<\/p>\n
Politics and Policy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of centrist senators reached a deal<\/a> on Thursday for $1.2 trillion in investments to rebuild the nation\u2019s infrastructure.\u00a0 Although the details are sparse at this point, the Washington Post<\/em> provided a good summary<\/a> of what is included.\u00a0 One thing that is clear, however, is that it does relatively little<\/a> to fight climate change. \u00a0However, Biden has said that he won\u2019t sign<\/a> the compromise into law unless there is a companion bill passed through the reconciliation process that includes many of the things left out of the compromise, infuriating<\/a> Republicans and putting the deal in doubt<\/a>.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) officially announced<\/a> the formation of the Conservative Climate Caucus with a membership of 52 Republican House members, so maybe change is coming.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told the House Natural Resources Committee that there is not currently a plan<\/a> to permanently ban new drilling leases on public lands and waters.\u00a0 The administration is considering banning<\/a> imports of polysilicon from China’s Xinjiang region, a move that would assuage bipartisan pressure to crack down on human rights<\/a> abuses but could undermine the White House’s climate change goals.\u00a0 Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm defended<\/a> US carbon-neutrality targets in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, saying the US has no choice but to take action, regardless of what China does to reduce its emissions.\u00a0 The Federal Housing Finance Agency is beginning to formally examine the risks climate change is bringing to the housing market, but it faces a challenge<\/a> in designing policies that address those risks without unfairly burdening communities of color.\u00a0 In its 2022 budget request, DOE included funds to create<\/a> \u201curban integrated field laboratories\u201d that would gather climate data in cities and build bridges to urban communities.\u00a0 FERC announced a task force in collaboration with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners to align<\/a> federal and state regulators in an effort to identify and navigate barriers to construction of transmission lines.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Massachusetts state judge rejected<\/a> Exxon Mobil\u2019s bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the state Attorney General accusing the oil company of misleading consumers and investors about its role in climate change.\u00a0 Just 11% of the 250 biggest corporate greenhouse gas emitters have plans<\/a> for major emission cuts by 2030.\u00a0 The House voted 229-to-191 to restore<\/a> a rule targeting leaks of methane from oil and gas operations.\u00a0 The Line 3 fight continued, with the Biden administration urging<\/a> in a court brief that a challenge brought by local tribes and environmental groups be thrown out; the protestors vowed<\/a> not to stop.\u00a0 In a retrospective<\/a> on the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, Marianne Lavelle wrote: \u201cThe 13-year fight over Keystone XL transformed the US environmental movement, and dramatically shifted the political center of the American debate over energy and climate change. \u2026 But the larger issue for the climate action movement is whether the US can enact a comprehensive policy that truly reshapes energy use \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The goal of limiting global warming seemed far away<\/a> last week, as the most recent round of UN climate negotiations ended with concerns about a lack of progress on key issues like climate financing for developing countries and a global framework for a carbon market.\u00a0 The World Bank agreed to boost<\/a> its spending on climate change to 35% from 28% and to provide annual progress reports to its board.\u00a0 The European Parliament approved<\/a> a landmark law to make the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions targets legally binding.\u00a0 The UK government set \u201chistoric\u201d targets on the climate crisis but failed<\/a> to come up with the policies needed to reach them, the government\u2019s independent advisers on the climate warned.\u00a0 Norway awarded<\/a> four exploration licenses to seven oil companies, but fewer oil companies applied for the permits than in previous licensing rounds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Climate and Climate Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Agence-France Presse obtained a draft copy of the upcoming Working Group II report from the IPCC on the impacts<\/a> of climate change, which says that climate change will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can stop greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0 A new report detailed<\/a> global warming\u2019s impact on Yellowstone National Park \u2014 changes that have begun to alter its ecosystem and threaten everything from its forests to its geysers.\u00a0 A new report from the World Resources Institute argued that incremental changes to agriculture in response to climate change will not be sufficient<\/a> to feed everyone; rather they call for \u201ctransformative adaptation\u201d.\u00a0 UNESCO recommended that the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) be placed on a list of World Heritage sites that are \u201cin danger<\/a>,\u201d prompting a fierce reaction from the Australian government.\u00a0 UNESCO appeared to be singling out<\/a> the GBR because Australia is a laggard in addressing climate change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientists and engineers are proposing ways in which geoengineering could be applied to cause the oceans<\/a> to take up increased amounts of CO2<\/sub> in supposedly benign ways.\u00a0 Climate change is reducing<\/a> the supply of water from melting snow to many of the largest rivers in Asia, threatening the water security of millions of people.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The US Southwest has become drier<\/a> since the mid-20th century, particularly on the hottest days, increasing wildfire risk.\u00a0 Last week\u2019s record heat wave in the western US led to multiple wildfires<\/a>.\u00a0 Scientists found that butterfly observations have declined<\/a> 1.6% annually over the past four decades in the western US.\u00a0 Heat waves, such as the one being experienced<\/a> in the Pacific Northwest, are complex, both in their formation and duration, as explained in this article from Vox<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 Furthermore, the health effects of heat waves are made more severe by poor air quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The NOAA\/NCEI Climate Extremes Index (CEI) tracks the frequency of extreme weather<\/a> by combining six indicators and determining the percentage of the contiguous US that is above or below the normal climate conditions; 2020 had the highest CEI on record with a value of 44.63%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An assumption inherent in the concept of net-zero<\/a> CO2<\/sub> emissions is that the behavior of the climate system in response to CO2<\/sub> emissions and removals is symmetrical, but recent research has shown that it is actually asymmetrical. \u00a0Consequently, balancing an emission with a removal of the same size will result in higher atmospheric CO2<\/sub> levels than avoiding the CO2<\/sub> emission in the first place.