The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars

 Michael E. Mann is one of the world's leading atmospheric scientists.  He was a principle researcher in the process of creating a record of atmospheric temperature trends over the past millennia.  Using ice core samples and tree growth ring data, he and his colleagues were able to demonstrate that the last hundred years have been the warmest in well over a millennia.  The paleoclimatological record Mann and his colleagues were able to develop has been peer reviewed and confirmed by dozens of other climate scientists. Other scientists, employing alternate research pathways, have developed data sets that affirm the conclusion drawn by Mann and his colleagues. Global climate change linked directly to elevated levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse pollutants in the atmosphere has caused a substantial and measurable increase in average, leading to sea level rise, and more extreme weather, including draughts, flooding, wildfires, and more powerful hurricanes and tornados.

Our human addiction to fossil fuel energy like oil and coal is the primary cause of global warming.  That is the conclusion of  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an institution put together by the world's governments.  The science behind this conclusion has been proven beyond any doubt. It is
undeniable.

Well actually, if you are in the business of mining coal or pumping oil, survival depends on denial.  Oil is the most profitable business in the history of the world. The barons in charge of big oil, coal, and natural gas, faced the prospect of having their industries and profits killed by what should be an inevitable transition to clean, inexhaustible alternatives to dirty fossil fuels. 

With survival at stake, big fossil energy interests have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on disinformation campaigns, whose aim is to obfuscate and  deny any link between the burning of coal and oil and the pollution that drives climate change.


The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, written by atmospheric scientist, Michael E. Mann, chronicles the way his research has been attacked by deniers, pretty much all of whom are being paid by big fossil energy.

The same hired guns and the same nefarious tactics that were employed by big tobacco to deny the link between cigarettes and cancer, are now focused on confusing the public about climate change and the link to our use of coal and oil. What this amounts to is putting the future of human civilization at substantial risk in order to protect the profitability of big coal and oil.

The story of Representative Joe Barton, (R-Tx), Chair of the Congressional Science and Technology Committee,  is particularly sordid. .  Barton, who gets massive amounts of campaign money from the fossil fuel industry, is an ardent climate denier. He has long  used his powerful position to undermine the overwhelming scientific record that links dirty fuels to climate change. The best words to describe Barton and others in the Congress that deny climate science are shameful, corrupt and contemptible.

The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars offers an unimpeachable analysis of all that's wrong with American public policy where energy is concerned.  The book is well written and thoroughly researched. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand why we are still fighting this battle.  Coal, oil, and natural gas are old news. There are plenty of clean energy options emerging. Many are already cost competitive with fossil fuels. The transition away from dirty energy is already underway.

Dishonest denial in support of coal and oil profit must not be allowed to obstruct the move to clean sources of energy for even a moment longer.

Climate and the Constitution

My colleagues are I recently completed work on a short outreach video that features the Chairperson of 350PDX, Adriana Voss-Andreae, MD/PhD, telling her climate warrior troops that a critical piece of the solution for climate restoration is a Constitutional Amendment that will nullify corporate personhood and end money being treated as speech. 

Adrian does a masterful job of making the case for a 28th Constructional Amendment.  Now, we hope the video will add to the grassroots movement already pressing for Constitutional change.

Here is a link to Climate and the Constitution...  https://vimeo.com/115086397

Japan Bets Big on Hydrogen Power

I read a report today that Japan will invest $385,000,000 on building a network of Hydrogen fueling stations across the nation. That should provide for enough fueling stations to pretty much cover all of Japan, plus all the support infrastructure required.  I would call that a major league commitment to hydrogen as a clean, inexhaustible transportation fuel. It's no surprise that Japan has choosen to lead the world on hydrogen. Toyota and Honda have major commitments to hydrogen fuel cell cars. 

Europe has also committed millions of Euros to the construction of hydrogen fueling stations across the continent.

Where does that leave us in North America? The short answer is behind...a long way behind. In the US and Canada, energy policy is still controlled by the fossil energy industry. They own the Congress on this issue. The same is true in Canada, where the conservative government is focused on smoothing the path for the Keystone XL pipeline, that will carry dirty Canadian tar sands oil down through the US to ports in the American south. From there,  mega-tankers loaded with crude depart across the seas.to the rest of the world. 

It's true, the price of gasoline has dropped substantially in recent months due to a glut of oil in the world market.  Cheap gas is certainly easy on the wallet, but current low prices are just a temporary reprieve. Beyond the economics, we humans have an obligation to future generations to disconnect ourselves from dirty fuels. That is the only answer to the overriding global problem of pollution driven atmospheric warming. 

Hydrogen as a fuel option is not a panacea, but  it is a very important part of a cost effective,  clean energy mosaic that can and ultimately will make coal, oil, and natural gas old news.   Bravo to Japan for leading the way on hydrogen infrastructure development.

