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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich jumps into the 2016 race – we’ll try to decipher his position on climate change; Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley links global warming to Middle East unrest and ISIS…and Fox News heads explode; PLUS: California Gov. Jerry Brown slams climate science deniers — and so does The Terminator… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
7/23/2015
‘Green News Report’ – July 23, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – July 23, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Dire Climate Warning Raises Questions, Not Answers; At U.S. Capitol, Arizona Apaches Protest Planned Copper Mine; Federal court upholds EPA pollutant rule; Way Cleared for Shell to Start Drilling in Arctic Ocean… PLUS: Climate change ‘might make the planet ungovernable’… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Ohio Gov. John Kasich Enters Race for 2016 Republican Presidential Nomination:
- VIDEO: Ohio governor John Kasich on ISIS, the GOP & climate change (Financial Times via Daily Motion)
- Ohio Gov. Kasich concerned by climate change, but won’t ‘apologize’ for coal (The Hill, 2012):
“I am a believer “” my goodness I am a Republican “” I happen to believe there is a problem with climate change. I don’t want to overreact to it, I can’t measure it all, but I respect the creation that the Lord has given us and I want to make sure we protect it,” Kasich said at a Columbus, Ohio, energy conference hosted by The Hill. “But we can’t overreact to it and make things up, but it is something we have to recognize is a problem,” Kasich said.
- VIDEO: Kasich To Pope Francis: The Environment Shouldn’t Be Worshiped — “That Is Called Pantheism” (Real Clear Politics)
- What does John Kasich believe? Where the candidate stands on 10 issues (PBS NewsHour)
- Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley Links Global Warming to Middle East Unrest:
- VIDEO: Martin O’Malley Clashes With GOP Over Link Between Climate Change, Islamic State (Bloomberg):
“One of the things that preceded the failure of the nation state of Syria and the rise of ISIS was the effect of climate change and the mega-drought that affected that nation, wiped out farmers, drove people to cities, created a humanitarian crisis that created the symptoms””or rather, the conditions””of extreme poverty that has led now to the rise of ISIS and this extreme violence,” he said.
- STUDY: Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought (Proceedings of the Natl Academy of Sciences)
- Natural Disasters Forced 20 Million From Their Homes in 2014: Report (Reuters):
Asia is particularly prone to natural disasters, accounting for almost 90 percent of the 19.3 million displaced in 2014, led by typhoons in China and the Philippines, and floods in India, the Norwegian Refugee Council said. “Disaster-related displacement is on the rise and threatens to get worse in coming decades,” Alfredo Zamudio, director of the NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, told a news briefing.
- Fox News Heads Explode Over Link Between Global Warming and Middle East Unrest:
- Right-Wing Media Deny Link Between Climate Change And Rise Of ISIL: Attacks On Martin O’Malley Undermined By Research On Drought And Syrian Civil War (Media Matters)
- VIDEO: Fox Continues To Slam O’Malley For Accurately Pointing Out Role Of Climate Change In Rise Of ISIL (Media Matters)
- CA Gov. Jerry Brown Blasts Climate Science Deniers at Vatican Conference:
- Gov. Brown blasts climate change ‘deniers’ during Vatican conference (LA Times):
Gov. Jerry Brown, speaking at a conference hosted by Pope Francis, on Tuesday denounced climate change skeptics as well-financed “troglodytes” determined to “bamboozle” local leaders. Brown said he has no faith in Congress to act on global warming, and urged the 60 mayors from around the world attending the event to take action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
- Jerry Brown Takes On Climate Change-Denying ‘Troglodytes’ – “We are talking about extinction.” (Huffington Post Green):
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Tuesday urged a group of 60 mayors to take action in their cities on climate change, warning that global warming is “the biggest threat of our time” and denouncing skeptics as “troglodytes”…who have a vested interest in “bamboozling” the public about man-made climate change.
