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climate crisis

From Crisis To Transformation: What Is Just Transition? A Primer

September 29, 2022 Kali Akuno, Cooperation Jackson. , , ,
We Are Living Through An Age Of Profound Transition. Political Upheaval Is The Order Of The Day. Economic Inequality Is Rising. People Around The Globe Are Being Displaced By Conflict And Climate Emergencies. Racism, Xenophobia, And Religious Intolerance Are On The Rise. The COVID-19 Pandemic Cast New Light On The Injustices And Irrationality Of Our Current Economic And Social Systems. The Crises We Face Today Are Social And Political, But They Go Deeper. The Life Gi- Ving Systems Of The Earth Are Under Threat As A Result Of The System Of Production Which Has Been Foisted Upon The World Over The Last 250 Years. Fuelled By Petrochemicals, Driven By Profit, And Based On The Hyper-Exploitation Of Both Workers And Natural Systems, This Mode Of Production Has Overtaxed And Disrupted Many Of The Cycles That Kept The Global Ecosystem In Balance — Including Carbon Cycles.

‘People Power Has Won The Day’: Manchin Dirty Deal Defeated

September 29, 2022 Jessica Corbett, Commondreams. , , ,
Climate campaigners and people on the frontlines of the planetary emergency celebrated Tuesday after Sen. Joe Manchin requested that his fossil fuel-friendly permitting reforms be stripped out of a stopgap funding bill. "People power has won the day," said Protect Our Water Heritage Rights Coalition (POWHR) organizer Grace Tuttle. "Thank you to everyone who rallied together to stop this bill. We will keep fighting alongside you. Our letters, calls, rallies, and grassroots activism secured this victory." "We recognize that the fight is not over, and we stand with all frontline communities from the Gulf Coast to Alaska facing fossil-fueled injustices," Tuttle vowed. "Our movement to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline is bigger and stronger than ever. We will keep fighting to end the era of fossil fuels and for the future we deserve."

COP27 To Be Held In Egypt Amid Global Challenges

September 24, 2022 Abayomi Azikiwe , Black Agenda Report. , , ,
African nations are preparing for the United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) scheduled to take place in the Egyptian resort area of Sharm-el-Sheikh from November 6-20. This gathering is taking place during a period of rising uncertainty due to burgeoning food deficits along with the crisis of accumulation and distribution related to agricultural products in general. Energy costs have skyrocketed due to several important factors including the Pentagon-NATO war in Ukraine; the failure of the United States government to curtail inflation through price controls utilizing higher taxation rates against corporations; and the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted production and supply chains internationally. The last quarter of 2022 will be marked by increased military spending and a further decline in investor confidence due to the overall downturn within stock markets around the world.

A People’s Analysis Of A World On Fire

September 24, 2022 Manuel Bertholdi, People's Dispatch. , , ,
As several popular movements, together with many organic intellectuals, have been warning, we are undergoing a crisis of the capitalist system globally. The results of this crisis are unpredictable. Contrary to what liberals and even some heterodoxy argue, this crisis is a product of neoliberalism. That is to say, the crisis is a product of the intrinsic development of capital itself and not a problem alien to the “normal functioning of the system”. It is the very development of capital itself that creates all the contradictions which, when they become more acute, lead to crisis. This crisis does not affect the entire population equally. It is poor and working people who are subjected to the disastrous economic, social and political consequences of the crisis. Never in human history has the degree of inequality been as acute as it is today.

The Climate Movement Was Built For A World Before Climate Change

September 24, 2022 Cam Fenton, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
We are past the point where “stopping” climate change is really possible. With global temperature rise already above 1 degree Celsius and the window on keeping warming below 1.5 degrees rapidly closing, the consequences of decades of political inaction and corporate malfeasance are already making themselves known. Every month it seems like another part of the world is being hammered by one catastrophic climate impact or another, from flooding in Puerto Rico and Pakistan to the extreme heat that melted asphalt in Europe this past summer to the wildfires raging across western North America. In the face of this new reality, climate organizing needs to evolve. For me, this reality really struck home last summer when extreme heat and wildfires ravaged the part of Canada that I call home.

Why The Climate Movement Should Target Oil Refineries

September 21, 2022 Tom Hoy, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
“We were wondering if Mayor Paine is available?” I asked. My words were muffled by the dog mascot costume I was wearing. Next to me was a canvasser and the two camera operators filming us. We were at City Hall in Superior, Wisconsin on April 25 to spread the word about Husky Friends — the name we’d given to a so-called community outreach initiative from Husky Energy, owner of the local refinery that exploded in 2018 and triggered an evacuation of much of the city. With the refinery possibly reopening, Husky Friends was there to “assuage residents’ concerns.” “Oh sure! Let me see if he has a moment,” the receptionist responded. Wait, what!? This wasn’t supposed to be happening. We thought it’d be interesting to get footage of a dog mascot trying to meet the mayor, but we never thought he’d actually come out and talk with us.

