Greta Thunberg tells World Leaders to End Fossil Fuel ‘madness’
Failure to end investment ‘would be a betrayal against life itself’, say climate activists
Damian Carrington, Environment editor | Fri 10 Jan 2020 | The Guardian
Greta Thunberg and fellow youth climate campaigners are demanding that global leaders immediately end the “madness” of huge ongoing investments in fossil fuel exploration and enormous subsidies for coal, oil and gas use.
The 21 young activists are also calling on the political and business leaders who will be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos to ensure investment funds dump their holdings in fossil fuel companies.
“Anything less would be a betrayal against life itself,” said Thunberg and colleagues in an article in the Guardian. “Today’s business as usual is turning into a crime against humanity. We demand that you play your part in putting an end to this madness.”
The burning of fossil fuels is the biggest driver of the climate emergency. Scientists predict catastrophic impacts unless deep cuts in emissions are made rapidly, but global emissions are still rising.
“Young people are being let down by older generations and those in power,” the climate strikers said. “To some it may seem like we are asking for a lot. But this is just the very minimum effort needed to start the rapid sustainable transition.”
Much of the world’s existing coal, oil and gas reserves must be kept in the ground to avoid the worst impacts of global heating. But investment in fossil fuel exploration and extraction remains high.
Read more at The Guardian
Showing posts with label fossil fuels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fossil fuels. Show all posts
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Thursday, June 27, 2019
U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending, says International Monetary Fund Report
Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending
The world would be richer and healthier if the full costs of fossil fuels were paid, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund
By Tim Dickinson | May 8, 2019
The United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies for coal, oil and gas in the U.S. reached $649 billion in 2015. Pentagon spending that same year was $599 billion.
The study defines “subsidy” very broadly, as many economists do. It accounts for the “differences between actual consumer fuel prices and how much consumers would pay if prices fully reflected supply costs plus the taxes needed to reflect environmental costs” and other damage, including premature deaths from air pollution.
These subsidies are largely invisible to the public, and don’t appear in national budgets. But according the the IMF, the world spent $4.7 trillion — or 6.3 percent of global GDP — in 2015 to subsidize fossil fuel use, a figure it estimated rose to $5.2 trillion in 2017. China, which is heavily reliant on coal and has major air-pollution problems, was the largest subsidizer by far, at $1.4 trillion in 2015. But the U.S. ranked second in the world.
The human, environmental and economic toll of these subsidies is shocking to the conscience. The authors found that if fossil fuels had been fairly priced in 2015, global carbon emissions would have been slashed by 28 percent. Deaths from fossil fuel-linked air pollution would have dropped by nearly half.
Oil, gas and coal companies — and their stooges in public office — have long argued that making consumers pay for the full impacts of fossil fuel use would cripple the economy. The IMF experts call bs on this idea, revealing that the world would, in fact, be more prosperous. Eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels would have created global “net economic welfare gains” in 2015 of “more than $1.3 trillion, or 1.7 percent of global GDP,” the study found. (These net gains are “calculated as the benefits from reduced environmental damage and higher revenue minus the losses from consumers facing higher energy prices.”)
For the United States, the $649 billion in fossil fuel subsidies exceeded even the extravagant amount of money the country spent on defense. To offer a sense of scale, Pentagon spending accounted for 54 percent of the discretionary federal budget in 2015. In comparison to another important, but less well-funded part of the federal budget, fossil fuel subsidies were nearly 10 times what Congress spent on education. Broken down to an individual level, fossil fuel subsidies cost every man, woman and child in the United States $2,028 that year.
At the opening of the IMF’s spring meetings in April, Managing Director Christine Lagarde laid out the benefits she sees in properly pricing fossil fuels. “The numbers are quite staggering” she said, referring to the savings that could be achieved “fiscally, but also in terms of human life, if there had been the right price on carbon emission as of 2015.”
Lagarde continued to rattle off the benefits to humanity of realizing these savings. “There would be more public spending available to build hospitals, to build roads, to build schools and to support education and health for the people,” she said.
For Lagarde and the IMF, the conclusion was obvious: “We believe that removing fossil fuel subsidies is the right way to go.”
Link to the article at Rolling Stone here
The world would be richer and healthier if the full costs of fossil fuels were paid, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund
By Tim Dickinson | May 8, 2019
The United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies for coal, oil and gas in the U.S. reached $649 billion in 2015. Pentagon spending that same year was $599 billion.
The study defines “subsidy” very broadly, as many economists do. It accounts for the “differences between actual consumer fuel prices and how much consumers would pay if prices fully reflected supply costs plus the taxes needed to reflect environmental costs” and other damage, including premature deaths from air pollution.
These subsidies are largely invisible to the public, and don’t appear in national budgets. But according the the IMF, the world spent $4.7 trillion — or 6.3 percent of global GDP — in 2015 to subsidize fossil fuel use, a figure it estimated rose to $5.2 trillion in 2017. China, which is heavily reliant on coal and has major air-pollution problems, was the largest subsidizer by far, at $1.4 trillion in 2015. But the U.S. ranked second in the world.
The human, environmental and economic toll of these subsidies is shocking to the conscience. The authors found that if fossil fuels had been fairly priced in 2015, global carbon emissions would have been slashed by 28 percent. Deaths from fossil fuel-linked air pollution would have dropped by nearly half.
Oil, gas and coal companies — and their stooges in public office — have long argued that making consumers pay for the full impacts of fossil fuel use would cripple the economy. The IMF experts call bs on this idea, revealing that the world would, in fact, be more prosperous. Eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels would have created global “net economic welfare gains” in 2015 of “more than $1.3 trillion, or 1.7 percent of global GDP,” the study found. (These net gains are “calculated as the benefits from reduced environmental damage and higher revenue minus the losses from consumers facing higher energy prices.”)
For the United States, the $649 billion in fossil fuel subsidies exceeded even the extravagant amount of money the country spent on defense. To offer a sense of scale, Pentagon spending accounted for 54 percent of the discretionary federal budget in 2015. In comparison to another important, but less well-funded part of the federal budget, fossil fuel subsidies were nearly 10 times what Congress spent on education. Broken down to an individual level, fossil fuel subsidies cost every man, woman and child in the United States $2,028 that year.
At the opening of the IMF’s spring meetings in April, Managing Director Christine Lagarde laid out the benefits she sees in properly pricing fossil fuels. “The numbers are quite staggering” she said, referring to the savings that could be achieved “fiscally, but also in terms of human life, if there had been the right price on carbon emission as of 2015.”
Lagarde continued to rattle off the benefits to humanity of realizing these savings. “There would be more public spending available to build hospitals, to build roads, to build schools and to support education and health for the people,” she said.
For Lagarde and the IMF, the conclusion was obvious: “We believe that removing fossil fuel subsidies is the right way to go.”
Link to the article at Rolling Stone here
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Fossil Fuel Divestment: NY City Mayor acts to Protect Portfolios and Planet for Future Generations
“Fossil fuel companies have misled the public for too long, and we must take action now..." -- Mayor de Blasio
Mayor de Blasio, Comptroller Stringer, and Pension Fund Trustees Announce Significant Next Step to Divest Pension Funds From Fossil Fuel Reserve Companies
December 18, 2018
Issue landmark Request for Proposal to analyze fossil fuel risks and develop divestment plan
NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today announced the next big step in the New York City Pension Funds’ action to address the risk posed by climate change by divesting from fossil fuel reserve owners – an unprecedented process and the first-of-its-kind in the United States.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) released today seeks advisers to analyze, evaluate, and recommend prudent fossil fuel divestment strategies for the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teachers Retirement System (TRS), and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS), together representing 70 percent of the total assets of the City’s $200 billion pension funds. The RFP will result in a comprehensive analysis of the City Pension Funds’ holdings and the risks the fossil fuel industry poses to pension assets.
