Prevent power blackouts and reduce emissions by joining ohm connect and getting a free smart thermostat (usual price $130) or $25 plus two smart plugs
OhmConnect is a free service that helps to prevent blackouts by coordinating saving energy in hundreds of thousands of homes one or two hours a week when there’s extreme demand on the grid. A smart device is not required to participate with OhmConnect but pays added dividends if you use one, for example, to turn off your refrigerator for short periods. You get paid directly for the energy you save at these critical times.
If you use this link to sign up 350 Humboldt will get $50 as a signer’s bonus: https://ohm.co/dwchandl So contribute by avoiding the use of dirty “peaker” gas power and by getting a bonus for 350 Humboldt.
Thanks,
Dan Chandler for the Steering Committee
VOTING – VOTE FORWARD
Vote Forward has a new campaign in Virginia, which will be voting in November. You can request 5 or 20 letters. Letters are to be mailed on September 18.
OTHER LETTERS/PETITIONS
DAVE ROBERTS & 350HUMBOLDT
Dave Roberts is a climate analyst for Vox and other publications. Here is his latest:
Congress is working on what is likely to be its last big shot at climate change policy for a decade or more. If things go well, the legislation will include a clean energy standard (CES) and clean energy tax credits [for wind, solar, hydrogen…], which together would revolutionize the US electricity system. If things don’t go well, there will be no substantial climate legislation for many years to come. [Read his whole column at: https://www.volts.wtf/p/crunch-time-this-is-americas-last?r=5kmgi&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy ]
350 Humboldt: Please write to Padilla, Feinstein and Huffman asking them to ensure that 1) a clean energy standard (called a clean electricity payment program or CEPP in order to be passed in reconciliation) and 2) clean energy tax credits be in the reconciliation bill.
Also follow Professor Leah Stokes exhortation to go to #call4climate to call your Senators. As Roberts says, this is our one chance for a decade. Even liberal Senators need to hear from constituents so they will stand firm on these two big policies.
CARB
Carb is soliciting comments on carbon capture technologies with a specific emphasis on environmental justice.
https://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm2/bcsubform.php?listname=sp22-co2-removal-ws&comm_period=1
Below is the letter I sent, but short and pithy may be better.
Yes the scientific consensus is that carbon capture is necessary and some of it will have to be engineered. So it is worth researching and worth trying to bring the cost down. But there are several caveats.
1) Fossil fuel companies and their paid lobbyists and legislators want to use carbon capture to delay the demise of fossil fuels. This has brought about a lot of greenwashing “information.” This is difficult to deal with because our politicians have not said clearly when and how fossil fuels will be phased out. The International Energy Agency has recently said we have used up our carbon budget, so no new fossil fuel development. But our leaders have not said this. If fossil fuel companies use carbon capture to reduce their impact during the short time they will still be around, more power to them and I will gladly pay the extra cost. But this has to be distinguished from efforts to continue or increase development, which are not made more tolerable by carbon capture technology.
2) All fossil fuel processing has very negative effects on humans living nearby, including the poor and people of color near refineries and drilling sites and the millions who use gas appliances. Eliminating fossil fuels as quickly as possible (by 2030 say) will pay for itself many times over in reductions in the costs of pollution. So we must be very clear that carbon capture does not prolong or increase the climate injustice we experience due to fossil fuels. Obviously these two points are linked.
3) The third caveat is that carbon capture should not have countervailing effects. I’m thinking particularly of carbon capture paired with biomass processing. If the biomass is waste and there is no other use for it, then we are better off capturing the carbon produced than burning it. But harvesting biomass that sequesters carbon for purposes such as making hydrogen make no sense since we are eliminating one method of sequestering carbon (tree growth) and “compensating” for it with carbon capture. That is to say, engineered carbon capture should not replace natural lands carbon capture.
Thank you for this opportunity to comment.
Dan Chandler
CLIMATE CENTER
“We worked with Professors Dan Kammen and Manuel Pastor, two of the country’s leading scientists working on climate change and social equity, to write this new op-ed on why California needs to adopt a more aggressive approach to addressing the climate crisis.
“California has the tools and the knowledge to equitably remove more climate pollution from the atmosphere than we emit. What we need now is for state leaders to step up and act.
“That’s where you come in! Please take two steps today to help ensure a climate-safe future for California and beyond.
Take action urging Governor Newsom and state leaders to accelerate California’s climate action timelines.
Read and share this new article from climate experts Dan Kammen and Manuel Pastor.
NOTE THIS ARTICLE IS BEHIND A PAYWALL. SEE THE END OF THIS EMAIL FOR A COPY. AND WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE REPORT THAT THE AUTHORS REFERENCE. IT ISN’T VERY LONG BUT IS VERY IMPORTANT. IT IS HERE: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.07801
UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
Last year, UCS supporters like you helped convince California’s top air quality regulator to set first-in-the-nation goals for electrifying highly polluting heavy-duty vehicles such as 18-wheelers and delivery trucks. Now, we have the opportunity to push them to adopt goals that actually meet the urgency of the climate and air quality crises.
