Why Climate Action Needs to Target the Border Industrial Complex
Todd Miller | commondreams.org | 2019-11-05
The survival of private prisons depends on keeping a consistent and increasing number of people incarcerated and today immigrants serve as this predatory industry's primary cash generators. (Photo: Shutterstock) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cages_0.jpeg …
commondreams.org/views/2019/11/05/why-climate-action-needs-target-border-industrial-complex?cd-origin=rss
Bipartisan drive to outlaw protest in Australia
wsws.org | 2019-11-05
Prime Minister Morrison adopted the fascistic language of US President Donald Trump, accusing climate change demonstrators of "economic sabotage."
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/05/prot-n05.html
What We're Not Being Told About Inhalers
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-11-05
Many people affected by breathing conditions like asthma may be unwittingly adding to global heating, because of the climate threat from inhalers often used to relieve their suffering. | Many of the appliances used at present — termed metered-dose inhalers — contain propellants that are potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) which contribute to the problems of climate change. | A new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK says that if health services switched to prescribing "green" inhalers instead, big cuts would be possible i…
truthdig.com/articles/what-were-not-being-told-about-inhalers/
Trump's Greatest Dereliction of Duty–His Disgraceful Denial of Climate Change
Katrina vanden Heuvel | thenation.com | 2019-11-05
Trump's Greatest Dereliction of Duty–His Disgraceful Denial of Climate Change…
thenation.com/article/trumps-greatest-dereliction-of-duty-his-disgraceful-denial-of-climate-change/
Over 11,000 scientists declare climate emergency and call for urgent action
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-11-05
More than 11,000 scientists around the world have declared a climate emergency, warning of "untold suffering" without urgent action. | Scientists from the University of Sydney, Australia, Oregon State University and Tufts University in the US, and the University of Cape Town in South Africa are joined in the warning by 11,000 signatories from 153 countries, including the UK. The declaration is based on analysis of more than 40 years of publicly available data covering a range of measures from energy use to deforestation and carbon emissions | In a paper published in the journal Bioscience, the researchers set out…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/2019/11/05/over-11000-scientists-declare-climate-emergency-and-call-for-urgent-action/
Isabel Allende: Trump is a 'Fool' for Denying Climate Change
telesurenglish.net | 2019-11-05
Chilean writer Isabel Allende said Monday she is bemused by how U.S. President Donald Trump can deny climate change, adding that it was a foolish stance to take. | RELATED: | Australia's Premier to Ban Climate Boycotts | "How is it possible that the President of the United States denies climate change, with what that means in terms of policies, of image, of the message he gives to the world? Who can deny it? Only a fool can deny it," she said as she was in Barcelona to pick up the International Barcino…
telesurenglish.net/news/Isabel-Allende-Trump-is-a-Fool-for-Denying-Climate-Change-20191105-0013.html
Trump Takes Steps to Implement Withdrawal From Paris Climate Accord
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-11-05
The Trump administration notified the United Nations Monday that it would withdraw the U.S. from the historic Paris climate agreement, starting a year-long process to leave the international pact to fight the climate crisis. The United States — the world's largest historic greenhouse gas emitter — will become the only country outside the accord. Trump's announcement of the withdrawal came on the first day possible under the agreement's rules. From Middlebury, Vermont, we speak with Bill McKib…
truthout.org/video/trump-takes-steps-to-implement-withdrawal-from-paris-climate-accord/
As CA expands oil drilling, Trump plans to frack on 1.2 million acres of federal lands
Dan Bacher | indybay.org | 2019-11-05
Opponents of the Trump fracking expansion plan disagreed that promoting fracking and oil drilling on federal lands was "responsible energy development." In response to release of the EIS, Food & Water Action Senior Central Coast Organizer Ana Rosa Rizo-Centino called expanding fracking and drilling "the epitome of irresponsibility." | "At a time when the climate crisis demands that California move away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy, it is the epitome of irresponsibility to expand fracking and drilling in our state. The climate-charged wildfires raging throughout California and the loss of life and…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/11/01/18827781.php
UK halts fracking, effective immediately
Alexandra Jacobo | nationofchange.org | 2019-11-05
"Fracking moratorium is thanks to years and years and years of work by local communities, campaigners and fierce political pressure."