This analysis – the first-of-its-kind of a pension fund of this size – will inform the development of a comprehensive and prudent divestment strategy to preserve the retirement funds of City employees and address climate change risks, consistent with fiduciary duty.
“Divestment is a critical part of our strategy to fight climate change while insulating our pension funds,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Fossil fuel companies have misled the public for too long, and we must take action now to protect our portfolios as well as our planet for future generations. I thank the Comptroller and the rest of my fellow Trustees for standing strong as we continue taking these steps to divest from fossil fuels.”
“The future of New York City can’t be tied to fossil fuels – and today, we’re taking the next big step to protect our planet and the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “Climate change poses an existential threat. But by moving towards a fossil fuel free investment strategy, New York City is planting the seed for a clean, green, and thriving economy that can truly support future generations. The steps we take in New York City set a precedent around the country and the world, and the leadership from the Mayor and the trustees are charting a roadmap for responsible climate action.”
Read more at the Official Website for the City of New York
December 18, 2018
Issue landmark Request for Proposal to analyze fossil fuel risks and develop divestment plan
NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today announced the next big step in the New York City Pension Funds’ action to address the risk posed by climate change by divesting from fossil fuel reserve owners – an unprecedented process and the first-of-its-kind in the United States.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) released today seeks advisers to analyze, evaluate, and recommend prudent fossil fuel divestment strategies for the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teachers Retirement System (TRS), and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS), together representing 70 percent of the total assets of the City’s $200 billion pension funds. The RFP will result in a comprehensive analysis of the City Pension Funds’ holdings and the risks the fossil fuel industry poses to pension assets.
This analysis – the first-of-its-kind of a pension fund of this size – will inform the development of a comprehensive and prudent divestment strategy to preserve the retirement funds of City employees and address climate change risks, consistent with fiduciary duty.
“Divestment is a critical part of our strategy to fight climate change while insulating our pension funds,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Fossil fuel companies have misled the public for too long, and we must take action now to protect our portfolios as well as our planet for future generations. I thank the Comptroller and the rest of my fellow Trustees for standing strong as we continue taking these steps to divest from fossil fuels.”
“The future of New York City can’t be tied to fossil fuels – and today, we’re taking the next big step to protect our planet and the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “Climate change poses an existential threat. But by moving towards a fossil fuel free investment strategy, New York City is planting the seed for a clean, green, and thriving economy that can truly support future generations. The steps we take in New York City set a precedent around the country and the world, and the leadership from the Mayor and the trustees are charting a roadmap for responsible climate action.”
Read more at the Official Website for the City of New York
Monday, January 22, 2018
Presentation: The Death of Fossil Fuels -- What Shape will it Take?
The Sierra Club
Climate & Clean Energy Writers Group
presents
Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 6:00PM - 7:30PM
Crane Branch Library, 633 Elmwood at Highland
2nd floor Meeting Room
Free & Open to the Public - Writers and non-writers
Experts tell us that we need to leave 80% of current fossil fuel reserves in the ground if civilization is to survive climate change. Can this happen? Will this happen? How will fossil fuel interests be brought under control? Under the laws of supply and demand will fossil fuels get really expensive or cheap as they become an insignificant energy source?
Contact billnowa@gmail.com for more information
Monday, January 15, 2018
Educational Presentation: Divest from Fossil Fuels? YES!
DIVEST
FROM FOSSIL FUELS?
YES!!
Educational Presentation
by
Rev. Peter Cook, Executive Director
NYS Council of Churches
Monday,
January 22, 2018 7:00 PM
St. Joseph’s
University Church - Community Hall
3269 Main
St, Buffalo 14214 [Map]
SAVE THE PLANET
AND THE PEOPLE
Sponsored by
the Interfaith Climate Justice Community of WNY
The NYS Council of Churches participates
in the Divest NY campaign and Rev. Cook will help ICJC
focus on ways that we might become involved. The Council of Churches also
advocates for the NYS Climate and Community Protection
Act, legislation that would allow NYS to reach 100% renewables by 2050
or before.
Please plan to attend this important meeting.
Free & open to the public.
GOOD NEWS
• Governor Cuomo recently announced that he supports divesting New York’s public pension funds from fossil fuel companies.
• New York City and the State together plan to #DivestNY’s $390 billion pensions from fossil fuels: “an undeniable victory for the global divestment movement”
• Governor Cuomo recently announced that he supports divesting New York’s public pension funds from fossil fuel companies.
• New York City and the State together plan to #DivestNY’s $390 billion pensions from fossil fuels: “an undeniable victory for the global divestment movement”
Bill McKibben, 350.org co-founder, issued the following statement:
"The dam has broken: after years of great activism, New York has taken a massive step towards divesting from fossil fuels. Coming from the capital of world finance, this will resonate loud and clear all over the planet. It’s a crucial sign of how fast the financial pendulum is swinging away from fossil fuels.”
"The dam has broken: after years of great activism, New York has taken a massive step towards divesting from fossil fuels. Coming from the capital of world finance, this will resonate loud and clear all over the planet. It’s a crucial sign of how fast the financial pendulum is swinging away from fossil fuels.”
Thursday, January 11, 2018
New Yorkers Celebrate as NYC Mayor announces Divestment from Fossil Fuels, Files Climate Lawsuit
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| [Click image to enlarge] |
January 10, 2018 | 350.org
New York, NY — Today, following over five years of persistent campaigning from New Yorkers, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the City is moving forward with full fossil fuel divestment. The city’s five pension funds, a combined $191 billion, will divest $5 billion in securities from over 100 fossil fuel reserve owners.
New York’s announcement brings the total number of global divestment commitments to 810 institutions representing more than $6 trillion in assets.
“New York City today becomes a capital of the fight against climate change on this planet. With its communities exceptionally vulnerable to a rising sea, the city is showing the spirit for which it’s famous: it’s not pretending that working with the fossil fuel companies will somehow save the day, but instead standing up to them, in the financial markets and in court,” said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. “Ever since Sandy, New Yorkers understand the risk, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. Now, thanks to Mayor de Blasio and his team, the city is fighting back, and in ways that will actually matter.”
In addition to this multi-billion-dollar hard-won divestment, Mayor de Blasio announced the City is launching a lawsuit against five major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips for climate damages. With New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman investigating ExxonMobil, and seven municipalities across California fighting similar damage lawsuits, this announcement adds significant momentum to the #ExxonKnew campaign to hold fossil fuel corporations accountable for the role in climate destruction.
“New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major city to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “At the same time, we’re bringing the fight against climate change straight to the fossil fuel companies that knew about its effects and intentionally misled the public to protect their profits. As climate change continues to worsen, it’s up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient.”
Naomi Klein, author and activist, said, “Emanating from the financial capital of the world, the message of today’s historic announcement is unmistakable: investing in fossil fuel companies is a high-risk, bad bet. New York City is now leading cities and states to not only divest from fossil fuel companies but also insist that the corporations that profit from destabilizing our shared planet pay for the mess they knowingly created. As of today, the entire fossil fuel sector finds itself under a cloud of huge potential court-imposed costs, as well as the growing global momentum of investor flight. That means no matter how many oil and coal leases the Trump Administration hands out, the economics of new drilling will make less and less sense. This is very good news.”
