Dear Friends:
“Did you hear the great news? California is suing Big Oil for lying about its role in causing the climate crisis! Governor Newsom said it perfectly last week at the UN Climate Summit in New York City: “The climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis.” “This new lawsuit is a massive effort from the governor and Attorney General Rob Bonta to challenge the power of Big Oil,” Ellie Cohen, Climate Center.
We are pleased to have a new colleague helping us with global climate news. Welcome and thank you, Frédérique Coghlan, for providing us with stories from Europe (this issue), but soon too from elsewhere.
Belle, Victoria and the Climate Team
Links to Articles
Art and Climate Change
The artworks in “Spora,” a long-term exhibition in Manhattan, are easy to overlook, but they bring an acute awareness to the environment beyond the gallery doors.
Legislation, Regulations, Policies
By Nidhi Sharma
The White House plans to create an “American Climate Corps” that would train thousands of young people for green jobs.
Water and Climate Change
By Mira Rojanasakul, Christopher Flavelle, Blacki Migliozzi and Eli Murray
Unchecked overuse is draining and damaging aquifers nationwide, a data investigation by the New York Times revealed, threatening millions of people and America’s status as a food superpower.
Climate Impact on Food and Farming
Turns out CO2 not so good for plants, or the people that plant them.
September’s Unprecedented Heat
By Emily Pontecorvo
Numbers like this always sound laughably small, but when you take a look at the chart below, it's clear how exceptionally, worryingly hot this month has been.
· Daily global surface temperature anomalies in JRA-55 between 1958 and 2023, relative to the 1991-2020 baseline period used by the dataset.
Courtesy of Zeke Hausfather / The Climate Brink
Electric Vehicles
These are grants and loans, provided under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Mr. Biden said, “Under Bidenomics, building a clean energy economy can and should provide a winwin opportunity for auto companies and unionized workers who have anchored the American economy for decades.”
The fate of Indonesia’s unrivaled stocks of nickel — a critical mineral used to make batteries for electric vehicles — is caught in the conflict between the United States and China.
Auto Strike and Climate Change
September 22, 2023
By Jack Ewing
Carmakers are anxious to keep costs down as they ramp up electric vehicle manufacturing, while striking workers want to preserve jobs as the industry shifts to batteries...
By Adrian Rodriquez
San Rafael is halfway toward its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal for 2030, and officials are focusing on an electric vehicle strategy to help accelerate progress.
Renewable Energy Technologies (bipartisan infrastructure law)
Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary, announced Friday that her agency would fund two pilot projects that would deploy the disputed technology, known as direct air capture. Many scientists are skeptical of the technology, and environmentalists have criticized the approach.
Occidental Petroleum will build one of the plants in Kleberg County, Texas, and Battelle, a nonprofit research organization, will build the other in Calcasieu Parish on the Louisiana coast. The federal government and the companies will equally split the cost of building the facilities.
Dimming the sun could “complement” emissions cuts, says panel of leaders, while acknowledging concerns about the risks.
The fate of Indonesia’s unrivaled stocks of nickel — a critical mineral used to make batteries for electric vehicles — is caught in the conflict between the United States and China.
Carbon Capture and Offsets
By David Wallace-Wells
Wildfires pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and carbon offsets are no longer looking effective.
By Peter Coy
Bad carbon credits are driving out good carbon credits. And that’s a big problem for the effort to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up the planet and wreaking havoc from the Arctic to the Antarctic. An Aug. 16 report for clients of the British bank Barclays put a positive spin on the problem but contained some worrisome information.
Wildfires - Heat, Smoke, El Nino
By Julie Johnson
Most wildland firefighters use nothing except heat-resistant shrouds or bandanas to cover their noses and mouths. Even amid mounting evidence that breathing the fine particles, chemicals and gases in smoke can cause long-term harm and even deadly diseases, federal, state and local agencies have done little to protect their workers, essentially treating smoke as a necessary evil.
Havoc in poor countries and commodities markets is inevitable.
As a thick layer of smoke blankets the Bay Area, sparking air quality concerns, meteorologists say several wildfires to the north are to blame.
Climate change has made California wildfires more explosive, increasing the number of days with extreme growth by 25%, according to a study led by scientists at San Jose State University, UC Berkeley and other California research institutions.
Controversies
By Will Houston
The Point Reyes National Seashore held its first public meeting on Thursday on its proposal to remove a controversial fence to allow its largest tule elk herd to roam free.
The scramble to fix California’s home insurance mess failed. Here’s what will happen next.
September 24, 2023
Turns out CO2 not so good for plants, or the people that plant them.
UN, France, EU
A new climate report by the United Nations has reiterated the desperate need to scale up renewable energy and phase out fossil fuels. So far, the world is not on track to meet its goals. Le Monde with AFP –
By Matthieu Goar
Heatwaves, fires, droughts and floods have been raging across the planet, with dramatic consequences. For scientists, this mushrooming effect confirms that the impacts of global warming are felt more acutely with each additional tenth of a degree in temperature.
By Le Monde
The French government is struggling to keep its promise to offer electric car leasing to low-income households at €100 a month. In contrast to Chinese carmakers, France has focused on building expensive, option-packed vehicles with powerful batteries.
Olivier Sorgho
By Steve Banker
This article will focus on European Union regulations because the EU leads in this area. Typically, North America and other regions eventually create similar rules. Further, non-EU firms are subject to these regulations if they want to do business in Europe.
By Perrine Mouterde
With four main objectives and 39 measures, the new roadmap is due to be finalized this fall. It will require substantial financial and human resources in order to be effectively implemented.
EVENTS
Saturday, September 30, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
EV and Ebike Show, 50 Bon Air Center, Greenbrae
See a variety of EVs and Ebikes all in one place! Check out exciting new models, get the scoop from EV drivers, and find the EV or Ebike that’s right for you. Sponsored by MCE and TAM.
Tuesday, October 10, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Ecologically Sound Practices meeting with presentation on “Frontiers of Fire survey course: managing wildfires with Ecologically Sound Practices - a summary and critique.” Josh Dimon, a scientist with the U.C. Berkeley Disaster Lab who helped design FIRE Foundry, will lead a panel of key participants to tell the story.
Zoom link HERE
Thursday, October 26, 6:00 pm
Green Home Tour Returns
Virtual tour featuring a range of home types and loads of information and tips for homeowners and renters to live more sustainably.
How are Marin neighbors adapting their homes to combat climate change, improve air quality, generate clean energy, and move towards a safer, healthier, greener, more resilient future? This year’s free, virtual Marin Home Tour features video tours of six Marin homes, followed by live Q&As with the homeowners. Experts will be lingering in the Zoom chat, ready to answer all your questions.
Virtual tour featuring a range of home types and loads of information and tips for homeowners and renters to live more sustainably. Register at MarinGreenHomeTour.org.