Climate Change

Utility CEOs Try To Rob Shareholders Of Rights To Express Climate Concerns

June 26, 2017 David Pomerantz, www.energyandpolicy.org Resist! CEO, Climate Change, Utilities

By David Pomerantz for Energy and Policy Institute - The Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs that lobbies for policies that support the fossil fuel industry, is attempting to restrict shareholders’ rights as utilities and fossil fuel companies face increasing scrutiny from investors over climate change. Fossil fuel and utility CEOs, facing unprecedented levels of activism from shareholders who are worried about the risks posed to their investments by climate change, have responded by trying to pass legislation that would curtail investors’ rights to register their concerns. The main purpose of The Financial CHOICE Act is to gut the consumer protections passed by the Dodd-Frank law of 2010, but a section of the bill would produce a significant change in what kind of shareholders are able to file resolutions for changes in the company. Currently, any shareholder that owns 1 percent of a company, or $2,000 worth of shares – hardly a paltry sum, but one that is within the realm of possibility for many investors – is able to file shareholder resolutions calling on the company’s management to make changes. The resolutions are generally not binding, but when they garner significant support, say over 20%, management tends to take them as serious signals of shareholder sentiment, and often respond accordingly.

Southwest’s Deadly Heat Wave Previews Life In A Warming World

June 26, 2017 Phil McKenna, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, Global Warming

By Phil McKenna for Inside Climate News - The extreme heat baking the Southwestern U.S. isn't finished yet. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning today for parts of Southern California and Arizona, including Phoenix, through Monday, saying temperatures are forecast to reach 108-118 degrees each day. In its alert, the weather service warned of "a major increase in the potential for heat-related illness and even death." The week has provided a preview of the risks scientists warn are ahead as greenhouse gas emissions continue to raise global temperatures. Thermometers in the Phoenix area edged up to around 120 degrees for three straight days this week, flights were grounded as the rising temperatures decreased the air density, and the city's main burn treatment center saw twice its usual number of patients with burns caused by walking barefoot on hot pavement or getting into cars that had been heating up in the sun. Several heat-related deaths were reported in the Las Vegas area and in California. In California, where San Diego County set a record at 124 degrees, some communities faced power outages as air conditioners ran non-stop.

Newsletter – Positive Actions You Can Take This Summer

June 24, 2017 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Climate Change, Environment, Finance and the Economy, health, Health Care, Medicare for all, Net Neutrality, Worker Rights and Jobs

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese for Popular Resistance. This week, we look at some of the current struggles in the United States and ways that you can get involved this summer. From protecting health care, net neutrality and the environment to building positive alternatives that transform our current dysfunctional systems, there is something for everyone to do. Read on to learn what's happening and how to take action. This is the time to rise up and protect our families, communities and planet.

Dissidents Ramp Up Direct Action Against Climate Destroyers.

June 23, 2017 Ted Hamilton, www.truth-out.org Resist! Climate Change, Direct Action

By Ted Hamilton for Truthout - This month a group of climate activists were convicted in district courts in Mount Vernon, Washington, and Wawayanda, New York, for committing acts of civil disobedience against fossil fuel infrastructure. Each defendant (one in Washington and six in New York) had attempted to present a "climate necessity defense," arguing that their nominally illegal actions were justified by the threat of climate catastrophe -- in other words, that the real crime is continuing to pollute the atmosphere, not interfering with corporate property. The courts weren't having it: The activists were convicted on June 7 on charges of varying seriousness, although they anticipate appealing their rulings. The activists aren't hanging their heads, though. Instead, they're doubling down on their civil resistance mode of political activism. In doing so, they're joining a growing movement of direct action climate dissidents across the country who have taken to the streets, the pipelines and the coal trains to do what the government won't: confront an industry that poses an existential threat to human civilization. The Washington trial began with an October 2016 protest in which Ken Ward -- a long-time environmental leader who pursued conventional climate policy avenues for decades before turning to civil disobedience in recent years...

