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Topic: 🚩 Global Climate Chaos ☠️ (Read 118035 times)
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Yes. Water is life. Without reasonably drinkable water, humans and animals cannot survive. Australia is governed by Capitalist greedballs. Consequently, Mad Max IS the Capitalist ideology always lurking beneath the fragile veneer of civilized behavior. Capitalists will kill their neighbors for water without a second thought. Evil is as evil does. Civilization in Australia AND New Zealand will either turn to Democratic Socialism or be burnt to a cinder DESTROYED by Capitalist profit over people and planet. School is out for the greedballs (See: Texan Dentist Eddie of the Doomstead Diner, who will shortly experience, IN TEXAS, what is now happening in Australia. - You REAP what you SOW). Capitalists can no longer hide behind their BULLSHIT claims of "progress" through "enlightened self interest". It was never anything of the kind. It was always about beggar thy neighbor through duplicitous guile, or in-your-face criminal cruelty when that didn't work. Capitalism, an ideology that rejects even the most basic tenets of altruism in regard to any and all life forms in the surrounding biosphere, is, and always has been, a recipe for Homo SAP extinction.
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
Agelbert RANT: Kevin mentions, among several Catastrophic Climate Change stories, the FACT that 🦀 Trump is flagrantly violating the emoluments clause LAW. He has now gotten over 118 MILLION DOLLARS from we-the-people to golf on his own properties! There is always money for Trump's SWAG but he and his wrecking crew championed cutting SNAP from the poorest, needy Americans because, uh. "the government must cut unnecessary expenses"... Black Bear News Live Stream - 12.26.19 83 watching now Black Bear News 2.54K subscribers #FridayGasStrike #ExtinctionRebellion #ClimateStrike #GretaThunberg #ClimateChange #CompassionateDegrowth #BlackBearNews Rokfin https://www.rokfin.com/BlackBearNewsTwitter @BlackBearNews1 Support via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr... Support via Square: https://cash.me/$RedLlamaMusic Red Llama Music PO Box 132 So Pasadena, CA 91031 Category People & Blogs
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
Year in Climate Crisis: Fossil Fuels Expansion , Scary Science and Global Activism December 26, 2019 Story Transcript Lisa Snowden-McCray: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Lisa Snowden-McCray. The Real News is spending some time looking back over some of the most important issues we covered this year including Latin America, Israel and Palestine, US politics, the criminal justice system, and the climate crisis. 2019 was a busy and scary year for climate news. Places all over the planet reached temperatures higher than ever recorded, warnings from scientists and activists reached a fevered pitch; teen activist Greta Thunberg sounded an alarm for people gathered at the International Climate Talks held in Madrid earlier this month, saying, quote, “We no longer have time to leave out the science.” Here at The Real News Network, we were on top of it all. We tackled the Green New Deal, environmental justice issues associated with oil drilling, and the power Big Oil maintains in Canada. Today, I’m joined by Real News climate reporter and producer, Steve Horn, who’s been at the climate beat since 2010. Also joining us is Real News contributor Dimitri Lascaris, who is also a member of our board of directors. Dimitri focuses his coverage on climate politics and foreign policy. Thank you both for joining us. Dimitri Lascaris: Thank you, Lisa. Steve Horn: Good to be here. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Now, at the beginning of this year, actually at the beginning of your time here with us, Steve, we were wanting to do some reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, which is definitely a climate issue. Dimitri, you were actually on the ground there in Puerto Rico. Can you talk a little bit about what you saw? Dimitri Lascaris: Yeah. So, I was there in March of this year, so many months had gone by since Hurricane Maria had ravaged the island. And I could see signs of the devastation in quite a few places. There were a number of buildings that were destroyed, had not been demolished, or were in a state of disrepair. I drove from the north of the island to the south of the island, and as I crossed through forested areas, I saw large swaths of trees that had been stripped bare. I visited a baseball stadium in San Juan where the municipality was giving out free supplies, in particular free fresh water because a lot of people still couldn’t access fresh water. So, the island had been recovering very slowly, and it was clear that it was nowhere near a complete recovery at that time, and it was in that context when, thanks to some excellent investigative work by Steve, we discovered that [inaudible 00:02:34], rather than moving away from a fossil fuels-dependent energy system, was actually upping the ante with liquified natural gas. And that’s something that I think Steve can talk about in some light. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Yeah, Steve, can you talk a little bit about that? Steve Horn: Yeah. So, what I realized is that… I was following this issue in the Southeast United States where this capital investor kind of oligarch-type figure, Wes Edens, was building out LNG-by-rail down there. And of course, Florida being the closest state to Puerto Rico, and he was gearing that up to LNG-by-rail to export, I was wondering, where is that natural gas going? So, I started doing research, and when I found out that Dimitri was going to Puerto Rico, and I found out, “Okay, one of the places that’s targeted is Puerto Rico.” And so, basically what I did from there is examined the exacts of how much is planned to go to Puerto Rico, and the… especially looking at what was happening on the United States side, with the broader LNG-by-rail; they needed to get a permit from the Trump administration, meaning Edens’ company, and there’s been several instances this year, I think there’s been… Edens has been sort of the connective tissue in a lot of natural gas-related issues. Like I said, LNG By Rail and others happening in the eastern United States. And then the last thing I’ll say about that is, even going into the power politics of the Democratic Party in Milwaukee, Wes Edens… There are conventions in Milwaukee this year. Eden is on a host committee of the convention, same guy who owns the natural gas that’s going to… and also opening power plants in Puerto Rico and in that area of the world. And one of the questions that was being raised is, “Why is the Democratic Party not discussing climate change at its debates?” And so, one of the answers may be, oh, well, Wes Edens is a huge player in the convention that ends all of these debates, where the Democrats will announce their final nominee. So, yeah, there’s been many instances where he has popped up this year. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Yeah. I can see, as we move in, as the Democrats kind of narrow in on who their presidential candidate’s going to be, climate change could or possibly could not be one of the issues that we continue to discuss. Steve, I want to kind of keep going with you for a little bit. I know that you’re based out of California, which is always just a font of climate news for a variety of reasons, and you did a lot of reporting on cap and trade this year. Can you talk a little bit about that, and how that effects climate? Steve Horn: Yeah. So, cap and trade is California’s climate policy; it’s what oversees not only everything that happens at the state level, but also at the local level when cities create climate action plans. So, it’s really important to understand the basic question: is cap and trade actually working in a way that its proponents say it’s working? It’s been the policy of the state basically this entire decade, first signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, and now being carried out by our new governor, Gavin Newsome. And so, yeah, a lot of our coverage has been… kind of since I started right when Newsome started, it’s, what is Newsome doing in the aftermath of Brown? Brown was seen as almost like a global figure in climate change and his leadership in the way that promoters say it. So, that’s PR on their end; what we’re trying to do is answer the question, is California actually a quote-unquote “climate leader” the way that it’s been hailed? And basically, our reporting on the cap and trade system, and on another related issue called the tropical forest standard, has said, “Take a step back,” and actually seeing, well, not quite as much, you know? The emissions numbers aren’t as good as the proponents said they were going to be; there are serious questions on if those numbers can be met by 2030. And as that happens, oil and gas continue… sorry, oil in particular continues to be drilled in this state. There’s not a really whole lot of huge changes happening that would point to the fact that, “Oh, well, the emissions are going down.” So, basically, it’s a question of, is cap and trade more of a scheme that’s being used to toy with the numbers? And, yeah, the emissions numbers tell a different story than what the proponents are saying that’s happening. Lisa Snowden-McCray: I got to say, I’m not feeling too good with the things that you guys have told me so much about climate. It’s like, Puerto Rico’s still bad. This legislation’s not working. What do you see… I guess, based on your reporting, especially like these two pieces of legislation that you just talked about, is legislation the way forward? Is that going to be the thing that saves us? Dimitri Lascaris: I think that the threshold question is, how are going to get that legislation? Because you indicated at the outset, you said that there has been, I think, a real shift in the public’s consciousness about this crisis in the West, and this is certainly the case in Canada. And this is a very positive development. You know, we’re seeing in Canada significant resistance on the ground to the government’s complacency about the climate emergency; Extinction Rebellion, which I believe was founded in Europe, has now migrated to Canada, it’s begun to stage acts of civil disobedience on the ground. A few months ago in Montreal, an estimated 500,000 people marched for the climate and listened to a powerful speech from Greta Thunberg. I was there, and it was extraordinary to see that many Canadians in the street. It was the largest protest in the history of the province of Quebec, which has seen a lot of big protests over the years. Public concern over the climate crisis seems to have had an impact at the ballot box, as well, in Canada. In the federal election in October, Justin Trudeau was returned to power, but with a minority of