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1. Obama made the climate crisis worse
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a. Bill McKibben sums it up in another of Rolling Stone article. I love Bill's first rule of getting out of a hole: STOP DIGGING. We are literally digging our way into a climate hellhole.
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b. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) the corporate power grab that sacrifices America's autonomy and the environment.
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c. Obama has presided over the biggest boom in oil and gas drilling in the U.S. in decades, and he happily brags about it, most recently at his Dec. 20 press conference. (text from Grist)
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d. He's gung ho about fracking.
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e. His administration continues to sell off huge public reserves of coal at rock-bottom prices.
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2. Obama took steps against the climate crisis
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a. Obama mentions climate change in Inaugural
b. Introduces his climate plan in June, full of steps he can take without cooperation from Congress.
Terrific, but where is the vision for what we should be doing? |
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c. The centerpiece is regulations cracking down on coal-burning power plants in the U.S.
Awesome. Finally. |
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d. The plan also entails ending U.S. support for most coal plants abroad. The World Bank might also.
Might be useful to avert Thermogeddon. |
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3. 2013: Worst year yet, with a record 41 Billion-dollar disasters You may not have realized it, but yes, 2013 was worse, worldwide, than 2012. The insurance industry insurers noticed it. When will the rest of the business community?
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4. We passed 400 ppm of CO2,the last time was: mid-Pliocene, 2 to 4 million years ago. 450, anyone? 500? 650? 1000? Hey, we are on track. Maybe 2000?
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5. 97.1% Climate Scientists endorsed the consensus position that humans are causing global warming. As Bill McKibben says, the science was settled 20 years ago -- 20 years of denial, ignorance and inaction.
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6. Some 55% of Republicans in the House and 65% of those in the Senate reject the science or oppose action on climate change. 160 elected representatives in Congress have taken over $55.5 million from the fossil fuel industry. I get it, 90% of America wants better gun control and Congress won't pass it. Dysfunctional. Result: Death by bullet, and giga-death by oil.
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7. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded with 95 percent certainty that Climate change is caused by humans. Up from 90%. Alright, who else is pumping a couple of trillion tons of CO2 into the air?
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8. Most media does not mention the climate. Shocking, irresponsible and ultimately deadly. Outraged yet?
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9. Considered one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall, Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines November 8, killing nearly 6,000 people and displacing more than 3.6 million. Deadly weather on steroids at ~1C warming. It has, catastrophically, only just begun.
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10. 2013 was Australia's hottest year on record Ever.
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11. California / Southwest Drought-
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a. Worst ever in CA by 40-77% Not just the few percent that records are usually broken by. This drought blows past by a long shot.
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b. Caused by Jet stream shift north:All weather shifts north as the topic zones expand in a warmer world.
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c. Meteorologists are calling the high pressure zone that pushes precipitation away the Ridiculously Persistent Ridge (RPR). Kinda like the "Ridiculously Persistent Rejection" of science causing the deadly delay of climate action.
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12. Sea Ice at a minimum. We knew this was happening, and the cascade effect it has (dating from An Inconvenient Truth)
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Source: guardian.co.uk |
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13. Shell Failed in the Artic. Ironically, the ice cap melting opens the region to drilling, so Big Oil is getting "Arctic Ready" -- ready to criminally pollute the seas and the atmosphere. Well, so far: #FAIL.
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14. EIA Forecast: Fossil Fuels Remain Dominant Through 2040 Bummer. It underlines the Business-As-Usual momentum the world must overcome. This delay is the planet-killer: death by oil. Anyone feel like Sisyphus?
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15. Keystone XL Pipeline
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a. One Million comments against KXL and one Movement
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b. State Department report on Keystone has a Conflict of Interest Investigation Ongoing. Don't let that hold up the Environmental Impact Report, though. Go right ahead.
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16. Mayflower Arkansas tar sands oil spill.
a. Lingering Cleanup and health impacts Health officials moved the closest residents and said nothing to those nearby--The Mayflower Forgotten. Carcinogen benzene, or secret polyaromatic hydrocarbons anyone?
b. No Fly Zone established by authorities and "being overseen by ExxonMobil itself". Need any more evidence of a petro-state? (then see #89), It took activists violating the evacuation order to get pictures of the conditions on the ground.
