The Climate Minute

A Climate Hawk's Companion: Protests in Salem

This edition of “A Climate Hawk’s Companion” documents a protest rally against the proposed construction of a natural-gas-powered plant intended to replace a coal plant in Salem Massachusetts. There was a counter-protest from folks who want the power plant to be built. We talk with some of the good people who attended on both sides. Here is a link dump if you would like to dig deeper:

• The website for Footprint Power, who hope to build the plant.
• The 350MA call to action.
• SAFE report from local folks who would like to see the plant built.
• A link to GASPP's facebook page, from local folks who would like to see the plant NOT built.
• A report from UCS on methane use, and how little different from coal it might be.
• An NECN report on the demonstration itself.

Of course, we must insist that the US put a price on carbon. ….Ted McIntyre

The Final Keystone Environmental Impact Report - In Case You Missed It.

When a presidential administration has news that they’d rather not have you hear too much about, the typical strategy is to bury it by releasing the information late on a Friday afternoon, when the weekly newscycle is over and the weekend news crews come on. True to that pattern, late on the Friday afternoon preceding the weekend of the Superbowl, the Whitehouse released the ‘Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement’ related to the Keystone XL pipeline. It certainly seems that the FEIS is not the kind of news the administration wants you to hear, but since it relates to a minor topic that will impact future generations and the fate of mankind, we will try to keep you informed.  The story of the Keystone XL pipeline is long, fascinating and one that should give pride to climate hawks. Here is an interesting historical recounting.  Here is a link to the executive summary of the FEIS.  Some think the report gives Obama the excuse to reject the pipeline.  Others think it is a reason for him to accept the project.  Chris Hayes of MSNBC provides a great analogy between addiction and our desire for the tarsands oil.  Michael Mann points out the system level damage of building more fossil infrastructure.  Even the White House Chief of Staff recognizes the implications of the pipeline and the twitter-verse is alight.  Does John Kerry own the decision? In summary: the FEIS ignores the big issue: burning all that carbon fuel hidden in the tarsands. Remember, President Obama has the decision but you have the power! You can an email to Comment@Massclimateaction.net or find us on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/MassClimateAction. We recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, we accept responsibility for building a durable future and we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out. Therefore,we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon. ..Ted McIntyre

The Climate Minute - Metaphors for all!

We were grateful to be joined by D.R. Tucker (@DRTucker) this week. Here are some links to the topics we mentioned. Read the New Yorker's Obama interview, President’s State of the Union and some background on the NSA spying on Copenhagen climate talks. The Atlanta snowstorm fits a bigger pattern. Michael Mann is a hero for climate activists, and is having some success silencing his critics. We're back in the polar Vortex, while Australia is suffering a historic heatwave.  Ted spoke with our Australian friend Gavin Webber about the weather, and the weather change in Australian politics.  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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.

The Climate Minute - Is anyone in office paying attention?

Hi, and welcome to the Climate Minute, a weekly podcast that gives thoughtful people some perspective and insight on global warming news.  Ted and Rob are back at the pink and oragne coffeehouse again, and man, it's cold...  We're back in the polar Vortex, while Australia is suffering a historic heatwave.  Ted spoke with our Australian friend Gavin Webber about the weather, and the weather change in Australian politics.  Back in America, 18 major green groups have sent a letter to the President asking him to take charge on climate change -- and to abandon the "all of the above" poilcy which has led to increasingly higher American CO2 emissions.  In this month's New Yorker, the president doesn't seem to equate the climate crisis with the kind of national problem along the lines of a World War II, or Civil War -- and lacking that sort of understanding, how are we ever going to get anything done? Ted's firmly in the camp of "the money always wins." and if we don't break the cycle of political subjugation to wealth, we can never fully address climate. West Virginia is a cautionary tale about what can happen when corporate interests run wild and the environment is caught in the cross-hairs. On that theme, Ted wrote earlier this week about how the Trans Pacific Partnership potentially puts corpoate profits ahead of, heck, even government. Finally, the EU seems to be back-tracking from their commitment to carbon trading... 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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.