seats rather than majority. And I think it’s fair to say he paid a price for the fact that he broke his promise to end fossil fuel subsidies. He bought this Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline from US energy giant, Kinder Morgan, for 4.5 billion dollars. His promise to spend billions more to expand it… Canada’s existing plans will leave us about 80 million tons of CO2 shy of the existing 2030 goal of 513 megatons of CO2 in equivalence, and that goal is the weak goal of the prior conservative governor, Steven Harper, which Justin Trudeau criticized when he was in opposition. And so, I think Canadian voters are grasping more than ever that when it comes to the climate emergency, there’s a huge disparity between the reality and the Trudeau government’s rhetoric. And this is happening in other countries, and the reaction has been one that gives me a great deal of hope. It’s been resistance and real demands for radical change. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Okay. I feel a little bit better. Does Trudeau have any things kind of planned to gain back some of that ground that he lost with a lot of voters? Dimitri Lascaris: Well, he’s certainly talking the talk, but… He just had a meeting with the Premier of Alberta, which is where the fossil fuels industry in Canada is centered, and he emerged from that meeting, he issued a communique in which he said that the government remains as determined as ever to build the Trans Mountain Pipeline. So, you know, I think, really, what would have sent an even more powerful message is if he had been removed from office entirely. He doesn’t seem to have grasped yet that he’s going to be expected by this electorate to begin to deliver on his promise to deal with the climate crisis. And I do think that that expectation is now real, and any politician who continues to ignore that expectation is going to pay a serious price at the ballot box. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Now, I feel like one of the things that we function to do here at Real News is to kind of be the ones helping ring the alarms, to let people know how serious things are, and one of the ways that you do that is with some of your climate science reporting. Are there any things that we really need to make sure that we have at the top of our list? What are the things that are kind of the things that are most jarring, the things that are going to be the most important, Dimitri… I guess in the past and going forward, what do you think we need to really keep it in mind? Dimitri Lascaris: Well, I think what we’ve seen over and over again, Lisa, is that the scientific community is underestimating the severity and rapidity of climate change, and we just did a story at the Real News about a new climate model being developed by the Canadian government. This climate model showed or is predicting that if in a high-emissions scenario, the world will see between seven and eight degrees Celsius of warming by 2100. So, that’s within the lifetime of children who are being born today. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Yeah. Dimitri Lascaris: At that level, if we achieve that level of warming by 2100, I can’t imagine how we’re going to be able to avoid a civilizational collapse. It would be absolutely unmanageable and devastating for the human population. Even under this new model, even in a strong emissions reduction scenario, the model’s predicting 2.4 degrees Celsius of warming, and that’s significantly above the upper threshold stipulated by the Paris Climate Accord, which said, you know, we should be aiming to keep it under 1.5 and as much as possible, below two. So, we understand, based upon our investigation into this new modeling, that this is not just confined to this model, but that other newer, more sophisticated climate models are also yielding results that are more alarming than the prior generation of models. So, this is something we have to watch very carefully, and as the science becomes more sophisticated, the results are becoming more concerning. So, the political will has to catch up to the science, and it’s not yet doing that. Lisa Snowden-McCray: Okay. And while we’re kind of talking predictions, Steve, what do you have on your plate? What are some of the things that you think are super important as we move into 2020? Steve Horn: Well, I think that the… I mean, since we’re talking about movements, in the United States, the movement around the Green New Deal started really at the beginning of this year as almost a new thing. And it morphed into, there is now something called the select committee on the climate crisis, which was a compromise between the Pelosi wing of the party and, we’ll just say, the AOC wing, which was calling for a select committee on the Green New Deal… Lisa Snowden-McCray: The squad. Steve Horn: Yeah, the squad! Exactly. So, in March, the select committee will be putting forward… by the end of March is the deadline to put forward its report on what it’s learned in the past year of hearings, and field reports, and stuff that they’ve been doing. It’ll be interesting to see what that select committee puts forward, and how that compares to the demand for the Green New Deal, which is happening now not only at the national level where it started, but has moved really to many states, to regions like in the South, which we’ve covered for The Real News. There’s now a piece of legislation called The Green New Deal for Affordable Housing; that’s