The Climate Minute

The Climate Minute - The "We're No Lawyers" Edition...

In this week's Climate Minute Rob and Ted show why they didn't go to law school as they talk the Supreme Court's decision to hear cases related to EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases.  We also take Emily Rooney to task (lightly and respectfully) for crediting the Koch Brother's efforts as "debunking," which implies something we don't think (hope) she didn't mean to imply, and we hail the creation of the first Community Solar Garden in Massachusetts which gives everyone, regardless of roof or tree situation, the ability to get in on clean, renewable power.

The Links

We did a minor roundup of initial reaction to the Supreme Court's granting of certiorari for several cases involving the EPA's greenhouse gas regulations in a blog this week. Here's an updated post from Legal Planet with more thoughts about what this case means.  Energy and Environment TV has an interview with an ex-Deptarment of Justice official who provides some of his thoughts, here.

Next time you get frustrated with something going on (or not) in America, remind yourself if could be worse.  The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunset, which has been involved in anti-drilling activities in the arctic, was stormed by "baclava-masked" Russian security agents and the 30 people on board have been arrested and charged with piracy (which carries a 10-15 year prison sentence in Russia).   The latest is that Russian authorities claim to have found drugs on-board, which Greenpeace categorically denies.  Now granted, the activists did try to board a Russian ship and oil rig, but "piracy"?  Clearly Putin's not about to have his dreams of Arctic drilling derailed.

Emily Rooney of WGBH got Ted's goat when she gave the Koch Brothers a little too much credit by calling their work "debunking" -- rather than outright denial of fact... But maybe that's just us.  You can read more here (check out the comments), or check out the video below.

http://youtu.be/djVh1td7m7Y

Cyclone Phailin was a category 4, "Sandy-sized" storm that hit the second most populous nation in the world, and did you hear a thing about it?  Probably not.  Here's some neat satellite imagery of Phailin, as well as two other mammoth storms impacting Asia.

We spoke briefly of greentech investor Jigar Shah and his feelings that market innovation is at least as important as technological innovation in advancing renewables.  You can hear the podcast here.

Speaking of the market, WGBH had a short segment discussing the changing energy market in New England, and how these changes influenced the announced closure of the Brayton Point Station power plant.  Here's the embedded video:

http://youtu.be/r04FpKhlZPI

We discussed the Harvard Community Solar Garden, a first-of-its-kind community solar project in Harvard, Massachusetts.  The Garden is similar to "community supported agriculture" where individuals can become subscribers and buy a share of the solar array's output.  Anyone in the National Grid western and central Mass (WCMA) load zone (check out your community's zone here) can purchase a 3kw to 15kw "share" of the project and receive a portion of the solar production.  For more about the Harvard project, go here.  For more about Solar Gardens in general, check out the Solar Gardens website here.

Finally, for a little video to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, check Vice President Biden and Gina McCarthy welcoming EPA employees back to work.

Things to do:

On the 22nd there will be another opportunity to hear where the two remaining candidates for Mayor of Boston stand on energy and environmental issues.  The second conversation regarding energy, the environment and the green economy will be held on from 1 to 2:30pm at the Old South Meetinghouse.  You can download the flyer here.  The event is free, but you can register for it here.

Go hear MCAN Board Member (oh, yeah, and head of the Better Future Project) Craig Altemose as he speaks about the need to build a movement to address the climate crisis on October 25th, at 7:30pm, First Parish, Concord.  Here’s our calendar listing.

Cambridge City Council candidates will meet at a forum on Energy and the Environment onOct 30th, at the Cambridge Senior Citizens Center.

Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do.

As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog.

When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.  

So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - The End of Coal in New England is in Sight...

