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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>January 7, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[planning ahead]<br>
<b>Control of Senate allows Democrats to act on Biden’s climate
change agenda</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/democratic-control-of-senate-is-victory-for-biden-climate-change-agenda.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/democratic-control-of-senate-is-victory-for-biden-climate-change-agenda.html</a><br>
- -<br>
[Axios]<br>
<b>What a Democratic sweep would mean for climate and energy policy</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.axios.com/democrat-senate-energy-policy-c7c7788b-ba8c-4781-8361-3103525901b5.html">https://www.axios.com/democrat-senate-energy-policy-c7c7788b-ba8c-4781-8361-3103525901b5.html</a>
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[essential video at 21 mins]<br>
<b>Grief for our battered world is a Superpower for 2021 |
Extinction Rebellion UK</b><br>
Jan 6, 2021<br>
Extinction Rebellion<br>
High-profile climate scientist Peter Kalmus is a brilliant rarity –
a respected expert in his field who is also an environmental
activist unafraid to openly display his heartbreak about the Climate
& Ecological Emergency.<br>
<br>
Peter talks movingly and inspiringly to Extinction Rebellion’s Clare
Farrell about the urgent need for system change, the crucial
difference between climate fear and climate grief, and how to face
hard truths about the future of our beautiful world without
surrendering to ‘doomism’<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_sR8kYLKA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_sR8kYLKA</a><br>
- -<br>
<b>[Peter Kalmus (climate scientist) </b>- Wikipedia<br>
Kalmus is an internationally recognized science communicator whose
efforts center on shifting culture away from fossil fuel
acceptability. ... He focuses in particular on encouraging the earth
science and other academic communities to speak out with greater
urgency on the need for climate action.]<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kalmus_(climate_scientist)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kalmus_(climate_scientist)</a>
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[Yale Climate Connections]<br>
<b>Reviewing the horrid global 2020 wildfire season</b><br>
Amid its other dubious 'firsts' and 'near-firsts,' the year just
[mercifully] ended was fifth most costly in terms of fire damages.
Experts implicate warming climate.By Jeff Masters, Ph.D. | Monday,
January 4, 2021<br>
The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the
western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth
most expensive year for wildfire losses on record...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/reviewing-the-horrid-global-2020-wildfire-season/">https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/reviewing-the-horrid-global-2020-wildfire-season/</a><br>
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[fire crimes]<br>
<b>California wildfires: How PG&E continues to avoid
accountability | FIRE – POWER – MONEY special</b><br>
Dec 23, 2020<br>
ABC10<br>
With California’s wildfires growing deadlier and bigger than ever,
the state’s largest power company admitted to the largest corporate
homicide in American history. PG&E killed 84 people when its
power lines started the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed the town of
Paradise. Our investigation will take you behind the scenes of the
criminal prosecution and look into how PG&E and the California
state government are avoiding accountability.<br>
You're watching season two of FIRE - POWER -MONEY, an ABC10
Originals investigation. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDcbX4ifRVM&feature=emb_logo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDcbX4ifRVM&feature=emb_logo</a><br>
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[from The Barents Observer]<br>
<b>What is happening with Arctic weather? Moscow wants to know</b><br>
The Russian government decides to upgrade 123 meteorological
stations in the Arctic.<br>
- -<br>
The upgrades are to be completed by year 2024, the Ministry of the
Far East and Arctic informs.<br>
<br>
Roshydromet will also get federal funding for a modernization of its
Sever information system on Arctic sea-ice. That modernization
includes an integration with the systems operated by Rosatom and its
Northern Sea Route Directorate.<br>
<br>
The federal authority is leading key parts of Russia’s research of
Arctic weather and climate developments.<br>
<br>
It is taking an active part in the ongoing major investments in the
Russian Arctic, including the development of the Northern Sea Route.<br>
<br>
Shipping across the Russian Arctic has increased explosively over
the last years and in 2020 exceeded 32 million tons of goods. That
figure is to increase to 80 million tons by year 2024 and to 130
million tons by 2035, Yuri Trutnev reiterated to the member of the
Arctic Commission.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2021/01/what-happening-arctic-weather-moscow-wants-know">https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2021/01/what-happening-arctic-weather-moscow-wants-know</a><br>
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[politico]<br>
<b>How the Department of Defense could help win the war on climate
change</b><br>
The Pentagon has a huge appetite for clean energy — and a massive
budget.<br>
