December 28 2021
Dear Friends:
We wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR as we sort out the good news and disappointments of the year. Much work ahead as we focus on 2022 strategies.
Belle, Victoria and the Climate Team
Links to Articles
Scary Extreme Weather
Rising from Antarctic -a Climate Alarm
Examining the Role of Climate Change in a Week of Wild Weather
The powerful storm that swept through the Midwest in mid-December was extraordinary in many respects, with 100 million Americans under some form of weather alert.
Hurricane-force gusts in nine states. Immense dust storms in Colorado and wind-fanned wildfires in Kansas. The first-ever December tornadoes observed in Minnesota and western Iowa. Temperatures soaring past 70 degrees in cities like Omaha and Des Moines, a record.
Was Climate Change to Blame for the Tornadoes, or Was It Just Really Bad Weather?
Year End Perspectives
The Economist -- The Climate Issue
The Year in Climate News, New York Times
2021 was yet another year that felt like five.
The Planet Is Failing. What Does That Look Like in Every Single Country?
2021: when the link between the climate and biodiversity crises became clear
By Max Benato
Looking back on a year in which the Age of Extinction reported on everything from summits to species loss, solutions and community involvement
Global Developments
Chile’s Constitutional Rewrite Confronts Climate Change Head On
Chile has lots of lithium, which is essential to the world’s transition to green energy. But anger over powerful mining interests, a water crisis and inequality has driven Chile to rethink how it defines itself.
Mexico’s wheat fields help feed the world. They’re also releasing a dangerous greenhouse gas.
California Wildfires
By Julie Johnson
Wildfire Watch: Episode 4 - The Cost of Wildfire
BACK TO THE FUTURE. 2021: A MAJOR ACCELERATION IN CLIMATE ACTION … AND IN EMISSIONS
Coral Reefs
Nobel-winning stock market theory used to help save coral reefs
Portfolio selection rules on evaluating risk used to pick 50 reefs as ‘arks’ best able to survive climate crisis and revive coral elsewhere
Plastics
Why Trying to Clean Up All the Ocean Plastic Is Pointless
A pollution expert on why any attempt to rid the ocean of plastic completely is doomed to fail—and what we actually need to be focusing on.
Local Climate Action
Marin lands $1M state grant for carbon farming projects
Marin County has been awarded a $1 million state grant to advance one of its key strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions — carbon farming.
The Climate Crisis Is Raging, but We Are Not Powerless
By Margaret Renkl
“Fortunately, saving the planet isn’t something we’re obliged to manage on our own. Our collective efforts can make a huge difference…”
Marin to spend $4M in pandemic aid on climate projects
Dick Spotswood: MALT’s value as protector of farmland fuels supervisors’ Measure A concerns
Renewables and Fossil Fuels
These Bay Area refineries want to ditch crude oil for biofuels. Critics say that’s a bad idea
2021: when the link between the climate and biodiversity crises became clear
Green-Energy Race Draws an American Underdog to Bolivia’s Lithium
Chinese and Russian industrial giants seek to tap mineral deposits vital to electric cars. A Texas entrepreneur has his own strategy: the long game.
Clean-Energy Gold Rush Alarms Tribes in US
By Jack Healy and Mike Baker
YELLOW PINE, Idaho — Net in hand, Louis Reuben waded into the frigid waters where his ancestors once fished, long before Idaho’s rivers were dammed and contaminated, before the Nez Perce were driven off their land when white miners struck gold.
Is nuclear energy green? France and Germany lead opposing camps.
The French government wants to build reactors. The German government wants to shut them down.
"Electricity: An Optimist's Playbook for our Clean Energy Future"
By Saul Griffiths; reviewed by Bill McKibbon here
California Voice: Is hydrogen a zero-emissions solution for our state?
By Teresa Cooke
Deforestation Solutions
Inside the Campaign to Save an Imperiled Cambodian Rainforest
Deep in the Southern Cardamom Mountains, former loggers and poachers have assumed new roles as protective rangers and ecotourism guides.
If the world loves forests, it should put a price on their carbon
Without that, more trees may not mean less climate change
https://www.economist.com/international/the-world-should-prove-its-love-for-forests-by-putting-carbon-prices-on-them/21806086
Politics, Legislation, Public Opinion
What the Stalled Build Back Better Bill Means for Climate, in One Chart
By Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich
Joe Manchin Rejects Democratic Plan to Ban New Drilling in Atlantic and Pacific
Manchin Rejects Landmark Legislation, Putting Biden’s Climate Goals at Risk
Public Support for International Climate Action, September 2021
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Jennifer Carman, Liz Neyens, Matthew Goldberg, Karine Lacroix and Jennifer Marlon
Biomass
Wood Waste to Hydrogen: Mote’s H2 gambit in California announced
What you need to know about California's new composting law — a game changer for food waste
Controlled burning of natural environments could help offset our carbon emissions
Events
Sunday, January 30, 2022, at 1:00 pm
Skills for Bridging the Divide on Climate Solutions, a workshop offered by Braver Angels in collaboration with Citizens' Climate Lobby.
For a sneak preview of the workshop, check out this video. The workshop is offered entirely online, and you can register at the link below. We hope to see you there! Register here.
BIOCHAR IN THE WOODS, 2022
January 27 (Online Webinar); February 1-3 (Field Days - free). Learn how to use biochar for forest resilience