Environmental Reports 2018

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS FROM THE WINTER 2018 ISSUE OF NONVIOLENT CHANGE

On the Web at: www.nonviolentchangejournal.org, Compiled February 1, 2018

Table of Contents

Environmental Developments over the last 4 months                                                                      p.   1

Environmental Activities                                                                                                                                               p. 46

ARTICLES:

  "Bill McKibben: Winning Slowly Is the Same as Losing"                                                                  p. 59

    Basav Sen, "The Brutal Racial Politics of Climate Change and Pollution: Trump

    administration policies are systematically making natural disasters more harmful

    for the poor and people of color."                                                                                                        p. 64

  Mark Trahant, "Hegemony Is a Fine Word to Describe the Trump Era:

    Goal Is to Ransack the Earth"                                                                                                                  p. 66

  Mark Trahant, "'We Lost All that Money Can Buy, Dominican Leader Says;

    Indigenous Territory Takes Direct Hit from the Storm"                                                                 p. 70

Upcoming Environmental Events                                                                                                                               p. 71

Useful Web Sites                                                                                                                                              p. 84

Environmental Developments

      Steve Sachs

               

                A new study indicates that at present rates of release of greenhouse gasses the Earth will experience massive species extinction by 2100.  Daniel H. Rothman, "Thresholds of catastrophe in the Earth system," Science Advances  20 Sep 2017:

Vol. 3, no. 9, e1700906, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700906, http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/9/e1700906.full,

                Abstract

                The history of the Earth system is a story of change. Some changes are gradual and benign, but others, especially those associated with catastrophic mass extinction, are relatively abrupt and destructive. What sets one group apart from the other? Here, I hypothesize that perturbations of Earth’s carbon cycle lead to mass extinction if they exceed either a critical rate at long time scales or a critical size at short time scales. By analyzing 31 carbon isotopic events during the past 542 million years, I identify the critical rate with a limit imposed by mass conservation. Identification of the crossover time scale separating fast from slow events then yields the critical size. The modern critical size for the marine carbon cycle is roughly similar to the mass of carbon that human activities will likely have added to the oceans by the year 2100."

                Andrea Germanos, "Warming Soils Could Trigger Potentially Unstoppable Climate Feedback Loop: Study: Increased temperatures led to microbial activity that led to surges of carbon emissions, Common Dreams, October 6, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/06/warming-soils-could-trigger-potentially-unstoppable-climate-feedback-loop-study, reported, "New results from a long-term study point towards a potentially unstoppable feedback loop as earth's rising temperatures drive soils to release more carbon emissions.

                As Bloomberg put it, "There's a carbon bomb right under your feet."

                Researchers behind the 26-year, ongoing experiment buried cables in a set plots in a Massachusetts forest and warmed the soil to 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) above the ambient temperature to see how their carbon emissions varied with control plots. They four phases of alternating soil carbon loss and carbon stability. Newsweek explains that 'the team believes that during the peak periods, microbes [in the soil] are using up a plentiful supply of food. But when that runs out, the community has to find a new source of food, leading to the lulls in carbon release.'

                Over the course of the whole experiment, they found the warmed plots had lost 17 percent of the carbon that had been stored in organic matter in the top 60 centimeters (24 inches) of soil.

                'To put this in context,' stated lead author Jerry Melillo, distinguished scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., 'each year, mostly from fossil fuel burning, we are releasing about 10 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere. That's what's causing the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and global warming.'

                'The world's soils contain about 3,500 billion metric tons of carbon,' he continued. 'If a significant amount of that soil carbon is added to the atmosphere due to microbial activity in warmer soils, that will accelerate the global warming process. And once this self-reinforcing feedback begins, there is no easy way to turn it off. There is no switch to flip.'

                If the same kind of carbon release measured at the New England site occurred across the globe, over the course of the century it would be the 'equivalent to the past two decades of carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning,' the researchers extrapolate.

                'The future is a warmer future. How much warmer is the issue,' Melillo said, noting that actions like shutting down coal plants can help reign in carbon emissions from fossil fuels. 'But if the microbes in all landscapes respond to warming in the same way as we've observed in mid-latitude forest soils, this self-reinforcing feedback phenomenon will go on for a while and we are not going to be able to turn those microbes off.  Of special concern is the big pool of easily decomposed carbon that is frozen in Artic soils. As those soils thaw out,' he continued, 'this feedback phenomenon would be an important component of the climate system, with climate change feeding itself in a warming world.'

                As Melillo's study, published Friday in the journal Science, adds to research finding warming leads to soils releasing, rather than sequestering, carbon, separate research is also showing how soil, with better land management practices, can help mitigate climate change.

                'Dirt,' said Rob Jackson, who lead the research published in the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 'is a no-risk climate solution with big co-benefits. Fostering soil health protects food security and builds resilience to droughts, floods, and urbanization.'

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                Jessica Corbett, "'Alarm Bells Ringing': Global CO2 Levels at Highest in 3 Million Years: Ahead of UN climate talks, report warns of "severe ecological and economic disruptions" without more drastic moves to cut emissions," Common Dreams, October 30, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/30/alarm-bells-ringing-global-co2-levels-highest-3-million-years?utm_term=%27Alarm%20Bells%20Ringing%27%3A%20Global%20CO2%20Levels%20at%20Highest%20in%203%20Million%20Years&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Reading%20His%20Admission%20of%20Guilt%20Will%20Explain%20Why%20White%20House%20Is%20Distancing%20Itself%20From%20Papadopoulos&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Reading%20His%20Admission%20of%20Guilt%20Will%20Explain%20Why%20White%20House%20Is%20Distancing%20Itself%20From%20Papadopoulos-_-%27Alarm%20Bells%20Ringing%27%3A%20Global%20CO2%20Levels%20at%20Highest%20in%203%20Million%20Years, reported, "Ahead of the COP23 climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany next week, an annual bulletin released on Monday revealed that last year, the average global concentration of carbon dioxide surged at a record-breaking pace to the highest level in approximately 3 million years, renewing scientists' concerns that more action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

                'There's still time to steer these emissions down and so keep some control, but if we wait too long humankind will become a passenger on a one-way street to dangerous climate change."

—Dave Reay, University of Edinburgh

                'This should set alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power,' Dave Reay, a professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburgh who was not involved with the research, told the Guardian.            'We know that, as climate change intensifies, the ability of the land and oceans to mop up our carbon emissions will weaken.'

                'There's still time to steer these emissions down and so keep some control,'" Reay added, 'but if we wait too long humankind will become a passenger on a one-way street to dangerous climate change.'

                The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin (pdf), published by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch program, found that globally averaged CO2 concentrations increased from 400 parts per million (ppm) in 2015 to 403.3 ppm last year.

                Scientists have reliable data on carbon dioxide concentration spanning approximately 800,000 years, and researchers estimate the last time the planet had a comparable concentration of carbon dioxide was 3 to 5 million years ago, during the Pliocene epoch, when the global temperature was up to 3°C warmer and due to melting ice sheets, sea level was about 66 feet higher than it is today.

                The bulletin attributes the increase in CO2 levels to the El Niño event and greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, including "growing population, intensified agricultural practices, increases in land use and deforestation, industrialization, and associated energy use from fossil fuel sources" since the "industrial era, beginning in 1750.'

                While emissions represent the full amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, the measured concentrations focus on what remains in the atmosphere 'after the complex system of interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, and the oceans.' As carbon sinks, the oceans and biosphere each take up about a quarter of total CO2 emissions [but now are increasingly less able to do so].

                The bulletin warns that today's global CO2 concentrations, which are now 145 percent of levels before 1750, will likely have a notable impact on global climate systems and cause ‘severe ecological and economic disruptions.'

                'CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years and in the oceans for even longer. The laws of physics mean that we face a much hotter, more extreme climate in the future,' said WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.

                'Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement,' Taalas added. 'Future generations will inherit a much more inhospitable planet.'

                'The longer we wait to implement the Paris Agreement, the greater the commitment and the more drastic (and expensive) the required future emission reductions will need to be to keep climate change within critical limits."
—Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

                'The longer we wait to implement the Paris Agreement, the greater the commitment and the more drastic (and expensive) the required future emission reductions will need to be to keep climate change within critical limits,' the bulletin notes, echoing growing concerns about the economic costs of climate change, which were the focus of a Government Accountability Office report released last week.

                The bulletin comes ahead of a separate U.N. Environment Emissions Gap Report, which will be released Tuesday and analyzes the projected effectiveness of various nations' policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through 2030. The two reports will serve as 'a scientific base for decision-making" at the COP23 climate talks, according to WMO.

'The numbers don't lie,' said Erik Solheim, head of U.N. Environment. 'We are still emitting far too much and this needs to be reversed. The last few years have seen enormous uptake of renewable energy, but we must now redouble our efforts to ensure these new low-carbon technologies are able to thrive.'

                'We have many of the solutions already to address this challenge,' Solheim concluded. 'What we need now is global political will and a new sense of urgency.'

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                Julia Conley, "'Giant Leap Backwards' as Global Carbon Emissions in 2017 Soaring to All-Time High: 'The urgency for reducing emissions means they should really be already decreasing now'," Common Dreams, November 13, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/13/giant-leap-backwards-global-carbon-emissions-2017-soaring-all-time-high?utm_term=%27Giant%20Leap%20Backwards%27%20as%20Global%20Carbon%20Emissions%20in%202017%20Soaring%20to%20All-Time%20High&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Over%2015%2C000%20Scientists%20Just%20Issued%20a%20%27Second%20Notice%27%20to%20Humanity&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Over%2015%2C000%20Scientists%20Just%20Issued%20a%20%27Second%20Notice%27%20to%20Humanity-_-%27Giant%20Leap%20Backwards%27%20as%20Global%20Carbon%20Emissions%20in%202017%20Soaring%20to%20All-Time%20High, reported, "Warning of a 'giant leap backwards for humankind,' the Global Carbon Project said in a report (pdf) released Monday that carbon emissions are expected to hit a record high in 2017, following three years of stable CO2 levels.

                The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen about two percent in 2017 according to climate scientists, dashing hopes that the world had already seen the highest emission levels from the coal, oil, and gas industries.

                The findings carry urgent implications for the next three years. A report released earlier this year by scientists at Carbon Tracker, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Yale University showed that global emissions must begin falling quickly after 2020 in order to keep the global temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

                Professor Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia, who led the Global Carbon Project's study, called the findings 'very disappointing.'

                'The urgency for reducing emissions means they should really be already decreasing now,' she said in an interview with the Associated Press.

                Much of the rise in carbon emissions this year was attributed to China in the report, which was presented at COP23 in Bonn, Germany. But China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in developing its renewable energy sector while President Donald Trump has made clear his intention of aiding and abetting the fossil fuel industry's climate denialism and polluting activities.

                Trump has announced plans to shield the oil, gas, and coal companies from Obama-era regulations including the Clean Power Plan, meant to rein in carbon emissions. In June he withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, under which every other nation in the world has now agreed to limit climate change-causing pollution.

Carbon emissions in the U.S. declined 0.4 percent in 2017 according to the Global Carbon Project—less than in previous years.

                'What happens after 2017 is very open and depends on how much effort countries are going to make," said Le Quéré. "It is time to take really seriously the implementation of the Paris agreement.'

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                China announced, in late January 2017, plans for creating a huge market of carbon credits to reduce carbon pollution across the country (Keith Bradsher and Lisa Friedman, "China Plans Huge Market for Trading Pollution Credits," The New York Times, December 20, 2017).

                Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the air are also impacting fresh water: lakes, streams and rivers, changing their eco systems significantly. Study is just beginning of the impact. In the oceans the increased acidity of the water weakens and destroys shell fish, makes some species of fish unable to detect their predators, and damages coral. Similar impacts are suspected in fresh water (Carl Zimmer, "A Threat to Fresh Waters," The New York Times, January 16, 2918).

                "Lancet Study Warns of Global Health Crisis and 1 Billion Climate Refugees by 2050: 'We are only just beginning to feel the impacts of climate change,'" Common Dreams, October 31, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/31/lancet-study-warns-global-health-crisis-and-1-billion-climate-refugees-2050?utm_term=Lancet%20Study%20Warns%20of%20Global%20Health%20Crisis%20and%201%20Billion%20Climate%20Refugees%20by%202050&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Fears%20of%20Radiation%20Leak%20Soar%20After%20North%20Korea%20Nuclear%20Site%20Collapse%20Kills%20200&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Fears%20of%20Radiation%20Leak%20Soar%20After%20North%20Korea%20Nuclear%20Site%20Collapse%20Kills%20200-_-Lancet%20Study%20Warns%20of%20Global%20Health%20Crisis%20and%201%20Billion%20Climate%20Refugees%20by%202050, reported, "Climate change could force a billion people from their homes by 2050, potentially triggering major health crises around the world, according to a new study.

                The Lancet's annual Countdown report calls on governments to act quickly to fight pollution and other factors that have exacerbated climate change, leading to public health issues.

                'We are only just beginning to feel the impacts of climate change,' said Professor Hugh Montgomery, co-chair of the Lancet Countdown, in an interview with the Independent. 'Any small amount of resilience we may take for granted today will be stretched to breaking point sooner than we may imagine.'

                The report found that 'migration driven by climate change has potentially severe impacts on mental and physical health, both directly and by disrupting essential health and social services.'

                The research also found that more humans are being exposed to extreme heatwaves and air pollution and are more commonly at risk for mosquito-borne illnesses than in past decades, due to climate change.

                More than one hundred million adults over the age of 65 have been exposed to dangerously hot conditions since the turn of the 21st century, while 71 percent of cities tracked by the World Health Organization have dangerous levels of air pollution.

                Dengue fever has become nearly 10 percent more prevalent around the world since 1950, due to warm conditions that allow mosquitoes to thrive for much of the year.

                Already, says the report, at least 4400 people have been forced to migrate with climate change being the sole reason for fleeing their homes.

                Refugees who have already been forced from their homes due to climate change include 1200 residents of the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea who fled because of rising sea levels, 3500 Alaskans who escaped coastal erosion due to melting ice, and at least 25 people who left southern Louisiana, also because of a disintegrating coastline.

                The study also notes that the impacts of global warming, including drought and other conditions that can negatively affect agriculture and people's livelihoods, can set in motion a chain of events that make regions ripe for violent conflicts.

                'For example, in Syria,' the study reads, "many attribute the initial and continued conflict to the rural to urban migration that resulted from a climate change-induced drought.'

While the issues leading to wars are complex, the Lancet continues,         'climate change, as a threat multiplier and an accelerant of instability, is often thought of as important in exacerbating the likelihood of conflict.'

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                Brad Plumer, "At Bonn Climate Talks, Stakes Get Higher in Gamble on Planet’s Future," The New York Times, November 18, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/climate/un-bonn-climate-talks.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_clim_20171122&nl=&nl_art=0&nlid=52235981&ref=headline&te=1&_r=2, reported, "Perhaps the most revealing moment at this year’s United Nations climate talks came on Wednesday, when Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany addressed the nearly 200 nations gathered here.

                After declaring that “climate change is an issue determining our destiny as mankind,” Ms. Merkel acknowledged that Germany was likely to miss the goals it had set itself for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 because of its continued reliance on coal power. While vowing to grapple with the issue, she said that phasing out coal use would require 'tough discussions' with German policymakers in the weeks ahead.

                On one level, it was a stark reminder that the real action on global warming does not unfold in international venues. The problem will largely be addressed by governments back home trying to adopt policies to shift away from fossil fuels, by businesses perfecting and deploying clean energy technologies, by city planners reworking their local transportation systems."

                The Green Climate Fund, organized to help poorer countries and areas meet climate change, had spent $2.6 billion by late 2017, but with little transparency in the decision making, there are indications that much of the funding is not going where it was intended, the poorest places that need it most (Hirokoi Tabuchi, "Climate Funds, Meant for Poorest, Raise Red Flags," The New York Times, November 17, 2017).

                Syria has signed on to the Paris Climate Agreement. leaving only the United States in opposition to it (Lisa Friedman, "Syria Joins Paris Climate Accord, Leaving Only the U.S. Opposed," The New York Times, November 8, 2017).

                Norway, Europe's largest oil producer, was considering divesting from oil investments, in December 2017 (Clifford Krauss, " Norway, Europe's Top Oil Producer, Considers Divesting From Oil Shares," The New York Times,  December 17, 2017).

                Valerie Volcovici, "U.S. Government Report: U.S. Should Manage Climate Risks as Costs Soar," Portside, October 23, 2017, reported that the GAO (Government Accountability Office) reported that up to that point in 2017 global warming induced weather changes, in the forms of increased wildfires and more frequent and larger hurricanes, have cost the U.S. over $300 Billion, and costs to the government may rise to $35 billion annually by mid-century.

                Jessica Corbett, "World's Oceans Last Year Hit Hottest Temperatures Ever Recorded... 'By Far': Experts say the data indicates that humans must urgently "reduce the heating of our planet by using energy more wisely and increasing the use of clean and renewable energy,'" Common Dreams, January 26, 2018, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/26/worlds-oceans-last-year-hit-hottest-temperatures-ever-recorded-far?utm_term=World%27s%20Oceans%20Last%20Year%20Hit%20Hottest%20Temperatures%20Ever%20Recorded...%20%27By%20Far%27&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20The%20%27Totalitarian%27%20Threat%20of%20Facebook%20and%20Google%20&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20The%20%27Totalitarian%27%20Threat%20of%20Facebook%20and%20Google%20-_-World%27s%20Oceans%20Last%20Year%20Hit%20Hottest%20Temperatures%20Ever%20Recorded...%20%27By%20Far%27, reported, " A new analysis conducted by Chinese researchers          
and published in a peer-reviewed journal on Friday found that 2017 was the hottest year on record for the world's oceans, renewing concerns among those in the scientific community about the man-made climate crisis.

                The long-term warming trend driven by human activities continued unabated,' the researchers, Lijing Cheng and Jiang Zhu, wrote (pdf) in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. 'The high ocean temperatures in recent years have occurred as greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere have also risen, reaching record highs in 2017.'

                While measuring atmospheric temperature changes provides insight into humankind's impact on the planet—and recent reports show 2017 was the second-hottest year on record—"in terms of understanding how fast the Earth is warming, the key is the oceans," because almost all the planet's heat is stored in the seas, as John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences, explains in a piece for the Guardian.

                Abraham says last year's dramatic increase made 2017 "by far" the hottest year on record for the world's oceans.

                Breaking down the significance of a graph presented in the new report, Abraham writes: 'This graph shows ocean heat as an 'anomaly,' which means a change from their baseline of 1981–2010. Columns in blue are cooler than the 1981-2010 period, while columns in red are warmer than that period. The best way to interpret this graph is to notice the steady rise in ocean heat over this long time period."

                'The fact that 2017 was the oceans' hottest year doesn't prove humans are warming the planet,' he continues, acknowledging that small temperature fluctuations from year to year are normal, due to natural events like the Pacific Ocean's El Niño/La Niña cycle. 'But, the long-term upward trend that extends back many decades does prove global warming.'

                'The human greenhouse gas footprint continues to impact the Earth system,' the Chinese researchers note, and the consequences include not only sea level rise, but also 'declining ocean oxygen, bleaching of coral reefs, and melting sea ice and ice shelves.'

                'The consequences of this year-after-year-after-year warming have real impacts on humans,' Abraham writes.

                'Fortunately, we know why the oceans are warming (because of human greenhouse gases), and we can do something about it,' he concludes. 'We can take action to reduce the heating of our planet by using energy more wisely and increasing the use of clean and renewable energy (like wind and solar power).'

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                Andrea Germanos, "Over 15,000 Scientists Just Issued a 'Second Notice' to Humanity. Can We Listen Now?: Reassessing warning issued 25 years ago, the "second notice" to humanity warns of "widespread misery and catastrophic biodiversity loss" unless business-as-usual is upended," Common Dreams, November 13, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/13/over-15000-scientists-just-issued-second-notice-humanity-can-we-listen-now?utm_term=Over%2015%2C000%20Scientists%20Just%20Issued%20a%20%27Second%20Notice%27%20to%20Humanity.%20Can%20We%20Listen%20Now&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Over%2015%2C000%20Scientists%20Just%20Issued%20a%20%27Second%20Notice%27%20to%20Humanity&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%20Over%2015%2C000%20Scientists%20Just%20Issued%20a%20%27Second%20Notice%27%20to%20Humanity-_-Over%2015%2C000%20Scientists%20Just%20Issued%20a%20%27Second%20Notice%27%20to%20Humanity.%20Can%20We%20Listen%20Now, reported,                 "Yikes.

                Over 15,000 scientists hailing from more than 180 countries just issued a dire warning to humanity:

                'Time is running out' to stop business as usual, as threats from rising greenhouse gases to biodiversity loss are pushing the biosphere to the brink.

                The new warning was published Monday in the international journal BioScience, and marks an update to the 'World Scientists' Warning to Humanity' issued by nearly 1,700 leading scientists 25 years ago.

                The 1992 plea, which said Earth was on track to be "irretrievably mutilated' baring 'fundamental change,' however, was largely unheeded.

'Some people might be tempted to dismiss this evidence and think we are just being alarmist," said William Ripple, distinguished professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University, and lead author of the new warning. 'Scientists are in the business of analyzing data and looking at the long-term consequences. Those who signed this second warning aren't just raising a false alarm. They are acknowledging the obvious signs that we are heading down an unsustainable path.'

The new statement—a 'Second Notice' to humanity—does acknowledge that there have been some positive steps forward, such as the drop in ozone depleters and advancements in reducing hunger since the 1992 warning. But, by and large, humanity has done a horrible job of making progress. In fact, key environmental threats that demanded urgent attention a quarter of a century ago are even worse now.

Among the 'especially troubling' trends, they write, are rising greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, agricultural production, and the sixth mass extinction event underway.

                Taking a numerical look at how some of the threats have grown since 1992, the scientists note that there's been a 26.1 percent loss in fresh water available per capita; a 75.3 percent increase in the number of "dead zones';  a 62.1 percent increase in CO2 emissions per year; and 35.5 percent rise in the human population.

                'By failing to adequately limit population growth, reassess the role of an economy rooted in growth, reduce greenhouse gases, incentivize renewable energy, protect habitat, restore ecosystems, curb pollution, halt defaunation, and constrain invasive alien species, humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperiled biosphere,' they write.

                Among the steps that could be taken to prevent catastrophe are promoting plant-based diets; reducing wealth inequality, stopping conversions of forests and grasslands; government interventions to rein in biodiversity loss via poaching and illicit trade; and "massively adopting renewable energy sources" while phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

                Taking such actions, they conclude, are necessary to avert 'widespread misery and catastrophic biodiversity loss.'

                'Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory, and time is running out. '

The goal of the paper, said Ripple, is to "ignite a wide-spread public debate about the global environment and climate."

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                Jon Queally, "US Climate Assessment Exposes 'Simply Terrifying' Recklessness of Trump: 'Even as this report sounds the alarm, Trump's team of climate deniers are twisting themselves into pretzels to justify blocking national and international climate action,'" Common Dreams, November 03, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/03/us-climate-assessment-exposes-simply-terrifying-recklessness-trump?utm_term=US%20Climate%20Assessment%20Exposes%20%27Simply%20Terrifying%27%20Recklessness%20of%20Trump&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20Ellison%20Says%20DNC%20%27Rigging%27%20of%20Primary%20%27Cannot%20Be%20Dismissed%27&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20Ellison%20Says%20DNC%20%27Rigging%27%20of%20Primary%20%27Cannot%20Be%20Dismissed%27-_-US%20Climate%20Assessment%20Exposes%20%27Simply%20Terrifying%27%20Recklessness%20of%20Trump, reported, "With the release of its National Climate Assessment on Friday, the U.S. government has released a report—which states the current period is "now the warmest in the history of modern civilization"—that critics say directly and irrefutably undermines the climate denialism and inaction of President Donald Trump and his administration.

                Mandated by law and released every four years, the Fourth National Climate Assessment (or NCA4)—which states that recent years have seen 'record-breaking, climate-related weather extremes, and the last three years have been the warmest years on record for the globe'— concludes (with emphasis in the original) that 'based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.'

                Despite that being the declared consensus from the global scientific community for years, the Trump administration has done nearly everything in its power to cast doubt by embracing the denialism pushed by the fossil fuel industry. Instead of offering solutions to the crisis, the administration has been hard at work doing the bidding of the oil and gas industries while rolling back efforts—both domestically and internationally—meant to combat the threat of human-caused global warming.

                As Friends of the Earth declared in a tweet, the assessment 'sharply contradicts' the Trump administrations own policies by 'affirming humans are climate change driver.'

                Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, made a similar point.   

                'The contrast between this stark scientific warning and Trump's reckless support for dirty fossil fuels is simply terrifying,' Wolf said. 'Even as this report sounds the alarm, Trump's team of climate deniers are twisting themselves into pretzels to justify blocking national and international climate action. If America's leaders don't start listening to scientists, the whole world is going to pay a truly terrible price.'

                As the Washington Post reports, the Trump administration did not try to block the publication of the report even though 'its findings sharply contradict the administration's policies.' According to the Post:

The report’s release underscores the extent to which the machinery of the federal scientific establishment, operating in multiple agencies across the government, continues to grind on even as top administration officials have minimized or disparaged its findings. Federal scientists have continued to author papers and issue reports on climate change, for example, even as political appointees have altered the wording of news releases or blocked civil servants from speaking about their conclusions in public forums. The climate assessment process is dictated by a 1990 law that Democratic and Republican administrations have followed.

                The good news about the new assessment, according to Wolf, is that it shows 'scientists can beat Trump's climate censorship if they speak out bravely.'

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License."

                Kendra Pierre-Louis, "These Billion-Dollar Natural Disasters Set a U.S. Record in 2017, " The New York Times, January 8, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/climate/2017-weather-disasters.html, reported, “Extreme weather events caused a total of $306 billion in damage in the United States last year, making 2017 the most expensive year on record for natural disasters in the country, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday."

                Here are the 16 billion-dollar disasters from 2017: Some made headlines for weeks, and some were simply overtaken in the public’s consciousness by the next one.

                Hurricane Harvey, August: $125 billion

                Hurricane Maria, September: $90 billion

                Hurricane Irma, September: $50 billion

                Western wildfires and California firestorm, autumn: $18 billion

                Colorado hailstorm, May: $3.4 billion

                Severe weather in the South and Southeast, March: $2.6 billion

Drought in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, spring through autumn: $2.5 billion

                Minnesota hailstorm, June: $2.4 billion

                Midwest tornado outbreak, March: $2.1 billion

                Tornado outbreak in Central and Southeast states, March: $1.8 billion

Missouri and Arkansas flooding, May: $1.7 billion

California flooding, February: $1.5 billion

                Widespread Midwest severe weather, June: $1.5 billion

Severe weather in Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa, June: $1.4 billion

Southern tornado outbreak, January: $1.1 billion

                Southeast freeze, March: $1 billion."

                Jessica Corbett, “As Climate Crisis Intensifies, $300+ Billion in Damages Makes 2017 Costliest Year Ever: Experts say this ‘historic and unprecedented year of disastrous extremes’ reinforces ‘the fact that climate change is a threat to our health, and also a threat to our economy,’” Common Dreams, ,January 8, 2018, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/08/climate-crisis-intensifies-300-billion-damages-makes-2017-costliest-year-ever?utm_term=As%20Climate%20Crisis%20Intensifies%2C%20%24300%2B%20Billion%20in%20Damages%20Makes%202017%20Costliest%20Year%20Ever&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20Kushner%20Received%20Millions%20From%20Israeli%20Firm%20While%20Shaping%20Middle%20East%20Policy&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20Kushner%20Received%20Millions%20From%20Israeli%20Firm%20While%20Shaping%20Middle%20East%20Policy-_-As%20Climate%20Crisis%20Intensifies%2C%20%24300%2B%20Billion%20in%20Damages%20Makes%202017%20Costliest%20Year%20Ever, reported, “Hurricanes ??????
 and wildfires—fueled in part by anthropogenic climate change—contributed to more than $300 billion in disaster-related damage across the United States last year, making 2017 the costliest year on record for extreme weather events, according to a government report released Monday.

‘During 2017, the U.S. experienced a historic year of weather and climate disasters,’ according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center. ‘In total, the U.S. was impacted by 16 separate billion-dollar disaster events."

‘The cumulative damage of these 16 U.S. events during 2017 is $306.2 billion, which shatters the previous U.S. annual record cost of $214.8 billion,’ NOAA notes. The previous record—adjusted for inflation—was set in 2005, following Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Last year saw Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Irma produce the most expensive hurricane season ever recorded, at $265 billion, while the raging wildfires in California contributed to a record $18 billion in fire damage.

NOAA mapped 2017's billion-dollar disasters, which included not only fires and hurricanes, but also flooding, a freeze, a drought, tornadoes, and general severe weather:

The human cost may not be fully recognized in the NOAA report, which claims, ‘overall, these events resulted in the deaths of 362 people.’ In contrast, news reports from Puerto Rico—a U.S. territory devastated by the 2017 hurricane season—indicate the post-hurricane death toll on the island alone could exceed 1,000 Americans. 

Though alarming on its own, Ashley Siefert, communications director for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said NOAA's new report ‘is even more staggering when reviewed alongside recent reports from the insurance industry, as well as the latest attribution studies examining the connection between climate change and specific extreme weather events.’

Rachel Cleetus, UCS's lead economist and climate policy manager, outlined in a blog post how the NOAA report echoes reports from the insurance industry.

‘Last week, Munich Re, one of the world's leading reinsurers, stated that the costs to the insurance industry from Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and other 2017 disasters, are expected to reach $135 billion globally, the highest ever, with the U.S. share dominating at 50 percent of these costs. Overall economic losses, including uninsured losses, will amount to $330 billion, the second highest ever for a single year," she writes. ‘Last month, Swiss Re released a similar report stating that global insured losses for 2017 were $136 billion, and total economic losses are estimated to be $306 billion.’

This ‘historic and unprecedented year of disastrous extremes’ reinforces ‘the fact that climate change is a threat to our health, and also a threat to our economy,’ Cleetus concludes, emphasizing that in order to mitigate the impacts, ‘first and foremost, we must do more to prepare and protect communities ahead of time by investing in risk reduction and disaster preparedness, and by ensuring that our federal, state, and local policies are guided by the best available science.’

Although NOAA experts who held a media call to discuss the report declined to comment on the extent to which they believe climate change is impacting natural disasters, according to the Washington Post, climate experts were quick to weigh in.

‘Hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and severe weather events occur naturally. However, the data shows an overall increased frequency in these events, and an associated increase in intensity,’ said Robert Watson, the former chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who co-authored a recent report on the economic consequences of extreme weather disasters influenced by climate change. 

‘The precautionary principle would suggest,’ Watson added, ‘that we should assume a significant contribution from human activities, and prepare to adapt and mitigate.’

Harvard oceanographer and climate expert James McCarthy, who co-authored the report with Watson, warned, ‘We can expect extreme weather events and economic losses and costs associated with them to continue increasing unless we make dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.’

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

                The impacts of these major disasters are often long lasting. One indicator is that Puerto Rico was so devastated, and very slow in recovering, even on basic services, was so hit economically by the hurricane that it must put off by 5 years beginning to pay on its $70 billion debt (Patricia Mazzei and Marry Williams Walsh, "Hurricane-Torn Puerto Rico Says It Can’t Pay Any of Its Debts for 5 Years," The New York Times, January 24, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/puerto-rico-budget-hurricanes.html?ref=todayspaper).

                One result of Hurricane Harvey is that the chemical plant fires, explosion and pollution that it caused indicated the lack of safety regulation of chemical and other dangerous facilities in the United States (Clifford Krauss, Hiroko Tabuchi, and Henry Fountain, "Texas Fires Bare Big Safety Flaws,” The New York Times, September 6, 2017).

