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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #200 on: January 06, 2015, 02:33:48 AM »
The U.S. Senate's most vocal advocate of climate change action continues his work.  He's given 83 speeches in the Senate on the topic and has proposed a carbon fee and dividend plan.
Quote
Whitehouse has formed an unlikely energy alliance with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia. Manchin visited Rhode Island in October to see the effect of climate change firsthand and Whitehouse toured coal and energy resources in West Virginia. They plan to work on crafting legislation to invest in technology for cleaner fossil fuel energy.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLIMATE_CHANGE_SENATOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #201 on: January 06, 2015, 04:33:57 AM »
Newly re-elected Governor Jerry Brown dives right into furthering California's climate action.
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California, as it does in many areas, must show the way,” he said before introducing three specific goals:
- increase electricity derived from renewable sources from one-third to 50 percent,
- reduce vehicles’ petroleum use by up to 50 percent, and
- double the efficiency of existing buildings while making heating fuels cleaner.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/jerry-brown-inauguration_n_6418962.html


Transcript of his speech:
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-brown-speech-text-20150105-story.html#page=1
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #202 on: January 10, 2015, 02:02:29 AM »
China’s highest court announced Wednesday that it will reduce the cost of litigation for environmental groups seeking to sue companies or individuals that pollute the country’s air, land, and water.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/08/3609360/china-reduce-court-fees-for-environment-lawsuits/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #203 on: January 10, 2015, 05:22:23 PM »
Quote
The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying its landmark climate regulations for power plants in what it said is an effort to better consider input on them and better align the major pieces of the regulations.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/228783-epa-delays-climate-rule
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #204 on: January 11, 2015, 02:33:47 PM »
U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on climate change: “The scary thing is doing nothing”

Quote
"Inaction is very expensive."
...
"I do know human nature when you all do is talk to them about how dire something is – there’s two ways to handle it – it’s a fight or flight issue.  We’ve been facing that for 20 years, it’s gotten us nowhere."

"I don’t want people to be scared. In fact, I’m trying to make them not scared. The scary thing is doing nothing. Recognizing and acting is what will keep them safe.  I think that the fact that they’re already facing impacts has changed the dynamic considerably.  People understand that things have changed. Once you embrace the problem, the solutions are there."
...
"If we do this right, what people will see as a result of our actions is a more prosperous economy, a healthier economy, and healthier communities – better air quality. We’re going to have stronger economies so it’s not like I’m trying to get people to take medicine that tastes bad.  I’m simply trying to get them to recognize that what we were doing in the past and the technologies of the past are not the way to a healthy future, period."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/01/09/epa-chief-on-climate-change-the-scary-thing-is-doing-nothing/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #205 on: January 12, 2015, 02:33:16 PM »
Saw much the same sentiment on "Real Money with Ali Velshi."  Republicans must push through the KXL pipeline bill to pay back their big fossil fuel donors.  But if it's vetoed and they can't override (which looks likely at this point) -- oh well, not a big deal, they've done their bidding.

"Yes, approving the pipeline would mobilize some money that would otherwise have sat idle, and in so doing create some jobs — 42,000 during the construction phase, according to the most widely cited estimate. (Once completed, the pipeline would employ only a few dozen workers.) But government spending on roads, bridges and schools would do the same thing."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/opinion/paul-krugman-for-the-love-of-carbon.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #206 on: January 13, 2015, 03:04:53 AM »
  Lots of yipping about U.S. officials not being in Paris this week, but I think a saving-the-planet climate deal might be a bit more important.  Secretary Kerry et. al. have been in India doing serious work on an India-U.S. climate deal, in time for President Obama's visit later this month. 
  Remember the U.S.-China agreement?  That took months of quiet, behind-the-scenes negotiations, too.
http://grist.org/politics/the-u-s-and-india-keep-pushing-toward-a-climate-deal/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #207 on: January 13, 2015, 03:11:06 PM »
U.S.:  Moderate Republicans believe in climate change. There just aren’t many moderate Republicans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/12/moderate-republicans-believe-in-climate-change-but-there-arent-many-moderate-republicans/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #208 on: January 13, 2015, 05:16:45 PM »
Senator Elizabeth Warren: the Keystone pipeline bill is "for Canadian companies and lobbyists."  Brief video.

