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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #450 on: December 29, 2018, 07:31:35 PM »
Rep. Kathy Castor, newly appointed chair of "Select Committee on the Climate Change" blocks green initiative to disallow those taking money from Big Oil & King Coal from sitting.
What an inauspicious beginning!
...
Terry

- Such a ban may be unconstitutional. 
- A ban would prevent “reformed” legislators — who can be strong examples to others — from sitting.
- Castor has years of congressional and environmental experience.  So she knows how things work in Washington.  We don’t have time to waste on fights that cannot be won quickly.
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Sleepy

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #451 on: December 30, 2018, 05:54:37 AM »
We Don't Have Time.

NIMTOO, or how skewed is your mental model? Should we sue our governments and corporations? Civil disobedience?

Stuart Scott "Our Global Economic Operating System", CEP 24 Nov 2018:

Posted 20181220 124 views now.

Adding screenshots, Rio 1992 and the final words.
Omnia mirari, etiam tritissima.
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Science is a jealous mistress and takes little account of a man's feelings.

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #452 on: December 31, 2018, 06:16:54 PM »
“We’re not going to debate climate change, the existence of it. The Earth is getting hotter, and human activity is a major cause. Period.”

Chuck Todd Refuses To Give Air Time To Climate Deniers: ‘The Science Is Settled’
Quote
In a special “Meet the Press” episode dedicated to global warming, NBC’s Chuck Todd said he wouldn’t indulge anyone who ignored the facts. The host delivered the message on his Sunday broadcast, which opened with footage of the destruction bred by fires and flooding.

“We’re not going to give time to climate deniers,” Todd said. “The science is settled even if political opinion is not.”

Todd also noted that there would be no discussion of whether the issue was, in fact, legitimate. “We’re not going to debate climate change, the existence of it. The Earth is getting hotter and human activity is a major cause. Period.” ...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chuck-todd-climate-deniers_us_5c2998e2e4b05c88b701abd7
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TerryM

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #453 on: January 01, 2019, 01:42:22 AM »
Rep. Kathy Castor, newly appointed chair of "Select Committee on the Climate Change" blocks green initiative to disallow those taking money from Big Oil & King Coal from sitting.
What an inauspicious beginning!
...
Terry

- Such a ban may be unconstitutional. 
- A ban would prevent “reformed” legislators — who can be strong examples to others — from sitting.
- Castor has years of congressional and environmental experience.  So she knows how things work in Washington.  We don’t have time to waste on fights that cannot be won quickly.


Would it be "unconstitutional" to ban those beholden to Electric Chair Manufacturers from sitting on a committee attempting to end Capital Punishment?
Which "reformed" bought and paid for representatives of Big Oil & King Coal have turned their backs of the industries that financed their campaigns. Would you trust their loyalty now, when they've already shown that they aren't even capable of remaining bought?
What kind of "example" do you wish to dangle in front of prospective candidates. "It's OK to take bribes from the enemy, as long as you later pledge to betray them?"


Pelosi's hypocrisy may reach new highs in lockstep with her families wealth and the worlds temperatures. All may surpass previous records in the year ahead.
Terry

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #454 on: January 02, 2019, 07:20:06 PM »
U.S. Republicans take another tiny step back from outright climate change denial.

Republicans push ‘innovation’ as climate change solution
Quote
GOP lawmakers are increasingly turning to a new refrain for their position on climate change, calling for "innovation" as the policy solution.

Many Republicans have seemingly settled on innovation as their primary position to counter progressive Democrats who have grown louder in their calls for a Green New Deal, with its emphasis on renewable electricity, and as the United Nations and federal government issue reports saying time is running out to dramatically cut emissions.
...
The strategy is the latest in a string of Republican responses to climate change and to the left's repeated accusations that the GOP, which has controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House for the past two years, is failing in its governance duties by not taking stronger action.

Previous strategies have included politicians pointing out that they are "not a scientist" and that man's impact on the climate is unclear.

In addition to taking first steps toward recognizing the scientific evidence that climate change is caused by human activity, the innovation strategy gives Republicans a policy answer that aligns with core conservative preferences for commerce and the free market. It contrasts with Democratic proposals like regulations and carbon pricing that the GOP considers heavy-handed and expensive. ...
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/422785-republicans-push-innovation-as-climate-change-solution
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #455 on: January 02, 2019, 07:33:55 PM »
Stages of denial.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #456 on: January 04, 2019, 02:02:37 AM »
Ouch. 
(During a Christmas Eve phone call from the White House, Trump asked a 7-year-old if she still believed in Santa Claus, saying “seven is a marginal age” for that.)
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #457 on: January 04, 2019, 09:58:57 PM »
Washington, D.C.