                Andrea Germanos, "Climate Bellwether? With Cape Town Almost Out of Water, "Day Zero" Looms: In less than three months, residents in South African city could be lining up for rationed water under armed guards. "Is this the new normal?" Common Dreams, January 24, 2018, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/24/climate-bellwether-cape-town-almost-out-water-day-zero-looms?utm_term=Climate%20Bellwether%20With%20Cape%20Town%20Almost%20Out%20of%20Water%2C%20%22Day%20Zero%22%20Looms&utm_campaign=What%20%27The%20Year%20of%20the%20Billionaires%27%20Has%20Wrought%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20In%20Review%20&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-What%20%27The%20Year%20of%20the%20Billionaires%27%20Has%20Wrought%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20In%20Review%20-_-Climate%20Bellwether%20With%20Cape%20Town%20Almost%20Out%20of%20Water%2C%20%22Day%20Zero%22%20Looms, reported, "For residents of Cape Town, "Day Zero" is getting closer.

                That's the day when taps in the drought-stricken coastal South African city are projected run dry, and its residents would be forced to head to police-guarded distribution sites to obtain their daily ration of water.

                The city warned last week that the day was 'now likely to happen.' And on Monday, the city, citing a drop in dam levels, moved the projected day up from April 22 to April 12. 

                'We have reached a point of no return,' Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said last week announcing tightened water restrictions for the city's 4 million residents. Starting Feb. 1, residents face a 50 liter per day limit (13.2 gallons). [For comparison, Americans' daily home use is 88 gallons of water, the EPA says.]

                When Day Zero hits, the limit will be 25 liters per day, to be collected at one of 200 water collection points. Agence France-Presse reports: 'With about 5,000 families for each water collection point, the police and army are ready to be deployed to prevent unrest in the lines.'

                USA Today, however, reported that 'Each collection point will accommodate around 20,000 people per day.'

                Cape Town is being described as the first major city in the developed world that would run out of water.

                Erik Solheim, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), tweeted Wednesday of the looming day, 'Is this the new normal?'

                In a Bloomberg op-ed subtitled 'Cape Town offers a grim preview for the rest of the world,' columnist Mihir Sharma suggests that it is. 'Cape Town's battle to keep its water taps running,' Sharma writes, 'should also serve as a warning.'

                Environmental scientist and climatologist Simon Gear told CBC Radio's Anna Maria Tremonti, 'Anyone who works in climate change knows that we've given lots of quite doomsday-esque scenarios in the last two decades. This is the first one which I've really seen come true.'

                'Eventually,' writes meteorologist Bob Henson, the winter rains will arrive, and the reservoirs will most likely be up and running for at least another few months—thus buying some much-needed time to develop other water supply options. The region's water crisis may be far from over, though, especially if the winter rains are once again lackluster.

                That's in part because, as climate scientist Peter Johnston told CBS News, Cape Town is forecast to become warmer, and 'That increase in temperature is going to increase evaporation. Increased evaporation is going to mean that there is less water that's available for our use.'

                Henson adds:

                Increased development and rising temperatures are going to add to the impacts when drought does occur, regardless of how rainfall evolves in a warming world. If nothing else, Cape Town's predicament reminds us that we ought to bolster our urban water supplies with extra buffers—from beefed-up conservation to back-up sources—as much as possible, and as soon as possible. In a nonstationary climate, past weather performance is no guarantee of future results.

As Cape Town resident Mohammed Allie of the BBC notes,           'Without water there cannot be life.'

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License"

                Recent studies also show that melting Tundra in Alaska - and by implication everywhere else - will also shift to increasing CO₂ in the atmosphere. Henry Fountain, "Tundra May Be Shifting Alaska to Put Out More Carbon Than It Stores, Study Says," The New York Times, May 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/climate/alaska-carbon-dioxide-co2-tundra.html, "A new study suggests that Alaska, with its huge stretches of tundra and forest, may be shifting from a net sink, or storehouse, of carbon to a net source. The study focused on one possible cause: warmer temperatures that keep the Arctic tundra from freezing until later in the fall, allowing plant respiration and microbial decomposition — processes that release carbon dioxide — to continue longer."

                Pakalolo , “Alaskan snowfall patterns are the most dramatic the region has seen in at least 1,000 years,” Daily Kos, January 1, 2018, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/1/1728944/-Alaskan-snowfall-patterns-are-the-most-dramatic-the-region-has-seen-in-at-least-1-000-years?detail=emaildkgre, reported, “Chelsea Harvey, on December 20, 2017, writes in Scientific American about a study that has found that snowfall in Alaska has increased over the past 150 years due to climate change. Chelsea notes that the study found summer snowfall rose 49% since the mid-19th century, and winter snowfall has increased by a whopping 117 percent."

                Kendra Pierre-Louis, "Bigger, Faster Avalanches, Triggered by Climate Change: A deadly 2016 glacier collapse in Tibet surpassed scientists’ expectations — until it happened again. They worry it’s only the beginning," The New York Times, January 23, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/climate/glacier-collapse-avalanche.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_clim_20180124&nl=&nl_art=0&nlid=52235981&ref=headline&te=1, reported, "When 247 million cubic feet of snow and ice collapsed off a glacier in the dry, mountainous region of western Tibet in 2016, the roiling mass took with it nine human lives and hundreds of animals, spreading more than five miles in three minutes at speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour. The event surprised scientists, who had seen a collapse that big and that fast only once before.

And then it happened again, three months later, on a neighboring glacier, though without fatalities. Glaciologists hadn’t quite believed that glaciers could behave this way, and suddenly they had witnessed two similar collapses in a year.

An analysis of the events, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that climate change was the culprit in both collapses. The study suggests that in addition to the known risks posed by a warming climate, such as sea level rise, we may also be in line for some cataclysmic surprises."

                "A Lifetime in Peru’s Glaciers, Slowly Melting Away," The New York Times, January 26, 2018, , reported, "AT 50, Americo González Caldua has lived a life that coincided with the retreat of the glaciers of the high Andes. With each passing year, as the cold mountain temperatures rise, the ice moves uphill another 20 yards."

                 “'Before, we saw our glaciers as beautiful, our mountain range covered in a white sheet that was stunning,' Mr. González said on a recent day at a small mountain-climber’s hostel near the base of an 18,000-foot peak. 'But today, we don’t see that anymore on our glacier, which we’re losing more of every day. Instead of white, we are seeing stone.'"

                "Of all the glaciers in retreat throughout the world, those in this part of South America are the most likely to disappear first. Scientists call them the tropical glaciers, ice caps found in places as warm as Ecuador and Indonesia, where high mountain peaks have shielded them for thousands of years from the heat of the jungle below."

                "Yet now, even these high perches have become precarious. Climate scientists say the ice cap here has been reduced by nearly a quarter in the past 40 years because of rising temperatures. With the rate of melting increasing each year, some scientists predict that within 50 years many of the peaks here will no longer have glaciers."

                "Global Demand for Meat Amounts to 'Appetite for Destruction,' Says New Study: Report points to massive need for land to grow feed crops as an overlooked cost of industrial farming," Common Dreams, October 05, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/05/global-demand-meat-amounts-appetite-destruction-says-new-study, reported, "In a study titled 'Appetite for Destruction,' the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) revealed on Thursday that humans' consumption of meat is having a devastating impact on global biodiversity in a way that's too often considered.

                In addition to causing greenhouse gas emissions and using up huge quantities of water and land, industrial farming requires massive amounts of crop-based feed for animals, which puts 'an enormous strain on our natural resources and is a driving force behind wide-scale biodiversity loss.'

If the global appetite for meat grows as expected, says the report, 'it's estimated that soy production would need to increase by nearly 80% to feed all the animals destined for our plates.'

                The industrial farming sector is also having a negative impact on humans' health, as a reliance on feeding animals crops like corn and soy has been linked to a lack of healthy omega-3 content in the meat people eat.

                'You'd have to eat six intensively reared chickens today to obtain the same amount of the healthy omega-3 fatty acid found in just one chicken in the 1970, says the study. The majority of calories from chicken come from fat as opposed to protein. 

                The study points to a number of vulnerable parts of the earth, including the Amazon, the Yangtze and Mekong river basins, and the Himalayas as already suffering from major strain as food producers look for places to grow feed crops, while being inadequately protected by conservation efforts. Thousands of species living in these regions would be at risk if more manufacturers were to look to them for crop production.

                The study stresses that while there is plenty of food to feed the human population, more efficient and fair systems of distributing food are needed to ensure that these areas are not overrun by feed crop producers.

                'We already produce enough to feed the world,' reads the report. 'But over-consumption, inequality, waste, and inadequate production and distribution systems stand in the way of enough food for everyone and space for wildlife.'

                The WWF says that simple portion control would go a long way in reducing animal farming's impact on the earth:

                If everyone reduced the amount of animal products that they ate to meet their nutritional requirements, the total agricultural land required would decline by 13 percent...An area 1.5 times the size of the European Union—would be saved from agricultural production.

                As a potential innovation that could save much of the earth's biodiversity, the study also points to alternative feed options that don't need the vast areas of land required by crops like soy beans and corn.

                'We believe it's possible, and essential, to change food production systems and consumption patterns to secure enough nutritionally complete and environmentally sustainable food for everyone on Earth,' says the report

(This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License).

                Kendra Pierre-Lewis, "Your Burning Question," The New York Times, "Climate Fwd:" e-mail: nytdirect@nytimes.com, January 35, 2017, reported, "How much of the problem is caused by methane gas emitted from raising farm animals for the meat industry?

                About 8% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to come from agriculture, including farming and herding. In the United States, including very greenhouse warming methane, that is the equivalent of 574 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year and 56 million metric tons in Canada. In the U.S. approximately 42 percent of agricultural emissions are from animals, mostly consisting of methane. Worldwide, from 14.5% to 18% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are produced by animals.

                These calculations do not include those directly or indirectly stemming from fertilizer. Also, the figures might change if changes were made in animal husbandry, such as if cows were removed from grasslands, which were left to wild animals, such as bison and deer.

                Studies indicate that developing regenerative agriculture, which includes probiotic farming, has the potential to very greatly increase the ability of soil to act as a carbon sink - pulling CO2 out of the air - while very greatly reducing the need for chemical fertilizer and insecticide. [Studies of probiotic farming also indicate that much less water is needed than in conventional farming. In one very dry New Mexico experiment previously reported in these pages, probiotic farming - putting the appropriate bacteria into the soil - produced twice the normal crop yields, requiring half the water, without use of fertilizer or pesticides]. The key to regenerative farming is putting the appropriate bacteria into the soil for the local conditions, so that the bacteria have a strong fertilizing impact making for much healthier more efficient plants. The new studies indicate that doing this properly can also greatly increase the soil's ability to pull carbon out of the air (Jacques Leslie, "Soil Power! The Dirty Way to a Green Planet," The New York Times, December 2,2 017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/opinion/sunday/soil-power-the-dirty-way-to-a-green-planet.html?mtrref=query.nytimes&gwh=A24327DC7F8E5E2FAECE358794ED5E64&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion).

                Jugal K. Patal, "In Antarctica, Two Crucial Glaciers Accelerate Toward the Sea," The New York Times, OCT. 26, 2017, In Antarctica, https://www.fxncc.com/in-antarctica-two-crucial-glaciers-acc, reports, "Two of the frozen continent’s fastest-moving glaciers are shedding an increasing amount of ice into the Amundsen Sea each year.

                The Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are among the most critical in the world. They are currently holding back ice that, if melted, would raise the world’s oceans by nearly four feet over centuries, an amount that would put many coastal cities underwater.

                The Pine Island’s flow is accelerating rapidly. Its ice shelf, an expanse of ice that floats on water where the glacier meets the sea, has increased its speed by 75 percent from 1973 to 2010."

                During the 1980s, the Pine Island Glacier was relatively stable, gaining about as much ice each year as it lost. With warmer waters in front of it, that glacier is increasingly flowing into the sea. Thwaites Glacier has under gone similar changes to that of Pine Island since the late '80s, but is not losing as much ice. If, and, as things are now developing, when, the two glaciers melt completely they would raise ocean levels almost four feet. At the current rate of increase, that would take centuries. But the rate of increase is itself increasing!

                Richard Walker, "A new study by the American Geophyshysical Union documents the importance of glaciers in recharging aquifers and keeping rivers flowing," Indian Country Today Media Network (ICTMN) August 13, 2017, https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/environment/record-lows-quinault-river-due-loss-glaciers/,

                Anderson Glacier in the Olympic Mountains is gone, and the lack of glacial meltwater has caused the Quinault River to reach new lows.

                Montana’s Glacier National Park had 150 glaciers in 1850; today there are 25.

                Greenland’s Helheim Glacier is retreating 110 feet per day.

                Bolivia’s Chacaltaya Glacier, at one time one of the highest-altitude ski resorts on earth, no longer exists, threatening water and power supplies in the Andean region.

                Glacial retreat has accelerated since the 1980s in the Alps, which contain 40 percent of Europe’s fresh water supply.

                Eighty-two percent of the glaciers in the greater Himalayas, a source of drinking and irrigation water for more than one-sixth of the world’s population, shrank between 1950 and 2000.

                A study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, documents the importance of glaciers in recharging aquifers and keeping rivers flowing – and succinctly explains how glaciers do it. The study also illustrates what’s at stake as our glaciers disappear."

                Scientists have found that around 20% of the water produced by melting of the Greenland ice sheet does not run off into the ocean, as previously thought, but remains within the ice sheet. This means that melting is raising oceans 20% more slowly from this one ice sheet melting than previously thought. If the entire ice sheet melts it would raise oceans by about 24 feet (more in some places than others) (Henry Fountain and Derek Watkins, "As Greenland Melts, Where's the Water Going, " The New York Times, December 13, 2017).

                In the desert area of Viru Peru, a nearby rapidly melting mountain glacier has been providing water for farming where it was not possible previously. But the glacier will soon sufficiently disappear that the farming will become impossible (Nicholas Casey, "Living off a glacier while it lasts," The New York Times, November 26, 2017).

                The melting of ice on the ocean and streams and lakes has cut off the Inuit village of Rigolet Labrador, Canada, as there are no roads leading to it. Villagers rely on snowmobile and sled traveling over ice to go for supplies and to go to hunting and fishing locations. Life may no longer viable in Rigolet (Livia Albeck-Ripka, "Why Lost Ice Means Lost Hope for Inuit Village," The New York Times, November 27, 2017).

                Climate Scientists analyzing 27 extreme weather events in 2016 have found that global warming induced climate change was a significant factor in causing 21 of them, including record temperatures around the world, coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef, draught in Africa, wildfires in North America, and the "warm blob" in the Pacific - an immensely warm water off the coast of Alaska bringing with it poisonous toxic algae blooms, killing sea birds and forcing local fisheries to close (Brad plume and Nadjia Popovich, "Drought, Wildfires and an Ocean 'Blob.' Linked to Warming," The New York Times, December 15, 2017).

                Climate Change is having expensive impacts on many of the world's airports. Among the effects that are increasingly occurring in more places: airports on low lying land are more often being hit by storm surges; hotter temperatures may cause tarmac to melt, restrict take of weights, or cause heavier aircraft to takeoff during cooler parts of the day (Mike Ives, "Climate Change Lands at the Airport," The New York Times, October 1, 2017).

                Beavers have joined the positive feedbacks increasing global warming. As they head further north in tundra land with warming temperatures, their dam building creates new water courses that speed the melting of permafrost and the release of methane into the atmosphere (Kendra Perre-Lewis, "Beavers Thaw Permafrost As They Head Further North," The New York Times, October 1, 2017).

                Joe Romm, “NASA just made a stunning discovery about how fracking fuels global warming: Natural gas is not part of the climate solution, it's part of the problem," ThinkProgress,  January 9, 2018, 12:52 PM, https://thinkprogress.org/nasa-study-fracking-global-warming-0fa0c5b5f5c7/, reported, “A new NASA study is one final nail in the coffin of the myth that natural gas is a climate solution, or a “bridge” from the dirtiest fossil fuels to low-carbon fuels like solar and wind.

NASA found that most of the huge rise in global methane emissions in the past decade is in fact from the fossil fuel industry–and that this rise is “substantially larger” than previously thought. And that means natural gas is, as many earlier studies have found, not a climate solution.”

Natural gas is mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas. And methane emissions are responsible for about a quarter of the human-caused global warming we’re suffering today.

So scientists have been scrambling to figure out why methane emissions have been soaring in recent years after leveling off around the year 2000. The total methane in the air has been rising by 25 teragrams (27.5 million U.S. tons) a year, which NASA helpfully explains is the weight of some 5 million elephants.

Many studies have estimated that leaks from oil and gas production, particularly fracking, are a major driver of rising methane emissions. “A review of more than 200 earlier studies confirms that U.S. emissions of methane are considerably higher than official estimates,” as one 2014 Stanford University analysis explained. “Leaks from the nation’s natural gas system are an important part of the problem.’

But, NASA notes, other research groups have estimated that the rise in methane emissions was due to a rise in ‘microbial production in wet tropical environments like marshes and rice paddies.’ The problem was that this estimate was almost ‘large enough to explain the whole increase by itself’ — and so was the estimate of increased methane emissions from oil and gas production.

The two explanations both seemed right, yet could not both actually be right. Or could they?

After a very deep dive into multiple ground and satellite datasets, NASA determined that a third source of methane emissions — global fires — had been declining much more rapidly than previously realized

With wildfire emissions way down, it was now possible for both fossil fuel emissions and wetland emissions to be up. Indeed, the researchers found that some 17 teragrams of the 25 teragram annual increase is from fossil fuel production, 12 is from wetlands or rice farming, while fires are decreasing emissions by 4 teragrams (17 + 12 – 4 = 25).

Significantly, the authors point out that the huge rise in fossil fuel methane emissions ‘found here is substantially larger than in previous literature.’ In short, the recent jump in methane emissions from oil and gas production appears to be a whole lot bigger than we previously thought.

And that is a bombshell finding.

After all, methane (CH4) traps 86 times as much heat as CO2 over a 20-year period. That’s why countless studies find that even a very small leakage rate of methane from the natural gas supply chain (production to delivery to combustion) can have a large climate impact  —  enough to gut the entire benefit of switching from coal-fired power to gas for a long, long time.

Back in November, we reported on yet another a shocking study that found the methane emissions escaping from just New Mexico’s gas and oil industry are ‘equivalent to the climate impact of approximately 12 coal-fired power plants.’

Equally important, many studies find  that natural gas plants don’t replace only high-carbon coal plants. They often replace very low carbon power sources like solar, wind, nuclear, and even energy efficiency. And that means even a very low leakage rate wipes out the climate benefit of fracking.

But the new study suggests leakage rates aren’t very low, and that would mean fracking is truly part of the climate problem, and likely to become a bigger problem over time as natural gas competes more and more with renewable energy sources.”

                In New Mexico, while methane released into the air by the oil and gas industry from leaks and equipment problems were not measured, the New Mexico Secretary of Minerals and Natural Resources reported in November that methane releases by venting and flaring in natural gas production fell by about 50% in 2017 with improved technology and changes in the way wells are drilled (Susan Montoya Bryan, "NM methane emissions fall over 50% during past year," Albuquerque Journal, November 4, 2017).

                Exon announced a plan, in September 2017, to reduce methane leaks by replacing equipment and monitoring for leaks (Clifford Krauss, "Exon Tries to Cut Methane Leaks, a Culprit in Warming," The New York Times, September 26, 2017).

                Sam Ross-Brown, "GOP Plug on Renewable Energy," Portside, December 1, 2017, http://portside.org/2017-12-02/gop-tax-plan-pulls-plug-renewable-energy, reported, " The GOP tax reform plan barreling toward a vote in the Senate could deal a devastating blow to the renewable energy industry. Unlike the more draconian House version, the Senate bill does not slash renewable tax credits directly, but it does impose steep taxes on the companies that help finance renewable development. Leaders in the wind and solar sector warn that such hikes would undercut the industry’s most important financing tools." The Senate passed its version of tax reform December 1, and efforts at reconciliation with the House were then begun. Either the House or Senate version of the bill would quickly have a devastating effect on the growth of the solar industry.

                Angela Chen, "Court rules that imported solar panels are bad for US manufacturing: This paves the way for a tariff on Chinese solar panels, The Verge, September 22, 2017, https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/22/16351562/solar-energy-international-trade-commission-foreign-trade-lawsuit-suniva-tariff, reported, "
The International Trade Commission has ruled that American companies are being hurt by cheap solar panels from overseas, providing an opportunity for President Donald Trump to tax imports from countries like China.

                The decision has big implications for America’s $29 billion solar industry, which has grown tremendously in the past decade. Solar power is much cheaper now, and there were 10 times as many large-scale solar projects in 2014 as there were in 2004. But companies fear that if cheap foreign imports are banned, solar energy will become more expensive, and that could hurt both existing and future projects. Some businesses had even begun hoarding panels in case they became more expensive."

                President Trump approved the tariff.

                Harvey Wasserman, "Trump’s Assault on Solar Masks an Epic Crisis in the Nuclear Industry," The Progressive, January 25, 2018, http://progressive.org/dispatches/trumps-assault-on-solar-masks-an-epic-crisis-in-nuclear-180125/, reported, "As Donald Trump launches his latest assault on renewable energy—imposing a 30 percent tariff on solar panels imported from China—a major crisis in the nuclear power industry is threatening to shut four high-profile reactors, with more shutdowns to come. These closures could pave the way for thousands of new jobs in wind and solar, offsetting at least some of the losses from Trump’s attack."

                Bras Plumer, "New Jersey Embraces an Idea It Once Rejected: Make Utilities Pay to Emit Carbon," The New York Times, January 29, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/climate/new-jersey-cap-and-trade.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_clim_20180131&nl=&nl_art=3&nlid=52235981&ref=headline&te=1, reported, "Even as the Trump administration dismantles climate policies at the federal level, a growing number of Democratic state governors are considering taxing or pricing carbon dioxide emissions within their own borders to tackle global warming.

                New Jersey took a major step in that direction Monday when newly elected Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, ordered his state to rejoin a regional carbon-trading program that his Republican predecessor, Chris Christie, had pulled out of in 2012."

                After 16 years of trying to build a huge windfarm off Cape Cod, continuing opposition and court fights have caused the key investor to give up the project (Katharine Q. Seely, "After 16 Years, Hopes for Cape Cod Wind Farm Float Away," The New York Times, December 19, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/us/offshore-cape-wind-farm.html?ref=todayspaper).         

                Jessica Corbett, "Subsidizing Earth's Demise: US Taxpayers Forced to Prop Up Dirty Energy Industry: New reports reveal that without billions of dollars in subsidies, American gas, oil, and coal companies would crash and burn," Common Dreams, October 03, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/03/subsidizing-earths-demise-us-taxpayers-forced-prop-dirty-energy-industry, reported, "In the midst of a hurricane season that shows just how expensive inaction on climate change can be, two new reports highlight how massive taxpayer-funded subsidies for fossil fuel companies are propping up an industry that refuses to take responsibility for the destructive and costly chaos it has played an enormous role in creating.

                'Every dollar spent subsidizing this industry takes us further away from achieving internationally agreed emissions goals, and maintaining a stable climate.'
—Oil Change International

                A recent analysis found that damage from extreme weather intensified by climate change and the health impacts from using gas, oil, and coal have cost the U.S. economy an annual average of $240 billion in the past decade. Between now and 2028, that figure is expected to rise to $360 billion annually—more than half of the economy's growth—and that doesn't even account for the cost of industry subsidies.

                On top of the financial burden from burning fossil fuels, a report (pdf) published Tuesday by Oil Change International (OCI) found that industry subsidies cost U.S. taxpayers more than $20 billion each year, $14.7 billion at the federal level and $5.8 billion at the state level. These subsidies take several forms—including financial handouts, flexible liability policies, and tax breaks—and, researchers argue, "waste billions of dollars propping up an industry incompatible with safe climate limits."

                A separate study by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), published Monday in the journal Nature, examined the impact of subsidies on U.S. crude oil production, and concluded that subsidies to oil companies encourage them to drill oil fields that would otherwise be unprofitable.

                Over the next few decades, SEI researchers estimate, 'tax preferences and other subsidies push nearly half of new, yet-to-be-developed oil investments into profitability, potentially increasing U.S. oil production by 17 billion barrels' that, once burned, will release about 6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, or CO2, into the atmosphere.

                'This is oil we don't need and it takes the U.S. further away from its climate goals of reducing CO2 emissions,' report co-author Peter Erickson, a senior scientist at SEI's U.S. center, told Motherboard. The U.S. currently ranks second, behind only China, in global CO2 emissions.

Similarly, the OCI report concludes that 'every dollar spent subsidizing this industry takes us further away from achieving internationally agreed emissions goals, and maintaining a stable climate.' It also notes that without a rapid reduction in U.S. fossil fuel reliance, the world will likely fail the meet goals outlined in the 2015 Paris climate accord, in which nearly every nation on Earth agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in hopes of limiting global average temperature rise to below 2°C, while aiming for below 1.5°C.

                Eliminating industry subsidies, however, faces strong political resistance in the U.S. Subsidies, the OCI report notes, 'have been defended by a Congress influenced by $350 million in campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures by the fossil fuel industry,' which researchers estimate 'equates to a 8,200 percent return on investment.'

                'For members of Congress who consider themselves climate champions, eliminating the subsidies that drive fossil fuel expansion and climate pollution is a critical starting point," said Janet Redman, OCI' s U.S. policy director and principal author of the report.

                Congress, though, is not the only political barrier to curbing U.S. emissions. President Donald Trump, in June, vowed to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, and since then the U.S. has sidelined itself in discussions about reducing emissions globally.

                'While the rest of the world moves toward a renewable energy future, dirty energy defenders in the Trump administration are using our taxpayer dollars to promote dangerous new fossil fuel development,' Redman added. 'Until we separate oil and state, the dirty energy money cycle of fossil fuel contributions going into Congress and oil, gas, and coal subsidies coming out will stymie our chances at revolutionizing the energy sector and staving off worsening climate disasters.'

                To achieve that, Tim McDonnell argued in a Washington Post analysis published Monday, 'forget the Paris agreement. The real solution to climate change is in the U.S. tax code.' Noting that fossil fuel industry lobbyists are celebrating the new Republican tax plan, released last week, as 'a win,' McDonnell concludes 'tax reform can help fight climate change—just not the kind of tax reform Trump and Republicans are proposing.'" (This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License).

                Alex Formuzis, "ERC Rejection of Coal and Nuclear Bailout Is Big Win for Renewable Energy," EcoWatch, January 9, 2017, https://www.ecowatch.com/ferc-nuclear-coal-2523876761.html, reported, "Federal regulators' rejection Monday of the White House's scheme to prop up the coal and nuclear power industries is a big win for electricity customers and renewable energy, said Environmental Working Group (EWG) President Ken Cook. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied a petition by Energy Sec. Rick Perry to require the use of electricity from coal and nuclear plants, even when cheaper sources are available—a move analysts said would drive up Americans' utility bills by billions of dollars a year. 

                The proposal was derided by an unprecedented coalition of energy industry associations, from the American Council on Renewable Energy to the American Petroleum Institute, as a blatant political payback for the coal industry's support of President Trump's campaign."

                350.org, reported via E-mail, January 10, 2017, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as he made two major announcements: New York's pension funds will divest from the big oil and gas companies, and the city is suing the biggest of these corporations for the climate damage they've caused.

                The new tax legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President, in late December 2017, permits oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge. However, the process leading to the beginning of drilling is expected to take serval years, and may well be further delayed by law suits (Henry Fountain and Lisa Friedman, "What's Next for the Arctic Refuge Rule," The New York Times, December 22, 2017).

                Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer, "E.P.A. Announces Repeal of Major Obama-Era Carbon Emissions Rule," The New York Times, October 9, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/climate/clean-power-plan.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, reported, "The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that Scott Pruitt, the chief of the agency, had signed a measure to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature policy to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, setting up a bitter fight over the future of America’s efforts to tackle global warming.

                Mr. Pruitt, who had signaled the move at an event with coal miners in eastern Kentucky on Monday, said in a news release that his predecessors had departed from regulatory norms in writing the Clean Power Plan, which was finalized in 2015 and would have pushed states to move away from coal in favor of sources of electricity that produce fewer carbon emissions."

                However, it will take considerable time for the EPA to write a new set of rules, following the required public hearings and opportunity for public comment.

                EPA has also become more lenient and slower in enforcement, and more open to approving questionable chemicals, while many staff people have been leaving the agency in opposition to its less environmental protecting turn (for example, see, Eric Lipton Danielle Ivory, "E.P.A.'s Polluter Playbook Takes a Turn to Leniency," The New York Times, December 11, 2017).

                There have been some limitations upon EPA's less environmental protecting actions by the courts. For example, "Court Orders the E.P.A. to Update Its Rules on Lead Exposure Without Delay," The New York Times, December 28, 2017).

                Lisca Friedman, "E.P.A. Scrubs a Climate Website of ‘Climate Change’," The New York Times, October 20, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/climate/epa-climate-change.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "The Environmental Protection Agency has removed dozens of online resources dedicated to helping local governments address climate change, part of an apparent effort by the agency to play down the threat of global warming.

                A new analysis made public on Friday found that an E.P.A. website has been scrubbed of scores of links to materials to help local officials prepare for a world of rising temperatures and more severe storms."

                Lisa Friedman, "Pruitt Bars Some Scientists From Advising E.P.A. ," The New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/police-shooting-lower-manhattan.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, "Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, stripped a half-dozen scientists and academics of advisory positions Tuesday and issued new rules barring anyone who receives E.P.A. grant money from serving on panels that counsel the agency on scientific decisions.

                The move will effectively bar a large number of academic researchers, many of them experts in fields ranging from toxicology to epidemiology, from advising the E.P.A. on scientific matters, since the agency is one of the largest funders of environmental research.

                Mr. Pruitt was expected to appoint several industry representatives to the panels. He did not impose any new restrictions to prevent them from offering advice on environmental regulations that may affect their businesses."

                Lisa Friedman and Marina Affo and Derek Kravitz, "Brain drain at the EPA," New Mexico Poliical Report,  December 22, 2017, http://nmpoliticalreport.com/788280/brain-drain-at-the-epa/?mc_cid=12b6993b7b&mc_eid=cde7993ced, reported, "More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Donald Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.

                Of the employees who have quit, retired or taken a buyout package since the beginning of the year, more than 200 are scientists. An additional 96 are environmental protection specialists, a broad category that includes scientists as well as others experienced in investigating and analyzing pollution levels. Nine department directors have departed the agency as well as dozens of attorneys and program managers. Most of the employees who have left are not being replaced.

                The departures reflect poor morale and a sense of grievance at the agency, which has been criticized by Trump and top Republicans in Congress as bloated and guilty of regulatory overreach. That unease is likely to deepen following revelations that Republican campaign operatives were using the Freedom of Information Act to request copies of emails from EPA officials suspected of opposing Trump and his agenda"

                "Department of the Interior Guts Enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," Audubon Society," January 12, 2017, http://www.audubon.org/news/department-interior-guts-enforcement-migratory-bird-treaty-act?ms=policy-adv-email-ea-x-20180112_advisory, "In December, the Department of the Interior released an interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that eliminates its ability to hold industries accountable for bird deaths. Reversing decades of practice by administrations under both political parties, this legal opinion drastically limits the law and puts hundreds of species of birds at greater risk."

                Neela Banerjee, "Industrial Strength: How the U.S. Government Hid Fracking's Risks to Drinking Water: A pivotal EPA study provided the rationale for exemptions that helped unleash the fracking boom. The science was suppressed to protect industry interests," Inside Climate News, November 16, 2017 (This story was co-published with WHYY and West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Audio story by Susan Phillips of WHYY), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16112017/fracking-chemicals-safety-epa-health-risks-water-bush-cheney, reported in part, "Concerns about the study emerged from the outset, including a 2004 whistleblower complaint that called it 'scientifically unsound.' Now, InsideClimate News has learned that the scientists who wrote the report disagreed with the conclusion imposed by the Bush EPA, saying there was not enough evidence to support it. The authors, who worked for a government contractor, went so far as to have their company's name and their own removed from the final document.

