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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #50 on: September 26, 2015, 05:56:59 PM »
Gov. Jay Inslee: ‘Fear mongers’ will not stop us from setting carbon cap

It is time for action based upon our optimism, our ability to build a clean energy economy, our love for Washington state, and our existing state clean air laws.

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We will not fall victim to the fear mongers who have attempted to block every clean-air and clean-water law since Earth Day 1970 by arguing we cannot have a healthy environment and a healthy economy. They have been wrong every time. The experience of eight Northeast states in the United States, Quebec and multiple nations that have adopted caps on carbon pollution while still experiencing growth is more than enough to give us confidence to move forward in the Evergreen State.
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/gov-jay-inslee-fear-mongers-will-not-stop-us-from-setting-carbon-cap/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #51 on: September 26, 2015, 07:26:12 PM »
U.S. climate finance in limbo, risking 'trust gap' before Paris
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0RO11920150924
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Sigmetnow

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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #53 on: September 27, 2015, 02:12:41 PM »
The Business Case for Science-Based Targets to Reduce Emissions
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As national leaders gather in New York for Climate Week, many of the world’s 500 largest companies are already considering their impact on Earth’s climate. Eighty percent of them have set targets to reduce their climate-warming emissions.

This is up from 43 percent 10 years ago, reflecting the growing expectations that large corporations should set emission reduction goals – a result of continuous collaboration by private sector leaders, policy makers, climate researchers and other company stakeholders.
http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/09/business-case-science-based-targets-reduce-emissions
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #54 on: September 29, 2015, 12:59:22 AM »
Republicans are coming around!

Survey of Republican Voters Shows a Majority Believe in Climate Change
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A majority of Republicans — including 54 percent of self-described conservative Republicans — believe the world’s climate is changing and that mankind plays some role in the change, according to a new survey conducted by a trio of prominent Republican pollsters.
...
...the new survey found that 73 percent of all voters and 56 percent of Republicans do believe the climate is changing. Fewer than a third of Republicans think the climate is changing because of purely natural cycles, and only 9 percent think the climate is not changing at all, the survey found. It also found that 72 percent of Republicans support accelerating the development of renewable energy sources.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/us/politics/survey-of-republican-voters-shows-a-majority-believe-in-climate-change.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #55 on: September 29, 2015, 02:26:02 PM »
Using Music to Inspire a Generation to Save the World
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The festival attracted a panoply of celebrities and world leaders: from Stephen Colbert, Big Bird, Bill Nye and Leonardo DiCaprio to Malala Yousafzai, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Vice President Joe Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Tickets to the event, known as the Global Citizen Festival, were free, but could only be obtained by engaging in activism. Those who wanted to attend were directed to call lawmakers, post messages on social media aimed at  world leaders, sign petitions and participate in other environmental and humanitarian events.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/28092015/using-music-inspire-generation-global-citizen-festival-climate-central-park
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #56 on: September 29, 2015, 04:47:23 PM »
Republican!

Republican mega-donor urges talk on climate change solutions
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Republican businessman Jay Faison says his party should stop fighting science and start talking solutions to climate change. He has $175 million in potential political donations to help inspire them. And if that's not enough, he's commissioned a survey, released Monday, that he says shows voters agree.

"I'm pretty frustrated about the political divide," Faison said. "This is too important to leave to the Democrats."
http://news.yahoo.com/republican-megadonor-urges-talk-climate-change-solutions-180041894--politics.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #57 on: October 04, 2015, 04:15:03 AM »
Major corporations taking climate change threat more seriously – survey
Survey of 440 sustainability workers around the world finds companies are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprints
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More companies are making climate change one of their top sustainability priorities, according to a survey released this week by nonprofit Business for Social Responsibility, which counts big brands like consumer goods giant Unilever and food and beverage maker Coca-Cola among its members.
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/oct/02/unilever-coca-cola-big-business-climate-change
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #58 on: October 05, 2015, 01:27:55 PM »
Large investors back Bank of England climate change warning
- Carbon intensive investments putting global economy at risk
- Climate change could reduce UK insurance sector’s appetite to provide cover for specific sets of activities, assets or customers
- Low carbon investment needed for global stability
http://uksif.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/UKSIF-PRESS-RELEASE-29-Sept-2015-Bank-of-England-on-climate-risk.pdf
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #59 on: October 05, 2015, 01:37:38 PM »
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@climatemegan: Next phase of Guardian #keepitintheground campaign moving from divestment to investment - a more positive message: http://t.co/h7naBjRBYg

