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[[File:Greenpolicy360-bannerlogo2.png]]
<big><big><big>"Green stories changing our world"</big></big></big>


&nbsp;


:[[File:Green Branching Out.jpg |link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenLinks]] [[File:Green Branching Out.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GP360_NewPages]]
<big>'''2024: As the GRN360 Network Goes Over a Hundred Million Views &  Shares'''</big>     
     
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:'''Green stories''' are changing the world. We encourage you to join in, create your own green stories, launch new initiatives, improve the environment, change the way governments run and how businesses work.
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/images/GreenPolicy360_Top_Pages_-_2023.pdf <font color=green><big><big>'''''Visit GreenPolicy's High Visited Pages from 2023'''''</big></big></font>]


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:::As [http://www.planetcitizens.org planet citizens] we are interconnected [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Global_Security global citizens]. Now is time to go beyond old ways of thinking and to develop a new vision of our home, the only home we have.
: [[File:Map of the World wiki commons GTN800x370.png|link=https://greenpolicy360.net/w/GTN_GreenLinks_Trending_News]]




&nbsp;
[http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic <big><font color=green>'''#PlanetCitizens @Work Day-by-Day'''</font></big>]


:[[File:Earth gem.jpg]]  
: '''[[Planet Citizens]]'''


: '''[[Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]]'''


&nbsp;
: '''[[EarthPOV]]'''


::[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Special:PopularPages <font color=green><big><big><u>'''''Visit GreenPolicy's Most Popular Pages'''''</u></big></big></font>]
: '''[[Earth Right Now]]'''


::::[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Special:MostLinkedCategories <font color=green><big><big><u>'''''Scan Our Most Linked-to Categories'''''</u></big></big></font>]
: '''[[Earth Science Vital Signs]]'''
     
 


:::::<big><big><u>'''''[[GTN GreenLinks Trending News]]'''''</u></big></big>
[[File:Blue green lines 1.png]]




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<big><big>'''GRN360: Turning Visions into Reality'''</big></big>


<big>'''''Mick Mulvaney, U.S. President Trump’s budget director (March 2016):'''''</big>  
: [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Green_Networking <big>'''Green Networking, Green Best Practices'''</big>]


''“Regarding the question as to climate change, I think the President was fairly straightforward —''


''We’re not spending money on that anymore; we consider that to be a waste of your money to go out and do that.”''  
:✅ [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Plans_Enforcement_-_Resources '''The Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative''']


:✅ [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenLinks '''GreenLinks: Global Green Networking with Web 3.0''']


:::[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/03/16/mulvaney_were_not_spending_money_on_climate_change_anymore_waste_of_your_money.html ''We're Not Spending Money On Climate Change Anymore (Video)'']
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Green_Best_Practices '''Green Best Practices: Community-to-Community''']  


:::[[File:Mulvaney March2017-ClimateChangeWaste.png|link=https://youtu.be/l7WGtMtAloo]] 




&nbsp;
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[http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic <big><big><font color=green> '''''On to the New Year'''''</font></big></big>]  
[[File:Liberty Bell.jpeg]]


<small>Photo by mbell1975</small>


'''''January 14, 2019'''''


<big>'''[[In Defense of Democracy and Freedom]]'''</big>


* https://www.ewg.org/release/mining-industry-pro-trump-s-promises-bring-back-coal-he-s-lying
<big>'''[[Democracy Quotes]]'''</big>




''More coal powered US power plants were shutting the first two years of President Donald Trump's presidency than in President Obama's entire first term. According to Data from Reuters and the US Energy Information Administration nearly 15,000 megawatts of coal-fired power retired from 2009 to 2012, while from 2017 to 2018 that number jumped to about 23,000...
<big>[https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Democracy '''A 'Working Democracy' ''']</big>


<big>[https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Fact_Checking,_Facts_Count '''In Democracy, 'Facts Count' ''']</big>


[https://reut.tv/2bC58dw '''''Via Reuters News (TV) / Trump can't stop coals decline''''']


: [https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1P80BY ''Coal plants closing'']


[[File:Blue green lines 1.png]]




: [[File:Drawdown.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/ProjectDrawdownCO2]]


[[File:Surviving Victory - Liberty at Risk.jpg]]


&nbsp;


'''''January 5, 2019'''''


[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/living-with-climate-change '''''Policymakers, act now''''']
<big><big>'''December 2024'''</big></big>


''The new normal is abnormal.''




'''''January 4, 2019'''''
December 25, 2024


[http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/01/03/michael-bloomberg-announces-2-5-million-award-for-st-pete-climate-change-efforts/ '''''In St. Pete/Clearwater, GreenPolicy360's terrestrial home base''''']




'''''January 3, 2019'''''
[[File:Peace dove.jpg]]


[https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-brazils-new-president-poses-an-unprecedented-threat-to-the-amazon '''''Why Brazil's new president poses an unprecedented threat to the Amazon''''']


[[File:Holiday Star Wreath via NASA.jpeg]]






• [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/01/03/ignored-trump-local-officials-preparing-climate-change/2306310002 '''''Right wing, left wing and in-between, local/state governments prepare for climate/severe weather event impacts''''']
🌎




USA Today / ''Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey's deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing climate, warns a new report Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a state where skepticism about climate change.''


From the Texas Governor’s report  https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/RebuildTexasHurricaneHarveyEyeOfTheStorm_12132018.pdf
[[File:Pale Blue Dot 1280.jpg]]


''"We need to stop making the old mistakes in local development that expose homes and businesses to risks that only become apparent when disaster strikes. To paraphrase the old saying, an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure."''


~


''While climate change has largely broken down along partisan lines at the state and federal level, the nation's mayors have overwhelmingly put aside political parties to address the issue. A survey of mayors this year found that 57 percent of cities are planning to take climate-related actions in 2019. And dozens of the country's largest cities have committed to meeting the terms of the 2025 Paris Agreement on climate change, which Trump is withdrawing from on a national level.''
[[File:Pale Blue Dot Revisited.jpeg]]


''"I think every mayor in the country would say it's their responsibility to do something," said James Brainard, the longtime mayor of Carmel, Indiana. "Our mayors are not sitting back. The mayors are the closest elected officials to the people and the mayors can make this happen regardless of what the federal government does."''


''Brainard, a Republican, said he doesn't consider climate change a political issue, but he acknowledged he sometimes has to tailor his message for different audiences. Liberal groups, for instance, love that the city replaced it's streetlights with LEDs, reducing electricity consumption and therefore the emission of greenhouse gasses. Conservative groups, he said, are usually more interested in the fact that the switch saves the city 20 percent on its electricity bill annually.''


: 🌎


'''''January 2, 2019'''''


[https://www.ft.com/content/3bcbcb60-037f-11e9-99df-6183d3002ee1 '''''Steel Manufacturing: Huge Emissions, Huge Challenge''''']


''Globally, steel is responsible for 7 per cent to 9 per cent of all direct emissions from fossil fuels, with each tonne produced resulting in an average 1.83 tonnes of CO2, according to the World Steel Association.''
: Terrestrially, building on sand alongside a rising sea...


''And as the world’s population grows, demand is only predicted to increase....''


''“In principle there are technology routes to lower emissions from steelmaking,” said David Clarke, head of strategy and chief technology officer at ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest producer by tonnage. The catch, he added, was that “society would have to accept higher costs of steel production”....''
[[File:Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald.png]]


''A well-established alternative to blast furnaces are electric arc furnaces (EAFs) that melt down scrap, instead of using raw materials. EAFs are smaller, less expensive and, because they do not consume coke, pump out less CO2 than blast furnaces. They already account for about one-quarter of global steel output.''


''However, renewable energy sources alone cannot meet their enormous electricity demands — enough to power a town of 100,000 people. Another limitation is the supply of scrap, while the grades produced in EAFs are often not the right quality for certain applications, like automotive....''
&nbsp;


''Swedish steel group SSAB is building a €150m pilot facility, scheduled for 2020, that would make the Nordic country the first to manufacture the metal without fossil fuels.''
<big><big>'''Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking'''</big></big>


''Hydrogen produced by electrolysis from Sweden’s abundant renewable energy resources will be used to reduce ore into a product called sponge iron, which can be converted into steel through arc furnaces.''
* https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/climate-change/article296831519.html
* https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024EA003852


''But clean hydrogen production is expensive and would require a huge expansion of renewable energy generation capacity. South Korea’s Posco and Voestalpine of Austria are pursuing similar projects, although the latter said it could take two decades to become reality.''


''Until then, steelmakers are taking intermediary steps. Tata’s system removes several stages of pre-processing raw materials and, if combined with the capture and storage of waste gases, the company said it could lower CO2 emissions by 80 per cent.''
GreenPolicy360 has been focusing for years on the risks of Florida at the 'frontlines of climate change'.


One issue we have repeatedly pointed to as we continually provided background, context, science and predictions of what happens next is grounded (literally) in the fact that much of Florida's geology is called 'karst', comprised of a limestone composition that goes back to ancient eras when what is now called Florida, the Sunshine State was underwater. Florida rose from the seas over millenia and Florida's sandy soil is 'shell filled' and porous as a result. Florida's underground springs, caves, caverns, percolating waterways are extremely susceptible to water movement, to dynamic flow, and to underground intrusion of salt water.


'''''December 30, 2018'''''
The land of Florida is unlike most all land in the United States as a result, yet few have pointed out these baseline facts.


[https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-december-30-2018-n951406 '''''Meet the Press (Transcript): Gov. Jerry Brown, Michael Bloomberg and science experts  confront challenges of climate disruption / global warming''''']
GreenPolicy360 has done so, and now comes a 'watershed' science study that is being called 'game changing'.


So here we are, not dwelling on "we told you so", but we did.


In GreenPolicy360 case, we can point to the beginnings of U.S. Earth Science initiatives [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:George_E._Brown_official_portrait.jpg '''measuring and monitoring'''] from low-earth orbit, missions that our compatriot, [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr '''Representative George E. Brown'''], was pushing and providing oversight of for some thirty years in Congress during the first generation of U.S. space, science and technology.


Now 'eyes in the sky' science are measuring and monitoring Florida, especially its coastlines, and the data is coming into the light.


[[File:E&E News logo1.png]]
Let's look -- this study can be seen as the first of many that will now be added to a database of Florida Earth Science facts. The consequences of the facts on the ground, and under the ground, are going to be seen and felt over years to come.




• https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060109689
[[File:Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 2.jpg]]
[[File:Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 3.jpg]]


Philip Shabecoff, a longtime environment reporter, has covered Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and every president in between.
&nbsp;


Now, at age 84, he'd like to return to the news business to cover President Trump.
[[File:Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 4.jpg]]


Shabecoff recently spoke to [https://www.eenews.net E&E News] about his start in environmental journalism, why he thinks the Times owes him an apology and why he labels the Trump administration an "unmitigated disaster."


&nbsp;


'''''How did you get the environment beat?'''''
[[File:Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 5.jpg]]


''I was assigned to the Washington bureau, and they asked me what I wanted to write about, and I said the environment. That was in 1970. ... The bureau chief told me at the time, "Well, that's not important enough for a full-time reporter in the Washington bureau, and besides, we need some help covering economics." It was not until I'd covered the White House that they let me cover the environment. And at first, not full-time. ... It wasn't until Reagan became president and Anne Gorsuch became EPA administrator and James Watt headed the Interior Department that it became a political issue as well as an environmental issue that they let me cover it full-time.''


'''''What were the most interesting storylines that you covered on that beat?'''''
&nbsp;


''I think my first climate change story was in '78 or '79, and that was buried. The Times held it for a couple of months and put it on page 42 of the Saturday paper, which is as deeply as you can bury a story in the Times.''
[[File:Estates at Acqualina - Sunny Isles Miami.jpg]]


Sunny Isles, Florida


(SJS / GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: The climate change story of '78 referred to here was a historic event, the first US Congressional legislation passed to study Climate Change. George E. Brown of the House science committee put forward the National Climate Program Act. A memorable moment in time --- [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png National Climate Program Act, Public Law 95-367] --- [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/National_Climate_Program_Act_Public_Law_95-367_Sept_1978.pdf National Climate Program Act, Public Law 95-367, Sept.17, 1978 95th Congress])
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Estates_at_Acqualina_-_Sunny_Isles_Miami.jpg




Philip Shabecoff interview continues:


''A decade later, I covered the hearing with [Colorado Democratic Sen.] Tim Wirth ... [and NASA climate change expert] Jim Hansen. I had interviewed [Hansen] and knew him, and it was the first major splash. It led the newspaper. ... I fully thought at that point there would be action on climate change, that the world governments would start doing something about it. How wrong I was.''
Read more at '''[[Sea-Level Rise]]''' and '''[[Climate News]]'''


* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


<small>https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Hansen-testimony-1988.jpg</small>




[[File:Hansen-testimony-1988.jpg]]
🌎






[[File:Money in Politics, US Pres Campaign 2024.jpeg]]


''Of course, there was the whole Gorsuch-Watt era, when they were trying to dismantle environmental regulations. ... Eventually, they both had to resign, even in the Reagan administration.''


'''''What was environmental journalism like in those days?'''''
: SCOTUS Paves the Way


''There was hardly anybody, just a handful [of reporters]. A few of us started the Society of Environmental Journalists with just a handful, and now there's about 1,500 or so, I don't know the exact number. There's a lot of talented environmental journalists out there now.''
: <big>PoliticoPay, Money in Politics, Decision by Decision</big>


''You know, I had to resign from the Times. Officially I retired, but I resigned because I was taken off the environmental beat in 1990 because my coverage about things like climate change was considered alarmist.''


'''''What's your take on the Trump administration?'''''
: Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
: First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)
: Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
: McCutcheon v. FEC (2014)


''It is an unmitigated disaster, and he should be — what he's doing to the rollback of environmental regulations and particularly what he's doing to ignore climate change and build up the fossil fuel industry should be considered a crime against humanity, and he should be sent to The Hague and tried.''


'''''How do you think Trump has influenced environmental journalism?'''''
: [[File:PoliticoPay.com - 1.jpg]]


''I think he's prodded it; I think he's energized it. I think it was sort of fading for a while. I think there's a lot of good reporting coming out of what he's doing. Unfortunately, most of the journalism about the environment is horror stories.''
::: [[File:PoliticoPay.com - 2.jpg]]


'''''You've seen administrations come and go. Do you think that the Trump administration's environmental policies will be long-lasting?'''''


''They can certainly restore a lot of regulations, but the damage that is being done to the climate now, it cannot be reversed. The dumping of toxins into waterways cannot be reversed. I don't think the selling off of public lands can be reversed. The damage by oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge cannot be reversed. One could go on and on. I hope that — and God willing, there will be a next administration in 2020 — they can go back to having a sane environmental policy, but the damage will have been done.''
U.S. Presidential Campaign, 2024


:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Money_in_Politics,_US_Pres_Campaign_2024.jpeg






[https://earther.gizmodo.com/dc-just-passed-the-strongest-climate-legislation-in-the-1830688724 ''Via Gizmodo as forwarded by Earther / Washington D.C (the city) just passed the 'strongest climate legislation' '']
<big>'''Money in Politics'''</big>


''The Trump administration isn’t about renewable energy, but thanks to the Washington, D.C., city council, it could soon be running on clean power. The council passed one of the most ambitious climate bills in the country on Tuesday requiring the District to get all of its energy from renewables by 2032.''
* https://politicopay.com/buckley-valeo-a-mega-money-future


''The bill was introduced in July by City Councilmember Mary Cheh and was spurred along by a group of more than 110 environmental, justice and faith groups as well as unions. While it includes a host of new climate rules, chief among them is the renewable requirement.''


Flashback from GreenPolicy's Steve Schmidt: In 1990 GreenPolicy360 siterunner traveled to Washington DC at the invitation of a newly elected US Senator Paul Wellstone. I helped Paul move into his first apartment in DC, carrying appliances up into his place and talking about what clothes he would need as a Senator (he had no suits, he was a professor from Minnesota's Carleton College and was casual in his style. Yet, he was to become a leader of the progressive and populist wing of the Democratic Party and the two of us became especially close on the subject of 'Money in Politics', on his desultory impact on democratic discussion, debate, and citizen involvement. We agreed to pursue legislation and we did over the years and we did until his tragic death in a plane crash as he flew through winter weather on a mission for a constituent.


Paul is known for his green bus, but I knew him for his attempts to 'clean up politics'. He led efforts to fix the 'money in politics' problem and he would tell me when I pressed the issue over the years that "Schmidt, my office phones never light up calling me to push back the big money. You and I and some folks know how big a probleme it is, but it's off radar when it comes to what makes Congress move."


'''December 21, 2018, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch'''
And so let me recall Paul, and Jerry in '92 with whom I worked on a presidential platform with 'money in politics' at the center, for trying to make a difference that is still  needed to be made if a real difference in how Washington DC runs for better - or remains operating for the worse with push and pull, dollars and barters.


• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo.jpg


• http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181220-the-nasa-mission-that-broadcast-to-a-billion-people
Here's Paul's green bus, a simple, real campaign emblem of who he was, for people, over the years, and  the campaign continues.


• https://qz.com/1501935/photos-apollo-8-brought-us-the-moon-as-never-seen-before/amp/
Here is PoliticoPay.com, highlighted in 2016 as a Green Policy project...


• https://petapixel.com/2018/12/20/how-nasas-iconic-earthrise-photo-was-shot/
We addressed how US Supreme Court decisions brought on the current deluge of big money and influence in politics.




''Today, Bill Anders says that the most striking image to him was not the Earth as seen from the moon, so much as it was the Earth receding in the distance as they left it behind on their outbound voyage. Arguably, that view has changed us — colored our attitude toward the environment, international affairs, our place in the universe — more than Apollo’s other accomplishments.''
[[File:Paul Wellstone, how to do better.jpg]]


''“It took a while to affect me,” Anders says, “this beautiful blue ball against the darkest black you could imagine, getting smaller and smaller as we went. It made me realize how insignificant our little planet was.”''




[[File:Apollo.jpg]]


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[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/climate-negotiators-reach-an-overtime-deal-to-keep-paris-pact-alive/ar-BBR0nlY <big><big>'''''Climate Negotiators Reach an Overtime Deal'''''</big></big>]
<big>'''Oil ➡️ Plastic ➡️ Pollution... Costs Keep Adding up'''</big>


'''''Another Step toward International Cooperation: U.S. resists but chooses to sign agreement'''''


'''''The deal requires every country to follow uniform standards for measuring emissions. Analysts said it was now up to the countries to honor their commitments'''''
[[File:Tire Shedding Pollution.jpeg]]




''Alden Meyer, director of policy and strategy at the Union of Concerned Scientists summed up the need for action as the 24th international climate meeting concluded:''
:'''''“The real test is what happens when countries go home. All the decision text in the world doesn’t cut a molecule of carbon. You need action on the ground.”'''''


<big>'''November 2024'''</big>


:• ''https://cop24.gov.pl''


:• ''https://unfccc.int/event/cop-24''
<big>'''Thankful Thanksgiving Thoughts'''</big>


:• ''https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference''


[[File:Thankful for a Tree.JPG]]


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<big><big>'''''Clean Air Cuts, Now Clean Water Act Rollbacks'''''</big></big>
·······································


:''Environmental Protections Agency reports show the rollback of Obama-era regulations will leave 51 percent of the nation's wetlands unprotected''




• [https://waterkeeper.org/trump-administration-to-slash-clean-water-act-protections-for-rivers-streams-wetlands/ ''Slashing Clean Water Act Protections'']
<big>'''What Happens Next?'''</big>


• [https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-clean-water-act/ ''Via The Nation / Trump Moves to Gut the Clean Water Act'']
November 20, 2024


• [https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/trump-administration-proposes-rollbacks-to-obamas-clean-water-act/70006889 ''Via AccuWeather / Trump administration proposes rollbacks to Obama's Clean Water Act'']


• [https://www.tampabay.com/environment/trump-wetlands-rule-rollback-makes-about-6-million-acres-in-florida-unprotected-20181213/ ''Via Tampa Bay Times / Trump wetlands rule rollback makes about 6 million acres in Florida unprotected ... Florida has 12 million acres of wetlands, more than all but one other state'']


• [https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/14/stories/1060109731 ''Via E&E News''] / ''Trump administration breaks with its predecessors by using a 2006 opinion by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia...''
Two weeks ago the former US president was learning he would become the next US president.  


Now, after a first slate of nominees for top positions are announced, many are asking -- ''''What Happens Next?' '''


[[File:Like a speeding freight train.png]]


::::[[File:What Happens Next?.jpeg]]


&nbsp;


<big>'''''Global carbon emissions reached record high in 2018'''''</big>
The drama reminds GreenPolicy360's editor of a book by the same name written by Marc Norman, a great writer and a former client from back in the old days.


''[https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/05/we-are-trouble-global-carbon-emissions-reached-new-record-high/ Washington Post today] as nations hold climate talks in Poland... Latest evidence of the chasm between international goals for combating climate change and what countries are actually doing.''
Marc Norman wrote a screenplay for 'Shakespeare in Love' (among many stories) and he knows how it goes in 'the biz', whether tragedy or comedy or in between.  


''More: https://twitter.com/greenpolicy360/status/1070404767892103168''
As the writer tells the tale and the characters emerge and do what they do as their nature pushes them to do, the audience is always asking, 'What's Next'?


[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/05/brutal-news-global-carbon-emissions-jump-to-all-time-high-in-2018 ''Via The Guardian / 'Brutal news': global carbon emissions jump to all-time high in 2018'']
Here a former president, who didn't expect to win the first time he ran and who denied he lost when he ran for reelection, now is teeing it up for another round as president.


We'll see what happens next... and the US and world will face the consequences. With so much at stake, starting with national and global security, the next four years  of 'what's next' are going to be a wild ride.


[[File:Solving our climate crisis a national townhall-dec3,2018.jpg]]




<big>'''''Donald Trump Only World Leader to Reject Climate Change in G20 Statement'''''</big>
🌎


[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/3/18123684/trump-g20-climate-change-paris-agreement ''The US got its own section in the G20 statement on climate change'']




''In a communiqué released at the end of the summit, the signatories of the Paris climate agreement reaffirmed that the international accord “is irreversible” and that they are committed to its “full implementation,” promising to “continue to tackle climate change, while promoting sustainable development and economic growth.”''
<big>'''Trump Picks Oil-Gas Man to Head Energy Department'''</big>


''Except for the US, which got its own clause restating President Trump’s decision over the summer to remove the US from the agreement.''


''“The United States reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and affirms its strong commitment to economic growth and energy access and security, utilizing all energy sources and technologies, while protecting the environment,” the U.S. clause reads.
''Via the Associated Press'' / ''November 17, 2024''


''PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected Chris Wright, a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive, to serve as energy secretary in his upcoming, second administration.''


''The CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.''


''Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change, and could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.''


<big>'''''Air Quality / Air Pollution'''''</big>


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Quality''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution''
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''[https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorstAirQuality?src=hash '''''#WorstAirQuality''''']


[[File:IMG 9988.jpeg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:US_Environmental_Protection_Agency]]


[http://berkeleyearth.org/air-quality-real-time-map/ '''''Air Quality Real-time Map''''']


[https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.international '''''AirNow / International Air Quality''''']
<big>'''Nominee Chosen to Direct the Environmental Protection Agency'''</big>


[https://waqi.info/ '''''World Air Quality Index / World's Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index''''']


WASHINGTON / The Post —


[https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/pollution-facts/ <big>'''''Air Quality Life Index (AQLI)</big>''''']
''President-elect Donald Trump has selected former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.''


* ''https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/the-index/''
''Zeldin, 44, served four terms as a Republican congressman repping eastern Long Island before losing the 2022 New York governor’s race to Democrat Kathy Hochul by a surprisingly close margin — and will become a key figure in adopting Trump’s deregulatory and pro-energy production. ''


:''Particulate air pollution is the single greatest threat to human health globally.''
''“I am deeply honored to have been asked by President Trump to serve in his Cabinet. As EPA Administrator, we will restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, make the United States the global leader of Artificial Intelligence advancement, and slash the red tape holding back American workers from upward economic mobility,” Zeldin said.''




<big><u>'''''[[Climate News]]'''''</u></big>
GreenPolicy360: Mr. Zeldin seems unaware of the legislatively approved mission of the Environmental Protection Agency.


Perhaps a briefing on the EPA's scope, goals and authority would help the new appointee as he meets the US Congress ...


''As the U.S. President thanks himself on a Thanksgiving holiday in November of 2018, and gives himself an "A+" grade on his environmental record, we recall his factual environmental record and his state denial of climate change and its proliferating dangers and risks. Since his administration entered office in 2017, decades of policies put in place to protect the environment have come under assault by federal agencies. The President has not 'done his homework' and has failed in his work. The reality presents a stark contrast to how the U.S. President sees himself and his 'success'.''




Here, a primer, due diligence backgrounder from GreenPolicy360:


[[File:Disaster movies ignore the scientist.jpg]]


[[File:Environmental Protection Agency logo.png]]




'''''U.N. climate report card: When it comes to cutting emissions, a dog ate the world’s homework''''' / ''Via [https://grist.org/article/u-n-climate-report-card-when-it-comes-to-cutting-emissions-a-dog-ate-the-worlds-homework/ Grist]''
'''Origins of the EPA'''


* https://www.epa.gov/history/origins-epa


''On Tuesday (Nov. 27, 2018), the U.N. released its annual report card on climate change ([https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2018 The Emissions Gap]). The bad news is we’re failing to address the biggest problem facing humanity. The good news? There’s so much room to improve! — and cities and businesses could help pick up the slack.''
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf


''First, our failing marks: After a three-year plateau, global emissions are rising again “with no signs of peaking,” according to the report. Countries aren’t hitting their Paris goals. In fact, we’re failing at those goals to such a degree that we are making the climate problem worse at an accelerating rate.''


''And, even if we hit our current targets, it wouldn’t be enough. Factoring in the most ambitious stated climate goals of every nation on Earth, we are still on track for emissions to keep rising beyond 2030. If you’ll recall, the recent IPCC report found that global emissions need to be half their current levels by that year for a shot at keeping warming below catastrophic levels. The U.N. report found that the countries of the world would need to increase the carbon-cutting power of climate policies five-fold in order to meet that goal of 1.5 degrees C warming.''
'''Environmental movement / Environmental protection'''


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection


[https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2018 <big>'''''Emissions Gap Report 2018'''''</big>]
:27 November 2018
:Authors: UN Environment


''The goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change, as agreed at the Conference of the Parties in 2015, is to keep global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It also calls for efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.''
With a tip of our GreenPolicy360 hat to Representative George E. Brown-S from East Los Angeles, a prime mover of legislation to create the EPA and for many years a friend and mentor to our GreenPolicy360 founder, Steve Schmidt.


''The annual UN Environment Emissions Gap Report presents an assessment of current national mitigation efforts and the ambitions countries have presented in their Nationally Determined Contributions, which form the foundation of the Paris Agreement.''
*[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr <font color=green>George E. Brown & EPA]</font>


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_Summit_Paris''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Intended_Nationally_Determined_Contributions''
As the LA Times noted in George's obituary in 1999: "He championed the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency". The creation of the EPA was in many ways Congressman George Brown's vision achieved..."


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/INDCs''
The founding of the EPA was based on new realizations of science and the environment. The vision of the "Whole Earth" that began with unprecedented Apollo photos on the cover of Life magazine in January 1969 led to a coming together of education, students 'teach-ins', scientific space missions studying earth systems for the first time, and popular demands for environmental protections.


A leader and a chairperson on the House science committee for over 30 years, George legislatively helped to engineer a broad agenda of environmental legislation and first generation federally proposed and supported science efforts, including a science mission that greens look to as prescient -- climate science.


<big>'''''View the [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/UN_Climate_Agr_Emissions_Gap_FullReport_EN.pdf Full Int'l Report] on CO2 Emissions'''''</big>
George believed, strongly believed and advocated that science, 'big science', was necessary to understand [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_System_Science ''' 'Earth System Science' ''']. George Brown was instrumental in writing [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png the first '''National Climate Act'''] and over decades, he shepherded the start up of the Atmospheric and Earth science programs and ongoing missions that continue to this day, acquiring Earth observations and providing profoundly valuable data and baselines for policy decisions as [http://www.strategicdemands.com ''' 'Strategic Demands.' ''']


<big>''[[File:UN Climate Agr Emissions Gap FullReport EN.pdf]]''</big>
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space


* https://strategicdemands.com/environmental-security/
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'''''Trump Says He’s Too Intelligent to Believe Climate Change Report''''' / ''Via [http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/trump-im-too-intelligent-to-believe-climate-change-report.html NY Magazine]''
[[File:You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg]]




<big>'''''White House: Federal climate change report 'not based on facts' '''''</big>


<font color=green>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>


[[File:Sarah Sanders press conf-Nov 2018.png]]




<big>'''Mr. Zeldin should do a deep dive into the background and current environmental challenges the US faces'''''</big>


[https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/'''''2018 / U.S. National Climate Assessment / Federal Climate Report''''']


: [https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/downloads/ '''''U.S. Global Climate Change / 4th National Climate Assessment (PDFs)''''']
<big>'''[[Climate News]]'''</big>


<big>'''[[Earth and Space, Politics]]'''</big>


[https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-11-23/americans-will-pay-billions-more-for-climate-change-and-that-s-the-best-case '''U.S National Climate Assessment: A Bleak Report, a Bleak Government Response''']
<big>'''[[Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]]'''</big>


[https://earther.gizmodo.com/government-climate-report-lays-out-how-screwed-we-are-i-1830624858/amp '''The New Abnormal'''] / [https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060107237 '''E&E News: Not Good, Bad, Very Bad, Soon to be Worse''']




:'''''Via the Washington Post / From Donald Trump's 'gut interview'''''
······························································


:''President Trump Says He’s Too Intelligent To Believe In Climate Change''


:''The government’s own climate report predicts the planet will warm dramatically by 2100 without urgent efforts to rein in emissions. Trump responds, “I don’t see it.”''


:''President Donald Trump asserted that he had “very high levels of intelligence,” and as such, did not believe in the scientific consensus surrounding climate change in a sweeping interview with The Washington Post published Tuesday (Nov 27).''
<big><big>'''November 6, First News'''</big></big>


:''“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers,” said Trump, speaking to the Post’s Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker. “You look at our air and our water and it’s right now at a record clean. ... As to whether or not it’s man-made and whether or not the effects that you’re talking about are there, I don’t see it — not nearly like it is.”''


[[File:IMG 9931.jpeg]]


:''"You look at our air and our water, and it's right now at a record clean."''


:(We do not have 'record clean' and the Trump record is one of increasing atmospheric emissions and loosening clean air rules'.)


:''"And when you're talking about an atmosphere, oceans are very small. And it blows over and it sails over."''
······························································


:("Oceans are very small"? Oceans cover over 70% of the Earth's surface. And "sailing over?... What should one make of this comment?)


:"It just flows right down the Pacific, it flows, and we say where does this come from. And it takes many people to start off with."


:(The president has blamed China for creating the "myth" of climate change and global warming. Is he now saying that air pollution from China flows to the U.S. and "sails over"? Who knows what the president is saying as he says "where does this come from"...)
<big><big>'''The Day Before the Election'''</big></big>


: '''Tomorrow, November 5th, the US Votes'''


[[File:Katharine Hayhoe on the Fourth US National Climate Assessment (Thread).png|link=https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1067450865303330818]]


'' “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” begins a report published last month in the journal BioScience. “Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled... We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis.”''


-- Oxford Academic BioScience / Special 2024 Report


::::·····························································································································


''This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis. For many years, scientists, including a group of more than 15,000, have sounded the alarm about the impending dangers of climate change driven by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem change (Ripple et al. 2020). For half a century, global warming has been correctly predicted even before it was observed—and not only by independent academic scientists but also by fossil fuel companies (Supran et al. 2023). Despite these warnings, we are still moving in the wrong direction; fossil fuel emissions have increased to an all-time high, the 3 hottest days ever occurred in July of 2024 (Guterres 2024), and current policies have us on track for approximately 2.7 degrees Celsius (°C) peak warming by 2100 (UNEP 2023). Tragically, we are failing to avoid serious impacts, and we can now only hope to limit the extent of the damage. We are witnessing the grim reality of the forecasts as climate impacts escalate, bringing forth scenes of unprecedented disasters around the world and human and nonhuman suffering. We find ourselves amid an abrupt climate upheaval, a dire situation never before encountered in the annals of human existence. We have now brought the planet into climatic conditions never witnessed by us or our prehistoric relatives...''


[[File:Protect the Natural World.jpg]]
* https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae087


* https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biae087/7808595?login=false




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<big>'''GreenPolicy360'''</big>: '''Election Day in the United States, November 5th, the gathering winds of the future whistle ever closer...'''</big>




[https://www.reinsurancene.ws/un-partners-with-16-global-re-insurers-to-develop-climate-risk-assessment-tools <big>'''''UN partners with 16 global re/insurers to develop climate risk assessment tools'''''</big>]
'''The decision made will have far reaching and long lasting consequences.'''


'''Since the 1970s and first '[[Earth Day]]' and first  [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png 'National Climate Program Act'], Green Policy's founder-siterunner has spoken of the critical importance of protecting our [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earthrise_Planetary_Awareness.jpg 'living blue-green Earth']. Now, let us be clear-eyed about what we have to face in front of us. Tomorrow is a historic turning point, a day of reckoning.


''16th November 2018 / Reinsurance News''
'''Here, let us consider a voice from America's southern states with words that need to resonate:'''


''The UN Environment’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has announced a partnership with a group of 16 large, global insurers and reinsurers, to develop a new generation of risk assessment tools that enable the risk transfer industry to better understand the impacts of climate change on their business.''
''"Every existing global conflict, every human vulnerability and every form of social instability is already being exacerbated by climate calamities. There is no issue on the political table that will not be made exponentially worse if we allow the living earth to enter its death throes, and yet climate has rarely been part of the political discourse during this election year... Where planetary survival is concerned, it is too late to sit out an election on principle, or to cast a vote for a third-party candidate... This is the time to go to the polls and vote.''


''The 16 companies represent around 10% of global insurance premiums and $5 trillion in assets under management, and the pilot group will be tasked with developing analytical tools that they will use to pioneer insurance industry risk disclosures that fall in line with the guidelines and recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).''
''"The Democrats’ policies aren’t unassailable, but they are at least capable of keeping this planet alive long enough for the rest of the human race to come around to understanding how urgent is the danger we already face, how much worse it is going to get and how little time we have to hold off the unthinkable." -- Margaret Renki''


''The UNEP FI states that this will require member insurers and reinsurers to leverage the latest climate science, which includes the most advanced, and forward-looking climate scenarios that are out there.''


''The member re/insurers includes: Allianz, AXA, IAG, Intact Financial Corporation, Länsförsäkringar Sak, MAPFRE, MS&AD, Munich Re, NN Group, QBE, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa, Storebrand, Swiss Re, TD Insurance, The Co-operators, and Tokio Marine & Nichido.''
'''Let Margaret's words on protecting our [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/index.php?search=living+earth&title=Special%3ASearch&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 'Living Earth'] be a guide for decisions - and votes - in tomorrow's US election. Our generation's legacy, it must be said, is on the line.'''


''UN Environment Chief, Erik Solheim, commented: “For generations, the insurance industry has served as society’s early warning system and risk manager by understanding, reducing, pricing and carrying risk. Its message now is loud and clear: climate change risk is intensifying and is a serious threat to the insurability of communities and economies around the world.''


''“An uninsurable world is a price that society could not afford. This is why UN Environment is working with leading insurers to understand and reduce risk, to seize unprecedented business opportunities in climate action, and to ensure an insurable, resilient and sustainable world.”''
&nbsp; 


<big><big>'''October'''</big></big>


································································


'''October 30'''


<big>'''Clean Energy Is Booming in the U.S. The Election Could Change That'''</big>


[[File:Green city planning Stefano Boeri Architetti.jpg]]
''Over the last two years, a surge in clean energy manufacturing has helped push U.S. factory construction to the highest level in half a century. Solar power installations and electric car sales are breaking records. Even Republican-led states like Montana and Utah are writing climate plans to secure federal cash.''


''Yet the law driving this dizzying transformation of America’s energy landscape, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is facing a highly uncertain future as next week’s election looms.''


[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/7-ways-towns-and-cities-are-turning-from-grey-to-green '''''7 ways towns and cities are turning from grey to green''''']
''If he returns to the White House, former President Donald J. Trump has suggested he would gut the law, which is expected to pour as much as $1.2 trillion over the next decade into technologies to fight climate change such as wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear reactors, carbon capture and E.V.s, as well as the factories to supply them.''


''“My plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam,” Mr. Trump said in September, using his catchall phrase for climate policies. “We will rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”''


··········································································


Read the Election 2024 article


<big>'''Results of the US Mid-term Congressional Election'''</big>
* https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/30/climate/clean-energy-us-2024-election.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WE4.RxVK.QbstDpkM1EIT&smid=em-share




* [https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/15/climate-change-democrats-oil-gas  '''''Big Oil v the planet is the fight of our lives. Democrats must choose a side''''' / ''by David Sirota via The Guardian'']
More GreenPolicy360 '''[[Climate News]]'''


* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


··········································································


'''Climate Action Plans 360'''


'''''Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.) is poised to take control of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology'''''. ''Johnson was the first registered nurse elected to Congress, and will be the first chair of the committee with a STEM background since the 1990s, when it was led by former engineer George Brown (D-Calif.). She has a strong positive rating from the League of Conservation Voters...''
: [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_Laws_and_Modern_Environmental_Movement '''Environmental Laws & Environmental Movement''']
: [[:Category:Climate Change|'''Climate Change''']]
: [[:Category:Climate Policy|'''Climate Policy''']]
: [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_-_Global_Warming_Keyword-Terms '''Climate Change Terms''']
: [[Too Hot|Too Hot]]
: [[Apocalyptic Thinking|Hotter 'n Hotter]]
: [[Climate Problems, Climate Solutions]]
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg '''Measure to Manage''']
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:INDC '''INDC Pledges & Promises''']
: [[National Climate Plans]]




* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr Remembering George Brown, chairman of the US House Science Com't over the years when it was committed to advancing science]


* [http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-me-pol-house-vote-orange-county-20181110-story.htmlGOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher loses: The man who could've been chair of the House Science Com't]
🌎




''Nov 6, 2018''


''Press Release''
[[File:US Voters Poll - Democracy under Threat.jpeg]]


'''''House Science, Space, and Technology Committee'''''


''(Dallas, TX) – Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-TX) [https://democrats-science.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-johnson-statement-election-results-and-seeking-chairmanship statement]:''
''Nearly half of all voters are skeptical that the American experiment in self-governance is working, with 45 percent believing that the nation’s democracy does not do a good job representing ordinary people, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll.''


''“I am heartened that Democrats will be in the Majority in the 116th Congress, and I cannot wait to get to work. If I am fortunate enough to be elected Chair of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, a Committee that I like to call the ‘Committee of the Future,’ I know that there is much that we can accomplish as Democrats and Republicans working together for the good of the nation. There is much to be done in the next Congress, and I believe that at a minimum we need to pursue an agenda that will:''
''Three-quarters of voters in the United States say democracy is under threat, though their perception of the forces imperiling it vary widely based on partisan leanings. And a majority of voters believe that the country is plagued by corruption, with 62 percent saying that the government is mostly working to benefit itself and elites rather than the common good.''


* ''Ensure that the United States remains the global leader in innovation, which will require attention to a wide range of activities: promoting effective STEM education solutions, engaging the underrepresented minorities and blue collar workers in the STEM fields, supporting a robust federally funded R&D enterprise and emerging areas of science and technology, defending the scientific enterprise from political and ideological attacks, and challenging misguided or harmful Administration actions;''
''The eroding faith in the nearly 250-year-old American system of government follows four years of unparalleled challenges: a violent riot in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the criminal conviction of former President Donald J. Trump and Mr. Trump’s continued insistence that the democratic process is rigged...''
       
* ''Address the challenge of climate change, starting with acknowledging it is real, seeking to understand what climate science is telling us, and working to understand the ways we can mitigate it; and finally,''
       
* ''Restore the credibility of the Science Committee as a place where science is respected and recognized as a crucial input to good policymaking.''


''“These three priorities will keep us very busy both legislatively and in carrying out the serious oversight that has been neglected by our Committee the past few Congresses. If appointed as Chair, I will work tirelessly to advance this agenda for the good of our nation.”''
* https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/27/us/politics/american-democracy-poll.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VU4.56zm.D516tdzr3SJx&smid=url-share




''https://democrats-science.house.gov/''


''115th Congress''
<big><big>'''As the US Presidential Election Approaches, Debate Over Democracy and Its Challenges Heats Up'''</big></big>


John Kelly, Trump's ex-chief of staff labels Trump 'authoritarian' and the 'general definition of fascist'....


···············································
* https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-john-kelly-said-about-trumps-praise-of-hitler-and-fascist-tendencies
* https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4953059-trump-john-kelly-fascist/
* https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-responds-ex-chief-staff-after-hes-labeled-authoritarian-general-definition-fascist




[[File:EPA climate change page -- gone.png]]
[[File:John Kelly News.png]]




'''''The EPA's Climate Change Page Is Just Gone Now'''''
John Francis Kelly is a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who was White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.


November 1, 2018 / Via Environmental Data & Governance Initiative / Motherboard
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kelly '''@ Wikipedia''']


''A [https://envirodatagov.org/aar-9-epa-discontinues-updates-to-climate-change-websites/ report released this week by the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative] reveals that the removal of climate change information from the EPA website is set to be a long-term policy of the Trump administration.''


''EPA.gov pages that previously provided information about climate change have been changed from claiming that they are "updating" to an error message that reads, "We want to help you find what you are looking for," as revealed by a report released this week by the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative. The change indicates that information related climate change is not being “updated,” but removed entirely.''
Scan more headline news on John Kelly's charges against former president Donald Trump


''In April 2017, the EPA put out a [https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-kicks-website-updates press release] announcing that EPA.gov would be changing to “reflect the agency’s new direction under President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt.”''
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:John_Kelly_News.png


''“The process, which involves updating language to reflect the approach of new leadership, is intended to ensure that the public can use the website to understand the agency's current efforts,” the April 2017 press release reads. “The changes will comply with agency ethics and legal guidance, including the use of proper archiving procedures.”''


''At that point, the EPA’s climate change subdomains were removed and were replaced by a page that said that the subdomains were being “updated.” The pages remained like this until the night between October 16 and 17, when the pages were updated to read “We want to help you find what you are looking for.”''


''There is no information related to climate change on any of the EPA’s climate change subdomains, and per the language of the EPA’s April 2017 press release, this reflects the priorities of the Trump Administration.''
🌎


''This is far from the first time that the Trump administration has removed information relating to climate change and environmental hazards. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, all references to climate change were [https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d7yeej/all-references-to-climate-change-have-been-deleted-from-the-white-house-website-5886b75d0b367c453f87dd14 removed from the White House website]. In April of that year, the Department of the Interior [https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kbvkp3/the-interior-department-scrubbed-its-climate-change-page-doi-zinke removed references to climate change] from its public-facing website. The Federal Emergency Management Agency [https://theoutline.com/post/3750/fema-climate-change-global-warming-censorship?zd=1&zi=r3sdjny2 does not even mention climate change] in its five year plan released earlier this year.''


''The Trump administration has also taken tangible steps toward undermining environmental regulations. For instance, earlier this year, the Trump Administration [https://theoutline.com/post/5501/trump-moves-to-crush-the-last-regulations-holding-car-emissions-down?zd=2&zi=swxduhhb revoked state waivers] to the national Clean Air Act that allows states such as California, a major automobile manufacturer, to enforce stricter policies than the Clean Air Act Demands.''


'''Hurricane Helene and Milton Grew Intense Rapidly and Delivered Lasting Damage Across Florida, North Carolina
: '''Now Politics in Its Aftermath Kick In'''


························································································


<big>'''''In storm-ravaged North Carolina, people see that Trump is not describing reality. What about the rest of the nation?'''''</big>


[https://phys.org/news/2018-10-earth-oceans-absorbed-percent-previously.amp <big>'''''Earth's oceans have absorbed up to 60 percent more heat than previously thought'''''</big>]
''Via the Washington Post''


* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0651-8
''October 25, 2024''


* https://wapo.st/4fiZK9j


·································································


''Here in storm-ravaged North Carolina, people can separate reality from the things Trump is saying.''


[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html '''''Bugcalypse''''']
''Can the rest of the nation? We’ll find out in 11 days. On Election Day, we’ll see whether, after nine years of Trump’s daily assaults on reality, the truth still has any relevance.''


''Americans can see in their own lives that the economy hasn’t collapsed; the price of bacon hasn’t quintupled; that all of the 15 million jobs created during the Biden administration didn’t go to undocumented immigrants; that violent migrants aren’t taking over the country; that crime isn’t rising; that the military hasn’t become a soft, “woke” assemblage of drag queens; that those who sacked the Capitol in 2021 weren’t peaceful; and that the government hasn’t cruelly abandoned those whose lives were upended by natural disasters. Americans can hear the urgent warning from retired Marine Gen. John Kelly and other former Trump administration officials that their old boss threatens our democratic way of life. But will any of it matter?''


[https://truthout.org/articles/from-insects-to-starfish-were-edging-toward-biological-annihilation/ '''''Toward Biological Annihilation''''']


Update from GreenPolicy360: The past two weeks here in Florida have seen us scramble to prepare defenses against hurricanes here at "The Frontlines of Climate Change". Two hurricanes targeted our home state, and both delivered devastation. GreenPolicy360's home base on Tampa Bay was fortunate to escape the worst, as many experienced personal disasters, homes flooded, mementoes destroyed, lives sifted and impacted now and for years.


[https://s3.amazonaws.com/wwfassets/downloads/lpr2018_summary_report_spreads.pdf <big><big>'''''Living Planet Report 2018'''''</big></big>]


* [http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/all_publications/living_planet_report_2018/ Animal populations have declined an astonishing 60 percent since 1970]
[[File:Helene and Milton 2024.jpeg]]




''We live in an age of rapid and unprecedented planetary change. Indeed, many scientists believe our ever-increasing consumption, and the resulting increased demand for energy, land and water, is driving a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. It’s the first time in the Earth’s history that a single species – Homo sapiens – has had such a powerful impact on the planet.''
Any accounting of losses that points at billions of dollars in expenses but misses the costs that go far beyond dollars is no [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_full-cost_accounting ''''full-cost accounting''''] and we have entered an era that demands clear-eyed acknowledgement of security threats and a threat-multiplier horizon. Unfortunately, even as science provides facts and data, the political voices currently holding sway in Florida are in deep denial of 'extreme weather events' and the forces driving these events.


''This rapid planetary change, referred to as the ‘Great Acceleration’, has brought many benefits to human society. Yet we now also understand that there are multiple connections between the overall rise in our health, wealth, food and security, the unequal distribution of these benefits and the declining state of the Earth’s
The Governor of Florida, Ron deSantis, is on record pushing against the science of climate change and the state's government has acted to remove the use of the term. It's time for a deep rethink by the Governor, and it is overdue for the state legislature to rise in coming legislative sessions to the task at hand.  
natural systems. Nature, underpinned by biodiversity, provides a wealth of services, which form the building blocks of modern society; but both nature and biodiversity are disappearing at an alarming rate. Despite well-meaning attempts to stop this loss through global agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, we are failing; current targets and consequent actions amount, at best, to a managed decline. To achieve climate and sustainable development commitments, reversing the loss of nature and biodiversity is critical...''


Now it is urgent to point to the near future of risks of climate-related impacts on Florida, with a multi-dimensioned approach beginning with science as a guide to smart policy. Whether related to Florida's insurance rates, or coastal development, its vulnerabilities and its blocking of effective planning and responses to climate change, a green policy approach is our common challenge. Across the political spectrum, for [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Action '''young and old'''], community by community, a turn to citizen action is a highest strategic demand *if* we are going to, in Florida and every threatened community, make a positive difference in our future.


······································································


<big>'''"Earth in human hands"'''</big>


[https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/1811587002 <big>'''''93 percent of the world’s children breathe toxic, polluted air each day'''''</big>]


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution''
[[File:Earth in Human Hands.jpg]]


: '''Earth is in *your* hands'''


''Nearly 2 billion children – about 93 percent of the world’s children under the age of 15 – breathe toxic, putrid air that’s so polluted it puts their health and well-being at serious risk, according to [http://www.who.int/ceh/publications/air-pollution-child-health/en/ a new report by the World Health Organization.]''


''Many of the children die: The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 600,000 children died in 2016 from lower respiratory infections caused by dirty air.''


''“Polluted air is poisoning millions of children and ruining their lives,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO. “This is inexcusable. Every child should be able to breathe clean air so they can grow and fulfill their full potential.”''
🌎


''Air pollution can affect children's cognitive ability and can also trigger asthma as well as cancer. Children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease later in life...''


* http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/29-10-2018-more-than-90-of-the-world%E2%80%99s-children-breathe-toxic-air-every-day


* [http://www.who.int/ceh/publications/Social_Media_Toolkit_AirPollution_Chidren_Health_Report_Launch.pdf Children's Health Report: World Health Organization]
October 9






The temperatures of Gulf of Mexico ocean water is trending warmer. High 80s and higher out there off the West Coast of Florida. Visitors to the coastline and barrier islands enjoy dipping into the warmness -- and so do tropical storms, cyclones, hurricanes...


<big>'''LA Times / Trump administration gives itself A plus grade on environment'''</big>
:Few would agree with the self assessment


[http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-trump-lead-poisoning-environmental-regulations-20181026-story.html Never mind the facts. White House says it gets an A+ on environmental issues]
<big>'''GreenPolicy360: Historic Hurricanes, Weather 'Disturbances' that within Hours Intensify to Highest Categories of Destructive Storm Power'''</big>




''A recent essay in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. by Harvard University researchers concluded that Trump’s environmental agenda “is likely to cost the lives of over 80,000 U.S. residents per decade and lead to respiratory problems for many more than 1 million people.
Here's a bit of Earth Science. A top of the news article via the Washington Post that puts Hurricane Milton in perspective...


''Yet the heads of Trump’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children characterized the administration this week as being singularly focused on keeping Americans, and particularly kids, safe from dangerous industrial practices.
* https://wapo.st/4dCicbN


''The task force’s activities are “a continuation of the Trump administration’s commitment to preventing future generations from being affected by lead exposure,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, citing “great progress” in safeguarding public safety.


''Andrew Wheeler, a former coal-industry lobbyist who now serves as the acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said reducing exposure to toxic lead “is a top priority for EPA.
''...scientists say, ocean heat has increased to record levels in recent decades due to human-caused climate change. The reason is simple: The oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface, absorb most of the excess heat created by burning fossil fuels. Water also can absorb large amounts of heat with relatively little temperature change, making it a very efficient place to store all the trapped heat in the atmosphere.''


''Not really. Not if you define “reducing exposure to toxic lead” as reducing exposure to toxic lead.
''Using computer models, an analysis from Climate Central said the record sea surface temperatures over the past two weeks were 400 to 800 times more likely as a result of climate change.''


''“Like meat bees on baloney, the pollution lobby has swarmed the Trump administration from its inception,” said Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization.


''“No number of press releases and statements by Mr. Wheeler or others claiming environmental and public health protection is a ‘top priority’ for this administration can change that indisputable fact.”


''The Trump administration depicting itself as a champion of the environment is as ludicrous as its recent attempts to portray itself as a defender of protections for people with preexisting medical conditions.
<big>'''After Hurricane Helene Comes Hurricane Milton'''</big>


''It’s neither. The opposite, in fact.
* https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/10/best-and-worst-case-hurricane-scenarios-for-tampa-bay/


''“This rhetoric from the Trump administration is just painting over its refusal to keep our kids safe, not just from lead poisoning, but from toxic air and water pollution,” said Melinda Pierce, legislative director of the Sierra Club.


''“Propaganda won't disguise the reality that Trump is responsible for the most serious attacks on clean air and water by any administration ever.”''


[[File:Hurricane Milton map - Oct 7, 2024.jpeg]]


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Quality


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Clean_Water
October 7




::[[File:Oil-Kills-4.jpg]]
'''175-MPH WINDS'''




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National Hurricane Center Advisory


BULLETIN


[https://amp.tcpalm.com/amp/1579536002 Turning the Toxic Tide] is a series of editorials published collectively by the six editorial boards of USA TODAY Network-Florida.''
Hurricane Milton Intermediate Advisory Number 10A


::''October 18, 2018 / Today's editorial, [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Florida_at_historic_environmental_crossroads_-_Oct_2018.pdf Florida is at historic crossroads] is the first in the series.''
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL     


AL142024 1:00PM CDT Mon Oct 07 2024


::[[File:Turning the Toxic Tide-Florida.jpg]]
...MILTON EXPLOSIVELY INTENSIFIES WITH 175-MPH WINDS...


...RESIDENTS IN FLORIDA ARE URGED TO FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF LOCAL
OFFICIALS...




:::·······························································
SUMMARY OF 100 PM CDT...1800 UTC...INFORMATION


----------------------------------------------


[[File:Hurricane Michael October 2018.jpg]]
LOCATION...21.7N 91.3W


ABOUT 105 MI...170 KM WNW OF PROGRESO MEXICO


'''''Chris Mooney / Washington Post:'''''
ABOUT 700 MI...1130 KM SW OF TAMPA FLORIDA


''Climate scientists have begun to focus on hurricane rapid intensification as an increasingly prevalent feature in the world we’re entering.''
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...175 MPH...280 KM/H


''In a recent study in the Journal of Climate, researchers found more rapid intensifications in a simulation of a human-warmed world, and also that this would prove a key pathway toward more intense hurricanes...'' ''#RapidIntensification''
PRESENT MOVEMENT...E OR 100 DEGREES AT 9 MPH...15 KM/H


MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...911 MB...26.90 INCHES




'''''October 12, 2018'''''


<big>'''''Did global warming 'supercharge' Hurricane Michael?'''''</big>
October 6


''Hurricane Michael exploded in intensity this week, from a rather nondescript tropical depression Sunday with winds of 35 mph to a Category 4 monster Wednesday with 155 winds.''
[[File:Hurricane Milton Prediction as of Oct 6, 2024.jpeg]]
: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


''When it hit land, it became the most powerful hurricane on record to slam Florida's Panhandle and the third-strongest U.S. landfall of all time.''


''Along with other weather factors, Michael's rapid intensification was fueled in part by unusually warm sea water in the Gulf of Mexico. Warm water of at least 80 degrees fuels hurricanes, and the water in the eastern Gulf this week was as much as 4 to 5 degrees warmer than normal.''
'''''The most vulnerable metropolitan area in the U.S. to storm surge damage is Tampa/St. Petersburg...'''''


''Although random weather patterns certainly played a role, the warm waters in the Gulf have a “human fingerprint” of climate change, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate and hurricane expert Jim Kossin.''  
'''''A major hurricane) striking just north of Tampa Bay could be expected to cause $230 billion in damage – just from the storm surge.''''' ''(Yale Climate Connections Study, 2015)'


''Penn State University climatologist Michael Mann told ThinkProgress that "once again we see a storm undergoing extreme rapid intensification over unusually warm ocean waters. We saw this pattern last year with Harvey and earlier this year with Florence and now, with my namesake, Michael.”''


''Weather.us meteorologist Ryan Maue said "there's no doubt the ocean water encountered by Michael was quite warm compared to the last three decades, especially near the coast."''
''”Evidence that hurricanes are getting stronger”''


''A [http://myweb.fsu.edu/jelsner/PDF/Research/FrazaElsner2015.pdf 2015 study] on how ocean temperatures affect hurricane intensity in the North Atlantic found intensification increases by 16 percent for every 1.8 degree increase in average sea-surface temperatures...'' #''HumanFingerprint''
* https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2007742117




:··································································································
''"Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years"''


* https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03906


* [https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/410993-senate-confirms-climate-skeptic-to-head-doj-environment-office '''''US Senate confirms climate skeptic to head Dept. of Justice Environment office''''']
* https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1912277116




:··································································································




<big>'''''Americans win Nobel Prize of work on climate, growth'''''</big>
🌎


'''Paul Romer''': ''"Many people think that dealing with protecting the environment will be so costly and so hard work that they just want to ignore the problem. They want to deny it exists; they can't deal with it. I hope the prize today could help everyone see that humans are capable of amazing accomplishments when we set about trying to do something."''


''Romer said that his research has left him optimistic that society can solve even a threat as deeply challenging as the warming of the planet.''


'''William Nordhaus''': ''Nordhaus has been called "the father of climate-change economics" developing models that suggest how governments can combat global warming. One key step he has endorsed is a universal tax on carbon, which would require polluters to pay for the costs that their emissions impose on society. By using a tax rather than government edicts to slash emissions, the policy encourages companies to find innovative ways to reduce pollution -- and their tax burdens.''
<big><big>'''End of an Era'''</big></big>


[https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/business/2018/10/08/two-americans-win-nobel-prize-economics/ ''Nobel Prize Links Up the Environment & Climate-Change Economics'']
: '''Historic day in the UK''' where the industrial revolution fired up. The end of coal generated power...


: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GTN_GreenLinks_Trending_News '''GTN'''] #climatechange #GreenPolicy360




'''''Foreign Policy Magazine'''''
[[File:End of coal power in UK - 1.jpg]]


[https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/06/the-nobel-prize-for-climate-catastrophe/ '''''The Nobel Prize for Climate Catastrophe''''']


''The economist William Nordhaus will receive his profession’s highest honor for research on global warming that’s been hugely influential — and entirely misguided.  
[[File:End of coal power in UK - 2.png]]




''The stakes couldn’t be higher. After all, this isn’t just a matter of abstract academic debate; the future of human civilization hangs in the balance.''
[[File:End of coal power in UK - 3.png]]


''In the 1990s, Nordhaus invented the first integrated assessment models to explore how economic growth affects carbon emissions, and how climate change in turn affects economic growth. The basic mechanisms that Nordhaus described continue to inform the models that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) uses today. No one disputes that this qualifies as a significant contribution to the field. The question, rather, has to do with how Nordhaus has used his models to argue for a particular policy agenda.''
&nbsp;


''The models showed that if we were to rapidly reduce carbon emissions in line with what scientists say is necessary to avoid climate breakdown – by putting a high tax on carbon, for instance – it would significantly slow down the rate of economic growth. As far as scientists are concerned, that’s not a problem; we should obviously do whatever it takes to avoid climate catastrophe. But for economists like Nordhaus, this is not acceptable. After all, the whole point of neoclassical economics is to do whatever it takes to grow economic output.''


''So, Nordhaus’ career has been devoted to finding what he calls a “balance” between climate mitigation and GDP growth. In a famous 1991 paper titled “To slow or not to slow,” he argued firmly for the latter option: Let’s not be too eager to slow down global warming, because we don’t want to jeopardize growth.''
🌎


''To justify this conclusion, Nordhaus manipulates what is known as the “discount rate,” which is how economists value the costs of climate breakdown in the present as compared to the future. It might sound arcane, but it’s really quite straightforward. A discount rate of zero means that future generations are valued equally to the present; a high discount rate means that future generations are valued less, or “discounted,” compared with nearer generations.''


''Nordhaus prefers a high discount rate—very high. Discounting the future allows him to argue that we shouldn’t reduce emissions too quickly, because the economic cost to people today will be higher than the benefit of protecting people in the future. Instead, we should do the opposite: Focus on GDP growth now even if it means locking in future climate catastrophe. This is justifiable, he says, because future generations will then be much richer than we are and therefore better able to manage the problem.''
<big><big>'''September 2024'''</big></big>


''Using this logic, Nordhaus long claimed that from the standpoint of “economic rationality” it is “optimal” to keep warming the planet to about 3.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels—vastly in excess of the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold that the IPCC insists on.''


''It sounds morally problematic and flies in the face of scientists’ warnings, but economists and policymakers have lined up behind Nordhaus’s argument. They like it because it gives them license to carry on with the status quo and delay difficult decisions. President Trump, for instance, has been aggressive in his preference for growth over climate action. This is in large part what explains the fact that nearly 30 years after the first IPCC report was published, global emissions are still going up. It also helps explain why even with the Paris climate agreement in place, and with all of the plans promised by the world’s governments, we’re still headed for about 3.3 degrees Celsius of warming. It’s all eerily similar to the Nordhaus trajectory.''
<big>'''Hurricane (Tropical Cyclone) Helene Leaves a Multi-State Path of Destruction'''</big>


''So how do economists get away with believing that these extreme temperatures are somehow okay? Because the Nordhaus model tells us that even the worst catastrophes will not really hurt the global economy all that much. Maybe a percentage point or two at the most, by the end of the century—much less than the cost of immediate action.''
''Communities in the US Southeast are grappling with widespread devastation after Helene made landfall as the strongest hurricane on record to slam into Florida’s Big Bend region Thursday and tore through multiple states, killing at least 62 people, knocking out power to millions and trapping families in floodwaters.''




'''Read more at FP - https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/06/the-nobel-prize-for-climate-catastrophe/'''
February 27


'''and at GreenPolicy360 and Strategic Demands'''
<big>'''One of Florida's Wealthiest Regions Has a News Message about Climate Change and Risks to Life and Property'''</big>


: '''From the State's East Coast, North of Miami, a Location Known for an ex-President's Beach Club Mar-a-Lago Residence'''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_full-cost_accounting''  
GreenPolicy360 Editor Note: We disagree with the following Editorial statement of the Palm Beach Post that "Florida can handle storms". In fact, the costs/losses/damages of 'storms', actuarially and with [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_full-cost_accounting ''' 'full-cost accounting' '''], are magnitudes greater than what is being considered by the Post. The Post does recognize however what the Governor of Florida refuses to recognize and acknowledge --  that "climate change" effects are real and are gathering impacts that place Florida at the *Frontlines of Climate Change* with a coming deluge of climate-related news. Get ready Florida, act now to make a positive difference in the future that looms on 'the Peninsula'. Florida's geography, its 'target rich' (per Andrew Revkin) coastline development/new populations and infrastructure confront rising sea-levels and warming Gulf and Atlantic waters that are 'feeding' hurricane development. The physics of climate change have momentum, have trendlines, and are a threat horizon in security terms that should not be ignored. Our message, decades long now, is "Listen to the Science".


