Futurism Now

Here are some things you need to know before Copenhagen, just the basics. There will be more basics coming later this week.

Start with the UNFCCC website and their facts about climate change.

Today's installment of NaPodPoMo #2, my podcasting marathon, is about some necessary background in order to understand some of the future podcasts about climate legislation and the Copenhagen summit.

First of all, COP15: World leaders have called for a comprehensive, ambitious and fair international climate change deal to be clinched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen, December 7-18, 2009.

Right now, the countries are meeting in Barcelona for the last round of climate talks before Copenhagen. See more here.

This is just a very brief overview that you can show to your skeptic friends or anyone who's curious.

For all the good that 350.org does getting people motivated, it probably is aiming for a target that is too low. We should be aiming for 280 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere, says the writer I talk about in this episode.

Music by Dr. Motte of Berlin who gave his OK for public consumption of his music, which you can find on 350.org's website under the Berlin event for October 24th.

Kicking off NaPodPoMo month, Futurism Now covers environmental and climate justice and EPA news. Join FN this month while we explore whether a daily podcast can be done while retaining a semblance of a life. NaPodPoMo stands for "National Podcast Post Month". Check out the other ones participating here.

Climate justice is about climate debt, past, present and future. What is the cost of climate debt? So far, about $100 billion a year. Shifting to renewable energy will raise the cost to as much as $600 per year over the next decade. Who will pay for this? Obviously, the more poor countries can't.

This episode contains a recording of one session of the SEJ, the Society of Environmental Journalists. SEJ 2009 was hosted by University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, October 7-11, 2009.

The SEJ conference's website is here.

One speaker is Leslie Fields, National Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Director, of the Sierra Club Her topic is Climate Change, Human Health and Environmental Justice both in the US and internationally. The 2nd speaker is Jonathan Patz, Professor and Director of Global Environmental Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The format is a panel and there is a Q&A session.

In a lot of ways that haven’t been covered much yet — or even researched adequately — climate change promises to wreak havoc with human health. Already researchers are detecting increased rates of death from excess heat, insects, diseases and rising water.

Among the climate justice groups Leslie mentions: Environmental justice climate change initiative, or EJCC.org. Also, the Environmental Justice Forum, NLCCC.org and WEACT . . . . and many other groups around the U.S. working on climate change justice.

Poor people and people of color will be impacted more by climate change than anyone, but second will be Americans, because we are used to such a carbon-intensive life. The media has to write and talk about making this more fair, and bringing this to the attention of the public. And this is why FN is participating in NaPodPoMo.

President Obama gave an energy speech at MIT in Massachusetts on October 23rd, which you will hear in this episode.  He announced some interesting things that MIT students are working on in terms of new energy.  He also said  the US is in a peaceful competition to develop clean technologies, and he championed US leadership on clean energy, as international deadlines for climate change mitigation loom.

In this episode, you will also hear Australian scientist Tim Flannery plead with Americans to pass climate legislation, and then hear Lisa Jackson explain how the EPA is back in action.  Flannery's interview is from DemocracyNow.

Everyone is expecting Obama to show up in Copenhagen for the major climate summit in December.  He needs some convincing to get there, however.  Help send Obama to Copenhagen and call the White House. The White House number is (202) 456-1414. The latest news is that he isn't going and we need to convince him to go to Copenhagen with a Climate plan, if not legislation, in hand.

Now, I'm not a big supporter of the cap and trade bill (Kerry-Boxer, or CEJAPA) because most analysts says it won't do enough to stop or even slow down climate change enough to make a difference.  But some experts and analysts say it will do just that.  It's hard to know who to believe.  But it will be a first step on the road to a climate deal in Copenhagen, or COP15, which is a two week meeting on climate change in December.
Also check out the October 24 International Day of Climate Action, sponsored by 350.org.  350 ppm  is the goal in Copenhagan.