https://twitter.com/climatemegan/status/650948628585050113

A story of hope: the Guardian launches phase II of its climate change campaign
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/05/a-story-of-hope-the-guardian-launches-phase-two-of-its-climate-change-campaign
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #60 on: October 08, 2015, 07:24:31 PM »
Climate Scientist Faces Backlash for Urging Investigation of Fossil Fuel Companies
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climate scientist who was the lead signatory on a letter urging President Obama to launch a federal investigation into whether fossil fuel companies "knowingly deceived the American people about the risks of climate change" is now facing an investigation by Congress because of his part in the letter.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/07102015/climate-scientist-shukla-backlash-RICO-investigation-fossil-fuel-companies-lamar-smith-congress
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #61 on: October 08, 2015, 08:08:34 PM »
All Climate Change Is Local
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When world leaders gather in Paris in December to negotiate a global agreement on climate change, they will have a powerful ally standing behind them and urging them onward: mayors. In fact, mayors have already helped set the stage for success in Paris, by establishing models of cooperation that provide a strong foundation for the negotiations.

Through international coalitions like the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Compact of Mayors, cities around the world have been committing to major reductions in carbon emissions, while adopting a common measurement system and public reporting process to ensure that they can be held accountable. In other words: Many cities are already doing what the United Nations is urging national governments to do.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-08/all-climate-change-is-local
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #62 on: October 09, 2015, 06:33:32 PM »
David Titley is a Professor of Practice at the Pennsylvania State University and Director, Penn State's Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for New American Security, and a member of the CNA Military Advisory Board and Hoover Institute's Arctic Security Initiative.

A carbon tax in waiting: we’re not adapting as fast as climate is changing
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The president’s trips already showcased tens of billions of federal dollars in the rebuilding of New Orleans and its levees and the implied commitment of billions more to Alaska. This is just the beginning of a carbon tax we are paying now: a tax that no one got to vote on.
https://theconversation.com/a-carbon-tax-in-waiting-were-not-adapting-as-fast-as-climate-is-changing-47379
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #63 on: October 09, 2015, 09:03:58 PM »
 Cuomo, Gore roll out climate change initiatives
New York Governor wants to expand regional cap-and-trade program
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Vice President Al Gore met at Columbia University in New York City on Thursday to announce a handful of actions New York State will take to fight climate change.
Cuomo said he would sign the "Under 2 MOU," an international memo of understanding that expresses a commitment to help keep the earth's average temperature from increasing more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, as measured against pre-industrial levels.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Cuomo-Gore-roll-out-climate-change-initiatives-6560075.php
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #64 on: October 12, 2015, 07:27:01 PM »
New IPCC chief calls for fresh focus on climate solutions, not problems
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The new leader of the world’s most authoritative climate science body has declared it’s time researchers shifted away from tracking the impacts of climate change - and focused instead on finding solutions.

In his first interview since taking charge of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Hoesung Lee announced a major change in direction for the organisation’s exhaustive science reports.

“We have been doing a fantastic job in identifying the problem of climate change. At the same time we have been somewhat slow in identifying the solutions aspects,” Lee told the Guardian. “I believe the next cycle of the IPCC should be more focused on opportunities and solutions.”

He said the change in approach was needed to spur governments and business to do more to cut the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. “The actions on the part of policy makers to tackle climate change will be much more energised on the basis of opportunities and solutions ... I believe that will be the next phase.”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/12/new-ipcc-chief-calls-for-fresh-focus-on-climate-solutions-not-problems
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #65 on: October 15, 2015, 05:03:05 PM »
Bill McKibben:  Exxon's climate lie: 'No corporation has ever done anything this big or bad'

