Had a dream that I met a Genie and wished for every oil and fracking mining operation produced only water from now on.
No idea how catastrophic that would be, but I have to give my subconscious credit for creativity. I guess climate change has been on my mind.
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NOAA's Winter Predictions
Forecasting models look like a colder and wetter than usual winter for me this year.
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Some climate related lawsuits underway in 2024
An interesting read as I wasn't aware of any of these cases. Includes a lawsuit by some teens against California (like the one in Montana last year), a lawsuit against Delta for falsely claiming carbon neutrality in marketing, as well as one against the US government over the (Biden) approved Willow Project for drilling in the arctic.
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COP28 Leader Slammed after claim against fossil fuel phaseout
"There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phaseout of fossil fuel is what's going to achieve 1.5C."
In his remarks revealed earlier this week by The Guardian, Al Jaber not only attempted to discredit the idea that preserving a livable climate requires phasing out fossil fuels—he attempted to paint the idea as extremist.
He said he expected a "sober and mature conversation," not an "alarmist" one, when former Ireland president Mary Robinson asked him during a panel discussion whether he would support a global effort to phase out fossil fuels. He appeared offended she even asked.
Al Jaber has attempted to walk back these comments amid uproar this week, claiming he believes "the phase down and the phaseout of fossil fuel is inevitable." Even U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry has shrugged off the comments, saying they probably "came out the wrong way."
🙄
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How a Fossil Fuel Treaty Could Support the Paris Agreement
Inside Climate News is among the websites I subscribe to in my RSS feed. And largely I love their coverage. This headline got my attention, worrying that the fossil fuel lobbyists had gotten to them. But I ended up enjoying this article and getting a better insight into what could be useful and helpful. Will it ultimately be used for good? I honestly doubt it, but it raised an excellent point regarding that we're sort of going into this backwards by trying to lessen demand which puts no cap on production.
From the intro:
What we’re seeing here at COP28 is that fossil fuels have finally been dragged center stage, in part because of the fossil fuel treaty campaign around the world for the last three years raising awareness about the fact that we are not aligning the production of fossil fuels with Paris goals. Right now we are on track to produce 110 percent more oil, gas, and coal between now and 2030 than we can ever burn if we want to meet the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
We need new agreements between countries on who gets to produce what fossil fuels and how much, and for how long. We need a plan that’s based on equity and fairness to align production with a global carbon budget. And we’re going to need new financial mechanisms and cooperation to support countries in, first of all, stopping the expansion of fossil fuels, and then secondly, winding down the production of fossil fuels.
There are so many countries today that are expanding the production of fossil fuels just to feed their debt. So some of the areas that are being looked at under a fossil fuel treaty include debt relief or tax agreements and trade agreements in order to make stopping the expansion and production and winding down production viable for many countries around the world.
From the first actual Question and Answer of the article after the intro:
There’s something intuitive about the notion that we should be producing less fossil fuel. But I’ve also heard well reasoned arguments that targeting supply specifically will either be ineffective, because other countries will simply increase production to meet demand, or that if it is effective and begins to crimp supply, that it would lead to energy price spikes and volatility that would undermine political support and potentially hurt developing nations the most. What’s your response to these critiques?
Trying to phase out fossil fuels by designing policy that is only to reduce demand is like trying to cut with one half of the scissors. We need to cut both supply and demand because what we build today will be what we use tomorrow. So we’ve had 30 years of climate policy and negotiations, designed just to reduce demand. And it’s not working. It’s not working fast enough to keep us safe.
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How a Fossil Fuel Treaty Could Support the Paris Agreement
Inside Climate News is among the websites I subscribe to in my RSS feed. And largely I love their coverage. This headline got my attention, worrying that the fossil fuel lobbyists had gotten to them. But I ended up enjoying this article and getting a better insight into what could be useful and helpful. Will it ultimately be used for good? I honestly doubt it, but it raised an excellent point regarding that we're sort of going into this backwards by trying to lessen demand which puts no cap on production.
From the intro:
What we’re seeing here at COP28 is that fossil fuels have finally been dragged center stage, in part because of the fossil fuel treaty campaign around the world for the last three years raising awareness about the fact that we are not aligning the production of fossil fuels with Paris goals. Right now we are on track to produce 110 percent more oil, gas, and coal between now and 2030 than we can ever burn if we want to meet the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
We need new agreements between countries on who gets to produce what fossil fuels and how much, and for how long. We need a plan that’s based on equity and fairness to align production with a global carbon budget. And we’re going to need new financial mechanisms and cooperation to support countries in, first of all, stopping the expansion of fossil fuels, and then secondly, winding down the production of fossil fuels.
There are so many countries today that are expanding the production of fossil fuels just to feed their debt. So some of the areas that are being looked at under a fossil fuel treaty include debt relief or tax agreements and trade agreements in order to make stopping the expansion and production and winding down production viable for many countries around the world.
From the first actual Question and Answer of the article after the intro:
There’s something intuitive about the notion that we should be producing less fossil fuel. But I’ve also heard well reasoned arguments that targeting supply specifically will either be ineffective, because other countries will simply increase production to meet demand, or that if it is effective and begins to crimp supply, that it would lead to energy price spikes and volatility that would undermine political support and potentially hurt developing nations the most. What’s your response to these critiques?
Trying to phase out fossil fuels by designing policy that is only to reduce demand is like trying to cut with one half of the scissors. We need to cut both supply and demand because what we build today will be what we use tomorrow. So we’ve had 30 years of climate policy and negotiations, designed just to reduce demand. And it’s not working. It’s not working fast enough to keep us safe.
