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<font size="+2"><font face="Calibri"><i><b>July</b></i></font></font><font
size="+2" face="Calibri"><i><b> 22, 2023</b></i></font><font
face="Calibri"><br>
</font> <font face="Calibri"> </font> <br>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[ NPR - but not yet audio, text only ] </i><br>
</font> <font face="Calibri"><b>How climate change could cause a
home insurance meltdown</b><br>
July 22, 2023<br>
By Michael Copley, Rebecca Hersher, Nathan Rott</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Big wildfires had started burning more often in
California, creeping closer to Beth Pratt's home near Yosemite
National Park. So Pratt did what homeowners in fire-prone areas
are supposed to do: She added a metal roof, traded wood decking
for laminate, installed a water tank and a fire hose, and cleared
vegetation near her house. Pratt says she emptied her savings to
make her "home for life" fire resistant.<br>
<br>
But it didn't matter. Earlier this month, Pratt got a letter from
Allstate, her home insurer of 31 years, saying her coverage was
being dropped because of the threat from wildfires. "I get
companies need to make money. I have no problem with that.
Increase my rate," Pratt says. "But to just drop people — you
know, it's scary. It leaves us feeling extremely vulnerable."<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Pratt, like hundreds of thousands of other
homeowners in California, now faces the state's growing climate
threats with a weaker safety net. Over the past two years, several
big insurers, including Allstate and State Farm, have scaled back
their home insurance businesses in California to avoid paying
billions for wildfire damage, or have halted sales of new policies
altogether. Homeowners like Pratt are finding out that their
longtime insurers have decided not to renew coverage.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">California isn't alone. Insurance companies in
states like Colorado, Louisiana and Florida are paring down
business to shield themselves from ballooning losses as climate
change fuels more-intense disasters. Earlier this month, the
insurance arm of AAA announced it would not renew some "higher
exposure" home insurance policies in Florida, and Farmers
Insurance announced it will stop offering new home insurance
policies in the state and won't renew thousands of existing ones,
in part because of rising losses from hurricanes.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Nationwide, millions of homeowners are having
to find different kinds of coverage, which typically come at a
higher price with less protection.<br>
<br>
If people can't get insurance, they can't get mortgages. And
families who don't have adequate home insurance often struggle
after disasters. Some have to move because they can't pay to
repair their homes, or else they suffer long-term damage to their
finances.<br>
<br>
Several factors have converged to make adequate, reasonably priced
home insurance harder to get. State agencies regulate the
insurance industry, and they are trying to keep rates low for
residents, even as weather gets more extreme from global warming.
As a result, insurers say they can't increase rates enough to
cover the damage occurring in the riskiest places.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Meanwhile, the cost of disasters keeps going
up. People continue moving to coastal regions vulnerable to
hurricanes and to rural, forested areas around the country that
are prone to wildfires. When homes get destroyed, inflation is
making it more expensive to rebuild. All the while, the rising
temperatures driving disasters are caused primarily by burning
fossil fuels that insurance companies themselves continue to
underwrite and invest in.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">The United States is "marching steadily towards
an uninsurable future," says Dave Jones, a law professor at the
University of California, Berkeley and the state's former
insurance commissioner.<br>
<br>
Allstate wouldn't comment on Pratt's case.<br>
<br>
The shrinking of home insurance options comes at a time when most
American families have little in savings, and many can't get a
loan to repair a house that's damaged or destroyed. So, when
people can't get home insurance, or have inadequate coverage, the
consequences can be profound.<br>
<br>
"That impacts real estate, it impacts construction, it impacts
lending. It's just ingrained with everything," says David Marlett,
managing director of the Brantley Risk & Insurance Center at
Appalachian State University. "Just as a human being, if you want
to be able to stay where you live or where your job is or where
your kids go to school, you want to be able to rebuild your house,
you have to have a solvent insurance company that provides good
coverage so that you can rebuild.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>This crisis has been a long time in the
making</b><br>
American insurers already have a history of cutting back coverage
in the face of disasters. The first big rupture in the U.S.