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Externalities''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Time_for_a_Price_on_Carbon''


<big>'''Editorial: Florida can handle storms. It's climate change that's the problem.'''</big>


* ''https://www.strategicdemands.com/environmental-security/''


* ''https://www.strategicdemands.com/new-definitions-of-security/''
<big>'''Palm Beach Post'''</big>


''The politics driving state policies that could help Floridians better cope with the effects of a warming planet need to change.''


:······································································


''Hurricane Helene barreled through Florida's Big Bend area, leaving a trail of devastation from storm surge, flooding and wind in its wake. This is nothing new for Florida. Our state knows how to respond to storms, even one as threatening as this one.''


<big><big>'''''Special International Report Released / October 8, 2018'''''</big></big>
''Right now, the priority should be on search and rescue, cleanup and rebuilding. As of Friday afternoon, Helene left six dead and more than 1.2 million Florida home and property owners without power. Work crews have begun inspecting bridges and clearing roads of debris, and utility companies are working hard to restore power to stricken areas. Patience is always required as the true extent of the storm's damage is still being determined, and recovery will take time.''


<big>'''''Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change / IPCC'''''</big>
''Florida knows how to deal with fallen trees and other damages after a hurricane. It's the pre-storm state policies that determine how Florida addresses climate change and global warming that need work.''


''But, for state leaders who make Tallahassee their home, what comes next should be obvious: More needs to be done to appreciate and address the effects of climate change so that the state can better direct its resources to buttress and protect communities before hurricanes hit. Florida has shown that it can appropriately react to a storm, but let's be clear-eyed about this: Michael, Ida, Idalia, Debby and Helene didn't hit a major population center. They all missed Tampa and St. Petersburg. And could you imagine the damage — both physically and financially — if a Category 4 storm hit Palm Beach County? Frightening.''


* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/10/08/the-climate-is-changing-heres-how-politics-will-also-change/ '''''Not doing enough to combat climate change''''']


* [https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/08/world-leaders-climate-change-ipcc-report '''''World Leaders & Climate Change Action Plans''''']
''The politics driving state policies that could help Floridians better cope with the effects of a warming planet need to change.''


* [http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/news/bbc-programme-foiled-again-by-climate-change-deniers/ '''''Don't be fooled or foiled by Climate Change Deniers''''']
''How can Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature in good conscience approve a law that erases the term "climate change" from state statutes, while boosting natural gas production and reducing state regulations on gas pipelines?''


* [https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/climate-change-what-you-can-do-campaigning-installing-insulation-solar-panels '''''Here's what you can do, actions to make a difference''''']


* [https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2018/10/08/trump-ignores-the-impacts-of-climate-change-at-his-peril-and-ours/ '''''Trump ignores impacts of climate changes and our peril''''']
''And how can state leaders rest on their laurels as Florida's property insurance crisis continues without a more comprehensive approach that addresses consumer needs and industry concerns? Hurricane Helene is just the latest storm to impact both, and given the obvious trends of warming seas and stronger storms, it won't be the last one.''


* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2018/10/08/the-energy-202-the-clock-is-ticking-to-stop-catastrophic-global-warming-top-climate-scientists-say/5bba6db41b326b7c8a8d1884/ '''''Clock is ticking to stop catastrophic global warming''''']
''Helene is the fifth storm in the past six years to make landfall somewhere in Florida, and once again the state's first responders, utility linemen and volunteers will do all they can to restore those communities stricken by the storm. Florida knows how to handle a hurricane after the fact. State leaders though must do better on the front end before an urban center like Palm Beach County finds itself in the center of the cone.''


* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-planet-is-on-a-fast-path-to-destruction-the-media-must-cover-this-like-its-the-only-story-that-matters/2018/10/08/f806a7f0-caea-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html '''''The media must cover this like it's the only story that matters''''']


More re: Climate Change @GreenPolicy360


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Problems,_Climate_Solutions
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/National_Climate_Plans
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Change
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Policy
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Ethics_and_Climate_Change


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_full-cost_accounting''
Tropical Cyclones -  Hurricane Science  (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico)


*[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_Summit_Paris ''Climate Summit Paris, 2015'']
References from Climate.gov, NOAA, NCEI, NHC, NWS, GFDL


*[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Intended_Nationally_Determined_Contributions ''National Climate Plans'']


'''"Can we expect Atlantic hurricanes to change over the coming century due to global warming?"'''


[https://twitter.com/IPCC_CH/status/1048216063090065409 The #IPCC Special Report #s on Global Warming]
By Chris Landsea and Tom Knutson


Christopher W. Landsea is the Chief of the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch at the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center in Miami. Tom Knutson is a Senior Scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton.


''Thousands of scientists gather to bring together the last five years of advances in climate science to answer key questions for policymakers.''
A NOAA State of the Science Fact Sheet on “Atlantic Hurricanes and Climate" is also available.


* http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/
* https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/can-we-expect-atlantic-hurricanes-change-over-coming-century-due


* https://twitter.com/hashtag/SR15 #SR15


* https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateAction?src=hash
🌎




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<big>'''Hurricane Helene, Screen Grab, Over the Gulf of Mexico'''</big>


* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Hurricane_Helene_in_the_Gulf_of_Mexico_-_M.jpeg


[https://e360.yale.edu/features/an-inside-look-at-how-trump-turned-the-epa-into-an-industry-subsidiary <big>'''''The Environmental Protection Agency: In Retreat from Its Core Mission'''''</big>]


''"Repeal of everything the Obama administration did."''
Earth Dynamics, Morning of September 26, 2024 - Date/Time Captured


''Under Pruitt, "There was utter contempt for the career staff and the commitment to do whatever industry asked them to do."''
(Click image for *current wind/surface/orthographic conditions*)


''"Today, the environmental field is suffering from the temporary triumph of myth over truth."''


''Elizabeth Southerland (Former director of science and technology in the Office of Water): What I perceived is that the new administration came into the EPA with complete contempt for the career staff in the agency. Not once did they talk to any of us about all these rules that they’ve been requested by industry to repeal.''
[[File:Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico - M.jpeg|link=https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-46.74,44.98,403/loc=-45.541,-53.340]]


''"It’s not just that the actions of this administration failed to follow science and evidence and facts, but they are also in many cases unlawful."''




··································································
🌎




<big>'''''Pathways Forward, Changing the World'''''</big>


* ''http://conference.bioneers.org''
'''A New Word Enters the News Lexicon -- "Sanewashing"'''


* ''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Bioneers''
: In US Politics a Flurry of Political Lies Has (Many Professionals in) the News Media Questioning Reporting-as-Usual


: * https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2024/sanewashing-meaning-donald-trump-journalists/


[[File:Bioneers conference 2018-o.jpg]]




🌎


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<big><big>'''Fact Checking, Facts Count'''</big></big>


::[[File:Under2 Coalition-Climate Group.png]]


'''September 11, 2024'''




[https://www.theclimategroup.org/news/new-climate-pledges-announced-global-leaders-10th-climate-week-nyc <big>'''''The Climate Group Gathers in New York'''''</big>]
<big>'''The US Presidential Debate Is One for the History Books'''</big>




''New climate pledges announced by global leaders at the 10th Climate Week.''
[[File:33 false statements.png]]


''California Governor Brown opens the conference with a [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Jerry_Brown-Climate_Week,_NYC,_Sept2018.jpg ''call to action.''] Taking innovation and solutions to scale ... pathways, policy action, transparency.''


''The Climate Group, bringing together over 200 governments and businesses spanning six continents and 43 countries with the goal of reducing GHG emissions toward net-zero by 2050.''
Question: Did the ABC Moderators Intrude?


GreenPolicy360: Facts count, repeat, "facts count"


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<big>'''[[Fact Checking]]'''</big>


<big>'''''U.S. National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Releases Climate Science Statement'''''</big>


<big>'''[[Fact Checking, Facts Count]]'''</big>


''More than 50,000 members received the education group's position ... In part it reads: “Given the solid scientific foundation on which climate change science rests. . . any controversies regarding climate change and human-caused contributions to climate change that are based on social, economic, or political arguments—rather than scientific arguments—should not be part of a science curriculum.”''


''As an [https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13092018/science-teachers-climate-change-denial-nsta-national-association-position-statement-state-standards-heartland official position statement], it's definitely worth reading in its entirety.''  
<big>'''[[Disinformation - Online - Dangerous]]'''</big>




* ''http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/climatescience.aspx''




''One portion of the teachers’ guidance stands out as a 'clear warning to deniers to stop trying to infect our science with cynical politics'.''


''The appeal by some to “teach the controversy,” the statement asserts, is a rhetorical tactic not based on science.''


''“Scientific explanations must be consistent with existing empirical evidence or stand up to empirical testing. Ideas based on political ideologies or pseudoscience that fail these empirical tests do not constitute science and should not be allowed to compromise the teaching of climate science.”''
'''Political Propaganda and Disinformation as Geopolitical Weapons'''




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'''''Google News - US accuses Russia of using state media to influence election'''''


'''September 6, 2024'''


<big><big><big>'''''[[Global Climate Action Summit]]'''''</big></big></big>






'''Closing the Global Climate Action Summit, Governor Brown announces a partnership with Planet Labs'''
<big>'''''YouTube takes down right-wing channels linked to DOJ Russia indictments'''''</big>


'''New Space Earth Science [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Launching_soon.png here we go] ...'''
''YouTube “terminates” Tenet Media and other channels''


* https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/05/youtube-takes-down-tenet-lauren-chen-tenet-russia-doj/


[[File:Launching soon.png]]


<big>'''''Russian trolling 2.0: How the Kremlin shifted tactics from its 2016 election strategy'''''</big>


''Rather than relying on fake accounts and bogus online personas, the current effort alleged in this week’s indictment involves coopting real American influencers to try to push Russian narratives to US audiences, particularly aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.''


<big>'''''September 12-14, San Francisco, California'''''</big>
''“Buying authentic influencers is a far better use of funds than creating fake personas, because they bring their own trusting audiences and are actually, you know, real,” Renee DiResta, an expert on online influence operations, said in a social media post.''


''The (US DOJ) indictment alleges that the RT employees secretly poured nearly $10 million into a Tennessee company that hired prominent right-wing commentators who produced content on hot-button political issues, including Russia’s war on Ukraine...''


'''''https://globalclimateactionsummit.org'''''


'''''https://globalclimateactionsummit.org/program'''''
<big>'''''The Russian Propaganda Attack on America'''''</big>


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Climate_Action_Summit '''''Global Action''''']
''Sometimes money is more effective than weapons''


By Tom Nichols


September 5, 2024


<big>'''''Green Politics in Action: California Builds Bridges to Extend International Cooperation'''''</big>
''What’s really going on here is that the Russians have identified two major weaknesses in their American adversaries. The first is that a big slice of the American public, especially since the ascent of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, has an almost limitless appetite for stories that jack up their adrenaline: They will embrace wild conspiracies and “news” meant to generate social conflict so long as the stories are exciting, validate their preexisting worldviews, and give them some escape from life’s daily doldrums.''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Climate_Action_Summit <big>''Global Climate Action Summit''</big>]
''The other is that more than a few Americans have the combination of immense greed and ego-driven grievances that make them easy targets either for recruitment or to be used as clueless dupes. The Russians, along with every other intelligence service in the world, count on finding such people and exploiting their avarice and insecurity. This is not new. (The United States does it too. Money is almost always the easiest inducement to treason.) But the widespread influence of social media has opened a new front in the intelligence battle.
Professional secret agents no longer need to find highly placed Americans who have access to secrets or who might influence policy discussions. Instead of the painstaking work that usually takes months or even years to suborn foreign citizens, the Kremlin can just dragoon a couple of its own people to pose as business sharps with money to burn, spread cash around like manure in a field full of half-wits, and see what blossoms.''






[[File:Jerry Brown-Global Climate Action Summit.png|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ny8NY7Lp5Y]]


''"The Russian disinformation operations that affected the 2016 United States presidential election are by no means over."'' ''(2018)''


-- ''Renée DiResta, Author, [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/renee-diresta/invisible-rulers/9781541703377/?lens=publicaffairs '''"Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality"''']''


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* https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/opinion/russia-report-disinformation.html


* https://strategicdemands.com/russian-disinformation-targets-us/


<big>'''''Renewable Works for Orlando'''''</big>


'''''Get Going Florida! Your Energy Future Is Now'''''


* [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/business/energy-environment/orlando-carbon-climate.html '''''From Rooftops to Algae Pools: Orlando’s Vision for Carbon-Free Energy''''']


Wednesday, September 4, 2024


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'''Office of Public Affairs'''


[https://undark.org/article/slow-death-brazil-cerrado-ecology/ <big>'''''Ecology and the Cerrado of Brazil'''''</big>]
'''U.S. Department ofJustice'''




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'''Two RT Employees Indicted for Covertly Funding and Directing U.S. Company that Published Thousands of Videos in Furtherance of Russian Interests'''




[https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/climate-geoengineering-kim-stanley-robinson_us_5b4e54bde4b0de86f487b0b9 <big>'''''Envisioning 'Big Picture' Climate Solutions'''''</big>]


* [https://medium.com/@revkin/geoengineering-proponents-challenge-the-inevitability-of-multi-millennial-global-warming-cef6e54b365c ''Looking back at the environmental thoughts of Andrew Revkin and looking forward at human intervention to treat climate crisis: What About "Geoengineering"?'']
''“The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.”''


''“Our approach to combating foreign malign influence is actor-driven, exposing the hidden hand of adversaries pulling strings of influence from behind the curtain," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As alleged in today’s indictment, Russian state broadcaster RT and its employees, including the charged defendants, co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to U.S. audiences. The Department will not tolerate foreign efforts to illegally manipulate American public opinion by sowing discord and division.”''


<big>'''''Geoengineering'''''</big>
* https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-rt-employees-indicted-covertly-funding-and-directing-us-company-published-thousands


'''Who sets the global thermostat?'''


Indictment


'''Imagine scenarios, the big picture, sequencing of engineering steps to slow climate change if global consensus on mitigation and prevention cannot be reached. To put it another way, if short-term thinking prevails and governments/business/human actions fail to prevent worsening climate-induced impacts, then what proactive actions can be  taken before 'all hell breaks out' ...''' 
* https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1366266/dl




''HuffPost US to Kim Stanley Robinson''


'''''How do you define geoengineering and what are the forms it will most likely take?'''''
[[File:Google News - US accuses Russia of using state media to influence election.png]]


''I guess the definition would be something like “a deliberate planned attempt by human beings to mitigate the damages of climate change, of carbon dioxide and methane buildup in the atmosphere, and of ecological damage generally, by way of some action that is large-scale” — if not global in reach, then regional in ways that might have global repercussions.''


'''''Are you afraid for the future?'''''


''Yes.''
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'''''What makes you most hopeful for a future in which humans who aren’t ultrarich can still thrive?'''''


''Progressive taxation, progressive politics, the Paris Accords, the Endangered Species Act, leftists everywhere on Earth including China, environmentalists everywhere, the growing green-red coalition or united front of environmentalists and leftists, the creative power of STEM, the humanist traditions in philosophy, people’s concern for their children, the growing sense of a “global village” we are all part of, the urge to survive. These are some of the things that make me hopeful. Hope is stubborn. It exists in us at the cellular level and works up from there, as part of the urge to live. So hope will persist. The question is, can we put it to use?''


'''The U.S. Presidential Election Heats Up'''


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Geoengineering '''''GreenPolicy360 / Geoengineering Planet Earth''''']


<big>'''''Harris and Trump offer starkly different visions on climate change and energy'''''</big>


··················································································
''Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different visions on how to address a changing climate while ensuring a reliable energy supply''


Sept. 1, 2024


[[File:FB IMG 1516050158353.jpg]]
Via AP/ABC


* https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/harris-trump-offer-starkly-visions-climate-change-energy-113291774




[[File:DalaiLama-July2018.png]]








[[File:Ikigai vision.png]]
<big>'''August 2024'''</big>






'''[[Kamala Harris Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech]]'''


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Kamala Harris Accepts




August 22, 2024


[[File:July 14, 2018 - hello down there.png]]
Democratic National Convention


Chicago, Illinois




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<big>'''''Ride along with the 2018 Nautilus Expedition'''''</big>


: http://NautilusLive.org
<big><big>'''The U.S. Presidential Race Has an Announcement'''</big></big>
: '''Kamala Harris Chooses Her Running Mate -- Time Walz from Minnesota'''




''This expedition takes the Nautilus team, and us, to little-known and unexplored regions of the Eastern Pacific ocean. '''#NautilusLive'''''


[[File:Harris chooses Walz.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/images/Kamala_Harris_announces_VP_choice_8-6-2024.png]]


[[File:Nautilus 2018 expedition.png]]




[[File:Nautilus Live 7-15-2018 2-17-32 PM.png]]
[[File:AP-NORC poll on Democracy Election.jpg]]






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<big>'''July 2024'''</big>


[https://www.buzzfeed.com/danvergano/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-environment '''''U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Will Mean Challenging Times For Environmental Laws''''']


''“I call him Lord Voldemort,” conservation lawyer Bill Snape said about Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh...''
<big><big>'''In the U.S. the Debate Grows and Policy Positions Change as Supreme Court Decisions Challenge Politics & Law'''</big></big>


This may be pushing artistic license just a touch, but... the multiple questions about the Heritage Foundation/Federalist Society choice for SCOTUS are now top of mind... the question of independent judicial review and/or [https://mailchi.mp/everyvoice/42517-clips-obama-speaks-about-gerrymandering-and-money-in-politics-the-state-dept-promotes-mar-a-lago-2690201?e=0e22fddde3 money behind the nominee] are out-of-the-starting-gate questions...


'''President Joe Biden''': ''My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law''


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''We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power and restore the public’s faith in our judicial system''


Washington Post | Opinion - Editorial Page


*  https://wapo.st/4c9ertE


<big>[[Laudato Si]]</big>


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Laudato_Si




[[File:Laudato Si conf-July 2018.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Laudato_Si]]
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. President


* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-bold-plan-to-reform-the-supreme-court-and-ensure-no-president-is-above-the-law/




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JULY 29, 2024


FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Plan to Reform the Supreme Court and Ensure No President Is Above the Law


[[File:Scott pruitt epa.jpg]]


<big><big>'''Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the US EPA, Resigns'''</big></big>
[[File:US-White House-Logo.png]]


[[File:Pruitt serves letter.jpg]]


:('''''Pink tinting added above by Josh Marshall / via [https://talkingpointsmemo.com/search/pruitt TPM]''''')
BRIEFING ROOM STATEMENT


From his first day in office—and every day since then—President Biden has taken action to strengthen American democracy and protect the rule of law.


In recent years, the Supreme Court has overturned long-established legal precedents protecting fundamental rights. This Court has gutted civil rights protections, taken away a woman’s right to choose, and now granted Presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office.


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At the same time, recent ethics scandals involving some Justices have caused the public to question the fairness and independence that are essential for the Court to faithfully carry out its mission to deliver justice for all Americans.


President Biden believes that no one—neither the President nor the Supreme Court—is above the law.


<big><big>'''''The Last Act'''''</big></big>
In the face of this crisis of confidence in America’s democratic institutions, President Biden is calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability:


<big>'''''Pruitt seeks to limit EPA's authority to block water pollution permits'''''</big>
No Immunity for Crimes a Former President Committed in Office: President Biden shares the Founders’ belief that the President’s power is limited—not absolute—and must ultimately reside with the people. He is calling for a constitutional amendment that makes clear no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. This No One Is Above the Law Amendment will state that the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.


''The proposed regulation would likely be the most significant change to how the EPA enforces the Clean Water Act’s restrictions on dredging or filling waterways in four decades.''
Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices: Congress approved term limits for the Presidency over 75 years ago, and President Biden believes they should do the same for the Supreme Court. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court Justices. Term limits would help ensure that the Court’s membership changes with some regularity; make timing for Court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary; and reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come.  


* http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/394381-epa-to-seek-to-limit-its-authority-to-block-water-pollution-permits
President Biden supports a system in which the President would appoint a Justice every two years to spend eighteen years in active service on the Supreme Court.


Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court:President Biden believesthat Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Supreme Court Justices should not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.


President Biden and Vice President Harris look forward to working with Congress and empowering the American people to prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy. President Biden thanks the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States for its insightful analysis of Supreme Court reform proposals. The Administration will continue its work to ensure that no one is above the law – and in America, the people rule.


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See more re: the U.S. Republic, Democracy & Democratic Institutions at GreenPolicy360


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/In_Defense_of_Democracy_and_Freedom


[[File:Pruitt in the news daily.png]]
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Democracy


* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Fact_Checking,_Facts_Count


* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Fact_Checking


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<big><big>'''June 23, 2018, a Thirty Year Anniversary'''</big></big>
···························································································


: June 23, 1988, an epochal day, a history-making day




On June 23rd, 1988, James Hansen [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/James_Hansen_-_NY_Times_Opinion_-_June_23%2C_2018.pdf testified to the US Senate].
<big>'''Trump Tells Christians ‘You Won’t Have to Vote Anymore’ If He’s Elected'''</big>


: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:James_Hansen_-_NY_Times_Opinion_-_June_23,_2018.pdf
NY Times


By Michael Gold


Siterunner: Your GreenPolicy360 siterunner remembers back over the 1970s and 80s working environmental politics with George Brown as he pushed thru the first federal climate act, [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png the National Climate Program Act of 1978] with a climate research program, this after his earlier work to establish the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts with California and Congressional legislators at the start up of the [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement modern environmental movement.]
“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” he said at The Believers’ Summit [Friday, July 26), an event hosted by the conservative advocacy group Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Fla.  
“You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.


* https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/us/politics/trump-votes-christians.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-U0.35xo.Aqfm2AALWFTB&smid=url-share


More of James Hansen and George Brown --


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Hansen_testimony_WaPo_front_page.jpg James Hansen / Washington Post]
Read more at Strategic Demands


:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Hansen-testimony-1988.jpg
* https://strategicdemands.com/after-meeting-with-benjamin-netanyahu-trump-speaks-to-the-believers-summit/


:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr




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'''July 24, 2024'''


[[File:No to single-use plastic.jpg]]
[[File:Biden speech for democracy, pass the torch - July 2024.jpg]]




<big><big>'''''NYT: Here’s Where Kamala Harris Stands on Climate'''''</big></big>


:································································································
''Democratic Party's new candidate for President has strong environmental protection positions''


''She pursued polluters as attorney general in California and later staked out bold positions as a senator, including sponsorship of the Green New Deal.''


''Vice President Kamala Harris has for years made the environment a top concern, from prosecuting polluters as California’s attorney general to sponsoring the Green New Deal as a senator to casting the tiebreaking vote as vice president for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in United States history.''


<big><big><big>'''''US Environmental Protection Agency Updates'''''</big></big></big>
* https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/22/climate/kamala-harris-climate-environment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9U0.OvYZ.G3AaFs04uvCn&smid=em-share




* “@EPAScottPruitt is the most corrupt administrator in the @EPA’s history.”


''A demoralized workforce watching as its agency is dismantled by the very people charged to lead it: That is the grim state of affairs depicted by John J. O’Grady, a longtime employee in the Chicago field office of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is tasked with protecting the nation’s air and water, while preventing the exposure of citizens to harmful chemicals. The agency is doing none of that, in O’Grady’s telling, with career officials watching in dismay as EPA administrator Scott Pruitt seemingly lurches from one scandal to another while doing the bidding of oil barons and the chemical lobby.''
:···························································································


''“Morale is not good,” O’Grady said of the agency’s 14,000 employees. “It’s so low, you need a ladder to get out of the gutter.”''     


''O’Grady, an EPA engineer who is also a chapter leader in the American Federation of Government Employees, a public sector union, made his remarks in an on-the-record breakfast with journalists at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C. Nearby, a television screen was tuned to CNN, where an anchor discussed Pruitt’s most recent alleged transgression: According to a Washington Post report published that morning, Pruitt had his most influential aide urging Republican donors to hire his wife Marlyn.''


<big>'''Saudi Aramco Positions Itself for a Long Fossil Fuel Run'''</big>


[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/judge-orders-epa-to-produce-science-behind-pruitts-warming-claims/ <big>'''''Judge Orders EPA to Produce Science'''''</big>]
Via UK / Financial Times / July 10


* https://www.ft.com/content/a3019ce4-be91-4dc8-83c5-489f18bf56cf


''Via E&E News-Scientific American''


''June 5, 2018 / Freedom of Information Request To Be Acted Upon''
Internal combustion engines will be around many, many years says Saudi Arabia's oil/gas company, Saudi Aramco. The state-owned oil group that made $500bn in revenues last year mainly from producing and selling crude is investing in carbon intensive products with a purpose.


“At the end of the day everyone is here to make money,” Yasser Mufti, Aramco executive vice-president said. He added about their new significant investment in Horse Powertrain engines... “there’s a lot of value proposition there”.


''EPA must produce the opposing body of science Administrator Scott Pruitt has relied upon to claim that humans are not the primary drivers of global warming, a federal judge has ruled.''


''The EPA boss has so far resisted attempts to show the science backing up his claims.''


''Not long after he took over as EPA administrator, Pruitt appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where he was asked about carbon dioxide and climate change. He said, “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”''
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''The next day, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the studies Pruitt used to make his claims. Specifically, the group requested “EPA documents that support the conclusion that human activity is not the largest factor driving global climate change.”''


''On Friday, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Beryl Howell, ordered the agency to comply.''


''“Particularly troubling is the apparent premise of this agency challenge to the FOIA request, namely: that the evidentiary basis for a policy or factual statement by an agency head, including about the scientific factors contributing to climate change, is inherently unknowable.”''
<big>'''News: Supreme Court of the United States'''</big>


''If the case proceeds, it could mean that Pruitt would have to produce such research in the coming months or next year.''
'''Supreme Court Says Donald Trump Is Shielded From Prosecution'''


The decision may effectively delay the trial of the case against the former president on charges of plotting to subvert the 2020 election.


:································································································
* https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf




* [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/26/senior-epa-officials-collaborated-with-climate-change-denial-group-emails-show '''''Senior EPA officials collaborated with climate change denial group, emails show''''']


[[File:SCOTUS pres immunity decision - July 1 2024.png]]


<big>'''''Trump’s NASA Chief: 'I Fully Believe and Know the Climate Is Changing''''''</big>


'''''“I also know that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way”'''''
&nbsp; 


[https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/trump-nasa-climate-change-bridenstine/560642/ Via The Atlantic]
<big>'''June 2024'''</big>




''“As far as my position on climate change and how it’s evolved, I’ll be very open...” the new administrator of NASA said at a town hall Thursday (May 17) at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.''
June 30


''“I don’t deny that consensus that the climate is changing,” he said. “In fact, I fully believe and know that the climate is changing. I also know that we humans beings are contributing to it in a major way. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. We’re putting it into the atmosphere in volumes that we haven’t seen, and that greenhouse gas is warming the planet. That is absolutely happening, and we are responsible for it.”''
<big><big>'''Time to Add Fact-Checking to Live, Broadcast/Streamed Political Debates'''</big></big>


''... whether Bridenstine’s views on climate change have changed or not, the views of his bosses haven’t, and this remains a point of concern for Bridentine’s critics. The Trump White House has proposed cutting or canceling many of nasa’s earth-science missions. So far, they’ve been spared. Republicans don’t have enough seats in the Senate to pass their dream budgets, so they’ve had to negotiate bipartisan budget legislation with Democrats. This setup has preserved most of nasa’s climate funding, but not all. The latest budget deal didn’t specifically mention nasa’s Carbon Monitoring System, a $10-million program to track greenhouse-gas emissions around the world. The Trump administration took that as an opportunity to terminate the program.''
This week, on Thursday night, June 27th, some 50 million people tuned in to the CNN hosted 2024 US presidential campaign debate between current president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump.  


The debate rules had been negotiated between CNN and the candidate staffs and featured limited time periods for the candidates to answer questions or make statements and charges, with a system of lights monitoring the time periods, and microphones being muted when each candidate's time period expired. What wasn't addressed -- and turned out to be a critical issue and problem -- can be described as what do you do when questions are answered and instead a charged series of claims are made that range far from facts, and verbal accusations pile up, one after another to a degree that corrections by the accused candidate become impossible in the time allotted.


The presidential debate turned into an event far from facts and debate, but rather an overwhelmed format that led to calls to change the rules in the future to ensure a back-and-forth debate can take place.


* [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/trump-dismantles-nasa-climate-change-program '''''Trump dismantles NASA climate change program''''']
We have a suggestion to make debates in the future work as *debates, not debacles. The key to success could be enabling fact-checking capabilities to accompany the live event. This seems like an idea whose time has come and software/services like AI that have recently been rolling out can do real-time fact checking in ways that are possible in new forms. Having debates *on the merits will breathe new life into rhetorical arguments that deserve to be better tomorrow. 


* [https://www.axios.com/by-the-numbers-what-americans-want-nasa-to-do-0e79425d-acd5-4f59-8dd3-e81d82e3281f.html '''''Americans want NASA to focus more on our home planet: Survey''''']
A fact-checking add-on solution was explained by GreenPolicy360's siterunner after the June 27th event. We offer Steve Schmidt's opinion here:  


 
<big>'''A Debate to Remember'''</big>


by Steve Schmidt / June 30, 2024


[[File:NASA top priority survey-May 2018.png]]
What happened in the presidential debate on June 27, 2024? Most of us are still wondering what was 'That' about?


The current president went to Atlanta to debate a former president -- the results were consequential -- and devastating. Another word, with exclamation, would be "Inconceivable!"


In a call out to classic movies lore (and memes), inconceivable! brings back memories of Wallace Shawn in "The Princess Bride". Shawn's character, Vizzini, immortalized the line, "Inconceivable!". This past week "Inconceivable!" returned on stage and delivered consequences beyond imagination. 


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Since the debate, watched by some 50 million people, the after effects have not ended. The questions that shocked -- of Joe Biden's performance, his health, his competence -- are now reverberating across the country. The writer Bob Woodward compared Biden's performance with an H bomb, and questioned what happened in President Biden's preparation for the debate.


The look of the 81 year old President was, from the opening of the debate until its closing worrying. The President looked pale, almost without any TV makeup. He was unsteady, his voice hoarse, he held on to his podium, he wavered, unsteady in action and words, His answers to questions became confused. On questions that were politically essential, such as women's reproductive rights and the recent Supreme Court decision striking down decades of Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, he stumbled though he had been addressing this question-of-questions daily for months.


[[File:Pruitt-pfas summit.jpg]]
Meanwhile, the former President unleashed a torrent of verbal charges and attacks, refused to answer questions, and claimed throughout the debate that his term in office was the best ever. In fact, it wasn't and most every claim he made veered far from reality and fact.  


Afterwards, Heather Cox Richardson, a well-known historian, wrote that the former president used a technique called the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop '''"Gish Gallup"'''], that overwhelms an opponent by "by providing an excessive number of arguments with no regard for accuracy". Trump's on stage broadside was aided by debate rules that muted the President's microphone and, to expect the President to fact check the ex-President's 'firehose' of claims would have been 'inconceivable', even if the President wasn't expected to speak of his own vision of a political future.


* [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/26/senior-epa-officials-collaborated-with-climate-change-denial-group-emails-show '''''Senior EPA officials collaborated with climate change denial group, emails show''''']
The planning of the debate did not produce any means of 'fact checking', the two CNN moderators and no way to call out lies and charges made, no way to prevent the debate from descending -- and so it did. The microphone of President Biden was muted, he couldn't answer, he just had to stand there looking pale, distraught while the moderators and world watched.


At this point, one could hope that future debates will put in place some 'guard rails' and/or moderator/commentator input … Why not fact checkers, perhaps using new AI tools for rapid response capabilities that can deliver a scroll of verifications ...


<big>'''''US EPA Administrator Back in the News'''''</big>
Fact checkers? You might ask, who needs fact checkers (with badges)?!


We need facts and [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Fact_Checking '''fact-checking as a profession'''] has come a long way in recent years Fact-checking organizations have spread from the US to democratic nations of the world.


* [https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2018/05/23/epa-bars-reporters-from-toxic-chemicals-summit-again-565742 '''''Environmental Protection Agency Bars Reporters from Toxic Chemicals Summit''''']
The [https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/ '''International Fact-Checking Network'''], in fact, started in the US with the efforts of the Poynter Institute and its PolitiFact original work. The [https://reporterslab.org/ '''Reporters Lab of Duke University'''] is also bringing fact checking services into media and educating as they go. Amid current political turmoil and fire hoses of dis- and mis-information across the Internet and social media, the new counters to those pedaling lies are available to use as services. 


''EPA staff Wednesday morning barred POLITICO and reporters from at least two other publications from entering a national summit on toxic chemicals, a day after a partial media blackout at the same event brought criticism from congressional Democrats and a pledge by the White House to investigate the incident...  the Associated Press (reported) that one of its journalists was forcibly ejected from the building.''
This past week, for example, a [https://www.poynter.org/event/globalfact-11/ '''GlobalFact 11th annual international conference'''] was held, successfully drawing from news, media and public interest groups internationally and offering fact checking 'best practices'.


''Pruitt scheduled the [https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-national-leadership-summit-and-engagement PFAS summit] months ago, but it has attracted increased attention after POLITICO reported that senior EPA officials had helped block the release of an HHS study that would have increased warnings about the chemicals. EPA stepped in after the White House warned in January that releasing the study would create a "public relations nightmare."''
Bottom line, facts count. There are ways to do better with debates. Before the next presidential debate, let's take time to present new ideas for debate improvement.


''Pruitt said he was unaware of that intervention, but it has added to the criticism he has faced from lawmakers and the public in recent months. The embattled administrator is facing more than a dozen federal investigations over his first-class travel, sweetheart condo rental from a lobbyist, heavy security spending and other matters.''
It's not Inconceivable! we can do better. To maintain and protect the Republic, and advance the nation's democratic institutions, we need facts. It's time for fact-checking real time in online debates. Our democracy will thank you and it's our responsibility to make it happen.


As Benjamin Franklin was reported saying of the new US experiment as he left Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention: We have "a Republic, if you can keep it."


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<small>[https://twitter.com/ValaAfshar/status/1003036104646365185 ''By 2030], China and Taiwan are planning to ban all plastic bags,''</small>
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<small>''straws, disposable food containers, plastic cutlery and cups.''</small>




[[File:Plastic packaging, plastic pollution.jpg]]
<big><big>'''Microorganisms, the "Tiny Little Ones"'''</big></big>


June 24


Today's GreenPolicy360 'Story of the Day' begins with an excerpt from the NY Times (link provided w/ article free-to-view/without paywall). Earth science explored here by the  NY Times Magazine speaks of "the tiny little ones" (as GreenPolicy often calls the tiny micro-life forms) that almost always go unseen by human eyes and unappreciated. Yet, as science is now discovering, microorganisms/microbes play an outside role in supporting, changing, and sculpting our Living Earth.


As we often do at GreenPolicy, we make [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_System_Science '''"Earth System Science"'''] connections , as in '''[[It's All Related]]''' with ecology as a guide. We now zoom into the microlife-story in [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Rainforest_Canopy_Don_Perry '''the Amazon rainforest'''], one of our favorite bioregions. The NY Times Magazine story moves from the rainforest and its canopy with its  (https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Rainforest '''amazing stories we were one of first to tell''']. The story connects into the creation of clouds and rainstorm, then across skies and seas, and goes underground, deep into the crust of Planet Earth to reveal a Living Treasure...


[[File:Best Practices check2.png]]
"Life finds a way", as [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/index.php?search=crichton&title=Special%3ASearch&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 '''Michael Crichton'''] memorably wrote and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiVVzxoPTtg '''Jeff Goldblum intoned in a Jurassic movie warning'''] delivered to a Barnum-Bailey developer's theme park team.


So let's go deeper now, this is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells '''more than an H.G. Wells tale'''] or any Disney-Marvel animation or theme park ride (even [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:SpaceshipEarth-Epcotjpeg.jpeg '''Spaceship Earth'''] at Epcot.)


<big><big>'''''Earth Science & Environmental Security'''''</big></big>


''May 22 / News Reports / California''


''The New GRACE satellites are launched and on their way...''
<big><big>'''The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet'''</big></big>


''Two Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On -- GRACE-FO -- satellites were released from the Falcon 9's second stage about 11-and-a-half minutes after takeoff. The five Iridium NEXT satellites followed suit about an hour later, after an orbit-raising maneuver by the second stage.''
By Ferris Jabr


''As the name indicates, the GRACE-FO satellites are replacements for an earlier pair that spent 15 years monitoring how water is distributed globally, measuring changes in Earth's oceans, glaciers and ice sheets while tracking sub-surface aquifers and soil moisture.''
Ferris Jabr is a contributing writer at the NY Times magazine and the author of “Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life."


''The original GRACE mission found that Greenland, for example, is losing 281 billion tons of ice per year on average while Antarctica is losing another 125 "gigatons" annually. One gigaton is the mass of water in 400,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.''
* https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/magazine/earth-geomicrobiology-microbes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2E0.Q21i.PVXzWWkDrVFQ&smid=url-share


''"GRACE was really a revolutionary mission for us understanding the water cycle and how the climate behaves and the trends that are taking place," said Frank Webb, GRACE-FO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.''


''"This was a view we didn't have before of water on the Earth. We were able to see how water has moved from different parts of the Earth by actually measuring its mass. ... We were able to detect things like loss of ice mass from glaciers, ice sheets, Greenland, places like that, we were able to see storage of water on land where there were floods or depletion of water on land where there are large aquifers and we've been pumping water out."''
''In a typical year, the Amazon generates around  half of its own rainfall.''


''The Amazon’s rain ritual challenges the way we typically think about life on Earth. Conventional wisdom holds that life is sub¬ject to its environment. If Earth did not orbit a star of the right size and age, if it were too close or too far from that star, if it did not have a stable atmosphere, liquid water and a magnetic field that deflects harmful cosmic rays, it would be lifeless. Life evolved on Earth be¬cause Earth is suitable for life. Since Darwin, prevailing scientific paradigms have likewise emphasized that the ever-shifting demands of the environment largely dictate how life evolves: Species best able to cope with changes to their particular habitats leave behind the most descendants, whereas those that fail to adapt die out.''


[https://phys.org/news/2018-05-satellite-major-shifts-global-freshwater.amp <big>'''''Satellite study finds major shifts in global freshwater'''''</big>]
''Yet this truth has an underappreciated twin: Life changes its environment, too. In the mid-20th century, when ecology established itself as a formal discipline, this fact began to gain wider recognition in Western science. Even so, the focus was on relatively small and local changes: a beaver constructing a dam, for instance, or earthworms churning a patch of soil. The notion that living creatures of all kinds might modify their environments in much more significant ways — that microbes, fungi, plants and animals can change the topography and climate of a continent or even the entire planet — was rarely given serious consideration.''


''In recent decades, however, the scientific understanding of life’s relationship to the planet has been undergoing a major reformation. Contrary to longstanding maxims, life has been a formidable geological force throughout Earth’s history, often matching or surpassing the power of glaciers, earthquakes and volcanoes. Over the past several billion years, all manner of life forms, from microbes to mammoths, have transformed the continents, ocean and atmosphere, turning a lump of orbiting rock into the world as we’ve known it. Living creatures are not simply products of inexorable evolutionary processes in their particular habitats; they are orchestrators of their environments and participants in their own evolution.''


''The NASA-led research team ... used 14 years of observations from the [https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GRACEGroundwater/ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission] to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world.''
''We and other living creatures are more than inhabitants of Earth. We are Earth: an outgrowth of its physical structure and an engine of its global cycles. The evidence for this new paradigm is all around us, although much of it has been discovered only recently and has yet to permeate public consciousness to the same degree as, say, selfish genes or the microbiome.''


''The history of life on Earth is the history of life’s remaking Earth...''


''The study, published in the May 17, 2018 issue of the journal Nature, also incorporated satellite precipitation data from the ESSIC-led Global Precipitation Climatology Project; Landsat imagery from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey; irrigation maps; and published reports of human activities related to agriculture, mining and reservoir operations. The study period spans from 2002 to 2016.''


(In a mine tunnel now, deep beneath the surface of 'Planet Earth') ... ''Kneeling, I realized that the water was teeming with a stringy white material similar to the skin of a poached egg. Caitlin Casar, a geobiologist, explained that the white fibers were microbes in the genus Thiothrix, which join together in long filaments and store sulfur in their cells, giving them a ghostly hue. Here we were, deep within Earth’s crust — a place where, without human intervention, there would be no light and little oxygen — yet life was literally gush­ing from rock. This particular ecological hot spot had earned the nick­name ThiothrixFalls...''


* https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6984


<big>''Microbiomes empowering life, living systems, all related life...''</big>


'''''"This is the first time we've assessed how freshwater availability is changing, everywhere on Earth, using satellite observations,"''''' ''said Matt Rodell, lead author of the paper and chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "A key goal was to distinguish shifts in terrestrial water storage caused by natural variability—wet periods and dry periods associated with El Niño and La Niña, for example—from trends related to climate change or human impacts, like pumping groundwater out of an aquifer faster than it is replenished."''
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/It%27s_All_Related '''Systems Thinking, "It's All Related"''']


: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Microbiomes_at_Risk '''In the Worlds of the Microbiomes''']


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<big><big>'''''Loss of Permafrost: Ripple Effects Head South'''''</big></big>
[[File:Living Earth.png]]




[[File:Permafrost-usgs.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Permafrost]]
<big>'''An Unseen World'''</big>


:'''The 'Tiny Little Ones' '''


<big>'''''The Great Thaw of America's North Is Coming'''''</big>


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Permafrost
GreenPolicy360: As the extraterrestrial search for life extends thru the data returned from Hubble and Webb space-based intergallactic imaging let's ask about non-surface exoplanet life-forms. The reflective multispectrum results of scanning by Hubble/Webb do not capture non-reflective, internal exoplanet results. Think about microbiomes ... and life in forms not captured by Hubble/Webb and scanning surveys of galaxies from state of the art instruments from Planet Earth.




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&nbsp;




<big>'''''Texas Becoming Greener?'''''</big>
<big><big>'''A Horizon of Strategic Threats to Life'''</big></big>


'''''What About Pennsylvania?'''''


May 6, 2018
[[File:Nuclear Weapons proliferation - 2024.jpg]]


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green:_Texas_v._Pennsylvania ''From Pennsylvania / the Post-Journal'']


[[File:Nuclear Weapons proliferation - 2024 News.jpg]]


By James Colby / [https://www.earthx.org/about-us/ ''EARTHx'']


''Here is my Earth Day reflection: No single person, politician, political party, or nation can solve the climate-change or sustainability crisis. The responsibility falls on every human being on planet Earth. Young and old, left and right, and rural and urban citizens must unite, collaborate, and cooperate.''


''Business and industry, and federal, state, and local politicians must enact public policy that reflects sustainability. The first Earth Day” (1970) was excellent, in that the left and right united to change the American landscape and the world. Clean water, air, and soil became priorities, and the EPA was established to advance these goals.''
<big><big>'''A Nuclear Arms Race 3.0'''</big></big>


''Today, many citizens feel helpless and ask this: '''“how can I help?”'''''
: Follow GreenPolicy360's associate, Strategic Demands


:* https://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-arms-race-3-0/


<big><u>'''''[[Planet Citizens]]'''''</u></big>




''Some individuals think environmental issues are not important or real… or not concerns of their friends, family, church members, or talk-show hosts. If you are in this group, please consider this fact: Texas is not only Red, but Green. Many Texas Republicans view green living as excellent political and business goals, and reflect fiscal responsibility.''
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''It is a fact: clean, renewable energies, economies, and jobs are now embraced by Americans of all ideologies. Texas, known for big business, big oil, and all sizes of pickup trucks is transforming into an environmental beacon...''




:<big><big><font color=green>'''Geo-Facts to Keep in Mind'''</font></big></big>


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[[File:Earth - Pacific Ocean.png]]


*<big>''[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Bill_McKibben,_planet_citizen Bill McKibben]: The Question I Get Asked the Most''</big>
:''The questions come after talks, on twitter, in the days' incoming tide of email—sometimes even in old-fashioned letters that arrive in envelopes...''
:''"What can I do?" I bet I've been asked it 10,000 times by now... "What can I do to make a difference?"''


''World's oceans have gone 'crazy haywire,' officials warn, with majority of coral reefs in peril''


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''Heat stress levels literally off the charts of NOAA's alert system''


''Daily monitoring of ocean conditions around the world, released by NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch, shows zones of Bleaching Alert Level 4 in the central Pacific Ocean and off the Atlantic coast of South America, with some ribbons of Alert Level 5 in the southern Atlantic.''


[[File:There is no Planet B Macron to US Congress-Apr25,2018.png]]


NOAA Coral Reef Watch Daily | Bleaching Alert Area 7-day Maximum | Chart (v3.1) 14 Jun 2024


<big>'''''Macron Speaks to US Congress'''''</big>
* https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/product/5km/index_5km_baa-max-7d.php


''April 25, 2018''




"Let us face it, there is no Planet B..."
🌎


[[File:There is no Plan et B.png]]




"I am sure one day the U.S. will come back and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement."
<big><big>'''In Memory of Astronaut William Anders'''</big></big>


'''June 7, 2024'''




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'''''Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, killed in Washington plane crash'''''


* https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-san-juan-islands-washington-6d3800130ef4e67d761f96b328f7c263




<big><u>'''''[[Environmental protection]]'''''</u></big>


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earthrise_100_Photographs_That_Changed_the_World_.jpg <big><big><big>'''Earthrise'''</big></big></big>]


[[File:Blue green turtle - blue green world.jpg]]
<big>'''Apollo 8's View of Earth on December 24, 1968'''</big>




December 21, 1968 ... Apollo 8 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, the first humans on the way to the Moon --- and a vision looking back at home that empowered the modern environmental movement.


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:'''Aboard Apollo''', December 24, 1968...'''


::[[File:Copernicus EU logo.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU]]
:[[File:Earthrise, the way Anders saw it.jpg]]


:<small>http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Apollo_8</small>


<big>'''''Methane, We're Watching'''''</big>


: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU
As the spaceship swings around the Moon... unexpectedly the Earth rises in the Apollo ship's window and the astronauts are amazed at what is coming into view...


:: Detecting methane from space


::''There has been quite a buzz around this unique advancement in space, and the valuable data it will provide on methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for a quarter of the warming our planet is experiencing today. Curbing anthropogenic methane emissions is one of the most efficient and economical options available to slow the rate of warming over the next few decades, while efforts continue to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide.''
Astronaut [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2015/04/17/bill-anders-recalls-famous-earthrise-photo-he-took-from-moon/#1ae7ffe9527a Bill Anders is the first to see the Earth...]


Anders: ''"Oh, my God, look at that picture over there," he can be heard saying. "There's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!"''


:: ''"As a pollutant, methane is 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20-yr period and responsible for a quarter of the global warming happening today. That is a risk not just to emitters in the oil and gas sector, but to investors everywhere." ''


::Re: Methane Management / Harvard Investment Endowment Fund
What happened next will sound familiar to anyone who remembers the days before digital cameras:


:: -- [http://business.edf.org/blog/2018/09/26/harvard-management-company-discusses-challenges-opportunities-for-reducing-methane-emissions-in-oil-gas-industry ''Environmental Defense Fund + Business'']


Anders (to astronaut Jim Lovell): ''"You got a color film, Jim? Hand me a roll of color, quick, would you?"''


::* [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04478-6 '''''Update: US environmental group wins millions to develop methane-monitoring satellite''''']
Lovell: ''"Oh, man, that's great! Where is it?"''


Anders: ''"Hurry. Quick."''


::'''''The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) planning to be the first environmental group to send its own satellite into space. The group's efforts are being funded through the Audacious Project, a joint effort of the non-profit group TED and philanthropic organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.''
Lovell: ''"Down here?"''


::''“We need good solid data so that we really can support global action on climate change, and we’ve got to do it fast,” says Steven Hamburg, the EDF’s chief scientist.''
Anders: ''"Just grab me a color. A color exterior. Hurry up. Got one?"''


::''The most detailed measurements currently available of atmospheric methane concentrations currently come from a sensor aboard the European Space Agency’s [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU Sentinel-5P spacecraft], which launched in October 2017. The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument provides global coverage at a '''resolution of nearly 50 square kilometres''', but those measurements do not capture the dispersed sources of emissions from oil and gas fields.''
Lovell: ''"Yeah, I'm lookin' for one. C368."''


::''Commercial firms have developed high-resolution sensors that can be placed aboard 10-centimetre-sided [https://www.nature.com/news/mini-satellites-prove-their-scientific-power-1.15051 CubeSats] to measure emissions from individual wells or other facilities. Those data are proprietary, however, and the measurements cannot be scaled up to the level of an entire oil and gas field.''
Anders: ''"Anything quick."''


::''The Environmental Defense Fund team is designing MethaneSAT to provide more-precise measurements, at a '''resolution of 1 square kilometre''', with global coverage at least once a week.''


Lovell hands him the film just as Anders is heard saying, ''"I think we missed it."''


::*https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Imaging-New_Space


But within seconds, Lovell sees the shot again in another window of the command module. He asks for the camera from Anders, who seems a bit defensive at having his role as mission photographer usurped.


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Anders: ''"Wait a minute, just let me get the right setting here now, just calm down. Calm down, Lovell!"''




<big>'''''April and Birds On the Wing'''''</big>
Anders then gets the shot that has been reproduced innumerable times all over the world...


:[https://sos.noaa.gov/Datasets/view-movie.html?video=ebird_patterns_400 ''Migration Tracking (Animation)'']


Changing forever humanity's vision of ourselves, of who we are


[[File:NOAA Bird Migration science on a sphere.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:NOAA_Bird_Migration_science_on_a_sphere.png]]




[http://www.planetcitizens.org <small> #PlanetCitizens</small>]


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[[File:Earthrise 100 Photographs That Changed the World .jpg]]






<big><big>'''''Daphne with an Orphan'''''</big></big>


[[File:Apollo.jpg]]


[[File:DSWT-Daphne hugging elephant adoptee.png]]




<big>'''''Orphans No More'''''</big>
🌎 'Earthrise' poem by Amanda Gorman


: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
* https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xwOvBv8RLmo


: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/about_us.asp


Apollo 8


* http://history.nasa.gov/apollo_photo.html


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* http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo_Earth_350x350.jpg


* http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo.jpg




[[File:ERoadArlanda.png]]
&nbsp; 


:[[File:Earth Day Flag.png]]




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🌎




[[File:Climate skeptics, science doubters.png]]
[[File:Earth temperatures and a 'highway to hell'.png]]




::[[File:Too Hot - FT.png]]


* [https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/climate-science-doubters/ ''Climate skeptics, science doubters'']


* [https://350.org/oil-russia-and-trump/ ''The biggest oil deal: a driving force behind the Trump election'']
'''UN chief says world is on ‘highway to climate hell’ as planet endures 12 straight months of unprecedented heat'''


* [https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/13/16029526/rex-tillerson-fired-state-department ''Rex Tillerson has been fired. Experts say he did damage that could last “a generation.”'']
* https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/05/climate/12-months-record-heat-un-speech/index.html


* [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/exodus-rex/555473/ ''Why Did Trump Fire Tillerson Now?'']


[https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Global_warming_June_2024.jpg <font color=red>'''It's Hot (and We're Watching)'''</font>]


:······························································································
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Too_Hot


* https://wapo.st/3V86XRf


<big><big>'''''The Oil/Gas Deal in the Arctic'''''</big></big>
* https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/


* https://earth.gov/data-catalog/cmip6-climdex-tmaxxf-access-cm2


'''''"It was bigger than sending a man to the moon", re:''''' [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic '''''US / Russia to drill in the Arctic''''']
* https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/world/global-heat-map-tracker.html


* https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature


It's a big story, a 'follow the money' story, the story of oil/gas profits and global environmental costs...


Looking at Rosneft/Exxon's $500 billion Arctic deal, Rex Tillerson's appt as US Secretary of State, US/Russia oil/gas interests...


The [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic political-economic reality] in a warming North offers a rich bounty -- and pressing challenge to global security.
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Policy '''Climate Policy @GreenPolicy360''']




:[[File:Arctic CAB sea ice monitor-Feb 2018 update (2013-2018).jpg]]


<big>🥵</big>


* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/06/arctic-warmest-winter-record-climate-change Arctic has warmest winter on record]


* [https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/really-extreme-global-weather-event-leaves-scientists-aghast-20180226-p4z1q4.html 'Heat Wave': Extreme Weather in the Arctic]


* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOAcr-f476o Monthly-Yearly Arctic sea ice chart (2008-2018)]
<big>'''As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose'''</big>


* [https://mashable.com/2018/02/26/arctic-heat-wave-north-pole-february-sea-ice.amp Record-breaking temperatures reach the North Pole]
* https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/13/climate/insurance-homes-climate-change-weather.html


''The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Even in the Northeast, where homeowners insurance was still generally profitable last year, the trends are worsening.''


* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/21/farewell-to-ice-peter-wadhams-review-climate-change A Farewell to Ice, book by Peter Wadhams (2016)]
''In 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states, more than a third of the country, according to a New York Times analysis of newly available financial data. That’s up from 12 states five years ago, and eight states in 2013. The result is that insurance companies are raising premiums by as much as 50 percent or more, cutting back on coverage or leaving entire states altogether. Nationally, over the last decade, insurers paid out more in claims than they received in premiums, according to the ratings firm Moody’s, and those losses are increasing.''


* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic The Arctic via GreenPolicy360: What happens in the North doesn't stay in the North]
''The growing tumult is affecting people whose homes have never been damaged and who have dutifully paid their premiums, year after year. Cancellation notices have left them scrambling to find coverage to protect what is often their single biggest investment. As a last resort, many are ending up in high-risk insurance pools created by states that are backed by the public and offer less coverage than standard policies. By and large, state regulators lack strategies to restore stability to the market...''






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🌎






https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Starlink-nasa_image.jpg
<big>'''May'''</big>




<big><big>'''''"Starlink"'''''</big></big>
<big>'''Commencement Address at Brandeis University'''</big>


:'''By Ken Burns'''


* [https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/02/elon-musk-tweets-video-of-spacexs-first-broadband-satellites-in-space/ '''''Elon Musk announces launch of Starlink satellites''''']
(GreenPolicy360 - A keeper and a graduation message to share widely)




:'''''February 22, 2018, the beginning of a SpaceX planetary network...'''''
Commencement 2024


::''Micro-satellites to deliver low-cost Internet access around the globe...''
Honorary degree recipient Ken Burns gives the Commencement address during the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony


:::''SpaceX's ultimate goal is to provide gigabit broadband services worldwide...''
Brandeis University's 73rd Commencement Exercises, May 2024




::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360-eOS#Digital_Citizen.2C_Digital_Rights_Movement GreenPolicy360: Digital Citizens, Digital Rights]
Transcript


* https://www.brandeis.edu/commencement/2024/burns.htm




:········································································
Brandeisian, love it.


President Liebowitz, Ron, Chair Lisa Kranc, and other members of the board of trustees, Provost Carol Fierke, fellow honorees, distinguished faculty and staff, proud and relieved parents, calm and serene grandparents, distracted but secretly pleased siblings, ladies and gentlemen, graduating students of the class of 2024, good morning.


I am deeply honored and privileged that you have asked me here to say a few words at such a momentous occasion that you might find what I have to say worthy of your attention on so important a day in all of your lives. Thank you for this honor.


<big><big>'''''Blue-Green Connection to Life on Earth'''''</big></big> 
Listen, I am in the business of history. It is not always a happy subject on college campuses these days, particularly when forces seem determined to eliminate or water down difficult parts of our past, particularly when the subject may seem to some an anachronistic and irrelevant pursuit, and particularly with the ferocious urgency this moment seems to exert on us. It is my job, however, to remind people of the power our past also exerts, to help us better understand what's going on now with compelling story, memory, and anecdote. It is my job to try to discern patterns and themes from history to enable us to interpret our dizzying and sometimes dismaying present.


<big>'''''"The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One"'''''</big>
For nearly 50 years now, I have diligently practiced and rigorously tried to maintain a conscious neutrality in my work, avoiding advocacy if I could, trying to speak to all of my fellow citizens. Over those many decades I've come to understand a significant fact, that we are not condemned to repeat, as the saying goes, what we don't remember. That is a beautiful, even poetic phrase, but not true. Nor are there cycles of history as the academic community periodically promotes. The Old Testament, Ecclesiastes to be specific, got it right, I think. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. What those lines suggest is that human nature never changes or almost never changes. We continually superimpose that complex and contradictory human nature over the seemingly random chaos of events, all of our inherent strengths and weaknesses, our greed and generosity, our puritanism and our prurience, our virtue, and our venality parade before our eyes, generation after generation after generation. This often gives us the impression that history repeats itself. It does not. "No event has ever happened twice, it just rhymes," Mark Twain is supposed to have said. I have spent all of my professional life on the lookout for those rhymes, drawn inexorably to that power of history. I am interested in listening to the many varied voices of a true, honest, complicated past that is unafraid of controversy and tragedy, but equally drawn to those stories and moments that suggest an abiding faith in the human spirit, and particularly the unique role this remarkable and sometimes also dysfunctional republic seems to play in the positive progress of mankind.


During the course of my work, I have become acquainted with hundreds if not thousands of those voices. They have inspired, haunted, and followed me over the years. Some of them may be helpful to you as you try to imagine and make sense of the trajectory of your lives today.


: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Blue_Planet_II.png '''''Blue Planet II''''']
Listen, listen. In January of 1838, shortly before his 29th birthday, a tall, thin lawyer prone to bouts of debilitating depression addressed the young men's lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. "At what point shall we expect the approach of danger?" He asked his audience, "Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the earth and crush us at a blow?" Then he answered his own question. "Never. All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide." It is a stunning, remarkable statement, one that has animated my own understanding of the American experience since I first read it more than 40 years ago. That young man was of course Abraham Lincoln, and he would go on to preside over the closest this country has ever come to near national suicide, our civil war, and yet embedded in his extraordinary, disturbing, and prescient words is also a fundamental optimism that implicitly acknowledges the geographical forcefield two mighty oceans east and west and two relatively benign neighbors north and south have provided for us since the British burned the White House in the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key.


:: '''''"A single kind of blue-green algae in the ocean ('Prochlorococcus') produces the oxygen in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ty5puoADMU one of every five breaths we take"]'''''
Lincoln's words that day suggest what is so great and so good about the people who happen to inhabit this lucky and exquisite country of ours. That's the world you now inherit: our work ethic and our restlessness, our innovation and our improvisation, our communities and our institutions of higher learning, our suspicion of power. The fact that we seem resolutely dedicated to parsing the meaning between individual and collective freedom; What I want versus what we need. That we are all so dedicated to understanding what Thomas Jefferson really meant when he wrote that mysterious phrase, "The pursuit of happiness". Hint, it happens right here in the lifelong learning and perpetual improvement this university is committed to.


::: [http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/17/fate-of-small-species-has-huge-implications-for-our-ocean/ '''''~ The Fate of Small Species and the Oceans -- Sylvia Earle''''']
But the isolation of those two oceans has also helped to incubate habits and patterns less beneficial to us: our devotion to money and guns and conspiracies, our certainty about everything, our stubborn insistence on our own exceptionalism blinding us to that which needs repair, especially with regard to race and ethnicity. Our preoccupation with always making the other wrong at an individual as well as a global level. I am reminded of what the journalist I.F. Stone once said to a young acolyte who was profoundly disappointed in his mentor's admiration for Thomas Jefferson. "It's because history is tragedy," Stone admonished him, "Not melodrama." It's the perfect response. In melodrama all villains are perfectly villainous and all heroes are perfectly virtuous, but life is not like that. You know that in your guts and nor is our history like that. The novelist, Richard Powers recently wrote that, "The best arguments in the world," — and ladies and gentlemen, that's all we do is argue — "the best arguments in the world," he said, "Won't change a single person's point of view. The only thing that can do that is a good story." I've been struggling for most of my life to do that, to try to tell good, complex, sometimes contradictory stories, appreciating nuance and subtlety and undertow, sharing the confusion and consternation of unreconciled opposites.


But it's clear as individuals and as a nation we are dialectically preoccupied. Everything is either right or wrong, red state or blue state, young or old, gay or straight, rich or poor, Palestinian or Israeli, my way or the highway. Everywhere we are trapped by these old, tired, binary reactions, assumptions, and certainties. For filmmakers and faculty, students and citizens, that preoccupation is imprisoning. Still, we know and we hear and we express only arguments, and by so doing, we forget the inconvenient complexities of history and of human nature. That, for example, three great religions, their believers, all children of Abraham, each professing at the heart of their teaching, a respect for all human life, each with a central connection to and legitimate claim to the same holy ground, violate their own dictates of conduct and make this perpetually contested land a shameful graveyard. God does not distinguish between the dead. "Could you?"


[Audience applauding]


::::<big><big><u>'''''[[Going Green]]'''''</u></big></big>
"Could you?" A very wise person I know with years of experience with the Middle East recently challenged me, "Could you hold the idea that there could be two wrongs and two rights?"


Listen, listen. In a filmed interview I conducted with the writer James Baldwin, more than 40 years ago, he said, "No one was ever born who agreed to be a slave, who accepted it. That is, slavery is a condition imposed from without. Of course, the moment I say that," Baldwin continued, "I realize that multitudes and multitudes of people for various reasons of their own enslave themselves every hour of every day to this or that doctrine, this or that delusion of safety, this or that lie. Anti-Semites, for example," he went on, "are slaves to a delusion. People who hate Negroes are slaves. People who love money are slaves. We are living in a universe really of willing slaves, which makes the concept of liberty and the concept of freedom so dangerous," he finished. Baldwin is making a profoundly psychological and even spiritual statement, not just a political or racial or social one. He knew, just as Lincoln knew, that the enemy is often us. We continue to shackle ourselves with chains we mistakenly think is freedom.