@ClimateReality: "It’s not about jobs. It’s not about energy. Why is this bill so urgent? The answer is money." -@SenWarren http://t.co/UnPE0uG8oh #NoKXL
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Laurent

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #209 on: January 13, 2015, 10:00:05 PM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #210 on: January 14, 2015, 07:05:39 PM »
The world is STILL subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.  This money could certainly be better spent elsewhere.
Quote
The ODI said there was a tension between the objectives of energy security and climate protection.

However, the report said renewables were a better bet. It claimed every US dollar spent on renewable energy subsidies attracted $2.5 (£1.50) in investment, while a dollar in fossil fuel subsidies drew $1.3 (82p) of investment.
...
"Five years ago, G20 governments pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and take action to limit climate change. Immediately ending exploration subsidies is the clearest next step on both fronts," he said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29985382
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #211 on: January 14, 2015, 07:13:53 PM »
World Economic Forum meeting in Davos will stress how to address climate change.
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The positioning of climate, development and economic growth as competing agendas during these crucial heads of state meetings in 2015 will not serve the world well. Instead, and with this year’s agenda in mind, the Annual Meeting in Davos is positioned to help political, business and non-governmental leaders discuss and cement the new context for addressing climate change, development and growth together, and as a result get set for success in 2015
https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/01/davos-2015-climate-change-development-and-growth/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #212 on: January 17, 2015, 01:55:31 AM »
"Obviously, optimal mitigation policy depends heavily on how we answer this question. Do you try harder to cool people down or to make them richer?"
Quote
In a sense, this restates what we already know: Rich countries could do all right with slow mitigation because they are relatively robust in the face of climate impacts, but it would be devastating to poor countries. Aggressive mitigation is justified because of the threat to poor countries. (This tells you a lot about the politics of the issue.)

OK, that’s what you need to know: that there is good reason, outside contested questions of “raw moralism,” to think that the models we use to assess the social cost of carbon are considerably understating it. “We estimate that the social cost of carbon is not $37, as previously estimated [by the EPA and others],” Moore and Diaz say, “but $220.”
http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-much-is-climate-change-going-to-cost-us/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #213 on: January 17, 2015, 02:03:09 AM »
About the above article:

@ClimateOfGavin: Brilliant!
Econo-narcissism: idea that values embedded in econ models are objective/scientific, while alt values are touchy-feely moralism.

@GernotWagner: @ClimateOfGavin isn't that the bane of all science? What you don't/can't measure doesn't exist. Makes recognizing tail risks so important.

@noeldarlow: @ClimateOfGavin @drgrist Econ models driving us to disaster until they include factors for environment/sustainability and humanity/equality.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #214 on: January 17, 2015, 02:38:55 AM »
Scientists: Human activity has pushed Earth beyond four of nine ‘planetary boundaries’
Quote
There’s a lot of emotion involved in this. If you think about it, the American ethic is, ‘The sky’s the limit.’ And here you have people coming on and saying, no it isn’t, the Earth’s the limit,” she said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/scientists-human-activity-has-pushed-earth-beyond-four-of-nine-planetary-boundaries/2015/01/15/f52b61b6-9b5e-11e4-a7ee-526210d665b4_story.html
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Neven

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #215 on: January 17, 2015, 08:09:37 AM »
Quote
There’s a lot of emotion involved in this. If you think about it, the American ethic is, ‘The sky’s the limit.’ And here you have people coming on and saying, no it isn’t, the Earth’s the limit,” she said.

This is a huge psychological hurdle. I see it often when I propose that people shouldn't be allowed to own more than X million dollars/euros, or more than X acres of land (except farmers). People go nuts over that. I think this kind of thinking is conditioned.
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Lennart van der Linde

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #216 on: January 17, 2015, 09:33:09 AM »
I think this kind of thinking is conditioned.