“Today is a momentous day in the fight against corporate greed exploiting our communities and fueling climate chaos,” said Betámia Coronel, US Reinvestment Coordinator, 350.org. “While the oil-washed White House rolls back protections, New York City has leapt forward in modeling climate leadership. Divesting our city’s pensions from the dirtiest companies is an enormous hard-won first step; holding companies like Exxon accountable for their role in climate deception is next. Today’s announcement is a rallying signal to cities all over the world that the dawn of a fossil free world has arrived.”
This New York City announcement is sending ripples around the world, reinvigorating divestment fights from California to Japan and beyond. The San Francisco pension board is scheduled for a long-awaited divestment vote on January 24.
On January 31, the day after the State of the Union, 350.org is launching Fossil Free US, with leaders including Senator Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben, Varshini Prakash, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood speaking at a livestreamed event in Washington D.C. to lay out the plan for the climate resistance in 2018 and beyond.
350.org is building the global grassroots climate movement that can hold our leaders accountable to science and justice. Our network extends to 188 countries. 350 uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, take money out of the companies that are heating up the planet, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all.
New York City will Divest from Fossil Fuels -- Filed Lawsuit against Major Oil Companies
 |
| Empire State Building on Jan.10, 2018 [click image to enlarge] |
January 10, 2018 | NYC.gov
City also filing suit against five largest fossil fuel companies, seeking damages to help protect city from climate change
NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and other trustees of the City’s $189 Billion pension funds today announced a goal to divest City funds from fossil fuel reserve owners within five years, which would make New York City the first major US pension plan to do so. In a first-in-the-nation step towards the goal of divestment, the Mayor and Comptroller will submit a joint resolution to pension fund trustees to begin analyzing ways to divest from fossil fuel owners in a responsible way that is fully consistent with fiduciary obligations. In total, the City’s five pension funds hold roughly $5 billion in the securities of over 190 fossil fuel companies. The City’s move is among the most significant divestment efforts in the world to date.
"New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major US city to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels,” said Mayor de Blasio. “At the same time, we’re bringing the fight against climate change straight to the fossil fuel companies that knew about its effects and intentionally misled the public to protect their profits. As climate change continues to worsen, it’s up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient.”
“This is a first-in-the-nation step to protect our future and our planet – for this generation and the next. Safeguarding the retirement of our city’s police officers, teachers, firefighters and city workers is our top priority, and we believe that their financial future is linked to the sustainability of the planet. Our announcement sends a message to the world that a brighter economy rests on being green,” Comptroller Stringer said. “It’s complex, it will take time, and there are going to be many steps. But we’re breaking new ground, and we are committed to forging a path forward while remaining laser-focused on our role as fiduciaries to the Systems and beneficiaries we serve.”
The Mayor also announced that the City has filed a lawsuit against the five largest investor-owned fossil fuel companies as measured by their contributions to global warming. The City will be seeking damages from BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell for the billions of dollars the City will spend to protect New Yorkers from the effects of climate change. This includes damages to pay for harm that we’ve already seen and damages that are necessary to address harm we expect to happen over the course of this century.
New York City’s lawsuit seeks to recover the billions needed to fund climate change resiliency measures that the City needs to implement to protect the City, its property, and its residents from the ongoing and increasingly severe impacts of climate change. This includes physical infrastructure, like coastal protections, upgraded water and sewer infrastructure, and heat mitigation, but also public health campaigns, for example to help protect residents from the effects of extreme heat. To recover from past harm and prepare for future events, New York City is already executing an over $20 billion resiliency program to protect New Yorkers and build resilience against rising seas, more powerful storms, and hotter temperatures.
Recently uncovered documents make it clear that the fossil fuel industry was well aware of the effects that burning fossil fuels would have on the planet’s atmosphere and the expected impacts of climate change as far back as at least the 1980s. Nonetheless, they deliberately engaged in a campaign of deception and denial about global warming and its impacts, even while profiting from the sale of fossil fuels and protecting their own assets from the effects of rising seas and a changing climate. More than half of the greenhouse gas pollution from the fossil fuel industry has occurred since 1988, according to a recent analysis. Sea levels have risen about one foot since 1900 with much of that rise due to climate change, the most powerful storms are becoming more frequent, and flooding is becoming more frequent and intense.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Workshop on Climate Justice in Western NY
Climate Justice Workshop
Sam Magavern and UB Law | December 1, 2017, 10 am
Please join Sam Magavern of the
Partnership for the Public Good and a team of seven University at
Buffalo Law School students for a workshop on climate justice.
This Climate Justice Workshop will be held December 1, 2017 from 10am to Noon at 617 Main St. (Market Arcade - Map) in the First Floor Community Rooms.
Topics to be covered include:
This Climate Justice Workshop will be held December 1, 2017 from 10am to Noon at 617 Main St. (Market Arcade - Map) in the First Floor Community Rooms.
Topics to be covered include:
· Climate change impacts on Western New York
· The climate justice movement in Western New York
· Electric buses
· Community-owned solar power
· Methane leakage from natural gas pipelines
· State carbon taxes
· Divesting from fossil fuels and investing in renewables
· Making public school food more nutritious, sustainable, and just
· How to grow and sell produce in the City of Buffalo
Free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, please email colleen@ppgbuffalo.org by November 28.
· The climate justice movement in Western New York
· Electric buses
· Community-owned solar power
· Methane leakage from natural gas pipelines
· State carbon taxes
· Divesting from fossil fuels and investing in renewables
· Making public school food more nutritious, sustainable, and just
· How to grow and sell produce in the City of Buffalo
Free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, please email colleen@ppgbuffalo.org by November 28.
Monday, November 6, 2017
Federal Agencies Report that Humans are the Dominant Cause of Climate Change
Directly contradicting the Trump administration position on climate change, 13 federal agencies released an extensive scientific report that says humans are the dominant cause of the global temperature rise that has occurred since 1901, creating the warmest period in human history.
Over the past 115 years, global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius), leading to record breaking weather events and temperature extremes. According to the report, the global, long-term warming trend is “unambiguous” and there is “no convincing alternative explanation” that anything other than humans are to blame because of the cars we drive, the power plants we operate, and the forests we destroy.
Over the past 115 years, global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius), leading to record breaking weather events and temperature extremes. According to the report, the global, long-term warming trend is “unambiguous” and there is “no convincing alternative explanation” that anything other than humans are to blame because of the cars we drive, the power plants we operate, and the forests we destroy.
Surprisingly, the report was approved for release by the White House. However, the findings come as the Trump administration is defending its climate change policies on several fronts.
Public drafts of the report have circulated for months, making it politically perilous to tinker with the findings. So, with editing a high-risk affair and the report required by Congress, the administration may have just decided to downplay it, said John Holdren, who ran the Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Barack Obama.
"It would do more harm to block this report than to let it out," Holdren, now a Harvard University environmental policy professor, said in an interview. "They’re letting it out on a Friday afternoon, which is pretty much the standard approach for letting out something that you don’t want to get a lot of attention."
"It would do more harm to block this report than to let it out," Holdren, now a Harvard University environmental policy professor, said in an interview. "They’re letting it out on a Friday afternoon, which is pretty much the standard approach for letting out something that you don’t want to get a lot of attention."
The government is required to produce the national assessment every four years. This time, the report is split into two documents, one that lays out the fundamental science of climate change and the other that shows how the United States is being affected on a regional basis. Combined, the two documents total over 2,000 pages.
