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<i><font size="+1"><b>August 20, 2020</b></font></i><br>
<br>
[uh oh]<br>
<b>California Fires Live Updates: State Hit by 10,000 Lightning
Strikes in 72 Hours</b><br>
Fast-moving fires are spreading across Northern California, with
wind-whipped flames forcing people to flee their homes.<br>
<br>
RIGHT NOWThe fires are spreading smoke across a wide region, with
the National Weather Service warning that air quality in the Bay
Area could be "very poor for the foreseeable future."<br>
Here's what you need to know:<br>
Raging wildfires are forcing evacuations in Northern California.<br>
Woken at 2 a.m., a Vacaville resident fled with his dog and not much
else.<br>
Poor air quality is also a problem for many in Northern California.<br>
The governor has declared a state of emergency.<br>
California has faced rolling blackouts as a heat wave raises demand
for electricity.<br>
Officials have been bracing for the challenge of fighting fires
during a pandemic.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/california-wildfires-vacaville.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/california-wildfires-vacaville.html</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
[US smoke map ]<br>
<b>NOAA HRRR-Smoke</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/#">https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/#</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[follow the money]<br>
<b>'Climate Donors' Flock to Biden to Counter Trump's Fossil Fuel
Money</b><br>
WASHINGTON -- In 2009, the Obama administration's environmental team
called a group of climate activists to the White House to deliver a
message: Climate change doesn't sell and only provokes economic
attacks from the right that are too difficult to counter.<br>
<br>
As former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. prepares to assume the
Democratic Party's presidential nomination, the changing climate is
now a core campaign issue -- and a focus for fund-raising. Plans for
tackling rising global temperatures will be in the spotlight
Wednesday at the Democratic convention. And Mr. Biden has raised
more than $15 million in candidate contributions from hundreds of
new donors who specifically identify with climate change as a
cause...<br>
- - <br>
Betsy Taylor, president of the consulting firm Breakthrough
Strategies and a longtime adviser to climate donors, said the
dynamics are virtually unrecognizable from 2009 when she and other
activists were told that "clean energy jobs" and "energy security"
were safer ways to frame an environmental message.<br>
<br>
"Back then the conventional wisdom was, 'Don't fund-raise with
political donors on climate change. Don't even talk about climate
change," Ms. Taylor said. Eleven years later, she said, Democratic
donors "want action" on fossil fuels.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/climate/climate-change-biden.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/climate/climate-change-biden.html</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[vote anyway]<br>
<b>Democrats have made a puzzling decision to drop their demand to
end fossil fuel subsidies</b><br>
Democrats say climate change is a priority. The DNC platform dropped
its demand to end subsidies to dirty energy.<br>
<br>
By Umair Irfan Aug 19, 2020<b><br>
</b><br>
The Democratic National Committee has removed a provision in its
party platform that called for an end to subsidies and tax breaks
for the fossil fuel industry.<br>
<br>
First reported by HuffPost on Tuesday, the revelation comes amid the
party's convention this week, where fighting climate change has been
a recurring theme and where there has been a particular emphasis on
switching to cleaner alternatives and away from dirty energy sources
like coal and oil that emit greenhouse gases.<br>
<br>
It's also an odd move during a campaign in which nearly every
Democratic presidential candidate put out a robust plan to deal with
climate change. While the plans differed on the specifics, almost
all of them specifically called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies.
That includes the plans of Democratic nominee for president, former
Vice President Joe Biden, as well as his running mate, California
Sen. Kamala Harris.<br>
<br>
The deleted provision read, "Democrats support eliminating tax
breaks and subsidies for fossil fuels, and will fight to defend and
extend tax incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy."<br>
<br>
It was added over the summer to the party platform that was later
approved. But the final version of the platform released this week
omitted the line. The DNC told HuffPost the language was
"incorrectly included" and was removed "after the error was
discovered."<br>
<br>
But environmental activists were outraged when they discovered the
omission. "It's ridiculous that a common-sense policy endorsed by
party leadership was stricken from the platform at the eleventh
hour," Ryan Schleeter, a spokesperson for Greenpeace USA told Vox in
an email...<br>
- -<br>
Policies for combating climate change aren't just necessary --
they're popular<br>
Fighting climate change has broad support, not just among Democrats
but across the US public. An April poll from the Pew Research Center
found that 60 percent of Americans say climate change is a major
threat to the well-being of the United States. A Gallup poll last
year reported that 60 percent of Americans favor reducing fossil
fuel use. A growing number of power customers are now demanding 100
percent renewable energy from their utilities.<br>
At the same time, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
estimated that the US directly subsidizes the fossil fuel industry
to the tune of $20 billion a year.<br>
<br>
And that figure fails to encapsulate the full monetary value of
current fossil fuel policies: By failing to bill fossil fuel
producers for their greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting
damage to the environment, the International Monetary Fund
calculated that the US gives an effective subsidy of $649 billion to
the industries that contribute most to climate change.<br>
<br>
These subsidies began as a way to shore up domestic energy
production in a world where global energy markets can be volatile.