                At EPA, 'there was a preconceived conclusion that there's no risk associated with hydraulic fracturing into coalbed methane. That finding made its way into the Energy Policy Act, but with broader implications,' said Chi Ho Sham, the group manager of a team of scientists and engineers for The Cadmus Group, the Massachusetts firm hired to do the report. 'What we would have said in the conclusion is that there is some form of risk from hydraulic fracturing to groundwater. How you quantify it would require further analyses, but, in general, there is some risk.'

                The fracking provision, widely known as the Halliburton loophole, after the oilfield services company once run by Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, is among a host of exemptions to federal pollution rules that Congress and successive administrations have given oil and gas companies over the last 40 years."

                "The Cadmus study was not the first EPA report to have its science thwarted, and under President Donald Trump, it likely won't be the last. Current EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's a staunch ally of fossil fuels, and his agency is moving on several fronts to quash science that documents the oil industry's contributions to climate change and other forms of pollution, the first step to rolling back regulations, critics said."

                Lorraine Chow, Study: Fracking Chemicals Harm Kids' Brains," Eco Watch, October 25, 2017, https://www.ecowatch.com/study-fracking-chemicals-harm-kids-brains-2501275054.html, reported, "A new study from the Center for Environmental Health adds to the growing body of evidence that unconventional oil and gas (UOG), which includes fracking, is harmful to human health and especially hazardous to vulnerable populations, including newborns and children.

During the fracking process, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is directed at high pressures into shale beds to release petroleum resources. This slurry involves the use of nearly 700 chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found.

The new research, published Wednesday in Reviews on Environmental Health, examined five particular air and water pollutants that are widely used in or byproducts of UOG development and operations—heavy metals, particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes), and endocrine disrupting compounds.

                "Every stage of the UOG lifecycle, from well construction to extraction, operations, transportation and distribution can lead to air and water contamination," the paper notes.

Dauntingly, the researchers found that early life exposure to these substances has been linked to potentially permanent learning and neuropsychological deficits, neurodevelopmental disorders and neurological birth defects..."

                Alexandra Witze, "Ageing Satellites Put Crucial Sea Ice Climate Record at Risk: Scientists scramble to avert disruption to dataset that has tracked polar ice since the late 1970s,"                       Scientific American, October 27, 2017, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ageing-satellites-put-crucial-sea-ice-climate-record-at-risk/, reported in part, "One of the most important continuous records of climate change—nearly four decades of satellite measurements of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice—might soon be interrupted.

                Scientists all over the world rely on the sea-ice record compiled by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. But the US military satellites that collect the data, by measuring ice extent using microwave sensors, are approaching the end of their lives. Three are still working but ageing, and their intended successor started experiencing glitches in 2016, before conking out for good this month. The next possible replacement won't launch until at least the early 2020s."

                Brad Plumer, "How Fast Will Oceans Rise," The New York Times, "Climate Fwd," December 20, 2017, , reported One of the most important effects of global warming this century will be sea-level rise. As the ice sheets atop Greenland and Antarctica melt, ocean levels will creep upward, flooding coastal cities around the world.

                But there’s a maddening complication: No one’s exactly sure how high oceans will rise. Scientists may not be able to settle on a precise answer for decades to come, making the jobs of coastal planners that much harder.

                That's the upshot of a new study in the journal Earth’s Future, which estimates that if humanity zeros out its emissions by midcentury, sea levels will most likely rise 1 foot to 3 feet by 2100. But if emissions keep rising unchecked, we’re staring at 4 to 7 feet."

                A Stanford University study in the Amazon found that the greater the number of animals in an area, and the greater the biodiversity, the greater the amount of carbon dioxide retained by the soil ("Big and Biodiverse is Beautiful," Defenders, Winter 2018).

                Brian Wang, "Rice University adds a bit of asphalt to speed lithium metal battery charging by 20 times," The NextBIGFuture, October 3, 2017, https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/10/rice-university-adds-a-bit-of-asphalt-to-speed-lithium-metal-battery-charging-by-20-times.html, reported, "A touch of asphalt may be the secret to high-capacity lithium metal batteries that charge 10 to 20 times faster than commercial lithium-ion batteries, according to Rice University scientists.

                The Rice lab of chemist James Tour developed anodes comprising porous carbon made from asphalt that showed exceptional stability after more than 500 charge-discharge cycles. A high-current density of 20 milliamps per square centimeter demonstrated the material’s promise for use in rapid charge and discharge devices that require high-power density."

                "'The capacity of these batteries is enormous, but what is equally remarkable is that we can bring them from zero charge to full charge in five minutes, rather than the typical two hours or more needed with other batteries,' Tour said."

                If these batteries turn out to be as practical as they seem, they will be particularly important in making electric vehicles far more practical, as well as making solar and wind generated electricity more effective in other ways.

                The State of South Australia has powered up the world's largest battery, for storing solar or wind energy for use at night or when the wind is not blowing, capable of powering 30,000 homes (Adam Baidawi, "For Musk, an Energy Feat The Size of a Football Field," The New York Times, November 30, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/world/australia/elon-musk-south-australia-battery.html).

                In Germany renewable electricity is now so developed that at times of low electricity use consumers are paid to use electric power (Stanley Reed, "Power Prices Go Negative in Germany: a Positive for Consumers," The New York Times, December 26, 2017).

                350.org reported, December 20, 2017, http://act.350.org/letter/nydivest-win/?akid=32963.602582.xYr7-l&rd=1&t=3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit, "After more than five years of inspiring and creative campaigning from the climate movement, the New York City and State pensions are moving forward to freeze new investments in fossil fuels and divest. 

This victory is huge. Combined, the city and state pension funds are worth a whopping $390 billion, making this the largest coal, oil and gas divestment in THE WORLD."

                Fred Lambert, "Elon Musk says Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar," electrek, October 5, 2017,  https://electrek.co/2017/10/05/elon-musk-tesla-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid-batteries-solar/, reported, "After Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes back to back in just a few weeks, along with other islands in the Caribbean, most of their power grid was completely destroyed. Tesla quickly started quietly shipping Powerwalls there to try to get power back on to some houses with solar arrays.

                Now CEO Elon Musk says that Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar on a bigger scale.

Puerto Rico’s electricity rates were already quite high at around $0.20 per kWh and reliant on fossil fuels.

                After it was pointed out that Puerto Rico’s destroyed grid is an opportunity to build a better one, Musk wrote on Twitter:

                'The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the Puerto Rico government, PUC (Public Utilities Commission), any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of Puerto Rico.'”

                enirely fluffy, "Electric Cars Emit 50 Percent Less Greenhouse Gas Than Diesel, Study Finds,"Slashdot, October 25, 2017, https://hardware

.slashdot.org/story/17/10/25/2020228/electric-cars-emit-50-percent-less-greenhouse-gas-than-diesel-study-finds, reports, "Electric cars emit significantly less greenhouse gases over their lifetimes than diesel engines even when they are powered by the most carbon intensive energy," according to a study by VUB University in Belgium. In Poland, where coal is used to produce most electricity, electric vehicles produced a quarter less emissions than diesels when put through a full lifecycle modeling study. In Sweden, which has the least CO₂ producing electric generation in Europe, electric cars produced  85% less greenhouse gasses than diesel through their life time. In countries, such as the UK, electric cars produced about 50% l4ss greenhouse gasses than diesel. The VUB study went on to say that for massive use of electric cars requiring huge numbers of batteries, the supply of critical metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite and rare earths used in batteries would have to be closely monitored and diversified. But that should not limit switching enmass to electric vehicles. Moreover, it was projected that continuing improvements in battery technology combined with increasing electric generation by renewables would likely reduce greenhouse gas emissions in battery production by 65%."

                Damian Carrington, "Electric cars already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel – study," The Guardian, December 1, 2017, reported, "Exclusive: Pure electric cars cost less over four years than petrol or diesel cars in the UK, US and Japan, researchers say, but China is set to lead the market/

                Electric cars are already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel cars in the UK, US and Japan, new research shows.

                The lower cost is a key factor driving the rapid rise in electric car sales now underway, say the researchers. At the moment the cost is partly because of government support, but electric cars are expected to become the cheapest option without subsidies in a few years.

                The researchers analyzed the total cost of ownership of cars over four years, including the purchase price and depreciation, fuel, insurance, taxation and maintenance. They were surprised to find that pure electric cars came out cheapest in all the markets they examined: UK, Japan, Texas and California.

                Pure electric cars have much lower fuel costs – electricity is cheaper than petrol or diesel – and maintenance costs, as the engines are simpler and help brake the car, saving on brake pads. In the UK, the annual cost was about 10% lower than for petrol or diesel cars in 2015, the latest year analyzed.

                Hybrid cars which cannot be plugged in and attract lower subsidies, were usually a little more expensive than petrol or diesel cars. Plug-in hybrids were found to be significantly more expensive – buyers are effectively paying for two engines in one car, the researchers said. The exception in this case was Japan, where plug-in hybrids receive higher subsidies."

                Keith Bradsher, "China Hastens the World Toward an Electric-Car Future," The New York Times, October 9, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/business/china-hastens-the-world-toward-an-electric-car-future.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Propelled by vast amounts of government money and visions of dominating next-generation technologies, China has become the world’s biggest supporter of electric cars. That is forcing automakers from Detroit to Yokohama and Seoul to Stuttgart to pick up the pace of transformation or risk being left behind in the world’s largest car market.

                Beijing has already called for one out of every five cars sold in China to run on alternative fuel by 2025. Last month, China issued new rules that would require the world’s carmakers to sell more alternative-energy cars here if they wanted to continue selling regular ones. A Chinese official recently said the country would eventually do away with the internal combustion engine in new cars."

                In Norway, in 2017, more electric and hybryd automobiles were sold than fossil fuel powered vehicles (Amie Tsang and Henrick Pryser Libell, "Electric and Hybrid Cars Take Lead in Norway," The New York Times, January 5, 2017).

                Bill Vlasic and Beal E, Boudette, "G.M. and Ford Lay Out Plans to Expand Electric Models," The New York Times, October 2, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/business/general-motors-electric-cars.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "China has said it will eventually ban gasoline-powered cars. California may be moving in the same direction. That pressure has set off a scramble by the world’s car companies to embrace electric vehicles.

                On Monday, General Motors, America’s largest automaker, staked its claim to leadership. Outlining a fundamental shift in its vision of the industry, it announced plans for 20 new all-electric models by 2023, including two within the next 18 months."

                The European Commission proposed new auto emission regulations, in November 2017, that would require a 30 percent reduction in auto carbon emissions by 2010, compared to 2021 levels. Environmentalists criticized the Commission for not also setting quotas for zero emission vehicles (Jack Ewing," Europe Sets Deep Car Emission Cuts That Critics Say Don't Go Far Enough," The New York Times, November 9, 2017).

                World Wide sales of electric motor powered bicycles, or e-bikes, were projected to be sold worldwide by the end of 2017. Especially in countries like the Netherlands and Germany, most e-bikes are replacing cars (John R. Quain, "E-Bikes Aren't Here to Replace Your Bicycle, But Your Car," The New York Times, November 24, 2017).

                Michael J. Coren, "The US Government Keeps Spectacularly Underestimating Solar Energy Installation," Slashdot, October 21, 2017, https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/10/20/2116200/the-us-government-keeps-spectacularly-underestimating-solar-energy-installation, reported that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) over at least the last decade, "regularly underestimates the growth in renewables but overestimates U.S. fossil-fuel consumption, which some critics see as an attempt to boost the oil and gas industry."

                Zoya Teirstein, Grist, "St. Louis Just Became the Biggest Midwestern City to Commit to Clean Energy, Reader Supported News (RSN), October 30, 17, http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/46579-st-louis-just-became-the-biggest-midwestern-city-to-commit-to-clean-energy, reported, "On Friday, Missouri’s most populous city voted to obtain 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2035. The unanimous decision makes St. Louis the 47th city in the United States to commit to a 100 percent clean energy goal."

                                Iceland was heavily forested when the Vikings arrived, but they quickly cut them down. Now Iceland is working to regrow those forests, with implications for agriculture, soil erosion and climate change (Henry Fountain, "Vikings Razed the Forests. Can Iceland Regrow them?" The New York Times, October 20, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/20/climate/iceland-trees-reforestation.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0).

Jake Johnson, “New Study Showing Ozone Recovery Hailed as Model for Tackling Climate Crisis: ‘We see very clearly that chlorine from CFCs is going down in the ozone hole, and that less ozone depletion is occurring because of it’," Common Dreams, Friday, January 05, 2018, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/05/new-study-showing-ozone-recovery-hailed-model-tackling-climate-crisis?utm_term=New%20Study%20Showing%20Ozone%20Recovery%20Hailed%20as%20Model%20for%20Tackling%20Climate%20Crisis&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%2019%20Senate%20Democrats%20Still%20Not%20Committed%20to%20Defending%20Net%20Neutrality&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%2019%20Senate%20Democrats%20Still%20Not%20Committed%20to%20Defending%20Net%20Neutrality-_-New%20Study%20Showing%20Ozone%20Recovery%20Hailed%20as%20Model%20for%20Tackling%20Climate%20Crisis, reported, “Hailed as an example of how concerted global action can help solve a planetary crisis, a new study conducted by NASA scientists documented the first direct evidence that an international effort to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has led to the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.

Published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on Thursday, the study uses satellite observations to demonstrate that the decline in atmospheric chlorine that resulted from the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, enacted in 1989,has led to ‘about 20 percent less ozone depletion during the Antarctic winter than there was in 2005—the first year that measurements of chlorine and ozone during the Antarctic winter were made by NASA's Aura satellite.’

‘We see very clearly that chlorine from CFCs is going down in the ozone hole, and that less ozone depletion is occurring because of it,’ Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and one of the study's lead authors, said in a statement.

In a video published on NASA's website on Thursday, Strahan explained the significance of the study and why the Montreal Protocol should be celebrated as a great success:

While CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances were phased out by the mid-1990s, the study notes that the Antarctic ozone hole—which was first discovered in 1985—‘is healing slowly’ because the man-made substances that caused the hole in the first place ‘have long lifetimes.’

Given that fact, researchers believe that it could be several decades before the ozone hole is eliminated altogether.

‘CFCs have lifetimes from 50 to 100 years, so they linger in the atmosphere for a very long time,’ noted Anne Douglass, an atmospheric scientist at Goddard's Space Flight Center and one of the study's co-authors. ‘As far as the ozone hole being gone, we're looking at 2060 or 2080. And even then there might still be a small hole.’

Responding to the study's results on Twitter, Greenpeace called for the success of Montreal Protocol to be used as a model for tackling the climate crisis.

‘We've stopped harmful pollutants before and nature has healed itself,’ the group observed. ‘Let's cut carbon emissions now and allow nature to heal itself again.’

                                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.”

                Clifford Krauss, "Exxon Mobil Tripling Its Bet on the Hottest U.S. Shale Field," The New York Times, January. 30, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/business/energy-environment/exxon-shale.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Exxon Mobil announced on Tuesday that it would triple its oil and gas production in the nation’s hottest shale field by 2025 in the newest sign that the boom in national crude production is gaining momentum.

                                The company cited the recent reduction in the corporate tax rate as one reason for its increased interest in investing more in the Permian Basin, which straddles West Texas and New Mexico. It is also a logical sequel to its acquisition of 275,000 acres of Permian fields in New Mexico from the Bass family of Fort Worth last year for up to $6.6 billion in stock and cash."

                                A major reason for the increase in U.S. oil and gas drilling is the rise in oil prices.

                Greg Palast. "The Pig That Burst The Keystone Pipeline," Greg Palast: Journalism and Film, November 17, 2017, http://www.gregpalast.com/pig-burst-keystone-pipeline/, reported in part, "Yesterday, the Keystone pipeline cracked and dumped 210,000 gallons of oil onto the South Dakota prairie.

Here’s the reason the pipeline burst: the PIG didn’t squeal. The PIG, the Pipeline Inspection Gauge, is sent through the Keystone to check for evidence of any leak, failure, or corrosion that will cause it to burst. But the PIG didn’t squeal a warning. Why not?

                Because, as disclosed in my investigation for Britain’s investigative TV series Dispatches in 2010, the PIG has been silenced, its software jacked and hacked by a company that provides PIGS. The software is deliberately set to reduce the warning signals and thereby cut costs of replacement and repair by billions of dollars on the Keystone and other pipes."

                                Nebraska regulators approved the Keystone Pipeline construction in their state, in late November 2017, but with the requirement of changes in the route. The impact of the alterations in the route on the proposed project was not clear (Mitch Smith, "Pipeline Is Approved, But With a Caveat." The New York Times, November 21, 2017).

                Jake Johnson, "Huge 'People Over Pipeline' Victory as TransCanada Forced to Kill Energy East: 'This is an important day in the fight against climate change in Canada. Energy East was a disaster waiting to happen," Common Dreams, October 05, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/05/huge-people-over-pipeline-victory-transcanada-forced-kill-energy-east, reported, "In what environmentalists are calling a major victory for pipeline opponents and the planet, TransCanada announced Thursday that it is abandoning its Energy East pipeline project, which would have carried over a million barrels of crude oil across Canada per day.

                Oil Change International (OCI) estimated in an analysis earlier this year that Energy East would produce an additional 236 million tons of carbon pollution each year. For this reason and many others, OCI applauded TransCanada's decision to nix the project, which was first proposed in 2013.

                'This is an important day in the fight against climate change in Canada,' Adam Scott, senior advisor at OCI, said in a statement on Thursday.        'Energy East was a disaster waiting to happen. The pipeline and tanker proposal scheme was utterly incompatible with a world where we avoid the worst impacts of climate change.'

                Aurore Fauret, Tar Sands Campaign coordinator at 350.org, echoed Scott's celebration and highlighted the grassroots mobilization that brought the pipeline into public view and ultimately helped ensure its defeat.

                'We witnessed a People's Intervention that forced the climate costs of Energy East to the forefront of the pipeline review,' Fauret said. 'Over 100,000 messages were sent to the National Energy Board (NEB) demanding it consider all the emissions the project would generate. Close to 2,000 people applied as intervenors, citing climate change as one of their reasons. Two years later, after the NEB accepted to review the climate costs of the pipeline, TransCanada is calling it quits."

                TransCanada also announced Thursday that it is ditching the Eastern Mainline pipeline project in the face of critical scrutiny from Canadian energy regulators.

Both projects from their inception faced fierce opposition from Indigenous groups and climate activists, who often referred to Energy East as a "ticking time bomb" that posed a tremendous threat to sacred lands and the water supply.

                'The end of Energy East shows that extreme energy projects are part of our past not our future.' 
—Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians

                'It simply is not worth the risk,' Maude Barlow, honorary chairperson with the Council of Canadians, concluded in 2014.

                But while the downfall of both Energy East and Eastern Mainline was welcomed by those who worked tirelessly for years to guarantee their defeat, activists issued an urgent reminder that the fight against pipelines in both Canada and the United States has only just begun.

                'The end of Energy East shows that extreme energy projects are part of our past not our future,' Barlow said in a statement on Thursday. 'For all of our sakes, Kinder Morgan, Line 3, Line 10, and Keystone XL must face the same fate.'

                Grand Chief Serge Simon of the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake agreed, arguing Thursday that 'it will be a hollow victory' if ‪any of the many other pipelines under consideration 'are allowed to steamroll over Indigenous opposition and serve as an outlet for even more climate-killing tar sands production.'"(This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License).

                What was stated by meteorologists to be the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever was sweeping across the Caribbean Sea, September 6-7, 2017. Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms in recorded history, roared through the northeast Caribbean, September 6, 2017, with rain carried by winds of up to 185 miles per hour, leaving a trail of chaos, wreckage and flooding from Barbuda to Puerto Rico. It was then headed toward islands farther west and, beyond them, Florida. The National Hurricane Center warned the storm was “potentially catastrophic.” Frances Robles Kirk Semple and Richard Perez, "Hurricane Irma, One of the Most Powerful in History, Roars Across Caribbean," The New York Times, September 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/us/hurricane-irma-caribbean.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, reported, "The storm made direct hits on Barbuda, St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, and raked the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with hurricane-force wind and torrential rain. Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said Irma had destroyed 95 percent of the structures on Barbuda, an island with about 1,600 people.

                The death toll was at least seven on Thursday morning, and the authorities warned that the number could rise as communications improved. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe of France said that four people were confirmed dead on the St. Martin."

                "Across the islands that were hit on Wednesday, people posted videos and photos online of the hurricane’s fury: debris flying sideways in near-zero visibility, roofs ripped off structures, waves surging into buildings, downed trees and utility poles, and streets that had turned into raging currents carrying away cars and trucks."

                On St. Martins, the French interior minister reported that the four sturdiest buildings on the island had been destroyed, which suggested that all other buildings may also have suffered partial or total destruction.

                A very wide – wider than Florida - but now reduced to a category 2, Hurricane Irma, September 9, 2017, roared into South Florida and on up the state’s west coast causing heavy damage from wind, rain and tidal surge. In Jacksonville the storm created record tidal surge, contributing to the highest recorded level of the Jacksonville river. Power was out for millions across Florida, and might well take weeks to fully restore. Flooding was wide spread across the state (Francis Robles, Lizette Alvarez and Vivian Yee, “Irma Roars In, and All of Florida Shakes and Shudders,” The New York Times, September 10, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/us/irma-florida-keys-gulf-coast.html?ref=todayspaper).

                Azam Ahmed and Kirk Semple, “Desperation Mounts in Caribbean Islands: ‘All the Food Is Gone’,” The New York Times, September 10, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/world/americas/irma-caribbean-st-martin.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, “At dawn, people began to gather, quietly planning for survival after Hurricane Irma.

They started with the grocery stores, scavenging what they needed for sustenance: water, crackers, fruit.

But by nightfall on Thursday, what had been a search for food took a more menacing turn, as groups of people, some of them armed, swooped in and took whatever of value was left: electronics, appliances and vehicles.”

“In the few, long days since Irma pummeled the northeast Caribbean, killing more than two dozen people and leveling 90 percent of the buildings on some islands, the social fabric has begun to fray in some of the hardest-hit communities.”

                CNN on September 12 reported that in Southern Florida Keys FEMA estimated 25% houses destroyed, 60% damaged. Saint Martins English side reported 25% destroyed, French side 65% destroyed. With storm moving north through Georgia and beyond, in U.S. SE 15 million people were without power. In Charleston, SC tidal surge plus rain brought flooding to places that had not had it before. At least 36 people were dead from the storm in the Caribbean. This is the first state wide storm. Puerto Rico brushed by Irma, 1 million people briefly without power, some destruction and damage on North Coast. Cuba took significant damage.

                For the Virgin Islands, Irma has been the most devastating hurricane ever, in breadth and extent of damage.  Louis Ferre-Sadurni, “Paradise Lost: Devastation on the U.S. Virgin Islands,” The New York Times, September

                 “The United States Virgin Islands no longer has the air of paradise.

From above, the islands resemble conflict zones. The grassy hillsides are now brown. Leafless tree trunks jut out like burnt toothpicks. Sailboats are stranded on the rocky coasts.

On the ground, it is worse.”

                Many are homeless. Days after the storm helicopters were still brining in food. There was some isolated cell phone coverage and no electric power. Damage to buildings was extensive and spread across the islands.

 “Cars congested the winding roads, with fallen electricity poles visible across the landscape. When the curfew lifts, residents head to food pantries and supermarkets before they open to beat the hours-long line for water, ready-to-eat meals and tarps to cover roofs.”

                Within days some of the Caribbean Islands were hit again by Hurricane Maria, force 5 at its most powerful, and other islands previously missed were now struck. The Virgin Islands were raked again, and Puerto Rico, grazed by Irma, took a direct hit from Maria. Days later power was out for the whole of Puerto Rico and likely would take months to restore. Most of the Island had no running water. Communications were still out to many places, with no phone or power, and roads blocked by downed trees and debris and many places flooded. For days, mud slides and smashed infrastructure and other broken infrastructure kept many areas isolated. Puerto Rico's agriculture was totally destroyed, not only current crops, but trees and bushes that bear fruit annually. As of October 4, with increasing communications, the death toll from Maria on the Island was raised officially from 16 to 34. (Luis Ferre-Sasurni, Lizzettee Alvarez and Francis Robles, "Puerto Rico Faces Mountain of Obstacles on the Road to Recovery," The New York Times, September 21, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/us/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-recovery.html?ref=todayspaper; and NPR news September 21 and 22, 2017; and Frances Robles and Luis Sadurni. "Puerto Rico’s Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria," The New York Times, September 24, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-agriculture-.html?ref=todayspaper; "After Hurricane Maria: One Day in the Life of Battered Puerto Rico," The New York Times, September 30, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/30/us/24-hours-in-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0; " Luis Ferre-Sadurni," Higher Puerto Rico Death Toll Reflects Survey Across Island," The New York Times, October 4, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/us/puerto-rico-death-toll-maria.html?ref=todayspaper).

                Katie Thomas and Sheila Kaplan, "Hurricane Damage in Puerto Rico Leads to Fears of Drug Shortages Nationwide," The New York Times, October 4, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/health/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-pharmaceutical-manufacturers.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Federal officials and major drug makers are scrambling to prevent national shortages of critical drugs for treating cancer, diabetes and heart disease, as well as medical devices and supplies, that are manufactured at 80 plants in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

                Pharmaceuticals and medical devices are the island’s leading exports, and Puerto Rico has become one of the world’s biggest centers for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Its factories make 13 of the world’s top-selling brand-name drugs, from Humira, the rheumatoid arthritis treatment, to Xarelto, a blood thinner used to prevent stroke, according to a report released last year."

                The serious impacts of Hurricane Maria were continuing in Puerto Rico at the end of October 2017. Power remained four to six months away from being fully restored, and wide spread problems with mold after flooding were adding to growing health problems. Pakalolo, "Mold is blanketing Puerto Rico making it difficult for many to breathe," Daily Kos, Tuesday October 31, 2017, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/31/1711254/-Mold-exposure-is-blanketing-Puerto-Rico-making-it-difficult-for-many-to-breathe?detail=emaildkre, reported, "The unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria barreled over the island is only getting worse. Alarm bells are being rung from humanitarian organizations on the ground that the deteriorating conditions are seriously impacting human health and survival." Among the problems are bridges out in rural areas, and with no power elevators not working in high rise building, many people have great difficulty obtaining food and other necessities, and in some instances have not been able to do so at all.

                The three major September-October Atlantic Hurricanes hitting U.S. territory have done very extensive damage to state and national parks and monuments. In Puerto Rico: Luis Ferre-Sadurni, "Another Victim of Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico’s Treasured Rainforest," The New York Times, October 11, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/us/another-victim-of-hurricane-maria-puerto-ricos-treasured-rainforest.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "When you looked up, you could once see nothing but the lush, emerald canopy of tabonuco and sierra palm trees covering El Yunque National Forest.

                That was before Hurricane Maria obliterated the only tropical rain forest in the United States forest system. Left behind was a scene so bare that on a recent visit, it was possible to see the concrete skyline of San Juan about 30 miles west — a previously unimaginable sight."

                A fourth hurricane, Nate, followed closely on the heels of the devastating trio, October 7, 2017, but being smaller, and moving unusually faster, caused relatively minor damage along the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast, and was predicted to produce some flooding from heavy rains as the storm, reduced to a tropical depression, zoomed across the inland Northeastern states, October 9 (Jeff Bidgood, "In a Season of Monsters, Gulf Coast Feels Lucky All It Got Was Nate," The New York Times, October 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/us/hurricane-nate-biloxi-storm.html?ref=todayspaper).

                Maggie Astor, "10 Hurricanes in 10 Weeks: With Ophelia, a 124-Year-Old Record is Matched," The New York Times, October 11, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/climate/hurricane-ophelia.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "With Tropical Storm Ophelia’s transition to Hurricane Ophelia on Wednesday, 2017 became the first year in more than a century — and only the fourth on record — in which 10 Atlantic storms in a row reached hurricane strength."

                Joe Romm, "Warm waters juiced Ophelia into the most powerful eastern Atlantic hurricane ever seen: Record-smashing Ophelia slams into Ireland with 119 mph gusts," Think Progress, October 16, 2017, https://thinkprogress.org/unprecedented-ophelia-ireland-e78f345e55ef/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tp-letters, reported, "Ex-hurricane Ophelia smashed into Ireland Monday morning with record-breaking gusts of up to 119 mph. The powerful extra-tropical storm — which has already killed two people and blacked-out some 360,000 Irish homes and businesses — is what’s left of the most powerful Eastern Atlantic hurricane ever seen.

                At least one additional person was killed in Ireland, where there was extensive damage. This is the first hurricane ever to hit Ireland in historical times. The warmed waters in the Atlantic made it possible for the storm to form so far northeast, and to remain so powerful when it reached Ireland.

                Wild Earth Guardians “Court Ruling Derails Trump’s Fossil Fuel Agenda: We Are Winning,” September 15, 2017, http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=13190&news_iv_ctrl=1681#.Wb16tlKZOu4, reported , In a resounding ruling by our legal team, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rejected the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s attempt to turn its back on climate change and approve massive new coal mining on public lands in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming.

Calling the agency “irrational,” the court’s ruling overturns two billion tons of publicly owned coal leases that were sold to Peabody and Arch Coal.

When burned, this coal stood to unleash more than 3.3 billion metric tons of carbon pollution. That’s equal to the amount of climate pollution released by nearly 1,000 coal-fired power plants.

Put another way, this ruling is really big.

Importantly, it’s a victory that strikes at the heart of President Trump’s agenda of handing over our public lands to the coal industry and forcing us to shoulder the costs of climate change.

To put this into context, this win overturns some of the largest coal leases ever approved by the federal government. These leases were set to expand the two largest coal mines in the world (which incidentally are owned by two of the world’s largest privately owned coal companies). What’s more, these mines are in the Powder River Basin, the nation’s largest coal producing region.”

                Lisa Friedman, Trump Takes a First Step Toward Scrapping Obama’s Global Warming Policy," The New York Times, October 4, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/climate/trump-climate-change.html?ref=todayspaper&mtrref=www.nytimes.com, reported, "The Trump administration will repeal the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s effort to fight climate change, and will ask the public to recommend ways it could be replaced, according to an internal Environmental Protection Agency document.

                The draft proposal represents the administration’s first substantive step toward rolling back the plan, which was designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, after months of presidential tweets and condemnations of Mr. Obama’s efforts to reduce climate-warming pollution.

But it also lays the groundwork for new, presumably weaker, regulations by asking for the public and industry to offer ideas for a replacement."

                Mitch Smith, "4 Takeaways From a Gathering of Mayors on Climate Change," The New York Times, December 5, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/us/climate-change-mayors-chicago.html?ref=todayspaper, "Mayors came here by the dozens on Tuesday to voice their support for the international Paris climate accord and their displeasure with President Trump’s plan to withdraw the United States from that agreement. Their solution? They announced their own climate agreement.

The gathering, in which more than 45 American mayors committed their cities to uphold the emissions standards laid out in the Paris agreement, was the latest display of hostility by some of the nation’s Democratic mayors toward Mr. Trump’s policies."

                "Many of the cities that signed on, including New York City, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., had previously laid out plans to uphold their part of the Paris agreement, and city leaders have been outspoken about the issue for months.

In June, the United States Conference of Mayors called on the administration to recommit to the Paris standards. Another group, Climate Mayors, which claims 385 members, has rallied in defense of the Paris agreement. And a coalition of states, local governments and businesses announced plans this summer to try to uphold America’s Paris commitments despite the federal withdrawal."