The Nature of Sustainability

 

Over the years, I have tried to be a student of good planetary stewardship.  The ultimate prize is a humanity that functions in harmony with nature. This is what comes when what we take from the biosphere balances out with what we give back to it.  

In the U.S. and in other economically advantaged countries, People mostly take for granted their supply of fresh water, the ready availability of inexpensive food, cheap energy to heat our homes and power our transport options, and esthetically pleasing and healthy living environments.  Up until recently, we have also been accustomed to living with minimal risk of extreme, destructive weather.

These days, the natural systems and resources that we count on for stability in our lives are rapidly disappearing.  If the Earth was a bank with a fixed amount of equity assets, healthy living would equate to getting along on just the interest generated by that equity. In fact, our consumption goes way beyond that. We are drawing deeply into the Earth’s resource equity, and putting economic stability and our lives at ever greater risk because of it.   

It doesn’t have to be that way. We can live in balance with our planet’s ability to provide. We can, but it requires making some hard and some not-so-hard choices on a local, national, and a civilization scale.   

We are using up our fresh water. We are sucking the life out of our oceans. We are stripping our living landscapes bare. We are on a truly reckless path with the only home we have.

Energy is a very big sore spot on Planet Earth. The human consumption of fossil hydrocarbons like coal and oil has put our atmosphere in a perilous state.  Climate change is driven by human lifestyle habits; not just the burning of dirty forms of energy, but also our ever expanding appetite for animal flesh.  These days, the sun, and the wind are inexhaustible in supply.  Moreover, both small and massive scale technologies are now available to convert these clean and natural forms of energy into heat and electricity at costs that are competitive or even cheaper than the dirty energy we’ve depended on since the beginnings of the industrial age.   

There is also a personal lifestyle decision that could dramatically reduce the 80 million tons of methane produced annually by the livestock animals we consume.  The answer is simple:  eat less beef, pork, and poultry. The less, the better.   Keep in mind that methane is twenty times more potent as a greenhouse pollutant than carbon dioxide.  Even a small cut in a person’s animal protein consumption, if widely adopted, could really make a difference. It’s an easy and also a healthy way to move to the right side of history.

Sooner or later, humans will get to the right side of history. We will learn to live in harmony with nature. We  have the technology to take us there.  This much is clear: the longer we put off a transition to a life-affirming path, the bigger the mess we leave for future generations.

If we are going to build a future worthy of our species, a sustainable future, living in harmony with the gifts of nature, we the people must step up and be the change we wish for.    

Climate Denier Congress

In the 2014 mid-term election, American voters made Republicans the majority party in both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. 

Let's just take one major issue - Global Climate Change.   There is no question that pollution from our dependence on coal and oil has caused a warming of the Earth's atmosphere, that is already causing some very unsettling consequences. Ninety-seven percent of  atmospheric scientists affirm that climate change is real, and that it is caused by humanity's addiction to dirty fossil energy.  Many, if not all, of the three percent of scientists that say climate change is not real are on retainer to corporations that make their money selling, oil, coal, and or natural gas. 

The physics of climate change are simple. It is real. Those who question that all seem to be connected in some way to the fossil energy industry.

So, where does the new congress stand on climate change? Conservative Republicans are the majority party in both houses of Congress. In the Senate, seventy-two percent of Republicans are climate deniers. In the House, it's fifty-three percent are declared deniers.

It's no wonder our government is dysfunctional. We have the best congress big oil and coal can buy.

_____________________

Presenting the Climate Denier Caucus of the 114th Congress

Jan 8, 2015 | By CAP Action War Room

More Than Half Of All Congressional Republicans Deny Man-Made Climate Change

While the House gears up to vote on Keystone XL pipeline legislation tomorrow, here is a bit of important context: 53 percent of House Republicans in the new Congress are climate deniers.

Today, we at CAP Action released a comprehensive look at the extent of climate denial in the 114th Congress. While more than 97 percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and caused by human activity, 53 percent of House Republicans and 72 percent of Senate Republicans deny it. A truly alarming finding of our report: 91 percent of Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee deny humans are responsible for climate change.

You can read the full report, which has an interactive map with details on how each state performs, here. And be sure to check out the infographic below as well, which among other things, details how much this anti-science caucus has racked up in campaign contributions from dirty energy companies:

Taken from The Progress Report [progress@americanprogressaction.org]

Nature's Trust

Written by University of Oregon Law Professor, Mary Christina Wood, Nature's Trust provides a thoroughly researched review of the trust responsibility of government at all levels in America, to the people and to future generations.

Here is how Professor Wood puts that responsibility in the introduction of Nature's Trust.

