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<i><font size="+1"><b>July 15, 2020</b></font></i><br>
<br>
[July 14, 2020]<br>
<b>Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate Plan</b><br>
Katie Glueck and Lisa Friedman<br>
Joe Biden's plan connects tackling climate change with the economic
recovery from the coronavirus crisis, while also addressing racism.
The proposal drew praise from his onetime critics...<br>
- -<br>
"These are the most critical investments we can make for the
long-term health and vitality of both the American economy and the
physical health and safety of the American people," he said. "When
Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can
muster is 'hoax.' When I think about climate change, the word I
think of is 'jobs.'"...<br>
- - <br>
The new plan does appear to have made some inroads with a different
constituency: progressive Democrats.<br>
"This is not a status quo plan," said Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington,
a prominent environmentalist who ran a climate-focused campaign for
the Democratic presidential nomination and later endorsed Mr.
Biden...<br>
- -<br>
And he offered a vision for "new, clean, made-in-America vehicles"
to be made more accessible to American consumers as well.<br>
<br>
He also pressed the need to link environmental advocacy to racial
justice, describing pollution and other toxic harms that
disproportionately affect communities of color. His plan calls for
establishing an office of environmental and climate justice at the
Justice Department and developing a broad set of tools to address
how "environmental policy decisions of the past have failed
communities of color."...<br>
- - <br>
In a call with reporters on Tuesday morning, senior Biden campaign
officials said the proposal was the product of discussions with
climate activists and experts; union officials and representatives
from the private sector; and mayors and governors. Evergreen Action,
an organization that advocates far-reaching climate goals and is led
by a number of former Inslee staff members, also discussed ideas
with Mr. Biden's staff in recent months, the organization said.<br>
<br>
Mr. Biden's original plan called for spending $1.7 trillion over 10
years with a goal of achieving net-zero emissions before 2050. The
new blueprint significantly increases the amount of money and
accelerates the timetable.<br>
<br>
Paying for it, campaign officials said, will come from a mix of
increasing the corporate income tax rate from 21 to 28 percent,
"asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share" and some
still-undetermined amount of stimulus money...<br>
- -<br>
By late Tuesday afternoon, the Trump campaign had called the
proposal a "socialist manifesto" and said Mr. Biden was "pushing
extreme policies that would smother the economy."<br>
<br>
Mr. Biden insisted that "these aren't pie-in-the-sky dreams,"
saying, "These are actionable policies."<br>
<br>
One major element of the announcement will include charting a path
to zero carbon pollution from the U.S. electricity sector by 2035.
According to the Energy Information Association, coal and natural
gas still account for more than 60 percent of the sector.<br>
<br>
Campaign officials said they expected to achieve the goal by
encouraging the installation of "millions of new solar panels and
tens of thousands of wind turbines," but also keeping in place
existing nuclear energy plants. The plan also will call for
investing in carbon capture and storage technology for natural gas.<br>
- -<br>
Kathleen Sgamma, the president of the Western Energy Alliance, which
represents oil and gas companies, said Mr. Biden's goals were
"unrealistic" and would hurt energy producers.<br>
<br>
"We'll focus on moderating these policies once Biden moves from
appeasing the left during the campaign to potentially governing,"
she said.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/biden-climate-plan.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/biden-climate-plan.html</a><br>
<p>- - -</p>
[Two plans in one]<br>
<b>Biden's New Climate Plan Is Also His Stimulus Plan</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/biden-new-climate-change-plan-coronavirus-stimulus-green-new-deal.html">https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/biden-new-climate-change-plan-coronavirus-stimulus-green-new-deal.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[House Democrats task force]<br>
<b>National Security Task Force Outlines Climate Crisis Threats</b><br>
Streamed live 10 hours ago<br>
House Democrats<br>
Join us as we discuss ways to tackle the climate crisis risks to
America's national security.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIh7wvSZTKM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIh7wvSZTKM</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[facts verses opinion]<br>
<b>How Facebook Handles Climate Disinformation</b><br>
Critics say a company policy that exempts opinion articles from
fact-checking amounts to a huge loophole for climate change deniers.<br>
Veronica Penney - July 14, 2020<br>
As Covid-19 spread across the globe early this year, Facebook went
into action to combat potentially dangerous disinformation on its
site. The company labeled and suppressed misleading content, removed
disinformation and directed users to reputable sources, including
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.<br>
<br>
This swift action stood in sharp contrast to Facebook's stance on
another divisive and complex danger: climate change. That's because,
under the company's guidelines, climate content can be classified as
opinion and therefore exempted from fact-checking procedures.<br>
The policy means that peer-reviewed science can be lumped into the
same category as industry statements and even blatant
disinformation. In September, for example, the CO2 Coalition, a
nonprofit group that says increased carbon emissions are good for
the planet, successfully overturned a fact-check when Facebook
quietly labeled its post as "opinion."...<br>
- -<br>
All opinion content on the platform -- including op-ed articles or
posts that express the views or agendas of politicians, businesses,
and nongovernmental organizations -- is exempt from fact-checking.