It's Climate Minute time, here's your weekly smorgasbord of links you can read while avoiding "real work."  This week we talk about the surprise (to some) announcement that the Brayton Point coal plant will be closing by June of 2017.  Also on the punch list?  Neat new technology that makes solar power a 24-hour proposition, overrspending the Earth's carbon budget, and it may never be cooler than it is now... The Links. For more about the planned closure of the Brayton Point coal plant, you can read pieces at ThinkProgress, The Providence Journal (which has an excellent roundup of the "perfect storm" of factors leading to Brayton's closure), and this piece from South Coast Today which deals with some of the imapct to the host community Brayton's closure will have. Remember Bill McKibben's "Do The Math" tour?  The premise was that there is a finite amount of carbon we can put into the atmosphere and still expect to have a recognizable climate.  The latest IPCC report has taken that view and run with it, and has incorporated calculations into the latest version which show some frightening results. In other bad news, a new study released in the journal Nature finds that within 30-50 years we will reach a point where our coolest years are hotter than the high temperature years of the past 100 years...  The study looked at scenarios where no serious efforts to curb emissions were made, resulting in a stunning 900+ppm of carbon (little less than three times the amount today), and a carbon constrained model where efforts to reduce emissions lead to a worldwide average of 530+ppm.  The story is currently also in the Boston Globe. But let's leave on a positive note.  A recently opened 280MW solar field in Arizona has become the first large-scale project in the United States to use molten salt (molten salt!) to "store" solar energy in the form of heat to the plant can produce power day and night. While there have been smaller scale facilities created with this technology, this is a utility scale system capable of powering 70,000 homes.    While it's land intensives at 3 square miles, this is the perfect facility for sun-soaked and under-populated areas like the American southwest. Things to do: Remember, if you live in the 5th Congressional district in Massachusetts you will be going to the polls on Tuesday for the primary to choose your next member of congress.  Find out where to vote here.  Who to vote for, well, we can't help you there... On the 22nd there will be another opportunity to hear where the two remaining candidates for Mayor of Boston stand on energy and environmental issues.  The second conversation regarding energy, the environment and the green economy will be held on from 1 to 2:30pm at the Old South Meetinghouse.  You can download the flyer here. Go hear MCAN Board Member (oh, yeah, and head of the Better Future Project) Craig Altemose as he speaks about the need to build a movement to address the climate crisis on October 25th, at 7:30pm, First Parish, Concord.  Here's our calendar listing. Cambridge City Council candidates will meet at a forum on Energy and the Environment on Oct 30th, at the Cambridge Senior Citizens Center. Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.   So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - No One Shuts Us Down! Edition

It's Climate Minute time, and here's the links version of the podcast.  Grab a cuppa' and listen while we talk shutdowns, IPCC report, Koch Daycare, and just what the heck the discount rate means for climate change... (and just what the heck is a discount rate?) The Links. The Shutdown has pulled attention away from anything of substance, but there is a climate hook there too.   Huffington Post reports that up to 94% of EPA employees will be idled, while oil and gas producers might just be chuckling about the whole thing. Politico has a good roundup of the various ways the shutdown will impact environment and energy programs. Former Senator John Sununu's op-ed in the Globe comparing the EPA's obligation to regulate carbon emissions to the hunt for Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now is still available in the free site, as of this morning.  Check it out before it goes behind the pay wall. Speaking of important, non-shutdown related news, here's a good summary of the more salient points in the latest IPCC report. As we mentioned, billionaire climate denier David Koch donated $20 million to MIT for daycare for students and employees of the university.  This is on top of the some $150 million Koch has donated to the university over the years.  So here's the question for you: should MIT, an institution devoted to scientific truth, take Koch's money, even if it's for good purposes?  Here - tell us what you think: [polldaddy poll=7449348] Read more about the discount rate, and how the value of money over time might change some of the calculus about taking action on climate change, check out this Bloomberg article. Finally, check out this great video of a Fox announcer trying to hide his disdain for the alignment of Tea Party and renewable energy advocates in Georgia. Things to do: Oct 6th on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the Boston Local Food Festival. AltWheels Fleet Day is Oct 7th, at the Four Points Sheaton, Norwood. On Wednesday, October 9th, the group Forecast the Facts will bring over 50,000 signatures to WGBH's Board of Trustees meeting calling for the removal of climate denier David Koch from the 'GBH board.  You can sign up to attend the public demonstration here. Cambridge City Council candidates will meet at a forum on Energy and the Environment on Oct 30th, at the Cambridge Senior Citizens Center. Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.   So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - What's With Those Tinfoil Hats, Anyway?

