Articles Archive
Contents
- 1 Bill McKibben Writings
- 2 Climate Crisis News Articles Archive
- 2.1 BBC News
- 2.2 Carbon Brief
- 2.3 Clean Technica
- 2.4 CNBC
- 2.5 Common Dreams
- 2.6 Financial Times
- 2.7 Forbes
- 2.8 Gizmodo
- 2.9 The Guardian
- 2.10 Intelligence Squared
- 2.11 International Energy Agency (IEA)
- 2.12 Market Watch
- 2.13 Mother Jones
- 2.14 MSN
- 2.15 NASA
- 2.16 New Mexico Political Report
- 2.17 New Scientist
- 2.18 New York Times
- 2.19 Oil Change International
- 2.20 One Earth
- 2.21 Science Alert
- 2.22 Scientific American
- 2.23 Time Magazine
- 2.24 Truthout.org
- 2.25 Union of Concerned Scientists
- 2.26 USA Today
- 2.27 US News
- 3 Good News Articles Archive
Bill McKibben Writings
Bill McKibben writes regularly for The New Yorker in:
as well as sending out The Climate Crisis newsletter from the New Yorker.
Some not so recent writings:
- ‘A Bomb in the Center of the Climate Movement’: Michael Moore Damages Our Most Important Goal" - Rolling Stone - May 1 2020
- "The Coronavirus and the Climate Movement" – The New Yorker – March 18, 2020
- "23 Reasons to Climate Strike Today" - The Nation - Sept 19, 2019
- "Don’t Burn Trees to Fight Climate Change—Let Them Grow" - The New Yorker - August 15, 2019
- "Let's Win the War on Warming" - The New Republic - August 15 2016
Climate Crisis News Articles Archive
Articles are listed by publishing organization then by date.
BBC News
- “University of Cambridge: Removing meat 'cut carbon emissions'” – Sept 10, 2019
Carbon Brief
- “IEA: Coronavirus impact on CO2 emissions six times larger than 2008 financial crisis” – Apr 30, 2020
- “Factcheck: How electric vehicles help to tackle climate change” – Zeke Hausfather – May 13, 2019
Synopsis by RJC 1/5/20
The author, Zeke Hausfather. covers research in climate science and energy with a US focus. Zeke has masters degrees in environmental science from Yale University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and is completing a PhD in climate science at University of California, Berkeley. He has spent the past 10 years working as a data scientist and entrepreneur in the cleantech sector.
Notice that emissions arising from battery manufacture and other manufacturing for the Nissan Leaf don’t vary much. The comparison is also predicated on 150,000 km driven over the vehicle lifetime. The Fuel Cycle (orange) reflects the countries manufacturing commitment to renewable electricity production. The countries’ electricity grid carbon intensity is from 2015.
Using the data from chart and the EU Average Nissan lifetime emissions of 128 gm/km with a conventional vehicle being 258 gm/km we can do some calculations.
The EU Nissan manufacturing cycle emits 35 gm/km or 35*150000 gm/life = 5,250 kg more than the conventional vehicle manufacture, but eliminates 165 gm/km of tail pipe emissions. Saving 165 gm/km means the Nissan Leaf pays this back after 5,250,000/165 km = 31,818 km. If the manufacturing emissions were the same or less, the Nissan would save CO2 as soon as it drove off the lot. This assumes the driver is buying a new Leaf instead of a new conventional vehicle.
If the driver is buying a new Leaf to early replace an existing conventional vehicle with similar performance, the payback time is 165 gm/km over the total Nissan Leaf emissions of 128*150,000 gm/life => 19,200 kg which would be paid back in 19,200,000/165 km = 116,363 km. This assumes the replace vehicle is taken off the road.
If the fuel cycle is all driven by renewables (see Norway) the replacement Nissan lifetime emissions of 73*150,000 gm/life => 10,950 kg pays back in 10,950,000/165 km = 66,363 km.
It’s clear that the manufacturing processes for building the car and the battery need to convert to renewables as quickly as possible to gain the best impact for EVs and to get existing drivers to retire their current vehicle in favor of an EV. It’s a no-brainer for first time car buyers.
Battery lifecycle emissions vary widely depending on the study reporting and the country of manufacturer with Asia being 20% higher than EU and USA due to the continued used of coal.