AMAZON WATCH
The Deadline Glasgow campaign demands that financial institutions and the Biden administration end the financial lifelines to companies destroying the climate. In order to ensure a livable planet, we must defund climate chaos!
Add your name to this urgent global petition!
STAND.EARTH
Every August, there is an increased mass production of goods in Asia, and an increased demand for U.S. retailers to stock them in preparation for the holiday season. That also means an increased demand for cargo ships to ship the goods. This surge in cargo ships leads to more pollution, including the emission of toxins linked to increased rates of asthma and other respiratory conditions.
With the restock season underway, this is a critical time to show the people-power behind our new Ship it Zero cargo campaign.
CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT
According to new reports, approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on US public lands are on pace to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president. (Yes, you read that right.)
While President Biden did pause new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters, the order was temporary and has now been blocked by a judge.
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Article Referenced Above
Carbon neutral isn’t good enough. California needs to be carbon negative by 2030
Daniel Kammen and Manuel Pastor July 30, 2021 Updated: July 31, 2021 4 a.m. Comments
The amount of carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels is projected to hit 37 billion tons this year, setting another record high. Amid record heat waves, fires, and a federal energy and climate policy landscape that is in some ways even more aggressive than California’s, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently asked state agencies to accelerate their clean energy, environmental justice and climate protection goals.
This is desperately needed good news, as our future sits on the edge of a knife.
California is hotter and drier than it was 30 years ago. Average summer temperatures have already risen about 3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century, and a recent study found that our driest days are about 33% drier than they were 40 years ago. Prolonged drought and tinderbox conditions have made megafires routine. Last year, an area equal to 12 cities of Los Angeles burned across California, costing billions. Our economy is going to suffer the bitter taste of the new normal unless the state takes aggressive action.
Meanwhile, the inequalities revealed and exacerbated by COVID-19 threaten another aspect of sustainability: our social compact.
Preserving safe conditions for workers exposed to the elements, including those building our homes or harvesting our food, is becoming increasingly challenging amid the extreme heat and wildfire smoke. Meanwhile, workers employed in climate-polluting industries need new jobs to transition into.
Without more aggressive action, this mismatch between California’s needs and our failure to act boldly will undo decades of state leadership toward a healthy environment and a more equal society.
This is the key finding of a new report we authored with a team of experts urging California to become net carbon negative — that is, to remove more carbon pollution from the atmosphere than we emit — by 2030. That’s 15 years earlier than planned. We also suggest that the state needs to cut emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2030, doubling its current target. In doing so, the state must place equity at the center of addressing climate risk and spreading climate benefits.
California has the solutions to our climate crisis at hand. Policies to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy — including phasing out gas-powered vehicles and offering credits to home and business owners who purchase energy-efficient technologies — will vastly reduce the amount of pollution we release each year. At the same time, scaling up nature-based carbon sequestration techniques and protecting vital ecosystems like forests and wetlands will begin to draw down some of the carbon already in the atmosphere.
This is how we get to carbon negative by 2030.
What’s more, research shows that investing in clean energy greatly contributes to social equity. Clean energy investments create nearly twice as many jobs as the fossil fuel industry (even more in some cases) while improving air quality, especially for low-income communities of color. Mass transit together with policies to make electric vehicles more affordable both boost employment and reduce climate pollution. Justice-based environmental metrics (such as CalEnviroScreen) allow us to properly understand the social and economic impacts of accelerating the clean energy transition — and can ensure that equity is baked into the clean energy economy, not just sprinkled on top.
We’ve got the tools and the knowledge. We just need our elected officials to get the job done.
Other governments have stepped up with bold action. Rhode Island committed to 100% clean energy use by 2030. The United Kingdom will cut greenhouse gasses 68% below 1990 levels and ban new gas-powered vehicle sales by 2030.
Closer to home, Los Angeles has a plan to run on clean energy by 2035, 10 years ahead of the state. President Joe Biden has the same goal for the nation. And Biden has essentially copied California’s framework to invest in structurally disadvantaged communities while confronting climate change. Tellingly, he plans to devote an even larger percentage of investment than the state has previously targeted for communities too often left behind and kept behind.
It’s clear that leaders elsewhere see and are capitalizing on these bold opportunities for climate action and equity. And this reveals an inconvenient truth: Now that climate change is happening faster and more intensely than scientists understood when California originally adopted its most significant policies, the Golden State risks becoming a follower, not a leader, on climate policy.
For a state that has historically forged the path others follow, this is unacceptable. Consider that clean solar and wind power are now the least expensive forms of electricity globally. This was the result of policies initiated in California, nurtured through our research institutions, and commercialized by our clean technology sector, which attracts more investment than anywhere in the world.
The ingredients are in place for California to prosper while propelling the world into the next phase of climate action and climate equity. We have the know-how, technology and tools to stop California’s destructive climate trajectory, eliminate most of our air pollution in 10 years, and deliver on the promise of climate inclusion. The question Californians face is whether we rise up and demand action from our leaders.
Daniel Kammen is chair of the Energy Resources Group and professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Manuel Pastor is director of the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California.