The first document, called the Climate Science Special Report, is a finalized report, having been peer-reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences and vetted by experts across government agencies.
The first document, called the Climate Science Special Report, is a finalized report, having been peer-reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences and vetted by experts across government agencies.
The climate of the United States is strongly connected to the changing global climate. The short statements listed below highlight past, current, and projected climate changes for the United States and the globe:
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Trump's Wrong-Headed Energy Plan Ignores Clean Energy Revolution and Climate Change
Trump’s “America First” Energy Plan Leaves America Behind
On the eve of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources confirmation vote for Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy, it’s important to take a close look at the Trump administration’s plans for America’s energy future. The administration’s new webpage on “An America First Energy Plan” is—like much of the president’s rhetoric—wrong-headed, short on details, and divorced from reality.In fact, it’s most notable for what it doesn’t say — there’s not a word about the clean energy revolution, a boom in wind, solar, and energy efficiency that is creating millions of jobs, saving billions of dollars, and even saving lives by cutting pollution. This misleading plan not only fails to put America first — it threatens to pull America back to the 20th century. NRDC will fight to make sure that the Trump administration doesn’t succeed at making America’s energy choices worse.
Here’s a look at a breakdown of the Trump plan [in italics] contrasted with the authors' comments on what that plan gets wrong [no italics]:
The Trump Administration is committed to energy policies that lower costs for hardworking Americans ...
One of the best tools at our disposal to slash energy bills is energy efficiency — but it isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Trump plan. Since 1987, federal energy efficiency standards on appliances and equipment have saved Americans a cumulative total of $2 trillion on energy costs. Standards set in 2016 alone will save $75 billion on utility bills. With such tremendous cost-cutting power, it’s no wonder that federal efficiency standards have long enjoyed bipartisan support. Leaving efficiency out of an energy plan is a major oversight.
Despite wild swings in fossil fuel prices, America’s electricity bills and the per-kilowatt-hour rates recorded on them have been relatively stable and affordable for decades, thanks in good part to leadership at the state level in support of energy efficiency and renewable resources. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, U.S. electricity is cheaper today than it was more than a quarter-century ago, in 1990. And in some regions, solar and wind energy are already cost-competitive with fossil fuels, helping to lower everyone’s utility bills.
…and maximize the use of American resources…
In 2015, nearly 70 percent of new electric generation came from American wind and solar power. Yet these American energy resources aren’t mentioned at all in the Trump plan — even though many heartland states, both red and blue, want more, as clean energy is helping revive both rural and rust-belt economies. And let’s not forget that Rick Perry’s home state of Texas is a national leader in wind energy. Today, more than 2.5 million Americans work in clean energy, from skilled factory workers making batteries for hybrid vehicles to military veterans who now scale turbine towers as wind energy technicians. China plans to create 13 million jobs by 2020 by investing in clean power. Where are the clean energy jobs in the Trump plan?
...freeing us from dependence on foreign oil.
For too long, we’ve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry.
President Trump is committed to eliminating
harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the
Waters of the U.S. rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help
American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the
next 7 years.
Friday, January 6, 2017
China will invest $361 billion in clean, renewable energy by 2020 to curb pollution from fossil fuel combustion
Global Energy News | Thu Jan 5, 2017
REUTERS
China to plow $361 billion into renewable fuel by 2020
China will plow 2.5 trillion yuan ($361 billion) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country's energy agency said on Thursday, as the world's largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels.
The investment will create over 13 million jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation's energy sector during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period.
The NEA said installed renewable power capacity including wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power will contribute to about half of new electricity generation by 2020.
The agency did not disclose more details on where the funds, which equate to about $72 billion each year, would be spent.
Still, the investment reflects Beijing's continued focus on curbing the use of fossil fuels, which have fostered the country's economic growth over the past decade, as it ramps up its war on pollution.
Last month, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's economic planner, said in its own five-year plan, that solar power will receive 1 trillion yuan of spending, as the country seeks to boost capacity by five times. That's equivalent to about 1,000 major solar power plants, according to experts' estimates.
The spending comes as the cost of building large-scale solar plants has dropped by as much as 40 percent since 2010. China became the world's top solar generator last year.
"The government may exceed these targets because there are more investment opportunities in the sector as costs go down," said Steven Han, renewable analyst with securities firm Shenyin Wanguo.
Some 700 billion yuan will go towards wind farms, 500 billion to hydro power with tidal and geothermal getting the rest, the NDRC said.
The NEA's job creation forecast differs from the NDRC's in December that said it expected an additional 3 million jobs, bringing the total in the sector to 13 million by 2020.
Concerns about the social and economic costs of China's air pollution have increased as the northern parts of the country, including the capital Beijing, have battled a weeks-long bout of hazardous smog.
Illustrating the enormity of the challenge, the NEA repeated on Thursday that renewables will still only account for just 15 percent of overall energy consumption by 2020, equivalent to 580 million tonnes of coal.
More than half of the nation's installed power capacity will still be fueled by coal over the same period.
(Reporting by Meng Meng and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Michael Perry and Christian Schmollinger)
REUTERS
See also: ThinkProgress
Trump to cede millions of high-wage jobs to China
Beijing will create 13 million jobs by 2020, investing $360 billion in clean energy, while Trump vows to abandon the sector.
REUTERS
China to plow $361 billion into renewable fuel by 2020
China will plow 2.5 trillion yuan ($361 billion) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country's energy agency said on Thursday, as the world's largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels.
The investment will create over 13 million jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation's energy sector during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period.
The NEA said installed renewable power capacity including wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power will contribute to about half of new electricity generation by 2020.
The agency did not disclose more details on where the funds, which equate to about $72 billion each year, would be spent.
Still, the investment reflects Beijing's continued focus on curbing the use of fossil fuels, which have fostered the country's economic growth over the past decade, as it ramps up its war on pollution.
Last month, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's economic planner, said in its own five-year plan, that solar power will receive 1 trillion yuan of spending, as the country seeks to boost capacity by five times. That's equivalent to about 1,000 major solar power plants, according to experts' estimates.
The spending comes as the cost of building large-scale solar plants has dropped by as much as 40 percent since 2010. China became the world's top solar generator last year.
"The government may exceed these targets because there are more investment opportunities in the sector as costs go down," said Steven Han, renewable analyst with securities firm Shenyin Wanguo.
Some 700 billion yuan will go towards wind farms, 500 billion to hydro power with tidal and geothermal getting the rest, the NDRC said.
The NEA's job creation forecast differs from the NDRC's in December that said it expected an additional 3 million jobs, bringing the total in the sector to 13 million by 2020.
Concerns about the social and economic costs of China's air pollution have increased as the northern parts of the country, including the capital Beijing, have battled a weeks-long bout of hazardous smog.
Illustrating the enormity of the challenge, the NEA repeated on Thursday that renewables will still only account for just 15 percent of overall energy consumption by 2020, equivalent to 580 million tonnes of coal.
More than half of the nation's installed power capacity will still be fueled by coal over the same period.
(Reporting by Meng Meng and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Michael Perry and Christian Schmollinger)
REUTERS
~ ~ ~
See also: ThinkProgress
Trump to cede millions of high-wage jobs to China
Beijing will create 13 million jobs by 2020, investing $360 billion in clean energy, while Trump vows to abandon the sector.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Myth About Renewable Energy Subsidies
The Myth About Renewable Energy Subsidies
Global
subsidies for fossil fuels outstrip those for renewable energy nearly
10-fold
February 25th, 2016 by Giles Parkinson | CleanTechnica
Originally published on RenewEconomy.