- De Blasio, at Vatican, Hails Pope’s ‘Urgency’ on Climate Change (NY Times)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger: climate change is not science fiction (Guardian UK):
Terminator star calls global warming a ‘battle in the real world’ that’s bigger than any movie, at the first summit of conscience for the climate in Paris
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- Dire Climate Warning Raises Questions, Not Answers (Climate Central):
NASA’s former climate chief has issued a stark new study that finds that the world’s current climate goal could be inadequate and may not prevent catastrophic losses from rising seas, ocean temperatures and changes in global weather. But the extreme nature of his projections has some scientists questioning the methods he used and the results he reached.
- Way Cleared for Shell to Start Drilling in Arctic Ocean (NY Times):
The permit would allow Shell to start drilling at the top of the seabed but would not allow the drill to penetrate into the oil reserves until the company has quick access to equipment called a capping stack, which is used to shut down wells in case of emergency spills..
- Climate change ‘might make the planet ungovernable’ (Douglas Craig, Redding.com):
This means that our planet is not only steadily growing warmer, it is warming faster this year than it ever has. We are not just breaking records. We are leaping forward in large chunks month by month.
- At U.S. Capitol, Arizona Apaches Protest Planned Copper Mine (Reuters):
Scores of Native American demonstrators protested at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday against a proposed $6 billion copper mine in Arizona at a site that members of the Apache tribe say is sacred.
- Federal court upholds EPA pollutant rule (The Hill):
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule on emissions of certain toxic air pollutants at manufacturing plants. The EPA’s 2012 rule was challenged by both the industry, which said it was too stringent, and environmental groups, which argued it didn’t go far enough.
- Another month, another global heat record broken – by far (AP) [emphasis added]:
Off-the-charts heat is “getting to be a monthly thing,” said Jessica Blunden, a climate scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. June was the fourth month of 2015 that set a record, she said. “There is almost no way that 2015 isn’t going to be the warmest on record,” she added.
- Every country is now pledging to tackle CO2 emissions. It’s still not enough. (Vox.com):
In other words, if the world wants to stay below 2°C of global warming – which has long been considered the danger zone for climate change – these pledges are only a first step. Countries will have to do a whole lot more than they’re currently promising. And the IEA has a few ideas for what “do a whole lot more” might entail.
…
1. Increase energy efficiency in the industry, buildings, and transport sectors.
2. Progressively reduce the use of the least efficient coal-fired power plants and banning their construction.
3. Increase investment in renewable energy technologies in the power sector from $270 billion in 2014 to $400 billion in 2030.
4. Gradually phase out fossil fuel subsidies to end-users by 2030.
5. Reduce methane emissions in oil and gas production. - Now’s Your Chance to Help Save the Imperiled Monarch Butterfly-and Get Paid to Do So (Take Part) [emphasis added]:
Another threat, according to Grant, has been well-intentioned individuals who have planted a tropical form of milkweed, which competes with native varieties and is not beneficial to monarchs or other pollinators.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
But exactly how bad is still an open question, and a lot depends not only on how we react, but how quickly. The rate at which humans cut down on greenhouse gas emissions–if we do choose to cut them–will have a large bearing on how the world turns out by 2100, the forecasts reveal.
Restraining global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius will require changing how the world produces and uses energy to power its cities and factories, heats and cools buildings, as well as moves people and goods in airplanes, trains, cars, ships and trucks, according to the IPCC. Changes are required not just in technology, but also in people’s behavior.
“Dire Climate Warning Raises Questions, Not Answers (Climate Central)”
Hansen et al. covered a lot of bases, a lot of aspects of global warming induced climate change, in that paper.
Which, IMO, rendered the scenario into one like the blind mean around the elephant describing aspects of it by their location and expertise.
The paper’s sea level rise logic is better than the years of erroneous projections by the old models written decades ago, written in older software languages, then finally using older compilers.
My guess is that BAU normalcy-bias has been disturbed and perturbed to generate emotional, fear-based reactions.
I agree with the paper’s conclusion that sea level rise is the 600 lb. gorilla in the room (A Paper From Hansen et al. Is Now Open For Discussion).