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<i><font size="+1"><b>May 28, 2020</b></font></i><br>
<br>
[Follow the money]<br>
<b>BlackRock to flag climate concerns at ExxonMobil AGM</b><br>
Fund manager will vote against re-election of two directors and for
splitting chair and CEO role<br>
BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, will lodge multiple
votes against ExxonMobil at its annual shareholder meeting on
Wednesday as it flags concern over the oil company's failure to make
progress on its climate change targets.<br>
<br>
BlackRock will vote against the re-election of two directors and in
favour of a shareholder motion that proposes splitting the role of
chief executive and chairman.<br>
<br>
The US investment firm is ExxonMobil's second largest shareholder,
with a stake of almost 5% in the company...<br>
- --<br>
The oil firm said it had been expanding its shareholder engagement,
and it directed investors to a report on "how we are working to
reduce emissions in our operations through efficiency gains and new
technologies".<br>
<br>
ExxonMobil, like other oil firms, has had a tumultuous few months,
seeing a slump in its share price and recording a $610m (£495m) loss
in the first quarter of the year after demand for oil slid to the
lowest level in 25 years.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/27/blackrock-to-flag-climate-concerns-at-exxonmobil-agm">https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/27/blackrock-to-flag-climate-concerns-at-exxonmobil-agm</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[flying electrics - today Seattle]<br>
<b>World's largest all-electric aircraft set for first flight</b><br>
Nine-seater plane should take to skies on Thursday and produce no
carbon emissions<br>
<br>
The world's largest all-electric aircraft is about to take to the
skies for the first time.<br>
<br>
The Cessna Caravan, retrofitted with an electric engine, is expected
to fly for 20-30 minutes over Washington state in the US on
Thursday.<br>
<br>
The plane can carry nine passengers but a test pilot will undertake
the inaugural flight alone, cruising at a speed of 114mph (183km/h).
The engine maker, magniX, hopes the aircraft could enter commercial
service by the end of 2021 and have a range of 100 miles.<br>
<br>
Before the coronavirus pandemic, aviation was one of the fastest
growing sources of the carbon emissions that are driving the climate
emergency. Scores of companies are working on electric planes,
although major breakthroughs in reducing the weight of batteries
will be needed before large planes can fly significant distances on
electric power alone. Other power sources being tested include
hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels...<br>
- -<br>
The Cessna Caravan being used by magniX is one of the world's most
used medium-range planes, with more than 2,600 operating in 100
countries. The first flight is set for 8am Pacific time (1500 GMT)
on Thursday, weather permitting.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/27/worlds-largest-all-electric-aircraft-set-for-first-flight">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/27/worlds-largest-all-electric-aircraft-set-for-first-flight</a><br>
- - <br>
[Related]<br>
<b>Airlines could get free pass on climate for five years under
industry proposal</b><br>
Published on 26/05/2020<br>
The industry is lobbying to rewrite the rules of a UN aviation pact,
in a move researchers say would remove pressure to invest in clean
flying technology<br>
Airlines could defer paying for their climate impact by up to five
years, according to researchers, under an industry proposal to
soften the impact of coronavirus lockdowns.<br>
<br>
The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which represents
the world's airlines, has called on the UN body responsible for
aviation to rewrite the rules for offsetting the sector's emissions
growth.<br>
<br>
To curb the aviation sector's growing emissions, member states of
the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) have agreed to
make all growth in international flights carbon neutral after 2020.<br>
<br>
With limited technical solutions available to make planes less
polluting, airlines will rely on a carbon market known as Corsia.