Ever hear the story about why renewable energy can’t compete without a
subsidy? You hear it all the time from the fossil fuel industry. And
the response from renewables? Take away fossil fuel subsidies, and
they’d be glad to compete on level terms.
This graph below, displayed today by David Hochschild, a commissioner
with the California Energy Commission, at the Energy Productivity
Summer Study in Sydney, illustrates why the fossil fuel and nuclear
industries don’t want that to happen.
Studies by the International Energy Agency point out that global
subsidies for fossil fuels outstrip those for renewable energy nearly
10-fold. The International Monetary Fund said if climate and
environmental costs were included, then the fossil fuel subsides
increased another 10 times to nearly $5 trillion a year.
This graph, that Hochschild sourced from DBL Investors, shows the
accumulated energy subsidies in the US under federal programs. Oil and
gas dominate, followed by nuclear. Federal renewable energy subsidies,
in the form of investment and tax credits, are a small fraction.
“The fossil fuel industry hates to talk about that,” Hochschild told RenewEconomy in an interview after his presentation.
“There is a myth around subsidies, but there is no such thing as an unsubsidised unit of energy.”
He said the oil depletion allowance had been in place for the oil
industry since 1926, and would be ongoing, despite the fact it was one
of the most profitable industries in the world. He cited insurance costs
for nuclear plants – met by taxpayers – “without which there would be
no nuclear plants”.
For natural gas, it was the drilling, or fracking, which had been
made exempt from compliance with the safe drinking water act: “That is
subsidy,” he said. And he pointed to taxpayer funded rail networks that
have helped coal.
By contrast, the large-scale wind and solar industries in the US have
had to content with repeated changes to their federal support
mechanisms. The tax credits have been changed seven times in a decade.
“How can you plan a wind turbine factory or project in those types of conditions,” he asked.
And he used this graph to illustrate the short-term nature of the
subsidies that renewable energy does get. And the biggest benefit. “You
put subsidies in renewable energy and costs go down” to the point where
they are not needed any more. That has not happened with fossil fuels
and nuclear.
~ ~ ~
StopFundingFossils.org
END FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES: While governments talk about the need for climate action, they’re handing out massive amounts of public money to the fossil fuel industry and making the problem worse.
The U.S., China, E.U. and the other G20 countries are still giving $452 billion to support fossil fuel production every single year.
Send your message demanding world leaders Stop Funding Fossils in the next 5 years.
The time for talk is over, We Need Action!
TAKE ACTION - Visit: http://stopfundingfossils.org/#action
StopFundingFossils.org
END FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES: While governments talk about the need for climate action, they’re handing out massive amounts of public money to the fossil fuel industry and making the problem worse.
The U.S., China, E.U. and the other G20 countries are still giving $452 billion to support fossil fuel production every single year.
Send your message demanding world leaders Stop Funding Fossils in the next 5 years.
The time for talk is over, We Need Action!
TAKE ACTION - Visit: http://stopfundingfossils.org/#action
Paris Climate Agreement Is Now International Law
Environmentalists say the agreement is just the first step of a much longer and complicated process of transitioning away from fossil fuels.
AP Report
The Paris Agreement to combat climate change became international law on Friday — a landmark deal about tackling global warming amid growing fears that the world is becoming hotter even faster than scientists expected.
So far, 96 countries, accounting for just over two-thirds of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, have formally joined the accord, which seeks to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). More countries are expected to come aboard in the coming weeks and months.
U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki moon praised the civil groups for mobilizing hundreds of millions of people to back fighting climate change, but warned the outcome remained uncertain.
"We are still in a race against time. We need to transition to a low-emissions and climate-resilient future," Ban said. "Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer more sustainable world for all."
Scientists praised the speed at which the agreement, signed by over 190 parties last December in Paris, has come into force, saying it underscores a new commitment by the international community to address the problem which is melting polar ice caps, sending sea levels rising and transforming vast swaths of arable land into desert.
But environmentalists say the agreement is just the first step of a much longer and complicated process of transitioning away from fossil fuels, which currently supply the bulk of the planet's energy needs and also are the primary drivers of global warming.
Naomi Ages, climate liability project lead at Greenpeace, said that it was up to civil society groups to hold governments and corporations responsible.
"We know that existing fossil fuel projects will push us past 2 degrees, so we're mobilizing around the world to keep it in the ground and stop development of new fossil fuel projects," Ages said.
While the Paris agreement is legally binding, the emissions reductions that each country has committed to are not. Instead, the agreement seeks to create a transparent system that will allow the public to monitor how well each country is doing in meeting its goals in hopes that this will motivate them to transition more quickly to clean, renewable energy like wind, solar and hydropower.
The agreement also requires governments to develop climate action plans that will be periodically revised and replaced with new, even more ambitious, plans. Many of these details will begin to be addressed at the COP22 climate change meeting that begins next week in Marrakech, Morocco.
 | ||
| 1.5 deg. C limit prevents flooding Island Nations and coasts |
U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki moon praised the civil groups for mobilizing hundreds of millions of people to back fighting climate change, but warned the outcome remained uncertain.
"We are still in a race against time. We need to transition to a low-emissions and climate-resilient future," Ban said. "Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer more sustainable world for all."
Scientists praised the speed at which the agreement, signed by over 190 parties last December in Paris, has come into force, saying it underscores a new commitment by the international community to address the problem which is melting polar ice caps, sending sea levels rising and transforming vast swaths of arable land into desert.
But environmentalists say the agreement is just the first step of a much longer and complicated process of transitioning away from fossil fuels, which currently supply the bulk of the planet's energy needs and also are the primary drivers of global warming.
Naomi Ages, climate liability project lead at Greenpeace, said that it was up to civil society groups to hold governments and corporations responsible.
"We know that existing fossil fuel projects will push us past 2 degrees, so we're mobilizing around the world to keep it in the ground and stop development of new fossil fuel projects," Ages said.
While the Paris agreement is legally binding, the emissions reductions that each country has committed to are not. Instead, the agreement seeks to create a transparent system that will allow the public to monitor how well each country is doing in meeting its goals in hopes that this will motivate them to transition more quickly to clean, renewable energy like wind, solar and hydropower.
The agreement also requires governments to develop climate action plans that will be periodically revised and replaced with new, even more ambitious, plans. Many of these details will begin to be addressed at the COP22 climate change meeting that begins next week in Marrakech, Morocco.
Read more here and at The Guardian.
One of the main focus points of the COP22 meeting will be how to make the abstract goals outlined in the Paris agreement - to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future - a concrete reality.
Hundreds of engineers, researchers and scientists will be attending what the UN has described as a "brainstorming session" to look at ways to de-carbonise our lives.
They will consider a wide range of clean energy technologies, including renewables, carbon capture systems, battery technology, and green transport.
The Paris agreement does not detail how the private sector or carbon markets can be used in emission-reductions efforts, but does endorse them as a way of reducing carbon emissions.
The Paris agreement, however, sends a clear signal to companies around the world that they must look to reduce emissions now, or end up paying a high price later.
Read more here: The Paris climate agreement and why it matters
~ ~ ~
One of the main focus points of the COP22 meeting will be how to make the abstract goals outlined in the Paris agreement - to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future - a concrete reality.
Hundreds of engineers, researchers and scientists will be attending what the UN has described as a "brainstorming session" to look at ways to de-carbonise our lives.
They will consider a wide range of clean energy technologies, including renewables, carbon capture systems, battery technology, and green transport.
