An extraordinary Twitter exchange with Richard Tol
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-07-18
I had an extraordinary Twitter Exchange with Richard Tol over the last few days. I've written this post to preserve that exchange in case, at a future date, Tol decides to delete his tweets. They provide a superb window into the thinking that lies behind mainstream economic modelling of climate change, and why this has […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/07/18/an-extraordinary-twitter-exchange-with-richard-tol/

Despite the 'climate emergency', fracking is about to restart in Lancashire
Glen Black | thecanary.co | 2019-07-18
Fracking company Cuadrilla has returned to its site at Preston New Road (PNR) with plans to restart drilling for gas. Meanwhile, a second fracking company has submitted proposals for another site in Lancashire. And companies are still pushing for these new fossil fuels despite the government's declaration of a "climate emergency". | Back to frack: | On 11 July, Cuadrilla announced it would start sending fracking equipment back to PNR. The company plans to restart operations…
thecanary.co/discovery/analysis-discovery/2019/07/18/despite-the-climate-emergency-fracking-is-about-to-restart-in-lancashire/

Fighting Climate Change Means Ending War
Robert C. Koehler | commondreams.org | 2019-07-18
Fighting this war is as much a matter of demobilization—reversing courses of action, shrinking our carbon footprint—as it is mobilizing green energy production and rebuilding society around a green consciousness. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-946939496.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2019/07/18/fighting-climate-change-means-ending-war?cd-origin=rss

Reps. Khanna, Pocan Introduce Bill To Finally Force Ag Companies to Take Responsibility for Their Own Waste
commondreams.org | 2019-07-18
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/18/reps-khanna-pocan-introduce-bill-finally-force-ag-companies-take-responsibility?cd-origin=rss

Fracking wastewater may trigger earthquakes for decades even after operations cease
Alexandra Jacobo | nationofchange.org | 2019-07-18
Oil wastewater disposal from oil and gas production may cause earthquakes for decades even after operations or are reduced, says new research published earlier this week. | Fracking, along with oil and gas production in general, in the United States is a booming industry. With this comes an increase in the rate of oilfield wastewater production. Fracking, the process of shooting water mixed with sand and chemicals into the earth to release the oil and natural gas from rock formations. | Fracking produces huge volumes of wastewater that contains cancer-causing chemicals, salts and naturally occurring radioactiv…
nationofchange.org/2019/07/18/fracking-wastewater-may-trigger-earthquakes-for-decades-even-after-operations-cease/

Cambodia returning plastic waste back to the U.S. and Canada
Marlee Kokotovic | nationofchange.org | 2019-07-18
Cambodia is the latest Asian country to reject the U.S. and Canada's onslaught of plastic waste. They will be sending approximately 1,764 tons in 83 containers back to North America in revolt. BREAKING: Cambodia joins China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other Asian countries in pushing back against countries who externalize plastic waste. #breakfreefromplastic #plasticpollutes #plasticpollution …
nationofchange.org/2019/07/18/cambodia-returning-plastic-waste-back-to-the-u-s-and-canada/

Cambodia To Send Back 1,600 Tons Plastic Waste to US, Canada
telesurenglish.net | 2019-07-18
Cambodia announced Wednesday that it will send 1,600 tonnes of plastic waste back to the United States and Canada. The country received the waste in 83 shipping containers from developed Western countries Tuesday at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main port. | RELATED: | US Can't Force Countries to Accept Non-Recyclable Imports: UN | "Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of out-of-date e-waste, and the government also opposes any import of plastic waste and lubr…
telesurenglish.net/news/cambodia-plastic-waste-back-to-united-states-canada–20190718-0009.html

Australia needs a 'Green Fair Go'
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-07-18
RMIT University professor Rob Watts believes Australia needs a "Green Fair Go" — akin to the United States proposal of a "Green New Deal" — that would include a commitment to full employment through jobs linked to combating climate change. To make this a reality would require "people power", he said. | Watts was speaking at a Fair Go For Pensioners conference on July 10, where he provided an overview of the neoliberal policies pursued by Labor and Coalition governments during the past four decades. | He spoke of the decline of the union movement, growing inequality, the abandonment of the goal of full…
greenleft.org.au/content/australia-needs-green-fair-go