Trump’s White House Will Have to Go Green Under DC’s New Clean Energy Plan
Quote
The DC Council on Tuesday passed one of the nation’s most ambitious clean energy bills to date, yet another sign that while the Trump administration moves backward on climate action, cities and states are continuing to move forward, even in the president’s own backyard.

The Clean Energy DC Act, approved in a unanimous vote by the council, requires the District to run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2032. That means the White House will have to comply as well.
...
The DC bill also establishes new energy efficiency standards for buildings and incentivizes the use of clean cars. The bill will raise a current electric and natural gas surcharge in the District to finance energy projects and support low-income residents during the transition to clean energy.

Council members introduced the Clean Energy DC Act in June, and in November, the council unanimously passed the legislation in a preliminary vote. Now that the council has approved the bill a second time, it’s headed to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s desk for a signature.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/d-c-just-passed-an-ambitious-clean-energy-plan/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #458 on: January 05, 2019, 01:55:23 PM »
”We just have to be clear-eyed about it—and we have to be brave about it—in acknowledging that for some of these consequences, it’s already too late, but for the most serious of them, it is not too late.”

Al Gore Q&A: Climate Change and the 2020 Democrats
Quote
Isaac Dovere: Where do you see the politics of climate change right now?

Al Gore: I think that we are extremely close to a political tipping point. We may actually be crossing it right about now. The much-vaunted tribalism in American politics has contributed to an odd anomaly, in that the core of one of our political parties is uniquely—in all of the world—still rejecting not just the science, but also the messages from Mother Nature that have pushed toward, and perhaps are pushing across, this political tipping point right now.

More and more people on the conservative side of the spectrum are really changing their positions now. This election, in 2020, is almost certainly going to be different from any previous presidential election in that a number of candidates will be placing climate at or near the top of their agenda. And I think that by the time the first primary and caucus votes are cast a year from now, you’re going to see a very different political dialogue in the U.S.

The climate-related extreme-weather events are causing millions of people who had successfully pushed this issue into the background and into the projected distant future to now be finding ways to talk about it and to express their deep concern.
...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/al-gore-q-climate-change-and-2020-democrats/579340/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #459 on: January 13, 2019, 12:09:49 AM »
Florida’s new Republican governor softly nudges the state forward on climate change
Quote
As a candidate, Ron DeSantis toed a line on climate change, promising to prioritize the environment and acknowledge the problems posed by sea rise without bowing to “the church of the global warming leftists.”

On Thursday, Florida’s newly anointed Republican governor put his words to action, announcing plans to open a new resiliency office as part of a sweeping environmental rollout that includes an extra $1 billion for Everglades restoration and water cleanup — without mention of climate change or carbon emissions.

In a state threatened by saltwater intrusion and suffering from red tide and toxic blue-green algae blooms, DeSantis’ green platform received bipartisan applause. He’s opposing fracking, creating a new office to integrate scientific research into the state’s environmental policies and pushing to quickly begin the process of cleansing the state’s distressed Lake Okeechobee.

For some environmentalists and Democrats, the proposal fell short of hopes. But even so, DeSantis still managed to exceed critics’ expectations by indicating that a state where former Gov. Rick Scott banned environmental regulators from using the phrase “climate change” is now willing to work to at least combat the symptoms of an existential problem.

“DeSantis has done more in two days than Scott did during his entire eight years in office,” said Laura Reynolds, an environmental consultant. ...
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article224231225.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #460 on: January 13, 2019, 12:45:41 AM »
U.S.:  Hundreds of environmental groups pressure Congress by backing Green New Deal
Quote
Hundreds of environmental organizations signed a letter Thursday backing a rapid transition away from fossil fuels in the United States.

The groups, led by organizations like Friends of the Earth and the Climate Justice Alliance, told members of the House in the open letter that lawmakers should pursue the Green New Deal, a climate change-fighting concept that calls for 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035 and the decarbonization of other major industries.

“As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently warned, if we are to keep global warming below 1.5°C, we must act aggressively and quickly,” the groups wrote.

