Climate Files 63 / Steven Chu at Stanford
US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu spoke at Stanford University the 2nd week of March about clean energy , climate change science, innovation and education. It’s a science and solutions oriented talk so it’s valuable for everyone.
Secretary Chu met with students before the talk for a student round table discussion on energy. The event was followed in the evening by a panel called “Educating the Energy Generation,” focused on how the U.S. can build a competitive clean energy workforce as quickly as possible. See here for an article about Secretary Chu’s visit to Stanford, “The Biggest Speaker of the Year,” and why his perspective is important. On the DoE website, Chu asks,
What are the steps we must take as a nation to create new, clean energy jobs and ensure America’s long-term competitiveness? What are the consequences for our climate of inaction? How can science and technology offer us new and better choices - and how can America’s young people make a difference?
I recently returned to Stanford University, where I spent many years as a professor, to discuss these and many other issues with a great group of students. I’d like to invite you to watch a replay of my speech here, and then share your thoughts afterward on my personal Facebook page (www.facebook.com/stevenchu) to continue the conversation.
During the speech he said something to take notice of: “Humans are altering the destiny of the planet. . . . [but] it’s not too late.”
To watch a video of this event, see the Department of Energy homepage
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Music in the podcast:
1) Step it Up — The Gallerists
2) Lost in Detroit – Rolfe Kent
(more…)
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Climate Files 62 / EPA Priorities
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Discusses 2010 EPA Priorities
On March 8, 2010, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson spoke to the National Press Club on progress made by the agency in 2009 and priorities for 2010. She discussed actions on climate change, America’s waters and EPA’s efforts to expand the conversation on environmentalism.
She was asked why the EPA doesn’t stop surface mining (mountaintop removal) and she basically said because the EPA regulates pollution and water quality; the EPA does not and cannot regulate mining. That is a political excuse. They are the Environmental Protection Agency — it’s their job to protect the environment. Mountaintop removal is one of the most environmentally destructive practices in the U.S. and they must have the authority to stop it. Apparently, this is the EPA’s way of stalling a decision on mountaintop removal. Surface coal mining is especially destructive, not just to our water but to the trees, the ecology of the area, and to the land itself. There is no way to put the top back on a hill or mountain once it has been removed, and no way to completely reinstate the wildlife and balance of the ecology of the area once it has been ruined.
Unfortunately today, in conjunction with this talk, the EPA approved a surface mining operation in Ohio. They imposed supposed stringent rules on the mining operation so that it doesn’t pollute the water, but nowhere are there requirements of a carbon fee or any way for this mining to take responsibility for how it adds to global warming. This is where the EPA has to change. The EPA’s responsibilities should include protecting the human race’s ability to live in its environment–which would necessarily render coal mining obsolete. Read about the EPA’s new permit below. To see the video of this talk, visit CSPAN.org.
Below is the press release released by the EPA today in its approval of the Ohio surface mining permit. This is a blow to the environment, and it’s hard to see how this is the EPA “protecting” the country’s land and water.
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Climate Files 42 / Green Justice
Climate change will be very much about justice in the years and decades to come. Green money–Green jobs–Green greed–the non- Jolly Green Giant Known as Copenhagen — Is climate change stalling and finger-pointing green insanity? Not everything can be called green. Economic INjustice means those with the most money will survive climate change the easiest, and that’s not green at all.
As mentioned, here are just a few of the environmental justice groups in the U.S.: Environmental justice climate change initiative, or EJCC.org. Also, NLCCC.org and WEACT.org . . . . and many other groups around the U.S. working on climate change justice.
The weekly talk included in this episode is from Manuel Pastor, who is Professor of Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California where he also serves as Director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). His research focuses on environmental justice and the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities in the U.S. His talk is titled, Making Climate Change Policy Work in Difficult Economic Times. Thanks to UCTV.
Why India Is Playing Hard to Get on Climate Change. From Time magazine, November 6, 2009.
Global Warming at change.org
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
You can also call or write to President Obama at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Comments: 202-456-6213
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Climate Files 33 / The 4C Experiment
Tipping Points
The Four Degrees C experiment has begun. We might reach a four degree rise in temps by 2070, or even earlier. That was unheard of and thought to be impossible, until recently. Anything over 4 degrees will probably lead to tipping points and runaway climate change.
The finding was announced at a conference that took place from September 28th through the 30th, called 4 Degrees and Beyond. (Website here). This episode covers the Oxford conference on this scenario, with the best scientists of the UK discussing our chances of adaptation and survival.
