What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action

[Sigmetnow]

Almost Everything You Know About Climate Change Solutions Is Outdated, Part 1
BY JOE ROMM   MAY 10, 2016

Almost everything you know about climate change solutions is outdated, for several reasons.

First, climate science and climate politics have been moving unexpectedly quickly toward a broad consensus that we need to keep total human-caused global warming as far as possible below 2°C (3.6°F) — and ideally to no more than 1.5°C. This has truly revolutionary implications for climate solutions policy.

Second, key climate solutions — renewables, efficiency, electric cars, and storage — have been advancing considerably faster than anyone expected, much faster than the academic literature anticipated. The synergistic effect of all these light-speed changes is only now beginning to become clear (see, for instance, my recent post, “Why The Renewables Revolution Is Now Unstoppable”.

Third, the media and commentariat have simply not kept up with all these changes and their utterly game-changing implications. As a result we end up with recent articles in such prestige publications as Foreign Affairs and the New York Times that are literally out-of-date the instant they are published, as I’ll discuss below.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/05/10/3776465/everything-you-know-climate-change-solutions-outdated/

[Sigmetnow]

Obama Seeks Building Code Changes Amid More Extreme Weather

President Barack Obama is asking the private sector to tighten building standards to reduce losses from natural disasters after studies linked an increase in extreme weather to climate change.

The administration will announce Tuesday the start of work by the organizations that set standards for residential and commercial buildings in an effort to improve safety during and after events such as fires, floods and earthquakes.

“We’re building for 50 to 100 years and if we don’t take into account what is to come, our investments are at risk of being washed away,” Alice Hill, White House National Security Council senior director for resilience, said in an interview.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-10/obama-seeks-building-code-changes-as-more-extreme-weather-seen

[Sigmetnow]

See Reply #200 above for Part 1.

Almost Everything You Know About Climate Change Solutions Is Outdated, Part 2
BY JOE ROMM MAY 12, 2016 2:40 PM

I do understand why so many people think existing technology can’t get us to a carbon-free future and that we we need multiple energy breakthroughs or energy miracles. Breakthroughs are sexy and get a lot of attention, whereas deployment efforts are not and do not.

The mainstream media generally has a bias towards bad news — if it bleeds it ledes, goes the saying. You have to wait an awfully long time on the evening news — or indeed most news shows and media outlets — to see “good news.” As a result, they rarely cover the solar energy “miracle” or the wind energy “miracle” because they think they already did that story years ago.

Almost everybody is behind the curve — literally. The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) consistently underestimates renewables growth in its projections.

Solar and wind have been continuously outperforming expectations for so long that even the International Energy Agency (IEA) — a world leader in analyzing clean energy trends — itself keeps underestimating what’s about to happen year after year, as BNEF chair Liebreich explained in his keynote....

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/05/12/3776728/climate-change-solutions/

[Sigmetnow]

Even if you can't install solar panels or give up your gas car, there are easy ways to go carbon neutral. Short video from the UNFCCC.

Christiana Figueres:  I've offset all my emissions for myself and my family. You can, too! Let's all go climate neutral now #CNNow
https://twitter.com/cfigueres/status/730813411525693440

[Sigmetnow]

Power cuts caused by flooding 'major danger' to British lives, engineers warn

Power cuts caused by flooding are a major danger to people’s lives in the UK and “could happen anywhere” because infrastructure such as electricity grids and communications networks are not adequately protected against the threat, according to a new report.

The finding, from the Royal Academy of Engineering, calls into question the UK’s preparedness for incidences of weather-related disasters, even as scientists and government advisers have warned that they will become more frequent, owing to climate change.

The national engineering academy examined a four-day power cut in Lancaster last December, when flooding caused the local electricity network to break down as a substation was inundated, affecting more than 60,000 homes and businesses, and at least 100,000 people, as well as disrupting transport, communications and the ability of emergency services to reach people in need.

Text messaging was one of the first services to go, followed by digital radio and the internet, and shops soon lost their tills, ATM machines went out of action, and garages were unable to dispense fuel as their pumps need electricity to operate. Traffic lights stopped working, and although trains could still function the station had to be closed early as its lighting was cut off.
...
Some seemingly unrelated regulations can have unintended consequences. In Lancaster, the only supermarket still functioning during the power cuts had to close its doors on queues of customers because no one had the authority to countermand Sunday opening laws.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/11/power-cuts-caused-by-flooding-major-danger-to-british-lives-engineers-warn

[Sigmetnow]

Should We Respond to Climate Change Like We Did to WWII?
The controversial theory of "climate mobilization" says we should.

On December 7, 1941, Japan’s surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,000 people and drew the country into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the War Production Board to oversee the mobilization, as factories that once produced civilian goods began churning out tanks, warplanes, ships, and armaments. Food, gasoline, even shoes were rationed, and the production of cars, vacuum cleaners, radios, and sewing machines was halted (the steel, rubber, and glass were needed for the war industries). Similar mobilizations occurred in England and the Soviet Union.

Today, some environmentalists want to see a similarly massive effort in response to a different type of existential threat: climate change.
...
This may sound far-fetched, but Brown believes we’re at a tipping point for climate mobilization. The economy is increasingly favoring renewables over fossil fuels, and grassroots campaigns like the Divestment Movement are gaining steam. Any number of circumstances could push the globe over the edge toward mobilization: severe droughts that create conflicts over water, or the accumulation of climate catastrophes from raging fires to hurricanes. When we cross over, Brown told me, “suddenly everything starts to move. ... We’re just going to be surprised at how fast this transition goes.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/133423/respond-climate-change-like-wwii

[AbruptSLR]

Should We Respond to Climate Change Like We Did to WWII?
The controversial theory of "climate mobilization" says we should.