\u00a0 A group of climate futurists from the University of Hamburg examined the likelihood of keeping global warming below 1.5\u00b0C while reaching deep decarbonization by 2050 and concluded that neither<\/a> goal is plausible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Energy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Miami-Dade County has bought<\/a> 42 Proterra ZX5+ electric transit buses, to be delivered in 2022, as well as 75 Proterra chargers.\u00a0 D.C. Metro will add<\/a> electric buses each year starting in 2023, then will phase out purchasing nonelectric buses by 2030 so that its entire fleet will be composed of electric buses by 2045.\u00a0 Cummins\u2019 Vice President for New Power Engineering, Jonathan Wood, said that hydrogen fuel cell trucks will become competitive<\/a> with diesel powered vehicles by 2030 in terms of their total cost of ownership.\u00a0 European auto and truck manufacturers are embracing fossil-free steel<\/a> and competing to become industry leaders in making the switch.\u00a0 The Swedish joint venture HYBRIT has succeeded in making sponge iron<\/a> on a pilot scale entirely with renewable energy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite the decision of automakers to shift production to EVs, high costs and an uncertain return on investment are causing many US gas station owners to delay installing EV charging stations.\u00a0 Researchers at the Universities of Maryland and California (at Davis) have determined that getting drivers of light-duty trucks to buy electric versions may be a tough sell<\/a>.\u00a0 New York City\u2019s taxi regulator voted to stop issuing<\/a> new for-hire licenses for EVs.\u00a0 The US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy found that the estimated scheduled maintenance cost<\/a> for a light-duty battery-electric vehicle is 6.1 cents\/mile, while for a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle it is 10.1 cents\/mile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Janet Mills, Governor of Maine, signed legislation that makes Maine the ninth US state<\/a> to have adopted a deployment target for energy storage.\u00a0 British power producer Drax Group said it would seek planning permission to build a new 600 MW underground pumped hydro<\/a> storage power station in Scotland.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One outcome of the recent G7 meeting was an agreement to work toward a doubling of the efficiency of cooling systems sold worldwide by 2030.\u00a0 At RMI, John Matson reviewed<\/a> why this is necessary and how it might be achieved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Following a recent string of setbacks for big oil companies and the rapid advance of EVs, many are wondering if the time of peak oil<\/a> has finally been reached.\u00a0 European countries could be underreporting<\/a> methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, investigators have warned after a study found that leakage was endemic across the industry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Potpourri<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The New York Times Magazine<\/em> has devoted the current issue to the climate<\/a>.\u00a0 The lead article is entitled \u201cWhat if American Democracy Fails the Climate Crisis\u201d and features Ezra Klein and four environmental thinkers discussing the limits of politics<\/a> in facing down the threat to the planet.\u00a0 After conversations with a diverse group of global energy experts, Canary Media<\/em> provided<\/a> a list of seven emerging investment opportunities in the clean energy arena.\u00a0 Weatherization assistance<\/a> programs help low-income households save energy and reduce utility bills.\u00a0 Architect Kunle Adeyemi has built his career around the question of how his creations affect<\/a> the health of the planet.\u00a0 At her Burning Worlds<\/em> website, Amy Brady interviewed<\/a> Irish artist Katie Holten about her Tree Alphabet<\/em> projects.\u00a0 The results of a recent study suggest that some Republicans can be persuaded<\/a> to care about global warming and that microtargeting might be an effective way to reach them.\u00a0 In an article about evangelical Christians and climate action, Katharine Hayhoe was quoted<\/a> as saying: \u201cIf we really take the Bible seriously, we would be at the front of the line demanding climate action. \u00a0For somebody who is, at least, even partially a theological evangelical, who actually takes the Bible seriously, that is a huge point of connection.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Closing Thought \u2013 A Personal Note<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friday was a significant day for me, being my 83rd<\/sup> birthday.\u00a0 It also represented 6.25 years of preparing the Weekly Roundup.\u00a0 One thing I have noted as I approached this birthday is a real understanding that life is finite \u2014 that if I want to accomplish certain things I have been putting off, then I had best get on with them.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also become aware of how much longer it takes me to get things done.\u00a0 So long, in fact, that the Roundup has begun to take up much of my time.\u00a0 Thus, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that if I want to accomplish some of the things I have been putting off, I need to stop compiling the Roundup and bid you adieu.\u00a0 So, this is the Last Roundup.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I plan to stay involved in climate advocacy and urge you to do so as well.\u00a0 Getting the policies we need to limit warming will be a battle, as this last week has demonstrated.\u00a0 So, make your voices heard.\u00a0 Support political candidates who \u201cget it\u201d and work to educate those who don\u2019t.\u00a0 Lastly, get involved with climate-related organizations because we all depend on change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of centrist senators reached a deal on Thursday for $1.2 trillion in investments to rebuild the nation\u2019s infrastructure.\u00a0 Although the details are sparse at this point, the Washington Post provided a good summary of what is included.\u00a0 One thing that is clear, however, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":278,"date":"2021-06-21T14:04:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T14:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/?p=278"},"modified":"2021-06-21T14:04:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T14:04:11","slug":"weekly-roundup-6-18-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/2021\/06\/21\/weekly-roundup-6-18-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Roundup – 6\/18\/2021"},"content":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A bipartisan group of senators sketching out an alternative infrastructure proposal expanded<\/a> their base of support when eleven more senators joined the original ten.\u00a0 Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said they would not vote<\/a> for an infrastructure bill that omits key measures aimed at combatting climate change. \u00a0So far, no Senate Republicans have voiced support<\/a> for President Biden\u2019s clean electricity standard.\u00a0 The Senate approved<\/a> Richard Spinrad\u2019s nomination to lead NOAA.