Futurism Now

The Copenhagen climate summit COP15 has begun, and it seems like most of the world is there.

That's the biggest news. Coinciding with that, the EPA has passed an endangerment finding under the Clean Air Act. Could we ask for anything more? Yes, a binding legal treaty to reduce emissions, in Copenhagen. That's what we really need. But now we know that if Congress doesn't act on climate change legislation quickly enough, the EPA now has an obligation to regulate or otherwise stop harmful GHG emissions from hurting the health of Americans.

The finding was time to strengthen the U.S. negotiating position in Copenhagen. Good for them. In this episode you can hear two introductory press conferences on days 1 and 2 of the climate conference and also the U.S. delegate, John Pershing, stating the U.S.'s preliminary positions. They all also smack down the climate scientist emails that were illegally obtained, stating that it just won't make any difference. There is an enormous amount of scientific data in the U.S. and from all over the world that has been independently arrived at and supports global warming claims. Watch the EPA announcement video here and you can download the Finding's segments there too.

The mysterious Danish Text story. If you have better information please contact FN through the contact form here.

LinkTV climate change videos are here.

This is a simple Copenhagen Climate Summit introduction. In this episode you will find out some basic answers to: why is the summit important? What can we expect?

President Obama will now be attending the Copenhagen climate summit on December 18th.

The climate science continues to be very serious. In the new Report: Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment, it is reported that warming will escalate in the Antarctic once the ozone hole is closed, in only a few short decades. You can download the report here. The basic rundown of the summit and brief background is here. The UNFCCC's 10 frequently asked questions about the Copenhagen deal is here (pdf).

In this episode, the Real News interviews Tzeporah Berman of Canada. She is the Executive Director and one of the Co-founders of PowerUp Canada. Tzeporah is also known for her work in the early 1990s coordinating the largest civil disobedience protest in Canada’s history in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She discusses Copenhagen and what to expect, as well as the cooperation on climate of the U.S. and Canada. If the US, Canada and China are committed to oil and coal, what can Copenhagen accomplish? Two portions of her interview are played in this episode (1 and 3) and you can find part 2 at the Real News network.

James Hansen has released an article with his thoughts about his grandchildren's future, emissions caps, and the Copenhagen summit, which is read in this episode. You can read it yourself here (pdf).

For those wanting more media on the Copenhagen summit, here is the Youtube channel for COP15, and here is the main UNFCCC COP15 website. Their Virtual Participation site is here. FN will be doing as many updates during the Summit as we can. It also looks like I will be able to get an exclusive report or two from someone who is already there. More on that later, and on a recent energy committee hearing that got very interesting.

Video link for the protest you hear on the end (which occurred in Washington DC) is here.

Music for this episode from David Holmes.

It was announced this morning that President Obama will attend the climate summit in Copenhagen, and he also announced his emissions targets: in the range of 17% by 2020. This is great news! It's also bad news. Is this the best America can do? There is a phenomenon at work here beyond politics. The two recordings in this episode address expectations at Copenhagen and why people believe what they believe about global warming, and how to possibly change how the public thinks about it. Maybe we can even influence our politicians.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), speaks with correspondent Miles Benson in an interview from Earth Focus, discussing UNEP's sobering recent report that says we will feel the consequences of climate change soon. Are we lemmings, or why don't we act more decisively on this issue?

The public opinion talk is from the American Meterological Society, from an Environmental sciences Seminar Series and it's on Public Attitudes, Perceptions, and Concerns about Global warmings, evidence from a new survey. This survey is not new, it's actually from late last year. It was presented in Washington DC by Jon Krosnick, PH.D., Stanford University.

I'm going to split it into two parts and the 2nd part, if you want it all, is going to be optional and available only by downloading it from a link that will be provided on FN's main website. The reason for that is because it was very long.

Are we lemmings refers to a question Achim Steiner was asked during his interview. It doesn't mean we don't believe in global warming, (75% of Americans do, down from 85% of 3 years ago) it refers to the fact that Americans don't want to change the status quo or make lifestyle changes unless everyone else in the world does it first.

Other news discussed: Chris Hedges wrote: Refuse Allegiance to Coal. Read it here.

More news: Latest Science Shows Climate Change Outpacing Previous Projections

United Nations program on Climate change is here. The Climate Change Science Compendium is on that page or this one.

The cap and trade legislation has been "put off" until well after the Copenhagen summit in December. It's pushed into spring, 2010, if then. If you want to read some better bills than cap and trade, which should be called Cap and RAID, you can check out all the other bills that intend to mitigate climate change. There are a lot of them!

This episode contains recent news and the "Huge Mistake" by the EPA attorneys gone rogue who have lots of information about cap and trade. The same rogue EPA attorneys interview on DemocracyNow here. Many environmentalists are very disappointed with the whole concept of capping and trading permits to pollute. The Carbon Tax Center site has a great list of the other, better bills here.

A Carbon Tax, Not a Cap and Trade

Carbon trading isn’t working

EU emissions trading scheme an 'embarrassing failure'

Peru is losing its sacred glaciers to climate change. Slideshow of amazing photos is here.

Floods and Droughts: How Climate Change is Impacting Africa.

Also discussed in this episode: The Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle is now on sale at Best Buy.
Click below for the feature:
Initial Report: 2009 Brammo Enertia

One of the new, sneaky greenwash sites: GERrrrr (don't take it seriously, folks).

Payal Parekh's blog is here. Her interview on the Real News network, if you want to see it (the entire interview audio is in this episode) is at the Real News network 'Cap-and-trade won't cut it' Pt. 2.

Meat consumption might be destroying the planet and killing us. It's certainly not green, so maybe we should think about it more before using it so much. And Americans consume more meat than anyone on the planet. It's contributing to climate change, to terribly environmental practices and pollution and our inability to feed everyone adequately.

Today the topic is food and specifically, is meat consumption killing us, our planet, or both?

A few tangents were taken in this episode, namely, Mike the Headless Chicken, whose story you can read here.

Jonathan Safran Foer recently wrote Eating Animals and was recently on NPR talking about his book. He explains his point of view in a short interview you can hear in this episode.

Facts about climate change and meat consumption, including the possibility that it causes health problems, here and here. The doctor's site that claims red meat can cause breast cancer is here.

My Futurism prediction: in 50 years it will be abnormal to eat meat. Time to go vegetarian....

Climate change will be very much about justice in the years and decades to come. This is Episode8 of the podcasting marathon known as Napodpomo. Green money--Green jobs--Green greed--the Jolly Green Giant Known as Copenhagen -- Is climate change stalling and finger-pointing green insanity? Not everything can be called green. Economic INjustice means those with the most money will survive climate change the easiest, and that's not green at all.

As mentioned, here are just a few of the environmental justice groups in the U.S.: Environmental justice climate change initiative, or EJCC.org. Also, NLCCC.org and WEACT.org . . . . and many other groups around the U.S. working on climate change justice.

The weekly talk included in this episode is from Manuel Pastor, who is Professor of Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California where he also serves as Director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). His research focuses on environmental justice and the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities in the U.S. His talk is titled, Making Climate Change Policy Work in Difficult Economic Times. Thanks to UCTV.

Why India Is Playing Hard to Get on Climate Change. From Time magazine, November 6, 2009.

Global Warming at change.org
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

You can also call or write to President Obama at:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Comments: 202-456-6213

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.

Next Page