On December 7, 1941, Japan’s surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,000 people and drew the country into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the War Production Board to oversee the mobilization, as factories that once produced civilian goods began churning out tanks, warplanes, ships, and armaments. Food, gasoline, even shoes were rationed, and the production of cars, vacuum cleaners, radios, and sewing machines was halted (the steel, rubber, and glass were needed for the war industries). Similar mobilizations occurred in England and the Soviet Union.

Today, some environmentalists want to see a similarly massive effort in response to a different type of existential threat: climate change.
...
This may sound far-fetched, but Brown believes we’re at a tipping point for climate mobilization. The economy is increasingly favoring renewables over fossil fuels, and grassroots campaigns like the Divestment Movement are gaining steam. Any number of circumstances could push the globe over the edge toward mobilization: severe droughts that create conflicts over water, or the accumulation of climate catastrophes from raging fires to hurricanes. When we cross over, Brown told me, “suddenly everything starts to move. ... We’re just going to be surprised at how fast this transition goes.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/133423/respond-climate-change-like-wwii

If we were to get very lucky then our Pearl Harbor equivalent would be a Blue Ocean event in the Arctic by this Sept 2016.

[Sigmetnow]

San Francisco Bay Area residents are voting on whether fighting sea level rise is worth 4 coffees a year

Next month, in a first-of-its-kind measure, San Francisco Bay Area residents will decide if they’re ready to put real skin in the game when it comes to protecting the region against climate change. On the June 7th ballot in nine Bay Area counties is a property tax that would cost residents $12 a year for the next 20 years. If passed, the measure—known as Measure AA— would raise $500 million dollars to protect the San Francisco Bay from sea level rise, which could claim large swaths of land in the coming decades if not confronted, and other negative environmental trends.

http://fusion.net/story/300991/bay-area-sea-level-climate-tax-measure/

[Sigmetnow]

Should We Respond to Climate Change Like We Did to WWII?
The controversial theory of "climate mobilization" says we should.

On December 7, 1941, Japan’s surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,000 people and drew the country into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the War Production Board to oversee the mobilization, as factories that once produced civilian goods began churning out tanks, warplanes, ships, and armaments. Food, gasoline, even shoes were rationed, and the production of cars, vacuum cleaners, radios, and sewing machines was halted (the steel, rubber, and glass were needed for the war industries). Similar mobilizations occurred in England and the Soviet Union.

Today, some environmentalists want to see a similarly massive effort in response to a different type of existential threat: climate change.
...
This may sound far-fetched, but Brown believes we’re at a tipping point for climate mobilization. The economy is increasingly favoring renewables over fossil fuels, and grassroots campaigns like the Divestment Movement are gaining steam. Any number of circumstances could push the globe over the edge toward mobilization: severe droughts that create conflicts over water, or the accumulation of climate catastrophes from raging fires to hurricanes. When we cross over, Brown told me, “suddenly everything starts to move. ... We’re just going to be surprised at how fast this transition goes.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/133423/respond-climate-change-like-wwii

If we were to get very lucky then our Pearl Harbor equivalent would be a Blue Ocean event in the Arctic by this Sept 2016.

Blue Ocean in September, then a progressive U.S. president elected in November, with a Democratic party majority or near-majority in both houses of Congress, and we could be well on the way.

[Sigmetnow]

What's Old in Climate Change Acceptance and Action:

It has been ten years since the release of the movie portraying Al Gore's climate slideshow, 'An Inconvenient Truth.'  Did this film affect you?

How the Power of Film Spread ‘An Inconvenient Truth’

When we premiered at Sundance several weeks later, our expectations were low. It was our first showing of the film to an audience. But the reaction was a revelation. People wept. There was repeated cheering during the film and a long standing ovation afterward. Paramount agreed to distribute.

http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/an-inconvenient-truth-global-warming-jeff-skoll-1201760431/

[Sigmetnow]

Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the fossil-fuel-free Solar Impulse 2 plane on its around-the-world flight, suggests that a positive approach encourages more individuals to change, compared to focusing on the negative effects of climate change.
"It’s not so much the way we live that makes pollution and CO2, it’s the outdated systems that we use."

This link has Piccard's four-minute video, and details about the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn today where it will be presented:
http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/bertrand-piccard-around-the-world-to-promote-clean-technologies/

"The video will be played in front of a global audience on 18 May at the Bonn Climate Change Conference as part of the 4th Dialogue on Action for Climate Empowerment. The Dialogue is an annual forum for Parties and stakeholders to share their experiences, exchange ideas, good practices and lessons learned regarding the implementation of Article 6 of the Convention. This year’s Dialogue will focus on public awareness, public participation, public access to information and international cooperation on these matters."

[Sigmetnow]

“We all have a limited emotional capacity for worry. When we’ve reached our limit, we become numb to the latest news.”

Stop screaming at us about climate change–and start inspiring us to take action

One day this spring, when apple blossoms and wisteria splashed pink, white and purple all over Atlanta, I woke up to read that the seas were suffocating because of global warming and it might be too late to save them. I sipped my tea from a cup ironically inscribed with the word “courage” and pictured legions of marine creatures floating open-mouthed to the surface of the ocean.