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Instead, knowingly, [Exxon] helped organise the most consequential lie in human history, and kept that lie going past the point where we can protect the poles, prevent the acidification of the oceans, or slow sea level rise enough to save the most vulnerable regions and cultures. Businesses misbehave all the time, but VW is the flea to Exxon’s elephant. No corporation has ever done anything this big and this bad.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/14/exxons-climate-lie-change-global-warming
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #66 on: October 16, 2015, 01:43:19 AM »
National Geographic devotes an entire issue to climate change.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/climate-change/special-issue/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #67 on: October 18, 2015, 06:12:39 PM »
Professor Kevin Anderson urges policy makers to be honest and acknowledge the scale of the mitigation challenge and abide by the international commitments that you/we have repeatedly made to keep the rise in the average global temperature below 2°C.
http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/nature_and_travel/2015/10/17/arctic_2015_things_are_not_looking_good/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #68 on: October 19, 2015, 04:46:04 PM »
Bill McKibben Gets Arrested Exposing Exxon’s ‘Unparalleled Evil’
http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/17/bill-mckibben-arrested-exxon/
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AbruptSLR

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #69 on: October 20, 2015, 11:47:42 PM »
European efforts to switch to renewable wood fuel is accelerating global warming:

http://reports.climatecentral.org/pulp-fiction/1/

Extract: "As the world tries to shift away from fossil fuels, the energy industry is turning to what seems to be an endless supply of renewable energy: wood. In England and across Europe, wood has become the renewable of choice, with forests — many of them in the U.S. — being razed to help feed surging demand. But as this five-month Climate Central investigation reveals, renewable energy doesn’t necessarily mean clean energy. Burning trees as fuel in power plants is heating the atmosphere more quickly than coal.
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AbruptSLR

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #70 on: October 21, 2015, 04:45:14 PM »
Here is a link to Part 2 of Pulp-fiction:

http://reports.climatecentral.org/pulp-fiction/2/

Extract: "As the world struggles to cope with the flooding, drought, and heat-wave disasters that climate change is amplifying, producing these finger-sized pellets in America and burning them in Europe is throwing fuel on a global climate crisis. The power plants are based in Europe, but it’s American forests that are doing the most to feed their boilers.

“The consequences are very serious,” said Tim Searchinger, a research scholar at Princeton University whose work focuses on bioenergy. He is a prominent critic of the use of wood energy. “It takes a massive amount of trees to make a very small amount of energy.”

Burning wood pellets to produce a megawatt hour of electricity produces 15 to 20 percent more climate-changing carbon dioxide pollution than burning coal, analysis of Drax data provided by the European Commission shows. And that’s just the CO2 pouring out of the smokestack. Add in pollution from the fuel needed to grind, heat and dry the wood, plus transportation of the pellets, and the climate impacts are even worse. According to Enviva, that adds another 20 percent worth of climate pollution for that one megawatt hour.

Felling the trees needed to produce those pellets contributes to climate-changing deforestation. Most of the trees are being cut down in American states where forests lack environmental protections. This is particularly true in the Southeast, one of the planet’s most biologically diverse and heavily logged regions."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #71 on: October 22, 2015, 02:20:59 PM »
About damn time!  (And just as another huge flood* is poised to hit Texas ("oil country"), which should move a few more people to the believer group.)

Quote
Maybe it's the weather. Or the Pope. Or the irrefutable scientific data. Or perhaps a combination of all three.

The latest UT Energy Poll released this morning reveals that U.S. attitudes on climate change have shifted significantly - and not just in the ways you might expect. Seventy-six percent of Americans now say that climate change is occurring--an increase from 68 percent just one year ago. Further, only 14 percent say it's not, compared with 22% when we first asked the question in the Spring of 2012.
Over 3 out of 4 Americans Now Acknowledge Climate Change Is Occurring--Including the Majority of Republicans
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/over-3-out-of-4-americans-now-acknowledge-climate-change-is-occurring-including-the-majority-of-republicans/