Welcome to the links n' stuff version of The Climate Minute, MCAN's weekly climate news and views podcast. This week Rob and Ted talk about the IPCC report, the new EPA regs released moments, MOMENTS!, after Rob and Ted speculated about what might be in them last week, and a pot purri of climate happenings.

The Climate Minute - Powerplant CO2 Regs and Skeptics Go Wild!

If it's Friday, it's the Climate Minute, your weekly source of climate change related news and views.  Big day as the EPA is about to announce new powerplant CO2 rules, the IPCC report is about to go out next week, and skeptics are going into overdrive... Now for the links: The EPA has just announced their new regulations to address carbon pollution from new powerplants.   As we recorded this podcast we only had advance stories, like those from the New York Times, for those not on board with climate change action: Washington Times, and this story from Canada Free Press which had an interesting mention of a possible $15/ton "fine" for coal plants unable to meet the strict limits.  (Which actually looks a lot like a proto-carbon tax.) Since we recorded (like minutes after we ended), EPA announced their regs, which you can find on this page.  For an audio message from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, go here. (By the way, did you know only 50 coal plants emit a full 12% of US carbon emissions?  No kidding, check this out.) Naturally all this climate action (IPCC and new powerplant regs) leads to an opposite reaction, and the Skeptics have been busy. First, the House Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing on the President's climate action which "only" drew two cabinet level witnesses, Gina and Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz.  If you have three hours to kill you can always watch the YouTube video. For the "best and worst" quotes from the hearing, as judged by Grist, go here. Next, our good buddies (sarcasm alert) at the Heartland Institute have launched a bizzaro-world IPCC report, the NIPCC (Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, oh how clever...) "Climate Change Reconsidered II" which, in their words, "uses layman's language to present solid evidence that today's climate changes are well within the bounds of natural variability."  Here's an Inside Climate story about the efforts, and if you're game, here's the report itself.  Does fracking release less methane than EPA has previously estimated?  A study underway by the Environmental Defense Fund, University of Texas, and nine petroleum companies may be leading to that conclusion.  Read more about it on Grist here. Sunday night Al Jazeera America will show Bill McKibben's "Do The Math" documentary at 9:00pm Eastern. This Sunday marks the Autumnal Equinox, and by mid-week days and nights will be equal in New England as we plow ahead toward summer. And finally, our thoughts and prayers are with those in Colorado impacted by the recent floods. Things to Do: For more about 350.org's "Draw the Line Against Keystone" events, and to find one near you, go here.  You can enter your zipcode in the box on the upper left and find an event near you, or create your own event. You can support a great organization while helping to honor an excellent local activist at the Clean Water Action's Annual Benefit party on Saturday, September 21st from 3 to 5pm, where Boston Climate Action's Loie Hayes will be recognized for her tremendous activism on the local level. If you're thinking about changing careers toward something more sustainable, the Fifth annual Green Careers Conference is coming up Thursday, October 3rd, at the Marlboro Holiday Inn. Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.   So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - Is Big Green to Blame for Lack of Climate Action?

Welcome to The Climate Minute, your source of news and views.  This week we take a ook at the little dust-up between Naomi Klein and Joe Romm, discuss hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), and indulge boyhood fantasies of electric racecars....

Now for the links:

As I mentioned, we discussed Naomi Klein's interview with Earth Island Journal.  In it she lays some of the lack of real climate action on the "Big Green" groups that try to work with business and end up supporting less-than-paradigm shifting programs (like cap and trade). Here's Grist's coverage of the mini-kerfuffle her comments made, as well as Joe Romm's "take down" of her piece.

Interestingly, Rolling Stone is becoming a reliable source of interesting climate news.  Here's a very good piece explaining the IPCC and what the most recent report will say.  For your amusement, here's a piece they ran back in June compiling the "Top Ten Dumbest Things Ever Said About Global Warming."

For your friends who may have some confusion over weather and climate, here's a nifty video that helps explain the difference between trend and variation:

We briefly discussed recent international agreements to reduce soot carbon and HFCs.  For a full discussion of the importance of these treaties, check out Climate Central's story here.

The only thing I worry about with electric car racing is the lack of the "vroom vroom" sounds.  Will children of the future move their Matchbox cars while making a "hmmm hmmm" or "buzz buzz" noise?