States And Industries Face More Climate Court Action

June 16, 2017 Paul Brown, www.climatenewsnetwork.net Resist! Climate Change, Courts

By Paul Brown for Climate News Network - LONDON, 15 June, 2017 – Governments that make promises they do not keep to cut greenhouse gases or to protect their citizens against climate change are finding themselves more frequently facing climate court action by their own citizens. According to a UN environment (the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP) report, climate change cases have been filed in 24 countries – with the US, with 654 individual cases, facing by far the largest number. Australia has seen 80 cases, the UK and the European Union Court of Justice 49 each. In many cases it is the promises made by governments at the Paris climate conference in 2015 that are providing the legal arguments which campaigners are using in the courts. These issues are complex and vary according to the legal system of the country involved. But many boil down to whether the government in question is doing its share to hold the average global temperature rise down to below 2°C, or as close as possible to 1.5°C, the primary promise the politicians made in Paris. Another type of case involves human rights, the right to clean air, health, and protection from threats like sea level rise. Where governments have enacted legislation to protect the public but failed to implement it...

Climate Change Is Shrinking The Colorado River

June 15, 2017 Brad Udall and Jonathan Overpeck, www.theconversation.com Educate! Climate Change, Colorado, Rivers

By Brad Udall and Jonathan Overpeck for The Conversation - The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead on the Arizona/Nevada border and Lake Powell on the Arizona/Utah border, were brim full in the year 2000. Four short years later, they had lost enough water to supply California its legally apportioned share of Colorado River water for more than five years. Now, 17 years later, they still have not recovered. This ongoing, unprecedented event threatens water supplies to Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque and some of the most productive agricultural lands anywhere in the world. It is critical to understand what is causing it so water managers can make realistic water use and conservation plans. While overuse has played a part, a significant portion of the reservoir decline is due to an ongoing drought, which started in 2000 and has led to substantial reductions in river flows. Most droughts are caused by a lack of precipitation. However, our published research shows that about one-third of the flow decline was likely due to higher temperatures in the Colorado River’s Upper Basin, which result from climate change.

Fighting Climate Change Can Be A Lonely In Oil Country, Especially For A Kid

June 14, 2017 Neela Banerjee and Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.org Resist! Children, Climate Change, Lawsuit, Louisiana, Youth, Youth Activism

By Neela Banerjee and Zahra Hirji for Inside Climate News - RAYNE, Louisiana—As far back as Jayden Foytlin can remember, her cousin Madison came over to celebrate her birthday. The girls had been best friends since they were toddlers and spent nearly every weekend together, playing video games and basketball in their driveways. This year, things were different. In the weeks before Jayden's 14th birthday, Madison's mother stopped arranging get-togethers. She didn't answer texts inviting Madison to Jayden's birthday party. "We thought that maybe she was out of town with her family," Jayden said. "Or I thought that maybe Madison had a sleepover the same day as my birthday." The text that cleared matters up came on the afternoon of Jayden's birthday, as she and her family piled into their hybrid SUV to go roller skating. Madison's mother wrote that her daughter wasn't allowed to see Jayden anymore. She was keeping Madison away because Jayden is one of 21 young plaintiffs suing the federal government over its alleged failure to curtail fossil fuel development and address climate change.

13 U.S. Cities Defy Trump By Posting Deleted Climate Data

June 14, 2017 Lorraine Chow, www.ecowatch.com Educate! Climate Change, Donald Trump

By Lorraine Chow for EcoWatch - More than one dozen U.S. cities have banded together to post deleted climate change information and research from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) website that was notoriously scrubbed by the Trump administration. In May, Chicago became the first city to host the deleted pages, and now other mayors are following in Rahm Emanuel's footsteps by creating their city's own "Climate Change is Real" website. The "Climate Change is Real" website contains information on the basic science behind climate change, the ways weather is impacted from increased greenhouse gas emissions and actions the federal government has taken to reduce the impact. Major cities including Atlanta, Boston, Houston, San Francisco and Seattle have joined the effort. According to a statement from San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee's office, the pages were launched Sunday to ensure that the public has readily available access to research information the EPA has developed over the last many decades.

