(2021-02-03). The Resilience Doctrine: Indigenous Nations Understand Disaster Resilience. counterpunch.org 
Part 3 of a 4-part Primer on Disaster Collectivism in the Climate and Pandemic Crises. From the perspectives of Indigenous nations, the crises of 2020 have not been something entirely new, or even a significant historical departure from "normal." Having previously experienced the ravages of violent colonialism, pandemics, environmental catastrophe, and forced assimilation, the current
(2021-02-03). What does Pete Buttigieg's transportation secretary role mean for climate? peoplesworld.org 
The Senate confirmed Pete Buttigieg Tuesday as the next Transportation Secretary, inspiring hope among environmentalists that a clean and equitable transportation sector may be possible. Passing with a 86-13 vote, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, now has the authority to make decisions on how the country moves, builds, and travels, directing the department's 55,000 employees and a …
(2021-02-03). NASA Taps Top Climate Researcher for New Advisory Role on the Climate Crisis. truthout.org 
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Wednesday that it has created a new position: senior climate adviser. The role will be filled in an acting capacity by Gavin Schmidt, who currently heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. | The agency's new senior climate adviser will work to communicate the agency's climate findings with the rest of the scientific community and help to align different parts of NASA with climate goals. Schmidt will b…
(2021-02-03). Activists Push to Ban Fracking. zcomm.org "We do not know what our future holds right now. But we do know that any further fossil fuel extraction will only further perpetuate this"
(2021-02-03). Western Monarch Population Closer to Extinction; Still no Federal or State Protection in Sight. indybay.org Population that winters along the California coast hit a low of less than 2,000 butterflies—a 99.9% decline since the 1980s. We must take action now to save the western monarch migration.
(2021-02-03). Tuesday 2/9: Protest Berkeley's Inaction on Climate Change and Animal Cruelty. indybay.org Ohlone Park, Berkeley, CA…
(2021-02-03). Individual Action and Climate Change. progressive.org Until the system changes, individuals will be forced to live unsustainably.
(2021-02-03). Wednesday 2/10: Changing Climate: The Role of Environmental Justice. indybay.org Free online event. Register here: | ucsc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o7ezK23iR3q0E80jgIrhvg…
(2021-02-02). The Resilience Doctrine: How Disasters Can Encourage Social Change. counterpunch.org 
Part 2 of a 4-part Primer on Disaster Collectivism in the Climate and Pandemic Crises. Disasters sometimes have a way of focusing public attention on basic human needs and long-term ecological survival. According to the Shareable network, survival is not even possible without a "sharing transformation," or "a movement of movements emerging from the grassroots up
(2021-02-02). 'Waste of taxes!' Sussex police arrest man for serving free soup in local park (VIDEO). rt.com 
Police in East Sussex have arrested a local man for handing out free soup in a park, insisting the charitable act violated pandemic policy by gathering more than two people outdoors. Meanwhile, real crime in the UK still climbs. | Nick Smith was arrested last Tuesday in an East Sussex park, allegedly for violating Covid-19 regulations while distributing free soup. Smith has distributed soup in the park on a weekly basis, and plans to continue his work "every Monday through lockdown." | Police reportedly invited Smith to the scene on Tuesday based on an anonymous report on Monday of a "regular gathering wher…
(2021-02-02). Biden's Green Energy Plans are just Market Wisdom: Norway's Investment Fund just Dumped $6 Bn. in Oil Stocks. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — Some have questioned how realistic Biden's plans are to move the US rapidly off fossil fuels. In fact, it is the fossil fuels that are unrealistic. Burning petroleum and coal are bad for everyone's health and destined to make earth swelteringly hot, with lots of climate catastrophes and extreme weather. …
(2021-02-02). Catholic panel wrestles with gap between Biden, bishops on sexuality issues. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—When it comes to comprehensive immigration reform, combatting climate change, tackling endemic racism, and closing the yawning gap between the rich and the rest of us, the nation's Catholic bishops, its president who is a practicing Catholic, Joe Biden, and Pope Francis I are all on the same page. So are Biden, the bishops, and …
(2021-02-02). Bill Gates Has a New $1bn Yacht That Shows He Is Morally Superior to You Because It's Hydrogen-Powered. anti-empire.com 
Editor's note: A $1bn yacht might be the ultimate symbol of excess, conspicuous consumption, and waste. But make it "hydrogen-powered" and suddenly it's a symbol of virtue, or so the bottom-feeding press would have you believe (see an exhibit below if you can stomach it). | And at all that Gates did not even earn his fortune (that he is now using to help keep you in lockdown), but is a tax parasite owing all his ill-begotten wealth to a state-granted monopoly patent. These were rightfully abolished centuries ago, but for some reason when it comes to the bogus concept of "intellectual property" a "patent" can stil…