                Steven Mufson and Chris Mooney "Energy Secretary Perry proposes new moves to support coal and nuclear plants," The Washington Post, September 29, 2017, reported, ""Energy Secretary Rick Perry took sweeping steps on Friday to buttress a pair of financially-strapped nuclear plants under construction and redefine how coal and nuclear plants are compensated for the electricity that they provide - a move that, if agreed to by independent federal energy regulators, could tilt some of the nation’s complex power markets away from renewables and natural gas.

                Perry announced that the Energy Department would provide $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to three Georgia utilities struggling to complete a pair of nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle generating plant. These loan guarantees come on top of $8.3 billion in loans the department has already given to the project, but they still might fall short of what will be required to complete the costly reactors.

                The nuclear project has been running far over-budget and behind schedule, and the utilities have been scrambling to come up with financing after the main engineering company, Westinghouse, declared bankruptcy earlier this year."

                "Perry also moved Friday to help nuclear and coal plants competing in regional electricity markets. Citing his department’s recent, contested study about the workings of the electric grid, Perry asked the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, to adopt new regulations that would ensure that coal and nuclear plants that add to the grid’s reliability can “[recover] fully allocated costs and thereby continue to provide the energy security on which our nation relies.”

                Georgia Power asked Georgia state regulators, at the end of August 2017, to approve plans to construct two additional nuclear electric generating reactors at its Alvin W. Vogel generating station near Augusta (Brad Plumer, "Bucking Trend, Georgia Ponders a Nuclear Future, The New York Times, September 1, 2017).

                Somini Sengupta, "How Climate Change Is Playing Havoc With Olive Oil (and Farmers)," The New York Times, October 24, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/climate/olive-oil.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, reported, "It was in June, the time of year when the first olives normally burst from their blossoms in the mild warmth of early summer, when Irene Guidobaldi walked through her groves in blistering heat and watched in horror as the flowers on her trees began to wither and fall.

                The only way to save her family’s precious orchard in the hills of Umbria was to buy the most precious thing of all in this summer of drought: water.

Lots and lots of water."

                "The heat wave that swept across southern Europe this summer, which scientists say bore the fingerprints of human-induced climate change, is only the latest bout of strange weather to befall the makers of olive oil."

                Jacey Fortin, "Montana Battles Wildfires Amid a Severe Drought," The New York Times, September  7, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/montana-wildfire-drought.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Montana has been burning for months, and there is still no end in sight.

                This summer, thousands of firefighters and hundreds of Montana National Guard members have been battling the flames of dozens of large and small wildfires across the state. Thousands of people have been affected by evacuations, and two firefighters have lost their lives.

                Montana is one of several states experiencing severe fires this year. Blazes flared up and down California, from Los Angeles — where a state of emergency was declared just this week — to well north of Sacramento. Wildfires in Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Washington and other Western states have smothered parts of the West in smoky, ashy air.

                Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana declared the wildfires a disaster last week, calling this 'one of the worst fire seasons' in the state’s history. On Thursday, the National Interagency Fire Center reported, Montana had 21 active, large fires covering about 438,000 acres.

                It is not uncommon for wildfires to spring up in Montana during mid-to-late summer months, but 2017 has been different. The state is facing a severe drought, hotter and drier than any in recent memory."

                A terrible fire season was continuing in the U.S. west in October, especially bad in California. Thomas Fuller, Jonah Engel Bromwich and Maggie Astor,  California Fires Kill at Least 10 and Destroy 1,500 Buildings,” The New York Times,  October 9, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/california-fires-evacuations.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Fast-moving wildfires raged across Northern California on Monday, killing at least 10 people, sending well over 100 to hospitals, forcing up to 20,000 to evacuate and destroying more than 1,500 buildings in one of the most destructive fire emergencies in the state’s history.

                Firefighters were battling blazes in eight counties, officials said."

                The Northern California fire situation continued to worsen in the following days. The usually wet wine growing Napa Valley are not far from the Pacific Coast, hit by unprecedented drought, continued to burn, destroying wineries and other business and thousands of homes. By October 11, the known death toll had reached 29, with many missing, with 21 major fires in California, mostly in the North. There, the dry winds were spreading them so fast the goal was to direct the fires away from populated areas, as stopping their spread was impossible, even with a large ground and air force. The eight major fires in Napa and Sonoma counties, which began October 8, had expanded from 54,000 acres on October 10, t0 191,000 acres on October 12. Over 20,000 pe0pe had been evacuated in that area. In Santa Rosa alone, some 1800 buildings had been destroyed (Thomas Fuller and Richard Perez Pena, "California Wildfires Death Toll Rises to 29 as Vast Region Is Scorched,” The New York Times, October 11, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/us/california-wildfires-firefighters.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0).

                The fires were continuing to spread October 12, with the known deaths up to a record 31 and hundreds still missing, as the flames moved into the wine growing country along the Russian River. The fires had by then consumed 221,754 acres. The smoke, which cannot be filtered out by surgery masks and some other filters, was causing health problems over much of northern California, the smoke visible even in Fresno, 200 miles away (Thomas Fuller, Denise Grady and Richard Perez, "California Fires Leave 31 Dead, a Vast Landscape Charred, and a Sky Full of Soot,” The New York Times, October 12, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/us/california-wildfire-deaths-napa-sonoma.html?ref=todayspaper).

                One of California's worst fire seasons was continuing in December 2017. Jennifer Medina, Liam Stack and Jonah Engel Bromwich, "Tens of Thousands Evacuate as Southern California Fires Spread," The New York Times, December 5, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/us/california-fire.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Four wildfires roared through Southern California on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and destroying hundreds of homes and other buildings in the latest chapter of what has been one of the state’s worst fire seasons.

                The first fire, in Ventura County, started Monday evening and was still “out of control” on Tuesday night, the authorities said. Named the Thomas Fire, it began north of Santa Paula, Calif., and spread rapidly overnight on Monday to envelop at least 50,000 acres, destroying hundreds of structures and prompting 27,000 people to evacuate, including some from the city of Ventura.

                Three more fires began on Tuesday. One in Los Angeles County quickly grew to encompass more than 11,000 acres and destroyed more than 30 structures. Another, in San Bernardino County, injured three people as it burned 100 acres of vegetation. And a fourth, near Santa Clarita, tore through at least 5,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of a trailer park and several schools."

                By late on December 16, the Thomas fire was still expanding, moving faster than it could be contained, continuing to threaten populated areas and destroy structures. At that time the fire had consumed least 267,500 acres and was 40 percent contained (Miriam Jordan and Thomas Fuller, "Thomas Fire Spreads Rapidly to Santa Barbara County," The New York Times, December 16, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/thomas-fire-santa-barbara.html?ref=todayspaper).

                The heaviest rains in a year in southern California brought deadly and damaging mudslides in areas burned by wildfires, killing at least 13 people while destroying some homes and other structures (Jennifer Medina, Thomas Fuller and Tim Arango, "Mudslides Strike Southern California, Leaving at Least 13 Dead," The New York Times, January 9, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/us/california-mudslides.html?ref=todayspaper).

                The aftermath of global warming enhanced disasters multiplies their original devastating effects. In Puerto Rico, after three weeks power remained out in most places, communications and travel were still cut in wide areas, food and other supplies were insufficient and hard to get to in isolated locations. In the populated areas burned in northern California - while the fires continue -  Kirk Johnson, Cleanup From California Fires Poses Environmental and Health Risks, The New York Times, October 16, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/us/california-fires-cleanup.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, reported, "And as the chief public health officer in Napa County, one of the hardest-hit places, she has used her office as a bully pulpit to urge them to stop [searching through the rubble of their homes unprotected], immediately.

                'Just think of all the hazardous materials in your house,' she said in an interview. 'Your chemicals, your pesticides, propane, gasoline, plastic and paint — it all burns down into the ash. It concentrates in the ash, and it’s toxic,” said Dr. Relucio, who declared a public emergency over the hazardous waste from the fires, as have at least two other counties.

                California’s fires are far from out. They have killed at least 41 people and burned about 5,700 structures and over 213,000 acres since they exploded in force on Oct. 8 and 9 — record totals for a state that is used to wildfires. Thousands of firefighters are still at work fighting blazes and tens of thousands of people remain under mandatory evacuation from their homes, though fire officials have expressed cautious optimism about bringing the fires into containment.

                But even as the smell of smoke still wafts through this area north of San Francisco, public health officials and environmental cleanup experts are starting to think about the next chapter of the disaster: the huge amount of debris and ash that will be left behind.

                In whole neighborhoods here, a thick layer of ash paints the landscape a ghastly white. Wind can whip the ash into the air; rain, when it comes, could wash it into watersheds and streams or onto nearby properties that were not ravaged by fire.

                And the process of cleaning it all up, which has not even begun, is very likely to bring its own thorny set of issues, in the costs, timetables and liability questions — all compounded by scale, in the thousands of properties that must be repaired and restored."

                The after effects of these disasters include damage to economic activity. In the October fires in Napa and neighboring counties, the grape crop was largely untouched. But the destruction of buildings in an area already short of housing faces the grape and wine industry with far less than the required housing for its migrant workers (Miriam Jordan, "Fires Move On, Wine
Country Wonders Whether Immigrants Will, Too,” The New York Times, October 17, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/us/california-fires-immigrants.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0).

                Michael Price, “Fire on the Mountain: 2 Forests Offer Clues to Yellowstone’s Fate in a Warming World,” The New York Times, September 13, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/climate/yellowstone-western-fires-in-two-forests.html?ref=todayspaper, noted that two fires in Montana give indication of how climate change might change forests in and near Yellowstone National Park. Historically, have rarely burned the same areas for “For the past 10,000 years, these woods have burned approximately every 100 to 300 years, meaning fires typically scorched old trees. But as climate change leads to longer and hotter dry seasons, younger forests throughout the Yellowstone region may start burning more frequently. (The jury is still out on how climate change will affect wildfires in other Western conifer forests.)

                ‘If that becomes the norm, where there’s no time for these forests to take a break, to grow for 150 years or so without burning, you could see some widespread changes to the forests,’ said Richard Hutto, an ecologist at the University of Montana.

                These changes could play out in a couple of ways.

First, short-interval fires could overwhelm an evolutionary adaptation that in the past allowed burned lodgepole forests to regrow just as thickly as before. Many of the lodgepoles here are serotinous, meaning they grow pine cones sealed with a sappy resin that protects their seeds from flames. During a fire, the cones open and the seeds are released. Only mature lodgepoles produce these resinous cones, while younger ones yield unprotected cones that release their seeds as soon as they’re finished growing.

When fires are infrequent, the forest has time to mature and build up a stock of serotinous cones that will restart the next generation: hence Densetown. But when part of the young forest burned again just sixteen years into its regrowth, creating Stumptown, it had not yet produced many serotinous cones. Its seed stock was obliterated.

Second, the fires could burn up larger sections of forest. Small islands of forest often survive even within otherwise burned areas, said Brian Harvey, an ecologist at the University of Washington, and seeds from these preserved areas often blow into the surrounding burned forests or are carried there by animals. This reseeding method is especially important at higher altitudes where lodgepoles don’t produce serotinous cones.

‘But what we’re seeing now is more homogeneous burning throughout the forests, with fewer islands of unburned areas,’ Dr. Harvey said. ‘When that happens, there are fewer seed sources to replace the stands.’”

An indication of the possible impact of more frequent more thoroughly burning fires, is that in thoroughly burned over areas that previously were recently burned have about 400 trees per acre. This contrasts with the some 32,000 trees per acre in areas only partially burned, where there was no previous fire for at least 100 years. Moreover, the recently reburned and more thoroughly consumed forest is diversifying, with Aspens entering the forest alongside the lodgepole pines, that previously almost totally dominated.

                And the extreme weather continued into winter: Kara Murphy and Jack Healy, "Even Sharks Are Freezing to Death: Winter Rages and the Nation Reels," The New York Times, December 28, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/us/winter-weather-erie-cold.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Shivering, snowbound cities are scrapping their outdoor New Year’s Eve countdowns. Polar-bear plunges are being canceled because of fears of frostbite and hypothermia. Winter-hardened towns are gaping at their new lows: 32 degrees below zero in Watertown, N.Y. Minus 36 in International Falls, Minn.

                Record-breaking snowfalls have stranded older and disabled residents inside their homes for days. Cars are buried under mountains of snow, and lethally low temperatures are forcing cities across the Northeast and Midwest to open emergency 'warming centers' for homeless residents and people whose furnaces are no match for the cold.

                A mass of Arctic air now has much of the north half of the country wrapped in an icy bear hug, and meteorologists expect the single-digit temperatures to stick around for at least another week."

                (Meanwhile TV and Radio reports in Albuquerque show that the Southwest U.S. has been experiencing unusually, not quit record, high temperatures and consecutive days without rain).

Midwest and the Eastern United States and Canada have been hit by continuing waves of extremely cold weather at the beginning of the winter of 2017-18, setting record low temperature in many places including well into the Southern U.S., with unusually heavy snow falling in many places, and southern places as far south as Northern Florida receiving unusual snow fall. For example,  Caherine Porter, “Shivering? That’s for City Folk. For Islanders, Ice Time Is Play Time,” The New York Times, January 16, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/world/americas/canada-toronto-islands.html?ref=todayspaper,reported, “It made the local news: Two figures were spotted walking across the city’s frozen downtown harbor. The afternoon newscast labeled them ‘tricksters.’

Even for Canadians, it was freezing outside — the city was on Day 9 of a 14-day “extreme cold weather” alert, with the temperature at 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius) and going down. City officials were scrambling to open emergency shelters, and warning residents to limit their time outdoors.”

                Elian Peltier and Eloise Stark, "Floods Leave Paris Contemplating a Wetter Future,” The New York Times, January 26, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/world/europe/france-paris-floods.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Must France simply get used to flooding?

                The Seine River overflowed its banks again in Paris and several nearby cities this week, a mere 18 months after reaching its highest level since 1982.

                Thirteen of France’s 96 administrative departments had flood alerts as of Friday, in what the monitoring body Météo-France says is the country’s wettest winter since 1959.

Some experts suggest climate change is likely to make such events more frequent. And an international body chose this week to publish a study arguing that Paris and the rest of the Seine basin needed greater protection against the risk of a catastrophic flood."

A powerful storm struck western Europe with wind, rain and snow, killing at least 7 people in Germany, Holland and Belgium, in mid-January (Mike Corder, "Gale lashes region, 7 die amid traffic chaos," San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 2018).

Unusually heavy snow and rain trapped 13,000 tourists in the Zermatt area of Switzerland, in early January (Palko Karsz, "13,000 Tourists Trapped at Resort in Swiss Alps," The New York Times, January 11, 2018).

                Matthew Luxmoore, “Moscow Got 6 Minutes of Sunlight in December,” The New York Times, January 17, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/world/europe/moscow-darkness-sunlight.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, “For anyone who braves the Russian winter, overcast skies and short, dark days are a depressing reality.

But even those bleak expectations were shattered in December, when Moscow was shrouded in an unrelenting cloud cover for all but six minutes.

It was the darkest December in the capital since the city began recording the data, the previous worst having come in 2000, when the sun checked in for a meager three hours.”

                Average is 18 hours of sun light.

                Suhasini Raj and Jeffrey Gettleman, "They Thought the Monsoons Were Calm. Then Came the Deadly Floods," The New York Times, September 7, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/world/asia/bihar-india-monsoon-floods.html?ref=todayspaper, reported on the Monsoons in India in late summer 2017, "Northern India, one of the country’s poorest regions, has been ravaged by some of the worst monsoon storms in recent years. Local officials pointed to a highway overpass about 15 feet above the ground and said that for the first time in living memory the water had risen above the bridge."

                Iran has been suffering a serious, and unusual, drought this winter, bringing the levels of reservoirs supplying Tehran water very low, while usually snow covered mountains were bare. In late January a major blizzard brought much Iran relief, but it is likely to be only temporary (Thomas Erdbrink, "Iranians Prayed for Rain, but Were Covered in Snow," The New York Times, January 28, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/world/middleeast/iran-tehran-snow-drought.html?ref=todayspaper).

                Tropical storm Tremin killed at least 103 people on the Philippine island of Mindanao, as its heavy rains brought mud slides and major flooding. 20,000 people were forced from their homes when the Cagayan de Oro River overflowed its banks, in late December 2017 (Felipe Vilamor, "Tropical Storm Kills Over 100 in Philippines," The New York Times, December 24, 2017).

                John Paul Tasker, "First Nations will protest, but Trans Mountain pipeline a done deal, Liberals say: 'Nothing that's happened has changed our mind that this is a good decision,' resources minister says," CBC News Posted: September 7, 2017,  reported, "While some Indigenous activists gear up to fight expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline on the streets and in court, federal Liberal cabinet ministers say there's no going back on their decision to approve the $7.4-billion project.

                Inspired by some of the tactics used by protesters at Standing Rock in North Dakota, the Secwepemc Nation, situated along the Trans Mountain route, said Wednesday it was preparing to build '10 tiny houses' in the path of the project's construction as a protest and with the hope of forcing a delay."

                President Trump's administration announced, in early January, that it would allow gas and oil drilling in almost all U.S, coastal waters Lisa Friedman, "Trump Moves To Open Coasts to Oil Drilling,” The New York Times, January 5, 2017).

A Tanker Carrying 25OO metric tons of oil sank off the coast of Greece, September 10, causing large quantities of oil to foul Greek Beaches and wildlife areas (“Oil Threatens ‘Athens Riviera’,” The New York Times, September 15, 2017).

Julianne A. Hazlewood, Ph.D. and The Communities of La Chiquita and Guadualito,  “Court issues ruling in world's first “Rights of Nature” lawsuit, IntercontinentalCry.org (IC), February 16, 2017, https://intercontinentalcry.org/court-issues-ruling-worlds-first-rights-nature-lawsuit/, reported, “After six and a half years of combined suspense and patience, finally on January 11 2017, Ecuador’s Esmeraldas Provincial Court handed down its decision on the world’s first constitutionally-based Rights of Nature lawsuit.

This demand for justice—which simultaneously begs for a shift in merely human rights-based paradigms—was made by people who literally and figuratively live in the margins of Ecuador: The Canton of San Lorenzo.

This once-rainforested Chocó ecoregion—part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena Biodiversity Hotspot—is located along Ecuador’s northwest Colombian border in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, which is the only province in the country where almost half the population is Afro-ecuadorian. Even many Ecuadorians themselves are not aware of the presence of Indigenous nationalities and territories in Esmeraldas, where—not by coincidence—you can find the majority of the remaining (less than 3%) Ecuadorian coastal lowland rainforests.

The plaintiffs—the Afro-descendant community of La Chiquita and the Awá community of Guadualito—filed the landmark intercultural constitutional court case against Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm (i.e. African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis) Companies, on July 23, 2010, a little over two years after Ecuador recognized the Rights of Nature in its 2008 constitution.

Requesting repairs in relation to the Rights of Nature, Living Well (Sumak Kawsay in Kichwa, El Buen Vivir in Spanish), and pluricultural self-determination over territory, the plaintiffs contended that both Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies were responsible for massive deforestation, widespread biodiversity loss, excessive river pollution, and the subsequent deterioration of health and food sovereignty of the two communities. With the plantations surrounding their ancestral territories—and Chiquita River’s headwaters falling within the limits of the plantations—the communities asked the court to suspend any and all harmful plantation activities. They also asked for the companies to repair the damages.

For more information about the case see http://www.ienearth.org/support-la-chiquita-and-guadualito-ancestral-communities-and-nature/.

Though acknowledging that reparations were necessary, Judge Juan Francisco Gabriel Morales Suarez only “partially” accepted the communities' claims, demonstrating that the judge agrees with the evidence provided by the plaintiffs while also evading a determination that the oil palm companies are guilty as charged. As one La Chiquita resident stated, ‘The sentence does not have either heads or tails.’

For example, Judge Suarez ordered the Ecuadorian State to restrict future expansion of the agricultural frontier with oil palm in San Lorenzo canton, and this is indubitably a victory for La Chiquita and Guadualito!

Paradoxically however, of the seventeen criteria established by the sentence for reparations of the social and environmental damages, the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies were charged with just three responsibilities:

To adhere to the environmental law that requires an eight-meter buffer zone, the two oil palm companies must plant bamboo (instead of oil palm) by the river sides in the plantations;

They must pay for employees to take a required history course that includes the cultural and “incarnate” (e.g. about the forest spirits—seemingly a mockery) histories, myths and traditions of the Indigenous and ancestral peoples of Esmeraldas; and

The oil companies must uphold cordial and respectful relationships and solidarity with the earth and with the plaintiffs and their families.

In reaction to these three criteria, the community’s current lawyer stated, "It is absurd and ridiculous to make a sentence that determines that damages could be remediated through a history course for oil palm workers—not even if the world's greatest experts were the participating professors.”

It should also be noted that, despite the recognition of the need for reparations, Judge Suárez distributes most responsibilities to remedy damages in the communities between twelve state and provincial institutions. The sentence thus limits a comprehensive approach and the clarity and effectiveness necessary for following up with the execution of the actions.

It is very surprising that most the responsibilities for remediating damages were assigned to the state and not oil palm companies. The responsibility of the Ecuadorian State, both historically and present-day, in the neglect towards and socio-economic marginalization of the region of Esmeraldas is undeniable; its absence has incubated the pillage of its resources and subjugated the environment and the people living there to oppressive conditions.

Nevertheless, it is not clear why the judgement generates a transfer of responsibilities from the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies to the state, when the claim was made against the latter. The two oil palm companies have been effectively freed from their economic, moral, social and cultural responsibilities towards the two communities. Instead, the sentence declares that it is now that the state must finally assume its responsibilities to the canton of San Lorenzo and accept the primary role in repairing the oil palm companies’ damages!

And so far, the situation isn't getting any better for either community. A month after the judge has made his sentence public—as of Feb. 12, 2017—Los Andes Oil palm company continues to dump chemicals and boiling waste water into the river and extract palm oil from plantation fruit.

The two communities of La Chiquita and Guadualito make the following declaration in relation to the sentence:

After waiting so many years, we feel a humiliation and deception by the Court. Even if the sentence is partially in favor of our communities, the judgement does not recognize any aspect of the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies paying us for the repairs and damages caused to our environment, damages that have directly and negatively affected us.

In this way, the sentence minimizes and excludes all we have suffered and how our own and Nature’s rights have been systematically violated. Therefore, we, the residents of Guadualito and La Chiquita, declare our disagreement with the judge’s decision.

Although we have been politically united because our territories are close to one another’s and have been negatively affected by the oil palm companies, we have consistently maintained that we are two distinct ancestral communities. Yet, the sentence does not address this difference between us and, therefore, infringes upon our rights of pluriculturality to self-determination.

For example, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health are tasked with building a millennium school and a health center at a center point between the two communities. This implies that these developments take place on land that does not belong to either of the two communities. In fact, this land is owned by the oil palm plantations! We want to be clear that it does not make sense that the judge treats us as just one community.

This is the first lawsuit of this magnitude that is based in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution in respect to the Rights of Nature, to Living Well, and to pluricultural self-determination and intercultural organization in defense of ancestral territories. We have lost our flora and fauna, our rivers are dead, and, we—humans, animals and fish—have all suffered damages and we are adversely affected.

We continue onward. Until now, we have submitted a document requesting the extension and clarification of the judgment in relation to the points described above. Based on the response we receive we will decide if we will appeal.

We have taken this opportunity to change who will legally represent us because we have decided to stand even stronger in defense of our rights and those of nature. For fear of being criminalized by the state or upsetting the judge’s decision, we cannot go out and publically and peacefully protest in defense of ours and Nature’s rights.

What we can and will do, however, is disseminate internationally the outcomes of our struggles. We will make our make our demands for justice known to the world through the media and social networks. We will see to it that more and more allies accompany us until our claims are adequately addressed. We know that with support of the international society we will be able to claim our rights to living well.

Our communities have been trampled down and had our rights violated by the oil palm companies, who enjoy great economic and political power. The world has not seen or heard of what we have had to go through so far. This is going to change from now on! We want the world to know that our communities exist. We want all humanity to know about our long struggle to ensure that our rights are respected.

Ecuador and the world can unite with and assist us with further ideas and information, with economic and moral support, and to spread through the media and social networks our emblematic case and other cases in which environmental and human rights have been violated by the oil palm industrial complex.

The Ecuadorian authorities must acknowledge the social, cultural, and environmental damage caused by sowing monocultures of African oil palms, by the palm oil extraction processes, and by the immediate and residual negative impacts of the oil palm industry assumed by local communities.

Except where otherwise noted, articles on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons License | IC is a publication of the Center for World Indigenous Studies (cwis.org), a 501C(3) based in the United States | Hosting by May First / People Link | IntercontinentalCry.org too hard to spell? Try ICMagazine.org

Extensive use of fertilizer, with considerable runoff into waterways, has caused expanding potentially harmful algae blooms in the western end of Lake Erie, since the 2000s, that by October 2017, covered more than 700 miles of water (Jugal K. Patel and Yuliya Parishina-Kottas, "Miles of Algae Covering Lake Erie,” The New York Times, October 4, 2017).

                A map showing worldwide how many years people in various places may loose on average because of pollution is in, Gabriella Canal “This New Map Shows You How Many Years of Life Pollution Has Taken Away From You Based Off Where You Live,” Global Citizen, September 12, 2017, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/this-new-map-shows-you-how-many-years-of-life-poll/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=iterable_campaign_US_Sep_15_2017_Fri_content_digest_actives. Listings include losing the following years of life expectancy in some locations in: India: 4.1 years, China: 3.5 years, Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1.84 years, Chile: 1.37 years. Worldwide, at publication, almost one in seven children were breathing toxic air.

                 Livia Albeck-Ripka, "For an Endangered Animal, a Fire or Hurricane Can Mean the End," The New York Times, October 25, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/climate/fires-hurricanes-endangered-animals.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, reported, "When a wildfire swept through Arizona, all but 35 rare red squirrels disappeared. After California’s fires and Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma, so did other near-extinct animals."

                "The Mount Graham red squirrel is among more than a dozen rare or threatened species that either perished or suffered habitat loss during recent hurricanes and wildfires across the United States."

                Among other destruction caused by Hurricane Irma, was the destruction of a large number of sea turtle nests ("Another Storm Victim: Florida Sea Turtle Nests," The
New York Times, October 10, 2017).

                When economies around the world have expanded, so has the death rate, temporarily, as a result of the increased air pollution produced as a byproduct of increased production (Austin Frakt, "How a Healthy Economy Can Shorten Life Spans," The New York Times, October 16, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/upshot/how-a-healthy-economy-can-shorten-life-spans.html).

                Keith Bradsher, "China’s New Antipollution Push Could Cool Its Growth Engine," The New York Times, October 23, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/business/china-pollution-economy.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, "Through the last four decades, China has achieved breathtaking economic growth at the cost of smoggy skies, fetid streams and lakes of dying fish.

                Now China is undertaking one of its most extensive efforts yet to crack down on corporate polluters, an effort that could be felt economically and in world markets.

                Cities across China have stepped up sending squads of inspectors to steel mills, coal-fired power plants and other businesses, and ordered offenders to clean up their operations or risk being shut down. On Aug. 21, the environmental authorities ordered more than two dozen cities in northern China, including many main steel production centers, to reduce air pollution by 15 percent this winter.

                Even tougher measures will be coming, Li Ganjie, China’s minister for environmental protection, said Monday at a news conference held in conjunction with the Communist Party congress, a twice-per-decade event at which the party selects new leaders to tackle its problems."

                Laura Paskus, "Rapidly warming Southwest faces water challenges, choices," New Mexico Political Report, accessed November 14, 2017, http://nmpoliticalreport.com/752067/rapidly-warming-southwest-faces-water-challenges-choices-en/?mc_cid=962c78eaad&mc_eid=cde7993ced, reported in part, "Warming in the American Southwest is occurring at about double the global rate—and that local warming will have a profound impact on water resources in the Interior West. Those changes in water supply will occur regardless of changes in precipitation."

                "Since the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation completed the [Elephant Butte] reservoir in 1916 to supply farmers in southern New Mexico and Texas with water, the reservoir’s levels have fluctuated—from highs in the 1940s to lows in the 1950s, ‘60s, and 70s. Many New Mexicans are familiar with the wet period that lasted from 1984 through 1993; between 1980 and 2006, the state’s population increased by 50 percent. But then the region was hit with drier conditions—and increasing temperatures. Areas of the Southwest have suffered from drought since 1999 and, unlike earlier droughts, it’s driven not just by a lack of precipitation, but a rise in temperature.

                Even with good snowpack in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico the past few years, there simply isn’t enough water to boost the reservoir’s levels again, said Gutzler, who is also one of the lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2013 Assessment Report. The [Elephant Butte} reservoir is currently at just 15 percent capacity."

                The great Salt Lake has been shrinking because of human consumption. Since 1847, the lake has lost half its water volume. At current rates, in the next 30 to 50 years, the lake could lose an additional 30 square miles of surface (Joanna Klein, "Why the Great Salt Lake Is Losing a Little of Its Greatness Every Day," The New York Times, December 5, 2017).

                Emily Benson, High Country News, "It’s not only trees — wildfires imperil water too," New Mexico Political Report, December 21, 2017, http://nmpoliticalreport.com/787515/its-not-only-trees-wildfires-imperil-water-too/?mc_cid=9e3276f90c&mc_eid=cde7993ced, reported in part, "The Fourmile Canyon Fire, sparked by a backyard burn west of Boulder, Colorado, in 2010, caused $220 million in damage and destroyed 168 homes. It also scorched nearly a quarter of a watershed that supplies water to the nearby community of Pine Brook Hills. The problems didn’t end there: Long after the blaze was put out, intense rainstorms periodically washed sediment and other particles downstream, disrupting water treatment and forcing the local water district to stop pulling water from Fourmile Creek, leaving it reliant upon water already collected in its reservoir.

                'The water coming down Fourmile Creek would get so dirty that we simply would shut down moving any water (from the creek),' for days or even weeks, says district manager Robert de Haas. 'If we hadn’t built the reservoir' — in 2006 — 'we’d have been in big trouble.'

This story first appeared at High Country News.

                Now, new research suggests that such water-quality problems might become more frequent across the West. Climate change is already causing a surge in wildfire activity. As a result, scientists expect to see a rise in erosion in most of the region’s watersheds in the coming decades. Sediment and ash running off burned hillsides into streams can clog reservoirs, smother fish and disrupt municipal water supplies.

In many places, however, water managers and other officials are already taking steps to prepare for both wildfire and its long-term aftereffects. For communities that rely on forested drainages for their water, “It is a key aspect of water supply and watershed protection to plan for a wildfire,” says Kate Dunlap, who works on source water protection for the city of Boulder."

                Mitch Smith, "Miles From Flint, Residents Turn Off Taps in New Water Crisis," The New York Times, November 24, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/us/michigan-water-wolverine-contamination.html, reported, "They found pollutants in the water at the National Guard armory in June. Then contractors showed up to test nearby residents’ wells, many of which were also tainted. Soon, people from several miles around were turning off their taps and even brushing their teeth with bottled water.

                Panic over the water in this part of western Michigan [Plainfield Charter Township] seems to grow by the day. The Rogue River, which runs through, tested high for contaminants this month. Days later, Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan announced an “action team” to address the substances. Health officials say they are studying a possible cancer cluster.

                The source of much of the tumult: a local shoemaking company, Wolverine Worldwide, the maker of popular footwear brands like Hush Puppies and Merrell and a mainstay in this area since 1883."

                Michael Kimmelman, "Jakarta Is Sinking So Fast, It Could End Up Underwater," the New York Times, December 21, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/21/world/asia/jakarta-sinking-climate.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fmichael-kimmelman&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0, reported, "There may be no megacity on the planet facing a more dire scenario than Jakarta, the sprawling, smog-infested capital of Indonesia. When historic floods overran much of the city in 2007, some climate experts linked the events to global warming. Temperatures and the Java Sea are both rising, quickly.

