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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>June 2, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[About time]<b><br>
</b><b> </b><b>Biden administration to suspend Arctic oil leases
issued under Trump</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/556352-biden-administration-to-suspend-arctic-oil-leases-issued-under">https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/556352-biden-administration-to-suspend-arctic-oil-leases-issued-under</a><br>
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[video from Australia]<br>
<b>Sydney teenager fights for climate change</b><br>
Jun 1, 2021<br>
Reuters<br>
Leading thousands of protest marchers aren’t the usual activities
for most 14-year-olds. But Australian student Izzy Raj-Seppings has
abandoned more frivolous activities in favor of stepping up pressure
on the country’s leadership to battle climate change. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVYK4ueW94Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVYK4ueW94Q</a><br>
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[Why not make it into a utility?]<br>
<b>BP buys string of US solar farms for £155m in clean energy drive</b><br>
Projects to be developed across 12 states by Lightsource BP will be
capable of powering 1.7m homes<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/01/bp-re-enters-us-market-buying-up-string-of-solar-farms-for-155m">https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/01/bp-re-enters-us-market-buying-up-string-of-solar-farms-for-155m</a><br>
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[Ice box meltwaters]<br>
<b>Climate Change Is Melting Arctic Ice Cellars</b><br>
For generations, Native Alaskans have preserved foods by digging 10
to 20 feet into the permafrost. As the planet warms, more than their
food security is at stake.<br>
- -<br>
No part of the whale goes to waste. Or it didn’t until recently.
It’s common for Iñupiat families to store whale meat and other
subsistence foods in icy cellars deep underground, but in recent
years, many people have reported that their cellars are either
becoming too warm and causing food to spoil, or failing completely
due to flooding or collapse. For instance, a 2014 inventory of ice
cellars in the coastal village of Wainwright conducted by the Alaska
Native Tribal Health Consortium found that 19 out of 34 cellars had
been abandoned.<br>
- -<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://civileats.com/2021/06/01/climate-change-is-melting-arctic-ice-cellars/">https://civileats.com/2021/06/01/climate-change-is-melting-arctic-ice-cellars/</a>
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[see some pictures]<br>
<b>Five satellite images that show how fast our planet is changing</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/this-is-why-satellites-are-so-vital-for-protecting-the-health-of-our-planet/">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/this-is-why-satellites-are-so-vital-for-protecting-the-health-of-our-planet/</a><br>
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[excellent instructional video ]<b><br>
</b><b>Population & Food: Crash Course Geography #16</b><br>
Jun 1, 2021<br>
CrashCourse<br>
Today we’re going to talk about the link between population and food
energy. As the world's population keeps growing, finding ways to
provide enough food and water for everyone while supporting a
sustainable environment can be tricky! We'll take a closer look at
food chains and how energy is transferred between different trophic
levels, follow the trends in human consumption as incomes rise, and
talk about the two types of overpopulation as they're related to the
planet's carrying capacity.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvc1P5edKTc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvc1P5edKTc</a><br>
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[Congressman takes a risky political step forward]<br>
<b>With GOP circling, Ossoff leans into climate change</b><br>
The Georgia Democrat said he won’t rule out mechanisms like carbon
taxes or clean energy standards as possible climate policies.<br>
- -<br>
Ossoff, who won’t face voters again until 2026, acknowledges he may
be “particularly attuned” to the need for action on climate change
since his youth means he's likely to see the increasing impacts. But
he still sees it more as an opportunity to build a thriving next
generation economy in his state.<br>
<blockquote>“The economic advantages that the fossil fuel industry
has developed over the last century are not born of the inherent
efficiency of those commodities or their production techniques,”
he said. “They're born of decisions made by policymakers to
subsidize that sector. Now what we need to do is align the
incentives so that energy production that is sustainable becomes,
as it is rapidly becoming, the dominant and most economical way of
powering our lives, power and commerce.”<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/01/jon-ossoff-climate-change-491505">https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/01/jon-ossoff-climate-change-491505</a><br>