That reminded me of a Reuters article declaring that a child born today may live to see the end of humanity—a few broken survivors surveying a panoptic devastation. And that made me recall the environmental journalist Chris Mooney’s call to arms in the Washington Post, which declared that the damage we’ve done to Earth has no parallel in 66 million years.

“It kind of wrecks my day to read these headlines,” said Earth scientist Peter Kalmus of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, when I called him to ask whether terrifying warnings do us any good. Speaking on his own behalf, not NASA’s or JPL, he went on: “I get this sinking sensation in my stomach.”
 
I was glad to hear it, because most news about climate change makes me deflate in despair. Since I can’t un-suffocate the oceans, my reaction is to shutter my attention and focus on the now. But lately, I’ve been talking to scientists, environmental writers and activists about whether the time has come for a shift in the way we talk about the climate. After all, in March, Gallup reported that 65% of Americans now believe global warming is caused primarily by human activities. A majority of Americans now concede the truth. I don’t see the dire headlines moving us to action. Inspiring examples might go farther.

http://qz.com/685269/stop-screaming-at-us-about-climate-change-and-start-inspiring-us-to-take-action/

[Sigmetnow]

#ICYMI The awesome @benandjerrys video showing what 2 degrees of warming does to ice cream & the planet #ACEDialogue
https://twitter.com/momentum_unfccc/status/732948312702214144

YouTube link: 

[Sigmetnow]

 Actually, three ways.

Here’s One Way The Media Confuses The Public About Climate Change
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/05/19/3779813/media-downplays-climate-science/

[Sigmetnow]

"Great new resource for communities, journalists, researchers, and policymakers catalogues and maps the impacts of climate change in real-time!"

Check it out here: http://www.climatesignals.org

[Sigmetnow]

Trump on climate change:  it's a chinese hoax -- but a threat to his golf course which he must address.

Donald Trump has said he doesn't believe in man-made climate change and has called global warming a "hoax," but he's trying to protect a golf course he owns on the coast of Ireland from its effects.

The presumptive GOP nominee applied for a permit to build a seawall next to Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland in County Clare to prevent erosion, according to Politico.

His application included an environmental impact statement that explicitly mentions "global warming and its effects." According to Politico's report, that statement says that rising sea levels in that region could accelerate erosion.

Donald Trump denies climate change--but fears it could hurt his golf course
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-denies-climate-change-but-wants-to-protect-one-of-his-golf-courses-from-effects/


http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/24/bernie-s/yes-donald-trump-really-did-tweet-climate-change-h/

[Laurent]

We know that they deny on one side (for the stupids who are listening and buying) and will try to protect their business. We stay in the same cynical realm where the "stronger" win the stake. We, the weaker have to through them away otherwise they will kill us, the animals and themselves, just for the sake of it.

[Sigmetnow]

"Much as the only way to confirm the danger of jumping off a cliff is to see what happens when you hit the bottom, waiting 50 years to see how much warming results from the continued burning of fossil fuels will likely commit us to the most severe consequences of climate change.”

We can’t afford to wait
By Jim Kasting and Michael Mann
http://www.centredaily.com/opinion/article79972282.html

[Sigmetnow]

So you're saying there's a chance?   

Great animation by @CarbonBrief, estimates only 5 years left before 1.5C #carbonbudget is blown… #ActOnClimate
https://twitter.com/aldersgategrp/status/737586738697113601

Animation: 

[Sigmetnow]

Cities to EU: If you don't act on air pollution, we will
Ministers and mayors have signed a pact to increase cities' efforts to tackle air pollution within the European Union. It comes as national European governments are poised to water down air pollution limits.

Representatives of city governments across Europe signed a pact in Amsterdam on Monday (30.05.2016) pledging to take action on air pollution, as national governments are poised to water down European Union quality rules.

Ministers in charge of urban affairs and city governments issued the "Pact of Amsterdam," a direct partnership between city governments that seeks to bypass slow movement by national governments and the EU. In addition to air pollution, the pact will tackle housing, integration of migrants and urban poverty.

The initiative is part of a push for more "bottom-up" solutions in the European Union, where city governments are empowered to take more direct action. "There is a reason we have chosen the word 'pact,'" said Ronald Plasterk, the Dutch interior minister, announcing the signature. "It's not just Europe that decides that this is what's going to happen, it's not member states collectively - it's all these stakeholders together."

http://www.dw.com/en/cities-to-eu-if-you-dont-act-on-air-pollution-we-will/a-19293971

[Sigmetnow]

Big Oil Is Terminal
By Joe Romm

Existential threat #1 to oil, the ever-worsening reality of climate change, makes peak demand inevitable in the next few decades. Existential threat #2, the ever-improving reality of electric car batteries, will be one of the primary instruments of demand destruction.
...
By the mid-2020s, then, EVs and new renewables in tandem will provide an alternative to IC vehicles that is superior in many respects — the same or lower first cost, a much lower annual fueling (and maintenance) bill, zero tail-pipe emissions of urban air pollutants, and zero total emissions of carbon dioxide. And this will all be happening during the decade when the increasingly painful reality of climate change makes governments even more desperate to slash CO2 emissions than they are today.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/06/02/3767486/peak-oil-decline-financial-times/

[Sigmetnow]

MacArthur Foundation Will Award $100 Million for Solution to a Global Problem

The MacArthur Foundation, known for bestowing “genius” grants on artists, actors and other creative people, introduced a new competition on Thursday that would award $100 million to an organization with the best proposal to solve a global problem.