                But this vast coastal city is sinking faster than any other big city on Earth, so fast that rivers can flow upstream and buildings are being swallowed up. That’s because Jakartans are draining the aquifers on which the city rests. The city’s water supply hasn’t kept up with its explosive growth. The litany of human-made problems starts with runaway development, a near-total lack of planning, few sewers, polluted rivers and canals, a long history of government corruption, conflicts between Islamic extremists and secular Indonesians, Muslims and ethnic Chinese. Climate change multiplies them all.

                Hydrologists now say the city has only a decade to heal its self-inflicted wounds and halt the sinking. If it can’t, much of Jakarta and its millions of residents will end up underwater."

                Kai Schultz, Hari Kumar and Geffrey Gettleman, In India, Air So Dirty Your Head Hurts," The New York Times, November 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/world/asia/india-air-pollution.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, " A toxic cloud has descended on India’s capital, delaying flights and trains, causing coughs, headaches and even highway pileups, and prompting Indian officials on Wednesday to take the unprecedented step of closing 4,000 schools for nearly a week.

Delhi has notoriously noxious air but even by the standards of this city, this week’s pollution has been alarming, reaching levels nearly 30 times what the World Health Organization considers safe. On Tuesday, the government decided to close primary schools and on Wednesday the closings were extended to all public and most private schools.

for those of us living here, the air pollution saps our strength. Many people feel nauseated all day, like from a never-ending case of car sickness. The air tastes smoky and irritates the throat, and in some neighborhoods, it smells like paint."

                "The smog is so heavy that drivers often can’t see cars slowing down in front of them, causing serious accidents and several highway pileups."

                Mehreen Zahra-Malik, "In Lahore, Pakistan, Smog Has Become a ‘Fifth Season’," The New York Times, November 10, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/world/asia/lahore-smog-pakistan.html?ref=todayspaper,

reported, "For nearly two weeks, Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, has been like one huge airport smokers’ lounge. But Abid Omar’s jaw still dropped on Wednesday, when he checked the air-quality monitor he had installed to track the city’s appalling pollution.

                It said that levels of the dangerous particulates known as PM2.5, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, had reached 1,077 micrograms per cubic meter — more than 30 times what Pakistan’s government considers the safe limit."

                "CANADA TO CREATE OVERSEAS MINING WATCHDOG," Freedom United,  December 13, 2017, https://www.freedomunited.org/news/canada-mining-watchdog/?trk_msg=QQT3NET1RM9K9E25NGCJC2CN7G&trk_contact=B6M8ONO3GA0V4UPHDKT7AR6C7G&trk_sid=UHHIVT6G1680E2IFA0N4I3STVS&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Canada+to+Create+Overseas+Mining+Watchdog&utm_campaign=News+Digest&utm_content=News+Digest_12172017, reported, "Canada plans to create an overseas mining watchdog early next year, a move welcomed by environmental and human rights activists. Ottawa says it will create an independent office that will specifically look at Canadian oil, mining, and gas companies’ activities abroad.

                Reuters reports that this action is significant because the majority of the world’s public mining companies are in Canada."

                "Copper One Announces the Settlement of Litigation With the Quebec Government Over the Riviere Dore Project," Market Wired, November 15, 2017, http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/copper-one-announces-settlement-litigation-with-quebec-government-over-riviere-dore-2240831.htm, reported, Copper One Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CUO) ("Copper One" or the "Company") reports that on November 15, 2017, Copper One and the Québec Government entered into a settlement agreement which facilitates an end to Copper One's participation in the Rivière Doré Project. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Copper One has agreed to the assignment of all the mining claims comprising the Rivière Doré Project to SOQUEM and the Québec Government has agreed to pay $8 million in cash to Copper One in consideration for, amongst other things, the amounts invested in exploration works on the project by Copper One. The transaction is expected to be completed by December 15, 2017.

                Somini Sengupta, “Warming, Water Crisis, Then Unrest: How Iran Fits an Alarming Pattern," The New York Times, January 18, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/climate/water-iran.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, “Nigeria. Syria. Somalia. And now Iran.

In each country, in different ways, a water crisis has triggered some combination of civil unrest, mass migration, insurgency or even full-scale war.

In the era of climate change, their experiences hold lessons for a great many other countries. The World Resources Institute warned this month [See the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas at: http://www.wri.org/applications/maps/aqueduct-atlas/#x=8.00&y=0.28&s=ws!20!28!c&t=waterrisk&w=def&g=0&i=BWS-16!WSV-4!SV-2!HFO-4!DRO-4!STOR-8!GW-8!WRI-4!ECOS-2!MC-4!WCG-8!ECOV-2!&tr=ind-1!prj-1&l=3&b=terrain&m=group&init=y] of the rise of water stress globally, “with 33 countries projected to face extremely high stress in 2040.”

A water shortage can spark street protests: Access to water has been a common source of unrest in India. It can be exploited by terrorist groups: The Shabab has sought to take advantage of the most vulnerable drought-stricken communities in Somalia. Water shortages can prompt an exodus from the countryside to crowded cities: Across the arid Sahel, young men unable to live off the land are on the move. And it can feed into insurgencies: Boko Haram stepped into this breach in Nigeria, Chad and Niger.

Iran is the latest example of a country where a water crisis, long in the making, has fed popular discontent. That is particularly true in small towns and cities in what is already one of the most parched regions of the world. Farms turned barren, lakes became dust bowls. Millions moved to provincial towns and cities, and joblessness led to mounting discontent among the young. Then came a crippling drought, lasting roughly 14 years.”

                Sheila Kaplan, E.P.A. Delays Bans on Uses of Hazardous Chemicals," The New York Times, December 19, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/health/epa-toxic-chemicals.html?ref=todayspaper, "The Environmental Protection Agency will indefinitely postpone bans on certain uses of three toxic chemicals found in consumer products, according to an update of the Trump administration’s regulatory plans.

Critics said the reversal demonstrated the agency’s increasing reluctance to use enforcement powers granted to it last year by Congress under the Toxic Substances Control Act."

Brazil's relaxed environmental regulation enforcement has been a major factor in the huge expanse of the countries cattle and soy industries into wetlands. Since 2002, 8700 miles of the Pantanal wetlands,  the world's largest, in Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia have become dry, in many places with yellow arid land (Enesto Londono, "Brazil Wavers on Environment, and Wetlands Start to Wither," The New York Times, December 24, 2017).

                Jessica Corbett, "Tainted Honey: Bee-Poisoning Pesticides Found Globally: Lead researcher says there were 'relatively few places where we did not find any' samples contaminated with neonics known to harm bees," Common Dreams,               October 06, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/06/tainted-honey-bee-poisoning-pesticides-found-globally, reported, "
Raising further concerns about the global food production system, a new study found that bees worldwide are being widely exposed to dangerous agricultural chemicals, with 75 percent of honey samples from six continents testing positive for pesticides known to harm pollinators.

                'What this shows is the magnitude of the contamination," the study's lead author, Edward Mitchell, a biology professor at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland, told the Denver Post. He said there were "relatively few places where we did not find any" contaminated samples.

                For the study, published in the journal Science, Mitchell's team of researchers examined nearly 200 samples for the five most commonly used neonicotinoid pesticides, or neonics.

                They found:

                in North America, 86 percent of samples from contained one or more neonicotinoid;

                in Asia, 80 percent;

                in Europe (where there is a partial ban), 79 percent;

                in Africa 73 percent;

                in and around Australia, 71 percent;

                and in South America, 57 percent.

                The Guardian mapped the global results.

                Although researchers believe the measured concentrations of neonicotinoids in the tested honey samples are not enough to harm humans, they warn that 'a significant detrimental effect on bees is likely for a substantial proportion of the analyzed samples, as adult bees rely on honey for food, including during periods of overwintering or seasons without blossoming flowers.'

                Study co-author Alexandre Aebi, also from the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland, told BBC News that humans 'would have to eat an awful lot of honey and other contaminated products to see an effect,' but he thinks 'it's a warning and it is a call for a precautionary principle.'

                Aebi said that he and the other researchers are especially concerned that so many samples contained two or more neonicotinoids. Nearly half of all the honey samples showed more than two types of neonics, and 10 percent had four or more. Overall, more than a third of the samples featured pesticides at levels known to harm bees.

                When pollinators such as bees consume pollen and nectar that contains neonicotinoids, they have been shown to experience learning and memory problems, which can interfere with their ability to gather food. The impact can be so severe that it jeopardizes the health of the entire hive.

                'The increasingly documented sublethal effects of neonicotinoid pesticides at environmentally relevant concentrations on bees,' the researchers note, 'include growth disorders, reduced efficiency of the immune system, neurological and cognitive disorders, respiratory and reproductive function, queen survival, foraging efficiency,' and decreased homing capacity.

                'It is definitely scary for honeybees and other bees and useful insects,' Aebi said. 'We have up to five molecules in one single sample. From a risk assessment point of view, the evaluation of the risk is made from one single compound in one test organism. So the cocktail is not tested. Mixed effects should be taken seriously.'

                The impact on bees of continuing to use these pesticides is expected to have widespread consequences.

                'In 2014, a global assessment of neonicotinoids concluded that their widespread use was putting the global food production system at risk,' the Guardian noted on Thursday. An updated assessment that is slated to appear in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research found even stronger evidence that the insecticides are harmful, and reportedly concludes: 'The consequences are far reaching and cannot be ignored any longer.^"

                (This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)."

                Tom Philpott, "A Clue in the Bee Death Mystery: Insecticides are often blamed, but new signs point to another chemical," Mother Jones, November 29, 2017, http://www.motherjones.com/food/2017/11/a-clue-in-the-bee-death-mystery/, reported in part, "Domesticated honeybees get all the buzz, but wild bumble bees are in decline too, both globally and here in the United States. What gives? It’s an important question, because while managed honeybees provide half of the pollination required by US crops, bumble and other wild bees deliver the other half.

                Insecticides used in agriculture are one possible trigger—they exist to kill insects, after all, and bumble bees are insects. But a different kind of farm chemical, one designed to kill fungi that harm crops, has emerged as a possible culprit. A new study by a team of researchers led by Cornell University entomologist Scott McArt adds to the growing dossier of studies pinpointing fungicide as a potential bee killer (see http://www.motherjones.com/food/2017/11/a-clue-in-the-bee-death-mystery/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26463198, and http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0070182). "

                "Their goal was to see which of these factors was most closely associated with shrinking habitats and Nosema bombi infections. Total fungicide applications in a given area emerged as the best predictor of range contraction; and a single widely used fungicide, chlorothalonil, proved to be the clearest indicator of Nosema bombi prevalence."

                Carl Zimmer, “In the Arctic, More Rain May Mean Fewer Musk Oxen,” The New York Times, January 18, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/science/musk-oxen-climate-change.html?ref=todayspaper, reported, “Dr. Berger has studied musk oxen in Alaska for nearly a decade, and on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, he and his colleagues reported a disturbing finding: Musk oxen are unexpectedly vulnerable to rapid climate change in the Arctic.

In a warming landscape, pregnant female musk oxen may struggle to find enough food for their unborn calves, the researchers found. Their undersized offspring may die young or fail to produce many calves of their own. In places, musk oxen may disappear altogether.

The study is the first to suggest a strong link between increasing winter rainfall and the declining health of Arctic mammals.”

                The herds of elephants roaming a wide area of desert in Mali has been suffering so many losses from poachers that if nothing were done, they likely would go out of existence in three years. Mali has now created a mixed force of rangers and military to protect the elephants in a dangerous area crossed by ISIS members and bandits (Mark Rivett-Carnac, "Mali’s Desert Elephants, on Edge of Annihilation, Get a Fighting Chance," The New York Times, October 29, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/world/africa/mali-elephants-gourma.html?ref=todayspaper).

                Snakes in the United States have been struck, at least since 2006, with a sometimes deadly fungus disease (Games Gorman, "A Spreading Fungus Can Be Deadly to Snakes," The New York Times, December 26, 2017).

                Warming waters off the Maine coast have caused shrimp to move north, greatly reducing shrimp fishing in the state and threatening to end it (Mary Pols, "The End of Maine Shrimp," The New York Times, December 27, 2017).

                Global Citizen reported, January 19, 2018,  https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/new-zealand-penguins-fishing-bycatch-crisis/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=iterable_campaign_US_Jan_19_2018_Fri_content_digest_actives_alive_180d, “Fishing Companies Are Trying to Hide How Penguins Are Showing Up Dead in Their Nets

Governments are reckoning with the staggering scale of bycatch.

Penguins are not the intended catch of New Zealand deep-sea fishing vessels.

But in footage captured by New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries, there are dead penguins in trawler nets, according to the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/17/new-zealand-fishing-grisly-images-dead-penguins-caught-nets-censored.”

                Pollution in the Sallish Sea has been reducucing the repoduction of Orcas, threatening the existence of the whales ("Orcas in Trouble," Defenders, Winter 2018).

                Sea Turtles off Hawai'i have been shifting gender birth ratios over the last few decades as waters warm, from 87% female to 99% female (Karen Weintraub, "More Female Sea Turtles Born as Temperatures Rise," The New York Times, January 11, 2018)

                Christopher Pala, "Loss of Federal Protections May Imperil Pacific Reefs, Scientists Warn. Fisheries officials call the marine national monuments unnecessary, and their boundaries are said to be under review by the Trump administration," The New York Times, October 30, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/science/trump-zinke-pacific-marine-reserves.html?ref=todayspaper, reported that examination of several under water mountains, or seamounts, in the mid-Pacific show that areas that were teaming with sea life are now baron, and some of the coral has been killed by fishing. Evidence of the cause is in masses of parts of fishing and trolling gear. One of the scientists involved says, “It was a biological desert,” he said. Where normally fish and crabs dart about forests of coral and sponges, “all we could can see was a parking lot full of nets and lines, with no life at all.” “But the extent of the devastation and the huge amount of gear that was abandoned on the bottom were shocking for both of us.” “Allowing fishing in the few protected seamounts left would be a huge mistake.”

                Damien Cave and Justin Gillis, "Building a Better Coral Reef: As reefs die off, researchers want to breed the world’s hardiest corals in labs and return them to the sea to multiply. The effort raises scientific and ethical questions," The New York Times, September 20, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/climate/coral-great-barrier-reef.html?ref=todayspaper&mtrref=www.nytimes.com&auth=login-email, reported, "On the Great Barrier Reef, off Australia — After a plunge beneath the crystal-clear water to inspect a coral reef, Neal Cantin pulled off his mask and shook his head.

“All dead,” he said.

                Yet even as he and his dive team of international scientists lamented the devastation that human recklessness has inflicted on the world’s greatest system of reefs, they also found cause for hope.

                As they spent days working through a stretch of ocean off the Australian state of Queensland, Dr. Cantin and his colleagues surfaced with sample after sample of living coral that had somehow dodged a recent die-off: hardy survivors, clinging to life in a graveyard."

                "The goal is not just to study them, but to find the ones with the best genes, multiply them in tanks on land and ultimately return them to the ocean where they can continue to breed. The hope is to create tougher reefs — to accelerate evolution, essentially — and slowly build an ecosystem capable of surviving global warming and other human-caused environmental assaults."

                The decline in wild salmon in Norway as the result of an increase of sea lice attacking the fish after flowing out of the country's many salmon fish farms (where they are also a problem) has brought the Norwegian government to limit the expansion of fish farms. Fish farmers strongly oppose the measure, while conservationists say the measure does not go far enough. A legal and political battle over the regulation has begun (Stephen Castle, "As Wild Salmon Decline, Norway Pressures Its Giant Fish Farms," The New York Times, November 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/world/europe/salmon-norway-fish-farms.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0).

                Botanists have discovered a fungus in a Pakistani landfill that breaks down certain kinds of plastics in weeks by exuding an enzyme that breaks down chemical bonds quickly. Experiments are underway to see if it might be used to solve much of the world's huge plastic waste problem (Phineas Rueckert, "This Plastic-Eating Fungus Just Might Save Humanity," Global Citizen, October 4, 2017, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/this-fungus-eats-plastic-just-might-save-humanity/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=iterable_campaign_US_Oct_9_2017_Mon_content_digest_actives).

                Trust for the Public Land reported, December 4, 2017, http://contacts.tpl.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=73042&em_id=58686.0, "It’s official. President Trump signed away almost two million acres from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments today with a disastrous executive proclamation.

                This attack amounts to the largest elimination of protected public lands in U.S. history, putting tens of thousands of archeological sites, Native American sacred sites, and recreational lands at risk."

                Other public lands were also recommended by the Secretary of the Interior for reduction and/or modification in the Secretary of the Interior's December 2017 memorandum to the President, "Final Report Summarizing Findings of the Review of Designation Under the Antiquities Act," available at: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/revised_final_report.pdf.

                A lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Denver, CO, in September 2017, by a lawyer and Deep Green Resistance, an environmental group, stating that the Colorado River was the plaintiff against Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, asserting that the governor was liable for violating the river's "right to exist, flourish, regenerate, be restored and naturally evolve." Legal experts say that the suit has a low likelihood of succeeding, but if it did, it would likely change environmental law, giving natural entities legal standing for people to suit on their behalf (Julie Turkewitz, "Plaintiff in Federal Lawsuit Over Viokation Rights Is the Colorado River," The New York Times, September 27, 2017).

<<<<<<<<<+>>>>>>>>>>

Environmental Activities

     Steve Sachs

               

                Daily Kos reported, January 28, 2018, https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/fossil-free-fast/?source=org-signup&referrer=dailykos-actions&link_id=2&can_id=2304a48b2891e77b9b6c14d1ce535f4f&email_referrer=email_292562&email_subject=trump-wears-his-climate-ignorance-proudly-statefull-default-your-state-is-fighting-back, "Climate activists will gather in Washington, D.C. on January 31 at 8pm (ET) to deliver the state of the climate movement. But you don't have to go all the way to D.C. to join us for Fossil Free Fast: The Climate Resistance!
                Dedicated climate organizers all over the country are hosting watching parties."

               

350.org has been engaged in a worldwide campaign, "Stop  Fossil Fuels; 100% Renewables," aimed at stopping all new coal, oil and gas projects, and moving to renewable energy.

For details go to: http://act.350.org/.

               

                The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), has been continuing its efforts to have the U.S. government respect and act on the basis of good science, and to stop attacking and undermining science in public policy. It has been monitoring the Trump administrations many anti-science acts. Among them, is The Department of Energy terminating the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiment – Tropics (NGEE-Tropics) research project about seven years ahead of schedule. On the other hand, UCS reports "Silver Lining to GOP Tax Bill: Electric Car Credit Preserved."

                For more information visit: www.ucsusa.org.

                The Indigenous Environmental Network, http://www.ienearth.org/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=MyNewsletterBuilder&utm_content=368682913&utm_campaign=Sept%209%20Join%20an%20Action%20Near%20YOU%201413142620&utm_term=The%20Indigenous%20Environmental%20Network, announced September 7, 2017, “#StopETP is a growing coalition of communities and organizations that care deeply about our rights to clean water, clean air, a stable climate, and a democratic society. We believe that landowners and indigenous tribes have the right to determine what happens to their land. But Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), a giant oil company based in Texas, has been consistently violating those rights in their drive to build new oil and gas pipelines. And along the way, communities have suffered.

                Organizations Involved:

                350.org, 350 DC, 350 Louisiana, Alamosa Riverkeeper, Appalachia Resist!, Bates Environmental Coalition, Bold Iowa, Bold Louisiana, Blair County Coalition for Public Safety, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Climate March, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch, Crystal Coast Waterkeeper, Earthworks, Els Verds – Alternativa Verda, Environmental Stewardship, Food & Water Watch, Friends for Environmental Justice, Foundation for Economic Democracy, Goshen United for Public Safety, Hurricane Creekkeeper, Indigenous Environmental Network, Lakota People’s Law Project, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Native Organizers Alliance, NoDAPL Global Solidarity, North Louisiana for Earth & Water Justice, Ohio River Citizens Alliance, Oil Change International, Rainforest Action Network, Rising Hearts Coalition, Romero Institute, San Francisco Baykeeper, Sierra Club, Seeding Sovereignty, Stand.earth, Stolen Nation, Waccamaw Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, Winyah Rivers Foundation… and many more.”

                “On September 7th, 8th and 9th we're taking action across the country to #StopETP and defend Indigenous rights and our water, land, air, and climate.” Locations include: Live Oak, FL, Dallas, TX, St. James, LA, Chicago, IL, Des Moines, IA, Earlham, IA, Cleveland , OH, TX, Columbus, OH, Marietta, OH, Marcus Hook , PA, Duncansville, PA, Huntingdon, PA, Applegate, OR, Corvallis, OR, Joshua Tree, CA, and Concord, CA."

                For more information go to: http://stopetp.org.

                Food & Water Action (https://www.foodandwateractionfund.org), stated October 11, 2017, in an E-mail, that it "is endorsing and campaigning for candidates in Pennsylvania who have pledged to fight the extremely dangerous Mariner East 2 pipeline. We can stop the pipeline by winning local elections in key municipalities along the pipeline route.
                Mariner East 2 is a dangerous pipeline being built by Energy Transfer Partners that would transport extremely explosive materials known as Highly Volatile Liquids through countless communities, endangering hundreds of thousands of people in its path. These materials are derived from fracking, and the pipeline would be used to export them to Scotland to make plastic.

¹ Construction has already started, but we still have a chance to stop it."

                EquatorBankAct announced, October 14, 2017, https://petitions.signforgood.com/EquatorBanksAct/?code=198m&link_id=4&can_id=2304a48b2891e77b9b6c14d1ce535f4f&source=email-big-news-big-french-bank-defunds-pipelines-2&email_referrer=email_248034&email_subject=big-news-big-french-bank-defunds-pipelines, "French Bank BNP Paribas took a step in the right direction. 90 more banks to go: French Mega-bank BNP Paribas announced this that it's cutting its funding for extreme oil and fracked gas projects in the US and Canada. While we (and our friends in France) will need to monitor the implementation and details, the news is REALLY GOOD.¹
                Specifically: BNP Paribas will not fund new exploration, production, transportation and export projects related to Tar sands, fracked gas and the Arctic, nor the companies involved; The announcement includes a ban on funding Keystone XL and TransCanada, Line 3 and Enbridge, a Texas fracked gas export facility and any future gas export terminals in the Gulf; and more!²"

The League of Conservation voters (LCV), https://www.lcv.org, stated, September 18, 2017, https://secure3.convio.net/lcv/site/SPageNavigator/LCV_ms_donation_20340.html;jsessionid=00000000.app315b?autologin=true&NONCE_TOKEN=B15ACBF496FCFA8BE542785A05E85140, “LCV learned — late last night — that Interior Secretary Zinke is recommending shrinking or modifying ten national monuments. This includes shrinking the boundaries of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, Nevada’s Gold Butte, and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou.             
          The Interior report — that the Trump Administration refused to release — would open up vast swaths of protected areas — land and water that are part of our national monuments — to Big Polluters and other special interests. This report constitutes an unprecedented attack on protected lands and waters in the United States.
          But removing existing safeguards for our public lands and waters at this scale is beyond unprecedented — it exceeds Trump’s statutory and constitutional authority. We can’t let Trump get away with this.

                Nuclear Information and Resource Service, September 14, 2017, https://www.nirs.org, commented in an E-mail, “Irma and Harvey mark the first time on record that two category 4 or higher hurricanes have struck the U.S. mainland in the same year, both in states that have nuclear reactors. The potential danger is overwhelmingly apparent. At the rate at which we’re experiencing extreme natural disasters, how can we be certain the next one won’t trigger a Fukushima-like nuclear meltdown?

It’s ludicrous that the Trump administration would propose nuclear bailouts for this dying, dirty, and dangerous energy source. We have to stop Trump's $100+ Billion nuclear bailout!

The combined estimated damage from Irma and Harvey is about $290 billion. Where the feds will get the money for those repairs is a mystery to most of us. But the idea that Trump wants to give $100+ billion in bailouts to coal and nuclear power in the face of these dirty-energy-fueled disasters is unconscionable – it must be stopped.

Now imagine the Turkey Point reactors, 25 miles from Miami, which were in line for a possible direct hit from Irma, had been struck.  The financial cost would nearly double. Fukushima costs are still rising, currently sitting somewhere around $188 billion.  Which does not include the cost in human lives, trauma, health, and quality of life.

We cannot afford to let the Trump administration bail out the nuclear industry. 

The stakes are too high. Our rapidly changing climate has triggered extreme and uncertain weather patterns. We can’t allow this danger to be exacerbated by an avoidable catastrophic nuclear meltdown.”

                Choe Sang-Hun, "South Korea Will Resume Reactor Work, Defying Nuclear Opponents," The New York Times, October 20, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/world/asia/south-korea-nuclear-plants.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0, reported, "South Korea decided Friday to resume construction of two nuclear plants, reversing a campaign promise by the new president and frustrating supporters who want the country to phase out nuclear power.

                In the months before his election, President Moon Jae-in had vowed not to allow any new reactors. When he made that pledge, five nuclear power plants were under construction, three of them near completion. Mr. Moon said that he would scrap the other two, which were both in the early stages."

                Food and Water Watch was involved in a campaign for 100% Renewable Energy in the U.S., in September 2017, https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=00000000.app324a?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3063&autologin=true&NONCE_TOKEN=72DC816595BF46E9B8A12A6FEA80523D. "As Texas and Louisiana continue to reel from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Harvey, we're reminded yet again how much suffering is caused by powerful storms and other extreme weather. Our thoughts are with those ongoing recovery efforts even as Hurricane Irma looms off the Atlantic coast. 
                The frequency and severity of events like these — which threaten the water, food, homes, and lives of millions — will only increase if climate change is not addressed in a meaningful way.
                That's why we have worked with U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard to introduce a bill to move America completely off fossil fuels by 2035.1
                Ask your representative to join Tulsi in co-sponsoring this bold legislation that reflects the urgency of the situation we're in.
                The Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act (OFF Act), just introduced in the House of Representatives, is based on the most recent climate science and is the strongest piece of climate legislation introduced to date.
                It calls for a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035, with 80% of that by 2027, recognizing that swift action in the next ten years is critical for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. It would end fossil fuel subsidies, place a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects, ban the export of oil and gas, and call for a just transition for those most impacted, including communities of color and low-income areas on the front lines of climate and pollution fights.
                It's a truly ambitious plan that recognizes the severity of the climate crisis and what it will take to prevent further harm to people here at home and around the world.

_________________

1. H.R. 3671: Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act, Congress.gov.
2. Our Lives Depend on Moving America Off Fossil Fuels. Here's How We'll Do It., Food & Water Watch, April 28, 2017.

                Bill McKibben, "3 Strategies to Get to a Fossil-Free America: None of them rely on Washington to do anything useful," From The Nation, February 12-19, 2018, https://www.thenation.com/issue/february-12-19-2018-issue, commented, in part, "When the next phase of the US climate movement launches with a nationally streamed rally at the end of the month, the wound-licking will be over. Yes, the Trump administration has upset any hope of a smooth and orderly transition to a new energy world. Yes, it’s pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Yes, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Energy Secretary Rick Perry have made a mockery of hurricane victims and fire victims and flood victims, from San Juan to Montecito to Houston.

                But the fossil-fuel industry doesn’t hold all the high cards. We’ll start playing our own aces for a Fossil-Free United States on January 31, when Bernie Sanders and an all-star lineup brought together by 350.org that includes everyone from indigenous activist Dallas Goldtooth to NAACP organizer Jacqui Patterson to star youth climate organizer Varshini Prakash lay out a coordinated plan for the year ahead.

                The basic outlines are pretty simple. None of the strategies rely on Washington’s doing anything useful. In fact, because DC has emerged as the fossil-fuel industry’s impregnable fortress, our strategies look everywhere else for progress. In every case, real momentum has emerged, even in the last few weeks."

                Here are the three strategies discussed in the article:

                "Job 1: Push for a fast and just transition to renewable energy in cities and states."

                "Job 2: Stop new fossil-fuel projects."

                "Job 3: Cut off the flow of money to the fossil-fuel. industry."

                "The political saliency of the climate issue grows stronger too, especially as it becomes clear that it’s not some niche concern of affluent suburbanites with a weekend home in the country. Polling makes clear that African Americans and Latinos are the two groups most concerned about climate change, which makes sense since they’ve borne the brunt of the effects so far. (All it takes is a record rainstorm to find out who lives at the bottom of the hill.)These are also the groups taking the lead in climate organizing, giving it a new and vital energy. Vice, the CNN of the young, reported this month that 'the next millennial trend is suing big oil for destructive climate change,' apparently replacing avocado toast.

                None of which means that the fight is won. Big Oil has had a big year, and they hold most of the levers in Washington. But they’re beginning to lose in a lot of other places—including in people’s hearts and minds. Destruction like that wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and Maria; tragedy like that wrought by California’s fires and mudslides—it takes a toll. No lie lives forever, and 2018 may be the year that the most dangerous deceit in the planet’s history finally unravels for good."

                198 Methods, Amazon Watch, BankTrack, Beyond Extreme Energy, Climate Hawks Vote, Daily Kos, DivestInvest Individual, Earth Guardians, Friends of the Earth Action, Green America, Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Mazaska Talks, New Economy Coalition, People's Action, SierraRise, Stand.earth and Watchdog.net were engaged in a campaign, in October 2017, https://petitions.signforgood.com/EquatorBanksAct/?code=DK&redirect=https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/kos2017?refcode=20170927swEquatorBanks&link_id=11&can_id=2304a48b2891e77b9b6c14d1ce535f4f&source=email-trumps-unpopularity-has-been-massively-underplayed-in-the-media&email_referrer=email_249319&email_subject=trumps-unpopularity-has-been-massively-underplayed-in-the-media, "Tell big banks: Stop financing climate disasters and respect Indigenous rights," stating, "This October, more than 90 of the world’s largest banks will meet in Brazil to recommit to the Equator Principles, a set of rules guiding which big infrastructure projects they will and won't finance. 

                Now is the time for them to act on their supposed principles. They must stop financing climate change and respect Indigenous peoples’ rights. Sign now to demand that they make commitments to change.

                These “Equator banks” have all promised to avoid or minimize the social, environmental and climate impacts of such projects, and to respect the rights and interests of Indigenous communities affected by them.      However...

                These Principles for banks to follow sound good – but they’re not working.

                The Principles as they are written now are not stopping banks from financing disaster projects that are destroying our climate. Nor are these Principles stopping banks from trampling on the rights of Indigenous peoples, fully recognised in international law, to reject projects they do not want in their territories.¹

                The U.S. Dakota Access Pipeline, fiercely opposed by the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Lakota Tribes, and the Honduran Agua Zarca hydro project, where Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres was murdered for leading the Lenca people’s opposition to the project, are but two examples of projects financed by banks under the Equator Principles.

                Sign here to demand that the Equator Banks act decisively when they meet October 24 in São Paulo, Brazil, and commit to stop financing climate disasters and respect Indigenous peoples’ rights and land.

                We call on the Equator Principles Association to agree in Brazil to a full revision process for the Principles, so that they reflect at minimum two solid commitments:

Stop financing climate disasters:

Include a full commitment to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees, aiming for 1.5 degrees;

                Include stringent and binding criteria that all projects to be financed under the Equator framework be fully aligned with reaching the Paris Agreement goals; and for this reason:

Explicitly exclude all new fossil fuel extraction, transportation and power projects from financing under the Equator Principles.

                Respect Indigenous peoples’ rights and territories:

                Include an explicit commitment to uphold the right of Indigenous peoples to give or deny free, prior, and informed consent for projects situated on territories they traditionally use and occupy;

                Commit to not financing projects, neither directly or indirectly, that did not obtain such consent;

Strengthen due diligence and consultation processes to ensure that Indigenous peoples’ rights are fully respected;

                Ensure that Indigenous peoples and other project-affected communities have full access to grievance channels with project sponsors and financing banks when their rights and interests are violated."

