seem to mainstream America. The dominant messages were
about banning, stopping, protecting, boycotting things. Among them
were hard left-wing messages about overthrowing capitalism and
destroying Wall Street. A woman with a placard reading Never, Never,
Never, Ever Vote Republican (see above) was clapped and whistled. To
balance this a posse of cigar-chomping Republican frat boys turned
up with cut outs of Ronald Regan to wind up the lefties. But there
was nothing, not even a word, that so much as hinted that mainstream
conservatives had a place alongside everyone in the climate
struggle. A small pack of Nebraskan ranchers, converted to the
cause by their fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline, told me
freely, proudly, that they were lifelong Republicans. They were
hidden within the mass of the march when they should have been at
its very front: a symbol of an extraordinary unity of purpose and
our shared destiny.<br>
<br>
Ironically we know how to change this. The process to increase
representation of conservatives in the climate change movement can
be taken directly from previous experience with building diversity-
whether it be economic, gender, or race. First of all actively hire
new people from the underrepresented group who can work through
their networks. Then enable them to develop communications that
speak to others like themselves using their own values.<br>
<br>
The process by which we respond to climate change creates the
tramlines for our future adaptation. If we use it to build a
narrative around our interconnectedness and shared humanity then we
stand a good chance of pulling through, just as divided communities
can settle their differences to pull together after a hurricane. If
we build our movement through distrust and division we create the
preconditions for future in-fighting, blame and scapegoating. The
only reason why the minority vanguards ever won was that they got
their hands on guns and then ruled by them.<br>
<br>
So my challenge to all people concerned about climate change is
this: when are we going to accept the challenge of reaching across
partisan boundaries and building a broad social consensus for
action? We do not even have to agree about the details of the
solutions- indeed I hope we maintain a strong debate. But surely we
can come together in the recognition that dealing with climate
change is the greatest calling of our age? <br>
***********************************************<br>
Please share this piece and comment below. Over the next few weeks I
will be posting a number of articles to my blog exploring these
themes.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://climatedenial.org/">https://climatedenial.org/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Soon to be a horror movie...]<br>
Siberian Times<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/worms-frozen-in-permafrost-for-up-to-42000-years-come-back-to-life/">Worms
frozen in permafrost for up to 42,000 years come back to life</a></b><br>
By The Siberian Times reporter 26 July 2018<br>
Nematodes moving and eating again for the first time since the
Pleistocene age in major scientific breakthrough, say experts.<br>
The roundworms from two areas of Siberia came back to life in Petri
dishes, says a new scientific study. <br>
'We have obtained the first data demonstrating the capability of
multicellular organisms for longterm cryobiosis in permafrost
deposits of the Arctic,' states a report from Russian scientists
from four institutions in collaboration with Princetown University.<br>
Some 300 prehistoric worms were analysed - and two 'were shown to
contain viable nematodes'.<br>
'After being defrosted, the nematodes showed signs of life,' said a
report today from Yakutia, the area where the worms were found.<br>
<blockquote>'They started moving and eating.' <br>
</blockquote>
One worm came from an ancient squirrel burrow in a permafrost wall
of the Duvanny Yar outcrop in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River
- close to the site of Pleistocene Park which is seeking to recreate
the Arctic habitat of the extinct woolly mammoth, according to the
scientific article published in Doklady Biological Sciences this
week. <br>
This is around 32,000 years old. <br>
Another was found in permafrost near Alazeya River in 2015, and is
around 41,700 years old. <br>
Currently the nematodes are the oldest living animals on the
planet. <br>
They are both believed to be female. <br>
The worms came back to life in a laboratory at The Institute of
Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science in Moscow
region. <br>
The scientists say: "Our data demonstrate the ability of
multicellular organisms to survive long-term (tens of thousands of
years) cryobiosis under the conditions of natural cryoconservation.
<br>
<blockquote>'It is obvious that this ability suggests that the
Pleistocene nematodes have some adaptive mechanisms that may be of
scientific and practical importance for the related fields of
science, such as cryomedicine, cryobiology, and astrobiology."<br>
</blockquote>
The Russian institutions involved in the pioneering research were:
The Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil
Science; Moscow State University; Pertsov White Sea Biological
Station, part of Moscow State University; and the Higher School of
Economics in Moscow.<br>
The Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, was also
involved. <br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/worms-frozen-in-permafrost-for-up-to-42000-years-come-back-to-life/">https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/worms-frozen-in-permafrost-for-up-to-42000-years-come-back-to-life/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://youtu.be/pnXiy4D_I8g">This Day in Climate
History - July 28, 2016 </a>- from D.R. Tucker</b></font><br>
July 28, 2016: Accepting her party's historic nomination at the 2016
Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton declares, "I believe
in science"--a sharp contrast to her denialist rival, GOP nominee
Donald Trump. She also calls for strong action on human-caused
climate change.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/pnXiy4D_I8g">https://youtu.be/pnXiy4D_I8g</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><i>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
</i></font><font size="+1"><i><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html">Archive
of Daily Global Warming News</a> </i></font><i><br>
</i><span class="moz-txt-link-freetext"><a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote">https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote</a></span><font
size="+1"><i><font size="+1"><i><br>
</i></font></i></font><font size="+1"><i> <br>
</i></font><font size="+1"><i><font size="+1"><i>To receive daily
mailings - <a
href="mailto:subscribe@theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request">click
to Subscribe</a> </i></font>to news digest. </i></font>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><small> </small><small><b>** Privacy and Security: </b>
This is a text-only mailing that carries no images which may
originate from remote servers. </small><small> Text-only
messages provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender.
</small><small> </small><br>
<small> By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used
for democratic and election purposes and cannot be used for
commercial purposes. </small><br>
<small>To subscribe, email: <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:contact@theclimate.vote">contact@theclimate.vote</a>
with subject: subscribe, To Unsubscribe, subject:
unsubscribe</small><br>
<small> Also you</small><font size="-1"> may
subscribe/unsubscribe at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote">https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote</a></font><small>
</small><br>
<small> </small><small>Links and headlines assembled and
curated by Richard Pauli</small><small> for <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://TheClimate.Vote">http://TheClimate.Vote</a>
delivering succinct information for citizens and responsible
governments of all levels.</small><small> L</small><small>ist
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously
restricted to this mailing list. <br>
</small></blockquote>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>