nationofchange.org/2019/11/05/uk-halts-fracking-effective-immediately/
Trump Plans to Open 1 Million More Acres of California Public Land to Drilling, Fracking
Center for Biological Diversity | indybay.org | 2019-11-05
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., October 31, 2019 — The Trump administration today announced a proposal to open more than 1 million acres of public lands and minerals in central California to oil drilling and fracking. The plan, first floated in draft form in April, would end a more than five-year moratorium on leasing federal public land in the state to oil companies.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/11/01/18827778.php
Outrage After Nancy Pelosi Says she is "Not a Big Fan of Medicare for All"
Jake Johnson via Common Dreams | indybay.org | 2019-11-05
Alex Lawson of Social Security Works responded to Pelosi's statement saying, "Medicare for All doesn't cost money. It saves money by eliminating the for-profit waste in the insurance system and ending the rip-off of paying the highest drug prices in the world." Other progressives reacted negatively as well. Pelosi represents the 12th congressional district which is entirely within the city of San Francisco. | [Photo by Jack Owicki, Pro Bono Photo, Please credit the photographer]…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/11/02/18827807.php
Our vanishing world: Insects
Robert J. Burrowes | nationofchange.org | 2019-11-05
Just one critical and largely ignored variable in this rush to extinction is our decimation of the world insect population denying us an ever-expanding range of ecological services.
nationofchange.org/2019/11/05/our-vanishing-world-insects/
Bill McKibben on U.S. Withdrawal from Paris Accord, California Fires, Climate Refugees & More
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-05
The Trump administration notified the United Nations Monday that it would withdraw the U.S. from the historic Paris climate agreement, starting a year-long process to leave the international pact to fight the climate crisis. The United States — the world's largest historic greenhouse gas emitter — will become the only country outside the accord. Trump's announcement of the withdrawal came on the first day possible under the agreement's rules. From Middlebury, Vermont, we speak with Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. "The decision of the United States to be the only country on Earth … unwilling to…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/5/trump_admin_paris_climate_agreement_withdrawal
Warning of 'Untold Human Suffering,' Over 11,000 Scientists From Around the World Declare Climate Emergency
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-11-05
More than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries around the world on Tuesday officially declared a climate emergency and warned of "untold human suffering" if immediate bold action is not taken to stop the warming of the globe. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1179380008.png …
commondreams.org/news/2019/11/05/warning-untold-human-suffering-over-11000-scientists-around-world-declare-climate?cd-origin=rss
Study Shows Pension Funds' Refusal to Divest From Fossil Fuels Cost Retired Teachers, Firefighters, and Public Workers $19 Billion
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-11-05
While thousands of experts on Tuesday made the moral and scientific case for taking immediate action to end climate-warming fossil fuel extraction, a media research firm offered yet another reason for public and private entities to end their investments in oil, gas, and coal: the loss of billions of dollars. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-11809997791.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/11/05/study-shows-pension-funds-refusal-divest-fossil-fuels-cost-retired-teachers?cd-origin=rss
Stop Funding Politicians Delaying Bold Climate Action Among Demands 1,100 Google Workers Just Sent to Top Exec
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-11-05
Calling on Google to fulfill its stated mission of doing "the right thing" for its billions of worldwide users, more than 1,100 employees of the tech giant on Monday demanded that the company to release a concrete action plan for confronting the climate crisis. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-10560167142.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/11/05/stop-funding-politicians-delaying-bold-climate-action-among-demands-1100-google?cd-origin=rss
Witnessing repression from a hotel window: A personal reflection on suppression of Chile protests
Susan Price Testing | greenleft.org.au | 2019-11-05
John EnglartIssue 1244 Chile 2019 Chile protests SantiagoNovember 5, 2019I am in Chile due to the United Nations Climate conference being originally hosted here in Santiago. Now I find myself an observer of the widespread social protest against the government, calling f…
greenleft.org.au/content/witnessing-repression-hotel-window-personal-reflection-suppression-chile-protests
Rex Tillerson Testifies in Climate Denial Case
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-11-04
Longtime ExxonMobil CEO and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testified in a case pitting the company against the state of New York. ExxonMobil faces civil charges of defrauding investors by funding climate denial, even as its own scientists studied the climate impacts of fossil fuel extraction.