insurance market happened decades ago when most companies stopped
covering flooding.<br>
<br>
Companies decided flooding was "uninsurable," says Don Hornstein,
a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
That's because it's complicated to figure out which places will
flood and how often those floods will occur. "They didn't have
maps or statistical basis to calculate what the premiums could be,
which is the bread and butter of insurance, and partly because, I
think, of an intuition — probably true — that if they could figure
it out, no one would be able to afford it."<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">That led the federal government to create the
National Flood Insurance Program in 1968, and it now provides the
vast majority of residential flood insurance in the U.S. The
program is backed by taxpayer dollars, but it is chronically in
debt and is increasingly unaffordable for homeowners because it
wasn't designed for the enormous climate risk that the U.S. now
faces.<br>
<br>
In the decades since the program's creation, climate change has
made other types of disasters, like hurricanes and wildfires, more
unpredictable and expensive too, which is slowly undermining
private insurance markets state by state.<br>
<br>
After Hurricane Andrew caused an estimated $26 billion in damage
in Florida in 1992, the state's insurance market was "falling
apart," Marlett says. Some insurers went bankrupt, others pulled
back, and the price of insurance rose for homeowners.<br>
<br>
Thirteen years later, Hurricane Katrina unleashed a home insurance
meltdown in Louisiana. In both states, private insurance markets
never fully recovered. That pushed more homeowners to rely on
special state-run plans that are only available if you can't get
home insurance any other way. Those state-run insurers of last
resort were forced to take on billions of dollars in home
insurance policies that no private company would accept.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">A spate of devastating climate-driven
hurricanes and wildfires in recent years has only exacerbated the
problem, causing so much damage that many small insurance
companies have gone bankrupt, and larger companies have continued
to pull out of the riskiest areas. Wildfires have caused more than
$30 billion in insured losses in California since 2017, according
to the reinsurance company Munich Re.<br>
<br>
In Florida, the state's insurer of last resort, known as Citizens
Property Insurance Corp., expected to do more business in 2023
than it did in the previous two decades, mainly due to "continued
instability within the Florida insurance market" following the
devastating damage caused by Hurricane Ian last year.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">The average price of home insurance has risen
by 21% nationwide since 2015, says George Hosfield, senior
director of home insurance at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. That
comes to hundreds of dollars more for the average homeowner's
annual premium.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/22/1186540332/how-climate-change-could-cause-a-home-insurance-meltdown">https://www.npr.org/2023/07/22/1186540332/how-climate-change-could-cause-a-home-insurance-meltdown</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font> </p>
<i><br>
</i><i><font face="Calibri"> [ June was the hottest ever for humans
on this planet, July is likely to also set a record. ]</font></i><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>NASA issues July heat warning as
temperatures remain high</b><br>
A wave of extreme heat, wildfires, torrential rain and flooding
has wreaked havoc around the world in recent days.<br>
</font>21 Jul 2023<br>
A prominent NASA climatologist has said this July will probably be
the world’s hottest month in “hundreds, if not thousands, of years”.<br>
<br>
This month has already seen daily records shattered. The trend of
extreme heat is unmistakable and will likely be reflected in the
more robust monthly reports issued later by United States agencies,
said Gavin Schmidt in a NASA briefing with reporters on Thursday.<br>
<br>
“We are seeing unprecedented changes all over the world – the heat
waves that we’re seeing in the US in Europe and in China are
demolishing records, left, right and centre,” he added.<br>
<br>
The effects cannot be attributed solely to the El Nino weather
pattern, which “has really only just emerged”, he said.<br>
The warning from Schmidt comes as a wave of extreme heat, wildfires,
torrential rain and flooding wreaked havoc across the world in
recent days, raising new fears about the pace of climate change.<br>
<br>
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the extreme heat was
straining healthcare systems, hitting older people, infants and
children.<br>
<b>Wildfires, closures in Europe</b><br>
On Thursday, Greece said archaeological sites, including the
Acropolis, will be closed during the hottest hours of the day due to
a new heatwave.<br>
<br>
The nation is preparing for further high temperatures until Sunday.<br>
<br>
As Greece announced the restrictions, firefighters were still
battling wildfires west of Athens, which have so far burned
thousands of hectares.<br>
<br>
In Spain, the heat peak has passed but temperatures remained high
overall on Thursday, with readings above 25 degrees Celsius (77
degrees Fahrenheit) recorded at 120 of the 900 stations in the
official meteorological network.<br>
<br>
Temperatures in excess of 35C (95F) were forecast across the
southern half of the country, leading authorities to warn of “very
high to extreme” risk of fire.<br>
n the Balkans, a Croatian firefighter was reported to have died
during a deadly storm that swept the Balkans after a heatwave,
bringing the death toll to six.<br>
