2019-08-07: News Headlines

Staff (2019-08-07). California Legislature Climate Watchdog Committee Has Little Bite. therealnews.com The California Legislature's Joint Committee on Climate Change Policies was formed in 2016 as a watchdog on state climate policy. But activists say that, so far, it has failed to live up to its potential.

Staff (2019-08-07). Climate Change Is a Key Issue for a Growing Number of Young Republicans. therealnews.com Republican strategists know the party will need to shift its climate platform to retain young voters, but federal Republican officials haven't caught up to the new trend, says The New York Times' Lisa Friedman…

Aviva Chomsky (2019-08-07). Jobs, the environment, and a planet in crisis. nationofchange.org When it comes to heat, extreme weather, wildfires, and melting glaciers, the planet is now in what the media increasingly refers to as "record" territory, as climate change's momentum outpaces predictions. In such a situation, in a country whose president and administration seem hell-bent on doing everything they conceivably can to make matters worse, the Green New Deal …

Staff (2019-08-07). Where Would We Be Without the Green New Deal? truthdig.com The proposal still has its detractors, but for the first time we are grappling with the urgency of the climate crisis on a policy level.

Sonoma County Sunrise Hub (2019-08-07). Climate Strike: Santa Rosa, Sonoma County. indybay.org Old Courthouse Square @ Medicino Ave & 4th and Santa Rosa Ave & 3rd, Santa Rosa 95401…

Staff (2019-08-06). Puerto Rico in Political Crisis: Senate Sues over Appointment of New Governor Pierluisi. democracynow.org The political crisis in Puerto Rico continues as its Senate has sued against the appointment of Pedro Pierluisi as the new governor following Ricardo Rosselló's resignation last week. Pierluisi was sworn in despite not having been confirmed by the Puerto Rican Senate. But he argues that he is in the line of succession for governor after being nominated as secretary of state by Rosselló last week. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz also sued after his swearing-in. We speak with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González for his analysis of the current political climate.

Robert Hunziker (2019-08-06). Pounding Heat Clobbers Greenland. counterpunch.org Greenland is one of the biggest targets for global warming, in part, because it's so big it's hard to miss. And sure enough, only recently crazy halting weather with inordinate hot temperature hit Greenland bull's-eye, dead-on with one helluva meltdown. That's bad news for pretty much everybody on the planet. On the hottest days, the More

Aviva Chomsky (2019-08-06). Jobs, the Environment, and a Planet in Crisis. commondreams.org Despite challenges from parts of both the labor and the environmental movements, which its sponsors had undoubtedly hoped would be among its strongest supporters, Markey and Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal resolution has gone a remarkably long way toward putting a genuine discussion of what an effective and just climate policy might look like in the public arena for the first time. (Photo: Emelia Gold) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gnd-press-conf-sunrise_0.jpeg

Ted Rall (2019-08-06). Here is Exactly Why Congress Won't Act on Gun Violence, Climate Change, Impeaching Trump or Anything Else. counterpunch.org I'm from Dayton so I'm thinking about this today: Why hasn't Congress done anything to address our national epidemic of mass shootings, namely reviving the assault weapons ban? People—Democrats and not a few Republicans—ask me that all the time. I bet all left-leaning pundits get that question. The answer is simple. But it's not something most people want to More

Robert Dodge (2019-08-06). Hiroshima and the New Arms Race—No Winners. commondreams.org Nuclear war and climate change are the two existential threats we face today. (Photo: US Department of Defense) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/nuclearweapons.jpeg

United Nations (2019-08-06). Help African farmers cope with climate change threats, UN food agency urges. un.org African farmers need help to cope with the threats of climate change, with national policies that protect them and make them resilient, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, has declared, following a major conference on food security in the continent.