The sovereign trust obligation offers a catalyzing principle to citizens worldwide in their common struggle to hold government's accountable for protecting life-systems. Nature's Trust and the primordial rights inculcating it create a populist manifesto that surfaces at epic times through the generations of humanity. These principles stand no less revolutionary for our time and our crises than the forcing of the Magna Carta on the English monarchy in 1215 or Mahatma Gandhi's great Salt March to the sea in 1930.  Resonating deeply and resolutely within the ancestral memory of humanity,  trust principles must now revive to stir a global assertion of citizenship in defense of humanity and all future generations.

Professor Mary Christina Wood has done an enormous service to society by reminding us how deeply entrenched the trust responsibility is in global governance.  We live in a time when the American political process has devolved in a circumstance of  'He who has the money makes the rules.'  Climate change, driven by the human addiction to dirty coal and oil, is a challenge that is not being addressed, primarily because of the failure of our elected representatives to recognize and live up to their trust responsibilities to the people and to future generations.

Trust law is no panacea. The best way to put government back on track would be a Constitutional Amendment that says, 'Corporations are not People' and 'Money is not Speech'.   That's a very tough nut to crack. For now, Mary Christina Wood's  illumination of  natural trust law has inspired a number of court challenges, demanding a proper government response to climate change.  Nature's Trust provides a solid foundation for legal remedy against our government's failure to meet it's obligation to protect nature and the commons for future generations.

This is a very important book. I give it my highest recommendation, with one caveat. The price tag - $40 for a paperback book - creates an unfortunate accessibility problem. I would love to have Nature's Trust for reference in my own library. Perhaps, at some point, they will come out with a different edition at a more reasonable cost.  For now, when I need to visit this book, I will go to the library.

Here is a link to author Mary Christina Wood, appearing on the Bill Moyers PBS Show, talking about Nature's Trust...  http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-climate-crusade/

Green World Rising

A new video produced by Leo DeCaprio and Thom Hartmann shows that with existing technology, our global human society can be completely free of our dependence on coal, oil, and natural gas in about two decades.

Clean, renewable sources of energy from wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro power derived from ocean tidal forces and river currents can provide all the power the world needs without generating any atmospheric pollution.  This new video, narrated by Leo DeCaprio presents that clean energy future very effectively. 

The impediments to this kind of life-affirming future are not technical. We can do it with technology that is already developed.  The obstacle to this kind of future is entirely political, driven by corporatists and elites who profit from the status quo and are unwilling to accept any change that threatens their income.

Bottom line: A clean energy future is imminently achievable, if the people demand it.

Here is a link to Green World Rising... http://www.greenworldrising.org/#!ep3-green-world-rising/ches

Solar Energy Poised for Massive Expansion

So, the evidence of the obsolescence of coal, oil, and natural gas energy is emerging rapidly.  The article below just appeared in Bloomberg news.  The cost of solar has dropped so much, that it is about to become cheaper than coal, oil, or natural gas in nearly every U.S. state.  Very exciting news.

One caveat. U.S. energy policy is still controlled by the fossil energy giants.  They are not about to have their hydrocarbon reserves turned into stranded assets... not without a fight.  They are already waging an aggressive campaign to deny climate change and to undermine clean, renewable energy technologies like wind and solar. They will impede progress as long as they can.

At the end of the day, it will  be up  to American voters to elect politicians who will create a new nationwide energy policy that will allow us to fully realize a transition to clean, renewable, low cost energy. 


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While You Were Getting Worked Up Over Oil Prices, This Just Happened to Solar

By Tom Randall - Oct 29, 2014 - Bloomberg News  
       

Every time fossil fuels get cheaper, people lose interest in solar deployment. That may be about to change.

After years of struggling against cheap natural gas prices and variable subsidies, solar electricity is on track to be as cheap or cheaper than average electricity-bill prices in 47 U.S. states -- in 2016, according to a Deutsche Bank report published this week. That’s assuming the U.S. maintains its 30 percent tax credit on system costs, which is set to expire that same year.

Even if the tax credit drops to 10 percent, solar will soon reach price parity with conventional electricity in well over half the nation: 36 states. Gone are the days when solar panels were an exotic plaything of Earth-loving rich people. Solar is becoming mainstream, and prices will continue to drop as the technology improves and financing becomes more affordable, according to the report.

 

Grid Parity to Reach 36 States in 2016

Solar has already reached grid parity in 10 states that are responsible for 90 percent of U.S. solar electricity production. In those states alone, installed capacity growth will increase as much as sixfold over the next three to four years, Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shaw wrote in the Oct. 26 report.
The reason solar-power generation will increasingly dominate: it’s a technology, not a fuel. As such, efficiency increases and prices fall as time goes on. The price of Earth’s limited fossil fuels tends to go the other direction. Michael Park, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, has a term for the staggering price relationship between solar and fossil fuels: the Terrordome. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it doesn’t sound very forgiving.

