There’s really too much climate-related news to keep track of, but this is a sampling of local, state, national and international developments.
Brief takes:
- MORE TREES: The amount of forest lost in Colombia fell by 36% between 2022 and 2023, its lowest level in 23 years, the Guardian reported.
- Clean energy generated a record-high 44% of China’s electricity in May 2024, pushing coal’s share down to a record low of 53%, despite continued growth in demand, according to new analysis published by Carbon Brief.
- CLEAN POWER: South Africa’s new energy minister vowed to be “ultra-aggressive” on renewable energy as the country celebrated more than 100 days with no power cuts – a record following years of crippling blackouts, Reuters reported.
- END TIMES: Fossil-fuel company BP said oil demand is expected to peak in 2025 under current climate policies and fossil fuels will decline to about two-thirds of the global energy mix by 2050, as more renewable capacity is installed. [If 2/3rds of energy is fossil fuels in 2050, protecting future generations is out the door.]
President Joe Biden has laid out his regulatory blueprint for the remainder of the year and beyond if he wins his reelection bid. The spring Unified Agenda, released by the White House late Friday afternoon, details rules to be drafted agency by agency in the coming months that will tackle climate warming gases and polluted waterways as well as guard against toxic chemicals and protect pristine public lands. Coming at a key juncture for Biden, who is locked in a tight race with former President Donald Trump, the document lends a sharp contrast between the tough regulations proposed by the Democrat and his Republican opponent’s campaign pledge to tear down the administrative state.
In a troubling milestone, Earth surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming for 12 consecutive months. [Scientists judge the attainment of a specific temperature with a rolling average over several years, so this does not mean we have failed in our goal of keeping temperatures to 1.5 degrees C. ] Though California’s coasts have largely been spared the worst of the heat, several areas near the coast set daily temperature records over the long holiday weekend, meaning some communities had their hottest July 4 (or July 5 or 6) in history. Among at least two dozen places in California that broke daily records last week were San Jose, Fresno, Oakland, Merced, Livermore, San Rafael and Paso Robles. Up north, temperatures in Redding, the Shasta County seat, soared to 119 degrees, and Ukiah, closer to the coast in Mendocino County, tied its all-time high of 117. In Southern California, Palm Springs hit a never-before-seen high of 124 degrees.
A nonprofit and utilities race to bring electricity to some 13,000 off-grid Navajo Nation homes to power air-conditioners as climate change-exacerbated heat waves become more frequent. (CNN)
30% This is how much higher Microsoft’s total emissions were in 2023, compared with 2020, due in large part to the company’s AI activities. Microsoft President Brad Smith says the company is not abandoning its green goals, but they’ll be tougher to achieve. [Meanwile Google’s emissions are 48% higher in 2023 than 2019, mostly due to AI.] |
Arizona researchers and farmers find shading crops with solar panels can reduce their water demand and increase yields. (Cronkite News)
What were you thinking? Northern California residents slam Pacific Gas & Electric for implementing planned power outages during a heat wave. (KCRA)
ELECTRIFICATION: Napa County approves building codes aimed at encouraging all-electric residential construction. (Press-Democrat) |
EV’s cheaper. Electric cars may now be the best option for your wallet, Matteo Wong writes. The price of used electric vehicles has fallen so much in recent years that they are actually cheaper than comparable used gas cars.
Insurers are passing climate crisis costs on to homeowners while financing new fossil fuel projects
As society’s risk managers, insurance companies are enlightened about the impacts of climate change, and yet many companies in the sector have continued to underwrite and invest in fossil fuel projects. All the while, insurance rates are going through the roof. And that is why the insurance industry has been named the Zero of our summer issue. “Insurance companies prefer to pass on the costs of the climate crisis to communities and individuals, rather than make those responsible pay,” says London-based Insure Our Future. Homeowners may be feeling the effects of those premium hikes more than anyone. Canadian home insurance premiums are expected to rise more than 7% in 2024, while home insurance in Florida is expected to reach an average US$12,000 this year. Read more »
Microsoft made a groundbreaking carbon removal purchase. The tech giant agreed to buy 500,000 metric tons of credits from Oxy’s Stratos plant in Texas, which is expected to start up next year. The deal marks the single largest purchase of credits generated using machines to suck carbon from the air.
