NOVEMBER 26, 2021
Dear Friends:
Climate news -post-Glasgow, post-House passage of Build Back Better Act, late in 2021 fire season- is voluminous. Here, we single out articles focusing on major decisions and trends.
Belle, Victoria and the Climate Team
Links to Articles
COPE 26 (most recent)
COP26 left the world with a climate to-do list: Here are five things to watch for in 2022, by John Kerry.
· Bending the curve to 1.5°C
· More South Africa deals, please
· Getting climate finance flowing
· Finance pledges and cries of ‘greenwashing
· The third leg of a wobbly stool: Loss and damage
Countries agreed to return for the next round of climate talks in November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with stronger commitments to put the world on track for 1.5°C.
The Climate Action Tracker estimates the global average temperature increase based on national policies.
https://newclimate.org/2021/11/09/cat-global-update-glasgows-2030-credibility-gap/
Build Back Better Act and Infrastructure Law
House Passes the Largest Expenditure on Climate in U.S. History
The $555 billion package is designed to lure the country away from fossil fuels. It faces an uncertain path in the Senate.
Spending as if the Future Matters
By Paul Krugman
Here’s how I read the Biden program as it now stands. Total new spending would be about $2.3 trillion over a decade. This total would include $500 billion to $600 billion of spending on each of three things: traditional infrastructure, restructuring the economy to address climate change, and children, with the last item mainly consisting of pre-K and child care but also involving tax credits that would greatly reduce child poverty.
Democrats Weigh Carbon Tax After Manchin Rejects Key Climate Provision
Key to Biden’s Climate Agenda Likely to Be Cut Because of Manchin Opposition
The West Virginia Democrat told the White House he is firmly against a clean electricity program that is the muscle behind the president’s plan to battle climate change.
Biden Crafts a Climate Plan B: Tax Credits, Regulation and State Action
The new strategy could deeply cut greenhouse gases that are heating the planet but it will still face considerable political, logistical and legal hurdles.
By Coral Davenport, Oct. 22, 2021
WASHINGTON — After losing the centerpiece of his climate agenda just a week before heading to a major global warming summit, President Biden intends to make the case that the United States has a new plan that will still meet its ambitions to sharply cut greenhouse gases that are warming the planet.
Climate Education
Climate change and national security
Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security
Intelligence and defense agencies issued reports warning that the warming planet will increase strife between countries and spur migration.
Wildfires
What It's Like to Fight a Megafire, New Yorker, Nov. 2021
Hotter Summer Days Mean More Sierra Nevada Wildfires, Study Finds
The research adds to a growing body of work finding that climate change is increasing fire risk in California and elsewhere in the West.
‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests
In southern California forest officials back culling trees. Locals are furious
Wildfire, drought provisions in infrastructure bill bring new funding to old ideas on Western Slope
Calamitous blazes, cascading tensions
Criminal charges were recommended, but not filed, over private crew’s alleged backfire in Napa Valley
By Matthias Gafni
5% of world’s giant sequoias may have died in California wildfires over the summer
By Kurtis Alexander
California extreme weather
Marin Voice: Water district general manager sees evolving partnership with customers
By Ben Horenstein
Global Extreme Weather
Africa’s Last Rare Glaciers May Soon Disappear
The continent is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite its population contributing little to the problem
World Meteorological Congress concludes historic session with landmark decisions
Geneva, 22 October 2021 (WMO) - A historic World Meteorological Congress has concluded with landmark resolutions to prioritize water and to dramatically strengthen the world’s weather and climate services through a systematic increase in exchange of observational data and data products.
The State of the Climate in Africa 2020 Report
The State of the Climate in Africa 2020 Report provides a snapshot of climate change trends and impacts, including sea level rise and the melting of the continent’s iconic glaciers. It highlights Africa’s disproportionate vulnerability and shows how the potential benefits of investments in climate adaptation, weather and climate services and early warning systems far outweigh the costs.