                Chase Iron Eyes of the Lakota People's Law Project e-mailed, November 9, 2017, "Standing Rock raised the stakes for the global environmental and indigenous rights movements. Now, another victory. A North Dakota judge has ruled that my legal team is entitled to substantially more evidence from the North Dakota State Prosecutor’s office than has been forthcoming in other water protector cases. We will be able to take sworn testimony and demand documents from Energy Transfer Partners and their private, militarized security firm, TigerSwan.

                The timing on this ruling is important for all environmental protectors. 84 members of Congress—nearly all Republicans—recently sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraging him to invoke the domestic terrorism statute to prosecute fossil fuel protesters. These attacks on our fundamental constitutional rights, spearheaded by Donald Trump and parroted by congressional shills of Big Oil, should deeply concern all citizens who value our right to speak freely and demonstrate.

                Our team has produced a new video [available at: https://www.lakotalaw.org/our-actions/on-trial] that explains how I was singled out and targeted—and the justification for our bold legal strategy to expose the illegal and immoral wedding of the fossil fuel industry, law enforcement, and militarized private security forces. You’ll see why I took action on behalf of my people, millions of others downstream, and Unci Maka—Grandmother Earth.

                350.0rg, announced January 10, 2017, https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/fossil-free-fast/, the then coming, "Fossil Free Fast: The Climate Resistance," saying," On January 31st, the day after Trump’s first State of the Union, our movement will come together for Fossil Free Fast: The Climate Resistance.

                Movement leaders including Senator Bernie Sanders, Varshini Prakash of the Sunrise Movement, Rev. Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, Jessica Lorena Rangel of Houston Eyes of a Dreamer, Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, and many more will deliver the state of our climate movement. They will share stories on the urgency of the current political and climate crises, and light our path ahead: resist the Trump Administration’s ongoing attacks on our climate, build power towards the 2018 and 2020 elections, and secure the lasting change we need through local action.

                Together, we will end the use of fossil fuels and usher in the fast and just transition to 100% renewable energy for all

This inspiring event will be livestreamed at 8:00 PM ET -- and thousands across the country will watch with their friends and family. Will you join them?

                350.Org"

                350.org, "Fossil Free House Parties," November 1, 2017, https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/fossil-free-house-parties?utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit, stated, "

Join us November 11th through November 19th at a #FossilFree house party near you. Meet others in your community who want to organize to build local power and take climate action.

                At the house parties, we will get to work on building a just and equitable Fossil Free world by passing local resolutions calling for 100% renewable energy for all and an immediate halt of all new fossil fuel projects.

Together, we can create a resounding upswell of public support for the ambitious climate solutions we need."

At least 40 FossilFree house parties were planned as of November 1.

            Carbonfund.org, stated in September 2017, “Labor Day has come and gone, and kids are back in school, except those in Florida, the Caribbean, and southeast Texas, where Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have caused such devastation. These horrible events, and the earthquakes in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico, have caused hundreds to lose their lives and thousands to face devastating rebuilding and billions in rebuilding costs. We send our best wishes for speedy recovery for all, and for greater attention to be placed upon the critical issues of climate change and the impact on increased and more extreme natural disasters.
                Part of our mission at Carbonfund.org is to make it simple and affordable for individuals and businesses of all sizes to make a difference in environmental sustainability. This month, and through the end of this year, we are offering a "Bring a Partner" discount program to our current Carbonfree ® Business Partners. Simply refer your suppliers, customers, neighbors and friends who own and run businesses to join our Carbonfree ® Business Partnership program for 2018, and we will discount current partnership renewals by $60 for each new Carbonfree ® Business Partner.
           Two of our long-term Carbonfree ® Business Partners, Arbor Teas and Earth Science Naturals, are among three dozen businesses celebrating their tenth anniversary with Carbonfund.org this year. Please read about their meaningful sustainability initiatives and commitments, and consider the same for your organization.
           If you've traveled this summer, you can offset the carbon footprint of your trip as well:
                Plant Trees
           - Offset your personal daily emissions
           - Offset summer vacation travel
          - Join our Carbonfree® Business Partnership Program” 

                Carbon Fund reported on its work, December 28, 2017,  Carbonfund.org, "25 Billion Pounds of CO₂! 179 Carbon reduction projects; 40 US states: 23 Countries.

                As an environmentalist and donor, you want to know your donations are making a difference. With your generous support, Carbonfund.org has been able to support projects all over the world reducing billions of pounds of CO2 and supporting new technologies and more efficient ways of doing things."

                The NRDC Action Fund stated by E-mail, September 30, 2017, " The Trump administration is secretly taking the dangerous first steps toward opening our pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to risky oil drilling.
                This is the worst assault on the Arctic Refuge in decades — and it's for no other reason than to bolster fossil fuel industry profits. We need your help to stop it at all costs.
                Here's the thing: The administration can't open the refuge to drilling without the go-ahead from Congress.
                Please urge your senators and representative to do everything in their power to stop Trump's despicable drilling plans!
                Often called "America's Serengeti", the Arctic Refuge's 1.5 million-acre coastal plain is its biological heart: Our nation's largest denning site for pregnant polar bears ... the last home of 350 shaggy muskoxen ... the birthing ground for the 197,000-member Porcupine caribou herd ... and vital to the culture and survival of the region's Gwich'in people.
                The Trump administration's short-sighted drilling scheme throws all of that into jeopardy. Its proposal would open the door to drilling by allowing massive seismic testing — which has been outlawed for 35 years because of the obvious threats that it poses to imperiled wildlife and their habitat.
                But still, President Trump and anti-wildlife members of Congress want to ram this short-sighted plan through as quickly as possible — so they're hard at work pushing pro-drilling legislation and using a backdoor budget process to allow drilling on the refuge's coastal plain.
                Trump and his allies in Congress are already proposing massive funding cuts to the EPA and other critical agencies that protect our environment, our climate, and our health. We can't let them add the Arctic Refuge to the chopping block."

Global Citizen, “The UN Has Called This the Second Biggest Environmental Problem Facing Our World: A gold ring generates 20 tonnes of waste . And waste isn’t even the lasting problem, September 14, 2017, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/acid-drainage/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=iterable_campaign_US_Sep_18_2017_Mon_content_digest_actives, stated, “Is it worth poisoning people to collect some gold?

That’s the question now facing Romania’s Prime Minister Mihai Tudose as he contemplates reopening the Rosia Montana goldfield.

Rosia Montana holds 314 tons of gold and so offers the prospect of making millions and creating short-term employment opportunities for thousands of workers.

But what it also offers the possibility of environmental destruction.

A mining project like this would use a process called cyanide amalgamation to extract gold, and this process has left devastation in its wake before, according to an article by Stephen Tuffnell, associate professor of modern US history at the University of Oxford.

In the 1970s, a copper mine in Rosia Montana caused the evacuation of the village of Geamana when its land was needed as a storage space for the mine’s cyanide-contaminated waste. The village now lies abandoned below toxic water.

This isn’t an isolated case. Gold mining has caused a number of environmental crises over the years.

Cyanidation is the process of mixing finely crushed ores (also knowns as “sands” or “slimes”) in a cyanide solution. This is then mixed in large reservoirs and the gold is separated from its ore body.

This method increases the amount of gold collected but also creates vast amounts of toxic waste that then releases acid and metals into the surrounding area. Still, about 90% of gold is extracted this way, according to Tuffnell’s article on The Conversation.

This poisonous waste then sits in open ponds as its acid concentration drops to the legal limit. Spills occur when there is a dam failure or a break in pond lining. While these spills are short lived, they are extremely toxic, Tuffnell reported.

The environment can be — and has been — affected more long term by something called acid drainage. This happens due to the oxidation of iron ore found at the same time as precious minerals. When the iron reacts with the air, it releases sulphuric acid into the water.

And what consequences does acid in water have?

The UN has called acid drainage the second biggest problem of our world, bested only by global warming, according to Tuffnell’s article on The Conversation.

In the United States alone, it is estimated that 22,000 kilometers of streams and 180,000 acres of freshwater reservoirs are affected by acid drainage. Waters in Canada, China, Papua New Guinea and more have also been affected.

In Romania, Prime Minister Tudose will decide whether to once again expose his country to this kind of acid drainage, and further damage the environment in ways that may not be easy to recover from.

Join Global Citizen in campaigning on environmental issues and take action at: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/take-action/”

                The Havasupai Tribe, living in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, in June 2017, was objecting to the mining and transporting of uranium near the Grand Canyon as a threat to their only water supply(Krista Allen, "Havasupai concerned about uranium mine, transport," Navajo  Times, June 29, 2017).

                Massive protests in Australia and abroad were reported in October 2017 to the government considering allowing development of what would become one of the world's largest coal mines in the remote area of the Halilee Basin. The main objection is to the global warming impact of burning more coal (Jacqueline Williams, "QuwariohRoiling Australia: Does the Planet Need More Coal?" The New York Times, October 15, 2017).

                The Nuclear Information Service wrote, October 13, 2017, https://dirtyenergytrump.causevox.com, "Two weeks ago, Department of Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, proposed a massive bailout for nuclear and coal power plants far worse than anyone expected. The proposal is so extreme that industry commentators and reporters thought it would be rejected! No such luck. Rogue Trump appointees heading FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) are rushing to approve the nuclear-coal bailout as fast as possible.

                We must take action now to stop this BAD policy! 

On Wednesday, NIRS submitted more than 10,000 comments for the record at FERC in opposition to the Trump Administration’s plans for the Commission to enact these massive bailouts. We have to keep up and build this pressure as much as possible over the next three weeks, to mobilize thousands more petitions and make Congress hold FERC accountable.

                This is a fight for America’s clean energy future.

                If adopted, the proposal would bail out expensive and uneconomical nuclear and coal power plants that can no longer compete with renewable energy, and saddle ratepayers with higher costs, all the while posing obstacles to the integration of cleaner and less risky energy sources such as solar and wind.

                Survey after survey shows that Americans want more clean and safe renewable energy! To artificially prop up these dirty energy industries and then to force consumers to pay the bill to enrich these already astonishingly profitable companies ranks as one of the most anti-environment and anti-consumer steps of the last 50 years."

                Kendall Mackey - 350.org [mailto:350@350.org, wrote, November 4, 2017, "e been fighting Keystone XL with renewable energy, s"o"""Friends,

                The latest installation of solar panels directly in the path of the Keystone XL pipeline are going up in Nebraska this month. If TransCanada wants to build its dirty tar sands pipeline, they'll have to tear down clean, renewable energy.

                Solar XL not only provides clean energy, it tells an inspiring story about the people and places who are standing up to resist Trump’s agenda and TransCanada’s dirty tar sands pipeline.

                This pipeline is not a done deal. In order to build it, TransCanada needs one final permit from Nebraska's Public Service Commission (PSC), which will vote to approve or deny the permit this month.

                In August, we delivered nearly 500,000 public comments and marched through Nebraska's state capital with our partners to urge the PSC to reject the permit, but that’s not all. The climate movement – including Indigenous leaders, farmers, ranchers, and activists like you – has been fighting for several years to keep dirty tar sands in the ground and stop this and every destructive project like it. 

                This movement is growing and only getting stronger. We're ready to take bold action to protect our water and climate if Keystone XL gets approved. Stay tuned for an announcement before the end of November."

                Watch this inspiring new film that shares the stories of the people and vision behind #SolarXL - then help build the momentum by sharing it far and wide at: https://350.org/solar-xl/?akid=28721.602582.c3XztI&rd=1&t=5&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit#film. This 8-minute film takes you to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota where the pipeline would run less than a mile outside its border. It brings you along the river that the Tribe depends on for drinking water that would be contaminated when the pipeline leaks.

                It also features Jim Carlson and his farm in Nebraska where the first solar installation went up in his family’s corn fields. We learn what this pipeline would mean for his health, family, and well-being and why he’s been fighting this project for seven years."

                A small group of land defenders have been camped out in trees 50 feet in the air in Huntington County, PA to stop the Matiner East (ME2) natural gas liquids pipeline ("Defending the Land 50 feet in the Air," In These Times, December 2017).

                Food and Water Watch, "We just beat Nestlé!" November 9, 2017, announced via E-mail, "For nine years, we've worked with the community in Hood River County and people across Oregon to stop Nestlé's plan to grab their water and build a water bottling plant.
                The community never gave up the fight against Nestlé's attempt to take their water — and they won.

                After years of building opposition locally, the issue was finally put on the ballot last year. Voters in Hood River County overwhelmingly voted to ban water bottling in the area and keep Nestlé out. But the state still tried to move forward with a deal that would give Nestlé access to the area's water. After more pressure from the community, Oregon Governor Kate Brown directed her Department of Fish and Wildlife to stop the deal!"

                Ocean River Institute stated, September 23, 2017, https://www.classy.org/campaign/seamount-guardians-and-deep-sea-canyon-rangers/c123422?utm_source=Deep%20Sea%20Canyon%20Rangers%20Defend%20the%20King%20Scallops%20of%20Wester%20Ros&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=A%20Wealth%20of%20Right%20Whales, "The Secretary of the Interior has recommended opening the NE Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to commercial fishing.

                Today, more than ever before, deep sea canyon rangers and seamount guardians are needed to make sure critical marine life feeding patterns are not disrupted, that forage fish like squid are not removed to the detriment of whales, tuna, and seabirds, and that whales are not entangled in fishing gear.

                Only you can stop government from opening up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to oil and gas drilling and mineral mining.  Act to protect sperm whales of the canyons, tripod fish of the seamounts and cold water corals throughout the national park area. 

                Ocean River Institute was also campaigning in September 2017, https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Nicola_Sturgeon_First_Minister_Scottish_Government_Stop_scallop_dredging_destroying_Scotlands_inshore_sealife/?fhIlsgb&pv=1&utm_source=sharetools&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=petition-421255-Nicola_Sturgeon_First_Minister_Scottish_Government_Stop_scallop_dredging_destroying_Scotlands_inshore_sealife&utm_term=hIlsgb%2Ben&utm_source=Deep+Sea+Canyon+Rangers+Defend+the+King+Scallops+of+Wester+Ros&utm_campaign=A+Wealth+of+Right+Whales&utm_medium=email, "Defend the King Scallops of Wester Ros, Scotland, "Tell Scotland's First Minister to stop inshore scallop dredging from destroying sea life.

                Dredging close to shore, scallop dredgers have dragged over rocky bottoms and gravel beds where cod, haddock, pollock and hake breed.   They have destroyed maerl beds.  Scallop dredging must be restricted to sandy floors where the scallops reside.  These places tend to be in the middle of lochs and bays, furthest from the shore.  Here scallops are fished sustainably, and the catch is the most lucrative for fishermen.  Once these areas are dragged, scallop dredgers should not be permitted to stray away on to other ocean floors. 

                When a Scottish breeze blows and scallop dredgers would rather not go out three miles, they should stay safe in port to fathom a pub instead of destroying essential habitats for fish and prawn.

                The Ocean River Institute supports the coalition of Scottish groups that have come together exposing the chronic mismanagement of Scotland's inshore fisheries.  Our work is only possible thanks to support from individuals like you."

                                                News by Forest Stewardship Council Canada, Transmitted by Cision on September 19, 2017, "Canada to host meeting of global forestry leaders to plan future of responsible forest development, General Assembly of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Vancouver to discuss crucial topics for sustainable forest practices around the world, First-ever global meeting of FSC in Canada to be held October 8-13." reported, "The world's leading forest certification organization, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), will hold its triennial global General Assembly in Canada for the first time from October 8-13, 2017, in Vancouver. 800 people from more than 80 countries, including leaders in global forestry, will be attending to focus on how to enhance responsible forestry worldwide. 

As FSC's highest decision making body, the General Assembly (GA) sets the direction for the organization for the coming years, with several important areas of responsible forest management, conservation and sustainability on the agenda. These include, among others, the protection of High Conservation Value areas such as Intact Forest Landscapes, ensuring the rights and participation of Indigenous Peoples in forest development, and the future directions for forest restoration and conservation, all while permitting forests to continue to supply the vital products the world depends on for many purposes.

"This is a essential time in the development of FSC and forest certification as we address the issues that are key to the success not just of FSC but the future of the world's forests," said Kim Carstensen, Director General of FSC, which is headquartered in Bonn, Germany. "We made a lot of progress at our last General Assembly in 2014 with the launch of several new initiatives. In Vancouver we will review how we have progressed and chart a clear path forward to continue our work."

High Level Forum and side events

One of the highlights of the General Assembly is the High Level Forum and side events. During three days, high-profile speakers from some of the most representative businesses, social and environmental advocacy groups will explore the role that FSC can play as a voluntary certification scheme for responsible forest management and how to incentivize consumer demand for sustainably sourced forest products.

The first High Level Forum will be dedicated to The True Value of Forests, where participants will discuss the extent of the contribution of forests to society. The Forum's second day will be on Solid Wood, which will include discussions on identifying the market drivers for certified solid wood products regionally and internationally and the increasing importance of green building. The final High Level Forum debate, FSC in our Daily Lives, will explore how companies are leading the way in promoting sustainable consumer trends.

Among the speakers participating in the High Level Forum are: Michael Green, a Vancouver based architect who is leading the use of wood in construction; Peter Lantin, President of the Haida Nation; and Sarah Chandler, Director of Operations, Product Development and Environmental Initiatives at Apple Inc.

Other confirmed speakers at the General Assembly are Doug Donaldson, British Columbia Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development; Luc Blanchette, Quebec Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks; and Glenn Mason, Assistant Deputy Minister, Canadian Forest Services of Natural Resources Canada.

Numerous side events at the General Assembly will also offer engaging debates on the current issues that directly touch upon world forestry. Canada's Boreal forest will be a highlight of these where participants will be able to understand the importance this biome has for Canada's forestry industry and the global environment.

"We look forward to hosting delegates from around the world at the General Assembly in Vancouver and collaborating on vital decisions that will affect how our forest certification process will meet the requirement for responsible forestry in the 21st century," said François Dufresne, President, FSC Canada. "The collaborative process of FSC in addressing these issues with all stakeholders present is the key to our success."

SIG, Green Sponsor of the 2017 General Assembly

SIG, one of the world's leading solution providers for the food and beverage industry within the field of carton packs and filling technology, is the 2017 General Assembly's Green sponsor.

Since 2009, SIG has led the industry in providing FSC-certified carton packs that can be traced back to source and in 2016, the company secured a sufficient supply of FSC-certified liquid packaging board to guarantee its customers the choice of including the FSC label on any of its carton packs. More than 60 billion SIG packs have now been sold with the FSC label, demonstrating the company's commitment to responsible sourcing

The generous support of SIG will facilitate the attendance of FSC members who otherwise may not have the resources required to attend the assembly and exercise their membership rights.

Additional support for the FSC General Assembly is provided by: Kingfisher, Fibria, IKEA, CMPC, TetraPak, International Paper, Kimberly-Clark, Precious Woods, Mondi, Lenzing, Klabin, Sappi, Arauco, Greenberg Traurig, Tembec, Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, Air Canada, WWF, Sveaskog, National Wildlife Federation, Mercer and BWI.

Full details about the General Assembly are available at www.ga2017.fsc.org .

About FSC and the FSC General Assembly

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world's forests. FSC was created in 1993 to help consumers and businesses identify products from well-managed forests and sets standards by which forests are certified, offering credible verification to people who are buying wood and wood products. Currently almost 200 million hectares and 33,000 companies worldwide are certified to FSC standards. For more information visit www.fsc.org.

At the GA, members decide through a governance structure that is unique to FSC where delegates from three chambers – environmental, social and economic – vote on motions that have previously been submitted by the members in a balanced system that allows for equal representation to all. This maintains the balance of voting power among different interests, ensuring effective, consensus-based solutions for forest management and the trade of forest products. For information about the GA, including participants, speakers, motions, and background about FSC, please visit: https://ga2017.fsc.org/  

About FSC Canada

FSC Canada is a vital element of FSC globally as the country with the largest area of certified forests, including more than 28% of global FSC-certified forests, a total of 55 million hectares (550,000 km²), equaling in size about half that of Ontario. 15.4% of Canada's forests are FSC-certified through 67 forest management certificates and 759 chain of custody certificates, representing more than a third (34%) of Canada's certified forests. FSC-certified forests are in every one of Canada's distinct forest regions, but almost half (45%) of the total area certified is located in Quebec. FSC Canada offices and personnel are located across Canada. https://ca.fsc.org/en-ca

SOURCE Forest Stewardship Council Canada

For further information: Monika Patel, Director of Programs and Communications, FSC Canada, Phone: 416-778-5568 x26, Email: m.patel@ca.fsc.org; Marc-André Dufresne, Capital-Image, Tél : 514-358-5560, Courriel : madufresne@capital-image.com."

                WildEarth Guardians joined with Waterkeeper Alliance, in October 2017, to form the Rio Grande Waterkeeper "to protect and restore the iconic Rio Grande" (https://secure3.convio.net/wg/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app303b?idb=873760735&df_id=8782&8782.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&NONCE_TOKEN=CC23E31A676F05A166D2B4207379AB4E&autologin=true&idb=0#.WdaCNUzMxm8).

                WDC and Partner Groups Demand US and Canada Act to Save North Atlantic Right Whales," 0ctober 20, 2017 , http://wdc-nawhaleanddolphinconservationnorthamerica.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/j/2AC8D972064426EA2540EF23F30FEDED/A01551233679361B9A8E73400EDACAB4, ***Two and a half weeks after WDC and its conservation partners issued a Notice of Intent to Sue the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for failing to adequately protect right whales, NMFS released a revised species review report with proposed recommended actions to prevent the extinction of NA right whales. WDC and its partners are currently reviewing the report and the associated recommendations to ensure they address the urgency of the current right whale crisis. 

                ~Regina Asmutis-Silvia, Executive Director-North America

                Read about the original intent to sue below:

                WDC and its conservation and animal-protection partners sought action by the United States and Canada to prevent painful, deadly entanglements in fishing gear that threaten the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. In letters to Canadian officials and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the groups demanded action to reduce risks to these imperiled whales. North Atlantic right whales, one of the world’s most endangered mammals with fewer than 500 individuals remaining on Earth, lost nearly 3 percent of their population this year.

                'Right whales risk spiraling toward extinction if we don’t protect them from deadly fishing gear,' said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.'This has been a tragic year for a species already teetering on the brink. U.S. and Canadian officials need to do everything they can to prevent gear entanglements and the slow, painful deaths they can cause.'

                The groups say the Fisheries Service must fulfill its obligations under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act to review protective measures for the species and adopt additional protective measures to prevent further entanglements. The demands were made in a legal notice that gives the agency at least 60 days to correct the violations before the groups can file a lawsuit."

                Andrea Germanos, "At Berlin March, Tens of Thousands Demand End to Industrial Agriculture: 'Farmers and consumers from all over Europe have made it clear that they are fed up with current policies that benefit huge food and agriculture corporations, at the expense of the environment, peasant farming, and public safety,' said Adrian Bebb, Friends of the Earth Europe," Common Dreams, January 22, 2018, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/22/berlin-march-tens-thousands-demand-end-industrial-agriculture?utm_term=At%20Berlin%20March%2C%20Tens%20of%20Thousands%20Demand%20End%20to%20Industrial%20Agriculture&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%27Worst%20Negotiator%20in%20Washington%27%3A%20Schumer%20Slammed%20for%20Caving%20on%20TrumpShutDown&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20%27Worst%20Negotiator%20in%20Washington%27%3A%20Schumer%20Slammed%20for%20Caving%20on%20TrumpShutDown-_-At%20Berlin%20March%2C%20Tens%20of%20Thousands%20Demand%20End%20to%20Industrial%20Agriculture, reported, "Tens of thousands of people—and more than 100 tractors—swarmed the streets of Berlin this weekend to demand a food system transformation nourished by political policies that foster ecological farming.

                'Farmers and consumers from all over Europe have made it clear that they are fed up with current policies that benefit huge food and agriculture corporations, at the expense of the environment, peasant farming, and public safety,' said Adrian Bebb, food and farming campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, and among the estimated 33,000 that took part in the Saturday march.

                'Policymakers at the European and national level need to listen, and use the upcoming reform of the EU's common agricultural policy to build a better food system for the future,' he added.

                According to the more than 100 groups that organized the march, policies must shift so that industrial agriculture is dumped in favor climate- and farmer-friendly practices.

                A good place to start they say, is by banning the controversial weed killer Roundup.

                'Food is political—more and more people realize this. But politicians nurture an agricultural sector that detrimentally affects the environment and animals in the name of productivity,' said Jochen Fritz, a spokesperson for the organizers. 

                The demonstration took place as International Green Week, a major agricultural exposition, kicked off in the German capital.

                We are fed up with agri-business! Farms not factories, diversity not monoculture, fair trade not free trade.

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License"

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ARTICLES

BILL MCKIBBEN: WINNING SLOWLY IS THE SAME AS LOSING

Republished from Rolling Stone, Deember 1, 2017, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bill-mckibben-winning-slowly-is-the-same-as-losing-w512967

                The technology exists to combat climate change – what will it take to get our leaders to act?

                If we don't win very quickly on climate change, then we will never win. That's the core truth about global warming. It's what makes it different from every other problem our political systems have faced. I wrote the first book for a general audience about climate change in 1989 – back when one had to search for examples to help people understand what the "greenhouse effect" would feel like. We knew it was coming, but not how fast or how hard. And because no one wanted to overestimate – because scientists by their nature are conservative – each of the changes we've observed has taken us somewhat by surprise. The surreal keeps becoming the commonplace: For instance, after Hurricane Harvey set a record for American rainstorms, and Hurricane Irma set a record for sustained wind speeds, and Hurricane Maria knocked Puerto Rico back a quarter-century, something even weirder happened. Hurricane Ophelia formed much farther to the east than any hurricane on record, and proceeded to blow past Southern Europe (whipping up winds that fanned record forest fires in Portugal) before crashing into Ireland. Along the way, it produced an artifact for our age: The warning chart that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency issued shows Ophelia ending in a straight line at 60 degrees north latitude, because the computer program never imagined you'd see a hurricane up there. "When you set up a grid, you define boundaries of that grid," a slightly red-faced NOAA programmer explained. "That's a pretty unusual place to have a tropical cyclone." The agency, he added, might have to "revisit" its mapping software.

                In fact, that's the problem with climate change. It won't stand still. Health care is a grave problem in the U.S. right now too, one that Donald Trump seems set on making steadily worse. If his administration manages to defund Obamacare, millions of people will suffer. But if, in three years' time, some new administration takes over with a different resolve, it won't have become exponentially harder to deal with our health care issues. That suffering in the interim wouldn't have changed the fundamental equation. But with global warming, the fundamental equation is precisely what's shifting. And the remarkable changes we've seen so far – the thawed Arctic that makes the Earth look profoundly different from outer space; the planet's seawater turning 30 percent more acidic – are just the beginning. "We're inching ever closer to committing to the melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, which will guarantee 20 feet of sea-level rise," says Penn State's Michael Mann, one of the planet's foremost climatologists. "We don't know where the ice-sheet collapse tipping point is, but we are dangerously close." The latest models show that with very rapid cuts in emissions, Antarctic ice might remain largely intact for centuries; without them, we might see 11 feet of sea-level rise by century's end, enough to wipe cities like Shanghai and Mumbai "off the map."

The warning chart that NOAA issued shows Hurricane Ophelia ending in a straight line at 60 degrees north latitude, because the computer program never anticipated a hurricane so far north.

                There are plenty of tipping points like this: The Amazon, for instance, appears to be drying out and starting to burn as temperatures rise and drought deepens, and without a giant rainforest in South America, the world would function very differently. In the North Atlantic, says Mann, "we're ahead of schedule with the slowdown and potential collapse" of the giant conveyor belt that circulates warm water toward the North Pole, keeping Western Europe temperate. It's tipping points like these that make climate change such a distinct problem: If we don't act quickly, and on a global scale, then the problem will literally become insoluble. We'll simply move into a dramatically different climate regime, and on to a planet abruptly and disastrously altered from the one that underwrote the rise of human civilization. "Every bit of additional warming at this point is perilous," says Mann.

                Another way of saying this: By 2075 the world will be powered by solar panels and windmills – free energy is a hard business proposition to beat. But on current trajectories, they'll light up a busted planet. The decisions we make in 2075 won't matter; indeed, the decisions we make in 2025 will matter much less than the ones we make in the next few years. The leverage is now. 

                Trump, oddly, is not the central problem here, or at least not the only problem. Yes, he's abrogated the Paris agreements; true, he's doing his best to revive the coal mines of Kentucky; of course it's insane that he thinks climate change is a Chinese hoax.

                But we weren't moving fast enough to catch up with physics before Trump. In fact, it's even possible that Trump – by jumping the climate shark so spectacularly – may run
some small risk of disrupting the fossil-fuel industry's careful strategy.
That strategy, we now know, began in the late 1970s. The oil giants, led by Exxon, knew about climate change before almost anyone else. One of Exxon's chief scientists told senior management in 1978 that the temperature would rise at least four degrees Fahrenheit and that it would be a disaster. Management believed the findings – as the Los Angeles Times reported, companies like Exxon and Shell began redesigning drill rigs and pipelines to cope with the sea-level rise and tundra thaw.

                Yet, year after year, the industry used the review process of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to stress "uncertainty," which became Big Oil's byword. In 1997, just as the Kyoto climate treaty was being negotiated, Exxon CEO Lee Raymond told the World Petroleum Congress meeting in Beijing, "It is highly unlikely that the temperature in the middle of the next century will be significantly affected whether policies are enacted now or 20 years from now." In other words: Delay. Go slowly. Do nothing dramatic. As the company put it in a secret 1998 memo helping establish one of the innumerable front groups that spread climate disinformation, "Victory will be achieved when average citizens 'understand' (recognize) uncertainties in climate science," and when "recognition of uncertainty becomes part of the 'conventional wisdom.' "

                And it's not just the oil companies. As America's electric utilities began to understand that solar and wind power could undercut their traditional business, they began engaging in the same kind of behavior. In Arizona, whose sole reason for existence is the sun, the local utility helped rig elections for the state's public-utility commission, which in turn allowed utilities to impose ruinous costs on homeowners who wanted to put solar panels on their roofs. As The New York Times reported in July, the booming U.S. market for new residential solar has come to "a shuddering stop" after "a concerted and well-funded lobbying campaign by traditional utilities, which have been working in state capitals across the country to reverse incentives for homeowners to install solar panels." It's not that they think they can keep solar panels at bay forever – every utility website, like every fossil-fuel industry annual report, has pictures of solar panels and spinning windmills. But as industry analyst Nancy LaPlaca says, "Keeping the current business model just another year is always key for utilities that have a monopoly and want to keep that going."

                The planetary futurist Alex Steffen calls this tactic "predatory delay, the deliberate slowing of needed change to prolong a profitable but unsustainable status quo that will be paid by other people eventually." It's not confined to the moneybags at the oil companies and the utilities – he's written extensively about the otherwise-liberal urbanites in his home state of California. "A lot of cities are happy to talk about providing their power cleanly, but reducing cars, densifying, spending on bike paths, raising building standards – those things are all so contentious they're not even discussed." Ditto the folks who block windmills out of fear of chopping birds, thus helping lock in the next great mass extinction. Much of the labor movement has grown more outspoken on climate change. They know that a dollar invested in renewable energy generates three times as many jobs as one wasted on fossil fuel, but the union that builds pipelines has fought so tenaciously to avoid change that the AFL-CIO came out for building the Dakota Access Pipeline, even after guards sicced German shepherds on native protesters. In careful language that might have been written by a team at Exxon, the union said it supported new pipelines "as part of a comprehensive energy policy that creates jobs, makes the United States more competitive and addresses the threat of climate change." "Comprehensive," "balanced," "measured" are the high cards in this rhetorical deck. "Realistic" is the ace in the hole.