\u00a0 At The Atlantic<\/em>, Robinson Meyer defined \u201cthe green vortex,\u201d which describes how policy, technology, business, and politics can all work together<\/a> to speed up humanity\u2019s ability to decarbonize.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A federal judge issued an order temporarily blocking<\/a> the Biden administration’s pause on new oil and gas leasing on public land and waters while the court case against it proceeds.\u00a0 FERC Chair Richard Glick laid out a number of short and long-term goals he has for the commission to tackle<\/a> transmission policy, and said regulators will outline a clearer path forward on those issues “in the near future.”\u00a0 The Federal Consortium on Advanced Batteries released a report setting out a vision for the US and its partners to establish a secure supply chain<\/a> for battery materials and technology.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After months of secret negotiations between Duke Energy, House Republican leaders, and other select stakeholders, sweeping energy legislation has been unveiled<\/a> in North Carolina.\u00a0 The Air Quality Committee of the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission recommended<\/a> that the full Commission vote next month to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.\u00a0 The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday ruled 2-1<\/a> that the state\u2019s Public Utilities Commission correctly granted Enbridge Energy the certificate of need and route permit allowing the company to begin construction on the 337-mile Minnesota segment of the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement.\u00a0 Colorado has ended its 2021 legislative session with a compromise<\/a> on climate change legislation between House and Senate Democrats and Gov. Jared Polis (D).\u00a0 Republicans who control Pennsylvania\u2019s Legislature are reprising<\/a> a fight from last year, passing legislation to require Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to go through them if he wants to impose a price on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leaders of the G7 nations promised<\/a> to cut collective emissions in half by 2030, agreed that by next year they would stop international funding for any coal project that lacked carbon capture and storage technology, and vowed to achieve a decarbonized electricity sector by the end of the decade, but failed<\/a> to set an end-date for coal use after the US and Japan blocked a deal.\u00a0 Furthermore, behind-the-scenes arguing among the delegates caused some to worry<\/a> that the COP26 summit\u2019s chances of success may be in jeopardy.\u00a0 The UK government is failing<\/a> to protect people from the fast-rising risks of the climate crisis, its official Climate\u00a0Change Committee said.\u00a0 The government of Canada has launched<\/a> a $960 million program to support the development and growth of renewable energy and the modernization of the electricity grid in the country.\u00a0 The amount of China-invested overseas coal-fired power plant capacity shelved<\/a> or cancelled since 2017 was 4.5 times higher than the amount constructed over the period.\u00a0 South Korea\u2019s ruling party has proposed cutting<\/a> greenhouse gas emissions at least 40% by 2030, compared to 2017 levels.\u00a0 The EU is considering tightening rules<\/a> on whether wood-burning energy can be classed as renewable and count towards green goals.\u00a0 It is also debating<\/a> setting a zero-emissions target for vehicles sold beyond 2035.\u00a0 Belgium\u2019s failure to meet climate targets is a violation<\/a> of human rights, a Brussels court has ruled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Climate and Climate Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fundamental force driving climate change is the imbalance between the amount of energy entering Earth\u2019s atmosphere and the amount leaving.\u00a0 NASA climate scientists used two independent techniques to examine the energy imbalance<\/a>, both of which showed that it approximately doubled between 2005 and 2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Much of the western US baked<\/a> this week under a punishing heat wave that set temperature records, prompted health warnings, and strained power grids.\u00a0 It also threatened<\/a> recently planted corn, soybean, and spring wheat crops in Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas.\u00a0 Although the drought can\u2019t be blamed directly on climate change, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Schoening said we can expect more such events as the climate warms because it is part of a damaging<\/a> feedback loop: the hotter it gets, the drier it gets; the drier it gets, the hotter it gets.\u00a0 With temperatures expected to keep rising as global greenhouse gas emissions continue, the Western US will need to take difficult and costly measures<\/a> to adapt.\u00a0 In a feature article available only to subscribers, National Geographic<\/em> explored the subject of extreme heat<\/a>, its impacts on humans, and what we can do to relieve it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The authors of an article in Nature Communications<\/em> argued that economic degrowth<\/a> might be less risky, and a better way to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement, than relying on uncertain carbon removal technologies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wildfires in the high elevation Rocky Mountains are burning nearly twice as often<\/a> as in the past, according to a new study that looks back at 2,000 years of data.\u00a0 Until recently, the future of California\u2019s Santa Ana winds<\/a> was thought to be one of the few good-news stories of climate change \u2014 scientists had predicted rapid inland warming would weaken one of their primary drivers and reduce their frequency. \u00a0But a new study is casting doubt on that projection, finding that the winds are not declining, but could even be increasing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Conventional wisdom says that some 20% to 90% of today\u2019s tidal wetlands could be lost by century\u2019s end, depending on how fast oceans rise, but scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences argue that such forecasts are needlessly bleak<\/a>.\u00a0 Previous periods of rapid warming millions of years ago drastically altered plants and forests on Earth. \u00a0Now, scientists see the beginnings of a more sudden, disruptive rearrangement<\/a> of the world\u2019s flora \u2014 a trend that will intensify if greenhouse gas emissions are not reined in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Energy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The US is on track to install<\/a> 24.4 GW of solar installations this year, an increase of nearly 24% over last year.\u00a0 For the first time, the US solar market surpassed<\/a> 100 GW of installed generating capacity, according to the new \u201cUS Solar Market Insight Q2 2021\u201d report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie.\u00a0 Startup Erthos believes that by getting entirely rid of trackers and racking, and installing photovoltaic solar modules directly on the ground<\/a>, it can save money and build a more efficient industrial-scale system with less risk to the environment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Volvo will invest<\/a> $118 million into its plant in Ridgeville, SC, to build Polestar 3 EVs. \u00a0It also plans to build cars using steel made without<\/a> fossil fuels by 2026. \u00a0GM will boost global spending<\/a> on electric and autonomous vehicles by 30% to $35 billion through 2025, including funds for two additional US battery plants.