The conference is the first to consider the global consequences of climate change beyond 2°C. Usually it’s not something scientists dare to discuss. The scientists you will hear in this episode are Prof John Schellnhuber (see his slides here), Dr Richard Betts (slides here), and Dr. Myles Allen (see slides here). Allen talked about a new approach to seeing the CO2 problem, as a cumulative effect, with no hard numbers and dates as deadlines. The slides contain maps, graphs, and lots of supporting material for their talk, and the highlights of their talk. This conference was attended by over 130 scientists and climate specialists, and featured over 35 speakers, so there is a lot from the conference website you can listen to and read.
Other news covered included information on what to expect with a 2-6C degree temperature rise from Mark Lynas. A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened. You can download the original letter here. Senator Boxer said the Obama team might make a “climate pledge“ in Copenhagen. Norway pledged 40% emissions cuts. The Kashmir glaciers in India are shrinking at an ‘alarming’ speed. And “CLIMATE CHANGE: Four Degrees of Devastation” is here.
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Music: Afrocelt Soundsystem, and the Tck Tck song, Beds are Burning, and video can be downloaded here.
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Climate Files 31 / Off to the Climate Races
The Senate climate bill has arrived! It’s called CEJAPA, an awful name. That stands for Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Let’s call it the Climate Bill or the Kerry-Boxer bill. It leaves a lot to be desired, because it’s still full of coal, and gas, and it’s also not even a cap and trade bill. They are leaving that up to the Finance Committee. Are you confused yet? I explain everything, with some help, in this episode. Basically, the bill isn’t finished, and they left it that way on purpose.
Some of the help in explaining it comes from USCAN and their great consolidation of environmental groups’ statements on this bill. USCAN’s site about the bill is here, and as for the climate bill itself, that is here in full (pdf). If you don’t want to read all 821 pages of it, see the summary here (pdf).
Also, the EPA Introduced New Rules to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions already! They aren’t wasting time. Read about it here. The EPA also said all 79 pending MTR coal mining permits would lead to water pollution and need further review. I like this EPA!
The frightening news continues: A six-foot/two-meter sea level rise is inevitable no matter what we do. Still, it could be worse.
‘Runaway’ melt is occurring on the Antarctica, and Greenland ice sheets. Experts find more ‘pervasive, enduring’ thinning than previously realized.
That community I tell you about is here and that 2012 movie clip is here at Fancast. Not even climate change could be as bad as that disaster — or could it?
If you are interested in the Bangkok climate change talks on-demand webcasts, they are here.
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Music: The Cult, Rain, and at the end, Santogold, Lights Out
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Climate Files 24 / The Senate Takes on Climate
This episode is Part 2 of the highlights of the Senate hearing from the committee Environment and Public works from July 7th, 2009. You can listen to all 3+ hours of it from links on the committee website here. Many other hearings they have held recently are available there too.
It’s clear that Barbara Boxer, the chairwoman, is too willing to make concessions and compromises even at this early date in the senate process, and it’s also clear that she believes big business has a big role to play in shaping our climate legislation. USCAP is not only comprised of big business but also Big Oil and Big Chemical. And these people are writing our jobs-energy bills for us and then calling it a “climate bill”. (Is anyone reminded of another administration who let big business interests write our energy policy?)
It’s interesting that the only scientist at this hearing was our energy secretary, Steven Chu. Everyone there seemed to be a believer in the idea of “clean coal”. This senate committee is all too willing to believe that the dirtiest fossil fuel can or should be cleaned up, even at a cost of trillions of dollars. It was only a very short time ago that Al Gore and climate scientist James Hansen and many others were telling the world that there is no such thing as clean coal — because there isn’t. We really have to keep speaking out against this “clean coal” idea before we are deeply invested in it with this legislation. There is no time to waste. The Senate will move forward on these ideas unless they hear from us. You can read a good article about the politics of it here.
At the end, a few words of inspiration, some of them about our first moon landing 40 years ago. They are the type of inspiring words that we need to hear from President Obama very soon.
Speakers include: Energy Sec. Steven Chu, EPA head Lisa Jackson, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Sec. Interior Ken Salazar. Salazar believes we can produce 29% of our electricity needs from solar power. In Part II, Rich Wells, Dow Chemical; David Hawkins, NRDC; and John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.
Music: (middle song) The Earth Keeps Turning On by Mister Smolin
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Climate Files 23 / Solutions, Malaise or Collapse
Temple of the Skulls, Chichen Itza, photo by ShellyT
Could climate change lead to the end of civilization, a real collapse, like what happened to the Romans, the Aztecs, the Mayans? It’s not inconceivable.