Finally We Have A Global Registry Of Fossil Fuels

September 21, 2022 Carbon Tracker. , ,
New data published today shows that producing and combusting the world’s reserves would yield over 3.5 trillion tons of greenhouse gas emissions, over seven times the remaining carbon budget for 1.5C and more than all emissions produced since the industrial revolution. The finding comes from the Global Registry of Fossil Fuels, launched today by Carbon Tracker and Global Energy Monitor. To date, climate change policy efforts have focussed on reducing demand and consumption of oil, gas and coal, but ignored the supply of those fuels. The Paris Agreement, for example, does not even mention fossil fuels, despite the fact that such fuels account for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Internal Documents Show Big Oil PR Messages Still ‘Mislead’ Public

September 19, 2022 Nick Cunningham, DeSmog. , , ,
New documents released by a congressional committee show that major oil companies, under pressure from the worsening climate crisis, have carefully crafted public messages to convey an effort of transitioning to cleaner technologies, but that the campaigns appear aimed at obscuring the fact that they remain “devoted to a long-term fossil fuel future,” the committee report states. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a memo on September 14 that detailed documents and internal communications from oil companies including BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil, which show efforts to heavily promote their investments in promising technologies to address climate change, such as algae biofuels and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), while internally expressing doubt about the viability and immediacy of those investments.

As Heat Islands Worsen In Baltimore, Local Composting Can Relieve It

September 16, 2022 Alondra Sierra and Sophia Hosain, Institute for Local Self Reliance. , , , ,
The urban heat island effect emerges when the temperature in a metropolitan area is significantly hotter than in surrounding areas. Heat islands are largely a result of urban development, where materials like concrete and asphalt replace natural vegetation. In a city’s concrete jungle, materials found in buildings, roads, and sidewalks absorb the sun’s heat and emit it back into the air, raising the surrounding surface and ambient temperatures. Waste heat generated from vehicles, industrial facilities, and other human sources also add to the higher temperatures, leading to greater emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gasses. Urban heat islands pose a serious public health threat to those living in these zones―often people of color, low-income communities, and vulnerable age groups.

Barred From The Climate Conversation

September 11, 2022 Serag Heiba, Resilience. , , , ,
When Kelo Uchendu prepared for this year’s Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB56), it had been three years since his previous application for the German visa was rejected. At the time, he was the only African student selected from a cohort of engineers to attend a career-advancing programme in Dresden. That visa rejection was costly and devastating, but he did not remain idle. He founded a climate justice organisation in his home country of Nigeria to advocate for clean air, began pursuing postgraduate studies and joined the organising team of Mock COP26. He would arrive in Bonn as the policy co-lead of the UNFCCC youth constituency knowing that his hard work has finally paid off.

Tyre Extinguishers Claim More Than 600 SUVs ‘Disarmed’ In One Night

September 11, 2022 Damien Gayle, The Guardian. , , , ,
The climate activist group the Tyre Extinguishers has claimed its largest night of action yet against SUVs, with more than 600 vehicles “disarmed” across nine countries. Over the night marking six months since the launch of the campaign, which encourages people to covertly deflate the tyres of SUVs, activists took action in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Canada. “Courageous citizens all over the world last night … deflated tyres on at least 600 SUVs, exactly two months before the opening of the United Nations Cop27 climate summit in Egypt,” the Tyre Extinguishers said.

States Propose Expanding Highways With Federal Infrastructure Funds

September 10, 2022 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. , , ,
In November 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package into law, which allocates $1.2 trillion toward infrastructure and was meant to reduce transportation emissions. While the federal government is guiding states to use the funding toward public transit and other improvements, like increased bike lanes, a new report finds that state and local governments may lean toward using the money toward highway expansions instead. The report from U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit organization, maps out highway projects across the country that could use up infrastructure funding while making climate change worse.

‘Gas Is Green… Washing’: Greenpeace Disrupts Industry Conference In Milan

September 6, 2022 Julia Conley, Common Dreams. , , , , ,
AAttendees at the opening ceremony of Gastech, the world's largest meeting of gas companies, in Milan on Monday were greeted by what Greenpeace campaigners called "climate hell"—a display of "toxic" fumes and the sounds of sirens that the organization said represented "the fate we face if we continue to burn fossil fuels." Greenpeace Italy led the direct action including more than 50 campaigners from across Europe, confronting officials there to promote gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hydrogen as "greener" alternatives to oil and coal. Gastech and other efforts to push natural gas as a more sustainable energy source than other fossil fuels amount to "greenwashing," said the organizers, who also displayed a hot air balloon at the meeting emblazoned with the words: "Gas is Green...washing. End fossil fuels now."

Extinction Rebellion Enters UK Parliament, Supergluing Themselves

September 5, 2022 Steve Topple, The Canary. , , ,
Extinction Rebellion (XR) UK have burst into parliament in protest. Members have superglued themselves to the Speaker’s chair. It’s to challenge the lack of action by the government and corporations on the climate catastrophe. XR are saying that parliamentary democracy isn’t fit for purpose, and that people should instead form “citizen assemblies”. Of course, superglue companies must be delighted. And, XR is not the first group to do this kind of stunt. For example, in 2015 Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) entered parliament – subsequently being abused by police and security. The group repeated the action in 2016, when security told the BBC to stop filming because of it.

Residents In Majority-Black Jackson Left Without Drinkable Water

September 4, 2022 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. , , ,
Reports reveal that people of color are especially impacted by environmental disasters. Jackson is 82.5% Black, and has been hit with multiple water crises in recent months. As of September 2, the vast majority of the residents of the city of Jackson, Mississippi—over 150,000—still have no access to safe drinking water. The Jackson water crisis began on August 30 when flooding caused the pumps at the main water treatment facility, O.B. Curtis, to fail. This left most residents without clean water and many with no water at all due to low water pressure. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves warned residents on August 31, “Do not drink the water from the pipes if you can avoid it.” 
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