Also on Friday, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, released the text of the Chairman’s Mark of the CEJAPA bill  (S. 1733).  That’s from the EPW news release from late Friday (Oct. 23rd) night.  (The full text of the Chairman’s Mark was here but is currently unavailable -- check back  later.)  The main difference between this text and the draft of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act released late last month is that it “specifies distribution of emissions allowances”  (details here).  Also, the EPA released its analysis of Boxer's bill.   (click here).

The PDA statement for a carbon price is here.   The Stop Global Warming/Environmental Issues Organizing Team has been sifting through different legislative proposals in the House and Senate since late last year and they have decided to support direct carbon pricing, with revenue recycling as the best method for reducing carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. Read the statement here.

Related article:  Mr. Obama, be tough on climate change.

Music at end:  Eve of Destruction rewritten and performed by New Millenium.

The four degrees C experiment is on. We might reach a four degree rise in temps by 2070, or even earlier. That was unheard of and thought to be impossible -- until recently. Anything over 4 degrees will probably lead to tipping points and runaway climate change.

The finding was announced at a conference that took place from September 28th through the 30th, called 4 Degrees and Beyond. (Website here). This episode covers the Oxford conference on this scenario, with the best scientists of the UK discussing our chances of adaptation and survival.

The conference is the first to consider the global consequences of climate change beyond 2°C. Usually it's not something scientists dare to discuss. The scientists you will hear in this episode are Prof John Schellnhuber (see his slides here), Dr Richard Betts (slides here), and Dr. Myles Allen (see slides here). Allen talked about a new approach to seeing the CO2 problem, as a cumulative effect, with no hard numbers and dates as deadlines. The slides contain maps, graphs, and lots of supporting material for their talk, and the highlights of their talk. This conference was attended by over 130 scientists and climate specialists, and featured over 35 speakers, so there is a lot from the conference website you can listen to and read.

Other news covered included information on what to expect with a 2-6C degree temperature rise from Mark Lynas. A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened. You can download the original letter here. Senator Boxer said the Obama team might make a "climate pledge" in Copenhagen. Norway pledged 40% emissions cuts. The Kashmir glaciers in India are shrinking at an ‘alarming’ speed. And "CLIMATE CHANGE: Four Degrees of Devastation" is here.

Music: Afrocelt Soundsystem, and the Tck Tck song, Beds are Burning, and video can be downloaded here.

This episode contains a recording from the Green for All conference call from October 5th. It was all about green jobs and there are some good solid ideas in this recording. We definitely need jobs in the United States. In September the U.S. lost over 230,000 jobs. Unemployment continues to grow and where ever you might be in the world, you probably don't have a great economy either.

Green for All is a national organization working to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Green For All's mission according to their website is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through a clean energy economy. We work in collaboration with the business, government, labor, and grassroots communities to create and implement programs that increase quality jobs and opportunities in green industry – all while holding the most vulnerable people at the center of our agenda.

Green jobs are blue collar jobs, or that's what the Senate bill allows for, but those aren't jobs everyone wants or can do. That's only one of the many problems with the Senate's CEJAPA bill. It's good there is money provided for a new green economy but we need much more devoted to that purpose.

Speakers during the call were Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Green For All; Jason Walsh, policy director at Green for All; Mark Ayers, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department; Madeline Janis, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and Jessy Tolkan, Energy Action Coalition.

Not talking about the seriousness of climate change would be impossible, so at the end there is a discussion of the implications of green jobs, a weak Senate bill that doesn't really address climate change, and a recent article by Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. His article is titled, A Timely Reminder of the Real Limits to Growth. The implication is that capitalism just won't be the sustainable economy of the future because it can't be.
Music: "Who Knows" by Marion Black, and "Post Millennium Extinction Blues" by Living Things

The Senate climate bill has arrived! It's called CEJAP, an awful name. That stands for Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Let's call it the Climate Bill or the Kerry-Boxer bill. It leaves a lot to be desired, because it's still full of coal, and gas, and it's also not even a cap and trade bill. They are leaving that up to the Finance Committee. Are you confused yet? I explain everything with some help in this episode. Basically, the bill isn't finished, and they left it that way on purpose.