The competition, called 100&Change, is open to organizations in any field, anywhere in the world, as long as the proposal identifies a problem affecting people, a place, or the entire planet and comes up with a way to fix it.

The foundation said in a statement it was “placing a few big bets” that significant progress could be made on social challenges like incarceration, climate change and nuclear risk. It did not place limits on what kind of problems should be addressed to be eligible for the award, which will be given every three years.

“Solving society’s most pressing problems isn’t easy, but we believe it can be done,” said Julia Stasch, the president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. “Potential solutions may go unnoticed or under-resourced and are waiting to be brought to scale.”

The application process, the foundation said, is designed to provide feedback and visibility, so the proposals that do not win the MacArthur award might still attract backing or other forms of support.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/us/macarthur-foundation-will-award-100-million-for-solution-to-a-global-problem.html

[Sigmetnow]

Los Angeles, The Second-Largest City In The U.S., Is On The Verge Of Being 100 Percent Renewable

LADWP is on the verge of making significant investments in its infrastructure, and with that 100-year-old power system in need of significant upgrades, the city has an opportunity to re-create its utility in a way that recognizes the potential for a fossil-free future, demonstrates global leadership in its commitment to clean energy, and protects ratepayers from the increasing costs of carbon-based fuels.

According to the most recent progress report from C40, an international coalition, 228 world cities — representing 436 million people — have set targets that would reduce emissions by 13 gigatons of CO2 by 2050. Partly, this opportunity for reductions is tied to the sheer size of cities. Cities hold more than half of the world’s population, so changes can have outsized impacts.
...
The campaign officially launched in January, but Brune said there are active campaigns now in dozens of cities. “From Oakland, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio, Boulder, Miami, Boise — these are all efforts that just got started in the last 90 days,” Brune said. He estimated there would be 50 cities with active campaigns by the end of the year.
...
The importance of the economics here cannot be underestimated. Los Angeles’ $57 million worth of LED lights, for example, will have paid themselves off in less than six years — a staggering return on investment.

But there is a lot of support right now in Los Angeles for changing the way Angelenos get their electricity. Over the winter, an uncontrolled natural gas leak in northern Los Angeles caused thousands of families to be evacuated from their homes. People complained of bloody noses, headaches, and other health problems, while Southern California Gas Company struggled for months to contain the Aliso Canyon facility. Subsequently, the company said the region would face potential blackouts this summer without Aliso Canyon, which provides gas to some local power plants.

That statement infuriated locals, who insist that the city can go green and avoid reopening the storage facility.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/06/10/3786420/los-angeles-to-go-renewable/

[Sigmetnow]

Clean energy is now "Business as Usual."    

Coal And Gas To Begin ‘Terminal Decline’ In Less Than A Decade, Bloomberg Says
By Joe Romm

A stunning new forecast on “peak fossil fuels for electricity” by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) concludes that “coal and gas will begin their terminal decline in less than a decade.”

It’s been clear for a while that coal demand is plateauing, if it hasn’t already peaked. But BNEF explains that of the “eight massive shifts coming soon to power markets,” #1 is “There Will Be No Golden Age of Gas.”

Here is the core finding of BNEF’s “annual long-term view of how the world’s power markets will evolve in the future,” their New Energy Outlook (NEO):

Cheaper coal and cheaper gas will not derail the transformation and decarbonisation of the world’s power systems. By 2040, zero-emission energy sources will make up 60% of installed capacity. Wind and solar will account for 64% of the 8.6TW [1 Terawatt = 1,000 Gigawatts] of new power generating capacity added worldwide over the next 25 years, and for almost 60% of the $11.4 trillion invested.
...
Significantly, the $7.8 trillion investment in renewables and ongoing price drops are all just what BNEF expects to happen on our current path. It’s “business as usual.” It does not assume the world embraces the policies needed to drive the investments necessary to stabilize below the 2°C (3.6°F), as the nations of the world have unanimously agreed to do in Paris last December. In the below-2 degrees Celsius scenario, “the world would need to invest another $5.3 trillion in zero-carbon power by 2040.”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/06/13/3787700/coal-gas-plants-cheap-renewables/

[Sigmetnow]

Introducing “Warm Regards,” My New Podcast About Climate Change
By Eric Holthaus

For those of us who think about climate change often—like unhealthily often—there's sometimes a sense that you're missing the story. Climate change is quite possibly the most important thing humans have ever done—I mean, we're altering our planet's atmosphere perhaps at a faster rate than at any point in Earth’s entire history. Yet it can often feel remote, abstract, and lost in a sea of statistics.

To keep sane, you have to learn about the people and personalities involved behind the scenes; those who can help suss out when the latest science is truly freak-out worthy. That's why I made Warm Regards: a new podcast about climate change.

My goal here is not a little lofty: to help humanize those who are working on the climate problem.

Joining me with co-hosts Andy Revkin, a veteran environment writer for the New York Times who has covered climate change for 30 years, and Jacquelyn Gill, a paleoecologist at the University of Maine who is an actual, real-life climate scientist and flawlessly navigates climate Twitter. (If you spend any time in climate Twitter, you know that’s a rare combination.) We’ll regularly invite newsmakers and scientists and listeners and people on the front lines, too.