Another voice, Mercy Otis Warren, a philosopher and historian during our revolution put it this way, "The study of the human character at once opens a beautiful and a deformed picture of the soul. We there find a noble principle implanted in the nature of people, but when the checks of conscience are thrown aside, humanity is obscured." I have had the privilege for nearly half a century of making films about the US, but I have also made films about us. That is to say the two letter, lowercase, plural pronoun. All of the intimacy of "us" and also "we" and "our" and all of the majesty, complexity, contradiction, and even controversy of the US. And if I have learned anything over those years, it's that there's only us. There is no them. And whenever someone suggests to you, whomever it may be in your life that there's a them, run away. Othering is the simplistic binary way to make and identify enemies, but it is also the surest way to your own self imprisonment, which brings me to a moment I've dreaded and forces me to suspend my longstanding attempt at neutrality.


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/TinyBlueGreen
There is no real choice this November. There is only the perpetuation, however flawed and feeble you might perceive it, of our fragile 249-year-old experiment or the entropy that will engulf and destroy us if we take the other route. When, as Mercy Otis Warren would say, "The checks of conscience are thrown aside and a deformed picture of the soul is revealed." The presumptive Republican nominee is the opioid of all opioids, an easy cure for what some believe is the solution to our myriad pains and problems. When in fact with him, you end up re-enslaved with an even bigger problem, a worse affliction and addiction, "a bigger delusion", James Baldwin would say, the author and finisher of our national existence, our national suicide as Mr. Lincoln prophesies. Do not be seduced by easy equalization. There is nothing equal about this equation. We are at an existential crossroads in our political and civic lives. This is a choice that could not be clearer.


[Audience applauding]


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Fishing_Watch
Listen, listen. 33 years ago, the world lost a towering literary figure. The novelist and storyteller, not arguer, Isaac Bashevis Singer. For decades he wrote about God and myth and punishment, fate and sexuality, family and history. He wrote in Yiddish a marvelously expressive language, sad and happy all at the same time. Sometimes maddeningly all knowing, yet resigned to God's seemingly capricious will. It is also a language without a country, a dying language in a world more interested in the extermination or isolation of its long suffering speakers. Singer, writing in the pages of the Jewish Daily Forward help to keep Yiddish alive. Now our own wonderfully mongrel American language is punctuated with dozens of Yiddish words and phrases, parables and wise sayings, and so many of those words are perfect onomatopoeias of disgust and despair, hubris and humor. If you've ever met a schmuck, you know what I'm talking about. [audience laughs] Toward the end of his long and prolific life, Singer expressed wonder at why so many of his books written in this obscure and some said useless language would be so widely translated, something like 56 countries all around the world. "Why," he would wonder with his characteristic playfulness, "Why would the Japanese care about his simple stories of life in the shtetls of Eastern Europe 1,000 years ago?" "Unless," Singer paused, twinkle in his eye, "Unless the story spoke of the kinship of the soul." I think what Singer was talking about was that indefinable something that connects all of us together, that which we all share as part of organic life on this planet, the kinship of the soul. I love that.


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Oceans
Okay, let me speak directly to the graduating class. Watch out, here comes the advice. Listen. Be curious, not cool. Insecurity makes liars of us all. Remember, none of us get out of here alive. The inevitable vicissitudes of life, no matter how well gated our communities, will visit us all. Grief is a part of life, and if you explore its painful precincts, it will make you stronger. Do good things, help others. Leadership is humility and generosity squared. Remember the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is central to faith. The opposite of faith is certainty. The kinship of the soul begins with your own at times withering self-examination. Try to change that unchangeable human nature of Ecclesiastes, but start with you. "Nothing so needs reforming," Mark Twain once chided us, "As other people's habits." [audience laughs]


Don't confuse success with excellence. Do not descend too deeply into specialism. Educate all of your parts, you will be healthier. Do not get stuck in one place. "Travel is fatal to prejudice," Twain also said. Be in nature, which is always perfect and where nothing is binary. Its sheer majesty may remind you of your own atomic insignificance, as one observer put it, but in the inscrutable and paradoxical ways of wild places, you will feel larger, inspirited, just as the egotist in our midst is diminished by his or her self regard.


At some point, make babies, one of the greatest things that will happen to you, I mean it, one of the greatest things that will happen to you is that you will have to worry, I mean really worry, about someone other than yourself. It is liberating and exhilarating, I promise. Ask your parents.


[[File:Blue Planet II.png]]
[Audience laughs]


&nbsp;
Choose honor over hypocrisy, virtue over vulgarity, discipline over dissipation, character over cleverness, sacrifice over self-indulgence. Do not lose your enthusiasm, in its Greek etymology the word enthusiasm means simply, "god in us". Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Denounce oppression everywhere.


[Audience applauding]


:::[[File:Reefscape.png]]
Convince your government, as Lincoln understood that the real threat always and still comes from within this favored land. Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts.


[Audience cheering]


They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country; They just make our country worth defending.


[http://www.bioneers.org '''''Planet Citizen, Bioneer'''''] and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio joins w/ [http://www.planet.com Planet] to launch an amazing ocean imaging, earth science project'''''
[Audience applauding]


Remember what Louis Brandeis said, "The most important political office is that of the private citizen." Vote. You indelibly... [audience applauding] Please, vote. You indelibly underscore your citizenship, and most important, our kinship with each other when you do. Good luck and godspeed.


:<big>'''''Reefscape'''''</big>
[Audience applauding]


: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Reefscape.png '''''Reefscape''''']


: [https://www.leonardodicaprio.org/reefscape-a-global-reef-survey-to-build-better-satellites-for-coral-conservation/ '''''Satellite Doves to Aid Coral Conservation''''']


: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API '''''Planet API''''']
<big><big>🌎</big></big>






··································································
<big><big>'''On the Beach, In the Intertidal Zone'''</big></big>




<big>'''A Brief History of the Future'''</big>


[http://strategicdemands.com/us-nuclear-posture-review-released/ <big>'''''US Nuclear Posture Review Released'''''</big>]
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnDhL4cso9I


[[File:Two minutes to midnight.png]]


[[File:On the Beach, In the Intertidal Zone.png]]




[[File:Intertidal Zone.png]]


[[File:Pope Francis Calls for Ban on Nuclear Weapons.png]]
<small>In the Intertidal Zone</small>


&nbsp;


<big><big>🌎</big></big>


:······································


[[File:Hurricane Michael October 2018.jpg]]




[[File:Macron at WEF-2018.png]]
<big><big>'''Category 6 Hurricanes? It's Getting Gnarly Out There!'''</big></big>




''Scientist are proposing an update of the scale to include category 6 hurricanes, which are those with winds over 192 mph.''


···································································
''According to the Guardian: “Hurricanes are becoming so strong due to the climate crisis that the classification of them should be expanded to include a “category 6” storm, furthering the scale from the standard 1 to 5, according to a new study.''


''Over the past decade, five storms would have been classed at this new category 6 strength, researchers said, which would include all hurricanes with sustained winds of 192 mph or more. Such mega-hurricanes are becoming more likely due to global heating, studies have found, due to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere.''


<big>'''US Slaps Tariff on Solar Energy Panels'''</big>
''Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, said that “192mph is probably faster than most Ferraris, it’s hard to even imagine”. He has proposed the new category 6 alongside another researcher, James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Being caught in that sort of hurricane would be bad. Very bad.”''


* http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-solar-tariffs-20180122-story.html
''The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and reported in the Guardian by Oliver Milman on 5 Feb 2024.''




[[File:US Solar Market Has Boomed 2007-2016.png]]


<big><big>🌎</big></big>




·······················································································


Re: Climate Policy News, Renewable, Clean Energy instead of Burning Fossil Fuels


[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/12/uk-banks-join-multinationals-pledge-come-clean-climate-change-risks-mark-carney '''''World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas extraction''''']


:Bank announces in Paris it ‘will no longer finance upstream oil and gas’ after 2019 in response to threat posed by climate change
<big>'''Battery costs have dropped 90% in under 15 years giving renewables a boost, new IEA report reveals'''</big>


* https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/05/02/battery-costs-have-dropped-90-in-under-15-years-giving-renewables-a-boost-new-iea-report-r


····························································································




[http://www.dw.com/en/eu-unveils-plan-to-make-all-plastic-packaging-recyclable-by-2030/a-42169903 '''''European Union unveils plan to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030''''']
''While China produces most batteries today, the report shows that 40 per cent of announced plans for new battery manufacturing is in advanced economies such as the US and the European Union.''


:''The EU wants to make all plastic packaging recyclable, reduce single-use plastic and restrict microplastics. The plan would "lay the foundations for a new plastic economy."''
''Battery deployment still needs to scale up significantly in the next few years if the world is to hit our energy and climate goals.''


''To do so, overall energy storage capacity will need to increase sixfold by 2030 worldwide, with batteries accounting for 90 per cent of the increase and pumped hydropower covering most of the rest.''


··················································
* https://www.iea.org/


* https://www.iea.org/news/rapid-expansion-of-batteries-will-be-crucial-to-meet-climate-and-energy-security-goals-set-at-cop28




[[File:Chasing Coral.jpg]]


<big><big>🌎</big></big>




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'''April 22, 2024'''


<big><big><font color=green> '''''Green Networking, [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Green_Networking Going Global]'''''</font></big></big>


<big><big><big>'''Personal Memories on the Road to the First Earth Day'''</big></big></big>


<big><big>'''''GreenPolicy360: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green <font color=green>Greening Our Blue Planet</font>]'''''</big></big>
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth-Day.png


* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Best_Practices_check_sm.png '''''Green Best Practices''''']


* [https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/bix125/4605229 '''''World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice''''']


* [https://blog.ucsusa.org/jacob-carter/one-year-of-attacks-on-science-by-trump-administration '''''One Year of Attacking Science: How the Trump Administration Measures Up''''']
[[File:ThinBlue-3 iss030e031276.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/ThinBlue_iss030e031276.jpg]]




[[File:One-year-attacking-science-trump-administration-fail-january 2018.jpg | link=https://blog.ucsusa.org/jacob-carter/one-year-of-attacks-on-science-by-trump-administration]]
<big><big>[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/PlanetCitizen PlanetCitizen.org] / [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics Earth System Science] / [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs Measuring "Vital Signs"]</big></big> 






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<big><big>🌎</big></big>






[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Nuclear_weapon_launch_officers_warning_January_2018.png '''''Rein In Trump's Ability to Launch Nuclear First Strike''''']
:[https://greenpolicy360.net/images/Day_before_Earth_Day%2C_April_21%2C_2015.png <big><big>'''The Day Before Earth Day, 2024'''</big></big>]


:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth-Day.png


[[File:Nuclear weapon launch officers warning January 2018.png]]


[[File:Earth-Day.png]]


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[[File:Pope Francis Calls for Ban on Nuclear Weapons.png | link=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-diplomats/pope-in-state-of-world-speech-urges-dialogue-in-korea-nuclear-ban-idUSKBN1EX0UG]]
<big><big>🌎</big></big>




<u>'''[[Pope Francis on the Environment]]'''</u>


<big>'''Story Telling and Science Education'''</big>


VATICAN CITY, January 8, 2018 (Reuters) - Pope Francis called on Monday for all nations to support dialog to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and to work for a legally binding ban on nuclear weapons.
''' 'Thought for the Day' '''


“Nuclear weapons must be banned,” Francis said, quoting a document issued by Pope John XXIII at the height of the Cold War and adding that there is “no denying that the conflagration could be started by some chance and unforeseen circumstance.”


He noted that the Holy See was among 122 states that last year agreed to a United Nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons. The United States, Britain, France and others boycotted the talks that led to the treaty, instead pledging commitment to a decades-old Non-Proliferation Treaty.
[[File:Story telling and science education.png]]


“It is of paramount importance to support every effort at dialog on the Korean peninsula, in order to find new ways of overcoming the current disputes, increasing mutual trust and ensuring a peaceful future for the Korean people and the entire world,” Francis said, addressing the nuclear crisis beween North Korea and the United States.




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<big><big>🌎</big></big>






[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Oceans_losing_oxygen-NASA.png '''''Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters''''']
[[File:Goodall on the power of the young.png]]




[[File:Oceans losing oxygen-NASA.png]]
[[File:Green Best Practices 1.png]]


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green <big>'''Greening Our Blue Planet'''</big>]




························································
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf <big>'''Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement'''</big>]


<small><small>* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf</small></small>


[https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Ground-Reverse-Climate-Ultimately/dp/1501170252 <big>'''''Getting Down to Earth'''''</big>]
<small><small>* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary</small></small>


:'''''Regenerative Green Best Practices'''''


:'''''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Regenerative_Agriculture'''''
GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Many years ago our student movement began 'going green' and creating a 'modern environmental movement'. New visions of what could be and should be came into view and when we pitched a US Senator back in 1969, [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:USC_Daily_Trojan_Sen_Nelson_speech_day_after_first_Earth_Day_.jpg '''Senator Nelson'''] thanked us for our "peace movement" and said he was "inspired" by our energy. He especially appreciated the "teach ins" we were organizing and when he came to California listened to our ideas in detail. He visited the historic oil spill off the Santa Barbara coastline, and he became convinced. A special day could and should spread the message -- the peace movement organizing, the teach ins, the student energy would transition into eco-organizing. Peace, democracy in action and environmental protection would move together.


The first Earth Day was soon announced and here in 2024 and again we are about to again do what we do.... At GreenPolicy360 we call this -- "Earth Day is every day".


[http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736%2817%2933251-8.pdf <big>'''''Via the Lancet'''''</big>]


:''''' "The World's First Professor of Planetary Health" / #PlanetaryHealth'''''
<big><big>'''[[Earth Day Is Every Day]]'''</big></big>


::'''''https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/planetaryhealth?src=hashtag'''''


Here comes April 22nd, 2024. Get ready to [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Corita_action.jpg ''' 'Get with the action' '''] ...


::[http://www.planetcitizen.org '''''Be a Planet Citizen'''''] / [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs '''''Measuring "Vital Signs"''''']


:'''Every Day Is Earth Day'''




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:[[File:Every Day Is Earth Day.png]]




<big>'''''2017 Green Stories of the Day / Edited/Re-published February 2018'''''</big>


:🌎




<big><big>'''''New Definitions of National & Global Security'''''</big></big>


* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security '''''New Definitions of National Security''''']
:[[File:Common Ground, the Movie.png]]




* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Weapons
* https://commongroundfilm.org/


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Global_Security
* https://commongroundfilm.org/resources/


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Nonproliferation
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Regenerative_Agriculture


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Proliferation


[[File:Regenerative Ag - Kiss the Ground - The Secret is in the Soil.png]]


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_Security_Organizations ''Environmental Security Organizations'']


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security ''Environmental Security'']
[[File:Kiss the Ground, the Movie about Growing Food and Fixing the Climate.jpg]]


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security,_National_Security ''Environmental Security, National Security'']






<big><big>'''''Rethinking Nuclear Risks'''''</big></big>
<big>'''March'''</big>


'''''@GreenPolicy's associate, [http://www.strategicdemands.com Strategic Demands]'''''


:* [http://strategicdemands.com/doomsday-machine/ '''''The Doomsday Machine by Dan Ellsberg''''']
'''As the upcoming US presidential election heats up, threats to US democratic institutions heat up...'''




<big>'''''When Carl Sagan Warned the World About Nuclear Winter'''''</big>
:::[[File:Democracy Challenged, Democracy Awakening.png]]


:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-carl-sagan-warned-world-about-nuclear-winter-180967198/


:::<small>* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Democracy_Challenged,_Democracy_Awakening.png</small>


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[https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/OnePlanet?src=hash <big><big>'''''#OnePlanet'''''</big></big>]




<big>'''''News from the Int'l One Planet Summit'''''</big>


:'''''December 2017, Paris, France'''''
'''A Living Earth, a Living Cell'''


: Macro to Micro on [[All Species Day]]


:[[File:Make Our Planet Great Again.png]]


[[File:Living Earth.png]]


[https://uk.news.yahoo.com/climate-commitments-one-planet-summit-paris-191618710.html Climate commitments at the 'One Planet Summit' in Paris]


[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/12/12/world-bank-group-pledges-stop-investing-oil-gas-exploration/ World Bank Group pledges to stop investing in oil and gas exploration]
&nbsp;


[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-12/12/c_136820461.htm China/Xinhua -- France hosts climate change summit]
[[File:Eukaryotic Cell SCU.jpg]]


[https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-summit-macron/world-is-losing-the-battle-against-climate-change-macron-says-idUKKBN1E6007 World is losing the battle against climate change]
&nbsp;




[https://youtu.be/Kunp9VgDAcc Euronews "One Planet" Global Summit Meet Up Video]
🌎


[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/world/europe/macron-climate-summit.html Macron Holds a Climate Summit, and Trump Casts a Shadow]
&nbsp;


[http://www.businessinsider.com/paris-agreement-2-year-anniversary-us-mayors-step-up-2017-12 More than 50 US mayors just signed a charter to meet the Paris agreement goals]  
[[File:MethaneSat - 3.PNG]]


[https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2017/1212/Investors-aim-to-clean-up-corporate-emissions-in-line-with-Paris-agreement Investors aim to clean up corporate emissions in line with Paris 2015 international climate agreement]


[https://phys.org/news/2017-12-fossil-fuel-subsidies-humanity-investing.html With fossil fuel subsidies, humanity investing in 'own doom': UN chief]
More (without a paywall) on the opportunities to use MethaneSAT data, internationally, in the years to come. This Earth Imaging data, a consequence of decades of Earth research from satellites development, promises to be an environmental security/climate policy and enforcement game changer


* https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/opinion/climate-change-methane-satellite-emissions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fE0.e578.FGmfZfN2Lln2&smid=url-share


[https://www.salon.com/2017/12/12/france-wants-americas-best-climate-scientists-because-our-government-wont-want-them/ France wants America’s best climate scientists because our government won’t want them]


On March 4, 2024, MethaneSAT detached from the SpaceX Transporter-10 rocket that carried the emissions-monitor into space.


:France launches Make Our Planet Great Again grants
The groundbreaking satellite is designed to help protect the Earth’s climate by accelerating reductions of this powerful greenhouse pollutant, focusing on oil and gas operations, a major source of methane.




[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/12/eu-announces-9bn-in-funding-for-climate-action EU announces €9bn in funding for climate action]
MethaneSAT data will become available, it has been announced, for download in the Google Earth Engine database...


:EU funds will be focused on clean energy, and sustainable cities and agriculture


'''MethaneSAT is the first satellite developed by an environmental non-profit and enables emissions tracking and business accountability. The net result -- faster reductions of methane gas.'''


[https://www.wsls.com/news/politics/john-kerry-us-will-come-back-to-paris-climate-accord John Kerry: US 'will come back' to Paris climate accord]
* https://www.methanesat.org/project-updates/methanesat-is-launching-today-on-groundbreaking-mission-to-protect-the-climate/


* https://www.methanesat.org/press/


[http://www.energylivenews.com/2017/12/12/worlds-space-agencies-to-set-up-climate-observatory/ UK: World’s space agencies to set up climate observatory]
* https://www.methanesat.org/


:The heads of several of the world’s space agencies have agreed to set up a climate observatory to pool data and share it with scientists across the world. The UK Space Agency has joined other organisations to commit to working together on activities such as increasing observations of key climate variables and validating the data.


:They aim to improve long term sustainability and accessibility of climate data captured by satellites.
<big><big>'''Climate Action Plans 360'''</big></big>


:Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, who signed the agreement in Paris said: ''“The UK is working with international organisations to encourage the use of space data and technology to tackling climate change. It’s important we come together and agree to work towards improving the quality and sustainability of climate data from space and ensuring it is made freely available to researchers around the world.”''
In 2020/21 GreenPolicy360 first put forward a strategic initiative for "climate plans enforcement" developed and presented by nearly all nations of the world at climate summits. The Paris conference in 2015 was the first reveal of this plans and since then many promises for action have been made by nations and their political representatives -- but with sporadic follow up and performance.  
 


We saw a pressing need to, as we put it, 'turn national climate plans and pledges into reality'. The plans/pledges/promises made on paper had to translate to action on the ground and, as we said, in the skies above. The [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/INDCs '''INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions)'''] had to bring in facts and data, and as we pointed to, the data was there in the form of satellite missions capable of surveying and reporting emissions, hot spots, 'code red' vital signs.


'''In September 2018, a follow on Global Climate Action Summit will be held in San Francisco.'''
In other words, as we have said for many years, science could be and should be used. [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg ''' 'Measure-to-manage' '''] was a call to action for climate plans enforcement.


:Co-chaired by Jerry Brown, the governor of California said of the next Summit:
The use of [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Imaging-New_Space '''Earth Imaging'''] systems via satellite programs was high on our list, as our GreenPolicy360 founder has been involved in [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space '''Earth Science research from space'''] since its beginnings in the 1970s.


::''If we all work together, humanity can rise to the existential threat of climate change.''
Now, with the launch of MethaneSAT, the vision of data that can be used for enforcement, to reduce methane emissions as a potent source of global warming, is now becoming a reality. Read on...




·······································································
'''Distributing the MethaneSAT data is the next step...'''




<big>'''''News from the Int'l Climate Conference in Germany'''''</big>
'''GRN360: Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative'''


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Plans_Enforcement_-_Resources


* [http://www.dw.com/en/opinion-what-actually-happened-at-the-bonn-climate-conference-and-why-it-matters/a-41424593 Looking Back at the Bonn Climate Conference]


* UN Climate Change@UNFCCC
'''GRN3360: Methods to Enforce Climate Plan Pledges'''


: @JerryBrownGov joins [https://mobile.twitter.com/UNFCCC/status/930060475156529152#tweet_930060475156529152 Facebook UN event] at [https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/COP23?src=hashtag #COP23] in Bonn:
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Methods_to_enforce_climate_pledges-NDCs_-_Dec_2021.png 


"The [https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisAgreement?src=hash #ParisAgreement] was a miracle - we must build on this miracle. We are on the road to hell without full Paris Agreement implementation"


* Andy Revkin@Revkin
: [[File:MethaneSat - 1.jpg]]


* Read [https://mobile.twitter.com/ElizKolbert @ElizKolbert]


* FutureEarth
:International research for global sustainability - https://mobile.twitter.com/FutureEarth


* GreenPolicy360
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg Measure-to-Manage]
:Climate News - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
:Resilience - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:GreenPolicy360_-_Resilience.png




:·······································································
* https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-03-07/michael-r-bloomberg-methane-tracking-satellite-s-powerful-potential


* https://gizmodo.com/methane-satellite-monitors-oil-gas-companies-1851313982


[https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4514 <big>'''''Carbon Dioxide and the "Thin Blue" Atmosphere'''''</big>]
* https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/methane-satellite-spacex-pollution-tracking-18695764.php


:NASA OCO-2, critical measurements, critical mission - https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12478
* https://www.space.com/methane-tracking-satellite-launch-spacex-transporter-10


::''Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere through human activities...''
* https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/methanesat-revolutionizes-climate-action-satellite-launched-to-expose-global-polluters/ar-BB1jp4MK


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2
* https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/methanesat-satellite-methane-emmissions-9197297/


::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syU1rRCp7E8
* https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/4/24090025/methanesat-satellite-launch-spacex-bezos-fund-google-map-methane-edf


::''The OCO-2 mission represents an important advance in the ability to observe atmospheric carbon dioxide. OCO-2 collects high-precision, total column measurements of carbon dioxide (from the sensor to Earth’s surface) during daylight conditions.''
* https://english.elpais.com/climate/2024-03-07/the-big-brother-that-will-monitor-oil-industry-methane-leaks-is-orbiting-earth-already.html


::''Scientists can also use [https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/science_snapshots/new-view-CO2.php model results] to understand and predict where carbon dioxide is being emitted and removed from the atmosphere and how much is from natural processes and human activities.''
* https://optics.org/news/15/3/6


::''Carbon dioxide variations are largely controlled by fossil fuel emissions and seasonal fluxes of carbon between the atmosphere and land biosphere.''


:: ''OCO-2's unprecedented science is "a step toward answering critical questions about carbon dioxide and Earth's climate future." ''
'''''First satellite developed by an environmental non-profit will see methane emissions others can’t, paving the way for heightened accountability and faster reductions'''''  




:[http://www.bu.edu/research/articles/map-monitor-co2-emissions/ <big>'''''Cities Mapping CO2'''''</big>]
:'''MethaneSat Media Kit'''


* https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bgTObsvTOgQC5iaalJqSd6mf0ssjm5Sv


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:CO2_photo.JPG <big>'''''CO2 Molecule'''''</big>]
* https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11dR5BgbA7mReJ0XuO_NwCswqBId8RFf9


* https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hcuHOaduqd7vWLwfKCBu2eP4W_NqB292


[[File:CO2 photo m.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News]]




🌎




[[File:Climate Science Special Report - US - November 2017.jpg]]
[[File:GP360 tagcloud2.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics]]




:''https://science2017.globalchange.gov/''
<big><big>'''Along Comes Data'''</big></big>


:[[Fact Checking, Facts Count]]


:[https://science2017.globalchange.gov/ <big><big> '''''US Climate Science Special Report'''''</big></big>]
You don't need a degree in statistics to know that facts count and data is a key to seeing how to navigate to your goals and destination.


'''Our World in Data''' is one of the best sources available online for gathering data in its various forms, fields, presentations and timelines. '''Our World in Data''' is now launching -- '''Data Insights'''.


:* http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/358655-federal-report-blames-humans-for-global-warming-and-its-effects
* https://ourworldindata.org/launching-data-insights
:* https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/climate/us-climate-report.html
:* http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-pol-climate-change-report-20171103-story.html
:* https://thinkprogress.org/trump-national-climate-assessment-9ae0781f7a9a/
:* https://www.salon.com/2017/11/03/climate-change-is-happening-because-of-human-activity-trump-administration-admits/
:* https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/us-government-climate-report-climate-change-is-real-and-our-fault/
:* https://www.rt.com/usa/408764-climate-report-contradicts-trump/
:* https://thedailybanter.com/2017/11/white-house-approves-climate-change-report/
:* http://grist.org/briefly/the-u-s-government-just-released-a-report-confirming-everything-we-know-about-climate-change/
:* http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-11/04/c_136727069.htm




'''The motto of '''Our World in Data''' is "Research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems." GreenPolicy360 agrees.'''


:<big>'''''International Cooperation, Framework Convention on Climate Change '''''</big>
* https://ourworldindata.org/


::http://unfccc.int/2860.php


::https://cop23.unfccc.int/
We regularly check with '''Our World in Data''' for their data-science.


::https://cop23.unfccc.int/news/cop23-kicks-off-with-strong-calls-to-hold-to-paris-agreement-path
One of GreenPolicy360's oft-stated axioms is 'facts count' and so, after checking out [https://ourworldindata.org/about '''Our World in Data'''] and bookmarking them as a favorite, perhaps it's time to surf through some of GreenPolicy360's popular facts and science pages. One of our key goals is to provide actionable facts, data, and science that powers up green work... 


::https://cop23.unfccc.int/news/un-climate-change-conference-2017-aims-for-further-faster-ambition-together


'''Data, Intelligence, Science '''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg <big>'''Measure-to-Manage'''</big>]


:[[File:Climate Change Conf Nov 6-17.png]]


'''GreenPolicy360 & Science'''


: GreenPolicy360, Facts & Data -- GreenPolicy360, Our Policy on Science


<big>'''''Only One Country Refuses to Support the Int'l Climate Agreement'''''</big>
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Good_science_needs_good_data_.png 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Stats_-_Green_Research_%26_Science 


'''''November 7, 2017'''''


* http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-paris-agreement-us-climate-change-donald-trump-world-country-accord-a8041996.html
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_-_Global_Warming_Keyword-Terms
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Merchants_of_Doubt
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Science_denial_graph.jpg (Graph)
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:FLICC_techniques_of_science_denial.png (Video)
* http://www.nature.com/news/wikipedia-shapes-language-in-science-papers-1.22656




[http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-jerry-brown-climate-change-20171108-story.html '''''California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers a blunt climate change message in Germany''''']
Prepare to debate on the merits of the facts and the science... here are some means and methods, logic and argumentation, to employ when interacting with those involved in Climate Denial and Misinformation ...  


''Brown has been hailed in German media as the “anti-Trump” for his efforts to keep the United States engaged in the 2015 Paris agreement’s commitments to cut greenhouse emissions...''
* https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/facebook_climate_misinformation/
* https://climatefeedback.org
* https://climatecrocks.com/
* https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/y3z737/the-12-arguments-every-climate-denier-uses-and-how-to-debunk-them
* http://www.desmogblog.com/
* http://www.desmogblog.com/about
* http://www.desmogblog.com/global-warming-denier-database
* http://www.desmogblog.com/slamming-the-climate-skeptic-scam
* https://www.beforetheflood.com/explore/the-deniers/top-10-climate-deniers/
* https://www.drillednews.com/post/fake-science-is-a-real-danger
* https://grist.org/series/skeptics/
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:PEN_America-Earth_Institute-Columbia_U..._How_to_defend_yourself_online.jpg
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_of_the_Humans,_a_documentary_film
* http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_Denier_Talking_Points_--_and_Rebuttals
* https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php
* https://skepticalscience.com/climate-models-intermediate.htm
* https://www.snopes.com/collections/climate-change-denial-debunked/
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Science_denial_graph.jpg (Graph)
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:FLICC_techniques_of_science_denial.png (with Video)


''“It’s hard to get your mind around something so extensive,” said Brown, who was appointed by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, the U.N. conference president, to serve as a special advisor for states and regions...''


''“Let’s lead the whole world to realize this is not your normal political challenge,” he added. “This is much bigger. This is life itself. It requires courage and imagination.”''


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:[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41778089 <big>'''''Record Surge in CO2'''''</big>]


:::https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3020046/wmo-greenhouse-gas-concentrations-reach-highest-level-in-800-000-years
[[File:Bioneers 35.png]]




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/EarthPOV <big>'''''Planet Citizens with an Earth Point of View'''''</big>]
'''Ready for a trip to our friends 35th Annual Conference?'''  


::[http://www.earthpov.com www.earthpov.com]
Join in. Make a Positive Difference... 'Your Life is Your Message'




:<big>'''''Dawning Thin Blue Perspective'''''</big>
<big><big>'''[[Bioneers]]'''</big></big>


::''New Definitions of National And Global Security''
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Bioneers


::''Fragile edge of our planet''
::''Thin blue line''
::''Mysterious rhythm''
::''Our next breath''
::''Heart struck with wonder''
::''Mind dizzy with awe''


:::''-- Astronaut Douglas Wheelock‏ @Astro_Wheels''


:::[http://www.thinbluelayer.com www.thinbluelayer.com]
🌎




:[https://climathon.climate-kic.org/ <big>''''' "Climathon" '''''</big>]
::To highlight the global collaboration happening across the world -- http://www.climate-kic.org/
:::https://eit.europa.eu/newsroom/climate-kic-malm%C3%B6-encourages-children-in-climathon
::::http://www.climate-kic.org/


March 3


:[https://warontherocks.com/2017/10/trumps-threat-to-nuclear-order/ <big>'''''War on the Rocks'''''</big>]
<big>'''On World Wildlife Day'''</big>
::Look deeply at the threat -- https://warontherocks.com/2017/10/trumps-threat-to-nuclear-order/


:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Proliferation


[[File:EO and Fire Ants in the US - on World Wildlife Day.png]]


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Ikigai.png <big>'''''Ikigai'''''</big>]


::https://www.treehugger.com/culture/ikigai-japanese-art-finding-ones-purpose-life.html


::: [[File:Fire Ants.png]]


:[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/23/tim-flachs-endangered-species-in-pictures <big>'''''Endangered Species'''''</big>]


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Destroying_the_Environment_Is_a_Sin Destroying the Environment, a "Sin"]


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Tree_of_Life -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Endangered_species
::::::································································································




:[https://inhabitat.com/greenbuild-the-worlds-biggest-green-building-expo-is-coming-to-boston/ <big>'''''Greenbuild'''''</big>]


::https://www.greenbuildexpo.com/en/home.html
::::: [[File:Flaco the Eagle Owl.png]]


<small>
:::''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Smart_home-energy-3d.png''


:::''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Building_Standards''


:::''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:SmartHomeOntology.jpg''  
'''February 26, 2024'''


:::''http://www.mcdonough.com/ / [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Cradle_to_Cradle_Products_Innovation_Instit.jpg "Cradle-to-Grave"]''
</small>


<big>'''Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, Has Died'''</big>


:[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205111.Nowhere_Is_a_Place <big>'''''Nowhere Is a Place'''''</big>]
* https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/22056/Flaco-the-Eurasian-Eagle-Owl-Has-Died.aspx


::Today's 'Sunday Services' visits Patagonia, with a special thanks to Danny Moses, long-time, now retired, Editor-in-Chief of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Club_Books Sierra Club Books]


:::https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/t-magazine/bruce-chatwin.html
The Owl who escaped from the NY Central Park Zoo, went wild and lived with Owl freedom in the middle of New York City has come to an end.


The saga of Flaco touches on many "Living Earth" threads that weave throughout the environmental protection movement and a long-time eco-journalist, Andy Revkin, touched many of these in his new thought piece exploring 'the many meanings of the death of Flaco'. We agree with Andy@Revkin. The passing of a 'wise' symbol, who chose freedom instead of regular comfort, food, and security, who had to forage and use their wits to survive amid a very loud, dangerous, and unforgiving world (albeit one with plenty of scurrying rats running about in the streets and alleys), did resonate with many species human.


:::''I climbed a path and from the top looked up-stream towards Chile. I could see the river, glinting and sliding through the bone-white cliffs with strips of emerald cultivation either side. Away from the cliffs was the desert. There was no sound but the wind, whirring through thorns and whistling through dead grass, and no other sign of life but a hawk, and a black beetle easing over white stones.'' ― Bruce Chatwin, In Patagonia
Here's Andy talking with cohorts who know about birds, and bird life, and threats that we humans can act to minimize as we look to protect life of Earth...


:::''There were no voices here. There was this, what I saw; and though beyond it were mountains and glaciers and albatrosses and Indians; there was nothing to speak of, nothing to delay me further. Only the Patagonian paradox: tiny blossoms in vast space; to be here, it helped to be a miniaturist, or else interested in enormous empty spaces. There was no intermediate zone to study. Either the enormity of the desert or the sight of a tiny flower. In Patagonia you had to choose between the tiny and the vast.'' ― Paul Theroux


:::''There is a saying in Patagonia -- que asegura a la persona que come el fruto del calafate, su regreso a estas tierras -- those who taste the fruit of the calafate will return to this land. I have tasted the calafate berry.'' ― Jeff Gnass
[https://revkin.substack.com/p/new-yorks-eagle-owl-flaco-embraced?publication_id=1136572&post_id=142070207&isFreemail=true&r=dcpew&open=false '''Via Sustain What'''] -- 


Andy's guests @ 1 PM EST Feb. 26:


:::[[File:Nowhere - Patagonia - Chatwin-Theroux and Gnass photos.JPG]]
• Carl Safina, ecologist, conservationist and author, whose New York Times op-ed article was just posted. Here it is paywall-free - [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/opinion/flaco-owl-death-birds.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YU0.YIpc.FXsDG58eZpzE&smid=url-share '''“Like Many a Hero, Flaco the Owl Made His Choice.”''']  


(from the article) - ''Almost from the moment he was released, Flaco became a symbol of hope for many of the people who followed his story and recognized parts of themselves in him. Some saw him as the embodiment of the American dream, an outsider who had come to Manhattan and made a life for himself here, like millions of others who arrived penniless and unconnected in their quest for freedom. Others saw him as a poignant reminder that you can find happiness even if you’re alone (as the only free-living Eurasian eagle-owl in the Western Hemisphere, he had no chance of ever finding a wild mate).'' ...


&nbsp;
''Though the animal literature is peppered with stories of animals — usually pets — who suffer hardships and return home, Flaco never retreated to the zoo. Perhaps freedom itself was the home he’d discovered.''


:[https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/oh-no/543390/ <big>'''''Bugs Be Gone / October 21'''''</big>]


::https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations
Andy also interviewed Adam Smith and Brendon Samuels -
:::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Microbiomes_at_Risk
::::http://www.tinybluegreen.com


• Adam Smith, an architect and director of design at Synecdoche, a Michigan firm centering bird-safe features in its projects.


:[http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-20/world-pollution-deadlier-than-wars-disasters-hunger/9069776 <big>'''''Pollute Me, Not / October 20'''''</big>]
• Brendon Samuels, a Ph.D. candidate at Western University in London, Ontario, studying building design and bird behavior. Samuels, working with the Fatal Light Awareness Program, a k a FLAP Canada, has created and assembled an array of invaluable resources highlighting the bird-building collision crisis and ways to mitigate enormous losses, which, he stresses, are NOT restricted to cities.  
<small>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Pollution
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution 


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Water_Pollution 


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Externalities


'''Environmental Security reasons why environmental protection regulations exist around the world''' --
GreenPolicy360 suggests all of us protect birds and wildlife.


https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection
The times we are in, times of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species endangered species] and [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Extinction species extinction] suggest an [[All Species Day]], today.


https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Protection


https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws
</small>


🌎


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security <big>''''' National & Global Security / October 19'''''</big>]
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png ''New Visions of Security'']




:<big>'''''Deconstructing the Environmental Protection Agency / October 18'''''</big>
[[File:Navalny.png]]


::https://futurism.com/the-epa-just-removed-climate-change-from-their-climate-change-website/


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:UCS-EPA-Oct16,2017.png
'''February 19, 2024'''




:<big>'''''A Frontline Public Broadcasting Investigation'''''</big>
<big><big>'''Inside Aleksei Navalny’s Final Months'''</big></big>
::*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/war-on-the-epa/ '''''(Videos) Scott Pruitt's 'War on the EPA' ''''']


Excerpts from the [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/world/europe/navalny-letters-russia.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Wk0.FCsR.oX8eUDAG9UxE&smid=em-share '''Unlocked' NY Times Article''']


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Green_Quotes <big>''''' Green Quotes / October 17'''''</big>]
Quoted from letters sent from a small cell in the Arctic...


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earthviews_from_Astronauts Earthviews from Astronauts]
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect


Confined to cold, concrete cells and often alone with his books, Aleksei A. Navalny sought solace in letters. To one acquaintance, he wrote in July that no one could understand Russian prison life “without having been here,” adding in his deadpan humor: “But there’s no need to be here.” ...


:[http://strategicdemands.com/prevent-nuclear-first-use/ <big>''''' Prevent Nuclear First Use / October 16'''''</big>]
Many details about his last months — as well as the circumstances of his death, which the Russian authorities announced on Friday — remain unknown; even the whereabouts of his body are unclear. ...
::From our associate #StratDem -- http://strategicdemands.com/
:::http://strategicdemands.com/prevent-nuclear-first-use/


Even as brutal prison conditions took their toll on his body — he was often denied medical and dental treatment — there was no hint that Mr. Navalny had lost his clarity of mind, his writings show. ...


:·······································································
"I really miss the daily grind — news about life, food, salaries, gossip.”


Kerry Kennedy, a human-rights activist and the daughter of the Democratic politician Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, also exchanged letters with Mr. Navalny. He told her that he had cried “two or three times” while reading a book about her father recommended by a friend, according to a copy of a letter, handwritten in English, that Ms. Kennedy posted on Instagram after Mr. Navalny died.


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/@Earth360 <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' - @Earth360 / October 15 '''''</big>]
Mr. Navalny thanked Ms. Kennedy for sending him a poster with a quote from her father’s speech about how a “ripple of hope,” multiplied a million times, “can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is ''How thin our atmosphere'']


“I hope one day I’ll be able to hang it on the wall of my office,” Mr. Navalny wrote. ...


[[File:Astro Tracy.png]]


Mr. Krasilshchik... said he was left to ruminate on the last letter he received, in September. Mr. Navalny concluded it by positing that if South Korea and Taiwan were able to make the transition from dictatorship to democracy, then perhaps Russia could, too.


“Hope. I’ve got no problem with it,” Mr. Navalny wrote.


He signed off: “Keep writing! A.”


:[https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-radiation-won-t-stop-nasa-s-human-exploration <big>'''''Mars Journey & Radiation / October 14'''''</big>]


::[https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/north-america/astronaut-scott-kelly-on-the-devastating-effects-of-a-year-in-space-20170922-gyn9iw.html Pre-publication excerpt from Scott Kelly's "Endurance" / Via the Brisbane Times'']
🌎


::::Planet Earth's [http://www.thinbluelayer.com "thin blue layer", strategic necessity]


<big><big><big>'''GreenPolicy360: A Global Hub of Green Values and Green Action'''</big></big></big>


:<big>'''''Living Earth / October 13'''''</big>
: Being Green is a Quest and a Challenge




:[[File:Algae release -nikon-small-world-competition-2017-winners.jpg]]
[[File:Wiki Loves Earth - Landscape winner 2023.png]]


International wiki photo contest


:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Algae_release_-nikon-small-world-competition-2017-winners.jpg
* https://wikilovesearth.org/


::http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/subjects/main/algae
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2023/Report


&nbsp;


:[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/war-on-the-epa/ <font color=green><big>''''' "War on the EPA" / October 12'''''</big></font>]


::[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/war-on-the-epa/ '''''Frontline / Public Broadcasting / WGBH''''']
·····································


:::[http://strategicdemands.com/environmental-security/ ''Revisiting environmental national & global security'']




:<big>'''''Planet Earth Flag Proposal / October 11'''''</big>
[[Planet Labs Doves Fly]]


:: http://www.flagofplanetearth.com/ -- http://www.flagofplanetearth.com/press/


[[File:Dove minisat m.jpg]]


:<big>'''''Google Earth Goes Social / October 10'''''</big>
::https://thenextweb.com/google/2017/07/13/google-earth-will-soon-let-anyone-share-stories-and-photos-on-virtual-globe/
:::http://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-brazil/google-earth-to-let-users-post-stories-photos-in-coming-years-idUSKBN19X01P


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth
SJS/GreenPolicy360 Siterunner:  


Planet Labs first came onto our radar screen here in 2011. We have been following the evolution of the Planet Labs' story (now re-branded ''Planet'' @ Planet.com) from its mission statement to today.


:<big>'''''Green Business Investing / October 9'''''</big>
::Investing with Green Values -- Green Money Journal


::http://greenmoney.com/ -- http://greenmoneyjournal.com/
<big>'''''Using Space to Help Life on Earth'''''</big>


''Planet is driven by a mission to image all of Earth's landmass every day, and make global change visible, accessible and actionable.''


:·······································································


'''Planet, the Company'''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Moriarty_2.jpg <big>'''''Sun-day / October 8'''''</big>]
* https://www.planet.com/company/




[[File:Moriarty 2.jpg]]


We, at GreenPolicy360, have a special interest in the work of Planet, as we were 'in at the beginning' as it were. We were there, in person, close up, when the original NASA mission statement, including these words -- “To understand and protect our home planet..." -- were being spoken of by a US representative serving on the Space and Technology committee responsible for policy and oversight. [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr '''Congressman George Brown'''] from California showed your GreenPolicy360 Founder/Siterunner words that were motivating him to propose [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Landsat_data_users_handbook '''Landsat missions'''] that came to be called 'Big Science', Earth Imaging/Earth Science and Atmospheric-Climate Science. For 30+ years Representative George E. Brown led the charge, as it were, to gather the data needed to make informed and wise decisions about our home Planet.


::https://www.inquisitr.com/4543144/carbon-emissions-from-soil-could-lead-to-unstoppable-global-warming/
A decade after George's passing away in 1999, youthful engineers from NASA 'spun off' from the 'home ship' to launch Planet Labs and their mission resonated with a mission we share. Our environmental work goes back to this mission and, as we have attempted to bring it into the light, it is again time to highlight Planet.


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Soil
Take a look at their most recent add-ons to what we call a '''[[Planet API]]'''. It's AI time, artificial intelligence applied to analyzing the Earth imaging data that has been gathered over a decade by Planet and is being queried and utilized in ways that Rep. Brown used to explain was his dream, as he, also an engineer, explained how the public-private partnerships, with universities and educators, using fleets of satellite with new digital imaging and data banks, would enable a new vision for citizens across the Earth.


And now, here we are! Planet.com and GreenPolicy360.com, we're on mission ....


:[http://davidswanson.org/is-the-nobel-committee-finally-abiding-by-nobels-will/ <big>''''' "Ban the Bomb" / October 6'''''</big>]
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement
<small>
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary
::[http://davidswanson.org/is-the-nobel-committee-finally-abiding-by-nobels-will/ Nobel Committee Abiding by Nobel’s Will?]


:::Nobel Peace Prize goes to the "International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons" -- ICAN -- http://www.bbc.com/news/world-41528743
::::http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_06Oct2017a.html


::::Landmark Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons Bans Research, Possession, Use, Nuclear Deterrence
<big>'''Understanding AI’s Impact on Space Data with Planet’s Head of Product'''</big>


:::::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-weapons-treaty-adopted-historic-moment/
* https://payloadspace.com/understanding-ais-impact-on-space-data-with-planets-head-of-product/
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Nonproliferation
</small>




:<big>'''''How Much Carbon Are We Emitting into Our Atmosphere? / October 5'''''</big>
<big>'''[[Planet API]]'''</big>


::https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/the-crazy-scale-of-human-carbon-emission/  
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API


::: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:%27Thin_Blue_Layer%27_of_Earth%27s_Atmosphere_l.jpg "How thin is our atmosphere?"]
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Labs_Doves_Fly
:::: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2 Observing Carbon Levels from the OCO-2 Satellite]






[[File:'Thin Blue Layer' of Earth's Atmosphere 2.jpg]]
: <big>'''[[Planet Citizens]]'''</big>




: [[File:Earth-fave-icon3.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/PlanetCitizen]]


<big>'''''Planet Earth, Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists / October 4'''''</big>


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Warning_from_the_Union_of_Concerned_Scientists,_1992 ''Union of Concerned Scientists Speaks Out'']
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Strategic_Demands '''Strategic Demands''']


''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics''


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists ''Planet Citizen-Scientists'']


&nbsp;
🦠 <big><big>'''[[Earth Science Vital Signs]]'''</big></big>


:[https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/09/california-wants-to-store-carbon-in-the-soil/ <big>'''''Carbon Storage, Soil-Based / October 3'''''</big>]
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs
<small>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Carbon_Sequestration -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Carbon_Sequestration
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Soil_Loss -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Soil-vs-dirt-infographic.jpg
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/California_out_in_front_in_a_Green_future -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Regenerative_Agriculture




:[https://sciencr.com/china-just-switched-on-the-worlds-largest-floating-solar-farm/ <big>''''' Solar On Water, China on Top / October 2'''''</big>]
We, now at GreenPolicy360, are continuing on, presenting Earth science news, green politics and environmental movement recollections and highlights from the eco-journey:
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Renewable_Energy
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Solar_Energy




:·······································································
<big><big>New Ways to See & Experience Planet Earth</big></big>
&nbsp;


Visit GreenPolicy360's story of Earth Science research from our decades of research, eco-activism and #PlanetCitizens education.


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Looking_out.jpg <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' - Looking Out / October 1'''''</big>]
Our eco operating system (eOS) includes:
::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations
:::http://www.earthpov.com -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/HelloEarth
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Above.png -- https://www.pinterest.com/stratdem/environmental-security/
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Earth's_atmosphere_3840x2160.jpg -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:ThinBlue.png


[[EarthPOV]]


:[http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/popular-view-of-earth-could-do-with-some-revising-by-donald-trump-460012.html <big>'''''NASA Earth Science in Danger / September 30'''''</big>]
ThinBlueLayer.com - [[Look at how thin our atmosphere is]]
::http://www.earthpov.com -- http://www.planetcitizen.org
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now
:::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


[[Earth and Space, Politics]]


:[https://www.carbonbrief.org/tropical-forests-no-longer-carbon-sinks-because-human-activity <big>'''''Forests: Sinks or Sources / September 29'''''</big>]
[[New Definitions of National Security]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Forests
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Rainforest


[[Earth Science Research from Space]]


:[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iceberg-broke-off-antarctica-pine-island-glacier-four-times-size-of-manhattan/ <big>'''''Four Times the Size of Manhattan / September 28'''''</big>]
[[Micro-satellites]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Antarctica


[[Virtual Earth]]


:[https://www.bioversityinternational.org/mainstreaming-agrobiodiversity/ <big>'''''Global Threats to Food Supply / September 27'''''</big>]
[[HelloEarth]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Food_Pages:_On_Earth_Food_Politics
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Alternative_Agriculture
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Seed_Saving
</small>


[[Democratization of Space]]


[[Earth Right Now]]


:[http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2017/09/11/time-to-prepare-for-the-worst-in-north-korea/ <big>'''''A Chinese Professor says 'Prepare' / September 26'''''</big>]
[[Earth Science Vital Signs]]


::Time to [http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2017/09/11/time-to-prepare-for-the-worst-in-north-korea/ Prepare for the Worst in Korea]
[[The Commons]]


::* Updates on Nuclear Threat on the Korean Peninsula @ [http://www.strategicdemands.com www.strategicdemands.com]
[[Earth Imaging-New Space]]




:<big>'''''Threat Horizon'''''</big>


::http://strategicdemands.com/us-president-talks-un/
·····································
:::http://strategicdemands.com/a-nuclear-meme/
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Proliferation
:::::http://strategicdemands.com/oversight-us-nuclear-arsenal/
::::::http://strategicdemands.com/no-one-should-have-singular-nuclear-launch-authority/
:::::::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-hair-trigger/






:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQM41vBKvs&feature=youtu.be <big>''''' Before the Deluge / September 25'''''</big>]
<big><big>'''Flashback -- 1978, Climate Action Memories'''</big></big>


::From yesterday's stormy seas to today's performance by [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQM41vBKvs&feature=youtu.be Jackson Browne and his band]
: GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Our friend George steps up in Congress


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr


:::''Some of them were angry''
:::''At the way the earth was abused''
:::''By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power''
:::''And they struggled to protect her from them''
:::''Only to be confused''
:::''By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour''
:::''And when the sand was gone and the time arrived''
:::''In the naked dawn only a few survived''
:::''And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge''
:::''Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge''


·······················································


:·······································································


<big><big>'''First National Climate Act'''</big></big>


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Waves%2C_rough%2C_stormy_weather.jpg <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' - Stormy Weather/ September 24'''''</big>]
GreenPolicy360 Siterunner / SJ Schmidt: The beginnings of modern environmental and climate science can be traced to the 1960s and 1970s. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences played a key role in laying a foundation of scientific reports and data.'''
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Waves%2C_rough%2C_stormy_weather.jpg Rough waves, rough times]


[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Energy_and_Climate_Report%2C_1977%2C_National_Academy_of_Sciences.pdf '''Energy and Climate Report, 1977, National Academy of Sciences / 175 pp. / PDF via GreenPolicy360''']


:[https://futurism.com/china-just-exceeded-its-2020-target-for-solar-installations/ <big>'''''China's Solar Future / September 23'''''</big>]
Rep. George Brown took the findings of the 1977 Energy and Climate Report from the Academy of Sciences and made the science actionable. In a historic moment, he proposed and drafted the legislation of the first U.S. National Climate Program and shepherded its passage in 1978.
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Solar_Energy


This first federal program established to study and assess scientifically the issues and risks of human-caused climate change became a foundation for comprehensive initiatives, with an array of new Earth Science missions led by NASA and NOAA, the EPA and USGS.


:[http://strategicdemands.com/us-president-talks-un/ <big>'''''Warning from StratDem / September 22'''''</big>]
::http://strategicdemands.com/a-nuclear-meme/


:[[File:US Public Law 95-367.png]]


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GTN_GreenLinks_Trending_News <big>'''''Green360 Trending News / September 21'''''</big>]
&nbsp;           


::https://twitter.com/UNFCCC/status/910376712030052357
🌎
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GTN_GreenLinks_Trending_News
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


 
<big><big>'''1992 -- Earth Summit''' </big></big>


:[http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_20Sep2017.html <big>'''''After the US Speech / September 20'''''</big>]
: We reported 'deep on the first Earth Summit'...
: and worked to draft a [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Jerry_Brown_92_Presidential_Platform_We_the_People.jpg 1992 US presidential campaign platform] 'heavy on the green'


:''After the US president threatens at the UN to "totally destroy" North Korea, the UN continues with its vote to totally ban nuclear weapons...''


:http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_20Sep2017.html
::: <big>'''Launch of Annual International Climate Conferences'''</big>




:[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/french-envoy-at-un-discord-at-highest-level-since-cold-war/2017/09/18/86575804-9cdb-11e7-b2a7-bc70b6f98089_story.html <big>'''''Discord Before the US President's UN Speech / September 19'''''</big>]
::::: [[File:Earth Summit 1992-s.png|link=http://www.planetcitizens.org]]


::::: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Summit_1992.jpg '''Earth Summit (1992)''']


::''The US president's speech at the UN -- Transcript''


:::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/09/19/trumps-menacing-united-nations-speech-annotated/


:::http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-trump-united-nations-address-transcript-20170919-htmlstory.html
🌎                 




::''GreenPolicy360 / Strategic Demands:''


:::''A New Security Vision for the 21st Century''  
<big>'''GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Memories of Riding Free in Canyons and on Mesas of the Ghost Ranch'''</big>


:::''http://www.strategicdemands.com/new-definitions-of-security/''
: (And memories of my spirited & wild Appaloosa and [https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=pedernal+new+mexico&atb=v408-1&iax=images&ia=images '''Ghost Ranch exploring'''] after summer monsoons)




::[[File:Trump speaks at the UN-Sept19,2017.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/President_Trump_speech_at_the_UN_Sept19%2C2017.pdf]]
Thank you David Lancaster for Your Magnificent Photo of the ...  


: Milky Way above the [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Pedernal_over_Ghost_Ranch,_Georgia_O%27Keefe_country,_Northern_NM.png '''Pedernal and Ghost Ranch'''], in [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Pedernal_over_Ghost_Ranch,_Georgia_O%27Keefe_country,_Northern_NM.png '''Georgia O'Keefe Northern New Mexico''']




:[http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/ <big>'''''Remember the Nuclear War 'Close Calls' / September 18'''''</big>]
[[File:Pedernal and Milky Way - Photo by David Lancaster.jpg]]


::Stanislav Petrov: Russia remembers - https://www.rt.com/news/403625-nuclear-soviet-officer-died/
[https://www.davidlancasterphotography.com/p938113458/eaa399757 <small>Photo by David Lancaster</small>]


:::[http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/man-who-saved-the-world-from-nuclear-armageddon-in-1983-1818501062 US remembers]


::::[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stanislav-petrov-dead-soviet-officer-nuclear-war-1983-saved-world-dies-died-77-robert-de-niro-a7952361.html UK remembers] 


:::::and then there's Vasily Arkhipov  http://strategicdemands.com/remembering-a-day-in-1962/
🌎




::::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Nuclear_Weapons Nuclear Weapons]


:::::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/
<big><big>''' "Democracy is on the ballot" '''</big></big>


:::::http://strategicdemands.com/?s=HairTrigger
:<big>'''US President Joe Biden's Speech in Pennsylvania Signals a Main Theme in the 2024 Presidential Campaign'''</big>




:·······································································
January 2024


"“We must be clear,” Mr. Biden said. “Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.” ...


:[https://www.amazon.com/Against-Tide-Cornelia-Dean/dp/0231084196/ <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' / Against the Tide'''''</big>]
"Today, we are here to answer the most important of questions: Is democracy still America's sacred cause? ... it's what the 2024 election is all about...''
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise


*  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-marks-3-years-since-jan-6-2021-capitol-riot-valley-forge/


:[https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/the-feasibility-of-100-renewable-energy-f624d93e1424 <big>'''''100% Renewable? Doable? Yes. Going Green / September 16'''''</big>]
&nbsp;


::GreenPolicy360 launches Net Zero Energy Policy (take that Irma) [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Net_Zero_Energy_Policy '''www.netzeropolicy.com''']
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green


[[File:President Biden - January 5, 2024.png]]


:::With synchronicity @work, a "1000 Cities Initiative" is announced -- https://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/patti-smith-rising-above-and-fighting-climate-change-art.html
: <small>(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)</small>
::::''"Patti Smith's daughter explains, "that if 1000 cities come together and commit to becoming 100% renewable and transition off fossil fuels by 2040, we can [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_Summit_Paris turn the Paris Agreement into action."]''




:::::''Patti Smith remembers an inspiration: “When I worked with Ralph Nader, one of the things that he taught us was that nothing productive comes from negativity or pessimism. So it’s important not to be drawn into a state of pessimism or paralysis, one has to take a breath and rise above it. I’m not saying that as rhetoric, I’m saying it as an action, as what I have to do myself. I feel the same way that you feel, that everyone else feels, but I refuse to be trampled by it, I refuse to be demoralized; I just keep on doing my work, our work.”''
[[File:President Biden speaks of protecting democracy - Jan 5 2024.png]]




[[File:President Biden speaks of protecting democracy - News on Jan 5 2024.png]]


:[http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/decoding-the-resistance-to-climate-change-are-we-doomed-1.4288483 <big>'''''Nothing to Worry About (Until It Comes for You) / September 15'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Merchants_of_Doubt




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:About_Us <big>'''''We're Back in Clearwater  / September 14'''''</big>]


::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/09/14/trump-weighs-in-on-climate-change-hey-there-have-been-big-hurricanes-before/
<big><big>'''2023'''</big></big>
:::http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2017/09/12/fighting-back-against-scott-pruitts-relentless-distortions-of-climate-science-and-law/
::::http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-florida-governor-climate-change-20170908-story.html




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Irma_L11_2017_5day_cone.png <big>'''''From Clearwater, Evacuating / September 8'''''</big>]
<big>'''GreenPolicy360's 'Favorite Pic' from 2023'''</big>
::Time to evacuate. Will be back online next week. Stay safe all!




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:View_from_above-another_severe_weather_event.jpg <big>''''' Extreme Weather from Above / September 7'''''</big>]
[[File:Golden spiral - Fibonacci spiral via Massimo 2023.png]]




::[[File:View from above-another severe weather event.jpg]]


<big>'''December'''</big>


<big>'''Strategic Demands / #StratDem'''</big>


<small>
<big>''Our Living Planet: Recalling the Message of a Presidential Farewell -- and the Anniversary of the US Endangered Species Protection Act'''</big>
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Strategic_Demands


http://strategicdemands.com/environmental-security/
</small>
&nbsp;


December 28, on the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act being signed into law:


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Irma_on_Monday.png <big>'''''Quote: "Extreme Weather Events" / September 6'''''</big>]
President Joe Biden, today on the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, urged Americans to protect ecosystems and biodiversity and to ''“honor all the progress we have made toward protecting endangered species,” and to “come together to conserve our planet.” ''


Presidents make a difference, as we can see.


[[File:Irma on Monday.png]]
And today, thinking of life, we are remembering Jimmy Carter in his presidential farewell speech:


President Carter left office by urging Americans to ''“protect the quality of this world within which we live…. There are real and growing dangers to our simple and our most precious possessions: the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land which sustains us... The rapid depletion of irreplaceable minerals, the erosion of topsoil, the destruction of beauty, the blight of pollution, the demands of increasing billions of people, all combine to create problems which are easy to observe and predict, but difficult to resolve.''


&nbsp;


We, at GreenPolicy360, urge our Planet Earth community, as 2024 approaches, to move away from generation-to-generation war and to act to protect life and our common future.


:<big>''''' A Losing Choice for NASA / September 5'''''</big>
<small>
::https://thinkprogress.org/trump-names-climate-science-denier-to-run-nasa-c9a46a6f4a52/


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:NASA -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizens
Via the UCSB Special Collection Library


::::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/09/05/trump-nominates-oklahoma-politician-and-climate-skeptic-to-run-nasa/
* https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/farewell-address-the-nation-0


:::::https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-set-to-unveil-high-level-council-for-coordinating-space-policy-1498848039
</small>


:[http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/technology/beyond-lithium-vanadium-flow-batteries-and-the-energy-storage-revolution-163183/ <big>''''' NextGen Batteries / September 4'''''</big>]
······················································
<small>
::Vanadium Flow Batteries - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_battery / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NanoFlowcell


:::Fuel Cell Batteries & News - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell / https://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells / https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/fuel_cells/


::::National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) - https://www.nrel.gov/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Renewable_Energy_Laboratory
: [[File:Christmas in Bethlehem.png]]


:::::Renewable Energy World - http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/index.html / http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/energy-storage/top-news.html


::::::The Green Goal: A Clean Energy Economy - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Renewable_Energy
······················································
</small>


:·······································································


[[File:Aerial-storm-by-Santiago-Borja.jpg]]


:[http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865688001/Pope-and-Orthodox-Christian-leader-issue-unprecedented-appeal-for-the-environment.html <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' / Religious Leaders Speak Out'''''</big>]
<small>Photo by Santiago-Borja</small>


::World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
:::http://catholicclimatemovement.global/world-day-of-prayer/


:::http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/prayers-to-care-for-creation.cfm


<big><big>'''With 2024 in View'''</big></big>


:''“The annual World Day of prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvelous works that He has entrusted to our care...”