The Paris agreement does not detail how the private sector or carbon markets can be used in emission-reductions efforts, but does endorse them as a way of reducing carbon emissions.
The Paris agreement, however, sends a clear signal to companies around the world that they must look to reduce emissions now, or end up paying a high price later.
Read more here: The Paris climate agreement and why it matters
~ ~ ~
 |
| [Click image to enlarge] |
Thursday, August 4, 2016
We Need to Stop Dangerous Global Warming
By David Kowalski
Excess greenhouse gas in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil, or natural gas - is now resulting in dangerous global warming. Fifteen of the sixteen warmest years have occurred since the year 2000. 2014 set a new record and 2015 topped it. 2016 is on track for even more extreme warming, with January through June showing record-breaking global temperatures (NASA graph, below).
Burning fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that traps heat and is raising Earth’s temperature. Human-caused CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now about 40% greater than the highest levels detected in Nature in the past 650,000 years (NASA graph with annotations by D.K., below).
We are now in uncharted territory. Human activity, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, is generating more CO2 gas than Nature can absorb from the atmosphere.
The persistent accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, which began with the Industrial Revolution, is raising the temperature of our planet. This is certainly cause for alarm, since rising global temperatures are impacting weather patterns, driving climate change and having dire consequences.
It’s Getting HOT in Here!
Nowhere is the fingerprint of climate change more evident than with extreme heat.
This year, summer got it's hottest start ever in three states: California, New Mexico and Arizona. Over 30 million people were under heat warnings or advisories. Record-shattering temperatures of 109° occurred in Los Angeles and 122° in Palm Springs. Tragically, on June 20th, six people died outdoors in 118° heat in Arizona. Between 600 and 1,500 heat-related deaths occur in an average summer in the U.S.
Heat waves last for days and are deadly. Severe heat waves in Europe in 2003 and Russia in 2010 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. In 2015, thousands died in heat waves that occurred in India and Pakistan. A Chicago heat wave with temperatures up to 104° killed nearly 750 people in 1995. A California heat wave with temperatures as high as 119° caused up to 450 deaths in 2006.
A combination of heat and humidity (the Heat Index) that makes it feel like it’s 105° or hotter is termed a ‘danger day’. Warming temperatures are about to push U.S. cities into a new mode where danger days happen regularly. By 2030, 84 cities with nearly one-third of the U.S. population are projected to deal with at least 20 danger days annually if carbon emissions continue unabated. In the South, Miami is projected to have 126 danger days by 2030.
Buffalo is projected to have fewer danger days (6) by 2030, but the number will increase to 15 by 2050 if carbon emissions continue unabated. By 2030, Buffalo is projected to have 38 ‘extreme caution’ days, when the heat index tops 90°. The latter days are the greatest threat to children and the elderly, who are more sensitive to the heat, and to those in residences without air conditioning.
Cutting carbon emissions worldwide is vital to reducing the risk of heat-related death and illness.
Drought, Flooding, Wildfires and Extreme Weather
Higher temperatures increase the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, and have contributed to drought in some areas. At the same time, increased water vapor in the atmosphere caused by the elevated warming has resulted in heavy downpours in other areas.
Extreme events linked to global warming and predicted earlier by climate scientists are in fact occurring now around the world and here at home: unprecedented drought in California, destructive downpours and historic flooding in Texas and West Virginia, more intense hurricanes like Sandy in New York, and raging wildfires in the Southwest U.S. and in Canada.
Drought, flooding and excess heat threaten human health and safety. Such events can also cause crop destruction, food insecurity and human conflicts, threatening our ability to sustain life on this planet.
Ocean Warming, Ice Melting, and Sea-level Rise
Oceans, which cover 70% of our planet, are absorbing 93% of the excess heat of global warming. Hot ocean waters are bleaching and killing coral reefs, disrupting ecosystems that harbor fish, an important food source. Continued warming of oceans will increase melting of polar ice sheets, cause extensive sea level rise and flood coastal cities, including New York City and Miami. This would be catastrophic -- displacing large populations, causing unrest and costing trillions of dollars. Low-lying island nations face the threat of being swallowed by rising seas.
What Can YOU Do?
There is no doubt that global warming and climate change are happening now. We all need to take action locally to help end human-caused global warming.
It is essential that we push our governments at national, state and local levels adopt measures to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. Bold energy policies with mandates and timelines are urgently needed to shift to clean, renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and cut carbon emissions that cause global warming.
Let your elected officials know that ending global warming pollution by transitioning to clean, renewable energy also presents real opportunities. It will not only stabilize the climate and energy prices, but also lead to good-paying jobs, healthier communities and a more just society.
And don't forget to Vote! Vote for candidates who seek to protect People and the Planet.
Get more informed and involved with activists in the Sierra Club Niagara Group through monthly Executive Committee meetings, presentations/discussions at a Writers Group, and a Climate & Energy Committee meeting (Email: NiagaraSierra@gmail.com)
Join one of the groups affiliated with the Climate Justice Coalition of Western New York, including faith groups, labor unions, social/economic justice groups, Working Families Party and others. For more information, Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com.
Request a presentation on Environmental Stewardship, Climate Change and Clean Energy Solutions for your group. Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com
Excess greenhouse gas in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil, or natural gas - is now resulting in dangerous global warming. Fifteen of the sixteen warmest years have occurred since the year 2000. 2014 set a new record and 2015 topped it. 2016 is on track for even more extreme warming, with January through June showing record-breaking global temperatures (NASA graph, below).
[Click image to enlarge]
[Click image to enlarge]
The persistent accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, which began with the Industrial Revolution, is raising the temperature of our planet. This is certainly cause for alarm, since rising global temperatures are impacting weather patterns, driving climate change and having dire consequences.
It’s Getting HOT in Here!
Nowhere is the fingerprint of climate change more evident than with extreme heat.
This year, summer got it's hottest start ever in three states: California, New Mexico and Arizona. Over 30 million people were under heat warnings or advisories. Record-shattering temperatures of 109° occurred in Los Angeles and 122° in Palm Springs. Tragically, on June 20th, six people died outdoors in 118° heat in Arizona. Between 600 and 1,500 heat-related deaths occur in an average summer in the U.S.
Heat waves last for days and are deadly. Severe heat waves in Europe in 2003 and Russia in 2010 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. In 2015, thousands died in heat waves that occurred in India and Pakistan. A Chicago heat wave with temperatures up to 104° killed nearly 750 people in 1995. A California heat wave with temperatures as high as 119° caused up to 450 deaths in 2006.
A combination of heat and humidity (the Heat Index) that makes it feel like it’s 105° or hotter is termed a ‘danger day’. Warming temperatures are about to push U.S. cities into a new mode where danger days happen regularly. By 2030, 84 cities with nearly one-third of the U.S. population are projected to deal with at least 20 danger days annually if carbon emissions continue unabated. In the South, Miami is projected to have 126 danger days by 2030.
Buffalo is projected to have fewer danger days (6) by 2030, but the number will increase to 15 by 2050 if carbon emissions continue unabated. By 2030, Buffalo is projected to have 38 ‘extreme caution’ days, when the heat index tops 90°. The latter days are the greatest threat to children and the elderly, who are more sensitive to the heat, and to those in residences without air conditioning.
Cutting carbon emissions worldwide is vital to reducing the risk of heat-related death and illness.
Drought, Flooding, Wildfires and Extreme Weather
Higher temperatures increase the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, and have contributed to drought in some areas. At the same time, increased water vapor in the atmosphere caused by the elevated warming has resulted in heavy downpours in other areas.
