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Climate Change

Most Important 2018 Environmental Stories, Point To Our Work In 2019

January 4, 2019 Maureen Nandini Mitra, Earthisland.org , ,
I don’t know about you, but it to seems to me as though 2018 swept by in a blur of mostly dismal news. As I began drawing up our annual list of the most important environmental stories of the year at the Journal, which, no surprise, skews on the negative side, I couldn’t help but note that even outside the environmental news cycle, the pace of unhappy developments has been unrelenting this past year. From tragic mass shootings, to migrant children being forcefully separated from their families at the border, to Brett Kavanagh’s Supreme Court appointment process that was triggering for so many sexual abuse victims, to the endless chipping away at our democracy by Trump and his cohort...

Ocasio-Cortez Rips Dem Leadership For Treating Planet-Saving Green New Deal As ‘Controversial’

January 2, 2019 By Andrea Germanos, Commondreams.org , , ,
"We simply don’t have any other choice. If it's radical to propose a solution on the scale of the problem, so be it." Incoming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took aim at the Democratic Party on Monday over the newly-announced climate crisis committee—a body she and other progressives say lacks the teeth needed to avert planetary disaster. In a Twitter thread, Ocasio-Cortez said that her proposal for a select committee on a Green New Deal—a key demand of the youth-led Sunrise Movement—contained "3 simple elements: 1. No fossil fuel money on climate cmte 2. Offer solutions for impacted communities 3. Draft sample #GreenNewDeal."

U.S. Taxpayers On The Hook For Insuring Farmers Against Growing Climate Risks

January 1, 2019 Georgina Gustin, Insideclimatenews.org , ,
Like every Midwestern farmer, Jerry Peckumn relies on a few things going right every season. Rain, but no deluge. Sunshine, but no heat wave. A timely cycling of the seasons. Peckumn is a progressive, conservation-minded farmer who's deeply concerned about the impact of the changing climate on his farm. He knows nature isn't controllable and the weather is getting more erratic. So, like hundreds of thousands of American farmers, he relies on federal crop insurance.

Winning The Green New Deal

January 1, 2019 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG. , , ,
The Green New Deal, a plan to transform the economy to one based on clean, renewable energy sources and other measures to adapt to the climate crisis and protect human rights, gained widespread attention in 2018. We speak with Howie Hawkins from New York, who brought the concept of the Green New Deal to the United States, about what the plan involves, where it is now and what it will take to win it. Hawkins, a long time activist, unionist and political candidate, also puts this struggle in the context of political history and the role of third parties.

Democratic Leadership Blocking Green New Deal

December 31, 2018 Christopher D. Cook, Nationofchange.org , ,
As House Democratic leaders prepare to reclaim power this January, they are clamping down on insurgent progressive initiatives like the Green New Deal, which could be sidelined in favor of a broader climate committee with limited powers. Despite pledges from at least 43 Democrats to support a Green New Deal select committee – including prominent representatives like Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.) – incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) derailed the move on Thursday by creating a climate committee with no explicit commitment to crafting a Green New Deal. Thursday afternoon, The Huffington Post reported that Pelosi picked Florida Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) to head the new climate committee, which may include members who take campaign money from the fossil fuel industry.

Ten Ways 2018 Brought Us Closer To Climate Apocalypse

December 29, 2018 By Dahr Jamail, Truthout.org ,
The 20 warmest years ever recorded have been within the last 22 years, and the four warmest of those have been 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO has stated that if these trends continue (and there is no reason to believe they won’t), global temperatures may rise from between 3-5 degrees Celsius (3-5°C) by 2100. The organization warned that if humans exploit all known fossil fuel reserves, “the temperature rise will be considerably higher” than even those catastrophic levels.

Top 10 Climate Change Disasters Cost $85 Billion In 2018

December 29, 2018 Staff, Mediacentre.christianaid.org.uk ,
All of these billion-dollar disasters are linked with human-caused climate change. In some cases scientific studies have shown that climate change made the particular event more likely or stronger, for example with Hurricane Florence and the summer’s heatwaves in Europe and Japan. In other cases, the event was the result of shifts in weather patterns - like higher temperatures and reduced rainfall that made fires more likely or warmer water temperatures that supercharged tropical storms - that are themselves consequences of climate change.