The Polar Vortex and Heatwaves Downunder, Talking with our Friend Gavin Webber

In this edition of “A Climate Hawk’s Companion”, we compare notes on weather and politics with our Australian friend, Gavin Webber, the engine behind The Greening of Gavin. On his webite, Facebook and Twitter (@GreeningofGavin) he discusses climate and sustainability. The recent cold weather in the US has sparked discussion of the Polar Vortex. (For those of you listening carefully, I finally got to “Vortex” from “Vertex” half way through the episode!) It is a theory explaining how equatorial warming makes the jet stream more 'wavy" letting the cold arctic air dip toward us.   White House advised John Holdren does a great job of explaining is as well.   The same phenomena is probably making Scandinavia unseasonably warm. Of course, the cold weather brought out the   "Snow Trolls"who could barely contain their glee. Fortunately, Jon Stewart was there with his signature "blue" satirical commentary. In contrast, in Australia, this summer’s weather has been very hot. Gavin pointed to a  report from the “Met Office” about how warm the spring has been. The good news is that the Australian people have crowdsourced the money to keep climate information flowing even after the newly elected government cut off funding. On the political front, Gavin reported on the Australian government plan to abolish the carbon tax and offer a 'reverse auction" of carbon.  A blogger at the Guardian calls this totally shamefully negligent. On top of that, it turns our that Australians have a fracking problem of their own- except it goes by the name “coal seam gas.” For reasons explained in the podcast, the grassroots opposition is from farmers who can  "Lock the Gate!" against exploration on their land. You can send us an email to Comment@Massclimateaction.net of find us on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/MassClimateAction where you can listen to our show just be clicking on the icon.   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 our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that  the US put a price on carbon. 

The Climate Minute - With a soundtrack...

Ted and Rob are back at the Pink and Orange Coffeehouse, with the accompanying soundtrack.  (The nice young gents manning the counter had no idea how to turn down the radio, so you get to hear some Katy Perry with your climate talk....)  This week Rob and Ted discuss the latest trends in climate change belief among the general public, the Patrick Administration's latest climate resiliency plans, and do a mea culpa in response to listener mail... Now the links, For more information about new funding for resiliency funding in Massachusetts, check out this story. National Journal's story about the lack of climate scientists on Sunday morning talk shows is here, and you can read about the latest public opinion polling on climate change from NBC -- note their slightly misleading title. Madeline Albright and Carol Browner, former head of the EPA, will be talking about the politics of climate change at the Albridgt Institute at Wellesley College on January 22nd from 4 to 5:30.  For more information, check out the Institute's website. Finally, the latest in the continuing saga of the Falmouth wind turbines is the ZBA's actions to try and shut down the turbines, forcing the town to take them to court.  You can read a bit about that here. 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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.

The Climate Minute - Looking ahead to the year in climate, part two

Ted, Rob and DR talk continue on last week's discussion and look for emerging trends, themes, and issues that will be important for climate activists in the coming year. 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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.

The Climate Minute - Looking Ahead to the Year in Climate

As winter storm Hercules shuffles off after dumping up to two feet of snow on New England (note to climate deniers: blizzards in New England are pretty much to be expected and are hardly a sign of a cooling Earth...), Rob, Ted, and special guest DR Tucker look at 2014 and discuss some of the events we expect to be talking about next year. Now, for the links: We did talk a bit about the recent "rescue" of some "global warming scientists" who got caught in Antarctic ice.  Actually, from what we read, these scientists were retracing the route of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's 1911 to 1913 voyage to Antarctica. We put "global warming scientists" in quotes because the stories we found don't mention how their trip related to global warming, but naturally the right-wing media has fallen into paroxysms of joy over the apparent irony of climate change believers being foiled by cold weather. Add that to the nation-wide spate of cold weather we're having and some climate deniers are having a veritable ball. But, as Mother Jones reminded vulgarian Donald Trump, winter does not disprove global warming. Matter of fact, Buenos Aires has just seen the end of a heatwave which caused temps above 88 degrees F every day since December 13th. To read more about the Supreme Court's consideration of the EPA coal plant rules, read Bloomberg here. In other federal news, will we be seeing a decision out of the White House about the Keystone pipeline? DR found an article that makes the case that perhaps the President may not take any action at all. Given next year is a congressional election year, and no matter what stand he takes he's likely to upset core constituencies of his party, maybe that's not the craziest idea. One major climate event happening next year is the "Great March for Climate" which starts in California on March 1st, and will make it to Washington DC in November. You can check out their website for expected dates they'll be in each city, as well as info about how you can participate. In May we'll be seeing a new meteor shower for the first time, as comet 209P/LINEAR makes a transit through the neighborhood. Keep the night of May 24th in your calendars. Well, we certainly got to talking about those issues, and used up our half hour. So we split this discussion in two, and we'll put out the second half early next week where we'll discuss some of the trends and overarching issues that may drive the climate issue next year. 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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.