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17. 300 oil spills in ND not reported to the public. One 20 acre spill not noticed for who knows how long... If a pipeline spills in the forest (or in this case the plains) and nobody sees it, did it really happen, until it gets into an aquifer?
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18. Keystone by Rail. If your pet pipeline project can't deliver, America's oil bomb train industry would be happy to deliver anywhere. All they need are terminal infrastructure expansions like the WesPac project to move 100-tank cars a day -- 100,000's of barrels a day of the dirtiest crude. Game over for the climate. Oh well.
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19. Canadian train wreck explosions that killed at least 13 people. July 6th. This disaster was caused by a bad joke of a railroad that is so badly run, it, in itself, was an accident eager to happen.
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20. Explosive North Dakota oil train derailment. Those black anonymous tanker cars are exposed now as oil bomb trains. Thought crude oil couldn't explode? Fracked oil is different: NOT SAFE FOR PEOPLE. The National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] has since called for tougher regulations on the practice -- including recommendations that those trains stay far away from urban population centers. Hmm, will your neighborhood be a "National Sacrifice Zone" like Pittsburg, CA?
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21. Enbridge Dilbit Spill Still Not Cleaned Up as 2013 Closes, Irritating the EPA. What? $1,000,000,000 and you won't be done by 2018? Maybe tar sand spills can't be cleaned up. Huh.
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22. Ceres,a well-heeled coalition of investors is asking top fossil fuel companies to calculate the risks of plowing billions into new oil, gas and coal projects. To burn or not to burn. That is the planetary/investment question.
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23. Cheap Gas reduced Coal use and USA Carbon emissions. Ironic, but helpful -- Gas has half the carbon footprint of coal. Solar and wind would reduce it to zero.
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24. Continued coal plant closures, including the Tennessee Valley Authority's announcement that it will shut down eight of its coal-burning generating stations. Kudos to Sierra Club for its successful campaign. Next?
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25. ND Gas flares: $1B and 1/3rd of gas up in flames, easily seen from space. Yes that box is the North Dakota plains -- few people, lots of flares. Oh, the irony of burning gas we didn't want, don't need (if we switched to renewables), are paying for, and it's leaking and polluting to boot.
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26. "Natural" Gas is a bridge fuel that cuts GHG emissions? Not if it leaks, like 4.9 ± 2.6 times more than thought, like 17% in LA. Oops. And methane was found by the IPCC to be 34 times more potent than CO2, 40% more than previously thought. Double Oops. Note: Solar and wind don't leak or pollute in use.
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27. California passes SB4 into law, regulating fracking. Without political support for a moratorium or ban (thanks Brown!), it had a tortured birth (giving rise to the Californians Against Fracking coalition) and was so weakened at the end that Big Green abandoned it. LA Times Editorial calls to kill the bill. Oil industry advocate calls it "fantastic" and says that science is on their side. I love Robert Gammon's remark: "Fracking was never a good idea. And in a drought, it's downright crazy."
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28. Fracking the Pacific Ocean from onshore. You can't drill off the California coast, but you can frack the hell out of it. Of course, that this was approved 19 times without EIR's had to be dug out though FIA. Un-fracking-believable.
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29. A group of 20 top U.S. climate scientists sent a letter to California Gov. Frackinator Brown urging him to issue a moratorium on fracking. Response: "California has among the strongest set of policies to combat climate change in the nation. These efforts are driven by sound science and so too will the new hydraulic fracturing regulations." Um, science says extreme oil extraction is inherently unsafe -- for the planet: Game Over for the climate. Brown relies upon science, until he doesn't, in the same sentence.
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30. 100 municipalities prohibit fracking. If the federal and state governments won't, the people can win locally.
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31. U.S. Bureau of Land Management leases declared illegal for fracking in 2,700 CA acres. Tsk, Tsk, BLM -- not doing your due diligence job protecting the land. First legal win in CA against fracking.
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32. Wind getting cheaper than "Natural" Gas. Ahem... hint, hint. And it always was cleaner, safer and wouldn't cook the planet.
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33. Buffet buys $1,000,000,000 in Wind. "Wind is the cheapest source of power in Iowa". If anyone knows a good investment...
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34. Stanford Professor Mark Jacobson on David Letterman (part 1, part 2): He has a science-based plan to get the US to 100% Renewables by 2050. These are the solutions we should be focused on, Mr. Obama. Some leadership, please. Kudos to Mr. Letterman --consider running for president?
