Also, it is so clear what we need to do, and yet we’re not doing it. So many of us feel an intense sense of frustration that nothing is happening on the scale required to reverse or even stop the planetary damage.
On the national scale, we are not yet doing what we need to, and that is so, so frustrating. But, there are local political leaders in the U.S. (like small town mayors, city council people etc) who are, and that can offer some hope. And, their stories can be amplified to make them appear the new norm for leadership. City leaders who bike, walk or transit their climate action transportation talk for the big win. Let's get louder about them, as one positive approach.
That Keith Schneider report on Iowa is sobering and important. It reminded me right away of GOP and former Virginia attorney general Ken Cucinelli's attack on climate scientist Michael Mann here at UVA some years ago (Mann is now at Penn). The GOP is systematically harming America and Americans for short-term profits and power. Thank you for keeping us informed.
Cause and effect, what a simple concept. How sad for the environment that corporations and the wealthy spend so much money convincing the people otherwise.
Maybe these wildfires will have have some redeeming value if they can convince more of us to understand that we have to stop the destruction of the earth’s ecosystems that everything depends on for life.
Thank you. It is so scary and we are privileged not to be exposed to this level of air pollution on a regular basis. Environmental injustice seems like one of the major disparities between Global North and South these days.
yep. fight for renewable energy here where it can cut emissions sharply--and to make it available in the global south, where it will do a world of good for peoples lungs
The main problem is the fossil fuel industry fills the coffers of those who are in a position to move us toward solar. If we want clean air it's going to take cutting off the supply of dirty money flowing from fossil fuel companies to our elected officials. In our current situation, I don't see how we get that done.
The latest season (and all seasons of it, to be clear) of the Drilled podcast, with Amy Westervelt, is so informative on this front. The current discussion is about Exxon in Guyana and their methods for building "social license" . We can use those ideas to counter it, too!
Re: "This process allows entities exempt from income tax—such as nonprofits, state/local/Tribal governments, publicly owned utilities, and rural electric cooperatives—to claim the equivalent amount of tax credit in the form of a direct payment from the IRS. This enables tax-exempt entities to take advantage of clean energy tax credits for the first time."
And don't forget that 40% or more of citizens who don't have enough income to owe any income taxes. They, too, should receive the benefits if they adopt the climate friendly methods.
It is important to explicitly point out that much of the pollution in developing countries is the direct result of companies placing production in regions where a lack of pollution controls makes them more profitable. It is, at root, the developed worlds pollution. While the current situation is due to wildfires and not industrial processes, they are related through the effects of climate change. The chickens have come home to roost and brought the haze with them.
Southeast Massachusetts coastal area here. The air appeared to be clear this morning, by and largely due to the nearby ocean air winds, but that still did not stop the stinging of my eyes and irritation my mouth and throat that I experienced while walking the dogs outside, both of whom sneezed more so than usual (small close to the ground dogs); I had to close the windows after I came back in after awhile due to the fact that my eyes started stinging again. The wind has stopped for now and it's a little hazy now and I dare not go outside for concerns of breathing the fine particulates and having my eyes hurt again.
It makes me think about the movie I recently watched titled "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" in view of what's happening lately it is definitely worth watching, as it was thought provoking especially in light of the various commentaries I read online after watching it.
Would you on my radio show/podcast on WDEV in Waterbury to discuss all this? I have an opening this Friday. We could do it by phone if you'd like. my email is Kevin.k.ellis52@gmail.com
It is important to explicitly point out that much of the pollution in developing countries is the direct result of companies placing production in regions where a lack of pollution controls makes them more profitable. It is, at root, the developed worlds pollution. While the current situation is due to wildfires and not industrial processes, they are related through the effects of climate change. The chickens have come home to roost and brought the haze with them.
Regarding cabon dioxide capture and storage, the technology exists and has existed already for a decade. The fundamental problem is of cost; the "Direct Air Capture" (DAC) community has an aspirational cost goal of $100/tonne, which based on entropy calculations will be difficult to achieve, and do not include the costs of vastly increasing energy capacity to power it. Also, many existing point sources such as power plants or steel mills are not close to suitable deep geological storage repositories, meaning more cost for pipeline construction and operation. At $100/tonne, it would cost over $850 Billion to remove 1 ppm CO2 from the atmosphere. At present, we have 424 ppm, and are adding it at 2.5 ppm per year at present. The goal is 350 ppm. So, let's see . . . start in 10 years, need to remove 100 ppm at $850 B/ppm . . . that comes to $85,000,000,000,000. Longhand for Eighty-five Trillion Dollars. IMHO that's not viable. Maybe we should get serious NOW, because technology is not going to save us.
and in a more literary context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long,_Hot_Summer. The phrase Long Hot Summer comes from the Marty Ritt movie with Paul Newman based on the Faulkner short story, and has elements of Tennessee Williams' Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, both a bit too close for comfort!
Thanks again for more wonderful work. The Iowa/Chris Jones (defensive tackle for the Chiefs? ;-)) hit home, since a recent book I collaborated on talked about the first farmers and the price we still pay for their efforts (as well as the first metalworkers and their legacy > see: haze). I'll be posting something on LinkedIn to get the word out. Though it will be hard to concentrate on one issue: it wil be hard to concentrate on just waterway pollution after reading Chris' point as to the media and who controls what narratives...
Also, it is so clear what we need to do, and yet we’re not doing it. So many of us feel an intense sense of frustration that nothing is happening on the scale required to reverse or even stop the planetary damage.