\u00a0 New research focusing on non-luxury used EVs has shown that they are cheaper to own<\/a> than used gasoline-powered cars.\u00a0 A new analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggests that global sales of gas-powered cars likely peaked in 2017<\/a>, marking a major milestone in the shift to EVs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Startup Northvolt is building<\/a> a Gigafactory in northern Sweden from which it hopes to provide a quarter of Europe’s batteries for new EVs.\u00a0 Redwood Materials, a battery recycler, says it\u2019s more than tripling<\/a> the size of its operations in Nevada and will spend \u201chundreds of millions\u201d to scale up recovery of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other commodity metals it sells to makers of lithium-ion batteries for EVs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A company backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is set to build a large-scale nuclear fusion<\/a> demonstration plant at Culham, home to the UK’s national fusion research program.\u00a0 In December the California Institute of Technology will launch a space-based solar energy system into orbit to test the idea of harvesting<\/a> solar energy that can be beamed back to Earth as microwaves.\u00a0 If the steel industry were a country, its CO2<\/sub> emissions would rank third in the world.\u00a0 Reducing them will take nothing less than a revolution<\/a> in steelmaking technology, backed by hundreds of billions of dollars in investments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The share of fossil fuels in the world’s total energy mix is similar<\/a> to its share a decade ago, despite the falling cost of renewables and pressure on governments to act on climate change, a report by green energy policy network REN21 showed.\u00a0 The world\u2019s demand for oil will rebound<\/a> to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, as recovering economies require oil-producing countries to pump more fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency.\u00a0 A new fleet of satellites is zeroing in on methane leaks<\/a> worldwide, opening the way for expanded enforcement of existing emission regulations and providing data to justify new regulations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Potpourri<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When a neighborhood, city, or region experiences truly unusual weather, some will see it as clearly connected<\/a> to global warming, whereas others will not.\u00a0 As if climate change weren\u2019t enough, farmers in Australia are now facing a plague of mice<\/a>.\u00a0 Those who have a special fondness for the Low Country of South Carolina will find this article about the threats of climate change to the Gullah\/Geechee culture to be particularly<\/a> interesting.\u00a0 Communications professor Thora Tenbrink presented eight ways<\/a> you can make your climate change social media posts matter. \u00a0Cyrus Hadavi maintains that as societies we are \u2018carbon blind<\/a>\u2019 to our supply chains, so some companies are creating labels<\/a> to show consumers the climate change impact of their products.\u00a0 In an interview following publication of his new book, The Spirit of Green: The Economics of Collisions and Contagions in a Crowded World<\/em>, Nobel Laurate William Nordhaus said: \u201cCarbon pricing by itself is not sufficient<\/a>. \u00a0By itself, it won\u2019t bring forth the necessary technologies. \u00a0Carbon pricing needs the helping hand of government support of new low-carbon technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Closing Thought<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tailoring online messaging and advertising toward Republican voters can shift<\/a> their views on climate change, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy A bipartisan group of senators sketching out an alternative infrastructure proposal expanded their base of support when eleven more senators joined the original ten.\u00a0 Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said they would not vote for an infrastructure bill that omits key measures aimed at combatting climate change. \u00a0So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276,"date":"2021-06-14T14:06:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T14:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/?p=276"},"modified":"2021-06-14T14:06:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T14:06:29","slug":"weekly-roundup-6-11-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/2021\/06\/14\/weekly-roundup-6-11-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Roundup – 6\/11\/2021"},"content":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n President Joe Biden broke off<\/a> talks on an infrastructure bill with Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WV) after they hit a “brick wall,” instead reaching out to a bipartisan<\/a> group.\u00a0 National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy said some ambitious proposals to fight climate change could fall out<\/a> of the infrastructure package, which garnered pushback<\/a> from the party\u2019s centrist and left wings, with many saying<\/a> \u201cNo climate, no deal.\u201d\u00a0 During a webinar on Wednesday, scientists and activists said that proposals for solar geoengineering<\/a> ignore the root cause of the climate crisis \u2014 and create a cascade of unintended problems.\u00a0 Researchers argued that the federal government should minimize the risk for hydrogen infrastructure projects by providing clear regulatory<\/a> treatment.\u00a0 An antiquated law, a complex and drawn-out approval process, and a lack of ships are all hampering<\/a> rapid development of offshore wind energy along the US coastline.\u00a0 The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a $547 billion package aimed at fixing<\/a> the nation\u2019s roads and transit systems, while putting a bigger focus on the environment.\u00a0 The Growing Climate Solutions Act is popular on both sides of the aisle, but will it really help<\/a> the climate?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A new UN report warned<\/a> that unless the world stops treating climate change and biodiversity collapse as separate issues, neither problem can be addressed effectively.\u00a0 For example, while most actions to address biodiversity loss are also good for the climate, the reverse<\/a> is not necessarily true. \u00a0Research has found that achieving 80% carbon-free electricity by 2030 is possible<\/a> using existing technologies, while maintaining grid dependability without increasing electricity costs, thanks to plummeting wind, solar, and battery costs.\u00a0 The Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it was starting an \u201cEarthshots\u201d initiative to reduce<\/a> the cost of clean energy within a decade \u2014 starting with reducing the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per kilogram.\u00a0 DOE also announced a series of policy actions to scale up<\/a> manufacturing of advanced battery technologies.\u00a0 The need is apparent when you consider how small the US capability is (See Table 2<\/a>).