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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>March 20, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[Top opinion from Washington Post]<br>
<b>Opinion: The danger of climate change is imminent. The Senate
must approve a strong policy.</b><br>
Opinion by Editorial Board<br>
March 18, 2021 <br>
<br>
THERE HAVE been many moments when it seemed as though the United
States would tackle climate change, only for hopes to be dashed.
Now, it has another chance. President Biden promised to put global
warming at the top of his agenda, and congressional Democrats, for
now clinging to narrow majorities, are beginning to offer plans.<br>
<br>
The danger is imminent. The world cannot afford another round of
nice-sounding proposals followed by inaction. Congress must go big
on climate change.<br>
<br>
One plan, the sprawling Clean Future Act, released earlier this
month by the leaders of several House committees, would have the
country reach net-zero greenhouse emissions by mid-century, starting
with massive decarbonization of the electricity sector over the next
decade. The bill would require utilities to derive increasing
amounts of their electricity from clean sources, which include
renewables, nuclear power and, for a limited time and at a
discounted rate, natural-gas-fired power plants. The bill would
invest in electric car infrastructure, compensate coal country for
lost jobs and ask states to develop emissions-cutting plans that
would address any areas federal programs failed to cover.<br>
Elements of the Clean Future Act might have bipartisan appeal, but
the package as a whole is unlikely to attract GOP support. No doubt
sensing that Democrats would seek to impose emissions regulations
and mandates, as does the Clean Future Act, some Republicans and
industry players have begun talking up market-based reforms that
would be less costly and disruptive. Major oil companies now favor
taxing at some level the carbon content of fuels such as gasoline.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called for such a tax in February. Even
the American Petroleum Institute, a longtime opponent of climate
action, is reportedly considering endorsing a carbon tax.<br>
<br>
These voices should have spoken up a decade ago. Democrats have been
reluctant to embrace such a plan since 2010, when they proposed a
carbon pricing bill and slammed into a wall of coal-state and
industry opposition. Since then, the left has soured on market-based
emissions policies. Many Democrats now favor massive spending and
regulations instead.<br>
<br>
But market-based incentives should be part of any climate
legislation, for reasons of policy and politics alike. Democrats
need more than their side to get a comprehensive bill. They need 10
Republican votes to reach 60 in the Senate. The only other option is
using reconciliation, a parliamentary maneuver that allows
budget-related bills to pass the Senate by a simple majority. But
climate mandates would not qualify for reconciliation. Using
reconciliation, Democrats could enact massive federal subsidies but
not climate regulations. They also could impose carbon taxes, or a
mix of carbon taxes and spending.<br>
<br>
In a functional Congress, this situation would produce a deal: Mr.
Romney and other GOP senators would offer a carbon tax; Democrats
would insist that some of its revenue go to underserved communities
and renewable energy research; the nation would get a climate plan.
Mr. Romney should try. Democrats should listen. If it does not work,
Democrats must find another path. One way or another, this Senate
must approve a strong climate policy.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-congress-must-go-big-on-climate-change/2021/03/18/80dd58fc-876e-11eb-bfdf-4d36dab83a6d_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-congress-must-go-big-on-climate-change/2021/03/18/80dd58fc-876e-11eb-bfdf-4d36dab83a6d_story.html</a><br>
<p>- -<br>
</p>
[video lecture - Beckwith agrees]<br>
<b>We NEED Climate Operation Warp Speed: We’re close to a
Terrestrial Biosphere Tipping Point: 1 of 2</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyBRkKFyw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyBRkKFyw</a><br>
<b>Climate Operation Warp Speed (COWS) Needed to Avert Terrestrial
Sink to Source Tipping Point: 2 of 2</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWXv3TRV3IQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWXv3TRV3IQ</a><br>
<br>
Paul Beckwith - Mar 18, 2021<br>
Humanity desperately needs a Climate Operation Warp Speed (COWS).
Earthlings must pull out all stops, and work relentlessly until COWS
comes home to Earth. <br>
<br>
We did it for the coronavirus. The average time to develop a new
vaccine is ten years. Since big governments around the planet pushed
hard to develop vaccines, it took less than a year, and we know have
multiple working vaccines (20? 30?)<br>
<br>
Governments around the world put in multi-billion dollar preorders
for vaccines, and ongoing deployment logistics to a large fraction
of countries population is still ongoing. Science was prepared, with
DNA based development, and perhaps lucky. Global cooperation
resulted in the fasted vaccine mobilization in history, by an order
of magnitude (10x).<br>
<br>
This should be a lesson. When facing a world-threatening crisis,
there are no substitutes for government leadership. It makes me feel
better about our chances in diverting a comet or asteroid if we find
one will hit us in a decade or two. Why can’t government do this for
our climate crises.<br>
<br>
We need COWS. We need COWS. We will not rest until COWS come home!
