2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #49
Editor's Pick
Climate Science On Trial Again
OUR CHILDRENS TRUST
On Monday, before a panel of three federal judges, a group of young Americans will argue that they should be able to take the government to trial next February for failing to take adequate action against global climate change. A Justice Department attorney will argue against them.
Kids across America would be smart to send their good vibes to California this weekend. More specifically, they should focus on San Francisco and even more specifically on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
While that may be a strange place for kids to think about, the quality of their lives in the years ahead is hanging in the balance. Another bunch of kids and young adults will battle a lawyer from the federal government in front of the Court’s three-judge panel Monday to argue that President Trump must do something about global climate change. The kids went to court because young people, present and future, will suffer most from the dangerous impacts of global warming, much worse than the wildfires, floods, hurricanes, droughts and rising seas we see today.
The stakes are big. In their lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, the youngsters charge that the government is contributing to climate change by doing things like allowing coal and oil to be produced on public lands. They argue that a climate system capable of sustaining human life must be protected by the government as a public trust. But their most important argument – one that could take their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court – is that the federal government’s failure to do enough about global warming will damage the planet so profoundly that it violates children’s constitutional rights to life and liberty.
Climate Science On Trial Again by William S Becker, HuffPost, Dec 8, 2017
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Dec 3, 2017
- Soil Power! The Dirty Way to a Green Planet, Opinion by Jacques Leslie, Sunday Review, New York Times, Dec 2, 2017
- Analysis: How developing nations are driving record growth in solar power by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Nov 29, 2017
- Judge Questions Exxon’s Attempt to Block Climate Fraud Investigations by Nicholas Kusnetz & David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 1, 2017
- The Carbon Brief Interview: Dr Bill Hare by Leo Hickman, Carbon Brief, Dec 1. 2017
- Tropical deforestation is getting bigger, study finds by Morgan Erickson-Davis, Mongabay, Nov 29, 2017
- Batteries can be part of the fight against climate change - if we do these five things by Jonathan Eckart, World Economic Forum, Nov 28, 2017
- Climate change: Obama regrets lack of US leadership, AFP/AP/Reuters/Deutsche Welle, Dec 3, 2017
- Johannesburg's new "agripreneurs" dig for green gold on skyscraper rooftops by Inna Lazareva, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 1, 2017
Mon Dec 4, 2017
- Wind power blows past coal in Texas by Ryan Maye Handy, Houston Chronicle, Nov 28, 2017
- Tesla switches on giant battery to shore up Australia's grid by David B Gray, Reuters, Dec 3, 2017
- Importance and scale of past climate change underestimated by Kevin O'Sullivan, The Irish Times, Dec 4, 2017
- The moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Republican Party by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 4, 2017
- Did U.S. Negotiators Actually Accomplish Something in Bonn? by Bob Berwyn, Pacific Standard, Dec 1, 2017
- Forest gumption: How scientists are tapping everything from drones to pruning shears to stem global warming by Daniel Grossman, Christian Science Monitor, Dec 3, 2017
- Global warming to claim 33% of ice volume in Hindu Kush Himalayan region: Expert, IANS/Hindu Times, Dec 4, 2017
- Skeptical About Climate, Clean Energy Skeptics by Angus McCone, Bloomberg New Finance, Nov 30, 2017
Tue Dec 5, 2017
- Why remote Antarctica is so important in a warming world by Chris Fogwill, Chris Turney & Zoe Robinson, The Conversation AU, Dec 4, 2017
- Trump Disbands Group Meant to Prepare Cities for Climate Shocks by Christopher Flavell Bloomberg News, Dec 4, 2017
- 20 years after Kyoto Protocol, where does world stand on climate? by Eric Johnston, Japan Times, Dec 4, 2017
- Top US firms including Walmart and Ford oppose Trump on climate change by Richard Luscombe, Guardian, Dec 1, 2017
- Southern California fire is 'out of control,' forcing thousands to evacuate by Paul Vercammen, Jason Hanna and Madison Park, CNN, Dec 5, 2017
- Does hope inspire more action on climate change than fear? We don’t know. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 5, 2017