Ten 2018 Extinction Awards

December 26, 2018 By Bill Quigley, Popular Resistance , ,
One person did more in 2018 to advance the extinction of the human race than any other.  While space makes it impossible to list all the ways he acted to damage the earth, a look at just a few of the highlights from 2018 gives a clear snapshot.  In 2018, he made it easier for coal plants to pollute, made it easier for industry to engage in hazardous air pollution, announced the US will be pulling out of a twenty-year-old nuclear weapons treaty, started to roll back vehicle mileage standards, opened up oil and gas drilling on millions of acres of protected public lands, vigorously opposed the rights of children in the US to challenge the federal government for its role in global warming, and is making it easier for oil and gas companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Russiagate Smashes Human Survival Attempts

December 25, 2018 David Swanson, American Herald Tribune , ,
Humanity faces climate and nuclear threats to its existence, spearheaded by the U.S. government. Survival proposals, or what your television calls fringe leftist schemes backed by Vladimir Putin (who, for the most part, does not back them), face many hurdles just to be heard. Unless you're a 15-year-old girl from Sweden or the Pope or have found some other magic loophole, there are many things that you just cannot say in U.S. corporate media: the earth's dying; the U.S. government is an oligarchy; meat and dairy are deadly; nuclear apocalypse is highly likely...

At Last, Divestment Is Hitting The Fossil Fuel Industry Where It Hurts

December 25, 2018 By Bill McKibben, The Guardian ,
The list of institutions that have cut their ties with this most destructive of industries encompasses religious institutions large and small (the World Council of Churches, the Unitarians, the Lutherans, the Islamic Society of North America, Japanese Buddhist temples, the diocese of Assisi); philanthropic foundations (even the Rockefeller family, heir to the first great oil fortune, divested its family charities); and colleges and universities from Edinburgh to Sydney to Honolulu are on board, with more joining each week. Forty big Catholic institutions have already divested; now a campaign is urging the Vatican bank itself to follow suit. Ditto with the Nobel Foundation, the world’s great art museums, and every other iconic institution that works for a better world.

Earth To Congress: “All I Want For Christmas Is A Green New Deal”

December 24, 2018 By John Zangas, Dcmediagroup.us , , ,
Washington, DC — Activists from several organizations flashed a light show on the Rayburn House Office Building on Saturday, December 22. The phrase “All I Want for Christmas Is a Green New Deal” was displayed with a high-powered projector in a green hue on the Congressional building for about five minutes. The light show was staged to draw attention to the environmental initiative being championed by Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Democratic Party has yet to adopt or endorse the Green New Deal as part of its platform. U.S. Capitol police responded about 10 minutes later. The activists had already turned off equipment and were preparing to go home.

Democrats Block Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal Committee

December 22, 2018 Staff, Telesurenglish.net , ,
Despite weeks of protests demanding  Democrats to push for a Green New Deal, the Democratic leadership blocked Thursday a proposal by congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to form a committee that would have drafted the New Deal project. Instead, they've decided to back a plan by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to revive a global warming panel lead by representative Kathy Castor. The move sparked controversy because Castor has dismissed calls to bar people who accept money from fossil fuel companies from serving on the committee, saying it would violate the right to free speech.

Fossil Fuel Opponents ‘Welcome’ McNamee to FERC

December 20, 2018 Beyond Extreme Energy , ,
On December 20, 2018, members of Beyond Extreme Energy and friends were at FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to “welcome” new commissioner Bernard McNamee to his first meeting. After a campaign against his Senate confirmation because of his close ties to – and adulation of – the fossil fuel industry, and his denigration of both clean energy and those advocating for it, he squeaked by in a 50-49 Senate vote along party lines – by far the most controversial nominee ever seated.

Coal Saints & A Climate Cop(24)-Out + A Walk To Palestine

December 20, 2018 Eleanor Goldfield, Occupy.com , ,
The climate summit COP24 has just recently ended. Here's a recap of the stranger than fiction realities that framed and dictated this supposed meeting for humanity's future. Next, a look at what makes the necessary change we need and finally, a pedestrian inspiration for the fight.

We Have 12 Years To Stop Climate Catastrophe. These Young Activists Have A Plan.

December 19, 2018 Robert Raymond, Huffingtonpost.com ,
On a clear and sunny morning in San Francisco’s downtown SoMa district, 40 people stand side by side with interlinked arms blocking the entrance to the San Francisco Federal Building. Just a couple of weeks ago this city was shrouded in a suffocating blanket of wildfire smoke that had traveled down from giant blazes in the north. But the haze has since cleared, and its absence has revealed a clarity of vision which stretches far beyond a healthier air quality index. “I’m here today because we have a 12-year deadline,” Lydia Macy, 18, told HuffPost from behind a 40-foot banner that she was helping to hold up. “Climate change is the No. 1 issue that we’re facing in the 21st century, and if we don’t fight we won’t have a world to live in.”
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