Extreme events linked to global warming and predicted earlier by climate scientists are in fact occurring now around the world and here at home: unprecedented drought in California, destructive downpours and historic flooding in Texas and West Virginia, more intense hurricanes like Sandy in New York, and raging wildfires in the Southwest U.S. and in Canada.
Drought, flooding and excess heat threaten human health and safety. Such events can also cause crop destruction, food insecurity and human conflicts, threatening our ability to sustain life on this planet.
Ocean Warming, Ice Melting, and Sea-level Rise
Oceans, which cover 70% of our planet, are absorbing 93% of the excess heat of global warming. Hot ocean waters are bleaching and killing coral reefs, disrupting ecosystems that harbor fish, an important food source. Continued warming of oceans will increase melting of polar ice sheets, cause extensive sea level rise and flood coastal cities, including New York City and Miami. This would be catastrophic -- displacing large populations, causing unrest and costing trillions of dollars. Low-lying island nations face the threat of being swallowed by rising seas.
What Can YOU Do?
There is no doubt that global warming and climate change are happening now. We all need to take action locally to help end human-caused global warming.
It is essential that we push our governments at national, state and local levels adopt measures to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. Bold energy policies with mandates and timelines are urgently needed to shift to clean, renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and cut carbon emissions that cause global warming.
Let your elected officials know that ending global warming pollution by transitioning to clean, renewable energy also presents real opportunities. It will not only stabilize the climate and energy prices, but also lead to good-paying jobs, healthier communities and a more just society.
And don't forget to Vote! Vote for candidates who seek to protect People and the Planet.
Get more informed and involved with activists in the Sierra Club Niagara Group through monthly Executive Committee meetings, presentations/discussions at a Writers Group, and a Climate & Energy Committee meeting (Email: NiagaraSierra@gmail.com)
Join one of the groups affiliated with the Climate Justice Coalition of Western New York, including faith groups, labor unions, social/economic justice groups, Working Families Party and others. For more information, Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com.
Request a presentation on Environmental Stewardship, Climate Change and Clean Energy Solutions for your group. Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com
Sharp Contrast on Climate and Energy in Presidential Campaign
GOP and Democratic Platforms Highlight Stark Differences on Energy and Climate
While Republicans embrace fossil fuels, Democrats push for climate action. But do party platforms influence policy?
By Phil McKenna | Inside Climate News | Jul 26, 2016
If there was any lingering confusion on how America's two major political parties differ over climate and energy policy, platforms released by the Republican and Democratic Parties during this month's national conventions made their often polar-opposite views exceedingly clear.
Republicans would dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency as it currently exists and abolish the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration's plan to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.
Democrats called for a price on carbon, implementation of the Clean Power Plan, which was stayed by the Supreme Court in February, as well as other regulatory measures to reduce greenhouse gases, and prioritization of renewable energy over natural gas.
While platforms are more outline of party beliefs than binding policy, they nonetheless offer a picture of the widening gulf between the increasingly conservative Republican Party and a Democratic Party that has adopted many of the progressive policies championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Read more at Inside Climate News
Climate Change Divide Bursts to Forefront in Presidential Campaign
By CORAL DAVENPORT | New York Times | AUG. 1, 2016
WASHINGTON — During the 2012 race for president, the issue of climate change was nearly invisible. President Obama and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, almost never spoke about it, and it did not come up during their debates. There was far more talk of ramping up oil and gas production than cutting emissions.
But this year, as Hillary Clinton thrusts climate change to the heart of her campaign, the issue is taking on a prominence it has never before had in a presidential general election.
In speeches, Mrs. Clinton regularly highlights her plan to combat global warming, and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, praised her at the Democratic National Convention last week for putting it at “the center” of her foreign policy. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her main rival in the primaries, spoke of the issue forcefully, saying that “this election is about climate change.” The party platform calls for a price — essentially a tax — on carbon pollution.
Mrs. Clinton’s opponent in the November election, Donald J. Trump, has gone further than any other Republican presidential nominee in opposing climate change policy. He often mocks the established science of human-caused climate change and dismisses it as a hoax. The Republican platform calls climate change policy “the triumph of extremism over common sense.”
The divide between the two parties over the issue is the widest it has been in the decades since it emerged as a public policy matter. That is all the more remarkable given that during the 2008 election, the Democratic and Republican positions on climate change were almost identical.
Read more at the New York Times
While Republicans embrace fossil fuels, Democrats push for climate action. But do party platforms influence policy?
By Phil McKenna | Inside Climate News | Jul 26, 2016
If there was any lingering confusion on how America's two major political parties differ over climate and energy policy, platforms released by the Republican and Democratic Parties during this month's national conventions made their often polar-opposite views exceedingly clear.
Republicans would dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency as it currently exists and abolish the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration's plan to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.
Democrats called for a price on carbon, implementation of the Clean Power Plan, which was stayed by the Supreme Court in February, as well as other regulatory measures to reduce greenhouse gases, and prioritization of renewable energy over natural gas.
While platforms are more outline of party beliefs than binding policy, they nonetheless offer a picture of the widening gulf between the increasingly conservative Republican Party and a Democratic Party that has adopted many of the progressive policies championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Read more at Inside Climate News
Climate Change Divide Bursts to Forefront in Presidential Campaign
By CORAL DAVENPORT | New York Times | AUG. 1, 2016
WASHINGTON — During the 2012 race for president, the issue of climate change was nearly invisible. President Obama and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, almost never spoke about it, and it did not come up during their debates. There was far more talk of ramping up oil and gas production than cutting emissions.
But this year, as Hillary Clinton thrusts climate change to the heart of her campaign, the issue is taking on a prominence it has never before had in a presidential general election.
In speeches, Mrs. Clinton regularly highlights her plan to combat global warming, and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, praised her at the Democratic National Convention last week for putting it at “the center” of her foreign policy. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her main rival in the primaries, spoke of the issue forcefully, saying that “this election is about climate change.” The party platform calls for a price — essentially a tax — on carbon pollution.
Mrs. Clinton’s opponent in the November election, Donald J. Trump, has gone further than any other Republican presidential nominee in opposing climate change policy. He often mocks the established science of human-caused climate change and dismisses it as a hoax. The Republican platform calls climate change policy “the triumph of extremism over common sense.”
The divide between the two parties over the issue is the widest it has been in the decades since it emerged as a public policy matter. That is all the more remarkable given that during the 2008 election, the Democratic and Republican positions on climate change were almost identical.
Read more at the New York Times
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
CLEAN ENERGY: Economy & Jobs - Human Health - 100% Renewable is Doable - Goodbye Fossil Fuels
 |
| 'Clean Energy 4 All' - Buffalo Rally, Sept. 2015 Photo: Nathan MacFarlane |
Excerpts from News Reports:
Clean Energy Driving Economic Growth in States - Forbes Great news for good-paying jobs and for reducing carbon pollution that causes climate change
A growing number of states are embracing the promise of a low-carbon economy, both by setting ambitious renewable energy goals and expanding programs that encourage energy efficiency. In the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii and Minnesota, the largest utilities are sourcing 20 to 35 percent of their electricity from carbon-free wind, solar and other renewable sources.
This is obviously good news for reducing the carbon pollution that is causing climate change. But there’s another big plus stemming from state-driven efforts: tailwinds for their economies through good-paying jobs, stable energy costs and attracting new businesses.
Click Here to read more at Forbes.
A detailed report documenting clean energy jobs in New York is Here.
