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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>September 23, 2020</b></font></i></p>
[RBG and the future]<br>
<b>How Justice Ginsburg's Death Could Affect Future Climate Rulings</b><br>
Legal experts say a sixth conservative Supreme Court judge could
imperil current and future emissions regulations...<br>
Legal experts say that the addition of a sixth conservative justice
to the court could lock in opposition to expansive readings of the
Clean Air Act that encompass greenhouse gas emissions or trigger a
reexamination of the landmark 2007 climate case Massachusetts v. EPA
.<br>
<br>
In either case, court watchers say, the outcome doesn't bode well
for the future of climate regulation. Advertisement "Climate change
is a crisis, and we really need all the tools we can get, and some
of them are probably not going to be there," said Dan Farber, a law
professor at the University of California, Berkeley.<br>
<br>
"If Trump is able to fill this vacancy, there'll be at least five
conservative votes for at least 20 years, and we don't know what …
new doctrines that are not now on the horizon that could really
weaken the power of the government to deal with climate change," he
said.<br>
<br>
The Trump administration has made environmental deregulation a
cornerstone of its agenda for the last four years, rolling out […]<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-justice-ginsburgs-death-could-affect-future-climate-rulings/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-justice-ginsburgs-death-could-affect-future-climate-rulings/</a><br>
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[Greta tells Rainn Willson what to do, a nice 6 min video]<br>
<b>Rainn Wilson FINALLY Meets Greta Thunberg | An Idiot's Guide to
Climate Change</b><b><br>
</b>Sep 1, 2020<br>
SoulPancake<br>
Rainn Wilson is on a mission to learn more about climate change and
the effects it's having on our planet. In this episode, he talks
with powerhouse and climate change activist Greta Thunberg about the
state of our planet.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBkWgutg4V4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBkWgutg4V4</a><br>
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["Think of it as one of the coolest months of August in California
in the next century."]<br>
<b>Climate Disruption is Now Locked In. The Next Moves Will Be
Crucial.</b><br>
- -<br>
Again and again, climate scientists have shown that our choices now
range from merely awful to incomprehensibly horrible.<br>
If we cut emissions rapidly, about one-seventh of the world's
population will suffer severe heat waves every few years. Failure to
do so doubles or triples that number. If we act now, sea levels
could rise another 1 to 2 feet this century. If we don't,
Antarctica's ice sheets could destabilize irreversibly and ocean
levels could keep rising at an inexorable pace for centuries, making
coastal civilization all but unmanageable.<br>
<br>
The best hope is to slow the pace of warming enough to maintain some
control for humanity.<br>
<br>
"In our research, we've found that most systems can cope with a
1.5-degree or 2-degree world, although it will be very costly and
extremely difficult to adapt," said Dr. Hayhoe of Texas Tech
University. "But in a 4-degree world, in many cases, the system just
doesn't work anymore."<br>
<br>
So, even as nations cut emissions, they will need to accelerate
efforts to adapt to the climate change they can no longer avoid. "We
need to figure out how to put ourselves less in harm's way," said
Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at New York University.<br>
<br>
Humans are remarkably resilient. Civilizations thrive in climates as
different as Saudi Arabia and Alaska.<br>
<br>
When disaster strikes, we've demonstrated an ability to unite and
respond. In 1970 and 1991, two major tropical cyclones hit
Bangladesh, killing a half-million people. The country then built an
extensive network of early-warning systems and shelters, and
strengthened building codes. When another major cyclone struck in
2019, just five people died.<br>
<br>
"The human capacity for adaptation is extraordinary -- not
unlimited, but extraordinary," said Greg Garrard, professor of
environmental humanities at the University of British Columbia. He
added, "I'm much more concerned for the future of the nonhuman than
I am for the future of humans, precisely because we're just very,
very good at adaptation."<br>
<br>
But as the case in Bangladesh illustrates, adaptation is usually a
reactive measure, not a preventive one. Adapting to climate change
means envisioning bigger disasters to come -- again, flipping the
framing away from history and into the future...<br>
- - <br>
<b>Cascading Disasters</b><br>
Adaptation can quickly become bogged down in a tangle of competing
motivations and unintended consequences. Proposals for stricter
building codes or higher insurance premiums face opposition from
builders and voters alike.<br>
<br>
And there's the moral hazard problem, which is when people are
shielded from the costs of their decisions and thus make bad ones.