FEMA’s new rules consider future climate risks. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency has finalized a rule mandating that, for the first time, projects built using its funds should consider the future risk of flooding.
More than 9 inches of rain were dumped on the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, home to 13 million, for over three hours on Monday afternoon, sparking a massive emergency response from local authorities. Last week, weather officials issued an unusually direct warning about intensifying heat and rainfall in a reflection of a new policy priority for Beijing: preventing extreme weather, now routine, from turning into a political and humanitarian crisis for the ruling Communist Party.
IRONY DEPARTMENT:
- It’s almost too hot for oil refining. Temperatures in Europe are getting close to levels at which some oil refineries would have to start making less fuel. In Poland, heat may soon exceed the point at which the country’s top fuel supplier can run its refineries normally. Temperatures in Europe have been well above seasonal norms and there’s little sign of that changing anytime soon. Looking further into the future, Sweden’s largest refiner says climate change is making fuel production harder.
- A southern Colorado county approves a proposed transmission project but rejects a solar installation that would have tied into the line, citing environmental concerns. (Alamosa Citizen)
In the city of Petaluma, California, just north of San Francisco, more than 30 chain restaurants and locally owned coffeehouses and eateries have banded together on a first-of-its-kind effort to reduce single-use plastic. Joseph Wintersreports on a three-month pilot program, called the Petaluma Reusable Cup Project, in which restaurants will serve drinks in reusable plastic cups. Instead of chucking their cup in a bin, customers can return it to any participating establishments — which range from Starbucks to KFC to local pie shops — or place it in one of 60 receptacles around Petaluma. From there, it’ll get washed and returned for reuse. [From Grist]
The era of anthropogenic climate change can be described by defined climate milestones. These milestones mark changes in the historic trajectory of change, and include peak greenhouse gas emissions, peak greenhouse gas concentration, deceleration of warming, net-zero emissions, and a transition to global cooling. However, given internal variability in the Earth system and measurement uncertainty, definitively saying that a milestone has passed requires rigour. Here CMIP6 simulations of peak-and-decline scenarios are used to examine the time needed to robustly detect three climate milestones: (1) the slowdown of global warming; (2) the end of global surface temperature increase; and (3) peak concentration of CO2. It is estimated that it will take 40 to 60 years after a slowdown in warming rate, to robustly detect ( change) the signal in the global average temperature record. Detecting when warming has stopped will also be difficult and it takes until the mid 22nd century to have enough data to conclude warming has stopped. Detecting that CO2 concentration has peaked is far easier and a drop in CO2 concentration of 3 ppm is consistent with a greater than 99% chance that CO2 has peaked in all scenarios examined. Thus it is likely that as the rate of CO2 emissions is reduced, and net-zero emissions is approached, interpreting the global temperature record will become difficult—with a high potential to create confusion amongst policy makers and the general public.
Take Action!
Governor Newsom is recruiting people to text 22 million Democrats in swing districts around the country to get out the vote. Use this link to say you’re interested in joining our texting team, and to get started with our online community of others like you committed to make sure Democrats win this fall. We’ll be in touch with more. [Voting for climate champions is considered the most important thing we can do. So persuading others to vote for them is even more important. Also consider joining the 350 Humboldt 7pm Sundays letter writing group. Join on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84789051501?pwd=L3pJL0t1am5EblJRVWZhUWFIenpIdz09 ]
DOE Seeks Public Input on Environmental Justice Strategic Plan
DOE’s Office of Energy Justice and Equity has released a request for information (RFI) to the public, seeking input on DOE’s new Environmental Justice Strategic Plan. DOE aims to support underserved American communities and encourage public participation in human health and environmental decision making, so register for the upcoming virtual listening sessions and submit your written input by July 31!
Urge your members of Congress to support the Extreme Heat Emergency Act (HR 3965) HERE to add extreme heat to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) list of major disaster-qualifying events. From Food & Water Watch.