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35. The Climate Faux "Pause". Not matching models (caused by missing data and other reasons) doesn't mean its not warming. The "pause" was more disinformation than any change in the climate trend.
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36. Fox News Dumbest Climate Sayings in 2013. Offered without comment (snicker).
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37. Climate reporting not balanced to science: Fox, UCS found that 93 percent of segments dealing with climate science were "misleading". Wall Street Journal, UCS found that 81 percent of the articles focusing on climate science "attempted to broadly undermine the major conclusions of climate science". -- Shocking, I tell you, just shocking. In the case of WSJ, sad. Both: despicable. Don't forget about 1/3rd of Australian media rejecting science.
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38. NYT abolishes its environmental desk. Maybe it is just a structural change that make climate coverage less isolated, but it ostensibly takes climate and the environment from the front burner.
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39. MSM: Weather =Print, Climate=Ignore. Media #FAIL like Iraq war. See this Review of 2012 and extreme weather coverage. Gotta love David Robert's point: "Climate change is not 'a story,' but a background condition for all future stories."
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40. 2013 Climate media coverage increases; see this link for the Daily Climate list of the most prolific climate journalists. Mentions of "global warming" and "climate change" decrease as related topics like fracking, energy, pipeline and rail safety have had their own surge.
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41. Al Jazeera America launches with more climate coverage in a few days than all of US networks combined for the year. Look at the first day compared to 3 news shows over 4 and 1/2 months. A very good type of un-American.
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42. MSNBC mentions climate. Whoa. It ain't much, but a shout out to Chris Hayes for including climate in his vocabulary in a supportive way (as opposed to Fox and CNN). Come on, Rachel Maddow, please find the end of the world "interesting".
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43. LA Times will no longer publish letters to the editor by those maintaining that "there's no sign humans have caused climate change." Facts over flatulence, yea!
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44. Australia decided to scrap carbon taxes. Apparently, one fee too far. Australians are already paying a dear price for the climate change (drought and wildfires), and it will only get more painful.
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45. Japan renounced a commitment to cut carbon emissions, cutting the goal by 25%. Yes, shutting down of your nuclear generators could dent your plans. More carbon won't help your coastlines or fisheries. Nukes are risky. Ever heard of solar power?
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46. ... and the Canada Government cheered them on. Despicable by a Government more interested in profit than in their environment and the survival of the world. Prime Minister Harper's administration had the gall to call themselves a leader on climate change. I'm guessing that means they are leading to have a Canadian beach resort boom.
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47. The Philippine delegate, Naderev Sano, at UN climate talks began a fast on Monday in protest at a lack of action on global warming that he blamed for fueling a super typhoon that has killed an estimated 10,000 people in his country. His IPCC Climate Summit testimony to "Stop This Madness" is a compelling MUST SEE.
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48. NGO Walk Out at Climate Summit "Talks like these amount to nothing if countries refuse to come to them and negotiate in good faith or worse, try to drag the process backwards." Enough is enough, indeed.
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49. 4C Rise likely, Cloud formations disrupted. Cascade effect -- count on some more.
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50. Death Valley, California experienced the highest June temperature ever recorded (129 degrees F!). Just one data point.
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51. Over 50 Fires have been blazing in the western United States, including Yosemite, leading to catastrophic losses of life. Climate change found by Lloyd's of London to be contributing to increasing wildfires. Go figure.
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52. 2013 Extreme weather: extreme spring globally, which was marked by low snow cover in Eurasia, record rainfall in China, drought in California, Bangladesh, and September floods in Colorado.
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53. 2013 was a banner year for clean energy: About 200,000 U.S. homes and businesses added rooftop solar in the past two years alone -- about 3 gigawatts of power and enough to replace four or five conventionally-sized coal plants. Can't argue with operationally carbon-less success. Ok, some do.
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54. Solar Panels Return to the White House. Wait, hasn't Obama been the President for a while?
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55. ALEC failed in each of its campaigns against clean energy but the organization shows no sign of slowing the attacks next year. #FAIL.
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56. ALEC calls for penalties on 'freerider' homeowners in assault on clean energy. Yeah, providing clean carbon-free energy needs to be a problem. Too bad the utilities can't deal with distributed generation, er, competition.
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57. Google Joins ALEC Boo! Maybe Google should start its own lobbying group and be less evil. A Left-wing ALEC, anyone?