Incremental emissions from adding an EV to electricity demand may rely on incremental energy generation, i.e. natural gas fired generators.
Clean Technica
CNBC
- “Capitalism ‘will fundamentally be in jeopardy’ if business does not act on climate change, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says” – Jan 16, 2020
Common Dreams
- “'Scale of This Failure Has No Precedent': Scientists Say Hot Ocean 'Blob' Killed One Million Seabirds” – Jan 16, 2020
Financial Times
- “Extinction Rebellion: inside the new climate resistance” – April 10 2019
Forbes
- "Plunging Renewable Energy Prices Mean U.S. Can Hit 90% Clean Electricity By 2035 - At No Extra Cost" - Silvio Marcacci - Jun 9, 2020
- "We Have To Implement A Green Economic Recovery" - Enrique Dans - June 9, 2020
Gizmodo
- “World's Biggest Fossil Fuel Funder Notes Climate Change Could End 'Human Life as We Know it'” – Feb 21, 2020
The Guardian
- “‘The only uncertainty is how long we’ll last’: a worst case scenario for the climate in 2050” – Feb 15, 2020
- “‘Overwhelming and terrifying’: the rise of climate anxiety” – Feb 10, 2020
- “Yes, electric vehicles really are better than fossil fuel burners" – November 26 2019
- “Are electric vehicles really so climate friendly?” – November 25 2019
- “Naomi Oreskes: ‘Discrediting science is a political strategy’” – November 3, 2019
Intelligence Squared
- “To Stop Climate Collapse, We Must End Capitalism” – Feb 21, 2020 - Podcast
International Energy Agency (IEA)
Market Watch
- “Opinion: Your electric car and vegetarian diet are pointless virtue signaling in the fight against climate change” - December 26 2019
- Notes: The author, Bjorn Lomborg is not well respected in the main stream of climate crisis fighters but checkout the Guardian articles.
Mother Jones
- “We Need a Massive Climate War Effort—Now” – Kevin Drum – January/February 2020 issue
Synopsis RJC 12/27/19
The author is Kevin Drum is a political blogger for Mother Jones. He has a degree in journalism and a history working in the tech industry.
This article uses numbers from the Bloomberg New Energy Finance article on “Solar, Wind, Batteries To Attract $10 Trillion to 2050, But Curbing Emissions Long-Term Will Require Other Technologies Too” see (https://about.bnef.com/blog/solar-wind-batteries-attract-10-trillion-2050-curbing-emissions-long-term-will-require-technologies/)
Quote:
- “Let’s be clear about something: We’re not talking about voluntary personal cutbacks. If you decide to bicycle more or eat less meat, great—every little bit helps. But no one who’s serious about climate change believes that personal decisions like this have more than a slight effect on the gigatons of carbon we’ve emitted and the shortsighted policies we’ve enacted. Framing the problem this way—a solution of individual lifestyle choices—is mostly just a red herring that allows corporations and conservatives to avoid the real issue.”
Generally points out that societies faced with imminent environmental catastrophes failed to stop them. 84% of Canadians don’t want to pay a modest tax of $8-$40/mo to fight climate crisis.
Quote:
- As the Green New Deal suggests, part of the solution is building infrastructure for what we already know how to do. But our primary emphasis needs to be on R&D aimed like a laser at producing cheap, efficient, renewable energy sources—a program that attacks climate change while still allowing people to use lots of energy. This is the kind of spending that wins wars, after all. And make no mistake, this is a war against time and physics. So let’s propose a truly gargantuan commitment to spending money on clean energy research.
Bold my emphasis.
Graphic:
“We need to pump billions into these promising green technologies” primarily to get costs down so that it makes economic sense to adopt them. Pros and cons are discussed for:
- Renewable Energy
- Nuclear Power
- Energy Storage
- Land Use
- Carbon Capture
- Concrete
- Adaptation
- Biofuels
- Less Meat, Mostly Plants
- Fusion Energy
- Geoengineering
Last words:
- “We simply don’t know which discoveries are most likely to pan out, and climate change is dire enough that we can’t afford to close off any possibilities.”
