Imagine My Relief

Tim Jones of CANA joined us for a chat about the state of coal in NZ. There’s more than you think and there are more mines in the plans.

Here are some moments from the talk. Use these timestamps to find them:

5:10 What is CANA? A bit about the end of Solid Energy.
8:20 Some of the things that prevent a mining project from going ahead.
9:10 The aims of CANA
9:50 CANA’s aims and its relationship to other organisations.
11:30 Coal as the leader of subset technologies.
12:50 The different types of coal.
13:40 Dairy and Coal.
16:00 Steel and Coal
17:50 Conservation Land and the picture since the 2017 election.
19:30 The Te Kuha coal mine.
21:55 The Nuclear Free Moment.
24:20 Personal action and Collective actin.
25:50 Putting a price on Carbon, recalculations, real costs and finding alternatives.
27:50 A bit more on the Nuclear free moment.
29:50 Understanding the global emergency.
32:10 The disarming calm of climate scientists.
34:00 Exxon and sowing seeds of doubt.
35:40 Mainstream Media presenting climate as two equal discussions
36:50 Younger people getting involved in activism
37:20 Climate Voter initiative
38:20 Generation Zero
38:55 Bipartisan support for a climate commission
40:30 The climate denier fade-away
43:00 Generational differences
44:00 Incandescent light bulbs and Brexit
44:50 National – Farmers doing politics.
46:00 1972 election
46:47 Sense of identity
50:12 Coal and jobs
51:00 NZFirst – regional development
53:00 Zero Carbon Act, manifestos an dgetting two sides talking.
Tying together multiple groups and activities
57:00 Rethinking two revolutions
60:48 The number of cows and our dependence on a single industry. The economics of increasing stocking levels.
1:04:30 ECan. Seven Rivers Walking.
1:06:40 Synthetic milk.
1:10:10 Sefton Derby’s book ‘The ground between’
1:13:30 Expecting guidelines from the government and not getting them. The coal industries’ path to consent.
1:20:40 Visiting the industry
1:22:15 What a resource hearing actually looks like
1:27:10 The current global emergency.
1:31:10 Last questions – what will it take to stop us from burning coal
1:35:25 Changing boilers and the climate change exemption in the RMA
1:38:10 Who and what in government is currently working on this
1:41:05 Lobby groups and getting a mandate

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A response to this article:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/100489407/doug-edmeades-why-im-a-global-warming-sceptic

Dear Mr Edmeades,
I read your opinion piece on Stuff with great interest. I thought that climate
change scepticism had gone out of fashion since the oil companies gave up on it. I also imagined that the weather events of 2017 would have put most minds to rest on the subject. And yet here you are.

Before I go on (this is a long letter) let me start by formally inviting you to appear on the podcast. You will talk to me alone about your position that I can rest easy over the climate situation and you will be afforded respect, time and a keen ear, the same that is provided to any visitor on the show.

Guesting on the podcast.

I am not a scientist, yet I am one who accepts the scientific evidence of anthropomorphic global warming. I further recognize the work that describes humanity’s influence on the planet as the end of the Holocene era and the start of the Anthropocene. I also accept the findings that we are in the throes of a great extinction event that could quickly take the Homo Sapiens with it.

In short, I think we’re screwed. I further believe that people like you prevent any chance we have to avert this situation. You predicted that you would be accused of being a ‘denier’ and/or ‘a rejectionist’, but that what it is you are rejecting or denying will not be spelt out. Of course you are a denier/rejectionist of the climate change. Which is another way of saying you are a global warming sceptic. Which was the title of your piece. So let’s just go with that.

One reason I take this position is that I am not a scientist. I accept the scientific method and the notion that not all the information provided by science can be thought of as good news. I also recognize a philosophical position that humans are not the centre of the things and that we are just as subject to the indifference of the physical universe as anything else.

Neither of these positions is in anyway controversial of course. I accept the science that created my cell phone with the same set of assumptions and believe that someone who challenges these things is the one carrying the burden of proof.