For instance, local communities reap increased property taxes from
allowing buildings to rise in disaster-prone areas, but they don't
pick up most of the tab for disaster recovery -- the federal
government does.<br>
<br>
Another challenge to adaptation is that, as climate change
intensifies, it increases the risk of "compound hazards," when
numerous disasters strike simultaneously, as well as the risk that
one disaster cascades into another.<br>
<br>
In late 2017, large wildfires scorched Santa Barbara, Calif.,
burning away vegetation that stabilized hillside soils. Heavy
rainfall followed a month later. The result: devastating mudflows
that killed 23 and injured 163.<br>
<br>
In Houston in 2017, Hurricane Harvey shut down gasoline refineries,
strained hospitals and spread toxic substances and pathogens as
floodwaters swamped the city. And when the Camp Fire destroyed
Paradise, Calif., in 2018, nearly 20,000 displaced people arrived in
nearby Chico, which suddenly found its sewage system pushed to the
limits...<br>
- - <br>
"It's really challenging to predict exactly where and how all of
those cascading risks will unfold," said Amir Aghakouchak, a climate
scientist at the University of California, Irvine, who studies
compound hazards.<br>
<br>
Experts also noted that climate change is an accelerant of
inequality. Those most affected, globally and in the United States,
tend to be the most vulnerable populations. Many are also among the
people at highest risk for Covid-19...<br>
- - <br>
"I feel like the climate scientists have kind of done our job," said
Dr. Kalmus, the Los Angeles-based scientist. "We've laid it out
pretty clearly, but nobody's doing anything. So now it's kind of up
to the social scientists."<br>
<br>
Will the recent spate of disasters be enough to shock voters and
politicians into action?<br>
<br>
"We have a lot of evidence that that doesn't happen," said Dr.
Garrard of the University of British Columbia.<br>
<br>
One 2017 study found that people who experience extreme weather are
more likely to support climate adaptation measures than before. But
the effect diminished over time. It may be that people mentally
adjust to unusual weather patterns, updating their perception of
what they consider normal.<br>
<br>
All of it can feel overwhelming, particularly for people wanting to
make a difference. Susan Cutter, who directs the Hazards and
Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South
Carolina, noted that climate change's biggest problem may be the
sense that it is beyond our control. The planet is burning, so does
it really matter if I turn off the light?<br>
<br>
"There's too much complexity and, frankly, too much that needs to be
changed, that we're flitting from one concern to another," she
said...<br>
- - <br>
And if optimism springs from knowledge, the good news is that
scientific research lays out what to do. It's not a mystery, nor is
it beyond the bounds of human ability.<br>
<br>
"What's beautiful about the human species is that we have the free
will to decide our own fate," said Ilona Otto, a climate scientist
at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change. "We have the
agency to take courageous decisions and do what's needed," she said.
"If we choose."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/climate/climate-change-future.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/climate/climate-change-future.html</a><br>
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[ no face saving ]<br>
<b>Facebook suspends environmental groups despite vow to fight
misinformation</b><br>
Facebook blames mistake in system for restrictions on groups
including Greenpeace USA<br>
<br>
Facebook has suspended the accounts of several environmental
organizations less than a week after launching an initiative it said
would counter a tide of misinformation over climate science on the
platform.<br>
<br>
Groups such as Greenpeace USA, Climate Hawks Vote and Rainforest
Action Network were among those blocked from posting or sending
messages on Facebook over the weekend. Activists say hundreds of
other individual accounts linked to indigenous, climate and social
justice groups were also suspended for an alleged "intellectual
property rights violation".<br>
<br>
The suspended people and groups were all involved in a Facebook
event from May last year that targeted KKR & Co, a US investment
firm that is backing the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a 670km-long gas
development being built in northern British Columbia, Canada.<br>
<br>
The suspensions, the day before another online action aimed at KKR
& Co, has enraged activists who oppose the pipeline for its
climate impact and for cutting through the land of the Wet'suwet'en,
a First Nations people...<br>
"Videos of extreme violence, alt-right views and calls for violence
by militias in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are allowed to persist on
Facebook," said Delee Nikal, a Wet'suwet'en community member. "Yet
we are banned and receive threats for permanent removal, for posting
an online petition."<br>
<br>
Many of the accounts have now been restored, but a handful are still
blocked, with no fuller explanation coming from Facebook...<br>
- - <br>
"We're committed to tackling climate misinformation," Facebook said
in a statement that also outlined its own efforts to reduce its own
net greenhouse gas emissions to zero this year. The information
center will include posts from trusted scientific sources, rated by
fact-checkers.<br>
<br>
"As with all types of claims debunked by our fact-checkers, we
reduce the distribution of these posts in News Feed and apply a
warning label on top of these posts both on Facebook and Instagram
so people understand that the content has been rated false," the