(2021-02-02). The nation can't afford Republicans' stimulus sabotage. peoplesworld.org 
In his first ten days in office, Joe Biden launched an intense effort to address the "cascading crises" that America faces. In addition to issuing executive orders to reverse several of Trump's most poisonous acts—ending federal contracting with private prisons, reviving enforcement of discrimination laws, ending the Muslim ban, re-entering the Paris Climate Accord, and …
(2021-02-02). Biden's Executive Order on Climate Crisis Exposes Need for Constitutional Change. commondreams.org Demands to abolish the Electoral College and restructure the U.S. Supreme Court can be pegged to substantive constitutional change. It's the role of movements to demand and make changes to the "applicable law," and its interpretation. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/biden_drilling_fossil_fuels.jpg …
(2021-02-02). On Inauguration Day, Police Nationwide Went After Left-Wing Protesters. truthout.org 
The storming of the U.S. Capitol by armed far right activists shifted the political climate for much of the U.S., despite the fact that anti-fascist activists and researchers had been warning for years that this type of response was imminent. While the tone and behavior of the far right had escalated since the election — a result of Donald Trump's failure to win a second term and his explosive conspiracy theories — the events on January 6 showed that the risks were not just street-level…
(2021-02-02). Over 50 Water Protectors in Minnesota March Onto Line 3 Pipeline Easement to Stop Construction. commondreams.org "We are endangering future generations," said Charles King, who locked himself to construction equipment, "and that's got to stop." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/standing_water_protectors1.png …
(2021-02-02). 'Kids Deserve a World Without Diesel Emissions': Report Offers Roadmap for Electric School Bus Transition. commondreams.org "Only by working together can we tackle the existential threat of climate change and accelerate the process towards a zero-emission future." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12281963671.jpg …
(2021-02-02). Over 50 Water Protectors Walk Onto Line 3 Pipeline Easement, Two Lock Themselves to an Excavator Laying Pipe. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2021-02-02). New Dem-Majority Senate Must Assess Financial Reg Appointees Through Climate-Tinted Lens. cepr.net Talking Points Memo See article on original site Joe Biden claimed he would be the Climate President. Last week was the first time many concluded that he actually meant it. His slate of climate-focused executive actions, issued just one week after his inauguration, included many of the growing climate movement's priorities. And throughout every corner …
(2021-02-02). Reducing Administrative Waste in the US Health Care System. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint reviews the history and sources of administrative waste in the US health care system and proposes concrete ways the federal government can use its regulatory authority to reduce it based on the ACA and more recent legislative precedents.
(2021-02-01). Camp: It's Now or Never — We Stare Into the Abyss. scheerpost.com By Lee Camp / Original to ScheerPost This column is hopeful. I promise. The northern white rhinoceros is now functionally extinct. Sudan — the last male of his kind — passed away recently. There are two females remaining but obviously they can produce no more of their species without a male — and mating with nearby giraffes is not something in which they seem interested. This is not the end but… |
(2021-02-01). Shooting Down Deficit Hawks. realprogressives.org 
Deficit hawks, like dive-bombing kamikazes, are out now again, circling the battleship of our collective efforts to save ourselves. Can we pay ourselves to produce, distribute, and administer the Covid vaccine to every American in six months? No! say the dive-bombing Kamikazes—we cannot collect enough taxes to pay for that. It would require the government to borrow hundreds of billions more, increasing our "deficit" and the national "debt." Can we pay ourselves to design and build a low-carbon infrastructure that will help put a cap on global warming? No and No! say the circling deficit hawks—and h…
(2021-02-01). The Appointment of Samantha Powers is Bad News for USAID. counterpunch.org 
For all its faults, USAID — the US Agency for International Development — will be one of the most vitally important agencies of the Biden administration. The confluence of Covid-19, global warming, famines in the Horn of Africa, forced migration and a series of unending proxy wars in the Middle East is a perfect storm that
(2021-02-01). The Appointment of Samantha Power is Bad News for USAID. counterpunch.org For all its faults, USAID — the US Agency for International Development — will be one of the most vitally important agencies of the Biden administration. The confluence of Covid-19, global warming, famines in the Horn of Africa, forced migration and a series of unending proxy wars in the Middle East is a perfect storm that