                There's a reason this kind of appeal is so persuasive. In almost every other political fight, a balanced and measured and "realistic" answer makes sense. I think billionaires should be taxed at 90 percent, and you think they contribute so much to society that they should pay no tax at all. We meet somewhere in the middle, and come back each election cycle to argue it again, depending on how the economy is doing or where the deficit lies. Humans and their societies do work best with gradual transitions – it gives everyone some time to adapt. But climate change, sadly, isn't a classic contest between two groups of people. It's a negotiation between people on the one hand and physics on the other. And physics doesn't do compromise. Precisely because we've waited so long to take any significant action, physics now demands we move much faster than we want to. Political realism and what you might call "reality realism" are in stark opposition. That's our dilemma.
You could draw it on a graph. The planet's greenhouse-gas emissions are still rising, though more slowly – let's say we manage to top out by 2020. In that case, to meet the planet's goal of holding temperature increases under two degrees Celsius, we have to cut emissions 4.6 percent annually till they go to zero. If we wait till 2025, we have to cut them seven percent annually. If we wait till 2030 – well, it's not even worth putting on the chart. I have to sometimes restrain myself from pointing out how easy it would have been if we'd acted back in the late 1980s, when I was first writing about this – a gradual half a percent a year. A glide path, not a desperate rappel down a deadly cliff.

The rate at which the world would have to move to zero emissions to keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius.

                Yes, we've waited too long. But maybe, just maybe, our task is not yet an impossible one. That's because the engineers have been doing their jobs much more vigorously than the politicians. Over the past decade, the price of a solar panel has fallen 80 percent; across most of the U.S., wind is now the least expensive form of power. In early October, an auction in Saudi Arabia for new electric generation was won by a solar farm pledging to deliver electrons for less than three cents a kilowatt hour, the cheapest price ever paid for electricity from any source in any place. Danny Kennedy, a longtime solar pioneer who runs California's Clean Energy Fund, a nonprofit connecting investors and startups, says every day brings some new project: "Just this week I've had entrepreneurs in here doing crowdfunding by Bitcoin to build microgrids in Southern Africa, and someone using lasers to cut silicon wafers to reduce the cost of solar cells by half." He'd just come back from a conference in Shanghai – "You should feel the buzz; the Chinese have really realized their self-interest lies in dominating the disruptive technologies."

                That is to say, if we wanted to power the planet on sun and wind and water, we could. It would be extremely hard, at the outer edge of the possible, but it's mathematically achievable. Mark Jacobson, who heads Stanford's Atmosphere/Energy program, has worked to show precisely how it could happen in all 50 U.S. states and 139 foreign countries – how much wind, how much sun, how much hydro it would take to produce 80 percent of our power renewably by 2030. If we did, he notes, we'd not only dramatically slow global warming, we'd also eliminate most of the air pollution that kills 7 million people a year and sickens hundreds of millions more, almost all of them in the poorest places on the planet (pollution now outweighs tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS, hunger and war as a killer). "There's no way you can be in Houston or Flint or Puerto Rico right now and not feel the urgency," says Elizabeth Yeampierre, one of America's leading climate-justice advocates. "Moving quickly can happen, but only if you uplift the work that's really innovative, that's already happening on the ground."

                Even much of the money is in place. For $50,000 in insulation, panels and appliances, Mosaic, the biggest solar lender in the country, can make a home run on 100 percent clean energy. "And we can make a zero-down loan, where people save money from Day One," says the company's CEO, Billy Parrish. Mosaic raised $300 million for its last round of bond financing, but it was nearly six times oversubscribed – that is, investors were ready to pony up about $1.8 billion. But even that amounts to small change: 36,000 homes in a nation of more than a hundred million dwellings. To go to scale, government is going to have to lead: loan guarantees for poor people, taking subsidies away from fossil fuels, making sure that when homeowners feed lowcarbon energy into the grid they get a good price from utilities. Even in California that kind of change comes hard: As Kennedy says, "The state legislature did not pass key legislation on clean energy this year despite a lot of hot air expended on it, and despite the fact that the Dems have a supermajority. I'm told to be patient and 'we'll get it done next year,' but I find it frightening that folks think we have another year to wait."

                And so the only real question is, how do we suddenly make it happen fast? That's where politics comes in. I said earlier that Trump wasn't the whole problem – in fact, it's just possible that in his know-nothing recklessness, he has upset the ever-so-patient apple cart. You could almost see the oil companies wincing when Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement – for them, the agreement was a pathway to slow and managed change. The promises it contained didn't keep the planet from overheating – indeed, even if everyone had kept them, the Earth would still have gotten 3.5 degrees Celsius hotter, enough to collapse every ecosystem you'd like to name. The accords did ensure that we'd still be burning significant amounts of hydrocarbons by 2050, and that the Exxons of the world would be able to recover most of the reserves they've so carefully mapped and explored.

                But now some of those bets are off. Around the rest of the world, most nations rejected Trump's pullout with diplomatically expressed rage. "To everyone for whom the future of our planet is important, I say let's continue going down this path," said Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. (The exception: petro baron Vladimir Putin, whose official remarks concluded, "Don't worry, be happy.") In this country, the polling showed that almost nothing Trump had done was less popular. Perhaps, if Trump continues to sink, this particular piece of nonsense will sink with him.

                And with Washington effectively gridlocked, the fight has moved elsewhere. When Trump pulled out of the climate accords, for instance, he explained that he'd been elected to govern "Pittsburgh, not Paris." The next day the mayor of Pittsburgh said his town was now planning on 100 percent renewable energy, a pledge that's been made by places as diverse as Atlanta, San Diego and Salt Lake City. Next year, representatives of thousands of regions, provinces, cities, parishes, arrondissements, districts and counties will descend on San Francisco for a Paris-like gathering of subnational actors, summoned by California Gov. Jerry Brown. According to Brown (who is as sadly compromised as most other leaders – he continues to allow wide-scale fracking and oil production across the state), Trump's decision to leave the path of gradualism "is a stimulus ... In a way, it's a rising of … awareness."

                The pressure has also increased on banks and corporations. In Australia, campaigners have forced the four major banks to refuse financing for what would have been one of the world's biggest coal mines; BNP Paribas, the world's eighth-largest lender, just announced it was out of the tar-sands and coal business. Several big California cities just announced they were suing the big oil companies for the damages caused by sea-level rise. The attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts have Exxon under investigation for pretending to take climate change seriously. All of that adds up to weaken the spreadsheet and the corporate resolve: "We're trying to persuade a dying industry to get out of the way," says Mark Campanale, the head of the NGO Carbon Tracker.

                The best chance of forcing the future, of course, lies with movements – with people gathering in large enough numbers to concentrate the minds of CEOs and presidential candidates. Here, too, Trump seems to be upping the ante – nearly a quarter million Americans marched on D.C. for climate action in April, the largest such demonstration in Washington's history. That activism keeps ramping up: At 350.org, we're rolling out a vast Fossil Free campaign across the globe this winter, joining organizations like the Sierra Club to pressure governments to sign up for 100 percent renewable energy, blocking new pipelines and frack wells as fast as the industry can propose them, and calling out the banks and hedge funds that underwrite the past. It's working – just in the last few weeks Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, announced plans to divest from fossil fuels, and the Nebraska Public Service Commission threw yet more roadblocks in front of the Keystone pipeline.

                But the question is, is it working fast enough? Paraphrasing the great abolitionist leader Theodore Parker, Martin Luther King Jr. used to regularly end his speeches with the phrase "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." The line was a favorite of Obama's too, and for all three men it meant the same thing: "This may take a while, but we're going to win." For most political fights, it is the simultaneously frustrating and inspiring truth. But not for climate change. The arc of the physical universe appears to be short, and it bends toward heat. Win soon or suffer the consequences. 

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THE BRUTAL RACIAL POLITICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLLUTION:

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION POLICIES ARE SYSTEMATICALLY MAKING

NATURAL DISASTERS MORE HARMFUL FOR THE POOR

AND PEOPLE OF COLOR

      Basav Sen

Republished from Foreign Policy In Focus - A project of the Institute for Policy Studies under a Creative Commons Attribution license. September 21, 2017, http://fpif.org/the-brutal-racial-politics-of-climate-change-and-pollution/. Originally published in Common Dreams with a Creative Commons Attribution license.

                As I watched coverage of Harvey’s flood damage in Houston, Irma’s wreckage in the Caribbean, the devastating record monsoons in South Asia, and the fresh nightmares of Hurricane Maria, I thought back to another place: Charlottesville, where racists openly rallied to their cause—and were later defended by the president.

                To explain why, let me point back to one of the least known—yet most outrageous—of the Trump administration’s early policy proposals: the proposed elimination of the Environmental Justice program at the EPA. While the division still exists for now, it has no more grants available for the current fiscal year, and its future is in limbo.

                Environmental justice is the principle that people of color and poor people have historically faced greater harm from environmental damage, so special efforts should be made to prioritize their access to clean air and water. The environmental justice program gave small grants to communities struggling with these disparate pollution impacts. Its budget was small—just $6.7 million out of the prior year’s EPA budget of $8 billion, or less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

                Clearly, the proposed cut wasn’t about saving money. Instead, it points to a more sinister agenda—especially when paired with other planks of the administration’s environmental platform.

Disproportionate Harm

                Take Trump’s proposal to deregulate power plant emissions.

Air pollution is bad for everyone with lungs, but it disproportionately harms people of color and poor people, who are much likelier to live near coal-burning power plants. People living within three miles of coal-fired power plants have a per capita income 15 percent lower than the national average, and African Americans die of asthma at a 172 percent higher rate than white people. Deregulating toxic polluters is only going to worsen such egregious disparities.

                Meanwhile in Alaska, Native villages are literally sinking into the sea and facing the loss of their traditional lifestyle as polar ice melts. Yet the federal government proposes eliminating the already meager assistance they receive, and won’t even name the problem they’re confronting. Absurdly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) now refers to Arctic climate change impacts as “Arctic Change.”

                Similar inequalities show up in the places hardest hit during this catastrophic hurricane season.

                Refineries and other petrochemical facilities in Houston have been shut down in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey.

               

                However, storm damage at the Exxon refinery in Baytown has led to leaks of toxic chemicals, while the Chevron Phillips refinery in Pasadena reported to regulators that it may release known carcinogens like benzene.

                Who lives near these facilities? Of the two Census blocks immediately adjoining Exxon’s Baytown refinery, one is 87 percent non-white and 76 percent low-income, the other 59 percent non-white and 59 percent low-income.

                Outside the Chevron Phillips facility, the same pattern plays out: Residents there are 83 percent non-white and 74 percent low-income.

                Living near these facilities—and in the storm zone, generally—is dangerous. But for some people, even trying to get away was dangerous. In a horrifying move, the Border Patrol continued to operate checkpoints on highways being used by people evacuating from the hurricane-affected zone, so undocumented immigrants had to choose between risking their lives or getting deported.

                While Texas was still reeling, the Caribbean, and then Florida, was struck by Hurricane Irma. The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, a sovereign state that’s over 90 percent black, says that 95 percent of the structures on the island of Barbuda have been destroyed.

                Americans sometimes forget that the Caribbean includes the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Though “colonies” would be a more truthful word, since these largely nonwhite islands have no voting representation in Congress.)

                More than half the residents of Puerto Rico lost power, and a top utility official has warned that many of them will remain without power for weeks to months. The delay is partly attributable to the poor state of the island’s infrastructure, which hasn’t been maintained over a decade-long recession—one worsened by Washington-imposed austerity policies that prioritize payments to lenders over the well being of Puerto Ricans.

                People in the U.S. Virgin Islands, meanwhile—over three-quarters of whom are black—are struggling with major storm damage and power outages, with minimal federal assistance and little coverage from the U.S. media. While federal authorities aren’t providing meaningful assistance to USVI residents, they’ve nonetheless mustered the capacity to block desperate evacuees from other harder-hit islands in the region from reaching the islands.

                And before Puerto Ricans and Virgin Islanders had a chance to recover, they’ve been hit by Maria, a second major hurricane, that’s knocked out power for the entire island of Puerto Rico and caused severe structural damage to buildings. The mayor of San Juan expects it will take 4 to 6 months to restore electricity.

An Unmistakable Pattern

                There’s a pattern here.

                The proposed elimination of environmental justice funding, assistance for Native Alaskans, and the U.S. contribution to the Green Climate Fund (which assists poor countries with adapting to the effects of climate change and transitioning to clean energy) all appear calculated to pander to the most racist, nationalist elements of Trump’s base, who don’t want any assistance going to those they consider “undeserving.”

Yet who could be more deserving?

                Black Americans are living with (and dying from) asthma caused by particulate pollution from profit-generating power plants. Native Alaskans are losing their homes and traditional lifestyles due to melting ice caused by climate change. Undocumented people had to risk deportation while fleeing a life-threatening disaster.

                Globally, Bangladeshis, Indians, and Nepalis are suffering from catastrophic floods that are exacerbated by other people’s greenhouse gas emissions—not least our own, since the U.S. is the largest historical emitter of the carbon now warming the planet. And people in Antigua, Barbuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico just got battered by a powerful hurricane intensified by a warming ocean.

                All of these lives are systematically devalued by the powers that be precisely because of entrenched white supremacy—of the implicit kind (evidenced by the decades of foot-dragging by rich countries on the issue of climate change), as well as the brazen kind on display in Charlottesville.

                We cannot truly confront the root causes and horrific impacts of climate change without challenging and undoing white supremacy.

*Basav Sen directs the Climate Justice Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. He’s the author of the recent report “How States Can Boost Renewables, With Benefits for All.”

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HEGEMONY IS A FINE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE TRUMP ERA: GOAL IS TO RANSACK THE EARTH

     Mark Trahant*

Repulished with author'spermission from Trahant Reports, October 19, 2017, https://trahantreports.com/2017/10/19/hegemony-is-a-fine-word-to-describe-the-trump-era-goal-is-to-ransack-the-earth/.

A CORRUPTED WORD, A CORRUPTED GOVERNMENT

                Let’s play with a word and an idea. “Hegemony” means the dominance of one political group over all others. That, at this moment, is the Republican brand. President Donald J. Trump, a Republican Senate, a Republican House, and a conservative, if not Republican, court system that will judge the law and Constitution for years to come. Hegemony.

                But that word has been corrupted. Once the Greek word, “hegemon,” meant to lead. But the root word “heg” in English later became to seek, or better, to “sack,” as in ransack.

                So hegemony is a fine word to describe the Trump era. The goal is to ransack (instead of lead). Ransack the government. Or at least the idea of government.

                There is no better example of hegemony than the debate about the climate. The Republican brand from top to bottom is bent on grabbing as much natural resource loot that can be carried away in short period of time.

                Except this: Hegemony is an illusion. What seems like absolute power is not.

                This should be easily evident from hurricanes, fires, and other growing climate threats. You would think this is the moment for a pause (at the very least). A time out to examine what’s going on around the world and then a consideration about what should be done.

                But the Republican brand, including the people who manage federal Indian programs, are willfully hostile to facts.

                The World Meteorological Organization reports that natural disasters have tripled in number and the damage caused by them have increased five-fold. “Today, there is scientific proof that climate change is largely responsible for the dramatic increase in the intensity and devastation caused by the hurricanes in the Caribbean and by many other phenomena around the world,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres after a tour of Dominica. That island, including the Kalinago Indian Territory, was hit with successive category five hurricanes. “I have never seen anywhere else in the world a forest completely decimated without one single leaf on any tree,” said Guterres, who flew by helicopter over some of the most affected areas, including Kalinago Territory.

                And Puerto Rico still waits for clean water, sanitation, electricity, and basic infrastructure more than a month after its storms. Yet President Trump told reporters Thursday: “I’d say it was a 10” as he described the federal government’s response. “I’d say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved. You look at the number. I mean, this was — I think it was worse than Katrina.”

                The governor of Puerto Rico has a different take. “Recognizing that we’re in this together – US citizens in Texas, US citizens in Florida, US citizens in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands – we need equal treatment,” said Gov.

                Ricardo Rossello. “We need all the resources so we can get out of the emergency and of course the resources to rebuild.”

We know, yes, know, that climate change will leave parts of the earth uninhabitable (as we have already seen in tribal communities in Alaska, Washington and Louisiana.) How many times can you rebuild when storm after storm wipes out the life you know? How do we as a country, as a species, decide when we can no longer rebuild or stay? I’ve been thinking a lot about the Iranian city of Ahvaz where temperatures last summer reached 129 degrees. When will it become too hot, 130? 132? What’s the number that we just hit before we leave?

                Who will be the next climate refugees?

                Already in Puerto Rico that demographic transformation is occurring. “It could potentially be a very large migration to the continental United States,” said Maria Cristina Garcia, a Cornell University historian, immigration expert, and author on large-scale population shifts, which includes a forthcoming book on climate refugees in Scientific American. “Whether that migration will be permanent or temporary is still anyone’s guess. Much depends on the relief package that Congress negotiates.”

                Puerto Rico has 3.4 million residents. Think of the magnitude of so many people, half a million or more, moving to Florida, Texas or any other state. Only then will the fecklessness of Congress be clear.

                So much of the debate now only focuses on the “relocation.” But Indian Country (that’s had too many experiences with forced relocation) knows that’s only the beginning of the governmental and social costs. There will be costs ranging from demands for behavioral health to increased joblessness and poverty. The fact of hundreds of thousands of American refugees should be seen as a dangerous crisis worthy of our immediate attention.

                Right now we don’t even think of Californians as climate refugees, but we should. At least 100,000 people were evacuated and nearly 6,000 homes and buildings were destroyed. And this number will grow and it ought to raise more questions about where humans can and should live.

                “An increasing body of research finds that the hot and dry conditions that created the California drought were brought on in part by human-caused warming,” writes Georgina Gustin in Inside Climate News.  “Higher temperatures pull moisture out of soil and vegetation, leaving parched landscapes that can go up in flames with the slightest spark from a downed utility wire, backfiring car or embers from a campfire.

               

                California’s average temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit during the second half of the 20th century. Altogether this has led to more “fuel aridity” — drier tree canopies, grasses and brush that can burn.”

                Gustin writes that research from the Pacific Northwest National Labs and Utah State University projects more extreme drought and extreme flooding. “If global carbon emissions continue at a high level, extreme dry periods will double, the study finds—going from about five extreme dry “events” during the decade of the 1930s, to about 10 per decade by the 2070s.  Extreme wet periods will increase from about 4 to about 15 over the same periods, roughly tripling.”

                Again, raising the question of where people can be? Think of the tension about immigration now — and multiply that by a factor of ten or a hundred to get a sense of the scale ahead.

THE FAILURE OF COAL

                There is another dimension to hegemony — or the lack of that in the federal government. Cities, states, tribes, corporations, and individuals, are ignoring the ransacking of the climate and moving forward with a global community focused on solutions. Markets are exercising power, too.

                One example of that is the Trump administration’s failure to revive the coal industry. This was one of Donald J. Trump’s main campaign promises. The chief executive of a private coal company, Robert Murray, sums up the illogic. Just a week ago he said on the PBS’ News Hour: “We do not have a climate change problem” and 4,000 scientists told him that “mankind is not affecting climate change.” Murray’s former lobbyist has been nominated as the deputy director of the Environmental Protection Administration. Already the EPA has proposed rolling back the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. But the new coal regulations (or more likely, non-regulations) will still be challenged through the regulatory process and in court.

                And its the markets for coal that are dictating the terms of surrender. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports coal consumption picked up after President Trump’s election but has started to decline again. “The recent decline in production was a result of weaker demand for steam coal, about half of which is mined in Wyoming and Montana. Production of metallurgical coal, which is used in steel manufacturing and makes up about 8% of total U.S. coal production, increased for the third consecutive quarter,” the EIA reported. “Demand for steam coal, which in the first half of 2017 made up more than 90% of U.S. coal production, is driven by coal-fired electricity generation. In recent years, coal has lost part of its electricity generation share to other fuels, but it still accounted for 30% of the U.S. electricity generation mix in the first half of 2017 compared with natural gas and renewables (including hydro) at 31% and 20%, respectively.”

                And the jobs that were promised? There are now under 60,000 people employed nationwide by the coal industry. And about a thousand jobs, at most, were created since Trump took office. By comparison during that same time frame one of the fastest growing jobs, wind turbine service technician, created 4,800 new jobs at an average salary of $52,260. But the big numbers are in health care (where we should be growing jobs) an industry that created 384,000 new jobs as home health aides in the last year.

Hegemony? No.

                But Congress acts as if it has all the power over nature. The budget the Senate just passed would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. Instead of a pause, and a rethink of climate policies, there is a hurry up and drill mentality. (Even if you love oil: Why now? Why not wait until it’s worth something? The answer is because it will never again be that valuable. The era of extraction is over.)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is an interesting position. She’s fought hard for Medicaid and for the Alaska Native medical system. She deserves credit for that. But the budget she now champions could undo all of that work because the generous tax cuts will have to be eventually paid for by cutting from social programs, especially Medicaid. And what will the new costs be for more development in the Arctic in terms of subsistence hunting and fishing, potential relocation, higher health costs, and increased strain on the environment?

                A group of elders from the Bering Sea recently published a report on their Ecosystem and Climate Change. “The cold, rich waters of the northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait form the foundation of culture, food security, and economy for coastal Yupik and Inupiaq peoples, who have relied on the abundant marine resources of this region for thousands of years,” the report said. “But this unique ecosystem is vulnerable to ecological transformation and uncertainty due to climate change … climate warming is leading to change in seasonal ice, altering the abundance, timing,  and distribution of important species. The loss of sea ice is in turn causing a dramatic increase in ship traffic through these highly sensitive and important areas.”

                How do we change course? How do get a pause? One way is to wait until it’s too late.

                In Dominica there is a forced rethinking that followed the hurricanes. Roosevelt Skerrit, the country’s prime minister,  recently put it this way: “Our devastation is so complete that our recovery has to be total. And so we have a unique opportunity to be an example to the world, an example of how an entire nation rebounds from disaster and how an entire nation can be climate resilient for the future. We did not choose this opportunity. We did not wish it. Having had it thrust upon us, we have chosen actively and decisively to be that example to the world.”

                A shining example, yes, but at a cost that has been extraordinary and painful. The price of hegemony.

*Mark Trahant is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is an independent journalist and a member of The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On Twitter @TrahantReports.

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‘WE LOST ALL WHAT MONEY CAN BUY,’ DOMINICA LEADER SAYS; INDIGENOUS TERRITORY TAKES DIRECT HIT FROM THE STORM 

                   Mark Trahant*

Trahant Reports Republsihed with author;s permission from Trahant Reportd, September 20, 2017, https://trahantreports.com/2017/09/20/we-lost-all-what-money-can-buy-dominica-leader-says-indigenous-territory-takes-direct-hit-from-the-storm/.

                The Kalinago Territory in Dominica took a direct hit from Hurricane Maria.  The indigenous territory (formerly known as the Caribs) is on the remote eastern Atlantic side of the island. There have been no communications from the tribal community.

                The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday that it was using a helicopter to assess damage across the island nation: “Of particular concern for CDEMA was the Kalinago Territory between Castle Bruce and Atkinson where the houses are not particularly resilient.”

                Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted on his Facebook page: “Initial reports are of widespread devastation. So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace. My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.

                “So, far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with. The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn away roofs in the city and the countryside … We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds.”

                Early relief efforts and supplies have been directed toward the island’s cities, mostly coming from Barbados. The International Red Cross reports: “Most of the main roads were impassable and several bridges were blocked or damaged. The provision of essential services (water, electricity) has been disrupted, and landline and mobile phone service is intermittent. The agricultural sector and consequently livelihoods has been significantly impacted due to crop losses. As of 1 September 2015, the National Emergency Operations Centre has confirmed 11 dead and 23 people have been reported missing. ”

                “A band of torrential rain caused by the system resulted in the 6 to 8 inches of rainfall in less than twelve hours and triggered massive flooding and several landslides,” according to the Red Cross. “Families have lost their homes to the damage incurred from flooding and landslides, which has also resulted in the loss of lives, personal belongings, and total destruction of subsistence crops.”

                Good Hope, a community just south of the Kalinago Territory, was “in dire need of water,” according to the Red Cross.

                The island’s capital is on the other side of the mountains from Kalinago Territory.  Some 3,000 tribal members live in the territory. The tribe recently returned to its own name, instead of the one set by Spanish explorers, the Caribe.

                More than 70,000 people live on the island. Dominica was already recovering from another major storm, Erika, in 2015.

*Mark Trahant is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is an independent journalist and a member of The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On Twitter @TrahantReports.

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ARTICLES

BILL MCKIBBEN: WINNING SLOWLY IS THE SAME AS LOSING

Republished from Rolling Stone, Deember 1, 2017, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bill-mckibben-winning-slowly-is-the-same-as-losing-w512967

                The technology exists to combat climate change – what will it take to get our leaders to act?

                If we don't win very quickly on climate change, then we will never win. That's the core truth about global warming. It's what makes it different from every other problem our political systems have faced. I wrote the first book for a general audience about climate change in 1989 – back when one had to search for examples to help people understand what the "greenhouse effect" would feel like. We knew it was coming, but not how fast or how hard. And because no one wanted to overestimate – because scientists by their nature are conservative – each of the changes we've observed has taken us somewhat by surprise. The surreal keeps becoming the commonplace: For instance, after Hurricane Harvey set a record for American rainstorms, and Hurricane Irma set a record for sustained wind speeds, and Hurricane Maria knocked Puerto Rico back a quarter-century, something even weirder happened. Hurricane Ophelia formed much farther to the east than any hurricane on record, and proceeded to blow past Southern Europe (whipping up winds that fanned record forest fires in Portugal) before crashing into Ireland. Along the way, it produced an artifact for our age: The warning chart that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency issued shows Ophelia ending in a straight line at 60 degrees north latitude, because the computer program never imagined you'd see a hurricane up there. "When you set up a grid, you define boundaries of that grid," a slightly red-faced NOAA programmer explained. "That's a pretty unusual place to have a tropical cyclone." The agency, he added, might have to "revisit" its mapping software.

                In fact, that's the problem with climate change. It won't stand still. Health care is a grave problem in the U.S. right now too, one that Donald Trump seems set on making steadily worse. If his administration manages to defund Obamacare, millions of people will suffer. But if, in three years' time, some new administration takes over with a different resolve, it won't have become exponentially harder to deal with our health care issues. That suffering in the interim wouldn't have changed the fundamental equation. But with global warming, the fundamental equation is precisely what's shifting. And the remarkable changes we've seen so far – the thawed Arctic that makes the Earth look profoundly different from outer space; the planet's seawater turning 30 percent more acidic – are just the beginning. "We're inching ever closer to committing to the melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, which will guarantee 20 feet of sea-level rise," says Penn State's Michael Mann, one of the planet's foremost climatologists. "We don't know where the ice-sheet collapse tipping point is, but we are dangerously close." The latest models show that with very rapid cuts in emissions, Antarctic ice might remain largely intact for centuries; without them, we might see 11 feet of sea-level rise by century's end, enough to wipe cities like Shanghai and Mumbai "off the map."

The warning chart that NOAA issued shows Hurricane Ophelia ending in a straight line at 60 degrees north latitude, because the computer program never anticipated a hurricane so far north.

                There are plenty of tipping points like this: The Amazon, for instance, appears to be drying out and starting to burn as temperatures rise and drought deepens, and without a giant rainforest in South America, the world would function very differently. In the North Atlantic, says Mann, "we're ahead of schedule with the slowdown and potential collapse" of the giant conveyor belt that circulates warm water toward the North Pole, keeping Western Europe temperate. It's tipping points like these that make climate change such a distinct problem: If we don't act quickly, and on a global scale, then the problem will literally become insoluble. We'll simply move into a dramatically different climate regime, and on to a planet abruptly and disastrously altered from the one that underwrote the rise of human civilization. "Every bit of additional warming at this point is perilous," says Mann.

                Another way of saying this: By 2075 the world will be powered by solar panels and windmills – free energy is a hard business proposition to beat. But on current trajectories, they'll light up a busted planet. The decisions we make in 2075 won't matter; indeed, the decisions we make in 2025 will matter much less than the ones we make in the next few years. The leverage is now. 

                Trump, oddly, is not the central problem here, or at least not the only problem. Yes, he's abrogated the Paris agreements; true, he's doing his best to revive the coal mines of Kentucky; of course it's insane that he thinks climate change is a Chinese hoax.

                But we weren't moving fast enough to catch up with physics before Trump. In fact, it's even possible that Trump – by jumping the climate shark so spectacularly – may run
some small risk of disrupting the fossil-fuel industry's careful strategy.
That strategy, we now know, began in the late 1970s. The oil giants, led by Exxon, knew about climate change before almost anyone else. One of Exxon's chief scientists told senior management in 1978 that the temperature would rise at least four degrees Fahrenheit and that it would be a disaster. Management believed the findings – as the Los Angeles Times reported, companies like Exxon and Shell began redesigning drill rigs and pipelines to cope with the sea-level rise and tundra thaw.

                Yet, year after year, the industry used the review process of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to stress "uncertainty," which became Big Oil's byword. In 1997, just as the Kyoto climate treaty was being negotiated, Exxon CEO Lee Raymond told the World Petroleum Congress meeting in Beijing, "It is highly unlikely that the temperature in the middle of the next century will be significantly affected whether policies are enacted now or 20 years from now." In other words: Delay. Go slowly. Do nothing dramatic. As the company put it in a secret 1998 memo helping establish one of the innumerable front groups that spread climate disinformation, "Victory will be achieved when average citizens 'understand' (recognize) uncertainties in climate science," and when "recognition of uncertainty becomes part of the 'conventional wisdom.' "

                And it's not just the oil companies. As America's electric utilities began to understand that solar and wind power could undercut their traditional business, they began engaging in the same kind of behavior. In Arizona, whose sole reason for existence is the sun, the local utility helped rig elections for the state's public-utility commission, which in turn allowed utilities to impose ruinous costs on homeowners who wanted to put solar panels on their roofs. As The New York Times reported in July, the booming U.S. market for new residential solar has come to "a shuddering stop" after "a concerted and well-funded lobbying campaign by traditional utilities, which have been working in state capitals across the country to reverse incentives for homeowners to install solar panels." It's not that they think they can keep solar panels at bay forever – every utility website, like every fossil-fuel industry annual report, has pictures of solar panels and spinning windmills. But as industry analyst Nancy LaPlaca says, "Keeping the current business model just another year is always key for utilities that have a monopoly and want to keep that going."

                The planetary futurist Alex Steffen calls this tactic "predatory delay, the deliberate slowing of needed change to prolong a profitable but unsustainable status quo that will be paid by other people eventually." It's not confined to the moneybags at the oil companies and the utilities – he's written extensively about the otherwise-liberal urbanites in his home state of California. "A lot of cities are happy to talk about providing their power cleanly, but reducing cars, densifying, spending on bike paths, raising building standards – those things are all so contentious they're not even discussed." Ditto the folks who block windmills out of fear of chopping birds, thus helping lock in the next great mass extinction. Much of the labor movement has grown more outspoken on climate change. They know that a dollar invested in renewable energy generates three times as many jobs as one wasted on fossil fuel, but the union that builds pipelines has fought so tenaciously to avoid change that the AFL-CIO came out for building the Dakota Access Pipeline, even after guards sicced German shepherds on native protesters. In careful language that might have been written by a team at Exxon, the union said it supported new pipelines "as part of a comprehensive energy policy that creates jobs, makes the United States more competitive and addresses the threat of climate change." "Comprehensive," "balanced," "measured" are the high cards in this rhetorical deck. "Realistic" is the ace in the hole.