MSN
- “'Nail in the coffin': Era of big oil sands mines may be over” – Bloomberg - Kevin Orland and Robert Tuttle - Feb 24, 2020
NASA
- “Is it too late to prevent climate change?” – date unknown
New Mexico Political Report
- "How climate change Is contributing to skyrocketing rates of infectious disease" - ProPublica - May 9, 2020
New Scientist
- “Return of warm water 'blob' in the Pacific threatens marine life” – October 9, 2019
New York Times
- "Think This Pandemic Is Bad? We Have Another Crisis Coming" - April 15, 2020
- “The Party That Ruined the Planet” – Paul Krugman – December 12 2019
- “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change” – Nathaniel Rich, August 1 2018
Oil Change International
- “Stop the Money Pipeline: Private Banks Owning Oil Companies Is a Recipe for Disaster” Apr 10, 2020 – posted at CommonDreams
- “Drilling Towards Disaster: New Mexico’s Oil & Gas Boom Undermines The State’s Climate Goals” – Feb 2020
- “Drilling Towards Disaster: Why U.S. Oil And Gas Expansion Is Incompatible With Climate Limits” – Jan 2019
One Earth
- "Impacts of Green New Deal Energy Plans on Grid Stability, Costs, Jobs, Health, and Climate in 143 Countries" - Dec 20, 2019
Science Alert
- "Stanford Researchers Have an Exciting Plan to Tackle The Climate Emergency Worldwide" - Dec 27, 2019
Scientific American
- “Why CO2 Isn’t Falling More During a Global Lockdown” – E&E News - Apr 24, 2020
- “How the Coronavirus Pandemic Is Affecting CO2 Emissions” – E&E News - Mar 12, 2020
Time Magazine
- “Antarctic Glacier Loss Is 'Unstoppable,' Study Says” – May 12, 2014
Truthout.org
- “Could COVID-19 Spell the End of the Fracking Industry as We Know It?” - Dahr Jamail – Mar 30, 2020
Union of Concerned Scientists
USA Today
US News
Good News Articles Archive
For more inspiring news see these articles:
Drawdown
- see also Project Drawdown
Climate Solutions
- These are the 76 climate solutions we need to scale up right now to have a chance: Onshore wind power, utility-scale solar power, reduced food waste: These are just the first three of Project Drawdown’s plan to end the climate crisis with existing technologies. by Adele Peters, 03-03-20, staff writer at Fast Company.
Regenerative Agriculture
Articles
- How to Halt Global Warming for $300 Billion By Adam Majendie and Pratik Parija, originally published in Bloomberg News, October 23, 2019.
- Regenerative agriculture could save soil, water, and the climate. Here’s how the U.S. government actively discourages it. by Jessica McKenzie, March 14th, 2019, NewFoodEconomy.org.
- 15 Organizations Creating Healthier Soil to Save the Planet Contributing author: Jared Kaufman, Dec 15, 2019, FoodTank.com.
- Beyond Organic: Regenerative Farming and The New Food Frontier A growing movement in farming is producing food that is more nutritious while reducing pollution and restoring health to land, water, crops, animals, and air. VERA TWEED, UPDATED ON DEC 1, 2017, BetterNutrition.com.
- One Weird Trick to Fix Farms Forever Does David Brandt hold the secret for turning industrial agriculture from global-warming problem to carbon solution? Tom Philpott, September 9, 2013, Mother Jones.
- Perennial Agriculture: The Advantages Crops that don't need reseeding. web.mit.edu.
- Why Don’t Farmers Believe in Climate Change? And does it actually matter? by David Biello July 17, 2013 Mother Jones
Films
- Carbon Cowboys trailer Traditional grazers switch to regenerative ranching.
- Greening the Desert II film by Jeff Lawton
- Interview with an Ecologist: Tim Crews, Director of Research and Lead Soil Ecologist Sept 2019, LandInstitute.org
- Regenerative agriculture in the Saudi desert Film: The Story of Al Baydha: The final update from Al Baydha Project Co-founder Neal Spackman, 9 years in.
Reforestation
- "Hope in a Changing Climate” Film by John Liu about restoring degraded lands.
- The Miyawaki Method - a Better Way to Build Forests Film by Lela Nargi, daily.jstore.org, July 24, 2019
- Akira Miyawaki-type of mini forest In Holland Film "Tiny Forest" by IVN, Netherlands.