<br>
<br>
There is no time to waste. We are extremely close to a temperature
tipping point for the terrestrial biosphere. Our land sink presently
captures about 30% (2.6 PgC per year) of our yearly anthropogenic
carbon emissions. With Business-as-Usual (BAU) keeping us on the
highest emission scenario (RCP8.5) the land temperatures will cause
our land carbon sink to become a net carbon source by about 2040,
and then atmospheric and ocean carbon will skyrocket.<br>
<br>
I discuss the latest science on C3 (most plants) having a
photosynthesis maximum at 18C, and C4 plants (grasses, corn) having
the maximum at 28C. The mean temperature of the warmest quarter of
the year (3 months) passed the thermal maximum for photosynthesis
within the last decade. With BAU the land sink capture will halve to
only 15% of anthropogenic emissions and the overall land surface
will tip to a source. <br>
<br>
In Part 1 of my two part video series, I chat about the key
highlights of the terrestrial tipping point science.<br>
<br>
In Part 2 I delve into the graphs and nitty gritty of the science
and why we can expect the land to tip over from a net carbon sink to
a carbon source within two decades or so.<br>
1 - <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyBRkKFyw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyBRkKFyw</a><br>
2 - <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWXv3TRV3IQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWXv3TRV3IQ</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Simple talk video 5 min]<br>
<b>Why we don't act: Climate Change Psychology</b><br>
Aug 6, 2020<br>
ClimateAdam<br>
Little kids are bad at delayed gratification. But unfortunately so
are adults. I take a look at why weighing future benefits against
present costs makes climate change such a challenging conundrum.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/DWTjbgeHZTg">https://youtu.be/DWTjbgeHZTg</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[NPR notices the fishes]<br>
<b>One Of Biden's Biggest Climate Change Challenges? The Oceans</b><br>
March 18, 2021<br>
LAUREN SOMMER<br>
- text and audio - <br>
<br>
A few years ago, marine biologist Kyle Van Houtan spotted an online
video that he couldn't quite believe. It showed a young great white
shark, about five-feet long, swimming just off a pier in Central
California.<br>
<br>
"Our initial reaction was that it can't be true," Van Houtan says.
"We know that they're in Southern California and Mexico, not in
Monterey."<br>
<br>
When they're young, white sharks typically live in the warm waters
of Southern California, hundreds of miles from the cold, rough surf
up north off Monterey.<br>
<br>
Still, the shark in the video wouldn't be the only one to appear.
Since 2014, young white sharks have been arriving off Monterey in
greater numbers.<br>
<br>
The sharks were simply following the water temperatures they're
adapted to. The ocean was warmer, shifting the sharks' habitat from
where it's normally found. Similar shifts are being seen around the
world, just one of the ways that climate change is hitting the
oceans hard.<br>
<br>
Ocean scientists say the Biden Administration is taking office at a
critical time. Sea levels are rising, fish are migrating away from
where they're normally caught, and the water itself is becoming more
acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide that humans emit.<br>
<br>
While the administration has appointed climate change advisors
throughout the federal government, a key role remains unfilled: the
head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an
agency that oversees everything from fisheries policy to marine
sanctuaries.<br>
<br>
Environmental advocates are hoping the oceans play a central role in
Biden's climate agenda, including post-pandemic recovery plans.