Study: Climate Change Is Producing Adverse Health Effects

June 13, 2017 Reynard Loki, www.alternet.org Educate! Climate Change, health

By Reynard Loki for AlterNet - The Earth's rapidly changing climate due to human activity has ravaged the planet in numerous ways, causing melting glaciers and ice sheets, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, deadly hurricanes, species extinction, and ecosystem losses. But climate change may also be impacting us on a very personal level that many of us don't even realize: our health. According to a recent report published by the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, climate change is becoming a serious public health enemy. "The changes in our climate are creating conditions that harm human health through extreme weather events, reduced air and water quality, intense heat waves, spread of vector-borne diseases, and other mechanisms," said Mona Sarfaty, the director of MSCCH, in a statement. The consortium represents more than 400,000 American physicians—more than half of all U.S. physicians. Many of these medical professionals, Sarfaty said, "know firsthand the harmful health effects of climate change on patients." Dr. Sarfaty, who also serves as the director of the Program for Climate and Health at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, highlighted groups that are particularly at risk: "While climate change threatens the health of every American, some people are more vulnerable and are most likely to be harmed, including: infants and children; pregnant women;

Kids Climate Lawsuit Heads To Trial, Judge Denies Administration’s Appeal

June 12, 2017 Staff, www.ecowatch.com Resist! Climate Change, Lawsuit, Trump Administration

By Staff of Eco Watch - U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken issued an order Thursday denying motions filed by the Trump administration and the fossil fuel industry that sought to appeal her Nov. 10, 2016 order in Juliana v. United States to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The order follows the Trump administration's remarkable Tuesday night filing of a notice giving Judge Aiken a deadline of June 9 to issue her order. In that notice, the Department of Justice threatened, "In the absence of such resolution by this Court, the United States will seek … review and relief in the Court of Appeals." The Trump administration is alluding to an intention to seek a writ of mandamus, an extraordinary remedy that is rarely granted, from the higher court. "We are on our way to trial!" said Julia Olson, co-lead counsel for plaintiffs and executive director of Our Children's Trust. "With industry walking away from the case and the Trump administration's effort at procedural delay firmly rejected, we can focus on the merits of these youths' constitutional claims."

EPA Spreads Misinformation About Coal, Climate & Paris Agreement

June 10, 2017 BY]y Marianne Lavelle, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, Coal, EPA

By Marianne Lavelle for Inside Climate News - EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has spread a lot of misinformation in defending President Trump's plan to exit the Paris climate agreement. Here's a reality check. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has thrown around plenty of figures in his spirited defense of President Donald Trump's decision to exit the Paris climate agreement. But many of them are just plain wrong. An EPA spokesperson did admit that Pruitt "misspoke" in his claim, repeated multiple times, that 50,000 coal jobs had been created since the fourth quarter of 2016, after the number was debunked by The Washington Post, USA Today, Politifact and others. Coal mining currently only has about 50,000 jobs, total, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But some of Pruitt's most misleading statements had to do with the Paris agreement itself. Here are just a few:

Climate Change, Hope, And Revolution: Dark And Gloomy Times

June 9, 2017 John Foran, www.resilience.org Educate! Climate Change, New Economy, Revolution