 Solar will be the world’s biggest single source of energy by 2050, according to a recent estimate by the International Energy Agency. Currently, it’s responsible for just a fraction of one percent.
Because of solar's small market share today, no matter how quickly capacity expands, it won’t have much immediate impact on the price of other forms of energy. But soon, for the first time, the reverse may also be true: Gas and coal prices will lose their sway over the solar industry




 

This Changes Everything

About two weeks ago, best-selling author, Naomi Klein's new book, This Change Everything was released by Simon and Schuster.  It debuted at #5 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

I've been a fan of Naomi Klein for a long time. I read her first book, No Logo, when it came out about 20 years ago.  Then, her book The Shock Doctrine was released in 2007.  In a nutshell, it focused on the predatory, morally bankrupt nature of neoconservative economics; the brand of capitalism that's dominated since the days of Ronald Reagan.   I wrote a review of that book about two years ago. The link is http://ecstatictruthpdx.blogspot.com/2012/04/shock-doctrine.html  

I just finished reading This Changes Everything.  In it, Naomi Klein makes a powerful case that we are at the end of our rope with climate change.  If we continue, business as usual, running our world on oil, coal, and natural gas, the catastrophic consequences will be unprecedented in all of human history.

Klein shows that big coal and oil and the banks that underwrite them are the most lucrative businesses in all of history. Moreover, the billions in profits these corporate giants generate have allowed them to control the media  and manipulate our political system to get the tax and regulatory policy they want, no matter the consequences.

The primary cause of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels    That pollution has caused a warming of the Earth's atmosphere that is already driving profound changes to our environment, including the melting of Earth's icecaps and glaciers, rising sea levels, and a large increase in highly destructive weather extremes.  In order to achieve anything close to a soft landing for humanity, scientists say that atmospheric temperature rise must be limited to two degrees Celsius. To do that,  we need to limit the additional carbon air pollution to 500 gigatons.  The problem is, as Klein points out,  fossil energy producers claim to have nearly 3,000 gigatons of  carbon in found, yet to be extracted, reserves of coal, oil, and gas.  That amounts to trillions of dollars in potential profits to energy companies that are only interested in generating income for their stakeholders. As Klein puts it, "...they're determined to burn five times more fossil fuel than the planet's atmosphere can begin to absorb.'

Here's another very unsettling nugget from Klein..."In 2013, in the United States alone, the oil and gas industry spent just under $400,000 a day lobbying Congress and government officials."

So, it's clear, big fossil energy is not about to back down and forgo trillions in profit. It's also clear, if they are allowed to have their way and burn all the dirty energy they claim to have, waiting and ready to dig up, the consequences for life on Earth will be disastrous to the extreme.

As Klein points out, we have the technologies to end our dependence on fossil forms of energy and revitalize human society with a transition to a whole range of proven, clean energy technologies. To some extent,  it's already happening.  

Wall Street and the big energy players are not about to let their largess of carbon to become stranded assets. They are using their money and influence to aggressively resist any threat to their political dominance and their obscene profits.

Blunting the power of corporations requires a fundamental change to our economic system, and to do that we must first remake our political system to remove the undue money and influence.  That's a tall order.  Klein believes only an unprecedented grassroots effort can prevail.  She presents ample evidence that just such an effort is possible, though the window for massive action is closing.

Naomi Klein's worldview is entirely compatible with my own. I think she is one of the most important voices for reason and positive change in public life.

I bought This Changes Everything at Powell's Bookstore in Beaverton the day after it was released. I then learned that on Wednesday, October 1st,  Naomi Klein was scheduled to appear at that same bookstore.   Of course, I was determined to get my copies of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine signed.  Then, I had an inspiration and what happened subsequently was much more than just getting the author's autograph.  Stayed tuned, for my follow-up blog entry on Naomi Klein and This Changes Everything.

Oh, and for the record, This Changes Everything gets my highest recommendation. 

Hope You Can Swim

This is a public service announcement from the 'Ocean Overflow Protection Service'.  The subtitle of this silly but thought-provoking video is 'denial won't stop sea level rise'. 

Humor can sometimes draw attention to subjects like nothing else can.  Warning, people in Baltimore, Boston, Miami might be more alarmed than amused.

Here is the link to this goofy PSA  parody from The Center for Biological Diversity...   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PfHerJm6cY 

Birthing the Solar Age

This morning, I viewed an amazing video that reflects the exciting,  renewable energy paradigm  that is rapidly unfolding  around the world, but particularly in Europe, Japan, and China. It's happening in America as well, but progress is being  undermined by the utility industry and traditional providers of energy. The Koch Brothers own much of the tar sands oil production in Canada.. These two men, who are already worth about 50 billion dollars, are determined to use their money to block the progress of clean energy in America.

Despite the resistance of the energy old guard, the trends are inevitable. The cost of solar power has dropped precipitously over the last decade, to the point where energy from the sun can be produced  increasingly, for even less than energy from nuclear, coal, oil, or natural gas. 

