FEBRUARY 2, 2022
Dear Friends:
January was dry, a major wildfire in Big Sur, Fed and State announcements of $ to fight wildfires and climate change, BBB being reassembled, possible stand-alone climate bill, Judge blocks sale of Gulf of Mexico drilling lease over climate concerns and more.
Belle, Victoria and the Climate Team
Links to Articles
A Climate Review of 2021 - Cool Effect
The Business of Fighting Climate Change
2021 Year in Review
Extreme Weather
Antarctica's Doomsday Glacier could Shatter in 10 years, Endangering 1 Bn. in Coastal Cities
A Vivid View of Extreme Weather: Temperature Records in the U.S. in 2021
By Krishna Karra and Tim Wallace
Shows Percentage of U.S. Weather Stations That Broke All-Time Temperature Records
Shows Percentage of U.S. Weather Stations That Broke All-Time Temperature Records
Forests and Climate Change
Across the Boreal Forest, Scientists Are Tracking Warming’s Toll
“What we’re seeing, perhaps more clearly than any other place in the world, is ecosystem change occurring in fast motion.”
An important victory’: Native American tribes reclaim a redwood forest in Northern California
A deal arranged by San Francisco conservationists puts 523 acres of Mendocino County’s Lost Coast back in the hands of tribal communities.
Big New Forest Initiative Sparks Concerns of a ‘Carbon Heist’
Ecologists thought America’s primeval forests were gone. Then Bob Leverett proved them wrong and discovered a powerful new tool against climate change.
‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests
By Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler
Climate and Foreign Policy
How Climate and the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Undergirds the Ukraine-Russia Standoff
Politics, Legislation, Regulations
Averting Climate Catastrophe Should Be Issue Number One and Now Is the Time to Explain Why
By David Bromwich
Climate Action Could Move Forward
Some Democrats want to forge ahead with a stand-alone climate bill, but their solution could mean abandoning other parts of President Biden’s agenda.
President Biden’s multibillion-dollar commitment to wildfire prevention — announced on Tuesday — marks a dramatic shift in the federal approach toward forests, but experts argue that this investment may only scratch the surface of what’s needed.
Kerry warns about efforts to blunt climate change: 'We're in trouble'
Biden Administration Sets Interim Greenhouse Pollution Cost Estimates
Biden Administration to Reinstate Mercury Pollution Rules Weakened Under Trump
The E.P.A. will resume enforcing limits on the release of mercury, a neurotoxin linked to developmental damage in children, from coal-burning power plants.
Tracking emissions
The win-wins of climate and biodiversity solutions
By Paul C. West
Wildfires, California and elsewhere
Biden administration pledges billions to fight wildfire crisis in California and across the West
Wildfire wiped out our California town. A slow trickle of death has stalked us ever since
By Howard Hendrix
Wildfires in January? Scientists say climate change could fuel 'a continuous fire season'
LeRoy Westerling, a climate scientist at UC Merced, says such out-of-season blazes, no matter what the cause, are likely to become more frequent because temperatures are going up, and California’s forests and grasslands simply aren’t suited to the heat.
“In a sense, we have a lot of vegetation on the landscape that no longer matches the climate system,” he said.
Marin Climate
Marin Voice: We all benefit from agricultural land protection, stewardship
By Eric Rubenstahl
Marin Voice: Measure A must address threats of wildfire in county open space
By Lucy Dilworth
Meet existential challenge by restructuring system, Bill Carney
Marin Voice: Prioritize solar power now to ensure our clean-energy future
By Susannah Saunders
Clean Energy, EVs, Renewables, Fossil Fuels
Germany signals it could halt gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine
Renewables and the Price of Fossil Gas
Germany's First Battery-Powered Train Plies Regional Routes on Way to Green Rails
US judge blocks sale of Gulf of Mexico drilling leases over climate concerns
California Solar
A Fight Over Rooftop Solar Threatens California’s Climate Goals
Utility regulators have proposed slashing the incentives homeowners receive to install solar panels, a long-sought goal of utilities and labor unions.
Events
Monday, February 7, 2022, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Regeneration: Saving us and our planet
Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy and author of “Saving Us.” REGISTER HERE
February 9 and 16, 4:00 – 5:30 PM on Zoom, Environmental Forum of Marin
This two-part webinar helps you understand what your money is supporting. REGISTER HERE
Friday, February 11, 1:00 PM
CCST (California Council on Science and Technology)
2/11 Establishing a Data Infrastructure to Effectively Respond to the Next Disaster, a CCST Expert Briefing. REGISTER HERE
Wednesday, February 16, 12:00 - 1:00 PM
CLEAN HYDROGEN
Presented by Electrify Now. REGISTER HERE