The Climate Minute

The planet passed a woeful milestone this month. The annual minimum of CO2 in the air occurs in September at the end of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer-is greater than 400ppm. Given the long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere, it is unlikely that you or I, or anyone living, will see a planet with less than 400ppm in the remainder of our lives.  At the same time, Bill McKibben notes that humans have already built enough mines and drilled enough wells to pollute the air beyond safe limits. That said, there is NO need to explore for new fossil fuel deposits, or even to exploit the ones the industry knows about. New wells are a waste of money, since we cannot use the oil. (Tell that to your investment advisor!) Listen in as we discuss. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

A profoundly important legal battle played out in a Washington DC courtroom this week. At issue was the very legitimacy of the methods used in the Clean Power Plan. We discuss (in ‘keep it simple, stupid!’ terms) the issues and implications. Listen in! Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

The President’s Clean Power Plan is back in court this week, with big implications for Climate Hawks. Lamar Smith continues his witch-hunt, but the SEC is turning its eye toward Exxon’s possible shareholder fraud.  Finally, the Paris Agreement maintains steady progress toward full ratification. That is good news! Listen in. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

Governor Baker signed an Executive Order to set policy for the state related to global warming. It promises emissions targets for the year 2030 and 2040, and focuses on transportation as the next big area for reductions. The Order comes in a year that has seen two major Supreme Judicial Court rulings favoring climate action, the passage of the Omnibus Energy bill, and Baker’s own effort to make RGGI stronger. These are all good signs, a credit to climate activists, and a warning that we must maintain the pressure to fulfill the promise of these decisions. Download Enhanced Podcast

A series of very important events happened very quickly on the Dakota plains last week.  After a high profile guard-dog attack on the alliance of Native American activists, a Federal judge rejected the tribe’s legal claim. But almost immediately, the Obama Administration moved to stop pipeline construction. Two days later, an arrest warrant was issued for one of the journalists covering the story.  What does this all mean? Can we even tell yet? Listen in as we try to unpack some of the implications of this tumultuous week. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

The reality of climate change was apparent last week in reports on rising sea levels, the climate-related drivers of the Baton Rouge floods and even human caused earthquakes in OK. On the other hand MA has a new port to assist in wind turbine installation, and CA passed historic and ambitious climate regulations. Listen in! Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

The pipeline destruction of the Dakota plains became the scene of violence this week, with haunting images recalling both the massacre at Wounded Knee and Bull Connor’s dogs. At the same moment, New Zealand gave ‘personhood’ rights to a national park. Can we combine this sense of collective ownership (did the Indians really ‘sell’ Manhattan Island?) with the private property rights that allow us to risk poisoning the Missouri River?  Listen in! Download Enhanced Podcast

Massachusetts’ Governor Baker proposed a 5% per year decrease in the carbon emissions allowed under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and the President goes to China to jointly sign the Paris Agreement. We discuss. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

Recently, the enormously influential Pope Francis made a strong call for climate action, going so far as to say “To till too much, to keep too little, is to sin.” For Roman Catholics, the Pope’s words have a profound impact. For Climate Hawks, this question can be re-phrased to ask about the best way to distribute revenue from a carbon pricing system like California’s cap and trade or New England’s RGGI or even a carbon tax. Is it better to promote electric cars for those who can afford them, or to provide mass transit and energy efficient homes to the poor? Easy questions with hard answers, but we discuss. Listen in. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

In September, NASA will launch a mission to visit an asteroid and return with a sample of rock. This presages the arrival of space mining. This raises the question: what does the drive to exploit the environment say about human nature? Is mining an insignificant asteroid in deep space driven by the same impulse to that allows us to dump carbon into a seemingly  limitless atmosphere? Should humans learn to tame these responses, or are they the parts of our nature that will save us? Listen in! Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

Following the SJC’s decision against the pipeline tax, the utilities have pulled out of the Access Northeast pipeline project. That is good news, but raises the question of what happens next in the fight against new fossil fuel infrastructure. The Dakota Access pipeline fight looms large in this context.  One the other hand, there are now several examples of clean energy breakthroughs. Listen in as we discuss. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

Bill McKibben has written a provocative article arguing that our society must adopt a war mentality to address climate change.  Is he right? Exactly who or what would we fight? Listen in for a discussion. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

A court ruling ends the plan to finance new natural gas pipelines by means of a ‘tariff’ on electricity bills. This is a victory for the Massachusetts consumer and for clean energy, especially since it will become much harder to build this kind of decades-long-lived fossil fuel infrastructure. Listen in as we discuss the implications of this important decision. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

Bill McKibben is being harassed by paid videographers who are hoping to capture any moment of his life that can be construed as hypocrisy.  Those doing the stalking are paid hacks, but the money comes from anonymous right wing SuperPACs. Does the hypocrisy argument hold up? Is the real goal the intimidation of the rest of us? Listen in as we discuss this outrageous behavior. Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast

Heat and drought in New England give a taste of the new abnormal state of the climate, and the Olympic Opening contained a climate message.  The coolest thing this week is the annual Perseid meteor shower. Even if you can go out and see it, this ageless natural phenomena teaches us about our place in the universe. Listen in! Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog. Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. Thanks for listening. …Ted McIntyre Download Enhanced Podcast