In our inaugural episode of Warm Regards, we tackle what it means to talk about climate change at this unique moment in human history. I hope you’ll listen and share our podcast with your friends. We’re on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Twitter, and we’ll be working our way up to new episodes each week.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/06/24/introducing_warm_regards_a_new_climate_change_podcast.html

https://soundcloud.com/warmregardspodcast

[Sigmetnow]

The most direct statement yet:

Insurers, Banks and Pensions Face Climate Change Risk: Institute

The world’s insurers, banks and pension funds are "inherently susceptible" to threats from climate change and must make adjustments, from shifting investment toward environmentally friendly industries to revamping strategies to reduce risk, said the Global Risk Institute.

“Climate change is a top priority that must be addressed systemically and without delay," concludes a report by the Toronto-based group that researches risks to the global financial services industry.

Climate change poses “a real and potentially devastating risk” to investment portfolios, including $35.4 trillion overseen by the world’s pensions. Global investment portfolios may lose up to 45 percent due to short-term shifts in climate sentiment, the institute said, citing a 2015 University of Cambridge study. Half those losses could be avoided by reallocating portfolios, though half would be unhedgeable without system-wide action on climate change.

“To avoid financial liability and mitigate climate change-related risks, pension funds must diversify their portfolios across all sources of risk and increase allocations to low carbon technologies and green energy,” the institute said.

Insurers, whose insurance losses from weather events swelled from an annual average of about $10 billion to around $50 billion in the past decade, face threats from physical events, risks tied to liability and “transition risk" from adjusting to a lower-carbon economy, the report said.

Climate change poses a direct risk to bank operations and lending, with real estate, infrastructure and agricultural businesses particularly threatened, the report said. Banks should scale back exposure to “high carbon industries” and assets that may suffer in tackling climate change and pursue “new green opportunities” in commercial and investment banking, according to the report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/insurers-banks-and-pensions-face-climate-change-risk-institute

[Sigmetnow]

Methane Pollution Is About To See A Serious Cut From Landfills

Last Friday, the EPA announced new rules that will cut landfills’ methane emissions by one third.

The latest regulation is an update to rules last updated over 20 years ago. They are expected to reduce methane emissions by around 334,000 tons a year in 2025. That is equivalent to reducing 8.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
...
Food waste is partly to blame for the methane pollution from landfills. The EPA's rule noted that there is not enough information on how the regulations would affect how much waste is diverted to recycling, waste-to-energy facilities, or composting. While lowering methane emissions has clear climate benefits, avoiding wasted food and other organics would also contribute to reducing methane emissions. Around 40 percent of food grown in the United States ends up wasted.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/07/19/3799601/epa-landfills-methane-emissions-regulation/

[Sigmetnow]

New video from Al Jazeera's TechKnow program looks at the politics and denial in the U.S. -- and at construction in Miami, where the mayor says he doesn't have time to deal with denial.

The politics of climate change in the US - TechKnow
Jul 17, 2016
http://video.aljazeera.com/channels/eng/videos/the-politics-of-climate-change-in-the-us---techknow/5038899181001

[Sigmetnow]

New solution for access to clean drinking water.  Article and podcast.

Solar-Powered 'ATM' Delivers Clean Water in Sub-Saharan Africa

For most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, access to safe and reliable water remains a major challenge. In Kenya alone, 16 million people do not have access to clean water. Increased incidences of drought linked to climate change is worsening water scarcity, particularly in areas that have limited and sporadic rainfall, leading to migration and increased urbanization.

Grundfos Lifelink Water Solutions helps build resilience to the effects of climate change by providing access to safe, sustainable and affordable water to people in developing countries. Lifelink systems can be installed in large or small water schemes in both urban and rural settings. In urban areas, the systems can be connected to the water network or to a water storage tank. In off-grid rural areas, Lifelink systems take the form of communal water points and mini-grids, drawing water from the ground or water treatment systems through solar-powered pumps.

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/climate-action/solar-powered-atm-delivers-clean-water-in-sub-saharan-africa/

[TerryM]

New solution for access to clean drinking water.  Article and podcast.

Solar-Powered 'ATM' Delivers Clean Water in Sub-Saharan Africa

For most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, access to safe and reliable water remains a major challenge. In Kenya alone, 16 million people do not have access to clean water. Increased incidences of drought linked to climate change is worsening water scarcity, particularly in areas that have limited and sporadic rainfall, leading to migration and increased urbanization.

Grundfos Lifelink Water Solutions helps build resilience to the effects of climate change by providing access to safe, sustainable and affordable water to people in developing countries. Lifelink systems can be installed in large or small water schemes in both urban and rural settings. In urban areas, the systems can be connected to the water network or to a water storage tank. In off-grid rural areas, Lifelink systems take the form of communal water points and mini-grids, drawing water from the ground or water treatment systems through solar-powered pumps.

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/climate-action/solar-powered-atm-delivers-clean-water-in-sub-saharan-africa/

Charging poor people for access to safe drinking water is good for them in the long run. The survivors will be highly motivated to work hard for whatever pay is offered.
Polluting natural water sources can now open a new profit stream as locals pay to avoid the toxic results. /sarc
Terry

[Sigmetnow]

... <snip>
Charging poor people for access to safe drinking water is good for them in the long run. The survivors will be highly motivated to work hard for whatever pay is offered.
Polluting natural water sources can now open a new profit stream as locals pay to avoid the toxic results. /sarc
Terry

I see your sarcasm.   But clean water is no longer conveniently "free" and of sufficient supply for everyone to take however much they like.  There is a cost, so some sort of rationing of the valuable commodity, and payback for the new infrastructure, is needed.  Perhaps there's a "sharing economy" also in place, for those without the cash to pay for water themselves. 