Things to Do:

The Massachusetts updated Bottle Bill will be heard this Tuesday at 1pm in the Gardner Auditorium of the State House.  As we mentioned on the podcast, the Bottle Bill is first an important piece of legislation which will increase recycling and eliminate the incineration of plastic bottles, but is also a great issue to show the leadership of the Massachusetts legislature that the people want action and will not be ignored!

350.org's Bill McKibben will be at Harvard this Tuesday, the 17th also, giving a talk titled "Oil and Honey, Notes from a Rapidly Changing Climate," hosted by the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement.  The event is free, but registration is required.

For more about 350.org's "Draw the Line Against Keystone" events, and to find one near you, go here.  You can enter your zipcode in the box on the upper left and find an event near you, or create your own event.

You can support a great organization while helping to honor an excellent local activist at the Clean Water Action's Annual Benefit party on Saturday, September 21st from 3 to 5pm, where Boston Climate Action's Loie Hayes will be recognized for her tremendous activism on the local level.

There's an interesting event coming to the State House on September 25th.  The 4th Massachusetts Sustainable Economy Conference will take place in the Great Hall, where you can here from speakers such as Alicia Barton of the Mass Clean Energy Center, Steven Clark with the Secretariat of Energy and Environment, and John Kassel, head of the Conservation Law Foundation.  You can learn more and register here.

If you're thinking about changing careers toward something more sustainable, the Fifth annual Green Careers Conference is coming up Thursday, October 3rd, at the Marlboro Holiday Inn.

Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do.

As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog.

When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.  

So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - Divesting, Arctic Ice, and Climate in World Affairs

This Friday the Climate Minute looks to issues global, domestic, and right here around the corner.  Join Rob and Ted from the Pink and Orange Coffeehouse, and follow along to our conversation with the links below. Here's a link to the Scientific American story highlighting the possible climate contribution to the Arab Spring and the events happening today in that part of the world. For a side-by-side comparison of arctic sea ice between any two dates from 1979 to the present, go here, plug in your dates, and hit "submit." The master site has a wide selection of data sets and tools, including a mobile app! For the chart we mentioned which shows the sea ice area flucuations over the years, go here. We're all going to have to start studying up to answer those skeptics who cherry-pick some data out of the next IPCC report and claim that climate change / global warming has "ended."  This Grist piece is a good place to start. For a Republican economist's defense of a carbon tax, check out Harvard Professor Greg Mankiw's article.  Likewise, this Minnesota Public Radio podcast talks about the latest science of climate change in a very accessible way and might be a good thing to send along to your doubtful friends. Annnnd... here's an interesting piece about The Weather Channel's shift to focusing on the climate impacts of weather.  Perhaps you might share it with your favorite television meteorologist? Here's the story about the discovery of Greenland's sub-glacial "Grand Canyon." As Ted mentioned, he found a couple of interesting musical pieces focusing on the Alberta tar sands - here you go: This coming Tuesday, September 10th, there will be a hearing on S. 1225, a carbon divestment bill filed by Senator Ben Downing.  There will be a rally in front of the State House before the hearing, at 9:30.  The legislation would require the state to divest its pension fund in holdings of carbon stocks.  Massachusetts would be the first state in the nation to take this step. (Several major US cities, including San Francisco and Seattle, have already made this commitment.) There's an interesting event coming to the State House on September 25th.  The 4th Massachusetts Sustainable Economy Conference will take place in the Great Hall, where you can here from speakers such as Alicia Barton of the Mass Clean Energy Center, Steven Clark with the Secretariat of Energy and Environment, and John Kassel, head of the Conservation Law Foundation.  You can learn more and register here. If you're thinking about changing careers toward something more sustainable, the Fifth annual Green Careers Conference is coming up Thursday, October 3rd, at the Marlboro Holiday Inn. You can support a great organization while helping to honor an excellent local activist at the Clean Water Action's Annual Benefit party where Boston Climate Action's Loie Hayes will be recognized for her tremendous activism on the local level. Finally, 350.org's Bill McKibben will be at Harvard giving a talk titled "Oil and Honey, Notes from a Rapidly Changing Climate," hosted by the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement.  The event is free, but registration is required. Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.   So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - The Energy Exodus, and Vermont Yankee's Long Goodbye.