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[Texas and Oil Industry has to act responsibly... no really. ]<br>
<b>There’s a ticking climate time bomb in West Texas</b><br>
Biden faces a critical decision about the Permian Basin and its
methane emissions from oil and gas.<br>
By Rebecca Leber - Jun 1, 2021<br>
<b>The Permian Basin is a ticking climate bomb</b><br>
When Biden first said he would issue “stronger standards like
controls from methane leaks,” in January, he never named the
nation’s No. 1 source of methane pollution. The Permian Basin tops
the list — and this runaway pollution is the primary reason why gas
can be as bad for climate change as carbon-intensive coal.<br>
- -<br>
<b>The EPA has been struggling to enact common sense methane
regulation for years...</b><br>
- -<br>
<b>There’s one last option: Biden could go all-in and declare a
climate emergency...</b><br>
The political drawbacks are clear even to environmentalists who say
it may become necessary. Biden would face serious backlash,
especially in a state that Democrats hope to win in a future
presidential election and that some say is turning purple.<br>
<br>
“An overnight ban on crude oil exports would, obviously, have
serious economic disruption for the industry and communities in
Texas and elsewhere that are built around those exports,” said
Stockman. “It would be much better to have a five-, 10-year, and
beyond plan to wind this part of our economy down in a just and fair
way.”<br>
<br>
Effective methane regulation is only a first step, because the
climate crisis requires more unprecedented action. And that’s
convincing the famously individualistic state to sunset one of its
leading industries.<br>
<br>
“Regulating emissions is just not enough,” said Rebekah Hinojosa, a
Sierra Club organizer based in Brownsville, Texas, citing the other
impacts of oil development in West Texas on the entire state’s air
quality and groundwater pollution as well as the safety hazards from
pipelines and trucks.<br>
<br>
“We’re going to actually need to wind down the industry, not just
clean it up,” Stockman said.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.vox.com/22407581/gas-texas-biden-climate-change-methane-permian-basin">https://www.vox.com/22407581/gas-texas-biden-climate-change-methane-permian-basin</a><br>
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[from the greatest living climate scientist - the Grandfather]<br>
<b>Fighting the Battles, Winning the War</b><br>
1 June 2021<br>
James Hansen<br>
The battles to slow human-made climate change have been fought
bravely by ad hoc groups of concerned citizens – trying to stop
pipelines, coal mines, fracking, etc. Winning a battle helps, and
fights are beginning to be won, including confrontations in courts
and industry board rooms.<br>
<br>
Winning the war requires governments to fight on the side of the
people. It hasn’t happened yet. Our governments have too many
politicians who are well-oiled, coal-fired, and full of gas.<br>
<br>
Instead, governments set goals for the future and heavily subsidize
renewable energies. The fossil fuel industry is pleased. They
smugly put windmills and solar panels on their websites.<br>
<br>
We have lived with that situation for three decades, since the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in
1992. Each year scientists who understand the delayed response of
the climate system – and implications for young people, future
generations and nature – become more and more frantic, but to no
avail.<br>
<br>
But today – for the first time – there is a good chance that we can
get onto a path to win the war.<br>
<br>
President Biden has the authority to impose a national carbon
fee-and-dividend, as my attorney Dan Galpern and I point out in an
op-ed in the Boston Globe. Specifically, EPA has authority to
collect a pollution fee. The Supreme Court in Massachusetts vs EPA
ruled that fossil fuel CO2 is a pollutant. The fossil fuel industry
may squeal like a stuck pig and expect rescue by the Court, but the
Court will realize its place in history, if it reverses the prior
ruling of the Roberts Court.<br>
<br>
Let’s be clear: the frequent comparison of the fossil fuel and
tobacco industries is nonsense. Fossil fuels are a valuable energy
source that has done yeomen service for humankind. One gallon (3.7
liters) of gasoline (petrol) contains the equivalent of 400 hours of
labor by a healthy adult. Fossil fuels raised living standards in
much of the world. But we now understand that fossil fuel use comes
with an unacceptable cost for young people and future generations.<br>
<br>
The fastest way to phase down fossil fuel use is via a steadily
rising carbon fee collected from fossil fuel companies. If the
funds are distributed uniformly to the public, the effect is
anti-regressive; 70 percent of the public gets more in the dividend
than they pay in increased prices.<br>
<br>
Carbon fee-and-dividend can survive successive administrations, if
the collected funds are distributed uniformly, because of its
popularity. Also, almost all economists – conservative and liberal
– agree that fee-and-dividend is the appropriate,
economically-efficient energy policy.<br>
<br>