the first legislation, so it’ll be interesting to see how that’s discussed in the presidential cycle, and I will say, lastly, the Green New Deal has now gone global. The European Commission just announced its own Green New Deal, Jeremy Corbyn’s been talking about the Green New Deal. So, this concept that was once just something that Green Party candidate Jill Stein was talking about on the campaign trail when she was running in the 2012 cycle, now has become something that really has… and really, was a fringe-ish idea back then, has become a global phenomenon. And that’s really interesting to watch in the months ahead, for sure. Lisa Snowden-McCray: All right! Well, thank you, Steve, thank you, Dimitri, for all your hard work, and thanks for coming on today. Dimitri Lascaris: Thank you, Lisa. Steve Horn: Thank you. Lisa Snowden-McCray: I’m Lisa Snowden-McCray, and you’ve been watching The Real News Network. Speaker 4: Thanks a lot for watching! Appreciate it. But do us one more [inaudible 00:14:39] favor. Hit the Subscribe button below. You know you want to. Stay up on your videos. https://therealnews.com/stories/year-in-climate-crisis-fossil-fuels-expansion-scary-science-and-global-activism
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
CleanTechnicaSupport CleanTechnica’s work via donations on Patreon or PayPal! Or just go buy a cool t-shirt, cup, baby outfit, bag, or hoodie.How Would Warren & Sanders Pay For A 🌞 Green New Deal? December 27th, 2019 by Carolyn Fortuna In a recent CleanTechnica article, I wrote about Elizabeth Warren’s plan for defeating the climate crisis and transitioning the US economy to run on 100% clean energy. She stated explicitly that her plan to pay for a Green New Deal would require big, structural changes and would arise from $10.7 trillion in federal and non-federal funding. What are the financing tools Warren intends to tap to unlock state, local, and private investment? How would she direct it towards meaningful investments to mitigate climate change, produce jobs, and reduce inequality? And what about other plans out there for a national switch to clean energy? What does Bernie Sanders, for example, outline for funding ideas? Let’s survey these prominent and provocative voices today in the clean energy movement and see their fiscal visions for carbon-free power and 100% renewable energy. How Warren Would 💵 Pay for a US Switch to Clean EnergyThe transition to clean energy is “an opportunity to transform our economy, creating new industries, like in zero-emissions building construction, and greatly expanding others, like electric vehicle manufacturing,” Warren says. She argues that the transition creates “huge opportunities” for state, local and non-federal investment in the process. A Warren administration would create new financing tools to unlock state, local, and private investment. She is firm that these investments to tackle climate change, produce jobs, and reduce inequality will flow to the “right places” — not just the wealthy and well-connected. Okay, Senator Warren, how would you pay for it?A Green Bank: A Green Bank, aka the National Climate Bank Act, could mobilize $1 trillion in climate and green infrastructure investments across the country over 30 years. She says it would: ✔ open up new markets for greater investment by working alongside existing federal authorities through direct spending, grants, and loans ✔ provide security for investors looking for climate-friendly investments in mid- to large-scale infrastructure projects ✔ increase the overall scale of clean energy investment and the pace of substitution of clean energy technologies for fossil-fuel based technologies ✔ protect consumers by keeping energy prices low and ensuring compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulations ✔ expand opportunities for communities and the private sector by directing funds toward communities on the front lines of the climate crisis that have traditionally been left out of investment opportunities A September report from the New York-based Coalition for Green Capital found that such a bank could mobilize up to $1 trillion of investment over 30 years. The bank would recycle its capital, lending the same dollars repeatedly as loans are paid back and the funds re-used. Fourteen states, including Michigan, New York, and Hawaii already have such banks, and other cities and counties have explored their own. Washington, DC, for example, approved one in 2018 and Baltimore’s Climate Access Fund seeks to help low-income and minority residents access more expensive solar energy. Small focus target investment on a local basis, and the national version would help mobilize investment on a required and faster scale. Green Victory Bonds: Much like current state programs for land use projects, river and habitat preservation, and energy and water infrastructure, green bonds have also surged in popularity worldwide, with sales growing 46% last year to a total of about $460 billion. A lot like the World War II-era “Victory Bond” program, Green Victory Bonds would be sold at levels that allow Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum the opportunity to “own a piece of the climate solution and to benefit from the new green economy that we build together.” Sanders on How to 💵 Pay for a Green New DealEmbedded in many of Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposals for attacking the climate crisis are financing plans. Here are some of his fiscal visions