The scheme allows them to offset their emissions growth by funding
carbon-cutting projects in other sectors.<br>
<br>
The agreed baseline for measuring emissions was to be the two-year
average across 2019 and 2020. However 2020 is turning into a year of
anomalously low air travel, with planes grounded by travel
restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. That means airlines
would have a bigger offsetting obligation than they anticipated if
traffic rebounds quickly.<br>
<br>
Iata is urging Icao to change the baseline to pre-pandemic levels in
2019 - a move it says could save airlines an estimated $15 billion
in carbon offsetting costs.<br>
- - <br>
graph figure 2 -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://cdn.climatechangenews.com/files/2020/05/26170000/Oko-institut-scenarios-cropped.jpg">https://cdn.climatechangenews.com/files/2020/05/26170000/Oko-institut-scenarios-cropped.jpg</a><br>
graph figure 3 -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://cdn.climatechangenews.com/files/2020/05/26170407/Oko-institut-scenarios-3-cropped.jpg">https://cdn.climatechangenews.com/files/2020/05/26170407/Oko-institut-scenarios-3-cropped.jpg</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://cdn.climatechangenews.com/files/2020/05/26170407/Oko-institut-scenarios-3-cropped.jpg">https://cdn.climatechangenews.com/files/2020/05/26170407/Oko-institut-scenarios-3-cropped.jpg</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/05/26/airlines-get-free-pass-climate-five-years-industry-proposal/">https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/05/26/airlines-get-free-pass-climate-five-years-industry-proposal/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Dave Roberts long analysis part one]<br>
<b>At last, a climate policy platform that can unite the left</b><br>
The factions of the Democratic coalition have come into alignment on
climate change.<br>
By David Roberts - <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:david@vox.com">david@vox.com</a> May 27, 2020..<br>
In all, the decade of climate politics from 2008 to 2018 netted
frustratingly little progress at the federal level or consensus
about the path ahead. No one was happy, and no one agreed on what to
do next. Robinson Meyer captured it well in a 2017 piece in the
Atlantic: "Democrats Are Shockingly Unprepared to Fight Climate
Change."<br>
<br>
But something different has been happening lately, as groups across
the left come together to hash out their differences on climate
policy. It turns out they agree on quite a bit. In fact, for the
first time in memory, there's a broad alignment forming around a
climate policy platform that is both ambitious enough to address the
problem and politically potent enough to unite all the left's
various interest groups...<br>
- - -<br>
In this post, I'll offer an account of the new climate alignment:
how it came to be, what kinds of climate policies it contains, what
it leaves out, and its prospects moving forward. In a post coming
soon, I'll cover Biden's climate strategy.<br>
<b>The coming together of the climate left</b><br>
After a decade of dissolution, work on climate policy development
cranked back up in earnest around 2018. States where Democrats took
control passed climate and clean energy bills. Every Democratic
candidate for president produced ambitious climate plans. "All of
those people who ran for president, who are currently sitting
electeds, had a much more expanded vision on climate by the end of
their campaigns than when they started," said Maggie Thomas, who
served as deputy climate director of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's
campaign and then policy advisor to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's
campaign.<br>
- -<br>
<b>Accountability for fossil fuel companies</b><br>
This one is extremely popular across the left. Every Democratic
candidate supports it, along with almost every nonprofit climate
platform.<br>
<br>
The idea is that fossil fuel companies have known for a long time
that their products are harming public health and have done
everything in their power to cover it up, including funneling untold
amounts of money into the political system and running some
extremely deceptive public campaigns. Still, today, they are heavily
subsidized and financed by public and private institutions that
ignore their growing risks.<br>
<br>
There are three policy avenues that fall under the broad rubric of
accountability.<br>
The first is supporting the growing number of lawsuits against
fossil fuel companies. Sen. Kamala Harris especially emphasized this
in her plan, playing on her history as a prosecutor, as did Sanders,
playing on his history as an anti-corporate crusader, but virtually
all the Democratic candidates (including Biden) agreed.<br>
<br>
The second is taking steps to reform the financial system to force
financial institutions to better account for the growing risks of
fossil fuels in their investment decisions. (This post has the
policy details.)<br>
<br>
The third is ending fossil fuel subsidies, something practically
everyone says they want to do, and has said they want to do for
decades, but never manages to actually do. (See this post for more
on the breadth of those subsidies.)<br>
<br>
The only reason I didn't include accountability in the alignment
above is that direct confrontation with fossil fuel companies still
makes some quarters of the left uncomfortable, especially more
conservative Democrats and some parts of labor...<br>
- - <br>
<b>Climate unity is at hand, if Democrats can grasp it</b><br>
There are plenty of climate policies that don't appear on either of
my lists: regenerative agriculture, adaptation and resilience,
international climate justice, decarbonization for heavy industry,
and much more. They deserve consideration in comprehensive climate
policy. This is not meant to be a comprehensive accounting.<br>
<br>
The point is simply that, through many different paths, the factions
of the left-of-center coalition have aligned around a fairly robust
climate policy platform centered on standards, investments, and
justice. They have done so through an inclusive process that has
helped build trust and capacity across longstanding lines of
division. And the issues that remain outstanding are difficult but
not intractable, given a little solidarity. They needn't stand in
the way of progress.<br>
<br>
It's not an alignment many people saw coming. "This is a literally
unprecedented group of people to work together," Prakash said. The
fact that such diverse participants have agreed on a set of
policies, she said, "is mind-blowing."<br>
<br>
What began as an aspirational vision has become a full-fledged,
crowdsourced policy platform -- the "Green New Details," as Thomas
joked -- and it is ready for the national stage.<br>
It remains to be seen whether this nascent alliance can hold
together under the inevitable political rigors of the coming years.