<br>
Emergency services in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia scrambled
to restore electricity and clear the debris left over after
Wednesday’s chaos.<br>
<br>
Meteorologists said the storm was extremely powerful as it was
formed after a string of very hot days.<br>
<br>
<b>Heatwave, floods in Asia</b><br>
Temperatures of 35C (95F) and above continued to menace China as
parts of the country register record temperatures.<br>
<br>
Northwestern Xinjiang, where temperatures hit a record high 52.2C
(125.9 F) on Sunday, remained blanketed in worse-than-usual heat
while in neighbouring Gansu province some areas suffered intense
heat while others warned of floods and landslides.<br>
Beijing and other cities braced for severe flooding on Friday as
summer storms rolled across many parts of China, while inland
regions baked in intense heat, threatening to shrink the country’s
biggest freshwater lake.<br>
<br>
In India, rescue teams resumed a search on Friday for possible
survivors of a massive landslide in the western part of the country
that killed 16 people and was suspected to have trapped more than
100.<br>
<br>
Thick fog and heavy rain hampered already difficult rescue efforts
even further on Friday, Indian television news channels said, more
than a day after the incident occurred at midnight on Thursday.<br>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/21/nasa-issues-july-heat-warning-as-temperatures-remain-high">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/21/nasa-issues-july-heat-warning-as-temperatures-remain-high</a></font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
<font face="Calibri"><br>
</font><br>
<i><font face="Calibri">[ Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder
]</font></i><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>China’s Fight Against Climate Change and
Environmental Degradation</b></font><br>
<font face="Calibri">China’s carbon emissions threaten global
efforts to fight climate change. Its broader environmental
degradation endangers economic growth, public health, and
government legitimacy. Are Beijing’s policies enough?</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">WRITTEN BY Lindsay Maizland</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">UPDATED May 19, 2021 2:20 pm (EST)</font><br>
<blockquote><font face="Calibri">Summary<br>
- - China is the world’s top emitter, producing more than a
quarter of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, which
contribute to climate change.<br>
- - It pledged to cut emissions under the Paris Agreement,
reduce coal use, and invest in renewable energy. But its Belt
and Road Initiative still finances coal-fired power plants
abroad. <br>
- - Air pollution, water scarcity, and soil contamination remain
threats to the health and livelihoods of China’s people,
increasing dissatisfaction with the government...<br>
</font></blockquote>
<font face="Calibri">- -</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Is this a threat to the Chinese Communist
Party? <br>
CFR’s Huang argues in his book Toxic Politics: China’s
Environmental Health Crisis and Its Challenge to the Chinese State
that pollution and environmental degradation are among the
“biggest obstacles to China’s future economic growth and political
stability.” The government’s failure to meaningfully address
pollution could lead citizens to question the legitimacy of
China’s leaders and political system, he writes. <br>
<br>
Indeed, as public awareness of environmental degradation has
increased over the past two decades, public dissatisfaction and
the number of petitions and protests have grown. Citizens have
organized hundreds of protests, including in the cities of
Guangdong, Kunming, Shanghai, and Wuhan. In 2013, the number of
“abrupt environmental incidents,” including protests, rose to 712,
a 31 percent jump from the previous year. Citizen petitions
related to environmental issues increased from 1.05 million in
2011 to 1.77 million in 2015.<br>
<br>
Environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have pushed the
government to confront problems. Thousands of these
groups—domestically based but often working with foreign
counterparts—have advocated for transparency, investigated
suspected corruption, and led grassroots campaigns. They have had
some success, taking advantage of a 2015 law that made it easier
to file cases against polluters. <br>
<br>
But the Chinese Communist Party fears activism could catalyze
democratic social change, and so has constrained the efforts of
organizations, activists, and grassroots movements. For example, a
2016 law made it harder for international NGOs to work in China.
Under Xi, the government has shown more resolve to crack down on
public dissent, including by arresting activists and censoring
documentaries and social media commentary.<br>
<br>
The government’s inability to curb pollution could damage China’s
international standing, experts say. “China cannot regain its
greatness in the world if its people continue to breathe polluted
air, drink toxic water, and eat tainted food,” writes Huang.<br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-climate-change-policies-environmental-degradation">https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-climate-change-policies-environmental-degradation</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[ Dave Roberts' energy optimism - audio ]</i><br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><b>Enhanced geothermal power is finally
a reality</b><br>
A conversation with Fervo CEO Tim Latimer.<br>
David Roberts <br>
Traditional geothermal power, which has been around for over a
century, exploits naturally occurring fissures underground,
pushing water through them to gather heat and run a turbine.