that would usher in a Green New Deal. Green Climate Fund: Sanders’ plan to halt the climate crisis centers on US investment of $200 billion in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the equitable transfer of renewable technologies, climate adaptation, and assistance in adopting sustainable energies. Since approving its first project in November, 2015, the GCF has grown to become the world’s largest climate finance fund through its readiness in 129 countries, including allocation of over $5.6 billion of its funding to build a project portfolio of over $20.6 billion. It is playing a key role in supporting the implementation of intended nationally determined contributions (NDCs), driving a shift to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting action to adapt to the impacts of climate change in developing countries. Significant US Military Reductions: While Warren’s plan alludes to decreasing military funding in order to pay for a Green New Deal — “We’ll pay for this with savings from my plan to transition the 🦍 military away from its dependence on 🦕🦖 fossil fuels and other internal 🦍 Department of Defense funding shifts, she says” — Sanders is much more explicit about redirecting military funds to mitigating the climate crisis. He says that the major industrialized nations spend trillions of dollars “on misguided wars and weapons of mass destruction,” He proposes to combat the climate crisis by recognizing that the Pentagon is the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases in the world and that the US spends $81 billion annually to protect oil supplies and transport routes. “We are uniquely positioned,” Sanders explains, “to lead the planet in a wholesale shift away from militarism.” End Overseas 🦕👹🦖 Fossil Fuel Financing: The US federal government currently supports investments in fossil fuels through the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, OPIC, the Export-Import Bank, and other multilateral institutions. These international investments are inconsistent with a goal to curb the global climate crisis, and Sanders says these “must end.” His administration would lead these international financial institutions, instead, toward advancing the equitable adoption of sustainable energy across the planet. “Butterfly amidst Blooms,” by Carolyn Fortuna, CleanTechnica By redirecting money from these and other sources like income taxes from 20 million new jobs, taxes on fossil fuels, and selling power via federal power marketing authorities, 🦅 Sanders will establish a Climate Justice Resiliency Fund. Funded at $40 billion, the EPA, together with a number of other agencies, would conduct a nationwide survey to identify areas with high climate impact vulnerabilities and other socioeconomic factors, public health challenges, and environmental hazards. Each community will then be eligible for Climate Justice Resiliency funding in order of most vulnerable to least vulnerable. Final ThoughtsThe US is not alone in its quest to use financing to make the switch to clean energy a reality. A recent article in the Washington Post pointed out that the EU’s biggest climate weapon lies in the financial fine print. The EU is embedding environmental goals in standards for banks, money managers, and insurers, it seems, in the hope of directing trillions of euros to fund a radical revision of the region’s economy. Like most of the US Democratic field of candidates, the EU is committed to meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement. Some of the EU’s money management strategies are pointing toward: ֍ Disclosing how they incorporate sustainability factors into investment decisions ֍ Setting up low-carbon benchmarks, like indexes created to track companies with a low carbon footprint, to steer funds to environmentally friendly investments ֍ Lowering capital requirements to encourage green lending ֍ Scrutinizing the environmental risks that remain on balance sheets and possibly imposing extra capital demands to offset possible losses ֍ Assessing environmental risks facing borrowers before they lend So there’s a lot about which to think when considering the funding necessary for climate action. In the next part of this series, we’ll look at the other Democratic presidential contenders — as well as a few insightful researchers and economists — and review their plans to fund climate action. Stay tuned. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/27/how-would-warren-sanders-pay-for-a-green-new-deal/ Agelbert NOTE: I trust Sanders, a consistent advocate of reducing military spending, eliminating fossil fuel subsides and funding Renewable Energy in the USA, to follow through on his Green New Deal promises far more than I trust Warren.
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
Review of 2019 : Climate In Focus 864 views•Dec 29, 2019 Just Have a Think 42.8K subscribers As yet another record breaking year of extreme weather events draws to a close, we take a look back at just a handful of examples from 2019 illustrating how our changing climate is bringing increasing levels of inconvenience to some, impacts on livelihoods for others, and loss of life to so many unfortunate souls across our planet. Help support and influence the growth of the Just Have a Think initiative here: www.patreon.com/justhaveathink#climatecrisis #actnow #2019review Category Science & Technology
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37
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