company said.<br>
<br>
But climate organizations have questioned whether Facebook is doing
enough to cut down on untruths about the climate crisis that are
spread across the site. In 2018, for example, a video that denied
that human activity was driving the climate crisis was shared on
Facebook and viewed 5m times.<br>
<br>
Articles and videos about climate change can be deemed opinion,
meaning under Facebook guidelines they can't be blocked by its
factcheckers. This loophole meant that that this month the CO2
Coalition, a group that argues more carbon dioxide is good for the
planet, managed to overturn a factcheck on an article that attacked
the accuracy of climate models. A factcheck rated the piece as
"false" but it was published by Facebook when labelled as opinion.<br>
<br>
"Actions speak louder than words and once again Facebook has taken
actions that are in stark contrast to public statements from the
company," said Elizabeth Jardim, senior corporate campaigner at
Greenpeace USA.<br>
<br>
"The recent bans targeting people fighting to save their communities
from climate change and the continued exploitation of fossil fuel
companies show us that when push comes to shove, Facebook will side
with polluters at the cost of their users' trying to organize."<br>
<br>
Facebook was contacted for comment.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/facebook-climate-change-environment-groups-suspended">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/facebook-climate-change-environment-groups-suspended</a><br>
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</p>
[aviation emissions]<br>
<b>Guest Post - Calculating the true climate impact of aviation
emissions</b><br>
Prof David S Lee and Prof Piers Forster, Carbon Brief<br>
Two authors of a new paper published in the journal Atmospheric
Environment explain their updated analysis of aviation's
contribution to global warming. They show that, when all its impacts
are taken into account, aviation represents <b>around 3.5% of the
warming impact caused by humans in the present day. </b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-calculating-the-true-climate-impact-of-aviation-emission">https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-calculating-the-true-climate-impact-of-aviation-emission</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/aviationemissions1-2.jpg">https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/aviationemissions1-2.jpg</a><br>
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[Military thinking]<br>
CLIMATE AND SECURITY <br>
<b>Complex Emergencies and Alliance Strength</b><br>
By Christine Parthemore<br>
Late summer 2020 is serving as yet another reminder that the 21st
century will be profoundly shaped by complex and compounding
emergencies. In the United States alone, the confluence of severe
natural disasters with the COVID-19 pandemic is jarring even those
of us who focus on such threats for a living. Multiple hurricanes
and tropical storms are proceeding toward the East and Gulf Coasts.
The wildfire season across the Western U.S. is creating apocalyptic
conditions. As Robinson Meyer described in The Atlantic, "In 2018…I
noted that six of the 10 largest wildfires in state history had
happened since 2008. That list has since been completely rewritten.
Today, six of California's 10 largest wildfires have happened since
2018--and five of them have happened this year." At the same time,
as of mid-September the nation is still seeing around 39,000 new
COVID-19 cases being reported each day as we near a staggering
200,000 deaths from this pandemic. These events are overlaid on the
profound shifts resulting from decades of injustice and systemic
racism in our society.<br>
<br>
I learned much about the challenges of simultaneous, complex
emergencies from collaboration with allies like Japan and South
Korea. While serving in the Pentagon, I had the honor of helping to
arrange Japan-U.S. exchanges to share lessons on all-hazards crisis
responses in the years after the devastating March 2011 Triple
Disasters (an earthquake and massive tsunami that also triggered a
nuclear emergency). Lately, I've been following up with friends from
Japan to think back to this collaboration--which spanned how our
countries prepare for chemical and biological attacks, natural
disasters, pandemics, nuclear accidents, and more--and the critical
role of working with allies to prepare for crises of all kinds and
prevent them when possible.<br>
<br>
In early September, I wrote with two colleagues on this subject for
Sasakawa USA. In the years ahead, strength in the U.S.-Japan
alliance should be a high priority. Working together on these issues
can and should be part of that agenda.<br>
<br>
In particular in light of the wake-up call on biological threats
from COVID-19 and climate security threats both here in the United
States and across the Indo-Pacific region, we recommended that the
United States and Japan consider expanding collaboration on these
issues. In particular, we suggested that our countries could
consider a "joint center of excellence to help lead the
international community in preparedness for complex emergencies."<br>
<br>
This would build on a long tradition of cooperation in disaster
response and preparedness for Japan and the United States, and
leverage lessons our countries have learned from past and current
experiences with complex emergencies--including from when responses
have gone well and when they have not.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://climateandsecurity.org/2020/09/complex-emergencies-alliance-strength/#more-21105">https://climateandsecurity.org/2020/09/complex-emergencies-alliance-strength/#more-21105</a><br>
- -<br>
[Peace]<br>
<b>The Japan-U.S. Alliance and Climate Security:</b><br>