*Strong storms from an upper level trough, soon to be enhanced by Tropical Storm Patricia.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2015, 03:23:40 PM by Sigmetnow »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #72 on: October 27, 2015, 01:23:52 AM »
World set to use more energy for cooling than heating
Rising demand for air conditioning and refrigeration threatens to make planet hotter and undermine pledges to rein in emissions.
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“Most people tend to think of energy in terms of heat and light and transport,” said Toby Peters, visiting professor of power and the cold economy at the University of Birmingham. “But more and more, it’s going to be about cold. Demand for cold is already huge, it’s growing fast, and we’re meeting it in basically the same way we’ve been doing for a century. Cold is the Cinderella of the energy debate. If we don’t change the way we do it, the consequences are going to be dramatic.”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/26/cold-economy-cop21-global-warming-carbon-emissions
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #73 on: October 27, 2015, 05:41:40 PM »
Al Gore: Optimist?
The slide show is alive and well, and now he’s training hundreds of mini-Gores. And he claims that in the "struggle between hope and despair," these days he's a hope guy.
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From now on, Gore says, every election needs to be a climate-change election. His goal is to put a political price on denial, so that low-carbon action becomes the default option for finger-in-the-wind politicians. Polls suggest that most Americans want to do something about global warming, but it isn’t a high priority for them. That’s why Gore came to Miami, to build his grass-roots slide-show army, to spread his message that climate change is here and now and scary as hell.
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/10/al-gore-optimist-000295
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #74 on: October 29, 2015, 10:38:52 PM »
Three Years After Sandy, Is New York Prepared for the Next Big Storm?
Even a $20 billion program to brace the city for a stormy, climate-changed future has not paved the road from recovery to resilience—at least not yet.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/29102015/three-years-after-sandy-new-york-prepared-next-big-storm
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #75 on: October 29, 2015, 10:45:43 PM »
Is IBM Building the Most Powerful Weather Service the World Has Ever Seen?
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The future of weather got a lot more interesting this week.

On Wednesday, IBM announced its purchase of the Weather Company’s digital and data assets, a deal that the Wall Street Journal valued at more than $2 billion. The company’s flagship TV network wasn’t included as part of the deal, and will remain the property of a consortium of hedge funds that includes Bain Capital.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/10/29/ibm_buys_the_weather_channel_company_and_has_big_plans.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #76 on: October 30, 2015, 02:10:25 PM »
Mis-reading a graph: this one illustrates choices, not uncertainty.

How Exxon Overstates the Uncertainty in Climate Science
Exxon mistakes climate policy choices for scientific uncertainty.
http://insideclimatenews.org/carbon-copy/29102015/exxon-overstates-uncertainty-climate-science
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AbruptSLR

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #77 on: October 31, 2015, 05:43:27 PM »
National Geographic (now owned by Rupert Murdoch) has a special issue on climate change and provides tips on how to fight it (see the link below):

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/climate-change/special-issue/

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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #78 on: November 05, 2015, 02:27:32 AM »
Greens: US energy on track for 20-year low in carbon emissions
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The United States’ power sector is on track to hit a 20-year low in carbon dioxide emissions, thanks largely to massive numbers of coal power plant closures, an environmental group said.
...
The Sierra Club report, which relies on government data and independent research, concluded that the electricity sector’s carbon will fall below 2 billion tons this year for the first time in two decades, while the entire economy’s carbon will be about 5.3 million tons.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/259097-greens-us-on-track-for-20-year-low-in-carbon-emissions
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #79 on: November 05, 2015, 10:01:27 PM »
New Bill Would Keep Fossil Fuel Reserves On U.S. Public Lands In The Ground
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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, is introducing a bill Wednesday that would bar new leases on coal, gas, oil, and tar sands extraction on public lands in the U.S. The bill, titled the Keep it in the Ground Act, would also prohibit offshore drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean and prohibit the renewal of leases that haven’t yet produced fossil fuels.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/04/3718818/merkley-bill-fossil-fuels-public-lands/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #80 on: November 06, 2015, 06:20:58 PM »
Canada Now Has A Minister Of Climate Change
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Words matter, and nowhere is that clearer than with Wednesday's unveiling of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change during the swearing-in of Canada's new cabinet.

Catherine McKenna, a lawyer with a background in international trade and social justice, is in charge of the renamed portfolio.

"Canadians expect their government to be responsible around climate change and addressing the impacts to the environment that we are facing," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said following the ceremony. "Canada is going to be a strong and positive actor on the world stage, including in Paris at COP21. That's why we have a very strong minister, not just of the environment but of the environment and climate change who will be at the heart of this discussion."
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/04/canada-minister-of-climate-change-catherine-mckenna_n_8473828.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #81 on: November 07, 2015, 01:16:08 PM »
Australia: Climate summit held by business and green groups to end six-year policy war
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Leaders from business, welfare, the conservation movement, the electricity sector and the union movement have moved to try to fill Australia’s climate policy vacuum by starting a new slogan-free debate to help political parties find workable greenhouse policies.