Yes, in dogmatic economics classes/thinking and thru marketing/commercials, pushing people to always go for more, more, more. Whereas we usually still teach children to be more moderate and not eat all the candy at once. Or was that a long time ago?

I'm 43, my daughter is almost 5. When she'll be 43, all the candy will be pretty much gone, unless we quickly manage to make our economy a lot more moderate.

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #217 on: January 17, 2015, 08:27:19 PM »
Re: Oil/gas subsidies

Quote
Energy subsidies are measures that keep prices for consumers below market levels or for producers above market levels, or reduce costs for consumers and producers.[citation needed] Energy subsidies may be direct cash transfers to producers, consumers, or related bodies, as well as indirect support mechanisms, such as tax exemptions and rebates, price controls, trade restrictions, and limits on market access. They may also include energy conservation subsidies.[citation needed] The development of today's major modern energy industries have all relied on substantial subsidy support.

Fossil fuel subsidies reached $90 billion in the OECD and over $500 billion globally in 2011.[1] Renewable energy subsidies reached $88 billion in 2011.[2] According to Fatih Birol, Chief Economist at the International Energy Agency without a phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, we will not reach our climate targets.[3]

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Allocation of subsidies in the United States

A 2011 study by the consulting firm Management Information Services, Inc. (MISI)[20] estimated the total historical federal subsidies for various energy sources over the years 1950–2010. The study found that oil, natural gas, and coal received $369 billion, $121 billion, and $104 billion (2010 dollars), respectively, or 70% of total energy subsidies over that period. Oil, natural gas, and coal benefited most from percentage depletion allowances and other tax-based subsidies, but oil also benefited heavily from regulatory subsidies such as exemptions from price controls and higher-than-average rates of return allowed on oil pipelines. The MISI report found that non-hydro renewable energy (primarily wind and solar) benefited from $74 billion in federal subsidies, or 9% of the total, largely in the form of tax policy and direct federal expenditures on research and development (R&D). Nuclear power benefited from $73 billion in federal subsidies, 9% of the total, largely in the form of R&D, while hydro power received $90 billion in federal subsidies, 12% of the total.

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The three largest fossil fuel subsidies were:

Foreign tax credit ($15.3 billion)
Credit for production of non-conventional fuels ($14.1 billion)
Oil and Gas exploration and development expensing ($7.1 billion)

The three largest renewable fuel subsidies were:

Alcohol Credit for Fuel Excise Tax ($11.6 billion)
Renewable Electricity Production Credit ($5.2 billion)
Corn-Based Ethanol ($5.0 billion)

So about 75% of the renewable went to corn based alcohol?? 

Oh well.  Interesting I guess.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidies#Allocation_of_subsidies_in_the_United_States
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #218 on: January 20, 2015, 07:32:56 PM »
Excellent question.  Although they do have a history of voting for money for their own states, while not voting for money for others (i.e., Superstorm Sandy relief).
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Will Republicans provide the funds to deal with emergencies that extreme weather events will cause in the next two years while they are controlling Congress and to a large extent the fate of the nation? I don’t think so. Adaptation and mitigation will be ignored. The red states stand to lose the most as tornadoes wreak havoc in Tornado Alley. People there may be left to their own devices as Republicans in Congress, climate change deniers all, will also not be very charitable in putting up funds to assist those who have experienced weather related extreme events.
http://sandiegofreepress.org/2015/01/extreme-weather-watch-2014-hottest-year-on-record/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #219 on: January 21, 2015, 12:57:39 AM »
Quote
Nordea Asset Management is set to blacklist around 40 coal mining companies from its investment portfolio, as the company joins a growing trend of investors cutting their exposure to fossil fuel assets.

Nordea is the largest Nordic fund manager with $228bn of assets, making it one of the largest firms to date to take steps to exclude carbon-intensive assets from its portfolio.
http://m.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2390893/report-nordea-asset-management-plans-to-ditch-coal-investments
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #220 on: January 21, 2015, 03:49:31 PM »
Good review of President Obama's remarks on energy and climate change from his State of the Union speech last night.