But they served to extend the United States' dependence on fuels
that harm the environment by keeping prices artificially low. They
have also propped up faltering energy companies. The coal industry
in particular is facing a precipitous long-term decline the
subsidies can't reverse.<br>
<br>
Financially supporting a major cause of climate change while
ostensibly trying to fight it is incongruous, so it makes sense that
people concerned about rising average temperatures would want to end
policies that make it cheaper to use coal, oil, and natural gas.<br>
<br>
But it's a problem Democrats have struggled to solve. Former
President Barack Obama repeatedly tried to reduce fossil fuel
subsidies while in office but was stalled by Congress. Ending fossil
fuel subsidies was also in the 2016 Democratic platform.<br>
<br>
This makes the recent removal of language around ending fossil fuel
subsidies all the more bizarre, especially since shifting to cleaner
energy is a key part of the party's pitch to voters.<br>
<br>
"Joe [Biden] will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and fight the
threat of climate change by transitioning us to 100% clean
electricity over the next 15 years," said Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders during a virtual address to the convention on Tuesday.
"These initiatives will create millions of good paying jobs all
across the country."<br>
<br>
For their part, Biden's campaign says they are still on board with
cutting funding for dirty energy. Stef Feldman, the policy director
for the campaign said on Twitter on Wednesday that Biden "continues
to be committed to ending U.S. fossil fuel subsidies."<br>
As the Democratic Party makes this platform change, the United
States is facing record heat, massive wildfires, and rising seas --
phenomena that will continue to be exacerbated by rising average
temperatures spurred by human emissions of greenhouse gases. Climate
change is already here and it's only getting worse.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-platform-climate-change-fossil-fuel-subsidies">https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-platform-climate-change-fossil-fuel-subsidies</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Heat is on]<br>
<b>From 'firenadoes' to record heat, California extreme weather a
glimpse of future</b><br>
In the last few days, a moisture-laden heat wave has unleashed
extreme weather in almost every corner of California.<br>
<br>
In a single day, Northern California was hit with triple-digit
temperatures, as well as hundreds of lightning strikes that ignited
brush fires. The mercury hit 107 degrees Sunday in Santa Cruz, known
for its moderate climate, and Death Valley reached 130 degrees --
one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded there...<br>
Meanwhile, unusually muggy air made Los Angeles feel like Houston,
and warm nights failed to offer much relief. The Central Valley
sweltered with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. A fire-caused
tornado touched down near the Sierra Nevada community of Loyalton.
And a pyrocumulus cloud towered over Southern California, where heat
and wildfires pushed smog levels higher than they've been in
years...<br>
- - <br>
"You can tough out being in the hottest place on Earth for two
consecutive days -- provided you've got air conditioning," Blacker
said. "But this is the last place on Earth you want to be without
proper and consistent power."..<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-18/california-heat-wave-brings-extreme-weather-and-a-glimpse-at-our-future-with-climate-change">https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-18/california-heat-wave-brings-extreme-weather-and-a-glimpse-at-our-future-with-climate-change</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[Greta reports]<br>
<b>After two years of school strikes, the world is still in a state
of climate crisis denial</b><br>
We can have as many meetings as we like, but the will to change is
nowhere in sight. Society must start treating this as a crisis<br>
by Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer, Anuna De Wever and Adelaide
Charlier<br>
On Thursday 20 August, it will be exactly two years since the first
school strike for the climate took place. Looking back, a lot has
happened. Many millions have taken to the streets to join the
decades-long fight for climate and environmental justice. And on 28
November 2019, the European parliament declared a "climate and
environmental emergency".<br>
<br>
But over these past two years, the world has also emitted more than
80 gigatonnes of CO2. We have seen continuous natural disasters
taking place across the globe: wildfires, heatwaves, flooding,
hurricanes, storms, thawing of permafrost and collapsing of glaciers
and whole ecosystems. Many lives and livelihoods have been lost. And
this is only the very beginning.<br>
<br>
Today, leaders all over the world are speaking of an "existential
crisis". The climate emergency is discussed on countless panels and
summits. Commitments are being made, big speeches are given. Yet,
when it comes to action we are still in a state of denial. The
climate and ecological crisis has never once been treated as a
crisis. The gap between what we need to do and what's actually being
done is widening by the minute. Effectively, we have lost another
two crucial years to political inaction.<br>
Last month, just ahead of the European council summit, we published
an open letter with demands to EU and world leaders. Since then,
more than 125,000 people have signed this letter. Tomorrow we will
meet the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and deliver the letter
and demands, as well as the signatures.<br>
<br>
We will tell Merkel that she must face up to the climate emergency -
especially as Germany now holds the presidency of the European
council. Europe has a responsibility to act. The EU and the United
Kingdom are accountable for 22% of historic accumulative global
emissions, second only to the United States. It is immoral that the
countries that have done the least to cause the problem are
suffering first and worst. The EU must act now, as it has signed up
to do in the Paris agreement.<br>
<br>
Our demands include halting all fossil fuel investments and
subsidies, divesting from fossil fuels, making ecocide an
international crime, designing policies that protect workers and the
most vulnerable, safeguarding democracy and establishing annual,
binding carbon budgets based on the best available science.<br>
<br>
We understand the world is complicated and that what we are asking
for may not be easy or may seem unrealistic. But it is much more
unrealistic to believe that our societies would be able to survive
the global heating we're heading for - as well as other disastrous
ecological consequences of today's business as usual. We are
inevitably going to have to fundamentally change, one way or
another. The question is, will the changes be on our terms, or on
nature's terms?<br>
<br>
In the Paris agreement, world leaders committed themselves to
keeping the global average temperature rise to well below 2C, and
aiming for 1.5C. Our demands demonstrate what that commitment means.