So let’s get to your points.

1. The climate has always changed and there are other forces in play.
– Yes that’s true. Which is why it’s a science that requires a good deal of math. There are many variables in a climatic system, particularly over time. No argument there.

2. Ice core data shows temperature increases about 600 to 800 years before CO2 concentrations increased.
– You have to cite things like this. Since you have not, I am forced to google the statement and provide you with some articles that explain why this is a false assumption used by many climate change sceptics.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11659-climate-myths-ice-cores-show-co2-increases-lag-behind-temperature-rises-disproving-the-link-to-global-warming/
https://skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature.htm
I will not put more effort into this point than you did. Since you are the scientist making the extraordinary claim, I will just point out that you make an unsubstantiated statement in one sentence that is not new and appears to have been hashed out endlessly by those more qualified than us. If you want to pursue this one further, you’ll need to point out the flaws in the work above.

3. Water vapour makes up 90% of the greenhouse effect.

https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2008/02/common-climate-misconceptions-the-water-vapor-feedback-2/
This appears to be another argument commonly used by sceptics. There are plenty of articles that explain why its wrong, I just provided this one because I happened to like the font. A quick read indicates that water vapour is more of a symptom than a cause in the global warming scenario. This makes sense to me since the burning of fossil fuels appears to be the real change humans are making to the overall system and the
increases to cloud cover are a predictable consequence to increased temperature since that’s how evaporation works.

4. There have been warmer and colder periods since the dawn of civilisation.

Let’s be more precise and more generous to your argument and call it the dawn of humans. The cooler periods are the Ice Ages that occurred due to changes to the earth’s axis and the Medieval Warm Period (the one warmer period you cite) appears to have been both cooler than now and more localised.

While the Medieval warm period was something of an unusual event (judged to be a combination of volcanic and solar activity at the time) the Ice ages were more predictable (see Milankovitch cycles) and the rate of change within them is what we apparently evolved for. Any form of life older than the last Ice Age can be seen as adapted by evolution for it. That includes, as it happens, barrier reefs and humans, most of whom I imagine lived closer to the equator at the time.

5. Sattelite data show no increase in global temperatures since 1998.

I have to say this one was a surprise. We know stuff is melting, glaciers are retreating, droughts are increasing and fires are breaking out. We also measure ocean and land temperatures which have been rising predictably. And this, it turns out, is why in science its useful to arrive at the proof in multiple ways.

The satellite data was wrong; it turns out since it had not allowed for the changes in readings due to decaying orbits. After it was corrected to allow for them the number fell into line with the rest of the observations.

It turns out that this is also a popular claim by the sceptics that has been refuted, and took me a minute to bring up with google. Find it yourself.

6. Stuff about the color of CO2 and pictures of polar bears and a paper you wrote but fail to cite.

Nothing there constitutes evidence; I’m just working through your article.

7. The IPCC stating there is no evidence that extreme weather events are increasing as a consequence of global warming.

Seriously? You’re saying the largest climate change organisation is not convinced by global warming? That will need a citation. We do know that extreme events like hurricanes are no more common than before but that the increased evaporation adds water to them that increases their intensity.

And anyone that missed the global wildfires, mudslides, floods, hurricanes and droughts in the last 18 months is not paying attention.

8. The warming hiatus.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/no-pause-in-ocean-warming/
Apparently not a thing either. That you are using this one in the middle of a sweltering summer should amuse me. But I think its just the start, and we’re all screwed and its because we’re attempting to bargain with an indifferent universe and so, you know,  I don’t.

 

This is a response to an article in the NZ Herald on the 30th Dec 2017 by John Roughan titled ‘Year of extreme weather was not too bad’.