Some of the help in explaining it comes from USCAN and their great consolidation of environmental groups' statements on this bill. USCAN's site about the bill is here, and as for the climate bill itself, that is here in full (pdf). If you don't want to read all 821 pages of it, see the summary here (pdf).

Also, the EPA Introduced New Rules to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions already! They aren't wasting time. Read about it here. The EPA also said all 79 pending MTR coal mining permits would lead to water pollution and need further review. I like this EPA!

The frightening news continues: A six-foot/two-meter sea level rise is inevitable no matter what we do. Still, it could be worse.

‘Runaway’ melt is occurring on the Antarctica, and Greenland ice sheets. Experts find more ‘pervasive, enduring’ thinning than previously realized.

That community I tell you about is here and that 2012 movie clip is here at Fancast. Not even climate change could be as bad as that disaster -- or could it?

If you are interested in the Bangkok climate change talks on-demand webcasts, they are here. The Bangkok climate talks go on for another week yet.

The UN Summit on Climate Change brought together 100 world leaders at the UN on September 22 and the Age of Stupid movie event happened on September 21, all in New York City. What did they all accomplish? Possibly a lot! The UN Summit was a good start, according to Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General. President Obama spoke at the summit on the need for action, though he didn't give out any targets or make any big announcements, like some of the world leaders did. Japan made a big announcement, as did the President of the Maldives. You will hear several highlights of the summit in this episode.

The UN website where you can see all the video archives of the summit is here.

The Age of Stupid was a great movie for putting a human face on climate change. Telling the personal stories of how climate change impacts people is exactly what the world needs right now. I hope everyone gets a chance to see it. Kofi Annan and scientists and celebrities and politicians spoke after this world premiere, and this episode includes some highlights of that event. It was a live event and a lot of fun, in addition to being educational.

There was quite a bit of news out there this week, and here's a list of most of the stories that were mentioned in FN30.

• Obama addressed the UN with a determined-sounding speech, low on specifics.


• Steven Chu said Clean energy tech more important than Climate Treaty.


• Lieberman pushing for more coal in climate bill!


• Sen. Boxer prepares for climate bill intro. in October.


• Thai rice is threatened by climate change.


• Japan's PM offers climate aid to poor nations and makes a big announcement.

Will the U.S. avert climate catastrophe in time? Are we really even trying?

Last Thursday, September 17th, the American Security Project came up with a report, the Climate Security Index. You can download the report here.

It almost sounds like members of the Senate are planning to not act to slow down climate change, so that things will get dire and then they can start more wars, making the U.S. a world leader again, with a military response to climate change. It sounds like PNAC all over again. We know they have already started optional wars for oil using any excuse available, so what's to stop them from continuing the practice? Relying on a new as-yet not-invented energy source to solve climate change is foolish, but that's what Senator Kerry recommends. There is so much we can do right now to slow down climate change, it's wrong for them to sound resigned to failure.

Doctors: Act Now or Health Consequences of Climate Change Will Be Catastrophic. The heads of 18 major physician groups from around the world are calling on doctors today to take an immediate, vocal stand for climate action to avoid a global health catastrophe.

A recent investigative article about water pollution is causing some major waves. Almost four decades after Congress passed the Clean Water Act, the rate of water pollution violations is rising steadily. In the past five years, companies and workplaces have violated pollution laws more than 500,000 times. But the vast majority of polluters have escaped punishment.

The White House rolled out details of fuel economy, and emissions standards on Tuesday September 15th

Obama will speak at the U.N. special session on global warming on September 22; Todd Stern testifies “Nothing the U.S. can do is more important for the international negotiation process than passing robust, comprehensive clean energy legislation as soon as possible…. President Obama and the Secretary of State, along with our entire Administration, are committed to action on this issue.” An excerpt of Todd Stern's testimony is included in this episode.

