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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>May 21, 2021</b></font></i> <br>
</p>
[a great idea for now and the future]<br>
<b>Biden Proposes A 'Civilian Corps' To Address Climate Change</b><br>
May 20, 2021 - NATHAN ROTT, SCOTT DETROW<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/22/970319632/biden-proposes-a-civilian-corps-to-address-climate-change">https://www.npr.org/2021/02/22/970319632/biden-proposes-a-civilian-corps-to-address-climate-change</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
[from the BBC another great idea]<br>
<b>Climate change: EU official backs German Greens on curbing
flights</b><br>
The EU's top official on climate action has backed the German
Greens' call for tax and pricing changes to make rail travel more
popular than flying.<br>
EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said "I support taxing
kerosene like other fuels" and "nobody has to fly 10 or 12 times a
year".<br>
He did not, however, back German Green Party leader Annalena
Baerbock's call for a ban on short-haul flights.<br>
The Greens' popularity has soared ahead of a September general
election.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57185261">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57185261</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[global warming refugees]<br>
<b>Climate disasters ‘caused more internal displacement than war’ in
2020</b><br>
Refugee organisation says 30m new displacements last year were due
to floods, storms or wildfires<br>
Intense storms and flooding triggered three times more displacements
than violent conflicts did last year, as the number of people
internally displaced worldwide hit the highest level on record.<br>
<br>
There were at least 55 million internally displaced people (IDPs) by
the end of last year, according to figures published by the
Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
(IDMC).<br>
<br>
There were more than twice as many people displaced within their own
country as forced out of their country as refugees, the IDMC said.
The number is the highest on record, but in line with its steady
rise over the past decade...<br>
- -<br>
Countries with the highest disaster-driven internal displacements
were Afghanistan, with 1.1 million people; India, with 929,000; and
Pakistan with 806,000.<br>
<br>
The countries with the highest number of people displaced by
conflict and violence were Syria (6.6 million), the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (5.3 million), and Colombia (4.9 million).<br>
<br>
As well as the number of people displaced, the IDMC’s report records
the number of movements a person made during the year – if they were
displaced at least once.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/20/climate-disasters-caused-more-internal-displacement-than-war-in-2020">https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/20/climate-disasters-caused-more-internal-displacement-than-war-in-2020</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[information battleground]<br>
<b>Feel like fixing the climate crisis is your personal
responsibility? ExxonMobil has been telling you that for 20 years,
a study found.</b><br>
Morgan McFall-Johnsen May 18, 2021<br>
<blockquote>-- ExxonMobil advertisements blame climate change on
"demand" and consumer "needs," a new study found.<br>
<br>
-- Internal documents, however, say "fossil fuels" and "carbon
dioxide" cause the climate crisis.<br>
<br>
-- Two Harvard researchers say ExxonMobil is intentionally
deflecting climate responsibility.<br>
</blockquote>
When Naomi Oreskes lectures about climate change, she gets the same
question over and over again.<br>
<br>
"A member of the audience will say: 'Well, what can I personally do?
What can I do as an individual to fix this problem?'" Oreskes, a
science historian at Harvard University, told Insider. "Much less
frequently do they say: 'What can we do about the way the fossil
fuel industry is blocking policy action?'"<br>
<br>
It's a common idea: That the best way to fight climate change is by
making changes in your own life — using less energy, eating less
meat, driving less, flying less. But according to Oreskes and her
colleague, Geoffrey Supran, a key source of this sentiment is a set
of communications campaigns from ExxonMobil.<br>
<p>The researchers' latest analysis indicates that the oil giant
started blaming the climate crisis on consumers two decades ago.
In a study published last week, Supran and Oreskes analyzed 180
ExxonMobil documents discussing climate change from 1977 to 2014.