therealnews.com/stories/rex-tillerson-testifies-climate-denial-case
Worse than Flint: Canadians face widespread lead contamination
Martha Mendoza | peoplesworld.org | 2019-11-04
MONTREAL (AP)–Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been unwittingly exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, with contamination in several cities consistently higher than they ever were in Flint, Mich., according to an investigation that tested drinking water in hundreds of homes and reviewed thousands more previously undisclosed results. Residents in some …
peoplesworld.org/article/worse-than-flint-canadians-face-widespread-lead-contamination/
Far more needed to 'confront the world's climate emergency', Guterres tells ASEAN-UN Summit
United Nations | un.org | 2019-11-03
Four of the 10 countries most affected by climate change are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday, urging the ASEAN-UN Summit in Bangkok to "confront the world's climate emergency".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/11/1050501
Coal addiction 'must be overcome' to ease climate change, UN chief says in Bangkok
United Nations | un.org | 2019-11-02
In Thailand for the ASEAN Summit, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited a climate mitigation project in Bangkok's new Centenary Park on Saturday where he told journalists that "coal addiction must be overcome".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/11/1050491
Rutgers softball coaches face accusations of abuse, intimidation
Tom Canavan | peoplesworld.org | 2019-11-01
(AP)–Two Rutgers softball coaches, a husband and wife, have been accused of fostering a climate of fear, intimidation and abuse on the team. The university president said Thursday he wants an independent investigation of allegations made against softball head coach Kristen Butler and her husband, Marcus Smith, a volunteer assistant. Smith has since left the …
peoplesworld.org/article/rutgers-softball-coaches-face-accusations-of-abuse-intimidation/
How police attacked peaceful protesters to protect climate criminals
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-11-01
environment civil liberties Zane AlcornIssue 1243 Australia MelbourneNovember 1, 2019I attended the peaceful blockade of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) and witnessed how Vi…
greenleft.org.au/content/how-police-attacked-peaceful-protesters-protect-climate-criminals
Thursday's Daily Brief: The power of mediation, Southern Africa food crisis, urban deaths, climate meeting update and Iraq protest latest
United Nations | un.org | 2019-10-31
A recap of Thursday's top stories: Guterres in Turkey underscores successes of mediation; 45 million lack food across Southern Africa; rights experts push to release Palestinian hunger striker; new UN health report targets causes of urban deaths; Climate change conference finds a new home; Iraq protests put country at 'a crossroads'…
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/10/1050371
Climate experts pledge to scale up high-altitude fight against mountain melt
United Nations | un.org | 2019-10-31
The UN's weather watchdog and partners committed on Thursday to a new initiative to ramp up observation and prediction technology that will help address the challenges of climate change, melting snow and ice, and water-related hazards.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/10/1050361
From Climate Denial to "Green" Petroleum: Massachusetts Accuses Exxon Mobil of Deceptive Messaging
Alleen Brown | theintercept.com | 2019-10-31
Exxon Mobil's relationship with the New York Times is a case study in how the fossil fuel industry's climate denialism has evolved over the past 20 years. Beginning in the 1970s, Exxon Mobil published an "advertorial" every Thursday on the New York Times editorial page. The quarter-page, essay-style ads were designed to mimic a Times op-ed. Starting in the 1980s, doubt about the seriousness of human-driven climate change was a repeated theme. The ads came with titles including "Apocalypse no," "Reset the alarm," "Less heat, more light on climate change," and "Climate change: a degree of uncertainty." | According…
theintercept.com/2019/10/31/exxon-mobil-massachusetts-climate-change-lawsuit-greenwashing/
Headlines for October 31, 2019
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-31