According to Reuters, Australia is now the #1 emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

From the Guardian:
US planning to weaken Copenhagen climate deal, Europe warns

And finally -- the climate change documentary, the Age of Stupid is opening next week world wide! You can buy your tickets online for September 21st or 22nd. Don't miss this bona fide event. Check out their website at Age of Stupid.net

The very air we breathe is causing health problems. Aerosols and other things in our air are still making us sick. The military might be putting something in it, to fight climate change, or for reasons much worse. What's in the air? Whatever it is, it's killing people. Chem trails, global dimming, global hazing and pollution are quite dangerous to our health. The air we breath even contains microscopic plastic, which enters our bloodstreams. Apparently, the military is adding things to the atmosphere, but we don't know why. And then there's climate change. . . . . and the problem with the media not covering it. And to top it off, we all have to deal with climate change skeptics and deniers.

It's almost too much to handle, but we have to act before it's too late. Copenhagen is coming up fast!

Studies are homing in on which particles polluting the air are most sickening — and why, from Science News.

Global dimming is explained here.

Our Last Chance to Preserve Life on Earth is here.

Glaciers are disappearing fast -- The Sermilik fjord in Greenland: a chilling view of a warming world.

Glaciers are now melting so fast in Greenland that their movement can be seen with the naked eye.

Much of this episode is a recording of a radio show about Climate Engineering, with clips from the documentary, from Pacifica's WBAI radio in New York. It's also about militarization of weather, chem trails and what it is that we are breathing, and how bad for us it?

"Weather as a force multiplier -- Owning the weather in 2025" is strange, but true, and you can find the Website here.

Music from Moby and Defying Gravity on ABC.

Two main things in this episode: How best to mitigate climate change through Congress, and jobs and energy--specifically renewable energy as discussed at the National Clean Energy Summit (website here).

See the news items I discussed on the FN news site here.

The most disappointing was that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton OK'd the Alberta Clipper pipeline that was discussed last week. There is also new evidence that the methane in the oceans is beginning to bubble to the surface. Methane is a super-potent greenhouse gas that is stored in very cold slushy pools at the bottoms of the oceans and now, it's escaping. And it's not just methane.

Research finds higher acidity in Alaska waters

The Age of Stupid, will launch in America on September 21st 2009 from a solar-powered cinema tent in New York LIVE to over 400 movie theatres across the country. This One Night Only live event is your only chance to see The Age of Stupid on the big screen and is timed for the day before the UN's climate meeting on September 22nd, when 80 Heads of State - and therefore the world's media - will gather in New York. This movie also kicks off the UN's Climate Week.

Speakers from the Direct Carbon Pricing senate briefing on July 13, 2009:

• James Hansen, PhD: Leading climate scientist


• Robert Shapiro, PhD: Co-Founder and Chairman, Sonecon; former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs; economist, author


• Prof. Janet E. Milne, JD: Professor of Law, Vermont Law School, author of "The Reality of Carbon Taxes in the 21st Century"


• Cecil Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Co-Coordinator, Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change


• Moderated by Brent Blackwelder, PhD: President, Friends of the Earth

The National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 was the real dog and pony show. Half of the people there were hawking their particular form of energy they have invested in, in their attempts to sell it to us. Some of it was very good, such as the real renewable energy like solar. The other people there played supporting roles, except for Bill Clinton and Al Gore and a few others. There were many speakers, it was hours and hours long, and this episode only plays a few excerpts from the following.

• Denise Bode - CEO, American Wind Energy Association


• Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)


• Secretary Steven Chu - U.S. Department of Energy


• Former Vice President Al Gore


• Rose McKinney James - Energy Foundation


• John Woolard - President and CEO, Bright Source Energy


• Steve Roell - Chairman and CEO, Johnson Controls


• Former Senator Tim Wirth (D-CO) - United Nations Foundation, Moderator

Music: Waterslide by The Bonedaddys and Rush, 2112 with Lessons at the end. (Yes, I just saw I Love You, Man, which contains "Waterslide" and mucho Rush, hilariously, though not this stuff.)

The tar sands of Canada are the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet so far and they are invested in heavily by T. Boone Pickens. So why is he a part of developing our new renewable "clean energy" plans?