Energy and Human Health
Even Small Investments In Clean Energy Could Save Millions Of Lives
A new report from the International Energy Agency paints both a dreary and optimistic picture of the dangers of air pollution. On the one hand, air pollution is linked to an estimated 6.5 million deaths per year — a number that is expected to rise in coming decades. On the other hand, even small investments in technology could help curb the number of annual deaths attributed to air pollution.
The report states that reducing air pollution would help spur the transformation of the energy sector mandated by the Paris climate agreement, which requires countries to keep global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Industrial and power sector emissions standards, for instance, could help curb both particulate pollution and greenhouse gas pollution. Policies that support renewable forms of energy also help avoid both air pollution and greenhouse gas pollution — and this could be applied to both outdoor pollution, with solar electricity, and indoor pollution, with things like solar stoves.
Click Here to read more at ThinkProgress.
Integration of 100% Renewable Energy into the Power Grid is Possible Without Natural Gas, Biofuels, Nuclear Power, or Stationary Batteries, Study Finds
This study addresses the greatest concern facing the large-scale conversion to 100% wind, water, and solar (WWS) power for all purposes (electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, and industry). This conversion is currently inhibited by a fear of grid instability and high cost due to the variability and uncertainty of wind and solar.
The study uses a new grid integration model and finds low-cost, no-load-loss, non-unique solutions to this problem on electrification of all U.S. energy sectors. Solutions are obtained by prioritizing storage for heat (in soil and water); cold (in ice and water); and electricity (in phase-change materials, pumped hydro, hydropower, and hydrogen), and using demand response.
Click Here to read more at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Additional Information: Studies on Grid Reliability With High Penetrations of Wind, Water, and Sunlight (WWS) - Click Here
The World Is Nearing Peak Fossil Fuels (Especially The Developed World)
Oil, coal, and gas aren't running out. But they are going out of style as renewables get cheaper.
Worldwide use of fossil fuels will peak in 2025. Solar will be the least expensive form of electricity by 2030. And, by 2040, zero-emission forms of power will represent 60% of the global mix. Solar will account for 43% of all new generating capacity by 2040. These are some of the predictions of a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
By 2040, BNEF expects EVs to make up a quarter of the global car fleet and to add a total of 8% to total electricity demand as a result. Better batteries for cars will in turn lead to better batteries for grid and household power storage, thus allowing us to use more of power generated by solar and wind.
One surprise is that natural gas plays a relatively small part of the picture. Despite the fracking boom, and talk of gas being a "bridge fuel," it makes up little more of the mix than it does now.
The report is good news for renewables, but not necessarily for climate change. It predicts a staggering $7.8 trillion of investment in clean energy by 2040. But it says another $5.3 trillion would be needed if the world is to stay within the two degree global warming limit deemed relatively safe by climate scientists.
Read more at FastCoExist.com
Click Here to read a press release on the new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Monday, May 23, 2016
VIDEO & SLIDESHOW: Albany Rally to Break Free from Fossil Fuels
By David Kowalski
Members of the Climate Justice Coalition of WNY, the Sierra Club Niagara Group as well as concerned citizens rode a bus from Buffalo to a Rally in Albany on May 14, 2016 calling on NY State to end our dependence on polluting fossil fuels and shift to clean, renewable energy.
This rally was part of Global Actions held on six continents and in several U.S. cities during that week. People around the world stood up to say to say Break Free from Fossil Fuel and Keep It in the GROUND!
We joined over 1000 concerned citizens in Albany to say NO to new fracked gas & oil pipelines and NO to explosive oil trains ('bomb trains'), whose risk of derailment is threatening the safety of our communities in Buffalo, Albany and elsewhere in the state.
We said YES to Clean, Renewable Energy necessary to end global warming pollution, curb climate change, create new jobs and ensure justice for communities at risk.
Here is a 1 minute MUSIC VIDEO made from photos that I shot at the rally:
Below is a link to a SLIDESHOW that contains photos and a few video clips of the rally and the march to the railroad tracks at the Port of Albany.
To access the SLIDESHOW, Click Here
Press coverage: Albany protest: 5 arrested after oil train delayed
ALBANY — A daylong effort to block crude oil trains brought hundreds of people near the Port of Albany, where they sat on train tracks and listened to speeches, sang and discussed nationwide and local environmental issues.
The Albany event on Saturday, organized by the coalition Break Free From Fossil Fuels, was one of several around the country and world this month.
Read more in the online report at the Albany Times Union: Click Here
Members of the Climate Justice Coalition of WNY, the Sierra Club Niagara Group as well as concerned citizens rode a bus from Buffalo to a Rally in Albany on May 14, 2016 calling on NY State to end our dependence on polluting fossil fuels and shift to clean, renewable energy.
This rally was part of Global Actions held on six continents and in several U.S. cities during that week. People around the world stood up to say to say Break Free from Fossil Fuel and Keep It in the GROUND!
We joined over 1000 concerned citizens in Albany to say NO to new fracked gas & oil pipelines and NO to explosive oil trains ('bomb trains'), whose risk of derailment is threatening the safety of our communities in Buffalo, Albany and elsewhere in the state.
We said YES to Clean, Renewable Energy necessary to end global warming pollution, curb climate change, create new jobs and ensure justice for communities at risk.
Here is a 1 minute MUSIC VIDEO made from photos that I shot at the rally:
Music credit: "Who's Gonna Stand Up?" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse band
Below is a link to a SLIDESHOW that contains photos and a few video clips of the rally and the march to the railroad tracks at the Port of Albany.
To access the SLIDESHOW, Click Here
HINTS for navigating the SLIDESHOW after you open it:
- Hover the mouse pointer over a photo to see the Caption.
- Click on a photo to view it, and Click again to Enlarge it to full size.
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| Environmental activists from around the region march down Pearl Street to the Port of Albany on Saturday, May 14, 2016, in Albany, N.Y. The demonstration delayed oil train traffic at the Port of Albany to raise awareness for the region's opposition to all fossil fuels. The event was part of a weeklong global effort called Break Free From Fossil Fuels. (Photo: Cindy Schultz / Times Union) |
ALBANY — A daylong effort to block crude oil trains brought hundreds of people near the Port of Albany, where they sat on train tracks and listened to speeches, sang and discussed nationwide and local environmental issues.
The Albany event on Saturday, organized by the coalition Break Free From Fossil Fuels, was one of several around the country and world this month.
Read more in the online report at the Albany Times Union: Click Here
~ ~ ~
For a livable climate and a just transition to renewable energy,
fossil fuels must be kept in the ground!
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Albany Rally: Break Free From Fossil Fuels - Hop on the Bus!
For a livable climate and a just transition to renewable energy, fossil fuels must be kept in the ground.
The Climate Justice Coalition of WNY and the Sierra Club Niagara Group have chartered a bus from Buffalo to a Rally in Albany on Saturday, May 14th calling on NY State to Break Free from Fossil Fuels.
Join concerned citizens to say NO to new fracked gas & oil pipelines and storage, as well as explosive oil trains in our communities. Say YES to clean, renewable energy sources.
This rally is part of a Global Action to Break Free from Fossil Fuels. We will join with thousands of people around the world standing up to say, KEEP IT IN THE GROUND!
It is time to move toward 100% Renewable Energy!
ALBANY RALLY will begin at 10:00 AM in Lincoln Park, Eagle St. Entrance, between Morton Ave. & Park Ave. [Map]
Groups from some areas of the Northeast are being trained and will participate in direct action. We will be there to rally and stand in solidarity, not to participate in the direct action.
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