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Washington state has highest gas prices in country
Experts say Washington's price surge is linked to the state's latest, most-ambitious efforts to battle climate change, specifically the new carbon-pricing program launched this year that charges businesses for the greenhouse gases they emit. The first two quarterly auctions of emission allowances raked in more than $850 million.
Now oil companies are choosing to pass on the compliance fees, the experts say. Those costs add up to about 50 cents per gallon for the consumer, according to the Oil Price Information Service, a Dow Jones company that collects fuel-pricing information for many clients, including AAA. The state Department of Ecology, which oversees the carbon-pricing program, says it's aware of oil companies passing on the costs but has no power to stop it.
And here-in lies the rub. When the businesses are not things people can easily opt out of, they are rife for this sort of exploitation.
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Thousands of fish washed up on some Texas beaches
When asked what contributed to the fish deaths, Quintana Beach County Park officials said it was a "perfect storm" of factors.
First, warm water is not ideal for fish. It tends to hold less oxygen. That is especially true in shallow water, which heats up quicker. So, a school of fish likely found themselves deprived of oxygen as they swam though shallow waters in the summertime.
Another problem was that seas near county beaches were quite calm over the past few weeks, meaning there were few waves and winds to help redistribute oxygen in the water.
Over the past few days, the skies above the the beaches were cloudy. That is an issue for phytoplankton, which help produce oxygen in the water by using photosynthesis. That process is driven by sunlight. So, the less they are exposed to the sun by way of overcast, the less oxygen phytoplankton produce.
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"We're using our home appliances wrong. Some energy-saving tips are myths"
My main takeaways:
- Use LED bulbs
- You are wasting water by handwashing and then using the dishwasher
- Refrigerators use way less energy than people realize
- Front load laundry machines are way better than top loaders
- Get rid of space heaters and solve the heating problem in other more efficient ways
- Smart thermostats can save lots of energy
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Small modular nuclear reactor design approved
I will be curious to see how often this is adopted. This isn't a design for people in their backyards, but it is a smaller design for actual power plant designs, etc.
I did find the tidbit that this is the seventh approved nuclear reactor design in the US. That number is simultaneously too large and too small in my mind.
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Germany & France set to counter the US Green funding in recent bill
A reminder that global politics is not simple as even our efforts to further green energy as a US jobs effort.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and his French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, suggested "targeted subsidies and tax-credits" for industrial sectors such as wind and solar power generation, heat pump manufacturing and hydrogen production.
At the same time, they urged the EU's executive commission to negotiate with Washington for European manufacturers to get the same exemptions the U.S. grants to Mexico and Canada, which are free-trade partners.
Many of the ideas coming from the EU's two biggest economies echo proposals by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who wrote to European leaders last week saying the bloc should adjust its rules on state aid to achieve the "unprecedented transformation" from fossil fuels to green power.
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"Ministry of the Future" By Kim Stanley Robinson
I'm currently reading this book. I'm almost a quarter of the way through it and it's a tough read. It's gritty and real and at times I'm not clear if the author is speaking to me the reader or if it is in the story, which is - to be blunt - fucking frightening, because of the state of climate change and the danger we are all in.
Highly recommend the book, but buckle up and be ready to look yourself and society in the mirror.
The Ministry for the Future by
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Cubans protest in Havana for the 2nd night since Hurricane Ian knocked out power
Climate Change reaches so deeply into the world with the effects it creates.
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"Patagonia Founder Gifts Entire Company to Fight Climate Change"
Yvon Chouinard, the founder of apparel brand Patagonia, is handing over his company, valued at $3 billion, over to trusts and non-profit organizations focused on fighting climate change. The unprecedented move makes his family some of the most charitable business owners in the U.S.
"Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn't end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people," Chouinard told The New York Times. "We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet."
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"A third of Pakistan is underwater from floods"
A third of Pakistan is now underwater amid an unprecedented amount of rainfall since June, Pakistan’s climate change minister, Sherry Rehman, said Monday.
That would mean an area about the size of Colorado is underwater. Pakistan, home to about 220 million, has a land mass of 307,000 square miles.
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"Tedros: Tigray, the Triple Billion, and a second term"
As Ukraine's coverage grew I recall seeing a few call outs that the media was hammering on Ukraine while there were a number of other countries undergoing invasions / wars / crises which got nowhere near as much coverage. This editorial highlights Dr. Tedros' calling attention to the Ethiopian crises and calls out the lack of western news coverage.
"Maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray." Dr. Tedros confronted world leaders last week for their neglect of "the worst disaster on earth"—a storm of conflict in Ethiopia, extreme weather across the Horn of Africa, and soaring food, fuel, and fertiliser prices exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Tedros is not politically neutral, given his Tigrayan background and former high-level roles in the Ethiopian Government. But his suggestion that racism underpins the world's apparent indifference is worthy of consideration, by both the political and health communities.
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This year's weather extremes feel more global and more extreme than I've ever experienced in my life and Asia is particularly getting hammered
High temperatures, frequent droughts, torrential rains, and other extreme weather events this summer have throttled Asia, forced industries to shut down, slowed global business, disrupted food supplies, and upended the lives of ordinary people living in some of the world’s most populous countries and densely packed cities.
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Pakistan reports 777 killed during floods over past 2 months
Just heartbreaking. And you'll barely see it reported on US news. And of course politicians will continue to deny climate change.
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"How Much Will the Climate Bill Reduce Emissions? It Depends"
This is an absolutely fantastic breakdown and explanation of how climate emission predictions are made, their shortcomings, etc.
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