Dear Mr. Roughan,
It seems that you have not been following the climate change issue too closely. This puts you in good company here in New Zealand. I felt that the problem was so under-reported in this country that I elected to study it myself: reporting on my findings and sharing them. I became an amateur blogger and podcaster.
Now don’t get me wrong. I have a profession of my own, and I would take a pretty dim view of anyone without experience jumping in and expecting it to be easy. Articles like yours certainly encourage me, however. Typos and grammar aside, your piece entitled ‘Year of extreme weather was not too bad’ was so entirely devoid of useful content that would be hard for me to do worse. Your attempt to convince the reader not to worry about climate change provided no references and included uninformed observations that would normally make me question your credentials. You appear to have been writing for the Herald for some time, so I can see they are quite sound.
The issue of Global Warming celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. You’ve been writing for longer than this and yet seem to know close to nothing about the subject. I suggest you give Professor James Renwick a call. He is a climate scientist at Victoria University and is the person most likely to appear in the media when a specialist on this subject is sought. I found him to be generous with his time and he is superb at providing the information in an easily digestible format.
Before you do, you might even read a book on the subject. James recommends ‘The Sixth Extinction’ by Elizabeth Kolbert, and I recommend Naomi Klein’s ‘This changes everything.’ Another you might consider, if you prefer to save time, is the New Yorker article ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’ by David Wallace Wells.
All of these provide views of the global warming situation that are so unrelentingly grim that you may prefer to assume they are the rantings of extremists. You would not be alone in taking such a view. James Renwick does not. He confirmed that Klein, Wells, and Kolbert are pretty much on the money.
The fact is, after thirty years of massive increases in carbon emissions around the world, the situation has progressed from alarming to dire. If you press them, many in this field will tell you that there’s not much chance for us as a species. They are pretty sick of being labeled ‘scaremongers,’ and many have reverted to pretty dark humor. Since the oil companies fessed up, many sceptics have started down the stages of grief. You appear to be entering the bargaining phase.
Now let’s talk about the specifics of your article. Yes for the most part people in this country are enjoying a warmer summer this year. You rightly note that there were some floods this year and that we expect to see some sea level rise. You tell us that from what you have read a sea level rise of 53-97cm by next century are the worst we can expect to see here if we do nothing. I’d love to know where you obtained that information. A search on your paper’s site for the words ‘coastal report’ provides 2960 results, many of which refer to Coastal Hazards and Climate Change guidance 2017 document buried by the previous Minister for Climate Change Issues. Here are some articles from a paper I prefer to the Herald:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@environment/2017/12/15/68937/new-sea-level-rules-prepare-for-the-worst
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/12/11/67374/drowning-dreams-billions-at-stake-as-govt-mulls-sea-level-rules
You’ll see there that the posts have moved. Currently, 0.5m is the baseline: the least we can expect this century no matter what. We could now anticipate 2m of sea level rise in this century if the Antarctica shelves start to collapse. Since this report appeared, it seems that this is what they are doing.
https://grist.org/article/antarctica-doomsday-glaciers-could-flood-coastal-cities/
It turns out that up to 3.35m of sea level rise could be caused by the melting Antarctic ice alone. More will occur due to thermal expansion: where water occupies more volume as it heats. The oceans have been much warmer lately. Even the Herald has reported on the recent marine heat wave. Nature has a scientific report on this event that states that ‘it was very likely to be (>90%) and virtually certain (>99%) that anthropogenic climate change increased the likelihood of an event of this intensity in the 1982–2005 and 2006–2020 periods, respectively’.
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms16101
You also noted, somewhat bizarrely, that the weather was ‘not too bad’ in 2017. Perhaps it wasn’t in New Zealand if you ignore Whanganui and Edgecumbe, anyone affected by the Port Hills fires, or slips (1000 in Wellington alone), or the farmers who had an unusually wet season (search for ‘Wet Season 2017’ in NZ Herald’s site – 2270 results).
I know what you’re about to say – that wildfires and wet seasons are local anomalies and probably have nothing to do with climate change. I only mentioned them first because you seem to be unaware of the extraordinary wildfires and wet seasons across the world in 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_South_Asian_floods
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/12/28/16795490/natural-disasters-2017-hurricanes-wildfires-heat-climate-change-cost-deaths
You probably did hear about the 2017 hurricanes: two category fives, two category fours, and two category threes. Intense hurricanes happen every three years on average, but their intensity is increased: due to rising ocean temperatures they can carry more water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Category_5_Atlantic_hurricanes
I would like you to reflect on this last point. We are currently at just over 1C of global warming. The Paris Accord was intended to keep below 2C and would only work if all the participants keep their commitments. We never came close in NZ and failed to include our biggest emitters anyway. Many of the most significant emitters, the USA, Russia, and China are miles away from keeping to theirs, so there’s just no hope of staying within 2C. Once we sail beyond that seriously catastrophic changes can be expected. We are enjoying this pleasant summer in much the same way someone falling from a precipice might enjoy the view.
You might try attending the Pacific Climate Change Conference this coming February in Wellington. This will provide you a terrific opportunity to catch up on the subject. I hope you do. I believe that the most verbal climate change naysayers are the very people that could make the greatest difference soon while we try to stave off the worst of the worst. If, before you disappear into the background as most of them do, you could come out and announce to your audience that you have discovered that you were wrong, you might change opinions where nobody else could. You could make a valuable, lasting contribution to this problem.
Either way, you will be remembered. We in New Zealand have access to some of the best people in the field. Talk to them and think about your legacy.

