2020-08-28: News Headlines

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-08-28). Normal Has Failed. Be As Weird As You Like. thealtworld.com Consumerism is unsustainable. Competition is unsustainable. Imperialism is unsustainable. | Our species is standing on the brink of an extinction-level event due to ecosystemic collapse or nuclear war, and it is because of the way that we have lived on this planet up until this point. If we keep moving in this direction we will go the way of the dinosaur in the not-too distant future and take most terrestrial life with us. Maybe even all of it. | The imperfect and immature nature of our newly evolved capacity for language and abstract thought, combined with our social nature as primates, has caused our species to…

Staff (2020-08-28). Hurricane Laura Devastates Gulf Coast, Laying Bare Climate Crisis, Environmental Racism. democracynow.org Hurricane Laura has slammed ashore as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, bringing sustained winds of 150 miles per hour to the Gulf Coast. The strongest storm to hit Louisiana in over a century, Laura made landfall near the border of Louisiana and Texas. At least six people have been killed. Residents near Lake Charles were told to stay indoors with windows and doors shut when a chemical fire broke out at a Biolab plant. Hilton Kelley, the executive director of the Community In Power and Development Association, says local communities are dealing with multiple crises amid the devastation of the hurricane. "

Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts (2020-08-28). Planting Trees Can Reduce Poverty and Slow Climate Change. globalresearch.ca Humanitarian crises have recently been declared in

news.un (2020-08-28). India urged to lead global push for clean energy, climate action. news.un.org India has a crucial role to play in promoting clean energy and climate action as the world looks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday.

Marlee Kokotovic (2020-08-28). Senate Dems share new climate report disappointing green groups and climate activists. nationofchange.org "The report fails to address the vital need to end the extraction, processing, and burning of fossil fuels, and instead sees a future for fossil fuels tied to the false promise of carbon capture."

imperial.ac.uk (2020-08-28). Q&A: Christmas Lecturer talks geoscience, climate change, and diversity. imperial.ac.uk Professor Chris Jackson discusses the Christmas Lecture 'Planet Earth: A User's Guide', and the importance of role models in diversifying science.

Staff (2020-08-28). Trump Proposes Expanded Drilling and Fracking in California Amid Wildfires. truthout.org Especially given the climate-fueled wildfires ravaging the region, conservationists sounded alarm Thursday in response to a Trump administration proposal for an oil and gas lease sale in California, which would be the state's first such federal auction in eight years. | At issue are over 4,300 acres of public land in Kern County, an area recently

Carly Nicole Sanchez (2020-08-27). Ranch 2 fire sweeps Azusa Canyon in California. liberationnews.org Leaving vulnerable populations without protection from the man-made crisis of global warming would be avoided with a new socialist system that centers the struggles of the people.

pip.hinman (2020-08-27). The climate action we need today. greenleft.org.au

editors (2020-08-27). "Don't let them take democracy away from you" indybay.org "United we can and will overcome the time of darkness in America," he said. After four years of Trump's presidency, the Biden-Harris team wants to reunite the country, overcome the Corona crisis and boost the economy with millions of new jobs. In addition, the challengers want to provide an answer to "racial injustice" and take decisive action against the climate crisis [1].

Party for Socialism and Liberation (2020-08-27). Friday 8/28: Online Socialism Forum – Climate Change or System Change! indybay.org Register at bit.ly/planet-not-profits…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-08-27). Poverty and Petrochemicals Converge as Hurricane Laura's Devastation Exposes Entire Gulf Coast as 'Sacrificial Zone'. commondreams.org "The devastation wrought by Hurricane Laura is staggering. Climate denial is not a victimless crime, and it's time for the fossil fuel industry to be held accountable." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/hurricane_laura_0.jpg

commondreams (2020-08-27). 'Climate Denial Is Not a Victimless Crime' – Greenpeace Response to Hurricane Laura. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Chris Hedges (2020-08-26). How Corporate Tyranny Works. commondreams.org Oil sludge from one of the hundreds of waste pits that Chevron left in the Ecuadorean Amazon. (Photo: via Indian Country News) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/ecuador-oil-sludge_0.jpg

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-08-26). Threat of Devastating Hurricane Laura Highlights a GOP With 'Absolutely No Plan to Deal With the Climate Crisis'. commondreams.org "The Green New Deal is not radical," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "Having a president in office who calls climate change a hoax—that's radical." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/hurricane_laura_1.png

Juan Cole (2020-08-26). As Party of Climate Denial Meets, Wildfires Rage and Hurricanes Target Gulf Coast. zcomm.org The Republican Party cannot solve the climate emergency just as it cannot solve the pandemic. It is about making money for its billionaire clientele, not about delivering better lives to working Americans.

The Canary (2020-08-26). Antarctica ice platform nearly four times size of UK 'at risk of collapse'. thecanary.co A platform of ice surrounding Antarctica which is nearly four times the size of the UK is at risk of collapse, according to a new study.It suggests that more than 350,000 square miles of floating ice shelves could split if fractures on their surface are submerged due to the effects of climate change. Such a sudden loss of the supportive structures could raise sea levels around the world.A team involving geoscientists from the University of Edinburgh used a process called hydrofracturing to analyse satellite images of the area.A map of Antarctica with the vulnerable areas of ice shelf marked in red (Nature 2020/PA…

_____ (2020-08-26). Overfunding The Military Drives Climate Crisis And White Supremacist Culture. popularresistance.org As the U.S. now approaches the third month since protests erupted following the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless Black Americans calls to defund and abolish the police are resonating throughout public consciousness. While the Black Lives Matter movement rightfully pushes for the defunding and abolition of a white supremacist institution, it must be recognized that another institution — U.S. militarism — is also an overfunded structure responsible for violence, oppression, and white supremacy.