[TerryM]

Sigmetnow


Billing the least able to pay, rather than taxing the most affluent is a recipe for a disaster of epic proportions. After commodifying water what is next, billing for breathable air?


If we can't afford this minimal act of compassion today, what chance will we have when real sacrifices are called for as climate change really takes hold?


Terry

[sidd]

Re: water kiosk sales

Let us be clear. This is a solar powered water vending machine. No doubt they will implement surge pricing and all else they can imagine. The technological society spares none. Ellul was right.

But then some of us who see things differently have imagination too. Ellul was right again, you do not break an efficient system with efficient method.

sidd

[Sigmetnow]

Sigmetnow

... After commodifying water what is next, billing for breathable air?  ...

Terry

China already does this -- only the most affluent can afford the Tesla "biohazard filter" and other technology to constantly clean the air around them when they step outside.

I'm not saying the water ATM is a great solution.  In fact I'm hoping the ATM cards could be widely distributed, and a limited amount of clean water could be accessed for free on each card.  But when clean water (or air) is a luxury, the technology is expensive at first.  As it spreads, it becomes more affordable and then it becomes unthinkable to limit it to the rich.  I hope!

[AbruptSLR]

For those who like to promote technological "solutions" to the climate change problem, I provide the following links to Bill Gates sites.  The attached image (from the first link) illustrates how Bill expects to maintain high population, high services, high energy consumption, but to still make progress by limiting carbon emissions from the energy production (via TerraPower as discussed in the last two links, using "safe" breeder [or traveling wave] reactor technology):

https://www.gatesnotes.com/2016-Annual-Letter

http://terrapower.com/
http://terrapower.com/news/upending-nuclear-innovation

[AbruptSLR]

I think that we need many more "Leo Effect" moments to get the climate change message out at major events when the public is watching (say at the Olympics, or the Super Bowl, and the World Cup, half-times):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/08/05/the-leo-effect-when-dicaprio-talked-climate-change-at-the-oscars-people-suddenly-cared/?utm_term=.6f361b75e7dd

Extract: "Do celebrities matter? The answer — modern, big data approaches are showing — is pretty clearly “yes.”

Earlier this year, a team of researchers documented that when Charlie Sheen told the world that he had HIV, media attention to the virus — which had been in long decline — spiked massively.

And now, many of the same researchers are back with another demonstration. They find that when Leonardo DiCaprio used his Oscar speech earlier this year to exhort action on climate change, tweets and Google searches about the topic were enormous and, at least in the case of tweets, appear to have set a new record based on analyses between 2011 and the present.
“A single speech, at a very opportunistic time, at the Oscar ceremony, resulted in the largest increase in public engagement with climate change ever,” says John Ayers of San Diego State University, who completed the work with colleagues from the University of California San Diego, the Santa Fe Institute, and other institutions. Their study was just published in the open access journal PLOS One."

See the study at:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0159885

[Sigmetnow]

ASLR wrote:  "I think that we need many more "Leo Effect" moments to get the climate change message out at major events when the public is watching (say at the Olympics...."

Done! 

In Olympics opening ceremony, Brazil goes big on climate change

Amid the pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday, in between the fireworks and musical acts, the costumed performers and the camera shots of Gisele Bundchen dancing giddily alongside her fellow Brazilians in the crowd, came a more somber message.

In primetime, with the world watching, Brazil showed a video focused on the problem of global warming and climate change. The video, narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Judi Dench, included maps and graphics showing how rapidly the earth’s temperature has spiked over time, how drastically the Antarctic ice sheet has wilted in recent decades and how steadily seas are rising around the globe.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/08/05/in-olympics-opening-ceremony-brazil-goes-big-on-climate-change/

[Sigmetnow]

Great tweetstorm by Alex Steffen on how we think about climate change action.  Sample:

...

How we build & power our cities, how we grow our food, how we make & consume things: all these mundane concerns affect our distant posterity
https://twitter.com/alexsteffen/status/763429526126809088

We're not used to thinking of our daily lives as having multi-generational, serious (even catastrophic) consequences.
https://twitter.com/alexsteffen/status/763430039270535170

We're still trying to figure out how we incorporate that knowledge into our worldviews of industrial abundance without limits or real costs.
https://twitter.com/alexsteffen/status/763430441848147968

...

[Sigmetnow]

Bill McKibben:  This is absolutely right. Incrementalism might have worked a generation ago, but not on a planet already so hot:

Alex Steffan:  The transition ahead is going to be fast, and huge, and disruptive, and messy—and that's much, much better than any of the alternatives.
https://twitter.com/alexsteffen/status/764575858325544961

[Sigmetnow]

In a new video address, President Obama previewed his latest efforts to address what he called "one of the most urgent challenges of our time," noting that despite national -- and international -- movement on climate change, "there's still so much more to do."

"We're not done yet. In the weeks and months ahead, we'll release a second round of fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles," Mr. Obama said in a video released Saturday. "We'll take steps to meet the goal we set with Canada and Mexico to achieve 50 percent clean power across North America by 2025. And we'll continue to protect our lands and waters so that our kids and grandkids can enjoy our most beautiful spaces for generations."


President Obama: Weekly Address on Climate Change (Video, Transcript) August 13, 2016 (Radio, YouTube)
http://www.shallownation.com/2016/08/13/president-obama-weekly-address-climate-change-video-transcript-august-13-2016-radio-youtube/

[AbruptSLR]

In a new video address, President Obama previewed his latest efforts to address what he called "one of the most urgent challenges of our time," noting that despite national -- and international -- movement on climate change, "there's still so much more to do."