There was a message written in pencil on the tiles by the roller towel. This was it:

“What is the purpose of life”

Trout plundered his pockets for a pen or pencil. He had an answer to the question. But he had nothing to write with, not even a burnt match. So he left the question unanswered, but here is what he would have written, if he found anything to write with:

To be
the eyes
and ears
and conscience
of the Creator of the universe,
you fool.

— Kurt Vonnegut: Breakfast of Champions

One reason I didn’t do a normal episode this time was that I felt the direction of the podcast change. Ms Ardern had taken my warning to heart, that day in the New Plymouth shopping mall, and had decided to treat global warming with the utmost seriousness. She and James Shaw had bonded over a game of badminton, as per my instructions to him, and the good luck charm that was Gabe and Bryans combined victory on court meant that politically everything was going to be on track. So, you know, job done. The government will do the thing. You’re welcome, New Zealand.

All that is left is to lead the other four million people towards the swirling tempestous light. Another reason was that I didn’t have enough followers and needed to think about attracting some. I tried stand-up comedy; leading with the podcast about climate change and how it couldn’t use the title ‘I think we’re screwed now’ because that had been taken by the National party’. But like all the things they laughed at that night, people assumed they were to absurd too be true. So it goes.

The final reason was this. So much stuff happened in the world of carbon emissions and you probably missed out on most of it because you were foolishly following the news. To my chagrin, I am now well behind the play in that show where people marry strangers before agreeing on a safe word. So you have that on me.

Bonn Climate Change Conference 2017.

James Shaw signs up to eliminate coal by 2030. Merkel recognises that Germany is way behind on coal and cars. California ahead on its commitment to renewable power (10 years).

Fonterra signs with MFE plan for becoming carbon nuetral by 2050, phasing out coal for wood and electricity, getting biodiesel into the tanker fleet and 100 EVs into car fleet. Rod Oram points out how far short of the mark this all falls.

IPCC announces carbon emissions are increasing after 3 years of no change. Studies at Antarctica showing that methane release is coming from fossil extraction and fears over massive natural releases are premature.

James Hansen talks about the need to use courts to hold goverments to account, since they are less likely to be corrupt.

Scott Pruitt (US head of EPA) does not attend, however the US does send a delegation to talk about (among other things) the importance of coal. The room fills up for this talk, with people in hallways unable to get in. Partway through the presentation they get up, sing a prepared piece about the problem with coal, and walk out, leaving behind a mostly empty room.