If it's Friday it's the Climate Minute, your source of climate news and views from Massachusetts and beyond.  This week Rob and Ted talk about the Energy Exodus march, Vermont Yankee's closing and decommissioning, and naming hurricanes after climate denier politicians. Ted marched on the first day of the Energy Exodus march, and brought along a voice recorder and captured some interviews which we put in a podcast yesterday.

photo by Wen Stephenson

The kick-off was covered in the media, you can check it out here.  In a supremely ironic twist, there was a small diesel spill in New Bedford harbor the same day the march reached that city. In other news, the Vermont Yankee plant will be closing by the end of 2014.  According to this story, the owners will have up to 60 years to fully decommission the plant and remediate the site.  Two generations to clean up the site of a plant that's only run for 40 years! From Vermont, we segued to the arctic ice melt.  Ted found this neat video showing the melt from May to mid-August.  Here's an interesting Slate piece about the quadrupling of commercial sea traffic along Russian's northern coast, made more accessible due to shrinking icecaps. Speaking of videos, here's a touching / funny / serious piece suggesting we stop picking on innocent people names Sandy and Katrina, and begin naming hurricanes after climate change-denying politicians. You can sign their petition at ClimateNameChange.org. Finally, there was a story in the Globe this week highlighting the environmental positions of the candidates for Mayor of Boston.  You can also watch the video below, this is from the forum sponsored by several environmental groups in Boston back in July.  There will be another forum in late October before the final election.

Mayoral Forum from Ken Pruitt on Vimeo.

Likewise, there will be a forum for the candidates for Senator Markey's old congressional seat, which will occur in late September.  Keep tuned in for more details! Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long we reach our fundraising goal.  We’re three quarters of the way there, can you help? So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - IPCC leaks, safe cars, and Barack Obama: number one coal dealer.

Good morning, and welcome to the Climate Minute for August 23rd, 2013.  Rob and Ted come at you "live" from the Pink and Orange coffeehouse talking about the latest leaks about the next IPCC report, whither sunspots, and is it even worth talking to deniers? We start this week talking about the recent spate of leaks of the latest version of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. The report is notable in that it ups the degree of certainty it reports that human activities are contributing to climate change, from 90% in the last (2007) assessment, to 95%.  That link is to a ThinkProgress piece that highlights several troubling aspects of the report. For the short attention span types (like me), here's a Washington Post story with "Ten Nuggets Worth Knowing" about the leaked report. Of course as a former college professor of mine loved to say, where you stand depends upon where you sit, and the skeptic community was over-the-moon pulling isolated parts of the report out of context.  For those with strong stomaches and advanced BS-meters, here's Watt's Up With That?'s take on the report. One of the things the tinfoil hat bridge (I'm sorry, feeling particularly snarky today...) likes to tout is the impact of change in solar output effects climate.  Okay, first: duh.   The sun has a large impact on our environment.  But even if you want to by in to the "solar minimum" argument that we are entering an extended solar minimum (a period with few sunspots), at best that *temporary* solar change will only serve to give a brief respite from even higher temperatures. Some folks were even trotting out a recent study that we could be entering a new "Grand Solar Minimum" period like that which coincided with the "little ice age" of the 17th and 18th century.  Facts however must intrude; even those doing the study suggest that the impact of a solar minimum, even a grand one, could mean little more than .3 degree of cooling.  And again, it would be temporary -- unlike the CO2 we're pumping into the atmosphere which could be there for centuries. We talked a bit about the futility or necessity to spread the climate message to non-believers, the skeptics.  Dave Roberts expresses his frustration with attempts to reach out to the right here, and feels that maybe it's just reached the point where some folks are just about unreachable.  Ted is very sympathetic to this position.  Rob, however, is ever the optimist and falls in line with HuffPost's Kate Sheppard, and thinks that you can still talk to deniers, you just need to find that common ground, and maybe that means not using the "c" word. (And here's Dave Roberts' post on what is a "Climate Hawk.")  We wish Dave all the best on his sabbatical, and look forward to an energized and rested Mr. Roberts when he comes back. While talking about values, this MIT Technology Review piece about the moral responsibility to act on climate change, and how a positive narrative can make a huge difference in advocacy. Now.  Dealing with deniers is one thing, what do you do with the people who believe as you do, who do the "wrong" thing? Exhibit A: The Bureau of Land Management is about to auction off up to 316 tons of coal under public lands in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.  As it turns out, 42 percent of all coal mined in this country comes from public lands.  How does this square with the President's speech back in June? Exhibit B: BLM is also finalizing regulations to regulate fracking on public lands.  Never mind how tough the regs are (and, as usual, industry is howling); should this administration which has declared war on climate change allow fracking at all? For a scintillating read about the "flow battery" and its potential as a utility-scale battery, read Electrical Engineering Times' piece here. (And if Ted the nuclear physicist doesn't really understand how this battery works, you can imagine how Rob the political science major's head exploded trying to read the piece...) [caption id="attachment_3496" align="alignright" width="377"] But Honey, it's safer than a Volvo![/caption]