                There's a reason this kind of appeal is so persuasive. In almost every other political fight, a balanced and measured and "realistic" answer makes sense. I think billionaires should be taxed at 90 percent, and you think they contribute so much to society that they should pay no tax at all. We meet somewhere in the middle, and come back each election cycle to argue it again, depending on how the economy is doing or where the deficit lies. Humans and their societies do work best with gradual transitions – it gives everyone some time to adapt. But climate change, sadly, isn't a classic contest between two groups of people. It's a negotiation between people on the one hand and physics on the other. And physics doesn't do compromise. Precisely because we've waited so long to take any significant action, physics now demands we move much faster than we want to. Political realism and what you might call "reality realism" are in stark opposition. That's our dilemma.
You could draw it on a graph. The planet's greenhouse-gas emissions are still rising, though more slowly – let's say we manage to top out by 2020. In that case, to meet the planet's goal of holding temperature increases under two degrees Celsius, we have to cut emissions 4.6 percent annually till they go to zero. If we wait till 2025, we have to cut them seven percent annually. If we wait till 2030 – well, it's not even worth putting on the chart. I have to sometimes restrain myself from pointing out how easy it would have been if we'd acted back in the late 1980s, when I was first writing about this – a gradual half a percent a year. A glide path, not a desperate rappel down a deadly cliff.

The rate at which the world would have to move to zero emissions to keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius.

                Yes, we've waited too long. But maybe, just maybe, our task is not yet an impossible one. That's because the engineers have been doing their jobs much more vigorously than the politicians. Over the past decade, the price of a solar panel has fallen 80 percent; across most of the U.S., wind is now the least expensive form of power. In early October, an auction in Saudi Arabia for new electric generation was won by a solar farm pledging to deliver electrons for less than three cents a kilowatt hour, the cheapest price ever paid for electricity from any source in any place. Danny Kennedy, a longtime solar pioneer who runs California's Clean Energy Fund, a nonprofit connecting investors and startups, says every day brings some new project: "Just this week I've had entrepreneurs in here doing crowdfunding by Bitcoin to build microgrids in Southern Africa, and someone using lasers to cut silicon wafers to reduce the cost of solar cells by half." He'd just come back from a conference in Shanghai – "You should feel the buzz; the Chinese have really realized their self-interest lies in dominating the disruptive technologies."

                That is to say, if we wanted to power the planet on sun and wind and water, we could. It would be extremely hard, at the outer edge of the possible, but it's mathematically achievable. Mark Jacobson, who heads Stanford's Atmosphere/Energy program, has worked to show precisely how it could happen in all 50 U.S. states and 139 foreign countries – how much wind, how much sun, how much hydro it would take to produce 80 percent of our power renewably by 2030. If we did, he notes, we'd not only dramatically slow global warming, we'd also eliminate most of the air pollution that kills 7 million people a year and sickens hundreds of millions more, almost all of them in the poorest places on the planet (pollution now outweighs tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS, hunger and war as a killer). "There's no way you can be in Houston or Flint or Puerto Rico right now and not feel the urgency," says Elizabeth Yeampierre, one of America's leading climate-justice advocates. "Moving quickly can happen, but only if you uplift the work that's really innovative, that's already happening on the ground."

                Even much of the money is in place. For $50,000 in insulation, panels and appliances, Mosaic, the biggest solar lender in the country, can make a home run on 100 percent clean energy. "And we can make a zero-down loan, where people save money from Day One," says the company's CEO, Billy Parrish. Mosaic raised $300 million for its last round of bond financing, but it was nearly six times oversubscribed – that is, investors were ready to pony up about $1.8 billion. But even that amounts to small change: 36,000 homes in a nation of more than a hundred million dwellings. To go to scale, government is going to have to lead: loan guarantees for poor people, taking subsidies away from fossil fuels, making sure that when homeowners feed lowcarbon energy into the grid they get a good price from utilities. Even in California that kind of change comes hard: As Kennedy says, "The state legislature did not pass key legislation on clean energy this year despite a lot of hot air expended on it, and despite the fact that the Dems have a supermajority. I'm told to be patient and 'we'll get it done next year,' but I find it frightening that folks think we have another year to wait."

                And so the only real question is, how do we suddenly make it happen fast? That's where politics comes in. I said earlier that Trump wasn't the whole problem – in fact, it's just possible that in his know-nothing recklessness, he has upset the ever-so-patient apple cart. You could almost see the oil companies wincing when Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement – for them, the agreement was a pathway to slow and managed change. The promises it contained didn't keep the planet from overheating – indeed, even if everyone had kept them, the Earth would still have gotten 3.5 degrees Celsius hotter, enough to collapse every ecosystem you'd like to name. The accords did ensure that we'd still be burning significant amounts of hydrocarbons by 2050, and that the Exxons of the world would be able to recover most of the reserves they've so carefully mapped and explored.

                But now some of those bets are off. Around the rest of the world, most nations rejected Trump's pullout with diplomatically expressed rage. "To everyone for whom the future of our planet is important, I say let's continue going down this path," said Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. (The exception: petro baron Vladimir Putin, whose official remarks concluded, "Don't worry, be happy.") In this country, the polling showed that almost nothing Trump had done was less popular. Perhaps, if Trump continues to sink, this particular piece of nonsense will sink with him.

                And with Washington effectively gridlocked, the fight has moved elsewhere. When Trump pulled out of the climate accords, for instance, he explained that he'd been elected to govern "Pittsburgh, not Paris." The next day the mayor of Pittsburgh said his town was now planning on 100 percent renewable energy, a pledge that's been made by places as diverse as Atlanta, San Diego and Salt Lake City. Next year, representatives of thousands of regions, provinces, cities, parishes, arrondissements, districts and counties will descend on San Francisco for a Paris-like gathering of subnational actors, summoned by California Gov. Jerry Brown. According to Brown (who is as sadly compromised as most other leaders – he continues to allow wide-scale fracking and oil production across the state), Trump's decision to leave the path of gradualism "is a stimulus ... In a way, it's a rising of … awareness."

                The pressure has also increased on banks and corporations. In Australia, campaigners have forced the four major banks to refuse financing for what would have been one of the world's biggest coal mines; BNP Paribas, the world's eighth-largest lender, just announced it was out of the tar-sands and coal business. Several big California cities just announced they were suing the big oil companies for the damages caused by sea-level rise. The attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts have Exxon under investigation for pretending to take climate change seriously. All of that adds up to weaken the spreadsheet and the corporate resolve: "We're trying to persuade a dying industry to get out of the way," says Mark Campanale, the head of the NGO Carbon Tracker.

                The best chance of forcing the future, of course, lies with movements – with people gathering in large enough numbers to concentrate the minds of CEOs and presidential candidates. Here, too, Trump seems to be upping the ante – nearly a quarter million Americans marched on D.C. for climate action in April, the largest such demonstration in Washington's history. That activism keeps ramping up: At 350.org, we're rolling out a vast Fossil Free campaign across the globe this winter, joining organizations like the Sierra Club to pressure governments to sign up for 100 percent renewable energy, blocking new pipelines and frack wells as fast as the industry can propose them, and calling out the banks and hedge funds that underwrite the past. It's working – just in the last few weeks Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, announced plans to divest from fossil fuels, and the Nebraska Public Service Commission threw yet more roadblocks in front of the Keystone pipeline.

                But the question is, is it working fast enough? Paraphrasing the great abolitionist leader Theodore Parker, Martin Luther King Jr. used to regularly end his speeches with the phrase "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." The line was a favorite of Obama's too, and for all three men it meant the same thing: "This may take a while, but we're going to win." For most political fights, it is the simultaneously frustrating and inspiring truth. But not for climate change. The arc of the physical universe appears to be short, and it bends toward heat. Win soon or suffer the consequences. 

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THE BRUTAL RACIAL POLITICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLLUTION:

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION POLICIES ARE SYSTEMATICALLY MAKING

NATURAL DISASTERS MORE HARMFUL FOR THE POOR

AND PEOPLE OF COLOR

      Basav Sen

Republished from Foreign Policy In Focus - A project of the Institute for Policy Studies under a Creative Commons Attribution license. September 21, 2017, http://fpif.org/the-brutal-racial-politics-of-climate-change-and-pollution/. Originally published in Common Dreams with a Creative Commons Attribution license.

                As I watched coverage of Harvey’s flood damage in Houston, Irma’s wreckage in the Caribbean, the devastating record monsoons in South Asia, and the fresh nightmares of Hurricane Maria, I thought back to another place: Charlottesville, where racists openly rallied to their cause—and were later defended by the president.

                To explain why, let me point back to one of the least known—yet most outrageous—of the Trump administration’s early policy proposals: the proposed elimination of the Environmental Justice program at the EPA. While the division still exists for now, it has no more grants available for the current fiscal year, and its future is in limbo.

                Environmental justice is the principle that people of color and poor people have historically faced greater harm from environmental damage, so special efforts should be made to prioritize their access to clean air and water. The environmental justice program gave small grants to communities struggling with these disparate pollution impacts. Its budget was small—just $6.7 million out of the prior year’s EPA budget of $8 billion, or less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

                Clearly, the proposed cut wasn’t about saving money. Instead, it points to a more sinister agenda—especially when paired with other planks of the administration’s environmental platform.

Disproportionate Harm

                Take Trump’s proposal to deregulate power plant emissions.

Air pollution is bad for everyone with lungs, but it disproportionately harms people of color and poor people, who are much likelier to live near coal-burning power plants. People living within three miles of coal-fired power plants have a per capita income 15 percent lower than the national average, and African Americans die of asthma at a 172 percent higher rate than white people. Deregulating toxic polluters is only going to worsen such egregious disparities.

                Meanwhile in Alaska, Native villages are literally sinking into the sea and facing the loss of their traditional lifestyle as polar ice melts. Yet the federal government proposes eliminating the already meager assistance they receive, and won’t even name the problem they’re confronting. Absurdly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) now refers to Arctic climate change impacts as “Arctic Change.”

                Similar inequalities show up in the places hardest hit during this catastrophic hurricane season.

                Refineries and other petrochemical facilities in Houston have been shut down in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey.

               

                However, storm damage at the Exxon refinery in Baytown has led to leaks of toxic chemicals, while the Chevron Phillips refinery in Pasadena reported to regulators that it may release known carcinogens like benzene.

                Who lives near these facilities? Of the two Census blocks immediately adjoining Exxon’s Baytown refinery, one is 87 percent non-white and 76 percent low-income, the other 59 percent non-white and 59 percent low-income.

                Outside the Chevron Phillips facility, the same pattern plays out: Residents there are 83 percent non-white and 74 percent low-income.

                Living near these facilities—and in the storm zone, generally—is dangerous. But for some people, even trying to get away was dangerous. In a horrifying move, the Border Patrol continued to operate checkpoints on highways being used by people evacuating from the hurricane-affected zone, so undocumented immigrants had to choose between risking their lives or getting deported.

                While Texas was still reeling, the Caribbean, and then Florida, was struck by Hurricane Irma. The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, a sovereign state that’s over 90 percent black, says that 95 percent of the structures on the island of Barbuda have been destroyed.

                Americans sometimes forget that the Caribbean includes the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Though “colonies” would be a more truthful word, since these largely nonwhite islands have no voting representation in Congress.)

                More than half the residents of Puerto Rico lost power, and a top utility official has warned that many of them will remain without power for weeks to months. The delay is partly attributable to the poor state of the island’s infrastructure, which hasn’t been maintained over a decade-long recession—one worsened by Washington-imposed austerity policies that prioritize payments to lenders over the well being of Puerto Ricans.

                People in the U.S. Virgin Islands, meanwhile—over three-quarters of whom are black—are struggling with major storm damage and power outages, with minimal federal assistance and little coverage from the U.S. media. While federal authorities aren’t providing meaningful assistance to USVI residents, they’ve nonetheless mustered the capacity to block desperate evacuees from other harder-hit islands in the region from reaching the islands.

                And before Puerto Ricans and Virgin Islanders had a chance to recover, they’ve been hit by Maria, a second major hurricane, that’s knocked out power for the entire island of Puerto Rico and caused severe structural damage to buildings. The mayor of San Juan expects it will take 4 to 6 months to restore electricity.

An Unmistakable Pattern

                There’s a pattern here.

                The proposed elimination of environmental justice funding, assistance for Native Alaskans, and the U.S. contribution to the Green Climate Fund (which assists poor countries with adapting to the effects of climate change and transitioning to clean energy) all appear calculated to pander to the most racist, nationalist elements of Trump’s base, who don’t want any assistance going to those they consider “undeserving.”

Yet who could be more deserving?

                Black Americans are living with (and dying from) asthma caused by particulate pollution from profit-generating power plants. Native Alaskans are losing their homes and traditional lifestyles due to melting ice caused by climate change. Undocumented people had to risk deportation while fleeing a life-threatening disaster.

                Globally, Bangladeshis, Indians, and Nepalis are suffering from catastrophic floods that are exacerbated by other people’s greenhouse gas emissions—not least our own, since the U.S. is the largest historical emitter of the carbon now warming the planet. And people in Antigua, Barbuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico just got battered by a powerful hurricane intensified by a warming ocean.

                All of these lives are systematically devalued by the powers that be precisely because of entrenched white supremacy—of the implicit kind (evidenced by the decades of foot-dragging by rich countries on the issue of climate change), as well as the brazen kind on display in Charlottesville.

                We cannot truly confront the root causes and horrific impacts of climate change without challenging and undoing white supremacy.

*Basav Sen directs the Climate Justice Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. He’s the author of the recent report “How States Can Boost Renewables, With Benefits for All.”

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HEGEMONY IS A FINE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE TRUMP ERA: GOAL IS TO RANSACK THE EARTH

     Mark Trahant*

Repulished with author'spermission from Trahant Reports, October 19, 2017, https://trahantreports.com/2017/10/19/hegemony-is-a-fine-word-to-describe-the-trump-era-goal-is-to-ransack-the-earth/.

A CORRUPTED WORD, A CORRUPTED GOVERNMENT

                Let’s play with a word and an idea. “Hegemony” means the dominance of one political group over all others. That, at this moment, is the Republican brand. President Donald J. Trump, a Republican Senate, a Republican House, and a conservative, if not Republican, court system that will judge the law and Constitution for years to come. Hegemony.

                But that word has been corrupted. Once the Greek word, “hegemon,” meant to lead. But the root word “heg” in English later became to seek, or better, to “sack,” as in ransack.

                So hegemony is a fine word to describe the Trump era. The goal is to ransack (instead of lead). Ransack the government. Or at least the idea of government.

                There is no better example of hegemony than the debate about the climate. The Republican brand from top to bottom is bent on grabbing as much natural resource loot that can be carried away in short period of time.

                Except this: Hegemony is an illusion. What seems like absolute power is not.

                This should be easily evident from hurricanes, fires, and other growing climate threats. You would think this is the moment for a pause (at the very least). A time out to examine what’s going on around the world and then a consideration about what should be done.

                But the Republican brand, including the people who manage federal Indian programs, are willfully hostile to facts.

                The World Meteorological Organization reports that natural disasters have tripled in number and the damage caused by them have increased five-fold. “Today, there is scientific proof that climate change is largely responsible for the dramatic increase in the intensity and devastation caused by the hurricanes in the Caribbean and by many other phenomena around the world,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres after a tour of Dominica. That island, including the Kalinago Indian Territory, was hit with successive category five hurricanes. “I have never seen anywhere else in the world a forest completely decimated without one single leaf on any tree,” said Guterres, who flew by helicopter over some of the most affected areas, including Kalinago Territory.

                And Puerto Rico still waits for clean water, sanitation, electricity, and basic infrastructure more than a month after its storms. Yet President Trump told reporters Thursday: “I’d say it was a 10” as he described the federal government’s response. “I’d say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved. You look at the number. I mean, this was — I think it was worse than Katrina.”

                The governor of Puerto Rico has a different take. “Recognizing that we’re in this together – US citizens in Texas, US citizens in Florida, US citizens in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands – we need equal treatment,” said Gov.

                Ricardo Rossello. “We need all the resources so we can get out of the emergency and of course the resources to rebuild.”

We know, yes, know, that climate change will leave parts of the earth uninhabitable (as we have already seen in tribal communities in Alaska, Washington and Louisiana.) How many times can you rebuild when storm after storm wipes out the life you know? How do we as a country, as a species, decide when we can no longer rebuild or stay? I’ve been thinking a lot about the Iranian city of Ahvaz where temperatures last summer reached 129 degrees. When will it become too hot, 130? 132? What’s the number that we just hit before we leave?

                Who will be the next climate refugees?

                Already in Puerto Rico that demographic transformation is occurring. “It could potentially be a very large migration to the continental United States,” said Maria Cristina Garcia, a Cornell University historian, immigration expert, and author on large-scale population shifts, which includes a forthcoming book on climate refugees in Scientific American. “Whether that migration will be permanent or temporary is still anyone’s guess. Much depends on the relief package that Congress negotiates.”

                Puerto Rico has 3.4 million residents. Think of the magnitude of so many people, half a million or more, moving to Florida, Texas or any other state. Only then will the fecklessness of Congress be clear.

                So much of the debate now only focuses on the “relocation.” But Indian Country (that’s had too many experiences with forced relocation) knows that’s only the beginning of the governmental and social costs. There will be costs ranging from demands for behavioral health to increased joblessness and poverty. The fact of hundreds of thousands of American refugees should be seen as a dangerous crisis worthy of our immediate attention.

                Right now we don’t even think of Californians as climate refugees, but we should. At least 100,000 people were evacuated and nearly 6,000 homes and buildings were destroyed. And this number will grow and it ought to raise more questions about where humans can and should live.

                “An increasing body of research finds that the hot and dry conditions that created the California drought were brought on in part by human-caused warming,” writes Georgina Gustin in Inside Climate News.  “Higher temperatures pull moisture out of soil and vegetation, leaving parched landscapes that can go up in flames with the slightest spark from a downed utility wire, backfiring car or embers from a campfire.

               

                California’s average temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit during the second half of the 20th century. Altogether this has led to more “fuel aridity” — drier tree canopies, grasses and brush that can burn.”

                Gustin writes that research from the Pacific Northwest National Labs and Utah State University projects more extreme drought and extreme flooding. “If global carbon emissions continue at a high level, extreme dry periods will double, the study finds—going from about five extreme dry “events” during the decade of the 1930s, to about 10 per decade by the 2070s.  Extreme wet periods will increase from about 4 to about 15 over the same periods, roughly tripling.”

                Again, raising the question of where people can be? Think of the tension about immigration now — and multiply that by a factor of ten or a hundred to get a sense of the scale ahead.

THE FAILURE OF COAL

                There is another dimension to hegemony — or the lack of that in the federal government. Cities, states, tribes, corporations, and individuals, are ignoring the ransacking of the climate and moving forward with a global community focused on solutions. Markets are exercising power, too.

                One example of that is the Trump administration’s failure to revive the coal industry. This was one of Donald J. Trump’s main campaign promises. The chief executive of a private coal company, Robert Murray, sums up the illogic. Just a week ago he said on the PBS’ News Hour: “We do not have a climate change problem” and 4,000 scientists told him that “mankind is not affecting climate change.” Murray’s former lobbyist has been nominated as the deputy director of the Environmental Protection Administration. Already the EPA has proposed rolling back the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. But the new coal regulations (or more likely, non-regulations) will still be challenged through the regulatory process and in court.

                And its the markets for coal that are dictating the terms of surrender. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports coal consumption picked up after President Trump’s election but has started to decline again. “The recent decline in production was a result of weaker demand for steam coal, about half of which is mined in Wyoming and Montana. Production of metallurgical coal, which is used in steel manufacturing and makes up about 8% of total U.S. coal production, increased for the third consecutive quarter,” the EIA reported. “Demand for steam coal, which in the first half of 2017 made up more than 90% of U.S. coal production, is driven by coal-fired electricity generation. In recent years, coal has lost part of its electricity generation share to other fuels, but it still accounted for 30% of the U.S. electricity generation mix in the first half of 2017 compared with natural gas and renewables (including hydro) at 31% and 20%, respectively.”

                And the jobs that were promised? There are now under 60,000 people employed nationwide by the coal industry. And about a thousand jobs, at most, were created since Trump took office. By comparison during that same time frame one of the fastest growing jobs, wind turbine service technician, created 4,800 new jobs at an average salary of $52,260. But the big numbers are in health care (where we should be growing jobs) an industry that created 384,000 new jobs as home health aides in the last year.

Hegemony? No.

                But Congress acts as if it has all the power over nature. The budget the Senate just passed would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. Instead of a pause, and a rethink of climate policies, there is a hurry up and drill mentality. (Even if you love oil: Why now? Why not wait until it’s worth something? The answer is because it will never again be that valuable. The era of extraction is over.)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is an interesting position. She’s fought hard for Medicaid and for the Alaska Native medical system. She deserves credit for that. But the budget she now champions could undo all of that work because the generous tax cuts will have to be eventually paid for by cutting from social programs, especially Medicaid. And what will the new costs be for more development in the Arctic in terms of subsistence hunting and fishing, potential relocation, higher health costs, and increased strain on the environment?

                A group of elders from the Bering Sea recently published a report on their Ecosystem and Climate Change. “The cold, rich waters of the northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait form the foundation of culture, food security, and economy for coastal Yupik and Inupiaq peoples, who have relied on the abundant marine resources of this region for thousands of years,” the report said. “But this unique ecosystem is vulnerable to ecological transformation and uncertainty due to climate change … climate warming is leading to change in seasonal ice, altering the abundance, timing,  and distribution of important species. The loss of sea ice is in turn causing a dramatic increase in ship traffic through these highly sensitive and important areas.”

                How do we change course? How do get a pause? One way is to wait until it’s too late.

                In Dominica there is a forced rethinking that followed the hurricanes. Roosevelt Skerrit, the country’s prime minister,  recently put it this way: “Our devastation is so complete that our recovery has to be total. And so we have a unique opportunity to be an example to the world, an example of how an entire nation rebounds from disaster and how an entire nation can be climate resilient for the future. We did not choose this opportunity. We did not wish it. Having had it thrust upon us, we have chosen actively and decisively to be that example to the world.”

                A shining example, yes, but at a cost that has been extraordinary and painful. The price of hegemony.

*Mark Trahant is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is an independent journalist and a member of The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On Twitter @TrahantReports.

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‘WE LOST ALL WHAT MONEY CAN BUY,’ DOMINICA LEADER SAYS; INDIGENOUS TERRITORY TAKES DIRECT HIT FROM THE STORM 

                   Mark Trahant*

Trahant Reports Republsihed with author;s permission from Trahant Reportd, September 20, 2017, https://trahantreports.com/2017/09/20/we-lost-all-what-money-can-buy-dominica-leader-says-indigenous-territory-takes-direct-hit-from-the-storm/.

                The Kalinago Territory in Dominica took a direct hit from Hurricane Maria.  The indigenous territory (formerly known as the Caribs) is on the remote eastern Atlantic side of the island. There have been no communications from the tribal community.

                The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday that it was using a helicopter to assess damage across the island nation: “Of particular concern for CDEMA was the Kalinago Territory between Castle Bruce and Atkinson where the houses are not particularly resilient.”

                Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted on his Facebook page: “Initial reports are of widespread devastation. So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace. My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.

                “So, far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with. The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn away roofs in the city and the countryside … We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds.”

                Early relief efforts and supplies have been directed toward the island’s cities, mostly coming from Barbados. The International Red Cross reports: “Most of the main roads were impassable and several bridges were blocked or damaged. The provision of essential services (water, electricity) has been disrupted, and landline and mobile phone service is intermittent. The agricultural sector and consequently livelihoods has been significantly impacted due to crop losses. As of 1 September 2015, the National Emergency Operations Centre has confirmed 11 dead and 23 people have been reported missing. ”

                “A band of torrential rain caused by the system resulted in the 6 to 8 inches of rainfall in less than twelve hours and triggered massive flooding and several landslides,” according to the Red Cross. “Families have lost their homes to the damage incurred from flooding and landslides, which has also resulted in the loss of lives, personal belongings, and total destruction of subsistence crops.”

                Good Hope, a community just south of the Kalinago Territory, was “in dire need of water,” according to the Red Cross.

                The island’s capital is on the other side of the mountains from Kalinago Territory.  Some 3,000 tribal members live in the territory. The tribe recently returned to its own name, instead of the one set by Spanish explorers, the Caribe.

                More than 70,000 people live on the island. Dominica was already recovering from another major storm, Erika, in 2015.

*Mark Trahant is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is an independent journalist and a member of The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On Twitter @TrahantReports.

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Upcoming Environmental Events

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation offers a series of lectures and seminars throught the year. For details go to: https://www.wagingpeace.org.

The 10th Annual Earth Care Summit Up may be in January or February 2018. For more information go to: http://www.emoregon.org/emo_events.php.

World Sustainable Development Summit 2018: Partnerships for a Resilient Planet is February 15-17, 2018, at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India. For details visit: http://wsds.teriin.org. 

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 16th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future will feature legendary Hollywood director Oliver Stone and Professor Peter Kuznick, co-authors of the internationally-acclaimed documentary The Untold History of the United States. The lecture, entitled “Untold History, Uncertain Future,” will take place on February 23, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. For more information go to: https://www.wagingpeace.org.

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Climate Change Makes Me Sick is February 23, 2018, in Miami, FL. PSR's Dr. Lynn Ringenberg will present during the Pediatric Postgraduate Course conference. For more information go to: http://www.psr.org/news-events/events/.

The 6th annual workshop of Rising Voices: Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions may be in April 2018. The workshop will be convened in partnership with Cultural Survival and the International Indian Treaty Council. For details go to: iitc.org.

The 7th International Conference on "Livelihoods, Sustainability and Conflict: Religion, Conflict, and Reconciliation,” may be in March 2017, hosted by Kennesaw State University Conflict Management Program at Kennesaw State University Center for Continuing Education 3333 Busbee Drive Kennesaw, GA 30144. For more information go to: http://ccm.hss.kennesaw.edu/events-programs/.

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Code Blue for Patient Earth: Day-long conference on climate and health, featuring PSR member Dr. Bruce Snyder as a speaker, in St. Paul, MN, is April 20, 2018, in Miami, FL. PSR's Dr. Lynn Ringenberg will present during the Pediatric Postgraduate Course conference. For more information go to: http://www.psr.org/news-events/events/.

The 10th International Conference on Climate: Impacts and Responses is at University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, April 20-21, 2018. The Climate Change Conference is for any person with an interest in, and concern for, scientific, policy and strategic perspectives in climate change. It will address a range of critically important themes relating to the vexing question of climate change. Plenary speakers will include some of the world’s leading thinkers in the fields of climatology and environmental science, as well as numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by researchers and practitioners. For details go to: http://on-climate.com/the-conference. For details visit: http://www.peace-ed-campaign.org/calendar.

Earth Day is April 22, 2018.

350.org is sponsoring the People’s Climate Mobilization, a major march in Washington, D.C., when we will come together with hundreds of thousands of people to reject Trump’s attack on our communities and climate, and push forward with our vision of a clean energy economy that works for all, April 29, 2017. For more information go to:  https://peoplesclimate.org/pledge/?source=350&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit.

The 13th Annual Global Solutions Lab  is June 17-25, 2018, at the United Nations in New York and Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA.  Participants, from around the world, will be briefed by, interact with and question UN experts (from the UN Development Program, UN Environmental Program, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, FAO and other UN agencies) and then, working collaboratively in small teams, develop designs, programs and strategies that deal with one of the critical problems facing our world. The participants present their work to a group of UN corporate and foundation leaders. After this their work is published in a book. This year's theme is Eliminating Extreme Poverty by 2030. 

The Global Solutions Lab is a structured learning experience that fosters creativity, disruptive innovations, global perspectives and local solutions. It is intense, fast-paced, and for many, transformative.

                                For information visit: Global Solutions Lab:  www.designsciencelab.com.

Summit Series: Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self is July 5-8, 2018 at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Banff, Canada, and hosted by the University of Alberta and James Madison University. For details visit: www.jmu.edu/summitseries.

The Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability is January 17-19, 2019, at UBC Robinson Square, Vancouver, BC, Canada. For details visit: http://onsustainability.com/2019-conference.

The 15th International MEDCOAST Congress on Coastal and Marine Sciences, Engineering, Management & Conservation may be in October or November, 2019. For details go to: conference.medcoast.net, or medcoast@medcoast.net, http://www.medcoast.net/.

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Useful Web Sites

USEFUL WEB SITES

UN NGO Climate Change Caucus, with numerous task forces, is at: http://climatecaucus.net.

On the Frontlines of Climate Change: A global forum for indigenous peoples, small islands and vulnerable communities can be subscribed to at: http://www.climatefrontlines.org/lists/?p=subscribe. See postings on the website at: http://www.climatefrontlines.org/en-GB/node/148.

350.org focusses on stopping and mitigating global warming induced climate change: http://act.350.org/.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is concerned with the proper use of science in decision making, and of using science to prevent public harm in many areas, especially concerning the environment: www.ucsusa.org.

The Indigenous Environmental Network works on environmental issues  from an Indigenous point of view: http://www.ienearth.org.

The League of Conservation voters (LCV) is concerned with environmental issues: https://www.lcv.org.

Food & Water Action Fund (https://www.foodandwateractionfund.org) and Food and Water Watch (https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org) work to protect food and water.

Ocean River Institute is a non-profit that provides opportunities to make a difference and go the distance for savvy stewardship of a greener and bluer planet Earth: https://www.oceanriver.org.

Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water: https://waterkeeper.org.

WildEarth Guardians works to protect and restore wildlife, wild places and wild rivers in the American West: wildearthguardians.org.

Nuclear Information and Resource Service focuses on the dangers of nuclear arms and nuclear power: https://www.nirs.org.

Earth Policy Institute, dedicated to building a sustainable future as well as providing a plan of how to get from here to there: www.earthpolicy.org.

Wiser Earth lists more than 10,700 environmental and environmental justice organizations at: http://www.wiserearth.org/organization/

Earthwatch, the world’s largest environmental volunteer organization, founded in 1971, works globally to help the people of the planet volunteer realize a sustainable environment: http://www.earthwatch.org/.

Avaaz.org works internationally on environmental and peace and justice issues: http://www.avaaz.org.

The Environmental Defense Fund works on environmental issues and policy, primarily in the U.S.: http://edf.org.

Earthjustice focuses on environmental issues and action: http://action.earthjustice.org.

The Sierra Club works on environmental issues in the United States: http://action.sierraclub.org.

SaveOurEnvironemnt.org, a coalition of environmental organizations acting politically in the U.S.: http://ga3.org/campaign/0908_endangered_species/xuninw84p7m8mxxm.

The National Resources Defense Council works on a variety of environmental issues in the U.S.: NRhttp://www.nrdconline.org/, asd is affiliated with the NRDC Action Fund work http://www.nrdcactionfund.org.

Care 2 is concerned about a variety of issues, including the environment: http://www.care2.com/.

Rainmakers Oceania studies possibilities for restoring the natural environment and humanity's rightful place in it, at: http://rainmakers-ozeania.com/0annexanchorc/about-rainmakers.html.

Green Ships, in fall 2008, was is asking Congress to act to speed the development of new energy efficient ships that can take thousands of trucks off Atlantic and Pacific Coast highways, moving freight up and down the costs with far less carbon emissions and more cheaply:  http://www.greenships.org.

Carbon Fund Blog carries climate change news, links to green blogs, and a green resource list, at: http://carbonfund.blogspot.com/2008/03/sky-is-falling.html. Carbon Fund is certifying carbon free products at: http://www.carbonfund.org/site/pages/businesses/category/CarbonFree.

Grist carries environmental news and commentary: http://www.grist.org/news/,

Green Inc. is a new blog from The New York Times devoted to energy and the environment at: greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com.

Planting Peace is, "A Resource Center for news and activities that seek to build a powerful coalition to bring about cooperation and synergy between the peace movement, the climate crisis movement, and the organic community." Their web site includes extensive links to organizations, articles, videos and books that make the connections, at: http://organicconsumers.org/plantingpeace/index.cfm, Planting Peace is sponsored by the Organic Consumers Association: http://organicconsumers.org/.

The Global Climate Change Campaign: http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org/.

The center for defense information now carries regular reports on Global Warming & International Security at: http://www.cdi.org.

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