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<font size="+2" face="Calibri"><i><b>April </b></i></font><font
size="+2" face="Calibri"><i><b>26, 2024</b></i></font><font
face="Calibri"><br>
</font> <br>
<i>[ new data analysis ]</i><br>
<b>Weather-related Power Outages Rising</b><br>
Of all major U.S. power outages reported from 2000 to 2023, 80%
(1,755) were due to weather.<br>
<br>
Most weather-related outages were caused by severe weather (58%),
winter storms (23%), and tropical cyclones including hurricanes
(14%).<br>
<br>
The states with the most reported weather-related power outages
(2000-2023) were Texas (210), Michigan (157), California (145),
North Carolina (111), and Ohio (88).<br>
<br>
The Southeast (360), South (352), Northeast (350), and Ohio Valley
(301) experienced the most weather-related outages from 2000 to
2023.<br>
More extreme weather, more power outages<br>
Many types of extreme weather are becoming more frequent or intense
because of human-caused climate change. These events put stress on
aging energy infrastructure and are among the leading causes of
major power outages in the U.S.<br>
<br>
The nation’s electrical grid wasn't built for the present-day
climate. Electricity is mostly transmitted and distributed through
above-ground transformers, transmission wires, and utility poles
that are exposed to extreme weather such as high winds, heavy rain,
ice, lightning, and extreme heat. Even in areas where power lines
are buried, flooding can lead to loss of power. <br>
<br>
Power outages affect millions of people and cost billions of dollars
annually. Outages can disrupt access to clean water, food, and
critical healthcare. They also have cascading effects on
communications networks and transportation. <br>
<br>
The impacts of power outages and lengthy restoration times can
disproportionately burden people of color, as during the February
2021 Texas cold outbreak; the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto
Rico; and power restoration in Florida after Hurricane Irma....<br>
-- -<br>
<b>Outages by weather type</b><br>
Weather-related outages were sorted into five categories: severe
weather, winter weather, tropical cyclones (including hurricanes),
extreme heat, and wildfire. During the 24-year period analyzed:<br>
<br>
Severe weather — such as high winds, rain, and thunderstorms —
caused 58% of weather-related outages (1,011 events).<br>
<br>
Winter weather — including snow, ice, and freezing rain — accounted
for 23% of weather-related outages (398 events).<br>
<br>
Tropical cyclones (including hurricanes) caused 14% of
weather-related outages (249 events). Although tropical storms
accounted for a smaller percentage of weather-related outages, they
account for most of the longest-lasting outages through 2022.<br>
<br>
Extreme heat was responsible for 48 outages (about 3% of
weather-related outages). Heat waves bring increased electricity
demand for cooling, which can overload the system. A recent study
shows that widespread extreme heat has coincided with power outages
in every U.S. region from 2012 to 2021. These events can expose
people to dangerous temperatures and amplify health risks during
heat waves. <br>
<br>
Wildfire accounted for 39 outages (about 2% of weather-related
outages). More than half of these outages were concentrated in the
last five years. About one-third were public safety power shutoffs
by utilities due to wildfires or to reduce risk of equipment-related
ignitions during extreme fire weather days. Wildfire seasons are
lengthening and intensifying across the U.S.<br>
- -<br>
<b>Dangers of losing power</b><br>
Power outages are more than just an inconvenience. A lack of
refrigeration, heating, and air conditioning can be dangerous or
even deadly, especially during extended outages. Outages can also
lead to a range of potential health consequences, particularly for
those who rely on electricity for critical medical equipment. <br>
<br>
Older people and individuals with disabilities or certain health
conditions may be especially vulnerable during weather-related power
outages. Consequences can be compounded by the precipitating events,
such as flooding, wildfire, or extreme temperatures.<br>
<br>
Longer outages amplify health risks for vulnerable populations. A
2023 study found that long-duration outages were most prevalent
across the Northeast, South, and Appalachia from 2018 to 2020.
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Michigan in particular experienced
significantly more long-duration outages in counties with large
socially- and medically-vulnerable populations. <br>
<br>
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<i>[ American Resiliency -- this time Virginia ]</i><br>
<b>Virginia 2C Climate Outlook: NCA5 Update</b><br>
American Resiliency<br>
Apr 25, 2024<br>
Virginia, you've got a solid overall outlook here. To the west, you
look awesome. Towards the coast, you're going to be looking at some
significant warming, as well as some serious sea level rise issues.