Unfortunately, those fissures only occur naturally in particular
geographies, limiting geothermal’s reach.<br>
<br>
For decades, engineers and entrepreneurs have dreamed of creating
their own fissures in the underground rock, which would allow them
to drill geothermal wells almost anywhere.<br>
<br>
These kind of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) have been
attempted again and again since the 1970s, with no luck getting
costs down low enough to be competitive. Despite dozens of
attempts, there has never been a working commercial enhanced
geothermal power plant.<br>
<br>
Until now. <br>
Last week, the geothermal developer Fervo Energy announced that
its first full-scale power plant passed its production test phase
with flying colors. With that, Fervo has, at long last, made it
through all the various tests and certifications needed to prove
out its technology. It now has a working, fully licensed power
plant, selling electricity on the wholesale market, and enough
power purchase agreements (PPAs) with eager customers to build
many more.<br>
<br>
EGS is now a real thing — the first new entrant into the power
production game in many decades.<br>
<br>
Here at Volts we are unabashed geothermal nerds, so naturally I
was excited to discuss this news with Fervo co-founder and CEO Tim
Latimer, an ex-oil-and-gas engineer who moved into geothermal a
decade ago with a vision of how to make it work: he would borrow
the latest technologies from the oil and gas sector. Ten years
later, he’s pulled it off.<br>
<br>
I talked with Latimer about how EGS works, the current
geographical and size limitations, how he plans to get his
technology on a rapid learning curve to bring down costs, the
value of clean firm power, the future of flexible geothermal, and
much more. This is a juicy one.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.volts.wtf/p/enhanced-geothermal-power-is-finally?utm_source=podcast-email%2Csubstack&publication_id=193024&post_id=132922080&utm_medium=email#details">https://www.volts.wtf/p/enhanced-geothermal-power-is-finally?utm_source=podcast-email%2Csubstack&publication_id=193024&post_id=132922080&utm_medium=email#details</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[ "where can we go?"]</i><br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><b>’We can’t escape’: climate crisis is
driving up cost of living in the US west</b><br>
Extreme weather, fueled by global heating, is affecting energy,
water, insurance premiums and food and housing costs<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Maanvi Singh in Oakland<br>
@maanvissingh<br>
Fri 21 Jul 2023</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Minerva Contreras can’t keep up with the bills.<br>
<br>
Recently, after a series of extreme heatwaves in California forced
her family to run the AC, her monthly electricity costs rose to
about $500. Her water bill averages around $100, but because the
water is contaminated with pesticides from nearby agricultural
fields, her family spends an additional $140 each month to
purchase jugs of drinking water. Her grocery bills have gone up as
well, after a spate of winter storms disrupted harvests across the
state.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">“Practically, about one week’s paycheck goes
toward rent, the next week’s toward the electrical bill, and the
third week’s toward the gas and water bills and the remaining for
everything else,” said Contreras, a farm worker who lives with her
husband and two sons in small, agricultural town of Lamont. “We
just can’t keep up.”<br>
<br>
Here, in what is already one of the most expensive states in the
US, the climate emergency is driving up the cost of living.
Extreme weather, drought and drastic swings in temperature, all
fueled by global heating, are affecting utility costs and
insurance premiums, exacerbating housing shortages and causing
food prices to go up.<br>
<br>
These issues are echoed throughout the US and the globe, as
relentless heat and smoke pollution from wildfires push
communities across the southern US, Europe and Asia to their
limits. The health and economic impacts of the spate of extreme
weather will become clearer in the months to come.<br>
<br>
But in California, the cost imposed by the disquieting recurrence
of climate-related disasters that more and more countries are
faced with have already become untenable for many. Nearly half of
the state’s residents say they struggle to save money or pay for
unexpected expenses, according to a recent poll by a consortium of
local non-profits. Many families are just one fire or flood away
from financial ruin.<br>
<br>
“We don’t see a future here, and it’s a shame we can’t escape
either,” Contreras said. “Where would we go?”<br>
<br>
‘We put up with a lot of heat’<br>
As temperatures in Lamont this week topped 113F (45C), Contreras
worried about how much her family might have to run the AC. “We
are usually very careful and try not to,” she said. “We put up
with a lot of heat before we turn it on.”<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Each summer for the past few years, Contreras’s
family has fallen behind on their electricity bills. Each year,
they sign up for repayment plans and manage to pay down their
arrears by February or March, only to fall behind again as the
warmer season begins.<br>
<br>
Her family is not alone. California residents are increasingly
facing higher electricity prices, at a time when extreme weather
is making energy demands go up. Utility rates in the state are