Their specific asks include an end to all new fossil fuel leasing on federal land; transitioning the power sector completely to renewable energy; phasing out fossil fuel-powered cars; and helping workers transition out of the fossil fuel sector. ...
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/424746-hundreds-of-green-groups-back-green-new-deal
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #461 on: January 15, 2019, 10:13:08 PM »
America's No. 3 Coal State Sets Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets
The Pennsylvania governor’s goal matches the U.S. commitment under the Paris accord, but he’ll need the Republican-controlled legislature’s help to meet it.
Quote
In Pennsylvania, a coal-mining state where the fracking boom has also pushed natural gas production to the second highest levels in the nation, Gov. Tom Wolf is launching into his second term with a conspicuous move on climate change.

Wolf issued an executive order on Tuesday to set the state's first economy-wide targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

His goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent by 2025 compared to 2005 levels mirrors the commitment the U.S. made as part of the Paris climate agreement. And his longer-term target—an 80 percent reduction by 2050—is in line with the decarbonization that scientists have said will be needed to keep global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

But meeting that target is easier said than done with Republicans in control of both chambers of the legislature, as the Democratic governor pointed out. ...
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09012019/pennsylvania-greenhouse-gas-reduction-target-natural-gas-fracking-climate-change
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vox_mundi

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #462 on: January 18, 2019, 08:46:56 PM »
Climate change: Belgium students skip school to demand action
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-46913247/climate-change-belgium-students-skip-school-to-demand-action

Thousands of students have skipped school in Belgium to join a march demanding greater action on climate change.

About 12,500 young people took part in Thursday's protest in Brussels. They have vowed to return to demonstrate every week until world leaders take notice.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

nicibiene

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #463 on: January 19, 2019, 03:31:32 PM »
Yesterday we had more than 20.000 protesting kids here in Germany-in 55 cities.  8)

https://twitter.com/fridayforfuture?lang=de

Even the news of "Tagesthemen" brought a 3 minute report:

<iframe src="https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video-495719~player_branded-true.html" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen width="800px" height="450px"></iframe>
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” –“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #464 on: January 20, 2019, 03:38:24 PM »
Pentagon Confirms Climate Change Is A National Security Threat, Contradicting Trump
Quote
More than a year after President Donald Trump nixed climate change from his administration’s list of national security threats, the Pentagon has released an alarming report detailing how dozens of U.S. military bases are already threatened by rising seas, drought and wildfire.
“The effects of a changing climate are a national security issue with potential impacts to Department of Defense missions, operational plans, and installations,” states the 22-page document, which was published Thursday.

The congressionally mandated analysis looked at a total of 79 military installations around the country. The Defense Department found that 53 sites are currently vulnerable to repeat flooding. Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, for example, has experienced 14 inches of sea level rise since 1930. Additionally, more than half of the 79 bases are at risk from drought, while nearly half are vulnerable to wildfire. ...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/defense-department-climate-change-national-security-threat_us_5c420386e4b027c3bbc1713f
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magnamentis

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #465 on: January 20, 2019, 04:38:31 PM »
Yesterday we had more than 20.000 protesting kids here in Germany-in 55 cities.  8)

https://twitter.com/fridayforfuture?lang=de

Even the news of "Tagesthemen" brought a 3 minute report:

<iframe src="https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video-495719~player_branded-true.html" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen width="800px" height="450px"></iframe>

no matter how just the cause, to instumentalize kids is IMO always wrong because there is no clear limit to such instrumentalization i assume that none of the kids hat the idea and went there on it's own but was in one or another or several ways abused by their parents.

as i said, causes may be just but the means are not and that causes justify means is part of the problem we're discussing here, means the cat is hunting it's own tail.

i recommend all those parents to reduce their own and their families energy and resources footprint first, sure most of the kids have mobile phones and are driven to school etc. etc.

BTW why "even tagesthemen" is that a qualification ?

for my understanding what's in the news is closer to being a disqualification than the other way around, at least i more often have to switch channel or news off than switch channel or  news on.

this is kind of arbitrary main stream choosing a group to belong but ultimately nothing else than choosing a church/religion or any other social group to belong, mostly ending in hypocrisy.

b_lumenkraft

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #466 on: January 20, 2019, 05:15:57 PM »
Wait, what? What do you mean instrumentalize kids??

These kids are scared because they know about science. This is told in Germany. Also, evolution and Kant btw.

Rest assured, these kids are not instrumentalized! They have their own brains.

b_lumenkraft

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #467 on: January 20, 2019, 05:21:34 PM »
BTW why "even tagesthemen" is that a qualification?