Check it out, we'll walk through projected changes to seasonal
temps, precipitation, and more, and help you identify risks and
actions to take in your area.<br>
<br>
Here's a link to the NCA5 <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/">https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/</a><br>
<br>
And to the sea level rise viewer- check out your address if you're
in a coastal area<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/#/layer/slr">https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/#/layer/slr</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Q7YtfD_9Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Q7YtfD_9Q</a><br>
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<br>
[ Al Gore for Inside Climate News ]<br>
<b>‘Pathetic, Really, and Dangerous’: Al Gore Reflects on Fraudulent
Fossil Fuel Claims, Climate Voters and Clean Energy</b><br>
The former presidential candidate spoke privately with reporters in
New York while helping to train the next generation of climate
activists.<br>
<br>
By Kristoffer Tigue<br>
April 24, 2024<br>
NEW YORK CITY—Former Vice President Al Gore paid a visit to the Big
Apple earlier this month to help train a new cohort of climate
activists just ahead of Earth Day.<br>
<br>
The training session, which took place from April 12 to 14, was part
of The Climate Reality Project, Gore’s nonprofit that focuses on
providing tools and resources to grassroots organizers so they can
better tackle issues related to climate change and environmental
justice in their own neighborhoods.<br>
<br>
Gore, who has become one of the most recognizable climate advocates
globally since stepping away from elected politics, also held a
private roundtable discussion with a small group of journalists to
talk about anything from the upcoming presidential election to the
fossil fuel industry’s decades-long misinformation campaign on
global warming. Here’s what the former vice president had to say.<br>
On what a second Trump term could mean for climate change:<br>
<br>
The technological tailwinds—with the continuing cost reductions for
solar and wind electricity, for battery storage, for green hydrogen,
for electric vehicles, etc.—will continue to move the sustainability
revolution forward regardless of who is president. <br>
<br>
But our chance to accelerate that progress to the levels that are
necessary to really solve this crisis would be taken away if an
anti-climate president came into office. And we saw this in 2017,
when a lot of the progress that was already underway did continue,
but there were no new initiatives and there was a stagnation when
there should have been an acceleration.<br>
<br>
On whether climate voters will support Biden:<br>
<br>
I think that President Biden has earned their support even though
he’s done some things that I disagree with strongly. The specific
gravity of the Inflation Reduction Act out-balances almost all of
the other issues involved here. What he did there was really
historic. <br>
<br>
Yesterday, we had the administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency here in New York, talking about a lot of major changes just
in the past week—PFAS, forever chemicals, air pollution, etc. There
are a lot of examples, and I think the good far, far outweighs the
policy changes that I disagree with.<br>
<br>
I think at the end of the day, most voters will come to that same
conclusion...<br>
- -<br>
On the biggest challenges for clean energy development:<br>
<br>
The two principal obstacles are: number one, the financing
challenges, particularly in the developing world. All 100 percent of
projected increases in emissions come from developing countries, and
yet, the current system by which private capital is allocated
globally shortchanges the developing countries because they have
risk factors that are discouraging for lenders and investors. The
currency exchange—they don’t know if the value of the currency in
Nigeria is going to go up or down and suddenly collapse. Corruption
risks, off-take risks, continuity of government risks.<br>
<br>
And so traditionally, for really understandable reasons, lenders and
investors have been more reluctant to make capital available. I use
an example of Nigeria, where interest rates are often seven times
higher than the interest rate you have to pay in the U.S. or Europe.
If you want to build a new solar farm or whatever, that makes it
prohibitive.<br>
<br>
Number two, the opposition of the fossil fuel companies. That is a
huge, huge obstacle. The U.S. is already distorted by
gerrymandering—the distortion of political boundaries of
congressional districts—and the nationalization of fundraising. So
they have the opportunity to threaten members of Congress, to take
away their funding, and instead finance a challenger in the primary.
<br>
<br>
This has been one of the reasons why one of our two major political
parties is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the fossil fuel
industry. I mean, it’s pathetic, really, and dangerous.<br>
<br>
On how the fossil fuel industry continues to hold up progress on
climate action:<br>
<br>
One month after they gave the impression that they agreed with the
final document in COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels, the
American Petroleum Institute began a massive, eight-figure campaign
to try to convince the American people that it was unwise and indeed
impossible to transition away from fossil fuels. The coal industry
began their ‘Not So Fast’ campaign. The CEO of the largest oil and
gas company in the world said it’s a fantasy to think we can
transition away. <br>
<br>
But their public persuasion and advertising campaign is only one
part of a multipronged, long-term effort to try to extend their
highly disruptive business model into the future as long as they
can. <br>
<br>
There are the fraudulent claims that carbon capture and direct air
capture can be a solution to the crisis that has been created by
fossil fuels; the massive use of campaign contributions and
lobbying; the skillful use of the revolving door that places fossil
fuel beholden executives into positions in charge of public policy,
not only in this country but around the world; and the pretense that
they will help to lead the energy transition toward renewables when
they have utterly no intention of doing any such thing...<br>
- -<br>
On the importance of permitting reform for the clean energy
transition:<br>
<br>
The permitting challenge is one that really needs to be addressed.
For so long, much of the power wielded in the environmental movement
writ large was the power to say no and block things. <br>
<br>
National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act,
the Endangered Species Act: All of these gave environmentalists
tools to stop things they didn’t want to go forward. And those tools
are available to those who want to stop the siting of a new wind
farm or a new solar farm or a new transmission line. <br>
<br>
A majority within the environmental movement have now come to the
conclusion that we have to crack this nut; we have to find ways to
make permitting of new transmission lines, and the rest, easier to
accomplish. <br>
<br>
And we’ve seen some progress. The approval last month of the Sunrise
Wind project off the coast [of New York] is an example of going
forward in spite of considerable opposition. I’m not saying it’s
solved yet. There is still a legislative remedy, both at local,
state and federal levels that needs to be crafted. But slowly we’re
making progress on them.<br>
Kristoffer Tigue is a staff writer for Inside Climate News<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24042024/al-gore-on-fossil-fuel-claims-climate-voters-clean-energy/">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24042024/al-gore-on-fossil-fuel-claims-climate-voters-clean-energy/</a><br>
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<i>[ Sort of wild television book review ]</i><br>
<b>[ Why we don't see any news about global warming ]</b><br>
Kyle Chayka -”Filterworld” & Experiencing the World Through
Algorithms | The Daily Show<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/8JKgircOigo">https://youtu.be/8JKgircOigo</a>
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<font face="Calibri"> <i>[The news archive - wow, SCOTUS was
idiotic back then too ]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"> <font size="+2"><i><b>April 26, 1978 </b></i></font>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"> </font> April 26, 1978: The Supreme Court
explicitly gives private-sector entities (including polluters) 1st
Amendment rights in the First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti
case.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1977/76-1172">https://www.oyez.org/cases/1977/76-1172</a> <br>
<br>
<p><font face="Calibri"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font></p>
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