Vancouver is Marooned by flooding and besieged again by climate change
Antarctic ice sheet changed alarmingly quickly in the past – and it may be happening again
Global climate impacts
Windswept Island in the Pacific Becomes a Russian Climate Lab
By Anton Troianovski, Photographs by Sergey Ponomarev
SAKHALIN ISLAND, Russia — Sixteen wind turbines are slated to go up amid the winding coast and wooded hills of this Russian island in the Pacific, creating a wind park bigger than any that currently exists in the vast reaches of the country’s Far East.
The clean energy generated by the new wind park will go toward mining more coal.
Climate denial is waning on the right. What’s replacing it might be just as scary
A power Struggle over cobalt rattles the Clean Energy Revolution
Nine charts that show why the US needs to tackle food emissions
Glasgow - COP 26
Negotiators Strike a Climate Deal, but World Remains Far From Limiting Warming
Some activists called the agreement in Glasgow disappointing, but it established a clear consensus that all countries need to do much more.
Climate Promises Made in Glasgow Now Rest With a Handful of Powerful Leaders
In Washington, Beijing, New Delhi and beyond, governments face conflicting forces — political, social and economic — that will shape their next steps in the effort to avert a climate crisis.
Calls for Climate Reparations Reach Boiling Point in Glasgow Talks
For decades, vulnerable countries and activist groups have demanded that rich polluter countries pay for irreparable damage from climate change. This year, there may be a breakthrough.
Cities will be the focus of COP26 on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know.
Cities present exciting opportunities for sustainability and solutions — but they’re also intensely vulnerable to the growing effects of climate change
Saudi Arabia sets target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060.
One of world’s biggest oil exporters more than doubles its annual target to reduce carbon emissions
Fossil Fuels and Glascow
By Angela Dewan, Amy Cassidy, Ingrid Formanek and Ivana Kottasová, CNN
Oil Executives Grilled Over Industry’s Role in Climate Disinformation
In a historic hearing, the leaders of some of the most powerful energy companies in the world appeared before a House panel to face questioning on climate change.
Interior Dept.Report on Drilling Is Mostly Silent on Climate Change
Plastics
The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo named top plastic polluters for the fourth year in a row
Just before world leaders began negotiations at COP26, Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) launched its 2020 brand audit report. Through their citizen science documentation engaging over 55 countries, they recognised the top four global plastic polluters—the Coca Cola Company, Pepsico, Nestle, and Unilever. How does this plastic waste impact those who live close to New Delhi’s Bhalswa landfill and also earn a living from it? How can corporations be held responsible for their waste?
Other
Yale psychologist: How to cope in a world of climate disasters, trauma and anxiety
PUBLISHED THU, NOV 25 202110:22 AM EST
Catherine Clifford@IN/CATCLIFFORD/@CATCLIFFORD
Why Putting Solar Canopies on Parking Lots Is a Smart Green Move
Rivian’s Electric Truck Is a Cutie and a Beast
Resilient Neighborhoods has reduced over 10 million pounds of CO2!
Sign up for the January 2022 workshops below
The graduation of our fall climate action teams (The Sustainables and NextGen Marin) put Resilient Neighborhood’s cumulative annual CO2 reduction at over 10 million pounds! That's the equivalent of 1,375 Marin households replacing the fossil fuels powering their homes with renewable energy like wind and solar. Special thanks to the Marin rotary members of our fall teams for contributing a reduction of 122,879 annual carbon pounds through the Marin Rotary Challenge. Resilient Neighborhoods is moving Marin closer to achieving its climate action goals! Upcoming Workshops Resilient Neighborhoods CLIMATE ACTION WORKSHOPS -WINTER SCHEDULE- THURSDAY SERIES STARTS JANUARY 13 4:00-6:00pm SIGN-UP HERE TUESDAY SERIES STARTS JANUARY 18 6:30-8:30pm SIGN-UP HERE 5 Online Meetings + Climate Action = BIG Impact! ❉ Reduce Your Carbon Footprint ❉ Get Ready for Emergencies ❉ Build a Resilient Community >>LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE POPULAR *FREE* MARIN WORKSHOPS