The set includes internal communications, peer-reviewed
publications, and "advertorials" — advertisements fashioned to
look like editorials and published in The New York Times op-ed
section.</p>
<p>Around the year 2000, the researchers found, a new trend emerged
in the company's public-facing communications. The advertisements
began to focus on how consumers use energy.<br>
<br>
"Be smart about electricity use," one 2007 advertorial suggested,
continuing: "Heat and cool your home efficiently." "Improve your
gas mileage." "Check your home's greenhouse gas emissions."<br>
<br>
Focusing on how consumers power their homes and cars, Oreskes and
Supran argue, helps ExxonMobil "downplay" its role in extracting
and burning the fossil fuels that are filling the atmosphere with
carbon dioxide and raising global temperatures. It places both the
blame and the responsibility for solving the problem onto
individuals.<br>
<br>
Oreskes thinks that these kinds of marketing campaigns from
fossil-fuel companies in general helped fuel people's fixation on
reducing their carbon footprints. In fact, BP coined the term
"carbon footprint" in 2004.<br>
<br>
"They talk about energy demand, they talk about need, they talk
about use, and they use the term 'consumers.' And this is
basically a way of shifting responsibility away from the producers
— that is to say them, ExxonMobil — and onto the consumer,"
Oreskes said.<br>
<br>
A 1997 ad even encourages policy-makers to adopt this
energy-saving mindset: "Governments should encourage and promote
voluntary actions by industry and citizens that reduce emissions
and use energy wisely. Governments can do much to raise public
awareness of the importance of energy conservation," it says.<br>
<br>
A discrepancy between how ExxonMobil talks privately and publicly<br>
In its internal communications, ExxonMobil didn't talk about
consumer demand and energy efficiency very much, the new study
found.<br>
<br>
"In the private correspondence, they still recognize that climate
change is caused by fossil-fuel use. It's caused by the burning
and combustion of their product, the thing that they have built
their corporation on, which is fossil fuels," Oreskes said. "But
in the public language, they use language that seems to shift the
responsibility to the consumer."<br>
<br>
Oreskes and Supran ran their collection of ExxonMobil documents
through a program that analyzed them for language. Advertorials
often used the terms "emissions," "risk," "energy," "energy
efficient," "meet," "demand," "use," and "need."<br>
</p>
<p>The internal documents, on the other hand, mentioned carbon
dioxide more than 1,000 times. Other terms that appeared the most
were "atmosphere" or "atmospheric," "fossil fuel," "ppm" (which
stands for parts per million, the metric by which scientists
measure atmospheric carbon dioxide), "fossil fuel combustion," and
"source."<br>
<br>
Oreskes said her findings point to "a systemic discrepancy between
the way ExxonMobil has talked about this problem in private,
versus the way they've presented it to the public."<br>
<br>
In a statement to Insider, however, ExxonMobil alleged that
Oreskes has a conflict of interest and pointed to her expert
testimony in a climate-related lawsuit last year.<br>
<br>
"This research is clearly part of a litigation strategy against
ExxonMobil and other energy companies," the statement said.<br>
<br>
Oreskes and Supran responded that they have both "served as
experts in a number of capacities to groups and organizations
involved in fighting climate change."<br>
<br>
"These efforts present no conflict of interest," the researchers
said. "They are a logical application of our knowledge and
expertise."<br>
<br>
ExxonMobil added in its statement that the company "is working to
reduce company emissions and helping customers reduce their
emissions while working on new lower-emission technologies and
advocating for effective policies."<br>
<br>
To make a difference, 'join forces with other people'<br>
Oreskes and Supran don't think ExxonMobil invented the idea that
consumers are responsible for curbing climate change. But they say
the company's language has influenced public discourse.<br>
<br>
"I do think that the fossil-fuel industry rhetoric is probably
part of the reason why so many people think of [climate change] in
personal and individualistic terms," Oreskes said. "This is what
we've been reading and hearing for an awfully long time."<br>
<br>
This isn't to say, though, that individual people can't do
anything. If a significant portion of the population powered their
homes and cars with renewable energy from solar panels or wind
turbines, that would reduce the amount of carbon added to the
atmosphere each year. Oreskes has solar panels on her roof and
uses halogen lightbulbs in her home. But she recommends against
letting lifestyle changes — like "be smart about electricity use"
or "improve your gas mileage" — overshadow the bigger picture.