[[File:At Poynter, St Petersburg, Florida.png]]


:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ag3b1WCYc <big>'''''Not Just Another Climate Speech / September 2'''''</big>]
::By Dr. Joseph Romm, creator of climateprogress.org -- http://www.climateprogress.org


:::Joe Romm -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_J._Romm -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_and_High_Water_(book)
'''The Poynter Institute'''


* https://www.poynter.org/about/


:[https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/florida-power-company-exchanging-nuclear-plans-for-solar-plans-cutting-rates/ <big>'''''Going Solar, Going Green / September 1'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green


[[File:PolitiFact to expand in 2024 at Poynter Times.png]]


:<big>''''' Extreme Weather / August 31'''''</big>


::[https://theconversation.com/after-harvey-many-texans-will-think-differently-about-hurricane-risks-83262 Hurricane Risks]
:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Hurricane_Harvey_a_sign%2C_or_not_a_sign_of_things_to_come.pdf Extreme Hurricane Harvey]


The [https://www.tampabay.com/about/ '''Tampa Bay Times'''] | [https://www.poynter.org/about/ '''Poynter'''] home of fact-checking pioneer, '''PolitiFact''' announced today (Dec. 23) that it is expanding PolitiFact's coverage beginning in January 2024. Good news, especially here 'on the home front', as GreenPolicy360's global network originates in Tampa Bay. 


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Houston,_In_Danger.png <big>'''''Boomtown Houston, Flooding Times / August 30'''''</big>]
GreenPolicy360 has been following PolitiFact from its initial beginnings [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PolitiFact '''(launched in 2007)''']. PolitiFact has changed the national and international news business as their original idea and model of a fact-checking news operation has grown into industry-wide fact checking around the world. It is evident that the need for focus on facts and evidence in these times of dis- and mis-information is an essential contribution by a free press and online fact checking sources to enable accurate judgment, decision-making and a successful democracy.  
::H/t to ProPublica's investigative series on [https://www.propublica.org/series/hell-and-high-water Houston in danger]. Note the series beginning publication date, December 2016...  




:::'''''Now Comes 'Hell and High Water' Harvey...'''''
The online world is especially convoluted these days... the demands for fact-checking of memes and gaslighting, dis- and mis-info is 24/7/365


:::: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/08/29/harvey-marks-the-most-extreme-rain-event-in-u-s-history/ ''Harvey marks the most extreme rain event in U.S. history'']
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Disinformation_-_Online_-_Dangerous


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Fact_Checking


:::[[File:Houston, In Danger.png|link=https://www.propublica.org/series/hell-and-high-water]]
* https://reporterslab.org/fact-checkers-extend-their-global-reach-with-391-outlets-but-growth-has-slowed/




We at GreenPolicy360 are pleased to have shared the Poynter PolitiFact story and expansion of its 'best practices' networking model. At the end of last year, 2022, there were 424 fact-checking websites, up from just 11 in 2008, according to an annual census by the Duke University Reporters’ Lab. Poynter's PolitiFact and over 100 news publishing participants in a global fact checking network are confronting/battling an online proliferation of dis/misinformation, lies and political manipulation. Today and going forward, fact-checking operations are playing an increasingly essential role, delivering information, facts, opening eyes and bringing profoundly important ''veritas'' to people in every nation, community, market and political system.


:[https://twitter.com/AstroKomrade/status/902319524497813508 <big><big>'''''Over Texas / August 29'''''</big></big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Harvey_Houston.png


[[File:EO Snapshot 6-29-2016 10-44-49 AM.png]]


https://assets.rbl.ms/10607706/980x.jpg




··································································································· 


:[https://www.poynter.org/2017/neil-brown-will-be-poynters-next-president-update1/471679/ <big>'''''Facts Count - PolitiFact / August 28'''''</big>]


::Global Fact-Checking Projects in Countries -- PolitiFact is a networking model...
::"There are 96 fact-checking projects in 37 countries", beginning with the original PolitiFact project from Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida


:::http://www.poynter.org/2016/there-are-96-fact-checking-projects-in-37-countries-new-census-finds/396256/  
<big>'''News from the International Climate Summit in Dubai...'''</big>


:::http://reporterslab.org/fact-checking/
:::http://reporterslab.org/category/fact-checking/#article-1384
:::http://reporterslab.org/global-fact-checking-up-50-percent/


::[[File:COP28 News - Dec 13 2023.png]]




:[[File:Schism.png]]
'''December 13, 2023'''




<big><big>'''A Dubai Surprise'''</big></big>


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Senator_Jim_Inhofe_and_Global_Warming_Hoax.pdf <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' / Eco-Schism in the Christian Faith '''''</big>]
With Multiple [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caveat '''Caveats''']
::Now there are some who believe in a 'global warming hoax', evangelism, prophecy, end times -- and there are those more 'on earth', who believe in 'our common home' and in a moral imperative to 'care for our common home'. Take a look at a profound schism growing within the Christian church, a 'split' in beliefs that will act to shape our future life, our future common life on earth, however we look at faith and religion. The actual number of Christians in the world is estimated in the range of 2 - 3 billion, with over 1.2 billion Catholics ... 


::Here is US Senator Jim Inhofe, perhaps the most powerful man on environmental policy in the US Senate, his philosophy of a scientific 'hoax' and why he believes as he does, and why he wields his power to fit his religious beliefs...
:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Senator_Jim_Inhofe_and_Global_Warming_Hoax.pdf '''Senator Jim Inhofe's Hoax Theory''']




'''CNBC'''


[[File:Jim Inhofe official photo.png]]
''The latest proposal published by the UAE early on Wednesday. Dec. 13, calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”''


* https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/13/countries-agree-to-deal-at-cop28-climate-summit.html




:In stark contrast to the US evangelical religious views like Senator Inhofe of the oil/gas state of Oklahoma,  here's Pope Francis, the first pontiff to name himself after the Catholic Church's patron saint of the environment, [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Viaggi-sanfrancesco-assisi.jpg St. Francis]. The Jesuit pope is promulgator of a first Catholic eco-encyclical and doctrine ... [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_(1).pdf ''Laudato Si']''
'''Economist'''
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pope_Francis_on_the_Environment Poper Francis & the Environment]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Laudato_Si


::http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/religion/sen-jim-inhofe-issues-statement-on-pope-s-global-warming/article_1575fd35-e52e-5140-8f89-2d116c6bef45.html
''The COP28 deal might be historic, but there are many caveats...'''


:::Senator Inhofe (R-Oklahoma): ''"I disagree with the pope's philosophy on global warming. I am concerned that his encyclical will be used by global warming alarmists..."''
* https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2023/12/13/the-cop28-deal-might-be-historic-but-there-are-many-caveats


:::''"My point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous."''


'''Reuters'''


''Representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed at the COP28 climate summit on Wednesday to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to avert the worst of climate change, signalling the eventual end of the oil age.''


:<big>'''''New Views from Above / August 26'''''</big>
''The deal struck in Dubai after two weeks of hard-fought negotiations was meant to send a powerful message to investors and policy-makers that the world is united in its desire to break with fossil fuels, something scientists say is the last best hope to stave off climate catastrophe.''


::https://www.outsideonline.com/2103761/birds-eye-tour-our-national-parks#slide-1
''COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber called the deal "historic" but added that its true success would be in its implementation.''
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:A_window_view.jpg
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Above.png


::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect
''"We are what we do, not what we say," he told the crowded plenary at the summit. "We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions."''
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earthviews


''Several countries cheered the deal for accomplishing something that until now eluded decades of climate talks.''


&nbsp;
''"It is the first time that the world unites around such a clear text on the need to transition away from fossil fuels," Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide said.''


<big><big>'''''The US President, Nuclear Codes & 'First Use' / August 25'''''</big></big>
''More than 100 countries had lobbied hard for strong language in the COP28 agreement to "phase out" oil, gas and coal use, but came up against powerful opposition from the Saudi Arabia-led oil producer group OPEC, which said the world can cut emissions without shunning specific fuels.''
:Continuing On Topic / World-US News in Depth:
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Trump%2C_Clapper%2C_Nukes_and_Fitness_for_Office_News_Aug_24%2C_2017.pdf '''Nukes, Clapper, Trump''']
:::https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/no-one-should-have-sole-authority-to-launch-a-nuclear-attack/


''That battle pushed the summit a full day into overtime on Wednesday, and had some observers worried the negotiations would end at an impasse...''


<big><big>''''' The US President & 'First Use' / August 24'''''</big></big>
* https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/countries-push-cop28-deal-fossil-fuels-talks-spill-into-overtime-2023-12-12/
:Update: GreenPolicy360 and the Strategic Demands team are reviewing a proposed bill that goes further than the Lieu/Markey 'first-use' proposal. Stay tuned. We'll be back...  
::https://livableworld.org/senator-markey-rep-lieu-introduce-restricting-first-use-nuclear-weapons-act-2017/




<big><big>''''' The US President & Nuclear Codes / August 23'''''</big></big>
'''Financial Times'''


::James R. Clapper Jr., former [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_National_Intelligence director of US national intelligence], questioned president Trump’s fitness for office following the president's speech in Phoenix on Tuesday, August 22.
''COP28 is better than feared, but less than needed''


::''“I really question his ability to be — his fitness to be — in this office... I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it — maybe he is looking for a way out.''  
''Call to move away from fossil fuels lacks deadlines to phase them out...''


::Clapper continued in an interview after he watched Trump’s speech, saying that he is very worried about the president’s access to nuclear codes...  
* https://www.ft.com/content/21852bf3-80e6-46f7-ad06-c94d89bc90de


::''“In a fit of pique he decides to do something about Kim Jong Un, there’s actually very little to stop him,”'' Clapper said, referencing the president and the North Korean leader.


::''“The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there’s very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary.”''
'''NY Times'''


''Two Words That Could Change the World''


:::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/23/james-clapper-questions-trumps-fitness-worries-about-his-access-to-nuclear-codes/
''An unlikely breakthrough on fossil fuels at COP28''




:::::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/
''They are just two little words. They appear on just one page of an 11,000 word document.''


:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Proliferation
''But the inclusion of the phrase “fossil fuels” in the final agreement from COP28 marks a potentially trajectory-altering moment in the fight against climate change. The global pact calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”''


''For almost 30 years, negotiators representing nations from around the world had struggled and failed to reach an obvious consensus: that the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas should be wound down to avoid further catastrophic global warming.''


::'''#HairTrigger'''  
''But overnight, representatives from more than 170 countries arrived at a surprising deal, in Dubai of all places.''


:: http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-hair-trigger/
''The text is not as clear as many leaders, activists and scientists had hoped. It includes caveats and wiggle room, and is nonbinding. Nevertheless, the inclusion of explicit language calling for a move away from coal, oil and gas is being hailed as a major breakthrough...''




::[[File:Trump looking-down.jpg]]


&nbsp;
🌎




::''“U.S. national security policy rests on the assertion that 'forward presence' contributes directly to global peace and security. In [http://www.davidvine.net/base-nation.html '''Base Nation'''], David Vine examines, dismantles, and disproves that claim. He demonstrates that America's sprawling network of overseas bases imposes costs — not only financial but also political, environmental, and moral — that far exceed what the Pentagon is prepared to acknowledge. Base Nation offers a devastating critique, and no doubt Washington will try to ignore it. Citizens should refuse to let that happen.”'' --- Andrew J. Bacevich
::[https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-tracking-negotiating-texts-at-cop28-climate-summit/Interactive: '''Tracking negotiating texts at COP28 climate summit''']




::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Strategic_Demands_of_the_21st_Century_A_New_Vision_for_a_New_World.png Strategic Demands of the 21st Century by Roger Morris & Steven Schmidt]


::http://strategicdemands.com/costsofwar/ 
::[[File:Latest from Dubai.png]]


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Surviving_Victory.png




:·······································································
<big>'''Tracking Negotiating Texts, Tracking News on the Dubai 2023 Int'l Climate Summit'''</big>


December 12, 2023


:<big><big>'''''Green On an August Eve / August 21'''''</big></big>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Green_Quotes


Read updates from Carbon Brief:


:[http://strategicdemands.com/shifting-national-security-terrain/ <big>'''''Visiting Strategic Demands / August 19 & 20'''''</big>]
* https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-tracking-negotiating-texts-at-cop28-climate-summit/
:: GreenPolicy360's associate ... [http://www.strategicdemands.com www.strategicdemands.com]


* https://www.carbonbrief.org/daily-brief/oil-states-face-outrage-as-fossil-fuel-phaseout-dropped-from-cop-draft/




::[[File:Earth turning toward the light or dark.JPG]]


December 12


Dubai -- at the International Climate Summmit (COP28, Conference of the Parties)


:[https://globalchange.mit.edu/news-media/jp-news-outreach/monitoring-implementation-paris-agreement <big>'''''Monitoring the Global Climate Accord / August 18'''''</big>]
Today is the scheduled final day of the gathering of nations


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Intended_Nationally_Determined_Contributions ''Follow the Climate Plans & Progress of Nations'']
* https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/conferences/un-climate-change-conference-united-arab-emirates-nov/dec-2023/about-cop-28


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:INDC




:<big>'''''Trump's Climate Rejection / August 17'''''</big>
::[[File:Waiting game.png]]


::https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/895987382909943808 
::* https://www.cop28.com/en/schedule


:::https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-has-broad-power-to-block-climate-change-report


::::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Trump%27s_Rejection_of_US_Climate_Report_2017.pdf @GreenPolicy, Trump's Rejection of the US Climate Report]
Reuters question -- '''''Explainer - Why does OPEC oppose the idea of a fossil fuel phase-out at COP28?'''''


Reuters answer -- '''''Why does it matter for OPEC?'''''




:[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40927667 <big>'''''"Ignorance" / An Understatement / August 16'''''</big>]
''Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries together control nearly 80% of the world's proven oil reserves and about a third of global daily oil production.''


::''The "Donald Trump Forest" project has been started by campaigners upset at what they call the US president's "ignorance" on climate science.''
''OPEC+, which includes allies such as Russia and Kazakhstan, controls an even bigger share of global crude reserves and production at about 90% and 40% respectively.''
::''Trump Forest allows people either to plant trees locally or pay for trees to be planted.''
::''Currently the campaign to compensate for the impact of President Trump's climate policies has 120,000 pledges...''


:::http://www.bonnchallenge.org/content/challenge -- http://www.bonnchallenge.org/content/get-involved
''The members rely heavily on oil and gas revenues as their main source of income.''


:::[https://www.iucn.org/news/forests/201708/pakistan%E2%80%99s-billion-tree-tsunami-restores-350000-hectares-forests-and-degraded-land-surpass-bonn-challenge-commitment "Billion Tree Tsunami"]
''Oil revenues averaged 75% of total budget revenues of OPEC's leader Saudi Arabia since 2010 and represent around 40-45% of its GDP.''


:::[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/pakistan-plant-billion-trees-global-warming-effects-climate-change-imran-khan-khyber-pakhtunkhaw-a7892176.html Pakistani province plants one billion trees]
''For other OPEC+ members the share of oil and gas in the GDP varies between 16% and 50%. OPEC's net oil export revenue stood at $888 billion in 2022, a 43% rise vs 2021.''


:::[https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/08/13/Pakistan-plants-1-billionth-tree-to-help-reverse-deforestation/8281502665439/ One billion trees and more on the way...]
''Hence, any language that calls for the phasing out of fossil fuels threatens the model on which these oil- and gas-producing countries' economies are built.''


:::[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/india-plants-50-million-trees-uttar-pradesh-reforestation/ Fifty million reforestation]


:::[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-plant-66-million-trees-12-hours-environment-campaign-madhya-pradesh-global-warming-climate-a7820416.html Sixty-six million trees in 12 hours]


:::[https://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/india-plant-2-billion-trees-along-its-highways.html Two billion trees along the highways]
🌎




:·······································································


<big>'''On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights'''</big> 


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Shinrin-yoku <big> ''''' 'Sunday Services' - Shinrin-Yoku '''''</big>]
'''By Heather Cox Richardson'''  


[https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-10-2023?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=139680920&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=dcpew&utm_medium=email '''December 10, 2023''']


[[File:Shinrin-yoku in Japan.png|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6icT74mjvg]]


''Seventy-five years ago today, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)...''


''President Harry S. Truman had appointed Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and much beloved defender of human rights in the United States, as a delegate to the United Nations. In turn, U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie from Norway put her on the commission to develop a plan for the formal human rights commission. That first commission, in turn, asked Roosevelt to take the chair.''


:[http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/335625-averting-the-ticking-time-bomb-of-nukes-in-north-korea <big>'''''Overcoming Nuclear Crisis / August 12'''''</big>]
''Drafted over the next two years, the final document began with a preamble explaining that a UDHR was necessary because “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and because “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.” Because “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,” the preamble said, “human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”''


:GrnPolicy Siterunner: Thinking of nuclear this morning when I woke and after checking Google News to see if nuclear war had broken out w/ N Korea ... and w/ China (China 'official' news yesterday: “If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so”) and knowing the US and Chinese pres spoke by phone late yesterday, I began thinking of recent expert opinions I've read (w/ a h/t to [https://www.amazon.com/Death-Expertise-Campaign-Established-Knowledge/dp/0190469412/ Tom Nichols]).


:Thinking about a Falk and Krieger piece who talked of a nuclear 'flamenco' a couple months ago, I began thinking about the current US Pacific Fleet admiral, Scott Swift, who last wk said he'd shoot off atomic weapons toward China if ordered by the president. The admiral's statement in Australia was then explained by a US Navy spokesman named Charlie Brown (not kidding). Here's the May 30th Hill op-ed, still timely:
[https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-10-2023?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=139680920&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=dcpew&utm_medium=email '''Story of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights''']


::[http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/335625-averting-the-ticking-time-bomb-of-nukes-in-north-korea Averting the Ticking Nuclear Time Bomb]
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:EleanorRooseveltHumanRights.png


:::[http://strategicdemands.com/no-one-should-have-singular-nuclear-launch-authority/ Singular Authority to Launch Nuclear Weapons]


::::[http://strategicdemands.com/stewards-of-the-apocalypse/ With an "On the Beach" reminder of an aftermath]


🌎




:[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/italy/photos-of-life-alone-on-a-paradise-island/ <big> '''''Sympatheia: Reflective Life & Walk with Beauty / August 11'''''</big>]


::It's All Connected -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Relational_Reality.jpg
<big><big>'''''Saudi Arabia Is Trying to Block a Global Deal to End Fossil Fuels, Negotiators Say'''''</big></big>


December 10 / NYT International


:[http://strategicdemands.com/ <big>'''''Visiting GreenPolicy Associate, StratDem / August 10'''''</big>]
* https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/climate/saudi-arabia-cop28-fossil-fuels.html


::As nuclear war talk heats up...
::: http://strategicdemands.com/stewards-of-the-apocalypse/
:::: http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/
::::: http://strategicdemands.com/costsofwar/
:::::: http://strategicdemands.com/new-definitions-of-security/


''Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading exporter of oil, has become the biggest obstacle to an agreement at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, where countries are debating whether to call for a phaseout of fossil fuels in order to fight global warming, negotiators and other officials said.''


:[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/trump-brink-nuclear-war-stop <big> '''''The Nuclear Brink / August 9'''''</big>]
''The Saudi delegation has flatly opposed any language in a deal that would even mention fossil fuels — the oil, gas and coal that, when burned, create emissions that are dangerously heating the planet. Saudi negotiators have also objected to a provision, endorsed by at least 118 countries, aimed at tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030.''
:: #HairTrigger http://strategicdemands.com/?s=nuclear+hair+trigger
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:My_First_Order.png


''Saudi diplomats have been particularly skillful at blocking discussions and slowing the talks, according to interviews with a dozen people who have been inside closed-door negotiations. Tactics include inserting words into draft agreements that are considered poison pills by other countries; slow-walking a provision meant to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change; staging a walkout in a side meeting; and refusing to sit down with negotiators pressing for a phaseout of fossil fuels.''


:<big> '''''What Climate Change Report? / August 8'''''</big>
::https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/climate/climate-change-drastic-warming-trump.html
:::[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/climate/document-Draft-of-the-Climate-Science-Special-Report.html NY Times Climate Special Report]


::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
:::::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics Earth Science Research from Space and Politics of Earth Science]


<big>'''''Open secret at global climate talks: The top temperature goal is mostly gone'''''</big>


:[http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/06/541885092/japan-calls-for-denuclearized-world-on-72nd-anniversary-of-hiroshima <big> '''''On 'First Use' and Banning Nukes / August 7'''''</big>]
: ''Researchers injected a sobering finding into global climate negotiations Sunday by saying the world will likely fail its most important warming test''
::Preemptive, Preventive, and/or First-Use Strikes: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/no-one-should-have-sole-authority-to-launch-a-nuclear-attack/
:::http://strategicdemands.com/?s=hair+trigger -- http://strategicdemands.com/?s=nuclear+weapons+treaty
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Nonproliferation


: * https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/03/cop28-global-temperature-goal-00129766


:·······································································




:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UowFxdk0xXE <big> ''''' 'Sunday Services' - Jacques Cousteau's Grandson Speaking at the Bioneers Conference '''''</big>]
🌎
::This past week GreenPolicy looked more closely at the Earth's seas and oceans
:::Now, reflecting, we listen to a presentation by an environmental ocean exploring family 


::::http://conference.bioneers.org/ -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Bioneers


<big>'''November'''</big>


::[[File:Philippe Cousteau at Bioneers Conf-2015.png|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UowFxdk0xXE]]


&nbsp;


:[https://weather.com/science/environment/news/north-atlantic-ocean-global-warming-arctic-sea-ice <big> ''''' Atlantic 'Meridional' / August 5 '''''</big>]
[[File:Earth Summit 1992-s.png|link=http://www.planetcitizens.org]]</center>


::Ocean Circulation / What? "Nothing to See Here", Keep Paddling
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Summit_1992.jpg '''Earth Summit (1992)''']
::https://news.yale.edu/2017/07/31/loss-arctic-sea-ice-impacting-atlantic-ocean-water-circulation-system
:::http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v7/n8/full/nclimate3353.html
::::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/08/02/this-strange-spot-over-the-atlantic-isnt-getting-warmer-scientists-think-they-may-know-why/
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic
:::::https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/climate-model-suggests-collapse-atlantic-circulation-possible
::::::https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_meridional_overturning_circulation




November 30 thru December 12, 2023 - Visit the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference '''28th International Climate Conference'''.]


:[https://news.vice.com/story/kelp-could-save-our-oceans-if-you-eat-it <big>''''' Kelp 'n Ocean Agriculture / August 4 '''''</big>]
This is the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference. Approximately 75,000 are in attendance this year at Expo City, Dubai.
::http://www.oceanapproved.com/sustainability
:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=kelp&fulltext=Policy+Search&profile=images&redirs=0 Kelp, "forests of the sea", habitat for biodiversity, producer of oxygen, food, 'aquaforestry' about to become a tradeword]
::::http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/12/162728509/kelp-for-farmers-seaweed-becomes-a-new-crop-in-america
:::::https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaculture_of_giant_kelp


The conferences began with the first [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Summit_1992.jpg '''Earth Summit'''] UN climate agreement in 1992.
 
 
🌎




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:GlobalFishingWatch.jpg <big>''''' Sustainable Fisheries / August 3 '''''</big>]
[[File:Planet Dove satellite image over Dubai.png]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Fishing_Watch
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:GlobalFishingWatch.jpg
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:G_Earth_Outreach.jpg
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Fisheries -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisheries_management




Image of Dubai from GreenPolicy360's Earth-imaging friends at the Planet headquarters in California.


:[https://phys.org/news/2017-08-nasa-supported-track-near-earth.html <big>''''' Earth Protection, Asteroids, Aliens etc... / August 2 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Asteroid_Watch_JPL.jpg -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists
:::https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/253476-nasa-new-six-figure-job-opening-protect-earth-aliens-us
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Extinction




:[http://www.pbs.org/program/forgotten-coast/ <big>''''' Wild Florida / August 1 '''''</big>]
<big>'''Expo City, Dubai. Perspective from an Earth-orbiting Planet.com satellite as COP28 starts'''</big>
::http://www.pbs.org/video/2365987527/ 
:::http://floridawildlifecorridor.org/
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise


* https://x.com/planet/status/1730283890483589183


''"To see Wild Florida you've got to get down into the mud &  back into the trees & up into the rivers & into the backwaters & dig around"''
November 30, 2023


''Clearwater, Florida, GreenPolicy360's terrestrial home base, geo-located on a limestone/karst peninsula that is still wild here & there...''




[[File:EO Snapshot 6-29-2016 10-44-49 AM.png]]
<big>'''[[Planet API]]</big>




&nbsp;
We look down at the opening of the 28th international climate summit, the "UN Conference on Climate Change" gathering in an eco-region that is among the richest in oil/gas on Earth. The contrast between climate change and oil/gas could not be more stark. The scientific data has added up, producing a cause-effect case that now will be put on view by the nations of the world gathered in the UAE. Decades of Earth-monitoring and Atmospheric science, including from constellations of of Earth observations from space, are measuring and monitoring, and tracking changes, modeling and projecting. The reality of the fossil fuel 'externalities' in the form of greenhouse gases emitted by carbon-based fossil fuels is now, again, in focus, even as climate change denial forces attempt to slow and stop progress toward renewable energy.


Tune in to the news coverage this week and next. It will be an event to remember -- and time to get with the action.


[[File:Best Practices check sm.png]] [https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12098122/california-pipevine-swallowtail-butterfly-population <font color=green><big>''''' Save a Butterfly, Save a Species / July 31 '''''</big></font>]
::http://www.boredpanda.com/rare-blue-swallowtail-pipevine-butterfly-repopulation-tim-wong/
:::https://www.treehugger.com/conservation/pipevine-swallowtail-butterfly-conservation-san-francisco-tim-wong.html
::::http://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/S-F-biologist-s-passion-for-butterflies-soars-9138329.php#photo-10742592
:::::https://m.facebook.com/CaliforniaPipevineSwallowtail/?hc_ref=ARSW45o6LUperxuN2SrJMOD1SySTFKd-yU4NStZkJ-Xk0NhvAopTgdJUMKXGpcpKqwo&fref=nf
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Whole_Earth_One_Connected_System_Astro-Gerst_2014.png
:::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Biodiversity -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Extinction


: [http://www.planetcitizen.org '''PlanetCitizen.org''']
: [http://www.planetcitizens.org '''PlanetCitizens.org''']


:::::::::::[[File:California Pipevine Swallowtail Project butterflies.png|link=https://video.ftpa1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t42.1790-2/13675718_1039859409403199_2115011889_n.mp4?efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InN2ZV9zZCJ9&oh=6cbf1b3852ba0a4b2260ac26308087e5&oe=597F765F]]
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists '''Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists''']
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Action '''Planet Citizen Action''']
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Problems,_Climate_Solutions '''Climate Problems, Climate Solutions''']




:·······································································


🌎


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Plastic_in_the_sand.JPG <big>''''' 'Sunday Services' - Plastic in the Sand & Water '''''</big>]
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Plastic_Pollution Plastic Pollution]




:[https://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/the-secret-ingredient-behind-the-mediterranean-diet <big>'''''Food Is Med, Eat Healthy, Be Healthy / July 29'''''</big>]
Nov. 22 / World News
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Food -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Slow_Food_(Alternative_to_Fast_Food)
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Food_as_medicine.jpg -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Via_Dr_Stacey_Robinson.JPG
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Farm-to-Table -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Food_Pages:_On_Earth_Food_Politics
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Index#Agriculture -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Broccoli_;-.jpg




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Food_Saving <big>'''''Save Food. Don't Waste It / July 28'''''</big>]
<big>'''''Israel and Hamas have reached a deal on a cease-fire and hostages'''''</big>
::https://businessconnectworld.com/2017/07/12/5-ways-wasting-food-hurts-the-environment-and-5-ways-you-can-fix-it/
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Food_Saving -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Food_wasted-lost.png
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Stop_Wasting_Food.jpg -- [https://youtu.be/1aH7RwOD0RE (Video) The Big Waste: Why Do We Throw Away So Much Food?]
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:FOOD_politics-health.jpg


[https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-ceasefire-what-to-know-af1cfbc9dcaa1485ed7a9efaca7ec2b7 Associated Press]


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Water_Quality <big>'''''Safe Water? See Your City / July 27'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Clean_Water
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Water_Pollution
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws


&nbsp;
Peace, it's a step away, a step-by-step away from the [https://strategicdemands.com/costsofwar/ '''deep costs of war''']




:<big>'''''Another Day of Lamar / July 26'''''</big>
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Peace <big>'''Peace, a New Vision'''</big>]


[[File:Lamar changes his story.png]]






:[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lamar-smith-climate-change-beneficial_us_59765a54e4b0e201d577466d <big>'''''Lamar Goes to Greenland, Comes Back with a Message / July 25'''''</big>]
<big>'''Gaza-Israel War Worsens as It Expands'''</big>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
:::https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/lamar-smith-tours-the-arctic
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Greenland


: The Costs of War Extend Far from Today's Fighting, Bombing and Death Count


:::''WASHINGTON — Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) — who has spent his career cozying up to fossil fuel interests, dismissing the threat of climate change and harassing federal climate scientists — is now arguing that pumping the atmosphere full of carbon dioxide is “beneficial” to global trade, crop production and the lushness of the planet.
:: The Term "Blowback" Is Used to Describe Consequences that Follow in the Days and Years After


:::''Rather than buying into “hysteria,” Americans should be celebrating the plus sides of a changing climate, Smith argues in an op-ed published July 24th in The Daily Signal, a news website published by the conservative Heritage Foundation.''
:::* https://strategicdemands.com/blowback-far-beyond-gaza-israel/


:::''Smith — who has used his power as chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to push his anti-science views — kicks off his op-ed by claiming Americans’ perception of the phenomenon is “too often determined by their hearing just one side of the story.”''
:::* https://strategicdemands.com/costsofwar/


:::''“The benefits of a changing climate are often ignored and under-researched,” Smith said. “Our climate is too complex and the consequences of misguided policies too harsh to discount the positive effects of carbon enrichment.”''


:::''Increased carbon dioxide, Smith writes, promotes photosynthesis, resulting in a “greater volume of food production and better quality food” and “lush vegetation” that “assists in controlling water runoff, provides more habitats for many animal species, and even aids in climate stabilization, as more vegetation absorbs more carbon dioxide.” Warmer temperatures, he notes, results in longer growing seasons.
Generational costs...


:::''Smith goes as far as to make a case for why a rapidly melting Arctic, which scientists warn could cost tens of trillions of dollars by the end of this century, is a positive thing.''
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, (October 9) in a speech to the nation '''"any place that Hamas operates will turn into rubble" and that the Israeli response will "echo for generations."'''


:::''“Also, as the Earth warms, we are seeing beneficial changes to the earth’s geography,” he writes. “For instance, Arctic sea ice is decreasing. This development will create new commercial shipping lanes that provide faster, more convenient, and less costly routes between ports in Asia, Europe, and eastern North America. This will increase international trade and strengthen the world economy.''
<small>(In Hebrew) ''What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will resonate (echo) with them over the generations...''</small>


<small>-- Benjamin Netanyahu (בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ)</small>




:[http://worldwidetelescope.org/ <big>'''''Other Blue-Green Planets? / July 24'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pale_blue_dot
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Hubble -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:1.2-million-galaxies-map-slice.jpg
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_James_Webb_telescope_modeled_at_SXSW_2015.jpg
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Webb_Telescope_construction_completed-Nov2016.jpg




:·······································································
<big>'''Online, a Social Media Fight Hits as War in the Mideast Heats Up'''</big>




:[http://photo.tepco.co.jp/date/2017/201707-j/170721-01j.html <font color=black><big>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - Melted Nuclear Waste '''''</big></font>]
'''Fact-Checking, 'Facts Count' '''


:Decommissioning the Fukushima reactors will cost 8 trillion yen ($72 billion), according to an estimate in December from the Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Disinformation_-_Online_-_Dangerous '''Disinformation-Misinformation''']
:Removing nuclear fuel waste from destroyed reactors may take as long as 40 years.


:[http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/perspective/Seven-years-after-the-Fukushima-nuclear-disaster-Japanese-town-rebounds-from-zero_166186667 Seven years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japanese town rebounds from zero]
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Fact_Checking '''Fact Checking @GreenPolicy360''']


::http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/21/national/fukushima-robot-finds-potential-fuel-debris-hanging-like-icicles-reactor-3/
[https://reporterslab.org/fact-checkers-extend-their-global-reach-with-391-outlets-but-growth-has-slowed/ '''100+ Countries-391 Fact-Checking Sites (2022)''']
:::https://phys.org/news/2017-07-robot-fuel-fukushima-reactor.html -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Fukushima-Tokyo_was_on_brink_of_nuclear_catastrophe


[https://reporterslab.org/fact-checking/ '''Fact-Checking News''']


:[https://baynature.org/article/identify-anything-anywhere-instantly-well-almost-newest-inaturalist-release/ <big>'''''A Photo App to ID Nature / July 22 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/All_Species_Day
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Global_Biodiversity_Information-Data.png




:[[File:Global Biodiversity Information-Data.png]]


&nbsp;
<big><big>'''Beyond the 'Fog of War' '''</big></big>




:[https://www.blog.google/products/maps/welcome-outer-space-view/ <big>'''''Welcome to Outer Space / July 21 '''''</big>]
[[File:The Other Side - Life in Gaza, Israel.jpg|link=https://wapo.st/3SmT6qs]]


::https://www.google.com/streetview/#international-space-station/cupola-observational-module


::Thomas Pesquet, ESA astronaut: “Looking at Earth from above made me think about my own world a little differently, and I hope that [https://www.blog.google/products/maps/welcome-outer-space-view/ the ISS on Street View] changes your view of the world too.
''Atef Abu Saif is the author of six novels and since 2019 has been minister of culture for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.''


:::http://www.thinbluelayer.com
''Abu Saif was visiting family in Gaza, where he grew up, when bombs began to fall Oct. 7 — in retaliation for Hamas’s surprise attack earlier that day that killed 1,400 Israelis. He began sending voice notes to friends abroad, describing the fraying texture of everyday life, creating a diary of life under siege...''
::::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Orbital_Perspective
:::::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect
::::::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations


* https://wapo.st/3SmT6qs
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_Other_Side_-_Life_in_Gaza,_Israel.jpg


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Bioneers <big>'''''Bioneers, Looking Back, Looking Forward / July 20 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Bioneers
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Book_Reviews_@GreenPolicy




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Climate_Change_Litigation_Databases_Climate_Law.png <big>'''''Law & Environmental Protection / July 19 '''''</big>]
::http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2017/07/18/local-governments-in-california-file-common-law-claims-against-largest-fossil-fuel-companies/
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_Summit_Paris -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
::::https://www.nrdc.org/about/litigation -- https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/litigation-at-nrdc.pdf
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_lawsuits




:[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40640445 <big>'''''Brits/World Look at Calif & Climate News / July 18 '''''</big>]
::http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-climate-change-vote-republicans-20170717-story.html
:::https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/climate/california-cap-and-trade-approved-jerry-brown.html
::::http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article161905518.html


::::: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Governor_Jerry_Brown
<big><big><big>'''Humanitarian Disaster in Israel/Gaza... War and Generational Disaster'''</big></big></big>
:::::: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Jerry_Brown_AGU-Dec14,2016.png
::::::: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/California_out_in_front_in_a_Green_future
:::::::: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/PlanetCitizen


: '''Where Next?'''


:: At the United Nations, US and Israel Isolated as Votes Near Unanimously Reject Collective Punishment


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Be_a_planet_citizen%2C_make_a_choice%2C_act_to_reduce_climate_change.jpg <big>'''''Act2Be & Become a Planet Citizen / July 17 '''''</big>]
::: China, Russia, BRIC Nations Put Forward Statements Opposing Conditions 'On the Ground'
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/PlanetCitizen
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now




<big><big>'''Fog of War'''</big></big>


<font color=green>○</font>
: Opinion / In association with StrategicDemands.com




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Trinitytest.jpg <big>'''''On This Day 72 Years Ago, the Nuclear Weapons Era Is Born / July 16 '''''</big>]
Amplified by barrages across global social media landscapes, an online war is accompanying war in the Middle East. The surprise incursion of Hamas forces into Israel, and Israel's mobilization and declaration of war, has grown into a worldwide battle for hearts and minds. In previous wars of the 20th/21st centuries, propaganda was to be expected. This war, following the expansion of the Internet into the everyday lives of billions on Earth, in both the global north and south, east and west, has brought new levels, billions of dollars-rubles-yuan etc. in psyops / dis- and mis-information / skirmishes / e- and bot-attacks / crypto incursions / gaslighting / military communications disruption and targeting / data-gathering by intelligence services and operational actions / monitoring by remote agents (e.g. from private sector satellite services) and a host of related sigint (signals intelligence), elint (electronic intelligence) and humint (human intel ops, online/internet ops)...
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Trinity_monument_m.jpg
:::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-weapons-treaty-adopted-historic-moment
::::http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/correspondence/oppenheimer-robert/corr_oppenheimer_1945-08-17.htm




::[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lb13ynu3Iac '''''Watch J. Robert Oppenheimer''''']
The recent Reuters associated '''"Digital News Report"''' on the state of online news media addresses the international range/reach, engagement and power of online influencers. News, contemporary events, ideas, opinions reaching out to hearts and minds, available for every connected life on the planet, begins to bring public facing elements of this new online battlefield into view.


:<big>''"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."''</big>
The type of war reporting that has been in evidence in previous wars has radically changed, as has the audience. There are no longer media 'gatekeepers' as they used to be, in control of most all news, opinion, in newspaper/magazine and on broadcast TV channels. As corporate news began to venture out in earnest during the Vietnam war, using reporters in the field with video cameras and broadcasting 'live-on-tape' coverage and wire-service 'as it happened' photography to Americans in the front of their TVs and papers, the world of media became last century techniques. The new century brought the wars of the Middle- and Near-East, often delivered from 'embedded' journalists (with military limiting their embedded coverage) to a larger audience. And with early 2000s roll-out of the internet/connectivity and citizen journalists, then digital smartphones, a network called 24/7/365 became the norm. Ubiquitous coverage and near instant worldwide sharing is here and now, for good and bad.


In the so-called "Global South", arraigned often in counterpoint and often in opposition to former colonial powers of the "Global North", the latest digital communication technologies are being utilized with the results delivering diverse and multi-layered opinions of the military actions of the Israel-Gaza war. The US, Israel and allies are being seen in new ways. The geopolitical conflict of the US and  Russia, as well as China are engaged deeply in this struggle for hearts and minds. 


:[[File:Trinitytest.jpg]]
The age old axioms about truth getting lost in the "fog of war" holds considerable power now, in these connected times where social and online media is reaching places and influencing minds as never before...




&nbsp;


:[https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/lamar-smith-tours-the-arctic <big>'''''Lamar Goes to Greenland on a Denial Quest / July 15 '''''</big>]


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Greenland
<big><big>'''Content creators surge past legacy media'''</big></big>


: As the world receives news of war -- and the digital and social media in countries changes reporting and perceptions


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Politics_and_Science_in_the_House_un-Science_Committee.png '''''Revealing the thinking of the House Science Committee chairman''''']
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/31/creator-economy-news-outlets-influencers/


:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Lamar_Smith_Denial_Offensive.png
* https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/Digital_News_Report_2023.pdf
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Lamar-smith-press_2015.jpg
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News




(Intro from the Publisher) ''This year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report provides further evidence that, even as much of the news industry globally has struggled in the face of the first waves of the move to a digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environment, it now faces a much more fundamental change driven by generations who have grown up with and rely almost entirely on various digital media.''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Tardi1.jpg <font color=green><big><big>'''''Bugs on Earth and in Space / July 14 '''''</big></big></font>]
''Whether or not legacy media feel they have completed their initial digital transformation from print- or broadcast-focused to digitally focused brands with a compelling news website and app, they now face a continual transformation of digital as generations come of age who eschew direct discovery for all but the most appealing brands, have little interest in many conventional news offers oriented towards older generations’ habits, interests, and values, and instead embrace the more participatory, personable, and personalised options offered via platforms, often looking beyond legacy platforms to new entrants (many of whom drive few referrals to news and do not prioritise news).''
::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W194GQ6fHI
:::http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150313-the-toughest-animals-on-earth


''While there are important differences between countries and within generations, and no single uniform pattern of behaviour and preferences, it is important to underline that we have every reason to expect this to be a one-way change: people’s information needs and interests evolve in the course of their life, but their platform preferences rarely regress. Those born in the 1980s did not suddenly come to prefer landline phones over mobiles when they became parents or bought a house, nor did those born in the 1960s return to black-and-white television when they entered middle age. There are no reasonable grounds for expecting that those born in the 2000s will suddenly come to prefer old-fashioned websites, let alone broadcast and print, simply because they grow older. The public is voting with its attention and money, and – despite the very real reservations over uneven trustworthiness, the risks of harassment and misinformation, and sometimes problematic business and data protection practices – they are overwhelmingly, everywhere, voting for digital media. That is the media environment the public embraces, and the ‘new normal’ where journalists and news media have to carve out their places if they want to connect with the public.


[[File:Tardi1.jpg]]
''The Digital News Report account for more than half the world’s population...''


&nbsp;
''The increasing number and diversity of markets covered – including 11 in Asia, five in South America, three in Africa and North America, as well as 24 in Europe – have led us to compare fewer data points across the whole sample and to focus on meaningful comparisons across markets that are broadly similar. We’ve provided more detail about differences in polling samples in both the methodology pages and the relevant country pages...''


&nbsp;


:[https://thenextweb.com/google/2017/07/13/google-earth-will-soon-let-anyone-share-stories-and-photos-on-virtual-globe/ <big>'''''Green Crowdpowered Air-Q Mapping / July 13 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Green_Networking -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Citizen_Science
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Mapping_Our_Air.png -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Tzoa-air_quality_monitoring.jpg
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sharing_Economy -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth 






:[http://bit.ly/2ue3mpX <big>'''''US Is More than DC on Climate Action / July 12 '''''</big>]
[[File:Israel reacts to UN - Oct 25.jpg]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Change_Summit_Paris
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Intended_Nationally_Determined_Contributions
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:G-20_19%2B1.png




[[File:Climate Action-Bloomberg-Brown July2017.png]]
&nbsp;


<big><big>'''Mideast Disaster Escalates'''</big></big>


* https://strategicdemands.com/october-disaster-in-the-mideast/


:[http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html <big>'''''Doom 'n Gloom or What? / July 11 '''''</big>]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Israel–Hamas_war
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Extinction
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Extinction
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Anthropocene
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Anthropocene






:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Mapping_Our_Air.png <big>'''''Mapping the Air Quality / July 10 '''''</big>]
🌎
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth




[[File:Mapping Our Air.png]]


'''October'''




<font color=blue></font>  
<big><big>'''Disaster in Israel'''</big></big>




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Science_and_Technology_--_Energy.jpg <font color=green><big><big>'''''Green Ideas on a Sunday in July'''''</big></big></font>]
[[File:War and Disasters in Israel.jpg]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_full-cost_accounting
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/The_Commons




<big><big>'''At Least 260 Bodies Found at Music Festival Site'''</big></big>


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:G-20_19%2B1.png <big>'''''G-20_19+1 / July 8 '''''</big>]
'''Over 900 dead in Israel'''
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


'''War declared'''


[[File:G-20 19+1.png]]


At dawn the surprise attack and massacre began... Hamas terrorist attacked the young and executed them...


War has begun. A next level of the cycle of violence. The zealots who have stoked the fires of death and vengeance as a means to an end are watching their work.


<font color=green>○</font>
Those of us who believe in peace and human rights are, once more, shocked by those who resort to terrorism and utter violence.




[[File:ReachingCriticalWill-July7,2017-2.png]]
Thousands have died now in Israel and Gaza.


Many more will die.


The cycle, generation-to-generation, violence, eye-for-an-eye, old testament biblical history, an age-old story of power, and blowback, revenge and justice continues.




<big><big>'''''Banned: Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons Adopted'''''</big></big>
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said today (October 9) in a speech to the nation that '''"any place that Hamas operates will turn into rubble" and that the Israeli response will "echo for generations."'''


: [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/united-nations/events/events-2017/article/adoption-of-a-treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons-07-07-17 Diplomatie.gouv.fr]


: [http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_7Jul2017.html Los Alamos Study Group]
<small>(In Hebrew) ''What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will resonate (echo) with them over the generations...''</small>


[[File:Nuclear Ban Treaty 7-7-2017 12-33-35 PM.png]]
<small>-- Benjamin Netanyahu (בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ)</small>






<big>'''''July/August / Special Issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists'''''</big>
··············································


:http://thebulletin.org/press-release/after-midnight-julyaugust-issue-available10924




<big>'''''2017 Doomsday Clock Statement'''''</big>
[[File:Over the Mid East Christmas eve, 2015.jpg]]


:[http://thebulletin.org/sites/default/files/Final%202017%20Clock%20Statement.pdf It is two and a half minutes to midnight]




[[File:Laudate Deum - To All Peoples of Good Will - On the Climate Crisis.png]]


<big>'''''Draft Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons'''''</big>


:[https://s3.amazonaws.com/unoda-web/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/A-CONF-1.229-2017-L.X-E-tracked-from-Rev.1-03.07.17-1824-formatted.pdf <big>'''''Nuclear Treaty / @ United Nations / July 5 '''''</big>]
October 4, 2023
:http://www.undocs.org/en/a/conf.229/2017/L.3/Rev.1
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Trinity_monument_m.jpg
:::http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_5July2017.html
::::https://www.apnews.com/6732780e340f4fc785c9c4ab846b2f65/First-treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons-expected-to-be-adopted
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Nuclear_Nonproliferation




<big>'''Today is another historic Eco Day'''</big>


·····························································································
'''On the first day of a global Catholic 'summit', a Laudate Deum''' call to protect the environment is announced following up the [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Laudato_Si '''Laudato Si encyclical'''], a first-of-its-kind "Integral Ecology" letter to the billion+ members and to the interfaith global community. The release of the Catholic leader's new environmental letter is a global event, the second environmental encyclical, and carries forward a profound interfaith-catholic announcement/doctrine.




Many have spoken about a 'catholic' definition of citizen action and here a dictionary definition of the word -- catholic -- finds meaning in action.


<big>'''''Moving To Renewable Energy and Away from Oil/Gas Strategic Conflicts'''''</big>
: kăth′ə-lĭk, kăth′lĭk
: 1. Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive.
: 2. Including or concerning all humankind; universal.
: 3. Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.




:<big>'''''Volvo Goes Full EV / July 6 '''''</big>
Let's look more closely at the meaning and beliefs brought forward here. One can say, as with those who attempt to 'preserve and protect' life on Earth, that this is an eco-platform of a church called Catholic and is an ecumenical outreach worth considering universally, by all humankind. The ideas and ideals of respecting life and quality of life, is a goal we can all share.
::http://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/2017/07/6.htm -- http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/volvo-going-all-electric-first-automaker-ditch-combustion-engine-n779791
:::https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/05/volvo-cars-electric-hybrid-2019 -- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/volvo-electric-cars-combustion-engines-fate/
:::: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-07-05/tesla-is-starting-to-face-serious-competition -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Tesla,_electric_cars




<big><big>'''[[The Commons]]'''</big></big>


<big>'''''Moving Toward Electoral Choice and Away from Global Conflict'''''</big>


<big>'''From Earthbeat, and environmental movement'''</big>


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Election_Law <big>'''''Your Vote, Your Voice'''''</big>]
Planet citizens in action
::http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article159113369.html
::https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/05/11/presidential-executive-order-establishment-presidential-advisory
:::https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-takes-legal-action-over-trump-election-commission-executive-order -- http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/01/trump-election-panel-fraud-tweets-240165
::::https://www.thenation.com/article/the-trump-administration-is-planning-an-unprecedented-attack-on-voting-rights/ -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/30/how-trumps-nationwide-voter-data-request-could-lead-to-voter-suppression -- http://www.wsls.com/top-stories/demand-for-voter-rolls-shows-ugly-truth-about-trumps-voter-fraud-commission -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression


* https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/viewpoints/popes-laudate-deum-must-elevate-those-ecological-peripheries


&nbsp;


_____________


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security <font color=green><big><big>'''''Strategic Demands: New Definitions of Security, National & Global'''''</big></big></font>]


:http://strategicdemands.com/new-definitions-of-security/
''Media release:''


''Via Vatican News''


<big>'''''“Laudate Deum”: the Pope’s cry for a response to the climate crisis'''''</big>


:::[[File:New Definitions of National Security.png]]
''Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015 encyclical. We’re not reacting enough, he says, we’re close to breaking point. He criticises climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our common home flows from the Christian faith.''


* https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-10/laudate-deum-pope-francis-climate-crisis-laudato-si.html


[http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/06/28/missile-defense-arms-race-russia-000467 <font color=green><big><big>'''''New Arms Race Qua Old Arms Race / June 29'''''</big></big></font>]


::http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/24/nuclear-arms-treaty-russia-trump-239923
''In a new document titled “Laudate Deum,” or “Praise God,” the pope criticizes oil and gas companies for greenwashing new fossil fuel projects and calls for more ambitious efforts in the West to tackle the climate crisis. In the landmark apostolic exhortation, a form of papal writing, Francis says that “avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people.”''
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Proliferation
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Extinction


''“Laudate Deum” is a follow-up to the pope’s 2015 encyclical on climate change, known as “Laudato Si’,” which lamented the exploitation of the planet and cast the protection of the environment as a moral imperative. When it was released, “Laudato Si’” was viewed as an extraordinary move by the head of the Catholic Church to address global warming and its consequences.''


[http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41062-a-wide-world-of-winless-war-globe-trotting-us-special-ops-forces-already-deployed-to-137-nations-in-2017 <font color=green><big><big>'''''Winless War, Endless War / June 28'''''</big></big></font>]
''Nearly a decade later, the pope’s message has taken on new urgency.''
:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Surviving_Victory_Conf_contributors.jpg
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Strategic_Demands_of_the_21st_Century_A_New_Vision_for_a_New_World.jpg
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Surviving-Victory-conference-Washington-DC-2006.pdf
[[File:Blissfully-Unaware.png]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Thirty-seconds-closer-to-midnight.png


&nbsp;


&nbsp;


[http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/open-letter-to-president-donald-trump-and-president-vladimir-putin_4885.html <font color=green><big><big>'''''Putin, Trump, Nuclear Risks / June 27'''''</big></big></font>]
<big><big>'''[[Pope Francis on the Environment]]'''</big></big>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Weapons
:::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-hair-trigger/
::::http://strategicdemands.com/status-nuclear-ban-negotiations/
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Nuclear_Nonproliferation




[https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/16/probability-of-nuclear-war/  <font color=green><big><big>'''''At the UN: Abolish Nuclear Weapons'''''</big></big></font>]
<big><big>'''[[Laudato Si]]'''</big></big>


::https://www.un.org/disarmament/ptnw/president.html
:::[http://www.lasg.org/BAN/LASG_comments_draft_ban2.pdf Los Alamos Study Group / Ban the Bomb]


<big><big>'''[[Integral Ecology]]'''</big></big>




:·······································································
<big><big>'''[[The Commons]]'''</big></big>




[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Thin_Blue.jpg <big><big>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' / ThinBlueLayer.com '''''</big></big>]


🌎


[[File:Thin Blue.jpg]]




[[File:Nature.JPG]]




:[http://e360.yale.edu/features/eyes-on-nature-how-satellite-imagery-is-transforming-conservation-science  <big>'''''Space 'Macroscope', Earth Science / June 24'''''</big>]


:<font color=green>''Ecologists “are going to have this epiphany.” A University of California scientist describes the rapidly improving satellite view from outer space as a “macroscope.”''</font>
<big>'''September'''</big>


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Labs_Doves_Fly
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Planet_API_PlanetLabs_2.png -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Planet_Lab_Flock_1c_CubeSats.jpg




:[https://ensia.com/features/blockchain-environment-sustainability/ <big>'''''Environmental Data & Blockchain / June 23'''''</big>]
<big>'''Where did all of these worldwide circles come from?'''</big>
::https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/3-ways-blockchain-can-accelerate-financial-inclusion/
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360-eOS#World_Wide_Web_.26_Digital_Rights_Movement
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/EOS_eco_Operating_System




:[https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/21/self-driving-shuttles-university-of-michigan/ <big>'''''Green Driving / June 22'''''</big>]
[[File:Mysterious circles around the world.png]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Going_Green#Venture_On_with_Best_Green_Ideas
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:EVs.png


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Mysterious_circles_around_the_world.png


:[https://qz.com/1007400/the-botanists-last-stand-the-daring-work-of-saving-the-last-samples-of-dying-species/ <big>'''''Saving Species in Kauai, Jurassic Land / June 21'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Extinction
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Biodiversity


GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Meanwhile, back in the early 70s when my old friend George Brown was proposing and pushing the start up of US earth science imaging w Landsat and what became over decades a constellation of earth observation satellites, we never thought it would eventually find global evidence of "mysterious fairy circles". We talked about the need of data, digital data, but proof of aliens? Nah.


[[File:Kauai-jurassic locations.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Biodiversity]]


* https://futurism.com/scientists-ai-mysterious-circles


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr


:[https://www.fastcompany.com/40425808/how-tiny-satellites-are-changing-the-way-we-do-business <big>'''''"New Space", Democratizing Earth Observations / June 20'''''</big>]
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Landsat_data_users_handbook
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Democratization_of_Space -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:New_Space -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Labs_Doves_Fly -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Landsat_data_users_handbook
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Imaging -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Imaging-New_Space


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/LANDSAT_and_Virginia_Tower_Norwood


:[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-to-hear-potentially-landmark-case-on-partisan-gerrymandering/2017/06/19/d525237e-5435-11e7-b38e-35fd8e0c288f_story.html <big>'''''SCOTUS to Decide on Gerrymandering / June 19'''''</big>]
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Redistricting_-_Opposing_Gerrymandering
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Redistricting
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Your_vote.png




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/We_are_stardust.jpg <big>'''''To Fathers & Mothers & Stardust / June 18'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Hubble
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Hubble_NGC-1376-22811500-2560-1705.jpg


::::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:We_are_made_of_star_stuff_--_carl_sagan.jpg ''Carl Sagan'']
[[File:Landsat, a 50 year legacy.png]]




:[https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/06/10/us-senators-warn-education-department-heartland-institute-possibly-fraudulent-science-teachers-mailing <big> '''''Oppo Science @Work in Schools / June 17'''''</big>]
::http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/devos-is-questioned-about-campaign-to-influence-climate-change-education/
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Money_in_Politics


🌎


:[https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/16/probability-of-nuclear-war/ <big> '''''At the UN: Abolish Nuclear Weapons / June 16'''''</big>]
::https://www.un.org/disarmament/ptnw/president.html
:::http://www.lasg.org/BAN/LASG_comments_draft_ban2.pdf
::::https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/13/no-more-con-games-abolish-nuclear-weapons-now/
:::::https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/14/no-more-con-games-abolish-nuclear-weapons-now-part-two/
::::::https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/15/no-more-con-games-abolish-nuclear-weapons-now-part-three/




:·······································································
<big><big>'''US Government Agencies to Account for Climate Change in Budgets'''</big></big>


September 21, 2023


:[http://www.climatecentral.org/news/us-footnote-g7-climate-talks-21533 <big> '''''US G7 Climate 'Footnote' / June 14 '''''</big>]
* https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/climate/biden-climate-change-economic-cost.html


''June 12 / Reuters -- The U.S. said it would not sign up to a pledge by Italy, Canada, Japan, France, Britain and Germany which called the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change "irreversible" and key for the "security and prosperity of our planet."''


''As a consequence, Washington formally refused to back multilateral development banks — bodies designed to finance poorer nations and help them reduce their pollution emissions.''
''A directive issued today by the Biden administration would, for the first time, have federal agencies consider the economic damage caused by climate change when deciding what kinds of vehicles, equipment and goods to buy.''


''"The U.S. is now left as a footnote to climate action and that's very sad," said Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. "Everyone expressed their deep disappointment with the U.S. decision," she said.''
''The new guidance from President Biden could affect purchasing decisions across the government, from agriculture to defense to health care. The idea is to take into account the greenhouse gases generated by goods and projects, how they contribute to global warming, and the cost of that to the economy.''


''The potential impact is significant. The federal government is the world’s largest consumer of goods and services, spending roughly $600 billion each year. The changes could shift purchases for the federal government’s fleet of roughly 600,000 cars and trucks from gasoline-powered to all-electric vehicles, redirect the flow of billions of dollars of government grants and reshape or kill some major construction projects.''


:·······································································
''“It will be the first time this ‘whole of government approach’ is used to evaluate the climate consequences of government actions,” said Richard Revesz, Mr. Biden’s regulatory chief, who is helping lead the initiative. Mr. Revesz, a climate law expert, has focused on using cost-benefit analysis when designing policies meant to protect human health and the environment...''




:[http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14349 <big> '''''Sustainable Soil / June 13 '''''</big>]
🌎
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Soil
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Soil_Loss




:[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/05/smog-in-5-charts/ <big> '''''Global/Local Smog / June 12 '''''</big>]
[[File:Earth conditions dynamic map.png]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Quid_graphs_Smog_2017.png
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution




:::[[File:Quid graphs Smog 2017.png]]
Planet Citizen, Where Are You on Planet Earth?




:·······································································
<big>Dynamic Change Is All Around Us</big


* https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-46.74,44.98,403/loc=-45.541,-53.340


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/The_Commons <font color=blue><big><big> '''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - Protecting 'The Commons' '''''</big></big></font>]
* https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:GreenLinks_as_of_December2015_via_GreenPolicy360.net.pdf


🌎


:::[[File:'Thin Blue Layer' of Earth's Atmosphere m.jpg]]


[[File:Telling stories of solutions for the climate crisis.jpg]]


&nbsp;


''If someone were to ask you – what tools do we need to combat climate change? – a few things might first come to mind. We undoubtedly need laws aimed at reducing fossil fuel emissions, such as a tax on carbon. We also need innovative, scalable technologies for building more efficient electric cars and pulling carbon out of the atmosphere.''


:[http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/03/steve-bannon-climate-change-project-biosphere/ <big>'''''Over the Edge / June 10'''''</big>]
''But in a democracy, there’s another tool that is at least as essential as these to overcoming climate change: effective solutions-driven storytelling.''
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:DJT_-_US_message_to_world.jpg


[[File:DJT - US message to world.jpg]]


Read more from the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media:


:<big> '''''Opening Up the Arctic to Oil/Gas? / June 9'''''</big>
* https://web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/commentary/how-storytelling-helps-combat-the-climate-crisis/


:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic


::https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/08/trump-new-fbi-director-chris-wray-russian-ties-rosneft-gazprom-column/102603214/
🌎
:::http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rex-tillerson-vladimir-putin-russia-exxon-2016-12/#putin-shakes-hands-with-toasts-with-tillerson-after-their-meeting-in-the-novo-ogaryovo-residence-outside-moscow-monday-april-16-2012-3




:[https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/06/pacific-states-british-columbia-team-up-to-cut-global-warming-pollution/ <big> '''''Pacific Coast States Act / June 8'''''</big>]
<big>'''“One Earth, One Family, One Future"'''</big>


::http://pacificcoastcollaborative.org/
Nations of the World, the G20, Gather in India


:[http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/07/asia/xi-brown-meeting-climate-china/ <big> ''''' More on China and Calif Gov Brown / June 7'''''</big>]


::[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/07/china-and-california-sign-deal-to-work-on-climate-change-without-trump ''China and California sign agreements'']
Thank you 'for the kind words'...


::::"It's not a time for inertia, it's a time for radical change" -- https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=19834
* https://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-message-of-one-earth-one-family-one-future-resonated-at-g20-summit-imfs-gita-gopinath-13105802.html




:·······································································
International media reporting green talk -- and hope....


* https://www.msn.com/en-in/lifestyle/smart-living/g20-media-centre-how-journalists-from-across-globe-worked-as-one-family/ar-AA1gvBjH


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Protect%2C_Serve%2C_Explore_My-principles-are-simple.jpg <big> ''''' "Simple" / June 6'''''</big>]
* https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/several-g20-leaders-hail-pm-modis-initiatives-to-combat-climate-change/ar-AA1gvEqZ
::https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/world/asia/xi-jinping-china-jerry-brown-california-climate.html
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/California_out_in_front_in_a_Green_future


* https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/new-delhi-declaration-it-s-a-document-of-hope-11694356220833.html


:[https://phys.org/news/2017-06-india-space-prowess-mega-rocket.html <big> '''''New Space, #EarthScience / June 5'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:New_Space
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Labs_Doves_Fly
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Democratization_of_Space




:·······································································
<big><big>'''As the G20 Meets, the United Nations 'Urges' the "Top Economic Powers" of Our Planet's Economy to Change Direction'''</big></big>




: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Global_Security <big> '''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - Global Security / June 4'''''</big>]
NEW DELHI  (International News Services) -- ''U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the Group of 20 top economic powers, which are responsible for more than 80% of the emissions that cause global warming, to use their weekend summit to send a strong message on climate change.''
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png ''New Definitions of National Security'']


''Guterres said all licensing or funding for new fossil fuel projects should be stopped and that the G20 must keep the “1.5-degree goal alive,” referring to the 2015 Paris climate agreement that set 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) as a global guardrail in atmospheric warming, with countries pledging to try to prevent that much long-term warming if possible.''


''Earlier this year, the U.N. weather agency had said that there’s a two-out-of-three chance that the world will temporarily hit a key warming limit within the next five years.''


:[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/unlike-others-putin-doesnt-criticize-trump-over-decision/2017/06/03/368b6dd6-4828-11e7-8de1-cec59a9bf4b1_story.html <big>'''''Wonder Why Russia? / June 3'''''</big>]
''July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin...''


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic
* https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66753909.amp




:<big><big>'''''Yesterday Was a Bad Day'''''</big></big>


<big>''Time to take stock, "Stocktake", and act...''</big>


:* [http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a55426/trump-pull-out-paris-climate-accords/ '''''US Retreats from International Cooperation''''']
''"One could also see the call for system transformations as a recognition that, while we still can, we should take our destiny in our own hands," said Dr Richard Klein from the Stockholm Environment Institute, who was involved in the initial stages of the stocktake.''


:* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/June_1,_2017 <big><font color=green><u>'''''The Decision Announced on June 1st, 2017'''''</u></font></big>]


'''''This means that every aspect of our societies needs to change to rein in rising temperatures...'''''


: <big>'''''The Consequences Start Now / June 1'''''</big>
''This includes the way we make energy, the way we travel, work and produce food. Experts say this type of change needs governments to take the initiative and make sure that their climate actions aren't immediately nullified by other policies and investments.


: <big> ''The US will be judged, this day will be long remembered.''</big>


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png ''National Security & Global Security are interrelated'']. ''He doesn't know this. There's so much he doesn't know & so much he doesn't know that he doesn't know.''
<big>'''''"Either we transform society in a way that avoids the worst of climate change, or climate change will transform society for us..."'''''</big>


:[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-just-betrayed-the-world-now-the-world-will-fight-back/2017/06/01/3c0b8026-46e7-11e7-a196-a1bb629f64cb_story.html ''Trump just betrayed the world. Now the world will fight back'']
* https://news.yahoo.com/un-global-stocktake-climate-change-191618644.html
* https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/what-is-worlds-first-global-stocktake-climate-change-2023-09-08/
* https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/what-is-the-un-global-stocktake-and-how-will-it-help-countries-limit-global-warming/ar-AA1gjMxo
* https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-un-global-stocktake/
* https://indianexpress.com/article/india/as-g20-drags-feet-uns-global-climate-stocktake-flags-large-deficits-8931143/
* https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2023/0909/1404345-world-leaders-gather-in-new-delhi-as-g20-summit-begins/


* [http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/31/jerry-brown-donald-trump-paris-climate-change-deal-238993 ''Brown: The Rest of the World Is Against Trump''] 




* [https://qz.com/996374/paris-climate-agreement-donald-trumps-surreal-announcement-of-the-pullout-in-the-white-house-rose-garden/ '''''A Surreal Setting, Strike Up the Band''''']
<big>'''August'''</big>


* [http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-paris-pullout-america-global-leadership-ends-article-1.3213353 '''''Leadership? What Leadership?''''']


* [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/opinion/trump-paris-climate-change-agreement.html '''''Our Disgraceful Exit''''']
[[File:The Daily Puffin.png]]


[https://twitter.com/CarlBovisNature/status/1693319996925976769 '''Photo credit: Carl Bovis''']




* [https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=19817 ''Governor Brown Statement on White House Paris Climate Agreement Announcement'']


* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Wrong,_Wrong,_Wrong.png ''"Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course."'']
<big>'''The Daily Puffin'''</big>


* https://twitter.com/CarlBovisNature


:''“This current departure from reality in Washington will be very short-lived, that I promise you,” Brown told POLITICO in an interview. “I’ve spoken with Republicans here in the Legislature, and they’re beginning to get very serious about climate action, so the momentum is all the other way. And I think Trump, paradoxically, is giving climate denial such a bad name that he’s actually building the very movement that he is [purporting] to undermine...”''




:○
'''Protect Our Living Earth, Biodiversity'''


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Biodiversity


: [http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/335901-european-chinese-leaders-unite-after-reports-trump-may-withdraw-from ''China Responds'']




:''Premier Li Keqiang of China [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/world/europe/climate-paris-agreement-trump-china.html said on Thursday] that his country remained committed to the fight against climate change and to participating in international efforts for a greener world.''
[[File:Living Earth.png]]


:''“China will continue to uphold its commitments to the Paris climate agreement,” Mr. Li said, confirming a position his country agreed to alongside the United States in 2014, in what proved to be a watershed moment for the ultimate passage of the landmark accord the following year.''


:''“Step by step, and very arduously, together with other countries, we will work toward the goals set” by global leaders in 2015, Mr. Li said, standing beside Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in Berlin.''


:''Ms. Merkel, who welcomed the Chinese commitment as “encouraging,” has been a leader in the global push for climate action since 1992, when she played a crucial international role in passage of the world’s first climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol.''


🌎


:''US business leaders point at downside'' -- http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/big-business-urges-trump-stick-paris-climate-accord-n766641 -- http://lowcarbonusa.org/business


<big>'''''Judge rules in favor of Montana youths in landmark climate decision'''''</big>


:''“If you have to go to a board of directors and say, ‘I have to make a multibillion-dollar investment that is multi-year,’ are you going to base it on two or four years in the political cycle or … on long-term economic, technological, and consumer trends?”'' -- [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/trump-climate-change-paris/528633/ Melissa Lavinson / The Atlantic]
''''' ‘This is a monumental decision,’ said a lawyer for the young plaintiffs, and could influence how judges handle similar cases in other states'''''


:[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/06/01/trump-is-about-to-do-something-terrible-and-destructive-the-gop-must-own-the-consequences/ ''The GOP must own the consequences.'']
* https://www.axios.com/2023/08/14/montana-youths-climate-change-landmark-lawsuit


* https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/first-of-its-kind-legal-ruling-favors-youth-in-montana-climate-case/




[http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/donald-trump-climate-change-paris-agreement-accord-deal-us-withdraw-global-warming-environment-a7764916.html <big>'''''Future of Humanity at Risk / May 31'''''</big>]
''In the first ruling of its kind nationwide, a Montana state court decided Monday in favor of young people who alleged the state violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting the use of fossil fuels...''


:''Forward or back?'' -- https://www.axios.com/scoop-trump-is-pulling-u-s-out-of-paris-climate-deal-2427773025.html
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/08/14/youths-win-montana-climate-trial/
:''Backwards looking -- "The 22"'' -- https://www.axios.com/scoop-top-republican-senators-urge-trump-to-exit-paris-climate-deal-2421530161.html


* https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-youth-montana-trial-c7fdc1d8759f55f60346b31c73397db0


: ''A policy direction from the US president that will live up to the challenges or deliver economic, environmental disasters.''
* https://apnews.com/article/youth-climate-trial-montana-18e301a701fcf4badc904984455406fc


: ''“I’ve always made more money in bad markets than in good markets.-- DJ Trump, Quoted 05/23/16 - MSNBC''
* https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/montana-climate-trial-young-activists-judge-order




:'''''Reflecting on Next Steps:'''''
<big>The Decision:</big>


::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/31/trump-nearing-a-decision-on-whether-to-pull-u-s-from-paris-climate-deal-breaking-ranks-with-more-than-190-countries/
August 14, 2023


:::http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-trump-paris-climate-change-20170531-story.html
RIKKI HELD, et al., Plaintiff, V. STATE OF MONTANA, et al., Defendant


* https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/64da53511de19d2889830a2c/1692029780262/08%3A14%3A23+Findings+of+Fact%2C+Conclusions+of+Law+and+Order.pdf


:'''''The Trump administration: A bump on the road?'''''
* https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/


:''Remember that a future president can rejoin the Paris global climate agreement with a 'flick of a pen'.''
 


[[File:I've done all I can.png]]


🌎


::::https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/05/31/the-planet-loses-but-u-s-is-bigger-loser-if-it-withdraws-from-paris-climate-agreement/




:''"The noose tightens," Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer, co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal Climatic Change, told [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/scientists-donald-trump-pull-out-paris-climate-change-agreement-a7759411.html The Independent]. The US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would only aggravate the climate change problem and make it much more difficult to prevent the crossing of a global temperature to a dangerous threshold. Three billion tonnes of additional carbon dioxide could be released into the air every year...''
<big><big>'''Hawaiian impacts of climate change'''</big></big>


'''How Climate Change Turned Lush Hawaii Into a Tinderbox'''


[[File:Disbelief.png]]
: Declining rainfall, rising temperatures and invasive species have left the islands more susceptible to wildfires


:* https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/climate/hawaii-fires-climate-change.html


[[File:New Mexico Land Commissioner speaks up.png]]
:* https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-climate-change-92c0930be7c28ec9ac71392a83c87582




[https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/?map=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&menu=eyJkYXRhc2V0Q2F0ZWdvcnkiOiJmb3Jlc3RDaGFuZ2UiLCJtZW51U2VjdGlvbiI6ImRhdGFzZXRzIn0%3D '''Global Forest Watch, monitoring forest loss, fires...''']


:[http://billmoyers.com/story/little-big-man/ <big>'''''Little Big Politics / May 30'''''</big>]
* https://www.globalforestwatch.org/
::http://billmoyers.com/topics/democracy-government/


:::''"America’s Little Big Man -- http://billmoyers.com/story/little-big-man/''
::::''Trump is teaching us how deeply disturbed our American world actually is"''




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Peace <big>'''''Memorial Day, Peace Day / May 29'''''</big>]
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=global%20forest%20watch&fulltext=Policy+Search&profile=images&redirs=0 '''Global Forest Watch @GreenPolicy360''']
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Dove_of_peace.jpg


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Forest_Watch


:·······································································


Causes and effect of the Maui fire...


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Be_kind.jpg <big>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' / Be Kind / May 28'''''</big>]
* https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/11/opinions/maui-wildfires-paradise-tourism-climate-change-nathaniel/index.html


* https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-climate-change-92c0930be7c28ec9ac71392a83c87582


:[[File:Be kind-2.jpg]]
* https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/09/hawaii-wildfires-maui-explainer


* https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/12/hawaii-fires-climate-change-maui/


:[http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit-communique-idUSKBN18N0JK <big>'''''G7 Split w/ US on Climate / May 27'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


:[https://www.recode.net/2017/5/25/15689094/mossberg-final-column <big>'''''As the Dean of Tech Writing Moves On / May 26'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360-eOS#Digital_Rights_Movement


[[File:Digital Rights Tag Cloud from GreenPolicy360.net.png]]
[[File:Hawaiian fires and climate.jpg]]




:[http://www.space.com/36989-nasa-budget-cancels-five-earth-science-missions.html <big>'''''Axe Earth Science Missions / May 25'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


:[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/world/europe/pope-trump-vatican-meet.html <big>'''''Pope & a President Meet / May 24'''''</big>]
🌎
::http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/05/24/i-wont-forget-what-you-said-trump-tells-pope-after-meeting-vatican
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Laudato_Si -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pope_Francis_on_the_Environment
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Pope_Francis_and_Donald_Trump-May24,2017.jpg 




:<big><u>'''''[[Laudato Si]]'''''</u></big>'''
<big>'''An Indictment Is Announced: The United States of America versus Donald J. Trump, defendant'''</big>


:<big><u>'''''[[Integral Ecology]]'''''</u></big>'''
The people of the US and world are hearing today's news. Reverberations echo. The former president has been charged with federal crimes of grave consequence -- attempting to obstruct the outcome of the 2020 US election for president and attempting to defraud the people of the United States and the democratic republic.


One notable attorney put the profound news this way: '''''Read the Indictment yourself'''''. We agree. There comes a time to turn to what is being presented, now, solemnly, words, facts, evidence, law... The path ahead is perilous, but necessary to travail.




:·······································································
''Set aside an hour or two, or find ten minutes here and there over the course of the next week. You’ll understand it better if you read it for yourself. The indictment is written in a manner that makes it clear prosecutors wanted it to be comprehensible to anyone who wanted to read it.''


* https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/8a7503af-fde7-4061-818c-7d7e0ee06036.pdf




:[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/us/california-engages-world-and-fights-washington-on-climate-change.html <big>'''''California Fights Washington / May 23 '''''</big>]
🇺🇸




:·······································································
'''United States Department of Justice'''


Statement of Special Counsel Jack Smith, August 1, 2023


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Be_kind.jpg <big>''''' Sunday 'Earth Services' - <font color=green> Be Kind </font>'''''</big>]
* https://www.justice.gov/sco-smith/speech/special-counsel-jack-smith-delivers-statement-0
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Eco-Spirituality
* https://www.justice.gov/sco-smith/video/statement-special-counsel-jack-smith
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Eco-Theology
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkkQig5uyA0


:[http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176282/tomgram%3A_peter_van_buren%2C_the_human_price_of_trump%27s_wars/#more <big>''''' Costs of War via StratDem / May 20 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Strategic_Demands
:::http://strategicdemands.com/costsofwar/ -- http://strategicdemands.com/new-definitions-of-security/


:[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-017-0357-5 <big>'''''Freaky Friday, Nukes 'n Space Weather / May 19 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Nonproliferation
:::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/


:[https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2017/05/15/432141/everything-think-know-coal-china-wrong/ <big>'''''China & Energy, Not What You Think / May 18 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/China
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution


:[http://e360.yale.edu/features/industry-meltdown-is-era-of-nuclear-power-coming-to-an-end <big>''''' Nuclear Power Blues / May 17 '''''</big>]
<big>'''July'''</big>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Energy
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Radioactive_Pollution
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Fukushima-Tokyo_was_on_brink_of_nuclear_catastrophe


:[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL073248/full <big>''''' Earth, Sagan & DSCOVR / May 16 '''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/EarthPOV -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pale_blue_dot
:::http://astrobiology.com/2017/05/glint-from-ice-particles-in-earths-atmosphere-could-be-used-to-study-exoplanets.html


'''Oppenheimer'''


:·······································································
Read highlights & reviews -- https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Oppenheimer_movie_-_2023.jpg


[[File:Oppenheimer movie - 2023.jpg]]


:[http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/12/top-10-renewable-energy-trends-to-watch-in-2017.html <big>'''''Future Energy Trends'''''</big>]


<big><big><big>'''Oppenheimer'''</big></big></big>


:·······································································
The Movie / July 2023


* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYPbbksJxIg
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK6ldnjE3Y0


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Moon_over_the_Horizon.JPG <big>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - Over the Horizon '''''</big>]
:: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Moon_over_the_Horizon.JPG '''''Origins of Mother's Days Around the World''''']




[[File:Moon over the Horizon.JPG]]


<big>'''A Republican Party 2024 Climate Strategy: More Drilling, Less Clean Energy'''</big>


: [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/04/climate/republicans-climate-project2025.html?unlocked_article_code=nqYfzu86yDyWph7LaCGRrq7yGPOHI5ScJEZTFniJuSz_5OFeWoulkqXl4LJtRgER9MaQxT1XN4csp8vAj0xLbt6KvaA3RJeMfqdi56yBxlmDceM1O6xSJzSJGl8RK7YzDQp3ncYg_dwD-ViR2zSBTXqgmOqPuREYs9wzNVZSLI_OeAhmpa83E1eruwoYHVCYVOG5oEyqTehh4QFDawsvUKjtcNRYqk1uIW90qEQvSO1mQbfW2FFXozm-_LSEorzCFfTeOORiiFmVjKSL7PVSQJdn3lPQWY24oSWCccJfLz6g1IznZksiCb04SWOM3snKqrEJTA8cnSeuK5WcgV69On4hqQvO4kqMfQ&smid=url-share Via the New York Times, August 4, 2023, Unlocked article]


:[http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/experts-call-for-better-regional-climate-observation-and-services/ <big>'''''Better Climate Observation Needed / May 13'''''</big>]
:: ''The New York Times asked the leading Republican presidential candidates whether they support the Project 2025 strategy but none of the campaigns responded''  
::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now -- http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
:::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Democratization_of_Space -- http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites
::::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic -- http://www.tinybluegreen.com
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earthviews




:[https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/5/10/15589038/top-100-solutions-climate-change-ranked <big>'''''100 Climate Solutions / May 12'''''</big>]
:: http://www.drawdown.org/solutions/ -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/ProjectDrawdownCO2




:[[File:Project Drawdown Bioneers.png]]
<big>'''Project2025'''</big>


: '''A 920-page Republican Party Political Plan'''


:[http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/7072/0/vatican-demands-complete-ban-on-nuclear-weapons- <big>'''''Pope, No Nuclear Weapons / May 11'''''</big>]
:* https://www.project2025.org/policy/
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Laudato_Si
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pope_Francis_on_the_Environment




:[http://e360.yale.edu/features/how-big-money-in-politics-blocked-u-s-action-on-climate-change <big>'''''Money, Politics & Climate / May 10'''''</big>]
Politico.com has published an advance outline of climate and environment related policies that a next US president, if Republican Party, would be urged to adopt. The goals of the [https://www.project2025.org/about/advisory-board/ '''groups'''] who contributed to the plan, led by the Heritage Foundation, are described as a 'battle plan'.
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Money_in_Politics
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Money_in_Politics


:* https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/far-right-climate-plans-00107498


:[https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/05/07/world-worries-trump-set-dump-paris-climate-deal <big>'''''Global Climate Politics / May 8'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space


''“Project 2025 is not a white paper. We are not tinkering at the edges. We are writing a battle plan, and we are marshaling our forces,” said Paul Dans, director of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation, which compiled the plan as a road map for the first 180 days of the next GOP administration. “Never before has the whole conservative movement banded together to systematically prepare to take power day one and deconstruct the administrative state.”''




:·······································································
As described in Politico:  


''The initiative has previously drawn attention for its efforts to prepare a systematic conservative takeover of the federal bureaucracy, in contrast to the perceptions of chaos that marked much of former President Donald Trump’s term. Those include plans to assemble a database of as many as 20,000 people who could serve in the next administration — “a right-wing LinkedIn,” as The New York Times described it in April — and proposals to impose sweeping Oval Office control over spending decisions, civil service employees and independent federal agencies.''


''(I)ts implications for U.S. climate policy — at a time of record heat waves sweeping the globe — have drawn far less attention.''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Via_Dr_Stacey_Robinson.JPG <big>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' / May 7 / "Road Map to Health"'''''</big>]
''The comprehensive plan covers virtually all operations of the federal government, not just energy and climate programs.''
::[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Food Food & Health] -- [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Farm-to-Table Farm-to-Table] -- [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Market_Gardening Market Gardening] -- [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Farmers_Markets Farmers Markets]
:::[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Slow_Food_%28Alternative_to_Fast_Food%29 'Slow Food' Alternative to 'Fast Food'] -- [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Community_Supported_Agriculture Community Supported Agriculture]


''It’s much more ambitious than the pledges that all the Republican presidential primary candidates have made so far to roll back Biden’s signature climate law. It also wouldn’t simply nullify Biden’s climate executive orders, something that a Republican president could easily do just after taking office.''


:[http://e360.yale.edu/features/why-its-time-to-stop-punishing-our-soils-with-fertilizers-and-chemicals <big>'''''Stop Treating Soil Like 'Dirt' / May 6'''''</big>]
''(T)he ideas laid out in Project 2025 show that conservative organizations want to achieve a more fundamental shift — moving federal agencies away from public health protections and environmental regulations in order to help the industries they have been tasked with overseeing, said Andrew Rosenberg (a former senior official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration''.) ...
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Agriculture
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Soil_Loss
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Soil
:::::http://civileats.com/2017/05/05/the-leopold-center-for-sustainable-agriculture-faces-a-shut-down/


''Preventing the expansion of the electric grid would slow down renewable energy projects, threatening U.S. climate goals while cooling the sector’s economic growth, said Mike O’Boyle, a senior director at the nonpartisan policy firm Energy Innovation and head of its electricity program.''


''“If we totally step away from the role of the federal government, our economy is going to miss out in a big way because the rest of the world is moving on climate, so they’re poised to reap the benefits both for their energy consumers but also in terms of manufacturing.”'' ...


:<big>'''''Northern Route thru the Arctic / May 5'''''</big>
''(An) increase in state power wouldn’t apply to California, which has a history of setting more aggressive environmental standards than those of the federal government under a Clean Air Act waiver. The Project 2025 plan would “ensure that other states can adopt California’s standards only for traditional/criteria pollutants, not greenhouse gasses.”''


::http://www.wibbitz.com/watch/?id=b31daa04078844d7f96142701c5f80a6e
''Another key goal is to restructure how EPA uses science, particularly research that supports regulations by showing risks to public health from industrial pollution.''
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Arctic-swipa-spm.pdf
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Miami_region_sea_level_rise.gif <big>'''''Where Goes Miami?'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise




<big>'''Deep cuts in environmental protection have extensive, long-term consequences'''</big>


[[File:Miami region sea level rise.gif]]


: [[File:3M lawsuit re forever chemicals - June 2023.png]]




:[http://www.climatecentral.org/news/china-india-climate-leaders-west-falters-21377 <big><font color=green>''''' Climate Plans, International (as of May 2017) '''''</font></big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:INDC


<big>'''Could the world go PFAS-free? Proposal to ban ‘forever chemicals’ debated'''</big>


'''A European agency is considering sweeping restrictions on fluorinated chemicals used in jet engines, electric cars, refrigeration systems, semiconductors and many consumer products'''


:·······································································
Via Nature


* https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02444-5


* https://echa.europa.eu/-/echa-publishes-pfas-restriction-proposal


[[File:Mustard greens bloom - Carrizo-San Luis Obispo-March2017.jpg]]


'''Proposal' could lead  to the world’s largest-ever clampdown on chemicals production. The plan, put forward by environmental agencies in five countries — Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden — would heavily restrict the manufacture of more than 12,000 substances, collectively known as forever chemicals.''


''These chemicals, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), are all around us. They coat non-stick cookware, smartphone screens, weatherproof clothing and stain-resistant textiles. They are also used in microchips, jet engines, cars, batteries, medical devices and refrigeration systems.''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Mustard_Greens-RM-Carrizo-April_2017.jpg <big><font color=green>''''' Sunday 'Earth Services' - Mustard Greens / April 30 '''''</font></big>]
''...the idea is to shrink PFAS use to a minimum. “We are asking society to make quite a shift.... We are asking to reverse all of it, go back to the drawing table and invent alternative solutions.”''


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Mustard_greens_bloom_-_Carrizo-San_Luis_Obispo-March2017.jpg
''Change is already under way for consumer use of PFASs. The notoriety of the toxic examples has pushed more than 100 companies and brands, including Apple, to pledge to phase out PFASs, even before it’s clear whether other materials can do the same job.''


''For industrial users, however, the idea of life without PFASs is a more shocking prospect. So February’s proposal has ignited debate about which uses of fluorinated chemicals the world could leave behind — and which must stay.''


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Brassica_juncea_-_K%C3%B6hler%E2%80%93s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-168.jpg


For more on International Environmental Laws:


* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Montreal_Protocol
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Plans_Enforcement_-_Resources


:[https://twitter.com/search?q=%23climatemarch&src=typd <big>''#ClimateMarch 2017''</big>]


[[File:Resist, Build, Rise 2.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:DiCaprio,_Drawdown.png]]




:<big><font color=green>'''''April 29'''''</font></big>
<big>'''Daniel Ellsberg dies at 92'''</big>




:[https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climatechange_.html <big><font color=green>''''' Snapshot Goodbye to the EPA Climate Change Website '''''</font></big>]
[[File:Daniel - June 16, 2023.png]]


:EPA removes climate science website from public view after two decades in operation -- Here's the Pruitt [https://twitter.com/hashtag/epa?src=hash #EPA] "kicks" explanation --  https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-kicks-website-updates
Photo: Wally Fong/Associated Press




An Archived Website of http://epa.gov/climatechange/ can be found at the Wayback Machine
GreenPolicy360 founder knew Dan [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Daniel_-_June_16,_2023.png '''up close and personal'''].


[https://web.archive.org/web/20170427220644/https://www.epa.gov/climatechange https://www.epa.gov/climatechange]
Read a remembrance of Dan and his quest for peace.  




________________________________________________
<big><big>'''Daniel Ellsberg'''</big></big>


In Memory of a Man Named Daniel


By Steven Schmidt


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Kelp_NOAA_credit_Robert_Schwemmer.jpg <big><big>''''' Seagrass and Ocean Forests: Your Oxygen '''''</big></big>]
June 17, 2023




::[[File:Kelp NOAA credit Robert Schwemmer.jpg|link=https://vimeo.com/67962861]]
The  moon was bright that night as I visited Daniel Ellsberg at his house on the beach in Southern California. It was mid 1970 and Dan was surrounded by boxes. "Papers," he called them. He was packing to leave for Cambridge and a new position at MIT and he was worried that night as he showed me the study he had put together at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica.  


As we sorted through documents I noticed some had Top Secret stamped on some of them. I learned later that these were part of the 7000 page, forty plus volume report soon to be called the "Pentagon Papers."


Dan spoke of President Nixon and famed advisor, Henry Kissinger with first-hand knowledge. He mentioned he had met with Kissinger recently at Nixon's San Clemente estate. I remember his fear, both that Nixon and Kissinger were repeating mistakes of previous administrations as "the Papers" demonstrated, and how the truth needed to go public. He broke off from the packing and said let's go, "I need to swim".


:[https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/ten-ways-get-involved-people-climate-movement <big>'''''Get Involved in Climate Action'''''</big>]
Dan was depressed, I knew, and I was not going to convince him not to go into the loudly crashing night surf. I watched as he plunged into the waves. He then reappeared for a moment in the moonlight. He swam straight out, then disappeared. I waited on shore looking out at the dark ocean. Time passed, no sign of Dan. I began worrying. Is this the end of Dan Ellsberg? Did I just witness Dan ending it all? Did a riptide take him? I walked up and down the beach searching. Suddenly, Dan walked out of the surf, nodded then sprinted back toward the house. He quickly shifted back into work mode. Something happened, he had new resolve.  
::https://peoplesclimate.org/


Today as I reflect on the life of Dan Ellsberg and the announcement of his death, I can say he lived life like few others. He pursued the truth and facts in a way that was astounding and committed. He went on to prove in his actions that he was brave to put his life on the line for the sake of the American people. His decision was purposeful. He thought deeply about the consequences. That night under the moon I saw his fear, and I saw his resolve.


:[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/04/26/scientists-keep-increasing-their-projections-for-how-much-the-oceans-will-rise-this-century/ <big>''''' Sea-Level Projection / April 26'''''</big>]
A few months later, when Daniel released the Pentagon Papers to a NY Times writer, Neil Sheehan, the truth came out. Dan's history of the war study subsequently led to the end of the Nixon presidency and, as a consequence, the end of the Vietnam War. Dan would later say the Pentagon Papers themselves didn't directly end the war, but the American people learned of the “evidence of a quarter-century of aggression, broken treaties, deceptions, stolen elections, lies, and murder”. This, with Nixon's resignation, brought on the end of the war.
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Sea-Level_Rise_%26_Mitigation


I learned over the course of our relationship that Dan Ellsberg was gifted, literally. I still say he is the smartest man I've ever known. His 2002 book "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers" is a must read. "On the evening of October 1, 1969, I walked out past the guards' desk at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica," he writes, "carrying a briefcase filled with top secret documents, which I planned to photocopy that night… How I came to do this is the focus of this memoir." Dan's memoir is a true American story.


:[https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/04/20/blockchain-helps-building-peer-to-peer-solar-energy-markets/#.tnw_eNhxvIAR <big>'''''Blockchain and Shared Solar / April 25 '''''</big>]
Beyond the Pentagon Papers and resulting demise of the Nixon presidency, Dan Ellsberg's follow-on 2017 book "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner" later explained the inner machinations of the nuclear war complex. He was, as a younger man, a systems man and followed orders. His nuclear war gaming was a Pentagon nuclear plan that he, as an old man, brought into the light with this revelatory book. The extent of humanity's threat to life on earth is part of Dan Ellsberg's legacy now.
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/San_Francisco,_CA_Resolution_Urging_Nationwide_Mobilization_of_Renewable_Energy_Resources ''Blockchain Distribution of Renewables'']


Daniel Ellsberg's life is a testament to what generations to come have to deal with -- perpetual wars, the realities of nuclear weapons, modern states with awesome powers for good and bad. Dan Ellsberg revealed and pointed us to harsh realities.


:[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/apr/24/why-we-joined-the-march-for-science <big>'''''Facts Matter! Science Matters!! / April 24'''''</big>]
Will we listen to Dan Ellsberg's message that he, risking all, brought to us?
::https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_for_Science
:::https://satellites.marchforscience.com/
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:March_for_Science-2.png
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Bill_nye-march_for_science-earth_day.jpg


Daniel Ellsberg, after all is said and done, was a man who taught us. He was a man of peace. Dan was a believer in the power each of us has to make a difference and move toward a better world.


:·······································································


-- Steven J Schmidt / Founder/Siterunner of GreenPolicy360


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Pale_Blue_Dot_867_PIA21445_figB_zoomed-500w.jpg <big><font color=green>''''' Sunday 'Earth Services' - Pale Blue Dot / April 23 '''''</font></big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pale_blue_dot




[[File:Pale Blue Dot from Cassini July 19,2013.jpg|link=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA17171]]
Read more about Daniel Ellsberg at GreenPolicy360 and StrategicDemands.com


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&profile=default&search=daniel+ellsberg&fulltext=Search


* https://strategicdemands.com/?s=Daniel+Ellsberg


&nbsp;


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo_8,_Life_Jan10,1969.png <big><big><font color=green>''''' April 22nd -- Earth Day '''''</font></big></big>]
::[[File:Peace s.jpg]]




:[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/About_Us '''''GreenPolicy360.net'''''] -- '''''Greening our Blue Planet'''''


🌎


:::[[File:Earthrise, the way Anders saw it.jpg]]


<big>'''Ex-President Criminally Charged'''</big>




:<big>'''''GTN Climate / April 20 '''''</big>
'''June 13, 2023'''
<small>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GTN_GreenLinks_Trending_News


:::https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/27/climate-change-human-fingerprint-found-on-global-extreme-weather
A day in US history that is unprecedented, a former US president is charged in Federal Court with criminal actions...  
::::https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/apr/18/climate-change-surely-the-most-important-news-story-of-our-age
</small>


Opinion-makers/commentators/pundits, citizens and politicos engage in heated debate. We will be brief -- This is not unexpected given the past hundreds of court cases, charges, convictions and record of Mr. Trump.


:[https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/04/finally-nasa-has-its-universe-of-images-in-one-happy-searchable-place/ <big>'''''Visit NASA's Image Archive'''''</big>]
The challenges to democracy that are growing, and are already extreme, will be magnified throughout the nation. Global impacts will follow in turn.  
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:NASA


The indictment has delivered new risks, new costs, new unknowns. The coming presidential election has been given a new urgency amid today's news.


: <big>'''''Virtual Earth Maps / April 17'''''</big>


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Google_Earth_invite-just_in_time_for_Earth_Day.jpg
[[File:Former president Trump - June 13, 2023, charged with Federal crimes Google News.png]]
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Virtual_Reality
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Maps


[[File:Donald Trump criminally charged in Miami, Florida - CNN.png]]


:·······································································




:[http://mashable.com/2017/04/15/spacevr-spacex/#JqcF0a9K8gqw <big><font color=green>''''' Sunday 'Earth Services' - Virtual Reality Overview / Week 15 '''''</font></big>]
·······································································
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Astronaut-chris-hadfield-earth-photo.jpg




[[File:April 28, 2016.png|link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/ISS025E006291viaDougWheelock.jpg]]
<big><big>'''Looking Back, Looking Forward:'''</big></big>


: <big>Recalling Beginnings of the US Earth Science Mission and Giving a Nudge to NASA's Continued Research & Science'''</big></big>


:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


:http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/new-solar-powered-device-can-pull-water-straight-desert-air
This past first week of June found GreenPolicy360 again pushing the advisory councils at NASA to return language about scientific study of the "home planet" as a top mission in the Mission Statement/Charter and follow on strategic planning. The original NASA Mission Statement and subsequent updates continued to have a top emphasis on earth science from space over decades, providing essential data for measuring/monitoring/managing the home planet. Then in 2006 the phrase "to understand and protect the home planet" was removed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration official Mission statement.
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Water_Saving
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Citizen_Science


:http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/donald-trump-kathleen-hartnett-white-climate-skeptic-job-237172
GreenPolicy360 for years has advocated for the return of this language, updated and highlighted, as an essential, continuing mission.
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_full-cost_accounting


:https://climatesecurity101.org/on-the-record/
Take a look at this page for a better idea of what is going on behind the scenes as NASA advisory councils gathered to suggest and propose changes to the NASA's strategic planning.


Earth missions continue to be top of mind -- and it follows, in our considered opinion, that "home planet" language about earth science to "understand and protect" should be again at the top of a NASA Mission Statement... and pointed at and highlighted.


:'''''https://www.PlanetCitizen.org'''''
-- SJS/GreenPolicy3360 Siterunner
::'''''https://www.PlanetCitizens.org'''''




:https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/09/trump-smog-offshore-drilling-rules-climate
[[File:NASA logo1.jpg]]
::https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/states-challenge-trump-over-clean-power-plan/
:::https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/05/climate-change-legal-challenge-donald-trump




::[[File:California at the forefront of US environmental policies.png|link=http://e360.yale.edu/features/in-the-face-of-trump-environmental-rollback-california-stands-in-defiance]]
<big><big>'''The Original Mission Statement of NASA'''</big></big>


: '''Quote: NASA's Mission, “To understand and protect our home planet..."'''


:* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_Original_Mission_Statement_of_NASA.png


:·······································································




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Rolling-under-the-stars.jpg <big><font color=green>''''' Sunday 'Earth Services' - Under the Stars / Week 14 '''''</font></big>]
[[File:Earth and Space, Politics.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics]]




[[File:Rolling-under-the-stars.jpg]]


🌎


:[http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us-2016/ <big>'''''April 8th'''''</big>]


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security,_National_Security ''Visualize Environmental Security <-> National Security'']


<big><big>'''May'''</big></big>


:[http://strategicdemands.com/another-war-escalation/ <big>'''''April 7th'''''</big>]


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Strategic_Demands
[[File:SCOTUS decision on water protection.png]]




:[http://www.drawdown.org/the-book <big>'''''April 6th'''''</big>]
<big>'''SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States, acts again in the environmental arena'''</big>


::[http://www.powells.com/book/drawdown-the-most-comprehensive-plan-ever-proposed-to-roll-back-global-warming-9780143130444/62-0 ''Drawdown, Climate Challenge/Solutions'']
: The headlines in media are blunt in their news of the current court: US Supreme Court rules against EPA in wetlands regulation challenge ... The Supreme Court just narrowed protection for wetlands... The Supreme Court rolls back federal safeguards for wetlands ...  
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Project_Drawdown_Bioneers.png
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/ProjectDrawdownCO2
:::::[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tRdFX6IXUg '''Paul Hawken - Project Drawdown | Bioneers (Video)''']
:::::: [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Bioneers '''Visit the Bioneers, Make a Difference''']




:[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/09/92-of-the-world-s-population-lives-in-areas-with-unsafe-air-pollution-levels-this-interactive-map-shows-just-how-bad-the-problem-is/ <big> '''''April 5th''''' </big>]
May 25, 2023


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution
''(Today, May 25th) the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to the nation’s wetlands by rewriting a statute the court does not like to mean something it does not mean. The court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA is one of the its most egregious betrayals of textualism in memory. Put simply: The Clean Water Act protects wetlands that are “adjacent” to larger bodies of water. Five justices, however, do not think the federal government should be able to stop landowners from destroying wetlands on their property. To close this gap between what the majority wants and what the statute says, the majority crossed through the word “adjacent” and replaced it with a new test that’s designed to give landowners maximum latitude to fill in, build upon, or otherwise obliterate some of the most valuable ecosystems on earth.''
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Quality
::::https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/trumps-epa-cuts-budget/521223/


...


:[http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ <big>'''''April 4th'''''</big>]
''The law expressly protects “waters of the United States” (like rivers and lakes) as well as “wetlands adjacent” to these waters. Congress added the wetlands provision in 1977 to codify the EPA’s definition of “adjacent,” which also happens to be the actual definition: “bordering, contiguous, or neighboring.” Under that interpretation—the one Congress adopted—wetlands that neighbor a larger body of water remain protected, even if they aren’t directly connected.''
::https://www.sciencenews.org/article/frigate-birds-fly-nonstop-months


''Why did Congress make that choice? Because wetlands provide immense environmental benefits: They filter and purify water draining into nearby streams, rivers, and lakes. They slow down runoff into these larger bodies. And they serve as vital flood control. In other words, the Clean Water Act has to protect “adjacent” wetlands to serve its overarching goal of safeguarding the broader “waters of the United States” from pollution.''


:[http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2017/04/an-astronauts-guide-to-becoming-the-ultimate-outsider-2/ <big>'''''April 3rd'''''</big>]
* https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/samuel-alito-wetlands-opinion-lost-brett-kavanaugh.html
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Wetlands


:·······································································
* https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/2022/06/sackett-v-epa-and-the-definition-of-waters-of-the-united-states/




🌎


:[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/opinion/climate-progress-with-or-without-trump.html <big>'''''April 1st '''''</big>]
::"Physics... a framework for thinking" https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Tesla,_electric_cars




[[File:Physics ... ie withyouorwithoutyou.jpg|link=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/opinion/climate-progress-with-or-without-trump.html]]
[[File:Methane Reduction proposal passes in EU Parliament - May 2023.png]]




<big>'''''Methane Reduction Action by European Parliament / European Union'''''</big>


[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/us/politics/science-technology-white-house-trump.html <big><big><font color=green>'''''Climate Politics / March 30th'''''</font></big></big>]
* https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20230505IPR84920/fit-for-55-meps-boost-methane-emission-reductions-from-the-energy-sector
:http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/326380-house-votes-to-restrict-epas-use-of-science
::https://thinkprogress.org/house-honest-act-limit-epa-science-244a132bdee




[[File:Foley on March29,2017.png]]
''''Parliament today adopted its position on a new law to reduce methane emissions from the energy sector to reach the EU’s climate goals and improve air quality.''''


''The new law is the first piece of EU legislation aimed at cutting methane emissions and covers direct methane emissions from the oil, fossil gas and coal sectors, and from biomethane once it is injected into the gas network. MEPs also want the new rules to include the petrochemicals sector.''


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Politics_and_Science_in_the_House_un-Science_Committee.png ''House Science Committee attacks the science'']


[[File:NASA has a new mission... against Methane.png]]


[[File:Politics and Science in the House un-Science Committee.png]]




''Background''


::::··········································································
''Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and air pollutant and is responsible for approximately a third of current global warming. It comes from a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, waste and energy, which are responsible respectively for 53%, 26% and 19% of EU methane emissions according to the European Environment Agency. Today, methane emissions are covered under the targets in the EU’s Effort Sharing Regulation.''


''The EU has signed up to the [https://www.state.gov/global-methane-pledge-from-moment-to-momentum/ '''Global Methane Pledge'''], which aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, which could eliminate over 0.2˚C warming by 2050.''


::http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/27/15073162/fcc-broadband-internet-privacy-rules-congress-vote


::https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/03/congress-debates-reversing-course-decades-consumer-privacy-protections
''Since it launched at COP26 international climate summit, the Global Methane Pledge has generated unprecedented momentum for methane action. Country endorsements of the GMP have grown from just over 100 last year to 150, more than 50 countries have developed national methane action plans or are in the process of doing so, substantial new financial resources are being directed to methane action, and partners have launched “pathways” of policies and initiatives to drive methane reductions in key methane-emitting sectors – a GMP Energy Pathway launched at the June 2022 Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate and a GMP Food and Agriculture Pathway and GMP Waste Pathway, both launched at COP27.''


::https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/28/internet-service-providers-sell-browsing-history-house-vote
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Methane_cuts_pledge_-_COP27.png


::https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/republicans-in-congress-will-not-protect-your-internet-privacy-so-protect-it-yourself




::"Results of the Privacy Protection Vote" /  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2017/roll202.xml
[[File:Methane emissions to be cut - COP26 pledges.png]]


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360-eOS#Digital_Rights_Movement




''Environmental Law & Enforcement''


:·······································································
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Plans_Enforcement_-_Resources
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Methods_to_enforce_climate_pledges-NDCs_-_Dec_2021.png




''Global Methane Pledge''


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth
* https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/
* https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2022/the-global-methane-pledge
* https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/cop27-more-countries-join-methane-pact-focus-turns-farms-waste-2022-11-17/
* https://www.state.gov/global-methane-pledge-from-moment-to-momentum/
* https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/the-global-methane-pledge-cop26-explainer/ (@COP26)


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Block_Island_Wind_Farm


::https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_versus_butter_model
:::http://strategicdemands.com/costsofwar/


🌎


:·······································································




April 22, 2023


:[[File:Watching the Planet Breathe.jpg]]


[[File:Biden re Earth Day 2023.png]]




:[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2017/mar/17/white-house-climate-change-funding-waste-money-video <big>'''''March 17th'''''</big>]
<big><big>'''On Earth Day 2023'''</big></big>


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Change -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security
:'''50+ years and counting from the first "Earth Day"'''
:::http://www.thinbluelayer.com -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security,_National_Security
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
:::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
::::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations


:[http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-autos-20170315-story.html <big>'''''March 16th'''''</big>]


::https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/15/car-pollution-carbon-emissions-obama-trump-epa
<big><big>On the 50th Anniversary</big></big>
:::https://electrek.co/2017/03/15/trump-epa-fuel-rules/
::::http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/trump-set-challenge-obama-era-fuel-standards-detroit/
:::::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Quality -- http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Fossil_Fuels
::::::http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Full-cost_Accounting -- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Gas-Powered_Transportation
:::::::http://cait.wri.org/indc/#/map -- [http://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/United%20States%20of%20America/1/U.S.%20Cover%20Note%20INDC%20and%20Accompanying%20Information.pdf Worldwide Climate Policy Plans (PDF Graphic) including the US and its status upholding or retreating from commitments]


<big><big>Memories on the Road to the First Earth Day</big></big>


<small>•
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary</small>


:·······································································


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf '''Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement''']


<small>• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Day</small>


:[http://theconversation.com/curbing-climate-change-has-a-dollar-value-heres-how-and-why-we-measure-it-70882 <big>'''''March 14th'''''</big>]
<small>* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Anthropocene
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/PlanetCitizen
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics


Today the ideals and ideas that began in a serious way that first "Earth Day" in 1970 continue on .... We became a vital movement, a political cause, and now we are a diverse mix across the globe with our hopes. Our 'sleeves are rolled up' to go to work, getting with the action and employing the Internet with many voices, colors, ages and beliefs, especially with the enthusiasm and power of young people joining in. 


:[http://www.wired.co.uk/article/tim-berners-lee-web-internet-letter-danger <big>'''''March 13'''''</big>]
Green, environmental, national and global.... We are strongly confronting and working to solve our generation's existential challenges. Reaching across our home planet, touching and interacting with planet citizens, looking to share solutions to the pressing problems and challenges of our generation.


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Beginning_of_WWW_89_TimBerners-Lee_CERN.jpg - [http://WebFoundation.org Web Foundation]
To our friends across our blue-green living Earth, GreenPolicy360 and [http://www.strategicdemands.com '''Strategic Demands'''], GreenPolicy360's associate with a geo-politics emphasis, send "Earth Day greetings" today and every day. The work carries on as together we face the challenges believing we can make a positive difference year after year, decade after decade....
:::[http://webfoundation.org/2017/03/web-turns-28-letter/ Open Letter from WWW founder Tim Berners-Lee]




:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360-eOS#Digital_Citizen.2C_Digital_Rights_Movement Digital Rights Movement]
::[[File:Dove of peace s.jpg]]




:·······································································


International Climate Action:


<big>'''[[Going Green]]'''</big>


:[https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000004966193/fukushima-6-years-on-empty-and-eerie.html <big>'''''March 11th'''''</big>] | ''#Fukushima''


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Gary_prepping_pump_for_flight_to_Japan.jpg ''Gary Schmidt prepping emergency pump for flight to Japan'']
<big><big>'''''Climate envoy Kerry: No rolling back clean energy transition'''''</big></big>
:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Fukushima-Tokyo_was_on_brink_of_nuclear_catastrophe ''Fukushima on brink of nuclear catastrophe'']


''SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — So much has been invested in clean energy that there can be no rolling back of moves to end carbon emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Sunday.''


:[http://blog.ucsusa.org/brenda-ekwurzel/epa-head-pruitt-on-climate-change-dead-wrong-three-fundamental-scientific-facts-he-needs-to-know <big>'''''March 10th'''''</big>] | #Pruitt #EPA
''Kerry noted that if countries deliver on promises to phase out polluting fossil fuels, the world can limit average global warming to 1.7 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), better than the worst case scenarios but still above the current limit of 1.5 C global warming above pre-industrial levels.''
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Pruitt_talks_EPA_-_CO2.png


''“We’re in a very different place than where we were a year ago, let alone two and three years ago,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.''


:[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/08/how-climate-change-battles-are-increasingly-being-fought-and-won-in-court <big>'''''March 9th'''''</big>] | #ClimateChange #ClimatePolicy #US #California
''“But we’re not doing everything we said we’d do,” he said, after attending a meeting of energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations. “A lot of countries need to step up including ours to reduce emissions faster, deploy renewables faster, bring new technologies online faster all of that has to happen.''
:https://www.wired.com/2017/03/want-gut-emission-rules-prepare-war-california/
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/California_out_in_front_in_a_Green_future ''California Out in Front'']
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Governor_Jerry_Brown ''California Governor Jerry Brown'']


::(Re: New actions threaten the US 'Clean Power Plan')
* https://apnews.com/article/kerry-climate-japan-g7-emissions-395aec4c70df0c8bf328677e4b3b454e
::http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060051196




:[http://www.techmeme.com/170307/p10#a170307p10 <big>'''''March 8'''''</big>] | #DeepState #SecurityState
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Digital_Rights


🌎


:[http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pollution-who-idUSKBN16D00H <big>'''''March 7'''''</big>] | #Pollution
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution




:[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-02-13/how-america-lost-faith-expertise <big>'''''March 6'''''</big>] | #Expertise #Science
[[File:Sea levels surge along southern US coast.png]]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now


::<small>* https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/04/10/sea-level-rise-southern-us/</small>


:·······································································


'' “These rapid rates are unprecedented over at least the 20th century and they have been three times higher than the global average over the same period.”''


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Above.png <big><font color=green>''''' Sunday 'Earth Services' - Above / Week 9'''''</font></big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Above.png




:[[File:Above.png|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Above_Earth_.jpg]]
🌎




GreenPolicy360: The threat horizon is near and far.... here, science reports from the 'bottom of the earth'.... warming waters in the coldest region of the planet are causing change, big change, month-by-month, year-by-year


:[http://strategicdemands.com/escalating-geopolitics_eurasia/ <big>'''''March 3'''''</big>]
::http://www.strategicdemands.com


<big>'''''What happens in Antarctica doesn't stay in the Antarctic'''''</big>


:[https://www.amazon.com/Doughnut-Economics-Seven-21st-Century-Economist/dp/1603586741/ <big>'''''March 2'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Book_Reviews_@GreenPolicy


[[File:Thwaites.jpg]]


:[http://www.poynter.org/2017/there-are-now-114-fact-checking-initiatives-in-47-countries/450477/ <big>'''''March 1'''''</big>]
::Facts & Science, the basis of knowledge
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Stats_-_Green_Research_&_Science


<big>'''''Melting Antarctic ice predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean current by 2050'''''</big>


:[http://npmaps.com/ <big>'''''February 27'''''</big>]
''New research by Australian scientists suggests 40% slowdown in just three decades could alter world’s climate for centuries''
::[http://npmaps.com/ US National Parks Maps]


* https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/30/melting-antarctic-ice-predicted-to-cause-rapid-slowdown-of-deep-ocean-current-by-2050


:·······································································
* https://phys.org/news/2023-03-deep-ocean-currents-antarctica-collapse.html




:[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Blue_fragile_edge_thin_blue_line.jpg <big><font color=green> '''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - "Thin Blue" / Week 8'''''</font></big>]
Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater
::[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Blue_atmosphere_from_Astro_Wheelock.jpg "Fragile edge of our planet"] / [http://www.thinbluelayer.com www.ThinBlueLayer.com]
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:ThinBlue.png


* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05762-w


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Space_Science_and_Space_Physics <big>'''''February 24'''''</big>]
<small>''The abyssal ocean circulation is a key component of the global meridional overturning circulation, cycling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients throughout the world ocean. The strongest historical trend observed in the abyssal ocean is warming at high southern latitudes, yet it is unclear what processes have driven this warming, and whether this warming is linked to a slowdown in the ocean’s overturning circulation. Furthermore, attributing change to specific drivers is difficult owing to limited measurements, and because coupled climate models exhibit biases in the region. In addition, future change remains uncertain, with the latest coordinated climate model projections not accounting for dynamic ice-sheet melt. Here we use a transient forced high-resolution coupled ocean–sea-ice model to show that under a high-emissions scenario, abyssal warming is set to accelerate over the next 30 years. We find that meltwater input around Antarctica drives a contraction of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), opening a pathway that allows warm Circumpolar Deep Water greater access to the continental shelf. The reduction in AABW formation results in warming and ageing of the abyssal ocean, consistent with recent measurements. In contrast, projected wind and thermal forcing has little impact on the properties, age and volume of AABW. These results highlight the critical importance of Antarctic meltwater in setting the abyssal ocean overturning, with implications for global ocean biogeochemistry and climate that could last for centuries.''</small>
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Planetary_Science
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_James_Webb_telescope_modeled_at_SXSW_2015.jpg


:[https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-telescope-reveals-largest-batch-of-earth-size-habitable-zone-planets-around <big>'''''February 23'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Webb_Telescope_construction_completed-Nov2016.jpg
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Hubble


:[http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060050245 <big>'''''February 22'''''</big>]
'''''If greenhouse gas emissions continue at today’s levels, the current in the deepest parts of the ocean could slow down by 40% in only three decades.'''''
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:NASA_Climate_Feb16,2017.png
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Arctic1_by_Timo_Lieber_800x480.jpg


'''''This, the scientists said, could generate a cascade of impacts that could push up sea levels, alter weather patterns and starve marine life of a vital source of nutrients.'''''


[[File:NASA Climate Feb16,2017.png|link=https://twitter.com/NASAClimate]]
'''''Antarctic ice melt could disrupt the world’s oceans ...'''''




''The Antarctic overturning circulation is part of a global network of currents that shift heat, oxygen and nutrients around the globe''
''Global warming is accelerating the melting of ice in Antarctica, and the increased amount of fresh water flooding into the ocean is disrupting the flow of the Antarctic overturning circulation''


:·······································································
* https://www.straitstimes.com/world/antarctic-ice-melt-could-disrupt-the-world-s-oceans-study
* https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/monster-iceberg-released-billions-of-tonnes-of-fresh-water-into-ocean




:<big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' / Week 7'''''</font></big>  
<big>'''Meanwhile, up north....'''</big>


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic


''[https://vimeo.com/67962861 Watch the Forests of the Seas & Listen to Philip Glass]''




[[File:Floating Forests-Kelp -- Oceanlight.jpg]]
[[File:Blue green lines 1.png]]




<big><big>'''PBS Tells a Story of a War and Nuclear Weapons Use Narrowly Avoided'''</big></big>


:[http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/03/how-seriously-read-scientific-paper <big>'''''February 16'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Stats_-_Green_Research_&_Science


GreenPolicy360: A new nuclear arms race is underway. We and our associate, Strategic Demands, call it [https://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/ '''"Cold War 3.0"''']... fortunately, humanity has not used nuclear weapons since the last days of World War 2 but since the beginning days of the nuclear era there have been too many close calls where an apocalyptic Pandora's Box, having been opened, has brought our world much too close to nuclear war and cataclysm.


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth <big>'''''February 15'''''</big>]
Here, in a new revealing documentary on PBS's "American Experience" series we look back at a close call in October/November 1969, one that involved GreenPolicy360 founder/siterunner.  
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Landsat_data_users_handbook LANDSAT]


The reality of a 'madman' plotting to use tactical nuclear weapons in this documentary wasn't revealed until years after the fact and after a peace movement prevented nuclear strikes. Now that this story is 'out in the open', we ask who is watching, who is listening?




:·······································································
[[File:Dan Ellsberg - the world is in your hands.png]]




:<big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' / Week 6'''''</font></big>


::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Trumbull_vfx_master.jpg
[[File:The Movement and the Madman - PBS - March 2023.png]]
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:2001_pic3.jpeg




[[File:2001 pic3.jpeg]]
PBS


<big><big>'''The Movement and the 'Madman' '''</big></big>


:[http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21716672-pollution-shortens-londoners-lives-between-nine-and-16-months-plan-clean-up-britains <big>'''''February 11'''''</big>]
PBS PREMIERE MARCH 28 ON AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
:: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution


The documentary film tells the little-known story of a dramatic showdown between a protest movement and a president.


:[http://sustainability.thomsonreuters.com/2017/01/30/putins-russia-in-biggest-arctic-military-push-since-soviet-fall/ <big>'''''February 10'''''</big>]
* https://www.movementandthemadman.com/home
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic
* https://www.movementandthemadman.com/history
* https://www.movementandthemadman.com/preview
* https://www.movementandthemadman.com/interviewees
* https://www.movementandthemadman.com/filmmakers




:[http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/how-culture-clash-noaa-led-flap-over-high-profile-warming-pause-study <big>'''''February 9'''''</big>]
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics


[[File:Doomsday Machine-Daniel Ellsberg-Recalling the Vietnam Moratorium Oct-Nov 1969.jpg]]


:[http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/07/513935921/after-more-than-a-century-bison-return-to-canadas-oldest-national-park <big>'''''February 8'''''</big>]
:: https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Tree_of_Life




: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/PlanetCitizen <big>'''''February 7'''''</big>]
🌎
:: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/2001_pic3.jpeg A View of Our Home Planet (w/ VFX 2001 thanks to our friend Doug Trumbull)]




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations <big>'''''February 6'''''</big>]


::Planet, Alphabet-Google, Terra Bella -- Democratization of Space
[[File:Internet Freedom - Democracy Status - FH Map 2022-23.png]]


::: [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations Earth Observations, Earth Data for Generations to Come]


<big>'''Mapping Internet Freedom - Democracy Status'''</big>


:·······································································
* https://freedomhouse.org/explore-the-map?type=fiw&year=2023




:<big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' / Week 5'''''</font></big>
About Freedom House


::'Bridges to Babylon', recorded in Los Angeles @ Ocean Wave Studio w/ Billy Preston on Hammond. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nen9TzpiF_o 'Saint of Me' - Live in Rio]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_House


* https://freedomhouse.org/


[[File:Statue-of-Jesus-Christ-The-Redeemer-Rio-de-Janeiro-Brazil.jpg]]
* https://freedomhouse.org/issues




News


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Japan,_more_car_charging_sites_than_gas_stations.png <big>'''''February 3'''''</big>]
* https://freedomhouse.org/article/reflecting-50-years-freedom-world


::Japan has more car charging stations than gas stations
* https://freedomhouse.org/article/new-report-global-freedom-declines-17th-consecutive-year-may-be-approaching-turning-point




:[http://h2oradio.org/NASA_JPL.html <big>'''''February 2'''''</big>]
''Global freedom declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022 as 35 countries suffered deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, according to a new report released today by Freedom House. A total of 34 countries made improvements during the year, however, meaning the gap between the numbers of countries that improved and declined was the narrowest it has ever been since the negative pattern began. The report suggests that the struggle for democracy may be approaching a turning point, and offers recommendations on how democratic governments and societies should work together to roll back authoritarian gains.''
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Science_from_Space ''Earth Science from Space'']


''The new report—Freedom in the World 2023: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy—is the 50th edition of Freedom House’s annual global assessment of political rights and civil liberties.''


:[https://eos.org/editors-vox/global-positioning-system-sparks-new-data-revolution <big>'''''February 1'''''</big>]
* https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2023/marking-50-years
::GPS satellites, distributed over 6 orbital planes, provide important context for ongoing and historical science missions, and enable new types of #EarthScience research not previously possible
:::The data are publicly available, hosted by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and can be found by searching the data.gov portal or at https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/space-weather/satellite-data/satellite-systems/gps/




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_in_Human_Hands.jpg <big>'''''January 31'''''</big>]
::"Earth in Human Hands"




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic <big>'''''January 30'''''</big>]
March 29
::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Tillerson-Putin_mtg.jpg




:·······································································
<big>'''Judge Luttig (Again) Has a Warning for America'''</big>


: Our democracy is “under vicious, unsustainable, and unendurable attack—from within.”


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:GOESR16Wavelengths_January2017.jpg <big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - GOES / Week 4'''''</font></big>]
::GOES "First Light": http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=89506&src=eoa-iotd
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GOES-16


Via [https://www.thebulwark.com/about-us/ '''The Bulwark''']


::[[File:GOESRWavelengths.jpg | link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:GOESR16Wavelengths_January2017.jpg]]
''On the morning before the January 6th attack on the Capitol, one of the nation’s most prominent conservative jurists, former Federal Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig, posted a message aimed at Vice President Mike Pence.''


''“The only responsibility and power of the Vice President under the Constitution is to faithfully count the electoral college votes as they have been cast,” Judge Luttig wrote.''


:[https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/trumps-first-week-white-house-was-disaster <big>'''''January 28'''''</big>]
''“The Constitution does not empower the vice president to alter in any way the votes that have been cast, either by rejecting certain votes or otherwise,” Luttig continued.''
::National Resources Defense Council launches "'''onEarth-Trump V. Earth'''" to track environmental policy moves of the US president


''If Pence had caved to Donald Trump’s demands and refused to count the electoral votes, Judge Luttig to''ld the House January 6th Committee last summer, the nation “would immediately have been plunged into what would have been tantamount to a revolution within a paralyzing constitutional crisis.”


:[http://strategicdemands.com/updating-midnight-rendezvous/ <big> '''''January 27'''''</big>]
::Nuclear Issues / Cold War 2.0 -- Strategic Demands, GreenPolicy's associated site, investigates escalating #nuclear #proliferation
:::http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/


''Now, Judge Luttig is back, with even a starker warning.''


:[https://climatemirror.org/ <big>'''''January 26'''''</big>]
''The institutions of our democracy and law, he says, “are under vicious, unsustainable, and unendurable attack — from within.”''
::Climate Mirror: https://climate.daknob.net/
:::The Climate Mirror Project is working to mirror and safely archive U.S. Govt. websites/datasets related to climate, climate change, and global warming


''Last week, at the University of Georgia School of Law, Luttig said:''


:[https://electrek.co/2017/01/23/tesla-mira-loma-powerpack-station-southern-california-edison/ <big> '''''January 25'''''</big>]
''With the former president’s and his Republican Party’s determined denial of January 6, their refusal to acknowledge that the former president lost the 2020 presidential election fair and square, and their promise that the 2024 election will not be “stolen” from them again as they maintain it was in 2020, America’s Democracy and the Rule of Law are in constitutional peril — still. And there is no end to the threat in sight….''
::Powerpak: 80 MWh Powerpack station from TESLA & Southern California Edison, biggest energy storage project in the world using lithium-ion batteries 
:::Coming online soon -- http://www.utilitydive.com/news/inside-construction-of-the-worlds-largest-lithium-ion-battery-storage-faci/431765/
:::: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/California_out_in_front_in_a_Green_future ''California Out in Front in a Green Future'']


''We are a house divided and our poisonous politics is fast eating away at the fabric of our society….''


:[https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/01/05/koch-reins-act-congress-trump <big>'''''January 24'''''</big>]
::The REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act of 2017
:::The [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-pope/the-most-dangerous-bill-y_b_14067390.html 'Most Dangerous Bill] You've Never Heard Of Just Passed the House of Representatives'


* https://www.thebulwark.com/podcast-episode/judge-michael-luttig-a-betrayal-of-america-2/


:[http://e360.yale.edu/features/with-the-ascent-of-trump-is-it-game-over-for-the-climate-fight <big>'''''January 23'''''</big>]
* https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/who-is-j-michael-luttig-and-why-is-he-testifying-in-the-jan-6-hearings
::Bill McKibben, former GreenPolicy360 advisor, speaks to challenges with Trump as the US president


* https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-pence-must-testify-about-conversations-he-had-with-donald-trump-leading-up-to-january-6-judge-rules/ar-AA19bzvT


:·······································································




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Arctic2500_by_Timo_Lieber.jpg <big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - Arctic Warming Eye / Week 3'''''</font></big>]


::"THAW" in the Arctic: "It’s almost [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Arctic1_by_Timo_Lieber_800x480.jpg as if global warming] is looking right back at you"
:::http://mchannelonline.com/2017/01/21/2017-dawns-thaw-arctic/
::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic




: [[File:Arctic1 by Timo Lieber 800x480.jpg]]
:::[[File:WaterAction - 2023.PNG]]




:[https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/what-we-can-learn-overview-effect-divisive-times <big>'''''January 21'''''</big>]
[[File:Water Action News - March 2023.png]]
::"Divisive Times" and the "Overview Effect"
:::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Right_Now_science.jpg <big>'''''January 20'''''</big>]
* https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134887


::"Earth Right Now": Far Beyond an Inauguration Day
:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Right_Now_science.jpg '''''Earth Right Now''''']




:[http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=1FC50BFE-C59F-4815-86F8-E463582935A6 <big>'''''January 19'''''</big>]
<big><big>'''The UN 2023 Water Conference'''</big></big>
::Environmental Protection Agency confirmation hearings: Does Scott Pruitt believe in the mission of the EPA?
:::*https://gizmodo.com/scott-pruitts-epa-confirmation-hearing-was-a-surreal-ni-1791337353
::::*http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-epa-pick-scott-pruitt-renews-climate-1484758778-htmlstory.html


March 22-24 | New York City


:[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/house-science-panel-adds-climate-denying-members/ <big>'''''January 18, 2017'''''</big>]
::US House Science Committee continues down the path of science denial


Thread


:[https://newrepublic.com/article/139875/scott-pruitts-confirmation-hearing-science-will-trial <big>'''''January 16, 2017'''''</big>]
* https://twitter.com/Nature/status/1638538269225787392?s=20
::*"Science on trial". Scott Pruitt comes to the Senate for confirmation hearings to head up the Environmental Protection Agency




:·······································································
The first water-focused UN-summit in 46 years


UN Conference on Water Aims to Rally Support for Ambitious Goals


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:EO_Snapshot_6-29-2016_10-44-49_AM.png <big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - EO / Week 2'''''</font></big>]
The last time the United Nations hosted a conference dedicated to global water supply and sanitation the world looked vastly different. Half as many people were alive. China’s economy was smaller than the United Kingdom’s


* https://www.circleofblue.org/2023/world/un-conference-on-water-aims-to-rally-support-for-ambitious-goals/?mc_cid=58e31c1b66


[[File:Dunedin-Clearwater.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Dunedin%2C_Florida_sunset.jpg]]


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:About_Us <big>'''''About Us in Clearwater, Florida'''</big>]
The centerpiece of the conference, which runs from March 22 to 24, is the “water action agenda,” a compilation of voluntary commitments from national governments, nonprofits, businesses, and intergovernmental agencies. Together these commitments extend beyond the conference walls, pushing leaders to be more careful, inclusive water stewards in the years ahead.