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20150121/defiant-obama-asserts-climate-agenda-firmness-and-mockery
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #221 on: January 21, 2015, 04:14:42 PM »
Investors urge big oil to face up to climate risk

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Companies, organisations and governments that continue to play down these fears are showing themselves to be increasingly out of touch.
http://tcktcktck.org/2015/01/investors-urge-big-oil-face-climate-risk/66099
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #222 on: January 22, 2015, 12:19:41 AM »
The U.S. Senate just voted that climate change is real! -- but not that humans are causing it. ::)

http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/jim-inhofe-ted-cruz-and-marco-rubio-just-voted-to-say-climate-change-is-real-20150121
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #223 on: January 22, 2015, 12:29:19 AM »
"Enhanced" apparently meaning: "Made it sound better to Republicans."

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The official website for House Republicans has posted on YouTube a version of President Obama’s State of the Union address which cuts out comments where the President was critical of Republican rhetoric on climate change, ThinkProgress has learned.

In the website’s “enhanced webcast” of the State of the Union speech, President Obama’s comments criticizing Republicans for saying they are “not scientists” when it comes to climate change are erased.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/21/3613732/you-cant-handle-the-truth/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #224 on: January 22, 2015, 07:10:16 PM »
Louisiana struggles to preserve its vanishing coastline against the fossil fuel industry the state depends on.
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A 2006 study by the U.S, Geological Survey and Gas Research Institute concluded that 36 percent of the wetland loss was directly caused by the oil and gas companies’ activity. As the state and its people wrestle with the impacts of this grave problem, an unprecedented court case is pitting the independent state agency responsible for protecting Louisianians from floods against the dozens of fossil fuel companies whose decades of largely unchecked extraction activities have put the state’s vital wetland ecosystem on life support.
...
Don Briggs, the President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, declined ThinkProgress’ request for an interview, but in a statement warned: “The negative impact of this suit will continue to be felt across the state as fewer dollars will be invested into our state economy, fewer rigs will be present, and in turn, fewer revenue dollars will be contributed to our state budget.”

The industry also has the full backing of Louisiana’s governor, newest senator and legislature, which passed a bill this summer attempting to kill the lawsuit. Governor Jindal, who has received generous donations from the oil and gas industry during his time in office, has blasted the lawsuit as “frivolous” and made attempts to appoint levee board members more favorable to corporate interests.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/21/3611980/louisiana-coast-lawsuit/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #225 on: January 22, 2015, 07:26:58 PM »
States have a new ally in their search to figure out how they’ll reduce emissions under the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate change targets.
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A new initiative launched Wednesday by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Heising-Simons family will help states come up with plans for emissions reductions that meet the standards of the Clean Power Plan, which was proposed in June and is currently being finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency. States will have flexibility in figuring out how to meet the targets, and the new initiative, dubbed the Clean Energy Initiative, will provide technical help for about 12 or so states that want to develop ambitious plans.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/21/3613702/how-to-emissions-cutting-guide/
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #226 on: January 22, 2015, 10:19:14 PM »
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2015/01/22/3454107_senate-not-ready-to-tie-climate.html?rh=1

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WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected the scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change, days after NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared 2014 the hottest year ever recorded on Earth.

The Republican-controlled Senate defeated a measure Wednesday stating that climate change is real and that human activity significantly contributes to it.

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #227 on: January 23, 2015, 01:50:59 AM »
It looks like the EU's quantitative easing will stimulate consumption not only in Europe but also in their major trading partners (like the USA):