- New Beginnings for an Ancient Forest, One Tree at a Time Montana Forests Part I, Yes! Magazine, Mar 11, 2020.
- Do Mountain Forests Hold the Answers for Climate Science? Montana Forests Part II, Yes! Magazine, Aug 6, 2020.
- Reversing desertification with the Sahara Forest Project By Jeremy Williams, November 29, 2017, EarthBound.Report.
- A Scientist Dreams Up A Plan To Stop The Sahara From Expanding Interview with Eugenia Kalnay, a prominent atmospheric scientist at the University of Maryland. Aired September 9, 2018 on NPR Morning Edition.
- Massive solar and wind farms could bring vegetation back to the Sahara by Alona Armstrong, Senior lecturer, Lancaster University; Sept 6, 2018, TheConversation.com.
Economics and Climate
- Why Central Banks Need to Step Up on Global Warming A decade after the world bailed out finance, it’s time for finance to bail out the world. By Adam Tooze, July 20, 2019.
Fungi and Mycorrhizal Networks
- Oyster mushrooms helped clean up after California’s wildfires Why is it so hard to make a business case for “mycoremediation?” by Renée Alexander, February 18th, 2019
- Exploring How and Why trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other Ecologist Suzanne Simard has shown how trees use a network of soil fungi to communicate their needs and aid neighboring plants. Now she’s warning that threats like clear-cutting and climate change could disrupt these critical networks. By Diane Toomey September 1, 2016, E360.Yale.edu.
Forest Management/ Wildfires/ Trees
- To Help Prevent the Next Big Wildfire, Let the Forest Burn By Ash Ngu and Sahil Chinoy, New York Times, Nov. 29, 2018.
- National Forest protection: a 21st century approach for biodiversity and climate solutions by Chad Hanson, Ph.D., Research ecologist with the John Muir Project, Sept 2018.
- Dems tout land-use planning as alternative to cutting trees by Marc Heller, May 10, 2019, E&E News.
Health and Climate
- Lessons from the Coronavirus Can Help Us Overcome the Climate Crisis “This is a moment when we can implement measures to help boost the economy, create jobs, and build climate resilience.” By Jessica Corbett, Mar 27, 2020, YES! Magazine.
Governmental Action
- A Southern Governor's Climate and Clean Energy Plan Aims for Zero Emissions North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature remains an obstacle to big changes, so the administration is looking for work-arounds and short-term wins. by James Bruggers, InsideClimateNews.org, Aug 30, 2019.
- Automatic for the people Can a deluge of new technology fix an indebted, small Greek city? by Venetia Rainey, Guardian Weekly, Sept 14, 2018. Or see pdf
Personal Action
- 9 Things You Can Do to Save the Environment Posted under Organic News & Environment by Courtney Sunday on October 17, 2017, NaturesPath.com.
- Ten Simple Ways to Clean Green by Green America, GreenAmerica.org.
- Do It With Worms - Worm Composting (pdf) from Sam McCarthy, Santa Fe
Recycling and Plastics
- Your Plastic Addiction Is Bankrolling Big Oil Fossil fuel companies feel threatened by alternative energy—and they’re counting on plastic to save them. by Rebecca Leber, March 3, 2020, Mother Jones.
- Ocean cleanup device successfully collects plastic for first time Floating boom finally retains debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, creator says. by Daniel Boffey in Brussels, Thu 3 Oct 2019, Guardian.
- The Plastic Bank: Using Plastic Refuse To Create A Global Currency For The Poor by Anne Field, Contributor, Forbes, Nov 29, 2017.
Electricity Generating
- Amid shut-off woes, a beacon of energy A Native American tribe has insulated itself from California’s blackouts by creating a microgrid utility, By Scott Wilson, Washington Post, January 1, 2020.
- A company called Blue Planet is converting carbon dioxide into building material A new terminal at the San Francisco airport was built using concrete from this process. Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media, YaleClimateConnections.org, Feb 2, 2019.
- Utility Helps Wean Vermonters From the Electric Grid Green Mountain Power is trying to turn homes, neighborhoods and towns into virtual power plants, driven by economics as well as environmental goals. By Diane Cardwell, New York Times, July 29, 2017.
