Climate Change

Greenpeace sues Walmart, claiming it lies about plastic being recyclable – CBS News

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Greenpeace sues Walmart, claiming it lies about plastic being recyclable – CBS News

Now, Greenpeace is going after Walmart, saying America's biggest retailer is misleading shoppers about its plastic products being recyclable instead of trying to sell less of the stuff.

In a lawsuit filed last week in California state court, Greenpeace eviscerates a variety of plastic items sold under Walmart's private labels. These items, which range from applesauce containers to fruit cups to plastic cups and cutlery, "are advertised, marketed and sold as recyclable," the lawsuit says, but most recycling facilities don't accept or can't process these items and there are no markets to reuse them, according to the suit. This mislabeling of products breaks California laws regarding false advertising and environmental marketing, Greenpeace contends.

 

NPR

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2020 Is Virtually Tied For The Hottest Year On Record : NPR

With just a few weeks left, 2020 is in a dead-heat tie for the hottest year on record. But whether it claims the top spot misses the point, climate scientists say. There is no shortage of disquieting statistics about what is happening to the Earth.

The hottest decade on record is coming to a close, with the last five years being the hottest since 1880. 2020 is just two-hundredths of a degree cooler than 2016, the hottest year ever recorded. The Earth is nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer now than it was in the 20th century, and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are still rising.

350.org Founder on DiNapoli’s Divestment Decision

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350.org Founder on DiNapoli’s Divestment Decision

The change was eight years in the making, but New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s decision to divest the state’s massive pension fund from fossil fuels over four years is an enormous victory for environmentalists, according to climate activists and author Bill McKibben.

“It’s a huge part of this global divestment effort that’s now at about $15 trillion,” McKibben told Capital Tonight. “Look, the Pope and the Queen of England have both divested in the course of this year but they don’t have as much money as the Comptroller of the State of the New York. It’s the largest pension fund that divested yet, breaking the record set three years ago by Scott Stringer who divested the City’s pension fund.”

The latest state pension fund valuation is at $226.4 billion.

I know that has been a big fight for a long time for a lot of people. I am also a member of the state pension system and I think it does send a strong message on what should be future investments of the fossil industry. 

But I also understand the hesitance of the state to divest for wi many years. Indeed, my personal portfolio is a bit heavier on energy stocks compared to the market as whole, as I bought some years ago as a hedge against energy price driven inflation / recession. 

I also think the energy industry is primed to be in the forefront of the renewable energy industry, just because energy companies own a lot of land and infrastructure like power lines and transformers. And it's not like we don't all use fossil energy - I like my big jacked up truck. Even if my future property is small and off grid, I'll still need diesel for my tractor and pick up truck, propane for cooking, and lots of products made using fossil fuels. Or the plastic wrapper the food comes in and goes up in smoke in the burn barrel. But cities need to go on a diet from all the massive fossil fuels they consume.

Climate change is real and effects us all, especially those who live close to the land. But it's also mainly an urban problem caused by high emissions or carbon from the cities. But it's a tough nut to crack. Much more difficult than power factor or even something like the ozone hole or water pollution. 

 

Arctic’s Shift to a Warmer Climate Is ‘Well Underway, Scientists Warn – The New York Times

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Arctic’s Shift to a Warmer Climate Is ‘Well Underway, Scientists Warn – The New York Times

The Arctic continued its unwavering shift toward a new climate in 2020, as the effects of near-record warming surged across the region, shrinking ice and snow cover and fueling extreme wildfires, scientists said Tuesday in an annual assessment of the region.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska and one of the editors of the assessment, said it “describes an Arctic region that continues along a path that is warmer, less frozen and biologically changed in ways that were scarcely imaginable even a generation ago.”

“Nearly everything in the Arctic, from ice and snow to human activity, is changing so quickly that there is no reason to think that in 30 years much of anything will be as it is today,” he said.

Consider a Price Floor on Fossil Fuels.

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Consider a price floor on the sale of fossil fuels ⛽  …

Some people have suggested a carbon tax to raise the cost the fossil fuels. These taxes are unpopular, especially among fossil fuel interests (miners, oil workers, farmers with mineral rights) who fear lost profits and less jobs when fewer people buy fossil fuels. That’s a totally reasonable concern — that’s the goal of a carbon tax.

But what if instead of taxing carbon — or on top of taxing carbon — we were to set a minimum sales price on the sale of fossil fuels. For example, gasoline might currently cost $2.65 a gallon. But under a minimum sales price, no retailer could legally sell gasoline for less then $5.00 a gallon. Motorists might grumble a lot when they go to fill up their car, but fossil fuel interests would be held harmless — those who fill up at the higher price, less frequently — end of depositing the same amount of money in the hands of fossil fuel industry.

Liberals like to beat up on the oil industry, for good reason. They along with the railroads, the coal companies, the automakers and other leading industries have actively been denying climate change for a long time. But at the same time, they do provide an essential service, and their industry’s buy in to any climate plan is essential if we want to move forward. Maybe the solution would be a hybrid approach: combine a carbon tax with a price floor to ensure fossil fuel producers are held harmless as people move away from the climate disrupting fuels.

That’s how many states regulate cigarettes — it’s not a criminal offense or illegal to smoke cigarettes outside of public office buildings. But instead, the price of cigarettes is kept high by levying a special tax on each pack of cigarettes, along with requiring the retailers sell them at a state-proscribed minimum price. This discourages smokers, especially young ones, while ensuring retailers and tobacco interests aren’t harmed by fewer people smoking.

NPR

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California’s Ancient Redwoods Face New Challenge From Wildfires And Warming Climate : NPR

After this year's historic wildfires, California's oldest state park — Big Basin Redwoods — looks more like a logging village than an iconic hiking and camping mecca.

There's a near constant buzz of chainsaws. Rumblings from trucks and logging skidders fill the air as crews busily cut charred, fallen trees and chop down "hazard trees" rangers worry will topple on to the park's roadways.

It's estimated the wildfire, awkwardly named the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, burned through 97% of Big Basin's more than 18,000 acres, scorching its 4,400 acres of ancient redwoods and obliterating most of the park's infrastructure for camping and recreation.

When might the world exceed 1.5C and 2C of global warming? | Carbon Brief

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Analysis: When might the world exceed 1.5C and 2C of global warming? | Carbon Brief

Our analysis shows that:

The world will likely exceed 1.5C between 2026 and 2042 in scenarios where emissions are not rapidly reduced, with a central estimate of between 2030 and 2032.

The 2C threshold will likely be exceeded between 2034 and 2052 in the highest emissions scenario, with a median year of 2043.

In a scenario of modest mitigation –where emissions remain close to current levels – the 2C threshold would be exceeded between 2038 and 2072, with a median of 2052.