\u00a0 General Motors threw its support<\/a> behind the overall emissions reductions in California’s 2019 deal with other major automakers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n House Republicans are preparing to announce a new climate caucus<\/a>, open only to Republican lawmakers, showing them how climate change affects their districts and introducing possible solutions focused around conservative values.\u00a0 A Republican pollster, at a secretive meeting with roughly 20 Republican lawmakers, presented research suggesting that pro-climate messaging could turn the tide in enough close races to allow the party to take over<\/a> the House.\u00a0 Speaking with Jennifer Eberlien, associate deputy chief of the US Forest Service, congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) asked if it was possible to alter the orbits<\/a> of the moon, or the Earth, as a way of combating climate change.\u00a0 An upcoming overhaul<\/a> of the federal government’s flood insurance program will financially benefit many of the nation’s lowest-income communities, while charging higher rates for houses that are expensive to replace or are vulnerable to rising sea levels and intensifying storm surge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n G7 finance ministers backed moves to force banks and companies to disclose<\/a> their exposure to climate-related risks, a measure seen as vital to efforts to safeguard the financial system from climate change shocks.\u00a0 Ahead of the G7 summit, investors controlling $41 trillion in assets called for governments around the world to end support<\/a> for fossil fuels and set targets for rapid reductions in carbon emissions.\u00a0 Similarly, more than 70 CEOs from some of the world’s biggest companies called on all governments to set policies<\/a> to meet targets consistent with limiting the global rise in temperatures to 1.5\u00b0C.\u00a0 In spite of these calls, the G7 countries remain committed<\/a> to the fossil fuel industry.\u00a0 Biden faces four major climate obstacles<\/a> as he tries to find common ground with world leaders at the G7 meeting.\u00a0 Research has revealed that 87% of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the G7 nations between 1999 and 2019 was because of climate policy<\/a>, rather than wider socioeconomic changes.\u00a0 Mexico\u2019s President is unlikely<\/a> to be able to change the constitution to pass fossil fuel friendly energy reforms.\u00a0 Chinese banks and investors funneled billions of dollars into global agribusinesses driving deforestation<\/a> in the past seven years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Climate and Climate Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sea ice in the Arctic hit its annual maximum extent<\/a> on March 21, tying with 2007 as the seventh-smallest extent of winter sea ice in the satellite record.\u00a0 A new study has warned that the remainder of the ice shelf that holds the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica onto land could fall apart in a few decades<\/a>, rather than the century previously estimated, accelerating the flow of the glacier to the sea.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Long before the era of fossil fuels, humans may have triggered<\/a> a massive \u201ccarbon bomb\u201d lurking beneath the Earth\u2019s surface by converting large areas of carbon-rich peatlands for agriculture.\u00a0 When the entire food system \u2014 including the raising of crops and livestock, the conversion of land to agriculture, transportation, retail sales, food consumption, and food waste \u2014 is considered, greenhouse gas emissions are much larger<\/a> than previously estimated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to research from Oxfam and the Swiss Re Institute, the G7 countries will lose 8.5% of GDP<\/a> a year, or nearly $5 trillion a year, within 30 years if temperatures rise by 2.6\u00b0C.\u00a0 The city of Copenhagen is planning to build an artificial island<\/a> in the middle of its port to help protect the city from storm surges as sea level rises.\u00a0 Temperatures in the Middle East have topped 125\u00b0F after a run of record-breaking<\/a> heat, a full month before high temperatures usually reach their annual average peak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lake Mead has sunk to its lowest level<\/a> ever, underscoring the gravity of the extreme drought across the US West.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it isn\u2019t the only one, as the graphics in this article<\/a> make clear.\u00a0 During September 2020, the Central Valley of California and Oregon\u2019s Columbia River Basin experienced a 20% drop<\/a> in the amount of sun reaching solar panels because of smoke and soot from wildfires.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Energy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Electric trucks have come a long way<\/a> in the last 18 months, with new models entering many segments of the market and policy efforts to grow vehicle sales and enlarge charging infrastructure expanding rapidly.\u00a0 One exception is Lordstown Motors, the startup electric truck maker, which warned Tuesday it is close to running out<\/a> of cash and may be forced out of business in the next year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A new report released by the American Clean Power Association said that 500,000 to 600,000 new jobs could be created<\/a> through the solar, wind, and battery storage industries as the country moves toward clean energy.\u00a0 First Solar unveiled plans to double<\/a> its US manufacturing capability by building a new state-of-the-art fully integrated solar panel manufacturing complex in Ohio.\u00a0 Global solar power developers are slowing down<\/a> project installations because of a surge in costs for components, labor, and freight as the world economy bounces back from the coronavirus pandemic.\u00a0 Florida Power & Light Company is 40% of the way<\/a> to its goal of installing 30 million solar panels by 2030, having installed 12 million.\u00a0 The state of Mississippi has approved<\/a> its first wind farm, to be built on 13,000 acres in the Mississippi Delta and to contain up to 100 turbines.\u00a0 North Carolina has set a goal<\/a> of having 2.8 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030 and 8 GW by 2040.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If we are to have a grid powered predominately by renewable energy we must have a way to level out its inherent variability, not just on a short-term basis, but also for longer periods (up to 500 hours).\u00a0 Two ways of achieving that are low-carbon firm generation and long-duration energy storage (LDES).\u00a0 David Roberts had an excellent article explaining recent research into what must happen<\/a> before LDES can play a substantial role in a clean grid.\u00a0 It is sobering.\u00a0 Another sobering article appeared in The Economist<\/em>, which examined the bottlenecks<\/a> that could constrain the deployment of clean energy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Plug Power, a company that produces hydrogen to fuel vehicles and electric generators, says it will invest<\/a> $84 million to build a green hydrogen facility in southeast Georgia.\u00a0 The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has committed<\/a> to running its 4.3 GW of fossil fueled power plants partly on green hydrogen by around mid-decade, ramping up to 100% in about 10 years.