The intransigence of deep pockets, dirty energy providers is the primary impediment to the rapid adoption of wind, solar, and other clean energy technologies. I'm happy to report that there is huge momentum among institutional investors to sell off the parts of their portfolios that are mired in dirty technologies. Now, if we could just get rid of the corrupt politicians in Washington that are brought and paid for by energy giants like Exxon Mobil.

Cost of Solar Energy

Check out this very encouraging video from Yale Climate Forum...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnUNnW2DH_M


Here's a bit of additional evidence of the swift emergence of solar energy from the Earth Policy Institute... http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2014/highlights47

I Stand With Move to Amend

At the beginning of 2014,  while recovering from yet another surgery on my spine, I concluded that I needed to be more assertive as a citizen in pushing back against what I consider to be the greatest threat to peace, prosperity and the natural world. The threat I'm talking about is the abject corruption of our political system. The corrupted U.S. Supreme Court has handed the super-rich and large corporations the ability to buy our elected officials and our political process,  A series of court decisions, most recently Citizens United and McCutcheon vs. FEC,  allows those with  wealth to give unlimited amounts of campaign money to politicians.  In effect, this legalized form of bribery gives these special interests the ability to shape public policy, putting their own interests over the public good.

Every issue; every challenge we face as a society is impacted by this egregious and,  unfortunately, legal brand of political racketeering.

We know that the vast majority of the American public wants economic fairness,  an expanding job market,  a living wage for everyone. The vast majority wants equal rights and equal justice for women, for minorities, for all citizens, regardless of age, creed, gender or ethnicity. The polls show that most people want to protect our environment and the planet's biodiversity. It's clear that the biggest share of American voters are against the militarization of our law enforcement and the constant drumbeat for war and conflict with other nations. 

The public wants to trust their print and broadcast media. They want it to report the news honestly, without bias, without hidden agenda.  Instead, what we have - very nearly across the board -  is a  media that filters and shapes its news coverage to serve corporations and wealthy conservatives.

Probably the biggest issue facing all of humankind is global climate change.  It's already happening. The science is undeniable. Without some seriously assertive action, the effects of atmospheric warming will swamp coastal cities around the world well before the end of this century.  We're already experiencing a very unsettling increase in extreme weather events - floods, draughts, heat waves,  tornadoes, hurricanes.  Something like ninety-seven  out of a hundred climate scientists  around the world are all standing together, sounding the alarm.  Climate change could kill millions, perhaps billions of humans, destroy our environment, and devastate civilized society for centuries to come.

What are we doing about it? Very little, it turns out, because those who benefit from our continued dependence on dirty, fossil fuel energy are using their wealth to maintain their continued profiteering from coal, oil, and gas.  They sell a feckless kind of climate denial through their control of our public media. They pay off our elected officials to maintain their profits by obstructing  public policy that encourages a transition to clean, renewable forms of energy.

It doesn't matter what constituency you count yourself a part of , the enemy of progress, of any kind of  meaningful change, is the same. It's the small cabal of corporate leaders and super wealthy individuals who use massive amounts of money to resist change and thwart any idea that puts the common good over their private interests

Bottom line: no matter your cause,  the real enemy of progress is our broken system of governance. Making it right requires that we  do two things: reign in corporate power, and refute the influence of money on our politics. How do we do that?

Eliminating the sewer money and corruption from American politics will be no easy task, though it really isn't terribly complicated. When you examine all the facts, the answer is abundantly clear.  The culprit is the U.S.  Supreme Court.  The foundation of virtually all the corruption of our political system is built on two morally bankrupt legal constructs, sanctioned by a corporate conservative majority on the court.  The first bogus construct is the idea that money is equal to free speech. That's fine for those that have money. The problem is it disenfranchises the 99% of citizens who don't have big money to buy off politicians. The second corrosive legal construct is the idea that Corporations have the same rights as humans.  

The current law of the land says  a rich person's wealth is a form of free speech and that corporations can claim personhood to get away with all kinds of unethical or even illegal behavior. This must change.

The answer is pretty straight forward.  We need to change our Constitution.  We need a new, 28th Constitutional Amendment that says specifically and unequivocally that corporations are not people. They do not have the same rights as human citizens.  Second, this 28th Amendment should say that money is not the same as free speech, and that just because you have big money doesn't mean you get to use it to pervert our political system.

Move to Amend is a national grassroots campaign that is focused on accomplishing one goal - a Constitutional amendment that says Corporations are not people and money is not speech. Every American who cares about our nation and our planetary future should be standing with Move to Amend. 

My goal in becoming engaged with Move to Amend is to help build broad, well-informed citizen constituencies for the cause. This is a movement that crosses political boundaries.  It's not Democratic, or Republican, or libertarian.  Conservatives should embrace Move to Amend's Constitutional agenda as readily as liberals and progressives.