_____ (2020-08-26). Exxon Booted From Dow As Oil And Gas Falls. popularresistance.org Spending 92 years doing anything is an accomplishment, so let's cheers to Exxon Mobil Corp., which spent more than nine decades as a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, pillaging the planet, lying about climate change, and making rich people even richer. | Now, those days have come to an end. One of the biggest oil companies on Earth has hemorrhaged money this year, and now it's been booted from the Dow Jones because it just isn't the superpower it once was. I almost feel bad for Big Oil these days. Almost. | The news of Exxon's removal from the Dow Jones comes amid a pandemic that has absolutely crushed…

_____ (2020-08-26). Wildfire, Hurricanes, Floods And Droughts Quadrupled In Cost Since 1980. popularresistance.org In the last 40 years, 663 disasters linked to climate change in the United States killed 14,223 people. The total cost: an estimated $1.77 trillion, a bit more than Canada's Gross National Product in 2018. | Economic losses in Europe resulting from climate-linked extreme weather from 1980 to 2017 were lower, totaling $537 billion. The difference was the cost of tropical storms, which don't affect Europe but accounted for nearly half of the U.S. total costs. | The report analyzed data going back to 1980 from several sources, including a database of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that ca…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-08-26). 'Sudden Collapse': Study Suggests 60% of Antarctic Ice Shelves Face Fracture Risk. commondreams.org Massive southern shelves split by climate-induced hydofracturing can collapse in hours—or even minutes—fueling dangerous sea level rise and coastal flooding. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ice_6.jpg

Staff (2020-08-25). Headlines for August 25, 2020. democracynow.org Trump Claims Dems Trying to Steal Election, Biden Will "Destroy" Country, as RNC Kicks Off, WI Calls in National Guard as Protests Intensify over Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Man, FDA Head Says Plasma Treatment Results Were Overstated as Schools Grapple with Reopening, Hong Kong COVID-19 Patient Becomes Reinfected; Reports of Brutal Repression in Xinjiang Pandemic Response, Gaza Goes into Lockdown After New COVID-19 Cases; Libyan Doctors Warn System Can't Cope with Pandemic, Death Toll in Climate-Fueled California Wildfires Climbs to 7 as 600+ Blazes Burn Across the State, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Fails…

Staff (2020-08-25). "A Human Tragedy": Wildfires Reveal California's Reliance on Incarcerated Firefighters. democracynow.org As climate-fueled wildfires engulf California, tens of thousands of firefighters have been deployed across the state to combat the blazes amid a record heat wave and deadly pandemic. We look at how more than 1,300 incarcerated firefighters — who are annually deployed to the frontlines in California for just $1 an hour — are fighting back the blazes as coronavirus outbreaks in state prisons limit how many are available to fight the fires, and lay bare the state's reliance on prison labor to control its ever-growing wildfire season with an exploitative system many have called slave labor. "What they're…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-08-25). 'Underwhelming and Inadequate': Green Groups Slam New Senate Democrats' Climate Report. commondreams.org The Green New Deal is mentioned only once in the 263-page report—in the footnotes. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gnd_0.jpeg

Fight Back (2020-08-25). Minnesota's Line 3 pipeline protests get results. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – The Climate Justice Committee organized an action to protest Joe Biden's climate proposal on August 18, as Committee members and climate activists gathered outside the Governor's Mansion here, demanding Governor Walz re-file the state's appeal of the decision to allow the Line 3 oil pipeline to be rebuilt and expanded. The new pipeline would be an environmental disaster and violates federal agreements with indigenous governments. | Both the Climate Justice Committee and members of the Giniw Collective, an indigenous-led group that protested outside the mansion earlier in the day, held the street an…

news.un (2020-08-25). Devastated by pandemic, tourism sector must be rebuilt in a safe, equitable and climate friendly way — UN chief. news.un.org Tourism is much more than visiting cultural landmarks or swimming in tropical beaches; it is "one of the world's most important economic sectors", the UN chief said on Tuesday.

news.un (2020-08-25). Rights expert denounces lack of investigation into 2017 killing of journalist in South Sudan. news.un.org Lack of investigation into the killing of a journalist three years ago in South Sudan is indicative of a wider climate of hostility towards journalists in the country, an independent UN human rights expert has said.

_____ (2020-08-25). California And Colorado: Climate-Driven Transformation Of Wildfires. popularresistance.org The wildfires that exploded over the past few days in California and Colorado show clear influences of global warming, climate scientists say, and evidence of how a warming and drying climate is increasing the size and severity of fires from the California coast to the high Rocky Mountains. | They may also be the latest examples of climate-driven wildfires around the world burning not only much bigger, hotter and faster, but exploding into landscapes and seasons in which they were previously rare. | For tens of thousands of Californians enduring evacuations, and millions more suffering through smoke that has brou…

Staff (2020-08-25). California's Dependence on Incarcerated Labor Exposed as Wildfires Rage. truthout.org As climate-fueled wildfires engulf California, tens of thousands of firefighters have been deployed across the state to combat the blazes amid a record heat wave and deadly pandemic. We look at how more than 1,300 incarcerated firefighters — who are annually deployed to the frontlines in California for just $1 an hour — are fighting back the blazes as coronavirus outbreaks in state prisons limit how many are available to fight the fires, and lay bare the state's reliance on prison labor to…

commondreams (2020-08-25). Democrat's Climate Report Misses the Mark. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Sasha Abramsky (2020-08-25). The Climate Apocalypse Has Arrived. thenation.com The Climate Apocalypse Has Arrived…