already the highest in the US, with California’s Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) finding that since 2013, rate increases have
outpaced inflation.<br>
<br>
One major reason is that electricity companies have faced
increasing wildfire mitigation expenses like clearing vegetation
around power lines and higher wildfire insurance costs and they
have passed the charge on to consumers. Meanwhile, utility
companies such as PG&E have also been allowed to pass on the
liability costs of sparking some of the state’s most destructive
wildfires.<br>
<br>
For many households, the price increases mean dire choices, said
Michael Méndez, assistant professor of environmental planning and
policy at the University of California, Irvine. A survey by
researchers at Columbia University found that nearly 30% of
households in California kept their homes at a temperature that
was unhealthy or unsafe to save on energy costs. “When you overlay
existing social, economic and health disparities with climate
change and extreme weather, that exacerbates inequalities,” Méndez
said.<br>
<br>
“People are not only facing a rise in costs, but also increased
variability in costs,” said Alan Barreca, a professor at the
Institute of the Environment & Sustainability at UCLA.</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Barreca and his colleagues have found that for
each August day when the temperature was 95F or higher, the chance
that a low-income family would fall behind on bills and have their
power disconnected increased by 1.2%.<br>
<br>
A new proposal to adjust electricity fees based on their income
could help, Barreca said. Researchers and advocacy groups have
also proposed offering adjusted rates and discounted electricity
during extreme weather events and establishing a rental right to
cooling.<br>
<br>
High water costs ‘deepening the inequities’<br>
Climate change is taxing the water supply as well as the
electrical grid. One in eight households across California are
behind on their water bills, owing about $1bn altogether, as
cycles of lengthy drought dwindle water supplies. A survey by the
state’s water board found that households in predominantly Black
and Latino neighborhoods were more likely to be in arrears.<br>
<br>
“With water, the existing system was already not working,” said
Rachel Cleetus, a climate and energy program director at the Union
of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy organization. “And now
it’s really falling apart in the face of the pressures from
climate change.”<br>
<br>
Due to a complex and outdated water rights system that in many
areas favors big agriculture over communities and ageing, ailing
infrastructure, many of the state’s poor and rural communities
have struggled to access adequate drinking water, she said. Then,
in recent years, long stretches of drought have caused shortages
and spiked prices. Wildfires and a series of catastrophic floods
this winter have caused further complications, tainting water
supplies and damaging critical infrastructure.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Contreras and her family, who have lived in
Lamont for about 12 years, have been informed year after year that
the stuff coming out of their taps isn’t safe for consumption due
to a legacy of pesticide pollution seeped in the groundwater
system. In other parts of the Central valley, chronic overpumping
has depleted water, and left homeowners with dry wells. Hundreds
of families in the San Joaquin valley continue to receive water
deliveries by truck, despite a winter of record-setting
precipitation.<br>
<br>
“California already has a huge challenge with inequity,” said
Cleetus. “It has a high poverty rate. There’s already an
affordable housing crisis in the state. And these kinds of climate
risks are just adding an additional layer of risk, and deepening
the inequities.”<br>
<br>
‘Felt really vulnerable about losing my home’<br>
In the small, rural town of Midpines, at the south-western edge of
Yosemite national park, Beth Pratt says she has seen the climate
crisis reshape her community. Last year, the explosive Oak Fire
burned nearly 100 homes here.<br>
<br>
“In my work as a conservationist, I advocate for wildlife who are
threatened because of climate change. Now we’re starting to feel
that same vulnerability,” said Pratt, who is the regional
executive director of the National Wildlife Federation. “This is
the first time I felt really vulnerable about losing my home.”<br>
<br>
Last month, the state’s largest property insurance companies –
Allstate and State Farm – announced that they will no longer sell
new policies in California, citing the growing risk of
catastrophes. The news came as renters and homeowners across the
state were quietly dropped by insurance companies, or were facing
unaffordable premiums.<br>
<br>
This month, not long after Allstate announced it would halt new
policies in the state, Pratt got notice that the company would not
be renewing her existing policy.</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">That was despite the fact that Pratt had spent
about $100,000 to harden her home against fire. She invested in
fire-rated metal siding for the house, redid her redwood decks in
ember-resistant laminate and metal railings. She purchased a
2,500-gallon tank with a fire hose hookup, and this year, she
spent $10,000 to hire a crew to clear trees and overgrowth.<br>
<br>
When the letter from Allstate came, telling her that even all that
was not enough to keep her home insured, Pratt was flabbergasted.
