Posted on 2 June 2024 by BaerbelW, Doug Bostrom, John Hartz

Story of the week

Sometimes one story is not enough.

Our ongoing 2023-2024 experiences with lethal heatwaves, early wildfires and a threatening Atlantic hurricane season are reminders that climate progress in public policy and law has been glacially slow, far outpaced by inexorable radiative physics colliding with our CO2 emissions. We're hardly looking at a track record of unalloyed success.

Our list of articles this week gives some clues to why we're facing extreme conditions we could have better ameliorated, or even avoided. Published by DeSmog, Climate Campaigners Must Understand the Implications of June`s Critical European Parliamentary Elections describes an archetypal competently organized and knife-edged campaign by the fossil fuel industry to undermine productive public policy intended to deal with our climate crisis. This disciplined task force faces a general public that routinely leaves more than half of EU parliamentary election ballots unfilled. It's arguable that the fossil fuel collective's concerted efforts (admirable skills— if aligned to a better purpose) with a healthy dash of public sloth and apathy are why we're now living in a world of extremes. 

Is rational acknowledgement of our predicament a lost cause? It might be better to think of this as a matter of momentum. If so, where can we see that? Another notable story this week happened in Vermont, USA and is covered by The Guardian's Dharma Noor: `Game-changing`: Vermont becomes first state to require big oil to pay for climate damages. Let alone 20 years ago, this legislation would have been hard to imagine in 2014. It's an agonizingly slow and needlessly costly process but Vermont now has evidence of climate change in plain sight. Explanations of that evidence are accepted— and then form the basis of public policy to deal with outcomes. 

It's worth remembering: about 325 years have passed since Thomas Savery introduced the first coal-fired motive power apparatus to find a home in industry. Since then we've wrapped our entire culture first around coal and then adding liquid and gas hydrocarbons to the mix. 326 years of habit is a lot of momentum. In contrast, serious early warning of the side-effects of our expedient natural gift reached the ears of legislators and public executives some 59 years ago. Six decades is short compared to over three hundred years. What's more,  about forty of these years were pretty much completely wasted thanks to such foot-dragging as what's happening in the EU as described above. 

What we see in these two stories is that dots are being connected. Vermont's legislation will encounter a blizzard of court action but regardless of the exact outcome this furor wouldn't be happening if accountability had not been assigned. It's a watershed moment in the US, part of burgeoning global momentum. All signs are toward accumulation of legal and regulatory energy to deal with climate change— and with that we should expect climate progress to accelerate. As we see in Vermont, this advancement happens by taking a little time to see what happening— and then voting according to one's conclusions. 

Stories we promoted this week, by publication date:

Before May 26

• Why the COP28 climate summit mattered, and what to watch for in 2024, The Conversation, Rachel Kyte.
• Republican AGs ask Supreme Court to block climate change lawsuits brought by several states, The Independent News, David A. Lieb. Nineteen Republican state attorneys general have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved in a dispute over climate-change lawsuits
• The hidden crisis in Europe's groundwater, Under the Surface, by Zeynep Sentek, Jelena Prtori?, & Sarah Pilz .
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #21 2021, Skeptical Science, Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack. Skeptical Science's own weekly compendium of climate research.
• The silent tragedy of local restrictions on renewable energy, The Revelator, James Goodwin. New research shows how policies blocking cleaner energy sources, often inspired by persistent disinformation, harm the communities that adopt them.
• Want to See Community Solar Done Right? A Project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Can Serve as a Model, Inside Climate Energy/ Inside Climate News, Dan Gearino. "The solar array in L’Anse, Michigan, is an example of using renewable energy to meet both financial and social goals."
• At Least Two Countries Have Lost All Their Glaciers, E&E News/Scientific American, Francisco "A.J." Camacho. "Two countries—Slovenia and Venezuela—have lost all of their glaciers. It is a grim benchmark showing the progression of climate change"

May 26

• 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #21, Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, Doug Bostrom & John Hartz. A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 19, 2024 thru Sat, May 25, 2024.
• EarthCARE satellite to probe how clouds affect climate, Phys.org, Juliette Collen (AFP).
• Are electric cars really greener than petrol cars? We've lined up two SUVs and put them to the test, ABC News, Jo Lauder. We've lined up an electric and a petrol car and put them to the test.
• RTFM, Diagram Monkey, John Kennedy.