\u00a0 A white paper by Siemens Gamesa said that using onshore wind turbines to power electrolyzers to produce hydrogen from water could become as cheap<\/a> as making hydrogen using fossil fuels by 2030, whereas using offshore wind will take until 2035.\u00a0 A paper from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group explained what turquoise hydrogen<\/a> is and how it fits into the quest for net-zero emissions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shell will respond to a recent defeat in a Dutch court by accelerating<\/a> its efforts to reduce its CO2<\/sub> emissions, the company\u2019s leader said.\u00a0 The Keystone XL pipeline, which was to bring oil from Canada’s Western tar sands to US refiners, was cancelled<\/a> by owner TC Energy Corp.\u00a0 More than 200 people were arrested<\/a> at a Minnesota construction site of the Line 3 Pipeline, a 340-mile pipeline carrying tar-sands oil through treaty-protected tribal lands<\/a> in northern Minnesota and into Wisconsin to the tip of Lake Superior.\u00a0 Exploratory drilling for lithium on BLM land in Arizona threatens<\/a> the Hualapai Tribe\u2019s religious practices.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Global Energy Monitor\u2019s first comprehensive survey of global coal mine proposals has found more than 400 new mine<\/a> proposals that could produce 2,277 million metric tons per annum (Mtpa), of which 614 Mtpa are already being developed.\u00a0 The owner of three coal-fired power plants in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio that generate a combined 2.4 GW of electricity said that it will shut them down<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Potpourri<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Michael Svoboda has twelve books<\/a> for your summer reading; some fiction, others nonfiction.\u00a0 The “Climategate” computer hacking scandal, in which hackers stole thousands of emails and documents from the UK\u2019s University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, is to be made into a BBC film<\/a>.\u00a0 Two artists are trying to make climate change news more visible<\/a> by using bots to interact with news articles about it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Closing Thought<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n People say, what is the sense of our small effort? \u00a0They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. \u00a0A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. \u00a0Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. \u00a0No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. \u00a0There is too much work to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dorothy Day, 1897 \u2013 1980<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy President Joe Biden broke off talks on an infrastructure bill with Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WV) after they hit a “brick wall,” instead reaching out to a bipartisan group.\u00a0 National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy said some ambitious proposals to fight climate change could fall out of the infrastructure package, which garnered pushback […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":274,"date":"2021-06-07T12:09:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T12:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/?p=274"},"modified":"2021-06-07T12:09:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T12:09:16","slug":"weekly-roundup-6-04-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/2021\/06\/07\/weekly-roundup-6-04-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Roundup – 6\/04\/2021"},"content":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n Politics and Policy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n President Joe Biden\u2019s first budget proposal<\/a> adds $14 billion in new money to policies and programs devoted to climate change.\u00a0 It also takes aim at tax provisions that benefit<\/a> the fossil fuel industry and projects that eliminating them will generate $35 billion over the course of a decade.\u00a0 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) predicted that the Senate would see a \u201cbig fight\u201d over carbon pricing<\/a> but said he believes lawmakers will make progress on the issue this year.\u00a0 He also said, \u201cI think there is a significant group of senators in the Democratic caucus who are going to insist that our climate measures be robust<\/a> and real and point toward 1.5\u00b0C, and we will do what\u2019s necessary to accomplish that goal\u201d\u00a0 In an opinion piece in The Boston Globe<\/em>, James Hansen and Daniel Galpern maintained that Biden has the authority<\/a> under the Independent Offices Appropriations Act to direct the EPA to impose a fee on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.\u00a0 Last week, Biden announced $1 billion in funding for pre-disaster mitigation<\/a> resources for communities, states, and Tribal governments.\u00a0 The Biden administration is suspending<\/a> all oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending a deeper look at the environmental impacts of drilling in the sensitive region.\u00a0 However, a law passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2017 requires the president to hold another<\/a> lease sale in the refuge before the end of 2024.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ARPA-E\u2019s SCALEUP program is putting a greater emphasis<\/a> on bringing emerging clean technologies to commercial scale \u2014 and on finding private-sector partners to help.\u00a0 At Vox<\/em>, Ella Nilsen wrote about green banks<\/a> and their potential for increasing the development of green infrastructure.\u00a0 To electrify every home in America as quickly as possible<\/a>, neither up-front costs nor electrical service constraints should prevent a homeowner from choosing an electric appliance to replace the fossil-fueled one that just broke down.\u00a0 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made clear Friday that the institution\u2019s role in the climate crisis is limited<\/a> to oversight of banks and the rest of the financial system, and not in setting public policy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah Steinberg, a policy principal at an industry association for clean energy companies, summarized the top ten energy issues<\/a> generating legislative activity across the country.\u00a0 The American Conservation Coalition is hosting<\/a> the first conservative climate rally in Miami on Saturday, June 5.\u00a0 Lawmakers in roughly a dozen states are using strikingly similar<\/a> talking points as they unleash a wave of legislation aimed at forbidding municipalities from banning natural gas in buildings.\u00a0 In another blow to the oil and gas industry last week, the Texas legislature did not reauthorize<\/a> its property tax exemption.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In preparation for COP 26, officials from around the globe began three weeks of climate talks on Monday that involve grappling<\/a> with a number of thorny political issues. \u00a0The world must rewild and restore<\/a> an area the size of China to meet commitments on nature and the climate, and put forth an effort equal to the space race.\u00a0 Rich countries are falling behind<\/a> on their pledges to help the poor world tackle the climate crisis.\u00a0 The development charity Tearfund and partners alleged that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the nations that make up the G7 pumped<\/a> billions of dollars more into fossil fuels than they did into clean energy.