Robert Hunziker (2019-08-06). Pounding Heat Clobbers Greenland. dissidentvoice.org Greenland is one of the biggest targets for global warming, in part, because it's so big it's hard to miss. And sure enough, only recently crazy halting weather with inordinate hot temperature hit Greenland bull's-eye, dead-on with one helluva meltdown. That's bad news for pretty much everybody on the planet. On the hottest days, the …

Fred_F (2019-08-06). Why school climate strikers are demanding a just transition and job creation. greenleft.org.au The fight for climate justice is inherently about people: First Nations people, workers, young people, all of us. | We know the climate crisis is disproportionately impacting upon working-class people, which is why it is so vital that all of us work together to forge solutions to this huge challenge. | The economic transformation ahead of us will not be easy, but the costs of inaction are too great not to get going now. | As young people, we seek to work in solidarity with workers and unionists. Our fights are one and the same. | This is why we have updated our national school strike demands to incorporate explic…

Fred_F (2019-08-05). Victorian teachers' union votes to support Climate Strike. greenleft.org.au The Australian Education Union's (AEU) Victorian branch has voted to support a student-initiated call for a Climate Strike on September 20. The internationally coordinated strike, which will be held just days before a United Nations Emergency Climate Summit, is seeking to pressure governments to take serious action to address the climate crisis. | The motion, which was passed unanimously at the union's August 2 state council meeting, calls on AEU officials to negotiate with the state government "to ensure students participating in the student strike planned for Sept 2019 and future actions are afforded thei…

Staff (2019-08-02). Can Cap and Invest Programs Bring Environmental Justice? (2/2). therealnews.com Critics of the Transportation & Climate Initiative say real transportation justice must include a plan for mass transit, and respect leadership from environmental justice communities…

Staff (2019-08-02). 2nd Dem Debate Pt 2: Discusses the Climate Crisis, Tackles Endless War and Regime Change (3/4). therealnews.com The deep divide between candidates is clear as they clash over issues appearing for the first time in presidential debates. With Jacqueline Luqman, Dharna Noor, and Marc Steiner as host…

Staff (2019-08-02). Climate System "Getting Unhinged" as Massive Heat Wave Causes Record Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet. democracynow.org The massive heat dome that shattered all-time temperature records across much of Europe last week has settled in over Greenland, driving temperatures across the vast region to as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. In July, Greenland's ice sheet lost 197 billion tons of ice, the equivalent of around 80 million Olympic swimming pools. This comes as the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday that July was the warmest month in recorded human history. It followed the hottest June on record, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels climbed to a record high of 415 parts per million earlier this year. We sp…

Staff (2019-08-02). Can Cap and Invest Programs Bring Environmental Justice? (1/2). therealnews.com 12 states and Washington, DC are teaming up on the Transportation & Climate Initiative, but critics from Newark and Baltimore say the program excludes frontline voices and depends too much on market forces…

CounterSpin (2019-08-02). Sriram Madhusoodanan on Fossil Fuel Investigations, Amin Husain on Decolonizing Museums. fair.org Media…

Akela Lacy (2019-08-02). Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Chief of Staff and Communications Director Will Depart Her Office. theintercept.com Two of Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez's top staffers are leaving her office. | Saikat Chakrabarti, her chief of staff, and Corbin Trent, her director of communications — who, through their work with Justice Democrats, have been alongside Ocasio-Cortez since her primary run — will leave the lawmaker's office. Chakrabarti will go to New Consensus, a nonprofit focused on climate issues and promoting the Green New Deal. Trent will direct communications on Ocasio-Cortez's 2020 campaign, the same role he played during her first congressional run. | "Saikat has decided to leave the office of Rep. Ocasio-Corte…

United Nations (2019-08-02). Friday's Daily Brief: Security Council Ebola response, UNICEF chief on 'devastating week' for children in Middle East and North Africa, climate and migration links. un.org Our main stories today: Security Council concern over DRC Ebola outbreak, head of UNICEF deplores 'devastating week' for children in MENA region, climate crisis to have 'extensive' effect on human settlement…

pip.hinman (2019-08-02). 10 reasons to join the September 20 Climate Strike. greenleft.org.au School Strike 4 Climate outline just 10 of many reasons why you should join students when they go on strike to save the climate on September 20. | 1. Millions of people will be striking around the world with us. Beat the fear of missing out and make a plan to be there. | 2. Australia's climate pollution has never been higher than it is right now. We're on track to be responsible for almost one-fifth of the world's climate pollution by 2030. | 3. The people who did the least to contribute to this are being hit first and worst by climate impacts. And that is deeply unfair. | 4. This is only the biggest challenge hu…