It will face stresses from within and without the Democratic
coalition.<br>
<br>
In many ways, its fate lies in the hands of a man many in the
climate movement have spent the past year bashing: Joe Biden. Does
Biden's campaign have the agility and acumen to embrace the new
alignment and serve as its champion? Could Biden, of all people,
unify the climate left?<br>
<br>
As fanciful as that idea may sound, there are, it turns out, reasons
for hope. In my next post, I'll take a closer look at the political
road ahead.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/21252892/climate-change-democrats-joe-biden-renewable-energy-unions-environmental-justice">https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/21252892/climate-change-democrats-joe-biden-renewable-energy-unions-environmental-justice</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[let loose the courts $]<br>
<b>SF, other California cities permitted to sue oil industry over
climate change, judges rule</b><br>
Several California communities suing the oil industry over climate
change got welcome news Tuesday when a panel of federal judges said
their cases could move forward in state court.<br>
<br>
The five cities and three counties, which include San Francisco, are
seeking billions of dollars from fossil fuel producers in
first-of-its-kind litigation that alleges the companies caused
pricey climate problems, including rising seas and extreme weather.
But the lawsuits, originally filed separately in state court, have
been clouded by the question of whether the subject matter is more
appropriate for federal court, where the cases may also be harder to
win...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/SF-other-California-cities-permitted-to-sue-oil-15295592.php">https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/SF-other-California-cities-permitted-to-sue-oil-15295592.php</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[opinionated news]<br>
<b>Michael Moore's Garbage Planet of the Humans Has Been Removed
From YouTube</b><br>
Michael Moore's Planet of the Humans is a trash film that contains
massive amounts of disinformation and dabbles in ecofascism. Turns
out it also contained copyrighted material.<br>
<br>
The film racked up 8 million views and gained major traction with
climate deniers and right wing groups thanks to YouTube hosting it
and featuring it on Earth Day. But now the platform has pulled the
video over copyright infringement. Good riddance.<br>
<br>
Planet of the Humans is full of problematic themes. The so-called
documentary ignores the promise of solar and wind energy, relying on
an outmoded view of the industry. It then offers population control
as the solution to the climate crisis. This line of thinking is
dangerous. It borders on eco-fascism, which props up white supremacy
for the sake of saving the planet. No thanks, dude.<br>
<br>
Toby Smith, an environmental photographer, found another issue with
the film: It contains some of his work without his permission. He
was not happy to see, and he didn't waste time trying to work with
Gibbs and Moore. He went straight to YouTube, filing a complaint
over the weekend.<br>
"I went directly to YouTube rather than approaching the filmmakers
because I wasn't interested in negotiation," Smith said to the
Guardian. "I don't support the documentary. I don't agree with its
message, and I don't like the misleading use of facts in its
narrative."<br>
<br>
YouTube is notoriously bad at taking down content. But the streaming
video service listened in this case and took the film down to due to
Smith's complaint. It's something environmental groups and climate
scientists have been pushing for since the film's Earth Day release,
though for different reasons.<br>
<br>
The company has a record of profiting off undeniably awful shit like
pedophilia, misinformation, and hate speech. Every click, every
view--even those supporting conspiracy theories or lies--sends money
the company's way. Climate denial, in particular, is big on the
video streamer's platform and another source of the company's
profits. A study last year found that conspiracy theorists and
misinformation dominate the platform's climate science content, and
Planet of the Humans is the most high profile addition. Most
recently, the company has come under fire for making money off
videos promoting dangerous and unproven coronavirus cures, including
"videos pushing herbs."<br>
<br>
The film's director, Jeff Gibbs, is trying to bring the film back
online. He sees its removal as "another attempt by the film's
opponents to subvert the right to free speech," per a statement to
Deadline. There's a good chance that climate deniers will rally
around this, adding fuel to the fire. It could also add fuel to the
fire of untrue claims of conservatives griping about liberal bias
online, including the president himself.<br>
<br>
Will YouTube bring this dumb-ass movie back? I sure hope not. People
need facts these days. One fewer terrible YouTube video alone won't
fix the climate misinformation crisis, but at least the company
won't keep making money off it.<br>
Yessenia Funes<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/michael-moore-s-garbage-planet-of-the-humans-has-been-r-1843676676">https://earther.gizmodo.com/michael-moore-s-garbage-planet-of-the-humans-has-been-r-1843676676</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
May 28, 2007 </b></font><br>
<br>
In a Washington Post op-ed, Bill McKibben, citing a recent speech
by NASA scientist James Hansen, states that the worldwide CO2 level
must remain below 350 parts per million to avoid catastrophic global
warming. <br>
Further, McKibben writes: <br>
<blockquote>"Hansen [has] called for an immediate ban on new
coal-fired power plants that don't capture carbon, the phaseout of
old coal-fired generators, and a tax on carbon high enough to make
sure that we leave tar sands and oil shale in the ground. To use
the medical analogy, we're not talking statins to drop your
cholesterol; we're talking huge changes in every aspect of your
daily life."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122701942.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122701942.html</a><br>
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