Tens of Thousands Evacuate as New Blazes Erupt in Fire-Ravaged California, Chile Calls Off U.N. Climate Talks Amid Massive Protests Against Inequality, Protesters Confront JPMorgan Chase CEO Over Fossil Fuel Investments, Youth Climate Activists Stage Sit-In at House Speaker Pelosi's Office, Keystone Pipeline Breach Spills Oil in North Dakota, House Readies Vote to Formalize Impeachment Process, Top Immigration Official Grilled Over Move to Deport Critically Ill Immigrants, "Not Qualified" Rating from Bar Association Draws Tears from Judicial Nominee, India to Split Jammu and Kashmir Into Two Territories Controlle…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/31/headlines
New Study: 300 Million Face Severe Risk of Climate-Fueled Coastal Flooding by 2050
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-31
As a shocking new report finds that many coastal cities will be flooded by rising sea levels by 2050, Chile's President Sebastián Piñera announced Wednesday that the U.N. Climate Summit in Santiago has been canceled. Anti-inequality protests have entered their third week in the country with protesters calling for the Piñera government to resign. The U.N. said it is now looking for an alternative venue for the annual climate meetings. Meanwhile, a dire new report has warned 300 million people are at risk from rising sea levels, with the most vulnerable populations concentrated in the Global South. According to the…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/31/chile_cancels_un_climate_summit_after
As California Burns Again, Rep. Ro Khanna Calls for PG&E to Become Publicly Owned Utility
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-31
Extreme winds of up to 60 miles per hour caused new fires to erupt across southern California Wednesday, prompting tens of thousands to evacuate. The blazes are just the latest in a spate of climate change-fueled fires threatening the state. In Northern California, firefighters have finally beat back the Sonoma County Kincade Fire that had forced nearly 200,000 people to flee their homes over the weekend. Nearly all evacuees in the region have now been allowed to return to their homes and the utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric said Wednesday it would begin restoring power to the 365,000 customers who were plung…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/31/ro_khanna_california_fires_gas_electric
As Rich Hire Private Firefighters, Housekeepers Go to Work in Fire Zone & Prisoners Fight CA Blazes
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-31
As climate-fueled fires rage across California, we look at how the blazes are disproportionately affecting some of the state's most vulnerable communities. As a growing number of wealthy homeowners hire private firefighters to protect their properties for up to $3,000 per day, domestic workers and gardeners who tend to some of the most opulent homes in Los Angeles attended work despite the Getty Fire evacuation order earlier this week. Many of their employers failed to even tell them not to come in. Meanwhile, of the more than 4,000 firefighters currently working across the state, at least 700 are California pris…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/31/california_fires_domestic_workers_prisoner_firefighters
Are belching cows really driving climate change?
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-31
Climate Agriculture Alan BroughtonIssue 1243 AustraliaOctober 31, 2019All three major greenhouse gases are influenced by farming practices. | Farming's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions has centred on methane produced by ruminant animals: cattle, sheep, goats. This…
greenleft.org.au/content/are-belching-cows-really-driving-climate-change
Bruce Shillingsworth: 'Why are we selling water to make profit?'
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-30
corporate greed Bruce ShillingsworthIssue 1243 Australia Water for the Rivers climate emergency SydneyOctober 30, 2019Mur…
greenleft.org.au/content/bruce-shillingsworth-why-are-we-selling-water-make-profit
Albanese's jobs-and-climate doublespeak
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-30
economy Climate Pip HinmanIssue 1243 Australia Anthony AlbaneseOctober 30, 2019Labor's policy silence after its May election defeat has officially been broken with party leader Anthony Albanese's October 29 vi…
greenleft.org.au/content/albanese-jobs-climate-doublespeak
Deep-sea mining threatens ocean, global climate
Patricia Gorky | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-28
There is a new race for resources: the ocean floor. Seabed exploration, a precursor to mining, is underway in remote parts of the Pacific Ocean as corporations and nation-states attempt to catalog the underwater resources.
liberationnews.org/deep-sea-mining/