Thanks to the good folks at Tesla, they've just given me a little more ammunition in my efforts to have my spouse let me get a nifty Tesla S.  The model S has just scored the highest score every on crash safety testing!

There are a couple of interesting things coming up next week in the area.

First, Iowa State Senator is doing a book tour supporting his new book, “America’s Climate Century,” and will be in Brookline the evening of the 26th.  Here’s our calendar entry with all of his New England stops. Remember, for climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. We’re just a week and a half away from the Energy Exodus march from coal (Brayton) to wind (the shores of Cape Cod). The march will start on August 28th and go through the weekend to September 2nd and will cover about 60 miles across southcoast Massachusetts.  Walkers will be doing 10-12 miles a day, with stops along the way.  For more info and to sign-up go to their website here. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long we reach our fundraising goal.  We’re three quarters of the way there, can you help? So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…

The Climate Minute - Natural Gas, the gangplank fuel...

It's a beautiful August friday, and Ted and Rob are back together again after a bit of vacationing. Well, we were full of natural gas (talk) today.  There's a crude joke in there, but we will refrain, this is after all a serious podcast.  So as you listen to today's podcast, here are some links to enrich your knowledge and understanding, and hopefully mine a couple of nuggets of information to provide your family and friends. Anthony Ingraffia, a professor of civil engineering at Cornell who also helped develop fracking techniques for the Department of Energy, wrote the article which inspired our title, "Gangplank to a Warm Future," for the New York Times.  It's an eye-opener of a read. We discussed the dramatically increased output of the Marcellus Shale gas fields.  You can read more about that here. You can listen to the conversation with Jeremy Rifkin where he talks about the next industrial revolution which will be powered with distributed renewable energy.  (Just make sure to go there after you finish listening to our podcast!) Here are some of the stories about the "Green Tea Party," (here, and here) the alliance of Tea Party and environmentalist groups in George fighting the large power monopoly keeping distributed renewable energy from the people. Kudos to the five institutions receiving Clean Energy Education grants which were awarded by the Mass Clean Energy Center this week.  You can learn more about them here. Finally, the Falmouth turbines are in the news again, this time due to discussions at the Board of Selectmen about how long they should run.  You can read more about this at the Southcoast Today site. Chris Hayes's "The Politics of Power" runs on MSNBC tonight at 8pm.  You can catch a sneak peak of it here. Boston's Greenfest is going through Saturday.  Find out more about what you can do and see there at their website. For more information on the film "Elemental" playing at Boston Common AMC Loews this Wednesday night, you can read more and sign up for tickets here. Iowa State Senator is doing a book tour supporting his new book, "America's Climate Century," and will be in Brookline the evening of the 26th.  Here's our calendar entry with all of his New England stops. Remember, for climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. We're just a week and a half away from the Energy Exodus march from coal (Brayton) to wind (the shores of Cape Cod). The march will start on August 28th and go through the weekend to September 2nd and will cover about 60 miles across southcoast Massachusetts.  Walkers will be doing 10-12 miles a day, with stops along the way.  For more info and to sign-up go to their website here. As always, it's been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long we reach our fundraising goal.  We're three quarters of the way there, can you help? So we will close the way we always close, by saying that 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 a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…