"We're not done yet. In the weeks and months ahead, we'll release a second round of fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles," Mr. Obama said in a video released Saturday. "We'll take steps to meet the goal we set with Canada and Mexico to achieve 50 percent clean power across North America by 2025. And we'll continue to protect our lands and waters so that our kids and grandkids can enjoy our most beautiful spaces for generations."


President Obama: Weekly Address on Climate Change (Video, Transcript) August 13, 2016 (Radio, YouTube)
http://www.shallownation.com/2016/08/13/president-obama-weekly-address-climate-change-video-transcript-august-13-2016-radio-youtube/

What do you think that Obama knows (say from the initial ACME runs) that we don't know yet?

[Sigmetnow]

I'm seeing more references lately about building a "World War II" - type response to climate change.

We’re under attack from climate change—and our only hope is to mobilize like we did in WWII.
BY BILL MCKIBBEN

Turning out more solar panels and wind turbines may not sound like warfare, but it’s exactly what won World War II: not just massive invasions and pitched tank battles and ferocious aerial bombardments, but the wholesale industrial retooling that was needed to build weapons and supply troops on a previously unprecedented scale. Defeating the Nazis required more than brave soldiers. It required building big factories, and building them really, really fast.

In 1941, the world’s largest industrial plant under a single roof went up in six months near Ypsilanti, Michigan; Charles Lindbergh called it the “Grand Canyon of the mechanized world.” Within months, it was churning out a B-24 Liberator bomber every hour. Bombers! Huge, complicated planes, endlessly more intricate than solar panels or turbine blades—containing 1,225,000 parts, 313,237 rivets. Nearby, in Warren, Michigan, the Army built a tank factory faster than they could build the power plant to run it—so they simply towed a steam locomotive into one end of the building to provide steam heat and electricity. That one factory produced more tanks than the Germans built in the entire course of the war.

It wasn’t just weapons. In another corner of Michigan, a radiator company landed a contract for more than 20 million steel helmets; not far away, a rubber factory retooled to produce millions of helmet liners. The company that used to supply fabrics for Ford’s seat cushions went into parachute production. Nothing went to waste--when car companies stopped making cars for the duration of the fighting, GM found it had thousands of 1939 model-year ashtrays piled up in inventory. So it shipped them out to Seattle, where Boeing put them in long-range bombers headed for the Pacific. Pontiac made anti-aircraft guns; Oldsmobile churned out cannons; Studebaker built engines for Flying Fortresses; Nash-Kelvinator produced propellers for British de Havillands; Hudson Motors fabricated wings for Helldivers and P-38 fighters; Buick manufactured tank destroyers; Fisher Body built thousands of M4 Sherman tanks; Cadillac turned out more than 10,000 light tanks. And that was just Detroit—the same sort of industrial mobilization took place all across America.

https://newrepublic.com/article/135684/declare-war-climate-change-mobilize-wwii

[Sigmetnow]

Eric Holthaus:

Days like this are tough for me, I'm not going to lie. A fresh batch of climate data was released, and it looks like last month continued the current streak of 15 consecutive monthly global temperature records. On Twitter, NASA GISS director Gavin Schmidt went a step further and said "July 2016 was absolutely the hottest month since the instrumental records began." (July is usually Earth's warmest month because most of the land is in the northern hemisphere, and land heats up more than ocean does in the summer.)

We know that July 2016 was the warmest month since we've been watching with carefully calibrated thermometers, but it's also quite likely the warmest month in the history of human civilization, dating back at least 10,000 years. Pyramids, agriculture, cities, Beyonce, all of it.

We are risking everything by continuing on this path. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. We can't have a stable and prosperous global society without the basics of water, food, health, and stability. Climate change risks all of these, as well as the ecosystems and other species that makes living on a planet so wonderful.

We're past the point of planting a symbolic tree in your backyard or signing a petition. In an interview the other day, a scientist spoke of her remaining hope as rooted in the possibility of "nonlinear success" when so many are worrying about nonlinear collapse and failure—which leads to despair. Some of my journalist colleagues have faulted me for saying things like this, but we live in a time of blunt language. Our generation risks profound change if the climate models are right, and they have been so far. What are you waiting for to make as much noise as you can about this? What's it going to take?

http://tinyletter.com/sciencebyericholthaus/letters/today-in-weather-climate-warmest-month-in-human-history-edition-tuesday-august-16th

[Sigmetnow]

AbruptSLR @ #240 wrote:
"What do you think that Obama knows (say from the initial ACME runs) that we don't know yet?"

I think we all know more than enough to realize we need to act.  Even top presidential advisors -- to a president who fully accepts the dangers we face -- don't need to present any more evidence than what we've already seen.  There's no new secret thing that flips the switch.

Obama has become rather devil-may-care during his last months in office, doing eveything he can do on his own, with little regard to how loudly the Republican-controlled Congress howls about "presidential overreach."  Obama also knows the majority of the public is on his side in this.  It shouldn't hurt the Democrats significantly, and may actually help.

So, why wait?

[Sigmetnow]

Climate change 'significant and direct' threat to U.S. military: reports

The effects of climate change endanger U.S. military operations and could increase the danger of international conflict, according to three new documents endorsed by retired top U.S. military officers and former national security officials.