Mirroring the Turnbull government’s tax debate, in which all policy options are back “on the table”, the groups commissioned major consultancies to present on six climate policy options at a special closed-door summit this week. They intend to publish the results in a back-to-the-drawing-board policy “primer” to be released next year.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/07/climate-summit-held-by-business-and-green-groups-to-end-six-year-policy-war
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #82 on: November 08, 2015, 12:05:34 AM »
Canada:  Federal government unmuzzles scientists
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"Basically what I told the staff is if you’re contacted directly by the media, let’s say you’re at a conference or a workshop, the media is there. You can talk directly. You don’t have to say, ‘I don’t have permission to speak.’"
http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/11/06/news/breaking-trudeau-government-unmuzzles-scientists
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #83 on: November 08, 2015, 12:17:59 AM »
KXL Pipeline stopped?  Check.  Next up: a campaign to "Keep It In The Ground" on public lands.
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Climate activists say that by attacking the supply of new carbon-based energy, they’ll spur development of renewable energy sources. In short, if you can’t get power from the ground, you’re going to have to find it someplace else. The activists are not subtle on this point: The same green groups that united to fight Keystone have now formed the Keep It In The Ground coalition, whose goal is to reduce carbon emissions by reducing available carbon. Climate change activists have been frustrated by a resurgent domestic energy industry producing cheap carbon-based fuels and to some degree pushing talk of pursuing alternative energy out of the political spotlight. Since such a large percentage of energy extraction is done on public lands, the theory goes, banning it would make new energy sources a necessity.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/after-keystone-bernie-sanders-is-already-leading-the-next-cl
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #84 on: November 08, 2015, 04:17:25 PM »
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@GregFergus: Going viral on #Facebook #cdnpoli https://t.co/ZpRsmhI2iO

https://twitter.com/gregfergus/status/662929407275835392
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #85 on: November 08, 2015, 05:06:13 PM »
What critics of the Keystone campaign misunderstand about climate activism
Quote
The assumption has been that climate change is an "environmental issue" and that it is the job of environmentalists to fix it. It is the job of everyone else to tell them they are Doing It Wrong, to critique their methods, communication strategies, policy choices, and activist campaigns.

Anyone who understands the scale of the climate challenge ought to view this implicit arrangement with bafflement. The idea that one underpowered, underfunded faction of the US left, with all its cultural and institutional baggage, should or could be responsible for the climate portfolio is ludicrous.

It is also ludicrous to imagine that the primary goal of climate activist campaigns is to reduce emissions. It would be like criticizing the Montgomery bus boycott because it only affected a relative handful of blacks. The point of civil rights campaigns was not to free blacks from discriminatory systems one at a time. It was to change the culture. "Keystone isn’t a perfect battlefield," wrote Michael Grunwald, "but neither was Selma or Stonewall."
http://www.vox.com/2015/11/8/9690654/keystone-climate-activism
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #86 on: November 13, 2015, 02:41:45 PM »
Could the power of business action be greater than the Paris UN agreement?

More than 90% of experts polled by GlobeScan and SustainAbility said they expected the UN’s upcoming Climate Change Conference would result in a worldwide agreement – but just a third believed the pact would have binding power to cause real change.
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Businesses can add another item to their corporate bucket lists: taking the lead in tackling climate change where governments have fallen short. In a survey of sustainability experts released Thursday, 90% of respondents said that companies would need to play as big of a role as national governments in combating climate change to prevent environmental disaster.
...
The survey results represent a notable shift from the last climate survey ranking, which was conducted in 2009 ahead of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. Back then, oil and gas giants Shell and BP made the list, during a time when large industrial companies were applauded for their commitments to reducing pollution and waste.
...
The fossil fuel sector is widely seen as having failed to shift its business model to address climate change concerns and recently suffered huge losses to its reputation,” said Aiste Brackley, research manager at SustainAbility. “The new leaders such as Unilever, Tesla and Ikea are setting a high bar for corporate leadership.”
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/nov/12/climate-survey-change-conference-unilever-tesla-united-nations
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #87 on: November 17, 2015, 08:35:50 PM »
EPA road tests Obama climate change plan in Denver before summit
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29124291/epa-road-tests-obama-climate-change-plan-denver
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #88 on: November 19, 2015, 04:24:50 AM »
UK announces new energy policy; end of coal by 2025.
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I am pleased to announce that we will be launching a consultation in the spring on when to close all unabated coal-fired power stations.