<br>
President-elect Joe Biden has warned that climate change will pose
future threats for the U.S. military as it worsens unrest in
volatile regions and creates new dangers to its facilities from
rising seas, powerful storms and harsh droughts.<br>
<br>
But the Defense Department also offers a silver lining on climate
change for the new president: a huge appetite for clean energy
sources and a massive budget to help accelerate the development of
new technologies needed to curb greenhouse gases and harden
infrastructure to protect against worsening climate impacts.<br>
Biden has called climate change an "existential threat" and promised
to spend $2 trillion to expand clean energy and build resilient
facilities over the next four years. But that ambitious plan will
need approval from Congress — a heavy lift that's likely to draw
resistance from Republicans who may control the Senate and block any
major green plans. That's where the Pentagon can provide some help.<br>
<br>
The Pentagon has long been a crucial customer for clean energy
technologies, driving the country's adoption of solar power and the
rollout of mobile batteries. Now, its $700 billion budget may offer
an opportunity for the Biden administration to help scale-up
industries such as those producing electric vehicles and advanced
batteries.<br>
<br>
"Start with the fact the Department of Defense is the single largest
energy user," said Sherri Goodman, a deputy undersecretary of
defense for environmental security under Obama and now a senior
fellow at the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security
Program, a think tank. "What it does and how it uses its energy, how
it reduces its emissions, makes its bases more resilient to climate
threats — that helps all America by learn by example."<br>
<br>
Though its energy consumption has been declining for years, the
Defense Department is still by far the largest energy user in the
federal government — accounting for more than three-quarters of
total government energy usage and 15 times the energy consumption of
the Post Office, the No. 2 consumer — and it emits about 1 percent
of the total U.S. carbon emissions.<br>
The Pentagon helped jump-start the U.S. solar industry back in 2007,
when the Air Force contracted to build a 14-megawatt solar farm at
Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, then the largest plant of its kind
in the country. Since then, the industry has built solar projects
more than 40 times that size, and the military has been one its
biggest customers, adding more than 130 megawatts to bases in nearly
three dozen states.<br>
<br>
Former President Barack Obama also pushed the Pentagon to experiment
with biofuels to reduce its ships' dependence on oil, and though a
"Great Green Fleet" powered by biofuels from home-grown crops failed
to live up its promise, then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus found success
in even simple solutions: He ordered refitting ships to replace all
their bulbs with high efficiency technology, saving power and
allowing the ships to stay at sea longer. And the aviation biofuels
developed during the period are now being used by airlines to
acquire carbon offsets required by European aviation authorities.<br>
U.S. troops also saw other benefits from the Obama years. Batteries
carried by soldiers to power radios and other equipment went from 13
pounds to nine pounds, easing their load while they are on
maneuvers.<br>
<br>
Though Congress often guides the Defense Department on energy
conservation projects through the annual National Defense
Authorization Act, President Donald Trump reversed many of Obama's
efforts to use the federal government to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions to fight climate change, including through a 2018
executive order revoking specific carbon reduction targets for
federal agencies. And military leaders who resented being tools of a
policy they didn't feel contributed to the fighting mission were
relieved to see an end to that chapter.<br>
<br>
Biden is likely to lean on his incoming Defense secretary, former
Gen. Lloyd Austin, to ramp up the use of renewable energy sources
while hardening the nation's military bases to the dangers from
climate change. Though Austin was tapped over Michele Flournoy, an
Obama DoD official with deep experience fighting climate change,
experts say he will be keenly aware of the dangers hurricanes and
fires pose to bases, and will bring experience dealing with the
complexities of fuel logistics.<br>
<br>
As commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Austin oversaw the
first impact of climate change in a theater of operations, in 2015,
said Andrew Holland, chief operating officer for the think tank the
American Security Project.<br>
<br>
"He should know the importance of this, even as he doesn’t have a
long record working on this issue,” he said.<br>
<br>
Biden's transition team declined to comment on his plans, and
pointed to his posted climate plans.<br>
<br>
Biden will likely pick up an Obama-era program in which bases in
Nevada and Hawaii built microgrids, enabling them to keep their
lights on and continue operations even if the civilian power supply
failed. The maturity of solar and wind technology has also driven
down prices, and U.S. bases in many places may be able to install
their own generation at a lower cost than fossil power.<br>
<br>
Biden will also get the advantage of the cultural shift toward
efficiency and renewables engendered by Obama and his Defense
