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The Climate Minute examines current news on global warming, climate change, renewable energy and the prospects for progress on international negotiations, carbon taxes and clean energy policy.
Episodes
Friday Jul 15, 2016
Protests and pipeline taxes- The Climate Minute Podcast
Friday Jul 15, 2016
Friday Jul 15, 2016
Pipeline protests gain strength even as the State Legislature considers a new Omnibus Energy bill. A key provision denies the utilities a ‘pipeline tax’ to fund the construction. A match to the Statehouse this weekend will send a clear message- see below for the route and timing.
Here is some background and advice on what to do, even if you can’t get to the statehouse this weekend. Both the House and Senate have heard that you want a bolder clean energy vision, please thank your senator for their leadership and ask them to support a few key amendments.
The current bill includes these clean energy pieces:
- A commitment to offshore wind of 2000 megawatts
- An annual increase from one to two percent in the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard
- A mandate for a home energy audit to be made available when homes are listed for sale.
- Incentives for energy storage
BUT, the Senate bill could include key provisions:
- Ban the pipeline tax
- Protect low-income solar
- Accelerate gas leak repairs.
Without an outright ban on the pipeline tax, the Baker administration and the utility companies could still find for ratepayers to bear the cost of building massive fracked gas pipelines.
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
Monday Jul 11, 2016
Ozone holes and PPM- The Climate Minute Podcast
Monday Jul 11, 2016
Monday Jul 11, 2016
A recent report shows that the famed ‘hole in the ozone’ is showing slow signs of healing. This is good news in its own right, but is more heartening since the improvements are entirely due to an international treaty- the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol was a market based, ‘cap and trade’ style system to limit the emission of CFC gases. The parallels to modern day efforts to limit carbon pollution through international agreements such as the Paris Agreement are obvious. The slow recovery of the ozone layer should give hope to Climate Hawks that success is possible
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
Tuesday Jul 05, 2016
Tuesday Jul 05, 2016
What are the implications for climate progress of the UK’s decision to leave the EU? As with any profound historical event, there are already contradictory ideas. We discuss.
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
Tuesday Jun 28, 2016
The Global Security and Sustainability Guide: a conversation with Michael Sales
Tuesday Jun 28, 2016
Tuesday Jun 28, 2016
Both security and sustainability can be defined many ways and there are many organizations that address each. How can these groups make the connections between the underlying common issues they face? In this show we explore the concept of a Global Security and Sustainability Guide with Michael Sales, one of the leaders of the project. He says:
We believe that mapping the system will change it by demonstrating how vast the effort is to address two of the key drivers of the world meta-system: sustainability issues are creating conflicts of all sorts and the need for security so that people have the mental bandwidth to make strategic sustainability choices. Seeing the whole system more clearly will empower actors who care about it to take more creative, informed and high-leverage initiatives and to lend support to one another. We have already identified 1,400 organizations active in these increasingly overlapping domains, and anticipate that we will discover many hundreds more as we continue digging.
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
Tuesday May 17, 2016
No shield for fraud: The Climate Minute Podcast
Tuesday May 17, 2016
Tuesday May 17, 2016
This has been a busy week for under-the-radar news. Exxon is feeling the legal heat from Climate Hawks and is trying to strike back. We discuss the plans. In Ft McMurray Canada, the heat is on due to wildfires traceable to climate change. In Paris last December, the agreement essentially targeted a 1.5C temperature rise limit which has big implications that only now are becoming apparent. Finally, the Massachusetts Omnibus Energy bill is being written now- it is a good time to call your representative. Here is what to ask for:
• Two thousand megawatts of offshore wind
• Increase Renewable Portfolio Standard to 2% year
• Environmental standards for massive electricity transmission project and
• PLEASE ask them to vote against the bill altogether if it includes a pipeline tax!
Listen in!
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
Friday May 13, 2016
Caused by human activity? The Climate Minute Podcast
Friday May 13, 2016
Friday May 13, 2016
The Paris Agreement took another step toward full implementation on Earth Day, when many countries actually signed the agreement. This is good news for the planet. In the state of Washington, a judge ordered the state to implement a climate plan. This opens another path to force change! The spawn of Mitt Romney’s old superPAC is launching an attack campaign against the likes of Bill McKibben, so be ready for some nasty messages. Down in Louisiana, the first American ‘climate refugees’ can begin moving to new homes. Is this the start of something big? Finally Jimmy Kimmel makes a great point about who to believe in the realm of climate science, but DR tries to decipher the meaning of the code words “human activity.” Listen in!
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
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
Karl Thidemann on Soil4Climate: A Climate Hawk's Companion Podcast
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
Can better farming practices actually remove carbon dioxide from the air? Can it help in the ‘geo-therapy’ of the planet? Karl Thidemann of Soil4Climate thinks so. Listen in as we discuss this intriguing concept in the effort to address global warming.
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
Friday Apr 08, 2016
Here comes the sun: Solar legislation on the The Climate Minute Podcast
Friday Apr 08, 2016
Friday Apr 08, 2016
While an “Omnibus” energy bill is still in preparation, a solar policy bill has been advanced on its own. The solar bill is an improvement on the original possibility, but it will require further improvements in the next round. Also, see below the jump for a link to find your state rep’s phone number and a script to ask her to oppose the proposed tariff (AKA tax) for the pipeline. Listen in!
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
Friday Mar 25, 2016
Is CH4 the new CO2? The Climate Minute Podcast
Friday Mar 25, 2016
Friday Mar 25, 2016
US emissions of methane (aka natural gas, aka fracked gas, aka CH4) may be nearly as dangerous as carbon dioxide. New studies show that methane itself, before it is burned as a fuel, is leaking from fracking wells (and pipelines) at rates much higher than were expected. The leaked methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, even as it spends less time in the atmosphere. On the whole, the damage done by these methane emissions rivals that of CO2. Bill McKibben points this out in a new article and calls for Climate Hawks to oppose the extraction and use of methane. He concludes” The global warming fight can’t just be about carbon dioxide any longer.” We discuss.
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
Friday Mar 18, 2016
The Clean Power Plan and a Garland SCOTUS: The Climate Minute Podcast
Friday Mar 18, 2016
Friday Mar 18, 2016
The Constitution says the President “shall” appoint justices to the Supreme Court, and so he did. This week Mr. Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland. Of course, inquiring Climate Hawks want to know: what does this mean for the fight against global warming? The big issue is the legal basis of the President’s Clean Power Plan, which will inevitably be decided by the Supreme Court. Listen in as we discuss.
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