'Unprecedented' Decline of Plants and Animals as Global 'Red List' Reveals Nearly One-Third of Assessed Species Under Threat
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-07-18
Calling on global policymakers to act immediately to preserve biodiversity and save tens of thousands of species from extinction, the group behind the world's most definitive list of endangered animals and plants added more than 2,600 threatened species to its annual report. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-8499398083.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/07/18/unprecedented-decline-plants-and-animals-global-red-list-reveals-nearly-one-third?cd-origin=rss

Extinction Rebellion disrupts Brisbane
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-07-18
Extinction Rebellion activists disrupted numerous intersections in Brisbane's CBD on July 11. | climate justice Jacob AndrewarthaIssue 1229 Australia Extinction Rebellion BrisbanePhoto: J…
greenleft.org.au/content/extinction-rebellion-disrupts-brisbane

Climate Smart Farming and Gardening Workshop
Terra Cultura | indybay.org | 2019-07-18
The event will be held on site at Terra Cultura, a nonprofit eco-education farm in Aromas, CA. Our mission is to cultivate resilient communities empowered through education and collaboration in agrecology, sustainable living, and the arts.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/17/18824817.php

Challenging capitalism is the ultimate climate mitigation strategy
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-07-18
The climate movement both at the international level and within specific countries is quite disparate, meriting a distinction between climate activists per se and climate justice activists. | Representatives of the former include organisations such as the Climate Action Network, Greenpeace, and Al Gore's Climate Reality Project, which emphasise the need for renewables, energy efficiency, and other techno-fixes and attempt to work within the parameters of global capitalism. | Others, such as Friends of the Earth, Climate Justice Action, and various socialist and anarchist groups, are attuned to the enormous social…
greenleft.org.au/content/challenging-capitalism-ultimate-climate-mitigation-strategy

NOAA's Finding That Last Month Was Hottest June Ever Recorded Bolsters Calls for Radical Climate Action
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-07-18
As meteorologists warned Thursday that temperatures above 100 ∞F are expected to impact two-thirds of the country this weekend, U.S. government scientists revealed that last month was the hottest June ever recorded—bolstering calls for radical global action on the climate emergency. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/burningsun_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/07/18/noaas-finding-last-month-was-hottest-june-ever-recorded-bolsters-calls-radical?cd-origin=rss

Trump aide demands of Jewish reporter: "What's your ethnicity?"
wsws.org | 2019-07-18
Kellyanne Conway's outburst, which has been hailed by neo-Nazi groups, gives a glimpse of the fascistic climate within Trump's inner circle.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/07/18/conw-j18.html

Appeal Upheld in Challenge to Oil Drilling in California's Carrizo Plain National Monument
Center for Biological Diversity | indybay.org | 2019-07-18
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.― The California Bureau of Land Management has agreed with conservation groups that plans for a new oil well and pipeline in Carrizo Plain National Monument failed to comply with federal environmental laws. The July 12 decision, announced today, said the local BLM office must consider potential harm to California condors, other imperiled wildlife and the climate.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/16/18824799.php

Alaska governor cuts $400 million from education, social services
wsws.org | 2019-07-18
The 41 percent reduction in the state budget for the University of Alaska will result in the elimination of dozens of degree programs and jeopardize climate research.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/07/18/alas-j18.html

Ye Cannot Swerve Me: Moby-Dick and Climate Change
Manuel García, Jr. | counterpunch.org | 2019-07-17
Will climate change drive humanity to extinction? If so, how much time have we got?, and how will it happen? These questions are on the minds of many people today. In this essay, I will follow paleontologists deep into the geological past to see if it can offer any analogs to the evolving climatic conditions of today, and in that way give us a window into our future.
counterpunch.org/2019/07/17/ye-cannot-swerve-me-moby-dick-and-climate-change/