In Germany we have something called "Öffentlich Rechtliche Medien". Tagesthemen/Tagesschau is the top news show there.

We all pay to finance independent media. The ÖRs are a well-trusted news source in Germany.

etienne

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #468 on: January 20, 2019, 06:16:11 PM »
I also don't believe that kids have been instrumentalized. As teenagers, we were protesting mainly for human rights (apartheid...) and nobody was making pressure on us. My parents didn't really want us on the streets.

Of course, one day out of school might sometimes be a motivation.

I remember stories where a journalist said that all the people in the protest had a new hat, it was is some Asian country, don't remeber which one, but here it is clearly not the case.

Teenagers are often able to put common interest before their own. This is mainly true as long as their parents are taking care of all the material aspects of life.

nicibiene

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #469 on: January 20, 2019, 07:04:10 PM »
Teenagers are often able to put common interest before their own. This is mainly true as long as their parents are taking care of all the material aspects of life.

Thank you, etienne. As a loving mother, caring for my kids and the planet, I know that it is a basic instinct of children to think sometimes further than a lot of adults. They love nature, they have a natural sense for injustice-for humans and animals.

Kids on the street had not been influenced-here in Germany they are told about climate science, they are free to use their own brain and to raise their voice-even if some ministers of education already theatened them with sanctions.

Yes, every family should take personal action-but here in Germany awareness and action of private persons is al lot higher than in politics. We have politics, shameless influenced lobbyism of energy companies and car industry. All had been done to act in their interest, not in the interest of the young generation. 

And how should that generation have hope, what should them give optimism? There has to be political pressure. Maybe parents should join their kids-that would be the appropriate criticism.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” –“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein

TerryM

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #470 on: January 20, 2019, 08:38:49 PM »

And how should that generation have hope, what should them give optimism? There has to be political pressure. Maybe parents should join their kids-that would be the appropriate criticism.
When we were getting our young heads split open trying to end the Vietnam debacle, one of our cries was "Never Trust Anyone Over 30."


It might still be a worthwhile maxim. :-[
Terry

etienne

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #471 on: January 20, 2019, 09:28:16 PM »
Well, Vietnam war just like apartheid ended, so we should wish the new generation a lot of success.

TerryM

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #472 on: January 21, 2019, 11:39:35 AM »
Well, Vietnam war just like apartheid ended, so we should wish the new generation a lot of success.
As a bloodied survivor of the Vietnam protests I do wish them every success. I don't know how they'll achieve it, but our parents didn't believe that we could end the war, or stop South African apartheid.
Terry

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #473 on: January 23, 2019, 06:37:13 PM »
“What's my response when people say "we're f#cked" when it comes to climate change? Well here it is:
It's not binary. It is not ‘effed’ or ‘not-effed’. It's a matter of ‘how effed’ — that is left for us to determine. The more carbon we burn, the worse it gets." — @MichaelEMann on climate change
https://twitter.com/TheAgenda/status/1085381132714106880
40-second video clip at the link.
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b_lumenkraft

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #474 on: January 24, 2019, 09:51:16 AM »
Quote
Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have publicly acknowledged the dangers of global warming, but last week they all sponsored a conference that promoted climate change denial to young libertarians.

Link >> https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/google-facebook-microsoft-climate-denial_us_5c48dfcbe4b083c46d650d9f?utm_source=reddit.com

b_lumenkraft

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #475 on: January 24, 2019, 05:56:47 PM »
That's a nice one!

The Water In Your Toilet Could Fight Climate Change One Day

Quote
... Except that the wastewater treatment facilities need energy to operate. There might be a way to tweak this process, however. Some microbes, like bacteria and microalgae, feed on CO2 itself. “They would eat up the organic carbon and then convert the CO2 into chemicals, for example ethanol,” says Princeton University environmental engineer Zhiyong Jason Ren, who co-authored a recent Nature review of potential carbon capture techniques in wastewater treatment. So one potential fix would be to replace the typical microbes used in wastewater treatment with these CO2-guzzlers. “You treat wastewater but also you reduce CO2 into something more valuable.”
Link >> https://www.wired.com/story/the-water-in-your-toilet-could-fight-climate-change-one-day/

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #476 on: January 24, 2019, 07:48:02 PM »
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has announced she is running for president in 2020, speaking in South Carolina.