Yet this is just the very minimum of what needs to be done to
deliver on those promises.<br>
<br>
So if leaders are not willing to do this, they'll have to start
explaining why they're giving up on the Paris agreement. Giving up
on their promises. Giving up on the people living in the most
affected areas. Giving up on the chances of handing over a safe
future for their children. Giving up without even trying.<br>
<br>
Science doesn't tell anyone what to do, it merely collects and
presents verified information. It is up to us to study and connect
the dots. When you read the IPCC SR1.5 report and the UNEP
production gap report, as well as what leaders have actually signed
up for in the Paris agreement, you see that the climate and
ecological crisis can no longer be solved within today's systems.
Even a child can see that policies of today don't add up with the
current best available science.<br>
<br>
We need to end the ongoing wrecking, exploitation and destruction of
our life support systems and move towards a fully decarbonised
economy that is centred on the wellbeing of all people, democracy
and the natural world.<br>
<br>
If we are to have a chance of staying below 1.5C of warming, our
emissions need to immediately start reducing rapidly towards zero
and then on to negative figures. That's a fact. And since we don't
have all the technical solutions we need to achieve that, we have to
work with what we have at hand today. And this has to include
stopping doing certain things. That's also a fact. However, it's a
fact that most people refuse to accept. Just the thought of being in
a crisis that we cannot buy, build or invest our way out of seems to
create some kind of collective mental short circuit.<br>
<br>
This mix of ignorance, denial and unawareness is at the very heart
of the problem. As it is now, we can have as many meetings and
climate conferences as we want. They will not lead to sufficient
changes, because the willingness to act and the level of awareness
needed are still nowhere in sight. The only way forward is for
society to start treating the crisis like a crisis.<br>
<br>
We still have the future in our own hands. But time is rapidly
slipping through our fingers. We can still avoid the worst
consequences. But to do that, we have to face the climate emergency
and change our ways. And that is the uncomfortable truth we cannot
escape.<br>
<br>
- Greta Thunberg is a 17-year-old environmental campaigner from
Sweden. This article was co-written with youth climate activists
Luisa Neubauer from Germany, Anuna de Wever from Belgium, and
Adelaide Charlier from Belgium<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/19/climate-crisis-leaders-greta-thunberg">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/19/climate-crisis-leaders-greta-thunberg</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[listen in to XR activists discussing strategy in UK]<br>
<b>REBELLION CHECK-IN (Updates + Q&A)</b><br>
8-19-2020<br>
Extinction Rebellion<br>
What's happening with the Rebellion? This is a weekly event and in
this session XRUK coordinators, Clare Farrell and Sarah Lunnon will
go over:<br>
- Latest updates<br>
- Upcoming plans<br>
- Q&A<br>
This will be a great chance to meet some of the faces who are
helping to lead this rebellion and to ask them questions. This
webinar is open to via livestream XRUK social media pages such as
Facebook and Youtube and will be recorded. You will be able to ask
questions online on social media.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5cPmHZ0gWU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5cPmHZ0gWU</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
[documentary]<br>
<b>The Troublemaker | Trailer</b><br>
Aug 19, 2020<br>
Extinction Rebellion<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4fq44LEGxQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4fq44LEGxQ</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[nuke plants don't like the heat either]<br>
<b>Nuclear Plants Face More Heat Risk Than They're Prepared to
Handle</b><br>
A new report from Moody's shows that a warming world may cause more
service disruptions in the U.S...<br>
- -<br>
Nuclear plants are cooled by water, and in times of intense heat and
drought, water resources can become either too warm or too scarce,
forcing shutdowns. This has already happened, and not just in the
South: in 2012, Dominion Energy Inc.'s Millstone nuclear plant in
Waterford, Conn. The report predicts that nuclear plants in the
Rocky Mountain states, the Colorado River region, and California
face the highest levels of water stress risk going forward.<br>
Kamran said in an interview that this report wasn't about estimating
the risk of a meltdown. Currently, he said, most U.S. plants are
sufficiently resilient not to face a catastrophe, even in the event
of exceptionally severe weather.<br>
Instead the report was meant to highlight the extent of the
environmental pressures plants will have to adapt to withstand if
they want to operate consistently in the coming decades. Resisting
those stresses is potentially expensive-- even more expensive than