“It’s not what happens in three days... It’s what happens afterward.”


:[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/the-cleverest-countries-on-climate-change <big>'''''January 14, 2017'''''</big>]
::"Being clever". Cities/states/countries confronting the risks of climate change by being out in front with clean energy action
:::Tags: #EarthScience #PlanetCitizen #Green360 #ClimatePolicy #EnvironmentalProtection #NewDefinitionsofSecurity


:[https://qz.com/883681/shenzhen-built-more-skyscrapers-in-2016-than-the-us-and-australia/ <big>'''''January 13, 2017'''''</big>]
Facts: About 300,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water. These deaths could have been avoided by access to daily clean water
:: Skyscrapers in China in 2016 going up, up and up. Count 'em beginning with Shenzhen 


According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a quarter of the global population, more than two billion people, lack access to safe drinking water.... 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services


:[http://thehill.com/policy/defense/313920-mattis-will-tout-international-alliances-during-testimony <big>'''''January 12, 2017'''''</big>]
Over half the global population, 4.2 billion people, lack safely managed sanitation services
::Alliances at risk, national/global security at risk: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News '''President-elect promises to dismiss the international climate agreement''']


in 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized the human right to water and sanitation. So, for instance, everyone has the right to enough water for personal and domestic uses, which is between 50 and 100 liters of water per person per day.


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Bmw-i3.JPG <big>'''''January 11, 2017'''''</big>]
Water plays a fundamental role in sustainable development
::Pulling into the local supermarket parking lot, what do I see? An EV i3




:[http://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/01/09/smoking-costs-1-trillion-soon-to-kill-8-million-a-year-study/21651331/ <big>'''''January 10, 2017'''''</big>]
'''Global Commission on the Economics of Water''' (Read the Report)
::Smoking killing millions a year, trillions in costs


The world is on the verge of a water disaster, with demand for fresh water predicted to outpace supply by 40% by the end of this decade


:[https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/timed-marches-on-watching-the-upper-atmosphere-for-15-years-and-counting <big>'''''January 9, 2017'''''</big>]
The lack of access to clean water is a solvable crisis, but it requires good cooperation
::First ongoing study of the Earth's upper atmosphere #EnvironmentalSecurity #Earth360


* https://turningthetide.watercommission.org/


:·······································································


'''UN Conference on Water Aims to Rally Support for Ambitious Goals'''


:[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Oahu_sunwave.jpg <big><font color=green>'''''Sunday 'Earth Services' - Oahu / Week 1'''''</font></big>]
:'''Act to Make a Positive Difference'''


:* https://www.circleofblue.org/2023/world/un-conference-on-water-aims-to-rally-support-for-ambitious-goals/


:[http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/william-perry-nuclear-weapons-proliferation-214604 <big>'''''January 7, 2017'''''</big>]
:: William Perry, 'prophet of doom', warns of nextgen nuclear weapons, proliferation and a [http://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/ '''new Cold War'''] turning hot


:* Visit GreenPolicy's associated site, Strategic Demands 


🌎


:[http://climate.nasa.gov/resources/graphics-and-multimedia/ <big>'''''January 6, 2017'''''</big>]
::NASA Climate Resource Center (and vital national/global security programs the Trump administration is threatening)




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Block_Island_Wind_Farm <big>'''''January 5, 2017'''''</big>]
'''Sunday, March 12th'''
::Offshore Wind Energy starts up on the East Coast of the US (illustrated with vivid images)




:[http://e360.yale.edu/feature/obama_top_scientist_words_of_caution_climate_john_holdren/3061/  <big>'''''January 4, 2017'''''</big>]
<big><big>'''A 'Big Picture Day''''</big></big>
::From the Obama administration's top science advisor, John Holdren, words of caution


Yes, it's another day to take some time to take in the 'zeitgeist', to take a look at connections, trendlines, patterns, how 'it's all related' although in the quotidian reality it's a day at a time, a solar day in fact, as our planet spins through space.


:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Against_the_Tide_by_Cornelia_Dean.jpg  <big>'''''January 3, 2017'''''</big>]
Today's 'Big Picture Day' is called geo-politics by some, and the weather by others, and money makes the world go round or the climate, the climate, the climate is changing, it's getting hotter, have you noticed?
::Cornelia Dean, writer of "Against the Tide" [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise #RisingSeas #ClimateChange]


Let's take a quick look:


:[http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/katharine-hayhoe-lubbock-climate-change-evangelist/ <big>'''''January 2, 2017'''''</big>]
Record-setting, historic oil/gas profits are being announced xxx, led by the House of Saud, called Saudi Arabia, where the nation's Aramco just announced a $121+ dollar (petrodollar) profit for 2022. This caps four other oil/gas giants announcing record 2022 profits.
::Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist at Texas Tech [http://www.planetcitizen.org #PlanetCitizen]




:<font color=blue></font>
<big>'''Profit-taking in a Profitable Year'''</big>


:'''Saudi oil giant Aramco posts record $161.1 billion profit for 2022'''


:<big><big><font color=green>'''''GreenPolicy360'''''</font></big></big>
::'''Four oil companies had total sales of $1 trillion last year'''


::<big>'''''"Greening Our [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Blue_Marble_photo_-_Apollo_17.jpg Blue Planet"''''']</big>
:::'''Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and Shell all reported record profits in 2022'''




''Oil giant Saudi Aramco has reported earning $161bn last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists.''


:[[File:Whole Earth One Connected System Astro-Gerst 2014.png]]
''The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.''


* https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/12/oil-giant-saudi-aramco-records-historic-161bn-profit-in-2022




<big><big><font color=green> '''''Planet Citizens'''''</font></big></big>
Then there is Saudi Arabia and Iran, both oil giants and in conflict for years, announcing a 'peace treaty' brokered by China. And Iran has announced another weapons agreement with Russia. Russia has previously announced submitting plans to build [https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/saudi-arabia/2022/12/13/russias-rosatom-embarks-on-bid-to-build-saudi-arabias-first-nuclear-power-plant/ '''Saudi Arabia's first nuclear energy producing power plant'''].
 
 
[[File:Iran to buy Russian SU-35 fighter jets.png]]
 
 
China, with its world leading economic growth, has announced history-making "Energy Deals of the Century' with Iran's Shia-led government and Russia, and has built deep ties with the the Saudi royal family. Guaranteed oil/gas supplies -- and an alternative to Petrodollar payment -- are top of mind as the US meets Eurasian politics with deepening Mid-East connections.
 
China's [https://strategicdemands.com/?s=belt+and+road ''' "Belt and Road" ('New Silk Trail')'''] geo-political plan is taking 'great leaps forward'.
 
 
Given this as background, let us shift our gaze to the United States as one of the world's largest oil/gas producers that is due, in large part due to 'fracking' technology tapping into old reserves in the Permian Basin (Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc). What was previously unprofitable is now profitable and oil/gas tracts and 'frackable' reserves (in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and worldwide with corporate-controlled contracts) are coming online. New LNG (liquified natural gas) refineries, shipping, ports/docks are being built as the energy disruptions of the Russian-Ukraine war have ramped up demand for US oil/gas and OPEC oil/gas as alternatives to Russia's previous large supplies that had been piped to Europe.
 
Then comes the intense interest of the US president in fossil fuel/oil/gas production with the previously approved "Willow" project in Alaska.
 
Let's take a closer look at the Willow project in Alaska, about to be announced.
 
 
[[File:Alaska Willow - March 12 2023.png]]
 
 
This is 'Big Picture'. Now go bigger and add in the costs, the consequences of increased oil/gas production. Consider a "cost-benefit analysis."
 
 
On this 'Big Picture Sunday' to see a glimpse of this future simply peruse this photo from the Associated Press reporting on an exceptional winter in Europe. The European media is reporting they basically 'got lucky' this winter. Europe lost its major Russian LNG oil/gas supplies, a high percentage of which was used to heat Europe's homes and businesses, but Europeans were delivered a mild winter and the LNG oil/gas was not needed as projected.




:[http://www.planetcitizen.org '''www.planetcitizen.org''']
[[File:Where is the snow.PNG]]


:[http://www.planetcitizens.org '''www.planetcitizens.org''']


In Germany, the foreign minister and environment minister are leading members of the Green Party who have been pushing German engineering to the forefront in clean energy production, EV products, and myriad clean energy heating/transportation/manufacturing alternatives. They are, as Greens have been saying, 'out in front'.


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Citizen_Science ''Citizen Science'']
While the US waged wars and political forces have attempted to block national security alternatives to the 'old ways' of regarding security as hard power and military projects, other realities have come into play and, as time goes by, will be more evident.


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Vision_of_Living_Earth ''Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth'']
Visit StrategicDemands.com, GreenPolicy360's associate for more on the geo-politics.  


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists ''Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists'']
The reality of climate change is arriving with a physics that has an inertia that humanity has set in motion.  


The historic profits of the oil/gas system are one part of the physics and another part is in our hands. '''[[Look at how thin our atmosphere is]]''' and do calculate the costs (a cost-benefit analysis (CBA)) of business-as-usual. We see historic oil/gas profits in 2022/23, but what about the accumulating costs? Atmospheric emissions, the externalities of greenhouse gas pollution, are producing consequences that are real and escalating. In the 1970s there were those who set out to provide the climate facts and data, the Earth system science. The world can begin to see the costs today and unless we act to ameliorate them, they will be grave for future generations.


Now what about US politics? What about drilling in Alaska? Ask yourself what are the costs of drilling in Alaska, and what are the benefits?


<big><big><font color=green> '''''GreenPolicy360'''''</font></big></big>
Consider the Big Picture. And consider Joe Biden thinking about oil and gas as he preps to announce he is running for president.


<big><big><font color=green>'''''Frontlines of Green Best Practices'''''</font></big></big>




<big><big>'''''Green Policy ... Vision and #Resilience'''''</big></big>
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Externalities '''Externalities'''] | '''[[Environmental full-cost accounting]]'''


'''[[New Definitions of National Security]]''' | '''[[Climate News]]'''


[[File:Bamboo-header.jpg]]
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Fossil_Fuels '''Fossil Fuels'''] | [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Strategic_Demands '''Strategic Demands'''] | '''[[Planet Citizen Action]]'''






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[[Category:Planet Citizen]]
[[Category:Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]]




[[Category:Additional Website Resources - Linked Data - Green Best Practices]]
<big><big>'''''Nations Agree on Language for Historic Treaty to Protect Ocean Life'''''</big></big>
[[Category:Agriculture]]
 
[[Category:Atmospheric Science]]
''The United Nations agreement is a significant step toward protecting biodiversity under growing threat from climate change, overfishing and seabed mining''
[[Category:Bioneers]]
 
[[Category:Biodiversity]]
March 4, 2023
[[Category:Biosphere]]
 
[[Category:Citizen Science]]
* https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/climate/united-nations-treaty-oceans-biodiversity.html
[[Category:Civil Rights]]
 
[[Category:Clean Air]]
 
[[Category:Clean Water]]
''After two decades of planning and talks that culminated in a grueling race over the past few days in New York, a significant majority of nations agreed on language for a historic United Nations treaty that would protect ocean biodiversity.''
[[Category:Climate Change]]
 
[[Category:Democratization of Space]]
''As marine life faces threats from climate change, overfishing, the possibility of seabed mining and other dangers, the treaty would make it possible to create marine-protected areas and enact other conservation measures on the “high seas,” the immense expanse of ocean covering almost half the world.''
[[Category:Digital Citizen]]
 
[[Category:Digital Rights]]
''“Today the world came together to protect the ocean for the benefit of our children and grandchildren,” said Monica Medina, an assistant secretary of state. “We leave here with the ability to create protected areas in the high seas and achieve the ambitious goal of conserving 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.”''
[[Category:Earth]]
 
[[Category:Eco-nomics]]
''The open oceans of the world have no international body or agreement with a primary focus of protecting marine biodiversity. If enacted, this treaty would change that...''
[[Category:EOS eco Operating System]]
 
[[Category:Earth360]]
 
[[Category:EarthPOV]]
 
[[Category:Earth Observations]]
🌎
[[Category:Earth Science]]
 
[[Category:Eco-nomics]]
 
[[Category:Ecofeminism]]
 
[[Category:Ecology Studies]]
[[File:About the Doomsday Clock.png]]
[[Category:Endangered Species]]
 
[[Category:Energy]]
&nbsp;
[[Category:Environmental Laws]]
 
[[Category:Environmental Protection]]
[[File:Doomsday Clock 2023.png]]
[[Category:Environmental Security]]
 
[[Category:Environmental Security, National Security]]
&nbsp;
[[Category:European Union]]
 
[[Category:Global Security]]
&nbsp;
[[Category:Global Warming]]
 
[[Category:Green Best Practices]]
[[File:Doomsday Clock - January 2023.png]]
[[Category:Green Networking]]
 
[[Category:Green Politics]]
 
[[Category:Human Rights]]
 
[[Category:ISS]]
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[[Category:Maps]]
 
[[Category:Natural Resources]]
[[Category:Natural Rights]]
 
[[Category:Networking]]
<big>'''''Depleted Under Trump, a ‘Traumatized’ E.P.A. Struggles With Its Mission'''''</big>
[[Category:New Definitions of National Security]]
 
[[Category:New Space]]
* https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/climate/environmental-protection-agency-epa-funding.html
[[Category:Nuclear Nonproliferation]]
 
[[Category:Nuclear Proliferation]]
''The agency’s administrator, Michael S. Regan, has promised that new regulations being written by his staff now will be made public by spring. Agency officials said that the E.P.A. has stepped up its recruitment efforts and has purchased software that has helped it identify more potential job candidates, particularly from universities.''
[[Category:Nuclear Weapons]]
 
[[Category:Oceans]]
''“The agency is moving further and faster than ever before,” Dan Utech, Mr. Regan’s chief of staff, said in a statement. He added that accomplishments had come “despite depleted staffing levels, persistent funding challenges and a previous administration that left the agency neglected and scientifically compromised.”''
[[Category:Ocean Ecosystem]]
 
[[Category:Ocean Science]]
''The E.P.A. is at an unusual juncture. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and the climate law enacted last year have begun to pump $90 billion into the agency over the next 10 years for climate projects like $1.5 billion for new technologies to monitor and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells, $5 billion for states to purchase low-emission school buses and $3 billion to cut pollution at ports...''
 
 
🌎
 
 
<big>Year of the Rabbit</big>
 
By Fefe Ho & Chloe Chiao
 
''The Rabbit is the fourth of all zodiac animals. Legend has it the Rabbit was proud—arrogant even—of its speed. He was neighbors with Ox and always made fun of how slow Ox was. One day, the Jade Emperor said the zodiac order would be decided by the order in which the animals arrived at his party. Rabbit set off at daybreak. But when he got there, no other animals were in sight. Thinking that he would obviously be first, he went off to the side and napped. However, when he woke up, three other animals had already arrived. One of them was the Ox...
 
''The Rabbit’s quiet personality hides their confidence and strength. They are steadily moving towards their goal...''
 
''The Rabbit is also associated with the Earthly Branch (地支 / dì zhī) mǎo (卯)...''
 
''In the terms of yin and yang (阴阳—yīn yáng), the Rabbit is yin...''
 
 
[[File:Year of the Rabbit - 2023.jpg]]
 
 
🌎
 
&nbsp;
 
<big><big>'''2022'''</big></big>
 
 
<big>'''December 2022'''</big>
 
 
December 25th, Christmas Day
 
:'''Remember that a simple act of kindness can change someone’s day, week and sometimes life'''
 
 
[[File:Be kind-2.jpg]]
 
 
🌎
 
 
[[File:Biodiversity COP15 News - 1.png]]
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Democracy <big><big><big>'''Act to Protect Democracy'''</big></big></big>]
 
 
[[File:January 6 committee votes to issue criminal referrals against Trump.png]]
 
 
'''Report from'''
 
<big><big>'''The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol'''</big></big>
 
* https://january6th.house.gov/
 
* https://january6th.house.gov/news
 
* https://january6th.house.gov/news/press-releases
 
* https://january6th.house.gov/about
 
 
'''December 19, 2022'''
 
After more than a year of interviewing witnesses, gathering evidence and holding public meetings, the House select committee concluded its final hearing on Monday by referring former President Donald Trump for four criminal charges.
 
The panel voted unanimously to refer Trump and others to the Justice Department on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection.
 
* https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=23466430-introductory-material-to-the-final-report-of-the-select-comm
 
* https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23466430/introductory-material-to-the-final-report-of-the-select-committee.pdf
 
 
Key Findings From the Jan. 6 Committee’s Report, Annotated
 
* https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/politics/jan-6-committee-key-findings.html
 
 
[[File:January 6 committee - on December 19 2022.png]]
 
 
[[File:January 6 committee final hearing - news.png]]
 
 
 
 
 
<big><big>'''Nations promise to protect 30 percent of planet to stem extinction'''</big></big>
 
December 19, 2022
 
Delegates at the COP15 biodiversity summit in Canada make major conservation commitment to try to halt loss of hundreds of thousands of plants and animals. Will nations follow through?
 
 
Via Washington Post
 
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/12/19/cop15-biodiversity-wildlife-extinction/
 
 
''Today’s loss of biodiversity is being driven not by a space rock but by one species: humans. The loss of habitat, exploitation of species, climate change, pollution and destruction from invasive species moved by people between continents are all driving a decline in the variety of plants and animals...''
 
 
''Nations now have the next eight years to hit their targets for protecting life. With few legal mechanisms for enforcement, they will have to trust each other to protect habitats and funnel hundreds of billions of dollars over conservation.''
 
''“This is an incredible milestone for the world when it comes to conservation,” said Brian O’Donnell, the director of the conservation group Campaign for Nature. “We have been on a rapid path of destruction of nature for hundreds of years, and this can mark a turning point.”''
 
 
''The 10-year deal sets nearly two dozen targets. The banner commitment calls on nations to collectively conserve for wildlife at least 30 percent of land, inland waterways, and coastal and ocean areas by 2030 — the promise dubbed “30 by 30.”''
 
''“It’s a global goal. Every country commits what they are capable of committing,” said Masha Kalinina, a senior officer focused on biodiversity at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “Some will do more, some will do less.”''
 
 
''The world has a long way to go to achieving that goal. Right now, only about a sixth of the continents and a 12th of the oceans have some form of protection, according to the U.N.’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre.''
 
 
 
'''Associated Press'''
 
* https://apnews.com/article/china-united-nations-biodiversity-climate-and-environment-eee5683a8fac71540f94e9934031bd22
 
 
 
[[File:Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature.png]]
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
 
<big>'''News from the US Department of Energy, Livermore Lab, of a Successful Fusion Demonstration'''</big>
 
'''The Former Director of DOE Speaks of Coming Engineering Challenges'''
 
The first laboratory demonstration of net energy gain by fusing hydrogen isotopes is a major physics accomplishment
- a necessary step on the long road to a fusion power plant. Whether by compressing the fusion fuel (as was done at DOE's Livermore
lab or confining it as a very hot plasma (the approach of TAE Technologies, the company on whose Board I sit, and of several others), other-worldly conditions of high temperature must be not only attained but also reliably sustained for an economically viable power plant.
 
The science underpinnings of several different fusion technologies may be well established in this decade, to be followed by engineering of commercial power plants that meet cost benchmarks. I am optimistic that such power plants can be demonstrated and initially deployed in the 2030's, and indeed over four billion dollars of private capital are betting on it.
 
-- Ernest J. Moniz, former U.S. Energy Secretary and CEO of the non-profit Energy Futures Initiative
 
 
<big>Via The Bulwark</big>
 
''The fusion breakthrough "didn't just achieve breakeven—getting more energy back that it put in—it achieved ignition. That is, they lit a thermonuclear fire in the lab. This has never been done." It's a big deal...''
 
* https://twitter.com/bulwarkonline/status/1603404549666095106?s=21&t=MgNEVS81oRz1O5fe7juI-g
 
* https://www.thebulwark.com/heres-why-the-fusion-breakthrough-decades-in-the-making-matters/
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
 
[[File:The Oath and the Office.png]]
 
 
<big>'''Time to Remember: "An Oath"  '''</big>
 
“I … do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
 
'''December 5, 2022'''
 
<big>'Thought for the Day' by Steve Clemons</big>
 
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That is the beginning of the oath new members of the Senate and the House will be asked to take on January 3, but will they? Donald Trump said over the weekend that we should suspend the Constitution to illegally reinstall himself as president. We’ll find out where leading Republican voices stand this week, who will get another round of questions about whether his latest behavior is disqualifying.
 
 
 
[[File:Trump on Termination of US Constitution - 1.jpg]]
 
 
[[File:Trump on Termination of US Constitution - 2.jpg]]
 
 
[[File:Trump on Termination of US Constitution - 3.PNG]]
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
<big>'''New Climate TRACE Emissions Database Announced at the 2022 Global Climate Conference (COP27)'''</big>
 
Earth Observation technology, decades of earth science and imaging with a goal, is now ready for prime time
 
 
GreenPolicy360: THIS announcement is a game changer (and a tip of our green hat to those who purposefully set in motion a 1970s era plan to develop and launch a series of NASA missions to observe and understand our planet). Now comes country-by-country climate regulation, enforcement and emissions controls, political action and legal services. (From the original Mission Statement of NASA -- “To understand and protect our home planet...")
 
Follow our GreenPolicy360 "Climate Plans Enforcement" project for more information on the Climate TRACE coalition.
 
 
<big><big>'''Global Emissions Inventory is a Secret Weapon at COP27'''</big></big>
 
'''November 2022 /  The Climate TRACE coalition unveils a new, highly detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which it hopes will help countries and companies looking for effective, targeted ways to decarbonize.'''
 
* https://climatetrace.org/
 
* https://climatetrace.org/
 
* https://climatetrace.org/about
 
* https://climatetrace.org/our-story
 
* https://climatetrace.org/our-approach
 
* https://climatetrace.org/map
 
 
Via Protocol  ("Launched to cover the evolving power center of tech")
 
* https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/climate-trace-al-gore-inventory
 
 
 
''The Climate TRACE project is not being presented as the “climate cops” on the beat. The coalition in formation is seen as more of a “neighborhood watch,” which is often contacted by legal services and non profit groups who need local information and data to make their enforcement case.
 
“Some — maybe many — governments (will) use the information to make sure that their laws and regulations are complied with”...''
''It’s not just governments who can benefit from the inventory release, but private companies as well.''
 
 
 
GreenPolicy360:
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg '''Measure to Manage: Gather the Data and Science''']
 
: As Protocol announces its end of publication [https://www.protocol.com/farewell-from-protocol '''Farewell from Protocol'''], November 15, 2022, we are choosing to reprint this full article, one of Protocol's final articles, and one that captures the promise and power of tech to help solve the generational challenges of climate change.
 
''The Climate TRACE coalition unveiled a new, highly detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which it hopes will help countries and companies looking for effective, targeted ways to decarbonize.''
 
 
''By Michelle Ma (@himichellema) / November 9, 2022''
 
 
''Al Gore has one mission this week at COP27, and that’s to give climate negotiators what he hopes will be a critical tool to address the crisis at hand: an independent, global inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, down to the individual facility.''
 
''The Climate TRACE coalition just released the world’s most detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which Gore, a founding member, is unveiling on Wednesday at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt.''
 
 
''“Of course, the world has long known what the overall amount of greenhouse gas pollution in the atmosphere is. What’s different about this [database] is the accurate apportioning of who’s responsible for what and the granularity that allows us a focus on specific emissions sources,” Gore told Protocol, adding that he has “no doubt” that the database “will be put to a lot of use in negotiations for sure.”''
 
''The inventory shows facility-level emissions, which will allow negotiators to home in on the most polluting sites in individual countries, helping them target where emissions reductions should come from. Putting a solar farm in one place might displace significantly more emissions than locating it somewhere else, and the inventory allows negotiators to identify exactly where they would get “the biggest bang for their buck.”''
 
 
''The inventory, published on Wednesday on Climate TRACE’s website and free for anyone to access, includes emissions data for 72,612 individual sources, including power plants, steel mills, and oil and gas fields. It also includes sources that can move between countries, such as cargo ships.''
 
''That granularity will be critical for countries to have an accurate accounting of their emissions and where they come from, particularly countries that don’t have the resources to gather that data themselves. It will also help corporations looking for the most cost-effective, impactful way to cut emissions, said Gavin McCormick, another founding member of the coalition.''
 
''“One of the exciting parts for us has been to move the conversation from countries arguing in some vague sense about accountability to, ‘Hey, we’re talking about these few facilities here,” McCormick said.''
 
 
''Using AI and satellite data, Climate TRACE was able to determine that a significant share of carbon pollution comes from a small number of facilities. The database shows that one steel mill in Korea, for example, emits more greenhouse gas pollution in a year than all of Bosnia. “The politics of how you would transition a few facilities is strikingly different than when you’re saying, ‘Who could know where it’s coming from?’” McCormick said.''
 
''Many countries lack accurate, granular, and up-to-date emissions data. That’s in part due to resource constraints, particularly in smaller or poorer countries. Egypt, for example, released a partial inventory of its 2015 emissions for the first time this year. Some of the data is self-reported by polluters, collected via surveys of key facilities and then extrapolated to create a country-level estimate. In India, “I know they’re literally out there counting cows for a few farms and then assuming these farms are representative for the whole country,” McCormick said.''
 
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.
 
''One key insight that came out of this inventory was that oil and gas emissions are “massively undercounted” in official estimates, he said. Through satellite data, the coalition found that oil and gas leaks were a significant source of “super-emitting” sites.''
 
''When asked if he thinks the undercounting of emissions from the oil and gas sector was deliberate or not, Gore said, “There are several specific examples that are hard to interpret in any way other than the fact that there has been an intentional effort to hide emissions and to deceive the world community about how large the emissions are. It’s just almost impossible to believe that it’s an accidental oversight, and all the accidents go in exactly the same direction.”''
 
''Gore, however, is not interested in Climate TRACE being the “climate cops.” He views the coalition as more of a “neighborhood watch,” which is often contacted by law enforcement for local information. “I will not be at all surprised if some — maybe many — governments use the information to make sure that their laws and regulations are complied with,” he said.''
 
''It’s not just governments who can benefit from the inventory release, but private companies as well.''
 
''The cleanest steel mills aren’t being used at full capacity. Yet shifting business to these mills could reduce emissions from the steel sector by 50%, McCormick said.''
 
''Companies that want to decarbonize their supply chains — which includes a number of major tech companies from Salesforce to Apple — can simply use the information to purchase products from the cleanest facilities. The coalition has already started having conversations with multinational corporations about switching suppliers, which can happen in a matter of months rather than years, if they’re armed with independent data.''
 
''By next year, Climate TRACE hopes to update the inventory to include every source of emissions and, eventually, get it closer to updating in real time. Right now, the data as a whole is at least annual up until 2021, with some sectors updated monthly.''
 
''“My belief is that if we can demonstrate to the world that it’s actually easier than they thought to make progress and we can actually track that progress, this is going to be the year that a lot of countries start tasting some serious progress,” McCormick said.''
 
 
 
 
 
GreenPolicy360: Follow Our "Climate Plans Enforcement" Initiative
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Plans_Enforcement_-_Resources
 
<big>'''[[Climate Plans Enforcement - Resources]]'''</big>
 
 
GreenPolicy360 welcomes the arrival of a global science mission, a "Global Stocktake", a collection of earth science data to be made available to the  community of nations, to planet citizen activists and scientists, educational institutions, non-profits, NGOs, young and old to become tools for legal enforcement of national climate plans & pledges
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Global_Stocktake,_the_first_GST.jpg
 
 
<big>'''GreenPolicy360's Campaign to 'Turn National Climate Promises & Pledges into Reality' '''</big>
 
: Our Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative continues as the next Global Climate Conference approaches, November's Conference of the Parties (COP27)
 
:: Drawing from the database of Earth Science resulting from decades of space-based missions designed to provide us with actionable 'Earth-system and Climate-related data'
 
::: Measuring and Monitoring to better manage Earth's Living, Dynamic and Changing Systems, Local, National and Global
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Methods_to_enforce_climate_pledges-NDCs_-_Dec_2021.png ''Methods to Enforce Climate Plan Pledges'']
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_Plans_Enforcement_-_Resources ''GreenPolicy360: Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative'']
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:INDC ''Pressuring Nations to Step Up, Cooperate, and Act Now'']
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws ''Environmental Laws, Regs, Rules... Lawsuits & Legal Actions'']
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Glasgow_Climate_Summit_-_Pledges,_Promises,_Declarations_-_What%27s_Next_Up ''Glasgow (2021) & Paris (2015) Summits: Int'l Climate Plan Pledges & Promises (INDCs-NDCs)'']
 
 
 
[[File:Earth Observing System - fleet of satellites.png]]
 
"Earth Observing System": Decades of Earth Science/Climate Science Data Accessible for Planet Citizen Action
 
 
:[[File:EarthRightNow Earth Science satellite fleet circa 2015 m.jpg]]
 
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Observing_System_-_fleet_of_satellites.png
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
 
[[File:Time Nov 10 2022 COP27.jpg]]
 
<small>* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Time_Nov_10_2022_COP27.jpg</small>
 
 
 
<big><big>'''Climate Summit / COP27 Updates - November 11, 2022'''</big></big>
 
Via NY Times Reporters/Live - On Location
 
* https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/11/climate/cop27-climate-summit
 
* https://time.com/6232753/bad-news-for-the-planet-as-global-carbon-emissions-continue-to-increase/
 
 
<big>Transcript of President Biden's Speech at the 27th International Climate Conference</big>
 
* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/11/11/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-27th-conference-of-the-parties-to-the-framework-convention-on-climate-change-cop27-sharm-el-sheikh-egypt/
 
 
<big>More from the Global Climate Conference</big>
 
COP27: Biden says the climate crisis is about ‘very life of the planet’
 
* https://www.npr.org/2022/11/11/1136000297/biden-says-u-s-will-rise-to-the-global-challenge-of-climate-change
 
* https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/president-bidens-cop27-speech-highlights-climate-progress-us-still-falling-behind-global
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
[[File:COP27 'opening speech'.png]]
 
 
 
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT, Nov 7 (Reuters) - ''United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told countries gathered at the start of the COP27 summit in Egypt on Monday they face a stark choice: work together now to cut emissions or condemn future generations to climate catastrophe.''
 
''The speech set an urgent tone as governments sit down for two weeks of talks on how to avert the worst of climate change, even as they are distracted by Russia’s war in Ukraine, rampant consumer inflation and energy shortages.''
 
[[File:COP27 logo.png]]
 
 
<big><big>'''COP27'''</big></big>
 
: <big>'''Time for [[Planet Citizen Action]]'''</big>
 
:* https://stories.undp.org/cop27-a-chance-to-act
 
 
[[File:COP27 A chance to act.jpg]]
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
[[File:NASA has a new mission... against Methane.png]]
 
* <small>https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:NASA_has_a_new_mission..._against_Methane.png</small>
 
 
'''GreenPolicy360: Methane hot spots we're coming to find you, identify you, act to stop you and enforce climate laws.'''
 
:'''"Super emitters", we have a message for you, you can't hide....'''
 
:* <small>https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/methane-super-emitters-mapped-by-nasa-s-new-earth-space-mission</small>
 
:* <small>https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:NASA_has_a_new_mission..._against_Methane.png</small>
 
 
🌎
 
 
<big>'''October 2022'''</big>
 
 
 
:::::::::::<big><big>'''[[Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth]]'''</big></big>
 
::::::::<big>'''[[Planet Citizen Action]], [[Environmental protection]]. [[Quality of Life]]'''</big>
 
 
:::[[File:Blue Marble photo taken by the crew of Apollo 17 (1972).jpg]]
 
&nbsp;
 
<big><big><big>'''Planet Citizens / Scientists, Preserving & Protecting the Home Planet Earth'''</big></big></big>
 
 
 
 
[[File:The Politics of Beauty - Oct 2022.png]]
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_Politics_of_Beauty_-_Oct_2022.png
 
 
'''Stewart Udall Film Trailer''': http://vimeo.com/708323643
 
* https://vimeo.com/491417423
 
 
 
·················································
 
 
 
[[File:Post from Richard Falk, Global Justice - Oct 25 2022.jpg]]
 
 
 
[[File:Nowhere to Hide.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Nowhere_to_Hide.jpg]]
 
<small>* https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/nowhere-to-hide-how-a-nuclear-war-would-kill-you-and-almost-everyone-else</small>
 
 
GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Green politics for decades has, in the community of nations, focused on the nuclear threat. The history of green parties and green, environmental movement has a record of activism that has been described as 'out in front' and in Europe, within the European governments, since the 1970s and 80s we see green organizing that demanded the removal of nuclear weapons. Green politics called for an end to the [https://strategicdemands.com/?s=hair+trigger ''''hair trigger' face-off'''] between the Soviet Union and Europe, the U.S. and a nuclear conflagration that threatened humanity and life on Planet Earth.
 
Today, the war in Ukraine and threat of nuclear war continues to grow with a waving of so-called "tactical, battlefield" and "strategic, intercontinental" nuclear weapons bristling with dangers of mistake, miscalculation, desperate or preemptive use, rogue forces or insane calculation. A new century is now seeing the collapse of nuclear arms controls and treaties, with media 'normalizing' nuclear weapons use in nightly news shows. The East and West stand on a precipice. 
 
Now comes '''"Nowhere to Hide"''' by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
 
Read it -- https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/nowhere-to-hide-how-a-nuclear-war-would-kill-you-and-almost-everyone-else
 
We at GreenPolicy360 and with our associate, Strategic Demands have worked alongside the Bulletin and its goals...
 
Now a flashing warning continues louder and brighter -- be aware of the danger. Act to reduce the danger of nuclear disaster.
 
 
 
<big><big>'''War in Ukraine Ratcheting Up, Threats of Nuclear Use Ratcheting Up'''</big></big>
 
: <big>June, July, August, September, October -- 'Bluffing' or Coming Cataclysm? </big>
 
:* https://strategicdemands.com/ukraine-flashpoint/
 
:* https://strategicdemands.com/ultimatum-time/
 
:* https://strategicdemands.com/two-from-elon/
 
:* https://strategicdemands.com/getting-nuked-thoughts-warnings-on-a-sunday/
 
 
🌎
 
 
GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: It is October 1st and we are looking at a "Week that Was". Under the heading of Climate News/Florida what has been described as one of the most costly hurricanes in the history of the state hit the west coast couth of Tampa Bay, Hurricane Ian hit not far from where Hurricane Charley devastated not many years ago. In Florida, the terrestrial home of GreenPolicy360, we faced a Hurricane named Ian -- and resulting catastrophe throughout our state. Hurricane Ian arrived from the Caribbean and target the Florida west coast from Naples in the south to Tampa Bay and further in the north and central Florida. Mandatory evacuations were ordered... many listened, many didn't and now the consequences are coming into view. The media and press are reporting, politicians speaking, emergency services, the Coast Guard, police, and regular citizens of all persuasions and backgrounds have acted, often as rescuers and/or protectors of families and homes. The consequences of the damage and the on the ground reality and experience will go on for months and years.
 
We have to ask, as now is the time to ask about Florida's future, what about Florida? Where is the 'trending' threads of concern acknowledging, risks, problems and identifying solutions to 'extreme weather events'. Here at GreenPolicy we have for years spoken of a warming Gulf of Mexico and tropical storms that 'rapidly intensify' as a result. Ian the hurricane did exactly that, surprising many but not out of line with the physics of a Gulf of Mexico that is heating due to climate change. The atmospheric science, earth science, ocean science, the statistics and the physics of interacting systems, and the political responses to the full scope of the devastation this extreme weather event/storm/typhoon, call it what you will, is on the radar. We are seeing connections between human decisions and nature's responses. Florida is, as we have written for years, "The frontlines of climate change".
 
Change is in the air. It is time for reality check. The radar sees the moving vector. It's time that we see the threat speeding at us...
 
 
[[File:Change.jpg]]
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
 
'''E.O. Wilson:''' [http://www.planetcitizen.org '''Planet Citizen''']
 
 
E.O. Wilson: ''He discovered hundreds of new species by putting his hands in the dirt as a field biologist, synthesized evolving thinking in science and coined new terms, such as biodiversity and biophilia, to explain it. Of his many accomplishments in evolutionary biology, his biggest contribution was probably in the new scientific field of sociobiology, in which he addressed the biological basis of social behavior in animals, including humans.''
 
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/2021/12/27/013b4bd2-6700-11ec-a76b-374aeb82e811_story.html
 
 
E.O. Wilson: ''His 2006 book "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," a series of letters written to an imaginary Baptist preacher in pursuit of an ecological alliance to save the Earth.''
 
* https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/obituary-modern-day-darwin-eo-wilson-dies-92-2021-12-27/
 
 
E.O. Wilson: ''Naturalist dubbed a modern-day Darwin, dies at 92''
 
* https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/obituary-modern-day-darwin-eo-wilson-dies-92-2021-12-27/
 
 
·····················································
 
 
'''Protect Life, Be Pro-Life, Prevent Extinction'''
 
* https://eowilsonfoundation.org/many-people-want-to-set-aside-half-of-earth-as-nature/
 
 
 
'''E.O. Wilson: The 8 Million++ Species We Don’t Know'''
 
* https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/opinion/sunday/species-conservation-extinction.html
 
 
·······························································································
 
 
<big><big>'''Big Picture Time: On the Way to Cosmology'''</big></big>
 
 
[[File:JWST successfully launches - Dec 25 2021.png]]
 
 
''"The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment -- this is just the beginning for the Webb mission," said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb's program director at NASA Headquarters.''
 
''"Now we will watch Webb's highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination."''
 
 
<big><big>Big Science: How the James Webb Telescope Will See Back in Time</big></big>
 
:::* https://twitter.com/PPathole/status/1474735297778782208/photo/1
 
:::* https://theconversation.com/james-webb-space-telescope-an-astronomer-on-the-team-explains-how-to-send-a-giant-telescope-to-space-and-why-167516
 
 
'''[[James Webb Space Telescope]]'''
 
 
[[File:Webb - Phantom Galaxy M74.jpg]]
 
 
 
······················································································
 
 
 
<big>'''Visit GreenPolicy360's Associate -- Strategic Demands'''</big>
 
: Global Security, Indivisible
 
::* https://www.StrategicDemands.com
 
:::* https://strategicdemands.com/about/
 
::::* https://strategicdemands.com/nuclear-issues-cold-war-2-0/
 
 
 
·······························································
 
 
 
<big><big><font color=green>'''''GreenPolicy360'''''</font></big></big>
 
: "Greening Our [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Blue_Marble_photo_-_Apollo_17.jpg <big>'''''Blue Planet"'''''</big>]
 
 
 
: [[File:Whole Earth One Connected System Astro-Gerst 2014.png]]
 
: <big><big>[[It's All Related]]</big></big>
 
 
 
<big><big><font color=green> '''''Planet Citizens'''''</font></big></big>
 
:[http://www.planetcitizen.org '''www.planetcitizen.org''']
 
::[http://www.planetcitizens.org '''www.planetcitizens.org''']
 
:::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Vision_of_Living_Earth '''Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth''']
 
 
 
<big><big><font color=green>[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Green_Best_Practices Frontlines of Green Best Practices]</font></big></big>
 
: <big>Green Policy ... Vision and #Resilience</big>
 
 
:[[File:Earth Day Flag.png]]
 
<small>* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Day</small>
 
 
: <big>'''DYK? Yes, we do, we remember the beginnings !'''</big>
 
: 🌎 [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf <big>'''The 1960s... Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement'''</big>]
 
[[File:Christina Korp Earth Day and Apollo 8.jpg]]
 
 
 
<big><big>On the 50th Anniversary</big></big>
 
: <big>Memories on the Road to the First Earth Day</big>
 
<small>* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary</small>
 
 
... Remembering the student teach-ins, the means we used to spread the word and we did. The Vietnam Moratorium Committee became the  peace group and and when we talked to Senator Nelson and George Brown about doing environmental teach-ins that would be the first in a series of annual peace and environment events  they got it and put their combined weight behind the effort.
 
It came to be, from an [https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1249.html Earthrise moment], to the Moratorium demonstrations and teach-in, to the teach-ins of Earth Day. What quickly followed was the passage of the first generation of US environmental protection legislation.
 
The environmental movement that sprang from the global realization passed on to us by the NASA Apollo missions, and student activism, are shaping a new generation and modern environmental movement.
 
 
 
'''The 1970s and 80s'''
 
<big><big>''Greening Our Blue Planet''</big></big>
 
 
An environmental foundation, initiatives and laws that serve a model for state -- and international -- action:
 
:::::[[File:Env policy laws US 'the beginning' of env era.jpg]]
 
 
In 1977-78 the first climate science comes to light... first generation science for national and global environmental action set a platform in place on which to create [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Policy climate  policy] and [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection environmental protection] over the coming decades ...'''
 
<big><big>'''First National Climate Act, Historic Work, 1978'''</big></big>
 
GreenPolicy360 Siterunner / SJS: The beginnings of modern environmental and climate science can be traced to the 60s and 70s. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences played a key role with scientific reports and data.'''
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Energy_and_Climate_Report%2C_1977%2C_National_Academy_of_Sciences.pdf '''Energy and Climate Report, 1977, National Academy of Sciences / 175 pp. / PDF via GreenPolicy360''']
 
George Brown, taking the 1977 Energy and Climate Report from the Academy, made climate science actionable. In a historic moment, Representative Brown from East Los Angeles proposed and drafted the legislation for the first U.S. National Climate Program and shepherded its passage in 1978. In 1979 came the first follow-on [https://www.nap.edu/read/12181/chapter/1 National Science Academy report]. This study and report of national scientists was [https://phys.org/news/2019-07-charney-years-scientists-accurately-climate.html prescient and accurate in its global warming predictions.]
 
: This first federal program established to study and assess scientifically the issues and risks of human-caused climate change became a foundation for comprehensive initiatives, and led to [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space an array of new Earth Science missions] by NASA and NOAA, the EPA and USGS.
 
 
:[[File:US Public Law 95-367.png]]
 
 
 
<big>'''At the Beginning of U.S. Science on Global Warming, Strategies & Planning'''</big>
 
'''1978, Launching U.S. Climate Action:'''
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png '''National Climate Program Act, Public Law 95-367''']
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/National_Climate_Program_Act_Public_Law_95-367_Sept_1978.pdf '''National Climate Program Act of September 1978''']
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
<big>Into the 1990s... Going Green Globally</big>
 
 
[[File:Earth Summit 1992.jpg]]
 
 
<big><big>Remembering the First Earth Summit</big></big>
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_Summit_1992.jpg
 
 
······························································································
 
 
<big><big>The New Millenium: New Green Formative Action Beyond Party Politics</big></big>
 
 
<big>Initial proposing [[New Definitions of National Security]]</big>
 
 
 
[[Each of us can make a positive difference]]
 
:'''[[Climate Problems, Climate Solutions]]'''
 
 
<big>[[Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]]</big>
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Action
 
 
 
::<big>'''Earth in Our Hands'''</big>
 
 
: [[File:Earth in Human Hands.jpg]]
 
 
 
[[File:You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg]]
 
 
<big><big>'''[[Climate Change - Global Warming Keyword-Terms]]'''</big></big>
 
 
 
'''[[Our Biggest Experiment]]'''
 
[[File:Our Biggest Experiment - by Alice Bell.jpg]]
&nbsp;
 
 
&nbsp;
 
···········································································
 
&nbsp;
 
 
==''Recent GreenPolicy360 Story Highlights''==
 
&nbsp;
[[Green Stories of the Day - GreenPolicy360 Archive]]
&nbsp;
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2023'''''</big>'''''===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2023 <u>'''''Featured in 2023'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2023]]
 
&nbsp;
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2022'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2022 <u>'''''Featured in 2022'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2022]]
 
&nbsp;
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2021'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2021 <u>'''''Featured in 2021'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2021]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2020'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2020 <u>'''''Featured in 2020'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2020]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2019'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2019 <u>'''''Featured in 2019'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2019]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2018'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2018 <u>'''''Featured in 2018'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2018]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2017'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2017 <u>'''''Featured in 2017'''''</u>]
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2017]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2016'''''</big>===
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2016 <u>'''''Featured in 2016'''''</u>]
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2016]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2015'''''</big>===
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2015 <u>'''''Featured in 2015'''''</u>]
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2015]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2014'''''</big>===
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2014 <u>'''''Featured in 2014'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2014]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
===<big>'''''GreenPolicy360 Archive Highlights 2013'''''</big>===
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2013 <u>'''''Featured in 2013'''''</u>]
 
 
::[[File:Connect cooperative networking 2a.jpg|link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenPolicy360_Archive_Highlights_2013]]
 
&nbsp;
 
··········································································
 
&nbsp;
 
 
<big>'''[[Climate News Events Archive ... 1970 to Today]]'''</big>
 
 
<big><big>Visit [[Climate News]] - Current Headlines</big></big>
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Change <big>'''Climate Change'''</big>]
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Change
 
 
<big>'''From December 1968, Christmas Eve, an Apollo "Earthrise" image of our Home Planet until Today -- we are a [[Generation Green]] [[Going Green]]'''
 
Welcome Aboard ''''[[Planet Citizens]] !'''
 
Surf through some of our waves of memories !!
 
 
[https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf <big>'''Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement'''</big>]
 
:<small><small>* https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf </small></small>
 
 
<big>'''A First [[Earth Day]]'''</big>
 
: * https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary
 
 
We were looking to protect our Living Earth.
 
 
[[File:Living Earth.png]]
 
<small>* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Vision_of_Living_Earth</small>
 
&nbsp;
 
[https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_System_Science <big>'''Earth System Science'''</big>]
 
 
[[File:Earth System Observatory.jpg]]
 
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Earth_Perspective
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_A-Train.jpg
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/@Earth360
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs
 
 
&nbsp; 
 
'''[[PlanetCitizen]]''' | "Vita Activa"
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Action
 
 
A Man Named George from East Los Angeles
 
A Planet Citizen back in the day, a US Representative who drafted the first National Climate Act and led US Earth Science work from the 1970s to the 90s
: Visit stories of GreenPolicy360's inspiring friend -- George E. Brown
 
: "In Memory" --
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr
 
'''George, in many ways, put Climate Change on the map'''
 
* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Change
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Policy
 
[[File:CO2 photo.JPG]]
 
&nbsp; 
 
 
'''"Thin Blue"''' / [http://www.thinbluelayer.com '''www.thinbluelayer.com''']
 
[[File:'Thin Blue Layer' of Earth's Atmosphere 2.jpg]]
 
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Science
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Whole_Earth
 
 
 
::<big><big><big>'''An Earth Point of View'''</big></big></big>
 
 
::[[File:Blue Marble photo taken by the crew of Apollo 17 (1972).jpg]]
 
 
 
:::::[[File:Apollo 8, Life Jan10,1969.png]]
 
 
:[[File:Apollo.jpg]]
 
 
 
'''Apollo's Earthrise to Earth Day'''
 
Time for new beginnings, a modern environmental protection movement... some 16 months after Apollo 8's "Earthrise" photo was first seen on Earth, the first environmental 'teach-in' -- that we called [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Day ''' "Earth Day" '''] -- arose with a flourish, offering a whole earth message, new perspective, new ways of seeing. A new identification with the home planet began to be visualized and set in motion...  a global environmental movement was being created. As [http://www.planetcitizen.org '''planet citizens'''] we had our work, serious work, in front of us and we got to work.
 
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement
 
 
 
:<big><big>'''New Visions, Life-affirming'''</big></big>
 
 
:[[File:Earthrise, the way Anders saw it.jpg]]
 
: '''December 1968''', from the window of '''Apollo 8'''
 
 
 
: [https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo.jpg <big><big>'''"Earthrise"'''</big></big>]
 
:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Above.png
 
 
[[File:Above.png]]
 
 
<big>'''[[Earth Day]]'''</big>
 
&nbsp;   
 
 
 
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Latest revision as of 17:46, 25 December 2024


"Green stories changing our world"


2024: As the GRN360 Network Goes Over a Hundred Million Views & Shares

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A 'Working Democracy'

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December 2024


December 25, 2024


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🌎


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🌎


Terrestrially, building on sand alongside a rising sea...


Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald.png


 

Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking


GreenPolicy360 has been focusing for years on the risks of Florida at the 'frontlines of climate change'.

One issue we have repeatedly pointed to as we continually provided background, context, science and predictions of what happens next is grounded (literally) in the fact that much of Florida's geology is called 'karst', comprised of a limestone composition that goes back to ancient eras when what is now called Florida, the Sunshine State was underwater. Florida rose from the seas over millenia and Florida's sandy soil is 'shell filled' and porous as a result. Florida's underground springs, caves, caverns, percolating waterways are extremely susceptible to water movement, to dynamic flow, and to underground intrusion of salt water.

The land of Florida is unlike most all land in the United States as a result, yet few have pointed out these baseline facts.

GreenPolicy360 has done so, and now comes a 'watershed' science study that is being called 'game changing'.

So here we are, not dwelling on "we told you so", but we did.

In GreenPolicy360 case, we can point to the beginnings of U.S. Earth Science initiatives measuring and monitoring from low-earth orbit, missions that our compatriot, Representative George E. Brown, was pushing and providing oversight of for some thirty years in Congress during the first generation of U.S. space, science and technology.

Now 'eyes in the sky' science are measuring and monitoring Florida, especially its coastlines, and the data is coming into the light.

Let's look -- this study can be seen as the first of many that will now be added to a database of Florida Earth Science facts. The consequences of the facts on the ground, and under the ground, are going to be seen and felt over years to come.


Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 2.jpg Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 3.jpg

 

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Study finds dozens of Miami luxury condos, hotels are sinking Miami Herald - 5.jpg


 

Estates at Acqualina - Sunny Isles Miami.jpg

Sunny Isles, Florida


Read more at Sea-Level Rise and Climate News


🌎


Money in Politics, US Pres Campaign 2024.jpeg


SCOTUS Paves the Way
PoliticoPay, Money in Politics, Decision by Decision


Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
McCutcheon v. FEC (2014)


PoliticoPay.com - 1.jpg
PoliticoPay.com - 2.jpg


U.S. Presidential Campaign, 2024


Money in Politics


Flashback from GreenPolicy's Steve Schmidt: In 1990 GreenPolicy360 siterunner traveled to Washington DC at the invitation of a newly elected US Senator Paul Wellstone. I helped Paul move into his first apartment in DC, carrying appliances up into his place and talking about what clothes he would need as a Senator (he had no suits, he was a professor from Minnesota's Carleton College and was casual in his style. Yet, he was to become a leader of the progressive and populist wing of the Democratic Party and the two of us became especially close on the subject of 'Money in Politics', on his desultory impact on democratic discussion, debate, and citizen involvement. We agreed to pursue legislation and we did over the years and we did until his tragic death in a plane crash as he flew through winter weather on a mission for a constituent.

Paul is known for his green bus, but I knew him for his attempts to 'clean up politics'. He led efforts to fix the 'money in politics' problem and he would tell me when I pressed the issue over the years that "Schmidt, my office phones never light up calling me to push back the big money. You and I and some folks know how big a probleme it is, but it's off radar when it comes to what makes Congress move."

And so let me recall Paul, and Jerry in '92 with whom I worked on a presidential platform with 'money in politics' at the center, for trying to make a difference that is still needed to be made if a real difference in how Washington DC runs for better - or remains operating for the worse with push and pull, dollars and barters.


Here's Paul's green bus, a simple, real campaign emblem of who he was, for people, over the years, and the campaign continues.

Here is PoliticoPay.com, highlighted in 2016 as a Green Policy project...

We addressed how US Supreme Court decisions brought on the current deluge of big money and influence in politics.


Paul Wellstone, how to do better.jpg



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Oil ➡️ Plastic ➡️ Pollution... Costs Keep Adding up


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November 2024


Thankful Thanksgiving Thoughts


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What Happens Next?

November 20, 2024


Two weeks ago the former US president was learning he would become the next US president.

Now, after a first slate of nominees for top positions are announced, many are asking -- 'What Happens Next?'


What Happens Next?.jpeg


The drama reminds GreenPolicy360's editor of a book by the same name written by Marc Norman, a great writer and a former client from back in the old days.

Marc Norman wrote a screenplay for 'Shakespeare in Love' (among many stories) and he knows how it goes in 'the biz', whether tragedy or comedy or in between.

As the writer tells the tale and the characters emerge and do what they do as their nature pushes them to do, the audience is always asking, 'What's Next'?

Here a former president, who didn't expect to win the first time he ran and who denied he lost when he ran for reelection, now is teeing it up for another round as president.

We'll see what happens next... and the US and world will face the consequences. With so much at stake, starting with national and global security, the next four years of 'what's next' are going to be a wild ride.


🌎


Trump Picks Oil-Gas Man to Head Energy Department


Via the Associated Press / November 17, 2024

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected Chris Wright, a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive, to serve as energy secretary in his upcoming, second administration.

The CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change, and could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.


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Nominee Chosen to Direct the Environmental Protection Agency


WASHINGTON / The Post —

President-elect Donald Trump has selected former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin, 44, served four terms as a Republican congressman repping eastern Long Island before losing the 2022 New York governor’s race to Democrat Kathy Hochul by a surprisingly close margin — and will become a key figure in adopting Trump’s deregulatory and pro-energy production.

“I am deeply honored to have been asked by President Trump to serve in his Cabinet. As EPA Administrator, we will restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, make the United States the global leader of Artificial Intelligence advancement, and slash the red tape holding back American workers from upward economic mobility,” Zeldin said.


GreenPolicy360: Mr. Zeldin seems unaware of the legislatively approved mission of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Perhaps a briefing on the EPA's scope, goals and authority would help the new appointee as he meets the US Congress ...


Here, a primer, due diligence backgrounder from GreenPolicy360:


Environmental Protection Agency logo.png


Origins of the EPA


Environmental movement / Environmental protection


With a tip of our GreenPolicy360 hat to Representative George E. Brown-S from East Los Angeles, a prime mover of legislation to create the EPA and for many years a friend and mentor to our GreenPolicy360 founder, Steve Schmidt.


As the LA Times noted in George's obituary in 1999: "He championed the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency". The creation of the EPA was in many ways Congressman George Brown's vision achieved..."

The founding of the EPA was based on new realizations of science and the environment. The vision of the "Whole Earth" that began with unprecedented Apollo photos on the cover of Life magazine in January 1969 led to a coming together of education, students 'teach-ins', scientific space missions studying earth systems for the first time, and popular demands for environmental protections.

A leader and a chairperson on the House science committee for over 30 years, George legislatively helped to engineer a broad agenda of environmental legislation and first generation federally proposed and supported science efforts, including a science mission that greens look to as prescient -- climate science.

George believed, strongly believed and advocated that science, 'big science', was necessary to understand 'Earth System Science' . George Brown was instrumental in writing the first National Climate Act and over decades, he shepherded the start up of the Atmospheric and Earth science programs and ongoing missions that continue to this day, acquiring Earth observations and providing profoundly valuable data and baselines for policy decisions as 'Strategic Demands.'


You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg


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Mr. Zeldin should do a deep dive into the background and current environmental challenges the US faces


Climate News

Earth and Space, Politics

Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists


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November 6, First News


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The Day Before the Election

Tomorrow, November 5th, the US Votes


“We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” begins a report published last month in the journal BioScience. “Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled... We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis.”

-- Oxford Academic BioScience / Special 2024 Report


This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis. For many years, scientists, including a group of more than 15,000, have sounded the alarm about the impending dangers of climate change driven by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem change (Ripple et al. 2020). For half a century, global warming has been correctly predicted even before it was observed—and not only by independent academic scientists but also by fossil fuel companies (Supran et al. 2023). Despite these warnings, we are still moving in the wrong direction; fossil fuel emissions have increased to an all-time high, the 3 hottest days ever occurred in July of 2024 (Guterres 2024), and current policies have us on track for approximately 2.7 degrees Celsius (°C) peak warming by 2100 (UNEP 2023). Tragically, we are failing to avoid serious impacts, and we can now only hope to limit the extent of the damage. We are witnessing the grim reality of the forecasts as climate impacts escalate, bringing forth scenes of unprecedented disasters around the world and human and nonhuman suffering. We find ourselves amid an abrupt climate upheaval, a dire situation never before encountered in the annals of human existence. We have now brought the planet into climatic conditions never witnessed by us or our prehistoric relatives...


GreenPolicy360: Election Day in the United States, November 5th, the gathering winds of the future whistle ever closer...


The decision made will have far reaching and long lasting consequences.

Since the 1970s and first 'Earth Day' and first 'National Climate Program Act', Green Policy's founder-siterunner has spoken of the critical importance of protecting our 'living blue-green Earth'. Now, let us be clear-eyed about what we have to face in front of us. Tomorrow is a historic turning point, a day of reckoning.

Here, let us consider a voice from America's southern states with words that need to resonate:

"Every existing global conflict, every human vulnerability and every form of social instability is already being exacerbated by climate calamities. There is no issue on the political table that will not be made exponentially worse if we allow the living earth to enter its death throes, and yet climate has rarely been part of the political discourse during this election year... Where planetary survival is concerned, it is too late to sit out an election on principle, or to cast a vote for a third-party candidate... This is the time to go to the polls and vote.

"The Democrats’ policies aren’t unassailable, but they are at least capable of keeping this planet alive long enough for the rest of the human race to come around to understanding how urgent is the danger we already face, how much worse it is going to get and how little time we have to hold off the unthinkable." -- Margaret Renki


Let Margaret's words on protecting our 'Living Earth' be a guide for decisions - and votes - in tomorrow's US election. Our generation's legacy, it must be said, is on the line.


 

October


October 30

Clean Energy Is Booming in the U.S. The Election Could Change That

Over the last two years, a surge in clean energy manufacturing has helped push U.S. factory construction to the highest level in half a century. Solar power installations and electric car sales are breaking records. Even Republican-led states like Montana and Utah are writing climate plans to secure federal cash.

Yet the law driving this dizzying transformation of America’s energy landscape, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is facing a highly uncertain future as next week’s election looms.

If he returns to the White House, former President Donald J. Trump has suggested he would gut the law, which is expected to pour as much as $1.2 trillion over the next decade into technologies to fight climate change such as wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear reactors, carbon capture and E.V.s, as well as the factories to supply them.

“My plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam,” Mr. Trump said in September, using his catchall phrase for climate policies. “We will rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”


Read the Election 2024 article


More GreenPolicy360 Climate News


Climate Action Plans 360

Environmental Laws & Environmental Movement
Climate Change
Climate Policy
Climate Change Terms
Too Hot
Hotter 'n Hotter
Climate Problems, Climate Solutions
Measure to Manage
INDC Pledges & Promises
National Climate Plans


🌎


US Voters Poll - Democracy under Threat.jpeg


Nearly half of all voters are skeptical that the American experiment in self-governance is working, with 45 percent believing that the nation’s democracy does not do a good job representing ordinary people, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll.

Three-quarters of voters in the United States say democracy is under threat, though their perception of the forces imperiling it vary widely based on partisan leanings. And a majority of voters believe that the country is plagued by corruption, with 62 percent saying that the government is mostly working to benefit itself and elites rather than the common good.

The eroding faith in the nearly 250-year-old American system of government follows four years of unparalleled challenges: a violent riot in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the criminal conviction of former President Donald J. Trump and Mr. Trump’s continued insistence that the democratic process is rigged...


As the US Presidential Election Approaches, Debate Over Democracy and Its Challenges Heats Up

John Kelly, Trump's ex-chief of staff labels Trump 'authoritarian' and the 'general definition of fascist'....


John Kelly News.png


John Francis Kelly is a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who was White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.

@ Wikipedia


Scan more headline news on John Kelly's charges against former president Donald Trump


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Hurricane Helene and Milton Grew Intense Rapidly and Delivered Lasting Damage Across Florida, North Carolina

Now Politics in Its Aftermath Kick In


In storm-ravaged North Carolina, people see that Trump is not describing reality. What about the rest of the nation?

Via the Washington Post

October 25, 2024


Here in storm-ravaged North Carolina, people can separate reality from the things Trump is saying.

Can the rest of the nation? We’ll find out in 11 days. On Election Day, we’ll see whether, after nine years of Trump’s daily assaults on reality, the truth still has any relevance.

Americans can see in their own lives that the economy hasn’t collapsed; the price of bacon hasn’t quintupled; that all of the 15 million jobs created during the Biden administration didn’t go to undocumented immigrants; that violent migrants aren’t taking over the country; that crime isn’t rising; that the military hasn’t become a soft, “woke” assemblage of drag queens; that those who sacked the Capitol in 2021 weren’t peaceful; and that the government hasn’t cruelly abandoned those whose lives were upended by natural disasters. Americans can hear the urgent warning from retired Marine Gen. John Kelly and other former Trump administration officials that their old boss threatens our democratic way of life. But will any of it matter?


Update from GreenPolicy360: The past two weeks here in Florida have seen us scramble to prepare defenses against hurricanes here at "The Frontlines of Climate Change". Two hurricanes targeted our home state, and both delivered devastation. GreenPolicy360's home base on Tampa Bay was fortunate to escape the worst, as many experienced personal disasters, homes flooded, mementoes destroyed, lives sifted and impacted now and for years.