UniteBlue SCarolina (@UniteBlueSC)
1/23/19, 8:21 PM
Big cheers as @ewarren says she’s all in on #ClimateChange and shouts out the #GreenNewDeal come get it @sunrisemvmt @NoFossilMoney
oh, she also says it’s time to end #FossilFuel subsidies, just for @OilChangeUS
https://twitter.com/unitebluesc/status/1088245336395694083
2-minute video clip of her on stage, speaking to a group, at the link.
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gerontocrat

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #477 on: January 28, 2019, 12:13:09 PM »
It is really nice to know big business will look after us as it hits the fan.

Looking on the bright side of climate change, think of all the money corporations can make

Quote
A new report reveals how Apple, among others, is already exploring the business possibilities that will come from the environmental crisis. Something to be cheerful about as the ice melts …

....how some of the world’s largest corporations are, as Bloomberg puts it in a headline, “Getting Ready to Monetize Climate Change”.....

As Merck notes in its disclosure to CDP, climate change may lead to “expanded markets for products for tropical and weather-related diseases including water-borne illness”. AbbVie sees similar opportunities, saying that its “immunology product line could see an increase in sales” as a result of more extreme conditions. And Eli Lilly, another large pharmaceutical company, cites research showing climate change may increase the risk of diabetes by “curtailing physical activity, disrupting traditional food supplies, and increasing food insecurity”. ... the upside for Eli Lilly is a potential increase in demand for its diabetes products.

 Honda reckons its generators may empower its consumers when the world’s infrastructure crumbles. The company notes that “the Katrina disaster was followed by a 27% increase in unit sales of [Honda] generators”. Meanwhile, the Home Depot is optimistic that, at the very least, it will sell more ceiling fans “should temperatures increase over time”.

Apple thinks that “as people begin to experience severe weather events with greater frequency” they will become increasingly glued to their mobile phones. It notes that, as well as helping you check in with your loved ones, your iPhone can “serve as a flashlight”. Which takes the idea of seeing the bright side of a bad situation to a whole new level.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2019/jan/28/looking-on-the-bright-side-of-climate-change-think-of-all-the-money-corporations-can-make
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
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b_lumenkraft

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #478 on: January 29, 2019, 03:53:27 PM »
Quote
Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have publicly acknowledged the dangers of global warming, but last week they all sponsored a conference that promoted climate change denial to young libertarians.

Link >> https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/google-facebook-microsoft-climate-denial_us_5c48dfcbe4b083c46d650d9f?utm_source=reddit.com

Follow up on that one:

Ocasio-Cortez dings Facebook, Microsoft, Google for ‘implicit’ support of climate change denial
Link >> https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/28/ocasio-cortez-dings-tech-for-implicit-support-of-climate-change-denial.html

BOOM!

gerontocrat

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #479 on: January 30, 2019, 05:05:13 PM »
Another +ve news story for a change (2nd one today!)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/30/the-key-to-winning-victories-against-big-oil-perseverance
The key to winning victories against big oil? Perseverance
by Bill McKibben
Vermont’s Middlebury College has reversed its course on fossil fuel companies and is leading the way on renewable energy
Quote
Vermont’s Middlebury College announced on Wednesday that it was divesting its holdings in fossil fuel companies. Given that more than a thousand institutions with endowments totaling more than $8tn have made similar pledges, it might not seem so newsworthy – but Middlebury was one of the first to reverse course. Six years ago the college flatly rejected divestment, and the shift makes it clear why big oil’s purchase on our economy and our society is eroding.

Much of the explanation, of course, stems from local factors, and since I’m employed there I’ve had a firsthand view. The college’s students never gave up, passing on the activist torch to each new entering freshman class – indeed, some of the students who pioneered the fight were on hand for today’s announcement. And along the way the college got a new president: religion scholar Laurie Patton proved an adept conciliator able to help her institution move.

Bill McKibben is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, and a founder of 350.org. His forthcoming book is Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #480 on: February 17, 2019, 09:43:30 PM »
U.K.

My generation trashed the planet. So I salute the children striking back
George Monbiot
Quote
The Youth Strike 4 Climate gives me more hope than I have felt in 30 years of campaigning. Before this week, I believed it was all over. I thought, given the indifference and hostility of those who govern us, and the passivity of most of my generation, that climate breakdown and ecological collapse were inevitable. Now, for the first time in years, I think we can turn them around.