By John Foran for Resilience - The other day I was invited to speak in a colleague’s Environmental Studies class, called, simply, “Hope.” It happened to be the day after Donald Trump had uttered his calculated, genocidal stupidities about the Paris Agreement (which he kept calling the “Paris Accord”). By now, a hundred thousand words of outrage, resolve, and analysis have been written and spoken. Let’s go in the opposite direction, then. I’m trying to remember when I first associated hope and revolution. I had been working on a theory of revolutions (long story, longer project). I was searching for what prompted ordinary people to leave everything behind and engage in what seem to outsiders to be extraordinary acts of courage and determination. After some time I felt this arose from what I have come to call (sociologist that I am fated to be) strong and vibrant political cultures of opposition and creation. The bedrock of what I mean by a radical political culture is the subjective side of life here on Mother Earth: memories, experiences, and emotion. Ideologies – generally this meant some form of “socialism” throughout the twentieth century, or today, thinking wishfully, perhaps, “ecosocialism”

Trump Names Climate Foe As Top DOJ Environment Attorney

June 8, 2017 Marianne Lavelle and John H. Cushman Jr., www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, DOJ, Donald Trump, Environment, Policy

By Marianne Lavelle and John H. Cushman Jr. for Inside Climate News - Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a lawyer who has repeatedly challenged the scientific foundations of U.S. climate policy and was part of a legal team that represented BP in lawsuits stemming from the nation's worst oil spill, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, was nominated by President Donald Trump on Tuesday to serve as the Justice Department's top environmental lawyer. Clark, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis, has represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in lawsuits challenging the federal government's authority to regulate carbon emissions. In court he has repeatedly argued that it is inappropriate to base government policymaking on the scientific consensus presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "When did America risk coming to be ruled by foreign scientists and apparatchiks at the United Nations?" Clark demanded in a 2010 blog posting on the EPA's endangerment finding. Clark was prominently involved in industry challenges to the EPA's "endangerment finding" that set the scientific basis for all subsequent attempts to regulate greenhouse gases, including from autos and industrial sources.

Rover Pipeline: Climate Disaster Equal To 42 Coal Plants

June 8, 2017 Kelly Trout, www.priceofoil.org Educate! Climate Change, Coal, New Economy, Pipelines

By Kelly Trout for Oil Change International - As controversy swirls around a string of spills and air and water violations caused by Energy Transfer Partners’ construction of the Rover gas pipeline, a study released today underlines another reason federal regulators should halt the project: It will fuel a massive increase in climate pollution. A new analysis by Oil Change International finds that, if the Rover Pipeline is built, it will cause as much greenhouse gas pollution as 42 coal-fired power plants – some 145 million metric tons per year. The study slams the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for using chronically outdated assumptions to sweep this significant climate impact under the rug in its environmental review of the project. “As the biggest new pipeline being built to carry fracked gas out of the Appalachian Basin, the Rover Pipeline is the biggest climate disaster of them all,” said Lorne Stockman, senior research analyst at Oil Change International and the lead author of the study. “After Trump’s malicious pullout from the Paris climate accord, challenging each new pipeline is all the more important. While FERC remains in a state of denial, it’s increasingly clear that gas pipelines are a bridge to climate destruction.

Over 1,400 U.S. Cities, States And Businesses Vow To Meet Climate Commitments

June 7, 2017 Georgina Gustin, www.insideclimatenews.org Create! Climate Change, Paris Agreement

By Georgina Gustin for Inside Climate News - President Donald Trump may be yanking the United States from the Paris climate agreement, but states, cities and businesses are filling the vacuum by making their own commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—and the numbers are mounting. On Monday, more than 1,000 companies and institutions, including more than a dozen Fortune 500 businesses, signed onto a statement—"We Are Still In"—saying they're committed to meeting the Paris targets. The statement calls Trump's decision "a grave mistake that endangers the American public and hurts America's economic security and diplomatic reputation." By Tuesday, the coalition's numbers had climbed past 1,400. A dozen states that together represent the world's third-largest economy and more than 200 cities had also committed to the Paris accord through various coalitions. In the wake of Trump's decision to leave the Paris climate agreement, the world's biggest economies denounced the move and insisted they would remain in the pact. While the president claimed he would contemplate a renegotiation of a deal that "puts America first," the UN and several U.S. allies said renegotation isn't in the cards. Many Americans are not wavering, either.

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