"There are few easy answers, but one thing is clear: the current trajectory of climatic change presents a strategically-significant risk to U.S. national security, and inaction is not a viable option," said a statement published on Wednesday by the Center for Climate and Security, a Washington-based think tank.

It was signed by more than a dozen former senior military and national security officials, including retired General Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command, and retired Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the Pacific Command until last year.

They called on the next U.S. president to create a cabinet level position to deal with climate change and its impact on national security.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-idUSKCN11K0BC

[JimD]

An article caught my eye on ThinkProgress telling everyone to be happy because the tide has turned on acceptance of global warming.  Interesting I thought as I had just read an article pointing out how little opinions had changed over the years.  A little research.  All links are based upon the same data.

https://thinkprogress.org/americans-concern-about-climate-change-is-growing-91730d76577a#.fevhntw0g

http://www.gallup.com/poll/190010/concern-global-warming-eight-year-high.aspx

https://www.minnpost.com/earth-journal/2016/09/americans-polarization-over-climate-widening-and-facts-don-t-matter

So.  First the everything is great ThinkProgress graph.  Note the left hand scale where from the bottom of the chart to 30 is about 1/5 the distance from 30 to 60.  Makes for impressive variation.  But note where the numbers were in 1990.  Yup we have really turned the corner. 



Next we have a similar graph over the same general time span but with a full left hand scale.  Note the polarization between liberal and conservative over the time span.



A third chart, which is perhaps the most important, shows the divisions along political lines in Congress.  Pretty stark.  Kind of tells a different story about how much progress is being made.



And last a chart showing how we have turned the corner and found a place pretty similar to where we were 15 years ago.




Nothing special to learn here really.  Polling can be manipulated as well as the way it is presented.  What really counts is results....which we can call paltry if we are feeling generous.

[JimD]

Climate change 'significant and direct' threat to U.S. military: reports

The effects of climate change endanger U.S. military operations and could increase the danger of international conflict, according to three new documents endorsed by retired top U.S. military officers and former national security officials.

"There are few easy answers, but one thing is clear: the current trajectory of climatic change presents a strategically-significant risk to U.S. national security, and inaction is not a viable option," said a statement published on Wednesday by the Center for Climate and Security, a Washington-based think tank.

It was signed by more than a dozen former senior military and national security officials, including retired General Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command, and retired Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the Pacific Command until last year.

They called on the next U.S. president to create a cabinet level position to deal with climate change and its impact on national security.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-idUSKCN11K0BC

As I pointed out on this blog several years ago the US intelligence and military communities accepted that global warming was occurring several years before my original posts on that subject.  The intelligent take away here is that it is not their job to do any thing other than to protect Americas strategic position. Solving climate change is not on their radar.  Making sure that America is standing on top of the heap when the dust settles however is their job.   Doing that job is what they are talking about.

[Sigmetnow]

SXSL:  South By South Lawn.  Innovation conference at the White House.  Monday, October 3, 2016

Earlier this year, President Obama traveled to South by Southwest® for a conversation on civic engagement. In Austin, he called on creative thinkers and entrepreneurs from across the country to help tackle our toughest challenges. On Monday, October 3, we're celebrating that spirit of innovation at South by South Lawn, a White House festival of ideas, art, and action.

At SXSL, we'll call on every American to roll up their sleeves and discover their own way to make a positive difference in our country. And it's an opportunity to celebrate the inspiring work so many Americans have already accomplished.

So join us on October 3, no matter where you are. The festival will be streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov, Facebook.com/WhiteHouse, and sxsw.com/live. Join the conversation using #SXSL to share your ideas and tell us how you’ll make a difference in the world.
...

President Obama in Conversation with Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

President Obama will join a conversation with Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio and climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe about the importance of protecting the one planet we’ve got for future generations.

Following the conversation, attendees will watch the domestic premiere of DiCaprio’s new climate documentary film Before the Flood presented by National Geographic in a first-of-its-kind film screening on the South Lawn of the White House.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/SXSL

[Sigmetnow]

New York City accelerates emissions efforts in face of daunting sea level rise

New York City has set out a plan to quicken its pace of decarbonization in order to meet its emissions reduction target, as the metropolis prepares for a daunting sea level rise due to climate change.

The proposals state that New York “must accelerate efforts” to expand renewable energy generation, improve the energy efficiency of buildings, transition to electric vehicles and improve waste management in order to meet its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, based on 2005 levels.
...
New York is set to be increasingly challenged by sea level rises caused by melting glaciers and thermal expansion of the ocean as the planet warms. By 2100, sea levels could be up to 50 inches higher than today in New York, a scenario that has prompted the city to pledge billions of dollars for flood defenses and adaptation. Still, high-value property in Manhattan is considered a long-term risk, with some scientists believing that a managed retreat from parts of the city is inevitable.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/27/new-york-city-emissions-sea-level-rise-climate-change

[Sigmetnow]

I'll admit, I was shocked (and thrilled!) to see it:  U.S. TV drama makes climate change a major plot element!

The season premiere of Madam Secretary dealt with climate change, and some people didn’t like that. In the premiere of the show’s third season on CBS, President Conrad Dalton (played by Keith Carradine) breaks party ties by embracing climate science and promising to prepare military bases around the world for superstorms. He then promptly loses his party’s primary — womp, womp — but now might run on an independent ticket.

And true to form, those who take issue with the fact of human-caused climate change took to the devil’s platform to express as much rage as if this had happened in! real! life!

http://grist.org/briefly/the-season-premiere-of-madam-secretary-dealt-with-climate-change-and-some-people-didnt-like-that/