“I mean, $100,000 is not something the average person has,” she
said. “I don’t really have it – on a non-profit salary. I had to
refinance my mortgage to afford this.”<br>
<br>
Most of her neighbors are facing the same issue, she said –
they’ve either lost their insurance already, or expect to lose it
soon. After the record-breaking 2020 fire season, the number of
Californians who were told by their insurer that their policy
wouldn’t be renewed increased by about 30%.<br>
<br>
The only remaining option for Pratt and her neighbors is the
state’s Fair plan, a limited insurance plan for those who cannot
find coverage through a private company. It will cost Pratt double
what she was paying Allstate.<br>
<br>
Moving and buying elsewhere isn’t financially feasible – and
besides, Pratt said, she’s lived in this small community for 25
years. “We can’t just move away from the climate crisis.”<br>
<br>
‘Everywhere in California is the same’<br>
In fact, many poor and middle-class families are being forced to
move to areas that are feeling the impact of climate crisis more
intensely. “The housing affordability crisis in California is
pushing people out of cities and increasingly out, into locales
with a higher risk for extreme heat, higher risk for drought and
wildfires,” said Méndez.<br>
<br>
In the towns of Planada and Pajaro, farm workers without flood
insurance or access to unemployment aid saw their homes and life
savings wiped out by floods this winter. Aid from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (Fema) wasn’t enough to cover the cost
of materials, let alone labour, to rebuild.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Agricultural workers in the central coast and
Central valley, who harvest the bulk of produce grown in the state
and in the country, were out of work for weeks. Planted fields of
summer fruit were wiped out and shortages drove up already
inflated grocery prices this year.<br>
<br>
In Lamont, where daily highs are predicted to remain above 100F
(37.7C) through the end of the month, the Contreras family has
resigned to another year of debt. Because it is unsafe to work in
the fields after 11am on most days, Contreras’s husband has had
his work hours cut. Normally he would pick up extra work in the
tangerine or grape fields, but the weather has disrupted those
harvests as well.<br>
<br>
Recently, the family had to sign up for a second repayment plan
for their electrical bills. “It’s depressing,” Contreras said.
“The bills just keep accumulating.”<br>
The family thinks about moving, but can’t think of where they
could live affordably. “Everywhere in California, we see that it’s
the same,” she said.<br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/21/climate-crisis-cost-of-living-energy-water-california">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/21/climate-crisis-cost-of-living-energy-water-california</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font> </p>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[ clips from Financial Times Opinion ]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>What we get wrong when we talk about global
warming</b><br>
We emphasise the wrong numbers in what is a present reality, not a
future threat<br>
JOHN BURN-MURDOCH<br>
</font><font face="Calibri">- -<br>
</font><font face="Calibri">As climate anxiety grows, the risk that
humanity continues to be the frog in a slowly boiling pot of water
is only exacerbated by the fact that we continue to emphasise
abstract statistics instead of things that people can really see
and feel...<br>
- -<br>
</font><font face="Calibri">Global warming is upon us. For
governments and publics alike, our best chance of averting an even
worse tomorrow is to recognise and respond to the damage already
done today....<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.ft.com/content/de449d0d-0558-48da-90b9-5bb4fe809dab">https://www.ft.com/content/de449d0d-0558-48da-90b9-5bb4fe809dab</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font> </p>
<font face="Calibri"> <br>
<i>[The news archive - looking back at the short political life of
a truth-teller ]</i><br>
<font size="+2"><i><b>July 22, 2013 </b></i></font> <br>
July 22, 2013: Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), a carbon-tax advocate
running for the seat left vacant by the passing of Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ), shocks the Washington establishment by bluntly
stating that "millions will die" if something is not done to
address carbon pollution. (Rep. Holt would go on to lose the
Democratic Senate primary to Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker, who won
the seat in the general election.)<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_O4nEMAtP4&sns=em">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_O4nEMAtP4&sns=em</a><br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2013/jul/28/rush-holt/rush-holt-warns-millions-will-die-climate-change-g/">http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2013/jul/28/rush-holt/rush-holt-warns-millions-will-die-climate-change-g/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri">======================================= <br>
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news - a few are email delivered*</span></b> <br>
</font> <font face="Calibri"><br>
=========================================================<br>
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</font> <font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
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--------------------------------------- <br>
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