Global Britain's real climate changers: Big Oil must be taken down
Andy Higginbottom | mronline.org | 2019-07-17
There is no global social unity in the face of climate disaster. We risk a 'climate apartheid' scenario where the wealthy pay to escape overheating, hunger, and conflict while the rest of the world is left to suffer. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/07/17/global-britains-real-climate-changers-big-oil-must-be-taken-down/

Norvergence: Psychosocial and mental health impacts of climate change
George Stacey | nationofchange.org | 2019-07-17
"In the tech-saturated world, climate change is the biggest global threat (both physically and mentally)." Most articles or blog posts that address the climate change problem focuses on its physical health impacts. On the other hand, the overlooked impact of climate change is the mental health problems caused by it. Mostly, developing countries fail to …
nationofchange.org/2019/07/17/norvergence-psychosocial-and-mental-health-impacts-of-climate-change/

The Street-by-Street Battle Against Climate Change
Audrea Lim | thenation.com | 2019-07-17
The Street-by-Street Battle Against Climate Change…
thenation.com/article/climate-change-new-york-uprose/

Lawyer beat oil giant in court, but now faces jail and millions in fines
Joe Emersberger | thecanary.co | 2019-07-17
From 1964 to 1990, Texaco (later absorbed by Chevron) dumped 16 billion gallons of toxic waste in Ecuador's Amazon. The CIA played a key role in bringing to power the dictatorship that first allowed Texaco to work in Ecuador. Philip Agee, the great whistleblower of that era, descr…
thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2019/07/17/lawyer-beat-oil-giant-in-court-but-now-faces-jail-and-millions-in-fines/

Why A 20-Year Old Climate Activist is Suing the Federal Government
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-17
At Netroots Nation 2019, Vic Barrett, a young defendant in Juliana vs US, talks to Dharna Noor about why he's suing the federal government for its role in the climate crisis…
therealnews.com/stories/why-a-20-year-old-climate-activist-is-suing-the-federal-government

"Fossil Fuel Stooges" Pence & Trump Deny Climate Crisis as Deadly Rains Slam Louisiana & South Asia
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-07-15
Ongoing heavy rain has killed at least 67 people in Nepal, 25 in India and 14 in Bangladesh as flooding from monsoons has displaced 1 million people in South Asia. This year's flooding in the region has been worse than ever before and is likely fueled by rising global temperatures, which have led to more extreme weather. Scientists warn that the risk of deadly floods is not over. In the United States, New Orleans residents managed to avoid the worst of Tropical Storm Barry, but 11 million people continued to be on flash flood warning as the storm slowly made its way through Louisiana over the weekend. President T…
www.democracynow.org/2019/7/15/nepal_india_bangladesh_flooding_climate_crisis

Indigenous Resistance as Re-occupation of Land at the Forefront of Climate Justice
Litsa Chatzivasileiou | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-07-15
I write as a settler on this land. I am not speaking on behalf of Aboriginal people but rather as an unconditional ally to their struggles. I will specifically address Indigenous resistance in the form of re-occupation of Turtle Island and in particular of so-called Canada. Re-occupation of the land is a kind of resistance …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/07/indigenous-resistance-as-re-occupation-of-land-at-the-forefront-of-climate-justice/

As Cost of Climate Crisis Grows, Climate Movement Escalates
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-07-14
Activists run towards the Garzweiler open-cast mine (David Young/picture alliance via Getty Images) The warnings of climate chaos are coming so fast they are difficult to keep up with. Storms, heatwaves and climate-related weather disasters are increasing at a rapid pace. The leadership of the two corporate-dominated political parties are trying to keep the climate …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/07/as-cost-of-climate-crisis-grows-climate-movement-escalates/

Bring down the global fences
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-07-12
As the Titanic sank in 1912, the wealthy were given safety on lifeboats while the poor were left to die, locked in the sinking ship. | Today, the countries of the Global North are taking a similar approach to the climate crisis. | Going full steam ahead, countries such as Australia continue to burn fossil fuels, ignore the warnings of scientists and, when crises hit, turn people away from safety. | There were more than 70 million displaced people around the world last year according to conservative United Nations figures — the highest this figure has ever been. | Many were displaced as a direct or indirec…
greenleft.org.au/content/refugees-first-victims-climate-change