Our consultation will set out proposals to close coal by 2025 - and restrict its use from 2023.
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/amber-rudds-speech-on-a-new-direction-for-uk-energy-policy
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silkman

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #89 on: November 19, 2015, 09:30:48 AM »
Yes but.......

The totality of Rudd's speech yesterday was little short of disastrous for those of us in the UK who would like to see us taking a leading role on Climate Change. Oliver Tickell sums it up well in the Ecologist:

"Amber Rudd's speech today exposes her total failure to assemble a coherent energy strategy, writes Oliver Tickell. It reveals the increasingly certain failure to meet EU renewable energy targets, proposes a new tax on wind and solar generation, and leaves the country facing the real prospect of lights going out in the next decade. The one hard policy? To maximise oil and gas recovery."


http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2986324/lights_out_amber_rudds_disastrous_absence_of_an_energy_strategy.html

The Tories are looking to fracking and nuclear to secure the country's energy security whilst at the same time completely ignoring the smart grid and energy storage revolutions that are being embraced by more enlightened governments.

And don't even start me on the demand side. We have the poorest housing stock in Northern Europe but we choose to build a dodgy French nuclear plant with Chinese money rather than insulate our houses, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, in an infrastructure project that would be paid for by the consequent reduction in the cost of treating cardio-pulmonary disease in the NHS.

I'm angry!

Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #90 on: November 20, 2015, 06:24:48 PM »
Yes but.......

The totality of Rudd's speech yesterday was little short of disastrous for those of us in the UK who would like to see us taking a leading role on Climate Change. Oliver Tickell sums it up well in the Ecologist:

"Amber Rudd's speech today exposes her total failure to assemble a coherent energy strategy, writes Oliver Tickell. It reveals the increasingly certain failure to meet EU renewable energy targets, proposes a new tax on wind and solar generation, and leaves the country facing the real prospect of lights going out in the next decade. The one hard policy? To maximise oil and gas recovery."


http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2986324/lights_out_amber_rudds_disastrous_absence_of_an_energy_strategy.html

The Tories are looking to fracking and nuclear to secure the country's energy security whilst at the same time completely ignoring the smart grid and energy storage revolutions that are being embraced by more enlightened governments.

And don't even start me on the demand side. We have the poorest housing stock in Northern Europe but we choose to build a dodgy French nuclear plant with Chinese money rather than insulate our houses, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, in an infrastructure project that would be paid for by the consequent reduction in the cost of treating cardio-pulmonary disease in the NHS.

I'm angry!

Well said.  One step forward, but many steps back, I'm afraid.  How long can old-thinking leadership prevail?
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #91 on: November 23, 2015, 08:58:55 PM »
Gov. Cuomo to Order Large Increase in Renewable Energy in New York by 2030
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Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, has already declared a goal of having 50 percent of the state’s power come from solar, wind, hydroelectric or other renewable sources in 15 years, but the state has had no means of enforcing that directive. The governor intends to have the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities in the state, codify the requirement, these people said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/nyregion/gov-cuomo-to-order-large-increase-in-renewable-energy-in-new-york-by-2030.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #92 on: November 23, 2015, 09:32:11 PM »
Sierra Club:
ACCELERATING THE US COAL PHASE OUT: LEADING BY EXAMPLE IN PARIS AND BEYOND
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• An unprecedented wave of coal plant retirements has yielded deeper economy-wide carbon reductions for 2015 than those laid out in the Waxman-Markey legislation

• Because of these record coal retirements, US carbon emissions are trending decisively downward and will meet or even exceed the Clean Power Plan’s 2030 target as much as five years ahead of schedule, helping the US deliver a strong pledge at this year’s Paris climate conference

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From 2002 to 2010, the primary focus of our Beyond Coal campaign was to stop the rush to build more than two hundred proposed coal plants; we successfully stopped 90 percent.