(2021-02-01). Biden-Kerry International Climate Politricks. counterpunch.org 
Is U.S. President Joe Biden's January 27 Executive Order to address 'climate crisis' as good as many activists claim, enough to reverse earlier scepticism? To be sure, it's great that the word crisis is consistently deployed, not just 'climate change.' Applause is due Biden's commands to halt fossil fuel subsidies and new oil and gas
(2021-02-01). 'Listen to the science' — new study details global warming emergency. peoplesworld.org 
Climate campaigners on Thursday pointed to a study showing that Earth is hotter than it's ever been during the entire epoch of human civilization as the latest proof of the need to treat human-caused global heating like the dire emergency that it is. On Wednesday, the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature published a report revealing that an analysis of …
(2021-02-01). "Listen to the science" — new study details global warming emergency. peoplesworld.org Climate campaigners on Thursday pointed to a study showing that Earth is hotter than it's ever been during the entire epoch of human civilization as the latest proof of the need to treat human-caused global heating like the dire emergency that it is. On Wednesday, the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature published a report revealing that an analysis of ocean …
(2021-02-01). China rolls out carbon trading scheme in a bid to meet its ambitious 2060 neutrality goal. rt.com 
Beijing has officially rolled out its repeatedly delayed Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), aimed at reducing its greenhouse gas output. Beijing is expecting its emissions to peak before 2030 and become "carbon neutral" by 2060. | The scheme officially entered into force on Monday, covering some 2,260 power plants across the nation. Said plants contributed to around 40 percent of all the carbon dioxide emissions China produced last year. | At later stages, the ETS will also include other enterprises that produce a minimum of 24,000 tons of carbon equivalent a year. | The ETS scheme is founded on a market-based app…
(2021-02-01). Wednesday 2/10: Protect Sacred Water: Digital Rally to #StopLine3 w/ Indigenous Frontline Water Protectors. indybay.org Virtual protest…
(2021-02-01). 'We Should All Be Water Protectors'. zcomm.org "We owe it to future generations, to the Indigenous communities we've signed treaties with, and to every living being on this planet to stop building fossil fuel infrastructure."
(2021-02-01). Protest groups join forces to occupy Israeli arms company building. thecanary.co Demonstrators have blocked the entrance of a factory where they claim deadly arms are made. | Protesters from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion, armed with banners and red paint, said their early-morning raid on the Israeli-owned Elbit Ferranti factory in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is because they "will not accept an economy based on devastation, occupation and war". A press release from the two groups stated that: Activists from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion are occupying an Israeli-owned arms factory in Oldham, forcing the site to halt its production of deadly weapons. Several have blocked t…
(2021-02-01). Biden Urged to 'Be the Hero' to Save American Bumblebee From Extinction. commondreams.org "It is our hope that the Biden administration grasps the gravity of this moment." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/american-bumblebee-biden-esa-petition.jpg …
(2021-02-01). Joe Biden and the climate crisis: What a difference two weeks makes. salon.com Biden's blitz on climate policy is impressive — but what it really reveals is a broad American consensus…
(2021-02-01). Why Phoenix may be uninhabitable by the end of this century. salon.com Factors like climate change and the destruction of urban foliage are causing cities like Phoenix to overheat…
(2021-02-01). Biden's First Climate Actions Are Missing Coal's Long Tail. thenation.com Biden's First Climate Actions Are Missing Coal's Long Tail…
(2021-01-31). Israeli Scientists make Strides toward Recyclable Perovskite Solar Panels. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — Solar panels have plummeted 80% in price during the past decade, but they are still relatively expensive and depend on mined silicon. They are also a big waste challenge, since they aren't recyclable and they have toxic chemicals in them. Silicon panels last up to 30 years, but gradually lose …
(2021-01-31). On The Green New Deal, Nationalization, & Class Politics. counterpunch.org 
Humanity has precious time to drastically and uniformly act to reduce carbon emissions and eliminate carbon-intensive economic activity before ecological collapse materializes. However, the struggle presented is not that simple. The challenge also requires providing economic relief for workers and recognizing contradictions in the prevailing economic model that created the climate crisis when undertaking a