\u00a0 The EU\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions fell<\/a> nearly 4% in 2019.\u00a0 Emissions from coal mined in Australia but exported and burned overseas were almost double<\/a> the nation\u2019s domestic greenhouse gas footprint in 2020.\u00a0 The New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a> that the International Maritime Organization \u201chas repeatedly delayed and watered down climate regulations, even as emissions from commercial shipping continue to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Climate and Climate Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wildlife ranging from bluebells and bumblebees to snow leopards and emperor penguins will be under threat<\/a> if global warming exceeds 1.5\u00b0C.\u00a0 A study involving 45,000 dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature profiles collected from nearly 400 freshwater lakes worldwide has revealed a widespread drop<\/a> in DO levels because of rising temperatures.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dangerously hot conditions and triple-digit temperatures are forecast<\/a> for the Western US this week.\u00a0 The drought in the Klamath Basin along the California-Oregon border is so bad that violence could erupt<\/a> as farmers experience extreme anger over being cut off from their main water source.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n More than a third of heat-related<\/a> deaths in many parts of the world can be attributed to the extra warming associated with climate change.\u00a0 More than 32 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts with a combined value of $8.5 trillion are at risk of sustaining hurricane wind damage<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Seven of the ten biggest floods in the Amazon basin have occurred in the past 13 years, while this year, rivers around the biggest city in Brazil\u2019s Amazon rainforest have swelled to levels unseen<\/a> in over a century of record-keeping.\u00a0 In recent weeks, nine major fires have ignited<\/a> in the Brazilian Amazon on previously deforested land, heralding the start of another fire season, which, after a particularly dry year, experts say could be a bad one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n New research has found that clouds could have a greater<\/a> cooling effect on the planet than CMIP6 climate models suggest because the models simulate too much rainfall and, therefore, underestimate clouds\u2019 lifespan and cooling effect.\u00a0 According to a risk analysis, the relationships between four massive Earth systems (Greenland and the West Antarctic Ice Sheets, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and the Amazon rainforest) could be destabilized<\/a> by even moderate climate change, leading to cascading effects of accelerated sea level rise and species loss.\u00a0 Sea ice in the coastal Arctic may be thinning<\/a> far faster than scientists believed, likely because previous research didn’t completely account for the influence of climate change on snow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Energy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has completed its \u201cElectrification Futures Study\u201d and released its final report; Dan Gearino devoted his \u201cInside Clean Energy\u201d column this week to reviewing what it said about the feasibility of electrifying<\/a> the entire US economy.\u00a0 One of the key takeaways from a recently published white paper by FERC staff is that there are several potential benefits to pairing electricity generation with energy storage, but US network operators still have a way to go to best accommodate<\/a> such \u2018hybrid resources\u2019.\u00a0 The coal-fired 522 MW North Valmy Generation Station is scheduled for retirement and Nevada utility NV Energy wants to replace it<\/a> with 600 MW of solar combined with 480 MW of battery storage across two planned sites.\u00a0 Bill Gates\u2019 advanced nuclear reactor company TerraPower LLC and Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s PacifiCorp have selected Wyoming to launch<\/a> the first Natrium nuclear reactor project, featuring a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten salt-based energy storage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that investments in clean energy need to more than triple<\/a> this decade to maintain the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5\u00b0C.\u00a0 A group of 23 nations will invest $248 million over the next decade to address how best to respond to the variability<\/a> associated with solar and wind energy.\u00a0 A study by US think-tank Global Energy Monitor has revealed that the world’s coal producers are planning<\/a> as many as 432 new mine projects with 2.28 billion metric tons of annual output capacity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A third climate advocate has secured a seat<\/a> on the board of Exxon Mobil Corp.\u00a0 Oil major BP is investing<\/a> $220 million in 9 GW of US solar projects as it seeks to expand its renewables portfolio.\u00a0 An analysis, carried out by the energy consultancy M.J. Bradley & Associates, has revealed that five of the top ten emitters of methane are little-known<\/a> oil and gas producers whose environmental footprints are large relative to their production.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rhode Island coastal regulators approved<\/a> certification for the South Fork Wind Farm, a decision that pushes the second major offshore wind project proposed in the US one step closer to reality.\u00a0 Dominion Energy is building<\/a> the Charybdis<\/em>, the first Jones Act-qualified offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the US; \u00d8rsted and Eversource have said they will charter it for the construction of Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, two of their planned offshore wind farms in the Northeast.\u00a0 The wind industry will need to train<\/a> over 480,000 people in the next five years to safely meet worldwide demand for wind power.\u00a0 Start-up Vortex Bladeless has demonstrated its bladeless wind turbine, which generates electricity by oscillating<\/a>.\u00a0 Flower Turbines, whose turbines look like tulips<\/a>, wants to make small windfarms a leading player in the green energy industry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Global EV battery sales more than doubled<\/a> in the first four months of the year, with Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology capturing 32.5% of the market.\u00a0 Biden\u2019s strategy to make the US a powerhouse in EVs will include boosting domestic recycling of batteries to reuse<\/a> lithium and other metals.\u00a0 A recent\u00a0 Pew Research Center report found that 47% of US adults support a proposal to phase out production of gasoline-powered cars and trucks, while 51% oppose<\/a> it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Potpourri<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While some news outlets are paying attention to the climate crisis, most are still underplaying<\/a> its threats. \u00a0Ana Teresa Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s work \u201cOn the Horizon<\/a>,\u201d erected on a beach, attempts to show passersby what the six feet of sea-level rise that scientists are projecting would actually look like.