Starting in 2010...we built out a national campaign with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and other partners to circumvent a gridlocked Congress and work directly in states and with local community groups to secure the retirement of fully one third of the US coal fleet by 2015.

The 2015 coal retirements alone equal as much coal capacity as the US retired in the 20-year period between 1990 and 2009.
https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/BeyondCoal-Paris15_Factsheet.pdf
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #93 on: November 25, 2015, 01:58:01 AM »
The Carbon Reduction Efforts Of The World’s Major Cities
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“In many ways, the Paris summit has already succeeded, I think, where others have failed. Nations this time have set higher goals, reducing carbon, and they are cooperating across borders in ways we didn’t see before,” Bloomberg said, “I think we’re in better shape going into Paris than we were going into Copenhagen, largely because cities, C40 cities especially, have helped lead the way.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/23/3725004/cities-key-to-carbon-reductions/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #94 on: November 29, 2015, 04:48:35 PM »
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@PeterGleick: Even his hometown paper calls @LamarSmithTX21 anti-science tactics offensive, intimidation, dangerous. https://t.co/BsATfIMoy0 @mySA

https://twitter.com/petergleick/status/670981534338252800

[Chairman of the U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee Lamar] Smith’s intimidation tactics offensive, dangerous
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Smith-s-intimidation-tactics-offensive-6660057.php
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #95 on: November 29, 2015, 08:53:32 PM »
COP-21 climate deal in Paris spells end of the fossil era
Much of the fossil industry will go into slow run-off while the new plutocrats will be masters of post-carbon technology.
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"The fact that COP-21 in itself is clearly not going to put the world on a 2 degree track does not mean that fossil-fuel companies can simply carry on with business-as-usual. We think they should be stress-testing their business models against a significant tightening of global climate policy over the next two decades," it said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/12021394/COP-21-climate-deal-in-Paris-spells-end-of-the-fossil-era.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #96 on: November 30, 2015, 04:37:51 PM »
Two-Thirds of Americans Want U.S. to Join Climate Change Pact
Quote
During the darkest days of the recent recession, concern about climate change became subsumed by economic anxieties. But concern about the environment is now back to pre-recession levels. Most respondents to the recent poll said that in situations where a sacrifice must be made, protecting the environment was more important than stimulating the economy — by a margin of 54 percent to 34 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/world/americas/us-climate-change-republicans-democrats.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #97 on: November 30, 2015, 09:04:40 PM »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #98 on: December 05, 2015, 02:01:07 PM »
Strong editorial from major US business publication. 
(Degrees in °F....)

Nothing else matters if we don't stop climate change
Opposition to government mandates doesn't apply when our city stands to end up under water
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The way things are going, we are not going to make it. We have to do something different. As one placard in Paris put it, there's no Planet B.

Cities and states, obviously, cannot solve this problem on their own. But neither will nations. So New York must lead and hope others follow. Ideologues will defend individuals' rights to waste energy or pay less than its true cost, but opposition to government mandates doesn't apply when our city could end up under water. Fortunately, measures such as making buildings energy-efficient and optimizing traffic save money and help the economy. But because of inertia, politics and the red tape and up-front costs of incentive programs, people don't participate in them. Programs must be simplified if their use is to be required.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20151204/OPINION/151209928/nothing-else-matters-if-we-dont-stop-climate-change-nyc-must-do-more
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Sigmetnow

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Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #99 on: December 06, 2015, 07:17:59 PM »
Yale University Report Reveals Rapidly Growing Reality of Climate Action
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Paris, 4 December 2015 – Global action in support of a new, universal climate change agreement that unlocks faster progress towards a low-carbon, resilient future for all was revealed today in a report by Yale University which underscores the speed, breadth and depth of growing alignment between government, cities, business and civil society.

The report by Yale’s Data Driven Environmental Solutions finds that the combined greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments recorded in two UN-backed platforms by cities, regions and companies alone surpasses the global emissions of the iron and steel sector.

Released on the eve of the UN climate conference’s Action Day-COP21, the report also finds that 15 of the world’s 20 largest banks totaling close to $2 trillion in market value have made commitments to act and green bonds worth close to $50 billion are financing climate projects.
http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/yale-university-report-reveals-rapidly-growing-reality-of-climate-action/
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