How the Climate Crisis Is Pushing Central Americans Out of Their Homes Toward the U.S
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-07-10
As the U.S. continues to crack down on migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, we look at one of the underreported driving factors leading people to flee their home countries: the climate crisis. John Carlos Frey, author of "Sand and Blood: America's Stealth War on the Mexico Border," spent time with Central American climate refugees traveling in a caravan toward the United States. He says, "If this drought continues, we're looking at all-out famine from Central America. …That's one of the major reasons why they're coming. … The government doesn't even acknowledge the fact that there is a climate c…
www.democracynow.org/2019/7/10/john_carlos_frey_immigration_us_mexico

Climate protesters force BP oil rig to make second U-turn amid ongoing direct action
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-06-17
An oil rig at the centre of a protest by environmental campaigners has been forced to make a second 'U-turn' on its way to a North Sea field. | The Transocean PBLJ rig was heading to the Vorlich oil field after being occupied by activists in the Cromarty Firth, north of Inverne…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/2019/06/17/climate-protesters-force-bp-oil-rig-to-make-second-u-turn-amid-ongoing-direct-action/

How Unions and Climate Organizers Learned to Work Together in New York
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-06-17
Several years before Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) elevated the climate, jobs and justice framework to the national level, a coalition of labor, environmental and community groups joined together to push for a pioneering climate bill in New York. | The idea for the legislation came in the immediate aftermath of the 2014 People's Climate March, when organizers decided to build on the momentum of the historic demonstration. In 2016 the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) was born, an expansive bill that would require New York to…
truthout.org/articles/how-unions-and-climate-organizers-learned-to-work-together-in-new-york/

Navy Contaminates Local Groundwater and Sewer System in Maryland
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-06-17
The U.S. Navy has contaminated the groundwater at Maryland's Patuxent River Naval Air Station (NAS) with 1,137.8 parts per trillion (ppt) of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to a report published last July by the engineering firm CH2M Hill. PFAS have been associated with a variety of cancers and are known to jeopardize human reproductive health. The contamination was not reported on the…
truthout.org/articles/navy-contaminates-local-groundwater-and-sewer-system-in-maryland/

Dallas storm leaves 350,000 without power, exposes system unprepared to deal with the consequences of climate change
Marissa Rodriguez | liberationnews.org | 2019-06-17
Due to a natural disaster, over 350,000 Dallas residents lost electricity on June 9. A powerful storm blew in around 1: 30 PM, downing power lines, uprooting trees and causing accidents. The storm itself only lasted 15 minutes with wind gusts initially clocked at over 71 miles per hour (later investigation may increase that estimate.) As …
liberationnews.org/dallas-storm-leaves-350000-without-power-exposes-system-unprepared-to-deal-with-the-consequences-of-climate-change/

Paying farmers fairly could curb climate change and hunger
Eric Holt-Giménez and Heidi Kleiner | nationofchange.org | 2019-06-17
During a recent campaign stump through the Midwest, Bernie Sanders | walked the fields in Iowa, posed on a tractor, and galvanized the rural | crowd with a word not spoken by a presidential candidate in many | decades: parity. | Though foreign to most of the voting public, parity is at the core of | agriculture's potential to address the farm, food, and climate crises. | Parity is the notion that family farmers should be paid a fair price | for their product–one that covers their costs and provides them with a | decent livelihood. According to the National Agricultural Statistics | Service, "The idea of…
nationofchange.org/2019/06/17/paying-farmers-fairly-could-curb-climate-change-and-hunger/