the plants have currently estimated, he said: "In certain cases they
will need to make investments to further reinforce their plants and
they need to have money in their cap-ex funds to do that."...<br>
more at -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-19/climate-change-threatens-nuclear-power-due-to-global-warming">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-19/climate-change-threatens-nuclear-power-due-to-global-warming</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[not Dems, Dams]<b><br>
</b><b>Climate change: Dams played key role in limiting sea level
rise</b><br>
By Matt McGrath<br>
Environment correspondent - 19 August 2020<br>
The construction of large-scale dams has played a surprising role in
limiting rising seas, say scientists.<br>
<br>
Over the past century, melting glaciers and the thermal expansion of
sea water have driven up ocean levels.<br>
<br>
But this new study finds that dams almost stalled the rising seas in
the 1970s because of the amount of water they prevented from
entering the oceans.<br>
<br>
Without them, the annual rate of rise would have been around 12%
higher...<br>
- -<br>
The 1950s to 1970s saw a building boom with several large-scale
constructions completed, including the Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe, the
Bratsk Dam in Siberia and the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.<br>
<br>
When the full impact of these giants came on stream in the 1970s,
their ability to block water from going into the sea slowed the
ongoing rise in global sea level.<br>
<br>
"A large part of this dip is because sea level [rise] was almost
brought to a halt because of the amount of water stored in dams,"
said lead author Dr Thomas Frederikse, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California.<br>
<br>
"So by building dams, we almost stopped sea level rise for a decade
or so."...<br>
- -<br>
The 1950s to 1970s saw a building boom with several large-scale
constructions completed, including the Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe, the
Bratsk Dam in Siberia and the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.<br>
<br>
When the full impact of these giants came on stream in the 1970s,
their ability to block water from going into the sea slowed the
ongoing rise in global sea level.<br>
<br>
"A large part of this dip is because sea level [rise] was almost
brought to a halt because of the amount of water stored in dams,"
said lead author Dr Thomas Frederikse, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California.<br>
<br>
"So by building dams, we almost stopped sea level rise for a decade
or so."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53836018">https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53836018</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 -
August 20, 2011 </b></font><br>
<p>Several dozen climate activists are arrested in Washington, DC at
the start of a two-week civil-disobedience campaign against the
Keystone XL pipeline. Over 1,200 are arrested by the time the
campaign concludes.<br>
</p>
<p><b>65-70 Protesters arrested in front of the White House w video
& photo update</b><br>
</p>
<p>So far most of the MSM is been been omitting any coverage
whatsoever of today's Protests against the Keystone XL Tar Sands
pipeline, with the exception of the Murdoch mouthpiece WSJ.<br>
<br>
Sixty-five arrested outside White House in oil pipeline protest<br>
Police arrested 65 environmentalists outside the White House
Saturday as they staged a demonstration urging President Obama to
block a proposed pipeline that would bring oil from Canada's oil
sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.<br>
<br>
The civil disobedience launched two-weeks of White House
demonstrations - with more arrests to come - as activists seek to
increase political pressure on Obama over the proposed Keystone XL
pipeline.</p>
<p>While police said 65 people were arrested, the protest organizers
put the number at 70 in an account on their website Saturday.<br>
McKibben, a key organizer of the protests, calls the Obama
administration decision a referendum on the president's climate
change record, noting the decision rests solely with the executive
branch.<br>
"He doesn't have to go through the crazy climate deniers in
Congress to be able to do the right thing," McKibben said in
Lafayette Square Saturday morning.<br>
<br>
"If Barack Obama mans up, says no to this thing, it will send a
surge of electricity through all of the people that voted for him
three years ago. It will be the reminder of why we were so
enamored of this guy in 2008," McKibben said...</p>
<p>The decision on the Keystone pipeline is up to President Obama.
No one else. Its time he stepped up to the plate to address
Climate Change.<br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/08/20/1009012/-65-70-Protesters-arrested-in-front-of-the-White-House-w-video-photo-update">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/08/20/1009012/-65-70-Protesters-arrested-in-front-of-the-White-House-w-video-photo-update</a>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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