The Climate Minute

TPP, Part Deux: The Climate Minute Podcast

The terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty have finally been concluded in a closed session in Atlanta. While the text is still secret, the arguments have begun. Climate Hawks are suspicious of the ‘Investor State Dispute Resolution” mechanism, which gives enormous opportunities for Big Oil to undermine future climate legislation. Here in Massachusetts, the Governor will allow utilities to charge a fee to electrical ratepayers to cover the cost of new pipelines. Is it fair to call that a tax? Still it is a pretty a sweet deal for Kinder Morgan!

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

Gore v Exxon: The Climate Minute Podcast

It turns out that Exxon knew the truth about climate change a long time ago. Are they at legal risk for hiding their findings?  We discuss the implications.
The reading list:
•    Hayes interviews Gore, Part 1
•    Hayes interviews Gore, Part 2
•    The original InsideClimateNews piece on Exxon
•    Exxon at risk?
•    Doug Craig's view
•    Growth of divestment
•    What do food execs want?
Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

Just Four Cape Winds: The Climate Minute Podcast

The real possibility of a shutdown of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station creates a crisis (or perhaps an opportunity.) It means that Climate Hawks should demand clean energy to fill the gap.  It would take only four projects comparable to Cape Wind to fill that gap. There are bills in the Massachusetts Statehouse that relate to clean energy, and they are the being debated.  Further, now that KXL is in deep trouble, and Shell has withdrawn from the Chukchi Sea, what is next for Climate Hawks? Our next big push should be for a ban on the extraction of carbon based fuels from federally owned lands, whether they are in the American West or off our coastal shores.
The reading list:
•    Pilgrim Nuclear Station on the ropes
•    An energy showdown in the Statehouse?
•    Is this about electricity prices or true leadership?
•    Is offshore wind a possibility?
•    Climate Hawk focus: Fossil fuel on Federal lands
Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

Smoke from wildfires mixes with a metaphorical smoking gun: The Climate Minute Podcast

In an ironic moment, the California Assembly tip-toed away from aggressive climate legislation, at the behest of Big Oil, even as climate-enhanced wildfires marched with a heavy footprint through various towns outside Sacramento.  Further, the destructive behavior of the oil industry was highlighted by a report that Exxon realized even in the 1970’s that their petroleum products were creating a serious global problem. The report might be the ‘smoking gun’ equivalent to revelations in past decades about what the tobacco industry knew about cancer even as they denied the medical evidence.

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

Obama in the Arctic- The Climate Minute Podcast

The President went to Alaska to highlight the issue of climate change.  The region is warming faster than lower latitudes, and is a hint of where we are all going. In addition to being a tragedy in its own right, the warming of the Arctic opens new and dangerous space for international competition. Finally, was Obama hypocritical or pragmatic in his disconcerting support for Arctic drilling while warning of the apocalypse? We discuss.

The reading list:
•    "Polar Amplification" makes the arctic vulnerable.
•    Obama's speech in Alaska
•    International competition in a melting Arctic
•    Denali's name change, and Obama's support for Native Americans
•    WaPo says “focus on oil consumption, not production.”
o    The key to meaningful climate action is not to haphazardly reject oil projects in the vain hope that people elsewhere will decline to produce oil, too. It is to reduce demand for fossil fuels, either by mandating reductions in their use, which Obama has done, or by slapping a fee on carbon dioxide emissions, which is the economically rational way to tackle climate change,
•    McKibben says " Can't negotiate with physics!"
o    But climate change isn’t like that. Balton  —  and Obama, and almost everyone else in power  —  makes the same simple-but-deadly category mistake. They think the relevant negotiation is between the people who want to drill and the people who don’t. But actually, this negotiation is between people and physics. And therefore it’s not really a negotiation.

Who’s right on that one??
Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

No more gas pipelines in Massachusetts! - The Climate Minute Podcast

Across the country, the fossil fuel industry is trying to build dangerous and unnecessary pipelines. Massachusetts is no exception- there are TWO pipelines proposed for the state.  These provide a good case study of industry methods and how to oppose them, even if you do not live  in  the Massachusetts. The proponents of the new pipelines claim to be working to provide sufficient gas for the local economy to grow.  But, like Dorothy in Oz, if you peek behind the curtain it becomes clear the industry wants to export the gas away from Massachusetts! That is just one worry- here are six more reasons to oppose these pipelines.

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

From New Orleans to the Arctic - The Climate Minute Podcast

The President will visit both the Arctic and New Orleans in the next few weeks. Both those locations have intense climate related associations, from melting glaciers to failed levees. At the same time, the administration has approved more un-needed drilling off Alaska. What is going on? Perhaps Mr. Obama should listen to the call of Islamic leaders to “Act on Climate!”
Approval given for Arctic drilling
Obama to visit the Arctic
Obama to visit New Orleans
An Islamic call for climate action

Check out live  links at our blog,  http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

Presidential Climate Hawks - The Climate Minute Podcast

The President announced plans for a historic visit to the Arctic, to highlight the issue of climate change. Will he visit the Chukchi Sea oil rig? Mr Obama, along with most of the Federal Government has been sued by youngsters under the Public Trust Doctrine .

The reading list:
•    President Obama announces a trip to the Arctic
•    Is he sincere or cynical?
•    Jimmy Carter as the first Climate Hawk President
•    EPA and the Colorado spill
•    A new lawsuit under the Public Trust Doctrine
Find the live links at our blog: http://www.massclimateaction.net/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

Reaction (and Over-reaction) to the Clean Power Plan- The Climate Minute Podcast

The opinions and reaction to the President’s Clean Energy Plan have come quickly and loudly, from both the left and right of the political spectrum.  It is important to know what all the talking heads are saying, but as Mother Nature points out (here channeled by Julia Roberts), the planet doesn’t need us-we need the planet.  The laws of physics will be obeyed no matter what James Hansen or Mitch McConnell say. Listen in!
The reading list:
•    NYT Op-Ed
•    USA Today Op-Ed
•    350.org Press Release
•    James Hansen on MSNBC
•    Opposition to the plan
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

The Clean Energy Plan - The Climate Minute Podcast

After years in the making, the Obama Administration released the final version of America’s Clean Power Plan. It’s a pretty significant achievement, the first serious effort to control carbon emissions in the US. We discuss the context in which the plan was created, and review some top-level aspects of the plan itself.
The reading list:
•    The EPA's description of the plan
•    Vox explains the plan
•    Will we have more RGGI's?
•    The Guardian's report
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