I am now working with David Delk, the leader of Move to Amend's chapter in Portland, Oregon.  We are developing a series of short outreach videos that  focus tightly on specific constituencies. The first three videos are currently in production.  We will be releasing them on the internet.  We hope they will inspire other filmmakers to do their own videos to expand the public's awareness and enthusiasm for Move to Amend.

Stay tuned. More on this in my next post.

Climate Deniers Chair Congressional Science Committees

The U.S. House of Representatives is dominated by conservative republicans. Some are tea party conservatives, some are slightly more moderate corporate conservatives.  The committee chairs are all republicans.

Representative Lamar Smith (R) Texas, is a climate denier. He chairs the House Science Committee.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R) Texas

 The newly appointed chair of the Environment Sub-Committee is Representative David Schweikert (R), Arizona, also an ardent climate denier.

David Schweikert (R), Arizona

Together, these two obstructionist politicians have a huge influence on how our country deals with energy and climate. In fact, they deliver exactly the kind of feckless federal policy the Koch Brothers and Exxon Mobil want. Is it any wonder why we can't get our act together on climate change?

Americans Don't Trust Scientists

Sad but true. I can't remember a time in my life when there has been more distrust of what science has to tell us. The high level of public skepticism about global climate change is amazing given that about 99% of all climate researchers say the same thing: climate change is real; it's based on well understood atmospheric chemistry; it's a problem of immense scale that must be addressed with bold policy changes, without delay.

Why are so many people skeptical? Because hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to undermine the credible science on climate change by the fossil fuel industry, the chief cause of the air pollution that is driving atmospheric warming.  The people behind dirty fuels like coal and oil are aggressively attempting to corrupt the science behind climate change to preserve their own economic self-interest.  Fostering skepticism is a big part of their agenda.  If you want to know where the truth lies, there is an old adage that applies: 'Follow the money'.


__________________________


Americans Don't Trust Scientists

Reposted from The Huffington Post - 12-26-13

How much faith do Americans have in scientists and science journalists? Not a whole lot, a new survey finds.

In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, only 36 percent of Americans reported having "a lot" of trust that information they get from scientists is accurate and reliable. Fifty-one percent said they trust that information only a little, and another 6 percent said they don't trust it at all.

Science journalists fared even worse in the poll. Only 12 percent of respondents said they had a lot of trust in journalists to get the facts right in their stories about scientific studies. Fifty-seven percent said they have a little bit of trust, while 26 percent said they don't trust journalists at all to accurately report on scientific studies.

What’s more, many Americans worry that the results of scientific studies are sometimes tainted by political ideology -- or by pressure from the studies’ corporate sponsors.

A whopping 78 percent of Americans think that information reported in scientific studies is often (34 percent) or sometimes (44 percent) influenced by political ideology, compared to only 18 percent who said that happens rarely (15 percent) or never (3 percent).

Similarly, 82 percent said that they think that scientific findings are often (43 percent) or sometimes (39 percent) influenced by the companies or organizations sponsoring them.

Republicans in the new poll were most likely to say that they have only a little bit of trust in scientists to give accurate and reliable information, and the most likely to say that they think scientific findings may be tainted by political ideology -- possibly reflecting distrust in scientists over topics such as evolution and climate change.


The HuffPost/YouGov poll was conducted Dec. 6-7 among 1,000 U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population. Factors considered include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time and location of Internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.

The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov's nationally representative opinion polling.

Climate Change Visualized

This remarkable video was created by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.  It translates some very unsettling climate change data into a short video that presents the ugly reality of our dilemma very effectively.

Here is the link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWOrZQ3L-c

Ecotricty

Clean energy is definitely a growth industry.  One company in Britain has found a way to sell clean, wind energy at lower cost than conventional fossil fuel power plants.  Their TV commercials show that they are making money and having fun.

Here is a very engaging  ECOTRCITY commercial for clean energy...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGoukR2UtI

Hydrogen is Happening in Europe

I am a staunch advocate of hydrogen as a clean, inexhaustible, non-toxic energy carrier replacement for fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.   I wrote a book about it. I've made several documentaries and educational videos about hydrogen and renewable energy.  I'm not saying hydrogen is a panacea. But it is an important part of any well considered vision of a clean, sustainable energy future.

For Europe, the future is now. They are allocating 20 percent of the European Union budget to clean energy, climate mitigating technologies over the next few years.  Hydrogen is a big part of the Europe's plan, because it offers a relatively easy pathway to storing clean energy for use on demand. Ultimately, it would involve using surplus electricity generate with wind turbines, solar PV, or some other renewable technology to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, which can then be stored for conversion back to electricity when needed.  

The European Union organization behind the development of hydrogen as an energy carrier is HyER. 

Here is a link to the HyER website....   http://www.hyer.eu/

Europe's Big Climate Commitment

Wow. The Europeans are getting it done where climate change is concerned. Twenty percent of the entire union's budget to cutting fossil fuel use is a serious commitment. In Europe, coal, oil, and nuclear are slated to be replaced by clean, sustainable sources of energy like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower.