Restoring coastal marshes and mangroves creates jobs, as well as
brings back crucial habitat for marine life and buffers coastal
communities against rising seas and storm surges.<br>
<br>
"The ocean is not just a victim," says Miriam Goldstein, director of
ocean policy at the Center fo American Progress. "The ocean can also
be a hero. The ocean can protect us from the climate change that's
already underway."<br>
<br>
The arrival of the young white sharks in Central California
coincided with another unusual event, known as the "blob." A marine
heat wave was spreading across the waters of the north Pacific
Ocean.<br>
<br>
"That was some of the warmest water we've ever had in recorded
history off the West Coast of the U.S.," Van Houtan says, who is the
chief scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In Monterey, water
temperatures were as much as 10 degrees above average.<br>
<br>
Thus far, the oceans have literally been taking the heat from
climate change. Over the last 50 years, they've absorbed more than
90% of the excess heat in the atmosphere from human-caused warming.<br>
<br>
Young white sharks congregate in Southern California for its warmer
water. Only later, when they bulk up considerably, do they move into
cooler waters, eventually growing to 15 feet. As the marine heat
wave spread, the sharks followed their patch of warm water as it
moved north up the coast, according to a new study. Overall their
available habitat shrank, since the temperatures to the south and
west were no longer tolerable.<br>
<br>
Scientists John O'Sullivan of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Chris
Lowe of California State University release a tagged juvenile white
shark off Southern California, part of an effort to track their
movement.<br>
Monterey Bay Aquarium<br>
While the water has cooled a bit recently, the white sharks have
stuck around. Scientists still aren't sure how it could affect the
overall ecosystem as new species come into contact with the
established native species.<br>
<br>
"Predators and prey are now crowded into smaller spaces," Van Houtan
says. "If I'm a prey species, there's just fewer places to hide. And
that is a big concern when you're thinking of the overall picture
and you're thinking of commercial fisheries and sardines and
salmon."<br>
<br>
But Van Houtan cautions that the sharks themselves are not the
problem. Marine heat waves are expected to become hotter and last
longer due to climate change.<br>
<br>
"This is not a story about sharks," he says. "This is a story about
climate. The sharks are following their temperatures and their
habitat. They're following their home as it moves up the coast. Our
emissions are the problem."<br>
<br>
Oceans in crisis<br>
<br>
Similar shifts are happening across the oceans. On the East Coast,
lobsters are moving north, one of the reasons that fishermen in
southern New England are increasingly finding their traps empty. The
fishing fleet in North Carolina is having to travel farther and
farther north to find their catch.<br>
<br>
Most fishery regulations weren't written with these dynamic changes
in mind. Some rules are controlled by states, even though fish move
across state lines. Others limit fishing to fixed areas, governed by
lines on a map that may mean little as species move elsewhere.<br>
<br>
"Our management system has not caught up," Goldstein says. "So we
need to look at what it will take to help these fishing communities,
fishermen, processors adapt to what unfortunately is the new
reality."<br>
<br>
In addition to warming, the ocean is also becoming more acidic
because it's absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, posing a
significant threat to oysters and other shellfish.<br>
<br>
As a result, scientists say that cutting overall heat-trapping
emissions will be crucial for ocean health, a policy the Trump
Administration rolled back. Trump also sought to expand offshore oil
and gas leasing in the oceans and removed protections for the
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a unique
underwater canyon ecosystem off the coast of New England.<br>
<br>
"I think it's fair to say that the last four years were pretty rough
for the environment and they were certainly rough for the ocean,"
says George Leonard, chief scientist at Ocean Conservancy.<br>
<br>
Without a new leader appointed at NOAA so far, the Biden
Administration's ocean agenda hasn't been spelled out yet, aside
from the agency's recent request for feedback about how to make
ocean policy resilient to climate change. The goal with the biggest
potential impact is Biden's 30x30 commitment, which aims to conserve
30% of the land and oceans by 2030.<br>
<br>
"The ocean needs a lot more protection," Leonard says. "We have a
biodiversity crisis in the ocean and that's being driven by climate
change and overexploitation. Process really matters with 30x30. This
isn't just about fish. It's about people too. There are a lot of
people and communities who can get hurt if establishing protected
areas isn't done in a just and equitable way."<br>
<br>
Traditionally, fishing groups have largely fought ocean
conservation, since it can limit access to valuable fishing grounds.