These are the links I discovered since the last episode. I’ve broken them into sections for you. The sections are:

• Good News
• Bad News
• Books
• We’re so dumb
• The US is screwed
• Really bad news
• Some radical plan
• Whitebait

Before we start, here’s a handy emissions tracker to help address questions later:

Good News

We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane

This was a presentation about solar power and battery storage at Victoria University. Solar generation is already very competitive but the advances are still coming. At Vic they are experimenting with a kind of thin film solar panel that can be produced in rolls. There are also two important advances in storage – one a new battery chemistry using aluminium instead of lithium. This is promising because the aluminium is far more plentiful and we’d need to make a lot of batteries to switch all vehicles to electric. The other advance was in batteries for use in fixed locations, like power facilities. This kept the anode and cathode parts in separate vessels, meaning the power could be retained for longer and the battery was safer.

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/the-science-behind-solar-energy-tickets-38565212589?aff=eac2#

China is a huge player in global emissions. They have hit their Paris target a full decade early. India has also make great advances in the last couple of years, and much of this comes off the back of plummeting prices for renewable energy. This means a falling demand for coal, which could in turn help kill off the Adani coal mine project in Australia.

http://www.afr.com/news/policy/climate/as-climate-wars-rage-in-australia-china-hits-paris-target-a-decade-early-20171105-gzf20g

Sarah Thomsen won in court and now James Shaw, the minister for climate change issues, will stand accountable.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/04-11-2017/i-took-the-climate-change-minister-to-court-and-won-kind-of-now-im-looking-at-you-james-shaw/

No new coal mines in department of conservation land.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/no-new-mines-conservation-land-signalled

The Guardian produced a piece on the big trends that can cause change.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/08/seven-megatrends-that-could-beat-global-warming-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_tw

Syria and Nicaragua are now signatories to the Paris accord, meaning every country on earth is in on this now. Of course Trump has declared that the U.S. will pull out as soon as they are able, which is at the end of his current term as president. Notably at the State and municipal level large parts of the country have annouced that they are still in and like many things Trump, people will find a way to work around him.

https://qz.com/1122371/cop23-syria-is-signing-the-paris-climate-agreement-leaving-the-us-alone-against-the-rest-of-the-world/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531380-500-back-to-the-wild-how-nature-is-reclaiming-farmland/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1509546163

Synthetic meat looks to be close. While this affects our exports it promises to reduce emissions radically, and, because it will use less resources, will likely wind up killing a lot of livestock farming on price alone. Economically, this promises to be like solar to coal.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/how-these-silicon-valley-companies-are-disrupting-the-meat-industry-with-their-meatless-meat-1.4373873

http://www.noted.co.nz/money/business/the-future-of-food-is-set-to-slash-carbon-emissions-and-disrupt-the-economy/

A newsroom article on our new government.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@politics/2017/10/19/54683/with-new-leadership-comes-a-fresh-agenda?utm_content=buffer64c5a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

A study on how to change people’s minds on climate change.

https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/04/changing-minds-on-a-changing-climate/

https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/10/26/stories/1060064729

Signs of emissions peaking in 49 countries around the world.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-wri-data-suggests-emissions-have-already-peaked-49-countries

A bit about planes. There is currently not good solution for the aircraft problem. Some short range electric planes are in the works now, and it may be possible to manufacture liquid fuels for longer hauls, but this will be expensive for some time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2017/11/02/plane-pollution/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.bf64404caf9b

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/11/01/57555/global-catastrophe-can-be-avoided

Also in the news last week. Telsa has presented its new electric truck. This can run 600kms on a charge and will come into production in 2019.