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/us-markets-stocks-idUSKBN0KV18D20150122
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #228 on: January 23, 2015, 01:45:05 PM »
QE money goes into the banking sector, and stays there, it props up/inflates  asset bubbles and transfers the risk to the ECB and national central banks[= taxpayer]. None of this helps the 'real' economy in any way, and nor is it meant to. A more direct way to help the real economy would be to extend this free money issuance to every citizen by offering them money on the same terms as the banks 1% or zero%. Just print it out at a cost of .1% and allow all citizens to borrow the same amount, with the proviso that if they already have debt then the money must be used to pay that down first.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #229 on: January 23, 2015, 08:51:02 PM »
Obama Moves to Bring Order to Groups Dealing with Arctic Warming
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20150122/obama-moves-bring-order-groups-dealing-arctic-warming
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #230 on: January 24, 2015, 02:03:53 AM »
Does he or doesn't he?  Mitt Romney considers running for president (again), with a mixed message on climate change.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/mitt-romney-has-been-talking-a-lot-about-climate-change-lately-20150122
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #231 on: January 24, 2015, 03:14:31 PM »
Bill Gates Expects Historic Improvement in Lives of Poor
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Bill and Melinda Gates, along with Buffett, helped found the Giving Pledge, which asks billionaires to give the bulk of their wealth to charity. More than 120 have committed, including Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla Motors Inc. founder Elon Musk.

Bill Gates predicted in the previous annual letter that by 2035 almost no country will be as poor as the 35 nations the World Bank classified as low-income as of 2014. He and Melinda Gates sought to puncture what they called myths about poverty, including the ideas that foreign aid is a waste and that saving lives leads to overpopulation.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-22/bill-gates-expects-historic-improvement-in-lives-of-poor.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #232 on: January 24, 2015, 05:10:16 PM »
@billmckibben: Fossil free indexes handily outperformed the S&P last year. Just saying.
http://fossilfreeindexes.com/2015/01/20/thoughts-2014-performance-ffius/

Quote
In the year just ended, the Fossil Free Indexes US (FFIUS) outperformed the S&P 500 by about 1.5%. This is a strikingly large number, when you consider that less than 10% of the market capitalization of the S&P 500 is in companies that are part of The Carbon Underground 200 (CU200) and, therefore, excluded from the FFIUS.
...
It is important to realize that it doesn’t matter (so much) how the quantities demanded and supplied get out of balance. We can infer from this year’s price volatility that future policy moves to reduce demand for fossil fuels can induce a dramatic reduction in the value of underground reserves.

The take-away from the 2014 outperformance by the FFIUS is not that it will be expected to outperform the S&P 500 every year. It won’t. The take-away is that the potential cost of ignoring stranded asset risk has been demonstrated to be substantial.

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #233 on: January 26, 2015, 02:05:14 AM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #234 on: January 26, 2015, 02:28:51 PM »
"Inequality" was a hot topic at The World Economic Forum in Davos.  The super rich are planning to run away and hide. 

http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2015/jan/23/nervous-super-rich-planning-escapes-davos-2015
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #235 on: January 26, 2015, 03:22:10 PM »
Good op-ed on overpopulation in the LA Times:

Quote
Sensitive subject or not, the reality is that unsustainable human population growth is a potential disaster for efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. These days, the biggest population growth is occurring in developing nations, which is why any discussion must be sensitive to the perception that well-off, industrialized nations — the biggest climate polluters, often with majority-white populations — might be telling impoverished people of color to reduce their numbers. In fact, person for person, reducing birth rates in industrialized nations has a bigger impact on greenhouse gas emissions because affluent people use more of the Earth's resources and depend more heavily on fossil fuels.

In other words, population is not just a Third World issue. More than a third of the births in the United States are the result of unintended pregnancies, and this month the United Nations raised its prediction of population growth by the year 2050 because of unforeseen, rising birth rates in industrialized nations. So even though the highest rates of population growth are in the poorest and least educated countries — Africa's population is expected to triple by the end of the century — any attempt to address the issue will have to target the industrialized world as well.
...
But they and other nations need assistance on two fronts: education for girls and access to free or affordable family-planning services. The benefit of even minimal education is startling: Women in developing countries who have had a year or more of schooling give birth to an average of three children; with no schooling, the number is 4.5. Add more years of schooling and the number of births drops further. Women who have attended school also give birth later in life to healthier children.