My generation and the generations that went before have failed you. We failed to grasp the basic premise of intergenerational justice: that you cannot apply discount rates to human life. In other words, the life of someone who has not been born will be of no less value than the life of someone who already exists. We have lived as if your lives had no importance, as if any resource we encountered was ours and ours alone to use as we wished, regardless of the impact on future generations. In doing so, we created a cannibal economy: we ate your future to satisfy our greed. ...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/15/planet-children-protest-climate-change-speech
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #481 on: February 18, 2019, 04:38:08 PM »
Quote
Joshua Wolfe (@wolfejoshua)
2/17/19, 1:25 PM
My wife wanted to try out a new church this morning and the sermon was on climate change and referenced the work of @KHayhoe several times.
https://twitter.com/wolfejoshua/status/1097200300216279042

Here is the sermon (audio):
https://www.fapc.org/sermon/sixth-sunday-after-epiphany
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #482 on: February 18, 2019, 08:40:13 PM »
Thus far, 107 American cities have committed to the Sierra Club’s Ready For 100 campaign.  Chicago will be the largest city on the list when it’s officially added.

Chicago sets goal for 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2035
https://electrek.co/2019/02/18/chicago-sets-100-percent-clean-renewable-energy-goal/
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vox_mundi

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #483 on: February 22, 2019, 01:12:09 PM »
Plans Approved to Build Massive Seawall in NYC for "Once in 300 Year" Storm
https://www.inverse.com/article/53485-but-what-happens-when-every-300-years-becomes-every-ten

Despite Hurricane Sandy’s immense impact, the city has been slow to adopt protective measures that would safeguard residents from future storm-related disasters. A 2018 report that evaluated storm preparation ranked New York 12th out of 16 Eastern coastal states, behind both New Jersey and Connecticut. But on Tuesday, New York finally secured funding to begin addressing that though the Staten Island Levee Project, a $615 million seawall that will be built to withstand a “300 year storm.”

The new project is set to run 5.3 miles along Staten Island’s Eastern shore. It’s actually not technically a “wall,” and it will eventually be composed of a system of interconnected levees, berms, and seawalls, designed to combat both storm surges and rising sea levels.

But as climate change proceeds at an increasingly destructive pace, the more traditional ways of measuring storm severity — once every 100 years, every 300 years, every 500, etc. — and the ways in which those designations inform our seawall design could quickly become outdated. Hurricane Sandy, after all, was a once in a century storm. The Staten Island seawall is built for a once-in-300 year storm. But a report released last year by the Regional Plan Association found that those “every 500 years” floods New York has been slow to protect themselves against? They could start happening once every five.

https://www.6sqft.com/study-new-york-city-could-get-hit-with-a-flood-every-five-years-instead-of-every-500/
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Archimid

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #484 on: February 23, 2019, 04:25:38 PM »
When they say sea level rise they usually refer to global average sea level rise. Global average might be informative in terms of meta solutions but in terms of actual solutions is not informative.  A global average hides the fact that some places will experience less SLR and other places more SLR based on topography alone. When you add SLR multipliers like storm surges from climate changed hurricanes, high tides and torrential rain on land suddenly what was an cm of sea level rise becomes a meter.

A city like NYC must embrace sea level rise and build useful infrastructure that also helps with SLR when the time comes. It will be too expensive and impractical to build defenses only. The defenses must play a role in the city day to day. NYC can do it. They have great people and vast resources.
I am an energy reservoir seemingly intent on lowering entropy for self preservation.

gerontocrat

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #485 on: March 01, 2019, 12:05:50 PM »
 What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action ?

In perfidious Albion, not-a-lot.
MPs debate climate after school strike – but only a handful turn up
Government benches mostly empty for debate inspired by schoolchildren’s climate strike

Quote
In the week that the UK experienced its hottest ever winter day, just a handful of government MPs attended a debate on climate change in parliament on Thursday.

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said she had secured the discussion after being inspired by the thousands of UK schoolchildren who went on strike over climate change this month and wanted to thank them for forcing MPs into action.

Moran said climate change had not been debated in the main chamber of the House of Commons for two years. She spoke, however, to a chamber where the seats were predominantly empty. At points, as few as 10 MPs sat on government benches, although the opposition side was more occupied. The lacklustre response to the debate from the government was in stark contrast to the condemnation by Downing Street to the thousands of children involved in the strike for climate change, calling it “truancy”.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/28/mps-debate-climate-after-school-strike-but-only-a-handful-turn-up
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

Archimid

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #486 on: March 01, 2019, 12:46:59 PM »
wow. Now I know what civilized foreigners feel when they look at Trump's America.  They don't even dare to talk about it.
I am an energy reservoir seemingly intent on lowering entropy for self preservation.