Some more about getting away from dairy and livestock. I know, New Zealand, that this is inconceivable, but the world around us may well view this as a viable survival mechanism. And, to repeat, no it did not appear the our governments have taken climate change seriously for the last twenty years. They really should have.

http://www.perfectdayfoods.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkTVp8Px2iA << enteric fermentation

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/04/livestock-farming-artificial-meat-industry-animals?CMP=share_btn_tw

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-israel-trade-deal-lab-grown-meat-veganism-vegetarianism-a7950901.html

https://journal.thriveglobal.com/6-nails-in-the-coffin-of-meat-production-178fef695140

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/21/eat-less-meat-vegetarianism-dangerous-global-warming

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism

https://medium.com/the-mission/is-going-vegan-actually-helping-battle-climate-change-733d946b5226

Bad News

The emissions from livestock farming are bigger than we thought. Now that there are competitive, proven large scale solutions for the creation of electricty thoughts are turning to the other huge problem.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/07/big-meat-big-dairy-carbon-emmissions-exxon-mobil?CMP=share_btn_tw

Australia’s performance is absymal at the federal level. Much like the States, the story is quite different at the State level, still they are still close to signing off on the Adani coal mine, which is pretty catastrophic.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-wins-early-fossil-award-as-syria-leaves-us-alone-on-climate-62649/

Recent reports from the IPCC and elsewhere show that events could be overtaking us already. While India and China pulled some rabbits out of the hat last year, we’ll need to see a series of such bunnies to save ourselves.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-11-04/humanity-has-entered-global-warming-minefield-climate-scientists-say

Tar sands. As oil gets harder to extract the carbon released and damage done during extraction multiplies. We’re not digging shallow wells in Texas any more.

https://www.ecowatch.com/banks-tar-sands-paris-agreement-2505848938.html?utm_content=buffer73ff7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Books

Let others bring order to chaos. I would bring chaos to order instead

Here are some manuals to get you up to speed.

Released in the last month, this short New Zealand volume is well overdue. Its a manual on what citizens in New Zealand could do about climate change.

http://bwb.co.nz/books/sea-change

Written and released in haste after the 2016 U.S. elections, this is the manual on resisting the toxic politics that gathers around global crisis.

https://smile.amazon.com/No-Not-Enough-Resisting-Politics/dp/1608468909/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1510563924&sr=8-1&keywords=naomi+klein

A much longer and deeply researched piece by the same author, this is a wide ranging guide on the problem, from the science to the politics. If you read one book on the subject, I would suggest it be this.

https://smile.amazon.com/This-Changes-Everything-Capitalism-Climate/dp/1451697392/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1510563924&sr=8-3&keywords=naomi+klein

This is not about climate change at all. Instead it describes the way humans extract and use energy, noting that it is never about conservation, since the more we extract the more we can make. Chillingly, the more we extract the more we also use in the extraction process. By ignoring climate change as a problem it is able to shine a light on what might be the key to the Anthropocene – that from the planets point of view we were put here by the creator of the universe to do one thing: kill ourselves buy burning up all the underground carbon.

https://smile.amazon.com/Bottomless-Well-Twilight-Virtue-Energy/dp/046503117X/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1510563990&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bottomless+well

Sarah Thomsen directed me to this one. It is about using the legal system to press on the issue of global warming. This is the approach urged by James Hansen currently as well; he argues that judicial systems are less corrupt than governments so they are better tools to employ.

https://smile.amazon.com/Client-Earth-James-Thornton/dp/1947534033/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1510564022&sr=8-1&keywords=client+earth

This goes into the psychology of denial. Its investigates the ways in which we manage not to think about the problem.

https://smile.amazon.com/Dont-Even-Think-About-Climate/dp/163286102X/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1510564101&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+even+think+about+it

This was a favorite of mine, though I can’t say I understood all of it. This is a philosophical text around the concept we reduce into the term ‘Elephant in the room’. It is truely mind expanding and it turns out the author is a huge fan of the band My Bloody Valentine.

https://www.amazon.com/Hyperobjects-Philosophy-Ecology-after-Posthumanities-ebook/dp/B00FP9EI5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510566071&sr=8-1&keywords=hyperobjects

A shorter piece recommended by James Renwick, this covers the extinction events surrounding the end of the Holocene.

https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Extinction-Unnatural-History-ebook/dp/B00HXEF3V2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510566095&sr=8-1&keywords=sixth+extinction+kolbert

We’re so dumb

“There was no immunity to cuckoo ideas on earth.”