The analysis by the Center for Global Development says that access to family planning and girls' education — even a little of it — are among the most cost-effective strategies for combating climate change.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-population-and-climate-change-20150125-story.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #236 on: January 26, 2015, 08:53:50 PM »
EPA Chief: Weather, Climate Scientists’ Work Is ‘Essential’
Quote
While there are still segments of the population, including myriad politicians, who haven’t accepted the scientific consensus on climate change, “I can’t worry about that,” McCarthy said. Her focus is on the increasing proportion of the public and business community that realize the scope of the problem posed by warming and are looking for action to avoid economic costs in the future.
...
"I cannot tell you how important it is for you” to keep connecting the dots of climate change, she said, and to communicate it in a way that, in a self-deprecating nod, “even people dense enough to work in government” can understand.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/epa-chief-tells-weather-climate-scientists-work-is-essential-18513
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #237 on: January 27, 2015, 02:40:30 PM »
Bill McKibben writes about Al Gore, global climate warrior.
Quote
And what was interesting was how. Instead of just dutifully repeating the old hits, his message on warming has changed. It’s now defiant and optimistic: The old energy system is doomed, as he wrote in Rolling Stone last summer. The falling cost of solar panels will ultimately sabotage fossil fuels. “The forward journey for human civilization will be difficult and dangerous, but it is now clear that we will ultimately prevail.”

This message is poison to the Exxons of the world; it’s a clever undercutting of their argument that burning ever more coal and gas and oil is inevitable, that the world has no choice. It’s a message delivered at the highest levels (Gore is always there in places like Davos where the 1% have to listen) and at the broadest: Live Earth, set for June 18, will be more about harmony than dissonance, but it will reach wide swaths of the planet, reinforcing the message that change is coming and that it’s cool.
http://grist.org/climate-energy/al-gore-is-still-kicking-butt-as-a-climate-warrior/
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #238 on: January 27, 2015, 09:41:29 PM »
 The “all of the above” credo that once dominated thinking on energy is steadily morphing into “anything but coal.”
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Indian energy minister, Piyush Goyal, says $250 billion needs to be spent across the power sector. More than $100 billion will go directly on renewables, another $50 billion will go on transmission and distribution, and just $60-$70 billion on stalled and new thermal projects (coal).

http://tcktcktck.org/2015/01/giles-parkinson-india-us-agree-coal-not-answer/66189
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #239 on: January 28, 2015, 03:12:33 PM »
Rejoice! Rejoice!

The Global Calculator (sponsored by the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change) says

Quote
This report uses four example pathways to show that it is possible for the world to continue to develop and for us to limit climate change to 2°C. However, for economic development to continue to improve people's lives without dangerous climate change, we must transform the technologies and fuels we use, and make smarter use of our limited land resources.
http://globalcalculator.org/insights

So why do we worry?

Has anyone got the energy to examine the underlying code (It is open source) but I might get suicidal - although I will try an force myself to read the "Global Calculator caveats paper"

http://uncached-site.globalcalculator.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Calculator%20caveats%20paper.pdf

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #240 on: January 28, 2015, 03:27:53 PM »
How well are companies protecting their supply chains and sustainability? Overall, the US lags behind most of the countries studied -- and yet, most of the best-prepared in this study are based in the US.
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January 27, 2015: Lack of preparation currently leaves supply chains in Brazil, China, India and the United States more vulnerable to climate risks than those in Europe and Japan. However, suppliers in China and India deliver the greatest financial return on investment to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrate the strongest appetite for collaboration across the value chain. This according to research released today by CDP, the international NGO formerly called Carbon Disclosure Project, and Accenture (NYSE:ACN).
...
"While climate and water risks are apparent, the implications for businesses and economies reliant on complex supply chain models are less understood," says Paul Simpson, chief executive officer, CDP. "That multinationals are engaging with thousands of suppliers to better manage environmental challenges and opportunities is encouraging. These companies are catalyzing progress in response to global problems."
https://www.cdp.net/en-US/News/CDP%20News%20Article%20Pages/Suppliers-in-USA-Brazil-China-India-least-resilient.aspx
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #241 on: January 29, 2015, 04:47:09 PM »
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/22/us-senate-man-climate-change-global-warming-hoax

US Senate refuses to accept humanity's role in global climate change, again

Quote
....
The Senate voted virtually unanimously that climate change is occurring and not, as some Republicans have said, a hoax – but it defeated two measures attributing its causes to human activity.