Climate crisis and the 2020 elections
John Scales Avery | nationofchange.org | 2019-06-17
Trump and his party must be defeated | : | There are so many things wrong with Donald Trump that one hardly knows where to begin. He is a racist, habitual liar, tax evader, cruel cager of infants, misogynist, narcissist, bully, violator of numerous laws, both national and international, a friend of rich oligarchs and enemy of the poor, to mention only a few of his faults. He has made the United States resemble Germany, Italy or Spain in the 1930's, when fascism was on the rise. | However, most importantly for the future of human civilization and the biosphere, Trump has denied the reality of the climat…
nationofchange.org/2019/06/17/climate-crisis-and-the-2020-elections/

Oregon Tackles Climate Change With Cap-and-Trade Proposal
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-06-17
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon is on the precipice of becoming the second state after California to adopt a cap-and-trade program, a market-based approach to lowering the greenhouse gas emissions behind global warming. | Supporters call it the United States' most progressive climate policy, saying it not only cuts emissions but invests in transitioning the state economy and infrastructure to better prepare for more intense weather events as climate change worsens. | "We have an opportunity to invest a substantial amount into low-income communities off the backs of the 100 or so major polluters that caused this proble…
truthdig.com/articles/oregon-tackles-climate-change-with-cap-and-trade-proposal/

UN oceans treaty 'essential' to combat 'unprecedented pressure' on the world's seas — UN chief
United Nations | un.org | 2019-06-17
The oceans are not only under "unprecedented pressure" due to climate change, but "half of all living coral has been lost in the past 150 years", United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, addressing the latest gathering of nations which are party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/06/1040641

Global Inequality in a Time of Climate Emergency
Tom Athanasiou | commondreams.org | 2019-06-17
Extreme economic inequality turns out to be a social poison that makes it almost impossible for us to mobilize to save ourselves and our civilization. (Photo: STAN HONDA/AFP/GettyImages) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-152211297.jpg…
commondreams.org/views/2019/06/17/global-inequality-time-climate-emergency?cd-origin=rss

Climate talks held as Arctic ice melts, concerns grow
Frank Jordans | peoplesworld.org | 2019-06-17
BERLIN (AP) — Diplomats and climate experts gathered Monday in Germany for U.N.-hosted talks on climate change amid growing public pressure for governments to act faster against global warming. Officials meeting in the western city of Bonn for the June 17-27 talks are focusing on resolving issues that couldn't be agreed upon at last December's …
peoplesworld.org/article/climate-talks-held-as-arc/

Zero Waste: The Global Plastics Crisis
Graham Peebles | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-06-17
Plastic pollution is everywhere. It litters beaches, clogs up oceans, chokes marine life, is ingested by seabirds that then starve to death, and has even been discovered embedded in Arctic ice. It's in the air we breathe, the water we drink (bottled and tap), and last year plastic was found in human stools for the …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/06/zero-waste-the-global-plastics-crisis/

Letter to Wolf Demands Fracking Permit Pause, Investigation of Cancer Cases
commondreams.org | 2019-06-17
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/17/letter-wolf-demands-fracking-permit-pause-investigation-cancer-cases?cd-origin=rss

German police threaten climate change protesters
wsws.org | 2019-06-17
Police are treating youth concerned about climate change like criminals.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/06/17/aach-j17.html

'Huge Victory' for Grassroots Climate Campaigners as New York Lawmakers Reach Deal on Sweeping Climate Legislation
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-06-17
Grassroots climate campaigners in New York applauded on Monday after state lawmakers reached a deal on sweeping climate legislation, paving the way for the passage of what could be some of the country's most ambitious environmental reforms. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-06-17_at_5.16.56_pm1.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/06/17/huge-victory-grassroots-climate-campaigners-new-york-lawmakers-reach-deal-sweeping?cd-origin=rss

Because 'This Is a Public Health Crisis,' Pennsylvania Gov. Urged to Investigate Link Between Fracking and Childhood Cancers
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-06-17
"Fracking presents clear threats to our drinking water, our air quality, and to the health and safety of residents in these sacrifice zones." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/fracking_13.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/06/17/because-public-health-crisis-pennsylvania-gov-urged-investigate-link-between?cd-origin=rss