Over the last several years Mr. Pickens has acquired a reputation as a green energy promoter, a man behind renewable energy, or at least clean energy. What I found out recently is quite the opposite. He actually invests in companies such as Massey Energy and Suncor, which is responsible for oil from the Alberta tar sands, the ugliest, dirtiest oil on the planet. He also invests in numerous oil and gas companies and is actively exploring for more oil. Does that sound like green renewable energy?

Neither does his natural gas, which adds to our greenhouse gas emissions, from the drilling process through burning it. Then there is the horrible tar sands in Canada, coming to us through various pipelines, including the Alberta Clipper pipeline. You can also read about the pipelines from the tar sands and still send a message at the State Dept. site here.

This episode includes clips of Boone Pickens, and Al Gore from the National Clean Energy Summit, and from last year's Netroots conference. Also clips from Current, a production of CBC, and Macdonald Stainsby, of Oil Sands Truth.

Here is a small graphic of the pipeline from the Tar Sands in Alberta.

Click here to download Climate Terrorism, the Oil Sands (pdf).

Here are a few more websites where you can read about the tar sands.

• Tar Sands Podcast


• H2O Podcast / Earth First Podcast


• Oil Sands Truth


• Dirty Oil Sands


• Stop Tar Sands

Spread the word about the tar sands, and the investment in the dirtiest fossil fuels, by T. Boone Pickens. Too many people think he really wants green energy to help the planet. What he really wants is to make lots and lots more money.

We are not powerless when we are armed with the facts! This episode contains the real serious truth about climate change but also some interesting tips on how to talk about it with the facts on your side. Obviously, the American public needs to be made more aware of climate change and global heating and the problems we will be facing in the future. But the public also needs to hear us discuss it more and anyone and everyone can talk about it.

As FN's summer vacation continues, we will still be bringing people useful and educational audio and interviews that will help you better understand the issue of global warming and the impacts of climate change.

Sharon Begley is Newsweek's science editor, and she lays it out. The Newsweek article, if you want to read it after listening to it, is here.

Climate change is happening now and it's for everyone to find out what they can do about and why they should. Everyone can do their part, and it will have a real impact.

Interviewed by Focus 580 from the University of Illinois in this episode is Susanne Moser, a geographer, author and researcher from Santa Cruz. She discusses how to communicate about climate change, and discusses deniers, what government can do, what we all can do, and the facts of the science.

Music: Middle song: will.i.am, "Take Our Planet Back" and end song, Jack Johnson, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".

Hardly anyone bothers to listen to Senate hearings, and some of them are really important. In this special episode of Futurism Now you can hear Part 2 of the highlights of the Senate hearing from the committee Environment and Public works from July 7th, 2009. You can listen to all 3+ hours of it from links on the committee website here. Many other hearings they have held recently are available there too.

It's clear that Barbara Boxer, the chairwoman, is too willing to make concessions and compromises even at this early date in the senate process, and it's also clear that she believes big business has a big role to play in shaping our climate legislation. USCAP is not only comprised of big business but also Big Oil and Big Chemical. And these people are writing our jobs-energy bills for us and then calling it a "climate bill". (Is anyone reminded of another administration who let big business interests write our energy policy?)

It's interesting that the only scientist at this hearing was our energy secretary, Steven Chu. Everyone there seemed to be a believer in the idea of "clean coal". This senate committee is all too willing to believe that the dirtiest fossil fuel can or should be cleaned up, even at a cost of trillions of dollars. It was only a very short time ago that Al Gore and climate scientist James Hansen and many others were telling the world that there is no such thing as clean coal -- because there isn't. We really have to keep speaking out against this "clean coal" idea before we are deeply invested in it with this legislation. There is no time to waste. The senate will move forward on these ideas unless they hear from us.

At the end, a few words of inspiration, some of them about our first moon landing 40 years ago. They are the type of inspiring words that we need to hear from our president now.

Speakers include: Energy Sec. Steven Chu, EPA head Lisa Jackson, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Sec. Interior Ken Salazar. Salazar believes we can produce 29% of our electricity needs from solar power. In Part II, Rich Wells, Dow Chemical; David Hawkins, NRDC; and John Fettererman, the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Could climate change lead to the end of civilization, a real collapse, like what happened to the Romans, the Aztecs, the Mayans? It's not inconceivable.