Only one Senator, Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, voted against a resolution declaring climate change was real and not – as his fellow Republican, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma once famous declared – a hoax. That measure passed 98 to one.


White House unveils plan to open Atlantic waters to offshore oil drilling
 Read more
But the Senate voted down two measures that attributed climate change to human activity – and that is far more important......

But the Senate has acknowledged the existence of climate change before and, as long ago as 2005, voted to affirm that human activity was its driver.

Since 2005, there has been an entire decade of accumulating evidence in real-time of the effects of climate change – and its threat in the future.

“We are worse off than 2005,” said Robert Brulle, a sociologist at Drexel University who writes about the climate denial movement. “The resolution saying that anthropogenic climate change is real and we need to act passed in 2005, and failed in 2015,” he said in an email. “A similar resolution failed today. 10 years, more certain science, less political will.”

So???............
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

Sigmetnow

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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #242 on: February 01, 2015, 04:03:58 PM »
Stunning election results in Australia! 
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The rout of the Liberal National Party in the Queensland election is being described as "catastrophic" by federal Coalition MPs, with some claiming the Prime Minister is now terminally wounded.

All we are talking about now is the timing and method of execution," one Queensland MP said.

"This is catastrophic, unimaginable," said another.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-01/lnp-rout-leaves-abbott-terminally-wounded/6060126
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #243 on: February 03, 2015, 01:06:41 AM »
Australia:
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The landmark Queensland state election on Saturday is likely to introduce a new Labor-led government elected with the key policy framework of “Saving the Great Barrier Reef”. The ALP has committed to remove state subsidies for the Galilee coal and associated rail projects, ban reef dumping and to ensure no dredging is undertaken at Abbot Point prior to financial close on any project.
https://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/2/2/policy-politics/can-adanis-coal-mine-survive-without-newman
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #244 on: February 03, 2015, 01:09:22 AM »
Quote
President Barack Obama's fiscal 2016 budget proposes $7.4 billion to fund clean energy technologies and a $4 billion fund to encourage U.S. states to make faster and deeper cuts to emissions from power plants, officials told Reuters.

Obama's budget, which will be published later on Monday, also calls for the permanent extension of the Production Tax Credit, used by the wind industry, and the Investment Tax Credit, used by the solar industry, the officials said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/02/us-usa-budget-energy-idUSKBN0L60AF20150202
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #246 on: February 03, 2015, 01:58:09 AM »
Obama's plan provides millions of dollars for out of work coal miners.
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Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear praised the President’s proposed plan.

“With Appalachia experiencing job loss due to a steady decline in the mining sector, our region is especially supportive of the POWER+ Plan and the substantial investment it represents in building a more diversified economy, promoting entrepreneurship, and creating new jobs for our citizens,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to its approval by Congress and implementation in the coming months.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/02/3618103/power-plus-plan-for-coal-miners/
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #247 on: February 04, 2015, 06:20:41 PM »
Report by large coalition of medical groups cites climate change as “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century," and urges divestment similar to that done with the tobacco industry.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/04/health-sector-should-divest-from-fossil-fuels-medical-groups-say
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #248 on: February 04, 2015, 09:11:31 PM »
Quote
Over the past weekend, a poll was released indicating that Americans have conclusively rejected climate denial and understand the reality of climate change. ...

In a finding that could have implications for the 2016 presidential campaign, the poll also found that two-thirds of Americans said they were more likely to vote for political candidates who campaign on fighting climate change. They were less likely to vote for candidates who questioned or denied the science that determined that humans caused global warming.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/the-defeat-of-climate-den_b_6593832.html
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Re: Money and Politics: The Drive for Climate Change Action
« Reply #249 on: February 06, 2015, 11:14:40 PM »
California Zen Leaders Urge Gov. Brown to Ban Fracking; big climate march on Feb 7.
http://350.org/fracking-isnt-zen/
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