Helene and Milton 2024.jpeg


Any accounting of losses that points at billions of dollars in expenses but misses the costs that go far beyond dollars is no 'full-cost accounting' and we have entered an era that demands clear-eyed acknowledgement of security threats and a threat-multiplier horizon. Unfortunately, even as science provides facts and data, the political voices currently holding sway in Florida are in deep denial of 'extreme weather events' and the forces driving these events.

The Governor of Florida, Ron deSantis, is on record pushing against the science of climate change and the state's government has acted to remove the use of the term. It's time for a deep rethink by the Governor, and it is overdue for the state legislature to rise in coming legislative sessions to the task at hand.

Now it is urgent to point to the near future of risks of climate-related impacts on Florida, with a multi-dimensioned approach beginning with science as a guide to smart policy. Whether related to Florida's insurance rates, or coastal development, its vulnerabilities and its blocking of effective planning and responses to climate change, a green policy approach is our common challenge. Across the political spectrum, for young and old, community by community, a turn to citizen action is a highest strategic demand *if* we are going to, in Florida and every threatened community, make a positive difference in our future.


"Earth in human hands"


Earth in Human Hands.jpg

Earth is in *your* hands


🌎


October 9


The temperatures of Gulf of Mexico ocean water is trending warmer. High 80s and higher out there off the West Coast of Florida. Visitors to the coastline and barrier islands enjoy dipping into the warmness -- and so do tropical storms, cyclones, hurricanes...


GreenPolicy360: Historic Hurricanes, Weather 'Disturbances' that within Hours Intensify to Highest Categories of Destructive Storm Power


Here's a bit of Earth Science. A top of the news article via the Washington Post that puts Hurricane Milton in perspective...


...scientists say, ocean heat has increased to record levels in recent decades due to human-caused climate change. The reason is simple: The oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface, absorb most of the excess heat created by burning fossil fuels. Water also can absorb large amounts of heat with relatively little temperature change, making it a very efficient place to store all the trapped heat in the atmosphere.

Using computer models, an analysis from Climate Central said the record sea surface temperatures over the past two weeks were 400 to 800 times more likely as a result of climate change.


After Hurricane Helene Comes Hurricane Milton


Hurricane Milton map - Oct 7, 2024.jpeg


October 7


175-MPH WINDS


National Hurricane Center Advisory

BULLETIN

Hurricane Milton Intermediate Advisory Number 10A

NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL

AL142024 1:00PM CDT Mon Oct 07 2024

...MILTON EXPLOSIVELY INTENSIFIES WITH 175-MPH WINDS...

...RESIDENTS IN FLORIDA ARE URGED TO FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF LOCAL OFFICIALS...


SUMMARY OF 100 PM CDT...1800 UTC...INFORMATION


LOCATION...21.7N 91.3W

ABOUT 105 MI...170 KM WNW OF PROGRESO MEXICO

ABOUT 700 MI...1130 KM SW OF TAMPA FLORIDA

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...175 MPH...280 KM/H

PRESENT MOVEMENT...E OR 100 DEGREES AT 9 MPH...15 KM/H

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...911 MB...26.90 INCHES


October 6

Hurricane Milton Prediction as of Oct 6, 2024.jpeg

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The most vulnerable metropolitan area in the U.S. to storm surge damage is Tampa/St. Petersburg...

A major hurricane) striking just north of Tampa Bay could be expected to cause $230 billion in damage – just from the storm surge. (Yale Climate Connections Study, 2015)'


”Evidence that hurricanes are getting stronger”


"Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years"



🌎


End of an Era

Historic day in the UK where the industrial revolution fired up. The end of coal generated power...
GTN #climatechange #GreenPolicy360


End of coal power in UK - 1.jpg


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End of coal power in UK - 3.png

 


🌎


September 2024


Hurricane (Tropical Cyclone) Helene Leaves a Multi-State Path of Destruction

Communities in the US Southeast are grappling with widespread devastation after Helene made landfall as the strongest hurricane on record to slam into Florida’s Big Bend region Thursday and tore through multiple states, killing at least 62 people, knocking out power to millions and trapping families in floodwaters.


February 27

One of Florida's Wealthiest Regions Has a News Message about Climate Change and Risks to Life and Property

From the State's East Coast, North of Miami, a Location Known for an ex-President's Beach Club Mar-a-Lago Residence


GreenPolicy360 Editor Note: We disagree with the following Editorial statement of the Palm Beach Post that "Florida can handle storms". In fact, the costs/losses/damages of 'storms', actuarially and with 'full-cost accounting' , are magnitudes greater than what is being considered by the Post. The Post does recognize however what the Governor of Florida refuses to recognize and acknowledge -- that "climate change" effects are real and are gathering impacts that place Florida at the *Frontlines of Climate Change* with a coming deluge of climate-related news. Get ready Florida, act now to make a positive difference in the future that looms on 'the Peninsula'. Florida's geography, its 'target rich' (per Andrew Revkin) coastline development/new populations and infrastructure confront rising sea-levels and warming Gulf and Atlantic waters that are 'feeding' hurricane development. The physics of climate change have momentum, have trendlines, and are a threat horizon in security terms that should not be ignored. Our message, decades long now, is "Listen to the Science".


Editorial: Florida can handle storms. It's climate change that's the problem.


Palm Beach Post

The politics driving state policies that could help Floridians better cope with the effects of a warming planet need to change.


Hurricane Helene barreled through Florida's Big Bend area, leaving a trail of devastation from storm surge, flooding and wind in its wake. This is nothing new for Florida. Our state knows how to respond to storms, even one as threatening as this one.

Right now, the priority should be on search and rescue, cleanup and rebuilding. As of Friday afternoon, Helene left six dead and more than 1.2 million Florida home and property owners without power. Work crews have begun inspecting bridges and clearing roads of debris, and utility companies are working hard to restore power to stricken areas. Patience is always required as the true extent of the storm's damage is still being determined, and recovery will take time.

Florida knows how to deal with fallen trees and other damages after a hurricane. It's the pre-storm state policies that determine how Florida addresses climate change and global warming that need work.

But, for state leaders who make Tallahassee their home, what comes next should be obvious: More needs to be done to appreciate and address the effects of climate change so that the state can better direct its resources to buttress and protect communities before hurricanes hit. Florida has shown that it can appropriately react to a storm, but let's be clear-eyed about this: Michael, Ida, Idalia, Debby and Helene didn't hit a major population center. They all missed Tampa and St. Petersburg. And could you imagine the damage — both physically and financially — if a Category 4 storm hit Palm Beach County? Frightening.


The politics driving state policies that could help Floridians better cope with the effects of a warming planet need to change.

How can Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature in good conscience approve a law that erases the term "climate change" from state statutes, while boosting natural gas production and reducing state regulations on gas pipelines?


And how can state leaders rest on their laurels as Florida's property insurance crisis continues without a more comprehensive approach that addresses consumer needs and industry concerns? Hurricane Helene is just the latest storm to impact both, and given the obvious trends of warming seas and stronger storms, it won't be the last one.

Helene is the fifth storm in the past six years to make landfall somewhere in Florida, and once again the state's first responders, utility linemen and volunteers will do all they can to restore those communities stricken by the storm. Florida knows how to handle a hurricane after the fact. State leaders though must do better on the front end before an urban center like Palm Beach County finds itself in the center of the cone.


More re: Climate Change @GreenPolicy360


Tropical Cyclones - Hurricane Science (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico)

References from Climate.gov, NOAA, NCEI, NHC, NWS, GFDL


"Can we expect Atlantic hurricanes to change over the coming century due to global warming?"

By Chris Landsea and Tom Knutson

Christopher W. Landsea is the Chief of the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch at the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center in Miami. Tom Knutson is a Senior Scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton.

A NOAA State of the Science Fact Sheet on “Atlantic Hurricanes and Climate" is also available.


🌎


Hurricane Helene, Screen Grab, Over the Gulf of Mexico


Earth Dynamics, Morning of September 26, 2024 - Date/Time Captured

(Click image for *current wind/surface/orthographic conditions*)


Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico - M.jpeg


🌎


A New Word Enters the News Lexicon -- "Sanewashing"

In US Politics a Flurry of Political Lies Has (Many Professionals in) the News Media Questioning Reporting-as-Usual
* https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2024/sanewashing-meaning-donald-trump-journalists/


🌎


Fact Checking, Facts Count


September 11, 2024


The US Presidential Debate Is One for the History Books


33 false statements.png


Question: Did the ABC Moderators Intrude?

GreenPolicy360: Facts count, repeat, "facts count"


Fact Checking


Fact Checking, Facts Count


Disinformation - Online - Dangerous



Political Propaganda and Disinformation as Geopolitical Weapons


Google News - US accuses Russia of using state media to influence election

September 6, 2024



YouTube takes down right-wing channels linked to DOJ Russia indictments

YouTube “terminates” Tenet Media and other channels


Russian trolling 2.0: How the Kremlin shifted tactics from its 2016 election strategy

Rather than relying on fake accounts and bogus online personas, the current effort alleged in this week’s indictment involves coopting real American influencers to try to push Russian narratives to US audiences, particularly aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.

“Buying authentic influencers is a far better use of funds than creating fake personas, because they bring their own trusting audiences and are actually, you know, real,” Renee DiResta, an expert on online influence operations, said in a social media post.

The (US DOJ) indictment alleges that the RT employees secretly poured nearly $10 million into a Tennessee company that hired prominent right-wing commentators who produced content on hot-button political issues, including Russia’s war on Ukraine...


The Russian Propaganda Attack on America

Sometimes money is more effective than weapons

By Tom Nichols

September 5, 2024

What’s really going on here is that the Russians have identified two major weaknesses in their American adversaries. The first is that a big slice of the American public, especially since the ascent of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, has an almost limitless appetite for stories that jack up their adrenaline: They will embrace wild conspiracies and “news” meant to generate social conflict so long as the stories are exciting, validate their preexisting worldviews, and give them some escape from life’s daily doldrums.

The other is that more than a few Americans have the combination of immense greed and ego-driven grievances that make them easy targets either for recruitment or to be used as clueless dupes. The Russians, along with every other intelligence service in the world, count on finding such people and exploiting their avarice and insecurity. This is not new. (The United States does it too. Money is almost always the easiest inducement to treason.) But the widespread influence of social media has opened a new front in the intelligence battle. Professional secret agents no longer need to find highly placed Americans who have access to secrets or who might influence policy discussions. Instead of the painstaking work that usually takes months or even years to suborn foreign citizens, the Kremlin can just dragoon a couple of its own people to pose as business sharps with money to burn, spread cash around like manure in a field full of half-wits, and see what blossoms.



"The Russian disinformation operations that affected the 2016 United States presidential election are by no means over." (2018)

-- Renée DiResta, Author, "Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality"



Wednesday, September 4, 2024


Office of Public Affairs

U.S. Department ofJustice


Two RT Employees Indicted for Covertly Funding and Directing U.S. Company that Published Thousands of Videos in Furtherance of Russian Interests


“The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.”

“Our approach to combating foreign malign influence is actor-driven, exposing the hidden hand of adversaries pulling strings of influence from behind the curtain," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As alleged in today’s indictment, Russian state broadcaster RT and its employees, including the charged defendants, co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to U.S. audiences. The Department will not tolerate foreign efforts to illegally manipulate American public opinion by sowing discord and division.”


Indictment


Google News - US accuses Russia of using state media to influence election.png


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The U.S. Presidential Election Heats Up


Harris and Trump offer starkly different visions on climate change and energy

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different visions on how to address a changing climate while ensuring a reliable energy supply

Sept. 1, 2024

Via AP/ABC



August 2024


Kamala Harris Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech

Kamala Harris Accepts


August 22, 2024

Democratic National Convention

Chicago, Illinois


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The U.S. Presidential Race Has an Announcement

Kamala Harris Chooses Her Running Mate -- Time Walz from Minnesota


Harris chooses Walz.jpg


AP-NORC poll on Democracy Election.jpg



July 2024


In the U.S. the Debate Grows and Policy Positions Change as Supreme Court Decisions Challenge Politics & Law


President Joe Biden: My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law

We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power and restore the public’s faith in our judicial system

Washington Post | Opinion - Editorial Page



Press Release from the Office of the U.S. President


JULY 29, 2024

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Plan to Reform the Supreme Court and Ensure No President Is Above the Law


US-White House-Logo.png


BRIEFING ROOM STATEMENT

From his first day in office—and every day since then—President Biden has taken action to strengthen American democracy and protect the rule of law.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has overturned long-established legal precedents protecting fundamental rights. This Court has gutted civil rights protections, taken away a woman’s right to choose, and now granted Presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office.

At the same time, recent ethics scandals involving some Justices have caused the public to question the fairness and independence that are essential for the Court to faithfully carry out its mission to deliver justice for all Americans.

President Biden believes that no one—neither the President nor the Supreme Court—is above the law.

In the face of this crisis of confidence in America’s democratic institutions, President Biden is calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability:

No Immunity for Crimes a Former President Committed in Office: President Biden shares the Founders’ belief that the President’s power is limited—not absolute—and must ultimately reside with the people. He is calling for a constitutional amendment that makes clear no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. This No One Is Above the Law Amendment will state that the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.

Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices: Congress approved term limits for the Presidency over 75 years ago, and President Biden believes they should do the same for the Supreme Court. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court Justices. Term limits would help ensure that the Court’s membership changes with some regularity; make timing for Court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary; and reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come.

President Biden supports a system in which the President would appoint a Justice every two years to spend eighteen years in active service on the Supreme Court.

Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court:President Biden believesthat Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Supreme Court Justices should not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.

President Biden and Vice President Harris look forward to working with Congress and empowering the American people to prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy. President Biden thanks the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States for its insightful analysis of Supreme Court reform proposals. The Administration will continue its work to ensure that no one is above the law – and in America, the people rule.


See more re: the U.S. Republic, Democracy & Democratic Institutions at GreenPolicy360


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Trump Tells Christians ‘You Won’t Have to Vote Anymore’ If He’s Elected

NY Times

By Michael Gold

“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” he said at The Believers’ Summit [Friday, July 26), an event hosted by the conservative advocacy group Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”


Read more at Strategic Demands


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July 24, 2024

Biden speech for democracy, pass the torch - July 2024.jpg


NYT: Here’s Where Kamala Harris Stands on Climate

Democratic Party's new candidate for President has strong environmental protection positions

She pursued polluters as attorney general in California and later staked out bold positions as a senator, including sponsorship of the Green New Deal.

Vice President Kamala Harris has for years made the environment a top concern, from prosecuting polluters as California’s attorney general to sponsoring the Green New Deal as a senator to casting the tiebreaking vote as vice president for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in United States history.


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Saudi Aramco Positions Itself for a Long Fossil Fuel Run

Via UK / Financial Times / July 10


Internal combustion engines will be around many, many years says Saudi Arabia's oil/gas company, Saudi Aramco. The state-owned oil group that made $500bn in revenues last year mainly from producing and selling crude is investing in carbon intensive products with a purpose.

“At the end of the day everyone is here to make money,” Yasser Mufti, Aramco executive vice-president said. He added about their new significant investment in Horse Powertrain engines... “there’s a lot of value proposition there”.


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News: Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court Says Donald Trump Is Shielded From Prosecution

The decision may effectively delay the trial of the case against the former president on charges of plotting to subvert the 2020 election.


SCOTUS pres immunity decision - July 1 2024.png


 

June 2024


June 30

Time to Add Fact-Checking to Live, Broadcast/Streamed Political Debates

This week, on Thursday night, June 27th, some 50 million people tuned in to the CNN hosted 2024 US presidential campaign debate between current president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump.

The debate rules had been negotiated between CNN and the candidate staffs and featured limited time periods for the candidates to answer questions or make statements and charges, with a system of lights monitoring the time periods, and microphones being muted when each candidate's time period expired. What wasn't addressed -- and turned out to be a critical issue and problem -- can be described as what do you do when questions are answered and instead a charged series of claims are made that range far from facts, and verbal accusations pile up, one after another to a degree that corrections by the accused candidate become impossible in the time allotted.

The presidential debate turned into an event far from facts and debate, but rather an overwhelmed format that led to calls to change the rules in the future to ensure a back-and-forth debate can take place.

We have a suggestion to make debates in the future work as *debates, not debacles. The key to success could be enabling fact-checking capabilities to accompany the live event. This seems like an idea whose time has come and software/services like AI that have recently been rolling out can do real-time fact checking in ways that are possible in new forms. Having debates *on the merits will breathe new life into rhetorical arguments that deserve to be better tomorrow.

A fact-checking add-on solution was explained by GreenPolicy360's siterunner after the June 27th event. We offer Steve Schmidt's opinion here:


A Debate to Remember

by Steve Schmidt / June 30, 2024

What happened in the presidential debate on June 27, 2024? Most of us are still wondering what was 'That' about?

The current president went to Atlanta to debate a former president -- the results were consequential -- and devastating. Another word, with exclamation, would be "Inconceivable!"

In a call out to classic movies lore (and memes), inconceivable! brings back memories of Wallace Shawn in "The Princess Bride". Shawn's character, Vizzini, immortalized the line, "Inconceivable!". This past week "Inconceivable!" returned on stage and delivered consequences beyond imagination.

Since the debate, watched by some 50 million people, the after effects have not ended. The questions that shocked -- of Joe Biden's performance, his health, his competence -- are now reverberating across the country. The writer Bob Woodward compared Biden's performance with an H bomb, and questioned what happened in President Biden's preparation for the debate.

The look of the 81 year old President was, from the opening of the debate until its closing worrying. The President looked pale, almost without any TV makeup. He was unsteady, his voice hoarse, he held on to his podium, he wavered, unsteady in action and words, His answers to questions became confused. On questions that were politically essential, such as women's reproductive rights and the recent Supreme Court decision striking down decades of Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, he stumbled though he had been addressing this question-of-questions daily for months.

Meanwhile, the former President unleashed a torrent of verbal charges and attacks, refused to answer questions, and claimed throughout the debate that his term in office was the best ever. In fact, it wasn't and most every claim he made veered far from reality and fact.

Afterwards, Heather Cox Richardson, a well-known historian, wrote that the former president used a technique called the "Gish Gallup", that overwhelms an opponent by "by providing an excessive number of arguments with no regard for accuracy". Trump's on stage broadside was aided by debate rules that muted the President's microphone and, to expect the President to fact check the ex-President's 'firehose' of claims would have been 'inconceivable', even if the President wasn't expected to speak of his own vision of a political future.

The planning of the debate did not produce any means of 'fact checking', the two CNN moderators and no way to call out lies and charges made, no way to prevent the debate from descending -- and so it did. The microphone of President Biden was muted, he couldn't answer, he just had to stand there looking pale, distraught while the moderators and world watched.

At this point, one could hope that future debates will put in place some 'guard rails' and/or moderator/commentator input … Why not fact checkers, perhaps using new AI tools for rapid response capabilities that can deliver a scroll of verifications ...

Fact checkers? You might ask, who needs fact checkers (with badges)?!

We need facts and fact-checking as a profession has come a long way in recent years Fact-checking organizations have spread from the US to democratic nations of the world.

The International Fact-Checking Network, in fact, started in the US with the efforts of the Poynter Institute and its PolitiFact original work. The Reporters Lab of Duke University is also bringing fact checking services into media and educating as they go. Amid current political turmoil and fire hoses of dis- and mis-information across the Internet and social media, the new counters to those pedaling lies are available to use as services.

This past week, for example, a GlobalFact 11th annual international conference was held, successfully drawing from news, media and public interest groups internationally and offering fact checking 'best practices'.

Bottom line, facts count. There are ways to do better with debates. Before the next presidential debate, let's take time to present new ideas for debate improvement.

It's not Inconceivable! we can do better. To maintain and protect the Republic, and advance the nation's democratic institutions, we need facts. It's time for fact-checking real time in online debates. Our democracy will thank you and it's our responsibility to make it happen.

As Benjamin Franklin was reported saying of the new US experiment as he left Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention: We have "a Republic, if you can keep it."


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Microorganisms, the "Tiny Little Ones"

June 24

Today's GreenPolicy360 'Story of the Day' begins with an excerpt from the NY Times (link provided w/ article free-to-view/without paywall). Earth science explored here by the NY Times Magazine speaks of "the tiny little ones" (as GreenPolicy often calls the tiny micro-life forms) that almost always go unseen by human eyes and unappreciated. Yet, as science is now discovering, microorganisms/microbes play an outside role in supporting, changing, and sculpting our Living Earth.

As we often do at GreenPolicy, we make "Earth System Science" connections , as in It's All Related with ecology as a guide. We now zoom into the microlife-story in the Amazon rainforest, one of our favorite bioregions. The NY Times Magazine story moves from the rainforest and its canopy with its (https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Rainforest amazing stories we were one of first to tell]. The story connects into the creation of clouds and rainstorm, then across skies and seas, and goes underground, deep into the crust of Planet Earth to reveal a Living Treasure...

"Life finds a way", as Michael Crichton memorably wrote and Jeff Goldblum intoned in a Jurassic movie warning delivered to a Barnum-Bailey developer's theme park team.

So let's go deeper now, this is more than an H.G. Wells tale or any Disney-Marvel animation or theme park ride (even Spaceship Earth at Epcot.)


The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet

By Ferris Jabr

Ferris Jabr is a contributing writer at the NY Times magazine and the author of “Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life."


In a typical year, the Amazon generates around half of its own rainfall.

The Amazon’s rain ritual challenges the way we typically think about life on Earth. Conventional wisdom holds that life is sub¬ject to its environment. If Earth did not orbit a star of the right size and age, if it were too close or too far from that star, if it did not have a stable atmosphere, liquid water and a magnetic field that deflects harmful cosmic rays, it would be lifeless. Life evolved on Earth be¬cause Earth is suitable for life. Since Darwin, prevailing scientific paradigms have likewise emphasized that the ever-shifting demands of the environment largely dictate how life evolves: Species best able to cope with changes to their particular habitats leave behind the most descendants, whereas those that fail to adapt die out.

Yet this truth has an underappreciated twin: Life changes its environment, too. In the mid-20th century, when ecology established itself as a formal discipline, this fact began to gain wider recognition in Western science. Even so, the focus was on relatively small and local changes: a beaver constructing a dam, for instance, or earthworms churning a patch of soil. The notion that living creatures of all kinds might modify their environments in much more significant ways — that microbes, fungi, plants and animals can change the topography and climate of a continent or even the entire planet — was rarely given serious consideration.

In recent decades, however, the scientific understanding of life’s relationship to the planet has been undergoing a major reformation. Contrary to longstanding maxims, life has been a formidable geological force throughout Earth’s history, often matching or surpassing the power of glaciers, earthquakes and volcanoes. Over the past several billion years, all manner of life forms, from microbes to mammoths, have transformed the continents, ocean and atmosphere, turning a lump of orbiting rock into the world as we’ve known it. Living creatures are not simply products of inexorable evolutionary processes in their particular habitats; they are orchestrators of their environments and participants in their own evolution.

We and other living creatures are more than inhabitants of Earth. We are Earth: an outgrowth of its physical structure and an engine of its global cycles. The evidence for this new paradigm is all around us, although much of it has been discovered only recently and has yet to permeate public consciousness to the same degree as, say, selfish genes or the microbiome.

The history of life on Earth is the history of life’s remaking Earth...


(In a mine tunnel now, deep beneath the surface of 'Planet Earth') ... Kneeling, I realized that the water was teeming with a stringy white material similar to the skin of a poached egg. Caitlin Casar, a geobiologist, explained that the white fibers were microbes in the genus Thiothrix, which join together in long filaments and store sulfur in their cells, giving them a ghostly hue. Here we were, deep within Earth’s crust — a place where, without human intervention, there would be no light and little oxygen — yet life was literally gush­ing from rock. This particular ecological hot spot had earned the nick­name ThiothrixFalls...


Microbiomes empowering life, living systems, all related life...

Systems Thinking, "It's All Related"
In the Worlds of the Microbiomes


Living Earth.png


An Unseen World

The 'Tiny Little Ones'


GreenPolicy360: As the extraterrestrial search for life extends thru the data returned from Hubble and Webb space-based intergallactic imaging let's ask about non-surface exoplanet life-forms. The reflective multispectrum results of scanning by Hubble/Webb do not capture non-reflective, internal exoplanet results. Think about microbiomes ... and life in forms not captured by Hubble/Webb and scanning surveys of galaxies from state of the art instruments from Planet Earth.


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A Horizon of Strategic Threats to Life


Nuclear Weapons proliferation - 2024.jpg


Nuclear Weapons proliferation - 2024 News.jpg


A Nuclear Arms Race 3.0

Follow GreenPolicy360's associate, Strategic Demands


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Geo-Facts to Keep in Mind


Earth - Pacific Ocean.png


World's oceans have gone 'crazy haywire,' officials warn, with majority of coral reefs in peril

Heat stress levels literally off the charts of NOAA's alert system

Daily monitoring of ocean conditions around the world, released by NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch, shows zones of Bleaching Alert Level 4 in the central Pacific Ocean and off the Atlantic coast of South America, with some ribbons of Alert Level 5 in the southern Atlantic.


NOAA Coral Reef Watch Daily | Bleaching Alert Area 7-day Maximum | Chart (v3.1) 14 Jun 2024


🌎


In Memory of Astronaut William Anders

June 7, 2024


Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, killed in Washington plane crash


Earthrise

Apollo 8's View of Earth on December 24, 1968


December 21, 1968 ... Apollo 8 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, the first humans on the way to the Moon --- and a vision looking back at home that empowered the modern environmental movement.


Aboard Apollo, December 24, 1968...
Earthrise, the way Anders saw it.jpg
http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Apollo_8


As the spaceship swings around the Moon... unexpectedly the Earth rises in the Apollo ship's window and the astronauts are amazed at what is coming into view...


Astronaut Bill Anders is the first to see the Earth...

Anders: "Oh, my God, look at that picture over there," he can be heard saying. "There's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!"


What happened next will sound familiar to anyone who remembers the days before digital cameras:


Anders (to astronaut Jim Lovell): "You got a color film, Jim? Hand me a roll of color, quick, would you?"

Lovell: "Oh, man, that's great! Where is it?"

Anders: "Hurry. Quick."

Lovell: "Down here?"

Anders: "Just grab me a color. A color exterior. Hurry up. Got one?"

Lovell: "Yeah, I'm lookin' for one. C368."

Anders: "Anything quick."


Lovell hands him the film just as Anders is heard saying, "I think we missed it."


But within seconds, Lovell sees the shot again in another window of the command module. He asks for the camera from Anders, who seems a bit defensive at having his role as mission photographer usurped.


Anders: "Wait a minute, just let me get the right setting here now, just calm down. Calm down, Lovell!"


Anders then gets the shot that has been reproduced innumerable times all over the world...


Changing forever humanity's vision of ourselves, of who we are


#PlanetCitizens

Earthrise 100 Photographs That Changed the World .jpg



Apollo.jpg


🌎 'Earthrise' poem by Amanda Gorman


Apollo 8


 

Earth Day Flag.png


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Earth temperatures and a 'highway to hell'.png


Too Hot - FT.png


UN chief says world is on ‘highway to climate hell’ as planet endures 12 straight months of unprecedented heat


It's Hot (and We're Watching)


Climate Policy @GreenPolicy360


🥵


As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose

The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Even in the Northeast, where homeowners insurance was still generally profitable last year, the trends are worsening.

In 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states, more than a third of the country, according to a New York Times analysis of newly available financial data. That’s up from 12 states five years ago, and eight states in 2013. The result is that insurance companies are raising premiums by as much as 50 percent or more, cutting back on coverage or leaving entire states altogether. Nationally, over the last decade, insurers paid out more in claims than they received in premiums, according to the ratings firm Moody’s, and those losses are increasing.

The growing tumult is affecting people whose homes have never been damaged and who have dutifully paid their premiums, year after year. Cancellation notices have left them scrambling to find coverage to protect what is often their single biggest investment. As a last resort, many are ending up in high-risk insurance pools created by states that are backed by the public and offer less coverage than standard policies. By and large, state regulators lack strategies to restore stability to the market...


🌎


May


Commencement Address at Brandeis University

By Ken Burns

(GreenPolicy360 - A keeper and a graduation message to share widely)


Commencement 2024

Honorary degree recipient Ken Burns gives the Commencement address during the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony

Brandeis University's 73rd Commencement Exercises, May 2024


Transcript


Brandeisian, love it.

President Liebowitz, Ron, Chair Lisa Kranc, and other members of the board of trustees, Provost Carol Fierke, fellow honorees, distinguished faculty and staff, proud and relieved parents, calm and serene grandparents, distracted but secretly pleased siblings, ladies and gentlemen, graduating students of the class of 2024, good morning.

I am deeply honored and privileged that you have asked me here to say a few words at such a momentous occasion that you might find what I have to say worthy of your attention on so important a day in all of your lives. Thank you for this honor.

Listen, I am in the business of history. It is not always a happy subject on college campuses these days, particularly when forces seem determined to eliminate or water down difficult parts of our past, particularly when the subject may seem to some an anachronistic and irrelevant pursuit, and particularly with the ferocious urgency this moment seems to exert on us. It is my job, however, to remind people of the power our past also exerts, to help us better understand what's going on now with compelling story, memory, and anecdote. It is my job to try to discern patterns and themes from history to enable us to interpret our dizzying and sometimes dismaying present.

For nearly 50 years now, I have diligently practiced and rigorously tried to maintain a conscious neutrality in my work, avoiding advocacy if I could, trying to speak to all of my fellow citizens. Over those many decades I've come to understand a significant fact, that we are not condemned to repeat, as the saying goes, what we don't remember. That is a beautiful, even poetic phrase, but not true. Nor are there cycles of history as the academic community periodically promotes. The Old Testament, Ecclesiastes to be specific, got it right, I think. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. What those lines suggest is that human nature never changes or almost never changes. We continually superimpose that complex and contradictory human nature over the seemingly random chaos of events, all of our inherent strengths and weaknesses, our greed and generosity, our puritanism and our prurience, our virtue, and our venality parade before our eyes, generation after generation after generation. This often gives us the impression that history repeats itself. It does not. "No event has ever happened twice, it just rhymes," Mark Twain is supposed to have said. I have spent all of my professional life on the lookout for those rhymes, drawn inexorably to that power of history. I am interested in listening to the many varied voices of a true, honest, complicated past that is unafraid of controversy and tragedy, but equally drawn to those stories and moments that suggest an abiding faith in the human spirit, and particularly the unique role this remarkable and sometimes also dysfunctional republic seems to play in the positive progress of mankind.

During the course of my work, I have become acquainted with hundreds if not thousands of those voices. They have inspired, haunted, and followed me over the years. Some of them may be helpful to you as you try to imagine and make sense of the trajectory of your lives today.

Listen, listen. In January of 1838, shortly before his 29th birthday, a tall, thin lawyer prone to bouts of debilitating depression addressed the young men's lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. "At what point shall we expect the approach of danger?" He asked his audience, "Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the earth and crush us at a blow?" Then he answered his own question. "Never. All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide." It is a stunning, remarkable statement, one that has animated my own understanding of the American experience since I first read it more than 40 years ago. That young man was of course Abraham Lincoln, and he would go on to preside over the closest this country has ever come to near national suicide, our civil war, and yet embedded in his extraordinary, disturbing, and prescient words is also a fundamental optimism that implicitly acknowledges the geographical forcefield two mighty oceans east and west and two relatively benign neighbors north and south have provided for us since the British burned the White House in the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key.

Lincoln's words that day suggest what is so great and so good about the people who happen to inhabit this lucky and exquisite country of ours. That's the world you now inherit: our work ethic and our restlessness, our innovation and our improvisation, our communities and our institutions of higher learning, our suspicion of power. The fact that we seem resolutely dedicated to parsing the meaning between individual and collective freedom; What I want versus what we need. That we are all so dedicated to understanding what Thomas Jefferson really meant when he wrote that mysterious phrase, "The pursuit of happiness". Hint, it happens right here in the lifelong learning and perpetual improvement this university is committed to.

But the isolation of those two oceans has also helped to incubate habits and patterns less beneficial to us: our devotion to money and guns and conspiracies, our certainty about everything, our stubborn insistence on our own exceptionalism blinding us to that which needs repair, especially with regard to race and ethnicity. Our preoccupation with always making the other wrong at an individual as well as a global level. I am reminded of what the journalist I.F. Stone once said to a young acolyte who was profoundly disappointed in his mentor's admiration for Thomas Jefferson. "It's because history is tragedy," Stone admonished him, "Not melodrama." It's the perfect response. In melodrama all villains are perfectly villainous and all heroes are perfectly virtuous, but life is not like that. You know that in your guts and nor is our history like that. The novelist, Richard Powers recently wrote that, "The best arguments in the world," — and ladies and gentlemen, that's all we do is argue — "the best arguments in the world," he said, "Won't change a single person's point of view. The only thing that can do that is a good story." I've been struggling for most of my life to do that, to try to tell good, complex, sometimes contradictory stories, appreciating nuance and subtlety and undertow, sharing the confusion and consternation of unreconciled opposites.

But it's clear as individuals and as a nation we are dialectically preoccupied. Everything is either right or wrong, red state or blue state, young or old, gay or straight, rich or poor, Palestinian or Israeli, my way or the highway. Everywhere we are trapped by these old, tired, binary reactions, assumptions, and certainties. For filmmakers and faculty, students and citizens, that preoccupation is imprisoning. Still, we know and we hear and we express only arguments, and by so doing, we forget the inconvenient complexities of history and of human nature. That, for example, three great religions, their believers, all children of Abraham, each professing at the heart of their teaching, a respect for all human life, each with a central connection to and legitimate claim to the same holy ground, violate their own dictates of conduct and make this perpetually contested land a shameful graveyard. God does not distinguish between the dead. "Could you?"

[Audience applauding]

"Could you?" A very wise person I know with years of experience with the Middle East recently challenged me, "Could you hold the idea that there could be two wrongs and two rights?"

Listen, listen. In a filmed interview I conducted with the writer James Baldwin, more than 40 years ago, he said, "No one was ever born who agreed to be a slave, who accepted it. That is, slavery is a condition imposed from without. Of course, the moment I say that," Baldwin continued, "I realize that multitudes and multitudes of people for various reasons of their own enslave themselves every hour of every day to this or that doctrine, this or that delusion of safety, this or that lie. Anti-Semites, for example," he went on, "are slaves to a delusion. People who hate Negroes are slaves. People who love money are slaves. We are living in a universe really of willing slaves, which makes the concept of liberty and the concept of freedom so dangerous," he finished. Baldwin is making a profoundly psychological and even spiritual statement, not just a political or racial or social one. He knew, just as Lincoln knew, that the enemy is often us. We continue to shackle ourselves with chains we mistakenly think is freedom.

Another voice, Mercy Otis Warren, a philosopher and historian during our revolution put it this way, "The study of the human character at once opens a beautiful and a deformed picture of the soul. We there find a noble principle implanted in the nature of people, but when the checks of conscience are thrown aside, humanity is obscured." I have had the privilege for nearly half a century of making films about the US, but I have also made films about us. That is to say the two letter, lowercase, plural pronoun. All of the intimacy of "us" and also "we" and "our" and all of the majesty, complexity, contradiction, and even controversy of the US. And if I have learned anything over those years, it's that there's only us. There is no them. And whenever someone suggests to you, whomever it may be in your life that there's a them, run away. Othering is the simplistic binary way to make and identify enemies, but it is also the surest way to your own self imprisonment, which brings me to a moment I've dreaded and forces me to suspend my longstanding attempt at neutrality.

There is no real choice this November. There is only the perpetuation, however flawed and feeble you might perceive it, of our fragile 249-year-old experiment or the entropy that will engulf and destroy us if we take the other route. When, as Mercy Otis Warren would say, "The checks of conscience are thrown aside and a deformed picture of the soul is revealed." The presumptive Republican nominee is the opioid of all opioids, an easy cure for what some believe is the solution to our myriad pains and problems. When in fact with him, you end up re-enslaved with an even bigger problem, a worse affliction and addiction, "a bigger delusion", James Baldwin would say, the author and finisher of our national existence, our national suicide as Mr. Lincoln prophesies. Do not be seduced by easy equalization. There is nothing equal about this equation. We are at an existential crossroads in our political and civic lives. This is a choice that could not be clearer.

[Audience applauding]

Listen, listen. 33 years ago, the world lost a towering literary figure. The novelist and storyteller, not arguer, Isaac Bashevis Singer. For decades he wrote about God and myth and punishment, fate and sexuality, family and history. He wrote in Yiddish a marvelously expressive language, sad and happy all at the same time. Sometimes maddeningly all knowing, yet resigned to God's seemingly capricious will. It is also a language without a country, a dying language in a world more interested in the extermination or isolation of its long suffering speakers. Singer, writing in the pages of the Jewish Daily Forward help to keep Yiddish alive. Now our own wonderfully mongrel American language is punctuated with dozens of Yiddish words and phrases, parables and wise sayings, and so many of those words are perfect onomatopoeias of disgust and despair, hubris and humor. If you've ever met a schmuck, you know what I'm talking about. [audience laughs] Toward the end of his long and prolific life, Singer expressed wonder at why so many of his books written in this obscure and some said useless language would be so widely translated, something like 56 countries all around the world. "Why," he would wonder with his characteristic playfulness, "Why would the Japanese care about his simple stories of life in the shtetls of Eastern Europe 1,000 years ago?" "Unless," Singer paused, twinkle in his eye, "Unless the story spoke of the kinship of the soul." I think what Singer was talking about was that indefinable something that connects all of us together, that which we all share as part of organic life on this planet, the kinship of the soul. I love that.

Okay, let me speak directly to the graduating class. Watch out, here comes the advice. Listen. Be curious, not cool. Insecurity makes liars of us all. Remember, none of us get out of here alive. The inevitable vicissitudes of life, no matter how well gated our communities, will visit us all. Grief is a part of life, and if you explore its painful precincts, it will make you stronger. Do good things, help others. Leadership is humility and generosity squared. Remember the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is central to faith. The opposite of faith is certainty. The kinship of the soul begins with your own at times withering self-examination. Try to change that unchangeable human nature of Ecclesiastes, but start with you. "Nothing so needs reforming," Mark Twain once chided us, "As other people's habits." [audience laughs]

Don't confuse success with excellence. Do not descend too deeply into specialism. Educate all of your parts, you will be healthier. Do not get stuck in one place. "Travel is fatal to prejudice," Twain also said. Be in nature, which is always perfect and where nothing is binary. Its sheer majesty may remind you of your own atomic insignificance, as one observer put it, but in the inscrutable and paradoxical ways of wild places, you will feel larger, inspirited, just as the egotist in our midst is diminished by his or her self regard.

At some point, make babies, one of the greatest things that will happen to you, I mean it, one of the greatest things that will happen to you is that you will have to worry, I mean really worry, about someone other than yourself. It is liberating and exhilarating, I promise. Ask your parents.

[Audience laughs]

Choose honor over hypocrisy, virtue over vulgarity, discipline over dissipation, character over cleverness, sacrifice over self-indulgence. Do not lose your enthusiasm, in its Greek etymology the word enthusiasm means simply, "god in us". Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Denounce oppression everywhere.

[Audience applauding]

Convince your government, as Lincoln understood that the real threat always and still comes from within this favored land. Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts.

[Audience cheering]

They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country; They just make our country worth defending.

[Audience applauding]

Remember what Louis Brandeis said, "The most important political office is that of the private citizen." Vote. You indelibly... [audience applauding] Please, vote. You indelibly underscore your citizenship, and most important, our kinship with each other when you do. Good luck and godspeed.

[Audience applauding]


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On the Beach, In the Intertidal Zone


A Brief History of the Future


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In the Intertidal Zone

 

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Category 6 Hurricanes? It's Getting Gnarly Out There!


Scientist are proposing an update of the scale to include category 6 hurricanes, which are those with winds over 192 mph.

According to the Guardian: “Hurricanes are becoming so strong due to the climate crisis that the classification of them should be expanded to include a “category 6” storm, furthering the scale from the standard 1 to 5, according to a new study.

Over the past decade, five storms would have been classed at this new category 6 strength, researchers said, which would include all hurricanes with sustained winds of 192 mph or more. Such mega-hurricanes are becoming more likely due to global heating, studies have found, due to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere.

Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, said that “192mph is probably faster than most Ferraris, it’s hard to even imagine”. He has proposed the new category 6 alongside another researcher, James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Being caught in that sort of hurricane would be bad. Very bad.”

The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and reported in the Guardian by Oliver Milman on 5 Feb 2024.


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Re: Climate Policy News, Renewable, Clean Energy instead of Burning Fossil Fuels


Battery costs have dropped 90% in under 15 years giving renewables a boost, new IEA report reveals


While China produces most batteries today, the report shows that 40 per cent of announced plans for new battery manufacturing is in advanced economies such as the US and the European Union.

Battery deployment still needs to scale up significantly in the next few years if the world is to hit our energy and climate goals.

To do so, overall energy storage capacity will need to increase sixfold by 2030 worldwide, with batteries accounting for 90 per cent of the increase and pumped hydropower covering most of the rest.


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April 22, 2024


Personal Memories on the Road to the First Earth Day


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PlanetCitizen.org / Earth System Science / Measuring "Vital Signs"


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The Day Before Earth Day, 2024


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Story Telling and Science Education

'Thought for the Day'


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Greening Our Blue Planet


Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement

* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf

* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary


GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Many years ago our student movement began 'going green' and creating a 'modern environmental movement'. New visions of what could be and should be came into view and when we pitched a US Senator back in 1969, Senator Nelson thanked us for our "peace movement" and said he was "inspired" by our energy. He especially appreciated the "teach ins" we were organizing and when he came to California listened to our ideas in detail. He visited the historic oil spill off the Santa Barbara coastline, and he became convinced. A special day could and should spread the message -- the peace movement organizing, the teach ins, the student energy would transition into eco-organizing. Peace, democracy in action and environmental protection would move together.

The first Earth Day was soon announced and here in 2024 and again we are about to again do what we do.... At GreenPolicy360 we call this -- "Earth Day is every day".


Earth Day Is Every Day


Here comes April 22nd, 2024. Get ready to 'Get with the action' ...


Every Day Is Earth Day


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March


As the upcoming US presidential election heats up, threats to US democratic institutions heat up...


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* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Democracy_Challenged,_Democracy_Awakening.png



A Living Earth, a Living Cell

Macro to Micro on All Species Day


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More (without a paywall) on the opportunities to use MethaneSAT data, internationally, in the years to come. This Earth Imaging data, a consequence of decades of Earth research from satellites development, promises to be an environmental security/climate policy and enforcement game changer


On March 4, 2024, MethaneSAT detached from the SpaceX Transporter-10 rocket that carried the emissions-monitor into space.

The groundbreaking satellite is designed to help protect the Earth’s climate by accelerating reductions of this powerful greenhouse pollutant, focusing on oil and gas operations, a major source of methane.


MethaneSAT data will become available, it has been announced, for download in the Google Earth Engine database...


MethaneSAT is the first satellite developed by an environmental non-profit and enables emissions tracking and business accountability. The net result -- faster reductions of methane gas.


Climate Action Plans 360

In 2020/21 GreenPolicy360 first put forward a strategic initiative for "climate plans enforcement" developed and presented by nearly all nations of the world at climate summits. The Paris conference in 2015 was the first reveal of this plans and since then many promises for action have been made by nations and their political representatives -- but with sporadic follow up and performance.

We saw a pressing need to, as we put it, 'turn national climate plans and pledges into reality'. The plans/pledges/promises made on paper had to translate to action on the ground and, as we said, in the skies above. The INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) had to bring in facts and data, and as we pointed to, the data was there in the form of satellite missions capable of surveying and reporting emissions, hot spots, 'code red' vital signs.

In other words, as we have said for many years, science could be and should be used. 'Measure-to-manage' was a call to action for climate plans enforcement.

The use of Earth Imaging systems via satellite programs was high on our list, as our GreenPolicy360 founder has been involved in Earth Science research from space since its beginnings in the 1970s.

Now, with the launch of MethaneSAT, the vision of data that can be used for enforcement, to reduce methane emissions as a potent source of global warming, is now becoming a reality. Read on...


Distributing the MethaneSAT data is the next step...


GRN360: Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative


GRN3360: Methods to Enforce Climate Plan Pledges


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Measure-to-Manage



First satellite developed by an environmental non-profit will see methane emissions others can’t, paving the way for heightened accountability and faster reductions


MethaneSat Media Kit


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Along Comes Data

Fact Checking, Facts Count

You don't need a degree in statistics to know that facts count and data is a key to seeing how to navigate to your goals and destination.

Our World in Data is one of the best sources available online for gathering data in its various forms, fields, presentations and timelines. Our World in Data is now launching -- Data Insights.


The motto of Our World in Data is "Research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems." GreenPolicy360 agrees.


We regularly check with Our World in Data for their data-science.

One of GreenPolicy360's oft-stated axioms is 'facts count' and so, after checking out Our World in Data and bookmarking them as a favorite, perhaps it's time to surf through some of GreenPolicy360's popular facts and science pages. One of our key goals is to provide actionable facts, data, and science that powers up green work...


Data, Intelligence, Science

Measure-to-Manage


GreenPolicy360 & Science

GreenPolicy360, Facts & Data -- GreenPolicy360, Our Policy on Science



Prepare to debate on the merits of the facts and the science... here are some means and methods, logic and argumentation, to employ when interacting with those involved in Climate Denial and Misinformation ...


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Ready for a trip to our friends 35th Annual Conference?

Join in. Make a Positive Difference... 'Your Life is Your Message'


Bioneers


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March 3

On World Wildlife Day


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February 26, 2024


Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, Has Died


The Owl who escaped from the NY Central Park Zoo, went wild and lived with Owl freedom in the middle of New York City has come to an end.

The saga of Flaco touches on many "Living Earth" threads that weave throughout the environmental protection movement and a long-time eco-journalist, Andy Revkin, touched many of these in his new thought piece exploring 'the many meanings of the death of Flaco'. We agree with Andy@Revkin. The passing of a 'wise' symbol, who chose freedom instead of regular comfort, food, and security, who had to forage and use their wits to survive amid a very loud, dangerous, and unforgiving world (albeit one with plenty of scurrying rats running about in the streets and alleys), did resonate with many species human.

Here's Andy talking with cohorts who know about birds, and bird life, and threats that we humans can act to minimize as we look to protect life of Earth...


Via Sustain What --

Andy's guests @ 1 PM EST Feb. 26:

• Carl Safina, ecologist, conservationist and author, whose New York Times op-ed article was just posted. Here it is paywall-free - “Like Many a Hero, Flaco the Owl Made His Choice.”

(from the article) - Almost from the moment he was released, Flaco became a symbol of hope for many of the people who followed his story and recognized parts of themselves in him. Some saw him as the embodiment of the American dream, an outsider who had come to Manhattan and made a life for himself here, like millions of others who arrived penniless and unconnected in their quest for freedom. Others saw him as a poignant reminder that you can find happiness even if you’re alone (as the only free-living Eurasian eagle-owl in the Western Hemisphere, he had no chance of ever finding a wild mate). ...

Though the animal literature is peppered with stories of animals — usually pets — who suffer hardships and return home, Flaco never retreated to the zoo. Perhaps freedom itself was the home he’d discovered.


Andy also interviewed Adam Smith and Brendon Samuels -

• Adam Smith, an architect and director of design at Synecdoche, a Michigan firm centering bird-safe features in its projects.

• Brendon Samuels, a Ph.D. candidate at Western University in London, Ontario, studying building design and bird behavior. Samuels, working with the Fatal Light Awareness Program, a k a FLAP Canada, has created and assembled an array of invaluable resources highlighting the bird-building collision crisis and ways to mitigate enormous losses, which, he stresses, are NOT restricted to cities.


GreenPolicy360 suggests all of us protect birds and wildlife.

The times we are in, times of endangered species and species extinction suggest an All Species Day, today.


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February 19, 2024


Inside Aleksei Navalny’s Final Months

Excerpts from the Unlocked' NY Times Article

Quoted from letters sent from a small cell in the Arctic...


Confined to cold, concrete cells and often alone with his books, Aleksei A. Navalny sought solace in letters. To one acquaintance, he wrote in July that no one could understand Russian prison life “without having been here,” adding in his deadpan humor: “But there’s no need to be here.” ...

Many details about his last months — as well as the circumstances of his death, which the Russian authorities announced on Friday — remain unknown; even the whereabouts of his body are unclear. ...

Even as brutal prison conditions took their toll on his body — he was often denied medical and dental treatment — there was no hint that Mr. Navalny had lost his clarity of mind, his writings show. ...

"I really miss the daily grind — news about life, food, salaries, gossip.”

Kerry Kennedy, a human-rights activist and the daughter of the Democratic politician Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, also exchanged letters with Mr. Navalny. He told her that he had cried “two or three times” while reading a book about her father recommended by a friend, according to a copy of a letter, handwritten in English, that Ms. Kennedy posted on Instagram after Mr. Navalny died.

Mr. Navalny thanked Ms. Kennedy for sending him a poster with a quote from her father’s speech about how a “ripple of hope,” multiplied a million times, “can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

“I hope one day I’ll be able to hang it on the wall of my office,” Mr. Navalny wrote. ...


Mr. Krasilshchik... said he was left to ruminate on the last letter he received, in September. Mr. Navalny concluded it by positing that if South Korea and Taiwan were able to make the transition from dictatorship to democracy, then perhaps Russia could, too.

“Hope. I’ve got no problem with it,” Mr. Navalny wrote.

He signed off: “Keep writing! A.”


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GreenPolicy360: A Global Hub of Green Values and Green Action

Being Green is a Quest and a Challenge


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International wiki photo contest


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Planet Labs Doves Fly


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SJS/GreenPolicy360 Siterunner:

Planet Labs first came onto our radar screen here in 2011. We have been following the evolution of the Planet Labs' story (now re-branded Planet @ Planet.com) from its mission statement to today.


Using Space to Help Life on Earth

Planet is driven by a mission to image all of Earth's landmass every day, and make global change visible, accessible and actionable.


Planet, the Company


We, at GreenPolicy360, have a special interest in the work of Planet, as we were 'in at the beginning' as it were. We were there, in person, close up, when the original NASA mission statement, including these words -- “To understand and protect our home planet..." -- were being spoken of by a US representative serving on the Space and Technology committee responsible for policy and oversight. Congressman George Brown from California showed your GreenPolicy360 Founder/Siterunner words that were motivating him to propose Landsat missions that came to be called 'Big Science', Earth Imaging/Earth Science and Atmospheric-Climate Science. For 30+ years Representative George E. Brown led the charge, as it were, to gather the data needed to make informed and wise decisions about our home Planet.

A decade after George's passing away in 1999, youthful engineers from NASA 'spun off' from the 'home ship' to launch Planet Labs and their mission resonated with a mission we share. Our environmental work goes back to this mission and, as we have attempted to bring it into the light, it is again time to highlight Planet.

Take a look at their most recent add-ons to what we call a Planet API. It's AI time, artificial intelligence applied to analyzing the Earth imaging data that has been gathered over a decade by Planet and is being queried and utilized in ways that Rep. Brown used to explain was his dream, as he, also an engineer, explained how the public-private partnerships, with universities and educators, using fleets of satellite with new digital imaging and data banks, would enable a new vision for citizens across the Earth.

And now, here we are! Planet.com and GreenPolicy360.com, we're on mission ....


Understanding AI’s Impact on Space Data with Planet’s Head of Product


Planet API


Planet Citizens


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Strategic Demands


🦠 Earth Science Vital Signs


We, now at GreenPolicy360, are continuing on, presenting Earth science news, green politics and environmental movement recollections and highlights from the eco-journey:


New Ways to See & Experience Planet Earth  

Visit GreenPolicy360's story of Earth Science research from our decades of research, eco-activism and #PlanetCitizens education.

Our eco operating system (eOS) includes:

EarthPOV

ThinBlueLayer.com - Look at how thin our atmosphere is

Earth and Space, Politics

New Definitions of National Security

Earth Science Research from Space

Micro-satellites

Virtual Earth

HelloEarth

Democratization of Space

Earth Right Now

Earth Science Vital Signs

The Commons

Earth Imaging-New Space


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Flashback -- 1978, Climate Action Memories

GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Our friend George steps up in Congress


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First National Climate Act

GreenPolicy360 Siterunner / SJ Schmidt: The beginnings of modern environmental and climate science can be traced to the 1960s and 1970s. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences played a key role in laying a foundation of scientific reports and data.

Energy and Climate Report, 1977, National Academy of Sciences / 175 pp. / PDF via GreenPolicy360

Rep. George Brown took the findings of the 1977 Energy and Climate Report from the Academy of Sciences and made the science actionable. In a historic moment, he proposed and drafted the legislation of the first U.S. National Climate Program and shepherded its passage in 1978.

This first federal program established to study and assess scientifically the issues and risks of human-caused climate change became a foundation for comprehensive initiatives, with an array of new Earth Science missions led by NASA and NOAA, the EPA and USGS.


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1992 -- Earth Summit

We reported 'deep on the first Earth Summit'...
and worked to draft a 1992 US presidential campaign platform 'heavy on the green'


Launch of Annual International Climate Conferences


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Earth Summit (1992)


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GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Memories of Riding Free in Canyons and on Mesas of the Ghost Ranch

(And memories of my spirited & wild Appaloosa and Ghost Ranch exploring after summer monsoons)


Thank you David Lancaster for Your Magnificent Photo of the ...

Milky Way above the Pedernal and Ghost Ranch, in Georgia O'Keefe Northern New Mexico


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Photo by David Lancaster


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"Democracy is on the ballot"

US President Joe Biden's Speech in Pennsylvania Signals a Main Theme in the 2024 Presidential Campaign


January 2024

"“We must be clear,” Mr. Biden said. “Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.” ...

"Today, we are here to answer the most important of questions: Is democracy still America's sacred cause? ... it's what the 2024 election is all about...

 


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(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)


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2023


GreenPolicy360's 'Favorite Pic' from 2023


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December


Our Living Planet: Recalling the Message of a Presidential Farewell -- and the Anniversary of the US Endangered Species Protection Act'


December 28, on the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act being signed into law:

President Joe Biden, today on the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, urged Americans to protect ecosystems and biodiversity and to “honor all the progress we have made toward protecting endangered species,” and to “come together to conserve our planet.”

Presidents make a difference, as we can see.

And today, thinking of life, we are remembering Jimmy Carter in his presidential farewell speech:

President Carter left office by urging Americans to “protect the quality of this world within which we live…. There are real and growing dangers to our simple and our most precious possessions: the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land which sustains us... The rapid depletion of irreplaceable minerals, the erosion of topsoil, the destruction of beauty, the blight of pollution, the demands of increasing billions of people, all combine to create problems which are easy to observe and predict, but difficult to resolve.


We, at GreenPolicy360, urge our Planet Earth community, as 2024 approaches, to move away from generation-to-generation war and to act to protect life and our common future.


Via the UCSB Special Collection Library


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Photo by Santiago-Borja


With 2024 in View


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The Poynter Institute


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The Tampa Bay Times | Poynter home of fact-checking pioneer, PolitiFact announced today (Dec. 23) that it is expanding PolitiFact's coverage beginning in January 2024. Good news, especially here 'on the home front', as GreenPolicy360's global network originates in Tampa Bay.

GreenPolicy360 has been following PolitiFact from its initial beginnings (launched in 2007). PolitiFact has changed the national and international news business as their original idea and model of a fact-checking news operation has grown into industry-wide fact checking around the world. It is evident that the need for focus on facts and evidence in these times of dis- and mis-information is an essential contribution by a free press and online fact checking sources to enable accurate judgment, decision-making and a successful democracy.


The online world is especially convoluted these days... the demands for fact-checking of memes and gaslighting, dis- and mis-info is 24/7/365


We at GreenPolicy360 are pleased to have shared the Poynter PolitiFact story and expansion of its 'best practices' networking model. At the end of last year, 2022, there were 424 fact-checking websites, up from just 11 in 2008, according to an annual census by the Duke University Reporters’ Lab. Poynter's PolitiFact and over 100 news publishing participants in a global fact checking network are confronting/battling an online proliferation of dis/misinformation, lies and political manipulation. Today and going forward, fact-checking operations are playing an increasingly essential role, delivering information, facts, opening eyes and bringing profoundly important veritas to people in every nation, community, market and political system.


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News from the International Climate Summit in Dubai...


COP28 News - Dec 13 2023.png


December 13, 2023


A Dubai Surprise

With Multiple Caveats


CNBC

The latest proposal published by the UAE early on Wednesday. Dec. 13, calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”


Economist

The COP28 deal might be historic, but there are many caveats...'


Reuters

Representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed at the COP28 climate summit on Wednesday to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to avert the worst of climate change, signalling the eventual end of the oil age.

The deal struck in Dubai after two weeks of hard-fought negotiations was meant to send a powerful message to investors and policy-makers that the world is united in its desire to break with fossil fuels, something scientists say is the last best hope to stave off climate catastrophe.

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber called the deal "historic" but added that its true success would be in its implementation.

"We are what we do, not what we say," he told the crowded plenary at the summit. "We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions."

Several countries cheered the deal for accomplishing something that until now eluded decades of climate talks.

"It is the first time that the world unites around such a clear text on the need to transition away from fossil fuels," Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide said.

More than 100 countries had lobbied hard for strong language in the COP28 agreement to "phase out" oil, gas and coal use, but came up against powerful opposition from the Saudi Arabia-led oil producer group OPEC, which said the world can cut emissions without shunning specific fuels.

That battle pushed the summit a full day into overtime on Wednesday, and had some observers worried the negotiations would end at an impasse...


Financial Times

COP28 is better than feared, but less than needed

Call to move away from fossil fuels lacks deadlines to phase them out...


NY Times

Two Words That Could Change the World

An unlikely breakthrough on fossil fuels at COP28


They are just two little words. They appear on just one page of an 11,000 word document.

But the inclusion of the phrase “fossil fuels” in the final agreement from COP28 marks a potentially trajectory-altering moment in the fight against climate change. The global pact calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”

For almost 30 years, negotiators representing nations from around the world had struggled and failed to reach an obvious consensus: that the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas should be wound down to avoid further catastrophic global warming.

But overnight, representatives from more than 170 countries arrived at a surprising deal, in Dubai of all places.

The text is not as clear as many leaders, activists and scientists had hoped. It includes caveats and wiggle room, and is nonbinding. Nevertheless, the inclusion of explicit language calling for a move away from coal, oil and gas is being hailed as a major breakthrough...


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Tracking negotiating texts at COP28 climate summit


Latest from Dubai.png


Tracking Negotiating Texts, Tracking News on the Dubai 2023 Int'l Climate Summit

December 12, 2023


Read updates from Carbon Brief:


December 12

Dubai -- at the International Climate Summmit (COP28, Conference of the Parties)

Today is the scheduled final day of the gathering of nations


Waiting game.png


Reuters question -- Explainer - Why does OPEC oppose the idea of a fossil fuel phase-out at COP28?

Reuters answer -- Why does it matter for OPEC?


Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries together control nearly 80% of the world's proven oil reserves and about a third of global daily oil production.

OPEC+, which includes allies such as Russia and Kazakhstan, controls an even bigger share of global crude reserves and production at about 90% and 40% respectively.

The members rely heavily on oil and gas revenues as their main source of income.

Oil revenues averaged 75% of total budget revenues of OPEC's leader Saudi Arabia since 2010 and represent around 40-45% of its GDP.

For other OPEC+ members the share of oil and gas in the GDP varies between 16% and 50%. OPEC's net oil export revenue stood at $888 billion in 2022, a 43% rise vs 2021.

Hence, any language that calls for the phasing out of fossil fuels threatens the model on which these oil- and gas-producing countries' economies are built.


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On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By Heather Cox Richardson

December 10, 2023


Seventy-five years ago today, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)...

President Harry S. Truman had appointed Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and much beloved defender of human rights in the United States, as a delegate to the United Nations. In turn, U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie from Norway put her on the commission to develop a plan for the formal human rights commission. That first commission, in turn, asked Roosevelt to take the chair.

Drafted over the next two years, the final document began with a preamble explaining that a UDHR was necessary because “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and because “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.” Because “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,” the preamble said, “human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”


Story of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights


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Saudi Arabia Is Trying to Block a Global Deal to End Fossil Fuels, Negotiators Say

December 10 / NYT International


Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading exporter of oil, has become the biggest obstacle to an agreement at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, where countries are debating whether to call for a phaseout of fossil fuels in order to fight global warming, negotiators and other officials said.

The Saudi delegation has flatly opposed any language in a deal that would even mention fossil fuels — the oil, gas and coal that, when burned, create emissions that are dangerously heating the planet. Saudi negotiators have also objected to a provision, endorsed by at least 118 countries, aimed at tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Saudi diplomats have been particularly skillful at blocking discussions and slowing the talks, according to interviews with a dozen people who have been inside closed-door negotiations. Tactics include inserting words into draft agreements that are considered poison pills by other countries; slow-walking a provision meant to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change; staging a walkout in a side meeting; and refusing to sit down with negotiators pressing for a phaseout of fossil fuels.


Open secret at global climate talks: The top temperature goal is mostly gone

Researchers injected a sobering finding into global climate negotiations Sunday by saying the world will likely fail its most important warming test
* https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/03/cop28-global-temperature-goal-00129766


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November


Earth Summit 1992-s.png

Earth Summit (1992)


November 30 thru December 12, 2023 - Visit the 28th International Climate Conference.

This is the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference. Approximately 75,000 are in attendance this year at Expo City, Dubai.

The conferences began with the first Earth Summit UN climate agreement in 1992.


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Planet Dove satellite image over Dubai.png


Image of Dubai from GreenPolicy360's Earth-imaging friends at the Planet headquarters in California.