The Climate Minute - 2013 in the rear view mirror

As the end of the year approaches, it's mandatory that people with websites do a "year in review" kind of thing, so here's ours.  Grab a coffee and take a little walk down memory lane with us, won't you? So let's look back at 2013, was it another "annus horriblus" for climate, or was this the year when the rise of the oceans began to slow, and our planet began to heal? Well, it started out pretty hopeful, as the President dedicated about a minute and a half to climate change in his second inaugural.  Considering the price of real estate in that rhetorical neighborhood, eighty-seven seconds on one's issue isn't something to be sniffed at. In February, Rob and Ted - and 25,000 to 50,000 of their closest friends, trundled off to Washington DC to march in protest of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.  take a look at our photo gallery from the march here. Lasting impressions include an overwhelming sense of community and joint purpose, as well as frostbite from the cruel February winds. March saw more Keystone protests, and the annual MCAN conference at Northeastern University.  We were joined by over 300 local activists who enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship and training, including a quite excellent session on podcasting convened by Ted with old friend DR Tucker and Joel Wool of Clean Water Action.  In a rather meta-move, we did a "podcast on podcasting" for all your educational needs.  You can check it out here.  For Mayor John Fetterman's awesome keynote address, and a link to more pictures from the conference, go here. As spring continued we kept banging the drum on Keystone, including thinking up ways to get your cranky Tea Party uncle to think differently about the pipeline.  We also had a wonderful conversation with Natalie Hildt of the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership about a proposed oil heat efficiency program under consideration in Massachusetts. April is also the beginning of town meeting season in Massachusetts, and several communities faced questions about shutting down wind turbines at their meetings.  Both Scituate and Falmouth told the anti-wind folks to take a hike, while Falmouth voters had to repeat that sentiment in May when the Selectmen insisted on pushing the point at a town election: where the townspeople once again said they'd rather keep the turbines running than spend millions to take them down. In May we crossed a Rubicon of sorts, when the Mauna Loa observatory started recording 400+ ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere.  This was followed in June by the President making a major speech on climate change at George Washington University, laying out his administration's intent to address the climate crisis, with or without the help of the anti-science wing of the opposition. Finally in July the Senate did it's job and confirmed the nomination of Gina McCarthy as the Administrator of the EPA, those of us who have worked with Gina before were naturally ecstatic.  We discovered a new friend in the land down-under when we stumbled across Gavin Webber's "The Greening of Gavin" blog and podcast.  The month ended with a mammoth protest at the Brayton Point powerplant organized by the Better Future Project and 350Massachusetts.  We did a roundup of news stories and YouTube videos from the protest here. Later on this summer Ted also took part in the Energy Exodus march again organized by 350MA.  This was a march from Brayton to Cape Cod, highlighting our nation's journey from coal power to clean, renewable energy like Cape Wind.  You can hear Ted's interviews with marchers in media res, as they say, here. Ted did another series of interviews with fellow protesters at the "Draw the Line" protest in Providence in September.  The EPA dropped some long-awaited regulations on powerplant co2 emissions that month, while our good buddies (sarcasm alert) on the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the President's climate plan. Meanwhile, previously fire-ravaged hills in Colorado were inundated by unusual amounts of rain causing floods and mudslides and taking numerous lives in Colorado.  We also managed to sneak in a conversation with our new Australian buddy Gavin and talk all about Australian politics, suburban self-reliance, and making cheese at home.  We still haven't tried that mozzarella recipe yet, but we'll get there. November saw the giddy crowning of champions in New England, as the Boston Red Sox won the world series, and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy gave Massachusetts top billing in it's analysis of state efficiency efforts for the third year in a row! And we closed out the year in much the same place as we started; wondering who was going to make a difference on climate change and get this country moving in the right direction.  New guest host DR Tucker and Ted talked about the supposition that perhaps only a Republican can get the country moving in the right direction, much like only Nixon could go to China.  Jeez... that's depressing! Well, we remain hopeful, and we'll keep fighting.  Join us next week when we'll talk 2014, make a few predictions, toss around a resolution or two, and generally hope for better times ahead. 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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.

The Climate Minute - Nixon is to China as Who is to Climate?

This week we were joined by our friend D.R Tucker, and we cover a range of topics, from the old Vulcan proverb "Only Nixon can go to China," to the frustration of climate activists with the current President.  So strap in, we're getting all political! Kerry Emanuel of MIT spoke with D.R. and Betsy Rosenberg on their podcast “On the Green Front”. Emanuel hypothesized that only a Republican President could pass climate legislation, in the same way that only Richard Nixon had the ability to make a historic connection to China.  In today’s show, we ruminate on those possibilities, and what justification a conservative president could make for climate action. On the other hand, expectations have always been high for action from our current President, Mr. Obama. In a new article in Rolling Stone Magazine, Bill McKibben excoriates Obama for his inaction.  We discuss if it is fair or realistic to expecting Obama to take more action on climate issues. The First Amendment protects free speech, but should climate deniers be allowed to post misleading Op-Eds or even blog comments? Reddit banned irresponsible comments from their climate forum. Very tricky questions. What do you think? Finally, remember that this weekend is the Winter Solstice. If you think about it, it almost become a sacred time of year, heralding rebirth in spring and hot dogs on July 4^th. 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. Your generous donations help us continue to bring climate news and views to you through our podcast and blogs, but also help support the Annual MCAN conference (this year on March 2nd, at Northeastern University), and our local climate action. So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions- specifically to pay for the full cost of carbon pollution at the time we create it, 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 US put a price on carbon.