Do I complain that the media is riddled with terrible information about the environment? All the time.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/343311/are-there-too-many-native-birds

https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/98506819/Cows-not-the-only-dirty-things-finding-their-way-into-rivers

The US is screwed

“Don’t matter if you care,” the old miner said, “if you don’t own what you care about.”

The Trump administration is like a cultural revolution inside the working of the government. It started with the dismantling of the state department and the appointment of heads whose aim was to destroy their departments. And it continues now with an attack on science and scientific data that will take years to reverse.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13381482/air-too-clean-epa-official-trump/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/climate/senate-confirmation-climate-epa.html

https://www.ecowatch.com/kathleen-hartnett-white-climate-change-2508066491.html

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/06/watch-a-top-epa-nominee-embarrass-himself-with-feigned-ignorance-of-basic-facts/

https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/929006495206797313 << Kathleen Hartnett White

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/05/donald-trump-accused-blocking-satellite-climate-change-research

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/climate-change-usa-government-science-environment/

http://grist.org/briefly/the-feds-are-leaving-puerto-rico-and-offering-to-take-maria-survivors-with-them/

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/25/epa-michael-dourson-senate-vote/

https://theintercept.com/2017/07/21/trumps-epa-chemical-safety-nominee-was-in-the-business-of-blessing-pollution/

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/03/epa-nominee-michael-dourson-toxic-chemicals/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/climate/senate-confirmation-climate-epa.html

Really bad news

Sigh. Just look for yourself.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/11/06/the-ecosystem-is-breaking-down/

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/06/climate/world-emissions-goals-far-off-course.html?smid=tw-share

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-companies/top-250-firms-emit-third-of-co2-few-have-strong-goals-to-cut-study-idUSKBN1D00ZJ?utm_content=bufferf2768&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/emissions-gap-report-2017-governments-non-state-actors-must-do-more

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/342965/climate-goal-unachievable-without-change

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41802982 << emissions gap alarmingly high

https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/epa-pruitt-new-science-advisors?utm_term=.gpY4r84MzB#.rbJr4yrP37

https://global.handelsblatt.com/politics/germanys-climate-goals-go-up-in-smoke-845661?utm_content=bufferbf8e4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming?CMP=fb_gu

https://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9616370/science-committee-worse-benghazi-committee

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/358640-epa-names-industry-state-officials-to-advisory-boards

http://www.afr.com/news/victorian-liberal-senator-jane-hume-reprises-scomos-coal-stunt-20171103-gze6q0

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/carbon-dioxide-in-the-atmosphere-just-set-a-new-800-000-year-record?utm_content=buffer1e8ba&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.oxfam.org/en/grow/5-things-you-need-know-about-climate-change-and-hunger

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/01/fossil-fuel-companies-undermining-paris-agreement-negotiations-report

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=11936747&ref=twitter

Some radical plans

So now we can build an unselfish society by devoting to unselfishness the frenzy we once devoted to gold and to underpants

https://itsyourturnblog.com/its-time-for-climate-capitalism-d4dd4e627a64

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/james-hansen-fight-climate-change-sue-pollutors-cop23/#close

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/07/uk-government-sued-for-third-time-over-deadly-air-pollution?CMP=share_btn_tw

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/cop23-un-latest-climate-change-trump-us-issues-what-will-happen-talks-a8041146.html

https://envi.co.nz/fonterras-opportunity-for-environmental-leadership-a5e0ff610b2c

https://350.org/cop23-350-orgs-position-on-a-pivotal-moment/?utm_content=buffer4080c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgPoe53ZzNQ << what is the ETS

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/2018620285/insight-climate-change-and-waterproofing-nz-s-cities

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-03/exxon-is-spending-1-billion-a-year-to-research-green-energy

Whitebait

Meanwhile, back in New Zealand. From burning tyres to make podcasts about psychics I can’t help but think we’re somehow wired to do everything backwards.

https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/net-loss/