Global solution of the climate problem requires cooperation of the
United States and China. The United States is the nation most
responsible for historic (cumulative) emissions and thus for climate
change. However, China has the largest emissions today. Both
nations have much to lose, if global emissions are not phased down
during the next few decades.<br>
<br>
If China and the United States agree to have rising carbon fees,
they would surely also place border duties on products from
countries without a carbon fee. This would be a strong incentive
for other countries to have carbon fees, so they can collect the
carbon fee themselves.<br>
<br>
In absence of such a rising carbon fee/tax, nations will keep having
annual COP (Conference of the Parties) meetings, politicians will
clap each other on the back, and young people are screwed.<br>
***<br>
In my communication of 16 March 2021 (Activists) I mentioned two
heroes in the battle against mountaintop removal (MTR): Larry Gibson
and Judy Bonds. The photo in that communication actually showed
Larry Gibson and Lorelei Scarbro. I should have recognized
Lorelei. I met her on 4 July 2010 (Independence Day on Kayford
Mountain) at a picnic on Larry Gibson’s property. That day I took
the above photo of the land directly abutting Larry’s property,
which shows the effect of mountaintop removal. When I got home, I
wrote Activist.<br>
<br>
Contrary to drivel from liberal media and ‘big green’ environmental
organizations, the climate war is not being won. We have not even
stopped mountaintop removal. For years, the U.S. Congress has
failed to pass the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act,
which asks for a halt in new or expanded coal mine permits until the
Department of Health and Human Services does a study that concludes
that there is no threat to public health. Somebody does not want
that study conducted, somebody who has more sway over our
politicians than does the public good.<br>
<br>
Jeff Biggers has done more than anyone to draw attention to
consequences of MTR and strip-mining. Biggers strongly recommends a
new short documentary, The Both of Me, which premiered over the
Memorial Day weekend.<br>
<br>
MTR is a small battle in the world war on pollution and climate
change. MTR provides a small part of U.S. coal. U.S. coal is but a
fraction of global coal. Coal is only one of the three big fossil
fuels, the others being oil and gas. Fracking to get gas is as bad
as coal mining.<br>
<br>
Winning the climate war requires a rising carbon fee that covers all
of these: oil, gas and coal.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/">http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2021/20210601_WinningTheWar.pdf">http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2021/20210601_WinningTheWar.pdf</a><br>
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</p>
[kicking Koonin]<br>
<b>That ‘Obama Scientist’ Climate Skeptic You’ve Been Hearing About
...</b>His track record on getting climate science right is
extremely poor<br>
<br>
By Naomi Oreskes, Michael E. Mann, et al...<br>
June 1, 2021<br>
<br>
If you’d heard only that a scientist who served in the Trump
administration and now regularly appears on Fox News and other
conservative media thinks climate change is a hoax, you’d roll your
eyes and move on. But if you heard that someone associated with
former President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration was
calling the climate science consensus a conspiracy, the novelty of
the messenger might make you take it a little more seriously.<br>
<br>
The latter is what Steve Koonin is using to sell his new book, which
is being billed as the revelation of an “Obama scientist” who wants
you to think that climate change isn’t a big deal. But
unfortunately, climate change is real, is caused primarily by
burning fossil fuels, and is already hurting people all over the
world, including here in the United States. <br>
<br>
For example, a study published recently found that because climate
change has caused sea levels to rise, Superstorm Sandy flooded an
additional 36,000 homes, impacting 71,000 people who would’ve been
safe otherwise, and caused $8 billion in additional damage. <br>
<br>
How many people are suffering, and paying in health care costs
because of fossil fuels isn’t the kind of thing Steve Koonin thinks
you should worry about, though. That’s because his argument in 2021
is as scientifically empty as it was in 2013, when the American
Physical Society allowed him to lead a review of their climate
consensus statement. He assembled a team of his own to challenge
mainstream scientists, and in January of 2014 held a debate for the
scientific society. You can even read the 573-page transcript of the
full-day debate. (Spoiler alert: the APS was not swayed by denial.)
But instead of accepting that his idiosyncratic view of climate
science was considered wrong by climate scientists, Koonin resigned
from the process. He evidently doesn't need to win a debate, he just
needs to make it seem like there is one. <br>
<br>
Since then, the public seems to be his target, as he racks up media
hits in the conservative “news” circuit that pushes climate denial.