On the national scale, we are not yet doing what we need to, and that is so, so frustrating. But, there are local political leaders in the U.S. (like small town mayors, city council people etc) who are, and that can offer some hope. And, their stories can be amplified to make them appear the new norm for leadership. City leaders who bike, walk or transit their climate action transportation talk for the big win. Let's get louder about them, as one positive approach.
That Keith Schneider report on Iowa is sobering and important. It reminded me right away of GOP and former Virginia attorney general Ken Cucinelli's attack on climate scientist Michael Mann here at UVA some years ago (Mann is now at Penn). The GOP is systematically harming America and Americans for short-term profits and power. Thank you for keeping us informed.
Cause and effect, what a simple concept. How sad for the environment that corporations and the wealthy spend so much money convincing the people otherwise.
Maybe these wildfires will have have some redeeming value if they can convince more of us to understand that we have to stop the destruction of the earth’s ecosystems that everything depends on for life.
Thank you. It is so scary and we are privileged not to be exposed to this level of air pollution on a regular basis. Environmental injustice seems like one of the major disparities between Global North and South these days.
yep. fight for renewable energy here where it can cut emissions sharply--and to make it available in the global south, where it will do a world of good for peoples lungs
The main problem is the fossil fuel industry fills the coffers of those who are in a position to move us toward solar. If we want clean air it's going to take cutting off the supply of dirty money flowing from fossil fuel companies to our elected officials. In our current situation, I don't see how we get that done.
The latest season (and all seasons of it, to be clear) of the Drilled podcast, with Amy Westervelt, is so informative on this front. The current discussion is about Exxon in Guyana and their methods for building "social license" . We can use those ideas to counter it, too!
Amy W is amazing
Thanks - I'll look for it.
Re: "This process allows entities exempt from income tax—such as nonprofits, state/local/Tribal governments, publicly owned utilities, and rural electric cooperatives—to claim the equivalent amount of tax credit in the form of a direct payment from the IRS. This enables tax-exempt entities to take advantage of clean energy tax credits for the first time."
And don't forget that 40% or more of citizens who don't have enough income to owe any income taxes. They, too, should receive the benefits if they adopt the climate friendly methods.
The east is looking all too familiar to this westerner. Indicatively, in line with your piece, Delhi #2 after NYC for worst city air. https://www.iqair.com/us/world-air-quality-ranking
It is important to explicitly point out that much of the pollution in developing countries is the direct result of companies placing production in regions where a lack of pollution controls makes them more profitable. It is, at root, the developed worlds pollution. While the current situation is due to wildfires and not industrial processes, they are related through the effects of climate change. The chickens have come home to roost and brought the haze with them.
Southeast Massachusetts coastal area here. The air appeared to be clear this morning, by and largely due to the nearby ocean air winds, but that still did not stop the stinging of my eyes and irritation my mouth and throat that I experienced while walking the dogs outside, both of whom sneezed more so than usual (small close to the ground dogs); I had to close the windows after I came back in after awhile due to the fact that my eyes started stinging again. The wind has stopped for now and it's a little hazy now and I dare not go outside for concerns of breathing the fine particulates and having my eyes hurt again.
It makes me think about the movie I recently watched titled "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" in view of what's happening lately it is definitely worth watching, as it was thought provoking especially in light of the various commentaries I read online after watching it.
Would you on my radio show/podcast on WDEV in Waterbury to discuss all this? I have an opening this Friday. We could do it by phone if you'd like. my email is Kevin.k.ellis52@gmail.com
It is important to explicitly point out that much of the pollution in developing countries is the direct result of companies placing production in regions where a lack of pollution controls makes them more profitable. It is, at root, the developed worlds pollution. While the current situation is due to wildfires and not industrial processes, they are related through the effects of climate change. The chickens have come home to roost and brought the haze with them.
Regarding cabon dioxide capture and storage, the technology exists and has existed already for a decade. The fundamental problem is of cost; the "Direct Air Capture" (DAC) community has an aspirational cost goal of $100/tonne, which based on entropy calculations will be difficult to achieve, and do not include the costs of vastly increasing energy capacity to power it. Also, many existing point sources such as power plants or steel mills are not close to suitable deep geological storage repositories, meaning more cost for pipeline construction and operation. At $100/tonne, it would cost over $850 Billion to remove 1 ppm CO2 from the atmosphere. At present, we have 424 ppm, and are adding it at 2.5 ppm per year at present. The goal is 350 ppm. So, let's see . . . start in 10 years, need to remove 100 ppm at $850 B/ppm . . . that comes to $85,000,000,000,000. Longhand for Eighty-five Trillion Dollars. IMHO that's not viable. Maybe we should get serious NOW, because technology is not going to save us.
Truth!
Bill, I thank you a thousand times! forwarding this on to someone I know in the solar biz! China Galland
Manhattan becomes Mumbai. The start of a long, hot summer?
and in a more literary context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long,_Hot_Summer. The phrase Long Hot Summer comes from the Marty Ritt movie with Paul Newman based on the Faulkner short story, and has elements of Tennessee Williams' Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, both a bit too close for comfort!
Thanks again for more wonderful work. The Iowa/Chris Jones (defensive tackle for the Chiefs? ;-)) hit home, since a recent book I collaborated on talked about the first farmers and the price we still pay for their efforts (as well as the first metalworkers and their legacy > see: haze). I'll be posting something on LinkedIn to get the word out. Though it will be hard to concentrate on one issue: it wil be hard to concentrate on just waterway pollution after reading Chris' point as to the media and who controls what narratives...