pip.hinman (2019-08-02). Help build the movement for system change — become a Green Left supporter. greenleft.org.au It's understandable to feel enraged watching the news about our climate: record-breaking summer temperatures across Europe, the disappearing Arctic ice sheet, deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon. | It's depressing stuff. | I am enraged on a daily basis listening to the business-as-usual, head-in-the-sand responses to climate change from pro-capitalist governments and mining company spin doctors. | Or hearing that US President Donald Trump has allowed the use of bee-killing pesticides and that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has green-lighted illegal land clearing in the Amazon. | Or reading that the Australi…

pip.hinman (2019-08-02). What kind of rebellion will it take to save humanity from extinction? greenleft.org.au We live in a dystopian age. Governments have known since at least the mid-'90s about the potentially devastating impact of human-induced climate change. But for the most part they have either disputed and denied this, or pretended to be responding to scientists' findings. | Despite overwhelming evidence that the world has already passed certain tipping points, setting off large and unpredictable changes in the climate, why are governments still refusing to act on the scale and pace required? | Why are some still denying that there is a climate emergency? | Why, despite the sorts of technological advances that m…

Staff (2019-08-01). Headlines for August 1, 2019. democracynow.org Presidential Hopefuls Take Aim at Joe Biden During Second Night of Debates, Protesters Confront Joe Biden over Immigration Record, Protesters Confront NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio over Eric Garner's Death, NY Medical Examiner: Layleen Polanco Died of Epilepsy in Solitary Cell, U.N. Warns 21st Century's Worst Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Syria, Trump Administration Sanctions Iran's Foreign Minister, Sudan Schools Closed After Soldiers Massacre Students, Greenland Ice Melts at Rapid Pace as Temperatures Climb 30 Degrees Above Normal, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Promotes Climate Justice Proposal, 66 Seek Medical Care…

United Nations (2019-08-01). Thursday's Daily Brief: Climate emergency, call to support breastfeeding, rising political heat and new investigation board for Syria. un.org Today, our main stories include: UN chief's warning on climate and global politics; UNICEF's call to bolster breastfeeding and new Board of Inquiry in Syria…

United Nations (2019-08-01). A dangerously hot climate, simmering political tensions: 'This is not the summer of our youth,' UN chief warns. un.org Global warming and rising political tensions are dangerous and avoidable, Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters on Thursday, previewing the UN's upcoming Climate Action Summit, and spotlighting geopolitical hotspots.

Alex Emmons (2019-08-01). Candidates, Your Views on the Middle East? You Have 30 Seconds. theintercept.com If you blinked, you might have missed it. | Across the five hours of Democratic primary debates split between two nights this week, the presidential hopefuls discussed the future of U.S. foreign policy for no more than 25 minutes. | Other policy areas had it worse. There were no questions either night on Puerto Rico, for example, or LGBT issues, or reproductive rights. But the scant attention to foreign policy was striking precisely because it's the area in which a president has the most power to change things on their own. If the next president wants to rejoin the Paris climate agreement or renegotiate the Iran…

United Nations (2019-07-31). Wednesday's Daily Brief: World Breastfeeding Week kickoff, Second Ebola death on DR Congo's eastern border,‚ÄØUN chief lauds climate activist Thunberg, Afghan bus attack, and outgoing UN agriculture chief hands over reigns. un.org Our main stories today cover: ‚ÄØWorld Breastfeeding Week kickoff, Ebola on DR Congo side of Rwandan border, 15-year-old Greta Thunberg to said to UN climate summit, UN chief condemns deadly Afghan bus attack and UN agriculture agency chief marks last day.

United Nations (2019-07-31). Migration and the climate crisis: the UN's search for solutions. un.org Throughout human history, migration and climate have always been connected, but in the modern era, the impacts of the man-made climate crisis are likely to extensively change the patterns of human settlement.

United Nations (2019-07-31). FROM THE FIELD: Turning waste into a business in the slums of Yaoundé, Cameroon. un.org The increasing volume and complexity of waste associated with modern economies is posing a serious risk to ecosystems and human health. Every year, an estimated 11.2 billion tons of solid waste are collected worldwide, according to the UN Environment Programme.

Jodi Dean (2019-07-31). Climate change is class war. liberationnews.org Our challenge is to build the collective power that can force the changes the capitalist system refuses to make.

Joshua Cho (2019-07-30). Media Downplay Climate Disruption's Ever-Growing Role in Driving Migration. fair.org Washington Post ( 4/16/19) | Journalists routinely dehumanize human beings crossing the southern border by comparing them to natural disasters like a " flood" or " deluge." But while migration has always been a natural…