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58. Alaska Sinks. Ya know, permafrost will melt, then it gets squishy -- kinda hard to build on.
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59. Miami is Doomed to Drown, but we knew that, at least some of us.
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60. Lake found under ice in Greenland, an aquifer bigger than West Virginia. Who could have guessed that would happen?
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61. What Scientific disagreement? Only 42% of Americans believe that most scientists think global warming is happening. One third (33%) of Americans believe that "There is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening". As Paul Rand says, "Disinformation works". You just have to abandon your integrity.
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62. American public opinion on the reality of global warming is mixed:
a. Pew, Oct: Half of Republicans (50%), 62% of independents and 88% of Democrats say there was solid evidence of rising temperatures. Partisan divide? Say it isn't so. I thought science worked the same in both universes.
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b. Yale: Nov: 63% believe global warming is happening. Relatively few -- only 23 percent -- believe it is not. The ineffective majority? How to stall with 23%?
c. Quote: "recent weather, can influence how some people think about global warming." I never would have guessed.
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63. Best year for Activism Yet.
The 350.org Summer Heat series of protests were notable, with 3,000 protesting at the Richmond, CA Chevron Refinery, and rallies in Portland and several major cities. Summer Heat continues in Australia, where it is summer.
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Photo by Eric Slomanson / slomophotos.com |
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64. Divestment Movement picks up steam, gets nod from Obama Georgetown University announcing his new climate-change policy: Wow, acknowledgement of a moral campaign for the climate.
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65. Five Insurance Companies Debunk Fox On Extreme Weather. Go figure.
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66. Republican Case for Climate Action by four former EPA Administrators NY Times OpEd. Are any Republican congresspeople listening? It could happen?
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67. Former GOP Rep. Bob Inglis is "urging conservatives to stop denying that humans are contributing to global warming." He started the Energy and Enterprise Initiative based at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Go Bob!
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68. The Coming GOP Civil War Over Climate Change includes the Christian Coalition of America taking a pro-climate stance for the Shaheen-Portman Energy Efficiency bill. Define GOP civil war. Define GOP. Define conservative. Isn't science in the mix?
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69. GOP: Arrogant to think humans could affect climate. Arrogant to think you are smarter that most every climatologist on the planet at the peril of everyone on the planet.
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70. National Parks shutdown with Government, but not to drilling. You gotta have priorities. Apparently, oil over people.
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71. GOP House hearings on Climate with cherry-picked deniers. Yum!
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72. House Hearings on Climate Change call Heads of EPA and Energy Dept. Yup, tinfoil hats are a good visual for a science-free hearing.
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73. Supreme Court Oks the EPA regulating carbon. One great thing for the climate.
While we are on the topic of regulating CO2, one regional regulatory body stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. The (San Francisco) Bay Area Air Quality Management Board (BAAQMD) was the first in the country to commit to 80% reduction in carbon pollution by 2050 (compared to 1990). Since they can charge for CO2 emissions (and do, though only 5 cents per ton currently), this has teeth. More like this, please.
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74. Gasland II movie was released- Josh Fox: "Democracy itself has become contaminated". Fossil lobby using military PsiOps consultants -- wait, aren't they supposed to protect democracy?
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75. 75% of denial funding going dark/untraceable. Where do Kochroaches hide?
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76. Twenty-seven Scientists released a statement that coal use needs to decline. There is a carbon budget that we are rapidly burning through. Literally.
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77. Climate Change linked to War and here and contributed to the Syrian conflict. Ask Michael Klare about resource wars and Green Revolution. Or did you think that turning breadbaskets into deserts would cause world peace?
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78. Scientists Link Famine In Somalia To Global Warming. Tip of the giga-death iceberg: Thermogeddon. Not too funny.
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79. Insurance Gets it Right, Science Media not so much. I just wish deniers would talk with the re-insurers. These are business people that get it, and don't have their heads stuck in an oil barrel.
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80. US -- China HFCA's deal and here. A little-known but crucial deal. Just look at the graph.
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81. EV's Doing well, almost 100,000 sold in 2013 (together with hybrids of various sorts, almost 600,000 sold, out of 15.5M vehicles). EV's are here and part of the solution (as long as you can power them with solar or wind and not coal).