This policy has been in place since 2016, according to said Andy
Stone, Facebook's policy communications director...<br>
- - <br>
Deciding what's opinion is at the discretion of Facebook, not the
fact checkers.<br>
<br>
In August, that policy attracted attention when the CO2 Coalition
shared a Washington Examiner op-ed article that disputed the
accuracy of climate change models. Climate Feedback labeled the post
as "false."<br>
<br>
The CO2 Coalition appealed the decision and, according to Climate
Feedback, Facebook responded by informing the fact checkers that the
post was opinion content, and thus exempt from scrutiny by outside
fact checkers.<br>
<br>
"Placing statements that are verifiably false in an opinion section
shouldn't grant immunity from fact-checking," Mr. Johnson said.<br>
<br>
According to Climate Feedback, the op-ed cherry-picked facts and
compiled them in a deliberately misleading manner. You can read the
full fact-check here.<br>
<br>
John Podesta, an adviser to President Barack Obama who coordinated
the administration's climate policy, called Facebook's opinion
policy "a loophole that you can drive a Mack truck through."<br>
<br>
<b>Loophole or free speech? </b> <br>
According to Mr. Stone, Facebook is most concerned with flagging or
removing content that poses an immediate threat to human health and
safety, including disinformation about the coronavirus or hate
speech that incites violence. Climate change content, he said, does
not fall within that category.<br>
Mr. Stone said that The Washington Examiner post, originally
published as an op-ed, clearly aligned with Facebook's definition of
opinion content and added that fact checkers should have been aware
of that classification.<br>
<br>
Mr. Podesta asserted that the policy amounts to a loophole for
disinformation. He said some opinion pieces are "full of factual
lies."<br>
<br>
"We're not objecting to people having opinions," he said. "We're
objecting to the spread of disinformation and lies under the cover
of opinion."<br>
<br>
Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M
who helped fact-check the Washington Examiner item, agreed. He said
he supports debate around policy questions, like how much carbon
emissions should be reduced, but not about the decades of
peer-reviewed research that have established scientific facts about
climate change. "They aren't up for debate," Mr. Dessler said. "Not
everybody's opinion is equal on that."<br>
<br>
When pressed to combat disinformation, Facebook often points to its
policy of protecting free speech and freedom of opinion. In May, the
company founder, Mark Zuckerberg, told Fox News that the platform
should not become the "arbiter of truth of everything people say
online."...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/climate-facebook-fact-checking.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/climate-facebook-fact-checking.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[NYTimes]<br>
<b>G.A.O.: Trump Boosts Deregulation by Undervaluing Cost of Climate
Change</b><br>
The Government Accountability Office has found that the Trump
administration is undervaluing the cost of climate change to boost
its deregulatory efforts...<br>
- -<br>
The report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress's
nonpartisan investigative arm, said the Trump administration
estimated the harm that global warming will cause future generations
to be seven times lower than previous federal estimates. Reducing
that metric, known as the "social cost of carbon," has helped the
administration massage cost-benefit analyses, particularly for rules
that allow power plants and automobiles to emit more planet-warming
carbon dioxide...<br>
- -<br>
By 2050, under the estimates developed by the Obama administration,
the social cost of carbon should be about $82 a ton, the report
found. Under the Trump administration's calculations, the damages
would be around $11 a ton.<br>
<br>
"This really parallels the mismanagement of coronavirus," said
Michael K. Dorsey, a limited partner with IberSun, a renewable
energy company, and a climate expert who has testified before
Congress on the social cost of carbon.<br>
<br>
"There's this belief that by doing this you will have some effect of
helping the fossil fuel industry," he said of the administration's
low carbon cost. "The only thing it does, unfortunately, is
undermine the ability of the government to make prudent decisions
about moving critical resources to communities that are experiencing
the unfolding climate crisis."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/trump-climate-change-carbon-cost.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/trump-climate-change-carbon-cost.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Interesting, and not bad news]<br>
<b>Incredible Sahara Dust Plume Sweeping Across The Atlantic Is
Largest on Record</b><br>
EVAN GOUGH, UNIVERSE TODAY 14 JULY 2020<br>
Records of the Saharan dust plume go back about 20 years, and this
one ranks as one of the biggest. It's common for these dust plume to
reach the US, but this one is extraordinarily large. The NOAA says
that the plume is about 60 percent to 70 percent larger than
average.<br>
- -<br>
Keen satellite eyes have been watching the plume as it developed and
headed out to sea. The ESA's Copernicus Sentinel and Aeolus
satellites have tracked the plume's progress. The plume is so big,
it's earned the nick-name Godzilla.<br>
<br>
The meteorological name for the plume is the Saharan Air Layer
(SAL). The SAL forms between late Spring and early Autumn. Strong
surface winds pick up the dust and carry it into the air and over
the Atlantic Ocean....<br>
- -<br>
Though its appearance in satellite imagery is foreboding, the dust
plume might actually be good news. According to the NOAA, these
plumes can actually inhibit the formation of hurricanes. And it can
also prevent the ones that do form from becoming more powerful and
destructive.<br>
<br>
The dust is also a nutrient source for phytoplankton, the tiny
marine plants that float near the surface of the ocean.