Expo City, Dubai. Perspective from an Earth-orbiting Planet.com satellite as COP28 starts

November 30, 2023


Planet API


We look down at the opening of the 28th international climate summit, the "UN Conference on Climate Change" gathering in an eco-region that is among the richest in oil/gas on Earth. The contrast between climate change and oil/gas could not be more stark. The scientific data has added up, producing a cause-effect case that now will be put on view by the nations of the world gathered in the UAE. Decades of Earth-monitoring and Atmospheric science, including from constellations of of Earth observations from space, are measuring and monitoring, and tracking changes, modeling and projecting. The reality of the fossil fuel 'externalities' in the form of greenhouse gases emitted by carbon-based fossil fuels is now, again, in focus, even as climate change denial forces attempt to slow and stop progress toward renewable energy.

Tune in to the news coverage this week and next. It will be an event to remember -- and time to get with the action.


PlanetCitizen.org
PlanetCitizens.org
Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists
Planet Citizen Action
Climate Problems, Climate Solutions


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Nov. 22 / World News


Israel and Hamas have reached a deal on a cease-fire and hostages

Associated Press


Peace, it's a step away, a step-by-step away from the deep costs of war


Peace, a New Vision



Gaza-Israel War Worsens as It Expands

The Costs of War Extend Far from Today's Fighting, Bombing and Death Count
The Term "Blowback" Is Used to Describe Consequences that Follow in the Days and Years After


Generational costs...

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, (October 9) in a speech to the nation "any place that Hamas operates will turn into rubble" and that the Israeli response will "echo for generations."

(In Hebrew) What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will resonate (echo) with them over the generations...

-- Benjamin Netanyahu (בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ)



Online, a Social Media Fight Hits as War in the Mideast Heats Up


Fact-Checking, 'Facts Count'

Disinformation-Misinformation

Fact Checking @GreenPolicy360

100+ Countries-391 Fact-Checking Sites (2022)

Fact-Checking News



Beyond the 'Fog of War'


The Other Side - Life in Gaza, Israel.jpg


Atef Abu Saif is the author of six novels and since 2019 has been minister of culture for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Abu Saif was visiting family in Gaza, where he grew up, when bombs began to fall Oct. 7 — in retaliation for Hamas’s surprise attack earlier that day that killed 1,400 Israelis. He began sending voice notes to friends abroad, describing the fraying texture of everyday life, creating a diary of life under siege...



Humanitarian Disaster in Israel/Gaza... War and Generational Disaster

Where Next?
At the United Nations, US and Israel Isolated as Votes Near Unanimously Reject Collective Punishment
China, Russia, BRIC Nations Put Forward Statements Opposing Conditions 'On the Ground'


Fog of War

Opinion / In association with StrategicDemands.com


Amplified by barrages across global social media landscapes, an online war is accompanying war in the Middle East. The surprise incursion of Hamas forces into Israel, and Israel's mobilization and declaration of war, has grown into a worldwide battle for hearts and minds. In previous wars of the 20th/21st centuries, propaganda was to be expected. This war, following the expansion of the Internet into the everyday lives of billions on Earth, in both the global north and south, east and west, has brought new levels, billions of dollars-rubles-yuan etc. in psyops / dis- and mis-information / skirmishes / e- and bot-attacks / crypto incursions / gaslighting / military communications disruption and targeting / data-gathering by intelligence services and operational actions / monitoring by remote agents (e.g. from private sector satellite services) and a host of related sigint (signals intelligence), elint (electronic intelligence) and humint (human intel ops, online/internet ops)...


The recent Reuters associated "Digital News Report" on the state of online news media addresses the international range/reach, engagement and power of online influencers. News, contemporary events, ideas, opinions reaching out to hearts and minds, available for every connected life on the planet, begins to bring public facing elements of this new online battlefield into view.

The type of war reporting that has been in evidence in previous wars has radically changed, as has the audience. There are no longer media 'gatekeepers' as they used to be, in control of most all news, opinion, in newspaper/magazine and on broadcast TV channels. As corporate news began to venture out in earnest during the Vietnam war, using reporters in the field with video cameras and broadcasting 'live-on-tape' coverage and wire-service 'as it happened' photography to Americans in the front of their TVs and papers, the world of media became last century techniques. The new century brought the wars of the Middle- and Near-East, often delivered from 'embedded' journalists (with military limiting their embedded coverage) to a larger audience. And with early 2000s roll-out of the internet/connectivity and citizen journalists, then digital smartphones, a network called 24/7/365 became the norm. Ubiquitous coverage and near instant worldwide sharing is here and now, for good and bad.

In the so-called "Global South", arraigned often in counterpoint and often in opposition to former colonial powers of the "Global North", the latest digital communication technologies are being utilized with the results delivering diverse and multi-layered opinions of the military actions of the Israel-Gaza war. The US, Israel and allies are being seen in new ways. The geopolitical conflict of the US and Russia, as well as China are engaged deeply in this struggle for hearts and minds.

The age old axioms about truth getting lost in the "fog of war" holds considerable power now, in these connected times where social and online media is reaching places and influencing minds as never before...



Content creators surge past legacy media

As the world receives news of war -- and the digital and social media in countries changes reporting and perceptions


(Intro from the Publisher) This year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report provides further evidence that, even as much of the news industry globally has struggled in the face of the first waves of the move to a digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environment, it now faces a much more fundamental change driven by generations who have grown up with and rely almost entirely on various digital media.

Whether or not legacy media feel they have completed their initial digital transformation from print- or broadcast-focused to digitally focused brands with a compelling news website and app, they now face a continual transformation of digital as generations come of age who eschew direct discovery for all but the most appealing brands, have little interest in many conventional news offers oriented towards older generations’ habits, interests, and values, and instead embrace the more participatory, personable, and personalised options offered via platforms, often looking beyond legacy platforms to new entrants (many of whom drive few referrals to news and do not prioritise news).

While there are important differences between countries and within generations, and no single uniform pattern of behaviour and preferences, it is important to underline that we have every reason to expect this to be a one-way change: people’s information needs and interests evolve in the course of their life, but their platform preferences rarely regress. Those born in the 1980s did not suddenly come to prefer landline phones over mobiles when they became parents or bought a house, nor did those born in the 1960s return to black-and-white television when they entered middle age. There are no reasonable grounds for expecting that those born in the 2000s will suddenly come to prefer old-fashioned websites, let alone broadcast and print, simply because they grow older. The public is voting with its attention and money, and – despite the very real reservations over uneven trustworthiness, the risks of harassment and misinformation, and sometimes problematic business and data protection practices – they are overwhelmingly, everywhere, voting for digital media. That is the media environment the public embraces, and the ‘new normal’ where journalists and news media have to carve out their places if they want to connect with the public.

The Digital News Report account for more than half the world’s population...

The increasing number and diversity of markets covered – including 11 in Asia, five in South America, three in Africa and North America, as well as 24 in Europe – have led us to compare fewer data points across the whole sample and to focus on meaningful comparisons across markets that are broadly similar. We’ve provided more detail about differences in polling samples in both the methodology pages and the relevant country pages...



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Mideast Disaster Escalates


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October


Disaster in Israel


War and Disasters in Israel.jpg


At Least 260 Bodies Found at Music Festival Site

Over 900 dead in Israel

War declared


At dawn the surprise attack and massacre began... Hamas terrorist attacked the young and executed them...

War has begun. A next level of the cycle of violence. The zealots who have stoked the fires of death and vengeance as a means to an end are watching their work.

Those of us who believe in peace and human rights are, once more, shocked by those who resort to terrorism and utter violence.


Thousands have died now in Israel and Gaza.

Many more will die.

The cycle, generation-to-generation, violence, eye-for-an-eye, old testament biblical history, an age-old story of power, and blowback, revenge and justice continues.


Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said today (October 9) in a speech to the nation that "any place that Hamas operates will turn into rubble" and that the Israeli response will "echo for generations."


(In Hebrew) What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will resonate (echo) with them over the generations...

-- Benjamin Netanyahu (בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ)


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Over the Mid East Christmas eve, 2015.jpg


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October 4, 2023


Today is another historic Eco Day

On the first day of a global Catholic 'summit', a Laudate Deum call to protect the environment is announced following up the Laudato Si encyclical, a first-of-its-kind "Integral Ecology" letter to the billion+ members and to the interfaith global community. The release of the Catholic leader's new environmental letter is a global event, the second environmental encyclical, and carries forward a profound interfaith-catholic announcement/doctrine.


Many have spoken about a 'catholic' definition of citizen action and here a dictionary definition of the word -- catholic -- finds meaning in action.

kăth′ə-lĭk, kăth′lĭk
1. Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive.
2. Including or concerning all humankind; universal.
3. Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.


Let's look more closely at the meaning and beliefs brought forward here. One can say, as with those who attempt to 'preserve and protect' life on Earth, that this is an eco-platform of a church called Catholic and is an ecumenical outreach worth considering universally, by all humankind. The ideas and ideals of respecting life and quality of life, is a goal we can all share.


The Commons


From Earthbeat, and environmental movement

Planet citizens in action


_____________


Media release:

Via Vatican News

“Laudate Deum”: the Pope’s cry for a response to the climate crisis

Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015 encyclical. We’re not reacting enough, he says, we’re close to breaking point. He criticises climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our common home flows from the Christian faith.


In a new document titled “Laudate Deum,” or “Praise God,” the pope criticizes oil and gas companies for greenwashing new fossil fuel projects and calls for more ambitious efforts in the West to tackle the climate crisis. In the landmark apostolic exhortation, a form of papal writing, Francis says that “avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people.”

“Laudate Deum” is a follow-up to the pope’s 2015 encyclical on climate change, known as “Laudato Si’,” which lamented the exploitation of the planet and cast the protection of the environment as a moral imperative. When it was released, “Laudato Si’” was viewed as an extraordinary move by the head of the Catholic Church to address global warming and its consequences.

Nearly a decade later, the pope’s message has taken on new urgency.


Pope Francis on the Environment


Laudato Si


Integral Ecology


The Commons


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Nature.JPG


September


Where did all of these worldwide circles come from?


Mysterious circles around the world.png


GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Meanwhile, back in the early 70s when my old friend George Brown was proposing and pushing the start up of US earth science imaging w Landsat and what became over decades a constellation of earth observation satellites, we never thought it would eventually find global evidence of "mysterious fairy circles". We talked about the need of data, digital data, but proof of aliens? Nah.



Landsat, a 50 year legacy.png


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US Government Agencies to Account for Climate Change in Budgets

September 21, 2023


A directive issued today by the Biden administration would, for the first time, have federal agencies consider the economic damage caused by climate change when deciding what kinds of vehicles, equipment and goods to buy.

The new guidance from President Biden could affect purchasing decisions across the government, from agriculture to defense to health care. The idea is to take into account the greenhouse gases generated by goods and projects, how they contribute to global warming, and the cost of that to the economy.

The potential impact is significant. The federal government is the world’s largest consumer of goods and services, spending roughly $600 billion each year. The changes could shift purchases for the federal government’s fleet of roughly 600,000 cars and trucks from gasoline-powered to all-electric vehicles, redirect the flow of billions of dollars of government grants and reshape or kill some major construction projects.

“It will be the first time this ‘whole of government approach’ is used to evaluate the climate consequences of government actions,” said Richard Revesz, Mr. Biden’s regulatory chief, who is helping lead the initiative. Mr. Revesz, a climate law expert, has focused on using cost-benefit analysis when designing policies meant to protect human health and the environment...


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Earth conditions dynamic map.png


Planet Citizen, Where Are You on Planet Earth?


Dynamic Change Is All Around Us</big


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Telling stories of solutions for the climate crisis.jpg


If someone were to ask you – what tools do we need to combat climate change? – a few things might first come to mind. We undoubtedly need laws aimed at reducing fossil fuel emissions, such as a tax on carbon. We also need innovative, scalable technologies for building more efficient electric cars and pulling carbon out of the atmosphere.

But in a democracy, there’s another tool that is at least as essential as these to overcoming climate change: effective solutions-driven storytelling.


Read more from the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media:


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“One Earth, One Family, One Future"

Nations of the World, the G20, Gather in India


Thank you 'for the kind words'...


International media reporting green talk -- and hope....


As the G20 Meets, the United Nations 'Urges' the "Top Economic Powers" of Our Planet's Economy to Change Direction


NEW DELHI (International News Services) -- U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the Group of 20 top economic powers, which are responsible for more than 80% of the emissions that cause global warming, to use their weekend summit to send a strong message on climate change.

Guterres said all licensing or funding for new fossil fuel projects should be stopped and that the G20 must keep the “1.5-degree goal alive,” referring to the 2015 Paris climate agreement that set 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) as a global guardrail in atmospheric warming, with countries pledging to try to prevent that much long-term warming if possible.

Earlier this year, the U.N. weather agency had said that there’s a two-out-of-three chance that the world will temporarily hit a key warming limit within the next five years.

July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin...


Time to take stock, "Stocktake", and act...

"One could also see the call for system transformations as a recognition that, while we still can, we should take our destiny in our own hands," said Dr Richard Klein from the Stockholm Environment Institute, who was involved in the initial stages of the stocktake.


This means that every aspect of our societies needs to change to rein in rising temperatures...

This includes the way we make energy, the way we travel, work and produce food. Experts say this type of change needs governments to take the initiative and make sure that their climate actions aren't immediately nullified by other policies and investments.


"Either we transform society in a way that avoids the worst of climate change, or climate change will transform society for us..."


August


The Daily Puffin.png

Photo credit: Carl Bovis


The Daily Puffin


Protect Our Living Earth, Biodiversity


Living Earth.png



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Judge rules in favor of Montana youths in landmark climate decision

‘This is a monumental decision,’ said a lawyer for the young plaintiffs, and could influence how judges handle similar cases in other states


In the first ruling of its kind nationwide, a Montana state court decided Monday in favor of young people who alleged the state violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting the use of fossil fuels...


The Decision:

August 14, 2023

RIKKI HELD, et al., Plaintiff, V. STATE OF MONTANA, et al., Defendant


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Hawaiian impacts of climate change

How Climate Change Turned Lush Hawaii Into a Tinderbox

Declining rainfall, rising temperatures and invasive species have left the islands more susceptible to wildfires


Global Forest Watch, monitoring forest loss, fires...


Global Forest Watch @GreenPolicy360


Causes and effect of the Maui fire...


Hawaiian fires and climate.jpg


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An Indictment Is Announced: The United States of America versus Donald J. Trump, defendant

The people of the US and world are hearing today's news. Reverberations echo. The former president has been charged with federal crimes of grave consequence -- attempting to obstruct the outcome of the 2020 US election for president and attempting to defraud the people of the United States and the democratic republic.

One notable attorney put the profound news this way: Read the Indictment yourself. We agree. There comes a time to turn to what is being presented, now, solemnly, words, facts, evidence, law... The path ahead is perilous, but necessary to travail.


Set aside an hour or two, or find ten minutes here and there over the course of the next week. You’ll understand it better if you read it for yourself. The indictment is written in a manner that makes it clear prosecutors wanted it to be comprehensible to anyone who wanted to read it.


🇺🇸


United States Department of Justice

Statement of Special Counsel Jack Smith, August 1, 2023



July


Oppenheimer

Read highlights & reviews -- https://greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Oppenheimer_movie_-_2023.jpg

Oppenheimer movie - 2023.jpg


Oppenheimer

The Movie / July 2023



A Republican Party 2024 Climate Strategy: More Drilling, Less Clean Energy

Via the New York Times, August 4, 2023, Unlocked article
The New York Times asked the leading Republican presidential candidates whether they support the Project 2025 strategy but none of the campaigns responded



Project2025

A 920-page Republican Party Political Plan


Politico.com has published an advance outline of climate and environment related policies that a next US president, if Republican Party, would be urged to adopt. The goals of the groups who contributed to the plan, led by the Heritage Foundation, are described as a 'battle plan'.


“Project 2025 is not a white paper. We are not tinkering at the edges. We are writing a battle plan, and we are marshaling our forces,” said Paul Dans, director of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation, which compiled the plan as a road map for the first 180 days of the next GOP administration. “Never before has the whole conservative movement banded together to systematically prepare to take power day one and deconstruct the administrative state.”


As described in Politico:

The initiative has previously drawn attention for its efforts to prepare a systematic conservative takeover of the federal bureaucracy, in contrast to the perceptions of chaos that marked much of former President Donald Trump’s term. Those include plans to assemble a database of as many as 20,000 people who could serve in the next administration — “a right-wing LinkedIn,” as The New York Times described it in April — and proposals to impose sweeping Oval Office control over spending decisions, civil service employees and independent federal agencies.

(I)ts implications for U.S. climate policy — at a time of record heat waves sweeping the globe — have drawn far less attention.

The comprehensive plan covers virtually all operations of the federal government, not just energy and climate programs.

It’s much more ambitious than the pledges that all the Republican presidential primary candidates have made so far to roll back Biden’s signature climate law. It also wouldn’t simply nullify Biden’s climate executive orders, something that a Republican president could easily do just after taking office.

(T)he ideas laid out in Project 2025 show that conservative organizations want to achieve a more fundamental shift — moving federal agencies away from public health protections and environmental regulations in order to help the industries they have been tasked with overseeing, said Andrew Rosenberg (a former senior official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.) ...

Preventing the expansion of the electric grid would slow down renewable energy projects, threatening U.S. climate goals while cooling the sector’s economic growth, said Mike O’Boyle, a senior director at the nonpartisan policy firm Energy Innovation and head of its electricity program.

“If we totally step away from the role of the federal government, our economy is going to miss out in a big way because the rest of the world is moving on climate, so they’re poised to reap the benefits both for their energy consumers but also in terms of manufacturing.” ...

(An) increase in state power wouldn’t apply to California, which has a history of setting more aggressive environmental standards than those of the federal government under a Clean Air Act waiver. The Project 2025 plan would “ensure that other states can adopt California’s standards only for traditional/criteria pollutants, not greenhouse gasses.”

Another key goal is to restructure how EPA uses science, particularly research that supports regulations by showing risks to public health from industrial pollution.



Deep cuts in environmental protection have extensive, long-term consequences


3M lawsuit re forever chemicals - June 2023.png


Could the world go PFAS-free? Proposal to ban ‘forever chemicals’ debated

A European agency is considering sweeping restrictions on fluorinated chemicals used in jet engines, electric cars, refrigeration systems, semiconductors and many consumer products

Via Nature


'Proposal' could lead to the world’s largest-ever clampdown on chemicals production. The plan, put forward by environmental agencies in five countries — Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden — would heavily restrict the manufacture of more than 12,000 substances, collectively known as forever chemicals.

These chemicals, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), are all around us. They coat non-stick cookware, smartphone screens, weatherproof clothing and stain-resistant textiles. They are also used in microchips, jet engines, cars, batteries, medical devices and refrigeration systems.

...the idea is to shrink PFAS use to a minimum. “We are asking society to make quite a shift.... We are asking to reverse all of it, go back to the drawing table and invent alternative solutions.”

Change is already under way for consumer use of PFASs. The notoriety of the toxic examples has pushed more than 100 companies and brands, including Apple, to pledge to phase out PFASs, even before it’s clear whether other materials can do the same job.

For industrial users, however, the idea of life without PFASs is a more shocking prospect. So February’s proposal has ignited debate about which uses of fluorinated chemicals the world could leave behind — and which must stay.


For more on International Environmental Laws:



Daniel Ellsberg dies at 92


Daniel - June 16, 2023.png

Photo: Wally Fong/Associated Press


GreenPolicy360 founder knew Dan up close and personal.

Read a remembrance of Dan and his quest for peace.


Daniel Ellsberg

In Memory of a Man Named Daniel

By Steven Schmidt

June 17, 2023


The moon was bright that night as I visited Daniel Ellsberg at his house on the beach in Southern California. It was mid 1970 and Dan was surrounded by boxes. "Papers," he called them. He was packing to leave for Cambridge and a new position at MIT and he was worried that night as he showed me the study he had put together at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica.

As we sorted through documents I noticed some had Top Secret stamped on some of them. I learned later that these were part of the 7000 page, forty plus volume report soon to be called the "Pentagon Papers."

Dan spoke of President Nixon and famed advisor, Henry Kissinger with first-hand knowledge. He mentioned he had met with Kissinger recently at Nixon's San Clemente estate. I remember his fear, both that Nixon and Kissinger were repeating mistakes of previous administrations as "the Papers" demonstrated, and how the truth needed to go public. He broke off from the packing and said let's go, "I need to swim".

Dan was depressed, I knew, and I was not going to convince him not to go into the loudly crashing night surf. I watched as he plunged into the waves. He then reappeared for a moment in the moonlight. He swam straight out, then disappeared. I waited on shore looking out at the dark ocean. Time passed, no sign of Dan. I began worrying. Is this the end of Dan Ellsberg? Did I just witness Dan ending it all? Did a riptide take him? I walked up and down the beach searching. Suddenly, Dan walked out of the surf, nodded then sprinted back toward the house. He quickly shifted back into work mode. Something happened, he had new resolve.

Today as I reflect on the life of Dan Ellsberg and the announcement of his death, I can say he lived life like few others. He pursued the truth and facts in a way that was astounding and committed. He went on to prove in his actions that he was brave to put his life on the line for the sake of the American people. His decision was purposeful. He thought deeply about the consequences. That night under the moon I saw his fear, and I saw his resolve.

A few months later, when Daniel released the Pentagon Papers to a NY Times writer, Neil Sheehan, the truth came out. Dan's history of the war study subsequently led to the end of the Nixon presidency and, as a consequence, the end of the Vietnam War. Dan would later say the Pentagon Papers themselves didn't directly end the war, but the American people learned of the “evidence of a quarter-century of aggression, broken treaties, deceptions, stolen elections, lies, and murder”. This, with Nixon's resignation, brought on the end of the war.

I learned over the course of our relationship that Dan Ellsberg was gifted, literally. I still say he is the smartest man I've ever known. His 2002 book "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers" is a must read. "On the evening of October 1, 1969, I walked out past the guards' desk at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica," he writes, "carrying a briefcase filled with top secret documents, which I planned to photocopy that night… How I came to do this is the focus of this memoir." Dan's memoir is a true American story.

Beyond the Pentagon Papers and resulting demise of the Nixon presidency, Dan Ellsberg's follow-on 2017 book "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner" later explained the inner machinations of the nuclear war complex. He was, as a younger man, a systems man and followed orders. His nuclear war gaming was a Pentagon nuclear plan that he, as an old man, brought into the light with this revelatory book. The extent of humanity's threat to life on earth is part of Dan Ellsberg's legacy now.

Daniel Ellsberg's life is a testament to what generations to come have to deal with -- perpetual wars, the realities of nuclear weapons, modern states with awesome powers for good and bad. Dan Ellsberg revealed and pointed us to harsh realities.

Will we listen to Dan Ellsberg's message that he, risking all, brought to us?

Daniel Ellsberg, after all is said and done, was a man who taught us. He was a man of peace. Dan was a believer in the power each of us has to make a difference and move toward a better world.


-- Steven J Schmidt / Founder/Siterunner of GreenPolicy360


Read more about Daniel Ellsberg at GreenPolicy360 and StrategicDemands.com


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Ex-President Criminally Charged


June 13, 2023

A day in US history that is unprecedented, a former US president is charged in Federal Court with criminal actions...

Opinion-makers/commentators/pundits, citizens and politicos engage in heated debate. We will be brief -- This is not unexpected given the past hundreds of court cases, charges, convictions and record of Mr. Trump.

The challenges to democracy that are growing, and are already extreme, will be magnified throughout the nation. Global impacts will follow in turn.

The indictment has delivered new risks, new costs, new unknowns. The coming presidential election has been given a new urgency amid today's news.


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Looking Back, Looking Forward:

Recalling Beginnings of the US Earth Science Mission and Giving a Nudge to NASA's Continued Research & Science


This past first week of June found GreenPolicy360 again pushing the advisory councils at NASA to return language about scientific study of the "home planet" as a top mission in the Mission Statement/Charter and follow on strategic planning. The original NASA Mission Statement and subsequent updates continued to have a top emphasis on earth science from space over decades, providing essential data for measuring/monitoring/managing the home planet. Then in 2006 the phrase "to understand and protect the home planet" was removed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration official Mission statement.

GreenPolicy360 for years has advocated for the return of this language, updated and highlighted, as an essential, continuing mission.

Take a look at this page for a better idea of what is going on behind the scenes as NASA advisory councils gathered to suggest and propose changes to the NASA's strategic planning.

Earth missions continue to be top of mind -- and it follows, in our considered opinion, that "home planet" language about earth science to "understand and protect" should be again at the top of a NASA Mission Statement... and pointed at and highlighted.

-- SJS/GreenPolicy3360 Siterunner


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The Original Mission Statement of NASA

Quote: NASA's Mission, “To understand and protect our home planet..."


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May


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SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States, acts again in the environmental arena

The headlines in media are blunt in their news of the current court: US Supreme Court rules against EPA in wetlands regulation challenge ... The Supreme Court just narrowed protection for wetlands... The Supreme Court rolls back federal safeguards for wetlands ...


May 25, 2023

(Today, May 25th) the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to the nation’s wetlands by rewriting a statute the court does not like to mean something it does not mean. The court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA is one of the its most egregious betrayals of textualism in memory. Put simply: The Clean Water Act protects wetlands that are “adjacent” to larger bodies of water. Five justices, however, do not think the federal government should be able to stop landowners from destroying wetlands on their property. To close this gap between what the majority wants and what the statute says, the majority crossed through the word “adjacent” and replaced it with a new test that’s designed to give landowners maximum latitude to fill in, build upon, or otherwise obliterate some of the most valuable ecosystems on earth.

...

The law expressly protects “waters of the United States” (like rivers and lakes) as well as “wetlands adjacent” to these waters. Congress added the wetlands provision in 1977 to codify the EPA’s definition of “adjacent,” which also happens to be the actual definition: “bordering, contiguous, or neighboring.” Under that interpretation—the one Congress adopted—wetlands that neighbor a larger body of water remain protected, even if they aren’t directly connected.

Why did Congress make that choice? Because wetlands provide immense environmental benefits: They filter and purify water draining into nearby streams, rivers, and lakes. They slow down runoff into these larger bodies. And they serve as vital flood control. In other words, the Clean Water Act has to protect “adjacent” wetlands to serve its overarching goal of safeguarding the broader “waters of the United States” from pollution.


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Methane Reduction Action by European Parliament / European Union


'Parliament today adopted its position on a new law to reduce methane emissions from the energy sector to reach the EU’s climate goals and improve air quality.'

The new law is the first piece of EU legislation aimed at cutting methane emissions and covers direct methane emissions from the oil, fossil gas and coal sectors, and from biomethane once it is injected into the gas network. MEPs also want the new rules to include the petrochemicals sector.


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Background

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and air pollutant and is responsible for approximately a third of current global warming. It comes from a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, waste and energy, which are responsible respectively for 53%, 26% and 19% of EU methane emissions according to the European Environment Agency. Today, methane emissions are covered under the targets in the EU’s Effort Sharing Regulation.

The EU has signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, which could eliminate over 0.2˚C warming by 2050.


Since it launched at COP26 international climate summit, the Global Methane Pledge has generated unprecedented momentum for methane action. Country endorsements of the GMP have grown from just over 100 last year to 150, more than 50 countries have developed national methane action plans or are in the process of doing so, substantial new financial resources are being directed to methane action, and partners have launched “pathways” of policies and initiatives to drive methane reductions in key methane-emitting sectors – a GMP Energy Pathway launched at the June 2022 Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate and a GMP Food and Agriculture Pathway and GMP Waste Pathway, both launched at COP27.


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Environmental Law & Enforcement


Global Methane Pledge


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April 22, 2023


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On Earth Day 2023

50+ years and counting from the first "Earth Day"


On the 50th Anniversary

Memories on the Road to the First Earth Day

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary


Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Day

* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement


Today the ideals and ideas that began in a serious way that first "Earth Day" in 1970 continue on .... We became a vital movement, a political cause, and now we are a diverse mix across the globe with our hopes. Our 'sleeves are rolled up' to go to work, getting with the action and employing the Internet with many voices, colors, ages and beliefs, especially with the enthusiasm and power of young people joining in.

Green, environmental, national and global.... We are strongly confronting and working to solve our generation's existential challenges. Reaching across our home planet, touching and interacting with planet citizens, looking to share solutions to the pressing problems and challenges of our generation.

To our friends across our blue-green living Earth, GreenPolicy360 and Strategic Demands, GreenPolicy360's associate with a geo-politics emphasis, send "Earth Day greetings" today and every day. The work carries on as together we face the challenges believing we can make a positive difference year after year, decade after decade....


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International Climate Action:

Going Green


Climate envoy Kerry: No rolling back clean energy transition

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — So much has been invested in clean energy that there can be no rolling back of moves to end carbon emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Sunday.

Kerry noted that if countries deliver on promises to phase out polluting fossil fuels, the world can limit average global warming to 1.7 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), better than the worst case scenarios but still above the current limit of 1.5 C global warming above pre-industrial levels.

“We’re in a very different place than where we were a year ago, let alone two and three years ago,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“But we’re not doing everything we said we’d do,” he said, after attending a meeting of energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations. “A lot of countries need to step up including ours to reduce emissions faster, deploy renewables faster, bring new technologies online faster all of that has to happen.”


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* https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/04/10/sea-level-rise-southern-us/


“These rapid rates are unprecedented over at least the 20th century and they have been three times higher than the global average over the same period.”


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GreenPolicy360: The threat horizon is near and far.... here, science reports from the 'bottom of the earth'.... warming waters in the coldest region of the planet are causing change, big change, month-by-month, year-by-year


What happens in Antarctica doesn't stay in the Antarctic


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Melting Antarctic ice predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean current by 2050

New research by Australian scientists suggests 40% slowdown in just three decades could alter world’s climate for centuries


Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater

The abyssal ocean circulation is a key component of the global meridional overturning circulation, cycling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients throughout the world ocean. The strongest historical trend observed in the abyssal ocean is warming at high southern latitudes, yet it is unclear what processes have driven this warming, and whether this warming is linked to a slowdown in the ocean’s overturning circulation. Furthermore, attributing change to specific drivers is difficult owing to limited measurements, and because coupled climate models exhibit biases in the region. In addition, future change remains uncertain, with the latest coordinated climate model projections not accounting for dynamic ice-sheet melt. Here we use a transient forced high-resolution coupled ocean–sea-ice model to show that under a high-emissions scenario, abyssal warming is set to accelerate over the next 30 years. We find that meltwater input around Antarctica drives a contraction of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), opening a pathway that allows warm Circumpolar Deep Water greater access to the continental shelf. The reduction in AABW formation results in warming and ageing of the abyssal ocean, consistent with recent measurements. In contrast, projected wind and thermal forcing has little impact on the properties, age and volume of AABW. These results highlight the critical importance of Antarctic meltwater in setting the abyssal ocean overturning, with implications for global ocean biogeochemistry and climate that could last for centuries.


If greenhouse gas emissions continue at today’s levels, the current in the deepest parts of the ocean could slow down by 40% in only three decades.

This, the scientists said, could generate a cascade of impacts that could push up sea levels, alter weather patterns and starve marine life of a vital source of nutrients.

Antarctic ice melt could disrupt the world’s oceans ...


The Antarctic overturning circulation is part of a global network of currents that shift heat, oxygen and nutrients around the globe

Global warming is accelerating the melting of ice in Antarctica, and the increased amount of fresh water flooding into the ocean is disrupting the flow of the Antarctic overturning circulation


Meanwhile, up north....


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PBS Tells a Story of a War and Nuclear Weapons Use Narrowly Avoided


GreenPolicy360: A new nuclear arms race is underway. We and our associate, Strategic Demands, call it "Cold War 3.0"... fortunately, humanity has not used nuclear weapons since the last days of World War 2 but since the beginning days of the nuclear era there have been too many close calls where an apocalyptic Pandora's Box, having been opened, has brought our world much too close to nuclear war and cataclysm.

Here, in a new revealing documentary on PBS's "American Experience" series we look back at a close call in October/November 1969, one that involved GreenPolicy360 founder/siterunner.

The reality of a 'madman' plotting to use tactical nuclear weapons in this documentary wasn't revealed until years after the fact and after a peace movement prevented nuclear strikes. Now that this story is 'out in the open', we ask who is watching, who is listening?


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PBS

The Movement and the 'Madman'

PBS PREMIERE MARCH 28 ON AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

The documentary film tells the little-known story of a dramatic showdown between a protest movement and a president.


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Mapping Internet Freedom - Democracy Status


About Freedom House


News


Global freedom declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022 as 35 countries suffered deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, according to a new report released today by Freedom House. A total of 34 countries made improvements during the year, however, meaning the gap between the numbers of countries that improved and declined was the narrowest it has ever been since the negative pattern began. The report suggests that the struggle for democracy may be approaching a turning point, and offers recommendations on how democratic governments and societies should work together to roll back authoritarian gains.

The new report—Freedom in the World 2023: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy—is the 50th edition of Freedom House’s annual global assessment of political rights and civil liberties.



March 29


Judge Luttig (Again) Has a Warning for America

Our democracy is “under vicious, unsustainable, and unendurable attack—from within.”


Via The Bulwark


On the morning before the January 6th attack on the Capitol, one of the nation’s most prominent conservative jurists, former Federal Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig, posted a message aimed at Vice President Mike Pence.

“The only responsibility and power of the Vice President under the Constitution is to faithfully count the electoral college votes as they have been cast,” Judge Luttig wrote.

“The Constitution does not empower the vice president to alter in any way the votes that have been cast, either by rejecting certain votes or otherwise,” Luttig continued.

If Pence had caved to Donald Trump’s demands and refused to count the electoral votes, Judge Luttig told the House January 6th Committee last summer, the nation “would immediately have been plunged into what would have been tantamount to a revolution within a paralyzing constitutional crisis.”


Now, Judge Luttig is back, with even a starker warning.

The institutions of our democracy and law, he says, “are under vicious, unsustainable, and unendurable attack — from within.”

Last week, at the University of Georgia School of Law, Luttig said:

With the former president’s and his Republican Party’s determined denial of January 6, their refusal to acknowledge that the former president lost the 2020 presidential election fair and square, and their promise that the 2024 election will not be “stolen” from them again as they maintain it was in 2020, America’s Democracy and the Rule of Law are in constitutional peril — still. And there is no end to the threat in sight….

We are a house divided and our poisonous politics is fast eating away at the fabric of our society….




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The UN 2023 Water Conference

March 22-24 | New York City


Thread


The first water-focused UN-summit in 46 years

UN Conference on Water Aims to Rally Support for Ambitious Goals


The last time the United Nations hosted a conference dedicated to global water supply and sanitation the world looked vastly different. Half as many people were alive. China’s economy was smaller than the United Kingdom’s


The centerpiece of the conference, which runs from March 22 to 24, is the “water action agenda,” a compilation of voluntary commitments from national governments, nonprofits, businesses, and intergovernmental agencies. Together these commitments extend beyond the conference walls, pushing leaders to be more careful, inclusive water stewards in the years ahead.

“It’s not what happens in three days... It’s what happens afterward.”


Facts: About 300,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water. These deaths could have been avoided by access to daily clean water

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a quarter of the global population, more than two billion people, lack access to safe drinking water.... 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services

Over half the global population, 4.2 billion people, lack safely managed sanitation services

in 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized the human right to water and sanitation. So, for instance, everyone has the right to enough water for personal and domestic uses, which is between 50 and 100 liters of water per person per day.

Water plays a fundamental role in sustainable development


Global Commission on the Economics of Water (Read the Report)

The world is on the verge of a water disaster, with demand for fresh water predicted to outpace supply by 40% by the end of this decade

The lack of access to clean water is a solvable crisis, but it requires good cooperation


UN Conference on Water Aims to Rally Support for Ambitious Goals

Act to Make a Positive Difference


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Sunday, March 12th


A 'Big Picture Day'

Yes, it's another day to take some time to take in the 'zeitgeist', to take a look at connections, trendlines, patterns, how 'it's all related' although in the quotidian reality it's a day at a time, a solar day in fact, as our planet spins through space.

Today's 'Big Picture Day' is called geo-politics by some, and the weather by others, and money makes the world go round or the climate, the climate, the climate is changing, it's getting hotter, have you noticed?

Let's take a quick look:

Record-setting, historic oil/gas profits are being announced xxx, led by the House of Saud, called Saudi Arabia, where the nation's Aramco just announced a $121+ dollar (petrodollar) profit for 2022. This caps four other oil/gas giants announcing record 2022 profits.


Profit-taking in a Profitable Year

Saudi oil giant Aramco posts record $161.1 billion profit for 2022
Four oil companies had total sales of $1 trillion last year
Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and Shell all reported record profits in 2022


Oil giant Saudi Aramco has reported earning $161bn last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists.

The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.


Then there is Saudi Arabia and Iran, both oil giants and in conflict for years, announcing a 'peace treaty' brokered by China. And Iran has announced another weapons agreement with Russia. Russia has previously announced submitting plans to build Saudi Arabia's first nuclear energy producing power plant.


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China, with its world leading economic growth, has announced history-making "Energy Deals of the Century' with Iran's Shia-led government and Russia, and has built deep ties with the the Saudi royal family. Guaranteed oil/gas supplies -- and an alternative to Petrodollar payment -- are top of mind as the US meets Eurasian politics with deepening Mid-East connections.

China's "Belt and Road" ('New Silk Trail') geo-political plan is taking 'great leaps forward'.


Given this as background, let us shift our gaze to the United States as one of the world's largest oil/gas producers that is due, in large part due to 'fracking' technology tapping into old reserves in the Permian Basin (Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc). What was previously unprofitable is now profitable and oil/gas tracts and 'frackable' reserves (in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and worldwide with corporate-controlled contracts) are coming online. New LNG (liquified natural gas) refineries, shipping, ports/docks are being built as the energy disruptions of the Russian-Ukraine war have ramped up demand for US oil/gas and OPEC oil/gas as alternatives to Russia's previous large supplies that had been piped to Europe.

Then comes the intense interest of the US president in fossil fuel/oil/gas production with the previously approved "Willow" project in Alaska.

Let's take a closer look at the Willow project in Alaska, about to be announced.


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This is 'Big Picture'. Now go bigger and add in the costs, the consequences of increased oil/gas production. Consider a "cost-benefit analysis."


On this 'Big Picture Sunday' to see a glimpse of this future simply peruse this photo from the Associated Press reporting on an exceptional winter in Europe. The European media is reporting they basically 'got lucky' this winter. Europe lost its major Russian LNG oil/gas supplies, a high percentage of which was used to heat Europe's homes and businesses, but Europeans were delivered a mild winter and the LNG oil/gas was not needed as projected.


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In Germany, the foreign minister and environment minister are leading members of the Green Party who have been pushing German engineering to the forefront in clean energy production, EV products, and myriad clean energy heating/transportation/manufacturing alternatives. They are, as Greens have been saying, 'out in front'.

While the US waged wars and political forces have attempted to block national security alternatives to the 'old ways' of regarding security as hard power and military projects, other realities have come into play and, as time goes by, will be more evident.

Visit StrategicDemands.com, GreenPolicy360's associate for more on the geo-politics.

The reality of climate change is arriving with a physics that has an inertia that humanity has set in motion.

The historic profits of the oil/gas system are one part of the physics and another part is in our hands. Look at how thin our atmosphere is and do calculate the costs (a cost-benefit analysis (CBA)) of business-as-usual. We see historic oil/gas profits in 2022/23, but what about the accumulating costs? Atmospheric emissions, the externalities of greenhouse gas pollution, are producing consequences that are real and escalating. In the 1970s there were those who set out to provide the climate facts and data, the Earth system science. The world can begin to see the costs today and unless we act to ameliorate them, they will be grave for future generations.

Now what about US politics? What about drilling in Alaska? Ask yourself what are the costs of drilling in Alaska, and what are the benefits?

Consider the Big Picture. And consider Joe Biden thinking about oil and gas as he preps to announce he is running for president.


Externalities | Environmental full-cost accounting

New Definitions of National Security | Climate News

Fossil Fuels | Strategic Demands | Planet Citizen Action


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Nations Agree on Language for Historic Treaty to Protect Ocean Life

The United Nations agreement is a significant step toward protecting biodiversity under growing threat from climate change, overfishing and seabed mining

March 4, 2023


After two decades of planning and talks that culminated in a grueling race over the past few days in New York, a significant majority of nations agreed on language for a historic United Nations treaty that would protect ocean biodiversity.

As marine life faces threats from climate change, overfishing, the possibility of seabed mining and other dangers, the treaty would make it possible to create marine-protected areas and enact other conservation measures on the “high seas,” the immense expanse of ocean covering almost half the world.

“Today the world came together to protect the ocean for the benefit of our children and grandchildren,” said Monica Medina, an assistant secretary of state. “We leave here with the ability to create protected areas in the high seas and achieve the ambitious goal of conserving 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.”

The open oceans of the world have no international body or agreement with a primary focus of protecting marine biodiversity. If enacted, this treaty would change that...


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Depleted Under Trump, a ‘Traumatized’ E.P.A. Struggles With Its Mission

The agency’s administrator, Michael S. Regan, has promised that new regulations being written by his staff now will be made public by spring. Agency officials said that the E.P.A. has stepped up its recruitment efforts and has purchased software that has helped it identify more potential job candidates, particularly from universities.

“The agency is moving further and faster than ever before,” Dan Utech, Mr. Regan’s chief of staff, said in a statement. He added that accomplishments had come “despite depleted staffing levels, persistent funding challenges and a previous administration that left the agency neglected and scientifically compromised.”

The E.P.A. is at an unusual juncture. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and the climate law enacted last year have begun to pump $90 billion into the agency over the next 10 years for climate projects like $1.5 billion for new technologies to monitor and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells, $5 billion for states to purchase low-emission school buses and $3 billion to cut pollution at ports...


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Year of the Rabbit

By Fefe Ho & Chloe Chiao

The Rabbit is the fourth of all zodiac animals. Legend has it the Rabbit was proud—arrogant even—of its speed. He was neighbors with Ox and always made fun of how slow Ox was. One day, the Jade Emperor said the zodiac order would be decided by the order in which the animals arrived at his party. Rabbit set off at daybreak. But when he got there, no other animals were in sight. Thinking that he would obviously be first, he went off to the side and napped. However, when he woke up, three other animals had already arrived. One of them was the Ox...

The Rabbit’s quiet personality hides their confidence and strength. They are steadily moving towards their goal...

The Rabbit is also associated with the Earthly Branch (地支 / dì zhī) mǎo (卯)...

In the terms of yin and yang (阴阳—yīn yáng), the Rabbit is yin...


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2022


December 2022


December 25th, Christmas Day

Remember that a simple act of kindness can change someone’s day, week and sometimes life


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Act to Protect Democracy


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Report from

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol


December 19, 2022

After more than a year of interviewing witnesses, gathering evidence and holding public meetings, the House select committee concluded its final hearing on Monday by referring former President Donald Trump for four criminal charges.

The panel voted unanimously to refer Trump and others to the Justice Department on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection.


Key Findings From the Jan. 6 Committee’s Report, Annotated


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Nations promise to protect 30 percent of planet to stem extinction

December 19, 2022

Delegates at the COP15 biodiversity summit in Canada make major conservation commitment to try to halt loss of hundreds of thousands of plants and animals. Will nations follow through?


Via Washington Post


Today’s loss of biodiversity is being driven not by a space rock but by one species: humans. The loss of habitat, exploitation of species, climate change, pollution and destruction from invasive species moved by people between continents are all driving a decline in the variety of plants and animals...


Nations now have the next eight years to hit their targets for protecting life. With few legal mechanisms for enforcement, they will have to trust each other to protect habitats and funnel hundreds of billions of dollars over conservation.

“This is an incredible milestone for the world when it comes to conservation,” said Brian O’Donnell, the director of the conservation group Campaign for Nature. “We have been on a rapid path of destruction of nature for hundreds of years, and this can mark a turning point.”


The 10-year deal sets nearly two dozen targets. The banner commitment calls on nations to collectively conserve for wildlife at least 30 percent of land, inland waterways, and coastal and ocean areas by 2030 — the promise dubbed “30 by 30.”

“It’s a global goal. Every country commits what they are capable of committing,” said Masha Kalinina, a senior officer focused on biodiversity at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “Some will do more, some will do less.”


The world has a long way to go to achieving that goal. Right now, only about a sixth of the continents and a 12th of the oceans have some form of protection, according to the U.N.’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre.


Associated Press


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News from the US Department of Energy, Livermore Lab, of a Successful Fusion Demonstration

The Former Director of DOE Speaks of Coming Engineering Challenges

The first laboratory demonstration of net energy gain by fusing hydrogen isotopes is a major physics accomplishment - a necessary step on the long road to a fusion power plant. Whether by compressing the fusion fuel (as was done at DOE's Livermore lab or confining it as a very hot plasma (the approach of TAE Technologies, the company on whose Board I sit, and of several others), other-worldly conditions of high temperature must be not only attained but also reliably sustained for an economically viable power plant.

The science underpinnings of several different fusion technologies may be well established in this decade, to be followed by engineering of commercial power plants that meet cost benchmarks. I am optimistic that such power plants can be demonstrated and initially deployed in the 2030's, and indeed over four billion dollars of private capital are betting on it.

-- Ernest J. Moniz, former U.S. Energy Secretary and CEO of the non-profit Energy Futures Initiative


Via The Bulwark

The fusion breakthrough "didn't just achieve breakeven—getting more energy back that it put in—it achieved ignition. That is, they lit a thermonuclear fire in the lab. This has never been done." It's a big deal...


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Time to Remember: "An Oath"

“I … do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”


December 5, 2022

'Thought for the Day' by Steve Clemons

“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That is the beginning of the oath new members of the Senate and the House will be asked to take on January 3, but will they? Donald Trump said over the weekend that we should suspend the Constitution to illegally reinstall himself as president. We’ll find out where leading Republican voices stand this week, who will get another round of questions about whether his latest behavior is disqualifying.


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New Climate TRACE Emissions Database Announced at the 2022 Global Climate Conference (COP27)

Earth Observation technology, decades of earth science and imaging with a goal, is now ready for prime time


GreenPolicy360: THIS announcement is a game changer (and a tip of our green hat to those who purposefully set in motion a 1970s era plan to develop and launch a series of NASA missions to observe and understand our planet). Now comes country-by-country climate regulation, enforcement and emissions controls, political action and legal services. (From the original Mission Statement of NASA -- “To understand and protect our home planet...")

Follow our GreenPolicy360 "Climate Plans Enforcement" project for more information on the Climate TRACE coalition.


Global Emissions Inventory is a Secret Weapon at COP27

November 2022 / The Climate TRACE coalition unveils a new, highly detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which it hopes will help countries and companies looking for effective, targeted ways to decarbonize.


Via Protocol ("Launched to cover the evolving power center of tech")


The Climate TRACE project is not being presented as the “climate cops” on the beat. The coalition in formation is seen as more of a “neighborhood watch,” which is often contacted by legal services and non profit groups who need local information and data to make their enforcement case.

“Some — maybe many — governments (will) use the information to make sure that their laws and regulations are complied with”...

It’s not just governments who can benefit from the inventory release, but private companies as well.


GreenPolicy360:

Measure to Manage: Gather the Data and Science

As Protocol announces its end of publication Farewell from Protocol, November 15, 2022, we are choosing to reprint this full article, one of Protocol's final articles, and one that captures the promise and power of tech to help solve the generational challenges of climate change.

The Climate TRACE coalition unveiled a new, highly detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which it hopes will help countries and companies looking for effective, targeted ways to decarbonize.


By Michelle Ma (@himichellema) / November 9, 2022


Al Gore has one mission this week at COP27, and that’s to give climate negotiators what he hopes will be a critical tool to address the crisis at hand: an independent, global inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, down to the individual facility.

The Climate TRACE coalition just released the world’s most detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which Gore, a founding member, is unveiling on Wednesday at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt.


“Of course, the world has long known what the overall amount of greenhouse gas pollution in the atmosphere is. What’s different about this [database] is the accurate apportioning of who’s responsible for what and the granularity that allows us a focus on specific emissions sources,” Gore told Protocol, adding that he has “no doubt” that the database “will be put to a lot of use in negotiations for sure.”

The inventory shows facility-level emissions, which will allow negotiators to home in on the most polluting sites in individual countries, helping them target where emissions reductions should come from. Putting a solar farm in one place might displace significantly more emissions than locating it somewhere else, and the inventory allows negotiators to identify exactly where they would get “the biggest bang for their buck.”


The inventory, published on Wednesday on Climate TRACE’s website and free for anyone to access, includes emissions data for 72,612 individual sources, including power plants, steel mills, and oil and gas fields. It also includes sources that can move between countries, such as cargo ships.

That granularity will be critical for countries to have an accurate accounting of their emissions and where they come from, particularly countries that don’t have the resources to gather that data themselves. It will also help corporations looking for the most cost-effective, impactful way to cut emissions, said Gavin McCormick, another founding member of the coalition.

“One of the exciting parts for us has been to move the conversation from countries arguing in some vague sense about accountability to, ‘Hey, we’re talking about these few facilities here,” McCormick said.


Using AI and satellite data, Climate TRACE was able to determine that a significant share of carbon pollution comes from a small number of facilities. The database shows that one steel mill in Korea, for example, emits more greenhouse gas pollution in a year than all of Bosnia. “The politics of how you would transition a few facilities is strikingly different than when you’re saying, ‘Who could know where it’s coming from?’” McCormick said.

Many countries lack accurate, granular, and up-to-date emissions data. That’s in part due to resource constraints, particularly in smaller or poorer countries. Egypt, for example, released a partial inventory of its 2015 emissions for the first time this year. Some of the data is self-reported by polluters, collected via surveys of key facilities and then extrapolated to create a country-level estimate. In India, “I know they’re literally out there counting cows for a few farms and then assuming these farms are representative for the whole country,” McCormick said.

Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.

One key insight that came out of this inventory was that oil and gas emissions are “massively undercounted” in official estimates, he said. Through satellite data, the coalition found that oil and gas leaks were a significant source of “super-emitting” sites.

When asked if he thinks the undercounting of emissions from the oil and gas sector was deliberate or not, Gore said, “There are several specific examples that are hard to interpret in any way other than the fact that there has been an intentional effort to hide emissions and to deceive the world community about how large the emissions are. It’s just almost impossible to believe that it’s an accidental oversight, and all the accidents go in exactly the same direction.”

Gore, however, is not interested in Climate TRACE being the “climate cops.” He views the coalition as more of a “neighborhood watch,” which is often contacted by law enforcement for local information. “I will not be at all surprised if some — maybe many — governments use the information to make sure that their laws and regulations are complied with,” he said.

It’s not just governments who can benefit from the inventory release, but private companies as well.

The cleanest steel mills aren’t being used at full capacity. Yet shifting business to these mills could reduce emissions from the steel sector by 50%, McCormick said.

Companies that want to decarbonize their supply chains — which includes a number of major tech companies from Salesforce to Apple — can simply use the information to purchase products from the cleanest facilities. The coalition has already started having conversations with multinational corporations about switching suppliers, which can happen in a matter of months rather than years, if they’re armed with independent data.

By next year, Climate TRACE hopes to update the inventory to include every source of emissions and, eventually, get it closer to updating in real time. Right now, the data as a whole is at least annual up until 2021, with some sectors updated monthly.

“My belief is that if we can demonstrate to the world that it’s actually easier than they thought to make progress and we can actually track that progress, this is going to be the year that a lot of countries start tasting some serious progress,” McCormick said.



GreenPolicy360: Follow Our "Climate Plans Enforcement" Initiative

Climate Plans Enforcement - Resources


GreenPolicy360 welcomes the arrival of a global science mission, a "Global Stocktake", a collection of earth science data to be made available to the community of nations, to planet citizen activists and scientists, educational institutions, non-profits, NGOs, young and old to become tools for legal enforcement of national climate plans & pledges


GreenPolicy360's Campaign to 'Turn National Climate Promises & Pledges into Reality'

Our Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative continues as the next Global Climate Conference approaches, November's Conference of the Parties (COP27)
Drawing from the database of Earth Science resulting from decades of space-based missions designed to provide us with actionable 'Earth-system and Climate-related data'
Measuring and Monitoring to better manage Earth's Living, Dynamic and Changing Systems, Local, National and Global


Methods to Enforce Climate Plan Pledges

GreenPolicy360: Climate Plans Enforcement Initiative

Pressuring Nations to Step Up, Cooperate, and Act Now

Environmental Laws, Regs, Rules... Lawsuits & Legal Actions

Glasgow (2021) & Paris (2015) Summits: Int'l Climate Plan Pledges & Promises (INDCs-NDCs)


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"Earth Observing System": Decades of Earth Science/Climate Science Data Accessible for Planet Citizen Action


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* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Time_Nov_10_2022_COP27.jpg


Climate Summit / COP27 Updates - November 11, 2022

Via NY Times Reporters/Live - On Location


Transcript of President Biden's Speech at the 27th International Climate Conference


More from the Global Climate Conference

COP27: Biden says the climate crisis is about ‘very life of the planet’


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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT, Nov 7 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told countries gathered at the start of the COP27 summit in Egypt on Monday they face a stark choice: work together now to cut emissions or condemn future generations to climate catastrophe.

The speech set an urgent tone as governments sit down for two weeks of talks on how to avert the worst of climate change, even as they are distracted by Russia’s war in Ukraine, rampant consumer inflation and energy shortages.


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COP27

Time for Planet Citizen Action


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GreenPolicy360: Methane hot spots we're coming to find you, identify you, act to stop you and enforce climate laws.

"Super emitters", we have a message for you, you can't hide....


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October 2022


Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth
Planet Citizen Action, Environmental protection. Quality of Life


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Planet Citizens / Scientists, Preserving & Protecting the Home Planet Earth



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Stewart Udall Film Trailer: http://vimeo.com/708323643


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* https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/nowhere-to-hide-how-a-nuclear-war-would-kill-you-and-almost-everyone-else


GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Green politics for decades has, in the community of nations, focused on the nuclear threat. The history of green parties and green, environmental movement has a record of activism that has been described as 'out in front' and in Europe, within the European governments, since the 1970s and 80s we see green organizing that demanded the removal of nuclear weapons. Green politics called for an end to the 'hair trigger' face-off between the Soviet Union and Europe, the U.S. and a nuclear conflagration that threatened humanity and life on Planet Earth.

Today, the war in Ukraine and threat of nuclear war continues to grow with a waving of so-called "tactical, battlefield" and "strategic, intercontinental" nuclear weapons bristling with dangers of mistake, miscalculation, desperate or preemptive use, rogue forces or insane calculation. A new century is now seeing the collapse of nuclear arms controls and treaties, with media 'normalizing' nuclear weapons use in nightly news shows. The East and West stand on a precipice.

Now comes "Nowhere to Hide" by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Read it -- https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/nowhere-to-hide-how-a-nuclear-war-would-kill-you-and-almost-everyone-else

We at GreenPolicy360 and with our associate, Strategic Demands have worked alongside the Bulletin and its goals...

Now a flashing warning continues louder and brighter -- be aware of the danger. Act to reduce the danger of nuclear disaster.


War in Ukraine Ratcheting Up, Threats of Nuclear Use Ratcheting Up

June, July, August, September, October -- 'Bluffing' or Coming Cataclysm?


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GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: It is October 1st and we are looking at a "Week that Was". Under the heading of Climate News/Florida what has been described as one of the most costly hurricanes in the history of the state hit the west coast couth of Tampa Bay, Hurricane Ian hit not far from where Hurricane Charley devastated not many years ago. In Florida, the terrestrial home of GreenPolicy360, we faced a Hurricane named Ian -- and resulting catastrophe throughout our state. Hurricane Ian arrived from the Caribbean and target the Florida west coast from Naples in the south to Tampa Bay and further in the north and central Florida. Mandatory evacuations were ordered... many listened, many didn't and now the consequences are coming into view. The media and press are reporting, politicians speaking, emergency services, the Coast Guard, police, and regular citizens of all persuasions and backgrounds have acted, often as rescuers and/or protectors of families and homes. The consequences of the damage and the on the ground reality and experience will go on for months and years.

We have to ask, as now is the time to ask about Florida's future, what about Florida? Where is the 'trending' threads of concern acknowledging, risks, problems and identifying solutions to 'extreme weather events'. Here at GreenPolicy we have for years spoken of a warming Gulf of Mexico and tropical storms that 'rapidly intensify' as a result. Ian the hurricane did exactly that, surprising many but not out of line with the physics of a Gulf of Mexico that is heating due to climate change. The atmospheric science, earth science, ocean science, the statistics and the physics of interacting systems, and the political responses to the full scope of the devastation this extreme weather event/storm/typhoon, call it what you will, is on the radar. We are seeing connections between human decisions and nature's responses. Florida is, as we have written for years, "The frontlines of climate change".

Change is in the air. It is time for reality check. The radar sees the moving vector. It's time that we see the threat speeding at us...


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E.O. Wilson: Planet Citizen


E.O. Wilson: He discovered hundreds of new species by putting his hands in the dirt as a field biologist, synthesized evolving thinking in science and coined new terms, such as biodiversity and biophilia, to explain it. Of his many accomplishments in evolutionary biology, his biggest contribution was probably in the new scientific field of sociobiology, in which he addressed the biological basis of social behavior in animals, including humans.


E.O. Wilson: His 2006 book "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," a series of letters written to an imaginary Baptist preacher in pursuit of an ecological alliance to save the Earth.


E.O. Wilson: Naturalist dubbed a modern-day Darwin, dies at 92


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Protect Life, Be Pro-Life, Prevent Extinction


E.O. Wilson: The 8 Million++ Species We Don’t Know


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Big Picture Time: On the Way to Cosmology


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"The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment -- this is just the beginning for the Webb mission," said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb's program director at NASA Headquarters.

"Now we will watch Webb's highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination."


Big Science: How the James Webb Telescope Will See Back in Time


James Webb Space Telescope


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Visit GreenPolicy360's Associate -- Strategic Demands

Global Security, Indivisible


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GreenPolicy360

"Greening Our Blue Planet"


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It's All Related


Planet Citizens

www.planetcitizen.org
www.planetcitizens.org
Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth


Frontlines of Green Best Practices

Green Policy ... Vision and #Resilience


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* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Day


DYK? Yes, we do, we remember the beginnings !
🌎 The 1960s... Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement

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On the 50th Anniversary

Memories on the Road to the First Earth Day

* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary


... Remembering the student teach-ins, the means we used to spread the word and we did. The Vietnam Moratorium Committee became the peace group and and when we talked to Senator Nelson and George Brown about doing environmental teach-ins that would be the first in a series of annual peace and environment events they got it and put their combined weight behind the effort.

It came to be, from an Earthrise moment, to the Moratorium demonstrations and teach-in, to the teach-ins of Earth Day. What quickly followed was the passage of the first generation of US environmental protection legislation.

The environmental movement that sprang from the global realization passed on to us by the NASA Apollo missions, and student activism, are shaping a new generation and modern environmental movement.


The 1970s and 80s

Greening Our Blue Planet


An environmental foundation, initiatives and laws that serve a model for state -- and international -- action:

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In 1977-78 the first climate science comes to light... first generation science for national and global environmental action set a platform in place on which to create climate policy and environmental protection over the coming decades ...


First National Climate Act, Historic Work, 1978

GreenPolicy360 Siterunner / SJS: The beginnings of modern environmental and climate science can be traced to the 60s and 70s. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences played a key role with scientific reports and data.

Energy and Climate Report, 1977, National Academy of Sciences / 175 pp. / PDF via GreenPolicy360

George Brown, taking the 1977 Energy and Climate Report from the Academy, made climate science actionable. In a historic moment, Representative Brown from East Los Angeles proposed and drafted the legislation for the first U.S. National Climate Program and shepherded its passage in 1978. In 1979 came the first follow-on National Science Academy report. This study and report of national scientists was prescient and accurate in its global warming predictions.

This first federal program established to study and assess scientifically the issues and risks of human-caused climate change became a foundation for comprehensive initiatives, and led to an array of new Earth Science missions by NASA and NOAA, the EPA and USGS.


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At the Beginning of U.S. Science on Global Warming, Strategies & Planning

1978, Launching U.S. Climate Action:

National Climate Program Act, Public Law 95-367

National Climate Program Act of September 1978


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Into the 1990s... Going Green Globally


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Remembering the First Earth Summit


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The New Millenium: New Green Formative Action Beyond Party Politics


Initial proposing New Definitions of National Security


Each of us can make a positive difference

Climate Problems, Climate Solutions


Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists


Earth in Our Hands


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Climate Change - Global Warming Keyword-Terms


Our Biggest Experiment

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Recent GreenPolicy360 Story Highlights

  Green Stories of the Day - GreenPolicy360 Archive  

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Climate News Events Archive ... 1970 to Today


Visit Climate News - Current Headlines


Climate Change


From December 1968, Christmas Eve, an Apollo "Earthrise" image of our Home Planet until Today -- we are a Generation Green Going Green

Welcome Aboard 'Planet Citizens !

Surf through some of our waves of memories !!


Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement

* https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf


A First Earth Day

* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary


We were looking to protect our Living Earth.


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* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizen_Vision_of_Living_Earth

 

Earth System Science


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PlanetCitizen | "Vita Activa"


A Man Named George from East Los Angeles

A Planet Citizen back in the day, a US Representative who drafted the first National Climate Act and led US Earth Science work from the 1970s to the 90s

Visit stories of GreenPolicy360's inspiring friend -- George E. Brown
"In Memory" --

George, in many ways, put Climate Change on the map

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"Thin Blue" / www.thinbluelayer.com

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An Earth Point of View


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Apollo's Earthrise to Earth Day

Time for new beginnings, a modern environmental protection movement... some 16 months after Apollo 8's "Earthrise" photo was first seen on Earth, the first environmental 'teach-in' -- that we called "Earth Day" -- arose with a flourish, offering a whole earth message, new perspective, new ways of seeing. A new identification with the home planet began to be visualized and set in motion... a global environmental movement was being created. As planet citizens we had our work, serious work, in front of us and we got to work.

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_movement


New Visions, Life-affirming


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December 1968, from the window of Apollo 8


"Earthrise"


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Earth Day