About 70% of all industrial carbon emissions come from 100
fossil-fuel companies, according to a 2017 analysis by the charity
CDP.<br>
<br>
"I can change my lightbulbs as an individual. But I can't change
my electricity grid. I can't change the policies that make it
harder for renewable energy to compete. For that I have to join
forces with other people," Oreskes said.<br>
</p>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exxonmobil-pins-responsibility-for-climate-crisis-on-consumers-study-2021-5">https://www.businessinsider.com/exxonmobil-pins-responsibility-for-climate-crisis-on-consumers-study-2021-5</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[enjoyably informative paleo video]<br>
<b>Ten Thousand Years of Climate Change</b><br>
May 20, 2021<br>
ClimateAdam<br>
We talk so much about how global warming is reshaping the present,
and what the future might bring. But what did Earth's past look
like. To celebrate hitting 10k subscribers, I'm looking ten thousand
years into our history, to put today's changes in context...<br>
#CreatorsForChange #ClimateChange<br>
<br>
twitter: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.twitter.com/ClimateAdam">http://www.twitter.com/ClimateAdam</a><br>
facebook: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateAdam">https://www.facebook.com/ClimateAdam</a><br>
instagram: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://instagram.com/climate_adam">http://instagram.com/climate_adam</a><br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lHcORHIbvM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lHcORHIbvM</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[video discussion of eco-economics]<br>
<b>Dividing America for Profit</b><br>
May 20, 2021<br>
Facing Future<br>
The American political system is broken. Right and left fling the
most toxic, often ridiculous, statements about each other, to the
delight of extremists. Who benefits from this narrowing of our
minds - the political industry! Making millions from every
campaign, trafficking in fear and hate, lobbyists, strategizers,
poll takers, and advertising agencies serve special interests to the
detriment of the country. <br>
<br>
Bill Shireman is the co -founder of #EarthX, a Texas- based
organization, dedicated to bringing all sides together to overcome
polarities, and drive solutions to the climate emergency that
threatens our entire planet.<br>
<br>
We need to take the growth out of #economics. Instead of producing
and consuming endlessly, we need to establish a sustainable economy
based on the realities of ecology. Science tells us that there are
limits to the resources of the Earth, and to its capacity to absorb
our polluting industries. Aiming for a critical mass of just 5% of
the voting public, 5 million Americans, spread across all 50 states,
EarthX hopes to reverse our destructive and divisive paradigms, with
the recognition that our dollars and votes can be used to tip the
balance in favor of our survival.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-nJFav6Jw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-nJFav6Jw</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[noted here weeks ago - video]<br>
<b>Kate Aronoff with Bill McKibben: How Capitalism Broke the Planet
and How We Fight Back</b><br>
Streamed live on Apr 27, 2021<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp11KZ91NzI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp11KZ91NzI</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming May
21, 2010 </b></font><br>
In the New Republic, Al Gore notes:<br>
<blockquote>"During the last 22 years, the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change has produced four massive studies warning the
world of the looming catastrophe that is being caused by the
massive dumping of global-warming pollution into the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, this process has been vulnerable to disruption and
paralysis by a cynical and lavishly funded disinformation
campaign. A number of large carbon polluters, whose business plans
rely on their continued ability to freely dump their gaseous waste
products into the global atmospheric commons—as if it is an open
sewer—have chosen to pursue a determined and highly organized
campaign aimed at undermining public confidence in the accuracy
and integrity of the global scientific community. They have
attacked the scientific community by financing pseudo-studies
aimed at creating public doubt about peer-reviewed science. They
have also manipulated the political and regulatory process with
outsized campaign contributions and legions of lobbyists (there
are now four anti-climate lobbyists for every single member of the
House and Senate).<br>
<br>
"This epic public contest between the broad public interest and a
small but powerful special interest has taken place during a time
when American democracy has grown sclerotic. The role of money in
our politics has exploded to a dangerous level. Our democratic
conversation is now dominated by expensive 30-second television
commercials, which consume two-thirds of the campaign budgets of
candidates in both political parties. The only reliable source of
such large sums of campaign cash is business lobbies. Most members
of the House and Senate facing competitive election contests are
forced to spend several hours each day asking special interests
for money to finance their campaigns. Instead of participating in
committee hearings, floor debates, and Burkean reflection on the
impact of the questions being considered, they spend their time as
supplicants. Though many struggle to resist the influence their
donors intend to have on their decision-making process, all too
frequently human nature takes its course.<br>
<br>
"Their constituents now spend an average of five hours per day
watching television—which is, of course, why campaigns in both
political parties spend most of their money on TV advertising.
Viewers also absorb political messages from the same special
interests that are wining and dining and contributing to their
elected officials. The largest carbon polluters have, for the last
17 years, sought to manipulate public opinion with a massive and
continuing propaganda campaign, using TV advertisements and all
other forms of mass persuasion. It is a game plan spelled out in
one of their internal documents, which was leaked to an
enterprising reporter, that stated: 'reposition global warming as
theory rather than fact.' In other words, they have mimicked the
strategy pioneered by the tobacco industry, which undermined the
scientific consensus linking the smoking of cigarettes with
diseases of the lung and heart—successfully delaying appropriate
health measures for almost 40 years after the landmark surgeon
general’s report of 1964."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/the-crisis-comes-ashore">http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/the-crisis-comes-ashore</a><br>
<p><br>
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