But some say the effects of climate change mean the conversations
need to start now.<br>
<br>
"Everybody I talk to, everybody I work with is seeing things
change," says Eric Brazer, deputy director of the Gulf of Mexico
Reef Fish Shareholders' Alliance, an association of Gulf Coast
fishermen. "They are the ones who often see and experience these
changes before anybody else does."<br>
<br>
Brazer says if the Biden Administration wants to be successful, it
will need to work with local groups from the outset. Recently, NOAA
tripled the size of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
off the coast of Texas and New Orleans. Even though it limited
fishing, Brazer says his colleagues were ultimately supportive since
they had been involved in the conversations from the beginning.<br>
<br>
"Fishermen's businesses are going to be impacted by this," Brazer
says. "That's why it's especially critical for us to be at the
table, be at the podium, have access to the managers and start to
answer these questions that are unanswered at this point."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/18/975782053/one-of-bidens-biggest-climate-change-challenges-the-oceans">https://www.npr.org/2021/03/18/975782053/one-of-bidens-biggest-climate-change-challenges-the-oceans</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[EPA Press Release]<br>
News Releases from Headquarters›Air and Radiation (OAR)<br>
<b>EPA Reboots Climate Change Website</b><br>
03/18/2021<br>
Contact Information: EPA Press (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:press@epa.gov">press@epa.gov</a>)<br>
WASHINGTON (March 18, 2021) -- As part of the Biden-Harris
Administration's commitment to action on climate change and
restoring science, EPA is taking the first step in a relaunch of its
climate change website. For the first time in four years, EPA now
has a webpage to guide the public to a range of information,
including greenhouse gas emissions data, climate change impacts,
scientific reports, and existing climate programs within EPA and
across the federal government.<br>
<br>
"Climate facts are back on EPA's website where they should be," said
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "Considering the urgency of this
crisis, it's critical that Americans have access to information and
resources so that we can all play a role in protecting our
environment, our health, and vulnerable communities. Trustworthy,
science-based information is at the foundation of strong, achievable
solutions."<br>
The Biden-Harris Administration has made it clear that addressing
climate change is a national priority. In the weeks and months to
come, EPA will be adding new, updated information on climate change
science, impacts, what EPA is doing and what you can do, providing a
trustworthy, accurate public resource on climate change issues and
solutions.<br>
<br>
Climate change leads to rising seas, retreating snow and ice, and to
changes in the frequency and intensity of heat waves, precipitation,
and extreme weather events. These changes, occurring as a result of
the buildup of greenhouse gases due to human activities, are
changing the climate at a pace and in a way that threatens human
health, society, and the natural environment. Children, the elderly,
and the poor are among the most vulnerable to climate-related health
effects.<br>
video - <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J15Rwfq4Ic">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J15Rwfq4Ic</a><br>
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<br>
Go to the Climate Change website.<br>
Go to the Climate Change website in Spanish.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-reboots-climate-change-website">https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-reboots-climate-change-website</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Impressive]<br>
<b>The UK just halved its Carbon Footprint</b><br>
Mar 18, 2021<br>
ClimateAdam<br>
The United Kingdom has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in
just 30 years. This huge climate change victory is a great start,
but the second half poses huge challenges that the country has
barely begun to tackle.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCZGANC8wxs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCZGANC8wxs</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p> [Dr Jennifer Atkinson podcast]<br>
<b>Episode 6: Embracing Uncertainty</b><br>
Eco-anxiety and climate grief are sometimes framed as “disorders,”
but in fact these feelings typically arise from an accurate
perception of our ecological crisis. It may be more appropriate to
identify eco-anxiety as a “moral emotion” -- a sign of compassion,
attachment to life, and desire for justice. And so paradoxically,
we can take some encouragement from the global increase in
eco-anxiety and climate grief, since our very existential
discomfort affirms a desire to live in a more just and sustainable
world. <br>
<br>
Because the fight for climate solutions is filled with such
contradictions, this episode explores some ways we are
strengthened by challenging easy assumptions about climate
distress. Our future remains unwritten, and by embracing the
unknown we are better able to reframe our thinking in empowering
ways. So-called “negative” feelings that arise in response to
ecological disruption (grief, anxiety, anger) can be seen as signs
of emotional health, while “undesirable” states like uncertainty
are potential doorways to transformation. Climate anxiety might
even be seen as a kind of superpower -- a signal that alerts us
when something's wrong and needs to be addressed, especially while
others are sleepwalking through the crisis. As Martin Luther King
Jr. once said, "the salvation of the world lies in the hands of
the maladjusted." The time has come for the maladjusted to rise. <br>
*This episode includes extended excerpts from Rebecca Solnit and
Clarissa Pinkola Estés.<br>
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly
sick society.”<br>
- Jiddu Krishnamurti <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/facing-it">https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/facing-it</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[a classic idea from January of this year]<br>
<b>Climate Change Needs an Operation Warp Speed</b><br>
If the Covid vaccine push has proved anything, it’s that big
government works.<br>
<br>
IN THE DISMAL early days of the pandemic, a vaccine seemed
depressingly far off. Historically, the average time to develop a
new vaccine was 10 years—far too long for our current emergency. But
then something happened to shift things into overdrive: serious
government action....<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wired.com/story/warp-speed-for-climate-change/">https://www.wired.com/story/warp-speed-for-climate-change/</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 -
March 20, 2014 </b></font><br>
<p>The Washington Post reports on Koch Industries' connection to the
Keystone XL pipeline.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/03/20/the-biggest-land-owner-in-canadas-oil-sands-isnt-exxon-mobil-or-conoco-phillips-its-the-koch-brothers/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/03/20/the-biggest-land-owner-in-canadas-oil-sands-isnt-exxon-mobil-or-conoco-phillips-its-the-koch-brothers/</a>
<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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