This ep. contains Part 1 of the Senate hearings on climate legislation from the Environment and Public Works committee. The initial hearing has taken on new meaning, because since this happened in early July there has been a delay, and the vote and hearings have been put off. They have put off the vote until probably September, though behind closed doors deliberations probably continue, and public debate begins again in August. This means we might not have a climate bill by the time of the Copenhagen meeting in December. According to some people, we might be in a better bargaining position if we don't.

Giving the Senate more time to work on this bill could be a good thing if we can get them to consider other methods of reducing greenhouse emissions, like a revenue-neutral carbon tax, something that has my full support. In fact, many environmental groups are coming out for a revenue-neutral carbon tax versus a cap and trade system.

You can read more about the revenue neutral carbon tax at FuturismNow.com

So what do you think, will our excuse for a civilization collapse or will we find a solution for climate change? Here's the article from the Independent.

Climate Scientist Jim Hansen's new paper: Strategies to Address Global Warming

30 years ago we had a president, Jimmy Carter, who leveled with the American people, actually told them the truth and wasn't afraid to talk to the American public as adults who think in more than sound bites. He told us we needed to conserve energy and even change our way of life to make it more sustainable. We need honest leadership like that again from President Obama on the issue of climate change. Obama is forceful on health care, which is great, but we need him on climate change. He seems to be leaving the issue to Congress and that's not turning out so well.

Two recent articles about Jimmy Carter's energy speech from 1979:
c:U0ckkD:aEyKUiacyKUUr" target="_blank">We Could Use a little Malaise
and
In Praise of Malaise

Music: Middle: Out Of Space, Kasabian, End: Look at Us Now, Joe Walsh (look up those lyrics)

This episode contains information on the G8, the Senate delay on the climate bill, T. Boone Pickens, and the coal related crime of mountain top removal.

What happened at the G8 summit, why is T. Boone Pickens giving up on the world's biggest wind farm in Texas, and what happened to the climate bill in the Senate? The summit ended with a tepid agreement and no practical way to get there. Even UN chief Ban ki-Moon said the G8 didn't do enough to find answers to the worsening global climate changes. "The policies that they have stated so far are not enough," Reuters quoted Ban as saying in Italy on Thursday. "This is politically and morally (an) imperative and historic responsibility... for the future of humanity, even for the future of the planet Earth." That pretty much sums it up. Then Canada announced it can't do much to fight climate change due to their extreme cold weather. (Bloomberg)

It's also cold in Sweden! See a video on their passive houses here.

Info. on the July 13th Carbon Pricing Meeting is here.

There is new legislation against Halliburton and the fracturing they do to get natural gas, to protect drinking water. The story is here.

Sign the RAN petition to tell JPMorgan Chase to stop funding mountain top removal!.

Read the Memo of Understanding about Mountain top Removal between the Army Corp of Engineers and the Government here (pdf download).

Then there is the matter of coal. We have to get off coal anyway, so why are they doing permanent damage to the mountains of several states by blowing off the tops and killing the streams below? It's like politicians are trying really hard to kill off any possibility of future tourism and business in these states; not to mention kill off wildlife, destroy entire ecosystems, make the water toxic, etc. Mountain top removal is the most destructive and toxic mining practice every invented, and it destroys jobs, it doesn't create them. Testimony in the Senate the last week in June played in this episode includes Maria Gunnoe.

(I didn't discuss James Hansen's new article like I had intended, but you can read his latest article about the climate bill here.)

Photo at top: Flooding in the community of Lyburn, which was caused as a direct result of the mountain-top removal process of valley fill, and Massey Energy's Bandmill Coal Company's failure to keep their sediment pond cleaned out, which they were written up for by the West Virginia EPA. From a video by Bob Gates. Photo of Maria Gunnoe, winner of the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize, speaking with media about her testimony, by Jamie Goodman.

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