From the friendly reviews and interviews he’s gotten on that
circuit, it’s clear that he’s pushing the same tired story that he
failed to get the APS and climate scientists to embrace. <br>
<br>
Steve Koonin is hoping you’ll see Obama’s name and trust him when he
tells you that he’s better equipped to summarize major climate
reports than the authors of the U.N.’s IPCC report and the U.S.
government’s National Climate Assessment, who wrote at length about
the already sizable and growing costs of climate change. <br>
<br>
He’s hoping you won’t recall that each president appoints thousands
of people, and Koonin, it turns out, was hired at the Energy
Department specifically for his contrarianism. His boss at the time,
Stephen Chu, said he “didn’t want to have a department where
everybody believed exactly as everybody else” and added that Koonin
“loves to be the curmudgeon type.” <br>
<br>
Knowing that he was brought in to play devil’s advocate because his
beliefs were in opposition to the Obama administration makes clear
that splashing his decade-old appointment on his book cover is a
marketing gimmick.<br>
<br>
When it comes to the science, Koonin cherry-picks and misrepresents
outdated material to downplay the seriousness of the climate crisis.
In April, climate scientists fact-checked Koonin’s claims as
encapsulated in a Wall Street Journal review, and found them to be
highly misleading. They explain the many ways in which he presents
outdated science as definitive and otherwise misrepresents studies
to make it seem like that the science is still out on whether or not
climate change will be bad. But if the science weren’t settled, as
he claims, then that would cut both ways: It might be worse than we
think, instead of being no big deal, as Koonin suggests.<br>
<br>
The misrepresentations cited as appearing in Koonin’s book are being
amplified in right-wing media and beyond. A recent Washington Post
column by conservative contributor Marc Thiessen repeats several
points Koonin makes. The first is citing the 2017 National Climate
Assessment to downplay rising temperatures—but the report’s very
first key finding on the topic says temperatures have risen, rapidly
since 1979, and are the warmest in 1,500 years. <br>
<br>
The second is Thiessen quoting Koonin’s use of an outdated 2014
assessment on hurricanes to downplay climate concerns. But the newer
2017 report finds that human activity has “contributed to the
observed upward trend in North Atlantic hurricane activity since the
1970s.” <br>
<br>
A third point downplays sea level rise by portraying it as steady
over time, cherry-picking reports from the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change. In fact, the rate of sea-level rise has
quadrupled since the industrial revolution, as climate scientists
pointed out years ago when Koonin made this same argument. The
remaining points are just as easily rebutted by a simple read of the
sources he is misrepresenting. But he wants you to believe that, as
an Obama hire, he knows better about what you should take away from
these reports than the scientists who wrote them.<br>
<br>
Thiessen is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. For those
unfamiliar with the tangled world of organized climate denial, a
recent study paints a pretty clear picture: of all the conservative,
climate-denying think tanks that get Koch and other industry
funding, AEI has gotten the most. It received some $380 million to
peddle industry-friendly denial like Koonin’s, much of it through
dark money pass-throughs to conceal that it’s coming from
conservative and dirty-energy donors. <br>
<br>
Koonin isn’t lying about having worked for the Obama administration,
but he’s certainly trying to portray himself as something better
than he is: a crank who’s only taken seriously by far-right
disinformation peddlers hungry for anything they can use to score
political points. He’s just another denier trying to sell a book. <br>
By Naomi Oreskes, Michael E. Mann, Gernot Wagner, Don Wuebbles,
Andrew Dessler, Andrea Dutton, Geoffrey Supran, Matthew Huber,
Thomas Lovejoy, Ilissa Ocko, Peter C. Frumhoff, Joel Clement<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/that-obama-scientist-climate-skeptic-youve-been-hearing-about/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/that-obama-scientist-climate-skeptic-youve-been-hearing-about/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<br>
[The news archive - looking back]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming
June 2, 2008</b></font><br>
<br>
June 2, 2008: The New York Times reports:<br>
<br>
"Some of the most powerful corporate leaders in America have been
meeting regularly with leading environmental groups in a conference
room in downtown Washington for over two years to work on proposals
for a national policy to limit carbon emissions.<br>
<br>
"The discussions have often been tense. Pinned on a wall, a large
handmade poster with Rolling Stones lyrics reminds everyone, 'You
can’t always get what you want.'<br>
<br>
"What unites these two groups — business executives from Duke
Energy, the Ford Motor Company and ConocoPhillips, as well as heads
of environmental organizations like the Natural Resources Defense
Council — is a desire to deal with climate change. They have broken
with much of corporate America to declare that it is time for the
federal government to act and set mandatory limits on emissions."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/business/02trade.html?pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/business/02trade.html?pagewanted=all</a><br>
<br>
<br>
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