Why don't we have the same commitment in the North America?  Ask Exxon Mobil, and the other corporate giants in the business of selling coal and oil.  They control America's energy policy.  Until their money and influence are neutralized, where climate change is concerned, America will be a reluctant follower, not a leader.


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Europe Devotes 20 Percent of Budget to Climate Spending

ens-newswire.com/2013/11/20/europe-devotes-20-percent-of-budget-to-climate-spending/

 STRASBOURG, France, November 20, 2013 (ENS) – At least 20 percent of the entire European Union budget for 2014-2020 will be spent on climate-related projects and policies, after the European Parliament Tuesday approved the budget for that seven-year period.

The 20 percent commitment triples the current share and could yield as much as €180 billion in climate spending in all major EU policy areas over the seven-year period. (One euro equals US$1.34 at today’s rate of exchange.)

The EU’s development policy will contribute to achieving the 20 percent overall commitment, with an estimated €1.7 billion for climate spending in developing countries in 2014-2015 alone.

Alain Lamassoure, chair of the European Parliament’s Budget Committee, speaks to media after the seven-year budget was approved, Nov. 19, 2013 (Photo courtesy European Parliament)

 

This is in addition to climate financing from the 28 individual EU member states.
After months of complex negotiations, agreement on this long-term financial framework marks a major step towards transforming Europe into a clean and competitive low carbon economy and helping developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, legislators said.
“We managed to get the priorities right,” said Alain Lamassoure of France, the current chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets.

Speaking from the UN climate negotiations in Warsaw, Poland, EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard said, “Today is an incredibly important day for Europe and for the fight against climate change. At least 20 percent of the entire EU budget for 2014-2020 will be climate-related spending. This is a major step forward for our efforts to handle the climate crisis.

“Rather than being parked in a corner of the EU budget, climate action will now be integrated into all the main spending areas,” said Hedegaard.

“This underscores yet again Europe’s leadership in the fight against this crucial challenge,” she said. “I believe the EU is the first region in the world to mainstream climate action into its whole budget.”
The budget for 2014-2020 allows the EU to invest up to €960 billion up to 2020.

Other instruments for unforeseen circumstances outside the budget represent an additional €36.8 billion, bringing the total commitments to €996.8 billion.

With this budget in place, climate action will be integrated into all the major EU policies.
Climate-relevant assistance to developing countries will have a renewed focus on low-carbon energy, food security, resilience and adaptation, with €1.7bn estimated in the next two years alone. This is on top of climate finance from individual EU member states.

Under the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy, approved in Parliament on Wednesday, at least 30 percent of the rural development funds must be used for climate-related projects, creating opportunities for investments in climate-smart agriculture.

Farms near Umbertide, Italy (Photo by Randy Brophy)

Under the new CAP, 30 percent of member states’ budgets for direct payments may be spent only if mandatory greening measures, such as crop diversification, maintaining permanent grassland and creating “ecologically-focused areas,” are carried out.

“The new CAP will strike a better balance between food security and environmental protection, better prepare farmers to face future challenges and be fairer and more legitimate,” said Agriculture Committee chair and lead negotiator Paolo De Castro of Italy, who represents the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

In the EU’s regional cohesion policy, earmarking for energy efficiency of 20 percent in the most developed regions and six percent for the less developed regions as well as for sustainable urban development is intended to ensure a strong focus on climate change action.

The research and innovation program, Horizon 2020, with an envelope of €63bn has a goal of 35 percent spending on research and innovation in energy, climate and clean technologies.
The new infrastructure instrument, called Connecting Europe Facility, will be climate friendly. It will fund transport infrastructure of €23bn and energy infrastructure of €5bn, mainly transmission grids for renewable energy.

Finally, the budget for the LIFE program, known as the EU’s Programme for the Environment and Climate Action, increases to over €3 billion, and a new subprogram for climate action receives a budget allocation of €760 million.

Year on year, the EU is building a pathway towards the US$100 billion goal in climate finance assistance to developing countries by 2020 agreed by governments under the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Accord.

As the world’s biggest provider of Official Development Assistance, the EU and Member States committed to provide €7.2 billion in ‘fast start’ finance for developing countries over 2010-2012 and exceeded this pledge by delivering a total of €7.34 billion, including €2.67 billion in 2012.

Last year, at the UN climate negotiations in Doha, Qatar, the EU and member states announced voluntary contributions for developing countries of €5.5 billion, and the latest assessment shows they are on track to deliver this amount in 2013.

 

The European Commission channels EU adaptation funding via the EU Global Climate Change Alliance. From funding four pilot projects in 2008, the Alliance has grown to support more than 45 national and regional programs across 35 countries.