May 27

• Climate Campaigners Must Understand the Implications of June`s Critical European Parliamentary Elections, DeSmog, Hugh Wheelan. Far-right gains in the EP would strengthen efforts to undermine Europe’s Green Deal.
• Humanity’s survival is still within our grasp – just. But only if we take these radical steps, Comment is Free, The Guardian, Opinion by David King. "Reduce emissions, build resilience, repair ecosystems, remove greenhouse gases: these are the four Rs that can save us"

May 28

• Hollywood Movies Rarely Reflect Climate Change Crisis. These Researchers Want to Change That, U.S. News - News, Associated Press. A team of researchers set out to determine if today’s Hollywood blockbusters are reflective of the current climate crisis and found out they aren't most of the time
• At a glance - What is the link between hurricanes and global warming?, Skeptical Science, John Mason.
• Are your internet habits killing the planet?, HEATED, Arielle Samuelson. The internet is quickly becoming a major contributor to climate change. Here's how to understand the problem—and what can be done to fix it.
• Satellite to probe mystery of clouds and climate, BBC News, Jonathan Amos.
• The climate refugee crisis is here, World, Washington Post, Marina Dias &Terrence McCoy. "Catastrophic flooding in southern Brazil has forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Many say they won’t go back."

May 29

• Oil Funded Think Tank Gathers Climate Deniers Ahead of Crucial EU Elections, DeSmog, Rachel Sherrington. Panellists criticised net zero as “stupid propaganda” and suggested that climate action would “take us back to the dark ages”.
• Researchers show the link between trawls and climate change in the North Sea, Phys.org, Torsten Fischer.
• New Sierra Club Report: Trading Away Our Climate Exposes How Trade Pacts Undermine Climate Action, Common Dreams, Newswire Editor. Report Urges Elimination of ISDS Provisions, Calls for Stronger Trade Policies to Protect Climate
• The oil and gas industry has been lying about global warming for decades-accountability is long overdue, The Conversation, Gordon McBean.

May 30

• Corporations invested in carbon offsets that were `likely junk`, analysis says, The Guardian, Nina Lakhani. Analysis of the carbon offset projects used by top corporations including Delta, Gucci and ExxonMobil raises concerns around their emission cuts claims
• A problematic estimate of warming from low-sulfur marine fuels, The Climate Brink, Zeke Hausfather. A new paper provides a reasonable forcing estimate but errs on the global temperature response
• GB News Gives Dozens of Appearances to UK`s Main Climate Denial Group, DeSmog, Sam Bright. The broadcaster’s decision to platform a “notorious” anti-science group raises major questions ahead of the general election, campaigners say.

May 31

• On Hens, Eggs, Temperature and CO2, Skeptical Science, Giacomo Grassi. A recent article suggests that the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere is caused by the influence of temperature on natural systems, rather than fossil fuels. But it's a glaring mistake, like confusing the brake with the accelerator.
• Factcheck: no, Richard Tice, volcanoes are not to blame for climate change, The Guardian, Simon Evans. Reform UK’s leader has made some eye-opening statements on the climate, and his party’s manifesto is packed with even more falsehoods
• Coping as the world’s best known climate scientist | ft. Katharine Hayhoe, ClimateAdam on Youtube, Adam Levy. Adam Levy and Katharine Hayhoe talk about how climate scientists cope with what they know
• `Game-changing`: Vermont becomes first state to require big oil to pay for climate damages, The Guardian, Dharna Noor. Climate Superfund Act compels oil companies to pay potentially billions of dollars for climate impacts caused by their emissions
• India heatwave kills at least 33, including election officials, Climate & Energy, Reuters, Jatindra Dash.
• Climate denial group wants to subvert NOAA data with its own, E&ENews, Scott Waldman. The Heartland Institute seeks to build a nationwide network of temperature-monitoring stations.

June 1

• Fact Brief - Have climate models overestimated global warming?, Skeptical Science, John Mason. Fact brief #5
• Climate deniers like DeSantis hurt most vulnerable communities, scientists say, The Guardian, Richard Luscombe. On first day of predicted intense Atlantic hurricane season, Nature Conservancy urges action and warns against misinformation