<b>Building on the Alliance's History for Future Preparedness and
Response</b><br>
Rachel Fleishman, Shiloh Fetzek, and Christine Parthemore<br>
September 4, 2020...<br>
- - <br>
<b>Conclusion</b><br>
In summary, Japan and the United States will continue to see
daunting challenges as climate change, environmental, and resource
issues influence the course of security and stability in the
Indo-Pacific region. The alliance should build on its unique history
of collaboration in disaster preparedness and response in order to
mitigate these threats.<br>
<br>
Importantly, these issues are inseparable from other security
considerations and dynamics, whether they be maritime disputes,
nuclear security concerns, displacement and migration of large
populations, and relations across the region's nations. Recognizing
these connections, Japan and the United States can make great
strides in mitigating these risks and supporting their national
interests in the region by enhancing climate and environmental
security cooperation.<br>
<br>
To download this paper as a PDF, please click
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://spfusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Japan-U.S.-Alliance-and-Climate-Security.pdf">https://spfusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Japan-U.S.-Alliance-and-Climate-Security.pdf</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://spfusa.org/research/the-japan-u-s-alliance-and-climate-security-building-on-the-alliances-history-for-future-preparedness-and-response/">https://spfusa.org/research/the-japan-u-s-alliance-and-climate-security-building-on-the-alliances-history-for-future-preparedness-and-response/</a><br>
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</p>
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[left thinking]<br>
<b>Policy Change Afoot Now That Climate Chaos Hit The Monied Folk</b><br>
Sep 22, 2020<br>
act.tv<br>
Julianna welcomes back recurring guest, The Nation's Sasha Abramsky,
to discuss how the California wildfires have been some of the most
devastating in history, and it's changing the way Californians live.
According to Sasha, looking out his window he can see "gigantic,
wind-driven wildfires which have created apocalyptic,
40,000-foot-high smoke plumes." He is here with us today to talk
about what's causing the fires and how we can show solidarity with
the people who are impacted by them. <br>
Sasha Abramsky is a freelance journalist and teaches journalism at
UC Davis. He writes the Signal:Noise column twice weekly for The
Nation magazine. He also writes a regular column for Truthout and
his writings have appeared over years in Atlantic, New Yorker
online, NY Times, Guardian, Rolling Stone, American Prospect, Mother
Jones, and more.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAjHycldO3o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAjHycldO3o</a><br>
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<p><br>
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[5 printed books - video discussion]<br>
<b>Want to understand climate change? Read these 5 books</b><br>
Sep 18, 2020<br>
Simon Clark<br>
Climate change can be overwhelming. It is the biggest challenge
currently facing the world. So here are five books that you can read
to understand it better.<br>
Links to the books:<br>
- <b>Uninhabitable Earth</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geni.us/uninhabitableearth">https://geni.us/uninhabitableearth</a> <br>
- <b>Discovery of Global Warming</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geni.us/weartdiscovery">https://geni.us/weartdiscovery</a>
<br>
- <b>Merchants of Doubt </b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geni.us/merchantsofdoubt">https://geni.us/merchantsofdoubt</a> <br>
- <b>Don't Even Think About It</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geni.us/marshallthink">https://geni.us/marshallthink</a> <br>
- <b>This Changes Everything</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geni.us/kleinclimate">https://geni.us/kleinclimate</a> <br>
- <b>Drawdown</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geni.us/drawdown">https://geni.us/drawdown</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLLKfmn4gp4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLLKfmn4gp4</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
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[Oxford leadership]<br>
Oxford Climate Society aims to develop the next generation of
informed climate leaders, thinkers, movers and shakers. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.oxfordclimatesociety.com">www.oxfordclimatesociety.com</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOoksFYBCHqZWwVBU9qewZg/about">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOoksFYBCHqZWwVBU9qewZg/about</a><br>
<b>Oxford Climate Society - The Freshers Guide</b><br>
Sep 22, 2020<br>
Oxford Climate Society<br>
In this short introduction video, Our president, Nathan Lawson
offers an overview of the Oxford Climate Society, outlining the main
projects, initiatives and schemes that are ongoing and showing ways
that freshers can get involved with the society.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCFvfGPhTHs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCFvfGPhTHs</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 -
September 23, 1976 </b></font><br>
<p>President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter
discuss energy policy in the first of three presidential debates;
both men express support for "cleaner" coal.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAqIKybNO38">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAqIKybNO38</a> -- (29:35--36:57) </p>
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