officials, Goodman said. Veterans have entered the clean energy
workforce in higher numbers than other parts of the workforce in
states like Ohio, where 11 percent of the clean energy workforce
were veterans — double their representation in other industries,
according to a report from Clean Energy Trust, a Midwestern clean
energy investment fund. And junior officers who were still learning
how to implement energy efficiency measures during the Obama years
have now advanced to positions of responsibility inside the
military.<br>
The threats to its bases from storms packing a stronger punch
because of climate change and increased flooding may be the most
expensive risks for the Pentagon now. Bases in Florida have suffered
billions of dollars in damages in recent years, and the Norfolk
Naval Shipyard in Virginia has flooded nearly a dozen times in
recent years because of rising seas.<br>
<br>
The Iraq War also drove home the need to find more fuel efficient
ways of operating, as fuel truckers had among the highest casualty
rates in the war. Between 2003 and 2007, nearly 3,000 contractors
died or were injured transporting oil to forward operating bases,
according to an American Security Project report. Dependence on fuel
oil for tanks and Humvees prompted the commander of forces in Iraq —
who was later Secretary of Defense — Gen. Jim Mattis to ask military
technologists to "unleash us from the tether of fuel."<br>
<br>
That sentiment dovetails with Biden's plan to rapidly expand the
U.S. manufacturing capacity for electric vehicles — an effort where
the Pentagon could play a similar role as it did with solar power
over a decade ago.<br>
<br>
"We're going to buy electric vehicles," Holland said. "There will be
an increased push to make that a part of energy resilience as well."<br>
<br>
But if Biden wishes to wield the military's energy budget to push
climate goals, he will likely have to find a way to exercise greater
control over the purchasing decisions.<br>
<br>
Ben Steinberg, now a consultant with Venn Strategies, was the key
Energy Department liaison with the Defense Department during part of
the Obama administration, and he helped link up DOE energy
efficiency and technology programs to the appropriate offices in the
Pentagon. He warns that while DoD has a lot of money to invest in
research and in scaling up solar, spending decisions are made by
thousands of different people across bases, ships and other
installations.<br>
<br>
"DoD is not a monolithic entity," he said. "It's hard to consolidate
all of that and have the buying power all working together. My
advice is to drive it at the highest level possible and have the
[White House Office of Management and Budget] extremely involved in
purchasing things and have the OMB drive it with tools. That's with
things like electric vehicles, clustering how you purchase renewable
energy so multiple bases can go into a deal together and costs can
come down."<br>
<br>
Biden may also be able to duck some of the resistance Obama faced
from conservatives. Sen. Jim Inhofe, now chair of the Armed Services
Committee, previously lambasted Obama for putting policy objectives
ahead of military ones. But solar and wind power in conjunction with
batteries have fallen so much in cost that fighting climate change
and advancing the Pentagon's fighting mission are no longer in
conflict.<br>
<br>
"So long as the military spending is mission and capabilities driven
first, if that spending has broader economic and climate benefits,
that’s great," said Nick Loris, a fellow in Energy and Environmental
Policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "We shouldn’t
mandate pricier electricity or fuels on the military unless DOD
determines the national security benefits justify the higher costs,
which hasn’t always been the case. That diverts resources away from
more productive use. However, if the green technologies are cheaper
and enhance mission capabilities, all the better."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/04/biden-pentagon-climate-change-454404">https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/04/biden-pentagon-climate-change-454404</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
January 7, 1982</b></font><br>
The New York Times reports:<br>
<blockquote>"Mankind's activities in increasing the amount of carbon
dioxide and other chemicals in the atmosphere can be expected to
have a substantial warming effect on climate, with the first clear
signs of the trend becoming evident within this decade, a
scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
said here today.<br>
<br>
"The changes are in prospect because of excess carbon dioxide put
into the atmosphere as humans burn coal, gas, oil and wood and cut
forests for agriculture and other purposes. More recently there
has also been an atmospheric buildup of methane, nitrous oxide and
other chemicals as a result of agriculture and industry, said Dr.
James Hansen of the space agency's Goddard Institute for Space
Studies in New York.<br>
<br>
"Dr. Hansen spoke at a session of the annual meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science here and
amplified some of his remarks at a news conference."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/07/us/warming-of-world-s-climate-expected-to-begin-in-the-80-s.html">http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/07/us/warming-of-world-s-climate-expected-to-begin-in-the-80-s.html</a><br>
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