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82. Forward On Climate Rally Feb 17, 40,000 in Washington DC, 5,000 in San Francisco (and many smaller locations). Largest rally ever for the climate. Oh, that Big Green and grassroots could work together more like this and express the concern and outrage for the country to change course.
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83. UN Leaders Mary Robinson and Christiana Figueres, Exec Sec of IPCC, (echoing Bill McKibben in his 2012: Do The Math) warn that we must keep most (like 75%) of fossil carbon in the ground. Unlike Big Oil that is intent on burning every last gram, until the planet is baked and the super-rich can afford to eat. Hey, maybe then they can convert crude oil into food, like imitation vanilla. Yum!
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84. Tom Steyer, who LA Times says may be liberals' answer to the Koch brothers. We hope. He is anti-Keystone, and his latest stance against fracking (during a drought at least) is encouraging.
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85. Climate-threatened Solomon Islanders prepare for evacuation. The climate migrations and climate refugees have begun. At least these folks are trying to purchase land they can live on.
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86. Obama Administration announced it was revising the social cost of carbon SCC up to $37/ton for 2015. Estimates range "at least three orders of magnitude, from less than $1/tC to over $1,500/tC". The "Discount Rate" is the magic variable. My point would be the value in decreasing carbon emissions now is more valuable than later, when its too late.
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87. Texan, 65, Marine veteran, in legal war to the finish with TransCanada over KXL pipeline. Go Michael Bishop!
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88. James Cameron makes "Years of Living Dangerously" will air in April on Showtime. Now we are getting somewhere.
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89. TransCanada (the Keystone XL company)
a. Briefs law-enforcement on use of anti-Terrorism laws against protestors . Orwellian Petro-police-state, anyone? Not a joke -- its here.
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b. Sues and settles with Tar Sands Blockade (TSB) Texas protestors. An ironically named SLAPP $5M suit that threatened to cost protesters their homes. TSB quote: "people from around the country will band together to protect the next threatened community through a variety of nonviolent tools. Resistance is Fertile. The survival of the planet in the face of global climate change deserves nothing less."
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90. Tension between Wind Energy and WIldlife. Birds of prey vs. blades. There has to be a way...
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91. Wind power industry's Production Tax Credit expired Dec 31, 2013. The uncertainty was almost as bad as the actual expiration. Investors seem to like -- what is it? ... predictability.
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92. Price of Solar Photovoltaic Systems in the U.S. Continues to Decline at a Rapid Pace. Down by a third in recent years. Go Solar! (Oh BTW, that's a logarithmic chart)
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93. Major TV Network coverage of Climate Change in 2013 was up ... to 27 minutes (Sundays) and 102 minutes (evenings) TOTAL FOR THE YEAR. This is not (wave) the apocalypse you are worried about. The force is strong in this oil.
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94. John Podesta, climate hawk and Keystone opponent, re-joins Obama team then recuses himself on Keystone. Yes We Can (we hope, if we don't recuse ourselves).
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95. Obama Tells Government To Ramp Up Its Renewable Energy Use from 7% to 20% by 2020. It's a start. A late, weak start -- but a start.
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96. Incandescent bulbs going away at end of year; 60% of Americans unaware. Oh... yeah.
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97. Just 90 companies caused two-thirds of man-made global warming emissions state and private companies: Chevron, Exxon, Mobil, etc. will each "own" ~3% of the deaths from the climate calamity.
Check out the Guardian's cool interactive guide to the distribution of the planet wreckers.
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98. Scientists: Current international warming target is "disastrous" not 2C, but 1C has scientific basis, not that it is attainable (we are a little past that already). Prayer, for inspiration on how to prevent it from being even worse that we thought, would be appropriate.
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99. Climate Change linked to Christmas Tree Shortage Big Oil's War on Christmas!
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100. Lastly, don't forget the Petcoke (or is it "PetKoch"?)--the tars sands processing by product-- piles in Detroit, Chicago, and elsewhere, as Koch, et al, exports our pollution, because it's illegal to burn in the US.
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101. Oh, and for the first big climate story of 2014: Polar Vortex destabilization consistent with Climate Change; Alaska unusually warm; The Canadian Arctic is warmer than anytime in the last 120,000 years. Get it? Crazy weather, even crazy cold, is further evidence of having decimated the Holocene. Destabilzation. Funny how Hollywood wasn't too far off the mark with The Day After Tomorrow. Get used to "The Attack of the Drunken Vortex".
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