In 2013 the Commission committed €47 million for financing nine new projects in Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Myanmar, Haiti, Malawi, Mauritania, Sao Tome e Principe and Tanzania.

The European Investment Bank, owned by the EU Member States, is one of the largest multilateral providers of climate finance among the international financial institutions. The EIB currently provides between €1.5bn and €2bn per year of climate finance for investments outside the EU.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2013. All rights reserve

 

 

 

 

Disaster Fatigue

Disaster fatigue is a concept as ugly as the mega-scale human tragedies that cause it.  It's not a difficult idea to grasp. Mega-scale hurricanes, typhoons, floods, droughts, and wildfire are becoming more deadly and  more common.

A few days ago, a tropical storm known as Haiyan struck the Philippines.  It was by some accounts the most powerful storm in recorded history.  Sustained winds of 195 mph, gusting to nearly 250 mph; a storm surge of 20 feet.  The death toll is estimated at 10,000 at this point and likely to go much higher.

You watch the TV news reports and your heart goes out to the masses of people caught up in the suffering.  Huge numbers of people still have no food, no potable water, and little or no medical care.  The world is trying to help. The U.S. Navy and other relief agencies are there providing as much aid as they can, but the scale of the devastation is overwhelming. 

The sobering reality about such weather events is that they are becoming more common, far more costly, and more consequential and lasting in their impact. 

We have mostly ourselves to blame.  Storms like Haiyan become monsters in scale in large part because of the physics of climate change. Warmer ocean surface temperatures breed more powerful weather systems.  In the Philippines, the impact is exacerbated by the crowded conditions in mostly poor coastal communities.   The human population in the Philippines is nearly 100 million, increasing at  nearly 2% annually.  There is no safety net in poor countries like the Philippines.

In 2010, an earthquake devastated Haiti.  The world's initial response was intense, but now, three years later, much of the rubble remains and the economy is moribund. Haiti continues to be defined by dysfunction and human suffering.   Add now, the Philippines to a growing list of places that cannot take care of its people.

In the U.S., we are still dealing with the consequences of Hurricane Sandy on the Northeastern seaboard, and Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the deep South.

If trends continue, what looms ominously is the possibility that our compassion and our support when devastating weather events strike will be increasingly limited by the overwhelming demand.   To a significant  extent, disaster fatigue is already an unsettling reality.   At the very least, we should demand that our elected representatives in government wake up and take action to moderate climate change.  That is surely an imperative part of any plan to deal with disaster fatigue.


Here is a link to a video that makes the connection between human induced climate change and colossal disasters like Typhoon Haiyan... http://acronymtv.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/super-typhoon-haiyan-and-the-climate-change-link/

Super Coral

Here's an interesting story that needs to be told. It happened to my friend in the South Pacific, Richard Chesher.  He's a Ph.D. marine biologist, and a world class reef photographer, widely admired for his beautiful panographic images.  I've written about Rick Chesher six times before in this blog. He has his own blog label that you can click on if you'd like to read the other entries about him.

I was talking to Rick the other day via Google Plus.   We were discussing climate change and the impact on the marine environment. The two principle impacts are elevated ocean surface temperatures and increased acidification of surface waters.  These two issues trigger a cascade of other consequences. Ocean reefs and corals are particularly vulnerable to higher temperatures and acidification.  In fact, reef ecosystems in many parts of the world are in steep decline, in no small part because of climate change.

Finding isolated populations of super coral that have successfully adapted to higher water temperatures is very important.  Rick Chesher has identified just such a coral ecosystem.  It is in the protected waters of Port Moselle Marina in Noumea in New Caledonia, where Rick and his wife, Freddie live. The corals in Port Moselle are thriving, despite elevated water temperatures and high levels of pollutants from sewage and storm drain runoff.




Port Moselle, New Caledonia

Rick Chesher is retired from marine research.  Hoping to connect with a scientist actively working on coral reefs and climate change, Rick created a webpage about the corals in Port Moselle.  He also identified a university professor in Australia, who has received funding to search for coral reefs that have adapted to higher ocean temperatures.  When Rick contacted the researcher in Australia, he was , more or less, rebuffed.  Amazing.  Here's somebody - a trained professional tasked with finding heat adapted coral populations - and the response is disinterest. You have to wonder what kind of politics are driving that brand of bad attitude.

Port Moselle, New Caledonia

Anyway, Rick Chesher is hoping to attract some interest from  a marine scientist somewhere, who will pick up the ball and follow through with a serious study of these climate change adapted corals in New Caledonia.

Here is a link to Rick Chesher's page on the super corals of Port Moselle Marina in Noumea, New Caledonia ..  http://www.tellusconsultants.com/resistant-corals-super-corals-coral-bleaching.html

Here is a link to one of Rick Chesher's panograph images of Port Moselle...  http://www.360cities.net/image/port-moselle-marina-noumea#254.90,-5.30,60.0