Phytoplankton is critical to the food web, providing food for
animals higher up the food chain. Phytoplankton is also
photosynthetic, creating oxygen for the biosphere...<br>
- - <br>
The dust plumes also replenish nutrients as far away as the Amazon
rain forest. The heavy and frequent rains there can deplete
essential nutrients. Without these plumes, the Amazon likely
wouldn't exhibit such stunning biodiversity and may not have such an
intricate food web.<br>
<br>
But there is bad news associated with the dust plume. The haze can
trigger air quality alerts, and can be a health risk, especially for
people with underlying health conditions. That's partly because the
dust has travelled so far that many of the larger particles have
fallen to the surface. What's left is the smaller particles, which
are most dangerous to people.<br>
<br>
But for many people in the path of the plume, the part they'll
remember is the sunsets. With all that dust in the air, the sunsets
and sunrises will look stunning.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-this-incredible-plume-of-dust-from-africa-cross-the-entire-atlantic-ocean">https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-this-incredible-plume-of-dust-from-africa-cross-the-entire-atlantic-ocean</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Superb, positive conversation]<br>
<b>What Could Possibly Go Right? | Episode 8 with Heather Cox
Richardson</b><br>
Jul 9, 2020<br>
postcarboninstitute<br>
<br>
Heather Cox Richardson addresses the question of What Could Possibly
Go Right? with a political focus. Her insights include:<br>
<br>
That the current condition is waking people up from autopilot and
creating the realization they need to pursue change personally to
create the society in which they want to live.<br>
<br>
A reminder that the beauty of a democratic system is getting to
choose which direction to go.<br>
<br>
That the desire for equality of opportunity and access should no
longer be pushed to the narrative of special interest in politics.<br>
<br>
The potential to innovate and create change through crowdsourcing
government and society.<br>
<br>
That the American dream needs to be rewritten and move away from the
heteronormative nuclear family as its centerpiece, to a more
community-centered and diverse view.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhplj1ZmQtk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhplj1ZmQtk</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[Important lesson in media]<br>
<b>Astroturfing: How To Spot A Fake Movement</b><br>
May 29, 2020<br>
Second Thought<br>
If the Reopen America protests seem a little off to you, that's
because they are. In this video we're going to talk about
astroturfing and how insidious it is. <br>
Astroturfing: How To Spot A Fake Movement – Second Thought<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3hFfbIXpg4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3hFfbIXpg4</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[year old video summarizes situation]<br>
<b>The New UN Climate Report: We're Screwed</b><br>
Aug 16, 2019<br>
Second Thought<br>
Last year's IPCC report was scary, and it got some decent attention,
but of course everyone has forgotten by now. The recent UN climate
report should jog your memory. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdcpxmJ6vg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdcpxmJ6vg</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[Science Friday Podcast 34 mins]<br>
<b>The Climate Is Changing--But Can We?</b><br>
- -<br>
But beyond the graphs and figures, how do you get people to actually
take action? And are small changes in behavior enough--or is a
reshaping of society needed to deal with the climate crisis?<br>
<br>
Climate journalist Eric Holthaus and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson,
founder of the Urban Ocean Lab, talk with Ira about creating a
climate revolution, the parallels between the climate crisis and
other conversations about social structures like Black Lives Matter,
and the challenges of working towards a better future in the midst
of the chaos of 2020. Then Matthew Goldberg, a researcher at the
Yale Project on Climate Communication, shares some tips for having
difficult climate conversations with friends and family... <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/changing-climate-behaviors/">https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/changing-climate-behaviors/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
July 15, 2007 </b></font><br>
The Prince album "Planet Earth" is released. The title track tackles
both climate change and the Iraq War, with Prince pointedly
observing:<br>
<blockquote>"50 years from now what will they say about us here?/<br>
Did we care for the water and the fragile atmosphere?/<br>
There are only 2 kinds of folk/<br>
And the difference they make/<br>
The ones that give/<br>
And the ones that take."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/arts/music/22pare.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/arts/music/22pare.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</a><br>
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