Today I have Part 1 of the Senate hearings on climate legislation from the Environment and Public Works committee. The initial hearing has taken on new meaning, because since this happened in early July there has been a delay, and the vote and hearings have been put off. They have put off the vote until probably September, though behind closed doors deliberations probably continue, and public debate begins again in August. This means we might not have a climate bill by the time of the Copenhagen meeting in December. According to some people, we might be in a better bargaining position if we don’t.
Giving the Senate more time to work on this bill could be a good thing if we can get them to consider other methods of reducing greenhouse emissions, like a revenue-neutral carbon tax, something that has my full support. In fact, many environmental groups are coming out for a revenue-neutral carbon tax versus a cap and trade system.
You can read more about the revenue neutral carbon tax at FuturismNow.com
So what do you think, will our excuse for civilization collapse or will we find a solution for climate change? Here’s the article from the Independent.
Climate Scientist Jim Hansen’s new paper: Strategies to Address Global Warming
30 years ago we had a president, Jimmy Carter, who leveled with the American people, actually told them the truth and wasn’t afraid to talk to the American public as adults who think in more than sound bites. He told us we needed to conserve energy and even change our way of life to make it more sustainable. We need honest leadership like that again from President Obama on the issue of climate change. Obama is forceful on health care, which is great, but we need him on climate change. He seems to be leaving the issue to Congress and that’s not turning out so well.
Two recent articles about Jimmy Carter’s energy speech from 1979:
We Could Use a little Malaise
and
In Praise of Malaise
Music: Middle: Out Of Space, Kasabian; End: Look at Us Now, Joe Walsh
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The Future and Informed Hope
What’s coming in the future and will capitalism play a part? Soon people will be concerned with bigger problems than economic models, such as environmental migration and shortages, but money will play a part. The survival of civilization depends on our imagination, creativity, on our sense of identity and community and how willing we are to share and live together. Some great thinkers and futurists gather in this audio to think of how we can survive for the sake of all humanity.
This was originally titled A Possibility of Hope, from the makers of the movie, Children of Men.
Humans have an instinct not just for survival, but of realizing all humans should benefit from the attempts at our survival in the future.
These are ideas on the future from philosophers, historians, cultural critics, futurists, a sociologist, a human geographer, and an economics expert.
The broad topics covered in this episode are Reality, Fear, Walls, Fever, (global warming) and Hope.
Speakers: Naomi Klein, James Lovelock, John Gray, Saskia Sassen, Tzvetan Todorov, Slavoj Zizek, Fabrizio Eva.
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FN02 / Stimulus and Energy
Ben Franklin discovers electricity
The economy and the environment, the stimulus package and energy. What do Congress and the new President have planned concerning all of these things, and how serious are they about climate change? There are a lot of indicators in the stimulus package.
This episode goes over a lot of what is in the stimulus bill and other things the Congress is doing about climate change now and has planned for later this year.
The stimulus bill has now passed the Senate. It now heads into conference committee for reconciliation. What’s in it for Green Energy?
Senate-passed stimulus package by the numbers provided by Scientists and Engineers for America
“Here we provide a breakdown of spending in the stimulus package that passed the Senate last night it includes a lot of money for science.”
Australia is suffering from horrible wild fires, caused in part by climate change.
“Scientists said Australia needed to prepare for more extreme weather events due to global warming, while the Greens and environmentalists said the fires and floods proved the government needed to toughen its targets to curb Greenhouse emissions.”
Earth Tech, and what’s been left out of the stimulus package from the House version.
Greenpeace commissioned report:
Carbon Footprint Analysis of Economic Recovery Package
Tech people are very happy about the stimulus package, read about it here.
What is a green job? It’s not necessarily a blue collar job. As you can see from the stimulus package, it can be just about in any field, doing a wide variety of things.
Hidden Tech Winners in Obama’s Green Stimulus Bill
Joe Romm is from ClimateProgress and he was interviewed by Earthbeat Radio, an excellent podcast.
See Spain’s highspeed trains here.
Song at end: Tevaka — Our Ocean
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President Obama Inauguration Address
This is the full inauguration address of President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009.
Imagine this: We not only have “hope” back but we have a president who respects science and the law again. What a relief!
(and yes, I wrote that without cynicism or sarcasm).
See CivilianismNews.com for more.
Transcript of the inaugural speech here.
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Coming next: The new PLNC episode 01.
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