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #487 on: March 01, 2019, 09:44:32 PM »
U.S.:

At the very least, a presidential candidate running primarily on climate change issues can do a lot to advance the national conversation. If he’s able to stay in the race for any length of time, and speak passionately — and effectively — about climate change, it should be a net positive for the country.

Jay Inslee announces presidential bid, says defeating climate change 'number one priority' -
https://electrek.co/2019/03/01/jay-inslee-presidential-bid/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #488 on: March 02, 2019, 06:39:58 PM »
Considering the lobster: Maine joins US Climate Alliance
Quote
Maine is the latest state to join the U.S. Climate Alliance, as Governor Janet Mills (D) announced her intent in a speech which expressed concerns about climate change affecting Maine’s famous lobster industry, among other repercussions.

With Thursday’s announcement, Maine becomes the 22nd U.S. state or territory to join the U.S. Climate Alliance. Mills makes Maine the third state to join the Alliance in the past month, following Wisconsin and Michigan.

In addition to joining the Alliance, Mills announced her intentions to see that Maine reaches 80 percent renewable electricity generation by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050. Mills said her administration will create a Maine Climate Council. The council — to consist of various officials, experts, and industry and non-profit leaders — will lead the state’s efforts to curb emissions. ...

Mills listed a number of ways climate change is already affecting Maine, noting that “The Gulf of Maine is warming at a rate faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, driving our lobster populations further up the coast.” She also cited wildly fluctuating temperatures in the state and more acidic coastal waters. ...
https://electrek.co/2019/03/01/maine-us-climate-alliance/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #489 on: March 14, 2019, 05:41:33 PM »
“We do need hope, of course we do,” she says. “But the one thing we need more than hope is action.”

16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
https://electrek.co/2019/03/14/greta-thunberg-nobel-peace/
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vox_mundi

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #490 on: March 14, 2019, 08:17:11 PM »
NYC Mayor: Extend Shoreline to Protect City from Storms
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/bill-de-blasio-my-new-plan-to-climate-proof-lower-manhattan.html
https://www.nycedc.com/project/lower-manhattan-coastal-resiliency

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is announcing a plan to protect lower Manhattan from rising sea levels by surrounding it with earthen berms and extending its shoreline by as much as 500 feet (152 meters).



Quote
We don’t debate global warming in New York City. Not anymore. The only question is where to build the barriers to protect us from rising seas and the inevitable next storm, and how fast we can build them.

On Thursday, I am joining a group of climate scientists and local officials to announce we’re filling one of the biggest gaps in our coastal defenses. We’re going to protect Lower Manhattan, which includes the Financial District, home to a half-million jobs, 90,000 residents, and the nexus of almost all our subway lines.

It will be one of the most complex environmental and engineering challenges our city has ever undertaken and it will, literally, alter the shape of the island of Manhattan.

All across this country, cities are grappling with the same existential threat. But nowhere in the $4.75 trillion budget President Trump just proposed is there anything approaching a plan to protect our coastal cities from rising seas.

This is a national emergency without a national policy. And that has to change.

I don’t expect deniers like President Trump to come to the table on this. It’s on Democrats to put this front and center on our national agenda in a way we haven’t ever before.
...


- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio



As for funding such an ambitious project, the mayor admitted that the city wouldn’t be able to go it alone, but that President Trump also wouldn’t be willing to contribute. He then called on Democrats to make the project part of their national agenda, to work towards allocating federal funds, and to fast-tracking the extension.

Alongside the resiliency study, the city also released the third iteration of their Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines, which architects and planners can use to future-proof their projects.



Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience Study: https://www.nycedc.com/project/lower-manhattan-coastal-resiliency

The study found that by 2050, 37 percent of properties in Lower Manhattan will be at risk from storm surge. By 2100, with over 6 feet of projected sea level rise, almost 50 percent of properties will be at risk from storm surge, and 20 percent of Lower Manhattan’s streets will be exposed to daily tidal inundation. Groundwater table rise is projected to put 7 percent of buildings at risk of destabilization and expose 39 percent of streets with underground utilities to corrosion and water infiltration.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Juan C. García

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #491 on: March 15, 2019, 02:46:34 AM »
I think that Greta Thunberg is starting a huge movement. It is interesting the reactions that she is generating. These are just some examples:

Quote
‘Our future is what we are fighting for’
 
The Washington Post spoke with kids around the country about who they are and why they're striking. They told stories about climate change touching their lives, shared photos from their social media accounts, and explained why they are no longer willing to wait for adults to act on their behalf. Their interviews are edited for length and clarity.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/climate-change-kids/?utm_term=.0f456fb979bf&wpisrc=nl_green&wpmm=1


And:

Quote
1659 places in 105 countries. And counting.
Tomorrow we schoolstrike for our future. And we will continue to do so for as long as it takes.
Adults are more than welcome to join us.
Unite behind the science.
https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1106071099165601792
« Last Edit: March 15, 2019, 02:56:07 AM by Juan C. García »
Which is the best answer to Sep-2012 ASI lost (compared to 1979-2000)?
50% [NSIDC Extent] or
73% [PIOMAS Volume]

Volume is harder to measure than extent, but 3-dimensional space is real, 2D's hide ~50% thickness gone.
-> IPCC/NSIDC trends [based on extent] underestimate the real speed of ASI lost.


Qce

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #493 on: March 21, 2019, 04:41:04 PM »
Summit leak reveals EU rift on climate change
https://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-strategy-2050/news/summit-leak-reveals-eu-rift-on-climate-change/

Quote
Confidential documents prepared in advance of a two-day EU summit in Brussels have exposed an East-West divide in Europe on climate change, with Germany siding with Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in their refusal to commit to climate neutrality by 2050.

[...]

A French proposal, for instance, underlines that Europe should strive for climate neutrality “by 2050, in line with the 1.5 degree objective of the Paris Agreement”.

[...]

[...] Germany, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have refused to specifically link EU climate action with the 1.5°C objective. They also oppose any time-bound commitment to the EU’s climate neutrality objective, deleting any reference to 2050 for reaching that goal.

So much for Schellnhuber's rapid decarbonisation plan for Germany?

b_lumenkraft

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #494 on: March 21, 2019, 05:35:29 PM »
So much for Schellnhuber's rapid decarbonisation plan for Germany?

Could be good news for the Green Party in Germany. People really are committed to this goal these days. #NieMehrCDU

etienne

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #495 on: March 21, 2019, 07:49:52 PM »
Some politicians say here in Luxembourg that objectives have been set so high that they are not reachable. It would be a short term strategy to explain us that the government takes the matter seriously, and in the future it would be easy to explain that the objectives have been set so high that it was not reachable. So maybe we could say that Germany and eastern countries are more honest than the others.

vox_mundi

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #496 on: March 29, 2019, 02:18:44 AM »
New York State Set to Ban Plastic Bags 
https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-york-state-lawmakers-set-to-ban-plastic-bags

... New York will be the second state to impose a plastic bag ban, after California. All of Hawaii’s counties also have banned single-use bags.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #497 on: March 29, 2019, 11:53:06 PM »
Earth Hour: Turning off the lights for one hour on Saturday, March 30, 2019
Quote
Earth Hour returns this Saturday, March 30, 2019, as organizers ask participants to turn off their lights for one hour.

This year’s Earth Hour takes place at 8:30 pm, your local time, wherever you may be. The event aims to bring awareness to environmental issues, such as climate change.

Earth Hour started as a lights-out event in Sydney in 2007. It has grown in stature over the years, as more than 180 countries and territories are now involved. More than 17,900 landmarks and monuments turned their lights off during last year’s event.
...
Some cities do report on their electricity savings or reduced carbon emissions during the event, but as the website’s FAQ states:

“Earth hour does not claim that the event is an energy or carbon reduction exercise – it is a symbolic action. Therefore, we do not engage in the measurement of energy or carbon reduction levels. Earth Hour is an initiative to encourage individuals, businesses and governments around the world to take accountability for their ecological footprint and engage in dialogue and resource exchange that provides real solutions to our environmental challenges. Participation in Earth Hour symbolizes a commitment to change beyond the hour.”
...
https://electrek.co/2019/03/29/earth-hour-2019/
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etienne

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #498 on: April 10, 2019, 03:26:25 PM »
Just for fun

etienne

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #499 on: April 10, 2019, 06:44:20 PM »
It looks a little bit like a "vote leave" t-shirt in the Brexit context.