\u00a0 According to the IEA, nearly two-thirds of the energy reduction needed to reach net-zero by 2050 will require people to change<\/a> their behavior.\u00a0 By understanding that people with different worldviews<\/a> actually construct different mental images of how climate change and the world work, climate change communicators can better craft their messages.\u00a0 Starting Friday night, Netflix d\u00e9buted<\/a> the series Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet<\/em>, which documents \u201cthe most important scientific discovery of our time \u2014 that humanity has pushed Earth beyond the boundaries that have kept Earth stable for 10,000 years, since the dawn of civilization.\u201d\u00a0 Jonathan Watts interviewed Earth scientist Johan Rockstr\u00f6m, who helped create<\/a> the series.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Closing Thought<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since publishing Doughnut Economics<\/em> in 2017, renegade British economist Kate Raworth<\/a> has become a phenomenon that mainstream economics largely declines to acknowledge but increasingly cannot ignore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy President Joe Biden\u2019s first budget proposal adds $14 billion in new money to policies and programs devoted to climate change.\u00a0 It also takes aim at tax provisions that benefit the fossil fuel industry and projects that eliminating them will generate $35 billion over the course of a decade.\u00a0 Sen. Sheldon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":273,"date":"2021-06-01T12:59:56","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T12:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/?p=273"},"modified":"2021-06-01T12:59:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T12:59:56","slug":"weekly-roundup-5-28-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/climatenews\/2021\/06\/01\/weekly-roundup-5-28-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Roundup – 5\/28\/2021"},"content":{"rendered":" Politics and Policy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lisa Friedman of The New York Times<\/em> examined the perilous path<\/a> through Congress faced by President Joe Biden\u2019s climate plan.\u00a0 Senate Republicans unveiled their $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer<\/a> to Biden on Thursday.\u00a0 Grist<\/em> examined what\u2019s in<\/a> it.\u00a0 A growing number of Democrats are getting impatient<\/a> with bipartisan infrastructure talks and prefer to move on.\u00a0 Biden supposedly will rely on ally countries to supply the bulk of the metals<\/a> needed to build the batteries for EVs, and, instead, focus on processing them domestically into battery parts.\u00a0 DOE awarded a total of $19 million to 13 research groups to assess how much rare earth material is contained<\/a> in coal and coal waste, and to explore ways to extract it.\u00a0 The federal government plans to allow<\/a> wind power projects to be built in federal waters off the coast of California northwest of Morro Bay and west of Humboldt Bay.\u00a0 Inside Climate News<\/em> reviewed the issues that have hampered<\/a> California\u2019s offshore wind development in the past.\u00a0 California has announced that it is allocating<\/a> $20 million and $110 million from its 2021-2022 budget to support the development of offshore wind and green hydrogen, respectively.\u00a0 Data from public agencies indicates that the slow and inconsistent permitting processes<\/a> seen across most of the 400 local jurisdictions in California is a key impediment to converting available funding into EV charging infrastructure.\u00a0 Arizona regulators voted to revive<\/a> a suite of clean energy requirements, but the compromise will extend Arizona\u2019s decarbonization timeline through 2070.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wednesday was not a good day for the oil industry.\u00a0 ExxonMobil shareholders voted to install two new independent directors<\/a> to the company\u2019s board.\u00a0 A court in the Netherlands ordered Shell to slash<\/a> its carbon pollution 45% by 2030.\u00a0 Chevron Corp shareholders voted to cut emissions generated<\/a> by the use of the company’s products.\u00a0 E&E News<\/em> considered<\/a> what these events might mean for the oil industry and RMI\u2019s Center for Climate-Aligned Finance had a rundown<\/a> of this year\u2019s other major shareholder efforts.\u00a0 On another, but related, subject, forest ecologist Charles Canham had an essay about US forest carbon offsets, in which he wrote<\/a>: \u201cOur forests can and will continue to provide critically important offsets to carbon emissions. \u00a0But marketing those offsets to allow emitters to continue to pollute may simply be unethical.\u201d\u00a0 Advocates for environmental justice urged North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to block permits for future wood pellet<\/a> plants and to pay more attention to their effects on health.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n House Democrats intend to clear for Biden’s signature a resolution to curb methane emissions, but a final vote could be weeks away because the House Energy and Commerce Committee will first consider and debate<\/a> the resolution in an effort to shield it from litigation in the courts.\u00a0 The Biden administration is defending<\/a> a huge Trump-era oil and gas project in the North Slope of Alaska designed to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years.\u00a0 However, the administration said it planned to revise<\/a> a Trump-era rule that limited the ability of states and tribes to veto pipelines and other energy projects that could pollute their local waterways.\u00a0 Last week I included an item about Biden signing an executive order directing several federal departments and agencies to analyze the risks climate change poses to the US financial system and federal government.\u00a0 The Wall Street Journal<\/em> responded<\/a> by writing \u201cRule by the climate technocrats is coming fast.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After nearly two days of wrangling at a meeting of the G7 environment and energy ministers, all reaffirmed<\/a> their commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5\u00b0C and agreed to end their financial support for coal development overseas, among other things.\u00a0 Countries around the world raised $53 billion<\/a> last year with carbon emission pricing schemes, up almost 18% from 2019 as some imposed new levies and prices in some existing schemes rose.\u00a0 Trial runs<\/a> of China’s national-level carbon emission trading system have been conducted to ensure the system’s successful launch in late June.\u00a0 Almost 72% of the coal-fired power plants being built globally now rely on Chinese funding<\/a>.\u00a0 The federal court of Australia found that the environment minister has a \u201cduty of care<\/a>\u201d to protect young people from the climate crisis.\u00a0 Poland’s government defied<\/a> an injunction by the top EU court that ordered the immediate closure of a major brown coal mine.\u00a0 At Yale Environment 360<\/em>, Fred Pearce dove into the arguments around pledges of net-zero<\/a> CO2<\/sub> emissions by 2050, asking whether \u201cnet-zero\u201d is key to limiting global temperature rise or a dangerous delusion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Climate and Climate Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n