- Bitcoin could cost us our clean-energy future by Eric Holthaus, Grist, Dec 5, 2017
- "Alternative Facts" about Climate Change by Ben Santer, Observations, Scientific American, Dec 5, 2017
- Climate scientists see alarming new threat to California by Evan Halpar, Los Angeles Times, Dec 5, 2017
Wed Dec 6, 2017
- Australia's largest solar plant to be built in 2018 by Cole Latimer, Brisbane Times, Dec 5, 2017
- Instrument of Power: How Fossil Fuel Donors Shaped the Anti-Climate Agenda of a Powerful Congressional Committee by Marianne Lavelle & David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 5, 2017
- There’s little middle ground in Internet discussions of climate change—Does it matter? by Sarah DeWeerdt, Anthropocene, Dec 5, 2017
- Wildfires continue to rage across Southern California by Madison Park, Steve Almasy & Paul Vercammen, CNN, Nov 6, 2017
- Myth and Dystopia in the Anthropocene by Mark Kernan, Open Democracy/Reslience, Dec 6, 2017
- 4 Takeaways From a Gathering of Mayors on Climate Change by Mitch Smith, New York Times, Dec 5, 2017
- 4 Questions on the California Fires and Climate Change by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Dec 5, 2017
- Fire rages near Bel-Air, Getty museum in Los Angeles by Jason Hanna, Madison Park & Stella Chan, CNN, Dec6. 2017
- US government report finds steady and persistent global warming by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 6, 2017
- California will burn until it rains — and climate change may keep future rains away by Rachel Becker, Science, The Verge, Dec 6, 2017
Thu Dec 7, 2017
- Carbon Capture Is Essential To Limiting Global Warming, But No One Knows How To Do It Or How Much It Will Cost by Steve Hanley, CleanTechnica, Dec 4, 2017
- Get ready for more California droughts thanks to climate change by Alex Lubben, Vice News, Dec 5, 2017
- The most accurate climate change models predict the most alarming consequences, study finds by Chris Mooney, Washington Post, Energy & Environment, Dec 6, 2017
- As Greenland Melts, Where’s the Water Going? by Henry Fountain & Derek Watkins, Climate, New York Times, Dec 5, 2017
- Rising Waters: Can a Massive Barrier Save Venice from Drowning? by Jeff Goodell, Yale Environmental 360, Dec 6, 2017
- Don't blame God or nature. This is our fault, Opinion by David Suzuki, National Observer, Dec 7, 2017
- The Most Accurate Climate Models Predict Greater Warming, Study Shows by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Dec 6, 2017
- Renewable Energy Isn't Perfect, But It's Far Better Than Fossil Fuels by David Suzuki, Alternet, Dec 6, 2017
Fri Dec 8, 2017
- Climate change is radically reshuffling UK bird species, report finds by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Dec 5, 2017
- Mount Agung erupts in Indonesia: Is it a climate event? by Tom Di Liberto, NOAA's Climate.gov, Dec 5, 2017
- California fires: Blazes stretch from Ventura to San Diego County by Paul Vercammen, Faith Karimi and Steve Almasy, CNN, Dec 8, 2017
- More Than 80 Leading Economists Demand “Not A Penny More” Spent On Fossil Fuels by Joshua S Hill, Clean Technica, Dec 7, 2017
- The first wintertime megafire in California history is here by Eric Holthaus, Grist, Dec 8, 2017
- New research, Nov 27 - Dec 3, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki. Skeptical Science, Dec 5, 2017
- Scott Pruitt’s terrible plan to “objectively” assess climate science by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 7, 2017
- Environment concerns in trade talks with China progressing well, says McKenna, Canadian Press/National Observer, Dec 7, 2017
Sat Dec 9, 2017
- 'Death spiral’: half of Europe’s coal plants are losing money by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Dec 8, 2017,
- Trees are the dominant source of methane emissions in Amazon wetlands, Guest Post by Vincent Gauci, Carbon Brief, Dec 4, 2017
- Australian Climate Science Denier Ian Plimer Follows Tony Abbott in Pushing Dodgy Science to London Think-Tank by Graham Readfearn, DeSmog, Dec 7, 2017
- In a Warming California, a Future of More Fire by Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, Dec 7, 2017
- As “Climate Change” Fades from Government Sites, a Struggle to Archive Data by Leila Miller, Frontline, PBS, Dec 8, 2017
- Climate Science On Trial Again by William S Becker, HuffPost, Dec 8, 2017
- Koch-Backed Business Group Splinters in Climate-Change Dispute by Ari Nater, Bloomberg News, Dec 8, 2017
- New Conservative Argument: Climate Change Is So Awesome, You Guys, Opinion by Wiliam Rivers Pitt, Truthout, Dec 9, 2017
Posted by John Hartz on Saturday, 9 December, 2017
